II B R.AR.Y 
 
 OF THL 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 or ILLINOIS 
 
 977.323 
 B52 
 
 111. Hist. Surv.
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 
 
 OF 
 
 KANE COUNTY, 
 
 ILLINOIS. 
 
 people t/int lake no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors -juiJI never achieve 
 anything worthy to be remembered with pride bv remote generations." MACAULEY. 
 
 CHICAGO : 
 THE S. J. CI-ARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY, 
 
 1898.
 
 " Biography is the only true history." 
 
 EMERSON.
 
 (T 
 
 PRKFACE. 
 
 HE greatest of English historians, MACAULAY, and one of the most 
 brilliant writers of the present century, has said: "The history of a 
 country is best told in a record of the lives of its people." In con- 
 formity with this idea, the BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD has been prepared. 
 Instead of going to musty records, and taking therefrom dry statistical 
 matter that can be appreciated but by 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. No more interesting or instructive matter could be presented to an intelligent 
 public. In this volume 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, have become learned men and women, with an influence 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 pursued 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 many, 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 profession, 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 land. 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 publishers 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 indifferent. 
 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 be found, though repeated calls were made at their residence or place of business. 
 
 July, 1898. 
 
 THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING Co.
 
 HON. CHARLES WHEATON.
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL 
 
 HON. CHARLES WHEATON, a lead- 
 ing member of the bar of Aurora, Illi- 
 nois, was born in Warren, Rhode Island, 
 May 29, 1829, and is the son of Nathan M. 
 and Content B. (Maxwell) Wheaton, the 
 former being the son of Charles Wheaton, 
 who was born in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, 
 and was the son of Nathaniel, who was a 
 native of the same place. Nathaniel was 
 the son of Daniel, who was also born in Re- 
 hoboth, while Daniel was the son of Eph- 
 raim, who was the son of Robert, who was 
 born in England in 1606, and came to Amer- 
 ica in 1636, landing at Salem. He was the 
 founder of the family in this country. From 
 Salem, he removed to Rehoboth, where his 
 death occurred. He was a minister of the 
 Baptist church. 
 
 Nathan M. Wheaton was born in War- 
 ren, Rhode Island, in 1785. He was a 
 merchant and trader, in his own ships, to 
 the West Indies, Cuba and other islands. 
 His death occurred July 3, 1861. He was 
 a member of the Episcopal church, and in 
 politics was a Whig. Content Maxwell, his 
 wife, was a daughter of James and Content 
 (BraytonJ Maxwell, who were members of 
 the society of Friends, or Quakers. Not- 
 withstanding his religion, James Maxwell 
 served in the war of the Revolution, going 
 into the service from Rhode Island. He 
 was of Scotch ancestry. The Braytons were 
 also Quakers. Content Maxwell was born 
 
 in Warren, Rhode Island, December 26, 
 1795, and died in November, 1837. To 
 Nathan M. Wheaton and wife were born 
 nine children Elbridge Gerry, Mary, 
 Emma, Laura, Rebecca, Susan, Charles, 
 Elizabeth, and one who died in infancy. 
 Emma married William Baker; Laura mar- 
 ried George L. Cooke; Susan married S. V. 
 R. Hickox; and Elizabeth married Daniel 
 L. Turner. All are now deceased save our 
 subject and Elizabeth. 
 
 The early life of Charles Wheaton was 
 spent at Warren, Rhode Island, and until 
 sixteen years of age he attended the Epis- 
 copal school at Warren. He then came 
 west, and entered the college, at Robin's 
 Nest, known as Bishop Chase's Jubilee Col- 
 lege, in Peoria county, Illinois, where he re- 
 mained one year. To assist Bishop Chase, 
 his father had bought two scholarships, one 
 of which he used for his son. Upon leav- 
 ing that college, he entered Trinity College 
 at Hartford, Connecticut, from which he 
 was graduated in June, 1849. 
 
 After his graduation, Mr. Wheaton en- 
 tered the law office of Hon. Benjamin F. 
 Thomas, at Worcester, Massachusetts, where 
 he spent two years, and was admitted to 
 the bar, in September, 1851. He there be- 
 gan practice, which he continued for three 
 years, and in October, 1854, again came 
 west, locating at Batavia, in January, 1855, 
 then one of the most promising towns in
 
 10 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the Fox River Valley, where he opened his 
 office. He practiced there until 1859, when 
 he removed to Aurora, opened an office, and 
 has here continued in active practice. His 
 first partner was S. W. Burns and then A. 
 G. McDole, the firm name being Wheaton 
 & McDole. In 1873, he opened an office 
 in Chicago, which was run under the firm 
 name of Wheaton, Canfield & Smith. This 
 partnership continued until 1875, when it 
 was dissolved, since which time he has been 
 alone. Since 1875, his time has almost en- 
 tirely been devoted to the trial of cases, and 
 there has been but few cases of importance, 
 in this or adjoining counties, that he has 
 not been on one side or the other. 
 
 . Mr. Wheaton was united in marriage to 
 Miss Sarah H. Brewster, July 17, 1860, at 
 Middlebury, Vermont, of which place she is 
 a native, born October i, 1830. She is the 
 daughter of Elisha and Rebecca (Fish) 
 Brewster. Elisha Brewster was born at 
 Norwich, Connecticut, in 1790, and was the 
 son of Seabury Brewster, who was the son 
 of Wrestling, who was a native of Norwich. 
 His father, also named Wrestling, was like- 
 wise a native of Norwich, and whose father, 
 also named Wrestling, was a native of Dux- 
 bury, Massachusetts. His father was Love 
 Brewster, who was born in England, and 
 who was the son of Elder William Brewster, 
 who came over in the Mayflower in 1620. 
 Elisha Brewster married Rebecca Fish, at 
 Hartford, Connecticut, September 28, 1812. 
 She was born September 28, 1789. Her 
 father was Miller Fish, born in Bazrott, 
 Connecticut, in 1764, and married Huldah 
 Corning, who was born in Hartford, No- 
 vember 4, 1765. Their children were: Hen- 
 ry, Rebecca, John, Mary, Frederick, Ed- 
 ward J., George H., Huldah C., John M., 
 Julia C. and Arthur M. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Wheaton are the parents 
 of five children, as follows: Lizzie T., who 
 married Charles H. Hale, of Aurora, by 
 whom she has two children, Bessie W. and 
 Helen L. ; Clara S., at home; Sarah, the 
 wife of Bert A. Allen, living in Aurora, and 
 they have one child, Charles W. ; Anna H., 
 at home; and Mary F., who married Harry 
 H. Holden, of Aurora, and they have one 
 child, Sarah M. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Wheaton are members of 
 the Congregational church, and in politics 
 he is a Republican. In 1864 he was elected 
 mayor of the city, but resigned before the 
 expiration of his term. For four years he 
 served as a member of the board of super- 
 visors, and in 1870 was a member of the 
 constitutional convention, in which body he 
 was an active factor. He resides in a beauti- 
 ful home, at 297 La Salle street, which he had 
 erected for himself, and around him are all 
 his family, to whom he has given a home, and 
 in whose society he finds much enjoyment. 
 
 In his long professional career, Mr. 
 Wheaton 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 career 
 has been free from trickery and question- 
 able practices, so often resorted to by mem- 
 bers of the bar. His strength has been in a 
 good education, a sound knowledge of law, 
 a careful study of cases placed in his charge, 
 the completeness of his briefs, his skillful 
 management, and his able, logical and elo- 
 quent pleading, having always the respect 
 of the court and the confidence of the jury. 
 His private life has been as pure as his pro- 
 fessional one, and he holds the esteem and 
 confidence of the community in which he 
 has so long dwelt.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ii 
 
 SAMUEL W. CHAPMAN, ex-postmaster 
 of Elgin and senior member of the firm 
 of S. W. & A. M. Chapman, dealers in car- 
 riages, wagons and agricultural implements, 
 26 River street, Elgin, is a truly representa- 
 tive citizen of Kane county, where almost 
 his entire life has been spent. He was born 
 in Wyoming, New York, September 9, 1843, 
 and is the son of Samuel and Margaret 
 (Spittal) Chapman, both of whom were na- 
 tives of Glasgow, Scotland. Their family 
 comprised nine children, four sons and five 
 daughters, eight of whom are now living 
 Samuel W. , of this sketch; Helen M., wife 
 of Frank P. Smith, of Kinsley, Kansas; 
 Mary E., wife of John Collins, of Harter, 
 Kansas; Sarah J., wife of Edson B. Easton, 
 of Guthrie, Oklahoma; Albert A., of Texas; 
 John E. , of Texas; Grace A., wife of Royal 
 W. Kimball, of Elgin; Julia A., wife of 
 George M. Peck, of Elgin; and Fred L. , 
 publisher of " The Ram's Horn," Chicago. 
 Samuel Chapman, the father, by occu- 
 pation was a farmer, and came to America 
 in 1841, locating in Wyoming, New York. 
 In 1844, he came to Kane county, Illinois, 
 and settled in Plato township, where he en- 
 gaged in farming until his death. He first 
 purchased forty acres of wild land, and as 
 his means increased added to his posses- 
 sions until he was the owner of four hundred 
 and sixty acres. Thoroughly loyal to his 
 adopted country, when the South rebelled 
 against the general government he assisted 
 in raising a company of cavalry known as 
 the Plato Cavalry, of which he was commis- 
 sioned first lieutenant. He and John S. 
 Durand furnished the horses for the com- 
 pany, which they afterwards sold to the 
 government. After the battle of Pea Ridge 
 he resigned and came home. Politically he 
 was a democrat, and while not caring for 
 
 office, served his township as supervisor for 
 some years. His death occurred in Octo- 
 ber, 1886, at the age of seventy years. His 
 good wife survived him more than a year, 
 dying at the age of sixty-nine years. They 
 were members of the Congregational church 
 and died in the full assurance of faith in the 
 life beyond the grave. Both were well 
 known and universally esteemed. 
 
 The paternal grandfather of our subject, 
 also named Samuel Chapman, was likewise 
 a native of Scotland, and there died when 
 about seventy-five years of age. His occu- 
 pation was that of a farmer. The maternal 
 grandfather, Andrew Spittal, was born in 
 Scotland and died near Glasgow when about 
 eighty years of- age. He followed farming 
 as a means of livelihood. 
 
 Samuel W. Chapman, our subject, was 
 about one year old when brought by his par- 
 ents to Kane county, and upon the old farm 
 in Plato township his boyhood and youth 
 were passed. The eldest in the family, he 
 was early 'trained to labor upon the farm 
 and knows from experience the meaning of 
 hard work. His primary education was ob- 
 tained in the subscription and district 
 schools, and his collegiate training at Beloit 
 College. 
 
 Soon after leaving college Mr. Chapman 
 went to Burlington, Iowa, as cashier in the 
 American and United States Express office, 
 where he remained four years, discharging 
 his duties in a faithful and conscientious 
 manner. He then returned to Elgin and 
 ran a flouring-mill. for ten years, when he 
 secured the position as agent of the McCor- 
 mick Harvesting Machine Company, remain- 
 ing with that company for fifteen years, re- 
 signing in 1893, when he embarked in his 
 present wagon, carriage and implement 
 business. In 1896 he associated with him-
 
 12 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 self A. M. Chapman, who, while of the 
 same name, is no relation, and the business 
 has since been conducted under the firm 
 name of S. W. & A. M. Chapman. Not- 
 withstanding the hard times since the busi- 
 ness was begun, a good trade has been 
 established, which is constantly increasing. 
 
 On the 1 5th of December, 1867, Mr. 
 Chapman was united in marriage with Miss 
 Alvena F. Stone, a native of Elgin town- 
 ship, and a daughter of Isaac and Abigail 
 Stone, natives of New Hampshire, and who 
 came to Kane county in 1831. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Chapman now reside in a pleasant 
 home, No. 753 Highland avenue, where 
 they delight to entertain their many friends. 
 Mrs. Chapman has for many years been a 
 member of the Congregational church, and 
 is well known in religious circles. Frater- 
 nally, Mr. Chapman is a Master Mason. 
 
 Like his father before him, Mr. Chap- 
 man is a thorough Democrat, and in the 
 success of the party takes especial delight. 
 His face is a familiar one in the conventions 
 of the party, and his influence is felt in its 
 councils. He has never cared for official 
 position, as his tastes and inclinations ran 
 in an entirely different channel. For seven 
 years, however, he served as a member 
 of the board of education, because of the 
 fact that he is a firm believer in the public 
 schools and desired to render all the aid in 
 his power to make them efficient. In Feb- 
 ruary, 1894, he was appointed by President 
 Cleveland, and confirmed by the United 
 States senate, as postmaster of Elgin, and 
 served until February, 1898. His admin- 
 istration of the office was such as to win 
 the confidence and good will of all the 
 patrons of the office of whatever political 
 belief. 
 
 As a business man Mr. Chapman is prob- 
 
 ably best known. For about eight years 
 he has been a director in the Century club, 
 a business men's association, and as such 
 has exerted an influence for good in behalf 
 of his adopted city. Thoroughly progress- 
 ive, he is ever ready to champion anything 
 that will advance the best interests of Elgin. 
 This fact is well known, and this it is which 
 commends him to all business and profes- 
 sional men, those on whose efforts the city 
 relies for its growth and well-being. A cit- 
 izen of the county for more than half a cen- 
 tury, there is nothing that affords him more 
 satisfaction than to see it take front rank 
 among the counties of this great common- 
 wealth, and to this end he is willing to bend 
 all his energies. 
 
 MILTON THORNTON, who is living 
 retired in the city of Geneva, has been 
 a resident of Kane county for more than 
 sixty-one years, having located here in May, 
 1837, at a time when the whole country 
 was comparatively new, the cabins of the 
 settlers being few and far between. He is 
 a native of New Hampshire, born in the 
 town of Thornton, Grafton county, October 
 20, 1809. His father, William Thornton, 
 was also a native of New Hampshire, and a 
 direct descendant of Matthew Thornton, of 
 national reputation, and one of the signers 
 of the Declaration of Independence. He 
 was a farmer in New Hampshire, and there 
 spent his entire life. His wife was Polly 
 Bagley, a daughter of Winthrop Bagley, a 
 soldier in the Revolutionary war. 
 
 Milton Thornton grew to manhood in 
 his native state, and had but limited educa- 
 tional advantages. He is mostly self-edu- 
 cated, his knowledge, which is of a practical 
 nature, being acquired since reaching ma- 
 ture years. He remained on the home
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 farm with his father, assisting in its cultiva- 
 tion until he was twenty-eight years old. 
 He then came west by way of the New 
 York & Erie canal and the great lakes, to 
 Chicago, and crossed the Fox river at Gen- 
 eva May 24, 1837. He at once took up a 
 claim in the town of Virgil, Kane county, 
 comprising a tract of two hundred and sev- 
 enty-five acres, on which he built a dwell- ' 
 ing house, and, fencing the land, began its 
 improvement. In due time he had a splen- 
 did farm, on which he resided for about 
 forty years. He first built a small house, 
 to which additions were later made. 
 
 For seven years after his arrival in Kane 
 county, Mr. Thornton lived a bachelor's 
 life, and during that time suffered from fever 
 and ague, the prevailing disease of that 
 early time, and also endured all the hard- 
 ships and privations incident to pioneer life. 
 His first marriage was in June, 1844, when 
 he married Miss Ruth Jenkins, a native of 
 Columbia county, New York, who came to 
 Illinois, with her father, Joseph Jenkins, who 
 was also a pioneer of Kane county. There 
 were two children by this union, both of 
 whom died in childhood. This wife died Jan- 
 uary 27, 1847, and Mr. Thornton next mar- 
 ried Paulina Bunker, the wedding ceremony 
 taking place December 23, 1847. She was 
 a native of Columbia county, New York, 
 and died May 16, 1876, at the age of sixty- 
 five years. There were also two children by 
 this marriage, and they also died in child- 
 hood. In Campton township, May 31, 
 1877, Mr. Thornton married Mary C. 
 Thompson, a native of Greenbrier county, 
 West Virginia, who came to Illinois in child- 
 hood, and was reared in Kane county. Her 
 father, Robert Thompson, was also a native 
 of West Virginia, and one of the pioneers 
 of Kane county. 
 
 In early life Mr. Thompson was an old- 
 line Whig, and cast his first presidential 
 vote for Henry Clay in 1832. In 1840 he 
 voted, in Kane county, for Harrison and 
 Tyler, " Tippecanoe and Tyler too." Be- 
 ing a strong anti-slavery man, and a be- 
 liever in equal rights of all, he voted for 
 John C. Fremont, in 1856, and has since 
 been a stanch Republican, casting his last 
 presidential vote at the age of eighty-seven 
 for William McKinley and protection. He 
 has never missed a presidential election 
 since casting his first vote for that office. 
 He has held several local positions of honor 
 and trust, including township supervisor, 
 justice of the peace, road commissioner, and 
 in whatever position elected, made a faith- 
 ful and efficient officer. He and his wife 
 are members of the Unitarian church, be- 
 ing a firm believer in its doctrines and ten- 
 ets. By his exemplary habits and upright 
 character he has won the respect and es- 
 teem of all who know him. 
 
 WILLIAM W. BALDWIN is one of 
 the younger members of the legal 
 profession in Elgin, but his ability is by no 
 means limited by his years, and he has now 
 gained a clientage and reputation that many 
 an older attorney might well envy. A na- 
 tive of Cooperstown, New York, born April 
 9, 1870, he is a son of Philander and Esther 
 (Laberdie) Baldwin, the former of German 
 ancestry and the latter of French ancestry. 
 The paternal grandfather of our subject was 
 a man of considerable prominence in Coop- 
 erstown, where he spent his entire life, and 
 by speculation he became quite wealthy, 
 but lost most of his money before his death. 
 His son, Philander Baldwin, was a mason, 
 contractor and builder for many years, but
 
 '4 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 now follows farming near Ottawa Lake, 
 Michigan, where he and his wife now make 
 their home. They are the parents of six 
 children, all living: William W. ; Mrs. Min- 
 nie Davidson, who resides in Wisconsin; 
 Albert, in the Tri-State College, Toledo, 
 Ohio; Philander, a resident of Toledo, Ohio; 
 Wesley and John, still with their parents. 
 The father of this family is a Jeffersonian 
 Democrat in his political belief, and his 
 wife is a Catholic in religious faith. 
 
 William W. Baldwin obtained his edu- 
 cation in the common schools and received 
 few advantages in his youth to fit him for 
 the practical and responsible duties of life. 
 He was ambitious, however, and made the 
 most of his opportunities. In 1887 he 
 came to Elgin, where he continued his edu- 
 cation by pursuing a commercial course, 
 after which he took up the study of law. 
 By correspondence he pursued a two-years' 
 law course under the direction of the 
 Sprague University, and then entered the 
 law office of Frank E. Shopen, who in- 
 structed him in the principles of jurispru- 
 dence for two years, after which he was ad- 
 mitted to the bar in Ottawa, Illinois, in De- 
 cember, 1896. 
 
 Mr. Baldwin at once returned to Elgin, 
 opened an office ajid has since engaged in 
 practice, meeting with gratifying success in 
 his chosen calling. On the I5th of Sep- 
 tember, 1897, ne formed a partnership with 
 J. R. Powers, Jr., and the firm has attained 
 considerable prominence in legal circles in 
 Kane county. Mr. Baldwin was appointed 
 notary public in 1895. 1 his business he 
 has made a specialty of pension-law prac- 
 tice, also patent-law, and in the latter divi- 
 sion of jurisprudence he has handled a num- 
 ber of very important cases with success. 
 These have frequently called him to Wash- 
 
 ington; and he has won some notable vic- 
 tories in forensic encounters with men of 
 high worth in the legal profession, a fact 
 which plainly indicates his own ability. 
 He is a member of the Chicago Law Stu- 
 dents Association. 
 
 In his political relations Mr. Baldwin is 
 a Republican and served as delegate to the 
 Illinois Lincoln Republican League at 
 Springfield in 1894. Socially he is con- 
 nected with the Knights of the Globe and 
 the Sons of Veterans. He is also a valued 
 member of the First Baptist church and a 
 man of benevolent, kindly nature. 
 
 Mr. Baldwin was married September 15, 
 1897, in Elgin, to Miss May L. Smith, a 
 daughter of Curtis A. and Mary (Crowfoot) 
 Smith. Her father is a representative of 
 one of the old families of Elgin and is now 
 connected with the Elgin Watch Factory in 
 the responsible position of foreman of one 
 of the departments. Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin 
 have a wide acquaintance and high standing 
 in the social circles of Elgin and share in 
 the warm regard of many friends. 
 
 ISAAC H. WARREN, a prominent at- 
 I torney of Elgin, with office in the Home 
 Bank Building, is a man who thoroughly 
 loves his profession, and is eminently gifted 
 with the capabilities of mind which are in- 
 dispensable at the bar. In preparing a case 
 for trial every fact, however insignificant, 
 is carefully studied and its possible relevancy 
 to the merits of the case weighed and con- 
 sidered. He is thoroughly familiar with 
 authority and never at a loss for a prec- 
 edent. 
 
 Mr. Warren was born March 8, 1851, in 
 Boone county, Illinois, and is a son of John 
 and Anna (Church) Warren. His maternal
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 grandfather, William Church, was an Eng- 
 lishman by birth and was a lieutenant in 
 the English army, being in the service when 
 Napoleon threatened to invade England. 
 On coming to the United States William 
 Church located in New York, where he fol- 
 lowed the occupation of farming until his 
 death. He married Miss Esther Deacon, 
 and to them were born eight children five 
 sons and three daughters of whom Mrs. 
 Warren is the eldest. Two sons and all the 
 daughters are still living, their average age 
 being seventy-five years, and both in mind 
 and body they are well preserved. 
 
 John Warren, our subject's father, was 
 born in England, in 1811, and when nine- 
 teen years of age accompanied his parents 
 on their emigration to America. He was 
 one of a family of nine children five sons 
 and four daughters. During his younger 
 years he engaged in farming in the Empire 
 state, but at an early day came to Illinois, 
 and upon a farm in Boone county lived un^ 
 til called from this life in 1884, at the age 
 of seventy-three years. He was officially 
 connected with the Congregational church, 
 of which he and his wife were both earnest 
 and faithful members. She is still living. 
 Their children were as follows: J. W. , a 
 salesman living in Omaha, Nebraska; A. G. , 
 who died at the age of eighteen years; Isaac 
 H., of this sketch; Etta, wife of W. W. 
 Ware, a farmer of Batavia, New York; 
 Josephine, deceased wife of Rev. M. N. 
 Clark, a Congregational minister; and Del- 
 la, wife of W. A. Whiting, a merchant of 
 Poplar Grove, Illinois. 
 
 Reared on the old farm in Boone county, 
 Illinois, Isaac H. Warren obtained his early 
 education in the public schools of the local- 
 ity, and he was later a student in Beloit 
 College, of Wisconsin, having secured the 
 
 means to continue his studies by teaching 
 for four years in the country schools. When 
 his literary education was completed, he 
 read law in the offices of several attorneys, 
 and in January, 1891, was admitted to the 
 bar, being licensed to practice before all the 
 courts of the state. He at once opened an 
 office in Elgin, and now enjoys a good 
 practice. 
 
 On the i6th of May, 1882, Mr. Warren 
 was united in marriage with Miss Viola O. 
 McAllister, daughter of S. McAllister, of 
 Elgin, and to them have been born two 
 daughters: Louie O. and Vera L. Mr. 
 Warren is a member of the Congregational 
 church, while his wife is a Baptist in relig- 
 ious belief. Socially he is a prominent 
 member of the Odd Fellows' lodge of Elgin, 
 in which he is now serving as treasurer, and 
 has passed through all the chairs in the 
 Royal League, being past archon and deputy 
 of the same. As a Republican he takes an 
 active interest in political affairs, and has 
 held some minor offices, including that of 
 township collector and school director. In 
 all the relations of life Mr. Warren displays 
 that integrity of character that wins and 
 holds the confidence of all with whom he 
 comes in contact, and his many estimable 
 traits of character have gained for him a 
 host of warm friends. As a citizen he holds 
 a prominent place in the regard of his fellow- 
 townsmen. 
 
 DANIEL VAN GORDER, a well-known 
 contractor, and one of the -highly re- 
 spected citizens of Elgin, living at No. 432 
 Fulton street, is a native of New York, born 
 May 15, 1830, near Aurora, on Lake Cay- 
 uga, in the town of Scipio, Cayuga county, 
 and is a son of John and Sarah (Helms) Van
 
 i6 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Gorder, who were born in Pennsylvania, of 
 Holland ancestry. Throughout his business 
 career the father engaged in contracting and 
 hotel keeping, conducting a popular hostelry 
 in Geneseo, New York, for more than 
 twenty years. He was widely and favor- 
 ably known, and well deserved the reputa- 
 tion he enjoyed of being one of the best 
 landlords in his section of the state. He 
 died August 20, 1852, aged sixty years, and 
 his wife seven days later, at the age of fifty- 
 nine. She was a devout and earnest Chris- 
 tian woman, a faithful member of the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal church, and the poor and 
 needy were never turned from her door 
 empty-handed. She was kind and obliging 
 at all times, and her home was the favorite 
 stopping place with the minister. Of her 
 nine children, Daniel is the eighth in order 
 of birth, but only three are now living, the 
 others being Selah, a contractor and builder, 
 residing in Elmira, .New York; and Amy, 
 widow of Henry Boughton, and a resident 
 of Galena, Kansas. 
 
 The boyhood and youth of our subject 
 were spent in his father's hotel at Geneseo, 
 New York, which he visited a few years 
 since, and in the public schools of that city 
 he acquired his education. After leaving 
 the school room he learned the painter's 
 trade and for some years engaged in house 
 painting, after which he was employed as 
 clerk in hotels in New York City, Newark, 
 New Jersey, and Rochester, New York. He 
 began contracting in 1855, in New York, 
 where he was employed as foreman on the 
 Erie canal, but in 1857 came west, stop- 
 ping first in Chicago. Subsequently he 
 went to Dubuque, Iowa, and still later to 
 Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, where he 
 spent some years as a railroad contractor. 
 He has engaged in the same business in 
 
 many states, including Colorado, New York, 
 Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Minne- 
 sota, Iowa, Kansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, 
 Arkansas, Alabama and Mississippi. From 
 Memphis, Tennessee, he came to Elgin in 
 1889, and here he has since made his home 
 while continuing to engage in both railroad 
 and general contracting. 
 
 In 1849 was celebrated the marriage of 
 Mr. Van Gorder and Miss Laura Welton, 
 daughter of Amos Welton, of Canandaigua, 
 New York, and to them was born a son, 
 Charles, now a job printer and prominent 
 citizen of Elgin, who married Hannah 
 Bundy and has two children, Prentice and 
 William. The first wife of our subject died 
 in 1864, at the age of twenty-three years, 
 and in 1866 he wedded Miss Susan Bundy 
 by whom he has one daughter, Lucille, a 
 proficient and popular music teacher, now 
 connected with the Hecker's College of 
 Music in Elgin. In religious belief the 
 the mother is an Episcopalian. 
 
 In 1859 Mr. Van Gorder was made a 
 Mason at Prairie du Chien lodge. No. 106, 
 F. & A. M., and has since affiliated with 
 that fraternity. Politically he is not identi- 
 fied with any party but votes independently, 
 endeavoring to support the man best quali- 
 fied for office regardless of party ties. As 
 a citizen he ever stands ready to discharge 
 every duty devolving upon him, and he has 
 a large circle of friends and acquaintances 
 in the various states where he has been 
 located at different times throughout his 
 active and useful career. 
 
 JUDGE R. N. BOTSFORD, senior mem- 
 J ber of the firm of Botsford, Wayne & 
 Botsford, lawyers, Cook block, Elgin, is 
 one of the truly representative members of
 
 JUDGE R. N. BOTSFORD.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the legal profession in Kane county. What- 
 ever may be said of the legal fraternity, it 
 cannot be denied that members of the bar 
 have been more prominent actors in public 
 affairs than any other class of the commun- 
 ity. This is but the natural result of causes 
 which are manifest and require no explana- 
 tion. The ability and training which qual- 
 ify one to practice law also qualify him in 
 many respects for the duties which lie out- 
 side the strict path of his profession and 
 which touch the general interests of society. 
 This is what makes him a leader of men 
 and often leads him, sometimes in reality 
 against his will, into the political arena, and 
 in times of war into the military serv- 
 ice as commander of regiments, brigades, 
 divisions and corps. That the subject of 
 this sketch has left his impress upon the 
 history of Kane county, its annals for the 
 past fifty years will duly attest. 
 
 Richard N. Botsford was born in New- 
 ton, Fairfield county, Connecticut, October 
 28, 1830, and is a son of Austin N. and 
 Volucia V. (Glover) Botsford, also natives 
 of the same state, and the parents of eight 
 children, five of whom are now living: 
 Richard N., our subject; Eugene M., of 
 Newton, Connecticut; Austin N., of Fort 
 Dodge, Iowa; Caroline, wife of Edward 
 Parsons, of Connecticut; and Alosia, wife 
 of Reuben Johnson, of New Haven, Con- 
 necticut. 
 
 Austin N. Botsford, the father, was a 
 man of marked ability, and by occupation 
 was a farmer. He served his district as a 
 member of the legislature, and was also a 
 captain of the state militia. Religiously he 
 was a Universalist. His death occurred in 
 1842, at the age of forty-four years. After 
 his death his wife married W. Northrup, 
 who died many years ago. She lived to be 
 
 eighty years of age, dying in 1894, in New 
 Haven, Connecticut. 
 
 The paternal grandfather, Philo Bots- 
 ford, was a native of Connecticut, of Eng- 
 lish stock. He was the father of two chil- 
 dren. His death occurred at the age of 
 seventy-eight years. The maternal grand- 
 father Glover was also born in Connecticut 
 and died at the age of about fifty years. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood in his native state and is a graduate of 
 the State Normal School, at New Britain, 
 Connecticut. For some years after his 
 graduation he- taught school in Connecticut, 
 Illinois, Wisconsin dnd Missouri. While 
 engaged in teaching he read law, and in 
 1857 was admitted to the bar in Black River 
 Falls, Wisconsin. Removing to St. Charles, 
 Kane county, for a time he was engaged in 
 publishing a newspaper, and in 1858 com- 
 menced the practice of law there. In 1869 
 he removed to Elgin and has here continu- 
 ously made his home from that time, en- 
 gaged in the practice of his profession. 
 While yet residing at St. Charles, in 1861, 
 he was elected county judge and acceptably 
 filled out a four-years' term. 
 
 On the 2/th of December, 1860, Judge 
 Botsford was united in marriage to Miss 
 Ellen E. Bundy, daughter of P. E. and 
 Pamelia (Lowell) Bundy. By this union 
 two children were born, Carl E. and Alosia. 
 The latter died in 1892 at the age of eight- 
 een years. The former is now the junior 
 member of the firm of Botsford, Wayne & 
 Botsford. 
 
 Politically Judge Botsford is a Democrat, 
 and although he has always taken an active 
 part in political affairs he has never been 
 an office seeker. Business and professional 
 interests have demanded of him his time, 
 and he therefore left to others office seek-
 
 20 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ing. His reputation as an attorney secured 
 him the nomination of his party for the of- 
 fice of supreme judge, in June, 1897, but as 
 his party is in a strong minority in the dis- 
 trict, he failed of an election. That he 
 would have creditably filled the position is 
 acknowledged by all, especially the legal 
 fraternity. 
 
 The Judge comes of a long-lived race, 
 his maternal grandmother living to be one 
 hundred and two years old. Although near 
 the three-score-and-ten mark, he is a well- 
 preserved man with physical and mental 
 abilities unabated. With the exception of 
 a short time in Missouri and Wisconsin, he 
 has been a resident of Kane county since 
 1 85 1, and as stated, the impress of his mind 
 has been left upon the county. He is hon- 
 ored and respected by all. 
 
 ELISHA WEED is a retired farmer living 
 in the village of Hampshire, and is well 
 and favorably known throughout Kane coun- 
 ty. He was born in Bloomfield township, 
 Trumbull county, Ohio, August 20, 1817. 
 His educational advantages were such as 
 were provided in the early days in his native 
 county, when teachers were paid eight dol- 
 lars a month and board around, many of 
 them knowing but little more than some of 
 their pupils. The school houses were built 
 of logs and provided with wooden benches 
 for seats. 
 
 John Weed, the father of our subject, 
 was born near Bangor, Maine, and by oc- 
 cupation was a farmer. In the war of 1812 
 he served two years as sergeant in a Maine 
 regiment and was in the battle of Sackett's 
 Harbor. In Ohio he married Jemima Big- 
 elow, daughter of Timothy Bigelow, a sol- 
 dier of the Revolutionary war, who came 
 
 with the family to Ohio, where he died. 
 His wife was a Miss Hovey. In 1815 Tim- 
 othy Bigelow moved with his family from 
 Vermont to Ohio, the father and son walk- 
 ing all the way, the mother driving a four- 
 horse wagon containing all their earthly 
 possessions. In Cattaraugus county, New 
 York, wolves killed one of their horses, and 
 from there they drove three. They settled 
 in Ohio when that was a wilderness and 
 lived the life usual to pioneers. Of the nine 
 children born to John and Jemima Weed, 
 four are yet living, as follows: Elisha, our 
 subject; George N., living in Ohio; Eliza- 
 beth, wife of John Burns, of Hampshire; 
 and William, who resides in Missouri. 
 
 At the age of nineteen our subject went to 
 Indiana, working in Bartholomew, Johnson, 
 Floyd and Tippecanoe counties, at one time 
 being employed on the old state road, from 
 New Albany northwest. While at this work 
 the contractor failed, and Mr. Weed could 
 get no pay for his labor. The contractor 
 promised to pay him, however, and agreed 
 to keep him until he was paid. Mr. Weed 
 walked one hundred miles to the contractor's 
 home, where he remained for some time 
 and was finally paid. For a time he rented 
 land in Indiana and engaged in farming. 
 
 On the roth of March, 1842, at Blue 
 River, Bartholomew county, Indiana, Mr. 
 Weed was united in marriage with Miss 
 Julia A. Hartman, who was second in order 
 of birth in a family of eleven children born 
 to Francis and Magdeline (Gilbert) Hart- 
 man, both of German origin. She was born 
 near Little York. Pennsylvania, July 22, 
 1822. A few years later her parents moved 
 to Indiana and settled in Bartholomew 
 county, at a time when the country was 
 comparatively new, and where they had 
 none of the comforts of their old Pennsyl-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 21 
 
 vania home. The mother cried over the 
 desolate outlook, but after a time became 
 more contented. By this union there were 
 five children: the first named died in infancy; 
 Helen M. married E. L. Starks, of Starks 
 Station, and died, leaving one daughter, 
 Mabel H., while one child died in infancy; 
 Francis W. married Rachel Dean, by whom 
 he has four children, Carrie A., Harry, 
 Edith and Frederick, and they reside in 
 Sac county, Iowa; George A. married Jane 
 Tait, and lives in Sac county, Iowa; and 
 Frederick P. A., who married Harriet Plum- 
 mer, and lives on the old home farm. 
 
 In 1845 Mr. Weed came to Kane coun- 
 ty, Illinois, traveling by wagon drawn by 
 oxen, and located in Hampshire township, 
 where he bought forty acres on section 27, 
 to which he later added one hundred and 
 twenty acres. His deeds, signed by James 
 K. Polk, then president of the United States, 
 have never been transferred. Deer, wolves 
 and wild game abounded in the country at 
 that time and the few neighbors were very 
 far apart. It was nearly all raw, unbroken 
 prairie and timber. 
 
 Mr. Weed is a member of the Masonic 
 order, and is the last of the charter mem- 
 bers living, of Hampshire lodge, No. 443. 
 He has been a Mason for over forty years. 
 In early life he was a Whig, his first vote 
 being for William H. Harrison, in 1840. 
 Since the formation of the Republican party 
 he has been a strong advocate of its princi- 
 ples, and has voted his party's ticket. In 
 early life he served as constable, road com- 
 missioner, school director and in other 
 minor official positions. He is now one of 
 the solid and substantial men of Hampshire 
 township. The conditions of life now ex- 
 isting are very different from what they 
 were when Mr. and Mrs. Weed came to 
 
 Kane county, a young married couple. Mrs. 
 Weed learned to spin, weave linen and 
 wool, and in early days made all the clothes 
 for herself and family. After a long and 
 useful life they are now living in retirement, 
 enjoying the fruits of their former toil, and 
 surrounded by those who have intimately 
 known them in days gone by. 
 
 JOHN R. POWERS, of the firm of 
 Baldwin & Powers, attorneys of Elgin, 
 was born in the city which is still his place of 
 residence, April 6, 1870, his parents being 
 John and Johanah (Sutton) Powers, who 
 were natives of Ireland and Illinois respect- 
 ively. The father was a cooper by trade, 
 and at the beginning of the Rebellion he laid 
 aside all business cares and offered his 
 services to the Union, enlisting as a mem- 
 ber of the Fifty-second Illinois Infantry, 
 with which he went to the front. After- 
 ward he joined Company K, Sixteenth New 
 York Cavalry, serving during the greater 
 part of the war as a scout. His command 
 often engaged in skirmishes with Mosby's 
 cavalry, and in one of these engagements 
 he was wounded, and was sent to a hospital 
 in Washington. A few days after his re- 
 covery he was sent out with a company to 
 hunt up Booth, the assassin, and was in the 
 command that captured him. After his 
 return from the war he secured a position 
 on the police force of Elgin and served 
 creditably in that capacity until he was 
 chosen for the office of city marshal in 1870. 
 For eighteen years he filled the latter posi- 
 tion, discharging his duties with marked 
 fidelity and ability, a fact which is plainly 
 indicated by his long continuance in office. 
 On his retirement from that position he 
 was elected supervisor and served for one
 
 22 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 term, after which he filled the office of con- 
 stable, was then deputy sheriff, and was at 
 one time alderman from the Seventh ward. 
 When he left the office of marshal he pur- 
 chased a half interest in the Elgin Ice Com- 
 pany, with which he was connected for two 
 years. In 1897 he was again appointed 
 marshal by Mayor Price, and is now serv- 
 ing in that capacity. In politics he is a 
 stanch Republican, and is a member of the 
 Grand Army of the Republic, the Independ- 
 ent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern 
 Woodmen of America. He has a family of 
 five living children John R. , May, Celia 
 A., Mabel and Charles L., and has lost one 
 daughter, Nellie. 
 
 John R. Powers, of this review, pur- 
 sued his elementary education in the public 
 schools of Elgin and afterward attended the 
 Elgin Academy. At the same time he read 
 law with the firm of Botsford & Wayne, and 
 and was admitted to the bar at Ottowa in 
 June, 1897. He soon afterward entered 
 into partnership with W. W. Baldwin, 
 under the firm style of Baldwin & Powers, 
 and the firm is now enjoying a fair clientage. 
 They have pleasant offices in the Spurling 
 Block, and they have already met with 
 creditable success, while the business is 
 constantly increasing. Mr. Powers is a 
 young man of strong intellectuality and ex- 
 cellent business ability, and has the energy 
 which always overcomes obstacles and 
 ultimately reaches the goal of success. He 
 is now holding the position of first sergeant 
 in General W. F. Lynch camp, Sons of 
 Veterans, also secretary of the Philomenian 
 Club, and a member of several other social 
 organizations. He has many friends in the 
 community in which his entire life has been 
 passed, and enjoys the confidence and respect 
 of all. 
 
 MOSES H. THOMPSON. The sub- 
 ject of this sketch has been almost a 
 lifelong resident of Kane county, having 
 come here with his parents in 1834, when 
 but one year old. His father, Captain 
 Thomas H. Thompson came to Chicago in 
 
 1833, returned to Plattsburg, New York, in 
 
 1834, and at once removed his family to 
 Illinois, settling in Du Page county, and 
 from there removed to Fox river valley in 
 
 1835, settling in what is now Dundee town- 
 ship, Kane county. Like all country boys 
 in pioneer days, Mr. Thompson remained 
 at home, working on his father's farm until 
 twenty-one years of age. 
 
 When wishing for a broader and bet- 
 ter education than could be obtained 
 at the public schools, he took a course in 
 civil engineering, which profession he fol- 
 lowed for many years, beginning in the Ga- 
 lena and Dubuque lead mines about in 1858, 
 and then upon government surveys and the 
 early railroad lines west of the Mississippi. 
 About 1860 he concluded to abandon the 
 engineering and surveying business and en- 
 gage in map publishing, which he did, con- 
 fining himself almost exclusively to county 
 map work, being the pioneer publisher in 
 the west to show the name of each land 
 owner upon each tract. This business was 
 extended over nearly all of the northwestern 
 states. In Illinois alone nearly one-third 
 of the entire state was thus mapped. These 
 maps were made so thorough and complete 
 that copies were added to many of the 
 libraries of the most prominent geograph- 
 ical societies of the world. 
 
 In 1872 Mr. Thompson became con- 
 nected with the Elgin Gas Light Company, 
 as its secretary and manager, in which po- 
 sition he continued about ten years. He 
 then became identified with the South-
 
 M. H. THOMPSON.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 western Lumber Company, as president 
 and manager, but after four years' active 
 management of the company's affairs, on 
 account of ill health, it was determined to 
 sell the property of the company, consist- 
 ing of mills and pine lands in the state of 
 Arkansas. After this Mr. Thompson re- 
 turned to Elgin, his old home, where he 
 has since resided. In 1864 he purchased 
 one of the largest farms in Dundee town- 
 ship, from which time he has been largely 
 engaged in the dairy business, and was 
 among the first to make Elgin a pronounced 
 dairy district. He was the first secretary 
 of the Illinois State Dairymen's Association 
 and continued as such for several years, al- 
 ways taking an interest in whatever per- 
 tains to the dairy interest of the state of 
 Illinois. Mr. Thompson is now serving as 
 president of the Elgin National Bank and 
 has been since its organization in 1892. 
 He is also president of the Old Settlers' 
 Association of Fox River Valley. He is a 
 member of the Lakeside, Century and Wal- 
 tonian .Clubs. In politics he is a stanch 
 Republican, his father, Captain T. H. 
 Thompson being one of the founders of 
 that party. 
 
 In 1862 Mr. Thompson was married to 
 Miss Clarissa I. -Miller, daughter of David 
 and Clarissa Miller, and to them have been 
 born two children: Walter M. and Clara I. 
 Walter M. married Miss Elizabeth Cliff, 
 December 16, 1885, and they have two 
 children: Arthur C. and Kathryn. Clara 
 I. was married to John A. Carlisle in 1891, 
 and they now have one son, Donald T. 
 The parents of our subject, Captain T. 
 H. and Sarah (Hoit) Thompson, were na- 
 tives of Maine and Plattsburg, New York, 
 respectively. The mother was a daughter 
 of Colonel' Moses X. Hoit, who, as well as 
 
 his ancestors, was among the foremost to 
 make history during the American Revolu- 
 tion. The paternal ancestors of our sub- 
 ject were also among the defenders of the 
 rights of this country. 
 
 DEWITT C. ADAMS, now living a re- 
 tired life in the city of Dundee, but 
 who for years was one of the active, enter- 
 prising and respected business men of this 
 section of the state, is numbered among the 
 old settlers who date their residence in Illi- 
 nois since 1842. He was born in Cortland 
 county, New York, January 29, 1824, and 
 is of English descent, the family coming to 
 this country at a very early date in its his- 
 tory, William Adams, his father, was born 
 in Saratoga, -Northumberland county, New 
 York, in 1784, and wfesvthe son of Oliver 
 Adams, also born in New York. Oliver 
 Adams moved to Cortland county about 
 1 804, and there made a home in the wilder- 
 ness, where he reared his family. William 
 Adams married Phebe Lewis, also a native 
 of New York. After residing in Cortland 
 county a number of years he removed to 
 Syracuse, New York, and resided there four 
 yeafs. In 1842 he came to Illinois and set- 
 tled in Cook county, where he spent the re- 
 mainder of his life, dying at the residence 
 of his son, DeWitt C. , in 1859. His wife 
 survived him five years, passing away Jan- 
 uary i, 1864. They were laid to rest in the 
 cemetery at Dundee. William Adams was 
 a well-posted man and while taking an act- 
 ive interest in political affairs never sought 
 nor would he hold public office. 
 
 In the family of William and Phebe 
 Adams were three sons and two daughters 
 who grew to mature years, as follows: Maria, 
 wife of John Van Hoesen, of Hastings, Min-
 
 26 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 nesota. Oliver, who was for many years a 
 publisher of school records in Chicago, is 
 now deceased. He was well-known through- 
 out the state and elsewhere among educators 
 as the publisher of Adams School Records 
 and various school supplies which are yet 
 used to some extent. DeWitt C. , our sub- 
 ject, is next in order of birth. Harriet S. 
 married Edward F. Wells, with whom she 
 removed to San Diego, California, where 
 she died. John C., who resides in Chicago, 
 is a practical jeweler and was one of the 
 original founders of the Elgin watch fac- 
 tory. He is now living a retired life. One 
 daughter, Betsy, died at the age of fourteen 
 years. 
 
 The boyhood and youth of our subject 
 were spent in Cortland county, and in the 
 city of. Syracuse, New York. He had fair 
 educational advantages, which he improved 
 as well as possible, but is mostly a self-edu- 
 cated man. He was eighteen years of age 
 when he came with the family to Cook 
 county, Illinois. For three winters after his 
 arrival there he taught in the public schools, 
 being one of the pioneer teachers of Cook 
 county. His life work, however, was that 
 of a farmer. Soon after coming of age he 
 purchased two hundred forty acres of land 
 in Barrington township, which he put under 
 a high state of cultivation and on which he 
 resided for many years. In 1883 he rented 
 the place and moved to Dundee, purchased 
 some lots and built his present residence. 
 Previous to this, however, he had become 
 interested in business in that city, having 
 become part owner in a lumber and coal 
 yard. After his removal to the city he took 
 an active part in the management of the 
 business for several years, but lately sold 
 out and is now practically living a retired 
 life. 
 
 Mr. Adams was married in Elgin No- 
 vember 25, 1852, to Mary E. Harvey, a 
 native of New York, born in Herkimer 
 county, and a daughter of David Harvey, a 
 pioneer settler of Plato township, Kane 
 county. She was reared in this county, 
 and received her education in the schools of 
 Elgin. For some years previous to her 
 marriage she was a successful teacher in 
 the public schools. She died at her home 
 in Dundee, February 19, 1895, leaving one 
 son and one daughter. The son, William 
 H., is now a business man residing in Chi- 
 cago, while the daughter, Mary E., yet re- 
 sides at home, and is her father's house- 
 keeper. She is a well-educated lady, a 
 graduate of the Loring Young Ladies' School 
 of Chicago. One daughter, Carrie, died at 
 the age of seven years, while one son, Louie, 
 died at the age of two and a half years, and 
 another, Charles, died at the age of nine 
 months. 
 
 In early- life Mr. Adams was an old-line 
 Whig, and, like his father, was a strong be- 
 liever in the principles of that party. A 
 friend of liberty, he united with the Repub- 
 lican party on its organization, and voted 
 for its first presidential candidate; John C. 
 Fremont, in 1856. Being a strong temper- 
 ance man, he has of late identified himself 
 with the Prohibition party. He has ever 
 been a friend of education and the public 
 schools, and has at all times used his influ- 
 ence in their behalf. Religiously he is a 
 Baptist, of which church he has been a 
 member for forty-eight years. The cause 
 of the Master has ever been dear to his 
 heart, and he has ever been willing to sac- 
 rifice time and money to advance its inter- 
 ests. For some years he was an active 
 member of the Masonic fraternity, but of 
 late has been dimitted.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 27 
 
 When Mr. Adams came to Illinois he 
 had but little of this world's goods, but by 
 his own labor and enterprise he has accu- 
 mulated a valuable property, and is recog- 
 nized as one of the substantial men of Kane 
 county. He is a man of exemplary habits, 
 of upright character and worth, and has the 
 confidence and esteem of all who know him, 
 and his friends are numerous both through- 
 out Kane and Cook counties. 
 
 In the summer of 1895 Mr. Adams and 
 his daughter made a trip to Europe, visiting 
 a number of the cities and kingdoms of that 
 land. They first visited Glasgow and North 
 Scotland, including Edinburgh, through some 
 of the German states and Switzerland, Paris, 
 Venice, Rome, London and Liverpool, and 
 altogether had a pleasant and profitable time. 
 They returned home in the fall of the same 
 year, feeling well repaid for the time and 
 money spent. 
 
 REV. CASPER J. HUTH, the popular 
 priest in charge of St. Charles Catholic 
 church at Hampshire, Illinois, was born in 
 Cologne, Germany, September 22, 1845, an d 
 with the family emigrated to America in 
 1855, leaving their home May 27, sailing 
 from Antwerp June i, and landing in New 
 York, June 17. His father, Peter Huth, 
 was born in Cologne, September 15, 1819, 
 and in his native country worked as a day 
 laborer. With a view of bettering his con- 
 dition he came to the United States and 
 settled in Freeport, Illinois, where he made 
 his home the remainder of his life, with the 
 exception of a short time spent with our 
 subject in Hampshire. Shortly before his 
 death he returned to Freeport and died at 
 the residence of his daughter, January 29, 
 1898. On coming to this country he 
 secured work with the Chicago, Milwaukee 
 
 & St. Paul railroad, in whose services he 
 remained for many years, filling various 
 positions, and for a number of years before 
 retiring had charge of the roundhouse at 
 Freeport. His life though an uneventful 
 one, he so lived as to merit the confidence 
 and esteem of his fellow men. In his 
 native city he married Cecelia Mevis, who 
 became the mother of four children as fol- 
 lows: Caspar J., our subject; Mary, who 
 died at the age of eleven years; Clara, who 
 married John Zengerle, of Still water, Minne- 
 sota; and Theresa, wife of Charles Seeker, 
 of Freeport, Illinois, with whom the father 
 made his home at the time of death. 
 
 While yet residing in Germany, our 
 subject attended the parochial schools, 
 which he also attended after coming to 
 Freeport, and which was supplemented by 
 attendance in the public schools of Free- 
 port. He began his theological studies in 
 the University of St. Louis, at St. Louis, 
 Missouri, and later attended St. Mary's of 
 the Lake, at Chicago, Illinois, where he re- 
 mained seven years, and was then a short 
 time in St. Francis College, Milwaukee, 
 where he was ordained to the priesthood 
 January 29, 1869. 
 
 Father Huth's ministry has been an 
 unusual one in the length of time which he 
 served at his various stations. His first 
 charge was at Somonauk, De Kalb county, 
 Illinois, where he remained fifteen and a 
 half years, then took a vacation for six 
 months, at the expiration of which time he 
 was assigned to St. Charles church, in 
 Hampshire. This was in the spring of 
 1885, since which time he has ministered to 
 the spiritual wants of the congregation of 
 that village, in sickness and in health, at 
 the bridal altar, and at the bier. He is a 
 man of energy and strong mental vigor, and
 
 28 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 is greatly esteemed by Catholics and Prot- 
 estants alike. One of his most pleasant 
 recollections, is that of a visit while at 
 Somonauk, of Archbishop, now Cardinal, 
 Gibbons, who was visiting Bishop Froley, 
 of Chicago. Many years after, at a large 
 gathering of clergymen, at which the Cardi- 
 nal was present, the latter recalled the visit 
 and asked if the young priest who officiated 
 at Somonauk was present, and when he 
 was presented to him, gave the Father Huth 
 a most cordial greeting. 
 
 After an absence of more than forty 
 years from his native land, Father Huth 
 now contemplates a trip abroad to revisit 
 the place of his birth and greet his kindred 
 whom he has not seen since boyhood. His 
 many friends in Kane and De Kalb counties 
 will wish him a pleasant journey and a safe 
 return to take up the work of ministering to 
 fallen humanity. 
 
 CHARLES P. REID, M. D., Hamp- 
 shire, Illinois, is recognized as one of 
 the best physicians in the north part of 
 Kane county. He was born near Kingston, 
 Frontenac county, Canada, October 16, 
 1848, and with his parents came to Kane 
 county, Illinois. His father, David Reid, 
 was born near Aiken Claurie, about thirty- 
 five miles south of Glasgow, Scotland, Feb- 
 ruary 13, 1813. His early life was spent 
 in his native country, and in 1833, when 
 twenty years of age, he emigrated to Canada, 
 sailing from Campbellton on the vessel Mar- 
 garet, of Londonderry. The voyage re- 
 quired three months, the vessel landing at 
 (,)uebec. Two years later he was followed 
 by his father, John Reid, the family settling 
 near Kingston, in Frontenac county, where 
 he lived seventeen years. John Reid, the 
 
 father of David, bought a farm of two hun- 
 dred acres near Kingston, where his death 
 occurred about 1852. His wife, Martha 
 Armour, died about 1859. She was the 
 daughter of William and Margaret Armour. 
 John Reid was the son of William Reid, 
 who married a Miss Gordon, and both died 
 in Scotland. 
 
 In 1848, David Reid came to Kane coun- 
 ty, Illinois, on a prospecting tour, and liking 
 the country purchased a farm of one hun- 
 dred and sixty acres in Hampshire township, 
 returned home and in the spring of 1850, 
 moved here with his family. He is now 
 living with his daughter on the old home- 
 stead, where he spent nearly half a cen- 
 tury. At one time he was the owner of 
 three hundred and sixty acres, forty acres 
 of which he later sold, leaving him the 
 possessor of the south half of section 17. 
 He was a good farmer, a good citizen, and 
 good neighbor, and is yet living at the age 
 of eighty-five years, but in ill health from a 
 stroke of paralysis. While yet residing in 
 Canada, he married Olive Powley, a native 
 of Frontenac county, Canada, born in April, 
 1813. Her death occurred at the family 
 residence on section 17, Hampshire town- 
 ship, in 1871. She was the daughter of 
 William Powley, a native of Pennsylvania, 
 who attained the age of ninety years, and 
 who married Elizabeth Hoffman. His par- 
 ents lived in America prior to the Revolu- 
 tionary war, but after the close of that 
 struggle returned to their native country, 
 Germany', but some years later again emi- 
 grated to the states. About the time of 
 the outbreak of the war of 1812, William 
 Powley moved to Canada, where he secured 
 a good farm and passed the remainder of 
 his life. He often related to his children, 
 how at one time in the forest he ran out of
 
 C. P. REID, M. D.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 provisions, and killed, cooked and ate a 
 rattlesnake, which he always declared was, 
 under the circumstances, very good. Of 
 the four children born to David and Olive 
 Reid, three are yet living as follows: John, 
 a speculator and banker of Kansas City, 
 Kansas. Dr. Charles P., our subject. Mar- 
 tha, wife of Alexander R. Walker, lives on 
 the old home farm, and ministers to, and 
 cares for her aged father, in his affliction. 
 
 The subject of this sketch attended the 
 public schools of Hampshire and the Elgin 
 Academy, and for one year at Clark Semi- 
 nary, now Jennings Seminary, in Aurora. 
 He then taught school during six winter 
 terms, being occupied with farm work dur- 
 ing the summer seasons. He began teach- 
 ing at the age of nineteen. Previous to 
 this he began reading medicine, reading 
 privately fora time and then in the office of 
 Doctor Kelly, of Elgin. He then attended 
 Bennett's Medical College of Chicago, from 
 which he was graduated in 1872. He also 
 studied pharmacy in Chicago, in the Phar- 
 maceutical College, passing examination, 
 and was for three years engaged in phar- 
 macy in that city. In 1875 he began the 
 practice of his profession in Hampshire, 
 where he remained until 1888, when he 
 joined his brother in Kansas City, Kansas, 
 practicing there until 1894, when he re- 
 turned to Hampshire. Since his first ad- 
 mission to practice, Dr. Reid has kept 
 abreast of the times by occasional courses 
 in medical colleges, having attended two 
 courses of lectures in the Chicago Medical 
 College, and one in Hahnemann, of the 
 same city. In the summer of 1898, he pro- 
 poses to again take a post-graduate course, 
 obtaining a knowledge of the improved 
 methods of medicine and surgery. 
 
 Dr. Reid, on the 6th of February, 1877, 
 
 married Rosamond Heath, a native of Ger- 
 many, who died in Kansas City, Kansas, 
 August 16, 1889, leaving one child, Guy, a 
 pupil in the Hampshire High School. Two- 
 children, Olive and Mayne, died in in- 
 fancy. 
 
 Dr. Reid delights in scientific subjects, 
 and is of an inventive turn of mind. Among 
 the creations of his inventive genius, may 
 be mentioned an improved electric alarm, 
 which gives warning when wires are cut or 
 disabled, as well as when the apartment is 
 surreptitiously entered.. The fault with 
 prior inventions has been 'that they get out 
 of order and give no warning as to their 
 condition. '"->. 
 
 Dr. Reid is prominent in business and 
 social circles and was for eight years presi- 
 dent of the village board, and for six years 
 was a member of the school board. He is 
 a member of the Masonic lodge at Hamp- 
 shire, in which he has filled all the chairs, 
 and is a member of the Foresters and 
 Knights of the Maccabees. A genial, 
 wholesouled gentleman, he enjoys the es- 
 teem of the people amongst whom he has 
 lived for nearly half a century. 
 
 f>EORGE P. HARVEY. The subject 
 vj of this review is one whose history 
 touches the pioneer epoch in the annals of 
 Kane county and whose days were an in- 
 tegral part of that indissoluble chain which 
 linked the early, formative period with that 
 of later-day progress and prosperity. He 
 has borne an important part in the upbuild- 
 ing of this section of the state and his name 
 deserves an honored place among its prom- 
 inent pioneers. He is now living at No. 
 208 Kimball street. 
 
 Mr. Harvey was born December 22,
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1816, in Ontario county, New York, a son 
 of Joel and Polly (Bennett) Harvey. On 
 the paternal side he is of English descent. 
 His great-grandfather was Medad Harvey, 
 while his grandfather was Joel Harvey, Sr., 
 a farmer by occupation, who removed from 
 New Hampshire to New York at an early 
 day, locating near Utica, where he died at 
 the age of seventy years. Our subject's 
 maternal grandfather spent his last days in 
 Herkimer county, New York. 
 
 Joel Harvey, Jr. , was a native of Mas- 
 sachusetts, but spent the greater part of his 
 early life upon a farm twelve miles east of 
 Utica, New York. He married Polly Ben- 
 nett, a native of Connecticut, and they be- 
 came the parents of six children, who grew 
 to man and womanhood. Four are still 
 living, namely: George P. ; Emily, wife of 
 Paul R. Wright, of Santa Barbara, Califor- 
 nia, Sarah, wife of Major W. M. Taylor, of 
 Chicago, Illinois; and Joel D., of Geneva, 
 Illinois. The father was a blacksmith by 
 trade. In 1835 he came by team to Illi- 
 nois, accompanied by all the members of 
 his family with the exception of our subject, 
 who made the trip by water, as their goods 
 were shipped in that way. They were fol- 
 lowed by their faithful dog, who was very 
 watchful of their possessions, not permitting 
 a stranger to touch anything. The dog 
 considered all Indians his enemies. The 
 family arrived in Kane county in October, 
 1835, at which time there were only two 
 log houses on the present site of Elgin, one 
 on either side of the river. The father 
 took up a claim of three hundred acres in 
 the northern part of the town of St. Charles 
 and improved and cultivated the place until 
 his death, which occurred in 1840, at the 
 age of forty-six. He took quite a prominent 
 and influential part in public affairs, served 
 
 as treasurer of Kane county for one term, 
 was justice of the peace several years, and 
 held various township offices. He was a 
 soldier of the war of 1812. and was always 
 a loyal and patriotic citizen. His estimable 
 wife long survived him, dying June 10, 
 1872, at the age of seventy-four. 
 
 Mr. Harvey, of this review, was reared 
 eight miles west of Syracuse, in Onondaga 
 county, New York, on a farm, and com- 
 pleted his education in the academy in Bald- 
 winsville. He was nineteen years of age 
 when he came to Illinois, and in 1837 
 he purchased a farm of his own in Kane 
 county, containing three hundred and twenty 
 acres, which he improved and cultivated 
 until his removal to Elgin, in 1848. Here 
 he has since made his home with the excep- 
 tion of two years spent upon a farm in Elgin 
 township. He built a large warehouse on 
 the east side of the river for the Northwest- 
 ern railroad in 1850-51, and had charge of 
 the same for a number of years, storing all 
 kinds of goods and grain. Later, in part- 
 nership with George W. Renwick, he en- 
 gaged in the manufacture of threshing ma- 
 chines. 
 
 On the 1 3th of November, 1839, Mr. 
 Harvey married Miss Mary L. Burr, a daugh- 
 ter of Atwell and Betsy (Wheeler) Burr, 
 who came to Kane county from Pompey, 
 Onondaga county, New York, in the spring 
 of 1836, and first settled in St. Charles. 
 Later they removed to Campton township, 
 where they purchased land and continued 
 to make their home until called from this 
 life. They were of English descent, and 
 Mrs. Burr was born and reared at the foot 
 of the Hoosac mountains. Mr. Burr also 
 aided in the war of 1812, and died about 
 1 85 1 . 
 
 Of the ten children born to Mr. and
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Mrs. Harvey, four sons died in infancy. 
 The others are as follows: Charles M. en- 
 listed in the Seventh Illinois Infantry, under 
 the first call for three-months' men, and 
 after the expiration of his term re-enlisted 
 in the Plato Cavalry, his company being 
 first assigned to the Thirty-sixth Illinois 
 Volunteer Infantry, and later to the Fif- 
 teenth Illinois Cavalry, serving as first lieu- 
 tenant of Company B. Re-enlisting again 
 as a veteran, he served until the close 
 of the war. He was with Sherman's army 
 on the celebrated march from Atlanta to 
 the sea, and was once slightly wounded 
 while carrying dispatches. He married 
 Clara E. Conger and lived in Waco, Texas, 
 at which place he and his wife and daugh- 
 ter all died. Welford W. makes his home 
 on a ranch near Buffalo, in Wyoming. He 
 married Mrs. Mary E. Orr, by whom he 
 has one son, Ray Phelps, and she has two 
 daughters by her former marriage Minnie 
 and Nellis. Cecil C. was formerly a suc- 
 cessful teacher for a number of years, but 
 for the past fourteen years has been libra- 
 rian of the city library of Elgin. Mary E. 
 is also at home. Estelle E. is the wife of 
 William Freck, a machinist and inventor 
 living in Chicago, and they have three chil- 
 dren Florence, Howard B. and Margaret 
 Loraine. Illione is a writer in an insurance 
 office in Chicago. The wife and mother 
 passed away September 19, 1895, when 
 almost seventy-eight years of age. She 
 was a member of the Universalist church, 
 which her husband also attends. 
 
 With Mr. Harvey resides his aunt, Mrs. 
 Emily (Harvey) Ainsworth, who in 1843 
 came to McHenry county, Illinois, but later 
 spent a short time in Missouri. On her re- 
 turn to this state she located in Richview 
 and subsequently removed to St. Charles, 
 
 where she had three sisters living, all now 
 deceased. For the past twelve years she 
 has made her home in Elgin, and is now 
 eighty-eight years of age. 
 
 Mr. Harvey has ever been one of the 
 popular and prominent citizens of the 
 county, and in early life took quite an active 
 and influential part in public affairs. In the 
 fall of 1854 he was elected county treasurer, 
 and two years later was made alderman of 
 the third ward of Elgin, serving in that 
 capacity for six years. Subsequently he 
 filled the office of assessor of Elgin town- 
 ship for two terms. He also served as in- 
 ternal revenue assessor for Kane county two 
 years. From 1860 until 1862, he lived on 
 his farm, but in the latter year returned to 
 Elgin, where he has since continued to re- 
 side. For sixty-two years he has been 
 identified with the interests of the county, 
 has seen almost its entire development, as 
 on his arrival here the Indians were far 
 more numerous than the white settlers and 
 most of the land was still in its primitive 
 condition. He is now the oldest member 
 of Kane lodge, I. O. O. F. , with which he 
 has been connected since 1851. Although 
 eighty-one years of age he is still well pre- 
 served. Nature deals kindly with the man 
 who abuses not her laws, and although his 
 business cares have been extensive age rests 
 lightly upon him. It is safe to say that no 
 man in Elgin has more or warmer friends 
 than George P. Harvey. 
 
 THOMAS BISHOP, deceased, was a na- 
 tive of Devonshire, England, born Sep- 
 tember 12, 1820, and at the age of eight 
 years accompanied his parents across the 
 ocean to Canada, the family locating in 
 Quebec, in the schools of which locality he
 
 34 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 completed his education, which was begun 
 in the mother country. After entering upon 
 his business career he became interested in 
 lumber and operated large tracts of forest 
 land. He served as captain in the militia 
 while in Quebec, and was a leading citizen 
 of the community in which he made his 
 
 home. 
 
 After his mother's death he and three 
 
 brothers, accompanied their father, Nathan- 
 iel Bishop, to Kane county, Illinois. The 
 four sons secured work as farm hands, 
 Thomas and one brother working on a farm 
 on section 22, Elgin township, Henry and 
 the other brother on a farm on section 
 28. After two years Thomas and Will- 
 iam purchased a farm of two hundred 
 and twenty-five acres, on which they 
 had been employed, and Henry and his 
 brother purchased the farm on section 28. 
 In a few years two of the brothers went to 
 Clinton, Illinois, and with the financial as- 
 sistance of Thomas and Henry established 
 themselves in the grain business, which they 
 conducted with good success until their life 
 labors were ended, winning a comfortable 
 competence by their judicious management 
 and untiring industry. 
 
 Immediately after becoming owner of 
 the farm on section 22, Elgin township, 
 Thomas Bishop began its further develop- 
 ment and improvement and in 1856 erected 
 the present commodious residence, which is 
 one of the land marks of the neighborhood. 
 He employed only common laborers to help 
 him and laid the masonry, which is a fine 
 specimen of cobble-stone range work, with 
 his own hands. He also did the interior 
 finishing and the home to-day stands as a 
 monument of his thrift and enterprise. It 
 has very substantial and thick walls like the 
 edifices of the old countries, built to stand 
 
 for centuries. When he arrived in Kane 
 county it was a wild and largely unsettled 
 district. There was a stage road over the 
 prairie and across his farm and all was open 
 country. He hauled his produce to the Chi- 
 cago market, finding there a little city just 
 coming into prominence by reason of its 
 shipping facilities. During the early years 
 he also became an extensive stock trader, 
 selling large numbers of cattle to the distil- 
 lery companies and to the beef canning 
 companies. He placed his land under a 
 high state of cultivation until the well-tilled 
 fields yielded to him a golden tribute and 
 his farm became one of the best improved 
 in the county. Neither was his attention 
 given entirely to agricultural pursuits. He 
 was a man of broad capability and made 
 judicious investments in other business con- 
 cerns which brought to him a handsome 
 revenue. He was one of the organizers and 
 stockholders of the Home National Bank, in 
 which he served as a member of the director- 
 ate and was at one time a stockholder in the 
 Elgin Canning Company. A man of strong 
 personality he also took a leading part in 
 local affairs and his influence and support 
 were important factors in promoting the 
 welfare of the community. He did efficient 
 service in the interest of the public schools 
 during his many years service as school 
 director, and for about fourteen years he 
 served as road commissioner, while for eight 
 years he filled the office of supervisor, dis- 
 charging all these duties with marked fidel- 
 ity and promptness. He held membership 
 in the Universalist church, and gave his po- 
 litical support to the men and measures of 
 the Republican party. 
 
 Thomas Bishop was united in marriage 
 to Miss Emma Stringer, who was born in 
 Kane county, March 19, 1848, a daughter
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 35 
 
 of John A. and Ann (Sterricker) Stringer. 
 Her father was born in Devonshire, England, 
 July 20, 1807, and died June 17, 1895. He 
 removed from England to Canada, at the 
 age of fifteen years, resided for a time in 
 New York, and in September, 1845, came 
 to Kane county, where he acquired three 
 hundred and forty acres of land on section 
 29, Elgin township. In early years he was 
 a grain farmer, and later became largely in- 
 terested in dairy farming. His parents were 
 Richard and Hannah (Garbet) Stringer. 
 The former died in Canada, about 1822, at 
 the age of sixty years, and the latter attained 
 the advanced age of ninety- four years. Mrs. 
 Ann Stringer, mother of Mrs. Thomas Bish- 
 op, was born near London, England, June 
 7, 1816, and is now living in California with 
 her daughter. She is still a well-preserved 
 old lady, able to walk a number of miles, 
 and took a long journey across the continent 
 without great fatigue. Her parents were 
 Rev. Thomas and Jane (Williams) Sterricker, 
 the former a Methodist minister, who spent 
 the greater part of his life in Cherry Valley, 
 Otsego county, New York, where he died at 
 the age of fifty-five years, while his wife 
 passed away at the age of seventy-four. 
 
 By the marriage of Thomas Bishop and 
 Emma Stringer were born six children: 
 Clarence, of whom further mention is made 
 in this sketch; Florence, his twin sister, who 
 died at the age of six months; Frank, who 
 died at the age of three months; Birdie, wife 
 of A. M. Srnythe, a jeweler, of Elgin; Wil- 
 bur and Walter, who are living in Elgin 
 with their mother. The father of this fam- 
 ily was called to the home beyond October 
 5, 1891, in his sixty-ninth year, and the 
 community thereby lost one of its most val- 
 ued citizens a man whom to know was to 
 honor. He was true to every trust reposed 
 
 in him, whether public or private; his hon- 
 esty in all business transactions was above 
 question; and he commanded the unqual- 
 ified respect of those with whom he was 
 brought in contact. He bore an important 
 part in the work of development in Kane 
 county, and "his name will always be linked 
 with those pioneers who laid the foundation 
 for the present prosperity and advancement 
 of this community. 
 
 CLARENCE BISHOP, the eldest son of 
 Thomas and Emma Bishop, was born on 
 the farm which is now his home, March 6, 
 1870. His elementary education, acquired 
 in the district schools, was supplemented by 
 study in the Elgin Academy and in Drew's 
 Business College. At the age of eighteen 
 years he put aside his text-books and be- 
 came his father's able assistant on the farm, 
 continuing his work with him until the fa- 
 ther's death. He then operated the place 
 for his mother until his marriage, in 1895, 
 since which time he has leased the property 
 from the estate. This is one of the best 
 farms in the county, improved with large 
 barns and outbuildings, supplied with a wind- 
 mill connected with a well two hundred and 
 sixty-five feet deep, which furnishes an in- 
 exhaustible supply of good water. There is 
 also a mill and feed grinder and a twelve-horse 
 power steam engine, and the fire appliances 
 can throw a stream of water over any build- 
 ing on the farm. There is an ice-house 
 with a capacity of one hundred tons, and 
 thus upon his own place Mr. Bishop has all 
 of the conveniences of city life. His land 
 is sufficiently rolling to make good drainage, 
 and is under a very high state of cultivation. 
 He, however, raises hay and grain mostly 
 for his stock, for he is a dairy farmer and 
 keeps on hand from sixty to seventy head of 
 high-grade cattle.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Mr. Bishop was united in marriage with 
 Miss Emma L. Schumacher, a native of 
 Pekin, Illinois, and a daughter of Rev. 
 Henry Schumacher, who was born in Ohio, 
 and died in Elgin April 25, 1885. He was 
 a minister of the Evangelical church, and 
 for twenty-five years was a member of the 
 Illinois conference. His wife, whose maiden 
 name was Susanna Klick, was a native of 
 Pennsylvania, and now resides in Elgin. 
 
 Mr. Bishop is a member of the Univer- 
 salist church, in which he has served as 
 trustee for six years; gives his political sup- 
 port to the Republican party, and is an in- 
 fluential factor in the political circles in 
 Kane county. He is now serving his sec- 
 ond term as school trustee, is a member of 
 the Lincoln Republican club, of Elgin, and 
 has been a delegate to the state Republican 
 convention in Springfield. He is a man of 
 excellent business and executive ability, 
 whose sound judgment, unflagging enter- 
 prise and capable management have brought 
 to him a well- merited success. In manner 
 he is pleasant and cordial, which, combined 
 with his sterling worth, makes him one of 
 the popular citizens of his native county. 
 
 F)ROFESSOR MARVIN QUACKEN- 
 I BUSH, of Dundee, Illinois, is the 
 efficient superintendent of public schools of 
 Kane county, which position he has held 
 since 1886. He is regarded as one of the 
 best educators in the state, and as superin- 
 tendent has but few equals. He is a native 
 of New York, born in the town of Hatwick, 
 Otsego county, November 25, 1842. His 
 father, Abram Quackenbush, was also born 
 in Otsego county in 1801, while his grand- 
 father, James Quackenbush, was likewise a 
 native of that state. The family were origi- 
 
 nally from Holland and settled in New York 
 in the seventeenth century. Two brothers 
 came from Holland about that time, one 
 locating in Fort Orange, later called Alba- 
 ny, and the other in New York City. The 
 branch of the family from which the Pro- 
 fessor descended was that of the Albany 
 brother. The name was originally spelled 
 Quackenbos. 
 
 The paternal grandfather of our subject, 
 James Quackenbush, was a soldier in the 
 war of 1812, in which he held a commission. 
 He settled in Otsego county, engaged in 
 agriculture pursuits and there reared his 
 family. Abrarn Quackenbush grew to man- 
 hood in that county, and in 1826 married 
 Miss Delaney Wolf, also a native of New 
 York, whose father was one of the early set- 
 tlers of the Empire state and served in one 
 of the old Indian wars. They were the 
 parents of six children, as follows: Cath- 
 erine, now the wife of Bradley Foss, of 
 Laporte City, Iowa; Edward, a well edu- 
 cated man and a professional teacher for 
 some years, and also a farmer, now living 
 retired at Laporte City, Iowa; Maria, de- 
 ceased; Adelia, now the wife of Rev. R. 
 H. Wilkinson, a minister of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, now residing in Evanston, 
 Illinois; Amelia, now the wife of Louis 
 Dutton, of Chicago; and Marvin. 
 
 Abram Quackenbush was a farmer in 
 Otsego county, New York, and there all his 
 children were born. Desiring to give them 
 better opportunities for advancemeut in life 
 he determined to come west, and in 1850 
 they moved to Illinois, locating in Kane 
 county, near the city of St. Charles, where 
 he purchased a farm and engaged in agri- 
 cultural pursuits. While yet a young man 
 he learned the blacksmith trade, which oc- 
 cupation he followed in his native state in
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 37 
 
 connection with farming. After residing in 
 Kane county for some years he moved to 
 Laporte City, Iowa, where he spent the re- 
 maining years of his life, dying at the resi- 
 dence of his daughter, in 1885, at the ad- 
 vanced age of eighty-four years. His wife 
 preceded him to their heavenly home three 
 years previously and both were laid to rest 
 in I he Laporte City cemetery, where a sub- 
 stantial monument marks their last resting 
 place. 
 
 The subject of this sketch came to Kane 
 county with his parents a lad of seven years, 
 here grew to manhood and received his ed- 
 ucation in the common schools and in Jen- 
 nings Seminary at Aurora, supplemented by 
 a course at Bryant & Stratton's Commer- 
 cial College, Chicago. The war for the 
 Union was now in progress and our subject 
 felt it his duty to enlist, and accordingly 
 offered his service as a member of the Thir- 
 teenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, but was 
 rejected at the examination on account of a 
 severely injured foot. His desire, however, 
 to assist in putting down the Rebellion was 
 not cooled by his rejection, and in Novem- 
 ber, 1864, after raising a company of forty 
 men, he joined the One Hundred and Fifty- 
 third Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry 
 and went to the front. He was assigned to 
 the quartermaster's department, and served 
 in that connection until July 21, 1865, when 
 he was discharged for disability and re- 
 turned to his home. 
 
 Previous to entering the service of his 
 country Mr. Quackenbush had taught three 
 terms in the public schools, and after his 
 return resumed teaching, first in country 
 schools and later in charge of the St. 
 Charles school on the east side, where he 
 remained six years. He then taught one 
 year at Geneva, after which he taught 
 
 eleven years in Dundee. While in charge 
 of the school at that place he received the 
 nomination of superintendent of public 
 schools of Kane county, to which position 
 he was elected. He has been twice re- 
 elected, both times without opposition. 
 This certainly shows the popularity of the 
 man and his efficiency as superintendent. 
 
 Professor Quackenbush was married at 
 Clintonville, Illinois, in August, 1870, to 
 Miss Eleanor Boynton, a native of Dun- 
 dee, Illinois, and a daughter of Nathan and 
 Margaret (McClure) Boynton, who were 
 pioneer settlers of Dundee. By this union 
 there is one son, Edward, a graduate of 
 Hobart College, Geneva, New York, now 
 taking a law course at Elgin, Illinois. The 
 grandfather of Mrs. Quackenbush, General 
 McClure, was a soldier in the war of 1812, 
 and died in Elgin about 1850. His son-in- 
 law, Captain Jamison, was the first com- 
 mander of old Fort Dearborn, and he and 
 his wife were the first white couple married 
 in Kane county. 
 
 Politically Professor Quackenbush is a 
 Republican, and supports the men and 
 measures of that party in all general elec- 
 tions, but in local elections casts his ballot 
 for the best men, regardless of politics. 
 Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic 
 order, of the blue lodge at Dundee, Fox 
 River chapter of Geneva, and of Bethel 
 commandery at Elgin. He has served as 
 master of the blue lodge and high priest of 
 the commandery, and has represented his 
 lodge in the grand lodge of the state and his 
 commandery in the grand body of that or- 
 der. He is also a member of the Modern 
 Woodmen of America. Religiously he and 
 his wife are members of the Congregation- 
 alist church, in which they both take an 
 active interest. For almost fifty years he
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 has been identified with the interests of 
 Kane county, especially in educational af- 
 fairs. No man is better known in the coun- 
 ty, and not one has more warm friends. 
 
 MAJOR B. T. HUNT. More than six- 
 ty-one years have passed since this 
 gentleman arrived in Kane county, and he 
 is justly numbered among her honored pio- 
 neers and leading citizens. He has been 
 prominently identified with her business in- 
 terests, but is now living retired. His is 
 an honorable record of a conscientious man, 
 who by his upright life has won the confi- 
 dence of all with whom he has come in 
 contact. 
 
 Major Hunt was born October 19, 1812, 
 in Abington, Plymouth county, Massachu- 
 setts, of which county, his father, Thomas 
 Hunt, Jr., was also a native. There the 
 grandfather, Thomas Hunt, Sr. , reared his 
 family and lived for many years. Our sub- 
 ject's mother, who bore the maiden name 
 of Susannah Pool, was also born in the old 
 Bay state. The father was a merchant, 
 farmer and tanner, and was one of the first 
 to extensively engage in the manufacture of 
 shoes in New England: He was one of 
 the representative and successful business 
 men of the state. 
 
 The subject of this sketch is the only 
 one of the family now living. In his native 
 place he grew to manhood and obtained a 
 good common-school education, which has 
 well fitted him for the practical duties of 
 business life. During his youth he assisted 
 his father in the tanning and manufacturing 
 business, as well as in the store, and thus 
 obtained a good practical knowledge of busi- 
 ness affairs, which has been of great value 
 to him in later years. After the father be- 
 
 came too old to have active charge of the 
 business, the older brother, Joseph, and 
 Thomas assumed control and built up the 
 large shoe factory in that section, employ- 
 ing many men. 
 
 In 1836, during his early manhood, 
 Major Hunt came west, locating in St. 
 Charles on the loth of September. Through 
 a friend he purchased a half interest in two 
 hundred acres of land east of the Fox river 
 the original town site the other owners 
 being Reed Persons and Ira Minard. These 
 three gentlemen engaged in merchandise 
 there through the summer of 1836, but in 
 the fall the Major returned to Massachu- 
 setts, locating permanently here the follow- 
 ing spring. They continued in mercantile 
 pursuits together for a couple of years, and 
 then our subject sold his interest and started 
 in business on his own account. Selling 
 his general store in 1850, he built a tannery, 
 which he successfully operated until 1861, 
 when his plant was destroyed by fire. Sub- 
 sequently he embarked in the hardware busi- 
 ness, in which he was interested until 1890, 
 and also erected, at St. Charles, the first 
 paper mill in the northwest, beginning the 
 business on a small scale, with Mr. Butler, 
 but gradually it developed into a large con- 
 cern. Subsequently he built a new mill on 
 the west side of the river, put in modern 
 machinery, and did an extensive business for 
 many years. In 1850 he leased the factory 
 to Butler & Hunt, who continued its opera- 
 tion. The Major has been instrumental in 
 establishing a number of enterprises that 
 have not only advanced his own prosperity 
 but have been extremely beneficial to the 
 city. 
 
 At St. Charles, October 12, 1842, Major 
 Hunt was united in marriage with Miss Har- 
 riet H. Lathrop, who was born in New York
 
 MAJOR B. T. HUNT.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and reared near Auburn, Cayuga county, that 
 state. Her father, Simon Lathrop, settled 
 in St. Charles as early as 1841. He had 
 been a merchant previous to his removal to 
 the west. He had three daughters. They 
 became the parents of four children, of whom 
 Charles, the eldest, died when young. (2) 
 Frank Bradley is married and has four chil- 
 dren, one son and three daughters. In 1887 
 he removed to Iowa, and for ten years en- 
 gaged in agricultural pursuits in that state. 
 In October, 1 897, he and his family returned 
 to St. Charles, where they are now living. 
 With his son, Frank C., he is engaged 
 in the hardware business in St. Charles. 
 (3) Clarence married and located in St. 
 Charles, whence he removed to Michigan, 
 and later was engaged in business for about 
 three years in Chicago. He then returned 
 to St. Charles, where he died in the summer 
 of 1897. (4) Wilbur C. obtained an excel- 
 lent education and adopted the legal profes- 
 sion, which he followed in St. Charles for 
 some years. He was a man of superior busi- 
 ness ability and had the confidence and es- 
 teem of all. He died suddenly in the sum- 
 mer of 1897, leaving a wife and two sons, 
 besides his parents and many friends to 
 mourn his loss. 
 
 Politically, Major Hunt is a Jacksonian 
 Democrat, and has ever been a stalwart 
 supporter of the principles of that party, but 
 has never cared for official honors, though 
 he served for a number of years on the board 
 of trustees of the village. He served as the 
 first treasurer of Kane county; the receipts 
 for the first year was about seventy-five 
 cents. In those days the sheriff collected 
 all taxes, and the treasurer served only in a 
 nominal capacity. During his younger years 
 he also served as major of the county mili- 
 tia. His estimable wife is a member of the 
 
 Baptist church. Major Hunt has witnessed 
 almost the entire growth and development 
 of Kane county, and in the upbuilding and 
 prosperity of St. Charles he has been an im- 
 portant factor, giving his aid to all objects 
 which he believed calculated to prove of 
 public benefit. He is widely and favorable 
 known throughout this section of the state, 
 and those who know him best are numbered 
 among his warmest friends. 
 
 THOMAS W. DUNCAN. The expres- 
 sion ' ' the dignity of labor " is exemplified 
 in the life record of this gentleman, who 
 without reserve attributes his success to 
 earnest work. He is a man of strong force 
 of character, purposeful and energetic, and 
 his keen discrimination and sound judg- 
 ment are shown in his capable management 
 of what is one of the leading industrial 
 concerns of the state the Illinois Watch 
 Case Factory. No special advantages gave 
 him a good start in life; he worked his way 
 upward by energy, perseverance and dili- 
 gence and the prosperity which is now his 
 is the fitting reward of his own honorable 
 efforts. 
 
 A native of Lindsay, Canada, Thomas 
 Wellington Duncan was born December 6, 
 1858, and is a son of James and Mary 
 (Hawkins) Duncan. His paternal grand- 
 father was Thomas Duncan, a native of 
 Belfast, Ireland, which city was also the 
 birthplace of James Duncan, who left his 
 native land in 1837 and immigrated to 
 Lindsay, Canada. He was by trade a car- 
 riagemaker and followed that occupation 
 until his retirement from business life about 
 fifteen years ago. He is still living in Lind- 
 say, a respected and valued citizen of that 
 community. His wife was a daughter of
 
 42 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Thomas and Jane Hawkins and was born 
 in Edinburg, Scotland, where her parents 
 spent their entire lives. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Duncan are members of the Episcopal 
 church. Their family numbered six chil- 
 dren Thomas, Jane, Margaret, John, James 
 and William, of whom the first and last are 
 still living, William being a resident of St. 
 Louis, Missouri. 
 
 In the city of his birth Mr. Duncan, of 
 this review, acquired his education and in 
 Toronto, Canada, he learned the watch- 
 maker's trade. In 1881 he removed to 
 Chicago, and in 1887 became a member of 
 the firm of M. C. Eppenstein & Company, 
 wholesale jewelers of that city. In 1888 
 the Illinois Watch Case Company was in- 
 corporated and began the manufacture of 
 watch cases on Clinton street. On the 1st 
 of May, 1890, the factory was removed from 
 Chicago to Elgin, where an extensive busi- 
 ness is now carried on in the manufacture 
 of gold and silver watch cases. The com- 
 pany is capitalized for two hundred and 
 fifty thousand dollars and their output is 
 about five hundred thousand watch cases, 
 which are sold in all parts of this country 
 and shipped extensively abroad, even to 
 Switzerland, the country famous for its 
 watches. Their reputation for the excel- 
 lence of their goods as well as the business 
 reliability of the house extends throughout 
 the country and has secured them an ex- 
 tensive patronage which yields to them a 
 handsome financial return. In 1895 they 
 added a new department to their business 
 the manufacture of bicycles, and invested 
 one hundred thousand dollars in this 
 enterprise. Their special wheels are the 
 Elgin King and the -Elgin (Jueen, which find 
 a ready sale on the market by reason of 
 their durability, their lightness, the ease 
 
 with which they are manipulated and the 
 other strong points of the first-class wheel. 
 They manufactured the celebrated ten thou- 
 sand dollar cycle of the Chicago Cycle ex- 
 hibition in 1896. It was one of the " King " 
 cycles and won the prize on the exhibition. 
 It has been sent to Europe where it will be 
 placed on exhibition first at a cycle show 
 in Belfast, Ireland, and then in other cities 
 of Great Britain, after which it will be ex- 
 hibited on the continent. One hundred 
 operatives are employed in the manufact- 
 ure of the wheels and employment is fur- 
 nished to four hundred hands in the watch- 
 case department. The officers of the 
 company are Thomas W. Duncan, presi- 
 dent and treasurer; M. Abraham, secretary; 
 and T. W. Duncan, M. C. Eppenstein and 
 S. C. Eppenstein, directors. 
 
 Mr. Duncan is a supporter of the prin- 
 ciples of the Republican party, and neglects 
 no duty of citizenship, but seeks no political 
 office. However, he is a very public-spirited 
 and progressive citizen, and has done much 
 for the advancement and improvement of 
 the city in which he makes his home. 
 Prominent in the Masonic fraternity, he 
 holds membership in Garden City lodge, No. 
 141, A. F. & A. M. ; York chapter, R. A. M. ; 
 Apollo commandery, . K. T. , and the 
 Oriental consistory, S. P. R. S. , all of 
 Chicago. His name is synonymous with 
 honorable business dealing, and in all circles 
 Mr. Duncan commands the respect and 
 esteem of those whom he has met. 
 
 FRANKLIN S. BOSWORTH. Success 
 is determined by one's ability to recog- 
 nize opportunity, and to pursue this with a 
 resolute and unflagging energy. It results 
 from continued labor, and the man who thus
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 43 
 
 accomplishes his purpose usually becomes 
 an important factor in the business circles 
 of the community with which he is connect- 
 ed. Mr. Bosworth, through such means, 
 has attained a leading place among the rep- 
 resentative men of Elgin, and his well-spent 
 and honorable life commands the respect of 
 all who know him. 
 
 Mr. Bosworth is a native of Boston, 
 Erie county, New York, and a son of Ben- 
 jamin F. and Almira (Smith) Bosworth. 
 His father was born in Greenfield, New 
 York, and was a son of Alfred Bosworth, 
 who was born in Bristol, Rhode Island, of 
 English parentage. The latter came to the 
 West in the fall of 1839, taking up his resi- 
 dence in Dundee, Illinois, where he died in 
 June, 1861. In his early life he followed 
 the hatter's trade, but in his later years en- 
 gaged in farming. He married Olive Child, 
 a native of the Empire state, and they be- 
 came parents of six children: Benjamin F., 
 Oliver C., Increase C. , Lucinda C., Mary 
 C. , wife of Harry Weed; Lucinda, wife of' 
 Alfred Ed\yards; and Abbie M., wife of Ben- 
 jamin Simonds. All of this family are now 
 deceased. 
 
 Dr. Benjamin F. Bosworth, father of 
 our subject, studied medicine in early life, 
 and practiced his profession until his re- 
 moval to Illinois. He located in Chicago in 
 1856. and engaged " in merchandising in that 
 place until his removal to McHenry, Illi- 
 nois, where he conducted a mercantile estab- 
 lishment until his death, in September, 1843. 
 In politics he was a Whig. In his early 
 manhood he was graduated at Union Col- 
 lege, New York, then a noted institution of 
 learning, and while practicing medicine was 
 very successful. His wife, a daughter of 
 Amos Smith, was also a native of New York. 
 She was a member of the Methodist Episco- 
 
 pal church, and died in New York about 
 
 834- 
 
 Franklin S. Bosworth, their only child, 
 was born December 17, 1832, and acquired 
 his education in the common schools. He 
 began merchandising in 1852, in connection 
 with I. C. Bosworth, at Dundee, Illinois, 
 where he carried on business until June, 
 1871, when he removed to Elgin. Here he 
 purchased an interest in a hardware store 
 on the East Side, which he successfully con- 
 ducted until September, 1883, when he sold 
 to Metcalf & Reed. In 1888 he purchased 
 an interest in a lumber yard on the West 
 Side and soon afterward extended his field 
 of operations by dealing in coal. For three 
 years he was associated in business with 
 Lewis Eaton, but on the expiration of that 
 period purchased his partner's interest, and 
 was alone until 1896, when he admitted to 
 a partnership his son, Frank H. Bosworth. 
 The business is now conducted under the 
 name of F. S. Bosworth & Son and they 
 carry all kinds of lumber and hard and soft 
 coal, and have built up a very extensive, 
 profitable and satisfactory trade. 
 
 On the 4th of January, 1859, at Dun- 
 dee, Illinois, was celebrated the marriage of 
 Mr. Bosworth and Miss Sarah E. Hunt, a 
 daughter of Ward E. and Mary Hunt, her 
 father a native of Vermont. Four children 
 were born of this union, of whom the eldest, 
 Reuben H., is now deceased. Edward is 
 professor of Greek and also occupies the 
 chair of theology in Oberlin College of 
 Ohio. After completing his preliminary ed- 
 ucation in the common schools, he was for 
 two years a student in Oberlin College, and 
 then matriculated in Yale College, where he 
 was graduated with honors. He is a young 
 man of splendid mental attainments and ex- 
 ceptionally brilliant prospects. He married
 
 44 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Miss Bertha McClure, of Elgin. Mary is 
 now the wife of Walter F. Skeele, a resi- 
 dent of Los Angeles, California. Frank H. 
 is with his father in business. 
 
 The family are members of the Congre- 
 gational church, and in politics Mr. Bosworth 
 and his sons are Republicans. He has been 
 honored with several local offices, was elect- 
 ed a member of the city council in 1879, 
 and in 1880 was elected mayor of Elgin, 
 filling that office for two consecutive terms. 
 His administration was progressive, and the 
 city's interests were materially promoted 
 through his efforts. He manifests a deep 
 interest in the welfare of Elgin, and his in- 
 fluence and support are given to all meas- 
 ures beneficial to the municipality. Loyal to 
 all public duties, honorable in all business 
 relations, faithful to all the obligations of 
 social life, he stands as one of the leading, 
 men of Kane county. 
 
 JOHN W. SEYMOUR, whose residence 
 in Illinois covers more than half a cen- 
 tury, and whose home has been maintained 
 in Elgin for twenty-five years, belongs to 
 that heroic pioneer band who were the ad- 
 vance guard of civilization in the northern 
 section of the state, and who, since that 
 time, have been prominent in support of all 
 interests calculated to promote the general 
 welfare. A native of Yates county, New 
 York, he was born March 3, 1833, ar) d ' s 
 descended from one of three brothers who 
 emigrated from England and took up their 
 residence in the Empire state prior to the 
 war of the devolution. Jesse Seymour, 
 the grandfather of our subject, served his 
 country in the war of 1812, and his father, 
 Ebenezer Seymour, was one of those who 
 
 aided the heroes who fought for the inde- 
 pendence of the colonies by supplying the 
 army with cattle and other necessaries. 
 
 John Seymour, the father of our sub- 
 ject, was born in Putnam county, New 
 York, December 2, 1784, while his wife, 
 Elizabeth Seymour, was a native of Yates 
 county, that state, .born December i , 1 794. 
 In the spring of 1842 they emigrated to 
 Illinois, locating at Miller's Grove, in the 
 town of Barrington, Cook county. They 
 were accompanied by their ten children, all 
 of whom located in this state. The father 
 died August 27, 1876, at the home of his 
 son, John W., in Elgin, and the mother 
 passed away on the old homestead in Cook 
 county, September 28, 1881. He was a 
 stanch Republican in politics and in his 
 early life was a member of the Baptist 
 .qhurch, but afterwards joined the Methodist 
 church with his wife. Of the children, five 
 are yet living: Harvey, of Elgin; Mrs. H. 
 M. Campbell, of Edgewood, Illinois; Mrs. J. 
 M. Miller, of Elgin; Joseph B., of Aurora, 
 and John W. , our subject. 
 
 The last named came to Illinois with his 
 parents when nine years of age and was 
 reared in their home. Later his home be- 
 came theirs, and upon their death by inher- 
 itance and purchase he became the owner of 
 the old farm, comprising three hundred and 
 fifty acres of valuable land. He was mar- 
 ried December 31, 1857, to Miss Emily L. 
 Wood, of Volo, Lake county, Illinois, a 
 native of Gainesville, Wyoming county, 
 New York, born July i, 1837. With her 
 parents, George L. and Phosbe (Potter) 
 Wood, she came to Volo Lake, in 1844, 
 and continued a resident of this state until 
 called to the home beyond. By her mar- 
 riage she had two children, William H., 
 born March 3, 1859, and Kleber A. , who
 
 Of 

 
 JOHN W. SEYMOUR.
 
 7 
 
 MRS. J. W. SEYMOUR.

 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 49 
 
 was born July 6, 1865, and died August 15, 
 1888. 
 
 In 1868 Mr. Seymour removed with his 
 family to Barrington Station, Cook county, 
 where he was engaged in merchandising in 
 connection with A. K. Townsend, who was 
 also assistant postmaster. In 1873 he took 
 up his residence in Elgin, and has since 
 been identified with the interests of that 
 city. He has done much to promote its 
 commercial prosperity through his con- 
 nection with various enterprises. In the 
 summer of 1882 he went abroad, accom- 
 panied by his wife, making the journey both 
 a business and pleasure trip. After visiting 
 the principal cities and points of interest in 
 Scotland, England and France, he pur- 
 chased and imported fifteen head of fine 
 Percheron horses, and has since been en- 
 gaged in the breeding of that stock in com- 
 pany with his son, William H. In 1892 
 they located what is known as the Concho 
 Valley stock ranch, four miles north of San 
 Angelo, Texas. Their stock has gained a 
 wide reputation in the horse markets of the 
 country, and their enterprise has been at- 
 tended with most gratifying success. The 
 ranch is under the personal supervision of 
 the sen, who married Jennie E. Hendrick- 
 son, daughter of Norman G. and Emily 
 (Townsend) Hendrickson, by whom he has 
 one son, Claude H. William H. Seymour 
 is also engaged in dealing in coal, wood, 
 cement, etc., in Elgin, as a member of the 
 firm of Adams & Seymour. 
 
 In connection with his other business in- 
 terests, John W. Seymour aided in the 
 organization of the Elgin National Bank in 
 the spring of 1892, and is a member of its 
 directorate. From the beginning the institu- 
 tion has been a paying investment, and is re- 
 garded as one of the most reliable banking 
 
 concerns of the county. Mr. Seymour is a 
 man of sound judgment, keen discernment 
 and excellent executive ability, entirely 
 trustworthy, and carries forward to success- 
 ful completion whatever he undertakes. 
 His success is well merited, being the legiti- 
 mate outcome of his well-directed efforts. 
 
 In his political views he is a stalwart 
 Republican, and he served as school trustee 
 in the town of Barrington. He is a member 
 of the First Methodist Episcopal church, of 
 which body Mrs. Seymour was also a mem- 
 ber, and in which she took a deep and kind- 
 ly interest, as well as in all charitable work. 
 She was a lady greatly beloved by all who 
 knew her, and her death, which occurred 
 July 31, 1897, was mourned by many friends. 
 In loving remembrance, the following lines 
 
 were dedicated to her: 
 
 *"*- * 
 
 "A precrous one from us-has gone, 
 
 A voice we loved is stilled; 
 A place is vacant in our home ' _, 
 
 Which never can he filled. 
 God, in His wisdom, has recalled 
 
 The boon His love had given; 
 And though the body slumbers here, 
 
 The soul is safe in Heaven." 
 
 Mr. Seymour still makes his home in 
 Elgin, and occupies his residence, at No. 
 165 North Gifford street, which he erected 
 twenty-five years ago. It is still one of the 
 best homes of the city, and its hospitable 
 doors are ever open for the reception of his 
 many friends. 
 
 SILAS BALDWIN, who, after a long 
 and useful life in which toil was the 
 principal ingredient, is now living retired in 
 the village of Hampshire, Illinois, is a 
 native of Vermont, born in Dorset, Benning- 
 ton county, May 15, 1823. He attended 
 the district school at Dorset Hollow, and
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 worked on neighboring farms by the month 
 until twenty-six years old, when he had 
 saved enough by his economy to buy a fifty- 
 acre farm, which he cultivated for four 
 years. The farm was almost covered with 
 maple trees, from which he made maple 
 sugar, selling the same through New York. 
 The chance for advancement in life was 
 thought by him to be very slim, and while, 
 like Stephen A. Douglas, he considered 
 Vermont a good place to be born in, he 
 believed the West a better place in which 
 to grow. In 1853 he sold his farm and came 
 west; went first to Iowa, but not liking 
 that country as well, came to Kane county, 
 Illinois, where he bought eighty acres 
 on sections 26 and 27, Hampshire town- 
 ship, which he improved, and on which he 
 resided until March, 1890, when he retired 
 from active life, visited one year with rela- 
 tives in the east, and in 1891 purchased a 
 comfortable home in the village of Hamp- 
 shire, where he is now taking life easy. 
 
 Thomas Baldwin, the father of our sub- 
 ject, was born April 4, 1774, and died July 
 4, 1854. He was the son of Joseph and 
 Elizabeth Baldwin, the former dying January 
 9, 1808, at the age of seventy-nine years, 
 and the latter dying March 13, 1808, at the 
 age of sixty years. Thomas Baldwin was a 
 blacksmith by trade and an expert tool- 
 maker. When regular work was slack, he 
 made fine tools for carpenters and others, 
 and traveled through the country selling 
 them. He was of thrifty Yankee stock, 
 and moved from Connecticut to Vermont 
 about 1817. A man of strong vitality, full 
 of energy and ingenuity, he could not help 
 succeeding in life. On the igth of April, 
 1817, he married Polly Lamphor, born at 
 Mansfield, Connecticut, in 1788, and dying 
 in 1862. She was the daughter of John and 
 
 Mary Lamphor, the latter of whom died in 
 1813. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was the last 
 born in a family of seven children born to 
 Thomas and Polly Baldwin. He has two 
 brothers living in Vermont and a sister liv- 
 ing in California. Silas Baldwin was first 
 married in Vermont, near Dorset, to Miriam 
 Mumpsted, born January 5, 1819, and who 
 died in Hampshire township November 4, 
 1878. Of the four children born to them, 
 one died in Vermont and two in Hampshire 
 township. The living one is Elizabeth Ann, 
 who married Burdette C. DeWitt, by whom 
 she has six children, as follows: Lillian M. , 
 who married J. William Webster, of Cresco, 
 Iowa, by whom she has one son, DeWitt; 
 Benjamin C. ; Charles; Miriam E. ; Roxie L. 
 and Hazel M. 
 
 Mr. Baldwin's second marriage was at 
 Tecumseh, Michigan, where he married 
 Mrs. Louisa Norton, widow of James T. 
 Norton, born at Poultney, Rutland county, 
 Vermont, and a daughter of Abijah Will- 
 iams, Jr. , a native of Massachusetts, born 
 April 28, 1785, and who died at Poultney, 
 Vermont, June 27, 1845, at the age of sixty 
 years. Abijah Williams, Sr., was the son 
 of John Williams, who married Asenath 
 Hodge. John Williams was one of three 
 brothers who came from England in colonial 
 days. Abijah Williams, Jr., married Lu- 
 cinda Hill, born in Hartford, Connecticut, 
 and a daughter of Thomas and Lydia 
 (Davis) Hill, her father being a soldier in 
 the Revolutionary war. 
 
 Politically Mr. Baldwin was formerly an 
 abolitionist, casting his first presidential 
 vote for James G. Birney. On the organi- 
 zation of the Republican party, he became 
 an advocate of its principles and with that 
 party has continued to act until the present
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 time. For twenty-five years he served as 
 school director, supervisor three years, and 
 has served as road commissioner, school 
 trustee and village trustee, and was super- 
 intendent of Sunday-schools in an early day 
 for a number of years. He is of that self 
 reliant New England stock, a well-known 
 figure in the village thoroughfares, and 
 is highly respected for his just and upright 
 life. 
 
 DUNCAN FORBES is one of the repre- 
 sentative citizens of Kane county, whose 
 birth occurred in "bonnie" Scotland, but 
 who for forty years has been a resident of 
 this country. He is now enjoying a well- 
 earned rest in the village of Dundee, where 
 he has resided since 1894. He was born 
 August 12, 1834, in Perthshire, Scotland, 
 and there grew to manhood. After attend- 
 ing the common schoois for a time he was 
 apprenticed to learn the cabinetmaker's and 
 joiner's trade, serving a four-years' term. 
 After completing his trade he worked as a 
 journeyman for a time, but, believing the 
 new world afforded better opportunities for 
 advancement, he came to America in 1858, 
 locating first in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, 
 where he worked as a journeyman two 
 years. In March, 1861, he located in Chi- 
 cago and went to work at ship carpentering. 
 In July of the same year he commenced 
 contracting, and built a house in Barring- 
 ton township and one in Dundee. 
 
 Up to this time Mr. Forbes was a single 
 man, but on the I2th of December, 1862, 
 he was united in marriage, in Dundee town- 
 ship, with Miss Jeannette Cochran, a native 
 of Scotland, who came to the United States 
 when a child of nine years! Her father, 
 Malcolm Cochran, was also a native of 
 Scotland, who came to Dundee township, 
 
 Kane county, in 1849, where he engaged in 
 farming, following that occupation through- 
 out life. After their marriage Mr. Forbes 
 moved to Chicago and engaged in the fur- 
 niture trade for nine years, building up in 
 that time a most satisfactory trade. In Oc- 
 tober, 1871, he returned to Kane county, 
 and located in Dundee township on the old 
 Cochran homestead, where he and his 
 brother-in-law, John Cochran, engaged in 
 agricultural pursuits until 1 894. He further 
 improved and developed the place, and had 
 one of the best farms in Dundee township. 
 For twenty-three years he continued to give 
 personal attention to the farm, and then 
 rented the place and moved to Dundee, pur- 
 chased a lot and built a large and substan- 
 tial residence, one of the best in the village, 
 and is now living a retired life. 
 
 Mr. Forbes politically is a stanch Re- 
 publican, and cast his first presidential bal- 
 lot for General U. S. Grant. He has sup- 
 ported the nominees of that party from that 
 time to the present, casting his last vote for 
 William McKinley in 1896. A friend of 
 education and the public schools, he served 
 some years as a member of the school board. 
 He also served as township trustee for some 
 fifteen years, but never desired or sought 
 public office. Mr. and Mrs. Forbes were 
 reared in the Presbyterian faith, but of late 
 years have attended and supported the Con- 
 gregational church. 
 
 Mr. Forbes has been a resident of Illi- 
 nois for thirty-seven years, and Mrs. Forbes 
 for forty-nine years. They have witnessed 
 much of the growth and development of 
 Kane county and northern Illinois, and are 
 numbered among the esteemed old settlers. 
 He is known in Dundee and Kane county as 
 a man of exemplary habits, of tried integ- 
 rity and worth, and he and his estimable
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 wife are held in the highest esteem by all 
 who know them. Commencing life a poor 
 man, with nothing but willing hands and a 
 stout heart, with the assistance of his good 
 wife he has accumulated a good property, 
 and they can well afford to spend the rest 
 of their lives in ease and retirement. 
 
 John Cochran, the brother of Mrs. Forbes, 
 came with his parents to this country a lad 
 of twelve years. He here grew to manhood 
 and continued to work upon the farm until 
 his death, which occurred July 14, 1894. 
 For two years he and his sister conducted 
 the home farm, and also for a time were 
 partners in the furniture trade. He was a 
 man of sterling character, and one of the 
 honest yeomen of the county. 
 
 ABEL D. GIFFORD, a retired farmer 
 and pioneer of 1837, now resides in a 
 beautiful home at No. 254 Villa street, El- 
 gin. He is a native of Chenango county, 
 New York, born in Sherburne, August 9, 
 1818, and is a son of Asa and Dinah (Tal- 
 cott) Gifford, natives of Massachusetts, who 
 at a very early day settled in Chenango 
 county, New York, removing from there to 
 Oneida county, where their last days were 
 spent, the latter dying in November, 1822, 
 at the age of about fifty-seven years, and 
 the former in May, 1837, in h' s seventieth 
 year. They were the parents of eleven 
 children, five sons and six daughters, ten of 
 whom grew to manhood and womanhood 
 Ruth, Experience, James T. , Peleg, Sarah, 
 Susan, Asa, Hezekiah and Harriet. Of 
 this number, Peleg died when about a year 
 old, and Sarah, died at the age of twenty- 
 two. 
 
 All of the children then living came west 
 and located in Kane county, in 1835, ex- 
 
 cept Abel D. , who remained at home to 
 care for his parents. Both parents were 
 members of the Baptist church, of which 
 the father was a deacon for many years. 
 By trade he was a carpenter, at which oc- 
 cupation he spent his early life. Later he 
 engaged in merchandising, but the last 
 years of his life were spent in agricultural 
 pursuits. He was a good reader, a close 
 observer, and a very prominent man in his 
 community. For one term he served as 
 sheriff of his county, was county judge and 
 a justice of the peace for some years. 
 
 The paternal grandfather of our subject, 
 who was of English descent, died in Massa- 
 chusetts in middle life. The maternal 
 grandfather Talcott was a judge in Herkimer 
 county, New York, and at one time was 
 very wealthy, but lost his money and prop- 
 erty in unfortunate law-suits. He was about 
 seventy-eight years old when he died. 
 
 Abel D. Gifford, of whom we now write, 
 was reared upon a farm in Chenango coun- 
 ty, New York, and was early in life inured 
 to hard labor. His education was received 
 in the public schools of his native county, 
 supplemented by a few terms in Vernon 
 Academy. Soon after the death of his 
 father he came to Illinois and located on a 
 farm two miles east of the then city limits 
 of Elgin, but which now adjoins the city. 
 This was six years before the government 
 survey. His first purchase was two hundred 
 and sixty acres, which he finely improved 
 and which yet remains in his possession. 
 Since 1889 he has lived in Elgin, his son, 
 Charles A., operating the home farm, where 
 he is also engaged in dairying, having be- 
 tween seventy and eighty cows. During 
 the season, his son also operates a thresh- 
 ing machine. 
 
 On the 20th of February, 1838, Mr.
 
 A. D. GIFFORD,
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 55 
 
 Gifford was united in marriage with Miss 
 Harriet M. Root, a daughter of Dr. An- 
 son Root, a pioneer physician of Kane 
 county. By this union there was one child, 
 Frank A., who died at the age of nine 
 months. Eighteen days later the little 
 one's mother gave up her life. Religiously 
 she was a Baptist. The second union of 
 Mr. Gifford was on the 9th of August, 1855, 
 when he married Miss Julia E. Chappell, 
 daughter of Harvey M. and Mary Chappell. 
 For a number of years prior to her mar- 
 riage Mrs. Gifford taug"ht school in Kane 
 county. By this union there were two chil- 
 dren, Carrie L. and Charles A. The for- 
 mer married Charles Holden, and they have 
 two children. Hazel H. and Gifford Merrell. 
 Charles A. married Miss Florence D. Stick- 
 ney, who died in March, 1897. They had 
 four children, Frank A., Stanley, Walter 
 and Florence. 
 
 The second wife of Mr. Gifford died 
 July 10, 1893, in her sixty-ninth year. Re- 
 ligiously she was also a Baptist, and in the 
 work of the church took a deep and com- 
 mendable interest. For his third wife Mr. 
 Gifford chose Mrs. Clara F. Whitten, widow 
 of Dr. Parker Whitten and daughter of 
 David and Harriet (Cain) Flood. Their 
 wedding ceremony took place December 15, 
 1896. For some years the present Mrs. 
 Gifford was a successful teacher- in Rich- 
 mond, Virginia, and Atlanta, Georgia, where 
 she gave instruction to several hundred col- 
 ored children. By her first marriage Mrs. 
 Gifford had two children^-Parker Merritt, 
 who was killed by a kick from a horse when 
 one year old; and Manfred Pitt, who is 
 studying medicine at the Vermont State 
 University. 
 
 Mrs. Gifford's parents were natives of 
 the state of Maine. In early life her father 
 
 was a farmer, and later a trader. He died 
 in Lewiston, Maine, in 1865, at the age of 
 forty-five years. His widow is still living, 
 and makes her home at Woodsville, New 
 Hampshire, The father was a consistent 
 member of the Baptist church, while the 
 mother holds membership with the Chris- 
 tian church. The paternal grandfather of 
 Mrs. Gifford, John Flood, was a native of 
 Maine, of supposedly Irish descent. In the 
 war of 1812 he served his country faithfully 
 and well. Her maternal grandfather, Moses 
 Cain, was also for a -time jn the military 
 service. By occupation he was a farmer 
 and a minister of the gospel. ''''^y 
 
 The Gifford family are well known in 
 Kane county. James T. Gifford, a brother 
 of our subject, laid out the city of Elgin, 
 naming it after the title of a piece of music 
 that he fancied. As stated, the entire fam- 
 ily, save the parents, came to Kane county 
 and settled in the vicinity of Elgin in pioneer 
 days. All were highly honored citizens, 
 whose names and memories are cherished 
 by their many friends and acquaintances. 
 
 Abel D. Gifford has now been a resident 
 of this vicinity for more than sixty years, 
 and has been identified with its growth and 
 prosperity. The country was then wild in- 
 deed, and the thriving cities now in northern 
 Illinois existed but in name. Chicago then 
 gave no evidence of its present prosperity 
 and magnificent proportions. 
 
 Since his thirteenth year Mr. Gifford has 
 been a member of the Baptist church, and 
 and is the only surviving charter member of 
 the First Baptist church of Elgin, which was 
 organized in 1838, and of which he has 
 been trustee since its organization and 
 deacon for about fifty years. In the service 
 of his Master he has always taken special 
 delight, and has done much to advance the
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 cause in the place which has so long been 
 his home. Mrs. Gifford is also a member 
 of the Baptist church. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Gifford is a Republican, 
 with which party he has been connected 
 since its organization. A strong believer in 
 liberty, he naturally allied himself with the 
 Republicans and labored for the success of 
 the party. In the discharge of his duties 
 as a citizen he has served in several local 
 offices, being road commissioner of Hanover 
 township for several years and also town- 
 ship assessor. On coming to Elgin he built 
 his present beautiful home in 1889. On 
 the premises he makes his own gas for light- 
 ing purposes, although he uses in connec- 
 tion electricity. The house is heated by 
 steam and is handsomely furnished and 
 most home like. 
 
 In all his life Mr. Gifford never drank 
 intoxicating liquors of any kind, never 
 chewed tobacco, and never smoked but a 
 few times. His life has been indeed a tem- 
 perate one, and no man stands higher in 
 the estimation of the people. All esteem 
 him for his many excellent qualities of head 
 and heart. 
 
 A DIN MANN, a well-known surveyor, 
 civil engineer and prominent citizen 
 of Elgin, residing at No. 112 Porter street, 
 was born in Oxford, New Hampshire, Oc- 
 tober 14, 1816, and his parents, Aaron and 
 Sarah (Ingraham) Mann, were natives of 
 the same state. Of their seven children, 
 six sons and one daughter, only two are 
 now living, Adin, and Monroe, a resident of 
 Montana. 
 
 The father, a farmer by occupation, 
 came to Illinois in 1838 with his family and 
 settled on a "claim" in the western part 
 of Elgin township, Kane county, that our 
 
 subject had taken up the year previous. 
 Overwork and change of climate broke 
 down his health the first season and he 
 turned over the active operations of the 
 farm to the boys, and cultivated only his 
 garden which he always kept in prime con- 
 dition till his death in 1852, when sev- 
 enty-seven years of age. His faithful wife 
 survived him only three weeks, dying at the 
 age of sixty-three. Both were earnest 
 members of the Congregational church. 
 He served as captain of a militia company 
 in the war of 1812. 
 
 John Mann, our subject's paternal grand- 
 father, was of English and Welsh descent, 
 and born in Hebron, Connecticut, and was 
 the youngest of twelve sons. His father 
 was joint proprietor of a township on the 
 Connecticut river, in the northerly part of 
 New Hampshire, having surveyed the lands 
 under the Crown and obtaining title to one- 
 half of the territory surveyed. 
 
 These lands he offered to each of his 
 several sons as they became of age, if they 
 would go up and settle on it, but they all 
 refused till it came to John, the youngest. 
 He said "Yes, I will go," and with his 
 young bride, a little woman of one hundred 
 pounds weight, he started for the northern 
 wilds, to find his promised land, and pur- 
 sued his journey to the end of all roads or 
 means of conveyance. Here he engaged a 
 man with a "dugout" to take his little 
 worldly effects and row up the river, while 
 he hired a horse from a frontier settler, and 
 mounting, took his little wife on the "pil- 
 lion " behind him, and pushed on through 
 the tangled forest sixty miles further, and 
 dismounting they stood there alone on an 
 October in 1765 in the solitude of the wil- 
 derness. The man who had navigated the 
 " dugout" took back the horse to its owner.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 57 
 
 They found and took possession of a log 
 shanty that some daring adventurer had 
 built and abandoned after felling two acres 
 of the surrounding dense timber. Thus 
 John Mann, with a small stock of provi- 
 sions, an axe, jack-knife and drawing-knife, 
 and the wife with a bed, a six-quart iron 
 kettle and a three-pint tin dish, started out, 
 at the coming on of winter, to commence 
 the battle of life and carve out for them- 
 selves a home and fortune in the wilderness, 
 and they succeeded. Being a cooper, with 
 his axe, jack-knife and drawing-knife, he 
 soon made a pail and tub for the wife, and 
 learning that a settlement some distance up 
 the river had raised some corn and impro- 
 vised a crude mill to grind it into meal, he 
 made a dozen more pails in the same crude 
 way, and a hand-sled, going fifteen miles 
 over into Vermont to his nearest neighbor 
 to borrow a small augur for the purpose, 
 and, when the river froze over, took his 
 wares on the sled and hauled them up to 
 the Haverhill settlement, traded them for 
 corn, which he brought back in the shape 
 of meal. In the spring he burned off the 
 brush and limbs on the two acres of fallen 
 timber, and planted corn among the logs 
 and raised one hundred and fifty bushels. 
 Thereafter his granary was never empty, 
 and he became known the country round as 
 the Joseph of Egypt, where all who needed 
 could find a supply of grain. His little wife 
 presented him with twelve sons and three 
 daughters, all who lived to marry but one, 
 and, dying at the age of eighty-four, John 
 Mann left one hundred and fifty-six living 
 descendants. 
 
 Our subject's maternal grandfather was 
 also of English descent and spent his entire 
 life in the old Granite state, where he en- 
 gaged in agricultural pursuits. His daugh- 
 
 ter, Mrs. Mann, was one of the heirs to 
 the lands on which the city of Sheffield, 
 England, the great steel manufacturing cen- 
 tre is builded, by will to the children of the 
 fourth generation of the testator, of whom 
 Mrs. Mann was one, but the loss of certain 
 papers has hitherto defeated a successful 
 prosecution of the claim. On the old home- 
 stead in New Hampshire, which was a part 
 of the John Mann tract, where he first 
 opened his eyes to the light of day, Adin 
 Mann remained till he attained his majority, 
 during the last three years of which he 
 worked on the farm in summer, taught 
 school in the winter and attended the Kim- 
 ble Union Academy at the spring and fall 
 terms, where he acquired a good .practical 
 education. In the summer of 1837 he came 
 to Illinois and " took up a claim " on the as 
 yet unsurveyed government lands in the 
 west part of Elgin township, anticipating a 
 future home for his -father's 'family, and had 
 some land broken up. Later in the season 
 he returned to the old home, and in the 
 spring of 1838 the whole family with two or 
 three others, in all thirty persons, in wagons, 
 started for Illinois, where they safely landed 
 the latter part of June, after a tedious jour- 
 ney of nearly six weeks. A frame house 
 was soon erected and the work of improve- 
 ment began in earnest; shade trees and 
 orchards were soon planted and in a short 
 time the wild prairie assumed the aspect of 
 a thrifty New England home. Later, when 
 the public lands came into market, the 
 claim was divided between the three older 
 sons, one part becoming the property of our 
 subject, who devoted the summer seasons 
 to the farm and taught school in Elgin in 
 the winter, being among the first teachers 
 in this section of the state. In 1841 Mr. 
 Mann returned to the old eastern home for
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 " the girl he left behind him," and on the 
 3Oth of May married Miss Lydia P. Wright, 
 daughter of Wincol F. and Mary (Worces- 
 ter) Wright, and to them were born six sons 
 and two daughters Henry P., Eugene, 
 Frank W., George W., Howard, Mary W., 
 Hattie M. and Charles E. In 1843 Mr. 
 Mann was elected justice of the peace and 
 county surveyor, and moved from the farm 
 into Elgin, but at the end of two years, on 
 account of ill health, resigned the office of 
 justice of the peace and returned to the 
 farm, retaining, however, the surveyor's 
 office, to which position in after years he 
 was several times elected. He was notary 
 public for many years, and also township 
 assessor. He also served as county treas- 
 urer in 1860 and 1861, when, on the break- 
 ing out of the war, the currency which he 
 received at par depreciated to less than fifty 
 cents on the dollar, and he was one of forty- 
 two county treasurers who went under in 
 the crash. The question might, perhaps, 
 have been properly raised whether he and 
 his sureties should be the sufferers, or 
 whether the community at large, from whom 
 he had received the currency in good faith, 
 should have made good the losses. He 
 turned over every species of property he 
 possessed to make good the losses, except a 
 cow, two pigs and a few bushels of wheat, 
 leaving still a deficiency of $5,000, which 
 his bail promptly paid. He then, broken 
 in spirit, but patriotic to the core, procured 
 authority from the governor to raise a com- 
 pany for the army, and in six days had one 
 hundred brave boys enlisted, mustered into 
 the United States service, and with his 
 company and third son hastened to the ren- 
 dezvous at Camp Butler, where he became 
 captain of Company B, One Hundred and 
 Twenty-fourth Regiment Illinois Volunteer 
 
 Infantry. The two older sons had entered 
 the service the year previous, and the fourth 
 followed as soon as he could carry a gun. 
 The father and four sons put in fourteen 
 years of hard service, always at the front, 
 and were one hundred and twenty-five days 
 under battle and siege, and, what is quite 
 remarkable, neither received a wound. He 
 participated in quite a number of important 
 battles, including the engagements at Port 
 Gibson, Raymond, Jackson, Champion Hills, 
 which General Grant declared to be the most 
 important battle of the war, also at Yazoo 
 and Bentonville, and in an exposed position 
 and under fire through the siege of Vicks- 
 burg, where he had command of the left 
 wing of the charging party at the blowing 
 up of Fort Hill. Later he was appointed 
 chief engineer of the Vicksburg district, 
 which position he filled with marked ability 
 and efficiency till mustered out of the serv- 
 ice, August 14, 1865, with the rank of lieu- 
 tenant-colonel. When Lee surrendered, the 
 headquarters of the department of the Mis- 
 sissippi was moved from Vicksburg to Jack- 
 son, with thirty thousand troops at that and 
 other points in the interior. Mr. Mann was 
 ordered to examine and report the condition 
 of railroad communication between the two 
 points, and found the whole line from the 
 Big Black river to Jackson (thirty-five miles) 
 in a condition of utter wreck, over one hun- 
 dred bridges and culverts burned out, four- 
 teen miles of the rails torn up and bent, ties 
 burned and other material destroyed or car- 
 ried away. 
 
 This he was ordered to rebuild at once, 
 to furnish the timber, ties and other needed 
 material, straighten the bent and twisted 
 rails and put the road in running order, and 
 was given seven regiments of colored troops 
 to do it with, and in the meantime to fur-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 59 
 
 nish transportation and forward all supplies 
 for the troops at Jackson and interior until 
 the railroad could be rebuilt, and he was 
 obliged to put on a transportation train of 
 nine hundred mules for that purpose. 
 
 There being no white troops in reach 
 from which to obtain the necessary skilled 
 labor, he was compelled to pick up and hire 
 old railroad men and mechanics wherever 
 he could find them, and had one hundred 
 and forty such on his pay roll, a large part 
 of whom were returned Confederate sol- 
 diers. 
 
 The work was prosecuted vigorously. 
 Material procured, timber cut and hewed in 
 the forests, fifty miles away, bridges built, 
 rails straightened and laid, and engines 
 soon on the 'track. During these later 
 months our subject had the work of three 
 men on his shoulders, yet every branch of 
 the business was pushed forward with sys- 
 tem and vigor, he often riding forty miles 
 on horseback in the night to be present at 
 some point where his presence was needed 
 in the morning. Thus he closed his mili- 
 tary career, with the consciousness of hav- 
 ing discharged every duty devolving upon 
 him with promptness and efficiency and to 
 the entire satisfaction of all his superiors in 
 office, and with the warm regard of all who 
 served under him, for he always looked after 
 the comfort of the common soldier, often 
 dismounting while on the march and putting 
 a tired soldier boy in his saddle, or taking 
 up a half dozen guns and balancing them 
 across the saddle in front of him, to relieve 
 the weary ones of a part of their burden, 
 and looking after the comfort of the sick 
 as far as possible. 
 
 He had saved over four thousand dollars 
 from his army pay and when discharged 
 from the military service went into the lum- 
 
 ber business, and became partner in three 
 steam sawmills and a large body of pine 
 timber land, his family having removed to 
 Vicksburg near the close of the war. The 
 business prospect was most excellent, his 
 interest being capable of yielding him a 
 daily net income of fifty dollars, from which 
 he hoped soon to liquidate all his obliga- 
 tins in Illinois. But the fates combined to 
 crush him again at the end of the war as it 
 had done at the beginning, and after a year 
 of hard work and struggle, with the life of 
 himself and family in constant peril, he gave 
 up the contest and with funds barely suffi- 
 cient to reach Kane county, he returned to 
 his old home in Batavia, broken in health 
 and penniless. The bitterness of the South 
 against the old Yankee soldiers and the re- 
 fusal of the railroads to ship his lumber to 
 market, with other causes, compelled him 
 to abandon a property worth ten thousand 
 dollars. 
 
 After returning to Batavia, Illinois, he 
 engaged in map-making for a Philadelphia 
 publishing firm, and made county atlases in 
 Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, and a 
 state atlas of Kansas and Nebraska, which 
 embraced a sectional map of every county 
 in those states. He was an expert in this 
 work. He filled the position of city engin- 
 eer of Oil City for a time, and was assist- 
 ant engineer at Topeka, Kansas, for a year 
 and a half. With the exception of four 
 years in Mississippi and twelve years in Kan- 
 sas he has made his home in Kane county 
 since 1837, an ^ nas been prominently iden- 
 tified with its interests. His life has been 
 one of checkered vicissitudes, haying lost 
 the bottom dollar six times, yet when over- 
 whelmed and buried beneath the avalanche 
 of misfortune has heroically kicked off the 
 sods and commenced anew the fight, and
 
 6o 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 although in his eighty-second year he is still 
 very active and is now acceptably serving as 
 city engineer of Elgin and deputy county 
 surveyor of Kane county. 
 
 Fraternally, Mr. Mann affiliates with 
 Veteran post, No. 49, G. A. R., and, polit- 
 ically, has always been identified with the 
 Republican party. His life is exemplary in 
 many respects, and he has ever supported 
 those interests which are calculated to up- 
 lift and benefit humanity, while his own 
 high moral worth is deserving of the high- 
 est commendation. He has been a strictly 
 temperate man, never using tobacco or 
 liquor in any form, and both he and his 
 wife are consistent members of the Congre- 
 gational church. On the eightieth anniver- 
 sary of his birth, the family and near rela- 
 tives held a re-union at his home, it being 
 a pleasant surprise to himself and wife. In 
 memory of that occasion he penned the fol- 
 lowing beautiful poem, being too much sur- 
 prised and affected at the time to give ex- 
 pression to his thoughts: 
 
 TO THE FRIENDS WHO SO PLEASANTLY 
 SURPRISED US ON THE EIGHTI- 
 ETH ANNIVERSARY OF 
 OUR BIRTHDAY. 
 
 In the early morning still with dewdrops glittering, 
 With the mists still curling and the robins twittering, 
 While all varied nature, fresh from the couch of night, 
 Robed in golden sunbeams, smiled with radiance 
 bright. 
 
 In life's morning pathway, moist with the dew of 
 
 youth, 
 
 I met a blushing maiden, as fair and pure as truth; 
 She put her hand in mine with confidence and joy, 
 We walked along together in bliss without alloy. 
 
 We roamed o'er life's meadows, through many downs 
 
 and ups, 
 
 Breathing balm of roses, plucking the buttercups; 
 Hand in hand together along life's devious way, 
 Erst with joy or sorrow, we walked the live-long day. 
 
 But mid-day heat grew strong, our shoulders bent 
 with care, 
 
 And many blinding griefs and burdens hard to bear; 
 Yet in joy or sorrow, hand in hand as ever, 
 Through all life's long journey we've walked along 
 together. 
 
 Now the day is waning, the evening shades draw nigh, 
 The hour is approaching to lay our labors by, 
 Yet through twilight walking, hand in hand tagether, 
 We still will journey on, nearing the dark river. 
 
 And will the angels come, as we stand together 
 By the deep dark waters, and row us safely over 
 To the land of beauty to the realms forever blest 
 Where no sorrow reaches and weary ones find rest? 
 
 Will our absent loved ones, who've passed away be- 
 fore, 
 
 Meet with joyous greeting our landing on their shore? 
 Will those we leave behind come to that happy land? 
 Shall we meet together, a full, unbroken band? 
 
 God in his mercy grant this, our most earnest prayer: 
 Guide us all and keep us, and bring us over there, 
 Over there, over there, a blest united band. 
 Together over there, one in that happy land. 
 
 A. MANN. 
 Elgin, Illinois, October 14, 1896. 
 
 EBEN FOSS, residing at No. 63 1 Doug- 
 las avenue, Elgin, is the possessor of a 
 handsome property which now enables him 
 to spend his years in the pleasurable enjoy- 
 ment of his accumulations. The record of 
 his life previous to 1885, is that of an active, 
 enterprising, methodical and sagacious busi- 
 ness man and farmer, who bent his energies 
 to the honorable acquirement of a comfort- 
 able competence for himself and family. 
 
 Mr. Foss was born in Thornton, New 
 Hampshire, June 10, 1822, a son of Eben 
 and Mary (Webster) Foss, also natives of 
 that state, the former born January 9, 1785, 
 the latter April 24, 1793. They were mar- 
 ried November 2, 1815, at Thornton. When 
 our subject was quite small he lost his 
 mother, her death occurring March 24, 
 1826, but the father survived her many 
 years, dying March 16, 1869. The paternal 
 grandfather, who also bore the name of 
 Eben Foss, was a native of New Hamp-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 61 
 
 shire, where throughout life he followed the 
 occupation of farming and reared a large 
 family of children, including John, Eben, 
 Langdon, Carter, Jacob, Milton, Ruth, 
 Betsy, Mrs. Robinson and Mrs. Durgin. 
 The parents of these children were both 
 members of the Congregational church. 
 
 The maternal grandfather of our subject 
 was a private in the Colonial army during 
 the Revolutionary war and late in life re- 
 ceived a pension from the government. 
 The great-great-grandmother, Mrs. Dustin, 
 was at one time taken prisoner by the In- 
 dians while they were on the warpath and 
 held in captivity for a time. Being notified 
 of the approach of the red men, she sent 
 word by one of the children to her husband 
 who was plowing in the field at the time. 
 He came at once to the house, brought 
 out his seven children and bidding them to 
 run ahead he slowly retreated, keeping the 
 Indians back with his gun; he thus brought 
 off his little flock in safety. His wife, who 
 was unable to escape with him, was dragged 
 into captivity. The party who captured 
 Mrs. Dustin marched many days through 
 the forest, at length reached an island in 
 the Merrimac. Several days later, while 
 the Indians were asleep, she, with the as- 
 sistance of her nurse and a boy, who had 
 also been captured, killed ten of the red 
 men and returned home with their scalps 
 that she might prove to the settlers, beyond 
 a doubt, what she had done. 
 
 The mother of our subject had two 
 brothers, Betton and Bradley, and perhaps 
 others, besides several sisters Mrs. Sargent, 
 Mrs. Robinson, Mrs. Chatman, and Harriet, 
 who was twice married, her second husband 
 being a Mr. Greely, who conducted a hotel 
 in Thornton, New Hampshire, for many 
 years. 
 
 Eben Foss, of this review, is the fourth 
 in order of birth in a family of six children, 
 as follows: Betton, born February 10, 
 1817, was married in May, 1841, and both 
 he and his wife are now deceased, his death 
 occurring August 21, 1859. Mary Ann, 
 born August 2, 1818, married Charles Cal- 
 don, and died in 1882, leaving four children, 
 who live in New Hampshire. Hannah Jane, 
 born May 11, 1820, was married in Decem- 
 ber, 1842, to Oris Hitchcock, and died in 
 1891, leaving the following children Pas- 
 chal, Charles, Frank, Mary, wife of Charles 
 Sharp; Mrs. Hattie Andrews, Mrs. Clara 
 Bell Loveless, Mrs. Ella Sharp, and Ellen. 
 Eben, our subject. Bradley V., born July 
 29, 1824, was married July n, 1852, and 
 now lives in Laporte City, Iowa. Harriet 
 Webster, born February 8, 1826, was mar- 
 ried May 9, 1850, to Daniel Brandon, and 
 died in 1887. After the death of the mother 
 of these children, the father married Char- 
 lotte Elliott, by whom he had one son 
 Charles Elliott, who was born May 28, 
 1828, and is now living in California. His 
 children are Alvah and Louella, who are 
 still living; and Ida, who died in 1877, at 
 the age of twenty years. 
 
 During his boyhood the subject of this 
 sketch attended the district schools for three 
 months during the winter season, while the 
 remainder of the year was spent in assisting 
 with the work of the home farm. When 
 sixteen years of age he came with his par- 
 ents to Campton township, Kane county, 
 where he purchased one hundred and sixty 
 acres of wild land at the government price 
 of one dollar and a quarter per acre. He 
 continued to work for his father until he at- 
 tained his majority, and became thoroughly 
 familiar with every department of farm work. 
 On starting out in life for himself, he con-
 
 62 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 tinued to follow the pursuit to which he had 
 been reared, and became one of the most 
 successful farmers and stock- raisers in his 
 locality. The land which he purchased 
 from the government he continued to oper- 
 ate until 1884, and to the original tract 
 added until he had one hundred and seventy- 
 four acres of valuable land, which he sold 
 for nearly sixty-seven dollars per acre. He 
 then removed to Elgin, where he has since 
 lived retired, enjoying the fruits of his for- 
 mer toil. 
 
 In 1847 Mr. Fosswas united in marriage 
 to Mrs. Emily C. (Ravlin) Cleveland, who 
 died November 18, 1885, at the age of six- 
 ty-six years. She was a consistent Chris- 
 tian woman, a member of the Baptist church. 
 By her first marriage she had one son, still 
 living Charles L. Cleveland, of Scranton, 
 Greene county, Iowa, who married Weal- 
 thy Allen and has two children, Fred and 
 Frank. Three children blessed the second 
 union, namely: Mary Webster, who died at 
 the age of one year; Harriet, widow of J. 
 A. Daniels, who died February 12, 1896, in 
 California, aged fifty-three years, and left 
 one son, John F. , now a student in the 
 public schools; and Mary F., wife of J. H. 
 Williams, of Elgin, by whom she has five 
 children Howard, Clarence, Lloyd, Ruth 
 and Grace. 
 
 Mr. Foss cast his first presidential vote 
 for Zachary Taylor, but has never taken a 
 very active part in politics aside from vot- 
 ing. He is a worthy representative of that 
 class of citizens who lead quiet, industrious, 
 honest and useful lives, and constitute the 
 best portion of a community. Wherever 
 known he is held in high regard, and as an 
 honored pioneer and highly-respected citi- 
 zen he is certainly deserving of honorable 
 mention in the history of his adopted county. 
 
 I ONATHAN TEFFT, a farmer living two 
 J and one-half miles south of Elgin City, 
 is numbered among the earliest settlers of 
 Kane county, the family emigrating from 
 Madison county, New York, and locating in 
 Kane county in the fall of 1835. The pa- 
 ternal grandfather, Jeremiah Tefft, was 
 a native of Rhode Island, married "Rhoda 
 Hoxie, of Richmond, Kings county, Colony 
 of Rhode Island," as the old marriage cer- 
 tificate reads, which is in possession of our 
 subject, "October 23, 1768, by Edward 
 Perry, J. P." ;After the close of the Revolu- 
 tion he moved to Madison county, New 
 York, which was then the far western fron- 
 tier. There he spent the remainder of his 
 life and reared his large family, one of whom, 
 Jonathan, was the father of our subject. 
 
 Jonathan Tefft, Sr., was born in Madi- 
 son county, New York, where he married 
 Elizabeth Collins, born December 8, 1792, 
 and daughter of Solomon Collins. By this 
 union were fourteen children, six of whom 
 are yet living: Amos, living in Nebraska; 
 Jonathan, our subject; Thomas W., now 
 serving as alderman of the sixth ward in 
 Elgin; Louisa, widow of P. C. Gilbert, re- 
 siding in Elgin; Emeline, widow of William 
 Worden, now residing in Kansas; and Rhoda, 
 who married Chauncey B. Halley, and now 
 lives in Barrington, Cook county. 
 
 . On coming west, Jonathan Tefft, Sr. , 
 settled first on a farm in Cook county, ad- 
 joining the present city of Elgin, a part of 
 which is now Lord's Park. The year fol- 
 lowing he bought a claim, the farm on which 
 our subject now resides, lying in section 36, 
 Elgin township, and section 31, Hanover 
 township, Cook county. The first farm in 
 Cook county he sold to his son, Dr. Joseph 
 Tefft, the first physician in Elgin. His death 
 occurred in Elgin, January 26, 1886, having
 
 JONATHAN TEFFT.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 almost attained his seventy-sixth year. In 
 his political views he was originally a Dem- 
 ocrat, later a Republican, a man of great 
 strength of character, never sought office, 
 but served in many official positions. Jon- 
 athan Tefft, Sr. , was one of three commis- 
 sioners to lay out and establish a road from 
 Elgin to St. Charles on the east side of Fox 
 river. 
 
 Jonathan Tefft, our subject, was born in 
 the town of Lebanon, Madison county, New 
 York, was reared on a farm, and attended 
 the district schools until the age of eighteen, 
 when the family moved west. He attended 
 school one winter after coming to Illinois in 
 a log school house two miles south of Elgin. 
 His first purchase of land was one hundred 
 and ten acres lying northeast of Elgin, and 
 in 1850 he purchased one hundred and forty- 
 three acres in section 3 1 , range 9, lying 
 south of his father's homestead. -On that 
 place he resided until March 1, 1865, when 
 he moved to the old farm. 
 
 Mr. Tefft was married near Elgin April 
 8, 1841, to Miss Delinda West, a native of 
 Madison county, New York, and daughter 
 of Isaac West, who first married Ruth W'il- 
 cox, daughter of Daniel Wilcox. The 
 Wests moved from the same neighborhood 
 in Madison county, New York, the year fol- 
 lowing the emigration of the Tefft family. 
 Of the three children of Isaac and Ruth 
 West, Mrs. Tefft alone survives. He died 
 in 1876 at the age of eighty-two years. To 
 Mr. and Mrs. Tefft five children have been 
 born, only two of whom are now living, 
 Jenny and Frank. 
 
 As a practical farmer, Mr. Tefft is ex- 
 celled by few. He has a large dairy farm, 
 which consists of two hundred and eighty 
 acres, fifty-two acres lying in Kane county 
 and the rest in Cook county, and is well im- 
 
 proved in every respect. His father's old 
 house is still standing on the farm, but he 
 resides in a house erected by himself in 1888, 
 which cost nearly five thousand dollars. 
 On the place are one hundred head of cat- 
 tle, eighty of which are milch cows. He 
 has a large cattle barn, thirty-six by one 
 hundred and forty-six feet, horse barn forty 
 by forty feet, and tool shed thirty-two by 
 thirty- six feet. The entire farm is under a 
 high state of cultivation, and everything 
 about the place shows a thrift of the owner. 
 
 In politics Mr. Tefft ie a Republican, 
 with which party he has acted since its or- 
 ganization. He has been honored by his 
 townsmen with a number of official posi- 
 tions. He was made a Master Mason in 
 the Elgin lodge, No. 117, in 1854, and was 
 one of the charter members of South Elgin 
 lodge in 1865. On the surrender of its 
 charter he again united with Elgin lodge, 
 No. 1 17. He was a member of Fox River 
 chapter at St. Charles, and of Bethel com- 
 mandery at Elgin. He was formerly a mem- 
 ber of the Sycamore commandery at Syca- 
 more. At one time he was a member of the 
 Board of Trade of Elgin. 
 
 Mr. Tefft is one of the few men yet liv- 
 ing who saw almost this entire country in 
 its virgin state, and has done as much as 
 any other one man to develop its resources 
 and make it the garden spot of the west. 
 On his arrival here there were but few cab- 
 ins on the east side of the river at Elgin and 
 but three on the west side. He has hunted 
 deer on the present site of the city, and as- 
 sisted in breaking the prairie on its present 
 site. He remembers when the Indians came 
 from the northwest to spear fish in the Fox 
 river. Nearly all of his long and useful 
 life has been spent in Elgin township, and- 
 few men are better known in Kane county.
 
 66 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 JOHN L. HEALY, a representative mem- 
 ber of the bar of Elgin and a native of 
 the city, was born August 3, 1861, his par- 
 ents being Bernard and Catherine (Laugh- 
 lin) Healy. His father was born in Dublin, 
 Ireland, and was a son of Joseph Healy, an 
 officer in the English army. The latter mar- 
 ried Margaret Morgan and both he and his 
 wife spent their entire lives in the old world. 
 Bernard Healy was the only one of their 
 family that ever crossed the Atlantic to 
 America. He made the voyage in 1842 and 
 soon after took up his residence in Elgin, 
 where he embarked in the harness and a 
 saddlery business, engaging longer in active 
 and uninterrupted business than any other in 
 the county. He aided in laying out the 
 town of Elgin in connection with James T. 
 Gifford and named two streets in honor of 
 his favorite authors, William E. Channing 
 and Joseph Addison. He was a man of ex- 
 tensive reading and broad general culture 
 and his memory was remarkably retentive. 
 In all matters of business his word was as 
 good as his bond and he had the respect and 
 confidence of all who knew him. He was 
 a man of remarkable purity of character, of 
 earnest purpose and.upright life, and his life 
 record forms an indispensable part of the 
 history of the county. In politics he was a 
 Democrat, and in religious belief was a Cath- 
 olic. His death occurred November 6, 1894, 
 but his widow is still living in Dundee, Illi- 
 nois. They had a family of six children: 
 Bernard; John Leander, of this sketch; 
 Richard, who died in infancy; Walter E. , 
 who was a graduate of Ann Arbor Univer- 
 sity and now a student in Mr. Healy's law 
 office; May E. and Charles, all residents of 
 Kane county. The father of this family 
 was twice married, and the children of the 
 other union are Joseph and Rosann. Their 
 
 mother bore the maiden name of Winifred 
 Anderson, and their marriage was celebrated 
 in Manchester. England. Her son, Joseph, 
 was a graduate of Notre Dame and the Uni- 
 versity of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, and stud- 
 ied law with Judge Silvanus Wilcox. He 
 afterward became a partner of Botsford & 
 Barry, and died in 1871, at the age of twen- 
 ty-six years. He was a young man of splen- 
 did mental attainments and brilliant pros- 
 pects. His sister died at St. Mary's College, 
 while pursuing her studies there. 
 
 The public schools of Elgin afforded 
 our subject his preliminary educational ad- 
 vantages, which were supplemented by a 
 course in the high school of Dundee. He 
 next entered St. Joseph's College, of Bards- 
 town. He further continued his studies in 
 Notre Dame University, and was graduated 
 in 1879, after which he studied law in the 
 office and under the direction of Botsford & 
 Barry, of Elgin. He was admitted to the 
 bar in Chicago, in 1884, passing an exam- 
 ination before the appellate court, and then 
 spent one year traveling in Europe. He 
 did some post-graduate work in Heidelburg 
 and spent some time in Frankfort-on-the- 
 Main and in other European cities, and, 
 with a mind broadened by travel and the 
 knowledge and culture which only travel 
 can bring, he returned to his native land. 
 
 Locating in Elgin, Mr. Healy entered 
 into partnership with Judge Henry B. 
 Willis, under the firm name of Willis & 
 Healy, a connection that was maintained 
 for four years with excellent success. It 
 was then dissolved by mutual consent and 
 Mr. Healy has since been alone. He is en- 
 gaged in general practice and is well versed 
 in many departments of jurisprudence. He 
 has a splendidly equipped office in the 
 building which he owns, and enjoys a large
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 67 
 
 clientele. He also has other real-estate in- 
 terests, including two store buildings ad- 
 joining the Spurling block, and has some 
 valuable realty in Chicago. 
 
 In politics Mr. Healy is a Republican; 
 socially, and is a prominent member of the 
 Knights of Pythias fraternity and other or- 
 ganizations. He has attained a well-merit- 
 ed success at the bar and in his other busi- 
 ness enterprises, and Elgin regards him as 
 one of her substantial and reliable citizens. 
 
 HERMAN H. AND GUSTAVE F. 
 KIRCHHOFF, Hampshire, Illinois, 
 doing business under the firm name of Kirch- 
 hoff Brothers, are dealers in lumber, grain, 
 flour, feed, coal and wood. They carry a 
 good stock of all things in their line and are 
 doing a large and fairly prosperous business. 
 They are well known throughout the north- 
 ern part of Kane county and the adjoining 
 portions of McHenry and De Kalb counties 
 as young men of good business ability, and 
 who can be depended upon in every busi- 
 ness transaction. Henry Kirchhoff, their 
 father, was born in Hanover, Germany, in 
 1833, and emigrated to America in 1845 
 with his father, John Henry Kirchhoff, who 
 was a soldier against Napoleon, at Water- 
 loo, and who died in Cook county, Illinois, 
 at the age of seventy-nine years. Henry 
 Kirchhoff married Mary Franzen, a daugh- 
 ter of Henry Franzen, who was an early 
 settler of DuPage county. They became 
 the parents of ten sons and two daughters, 
 all of whom are living in Cook county, save 
 Herman H. and Gustave K., of whom we 
 write. 
 
 Herman H. Kirchhoff was born in the 
 township of Leyden, Cook county, Illinois, 
 January 27, 1862, and there made his home 
 
 until 1887, in the meantime attending the 
 public schools and assisting upon the home 
 farm. In company with C. A. Franzen he 
 then went to Pingree Grove and opened a 
 lumber, wool and coal yard, which they con- 
 ducted for eleven years. Gustave F. Kirch- 
 hoff was also born in the township of Ley- 
 den, Cook county, Illinois, his birth occur- 
 ring November 11, 1869. He also received 
 his education in the public schools of the 
 township and assisted upon the home farm. 
 On the ist of January, 1898, the two 
 brothers moved to Hampshire and purchased 
 the feed store of Werthwein & Zimmer, and 
 in February following, the lumber yard of 
 McCIure & Struckman, a business in which, 
 as already stated, they are meeting with 
 success, being accommodating and popular. 
 Herman H. Kirchhoff was married De- 
 cember 21, 1892, in Elgin, Illinois, to Miss 
 Margaret J. Shedden, of Plato township, 
 and a daughter of John Shedden, who is 
 now living a retired life in the city of 
 Elgin. To them have been born one daugh- 
 ter, Florence Alice. Mr. and Mrs. Kirch- 
 hoff are members of the Presbyterian church 
 and are active in all church and benevolent 
 work. Fraternally he is a member of the 
 Modern Woodmen of America and Knights 
 of the Maccabees. In social circles they 
 occupy a prominent place. 
 
 ROBERT ARCHIBALD, a successful 
 and progressive farmer residing at No. 
 434 Chicago street, Elgin, is a native of 
 Kane county, born in Dundee, March n, 
 1852, and is the only child born of the union 
 of Abram and Jane (Crichton) Archibald. 
 The parents were both natives of Scotland, 
 where they were married in 1847, and the 
 following year they left their old home near
 
 68 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Glasgow and crossed the Atlantic to Amer- 
 ica. The father purchased a farm two 
 miles and a half northwest of Dundee in 
 Kane county, and here followed agricultural 
 pursuits, although in his native land he had 
 served as foreman in a colliery. On laying 
 aside business cares, he moved to Elgin, 
 where he died June 23, 1897, aged eighty- 
 four years and one month. He was a 
 worthy and highly respected citizen, ever 
 kind and accommodating to his neighbors and 
 friends, and just and honorable in all his 
 dealings. His whole life was characterized 
 by honesty, industry and those qualities 
 essential to good citizenship. He was first 
 a Republican in politics and later a Dem- 
 ocrat, while in religious belief he was a Pres- 
 byterian, to which church his wife also be- 
 longed. She died April 8, 1893, at the age 
 of eighty-one years. By a former marriage 
 he had one son, Abram Archibald, Jr., now 
 living near Los Angeles, California. The 
 mother of our subject was also previously 
 married, her first husband being Daniel 
 McNeal, by whom she had three children: 
 Male m and John, members of the firm of 
 McNeal & Higgins, wholesale grocers on 
 Market street, Chicago; and Anna, wife of 
 Thomas Todd, of 136 South State street, 
 Elgin. They came to the United States 
 during childhood. 
 
 Robert Archibald began his education in 
 the common schools of Kane county, and 
 later attended the Elgin Academy. Since 
 completing his education he has devoted his 
 time and attention to farming, having be- 
 come thoroughly familiar with all the duties 
 which fall to the lot of the agriculturist 
 upon the home farm where he was reared. 
 Being a thorough and systematic farmer he 
 has met with a well-deserved success and is 
 now the owner of two valuable farms in 
 
 Kane county. In connection with general 
 farming he is also engaged in dairying. 
 Socially he affiliates with Dundee lodge, No. 
 190, F. & A. M., and politically is a Dem- 
 ocrat. In the various relations of life he 
 has always been the same earnest, upright, 
 capable and courteous gentleman, winning 
 the confidence and esteem of all who know 
 him. 
 
 D WIGHT E. BURLINGAME, M. D., 
 is one of the most prominent and suc- 
 cessful physicians and surgeons of Elgin, 
 his office being at his beautiful home at No. 
 18 Villa street. He was born in Adams, 
 Berkshire county, Massachusetts, June 8, 
 1844, and is a son of Daniel Fenner and 
 Mary A. (Mason) Burlingame, also natives 
 of the old Bay state. The family is of 
 Danish origin and its first representatives 
 in England were probably prisoners of war. 
 It was founded in this country as early as 
 1640. The Doctor's grandfather, Elisha 
 Burlingame, was a native of Rhode Island, 
 and as a Continental soldier during the 
 Revolutionary war, he fought in the battle 
 of Long Island. He died of pneumonia in 
 middle life, leaving four children, three sons 
 and one daughter. James Mason, the Doc- 
 tor's maternal grandfather, was also a native 
 of Rhode Island, was a farmer and frontier 
 tradesman, and died at an advanced age. 
 
 Daniel F. Burlingame was also a farmer 
 by occupation, and died on his farm in 
 Adams, Massachusetts, in 1895, at the ripe 
 old age of eighty-eight years. During his 
 early days he was captain of the state mili- 
 tia, and did considerable business in settling 
 up estates as a referee and appraiser. His 
 wife departed this life in 1893 at the age of 
 eighty-six years. Both were consistent 
 members of the Congregational church, and
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 were highly respected by all who knew 
 them. Four sons and one daughter were 
 born to them, of whom four are still living 
 Elisha, a resident of Adams, Massachu- 
 setts; Dwight E. ; Phoebe A.; and John L , 
 of Holyoke, Massachusetts. 
 
 Under the parental roof Dr. Burlingame 
 grew to manhood, and after attending the 
 public schools of his native state for some 
 time, he graduated from a high school in 
 1865. Subsequently he entered the medi- 
 cal department of the Northwestern Univer- 
 sity at Evanston, Illinois, and graduated 
 from that institution in 1869 with the de- 
 gree of M. D. The following year he 
 opened an office in Elgin at his present loca- 
 tion. He has that true love for his work 
 without which there can be no success, and 
 has always been a progressive physician, 
 constantly improving on his own and others' 
 methods and gaining further encouragement 
 and inspiration from the performance of 
 each day's duties. Regularly each year he 
 makes a trip to the east for the purpose of 
 visiting noted medical institutions to refresh 
 his memory and obtain the latest ideas on 
 the science of medicine and surgery. He 
 regularly visits the old University Medical 
 School of Philadelphia, one of the most 
 thorough medical schools in the country 
 where the work of such men as Drs. Joseph 
 Price, Ashurdt, Baldy, Penrose, Deavor, 
 and Hart is studied. He also visits the 
 celebrated Bellevue Hospital Medical Col- 
 lege and the Post Graduate School of New 
 York, whose corps of teachers are nowhere 
 excelled for their ability and skillful work, 
 both in medicine and surgery. In 1892 he 
 crossed the ocean and visited the hospitals 
 in Europe, especially those of Berlin, Ger- 
 many, and Paris, France, gaining much use- 
 ful and practical knowledge. Although en- 
 
 gaged in general practice, he makes a 
 specialty of surgery and is recognized as one 
 of the most skillful surgeons in Northern 
 Illinois. At present and for some years 
 he has been a member of the surgical staff 
 of Sherman Hospital, Elgin, Illinois. In 
 his chosen calling he has met with remarka- 
 ble success. 
 
 In 1872, Dr. Burlingame was united in 
 marriage with Miss Sarah A. Winchester, a 
 native of Canada and daughter of Dr. Edgar 
 and Anna Maria (Martin) Winchester, the 
 former born in the province of Quebec and 
 the latter in England. In early life Dr. 
 Winchester moved with his father's family 
 to Walpole, lower Canada, where he grew 
 to manhood and received a good education. 
 He studied medicine in that country and at- 
 tended a medical college in Toronto, Can- 
 ada, later graduated at Ann Arbor and took 
 a post-graduate course in Jefferson Medical 
 College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 
 About 1852 he removed with his family to 
 Dundee, Kane county, where he engaged in 
 practice a few years and then moved to 
 Elgin, where he soon became well estab- 
 lished and was recognized as one of the best 
 physicians and surgeons in the place. 
 
 In 1858, Mrs. Winchester departed this 
 life. She w.as a woman of excellent repu- 
 tation, and in early life was a member of 
 the Church of England, but later in life 
 united with the Baptists and was a member 
 of that body at the time of her death. She 
 was a mother of four children, two of whom 
 are now living Mrs. Burlingame and Dr. 
 William G., a successful dentist of Detroit, 
 Michigan. Later Dr. Winchester married 
 Miss Lydia Choate Perkins, of Elgin, by 
 whom he had three children, only one now 
 living, Maud, residing with her mother in 
 San Bernadino, California.
 
 72 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Early in 1862, Dr. Winchester offered 
 his services to the general government and 
 in March 25th of that year received his com- 
 mission as surgeon and was assigned to the 
 Fifty-second Illinois Volunteer Infantry. 
 He joined his command about a week before 
 the battle of Pittsburg Landing, and coming 
 to the front a young, unknown surgeon, he 
 was assigned by his superior officer to a 
 minor position in one of the field hospitals 
 during the fight. While performing his 
 duty, a captain was brought in wounded, a 
 ball having passed through the bone of one 
 of his arms. The surgeon in charge said 
 the arm must come off, and his opinion was 
 concurred in by other surgeons present. 
 The captain refused to submit to its ampu- 
 tation and in some way Dr. Winchester was 
 called upon for his opionion. After exam- 
 ining the arm he said that it could be saved 
 though the operation would shorten it a 
 little. The other surgeons smiled incredu- 
 ously, but the Doctor proceeded to work, 
 cutting out a portion of the bone and bring- 
 ing the parts together. The operation was 
 quickly, neatly and skillfully performed that 
 the Doctor was at once put to surgical work 
 and his ability was recognized by all. After 
 serving over two years he resigned his posi- 
 tion, which was accepted April 23, 1864. 
 
 Returning to his home in Elgin, Dr. Win- 
 chester resumed the practice of his pro- 
 fession and continued until 1871, when he 
 removed to San Bernadino, California, 
 where he died in 1875. He was a consist- 
 ent member of the Baptist church, and took 
 as active a part in church work as his pro- 
 fessional duties would permit. Every Sun- 
 day morning especial found him in the 
 house of God. His widow is yet living in 
 San Bernadino. 
 
 To Dr. and Mrs. Burlingame two children 
 
 have been born Anna M. and Hattie F., 
 both at home. The family hold member- 
 ship in the Baptist church and occupy an 
 enviable position in social circles. Fra- 
 ternally the Doctor belongs to Monitor 
 lodge, F. & A. M. ; Loyal L. Munn chap- 
 ter, R. A. M.; and Bethel cornmandery, 
 K. T. He is also a member of the Cen- 
 tury Club of Elgin; the Fox River Valley 
 Medical Society; the Illinois State Medical 
 Association; the American Medical Associa- 
 tion. Politically he is independent. Wher- 
 ever the Doctor goes he wins friends and 
 has the happy faculty of being able to re- 
 tain them. His popularity has made him a 
 great favorite in all circles. 
 
 /COLONEL WILLIAM SMAILES, who 
 *^s has attained distinction in military cir- 
 cles, and is one of the leading merchant 
 tailors of Elgin, has shown in his successful 
 career that he has the ability to plan wisely 
 and execute with energy, a combination 
 which, when possessed by men in any walk 
 of life, never fails to effect notable results. 
 Mr. Smailes is a native of England, born 
 in Burlington, Yorkshire, May 14, 1842, a 
 son of William and Mary (Witty) Smailes. 
 The father and also the grandfather, David 
 Smailes, followed the tailor's trade as a 
 life work. In 1853 William Smailes, Sr., 
 brought his family to America and located 
 in Elgin, Illinois, where throughout the re- 
 mainder of his life he worked at his trade, 
 at the same time being also interested in 
 farming. His death occurred in December, 
 1 88 1. In his family were five children, 
 namely: Rebecca, who married James O'Con- 
 nor, and died in 1872; Wjlliam; Mary Ann; 
 Janet; and Frederick, who died in 1897. In
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 73 
 
 his religious views the father was liberal 
 and in politics was a stanch Republican. 
 
 Having accompanied his parents on their 
 removal to this country, William Smailes, 
 Jr., grew to manhood in Elgin and in the 
 Elgin Academy completed his literary edu- 
 cation, being one of the first pupils in that 
 institution. While not in school he worked 
 principally upon his father's farm until after 
 the outbreak of the Civil war. In Decem- 
 ber, 1863, he enlisted in Company A, Thir- 
 ty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was 
 ordered to the front in the spring of the fol- 
 lowing year. During his first engagement 
 the battle of Resaca he was wounded in 
 the left leg below the knee and was first 
 sent to the field hospital, from there to 
 Nashville, Tennessee, thence to New Albany, 
 Indiana, and later to Quincy, Illinois. When 
 he had sufficiently recovered, he was as- 
 signed to the medical department at Quincy, 
 where he remained until April, 1865, and 
 was then engaged in military duty on Rock 
 Island until mustered out November 15,1 865. 
 
 Returning to his home in Elgin, Mr. 
 Smailes worked at the tailor's trade for 
 others for a while, and then embarked in 
 business on his'own account, then as a mem- 
 ber of the firm of William Smailes & Sons, 
 and later Smailes Brothers. Since the 
 death of his brother he has been alone and 
 to-day enjoys an excellent trade, which has 
 been built up through fair dealing and good 
 workmanship, for he is acknowledged to be 
 one of the best tailors in the city. 
 
 At Quincy, June 10, 1866, Mr. Smailes 
 was united in marriage with Miss Emma 
 Lane, daughter of James Lane, and to 
 them were born four children. Anna, the 
 eldest, is now the wife of Morton V. Gil- 
 bert, a prominent lawyer of Chicago, mem- 
 ber of the well-known firm of Smith, Gil- 
 
 bert & Kreidler, and they have two children 
 Virginia and Katherine. The others of 
 the family were Willie, now deceased; 
 Fred J., who is employed in the watch fac- 
 tory; and Guy Garfield, deceased. Re- 
 ligiously the family is connected with the 
 Universalist church. 
 
 The Republican party always finds in 
 Mr. Smailes a stalwart supporter, and he 
 takes quite an active and prominent part in 
 local politics. He has been a member of 
 the Republican executive committee, has 
 been a delegate to numerous conventions, 
 and in the spring of 1886 was elected alder- 
 man from the fifth ward. On leaving the 
 army he did not allow his interest in mili- 
 tary affairs to subside, but in 1876 organized 
 a company of state guards, of which he 
 served as captain for eight years. It was 
 made Company E, Third Regiment Illinois 
 National Guards, and was one of the best 
 drilled companies in the regiment. For 
 two years, in 1884 and 1885, Mr. Smailes 
 served as lieutenant-colonel of the regiment. 
 He is a prominent member of the Grand 
 Army Post of Elgin, of which he was com- 
 mander in 1894 and 1895, and has held 
 other offices. He was also on the national 
 staff of the Grand Army under Grand Com- 
 mander Lawler. Mr. Smailes was the first 
 secretary and is now serving as such at 
 the Elgin Children's Home Association. Fra- 
 ternally he is also an honored member of 
 the Masonic order, belonging to the blue 
 lodge, No. 522, F. & A. M. ; Woodstock 
 chapter, No. 36, R. A. M. ; and Bethel 
 commandery, No. 36, K. T. In this order 
 he is past master and past eminent com- 
 mander. It is safe to say that no man in 
 Elgin has more friends or is held in higher 
 regard by the entire community than Will- 
 iam Smailes.
 
 74 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 WILLIAM H. WING, of Elgin, Kane 
 county, Illinois, for many years one 
 of the leading attorneys, real estate and 
 loan agents of that city, with suite of rooms 
 comprising the whole second floor of the 
 First National Bank building, is one of the 
 best known citizens of the county. He 
 was born in Washtenaw county, Michigan, 
 and is a son of Washington and Catherine 
 (Himes) Wing, both natives of New York 
 state, who after their marriage first settled 
 in Washtenaw county, Michigan, and later 
 moved to the adjoining county of Living- 
 ston, where they engaged in the occupation 
 of farming, and while there Washington 
 Wing was elected to the legislature , of- 
 Michigan, and served in the session of 
 1845-6. In the summer of 1846 he came 
 to Elgin, Kane county, Illinois, and pur- 
 chased a farm just north of the city, the 
 present site of the Ludlow shoe factory. 
 Later he purchased and moved to a farm 
 just west of the city, where the remainder 
 of his life was passed -and where he died in 
 February, 1888. His wife, Catherine Wing, 
 died there in March, 1854. They were the 
 parents of four children: William H., our 
 subject; George W., who died in Michigan, 
 April 16, 1842; Mary V., who died in Elgin, 
 on the farm last mentioned December 26, 
 1862; and Orlando A., now a farmer and 
 resident of St. James, Minnesota. 
 
 After the death -of his first wife, Wash- 
 ington Wing married Adeline Willits, of 
 Delhi, Michigan, who survived him. They 
 were the parents of two children: Edwin 
 W. , who resides on the old homestead, and 
 Katie L. , wife of Rev. Silas Sprowls, of 
 Elsinore, California, where her mother also 
 resides. Washington Wing was an active, 
 progressive farmer, well and favorably 
 known. For some years he served his 
 
 township as a member of the Kane county 
 board of supervisors, and from time to 
 time held other local official positions. 
 
 William H. Wing was ten years of age 
 when he came with his parents to Elgin. 
 His school life,, beginning in the public 
 schools of Livingston county, Michigan, was 
 continued in the schools of Elgin and Lom- 
 bard University, Galesburg, Illinois. He 
 was united in marriage with Miss Abby C. 
 Saunders, at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 
 1 8, 1 86 1, and after reading law in the office 
 of Silvanus Wilcox, at Elgin, and attend- 
 ing the law department of the University of 
 Michigan, at Ann Arbor, was admitted to 
 the bar to practice law in the various courts 
 of..Illinois, April 23, 1867. He soon after- 
 ward opened an office at Elgin, and from 
 that time on for several years diligently and 
 successfully followed his profession and the 
 trial of cases in the various courts of Kane 
 and adjoining counties. On the i8th of 
 October, 1875, he was admitted to practice 
 in the district and circuit courts of the 
 United States for the northern district of 
 Illinois, having cases in both of these courts 
 at that time. Of late years he has omitted 
 the trial of law cases as much as possible, 
 as his large office, real estate and loan busi- 
 ness required his entire attention. Several 
 of the young men of Elgin have been stu- 
 dents in his office at various times and are 
 now successful practitioners. 
 
 For many years Mr. and Mrs. Wing oc- 
 cupied a beautiful home on Highland ave- 
 nue in the city of Elgin, which was re- 
 modeled by them in 1891, making it one of 
 the handsomest residences in the city. 
 There was probably no residence in Elgin 
 that contained more elaborate interior finish, 
 while the exterior was also handsome and 
 modern. This beautiful home was almost
 
 W. H. WING.
 
 MRS. W. H. WING.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 79 
 
 destroyed by fire on the morning of March 
 20, 1897, at which time Mrs. Wing lost her 
 life. No greater calamity ever befell the 
 city of Elgin, and the sympathy of the en- 
 tire community went out to the bereaved 
 husband. Mrs. Wing was a native of New 
 Hampshire, her maiden name being Abby 
 C. Saunders, and was a daughter of Henry 
 and Martha Saunders. In 1854, through 
 the advice of the governor of New Hamp- 
 shire, she gave up the comforts of her 
 childhood home at Wilmot, that state, and 
 came west in company with friends, among 
 them Miss Kilbourne, who is now Mrs. 
 Oscar Lawrence, of Kane county, Illinois, 
 to engage in teaching. She soon secured 
 and taught the district school in the new 
 brick school house northwest of the city the 
 coming fall and winter terms, and the fol- 
 lowing year took charge of one of the prin- 
 cipal schools of Dundee, and among her 
 pupils was Alfred Bosworth, the present 
 cashier of the First National Bank at Elgin. 
 Sending for her younger sister, Martha, who 
 was still in the east, they continued teach- 
 ing in the Dundee school, and were very 
 successful. 
 
 In 1856 Miss Saunders came to Elgin 
 and taught school in the building on the site 
 of the present Mill street school, which was 
 known as the Hamilton district. After her 
 marriage to Mr. Wing, in 1861, she contin- 
 ued to teach for a time, and became princi- 
 pal of the Elgin high school. She also 
 taught in the "old brick," where the high 
 school is now located, and in the old Bap- 
 tist church school, and in the Elgin Acad- 
 emy. She was a very able teacher, and a 
 woman of much executive ability and very 
 fine educational attainments. Her manage- 
 ment of the school room was tactful and 
 energetic, while her opinions were often 
 
 4 
 
 sought and relied upon by those outside of 
 the school room. Many of the middle-aged 
 men and women of Elgin owe the excel- 
 lence of their instruction .to her conscien- 
 tious discharge of her duties as a teacher. 
 In later years, as the wife of our subject, her 
 home influence and management were quite 
 as marked as her school government. The 
 boundless hospitality of Mr. and Mrs. Wing 
 encircled a host of friends from all points of 
 the compass, and it was a rare occurrence 
 to find her without a guest. To those who 
 frequented her home and shared her genial 
 entertainment, her presence was almost 
 home itself, and the friendly words of advice 
 or encouragement which she seemed so able 
 to give to many an unfortunate or despair- 
 ing one, can never be estimated in number 
 or fruition. Ever ready to sacrifice herself 
 for the benefit of others, doing through tire- 
 some exertions what many probably never 
 realized, her multiplied years of activity 
 were being spent, and undoubtedly her go- 
 ing to the burning attic the second time that 
 fatal morning was more with the thought of 
 rescuing something that would be a pleasure 
 or benefit to some one than the thought of 
 danger. 
 
 The pathetic sadness of perishing in such 
 an act, amid the smoke and flames made in 
 consuming her lovely home and its manifold 
 treasures the labors and garnering of years 
 adds to the intensity. She never shrank 
 from an arduous duty because of its great 
 exertion, and it was grand to know the firm 
 solidity of the pillar of strength there was in 
 her friendship, which, when once drawn 
 out, was an ever-flowing source of proffered 
 good, and as reliable as the round of the 
 seasons. A devoted wife, she made home 
 her kingdom. Faithful to her friends, no 
 sacrifice was too great in their service. Her
 
 8o 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 duties were discharged ably, conscientiously, 
 cheerfully. The influence of her life can 
 never be forgotten, for it is woven into the 
 character of our citizens and our institu- 
 tions. 
 
 Mrs. Wing was a member of the Woman's 
 Club of Elgin, and engaged in many char- 
 itable enterprises. She verified by her life 
 the lofty ideas that she honored. Through 
 her philanthropic principles and kindness, 
 many a helping hand has been extended to 
 those needing charity. Few women were 
 more highly esteemed or had more true 
 friends. Those who knew her in early 
 womanhood and who sat under her in- 
 struction, retained for her a warm place in 
 their remembrance to the last. The last 
 few years of her life she was compelled to 
 remain somewhat retired on account of poor 
 health, but her wealth of intellect never 
 gave way. A true helpmeet to her husband, 
 her counsel and advice were often sought by 
 him to his great and lasting good. The 
 funeral services were held March 22, 1897, 
 at the Universalist Church, Elgin, con- 
 ducted by Rev. A. N. Alcott. Her remains 
 were then laid to rest in the beautiful Bluff 
 City cemetery. Through the heroic efforts 
 of the firemen the residence was saved from 
 total destruction and has since been rebuilt, 
 but the light of the home had gone out. 
 
 In his political views, Mr. Wing is a 
 Republican, and since attaining his majority 
 has always supported the party with time 
 and money, but has never sought political 
 office of any kind, preferring to follow his 
 chosen profession. He has, however, been 
 city attorney of Elgin, and for upward of 
 five years was treasurer of the Illinois 
 Northern Hospital for the Insane. Outside 
 of his profession, and in a business way, he 
 has been a director of the First National 
 
 Bank of Elgin for several years, is a stock- 
 holder in said bank, and also in the Elgin 
 National Bank. He owns a fine farm of 
 one hundred eighty-five acres on the western 
 border of the city of Elgin, and other prop- 
 erty in various parts of the city. Com- 
 mencing life for himself with scarcely a dol- 
 lar, Mr. Wing has been diligent, and apply- 
 ing himself closely to business, he laid the 
 foundation for future prosperity, built se- 
 curely thereon, and to-day is numbered 
 among the men who, by labor, sound judg- 
 ment, business sagacity and wise fore- 
 thought, have provided for the time when 
 it may be well to lay aside at least part of 
 his many active business cares. 
 
 OWEN B. WELD, who resides in a 
 beautiful home on the corner of Crys- 
 tal street and Highland avenue, Elgin, is 
 numbered among the pioneers of 1838. 
 He was born at Oxford, New Hampshire, 
 October 24, 1831, and is a son of Francis 
 and Harriet (Mann) Weld, the former a na- 
 tive of Massachusetts, and the latter of New 
 Hampshire. The Welds are of English ori- 
 gin, the first of the name locating in Massa- 
 chusetts prior to the Revolutionary war. 
 The Manns were of Scotch origin, and were 
 likewise early settlers of America. The pa- 
 ternal grandfather of our subject, Josiah 
 Weld, was a native of Massachusetts, while 
 his maternal grandfather, Aaron Mann, was 
 born in New Hampshire. The latter mar- 
 ried Sarah Melvin, and they reared a lamily 
 of five children. After her death he mar- 
 ried Miss Ingraham, by whom he had six 
 children. By occupation he was a farmer. 
 His death occurred when he was about 
 eighty years old. 
 
 In 1 838 the Weld, Merrill and Mann fam-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 81 
 
 ilies, numbering seventeen in all, including 
 Grandfather Weld, started from their New 
 Hampshire home, bound for the Prairie state. 
 With the exception of that part from Buffalo 
 to Toledo, the entire journey was made by 
 team. They arrived in Kane county June 
 6, 1838, and found, as yet, an almost un- 
 broken wilderness. The present beautiful 
 city of Elgin contained but three or four log 
 cabins, and they were here two years before 
 the country was surveyed by the general 
 government. 
 
 Francis Weld, on his arrival in Kane 
 county, made a claim to one hundred and 
 thirty- six acres of land a mile and a quar- 
 ter west of the city limits of Elgin, and the 
 house stands precisely in the center of the 
 township. He there lived until his death, 
 in 1873, at the age of seventy-three years. 
 His wife preceded him to their heavenly 
 home eight years, dying in 1865. They 
 were the parents of eleven children, four of 
 whom are now living: Owen B., our sub- 
 ject; Mary, wife of Dr. Briggs, of Musca- 
 tine, Iowa; Newton F. and Salem E., both 
 of Elgin. The parents were members of 
 the Congregational church, and were num- 
 bered among the charter members of the 
 first Congregational church of Elgin. In 
 his native state Francis Weld followed the 
 occupation of a shoemaker, which he had 
 learned in his youth, but on coming to Kane 
 county, he became a farmer, which calling 
 he followed with success during the remain- 
 der of his life. 
 
 Owen B. Weld, our subject, was but 
 seven years of age when he accompanied 
 his parents to Kane county. Although sixty 
 years have since passed he has a distinct 
 recollection of the country as it appeared to 
 his young eyes. The old log schoolhouse, 
 with its slab seats and puncheon floor, is 
 
 vividly remembered, for there he secur-ed a 
 limited education in the subscription schools. 
 But the farm had to be cultivated, and, 
 being the eldest son in the family, he was 
 early trained to hard work, and hard work 
 it was in those days. The farm implements 
 of the present day were then unknown. 
 There were no riding plows, no mowing 
 machines, no reapers, no four-horse culti- 
 vators; in fact, every implement was of the 
 rudest kind. To do the work required one 
 had to be up with the sun, or even before 
 the break of day, and happy was he if he 
 could cease from his labors when the sun 
 went down. The prairie sod did not always 
 readily yield to the teeth of the wooden 
 harrow, the rows into which the corn must 
 be dropped were very long, but the work 
 must be done. 
 
 When about fifteen years old, on account 
 of the ill-health of his father, young Owen 
 had to take charge of the farm. The re- 
 sponsibility was great, but he was equal to 
 the occasion, and the old farm never suffered 
 under his management. On the death of 
 his father he purchased the interest of the 
 other heirs in the old homestead and it yet 
 remains in his possession. Its limits, how- 
 ever, have been extended, and it now com- 
 prises seven hundred acres of as fine land as 
 one would wish to see. The improvements 
 have always been well maintained. Tene- 
 ment houses, barns and other outbuildings 
 have been erected as the occasion demanded, 
 and in 1897 there were four families living 
 on the old homestead. In addition to this 
 farm, Mr. Weld owns three hundred acres 
 at Pingree Grove, where a little town is 
 springing up, and which now contains a tile 
 factory, stores, a good schoolhouse, a hand- 
 some park and a number of cottages. 
 
 On the i ith of January, 1854, Mr. Weld
 
 82 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth 
 M. Kelley, a daughter of John and Eliza 
 (Mansfield) Kelley, the former born in Sche- 
 nectady, and the latter in Esptirs, New 
 York, but who moved to Kane county in 
 pioneer days. Two daughters were born of 
 this union Hattie E. and Mary May. The 
 former married Orlando Wing, and they 
 now reside in St. James, Minnesota. They 
 have two daughters and one son Mary 
 Belle, Lyla Abby and Owen Weld Wing. 
 Mrs. Wing has lately made application for 
 membership in the Daughters of the Revo- 
 lution, both Welds and Manns being repre- 
 sented in the Revolutionary war. Her 
 great-great-great-grandfather, Stanford, was 
 also in the service. Mary May married J. 
 Frank Page and they now reside in Chicago. 
 
 Few persons are better known in Kane 
 county than Mr. and Mrs. Weld, and their 
 memory of bygone days is remarkable. 
 Both remember well the Rev. N. C. Clark, 
 the first Congregational minister to preach 
 in Elgin, and also the Rev. Ambrose, the 
 first Baptist minister to break the bread of 
 life to the citizens of that place. Mrs. 
 Weld remembers the first marriage which 
 occurred in the neighborhood where her 
 parents located. In religious belief Mr. and 
 Mrs. Weld are Universalists, having an abid- 
 ing faith in the love of God and in the final 
 holiness and happiness of all mankind. 
 Mrs. Weld has been an active member of 
 the Universalist Ladies Benevolent Society 
 since its organization, and has done much 
 toward relieving the wants of the poor and 
 deserving of Elgin. She is also a charter 
 and life member of the Woman's Club, of 
 Elgin. 
 
 The home of Mr. and Mrs. Weld at No. 
 52 North Crystal street, Elgin, into which 
 they moved in 1882, is one of the very best 
 
 houses in the city. It is a beautiful brick 
 mansion, elegantly furnished and located on 
 a fine site commanding a view of the busi- 
 ness portion of the city. It is without doubt 
 one of the most substantial built residences 
 in the place. Here they from time to time 
 entertain their host of friends in a most 
 hospitable manner. Their acquaintance is 
 very extended and they know personally 
 nearly all the old settlers in the county. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Weld is a Prohibitionist, 
 and to the cause of Prohibition has given 
 study and thought as well as time and 
 money. The liquor traffic has always had 
 in him one of its most steadfast foes. He 
 is also a firm believer in bimetallism, but as 
 a politician he is but little known as he has 
 never been an office seeker, and has always 
 been content to give his time and attention 
 to his business interests. As a farmer he 
 was a pronounced success, and while prac- 
 tically living retired much of his time is yet 
 spent in looking after his farming interests, 
 and he now raises many fine horses and 
 cattle. While more than three-score years 
 have passed by in the lives of Mr. and Mrs. 
 Weld they have left but a light impress 
 upon them and by their cheerful manners 
 they brighten the lives of those around them. 
 Few persons are more popular wherever 
 known. 
 
 JOHN McDONOUGH is a retired farmer 
 residing in Hampshire, Illinois, and who 
 for many years was engaged in agricultural 
 pursuits, and by a life of toil succeeded in 
 accumulating enough of this world's goods 
 to enable him to live in ease and retirement. 
 He was born at Machelfield, near Belfast, 
 County Antrim, Ireland, June i, 1826. 
 When quite young he accompanied his par- 
 ents to America, sailing from Belfast, and
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 landing at Montreal, Canada, being thirteen 
 weeks on the water. The family remained 
 at Montreal one winter, and then moved 
 some thirty or forty miles southeast of the 
 city, on the line dividing Canada from the 
 state of Vermont. He there lived until the 
 age of seventeen, when he went to the town 
 of Bridgeport, Addison county, Vermont, 
 where he worked on farms for three years. 
 Hearing of the advantages that were open 
 to the aspiring ones in the west, he deter- 
 mined to emigrate where land was cheap, 
 and the opportunities were much greater for 
 the industrious one than in the east. Ac- 
 cordingly, in the fall of 1848, by ox team, 
 he went to Ogdensburg, New York, thence 
 by boat to the mouth of the Niagara river, 
 and by team to Buffalo, and thence to Chi- 
 cago by boat. While on the lakes they en- 
 countered some severe storms, at one time 
 being storm-bound at Manitou, and again at 
 Milwaukee, Wisconsin. From Chicago he 
 came to Kane county, Illinois, and located 
 in Burlington township, where he purchased 
 forty acres of land on section 35, to which 
 he added from time to time, until he had a 
 fine farm of two hundred acres. When he 
 purchased the place there was on it a large 
 log cabin, and thirty acres of land had been 
 broken. It is now a well-improved farm, 
 with a good house, barns and other out- 
 buildings, and all improvements were made 
 by our subject. For some years the farm 
 has been used for dairy purposes, and on the 
 place are usually kept about forty head of 
 milch cows. John McDonough, Sr. , the 
 father of our subject, was also born in 
 County Antrim, Ireland, and was the son of 
 James McDonough, a native of Scotland, 
 who emigrated to Ireland, and there died. 
 John McDonough, Sr., married Rachel Hoi- 
 den, who was born in Ireland, but of Scot- 
 
 tish descent, and who died in Kentucky, at 
 the age of sixty-nine years. They were the 
 parents of seven sons and two daughters, 
 five of whom came west, settling in Illinois 
 and Iowa. The father also came west in 
 1851, and lived with our subject for many 
 years, but died at the home of a daughter, 
 who was married and living in Kentucky. 
 The survivors of the family are: Mrs. Mary 
 Steers, living in Kentucky; Richard, residing 
 in Ogle county, Illinois; William, in Canada; 
 Henry, in Missouri; John, in Hampshire, 
 Kane county; Robert lived in Iowa, and is 
 now deceased; and Mrs. Eliza Gould, in 
 Chicago. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was first mar- 
 ried in Burlington township, Kane county, 
 November 20, 1852, to Miss Louisa Hamil- 
 ton, born in Ohio, and a daughter of John 
 and Sarah Hamilton. She died March 7, 
 1856, leaving one son, William, who mar- 
 ried Ella Secord, and lives in Sycamore, 
 De Kalb county, where he is operating a 
 creamery. They have one son, Charles. 
 On the I5th of October, 1859, Mr. Mc- 
 Donough was again married, his second 
 union being with Miss Harriet Barber, born 
 in Canada, and a daughter of Lahira and 
 Anna (Nichols) Barber. By this second 
 marriage there are three children as follows: 
 Luella, who married Ed. Cripps, by whom 
 she has one child, Belle, and they reside in 
 Burlington township; Herman, who married 
 Dora Kraft, and lives in Chicago; and Es- 
 telle, who married Eugene Young, by whom 
 she has one daughter, Vera, and they re- 
 side in the village of Hampshire. 
 
 Mrs. Harriet McDonough, died Feb- 
 ruary 14, 1897. She was a woman of love- 
 ly character, a member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, and her death was sin- 
 cerely mourned not alone by the bereaved
 
 8 4 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 husband and children but by many friends 
 throughout Kane and adjoining counties. 
 Mr. McDonough is also a member of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church, in which he 
 takes a lively interest. In politics he is a 
 Republican and for many years served as 
 school director and also as road commis- 
 sioner. A residence of fifty years in Kane 
 county has made him many friends who es- 
 teem him for his many estimable traits of 
 character. 
 
 EORGE E. HAWTHORNE. History 
 for the most part records only the 
 lives of those who have attained distinction 
 in military or political life, but in this prac- 
 tical era it is the business man who fur- 
 nishes to his neighbors and to future gen- 
 erations the lessons that may be followed 
 with profit. Those who become potential 
 forces in a community are the men who in 
 the face of opposition and competition work 
 their way steadily upward, conquering all 
 obstacles and overcoming all difficulties in 
 their path, and their own successes lend 
 added force to the welfare and progress of 
 the communities with which they are con- 
 nected. 
 
 Mr. Hawthorne is a representative of 
 this type. He has long been connected 
 with the commercial interests of Elgin and 
 is still regarded as her leading hardware 
 merchant. He was born in Falls Vil- 
 lage, Connecticut, December 7, 1844, his 
 parents being Thomas and Elizabeth Haw- 
 thorne. His father was a native of Eng- 
 land and came to the United States in 
 early life, taking up his residence in the 
 Nutmeg state. His wife came from the lit- 
 tle rock-ribbed country of Wales. His 
 death occurred in Elgin several years ago 
 and his wife passed away in 1864. The 
 
 family came west in the '8os, locating in 
 this city. In his political views the father 
 was a Republican. His family numbered 
 six children, namely: Richard J. ; Lotta, 
 wife of Joseph Britton, of Falls Village, 
 Connecticut; George E. ; Frederick K., who 
 started for Michigan fifteen years ago and 
 has never been heard from; Sarah, wife of 
 Frank Conant, a resident of Denver, Colo- 
 rado; and Ella, who is living in Elgin. 
 
 George E. Hawthorne was reared on a 
 farm and assisted his father in its cultiva- 
 tion until seventeen years of age. His in- 
 itial studies were pursued in the common 
 schools and supplemented by an academical 
 course. When seventeen years of age he 
 went to Winsted, Connecticut, where he 
 learned the tinsmith's and plumber's trades, 
 serving a three years' apprenticeship, after 
 which he located in Armenia, New York, 
 where he served in the capacity of foreman 
 of two shops for a year. 
 
 Mr. Hawthorne then came to the west in 
 1866, arriving in Elgin on the I4th of No- 
 vember. Here he accepted a position as 
 foreman for Edson A. Kimball, with whom 
 he continued for two and a half years, and 
 also spent a similar period in the service of 
 Rodgers Brothers. He then purchased the 
 store of his employers, at the corner of State 
 and Chicago streets, carrying on business 
 there for about two years, when in company 
 with F. S. Bosworth, they purchased the 
 hardware stock of J. A. Carlisle on Chicago 
 street, on the east side, conducting both 
 stores through the succeeding two years, 
 when he consolidated the two, carrying on 
 operations on the east side. About two 
 years later he sold out to Mr. Bosworth, 
 and after six months when his brother R. J. 
 Hawthorne arrived from Iowa he entered 
 into partnership with him and embarked in
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 business on Grove avenue under the firm 
 name of Hawthorne Brothers. This was in 
 1876. In 1879 they erected a business block 
 on Douglass avenue above the Home Bank 
 building, occupying the same for eleven 
 years, when they erected the splendid busi- 
 ness block on DuPage street, which has now 
 been occupied by the firm for about five 
 years. This is a double building, three 
 stories in height, and is occupied with an 
 extensive stock of shelf and heavy hardware, 
 stoves, furnaces and plumbers' supplies. 
 They employ on an average about twelve 
 hands and have a very large and profitable 
 business, having secured an excellent trade 
 by reason of the honorable dealing and the 
 fine goods which they handle. 
 
 Mr. Hawthorne, of this sketch, is also 
 interested in a creamery in Richmond, Illi- 
 nois. At one time the firm had in opera- 
 tion seven creameries in Illinois and Wis- 
 consin, but have now disposed of all save the 
 one in Richmond. A few years ago they 
 purchased the Spurling Block, the finest 
 business building in the county, the lower 
 floor being used for stores, the upper floors 
 being converted into fine offices, supplied 
 with all modern equipments and conven- 
 iences. Mr. Hawthorne, our subject, was 
 also director of the Home National Bank 
 for three years. He is a man of wide re- 
 source and excellent ability in matters of 
 business, is quick to recognize and take ad- 
 vantage of opportunities and whatever he 
 plans he carried forward to successful com- 
 pletion along honorable lines that have won 
 a most enviable reputation in commercial 
 circles. 
 
 Mr. Hawthorne was married in June, 
 1869, to Miss Emma Gregory, a native of 
 Elgin and a daughter of S. Gregory. She 
 is a member of the Congregational church 
 
 and a lady of culture and refinement, who 
 presides with gracious hospitality over their 
 pleasant home. In his political views Mr. 
 Hawthorne is a Republican, and though 
 often solicited to become a candidate for 
 official honors has steadily declined. He 
 is a valued member of Monitor lodge, A. F. 
 & A. M., Loyal L. Munn chapter, R. A. 
 M., and Bethel commandery, K. T. He 
 also belongs to the Century club and to the 
 Black Hawk club, which has fitted up a 
 splendid summer resort on the banks of the 
 beautiful Lake Kosh-Konong, Wisconsin. 
 They have there a commodious club house, 
 hunting lodge and other buildings, and the 
 neighborhood affords ample opportunities 
 to the followers of both Isaak Walton and 
 Nimrod to indulge their tastes. The mem- 
 bers of this club are from all parts of the 
 United States, and meet in this lovely spot 
 to enjoy the pleasures and charms of out- 
 door life. 
 
 Mr. Hawthorne is pre-eminently a man 
 of affairs, yet has never pursued his business 
 interests to the sacrifice of the development 
 of a well-rounded character such as results 
 from the cultivation of other interests. 
 During the hot summer months he puts 
 aside all cares and enjoys a season of rest 
 and recreation in travel or in visiting the 
 club resort before described, or other places 
 of interest and beauty. He is a genial, 
 whole-souled gentleman, of kindly manner, 
 generous disposition and honorable purpose, 
 and his well-spent life has gained to him 
 many friends. 
 
 JOHN MANLY ADAMS, a leading pho- 
 tographer of Elgin, was born September 
 '9. '833, at Aimer, Canada, and is a son 
 of Edward and Abigail (Padelford) Adams, 
 natives of Oxford, England, and Massachu-
 
 86 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 setts, respectively. During his boyhood the 
 father crossed the Atlantic and took up his 
 residence in Canada, where he married and 
 continued to live until his removal to Kane 
 county, Illinois, in 1843, locating in Elgin. 
 Throughout life he followed the occupation 
 of shoemaking. He died in 1877, his wife 
 April 27, 1857; both consistent and worthy 
 members of the Baptist church. 
 
 In the public schools of Canada John M. 
 Adams began his education, being ten years 
 of age when he accompanied his parents on 
 their removal to Elgin, where he attended 
 the high school until sixteen years old. 
 Three years later he started out to earn his 
 livelihood by manufacturing mattresses, at 
 which occupation he was engaged for three 
 or four years with fair success. For about 
 five years following he worked at the plas- 
 terer's trade, and then very successfully en- 
 gaged in the butchering business for the four 
 years preceding the Civil war. In 1861 he 
 began learning photography, to which art 
 he has since devoted his time and attention, 
 and is now one of its most able representa- 
 tives in Kane county. Being one of the best 
 photographers in Elgin, he receives a liberal 
 patronage, and as an upright, honorable 
 business man, he commands the respect and 
 esteem of all with whom he comes in con- 
 tact. 
 
 In October, 1851, Mr. Adams was united 
 in marriage with Miss Caroline Johnson, a 
 native of Pennsylvania, who came to Elgin 
 with her parents, Samuel J. Johnson and 
 wife, natives of Pennsylvania, now deceased. 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Adams were born two chil- 
 dren, namely: Spencer M. , a photographer; 
 and Mattie A., now the widow of Alfred 
 Kingsley, of Barrington, Cook county, Illi- 
 nois, and a resident of Elgin. The mother 
 of these children, who was a consistent 
 
 member of the Baptist church, dying in Oc- 
 tober, 1879, Mr. Adams was again married, 
 his second union being with Mrs. Barbara 
 (Duston) Saunders, a native of Canada, and 
 widow of CharJes Saunders. She holds 
 membership in the Presbyterian church. 
 Politically, Mr. Adams has always been a 
 Democrat, but has never taken an active 
 part in politics, always refusing to accept 
 office. He is a member of the Photographers' 
 Association of the United States, and often 
 attends their conventions. 
 
 SPENCER M. ADAMS, the son, was born 
 in 1852, and was reared and educated in 
 Elgin. With his father he learned pho- 
 tography, and has since successfully engaged 
 in that business. He was married in 1875 
 to Miss Lizzie Hobrough, a native of Can- 
 ada, who came to Elgin in 1869 with her 
 parents, Charles and Mary Ann (Barnes) 
 Hobrough, natives of England. To Mr. 
 and Mrs. Adams have been born two chil- 
 dren, Mabel, and Charley M., who died at 
 thirteen years of age. The mother and 
 daughter are both members of the Episco- 
 pal church. Politically Mr. Adams is an in- 
 dependent Democrat, while fraternally he 
 is a member of Silver Leaf camp. No. 60, 
 A. O. U. W. He is also a member of the 
 National Photographers' Association, usu- 
 ally attends all its conventions, and has 
 taken a number of premiums. Many of the 
 portraits in this work are copies of photo- 
 graphs taken by him. 
 
 HENRY WARFORD, residing on sec- 
 tions 3 and 4, Geneva township, is 
 practically living a retired life. He has 
 been a resident of Kane county since 1844, 
 and is therefore numbered among its early 
 s'ettlers, men who by their industry and self-
 
 MR. AND MRS. HENRY WARFORD.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 89 
 
 denial have made the county to rank among 
 the best in the state of Illinois. He is a 
 native of the town of Butcome, Somerset- 
 shire, England, born December u, 1818, 
 and is the son of William and Ann (Weeks) 
 Warford, both of whom were natives of the 
 same shire. His father dying when he was 
 but four years of age, eight years afterward 
 he went to live with an uncle, and with him 
 came to the United States in 1832. They 
 first located in Onondaga county, New York, 
 where he grew to manhood and received his 
 education in the common schools. 
 
 A young man of twenty-six years, Mr. 
 Warford came to Illinois and located in 
 Geneva township, Kane county, and soon 
 afterward purchased a tract of eighty acres 
 of unimproved prairie land, two miles west 
 of Geneva. He at once began its improve- 
 ment, erecting upon the place a small frame 
 house, to which he later added a wing, and 
 in due course of time had a good, productive 
 farm. He remained on that place about 
 twelve years, but in the meantime had pur- 
 chased thirty-five acres, where he now re- 
 sides, and to which he removed after leav- 
 ing his original farm. He has now one hun- 
 dred and fourteen acres adjoining the cor- 
 porate limits of Geneva, which is a well- 
 improved and substantial farm. 
 
 Mr. Warford was united in marriage in 
 Wayne count}', New York, September 29, 
 1846, to Miss Hulda A. Hoag, a native of 
 Wayne county, New York, and a daughter 
 of Benjamin and Anna (Smith) Hoag, pio- 
 neers of that county, where they reared 
 their family and spent the remainder of their 
 lives. Previous to their marriage Mrs. War- 
 ford was a successful teacher in her native 
 county. By this union six children were 
 born, three of whom are now living: Alice 
 M., wife of Jonathan Farrar, of Marshall 
 
 county, Kansas; Eunice H., wife of W. B. 
 Guild, of Wheaton, Illinois; and Kate N., 
 wife of H. W. Hawkins, of Geneva. They 
 lost two infant sons. One daughter, Anna 
 D., married Charles A. Barber, and they 
 removed to Marysville, Kansas, where she 
 died in March, 1890. 
 
 The first presidential vote of Mr. War- 
 ford was cast for Martin Van Buren in 1840. 
 At that time he was really a believer in Whig 
 principles, but the action of the Whigs, with 
 their coonskins, hard cider and log cabins, 
 so disgusted him that he cast his ballot for 
 Van Buren. A believer in the equality of 
 all men, he united with the Republican 
 party on its organization in 1856, and voted 
 for John C. Fremont. Being a strong tem- 
 perance man, and in favor of the prohibi- 
 tion of the liquor traffic, since 1884 he has 
 been identified with the Prohibition party. 
 Since locating in Kane county he has held 
 several local positions of honor and trust, 
 including that of assessor, which position he 
 held for six years. A friend of education in 
 the public schools, he served some years as 
 a member of the school board. While 
 serving as a delegate to various county po- 
 litical conventions, he has never been, a 
 politician in the ordinary sense of the term. 
 For many years he has been a member of 
 the Congregational church, and has served 
 upon its official board. His wife is also a 
 member of that church, and both take an 
 active and commendable interest in all de- 
 partments of church work. 
 
 For fifty-four long years Mr. Warford 
 has been a resident of Kane county, and 
 while he came here a poor man, without 
 means, by his industry and thrift, assisted 
 by his estimable wife, he has accumulated a 
 fair amount of this world's goods, and is now 
 enjoying a well-earned rest, surrounded by
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 many friends, who esteem him for his many 
 noble traits of character and Christian in- 
 tegrity. 
 
 RUSSELL.WELD has demonstrated the 
 true meaning of the word success as 
 the full accomplishment of an honorable 
 purpose. Energy, close application, perse- 
 verance and good management these are 
 the elements which have entered into his 
 business career and crowned his efforts 
 with prosperity. He is now the senior 
 member of the well-known firm of Weld & 
 Hall, who conduct a large and popular drug 
 store on Fountain Square, Elgin, while his 
 residence is at No. 1 1 5 College street. 
 
 Like many of the most prominent citi- 
 zens of Kane county, he is from the New 
 England states, his birth having occurred 
 June 1 8, 1824, in Orford, Graf ton county, 
 New Hampshire. His parents, Albigence 
 and Betsy (Town) Weld, were both natives 
 of Massachusetts, the former born in Charl- 
 ton. He was a farmer by occupation, and 
 died in Spencer, Massachusetts, in 1852, 
 aged fifty-two years. He had served his 
 country as a soldier in the war of 1812, and 
 had held various local offices of honor and 
 trust. After his death the mother married 
 Jonas Sibley, of Spencer, who is now de- 
 deceased. She died in 1893, at the ad- 
 vanced age of ninety-five years. In relig- 
 ious belief she was a Methodist, and the fa- 
 ther of our subject also belonged to that 
 church. Their family consisted of seven 
 children, of whom four are now living 
 Russell; Phylena, widow of Thomas Dwel- 
 ley, of Oakham, Massachusetts; Daniel L. , 
 of the same place; and Adaline, wife of 
 Clinton Bradway, of Medina, Ohio. 
 
 The paternal grandfather of our subject 
 was Josiah Weld, who was born in the old 
 
 Bay state, but his parents were natives of 
 England, and landed in Boston some time 
 during the eighteenth century. He was a 
 farmer, and died in 1810, at the age of for- 
 ty-two years. In his family were four sons 
 and one daughter. The maternal grandfa- 
 ther of our subject was also a native of Mas- 
 sachusetts and of English descent. His 
 wife, Azubah Town, lived to the extreme 
 old age of one hundred and one. 
 
 The first eighteen years of his life Rus- 
 sell-Weld spent in his native state, acquiring 
 his literary education in the Lester Academy 
 and learning the shoemaker's trade, which 
 he successfully followed . for about fifteen 
 years. In 1842 he removed with his par- 
 ents to East Brookfield, Massachusetts, 
 where he made his home for four years. He 
 was married September 29, 1846, to Miss 
 Content H. Porter, a daughter of George 
 and Esther (Adams) Porter. She became 
 an active and prominent member of the 
 First Methodist Episcopal church of Elgin, 
 and her death, which occurred December 
 12, 1884, was widely and deeply mourned. 
 
 It was in April, 1869, that Mr. Weld re- 
 moved to Elgin, where he has since made 
 his home. In company with his cousin, 
 Salem E., a native of this city, he opened 
 a drug store, which they carried on until 
 1891, when the cousin sold his interest to 
 Edwin Hall, and the firm became Weld & 
 Hall. They do a large and profitable 
 business, handling all kinds of drugs, wall- 
 paper, glass, paints, oils, etc. Although 
 not a member of the Methodist church, Mr. 
 Weld attends its services, and is now serv- 
 ing as trustee of the church. Politically he 
 is a strong Republican. Always courteous, 
 kindly and affable, those who know him 
 personally have for him warm regard, and 
 he is now one of the most popular and in-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 iluential business men of Elgin. He gives 
 his support to all measures which he be- 
 lieves calculated to advance the general 
 welfare, and is therefore justly numbered 
 among the most public-spirited and pro- 
 gressive citizens of the place. 
 
 JOSEPH RICHARD HOLMES, chief of 
 the Elgin water works, who for many 
 years has filled this position to the entire 
 satisfaction of the public, was born in 
 Lincolnshire, England, at the town of Slea- 
 ford, November 12, 1851, and is a son of 
 John and Elizabeth (Lynton) Holmes, also 
 natives of Lincolnshire. The father was a 
 saddler by trade and followed that business 
 as a life-work. He died when our subject 
 was about five years of age, after which his 
 widow married Charles Harris, who is also 
 now deceased. By her first marriage the 
 mother of our subject had two sons, Joseph 
 and John, the latter now living in Lincoln- 
 shire, England, and by her second marriage 
 had five children: Robert, Charles and 
 Mary, wife of Thomas Best; Martha and 
 Elizabeth. 
 
 When about six years old Mr. Holmes 
 came to America with his widowed mother, 
 the family living in Chicago until 1864, 
 when they removed to Aurora and thence to 
 Elgin. Our subject attended the common 
 schools of Chicago and Aurora, and when a 
 youth of fifteen began to learn the machin- 
 ist's trade in the shops of Carter & Pinney, 
 of the latter city. He applied himself dil- 
 igently to the mastery of this business and 
 became an expert in this line. Locating in 
 Elgin in 1870, he entered the employ of 
 Grownberg, Bearman & Company, in whose 
 service he remained for five years, when he 
 began work as an engineer. After a time 
 
 he went from Elgin to Chicago, where he 
 was engaged on the construction of a fac- 
 tory, and in 1888 he returned to Elgin, 
 where he has since occupied the responsible 
 position of engineer of the city water works. 
 The plant was constructed that year at a 
 cost of one hundred and seventy thousand 
 dollars, the stand pipe has a capacity of 
 over five hundred thousand gallons while 
 the Holly engines have a capacity of six mil- 
 lion gallons and two Worthington engines 
 have a capacity of a million and a half gal- 
 lons. The plant is located at the foot of 
 Grant avenue and is one of the most com- 
 plete in the state. It is supplied with a 
 splendid filtering system and the water fur- 
 nished to Elgin's people is therefore clear 
 and pure as crystal. From the beginning 
 Mr. Holmes has served as engineer and no 
 more capable or trustworthy man could be 
 secured for the position. His thorough un- 
 derstanding of the workings of the most in- 
 tricate machinery, his unquestioned reliabil- 
 ity and his conscientious fidelity to duty 
 make him one of the most valued represent- 
 atives of the public service of Elgin. 
 
 Mr. Holmes was married in Dubuque, 
 Iowa, in July, 1873, to Johanna Pabst, 
 daughter of Joseph and Hannah Pabst, the 
 former living in Elgin, while the latter is 
 deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Holmes are the 
 parents of six children: Hannah, Gertrude, 
 Edward, Jessie, Katie and Joseph. Ger- 
 trude and Edward are now deceased, but 
 the others are still at home. The family is 
 an interesting one, in which the parents take 
 a natural pride, and to their children they 
 are giving good educational advantages so 
 that they may become useful men and wo- 
 men. Mrs. Holmes is a member of the 
 Catholic church and Mr. Holmes belongs to 
 the Baptist church. His last presidential
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 vote was cast for Major McKinley, but in 
 politics he is independent. He belongs to 
 the N. A. S. E., No. 49, is now serving as 
 one of its trustees and has filled other offices. 
 He is a man of sterling worth, a loyal son of 
 his adopted land, and in the friendship of 
 many of Elgin's best citizens he shares. 
 
 W INFIELD S. GAMBLE, a well-known 
 civil engineer residing in Elgin, was 
 born in Evanston, Illinois, July 25, 1861, 
 and is a worthy representative of an hon- 
 ored and distinguished family, his parents 
 being General William and Sophia Fredreka 
 (Steingrandt) Gamble. The father was 
 born January i, 1818, in county Farma- 
 nagh, Ireland, and was the oldest of four 
 brothers, the others being James, David and 
 Osborne, who all died in Chicago, where 
 they made their home. The paternal grand- 
 father of our subject, who also bore the 
 name of William, was a native of Ireland, 
 and at an early day came with his family 
 to the United States. 
 
 In his native land General Gamble was 
 educated as a civil engineer, and was in the 
 queen's service before his emigration to the 
 new world. In 1839, when twenty-one 
 years of age, he crossed the Atlantic, and 
 for five years after his arrival served in the 
 regular army as a member of the First New 
 York Dragoons, stationed at Jefferson Bar- 
 racks, Missouri. On leaving the army he 
 located in Chicago, being in the government 
 service at old Fort Dearborn until his re- 
 moval to Evanston in 1859. When .the 
 Civil war broke out he enlisted in the Union 
 service and was commissioned lieutenant- 
 colonel of the Eighth Illinois Cavalry, under 
 Colonel Farnsworth. The regiment came 
 into existence in this way: In August, 1861, 
 
 General Farnsworth proceeded to Washing- 
 ton, District of Columbia, visited President 
 Lincoln and Secretary Cameron, and from 
 the latter obtained an order to organize the 
 Eighth Illinois Cavalry. The service at 
 that time was greatly in need of more cav- 
 alry, and General Farnsworth was, by his 
 extensive acquaintance, great ability and 
 popularity well qualified for this work. He 
 returned to St. Charles, Illinois, which he 
 made his temporary headquarters, issued a 
 call for twelve hundred men, and in two 
 weeks the regiment was ready for duty. On 
 the i8th of September, 1861, it was mus- 
 tered into service and on October 14 started 
 for Washington, arriving there two days 
 later. With its twelve hundred stalwart 
 men stepping to the tap of the drum and 
 marching through the streets of Washington 
 it created a great sensation. 
 
 When Colonel Farnsworth was promoted, 
 Mr. Gamble became its colonel. With the 
 Army of the Potomac he participated in 
 many important engagements, and at the 
 battle of Malvern Hill was wounded in the 
 side by a minie ball. After two months 
 spent at home he was able to rejoin his 
 command though the wound was a very se- 
 rious one, breaking two ribs and the ball 
 lodging in his shoulder blade. He was com- 
 missioned brigadier-general September 25, 
 1865, his command being composed of the 
 Eighth and Twelfth Illinois, the Twelfth 
 New York, and also a part of an Indiana 
 regiment and a part of a Pennsylvania regi- 
 ment. With his command he took part in 
 all of the important campaigns of the army 
 of the Potomac until the surrender at Appo- 
 mattox, serving with distinguished honor 
 and bravery. He was one of the generals 
 on duty at President Lincoln's funeral. 
 After the Eighth Illinois Cavalry was mus-
 
 Of
 
 WINFIELD S. GAMBLE.
 
 GEN. WILLIAM GAMBLE.
 
 .'^
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 97 
 
 tered out, he was on duty at Jefferson Bar- 
 racks for about a year, being mustered out 
 March 13, 1866, and July 28, 1866, he was 
 mustered into the regular army as colonel 
 of the Eighth United States Cavalry, which 
 was ordered to California by way of the 
 Isthmus. While waiting for transportation 
 on the Isthmus the cholera broke out, and 
 Colonel Gamble, with many of his troops, 
 died from that dread disease December 20, 
 1866, being buried at Virgin's Hill, Nicar- 
 auga. He was a stanch supporter of the 
 Republican party, and was a warm friend 
 of President Lincoln. With the First Meth- 
 odist Episcopal church of Evanston he held 
 membership, and was a true Christian gen- 
 tleman, as well as a loyal, patriotic and de- 
 voted citizen of his adopted country. 
 
 The mother of our subject was born in 
 Hanover, Germany, January 31, 1821, a 
 daughter of George H. Steingrandt, who 
 was a member of the army of that country. 
 In 1838 the family emigrated to America 
 and located in Alton, Illinois, where they 
 continued to live until the death of Mrs. 
 Steingrandt in 1867. After that her hus- 
 band made a number of trips to Germany, 
 and finally died in Hanover about 1872. In 
 their family were five children, three of 
 whom are still living, namely: Louis, a 
 resident of California; Henry, of Springfield, 
 Missouri; and Mrs. Louise Steinberg, of St. 
 Louis. Mrs. Gamble was a Lutheran in re- 
 ligious faith. She died June 11, 1895, m 
 St. Louis. 
 
 To General Gamble and wife were born 
 the following children: Louise died in in- 
 fancy; Louise D. is now the wife of George 
 W. Huntoon, of Evanston. George H., 
 now a resident of California, was a member 
 of the Eighth Illinois Cavalry during the 
 Civil war, and was confined for eighteen 
 
 months in Libby prison. After the war he 
 was commissioned captain in the regular 
 army, and was stationed at Fort Concho, 
 Texas, later building Fort Stockton, where 
 he was stationed for some time. William 
 M., now in the grocery business in Pueblo, 
 Colorado, was also one of the boys in blue, 
 enlisting at the age of fifteen in the One 
 Hundred Thirty-fourth Illinois Volunteer 
 Infantry. MaryE. is a resident of St. Louis. 
 Henry E. is now in Berlin, Germany. 
 Emma is the wife cf George H. Stein- 
 berg, of St. Louis. Victor H. L. , city en- 
 gineer of Rensselaer, Indiana. Winfield S. 
 is the youngest now living. Besides Louise, 
 those deceased are Elizabeth, Osborne, an 
 infant and Josephine. 
 
 Reared in Evanston, Illinois, W-infield 
 S. Gamble attended the common schools, 
 and later was a student in the Northwestern 
 University at that place. In the summer of 
 1879 he began life as a civil engineer in Da- 
 kota, in the employ of the Chicago & North- 
 western railroad, and was subsequently in 
 Iowa with the same road until December, 
 1880. The following January he went to 
 Indiana where he built what was then called 
 the Chicago & Indianapolis Air Line, now 
 the Chicago, Louisville & Indianapolis rail- 
 road, being division engineer there. On the 
 ist of May, 1882, he entered the service of 
 the Chicago & Great Southern railroad, re- 
 maining with them one year, and the follow- 
 ing year was with the Northern Pacific 
 railroad. He was next with the Grand 
 Trunk, and in 1885 again went to Dakota 
 in the employ of the Northwestern. For 
 two years he was with the Lake Erie & 
 Western railroad, having his headquarters 
 at Bloomington, and was then in the gov- 
 ernment service on the drainage canal in 
 1887-8.
 
 9 8 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 In June, 1889, Mr. Gamble came to El- 
 gin, where for six years he served as city 
 engineer, during which time he built the en- 
 tire system of city railroads extending to 
 Geneva, and also built the south annex to 
 the Insane Asylum, which is regarded as the 
 cheapest and best constructed building in 
 the state, having enough money left out of 
 the appropriation to furnish it. He ranks 
 among the most able representatives of his 
 profession in the state, and does an exten- 
 sive and profitable business. 
 
 Politically Mr. Gamble is identified with 
 the Republican party, and socially he affil- 
 iates with Gen. William F. Lynch camp, 
 S. V. He is a man of fine address, of 
 genial nature and winning manners and is 
 popular with all who know him. 
 
 EORGE P. HAGEN, the leading florist 
 VJ of Elgin, was born on the north side in 
 Chicago, February i , 1 860, a son of George 
 and Elizabeth (Shupp) Hagen. His ma- 
 ternal grandfather, Lewis Shupp, located in 
 Chicago during the '505, and throughout 
 the remainder of his life engaged in garden- 
 ing there. Our subject's father was a na- 
 tive of Germany, and on coming to the 
 United States, in 1854, took up his residence 
 in Chicago, where he and his wife still con- 
 tinue to live. By trade he is a carpenter, 
 in politics is a Republican, and in religious 
 belief is a Catholic. In the family were 
 eight children, namely: Maggie, now the 
 wife of Frederick Klingel, of Chicago; George 
 P., of this sketch; August; John; Lizzie, 
 wife of George Shall, of Chicago; Bertha, 
 wife of Amiel Nelson, a florist of Chicago; 
 Otto; and Franklin. With the exception of 
 our subject, all live in Chicago. 
 
 In the public schools of Chicago George 
 
 P. Hagen acquired his education, and began 
 his business career with W. D. Allen, a flo- 
 rist of that city, with whom he remained for 
 about eight years. Subsequently he was 
 with a Mr. Hanson at Rose Hill for two 
 years and a half, after which he was in the 
 employ of R. J. Donoven, of Rose Hill, for 
 nine years. The following three years he 
 engaged in market gardening on his own ac- 
 count, but during the World's Fair garden 
 products were very low, and the business 
 did not prove profitable. Selling out in the 
 fall of 1893, he came to Elgin, where for 
 three years and eight months he was em- 
 ployed as gardener and florist by the North- 
 ern Illinois Hospital for the Insane, and on 
 resigning that position, he leased property 
 at No. 3 1 1 North Spring street, where he 
 established his present floral gardens. His 
 greenhouses are filled with a large variety of 
 flowers both summer and winter, but he 
 makes a specialty of the culture of roses and 
 carnations, of which he has a very choice 
 collection. His early training ably fitted 
 him for the business, and he has succeeded 
 in building up a large and profitable trade 
 in Elgin and other places. The bright and 
 sweet things of life have a great attraction 
 for him, and he has that love for his busi- 
 ness without which there is no success. 
 
 In Chicago Mr. Hagen was married Feb- 
 ruary 17, 1884, to Miss Bertha Ebert, 
 daughter of Frederick and Christine (Strauss) 
 Ebert, who are still residents of that city. 
 Mrs. Hagen was born in Strausburg, Ger- 
 many, and was brought by her parents to 
 this country. Our subject and his wife have 
 four interesting children: Minnie, Ella, 
 George P. and Myrtle. 
 
 The Democratic party finds in Mr. Hagen 
 a stanch supporter, and in the Lutheran 
 church he holds membership. Socially he
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 99 
 
 is a member of the Royal League of Elgin, 
 and has the esteem and confidence of all 
 who know him. 
 
 JOHN D. VOLTZ, one of the most effi- 
 cient telegraph operators on the line 
 of the Chicago & Northwestern railroad, 
 having charge of the station at South Elgin, 
 is a native of Baltimore county, Maryland, 
 his birth occurring at the family homestead 
 on the Reistertown road, a few miles from 
 Baltimore City, November 13, 1837. His 
 father, Philip Voltz, was a native of Alsace- 
 Loraine, born in 1791, and was a soldier 
 under the great Napoleon, being one of the 
 few survivors of the disastrous campaign 
 against Moscow. On the return of the 
 Emperor from Elba he again took up arms 
 and remained with him until the fatal bat- 
 tle of Waterloo. In 1818 Mr. Voltz came 
 to America, locating in Baltimore, where 
 he soon engaged in business as a market 
 gardener, although he was a baker by trade, 
 but which he never followed after his arrival 
 in the United States. He married Miss 
 Eliza Hurley, of Baltimore county, and 
 died in 1 854, at the age of sixty-three years. 
 John D. Voltz, of this review, pursued 
 his education in the school at the corner of 
 Green and Fayette streets, Baltimore, until 
 the age of ten years, when he laid aside his 
 text books to learn the more difficult lessons 
 of practical business life. The first task 
 assigned him consisted of the duties of mes- 
 senger boy in the office of J. D. Pratt, who 
 conducted a commercial agency. After six 
 months he secured a position with the Na- 
 tional Telegraph Company, working for a 
 short time as messenger boy and then learn- 
 ing telegraphy. Since that time he has 
 
 made the business his life work, and has 
 continually advanced in harmony with the 
 improvements which have attended the 
 art. When he entered upon this work the 
 telegraph lines of the country were owned 
 by four or five hundred small companies, but 
 gradually they have been absorbed by two 
 or three large companies, making a more 
 perfect system. 
 
 When Mr. Voltz had attained considera- 
 ble proficiency, he was given a place in the 
 government offices in Washington, District of 
 Columbia, and thence went to Frederick City, 
 Maryland, after which he was transferred 
 to Station No. 4 on the Baltimore & Ohio 
 railroad, followed service at the following 
 places, successively: Alimont Station, Roles- 
 burg, Cheat River Valley, Smithton, Par- 
 kersburg, West Virginia, Sandoval and East 
 St. Louis, Illinois. Severing his connec- 
 tion with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad 
 Company about 1859 he went to the south, 
 accepting a position at Lynchburg, after 
 which he was stationed at Knoxville, Ten- 
 nessee ; Atlanta, Georgia ; Montgomery, 
 Alabama; Augusta, Georgia, and Columbia, 
 South Carolina, where he was located at 
 the outbreak ot the Civil war. At that 
 time he became attached to the Army of 
 the Cumberland and served until the close 
 of hostilities under Colonel J. C. Van Duser. 
 
 When the war was over Mr. Voltz se- 
 cured a position in Nashville as agent for 
 the Nashville & Northwestern Railroad Com- 
 pany, thence went to Huntington, Tennes- 
 see, and later entered the employ of the 
 Louisville & Nashville road, at Bowling 
 Green, Kentucky. Later, at Clarksville, 
 Tennessee, he was employed as bill clerk 
 and afterward as agent until he was trans- 
 ferred to Nashville, Tennessee, where he re- 
 mained as agent until 1880, when he went
 
 100 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 to St. Louis. In 1883 he went to Chicago 
 and entering the employ of the Chicago & 
 Northwestern Railroad Company, was sta- 
 tioned as their agent at Clintonville, Elgin 
 township. He has since been in the employ 
 of that road, and is one of the most trusted 
 and faithful representatives. His fidelity 
 to duty and uniform courtesy to the patrons 
 of the road has made him very popular, and 
 he has gained a large circle of friends. 
 
 Mr. Voltz was united in marriage in 
 South Elgin to Miss Viola F. Gulick, a na- 
 tive of Kane county, who died December 
 14, 1897. She was a daughter of Abraham 
 and Matilda (Vastine) Gulick. Her father, 
 born in Rush township, Northumberland 
 county, Pennsylvania, February 22, 1820, 
 died November 26, 1894. He followed 
 blacksmithing at Liberty Pole, Pennsylvania, 
 and after his removal to Kane county, Illi- 
 nois, purchased a large farm in Elgin town- 
 ship, which he successfully conducted. He 
 was an enterprising, progressive business 
 man and accumulated valuable farming 
 land and other property. His parents were 
 Charles and Catharine (Boone) Gulick. His 
 wife, Mrs. Matilda Gulick, was also a native 
 of Rush township, Northumberland county, 
 Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Louis and 
 Martha (Boone) Vastine, the latter a daugh- 
 ter of Henry Boone, a son of the noted 
 Kentucky pioneer, Daniel Boone. To Mr. 
 and Mrs. Voltz were born three children: 
 Jay DeWitt, Florence E. and Aletia M., 
 who are yet with their father. Mr. Voltz 
 is a valued member of several societies, is 
 clerk of Rustic camp, No. 548, M. W. A., 
 and belongs to Elgin lodge, No. 117, A. F. 
 & A. M. and the Telegraphers Mutual Asso- 
 ciation. He attends the Methodist Episco- 
 pal church, and is one of the valued and es- 
 teemed residents of his adopted county, 
 
 whose well spent life commends him to the 
 confidence and good will of all with whom 
 he comes in contact. 
 
 ROBERT STRINGER, who resides on 
 section 20, Elgin township, is a pioneer 
 of 1844. He was born in Yorkshire, Eng- 
 land, near the city of York, December 15, 
 1816, and is the son of Richard and Han- 
 nah (Garbutt) Stringer. In the spring of 
 1819 the family came to America, sailing 
 from Hull in May of that year, and landing 
 in Quebec, Canada, in the July following, 
 being ten weeks and three days en route. 
 From Quebec they went to Sharrington, 
 near .Montreal. The father was a native of 
 Yorkshire, Engla'nd, born in 1766, and died 
 in Canada in 1822. He was a small farmer 
 in his native country, but on locating in 
 Canada purchased a farm of one hundred 
 and eighty acres. His death was probably 
 hastened from the fact of losing money in 
 saving his eldest son from the press gang, 
 that tried to press him again into the serv- 
 ice after having once served on a man-of- 
 war. 
 
 After the death of her husband Mrs. 
 Hannah Stringer took charge of the whole 
 farm. She was a woman of strong mind 
 and force of character and of great execu- 
 tive ability. She reared a large family and 
 gave each of her children as good educational 
 advantages as the country afforded, incul- 
 cating principles that made all of them 
 good citizens. She died at the home of our 
 subject when ninety-five years of age, being 
 strong in mind and body until the end. To 
 Richard and Hannah Stringer were born 
 eight children, as follows: William, who 
 moved to Otsego county, New York, and 
 located in Cherry Valley; Richard, who lost
 
 1 ' '*&
 
 ROBERT STRINGER,
 
 MRS. ROBERT STRINGER.
 
 *'"'
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 his sight by premature explosion, while 
 working for the government on Rideau 
 canal, for which he received a pension dur- 
 ing life; Jane, who married John Burton and 
 died in Kane county; Ellice, who married 
 Arthur Allison, who settled in Kane county; 
 George, whose sketch appears elsewhere in 
 the work; William, who died in Cherry Val- 
 ley, New York; Mark, who settled in Plato 
 township; Robert, our subject; and John, 
 who died in Elgin township. 
 
 Robert Stringer was but three years old 
 when he came "with his parents to Canada, 
 where he grew to manhood and when old 
 enough assisted in the cultivation of the 
 home farm. He attended the public schools 
 of Sharrington for a time, but obtained the 
 greater part of his education at home, 
 studying with the aid of his blind brother. 
 The products of the farm were marketed 
 at Montreal. Our subject would usually 
 start at night with his loaded wagon, reach- 
 ing La Prairie in the morning, and there 
 taking the ferry nine miles to Montreal. 
 The return trip was made at night, and 
 after all it was found there was little pay for 
 hard work. One by one his brothers came 
 to the states, the last one with the excep- 
 tion of his blind brother, coming in 1844. 
 Our subject remained with his mother work- 
 ing the farm, which, in 1837, sne divided, 
 giving him ninety acres, on which he erect- 
 ed a dwelling house near that of his mother. 
 
 In 1843 his mother came to Illinois to 
 visit her sons, and liking the country, she 
 wrote to her son Mark to sell out and come 
 to Illinois. This he did in the spring of 
 1844, and on his arrival purchased one hun- 
 dred and sixty acres. The deed for the 
 latter, signed by President James K. Polk, 
 was not received by him until 1850, and the 
 
 old parchment deed is yet in his possession. 
 & 
 
 Part of this land he has sold, and he now 
 owns two hundred and thirty acres, all but 
 a very few acres lying in section 20, Elgin 
 township. Twenty-five acres of unusually 
 fine timber lies in Plato township. In the 
 early days he raised winter wheat, until the 
 climate became unfavorable. Later he 
 raised stock, and finally it was made a dairy 
 farm. In 1878, he retired from active 
 farming, renting the farm to his son, reserv- 
 ing a part of the house to which he has 
 built an addition. 
 
 On the Qth of November, 1841, while 
 yet residing in Canada, Mr. Stringer was 
 united in marriage .with Miss Martha Dibb, 
 a native of Yorkshire, England, born June 
 23, 1823. Her father, William Dibb, who 
 was a farmer by occupation, located in Can- 
 ada, in 1821. He married Mary Mitchell, 
 a daughter of Richard and Mary (Johnson) 
 Mitchell. He died at the age of seventy- 
 five years, while his wife survived him many 
 years, dying when ninety-five years old. To 
 our subject and wife six children were born, 
 as follows: Margaret, widow of Leman A. 
 Wood, now resides at Lake Crystal, Minne- 
 sota; Mary, wife of Thomas D. Cookman, 
 of Mason City, Iowa; Alfred H., married 
 Alice Baker, in Boise City, Idaho, where 
 he died; Clara Emily died at the age of two 
 years; Edwin, who leased his father's farm 
 July 4, 1878, married Annie Dadswell, a 
 daughter of Henry Dadswell, by whom he 
 has three children, Alvin H., Ellice, and 
 Marion; and Clara Alice, wife of Albert 
 Smith, of Elgin. All of these children are 
 well provided in life. 
 
 While residing in Canada, Mr. Stringer 
 served in the Royalist troops during the 
 Canadian rebellion, in 1837-8, incited by 
 Papineau, and sometimes called by his 
 name. The only battle in which he was
 
 IO4 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 engaged was that of Odeltown. Since com- 
 ing to Kane county, he has seen wonderful 
 changes in the country. Indians were oc- 
 casionally seen for some years after his ar- 
 rival, the prairies were all open and cattle 
 ranged at will. He is one of the last left 
 of the early settlers, a grand old man, uni- 
 versally honored, his long, upright life be- 
 ing a splendid example to the rising genera- 
 tion. In national and state elections, he 
 votes the Democratic ticket but in local 
 elections votes for the man, regardless of 
 politics. During his early years he was a 
 member of the Episcopal church, but of late 
 attends the Methodist church. 
 
 /GEORGE W. COOK, who conducts a 
 V_J bakery and restaurant in the village of 
 Hampshire, is a well-known citizen of 
 northern Kane county. He was born on 
 section 31, Hampshire township, January 
 20, 1848, and was reared on the farm and 
 attended the district school until the age of 
 nineteen. When twenty years of age he 
 received wages for his time and worked two 
 years for his father. He then married and 
 rented his father's farm for three years, 
 after which he moved to the village of 
 Hampshire and went into the business of 
 well-digging and boring, and also in the 
 sale of windmills. His dealings were quite 
 extensive over three or four counties. He 
 continued in that business for some years 
 with gratifying success. In 1894 he bought 
 a bakery and restaurant in the village of 
 Hampshire, built a large brick store, 25 x64~ 
 feet, two stories in height, and has an ex- 
 tensive trade in bakery goods, fancy gro- 
 ceries and confectionery, with fresh fruits 
 in season. 
 
 Burnham Cook, the father of our sub- 
 
 ject, was born in Norwich, Connecticut, in 
 1809, and died in Hampshire township, 
 Kane county, in 1871. By trade he was a 
 molder, although he followed farming dur- 
 ing the greater part of his life. Early in 
 the '403 he left his eastern home and moved 
 to Chicago, where he worked for some 
 years, and then came to Hampshire town- 
 ship, where he purchased one hundred and 
 sixty acres in section 31. He married Lucy 
 Ann Lamphere, who was also born in Nor- 
 wich, Connecticut, and who lived to be 
 fifty-five years old. They were the parents 
 of six children, of whom four are living, as 
 follows: Timothy P., residing in California; 
 Lucy Ann married William H. Pease, and 
 they reside in Geneva, Illinois; William L., 
 living in the village of Hampshire; and 
 George W., our subject. 
 
 George W. Cook was united in marriage 
 with Julia A. Gage, who was born in Hamp- 
 shire township, and a daughter of Cyril and 
 Julia A. (Fields) Gage, the latter born in 
 Saybrook township, Ashtabula county, Ohio, 
 and a daughter of Havilah and Hannah 
 (Hay wood) Fields. Cyril Gage was the son 
 of Solomon Gage, a native of New Hamp- 
 shire, who married Miriam Gurnsey, a 
 daughter of Cyril Gurnsey. Of the eight 
 children of Cyril and Julia A. Gage, Mrs. 
 Cook is the first born. To George W. 
 Cook and wife eight children have been 
 born, six of whom are living, as follows: 
 Burton C. , who married Clara Amic; Min- 
 nie, deceased; Alverta, Lucy, George W., 
 Jr., Earl, Edward and Marie. 
 
 In politics Mr. Cook is a Republican. 
 For some years he served as school director 
 and as a member of the village board of 
 trustees two terms. Fraternally he is a 
 member of the Modern Woodmen of Amer- 
 ica, Knights of the Maccabees and the Home
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 105 
 
 Forum. In the latter body his wife is also 
 a member. As a business man, Mr. Cook 
 is honest and upright, and his genial dis- 
 position makes him deservedly popular. 
 
 ROBERT S. EGAN, junior member of 
 the law firm of Irwin & Egan, whose 
 office is in the Cook Block, Elgin, was born 
 in Sycamore, De Kalb county, Illinois, May 
 10, 1857, and is a son of William and Brid- 
 get (Sanders) Egan, who were natives of 
 County Kilkenny, Ireland, and were the par- 
 ents of seven children, as follows: Margaret, 
 wife of William Tobin, of Rutland, Illinois; 
 Alice, of Elgin; Mary, wife of Joseph King, 
 of Elgin; Elizabeth, wife of Patrick Keefe, 
 of Sycamore, Illinois; Robert S., our sub- 
 ject; Julia, -wife of C. F. Irwin, of Elgin; 
 and Anna, also of Elgin. The father, who 
 was a farmer by occupation, came to Amer- 
 ica about 1848, locating at St. Charles, Illi- 
 nois, where he remained one year. He then 
 removed to Sycamore, where he engaged in 
 farming for a few years, after which he re- 
 turned to Kane county, dying here in 1879, 
 at the age of about sixty-eight years. His 
 wife survived him until 1893, departing this 
 life at the age of seventy-one. Both were 
 devout members of the Catholic church. 
 
 The paternal grandfather of our subject 
 was Patrick Egan, a substantial farmer in 
 Ireland, where he died at an advanced age. 
 His father also died in Ireland, at the ex- 
 treme old age of one hundred five years. 
 The maternal grandfather of our subject, 
 Robert Sanders, was also born in Ireland 
 and was by occupation a farmer. He lived 
 to the age of four score years. 
 
 Robert S. Egan, our subject, was four 
 years of age when his parents returned to 
 Kane county, where he has since continued 
 
 to reside. Until seventeen years of age he 
 attended the country schools, and then took 
 a two years' course at the Elgin Academy. 
 For five years he taught schools, while at 
 the same time he engaged in reading law. 
 He began the study of law with Judge Henry 
 B. Willis, who was formerly his school 
 teacher. In March, 1882, he was admitted 
 to the bar and at once opened an office in 
 Elgin, where he engaged in practice alone 
 for one year. He then formed a partner- 
 ship with C. F. Irwin, which has continued 
 since, the firm enjoying a large practice 
 which extends into adjoiuing counties. 
 
 On the 22nd of September, 1886, Mr. 
 Egan married Miss Laura A. Russell, daugh- 
 ter of Ira N. and Charlotte (Sherbourne) 
 Russell, of Plato township, Kane county. 
 They reside in a beautiful home at the cor- 
 ner of South and Jackson streets, Elgin. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Egan is a Democrat, 
 with which party he has acted since attain- 
 ing his majority, and he is now president of 
 the Elgin Democratic Club. Possessed of 
 good executive ability and being a fiuent 
 speaker, he has been enabled to do much 
 for his party's cause in Elgin and Kane coun- 
 ty. He has always been numbered among 
 its most active workers, and in addition to 
 his effective work on the platform, he has 
 served as a delegate to the different state, 
 district and county conventions. In 1883 
 he was elected city attorney of Elgin and 
 served two years. Success has attended 
 him in financial as well as legal affairs, and 
 in addition to considerable real estate in El- 
 gin, he is the owner of an excellent farm of 
 one hundred sixty acres in Rutland town- 
 ship. He is also a stockholder in the Elgin 
 National Bank, and serves as its attorney. 
 Although comparatively young in the prac- 
 tice of law, Mr. Egan has already won an en-
 
 io6 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 viable reputation at the bar, having met with 
 a very flattering success in the trial of cases. 
 As a citizen he stands equally well, holding 
 the confidence and respect of the people. 
 
 DR. SALEM E. WELD, senior mem- 
 ber of the firm of Weld & Phillips, 
 real estate dealers and insurance agents, lo- 
 cated in the Home Bank building, Elgin, is 
 a well known citizen, and a native of Kane 
 county, born in Elgin township, just west of 
 the city of that name, August 3, 1841. His 
 parents, Francis and Harriet (Mann) Weld, 
 were numbered among the pioneers of 1838, 
 arriving here two years before the govern- 
 ment survey was made, taking up a claim 
 which was the farm on which our subject 
 was born. (For further account of Francis 
 Weld see sketch of Owen B. Weld, on an- 
 other page of this work.) 
 
 Salem E. Weld was reared on his father's 
 farm and attended the public and district 
 schools of the neighborhood, receiving a 
 good practical education. He remained un- 
 der the parental roof until twenty-one years 
 of age, and from the time when he was old 
 enough to drop corn or follow a plow did 
 his share in the farm work. About 1860 
 he commenced the study of medicine in the 
 office of Drs. A. L. Clark & A. Turner, and 
 continued to read under their instruction 
 until 1862. 
 
 The war for the union had now been in 
 progress about one year. Young men were 
 daily enlisting and the call was issued for 
 more volunteers. Having been in prepara- 
 tion for some years, the south was in better 
 shape for service than the north, and up to 
 that time had been successful in the greater 
 number of engagements. Every defeat 
 made the northern men more determined, 
 
 and the response to the calls of the present 
 were quickly made. Our subject could not 
 longer remain at home while his associates, 
 the young men with whom he was reared, 
 were daily going to the front. Accordingly, 
 August 12, 1862, he enlisted as a member 
 of Company I, One Hundred and Twenty- 
 seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, under 
 command of Col. John Van Arman. This 
 regiment has a record for bravery and active 
 service second to none. In the three years 
 in which it was engaged it was in over one 
 hundred battles and skirmishes. It was in 
 the siege of Vicksburg, the battles of Chat- 
 tanooga, Arkansas Post, the Atlanta cam- 
 paign, and the march to the sea, also the 
 march through the Carolinas, with the bat- 
 tles of Goldsboro, Columbia and others. 
 
 During the last two years of his service 
 Dr. Weld had charge of the field hospital of 
 the Second Division of the Fifteenth Army 
 Corps as hospital steward, and had the 
 credit of having the best hospital in the 
 corps. He was offered the captaincy of his 
 company, but on account of his profession 
 preferred to stay with the hospital. The 
 experience there gained has been of ines- 
 timable service to him since that time. 
 
 After the war Dr. Weld returned to 
 Elgin, completed his medical studies and 
 graduated from the Eclectic Medical Col- 
 lege, Cincinnati, Ohio, and began practice 
 at St. Charles, Illinois, where he remained 
 two years. He then returned to Elgin and 
 opened a drug store in partnership with his 
 cousin Russell, and for twenty-three years 
 successfully engaged in that business. Sell- 
 ing his interest to Edwin Hall, he engaged 
 in the real estate and insurance business. 
 In 1896 he took into partnership H. W. 
 Phillips, since which time the business has 
 been conducted under the firm name of
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 107 
 
 Weld & Phillips. Its success has been all 
 that could have been anticipated. 
 
 On the i4th of May, 1885, Dr. Weld 
 was united in marriage with Miss M. 
 Elizabeth Hoag, daughter of James and 
 Mary A. (Branford) Hoag. Mrs. Weld is a 
 native of St. Charles, Illinois. While 
 having no children of their own, they have 
 one adopted daughter, Mildred. Dr. and 
 Mrs. Weld are Christian Scientists, and in 
 the teachings of that people have the ut- 
 most faith, believing them to conform not 
 only to the scriptures but to common sense 
 and the science of life. 
 
 Fraternally Dr. Weld is a Mason, a 
 member of Elgin lodge, No. 117, F. & A. 
 M. ; L. L. Munn chapter, No. 96, R. A. M. ; 
 Bethel commandery, No. 36, K. T. Polit- 
 ically, he is a Republican, with which party 
 he has been identified since becoming a 
 voter. His first presidential vote was cast 
 for U. S. Grant. Office holding has for 
 him no special charm, but he served as cor- 
 oner one term, from 1868. In 1872 he was 
 elected alderman from the Fourth ward 
 and served one term, and was library direct- 
 or twelve years. 
 
 Dr. and Mrs. Weld reside in a beauti- 
 ful home, at No. 10 Hamilton avenue, El- 
 gin, and there take pleasure in receiving 
 their many friends. The Doctor represents 
 one of the oldest families in Elgin, and, 
 with the exception of the two years spent 
 at St. Charles, has here made his home for 
 fifty-six years. In the progress and devel- 
 opment of the place he has borne no incon- 
 siderable part, and is yet actively identified 
 with its business interests. He has a large 
 acquaintance throughout the county, and 
 by all he is held in the highest esteem. His 
 ancestry is of the best and most progressive 
 people, those who have left their impress 
 
 upon the history of the country. Samuel 
 Morey, a granduncle, was the first man 
 who ever ran a steamboat in the United 
 States. 
 
 EUGENIC W. K. CORNELL, manager 
 of the Elgin Packing Company, Elgin, 
 Illinois, has been a resident of Kane county 
 for more than half a century. He is a na- 
 tive of New York, born in Galway, Sara- 
 toga county, May to, 1823, and is the son 
 of Asa and Clarinda (Smith) Cornell, the 
 former a native of Cheshire, Massachusetts, 
 and the latter of New York. By occupa- 
 tion the father was a farmer, following that 
 vocation during his entire life. A man of 
 deep religious conviction, he united with 
 the Baptist church at an early age, and for 
 some years served as deacon in his church. 
 His death occurred at Albion, New York, 
 in 1854, while his good wife survived him 
 fifteen years, departing this life in 1869, at 
 Ionia, Michigan, at the residence of her 
 daughter. She was also a member of the 
 Baptist church, an exemplary Christian 
 woman, one whose delight was in doing 
 good and making others happy. 
 
 The Cornells are of Welsh ancestry, the 
 first of the name coming to America at an 
 early period in the country's history. Jo- 
 seph Cornell, the paternal grandfather of 
 our subject, was a native of Rhode Island, 
 a minister of the gospel in the Baptist 
 church. His godly example seems to have 
 had a remarkable effect upon the family, 
 nearly all of whom early in life entered the 
 service of the Master as members of that 
 church. Ebenezer Smith, the maternal 
 grandfather, was a farmer, and was born in 
 New York. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared 
 upon his farther's farm in Saratoga county,
 
 io8 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 New York, and after attending school for 
 a time in the neighborhood of his home, en- 
 tered Galway Academy, where he pursued 
 the prescribed course and was graduated 
 when but fifteen years old. He then com- 
 menced teaching and for five years followed 
 that profession at Saratoga Springs, New 
 York. At Schenectady, New York, he 
 studied dentistry and there commenced 
 practice. However, he did not long remain 
 at that place as he thought he could find a 
 more favorable locality in the rapidly grow- 
 ing west. 
 
 Before leaving his native state, Mr. Cor- 
 nell resolved upon marriage, and according- 
 ly on the 24th of January, 1843, he mar- 
 ried Miss Matilda C. Padelford, a native of 
 New York, and daughter of Sedate and Mar- 
 garet (Barney) Padelford, both of whom 
 were also natives of that state. By this 
 union seven children were born: Anna 
 Mary, who married B. C. Wilkins and died 
 in 1864; Eudora Bell, who died in infancy; 
 Clara C. , wife of S. J. Gifford, of Elgin; 
 Luella W., wife of William T. Wait, of El- 
 gin; Fred A., who married Jennie Rice and 
 now resides in San Francisco, California; 
 Charles Walter, who first married Kittie 
 Brown, and after her decease married Hat- 
 tie B. Kneeland, now residing at Elgin; and 
 Frank B., who married Emma Butler, of 
 Elgin. 
 
 One year after his marriage, Mr. Cor- 
 nell removed to Ionia, Michigan, where he 
 followed his profession two years, and then 
 came to Elgin, being the first dentist to lo- 
 cate in the city. For four years he en- 
 gaged in active practive, visiting at more 
 or less regular intervals the towns of Aurora, 
 St. Charles, Woodstock and other places. 
 He then sold out his practice and in com- 
 pany with S. D. Wilder and Finla L. Mc- 
 
 Clure, engaged in tlie dry goods trade under 
 the firm name of Cornell, McClure & Com- 
 pany. This relation was continued until 
 1862, when he disposed of his interest in 
 the business and went onto a farm, which 
 he operated two seasons. In 1865 he re- 
 turned to the city and formed a partnership 
 with W. T. Wait and F. A. Cornell in the 
 furniture business. In this line he continued 
 with good success for fourteen years. 
 
 In 1879 Mr. Cornell was offered the po- 
 sition of assistant manager of the Elgin 
 Packing Company, which was established 
 and incorporated some ten years prior to 
 this time, and which to-day has a national 
 reputation, its canned goods, consisting of 
 sweet corn, pumpkins, baked beans and lima 
 beans, finding a ready sale in many of the 
 leading cities of the country. The standard 
 of the goods is always kept at No. i. For 
 ten years Mr. Cornell served as an assistant 
 manager, since which time he has been gen- 
 eral manager, and under his supervision 
 much of the credit for the success of the 
 company is due. The vegetables and other 
 products used by this concern are raised in 
 the vicinity of Elgin, and during the year 
 several hundred people find employment in 
 connection with the business. They have 
 facilities for making all the cans used in 
 packing their various brands and the factory 
 continues work throughout the year. An 
 average of over one million cases of goods 
 are put up annually. 
 
 In early life Mr. Cornell voted with the 
 Democratic party, but cast his last presi- 
 dential vote for its candidate in 1852, when 
 he voted for Franklin Pierce. By nature 
 and training he espoused the cause of lib- 
 erty, believing in the declaration of inde- 
 pendence where it proclaims that all men 
 are created equal. He therefore naturally
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 109 
 
 attached himself to the Republican party on 
 its formation in 1854, and voted for its pres- 
 idential candidate in 1856, the great path- 
 finder, John C. Fremont. From that time 
 to the present he has advocated the princi- 
 ples of that party. While residing in Ionia, 
 Michigan, he was appointed and served as 
 postmaster, and soon after coming to Kane 
 county was elected school inspector. This 
 was before the office of county superintend- 
 ent of schools was created, and the inspect- 
 or served as examiner of teachers for his 
 district. He has held other local offices, 
 and it goes without saying that every duty 
 undertaken was faithfully discharged. 
 
 When eighteen years of age Mr. Cornell 
 gave himself to the Lord and united with 
 the Baptist church, that church with which 
 the family have been connected as far back 
 as its history can be traced. The First 
 Baptist church of Elgin was organized some 
 eight years prior to his arrival here, but on 
 making this his home he placed his mem- 
 bership therein, and for fifty-two years has 
 been one of its leading and most influential 
 members. Of those composing the body at 
 the time of his coming, only two now re- 
 main. Some have moved to other points, 
 but the greater number have passed to their 
 reward. For many years he has been one 
 of its trustees, and for a long time served 
 as superintendent of its Sunday-school. The 
 church to him has indeed been a means of 
 grace. His love for it has been strength- 
 ened as the years have passed by. It is to 
 him meat and drink. For it he has ever 
 been willing to make sacrifices of time and 
 means, and seldom is his place vacant at its 
 regular services. No other organization has 
 ever been able to draw him away, and in 
 none other has he ever had a place, save 
 for a time with the Good Templars, where 
 
 he hoped his influence might be useful in 
 behalf of the temperance cause. Mrs. Cor- 
 nell is also a member of the same church, 
 and for it has the same love that character- 
 izes her husband. 
 
 For more than fifty-five years Mr. and 
 Mrs. Cornell have traveled life's journey to- 
 gether, happy in each other's love. While 
 their hair has whitened, while they may not 
 have that lightness of step which was theirs 
 when they stood at the altar and took the 
 vows of husband and wife, their hearts are 
 light, and they have the assurance that they 
 have the love and respect of their family 
 and many friends, not alone in Elgin, but 
 throughout Kane county. 
 
 CHARLES STERNBERG is a repre- 
 V-> sentative of that race who have done 
 much to advance the interests of their 
 adopted country, but who always have in 
 their hearts a strong love for the fatherland. 
 He was born in Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Ger- 
 many, October 5, 1830, and there grew to 
 manhood, spending the greater part of his 
 youth on a farm. His educational advantages 
 were limited, and he therefore is almost 
 wholly self-educated, especially in the Eng- 
 lish language, which he acquired after com- 
 ing to this country. After reaching the age 
 of eighteen years he engaged at farm work 
 at from twenty to twenty-five dollars per 
 year, until his emigration to the United 
 States. In 1858, he bade farewell to home 
 and friends and set sail for the United 
 States, landing in this country on the 
 eighteenth of July. Coming direct to Dun- 
 dee, Kane county, he worked here by the 
 day at anything he could find to do. In the 
 fall of that year he rented a farm in Mc- 
 Henry county, and there resided for five
 
 I IO 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 years. In 1864 he made his first purchase 
 of land, securing a farm of eighty acres at 
 three thousand dollars, securing time on the 
 greater part of its purchase price. There 
 was a fair house and some improvements 
 on the place, but Mr. Sternberg went to 
 work and in due time had one of the finest 
 farms in the township. He subsequently 
 purchased fifty-five acres, which made him 
 a valuable farm of one hundred and thirty- 
 five acres. 
 
 John Sternberg, the father of our sub- 
 ject, was also a native of Germany and 
 there married Mary Kracht, a Genoa lady. 
 He came to this country with his son 
 Charles, located in Dundee township, Kane 
 county, and there spent the remainder of 
 his life, dying at the age of seventy-four 
 years. His wife survived him some years 
 and died when eighty-six years old. They 
 were the parents of seven children as fol- 
 lows: Sophia, who married John Schroeder 
 and moved with her husband to Michigan 
 and there died; Fred, a substantial farmer 
 of Kane county, now living a retired life in 
 Dundee; Charles, of this review; Christo- 
 pher, who was a farmer of Cook county, 
 but is now deceased; Christine, wife of 
 William Lempke, a retired farmer of Dun- 
 dee; Henry, who died in Dundee; and John, 
 who died in Germany a lad of fourteen 
 years. 
 
 Charles Sternberg, our subject, was uni- 
 ted in marriage, at Dundee, January 27, 
 1861, with Miss Frederika Schroeder also a 
 native of Germany and born in the same 
 state. Her father, Franz Schroeder, who 
 located in Kane county, spent the last years 
 of his life with his children, dying here in 
 in 1863. Mr. and Mrs. Sternberg have 
 six living children Augusta, wife of John 
 Fierke, residing in Dundee; Fred, who is 
 
 married and residing on the old homestead; 
 John, a business man of Elgin, also mar- 
 ried; Mary, residing at home; Henry, mar- 
 ried and engaged in business in Dundee; 
 and Emma, at home. Three of the chil- 
 dren died in early childhood. 
 
 In the fall of 1886, Mr. Sternberg pur- 
 chased a lot on the corner of First and 
 South streets, where he erected a large and 
 substantial dwelling, and where he has 
 since lived a retired life. Politically he is 
 a good Republican, with which party he has 
 affiliated since becoming a naturalized citi- 
 zen. He has been a resident of Kane county 
 for forty years and is a well-known citizen, 
 one who is esteemed for his many excellent 
 traits of character. Commencing life here 
 but with little means, he has accumulated 
 sufficient to enable him to live practically a 
 retired life. 
 
 SIDNEY HEATH, who for some years 
 lived retired in his pleasant home at 
 No. 233 Dundee avenue, Elgin, was num- 
 bered among the honored pioneers of Kane 
 county, who located here when this locality 
 was a wild and unimproved region. In the 
 work of development he took an active part 
 in the early days and aided in opening up 
 the country to civilization. As the years 
 passed he faithfully performed his duties of 
 citizenship, and his interest in the welfare 
 and progress of the community never abated. 
 Mr. Heath was born in West Hartford, 
 Connecticut, January 22, 1812, and was a 
 son of Richard Adams and Lydia (Steele) 
 Heath. In their family were seven sons 
 and one daughter, and our subject was the 
 last of the number to enter into rest. The 
 birth of the father occurred in Geneseo, 
 New York, on Tuesday, June 7, 1785, and
 
 LIBRARY 
 Of THE
 
 SIDNEY HEATH.
 
 MRS. CHARLOTTE HEATH.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 in early life he learned the shoemaker's 
 trade. In 1836 he emigrated to Illinois, 
 and after stopping a short time in Lockport, 
 he came to Kane county in the fall of that 
 year. His son Joseph had purchased of Ira 
 Minard a tract of three hundred and forty 
 acres, on which the Northern Illinois Hos- 
 pital for the Insane is now located, and this 
 he divided between his father and brothers, 
 Horace and Sidney. The father improved 
 and cultivated his portion until called from 
 this life, dying on his farm July 10, 1870. 
 His wife, who was born Tuesday, December 
 23, 1788, had passed away March 30, 1866. 
 Both were faithful members of the Congre- 
 gational church, and highly respected by all 
 who knew them. 
 
 Joseph Heath, our subject's paternal 
 grandfather, was born in New York, of Hol- 
 land ancestry, was a fanner by occupation 
 and aided the colonies in their successful 
 struggle for independence during the Revo- 
 lutionary war. His wife was of English ex- 
 traction. The maternal grandfather, Joel 
 Steele, was a native of Connecticut, and 
 was also an agriculturist. He died at the 
 age of fifty-nine years. 
 
 Reared in Connecticut, our subject was 
 educated in the old-fashioned district schools, 
 and during his youth learned the shoemaker's 
 trade, while upon the home farm he became 
 familiar with agricultural pursuits. At the 
 age of fifteen he went to the city of Hart- 
 ford, where he worked under the instruction 
 of his brother Horace until coming to Illi- 
 nois with his family in 1836. He owned 
 and operated the farm, where the hospital 
 for the insane is now located, until 1870, 
 when he sold his one hundred and forty 
 acres for one hundred dollars per acre, 
 though he had only paid about five dollars 
 per acre for the same. Since that time he 
 
 lived in Elgin, making his home at his fam- 
 ily residence for over twenty-six years. 
 
 On the 28th of April, 1833, Mr. Heath 
 led to the marriage altar Miss Charlotte 
 Sophia London, who was born in Burling- 
 ton, Connecticut, November 22, 1806, and 
 was a daughter of Giles and Susanna (Daily) 
 London. Five children blessed this union 
 as follows: Charlotte Sophia, born Octo- 
 ber 24, 1837, married Samuel H. Norton; 
 George S., born March 22, 1841, wedded 
 Mary Cox, by whom he has three children: 
 Harry E. , John S. and Howard and later 
 he married again, and now lives in Boston; 
 Susan Maria, born February 16, 1843, died 
 at the age of three years; Warren H., born 
 August 2, 1845, married Elvira Shepard, 
 who died a year later, in 1870, and he -aft- 
 erward married Sarah A. Munger, of Wood- 
 stock, Illinois, by whom he has four sons 
 Milo S. , Sidney J., George R. and Warren 
 H. One son of our subject died in infancy. 
 For fifty-eight and a half years Mr. and 
 Mrs. Heath traveled life's journey together, 
 and their's was indeed a happy married life. 
 They celebrated their golden wedding, but 
 our subject was later called upon to mourn 
 the loss of his estimable wife, who died No- 
 vember 9, 1891. She was always active up 
 to the time of her last illness, possessed a 
 bright intellect, and was beloved by all who 
 knew her. Both she and her husband were 
 among the original members who organized 
 the First Methodist Episcopal church in El- 
 gin, in 1837, and he was the last of that 
 little band to survive. He belonged to the 
 first class formed here, and for many years 
 served as class leader and steward. Al- 
 though his father and brothers were all 
 Democrats, Mr. Heath joined the Repub- 
 lican party on the outbreak of the Civil 
 war, and voted for President Lincoln. When
 
 114 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 eighty-four years of age he was still quite 
 active and strong, and had a good memory. 
 He was never seriously ill until eighty years 
 of age, owing probably to his temperate 
 habits. He was always a quiet, unosten- 
 tatious man, but his fellow citizens recog 
 nized his true worth, and elected him to a 
 number of township offices. Very consci- 
 entious and strictly honorable in all his deal- 
 ings, he became widely and favorably known, 
 and had many warm friends. His death oc- 
 curred November 14, 1897, and his remains 
 were laid to rest beside those of his loved 
 companion, who preceded him to their 
 heavenly home. In his death one more of 
 that number of heroic men who located in 
 Kane county in pioneer days was called to 
 his reward. His familiar figure will no 
 more go in and out among us, but of him it 
 can be truthfully said, "Blessed are the 
 dead who die in the Lord, for they shall 
 rest from their labor and their works do fol- 
 low them. " 
 
 B. PERKINS, secretary of the 
 1 school board of the city of Elgin, is a 
 native of Illinois, born in Barrington, Cook 
 county, July 8, 1841, and is a representa- 
 tive of one of the honored pioneer families 
 of the state, his parents, Thomas and Eliz- 
 abeth (Proctor) Perkins, both of sturdy 
 Puritan ancestry, having left their home in 
 Essex, Massachusetts, and locating in Bar- 
 rington in 1838, then an almost unbroken 
 wilderness. They at once identified them- 
 selves with the religious and educational in- 
 terests of the community, and helped to 
 shape the early influences in the right di- 
 rection. In their pioneer log house was 
 taught one of the first schools of the town- 
 ship, and often religious meetings were held 
 in the same place. The colporteur and 
 
 itinerant preacher of whatever creed always 
 found a welcotne, and in consequence of 
 their open door for such guests it gained 
 the name of Deacon's Tavern. Their first 
 church home was with the Congregational 
 church at Elgin, six miles away, whence 
 they made their way on the Sabbath over 
 prairie and through woodland on foot 
 or by the slow-going ox wagon. Later 
 they were charter members of the Dun- 
 dee Congregational church, and still later 
 of the church at Barrington, near their own 
 farm home. They were pronounced in 
 their views on temperance and slavery and 
 gave all possible aid to all reforms. Their 
 home was often the haven of rest to the 
 black man on his way to Canada and free- 
 dom, and it was one of the many where was 
 fostered that spirit of loyalty to the govern- 
 ment and right that a generation later bore 
 fruitage in an army of -a million men who 
 sprang to arms to maintain our free institu- 
 tions. The father died in 1857 aged fifty- 
 six years, his life no doubt shortened by the 
 hardships incident to making a home under 
 the adverse circumstances of a new county. 
 He held honorably the office of deacon of 
 the church for many years and though never 
 prominent in politics was ever ready to bear 
 his share of the responsibilities of citizen- 
 ship. He had acquired a comfortable com- 
 petence when he was called to lay down his 
 life work, but the most precious legacy left 
 his family was an unsullied name. His wife 
 Elizabeth survived him some years, during 
 which time she lived in Elgin, passing away 
 in 1 88 1 at the age of seventy-five years. 
 She was a woman of heroic mold and the 
 privation incident to the rough life of a 
 new country served to bring into action the 
 best and bravest of her nature. As in most 
 homes transplanted from the refinements of
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the east, the mother felt most keenly the 
 limited advantages for schooling that the 
 future seemed to promise, and no toil or 
 effort was too great so that educational ad- 
 vantages might be provided for the family 
 growing up about her. A like spirit was in 
 other homes of this region and no wonder 
 that our present splendid school system 
 came into existence.- 
 
 The subject of this sketch is one of a 
 family of seven children of whom four 
 reached adult age. Three brothers died in 
 early life. Elizabeth married Rev. John 
 V. Downs, a pioneer Presbyterian minister 
 of Illinois, and died at the age of sixty. 
 John Proctor was for many years a con- 
 ductor on the Chicago & Northwestern 
 railroad, now retired from active business, 
 resides at Rockford, Illinois. Lydia Choatc 
 married Dr. Edgar Winchester, who was 
 for a number of years a physician of large 
 practice in Elgin, and, later, of San Ber- 
 nardino, California, where he died and 
 where she now resides. 
 
 The first sixteen years of his life Francis 
 B. Perkins spent upon the farm home, 
 thence after his father's death coming to 
 Elgin to live with his mother, when for 
 three years he attended the Elgin Academy, 
 preparatory to entering Beloit College of 
 Wisconsin, where he was pursuing his stud- 
 ies at the outbreak of the war. In August, 
 i86i,at the first call for three-years men Mr. 
 Perkins enlisted in Company A, Thirty-sixth 
 Illinois Infantry Volunteers, and at once 
 took the field with his regiment. In the 
 campaign early in 1862, under the command 
 of General Curtis, ending in the decisive bat- 
 tle of Pea Ridge and the expulsion of armed 
 Confederates from the state of Missouri, he 
 bore his share in the vicissitudes of camp 
 march and battle field. About June i, 1862, 
 
 a part of General Curtis' command, in which 
 was the Thirty-sixth Illinois, was hurried to 
 strengthen the lines in front of Corinth, 
 Mississippi, where it arrived just before its 
 evacuation. About this time he was trans- 
 ferred to Company K, Fifty-second Illinois 
 Volunteer Infantry, remaining a member of 
 that regiment till the close of his service, 
 though on detached duty the last part in 
 the Topographical Engineer Corps. In this 
 branch of the service he took part in the 
 Atlanta campaign under General Sherman, 
 during the summer of 1864. After the fall 
 of Atlanta, his term of enlistment having ex- 
 pired, he was honorably discharged from the 
 army and came home. After a few months 
 of study in Bryant's Commercial College in 
 Chicago, he again entered the service of the 
 government in the quartermaster's depart- 
 ment, as draughtsman and clerk, and was 
 located at Columbus, Kentucky, Alexandria, 
 Virginia, and Little Rock, Arkansas, remain- 
 ing until the winding up of affairs by reason 
 of the close of the war. During the season 
 of 1866 he engaged in cotton planting on 
 the Arkansas river bottoms, and was for- 
 tunately one of the few who found it a pay- 
 ing venture. In the fall of 1868 he entered 
 the employ of the Elgin National Watch 
 Co., and worked for them twenty years. 
 Seventeen years he was a foreman of a de- 
 partment and many valuable improvements 
 in the manufacture of watches were made 
 and introduced by him during this time. 
 
 In 1869 he married Mary E. Raymond, 
 a daughter of an early settler, Augustine 
 Raymond. She was educated at the Elgin 
 Academy and at eastern schools and was 
 assistant principal of the Elgin High School 
 at the time of their marriage. 
 
 She was an active worker in the Con- 
 gregational church of which she was a mem-
 
 n6 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 her and an efficient and faithful Sunday- 
 school teacher. She died in 1873, leaving 
 one son, Thomas E. , now twenty-five years 
 old, a musician by profession. His musical 
 education was obtained under teachers at 
 home and in Chicago and completing and 
 graduating from the Metropolitan College of 
 Music in New York City in 1897. He is 
 now organist at the church of the Pilgrims, 
 Brooklyn, New York. 
 
 Mr. Perkins has been a member of the First 
 Congregational church since his sixteenth 
 year, serving the church at different times 
 in the offices of clerk, trustee and deacon, 
 which office he now holds. 
 
 He is a member of the Grand Army of 
 the Republic and is actively interested in all 
 that the organization stands for. He is also 
 secretary of the $2d Illinois Veteran Volun- 
 teer Association and is ever ready to help 
 and encourage his former comrades in arms. 
 
 The influence of the forty years spent in 
 the community where he now lives has al- 
 ways been found on the side of right and 
 order and he has taken an active part in 
 promoting those measures which he believes 
 calculated to advance the educational, 
 moral, and material welfare of his city. 
 
 EZRA HANSON, deceased, was for many 
 years one of the honored and highly- 
 respected citizens of Elgin. He was born 
 in Lebanon, Maine, April 22, 1806, a son 
 of John B. and Dorcas (Libby) Hanson, also 
 natives of the Pine Tree state, in whose 
 family were fifteen children, six of whom 
 reached years of maturity, the others dying 
 either in r infancy or early childhood. The 
 father, who was a saddler and harnessmaker 
 by trade, died in the east at about the age 
 of fifty years, and his wife when forty-eight 
 
 years of age. The paternal grandfather, 
 who was of English extraction, was a ship- 
 builder of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 
 and was killed while launching one of his 
 vessels. 
 
 In his native state Ezra Hanson grew to 
 manhood, and on the 5th of September, 
 1833, he was united in marriage with Miss 
 Catherine Kimball Upton, who traced her 
 ancestry back to one of the earliest families 
 in America, its founder being John Upton, 
 who was born in 1620, and came to New 
 England in 1639 or a short time previous. 
 He became one of the prominent citizens of 
 Salem, Massachusetts, served as constable, 
 was otherwise prominently identified with 
 the growth and development of Salem, and 
 died July 11, 1699. His son William was 
 born in Salem, June 10, 1663, and died in 
 '739 or ! 74- He and his brother received 
 the Woodhill and other land in Salem from 
 their father. Paul Upton, the son of Will- 
 iam, was born in 1709, and was the father 
 of Ezra and grandfather of David Upton, 
 who was Mrs. Hanson's father. The last 
 named was born in Danvers, Massachusetts, 
 in 1772, and died in August, 1836; his wife 
 bore the maiden name of Hepzibah Flint. 
 
 In 1837 Mr. Hanson came west, and 
 first located on a farm near Sycamore, De- 
 Kalb county, Illinois. In 1843 he removed 
 to Burlington, Kane county, and in 1854 
 came to Elgin, and made this place his 
 home until called to the world beyond, June 
 15, 1890. Although he was a member of 
 no religious denomination, he regularly at- 
 tended the services of the Baptist church, 
 and called himself an "outside deacon." 
 A man of sterling integrity and strictly hon- 
 est, he helped many to a better, nobler and 
 higher life, and he was both widely and fa- 
 vorably known throughout Kane county.
 
 EZRA HANSON.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 He was of a genial and jovial disposition, 
 and was a great hand to tell jokes. 
 
 Mrs. Hanson, who was born in North 
 Reading, Massachusetts, August 20, 1812, 
 died in Elgin March 28, 1876. She was a 
 devout member of the Baptist church, led 
 a blameless and noble life, devoting most of 
 her time to the interests of her family. The 
 children born to Mr. and Mrs. Hanson were 
 as follows: Joseph H., born October 16, 
 1835, was an attorney, who died in Elgin 
 August 14, 1892; Mary Upton, born Janu- 
 ary 10, 1839, in Sycamore, Illinois, is one 
 of the highly-respected citizens of Elgin; 
 Edward, born in Sycamore November 15, 
 1840, died September 9, 1841; Daniel King, 
 born in Campton, Illinois. October 5, 1844, 
 died in Burlington, Kane county, July 29, 
 .845. 
 
 H. KNOTT, who is now 
 successfully engaged in the grocery 
 business at No. 482 Park street, Elgin, be- 
 gan-his earthly career in Leicester, England, 
 February 8, 1838, and in that place his 
 parents, John P. and Eliza (Knott) Knott, 
 were also born. The paternal grandfather 
 spent his ' entire life in England, but the 
 maternal grandfather, Thomas Knott, came 
 to America in 1844, and located in Camp- 
 ton township, Kane county, Illinois. Later 
 he removed to Chicago, where his wife 
 died, and he subsequently made his home- 
 for a number of years in Mishwaukee, Indi- 
 ana. He was a turner by trade, and con- 
 tinued to work at the turning lathe until 
 eighty-three years of age. He died two 
 years later in Turner Junction, Illinois. In 
 his family were six children. 
 
 John P. Knott, our subject's father, was 
 a shoemaker by trade. In early life he 
 came to the new world, but after spending 
 
 eight years in St. Johns, New Brunswick, 
 he returned to England. However, he 
 again crossed the Atlantic in 1842, and after 
 living for a short time in Campton, Kane 
 county, Illinois, he located in Chicago, and 
 for ten or twelve years conducted a shoe 
 store at No. 9 Dearborn street. Later he 
 spent three or four years at No. 67 Ran- 
 dolph street, and from there removed to 
 West Madison street, but in 1859 he sold 
 out and came to Elgin, where he continued 
 to make his home until his death. Here he 
 was engaged in the grocery business until 
 his store was destroyed by fire in 1865, 
 after which he lived retired. He died in 
 1876, aged sixty-seven years, and his wife 
 passed away in June, 1895, a ^ the age of 
 eighty-three. Both were earnest and con- 
 sistent members of the Baptist church, and 
 were highly esteemed by all who knew them. 
 Their family numbered six sons and one 
 daughter, but only two are now living 
 George H. and Wallace H., both of Elgin. 
 
 Reared in Chicago, George H. Knott 
 attended the old Fort Dearborn school, later 
 pursued his studies in a private school con- 
 ducted in the Methodist church, on Jeffer- 
 son street, in that city, and after coming to 
 Elgin, completed his education in the Elgin 
 high school, under the direction of Professor 
 Francis F. Haywood. He had clerked in a 
 number of stores in Chicago before coming 
 to Elgin in 1859, and with the exception of 
 the time spent in the army and one year 
 passed in Philadelphia, he has since been 
 identified with the mercantile interests of 
 this city. 
 
 In August, 1862, Mr. Knott enlisted in 
 Company C, One Hundred and Twenty- 
 seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and 
 after serving for two years with that regi- 
 ment he was detached and was with the con-
 
 120 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 solidated A and B Battery until the close of 
 the war. He took part in the battles of 
 Chickasaw Bayou, Arkansas Post and Nash- 
 ville, the siege of Vicksburg, the Atlanta 
 campaign, and many minor engagements, 
 and on the 22d of July, 1864, when Gen- 
 eral McPherson fell, he was taken prisoner, 
 being confined in Andersonville for sixty-one 
 days. 
 
 Mr. Knott went to Philadelphia in 1865, 
 but the following year returned to Elgin, 
 where he clerked in a grocery store until 
 1870, when he embarked in the same busi- 
 ness on his own account in partnership with 
 John Cox, under the firm style of Cox & 
 Knott. At the jend of five years Mr. Cox 
 withdrew and our subject continued the 
 business alone for the same length of time, 
 but at the end of that period sold out. Two 
 years later he began dealing in coal oil, 
 which business he carried on for seven years, 
 but for the past thirteen years has again 
 been interested in the grocery trade, con- 
 ducting a store for some time on Chicago 
 street, but now carries on operations at his 
 home place, No. 482 Park street, where he 
 has a neat store stocked with a fine grade 
 of goods. 
 
 On the 8th of July, 1860, Mr, Knott was 
 united in marriage to Miss Mary E. An- 
 drews, an adopted daughter of David E. 
 Ambrose, and to them were born two chil- 
 dren Lillie M., now the wife of Walter 
 Middleton, by whom she has one son, 
 Walter; and Emma E., wife of Charles J. 
 Reynolds, of Beloit, Wisconsin, by whom 
 she has seven children. Mrs. Knott, who 
 was a faithful member of the Baptist church, 
 died in 1871, and for his second wife our 
 subject chose Josephine Tourtellotte, who 
 died fifteen months after her marriage. She, 
 too, was a Baptist in religious belief. Mr. 
 
 Knott was again married October 19, 1875, 
 his third union being with Mrs. Elizabeth 
 Sears, and two sons have been born to them 
 George R. and Leon S. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Knott is identified with 
 the Republican party; socially belongs to 
 Veteran post, No. 49, G. A. R. ; and relig- 
 iously is a member of the Baptist church, 
 while his present wife is connected with the 
 Methodist church. They have many warm 
 friends throughout the community, and they 
 justly deserve the high regard in which they 
 are held by all who know them. 
 
 ELISHA DUNBAR WALDRON has for 
 many years been one of the conspicu- 
 ous business men of Elgin, in which city he 
 was born January 27, 1848. His father, 
 Andrew J. Waldron, came west in 1842, and 
 after a brief residence in Batavia made El- 
 gin his permanent home (1845), living for 
 many years on the present site of "The 
 Spurling," where the subject of this sketch 
 first opened his eyes to the light of day. 
 
 The father was a native of Vermont and 
 his wife, Calista S. (Smith) Waldron, was 
 born in New York. They were the parents 
 of three children: Martha, now the wife of 
 Joseph Vollor; E. Dunbar; and Bertha, wife 
 of Dr. W. G. Stone, all living in Elgin. 
 The Waldron family traces its ancestry to 
 Coventry, England, and the first of the 
 name to come to America was George Wal- 
 dron, who landed at Boston in 1670. The 
 name of Andrew J. Waldron is indelibly 
 stamped upon the pioneer history of Elgin, 
 where, as an attorney, justice of the peace, 
 banker or business man, his integrity was 
 never questioned and his business judgment 
 was implicitly relied upon. He was twice 
 elected mayor and successfully administered
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 121 
 
 the affairs of the city. He with five others 
 was the original mover in securing the loca- 
 tion of the National Watch Factory. 
 
 It is but natural, therefore, that E. Dun- 
 bar Waldron, who has inherited the public 
 spirit of his father, should occupy to day a 
 prominent place in his native city as a man 
 whose energy and enterprise have been 
 largely instrumental in encouraging and fos- 
 tering the city's commercial and industrial 
 interests, as well as in promoting in many 
 ways the ethical, educational and religious: 
 well-being of the community. 
 
 After a practical education in the public 
 schools and the Elgin Academy, Mr. Wal- 
 dron left, on account of poor health, to work 
 in a lumber yard, hoping to be benefited by 
 the outdoor exercise, and the result was 
 highly satisfactory. For eighteen months 
 he was a clerk in the Elgin postoffice. His 
 commercial instincts prompted him to en- 
 gage in business for himself, and he devoted 
 the next two years to a book store, of which 
 he had become proprietor. 
 
 At this time Chicago, the great commer- 
 cial heart of the greater northwest, at- 
 tracted him and he invested in the whole- 
 sale wood and willowware business, giving 
 it his personal attention until 1871, when 
 the great fire destroyed the city, and swept 
 his interests there out of existence. He 
 then returned to Elgin and assisted in or- 
 ganizing the Home National Bank, of which 
 he soon became assistant cashier, and then 
 cashier, filling the latter important position 
 of trust for eighteen years. He still retains 
 his interest in the bank, and since 1890 has 
 been its first vice-president. He is also 
 president of the Home Saving Bank. 
 
 Conservatively progressive, Mr. Waldron 
 has always been ready to help anything cal- 
 culated to help Elgin, and many of his best 
 
 investments have been partially prompted 
 by his loyalty to the city of his birth. He 
 is at present, in addition to the above, 
 treasurer of the Elgin Loan and Homestead 
 Association, having held that position since 
 the organization of the society; treasurer 
 of the Elgin Packing Company; treasurer 
 of the Elgin City, Carpentersville & Aurora 
 Railway; President of the Elgin Lumber 
 Company; and a stockholder in the National 
 Watch Company, the South Elgin Stone 
 Company, and other prosperous enter- 
 prises. He has also held the office of city 
 treasurer a number of times. A Republican 
 in politics, but believing in the purity, of 
 municipal government regardless of party 
 lines, Mr. Waldron has always exerted a 
 quiet influence upon local politics. 
 
 He is a member; of the board of trus- 
 tees of the Elgin Academy, a member of 
 the Chicago Chapter of the Sons of the 
 American Revolution, the Union League 
 Club, of Chicago, and an honorary mem- 
 ber of the Chicago Bankers' Club. A Uni- 
 versalist in religion, he has done much to 
 aid that body, and the beautiful pipe organ 
 in the Universalist church of Elgin is the 
 gift of Mr. Waldron and his sisters, in 
 memory of their mother, Mrs. Calista Wal- 
 dron Slade. 
 
 On December 2, 1873, Mr. Waldron 
 was married to Miss Louise Town, a 
 daughter of J. J. and Esther (Graves) 
 Town, of Des Moines, Iowa. Their home 
 is at No. 181 South Gifford street, occupy- 
 ing a commanding elevation, and is sur- 
 rounded by three acres of sloping lawn, 
 shaded by venerable trees. It is one of El- 
 gin's most substantial and beautiful homes. 
 In Elgin and wherever known, the name of 
 E. Dunbar Waldron is synonym for those 
 qualities that go to make life worth living.
 
 J22 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 JOHN NEWMAN. In proportion to its 
 population the city of Elgin numbers 
 among its men of wealth, standing, charac- 
 ter and business enterprise as many as any 
 city in the land. Among those recognized 
 as being in the front, and whose skill and 
 ability is unquestioned, is the man whose 
 name heads this sketch, one who came to 
 this country from across the water some 
 forty years ago, an unknown lad, without 
 influential friends to aid him in life's work. 
 However, he brought with him a stout 
 heart, willing hands and a determination to 
 succeed, and success has crowned his efforts 
 in a remarkable degree. 
 
 A native of England, Mr. Newman was 
 born at Bishop Stortford, Herefordshire, 
 March u, 1842, and is a son of William 
 and Emma (Thurgood) Newman, also na- 
 tives of England, who lived and died in 
 that country. Leaving school at the age 
 of fourteen years, he was apprenticed to a 
 a draper and grocer, with whom he contin- 
 ued three years, and then resolved to come 
 to the United States, where the opportuni- 
 ties were much greater than in his own 
 country for the enterprising person. He 
 was in his eighteenth year when he left his 
 English home, and on the 29th of Septem- 
 ber, 1859, he landed at New York, and one 
 month later he located in Chicago, where 
 he found employment with Potter Palmer as 
 clerk in his dry-goods store. After remain- 
 ing with Mr. Palmer for about a year, he 
 engaged with Ross & Foster, with whom he 
 continued until 1864. Instead of spending 
 all his salary on good clothes and for per- 
 sonal pleasure, as is so often done by mer- 
 cantile clerks, from the amount received 
 each payday he laid aside a portion, until 
 his accumulations were sufficient to justify 
 embarking in business on his own account. 
 
 Even at that time Elgin was quite a trading 
 point, with a good reputation, and on leav- 
 ing the employ of Ross & Foster he came 
 direct to this place and bought out the dry- 
 goods store of M. & J. McNeil, which busi- 
 ness he still continues. From that time to 
 the present, more than a third of a cen- 
 tury, he has been identified with the busi- 
 ness interests of the city. The store pur- 
 chased of the McNeils has grown with the 
 city's growth until to-day it is one of the 
 largest in Kane county. To its supervision 
 he has always given his personal attention, 
 and his stock is at all times varied and 
 suited to the times. 
 
 As his means increased Mr. Newman has 
 branched out and invested in other enter- 
 prises that have not alone added to his in- 
 dividual wealth, but to the wealth and gen- 
 eral prosperity of the city. About 1876 he 
 established the Spring Brook creamery at 
 Elgin. The business was commenced in a 
 modest way, but with the determination to 
 make it noted for the excellent quality of 
 butter and cheese manufactured. It was 
 but a short time before it became known 
 that the mark upon the boxes and cases 
 "From the Spring Brook Creamery," was 
 a guarantee of excellent quality. Year by 
 year the business increased and creamery 
 after creamery was added until to-day the 
 Spring Brook creameries have over forty 
 plants in active operation. The same good 
 quality has ever been maintained and the 
 reputation of its manufactured product is a 
 No. i. The business is now conducted by 
 the John Newman Company, of which he 
 is the principal proprietor, being ably as- 
 sisted by his brother, Joseph Newman, in 
 the general management. 
 
 For some years Mr. Newman has been 
 a stockholder in the First National Bank of
 
 JOHN NEWMAN.
 
 IHE
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 125 
 
 Elgin, a stockholder and president of the 
 Elgin City Banking Company, one of the 
 strongest and safest savings banks in the 
 state outside of Chicago. His conservative 
 nature, combined with a progressive spirit, 
 makes him a model officer of such a finan- 
 cial institution.' For many years he acted 
 as treasurer and vice-president of the Elgin 
 Board of Trade, and since 1894 has been its 
 president, a position which he ably fills, and 
 which enables him to do much for his 
 adopted city. He never hesitates to do that 
 which will advance the general interests of 
 the city and cause it to occupy a front rank 
 among its sister cities in the great common- 
 wealth of Illinois. 
 
 Mr. Newman has been twice married, 
 his first union being with Miss Haddie Vir- 
 ginia Beaty, daughter of Colonel John Farr 
 Beaty, who was for many years secretary 
 of the Chicago Board of Trade. Their 
 marriage was celebrated September 5, 1867, 
 at the home of the bride's parents in Elgin. 
 By this union were four children: Paul B. , 
 who is associated with his father in the mer- 
 cantile trade; John B., who is employed in 
 the First National Bank of Elgin; Hattie, a 
 young lady admired and esteemed by all 
 who knew her, who was called from this life 
 May 5, 1895; and William, who is in the of- 
 fice of the John Newman Company. The 
 mother of these children died April 27, 
 1876. She was a consistent member of the 
 Protestant Episcopal church, one whose life 
 was in strict conformity to the teachings of 
 the lowly Nazarene. 
 
 The second marriage of Mr. Newman 
 was on the 27th of October, 1887, when 
 he wedded Mrs. Laura J. Borden, of Fort 
 Bend county, Texas, a daughter of Ezekiel 
 and Martha M. (Winfrey) George, natives 
 of Wharton county, Texas. She is a lady 
 
 6 
 
 of high culture and rare social qualities, 
 a member of the Protestant Episcopal 
 Church, and enjoys the love and esteem of 
 all who know her. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Newman is a Democrat, 
 with which party he has acted since becom- 
 ing a citizen of the United States. In 1896, 
 on the division of the party on the silver 
 question, he took the gold side, believing 
 the honor and integrity of the country 
 should be maintained, and not degraded as 
 it would be by a debased currency as advo- 
 cated by those favoring the unlimited coin- 
 age of silver at the ratio of 16 to i. He is 
 known as a Cleveland Democrat. While a 
 politician in the true sense of the term, he 
 has never been an office seeker. Time and 
 again he has been solicited to give the use 
 of his name as a candidate for mayor of El- 
 gin, but has inyariably refused the proffered 
 honor. The only political office he ever 
 held was that of trustee of the Northern 
 Illinois Hospital for the Insane, receiving 
 his appointment from Governor Altgeld. 
 While he held the office he discharged his 
 duties faithfully and well, to the entire sat- 
 isfaction of all concerned. Because of the 
 fact that he could not agree with the gov- 
 ernor in his peculiar views on the silver 
 question, or become a tool in his hand, he 
 was removed by that gentleman, an act that 
 did the governor no good, but which made 
 Mr. Newman many warm friends. 
 
 A friend of education, Mr. Newman 
 served for many years as a member of the 
 board of education of Elgin, and for six 
 years was its president. During that time 
 four new school buildings were erected. 
 For a number of years he has been treas- 
 urer of the Elgin Opera House Company. 
 He has always held a prominent place in 
 musical circles, and for years was president
 
 126 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of the Elgin Choral Union. The only 
 society with which he is connected is the 
 St. George Benevolent Society, of which he 
 was presiding officer for a long time. Re- 
 ligiously he is a member of the Protestant 
 Episcopal Church, and for that Church in 
 Elgin he has done much in various ways, 
 contributing of his time and means to its 
 upbuilding. He is also one of the leading 
 members of the Century Club of Elgin. 
 
 While Mr. Newman is known as one of 
 the most prosperous business men of Elgin, 
 it must not be supposed that it has always 
 been smooth sailing with him, and that no 
 losses have been experienced. Twice he 
 was burned out, entailing upon him heavy 
 losses, but like the famed Phoenix, there 
 arose from the ashes larger and better build- 
 ings and more extensive stocks than before. 
 On one occasion when burned out, and 
 while the smoke was still going up, he 
 rented a vacant storeroom, went to Chicago, 
 purchased a new stock, and was ready for 
 business within two days. 
 
 Such in brief is the life record of John 
 Newman. For more than a third of a cen- 
 tury he has gone in and out among the 
 people of Elgin, leaving his impress upon 
 almost every public enterprise, giving of 
 his time and means to advance the city's 
 interest. Broad and liberal minded, he is 
 honored and respected by all. While at 
 all times having a large number of men in 
 his employ, he treats them kindly and in a 
 considerate manner, showing himself to be 
 their friend as they are his friends, and will 
 do for him everything in their power. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Newman reside in a beauti- 
 ful home at No. 321 Division street, Elgin, 
 which is the abode of genuine hospitality, 
 and where many friends are received and 
 handsomely entertained. They have like- 
 
 wise a fine summer residence on Lake 
 Geneva, Wisconsin, where they spend a 
 portion of the year. They believe in enjoy- 
 ing this life, as well they may. 
 
 I SAAC V. DOTY is a retired farmer resid- 
 1 ing on section 28. Hampshire township, 
 and who has spent more than fifty-three 
 years of his life in Kane county, Illinois. He 
 was born in the town of Granville, near Lake 
 Champlain, Washington county, New York, 
 January 17, 1819, and is second in a family 
 of five children born to Levi and Sallie 
 (Bredenburgh) Doty. The father was a 
 farmer and owned a large tract of land in 
 Washington county, New York. 
 
 When our subject was but nine years 
 old his mother died, and until the age of 
 sixteen or seventeen years he attended a 
 common school of his native state, after 
 which he did farm work for neighbors. 
 Later he rented a part of his father's farm, 
 and, being united in marriage with Miss Ce- 
 leste Thorington, began life for himself. She 
 died leaving one child, Margaret, now the 
 wife of Porter Baldwin, by whom she has 
 six children. 
 
 In May, 1845, Mr. Doty left his native 
 state for the west, taking a canal boat at 
 Whitehall to Buffalo, New York, the fare 
 being two dollars. They carried their own 
 provisions with them for use upon the boat. 
 From Buffalo they went to Chicago by lake, 
 the fare for which was three dollars. From 
 Chicago they came to what is now Starks 
 Station, in Rutland township, Kane county, 
 Illinois, where a brother-in-law was then 
 living. He began farming on Starks' farm, 
 where he remained three years, and then 
 moved to Hampshire township, to the farm 
 of his wife's father, eighty acres of which
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 127 
 
 had been deeded to her. This our subject 
 commenced at once to improve, erected 
 every building, made every rod of fence, set 
 out many of the shade trees, and for many 
 years was there engaged in agricultural pur- 
 suits. 
 
 On the 3d of October, 1855, the second 
 marriage of our subject occurred in Hamp- 
 shire township, when he wedded Mrs. Au- 
 rilla Ingersol, widow of Orrin L. Ingersol, 
 and to them four children were born, as 
 follows: Mary, who married Julius H. Nor- 
 ton, who served in the war for the Union, 
 and their four living children are Julius, 
 William, Emma and Aurilla. Lucy mar- 
 ried C. V. Jacobs, who was also in the war, 
 and by whom she had one child, Mary, who 
 is living; she is now deceased. William, 
 who married Flora King, by whom he has 
 two children, Ruth and Donald. Sidney, 
 who died at the age of four years. Mrs. 
 Doty is a daughter of Philip Terwilliger, a 
 native of New York state, and of an old 
 Dutch family. He married Mary Low, of 
 Orange county. New York, and a daughter 
 of Daniel Low, who died at the age of 
 eighty years. He married a Miss Crany, 
 who attained the age of eighty-six years. 
 Daniel Low, Jr., is now living at Chenango 
 Forks, New York, at the age of ninety years. 
 Philip Terwilliger served in the war of 1812. 
 He came to Kane county, Illinois, and built 
 the first frame house in Hampshire town- 
 ship, where he owned a large tract of land. 
 He died at the age of sixty-nine years. His 
 father, James Terwilliger, married Eliza 
 Terwilliger, and their respective ages at 
 death were seventy-seven and seventy-three. 
 
 Fraternally Mr. Doty is a member of the 
 Masonic order, and religiously of the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal church, of which body his 
 wife is also a member. In politics he is a 
 
 Republican, and has held the offices of school 
 director and road commissioner. Both Mr. 
 and Mrs. Doty are numbered among the old 
 settlers of Kane county. They remember 
 when houses were few and far between, and 
 they have seen wolves, deer and other game 
 in large numbers in the vicinity. Mr. Doty 
 was always a good marksman, and even 
 now, at the age of seventy-nine years, can 
 kill chickens with a rifle. 
 
 WILLIAM HENNEL BLACK. For- 
 tunate is he who has back of him an 
 ancestry honorable and distinguished, and 
 happy is he if his lines of life are cast in 
 harmony therewith. Our subject is blessed 
 in this respect, for he springs from promi- 
 nent families of New England, and he has 
 become one of the leading and representa- 
 tive citizens of Elgin. 
 
 Mr. Black was born in Ellsworth, Maine, 
 January i, 1845, a son of William Hennel 
 and Abigail Eliza (Little) Black. His father 
 was born in the same place October 18, 
 i8it, a son of Colonel John and Mary 
 (Cobb) Black. The birth of the grand- 
 father occurred July 3, 1781, in London, 
 England, where he obtained a good educa- 
 tion, and when quite young entered the 
 great banking house of Hope & Company, of 
 that city, as clerk. While visiting London, 
 in 1799, William Bingham, of Philadelphia, 
 the principal proprietor of the great Bing- 
 ham estate in Maine, employed Mr. Black 
 to come to this country as clerk for General 
 David Cobb, of Gouldsboro, Maine, agent 
 for the estate. Mr. Black arrived the same 
 year and soon mastered the details relating 
 to the landed interests of the proprietors. 
 From 1803 until 1808 he served as town 
 clerk of Gouldsboro, was justice of the
 
 128 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 peace in 1804-5. He soon secured the 
 confidence of his employers, agents and all 
 persons doing business with him, and when 
 Donald Ross, local agent at Ellsworth, was 
 compelled to resign on account of ill health, 
 Mr. Black was appointed to succeed him, 
 removing to that place. When General 
 Cobb and his associate agent, Mr. Richards, 
 resigned, he was appointed general agent of 
 the estate, which position he continued to 
 fill until 1850, when he was succeeded by 
 his son, George N. Black. For many years 
 he was largely interested in the manufacture 
 of lumber and ship-building, and in his 
 business acquired a comfortable competence. 
 He took an active and prominent part in 
 military affairs, was commissioned captain 
 July 2, 1805, of a company in the Second 
 Regiment, Second Brigade, Tenth Division 
 of Massachusetts Militia, Eastern Division, 
 of which his father-in-law, General Cobb, 
 was major-general; later was elected major 
 of the same regiment, was breveted lieuten- 
 ant-colonel June 12, 1812, and commanded 
 the regiment when it was called to Mount 
 Desert to repel a threatened British in- 
 vasion, 1812-13. Although he was British 
 born and at that time an agent for foreign 
 principals, he did not hesitate. He was 
 commissioned colonel June 20, 1816, but 
 February n, 1817, resigned and was dis- 
 charged. Subsequently he was for many 
 years captain of the Cobb Light Infantry, 
 an independent company organized near his 
 home. He died at Ellsworth October 20, 
 1856. He was one of the most prominent 
 men in his community, his honor and hon- 
 esty were never questioned, and he possessed 
 all of those qualities which go to make up a 
 good citizen, neighbor and friend. 
 
 In 1802 Colonel John Black married 
 Miss Mary Cobb, daughter of General David 
 
 and Eleanor (Bradish) Cobb. She was 
 born at Taunton, Massachusetts, July 26, 
 1776, and died in Ellsworth, Maine, Octo- 
 ber 17, 1851. The children born to them 
 are Mary Ann, John, Henry, Elizabeth, 
 William Hennel, George Nixon, Alexander 
 Baring and Charles Richards. 
 
 General David Cobb, a son of Colonel 
 Thomas and Lydia (Leonard) Cobb, was 
 born in Attleboro, Massachusetts, Septem- 
 ber 14, 1748, and was graduated at Har- 
 vard College, in 1766, after which he stud- 
 ied medicine and engaged in practice at 
 Taunton, Massachusetts, for some time. 
 He was a representative to the general 
 court from that place in 1774, and the 
 same year was elected to the provincial 
 congress which met in Cambridge. In 1777, 
 during the Revolutionary war, he was elect- 
 ed lieutenant-colonel of the Sixteenth Mass- 
 achusetts Regiment, was later elected 
 colonel, and was afterward appointed by 
 General Washington as one of his staff, 
 where, out of five, he was second in rank. 
 He always took a prominent part in public 
 affairs, served as chief justice of the court 
 of common pleas for eight years, was rep- 
 resentative and speaker of the general court 
 from 1789 to 1793, resigning when elected 
 a member of the third congress of the Uni- 
 ted States, and held other prominent posi- 
 tions. He died April 17, 1830, honored 
 and highly esteemed by all who knew him. 
 In 1766 he married Eleanor, daughter of 
 Ebenezer and Eunice (Cook) Bradish, of 
 Cambridge, Massachusetts. She was born 
 January 30, 1749, and died in Taunton, 
 January 7, 1808. Their children were 
 Eleanor Bradish, Betsy, Thomas, William 
 Gray, Eunice, Mary (the paternal grand- 
 mother of our subject), David, Sally, Eben- 
 ezer, Henry Jackson, and David George
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 129 
 
 Washington. General Cobb was an inti- 
 mate friend and associate of General Wash- 
 ington, Nathaniel Greene, Benjamin Lin- 
 coln, Henry Knox, Henry Jackson, General 
 La Fayette and Alexander Hamilton. 
 
 Colonel Thomas Cobb, the father of the 
 General, married Lydia, eldest daughter of 
 James Leonard, of Taunton, Massachusetts, 
 and the only son born to them was David. 
 Morgan Cobb, father of Thomas, was born 
 December 29, 1673, and died September 
 30, 1755. On the 22nd of May, 1735, he 
 was married to Esther Hodges, a daughter 
 of Henry Hodges and his wife Esther, 
 daughter of Captain John Galloy, probably 
 a direct descendant of Emperor Charle- 
 magne. Mrs. Esther Cobb was born Feb- 
 ruary 17, 1678, and was the mother of 
 Thomas. Morgan Cobb was a son of Au- 
 gustine Cobb, a native of Norfolk, England, 
 who came to Taunton, Massachusetts, in 
 1670. 
 
 William H. Black, ST., our subject's fa- 
 ther, spent his entire life in Ellsworth, 
 Maine, and throughout his business career 
 engaged quite extensively in farming, lum- 
 bering and ship building. He met with 
 good success until later in life, when he suf- 
 fered some heavy losses, from which he was 
 never fully able to recover. His death oc- 
 curred October 17, 1883. On the 4th of 
 June, 1834, he was married to Miss Abigail 
 Eliza Little, who was born in Castine, Maine, 
 September 16, t8io, a daughter of Doty 
 and Mercy (Tilden) Little. Her father was 
 born at Marshfield, Massachusetts, October 
 3, 1766, a son of Thomas Little, who was 
 born in 1719, and was a son of John Little, 
 who married Anna, daughter of Richard 
 Warren, who came to this country in the 
 Mayflower in 1620. Thomas Little, born 
 1719, married in 1750, Sarah Baker, a 
 
 daughter of Kenelm and Patience (Winslow) 
 Baker, and they had ten children, all born 
 in Marshfield, Massachusetts. 
 
 The children born to William H. and 
 Abigail E. (Little) Black were as follows: 
 Maria S., wife of Charles J. Perry, of Ells- 
 worth, Maine; Harriet S. , who first married 
 Edward S. Tisdale, and after his death An- 
 dresv B. Spurling, of Elgin, Illinois, and 
 died May 26, 1896; Charles S., who died as 
 a paroled prisoner in the hospital at Annap- 
 olis, Maryland, September 16, 1864, from 
 wounds received at Gaine's Mills, while in 
 the service; Celia C. , the wife of George A. 
 Dickey, now of Wollaston, Massachusetts; 
 Hollis C. married Mary E. Deming. His 
 business was in Boston, residing in Wollas- 
 ton; his death occurred at Allisworth, Maine, 
 Jnly 14, 1893; Oscar T., twin of Hollis C., 
 died in infancy; William H., the subject of 
 this sketch; Lucie L. , wife of Harvard Gree- 
 ly, of Ellsworth, and Mary H., also of Ells- 
 worth. 
 
 Reared at the old home in Ellsworth, 
 Mr. Black, of this review, began his educa- 
 tion in the common schools of that locality, 
 and later attended an academy. In Ells- 
 worth he also learned the watch-maker's 
 trade, and on the 6th of September, 1865, 
 went to Waltham, Massachusetts, where he 
 obtained a position in the finishing depart- 
 ment of the watch factory, remaining there 
 until December, 1867, when he first came 
 to Elgin. He was employed in the finishing 
 department of the watch factory at this 
 place until 1870, when he returned to Wal- 
 tham, but in June, 1873, again came to El- 
 gin, where he has since made his home. 
 During all this time he has been connected 
 with the Elgin Watch Factory, and since 
 the ist of January, 1877, has been foreman 
 of the finishing department, having about
 
 130 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 one hundred men working under him. This 
 long term of service in this capacity is an 
 evidence that his services are duly appre- 
 ciated by his employers. 
 
 In Elgin, on the 23d of May, 1868, Mr. 
 Black was united in marriage with Mrs. Fan- 
 nie S. Kilbourne, a native of Fitchburg, 
 Massachusetts, and a daughter of Joshua F. 
 and Rebecca (Arnold) Smith, who were also 
 born in Fitchburg, where one son is still 
 living. Mr. and Mrs. Black have a pleas- 
 ant home on Chicago street, Elgin, which 
 was erected from plans made by himself. 
 Politically he is identified with the Repub- 
 lican party, and socially affiliates with the 
 Masonic fraternity. He is a pleasant, genial 
 gentleman, who commands the respect and 
 esteem of all who know him. Mrs. Black 
 holds membership in the Universalist church, 
 and like her husband has many warm friends 
 in her adopted city. 
 
 LOUIS H. YARWOOD, proprietor of the 
 Yarwood art studio, is one of the best 
 artists in this part of the state, and is also a 
 teacher in landscape and scenic painting. 
 For almost half a century he has made his 
 home in Elgin, but he was born in the east, 
 his birth occurring in Oriskany, New York, 
 November 25, 1827, and his parents, Henry 
 and Katie A. (Wiggins) Yarwood, were also 
 natives of that state. Our subject is the 
 oldest of their four children, the others be- 
 ing Marcus S. , a resident of Chicago; 
 Phoebe, wife of G. R. Raymond, of Du- 
 buque, Iowa; and Arthur J., who was a 
 Union soldier during the Civil war, and is 
 now living in Wyoming. While living in 
 the east the father was employed as a woolen 
 manufacturer and dyer and held various 
 offices. His wife, who was an Episcopalian 
 
 in religious belief, died there at the age of 
 forty-five years. In 1853 he came to Elgin, 
 where he passed away at the age of fifty- 
 nine years and eleven months. His father, 
 Samuel Yarwood, was a native of England 
 and died in New York, while the maternal 
 grandfather of our subject, Benjamin 
 Wiggins, was born in that state and died in 
 Chicago, when about ninety-six years of 
 age. His wife was only two or three years 
 younger at the time of her death. 
 
 Mr. Yarwood, whose name introduces 
 this sketch, began his education in the com- 
 mon schools of his native state and later 
 attended the Whitestown Academy. He 
 also began the study of painting when a 
 child, and becoming very proficient in that 
 art, he now devotes his entire attention to 
 it. On his removal from New York to 
 Elgin in 1851, he accepted the position of 
 bookkeeper in S. N. Dexter's woolen fac- 
 tory, and later conducted a drug store for 
 about fifteen years. The following eight 
 years were spent as librarian of the Elgin 
 public library, but since then he has devoted 
 his energies to painting. He has gained a 
 wide reputation as an artist of superior abil- 
 ity, to which he is justly entitled, his paint- 
 ing being among the finest produced in this 
 section of the country. 
 
 Mr. Yarwood married Miss Caroline J. 
 Drummond, and they have become the par- 
 ents of three children Willard H., who 
 wedded Mary Hunter and had three chil- 
 dren, Bertram and Marguerite, still living, 
 and Willard H., deceased; Marc D., who 
 is a successful piano teacher in Elgin; and 
 Katie D. , at home. The family. have a 
 pleasant home at No. 373 Park street, where 
 they delight to entertain their many friends. 
 A stanch Republican in politics, Mr. Yar- 
 wood was elected on that ticket to the posi-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 tion of alderman for one term, but has 
 never been a politician in the sense of office 
 seeking. Socially he is identified with the 
 Ancient Order of United Workmen. 
 
 ANSON C. BUCKLIN, now living a re- 
 tired life in Dundee, Kane county, Illi- 
 nois, was for many years a successful farmer 
 and dairyman of Fox river valley. He 
 dates his residence in Illinois since June, 
 1837, coming here when Northern Illinois 
 was a wilderness. He was born in the town 
 of Adams, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, 
 October 15, 1823. His father, Isaac Buck- 
 lin, was born in the same town, county and 
 state, and on the same farm. His grand- 
 father, Jeremiah Bucklin, was born in Rhode 
 Island, in 1745, and removed to Adams, 
 Massachusetts, in 1767, and took up a large 
 tract of wild land. He served in the war 
 for American independence, and was in the 
 battle of Bennington. John Bucklin, the 
 great-grandfather of our subject, was also 
 born in Rhode Island, in which state he was 
 quite prominent. His ancestors moved to 
 Rhode Island with Roger Williams. He 
 also moved to Adams, Massachusetts, and 
 there the last years of his life were spent. 
 Jeremiah Bucklin was one of the first set- 
 tlers of Adams, Massachusetts, and was a 
 millwright by trade. He built the first 
 flouring mill in North Adams, for Oliver 
 Parker, and at South Adams built one for 
 himself on the present site of the Brown 
 paper mill. At that that place he reared 
 his family, and for many years was recog- 
 nized as one of its prominent citizens. 
 
 Isaac Bucklin grew to manhood in Mas- 
 sachusetts, and there married Miss Achsa 
 Wilmarth, a native of that state, born in 
 Berkshire county. His birth occurred in 
 
 1790. They were the parents of three chil- 
 dren Anson C., our subject; Olive, who 
 grew to mature years, but is now deceased; 
 and Jane, who married George Browning, 
 also deceased. Isaac Bucklin was a fanner 
 and died in his native state, in 1826. In 
 1837 Mrs. Bucklin sold the old home farm, 
 and, with her family, accompanied by some 
 relatives, came to Illinois, by way of the 
 Erie canal and the lakes to Chicago, and, 
 moving farther west, located in the Fox 
 river valley. She took up a claim of 
 nearly three hundred acres of land, in what 
 is now the township of Barrington, and also 
 two hundred and forty acres on Fox river, 
 which is now East Dundee. Making her home 
 on the Barrington land, she built a house, 
 improved the farm and there spent the last 
 years of her life, dying about 1871. 
 
 The subject of this sketch came to Illi- 
 nois with his mother and family, and, a boy 
 of thirteen, held, the plow which turned the 
 first furrow on the place and helped develop 
 the farm. He remained with his mother 
 until her death, she having conveyed to him 
 the old homestead. He built there a good, 
 large residence, barns and other buildings, 
 and made of it one of the best dairy farms 
 in Fox river valley. He commenced ship- 
 ping milk to Chicago in 1856, and has con- 
 tinued in the dairy business since that time, 
 usually having upon his place about seven- 
 ty-five milch cows. In October, 1884, he 
 left his son Henry on the farm and moved 
 to Dundee, where he built a house and has 
 since lived practically a retired life. 
 
 Mr. Bucklin was first married, in Cook 
 county, in 1844, to Miss Julia Jinks, a na- 
 tive of Berkshire county, Massachusetts, 
 and a daughter of Henry Jinks, a pioneer of 
 Barrington township. She died October 1 5 , 
 1873, leaving two children Frances, wife
 
 '32 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of Daniel Burks, a business man of Minne- 
 apolis, Minnesota; and Henry I., a farmer 
 residing on the old homestead, who was 
 born December 24, 1853, and was married 
 March 6, 1883, to Miss Mary Welsby, by 
 whom he has three children, as follows: 
 John A., born December 24, 1883; Julia I., 
 born October 13, 1885; and Olive E. , born 
 December 3, 1887. 
 
 In October, 1877, our subject married 
 Miss Emma Merritt, a native of New York, 
 but then living in Bloomington, Illinois. 
 She died about two years later, and in De- 
 cember, 1880, Mr. Bucklin married Mrs. 
 Emma Miner, who was born and reared 
 near Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, and daugh- 
 ter of Russell Mallory. 
 
 Politically Mr. Bucklin was first identi- 
 fied with the Abolition party, and on the 
 organization of the Republican party be- 
 came one of its stanch supporters, and in 
 1856 voted for its first presidential candi- 
 date, General John C. Fremont. Being 
 ever a believer in temperance and the prin- 
 ciple of prohibition, he has of late years 
 supported the Prohibition party. He is a 
 member of the Baptist church, of which 
 body his wife is also a member. For sixty- 
 one years he has been a resident of the Fox 
 River Valley, and the changes which have 
 been made in that time can hardly be con- 
 ceived, even by those most active in the 
 transformation. Few men are better known 
 and none more highly esteemed. 
 
 HALSEY ROSENCRANS, M. D., de- 
 ceased, was for a many years a promi- 
 nent and successful physician and surgeon 
 of Elgin. He was born September 14, 
 1818, in New Jersey, of which state his 
 parents, Asa and Jane (Cole) Rosencrans 
 
 were also natives. The father, who was a 
 farmer by occupation, removed from New 
 Jersey to New York, and in 1834 came to 
 Kane county, Illinois, where his sons, Hor- 
 ace and Frazier, had located one year before, 
 being numbered among the earliest settlers 
 of this section of the state. The family 
 endured all the hardships and privations 
 incident to pioneer life, and from the wild 
 land the father developed a good farm. 
 
 Dr. Rosencrans was the fourth in order 
 of birth in a family of nine children, and 
 during his boyhood and youth he assisted 
 his father in the work of the farm, acquir- 
 ing his literary education in the public 
 schools. He accompanied his parents on 
 their emigration to Illinois, studied medicine, 
 and in the latter part of the '403 graduated 
 from Rush Medical College. He began the 
 practice of his chosen profession in Crystal 
 Lake, Illinois, and later opened an office 
 in Elgin. 
 
 The Doctor was one of the '49ers, hav- 
 ing crossed the plains to California during 
 the great gold excitement of that year, on a 
 prospecting tour. Later his brother Garrett 
 also went to the Pacific coast, and after 
 about a year spent there, they returned to- 
 gether. Dr. Rosencrans did not engage in 
 mining on account of the rough crowd with 
 which he would have to associate. Locat- 
 ing in Calhoun county, southwestern Texas, 
 he there engaged in the practice of medi- 
 cine until 1863, when he was forced to 
 leave, his life being in great danger. He 
 was a man of deep convictions and dared 
 even in Texas to make known his sentiment. 
 He was warned by his friends that he must 
 go, as an attack upon him was being planned. 
 The Doctor was a physician in whom the 
 best people of his acquaintance put im- 
 plicit confidence and he was the only
 
 HALSEY ROSENCRANS, M .D.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 135 
 
 one in his community that could han- 
 dle yellow fever. Many of his south- 
 ern friends told him: " If ever I have yel- 
 low fever, I want you to attend me, without 
 reference to what it will cost or how we 
 may differ in politics." His professional 
 skill they admired, and they wanted his at- 
 tention in case of sickness, hence he was 
 permitted to remain in Texas long after 
 others of his political faith were driven 
 away, but finally he was forced to leave. 
 Before the war he passed through two epi- 
 demics of yellow fever, and at one time he 
 and a priest were the only ones left to care 
 for many of the poor sick and dying who 
 could not get away. From Texas he went 
 to New Orleans, which was then in the 
 hands of the Union forces, and was soon 
 afterward appointed assistant surgeon in a 
 hospital. Later he was transferred to an- 
 other hospital on the Brazos, and continued 
 to serve as surgeon in the Union army until 
 the war ended. Subsequently he returned 
 to Texas and resumed practice in the com- 
 munity where he had previously lived. In 
 1873 he came to Elgin, but two years later, 
 during the terrible yellow fever epidemic, 
 he went to Indianola, Texas, feeling it his 
 duty to assist in caring for those suffering 
 with that dread disease. Returning to El- 
 gin, he successfully engaged in practice here 
 for several years. 
 
 Dr. Rosencrans was twice married, his 
 first union being with Miss Eliza Hale, by 
 whom he had three children: Fannie is the 
 wife of Captain Theodore Hayes, of Texas, 
 and has four children Charles, Wiltsie, 
 Minnie and Fannie. Captain Hayes was an 
 officer in the Union army. Lizzie is the 
 wife of H. H. Bilter, a farmer of Eola, 
 Illinois, and has four sons Raymond, Carl, 
 Eugene and Hale. Cora is the widow of 
 
 Thomas O'Neal, by whom she had seven 
 children. 
 
 Mrs. Rosencrans died in New Orleans in 
 1863. The Doctor was again married Sep- 
 tember ii, 1873, his second union being 
 with Miss Cynthia E. Bowen, and the mar- 
 riage ceremony was performed by Professor 
 C. G. Finney, president of Oberlin College, 
 of which Mrs. Rosencrans is a graduate. 
 She is a daughter of Lucius E. and Marga- 
 ret (Dildine) Bowen, of Oberlin, Ohio, who 
 now sleep side by side' in the cemetery at 
 that place. Mrs. Rosencrans is a consistent 
 and faithful member of the Congregational 
 church of Elgin, and both she and her hus- 
 band held membership in the Scientific So- 
 ciety of that place. In social circles they 
 also occupied an enviable position. 
 
 In 1886 Dr. Rosencrans went to Indi- 
 anola, Texas, to visit his daughter, and at 
 that place was killed on the 2Oth of August 
 of that year. During a storm he was in 
 his office, which was located in the same 
 building with the signal service office. He 
 and Captain Reed, who had charge of the 
 signal service, were together. The Doctor 
 told him they had better leave the building 
 as it was swaying and would likely be blown 
 over soon, but before they could do this 
 another blast came and the building fell 
 burying the Doctor and his friend, who 
 were instantly killed by the falling timbers. 
 They were soon covered with water and it 
 was some hours before their remains could 
 be removed. This was on Matagorda Bay 
 in the region of the terrible storms to which 
 that place is frequently subjected. Dr. 
 Rosencrans was an eminent physician, hav- 
 ing the professional skill which comes from 
 faithful study and long and successful expe- 
 rience in his chosen calling. He was also 
 an able writer, contributing many articles
 
 136 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of merit to papers and medical journals. 
 Being genial and companionable, he was a 
 favorite in society and wherever known was 
 held in the highest regard. 
 
 ALDEN KENDRICK WRIGHT, who 
 has for many years been at the head 
 of one of the departments of the Elgin 
 watch factory, is a native of New Hamp- 
 shire, born November 8,' 1842, in Hanover, 
 of which place his parents, Horace and 
 Mary Ann (Foster) Wright, were also na- 
 tives. The paternal grandfather, Asa 
 Wright, was born on the old homestead at 
 Hanover, which had been in the family for 
 many years. The Wrights were of Scotch 
 origin, and came to the new world prior to 
 the Revolutionary war. The grandfather 
 of our subject was a farmer by occupation, 
 but the father engaged in the tanning busi- 
 ness, learning his trade with his father-in- 
 law, Caleb Foster, and while in his service 
 he became acquainted with his future wife. 
 Throughout the greater part of his life 
 Horace Wright lived in Hanover, New 
 Hampshire, but spent his last days in Leb- 
 anon, that state, where he died October 13, 
 1871. He was a Universalist in religious 
 belief, and in politics was first a Whig and 
 later a Republican, joining that party on its 
 organization, as he had ever been an anti- 
 slavery man and was connected with the 
 ' ' underground railroad. " He was of medium 
 size, of a genial, though quiet disposition, 
 and was very domestic in his tastes. Wher- 
 ever known he was held in high regard, and 
 was often called upon to hold different offi- 
 cial positions, including those of selectman 
 and tax collector. His wife, who was a 
 faithful member of the Congregational 
 
 church, also died in Lebanon, November 24, 
 1872. She was a daughter of Caleb and 
 Mary (Putnam) Foster, and granddaughter 
 of Richard and Sarah (Greeley) Foster, the 
 last named being a relative of Horace 
 Greeley. 
 
 The subject of this sketch is one of a 
 family of four sons, the others being Ros- 
 well F., still a resident of Lebanon, New 
 Hampshire; Orin S., of Clinton, Iowa; and 
 William H., of Newport, New Hampshire. 
 In the common schools of Lebanon Alden 
 K. Wright began his education, later attend- 
 ing the Kimball Union Academy at Meridian, 
 New Hampshire. When his school days 
 were over he went to Haverhill, that state, 
 where he served an apprenticeship to the 
 watchmaker's trade, after which he was em- 
 ployed for three years by the firm of E. 
 Howard & Company, at Roxbury, Massa- 
 chusetts. While with this distinguished 
 company he acquired his great skill in the 
 business of watch-making. For a year and 
 a half he was with the United States Watch 
 Company, was with the Hampden Company 
 for about the same length of time, and for 
 the following three years was with the 
 American Watch Company at Waltham, 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 It was in 1874 that Mr. Wright came to 
 Elgin and entered the employ of the Elgin 
 Watch Company, with which he has ever 
 since been connected, serving at first as in- 
 spector of watches. Being appointed assist- 
 ant foreman, he served in that capacity for 
 seventeen years, and for the past three 
 years has been foreman in the finishing de- 
 partment B, overseeing about two hundred 
 workmen. Through his vast experience in 
 every department of watch manufacture, 
 he is able to preside over his department 
 with great skill, as he is qualified to quickly
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 137 
 
 detect any imperfection in the mechanism 
 of the watches, which makes him a valuable 
 man to the factory one of superior useful- 
 ness. 
 
 In Boston, Massachusetts, May 21, 1874, 
 Mr. Wright was united in marriage with 
 Miss Nannie H. White, a native of that 
 city, and a daughter of Henry Kirk and 
 Harriet (Thompson) White. Her mother, 
 a native of Gloucester, Massachusetts, died 
 in September, 1897, the father dying in 
 February, 1898, at Wrentham, that state. 
 Their children were: Henry K. , William 
 N., Louis B. , Alice P., wife of Adelbert 
 Newton, of Boston; Nannie, wife of our sub- 
 ject; and Caroline, of Brooklyn, New York. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Wright have three children: 
 Louis W., Helen, and Arthur K. 
 
 Mrs. Wright is a member of the Univer- 
 salist church of Elgin, and Mr. Wright, who 
 is a good musician, has sung nearly all his 
 life in church choirs until lately. Politic- 
 ally he is a supporter of the men and meas- 
 ures of the Republican party, while frater- 
 nally he is a prominent member of the blue 
 lodge, No. 522, F. & A. M. ; Loyal Legion, 
 Munn chapter, R. A. M. ; and the Ancient 
 Order of United Workmen. For the past 
 two years he has been a member of the 
 board of education in Elgin, and taking a 
 deep and commendable interest in educa- 
 tional matters, has made him a very active 
 and efficient member. He owns a pleasant 
 and commodious home on Spring street, 
 where he and his family delight to entertain 
 their many friends. His chief source of 
 recreation is found in hunting and fishing, 
 of which sports he is extremely fond. 
 Though a hard worker, he believes in de- 
 voting a portion of one's time to judicious 
 and healthful recreation, and like most men 
 who care for these sports, he is genial, gen- 
 
 erous and kind-hearted, being very popular 
 with all who have the pleasure of his 
 acquaintance. 
 
 ANSON W. ROOT, who is now practi- 
 cally living retired from business cares 
 at his pleasant home, No. 277 Chicago 
 street, Elgin, was born December 20, 1823, 
 in Genesee county, New York, a son of Dr. 
 Anson and Lucinda (Wilson) Root. The 
 paternal grandfather, Ephraim Root, served 
 in the Colonial army during the Revolution- 
 ary war, as a recruit from near Haverhill, 
 New Hampshire, and as he carried a sword 
 it is believed he was an officer. He spent 
 his entire life in the east, dying in Gen- 
 esee county, New York, when past the 
 age of eighty years. By occupation he was 
 a farmer. His wife, who bore the maiden 
 name of Sally Skinner, died at the age of 
 eighty-five years. The maternal grand- 
 father of our subject, Amos Wilson, de- 
 parted this life at the advanced age of nine- 
 ty-six years. One of his sons was Judge 
 Isaac Wilson, of Batavia, Illinois. 
 
 Dr. Anson Root, our subject's father, 
 was also a native of Genesee county, New 
 York, and was surgeon of a regiment in the 
 war of 1812, receiving for his services his 
 regular pay as a surgeon and later a land 
 warrant, which he located near Lake Ge- 
 neva, Wisconsin. He also served as a sur- 
 geon in the Canadian rebellion. In 1838 
 he came west, and after spending a year on 
 the Fox river he took up his residence in 
 Elgin, where he made his home until called 
 to his final rest in 1866, at the age of eighty 
 years. For fifty years he successfully en- 
 gaged in the practice of his chosen profes- 
 sion, was one of the leading pioneer physi- 
 cians of this section of the state, but spent his 
 last years in retirement, enjoying a well-
 
 38 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 earned rest. He served as alderman of Elgin 
 for a time and held other public positions of 
 honor and trust. His wife, who was for many 
 years a consistent member of the Baptist 
 church, died in 1847, at the age of fifty-four 
 years. In their family were eight children, 
 two sons and six daughters, but only three 
 are now living: Orpha, widow of Samuel 
 Burdick, and a resident of Elgin; Martha, 
 wife of C. H. Loomis, of Los Angeles, Cal- 
 ifornia; and Anson W., of this sketch. 
 
 On leaving the home farm at an early 
 age, Mr. Root, of this review, learned the 
 trade of a clothier, and for about ten years 
 engaged in the manufacture of cloth, after 
 which he learned the carpenter and joiner's 
 trade, following it some years. For twenty 
 years he was also interested in the milling 
 business, and still owns a good mill prop- 
 erty in Elgin, which he rents, besides a 
 number of houses there and a good farm 
 near Beloit, Wisconsin, deriving from these 
 a good income. He also has money securi- 
 ties. 
 
 In 1846 Mr. Root led to the marriage 
 altar Miss Elizabeth, daughter of William 
 Himes, of Michigan, and to them was born 
 a son William A., a resident of Elgin, who 
 married Alda Gray, and has one child, Kate. 
 The wife of our subject, who was a con- 
 sistent member of the Baptist church, died 
 in 1856, aged thirty-two years, and the 
 same year Mr. Root married Miss Harriet 
 B. Parmelee, a native of Waterloo, Canada, 
 and a daughter of Rufus Parmelee. Two 
 daughters blessed this union: Ida R. , wife 
 of R. E. Linkfield, of Minneapolis, Minne- 
 sota, by whom she has two children, Alice 
 and Edith; and Alice M., wife of F. E. 
 Wolcott, of Chicago, by whom she has one' 
 child, Maud. 
 
 In 1853 Mr. Root was initiated into the 
 
 mysteries of the Odd Fellows' society, and 
 with one exception is now the oldest mem- 
 ber of Kane lodge, of Elgin, in which he 
 has filled all the chairs, and also been rep- 
 resentative to the grand lodge. He was for 
 about ten years a member of the Masonic 
 order. His political support has always 
 been given the Republican party, but at 
 present he is what is termed a silver Repub- 
 lican, advocating the free coinage of silver. 
 From 1847 until 1867 he made his home in 
 Beloit, Wisconsin, and while there served 
 as assessor eight years, alderman nine years, 
 and was undersheriff and acting as deputy 
 provost marshal during the Civil war, aiding 
 in the capture of deserters, etc. For five 
 years he also served as county superintend- 
 ent of the poor, for the same length of time 
 was county supervisor; and in Elgin also 
 served as county supervisor five years and 
 assessor three years. He is one of the 
 reliable, enterprising men of the city, is 
 deservedly popular with all classes of citi- 
 zens, and his many estimable traits of char- 
 acter have won him a host of friends. His 
 wife is a consistent and active member of 
 the Baptist church. 
 
 THOMAS W. TEFFT. If one desires 
 to gain a vivid realization of the rapid 
 advance in civilization which the last few 
 decades have brought about, he can listen 
 to the stories that men who are still living 
 among us, and by no means overburdened 
 with years, can tell of their boyhood. The 
 log cabin home, the still ruder school house 
 with its rough seats made of slabs, its lim- 
 ited range of studies and its brief terms, 
 arranged on the subscription plan, the rou- 
 tine of work at home, unrelieved by any of 
 the modern devices by which machinery is
 
 **/l 
 
 Of
 
 THOMAS W. TEFFT.
 
 MRS. T. W. TEFFT.

 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 143 
 
 made to do in a short time what formerly 
 occupied the entire year, these and many 
 similar descriptions will bring up in sharp 
 contrast the advantages of to-day. The 
 subject of this sketch, a highly-respected 
 citizen of Elgin, and the present alderman 
 from the Sixth ward, has many interesting 
 reminiscences of this sort. 
 
 Mr. Tefft was born in the town of Leb- 
 anon, Madison county. New York, October 
 30, 1824, a son of Jonathan and Elizabeth 
 (Collins) Tefft, a sketch of whom is given 
 in connection with Jonathan Tefft, Jr., on 
 another page of this work. In the schools 
 of his native county our subject began his 
 education, and after the emigration of the 
 family to Kane county, Illinois, in the fall 
 of 1835, he pursued his studies in the old log 
 school house on Gravel Hill, on the Bos- 
 worth farm, south of Elgin, and later in a 
 school in the township of St. Charles until 
 twenty-one years of age. 
 
 Mr. Teft remained with his father until 
 he attained his majority, aiding in the ardu- 
 ous task of transforming the wild land into 
 highly-cultivated fields, and then he and his 
 brother Eli operated the old homestead on 
 the shares for one year. Coming to Elgin 
 in 1846 he worked at anything which he 
 could find to do. He purchased a team of 
 oxen, with which he plowed gardens for the 
 villagers. In the fall he worked with a 
 threshing machine, which he and his brother 
 subsequently leased and operated through 
 the winter. As the entire country was de- 
 voted to the raising of grain at that time, 
 there was much threshing to do. In the 
 spring Mr. Tefft again broke prairie, some- 
 times using twelve or thirteen yoke of cat- 
 tle to a plow. He continued to follow these 
 occupations until March, 1849, when he 
 started to California in a party of six men, 
 
 making the journey in two wagons. In May 
 they crossed the Missouri river thirty miles 
 above St. Joseph, and in September reached 
 their destination, having avoided large par- 
 ties in order to have plenty of feed for their 
 cattle. Fortunately they were not troubled 
 by the Indians. Mr. Tefft went direct to 
 the mountains in Calaveras county, and in 
 the summer of 1850 was joined by two 
 brothers. He stayed in California two 
 years, and always regrets that he did not 
 remain there, buying land near Sacramento. 
 He met with fair success in gold mining, and 
 during the time when nothing else could be 
 done he engaged in hunting, and sold the 
 game not needed by himself and partners. 
 Venison brought three shiliings'^ier pound. 
 
 In the fall of 1851 Mr. Tefft returned to 
 Elgin by way of the Isthmus, New York and 
 Chicago. The following year he built a 
 large brick livery stable on the west side, 
 Elgin, which he owned until 1865 conduct- 
 ing it for several years. He served his fel- 
 low citizens as constable, policeman and 
 city marshal most of the time. In 1862 he 
 enlisted in Company B, Sixty-ninth Illinois 
 Volunteer Infantry, for three months, was 
 commissioned second lieutenant, and was 
 stationed in Chicago. Subsequently he re- 
 enlisted in the one-hundred-days' service 
 with the rank of first lieutenant, and was 
 stationed most of the time at Columbus, 
 Kentucky, doing guard duty. 
 
 After the war Lieutenant Tefft bought 
 his brother Jonathan's farm, lying partly in 
 section 36, Elgin township, Kane county, 
 while part lies in Hanover township, Cook 
 county, which he still owns, while his brother 
 Jonathan, purchased the old homestead. 
 Retiring from farm labor in 1876 our sub- 
 ject purchased a residence on Chicago street, 
 Elgin, where he lived until 1881, when in
 
 144 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 partnership with his brother, Eli, he bought 
 a stone quarry at South Elgin and moved 
 there to superintend the working of the 
 quarry. After operating it successfully un- 
 til 1884, they sold and he returned to his 
 home on Chicago street, Elgin. The fol- 
 lowing year, however, he purchased a thir- 
 ty-five-acre farm south of the asylum, on 
 which he lived for six years, selling in 1891, 
 when he bought his present home at 403 
 Jewett street. 
 
 Mr. Tefft has been twice married, his 
 first wife being Miss Emily B. Joles, daugh- 
 ter of Spencer Joles, and to them were born 
 five children: Egbert, who died at the age 
 of four years; Harvey, who now lives in 
 Idaho; Emma, who married Sylvester Mead, 
 and has five children Wilbur, Frank, Ar- 
 chie (deceased), Roy and George; they make 
 their home with our subject; Albert P. and 
 Bertram W. , who are also residents of 
 Idaho. Mrs. Tefft died in April, 1869, and 
 he subsequently married Mrs. Frances 
 (Gould) Kinloch, who by her first husband 
 had one son, Sanford G. Kinloch, who made 
 his home with our subject until he attained 
 his majority and then bought Mr. Tefft's 
 thirty-five-acre farm south of the asylum. 
 The second wife died May 12, 1887. 
 
 Mr. Tefft was a charter member of Clin- 
 tonville lodge, No. 511, F. & A. M., of 
 which he was master for twelve years, and 
 he now holds membership in Elgin Lodge, 
 No. 1 1 7. Politically he is a stalwart Demo- 
 crat. He has always taken an active inter- 
 est in political affairs, and in the spring of 
 1897 was elected alderman from the sixth 
 ward a position he is now creditably and 
 satisfactorily filling. He is always num- 
 bered among Elgin's valued citizens, and on 
 the rolls of Kane county's honored pioneers 
 his name should be among the foremost. 
 
 MALACHI CHRISTIAN GETZEL- 
 MAN, of Elgin, is now living a re- 
 tired life in the enjoyment of a rest which 
 he has truly earned and richly deserves by 
 reason of his industrious efforts of former 
 years. Accomplishment and progress ever 
 imply labor, energy and diligence, and it was 
 those qualities that enabled our subject to 
 rise from the ranks of the many and stand 
 among the successful few. He is now one 
 of the highly-respected citizens in Elgin, 
 and his long residence in Kane county and 
 the active part he has taken in its develop- 
 ment well entitles him to representation in 
 its history. 
 
 Mr. Getzelman was born in Bavaria, 
 Watirtzburg, Germany, January i, 1837, a 
 son of Malachi and Mary (Getzelman) Get- 
 zelman. His father was a mason by trade, 
 and in 1848 came to the United States, 
 locating in Hampshire township, Kane coun- 
 ty, where he purchased forty acres of un- 
 improved timber land and began the devel- 
 opment of a farm, to which he added until 
 at the time of his death his homestead com- 
 prised one hundred and fifty acres of valua- 
 ble land. In politics he was a Republican, 
 and in religious belief was a Lutheran in 
 early life, but later joined the Evangelical 
 church. His death occurred in August, 
 1862, and his wife passed away on the ist 
 of August, 1882. They were parents of five 
 children who reached mature years: Mi- 
 chael, Jacob, Malachi, Margaret, wife of 
 John Haible, of Elgin, and Henry, who 
 died in Nevada about twenty years ago. 
 
 In the land of his nativity Mr. Getzel- 
 man, of this sketch, attended the public 
 schools, and at the age of eleven he accom- 
 panied his parents to America. He assisted 
 his father in the operation of the home farm 
 until after the inauguration of the Civil war,
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 '45 
 
 when his loyalty to his adopted country 
 prompted his enlistment, and on the ist of 
 October, 1861, he joined Company K, Fifty- 
 second Illinois Infantry, going into camp at 
 Geneva. About the ist of November he 
 went to St. Louis, thence to St. Joseph, 
 Missouri, and later returned to Kentucky. 
 With his command he started to Fort Don- 
 elson, making forced marches, but arrived 
 just too late for participation in the battle. 
 His company was then sent as guard over 
 the prisoners to Chicago. On their return 
 to the south they participated in the battle 
 of Shiloh, followed by the siege and battle 
 of Corinth, and all the battles from Look- 
 out Mountain to the capture of Atlanta, in- 
 cluding the memorable march with Sherman 
 to the sea. From Savannah they marched 
 through the Carolinas, joining Grant's army 
 on the march to Richmond, and on the 24th 
 of May, 1865, participated in the grand re- 
 view in Washington, the most celebrated 
 military pageant seen in the history of this 
 country. Mr. Getzelman passed through 
 the war uninjured, save on one occasion, 
 when he received a slight bullet wound un- 
 der the arm. At that time he and several 
 companions were out on a foraging expedi- 
 tion, and were discovered and pursued by a 
 band of Rebel cavalry. So greatly were 
 they outnumbered by the boys in gray that 
 they decided the best thing to be done was 
 to flee, but the Rebels were well mounted 
 and escape seemed almost impossible. How- 
 ever, fully aware that capture meant the 
 horrors of Libby and Andersonville, Mr. 
 Getzelman determined to escape if he could, 
 feeling that he would rather be killed than 
 enter one of those southern prison pens. 
 Mounted on a mule, he put the animal to 
 its best possible speed, but as he reached a 
 fence the mule refused to jump it, and our 
 
 subject, then tumbling over the fence, made 
 his way toward a swamp, pursued by the 
 bullets of the enemy, several of which 
 pierced his clothes, making him think that 
 his earthly career was drawing to a close. 
 However, he succeeded in reaching the 
 swamp, and ultimately arrived at camp 
 once more, but his companions were cap- 
 tured. The next day, when his colonel 
 suggested that he had better go on another 
 foraging expedition, he asked to be excused! 
 Mr. Getzelman was mustered out of the 
 service July 6, 1865, and resumed agricult- 
 ural pursuits which he successfully conduct- 
 ed for many years. He purchased eighty 
 acres in Hampshire township, and for six- 
 teen years made his home thereon, but in 
 the meantime increased the boundaries of 
 his farm until it comprised seven hundred 
 acres of rich land in one tract. He placed 
 much of this under cultivation, made many 
 excellent improvements and developed one 
 of the finest farms of the county. For a 
 number of years he engaged in general farm- 
 ing, but later years turned his attention 
 more specially to dairying. He was very 
 industrious and enterprising and his well 
 directed efforts, capable management and 
 honorable business methods brought him a 
 success which year by year added to his in- 
 come until he is now the possessor of a 
 very handsome competence. On leaving 
 the farm he spent five years in the village of 
 Hampshire and in 1893 removed to Elgin, 
 where he purchased the Crosby residence on 
 Highland avenue, a fine home in which he 
 is now spending his declining days, sur- 
 rounded by the comforts that go to make 
 life worth the living. He has sold a portion 
 of his old farm, but still retains the owner- 
 ship of the homestead of three hundred 
 acres, which he rents. He also has a farm
 
 146 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of three hundred and sixty acres in Dundee 
 township and considerable city realty. All 
 has been acquired through his own efforts 
 and his property is a splendid indication of 
 his busy and useful life. 
 
 Mr. Getzleman was married in Chicago, 
 September 4, 1865, to Ernestine Rudolph, 
 a daughter of George and Eva (Eichler) 
 Rudolph, natives of Germany. Mrs. Get- 
 zelman was born in Saxony, and by her mar- 
 riage has become the mother of the follow- 
 ing children: Emma, wife of Israel Reams, 
 of Hampshire; Lydia May, wife of Charles 
 J. Smith, of Elgin, who was born in Marine, 
 Illinois, a son of Erasmus and Louisa 
 (Bright) Smith, the former a native of 
 Baden and the latter of Saxony, Germany. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Smith were married June I, 
 1878, and have one child, Ernest Theodore 
 E., who has received a liberal education 
 and is now a member of the class of 1898 
 in one of the Chicago law colleges. He is 
 married. Benjamin C. , who is married and 
 living in Elgin, is a graduate pharmacist, 
 but now occupies the position of bookkeeper 
 in the Elgin National Bank. Edna and 
 George died in infancy. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Getzelman are members 
 of the Christian Evangelical church and are 
 people of the highest respectability, whose 
 many excellencies of character have gained 
 them the warm regard of all with whom 
 they have come in contact. In politics he 
 is a stanch Republican and is a valued mem- 
 ber of Elgin Post, G. A. R. He is a director 
 in the Elgin National Bank, and has ever 
 taken a very active interest in the develop- 
 ment and progress of the community, doing 
 all in his power for the promotion of its 
 business, political, educational and moral 
 interests. While in Hampshire he served 
 as a member of the school board. He is as 
 
 true to the duties of citizenship in times of 
 peace as he was when following the starry 
 banner on southern battle fields, and his life 
 record is one well worthy of emulation. 
 
 EDWARD H. ABBOTT. M. D., is en- 
 gaged in the practice of medicine and 
 surgery in Elgin, his office being at 157 Chi- 
 cago street. In a few short years his devo- 
 tion to his profession has won him a place 
 among the ablest representatives of the 
 medical fraternity in this locality. 
 
 Dr. Abbott was born in Elgin, in the old 
 Adams house on Villa street November 6, 
 1866, being the first child born to Frank 
 W. Abbott and his wife, Dora L. (Helm) 
 Abbott, the former a native of New York, 
 the latter of Hanover, Germany. The pa- 
 ternal grandfather, Hiram Abbott, was an 
 American of Scotch descent, and his wife, 
 Jennette Robinson, was a descendant of the 
 Rev. Jedediah Hibbard, a hymn writer and 
 Baptist minister of early New England 
 times and a minute man in the Revolution. 
 Hiram Abbott was a merchant of Cayuga 
 county, New York, and died before reaching 
 the age of fifty years, leaving one son and 
 two daughters. 
 
 Otto and Fredericka (Berling) Helm, 
 the Doctor's maternal grandparents, were 
 natives of Germany, who coming to America 
 early in 1850, located upon and developed 
 a small farm in Barrington township, Cook 
 county, Illinois. There Otto Helm died in 
 middle life, while his wife surviving him, 
 reached the age of seventy-two years. In 
 their family were three sons and one 
 daughter. 
 
 During his youth Frank W. Abbott first 
 came to Elgin about 1856, but later traveled 
 through the Rocky Mountain states and
 
 E. H. ABBOTT, M. D,
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 149 
 
 into Mexico, returning in 1861 to enlist as 
 drummer in Company I, Illinois Volunter 
 Infantry. After serving three years he re- 
 enlisted and remained at the front until the 
 close of the war, participating in the battles 
 of Donelson, Shiloh, Siege of Corinth, luka, 
 Corinth, Hatchie, Town Creek, Bear Creek, 
 Resaca, Snake Creek Gap, Day's Ferry, 
 Rowe Cross Roads, Dallas, Calhoun Cross 
 Roads, Mills Grove, Kenesaw, Decatur, 
 Atlanta, Lovejoy's Station, Jonesboro, Al- 
 toona, Bentonville, Sherman's march to the 
 sea, and Savannah. After the war he 
 entered the Elgin National Watch Works, 
 where he was acting as job foreman at the 
 time of his death, which occurred May 7, 
 1882, when he was forty-two years of age. 
 He was an active member of the famous 
 Elgin Military band for years. Fraternally 
 he was a Master Mason, and politically a 
 Republican. His widow still survives and 
 with her children lives at No. 358 Yarwood 
 street. Besides the Doctor there are two 
 daughters Catherine L. , who is first assist- 
 ant in the Gail Borden Public Library; and 
 Jennette E., who is employed in one of the 
 offices of the National Watch factory. 
 
 Dr. Abbott was handicapped in early life 
 by the loss of his father, and at an early 
 age, fourteen years, he took his father's 
 place as the family mainstay. Beginning 
 in the watch factory on his father's job, he 
 worked his way upward, succeeding in every- 
 thing he undertook. Thrown into the so- 
 ciety of mechanics he developed an inter- 
 est in that direction and mastered me- 
 chanical drawing and mathematics in several 
 years of night work. Then turning to liter- 
 ature and science he continued his night 
 work, being in this his own tutor. During 
 the same time he took an active part in local 
 athletic circles, also edited the watch factory 
 
 department of the Elgin ' ' Every Saturday " 
 for three years, acted as secretary of Kane 
 lodge, No. 47, I. O. O. F., for the same 
 length of time, and passed through the 
 chairs in that lodge. In 1888 he helped or- 
 ganize the Republican Tinners' Campaign 
 companies, acting as chairman in the meet- 
 ings of the organization. Beginning the 
 study of medicine several years before leav- 
 ing the watch factory, he entered Rush 
 Medical College, Chicago, with a year of 
 work to his credit and graduated from that 
 institution in the spring of 1895. Soon after 
 locating in Elgin, Dr. Abbott undertook the 
 treatment of a severe case of burning of the 
 limbs and body of a young lady of Elgin. 
 The case was pronounced a hopeless one, 
 the patient being at death's _door. After 
 faithful preparation .hundreds of skin grafts 
 were placed upon the denuded flesh'with 
 complete success, the young woman regain- 
 ing her health with the restoration of the 
 destroyed cuticle. The case was a record 
 one of its kind, the surface grafted (two 
 square feet) being one of the greatest ever 
 reported to the medical profession. Chicago 
 and St. Louis papers devoted much space 
 to the operation, while nearly every paper 
 in the middle states mentioned it. This 
 case established the Doctor's reputation, 
 and has been followed by others which gained 
 him an enviable standing in his profession. 
 Dr. Abbott was recently elected a mem- 
 ber of the Fox River Valley Medical Asso- 
 ciation and of the American Medical Asso- 
 ciation; takes an active part in the Odd 
 Fellows, Independent Order of Forresters, 
 Knights of the Maccabees, Mystic Workers 
 of the World, Royal Circle, and the Sons of 
 Veterans. In the latter organization he 
 holds the State of Illinois Supreme Sur- 
 geoncy upon the commander's staff. He is
 
 i jo 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 also medical director of the Sons of Veter- 
 ans' Life Association, the insurance branch 
 of the order, and is a member of the Carle- 
 ton Club. 
 
 In November, 1895, he purchased a half 
 interest in the drug business at 1 59 Chicago 
 street with C. F. Wm. Schultz & Com- 
 pany. The business has since been con- 
 ducted with gratifying success, Mr. Schultz 
 being a skilled pharmacist, a graduate of the 
 Chicago School of Pharmacy, the phar- 
 maceutical department of the University of 
 Illinois. The aim of this firm is to keep 
 only the best and choicest of drugs and 
 druggists' sundries. 
 
 Politically the Doctor is an Independent 
 Republican, and takes a commendable in- 
 terest in public affairs. He is a whole- 
 souled, genial gentleman of a literary turn 
 of mind, having contributed a number 
 of articles for the local and general press. 
 Being yet young, his promise for future 
 eminence is flattering. 
 
 /~>EORGE BAKER, fence manufacturer 
 \-J and dealer in fencing material, Hamp- 
 shire, was born near Mansfield, Seneca 
 county, Ohio, June 9, 1845. His father, 
 Peter Baker, was born near Harrisburg, 
 Pennsylvania, and his mother dying when 
 he was about five years of age, he was 
 taken and reared by an uncle, who lived 
 near Green Springs, Ohio. In early life he 
 learned the shoemaker's trade, at which he 
 worked for many years, and at odd times 
 after his removal to Hampshire township. 
 Samuel Baker, the paternal grandfather, 
 moved to Ohio, some years after his son 
 Peter iwent to live with his uncle. He 
 died there about 1858, at the age of eighty 
 years. The Bakers are of German origin, 
 
 the first of the name settling in this coun- 
 try in colonial days. Peter Baker married 
 Magdalena Cook, a native of Richland 
 county, Ohio, and a daughter of John 
 George Cook, who left Europe after the 
 Napoleonic wars. To them were born 
 seven children as follows: Sarah Ann, 
 wife of Abraham Aurand, residing in Hamp- 
 shire township; George, our subject; Ja- 
 cob, living in Hampshire township; John, 
 residing near the village of Hampshire; 
 William, in Hampshire township; Harri- 
 son, living in Sandusky county, Ohio; and 
 Lydia, wife of Chris Bowman, of Hamp- 
 shire township. 
 
 In November, 1845, Peter Baker came 
 with his family to Kane county, Illinois, 
 and located on a farm a few miles north- 
 east of the present village of Hampshire. 
 He came by wagon, and was three months 
 in making the trip. While camping on the 
 bank of a river one evening, the father 
 went to get wood and the mother to get 
 water. Our subject, then but about six 
 months old, was left under the wagon. 
 When the mother returned, she found the 
 little one had rolled nearly into the river. 
 The place selected by Mr. Baker was in 
 the heavy timber, which had to be cleared 
 for cultivation. A log house was first 
 erected and later a substantial frame 
 house was built. Here the father followed 
 farming until his death, in December, 1867, 
 at the age of forty- seven years. The mother 
 remained in possession of the farm, until 
 her death, November 25, 1894, at the age 
 of seventy-five years. Peter Baker was a 
 very industrious man, and in bad weather 
 and at night worked at his trade of shoe- 
 making, and thus acquired money to pay 
 for his farm. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared in
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Hampshire township, and attended the dis- 
 trict schools until the age of seventeen years. 
 He remained upon the home farm, however, 
 until November 17, 1864, when he enlisted 
 in Company B, Seventeenth Illinois Cavalry, 
 under command of Captain C. H. Shopleigh, 
 and was mustered into the service at St. 
 Charles, and was immediately sent to Jeffer- 
 son Barracks, near St. Louis, where the 
 regiment was detained for some months. 
 It was then sent to Lexington, Missouri, 
 where it engaged in battle with the Rebels, 
 after which it was sent to Macon City, 
 guarding prisoners. They returned to Illi- 
 nois in charge of the prisoners, which were 
 left at Alton, and the regiment was then 
 sent to Kansas, west of Fort Scott, thence 
 to Verdegris river, in the Indian country, 
 and in guarding the stage route in Smoky 
 Hill Valley. When near Salt Lake City, 
 our subject and a companion were cut off 
 from the troop by Indians, and the two 
 fought for several hours, when relief came. 
 Our subject was shot in the leg and was 
 sent to the hospital at Fort Bennett, thence 
 to Fort Leavenworth, where he was mus- 
 tered out and discharged from hospital, 
 January 10, 1866, and was sent to the 
 soldiers' home, where he remained until 
 February 22, 1866, and then sent to Spring- 
 field, and from there home. 
 
 On his return home Mr. Baker began 
 working on a farm for Mr. Rudolph, and, 
 not yet being of age, his father took his 
 wages, amounting to one hundred and fifty 
 dollars, much to his sorrow. In the sum- 
 mer of 1867, he worked for M. J. Getzel- 
 man, for twenty-one dollars and fifty cents 
 per month, and in the summer of 1868 for 
 Samuel Gift. In 1869, he worked for Eber- 
 hardt Wertwein, and in the fall of that 
 year went to Ohio, expecting to make a 
 
 visit of a few weeks. Arriving there he 
 went to work for an uncle, with whom he 
 remained two years. On the 7th of Decem- 
 ber, 1871, in Thompson township, Seneca 
 county, Ohio, he married Caroline Deuch- 
 ler, third in a family, of eleven children, 
 born in Alsace, France, in 1845, and who 
 came with her parents to America in 1851, 
 sailing in April from Havre, France, land- 
 ing at New York, in June, being forty-two 
 days on the water. Her father, Peter 
 Deuchler, married Elizabeth Long, a daugh- 
 ter of Peter Long, a soldier under Napo- 
 leon. Peter Deuchler was killed by a run- 
 away team, in 1872, at the age of seventy- 
 two years. His wife survived him some 
 years, dying at the age of sixty- seven years. 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Baker four children have 
 been born, as follows: Albert W., an em- 
 ploye in the tile factory, at Hampshire; 
 Samuel R., a telegraph operator at New 
 Lebanon, Illinois; Ida May and Lillie Annie, 
 at home. 
 
 After his marriage, Mr. Baker rented a 
 farm in Seneca county, Ohio, where he re- 
 mained one year and then spent four years 
 on a farm in Sandusky county, Ohio. In 
 1876 he returned to Kane county, rented a 
 house and worked for Lucien Baldwin for 
 one year, and then rented his father's old 
 farm for four years. Shortly afterwards he 
 bought his present place at the edge of the 
 village of Hampshire, and built his residence. 
 For two years he worked in the tile factory 
 and at painting for four years. In 1883, 
 he began his present business, and now 
 manufactures several varieties of fencing and 
 is also agent for several lines of patent fenc- 
 ing. He has erected many miles of fencing 
 in Hampshire and adjoining townships. 
 During the season in which fence building 
 is dull he canvasses for Bibles and religious
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 books, and in a single year he has sold two 
 hundred Bibles, and distributed two thou- 
 sand Christian tracts. He and his family 
 are all members of the Evangelical church. 
 Fraternally he is a member of Hampshire 
 post, G. A. R. , and in politics is a Repub- 
 lican. 
 
 FRANCIS BURTON, an honored pioneer 
 of Kane county, who is now living re- 
 tired in Elgin, was born in Sherrington, 
 near Montreal, Canada East, December 14, 
 1829, a son of John and Jane (Stringer) 
 Burton, natives of Yorkshire, England, who 
 emigrated to Canada about 1815, and were 
 married in Montreal. The father, who was 
 a farmer by occupation, enlisted as a volun- 
 teer in the French war, and was killed in an 
 engagement at Odeltown, in 1838. His 
 wife died in Kane county, Illinois, in 1866, 
 a worthy member of the Episcopal church, 
 to which the father also belonged. To them 
 were born nine children, as follows: Will- 
 iam, Richard, Mary, the wife of George 
 Marshall, of South Elgin; John, Francis, 
 George, who died at the age of seven years; 
 Alice, widow of George Church; and Ann, 
 wife of George Cookman. 
 
 Reared in Canada, Francis Burton ob- 
 tained his education in the public schools of 
 that country, and upon the home farm he 
 early became familiar with every depart- 
 ment of farm work. Coming to the United 
 States in 1845, he located in Kane county, 
 Illinois, where his brothers, William, Rich- 
 ard and John, had previously taken up their 
 residence. In 1850, before he had attained 
 his majority, he made his first purchase 
 of land, it being a tract of ninety-six acres 
 in Plato township, which he leased. In 
 1852 he had " an attack of the gold fever," 
 and, with his brother Richard, crossed the 
 
 plains to California, where he engaged in 
 mining for about six months with reasona- 
 ble success, operating principally on Weaver 
 creek. On his return to Illinois he worked 
 in a distillery at Clintonville for a time, and 
 then operated a farm, which he rented of 
 his uncle. At the end of that time he pur- 
 chased eighty acres in Elgin township, Kane 
 county, to the cultivation and improvement 
 of which he at once turned his attention. 
 Subsequently he bought another eighty-acre 
 tract adjoining, which he afterward sold to 
 the original owner, John Springer, and later 
 purchased fifty acres in Plato township, 
 which he operated for a few years. On 
 selling that place he bought one hundred 
 and seventeen acres adjoining it on the east. 
 This place, together with his first eighty- 
 acre farm, he still owns, and he successfully 
 engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1884, 
 when he leased his land to his son-in-law 
 and removed to Elgin, where he has since 
 practically lived retired in the enjoyment of 
 the accumulations of former years. In con- 
 nection with general farming, he devoted a 
 great deal of his time to stock raising and 
 dairying, and his farm is now chiefly a dairy 
 farm. 
 
 On the 6th of September, 1853, Mr. 
 Burton was united in marriage with Miss 
 Mary Poole, a native of England, and a 
 daughter of Charles Poole. Nine children 
 blessed this union, namely: Charles R. , a 
 resident of Kingston, Illinois; Adeline M., 
 wife of George Wright, of Elgin ; George F., 
 a butter maker living in Mount Carroll, Illi- 
 nois; Fenny, wife of Charles Ladd, living 
 near Iowa Falls, Iowa; Olive; William L., 
 who lives on his father's farm at Iowa Falls; 
 Frank, a carpenter of Elgin; and Lottie and 
 Minnie, who died in childhood. 
 
 In his political affiliations Mr. Burton is
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 153 
 
 a pronounced Republican, and he has most 
 acceptably served in a number of township 
 offices. He and his wife are both consistent 
 members of the United Brethren church, 
 and are held in high regard by all who know 
 them on account of their sterling worth and 
 many virtues. 
 
 FRED W. JENCKS, the present efficient 
 alderman from the second ward, is one 
 of the leading and most popular business 
 men of Elgin, where he is interested in a 
 number of different enterprises. Although 
 a comparatively young man, he has done 
 much to promote the commercial activity, 
 advance the general welfare and secure the 
 material development of the city. 
 
 A native of Kane county, Mr. Jencks was 
 born in Dundee, July 6, 1861, and is a son 
 of Dennison and Elizabeth (Hollister) 
 Jencks, the former a native of North Adams, 
 Massachusetts, the latter of Danbury, Con- 
 necticut. The father came to Illinois in 
 1841, is one of the oldest residents of the 
 county, making his home in Dundee for 
 many years. Since 1872, however, he has 
 resided in Elgin, where for over twenty 
 years he was successfully engaged in the in- 
 surance business, but is now living retired 
 at the age of sixty. A public-spirited, en- 
 terprising citizen, he has always taken a 
 commendable interest in public affairs; for 
 three terms he served his fellow citizens as 
 county supervisor, alderman of Elgin four- 
 teen years, and postmaster at Dundee for 
 eight years. Religiously Mrs. Jencks was 
 identified with the Baptist church. She 
 was called to her final rest January 18, 
 1897, at the age of fifty-six years. 
 
 Fred W. Jencks, the only child of this 
 worthy couple, by adoption, has been a 
 resident of Elgin since ten years of age, his 
 
 parents removing from Dundee to this city 
 at that time, and in the academy he com- 
 pleted his literary education. In 1877 he 
 became interested with his father in the in- 
 surance business, and now represents some 
 of the most reliable firms in the United 
 States, besides others of foreign countries. 
 These include the Royal Fire, of England; 
 the Girard, of Philadelphia; the ^Etna, of 
 Hartford, Connecticut; the Glens Falls, of 
 New York; the Traders, of Chicago; the 
 Imperial, of London, England; the St. Paul, 
 of Minnesota; the American Central, of St. 
 Louis; and the Scottish Union & National, 
 of Scotland. He does the most extensive 
 business of any firm of the kind in Elgin. 
 He is also serving as a notary public, is a 
 licensed city bill poster and distributor, is 
 interested in the real-estate business, and 
 for the past eleven years has been the effi- 
 cient and popular manager of the Elgin 
 Opera House, of Elgin, which has prospered 
 under his charge. 
 
 On the 1 7th of June, 1883, Mr. Jencks 
 was married to Miss Lizzie, daughter of 
 Andrew Schaller, and they now have one 
 child, Mabel V. Fraternally is a member of 
 the Modern Woodmen of America, and the 
 Independent Order of Odd Fellows, while 
 politically he is identified with the Repub- 
 lican party. In 1895 ne was elected alder- 
 man from the second ward, receiving the 
 largest majority of any candidate on the 
 ticket, a fact which plainly indicates his 
 popularity, and the confidence and trust re- 
 posed in him by his fellow citizens. He 
 has been a member of some of the most 
 important committees, and has been chair- 
 man of the fire and water committee during 
 his entire incumbency. He has exerted his 
 influence in behalf of the best interests of 
 the city, and that his services are appre-
 
 154 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ciated is evinced by his continuous re-elec- 
 tion. For the past five years he has been 
 president of the Illinois State Bill Posters 
 Association. 
 
 HANS JOHNSON, a farmer residing in 
 the village of Hampshire, is a native 
 of Denmark, born in Husby, November u, 
 1845. He there attended the Lutheran 
 parochial school until the age of fourteen, 
 when he commenced work on a farm, and 
 later was employed as foreman of a large 
 farm belonging to the minister of their 
 church, which position he retained for three 
 years. For three years he was in the Dan- 
 ish army, serving from 1868 to 1870, inclu- 
 sive. He was a corporal in the artillery 
 service. At the time of the Franco-Prus- 
 sian war he was again called into active 
 service, and assisted in guarding the frontier. 
 In the fall of 1872 he came to America. 
 He left Denmark September 27, for Hull, 
 England, and encountered a severe storm 
 on the North sea, being driven back to 
 Scaggen on the Danish coast. He sailed 
 from Liverpool, England, October 10, 1872, 
 and landed at Quebec on the 22d of the 
 same month. From Quebec he went to 
 Luddington, Michigan, where he worked 
 eight months, and then went to Grand 
 Haven, in the same state, where he was 
 employed two months. From Grand Haven 
 he went to Chicago, and secured work on 
 the Baltimore & Ohio railroad in Indiana. 
 Receiving no money for his labor, he re- 
 turned to Chicago and began work for the 
 Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad. 
 Later he secured work in Plato township, 
 Kane county, on the farm of Ira Russell, 
 where he remained four and a half years, 
 then rented a part of the Russell land. A 
 sister came from Denmark to keep house 
 
 for him, and on her marriage some months 
 later he sold the stock and farm implements 
 and took charge of a farm for a widow lady 
 east of Elgin. He ran that farm for two 
 years, when on the 28th of March, 1883, 
 he was united in marriage with Mise Reka 
 Dahl, and to them have been born six chil- 
 dren Lizzie, Ella, Charles, Katherine, 
 Grace and Florence. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Johnson went to 
 Pingree Grove, rented the farm of L. N. 
 Kelly, comprising five hundred and twenty 
 acres, foriwhich he paid a cash rent of seven 
 thousand, five hundred dollars for the five 
 years. In the fall of 1890 he bought his 
 present farm of one hundred and fifty acres, 
 which lies partly in the village of Hamp- 
 shire, and which is well improved, having 
 on it a good frame house, a large basement 
 barn 36x80 feet, with twenty-four-foot 
 posts, a windmill eighty feet high, the place 
 being well drained with three thousand feet 
 of tiling. The farm is used for dairy pur- 
 poses, and Mr. Johnson keeps from forty to 
 fifty head of cows, the milk from which he 
 ships to Chicago. 
 
 Hans Johnson, Sr. , the father of our 
 subject, married Kern Jansen, who was also 
 a native of Denmark. He was a laborer in 
 Denmark and came to America, but not be- 
 ing able to adapt himself to the customs of 
 the country, became dissatisfied and returned 
 to his native land, where his death occurred 
 in 1 88 1, when about sixty-eight years of 
 age. Of his sfx children, all came to Amer- 
 ica and here made their homes. 
 
 In 1892 an exciting and almost fatal ac- 
 cident occurred to our subject. He was 
 filling his barn with hay, when the fork de- 
 scended unexpectedly, piercing through his 
 clothing and grazing his flesh. It was a 
 rather too close call for comfort. Relig-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 155 
 
 iously, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are members 
 of the Methodist Episcopal church of Hamp- 
 shire. Fraternally, he is a Master Mason 
 and a member of the Eastern Star, of which 
 his wife is also a member; also a member of 
 the Royal Neighbors, of the Knights of the 
 Maccabees, Modern Woodmen of America 
 and Knights of the Globe. In politics he is 
 a Republican. 
 
 FRED ROEHL, of Dundee, Illinois, has 
 been a resident of Kane county since 
 the spring of 1854. He is a native of Prus- 
 sia, born August 14, 1832, and is the son of 
 Charles and Louisa (Kroll) Roehl, also na- 
 tives of that country. His father was a 
 sailor, owner and captain of several ves- 
 sels and followed the sea the greater part 
 of his life. When Fred was but seven 
 years of age his mother died, leaving three 
 children. In his boyhood he had good 
 common-school advantages, but learned the 
 English language after coming to this coun- 
 try. While yet residing in his native land, 
 he learned the stone and brick mason trade 
 in a most thorough manner. In 1854 ne 
 came to United States, and for a few 
 months worked on a farm near Dundee. 
 In 1855, he formed a partnership with Mr. 
 Parker, a mason, and engaged in contract- 
 ing and building with him about seven 
 years. There are in Dundee a large num- 
 ber of business and dwelling houses, which 
 show the architectural skill and handiwork 
 of Mr. Roehl. 
 
 In 1863 Mr. Roehl engaged in the saloon 
 and hotel business on the east side in Dun- 
 dee, in which he continued about three 
 years, when he sold out and moved to West 
 Dundee and there engaged in the grocery, 
 butcher and saloon business for some seven 
 
 years, building up a large and profitable 
 trade. He then sold out and returned to 
 East Dundee, started a hardware store, 
 and also again engaging in building and 
 contracting, erecting four business houses. 
 He likewise carried on a saloon and butcher 
 shop, but after two years sold out the hard- 
 ware store, but continued in the other 
 lines of business three years longer. Sell- 
 ing out his saloon and butcher shop, he 
 started a lumber yard and engaged in that 
 business about five years. Selling the lum- 
 ber business he opened a wood and coal 
 yard in Elgin, which he continued some 
 four or five years, since which time he has 
 been dealing in milch cows and stock. 
 
 Mr. Roehl was married at Dundee, July 
 25, 1857, to Louisa Haasa, a daughter of 
 Henry Haasa, and a native of Hanover, 
 Germany, where she was reared and edu- 
 cated. She came to this country in 1854 
 with her parents, who first settled in Elm- 
 hurst, but later move to a farm near Bar- 
 rington Centre. By this union nine children 
 have been born, four of whom are living, 
 the remainder dying in childhood. The 
 living are Charles, now residing in Iowa; 
 Carrie, wife of Joseph Johnson, a resident 
 of Algonquin, Illinois; Louisa, wife of Will- 
 iam Hagel, a business man of Chicago; 
 and Frank, engaged in the butcher busi- 
 ness, as junior partner of the firm of Smith 
 & Roehl. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Roehl is a Democrat, 
 with which party he has been identified 
 since becoming a naturalized citizen. He 
 has held several local offices of honor and 
 trust, serving first as constable for four 
 years, and, though again elected, declined 
 the office. He also served as trustee of the 
 town on the west side and chairman of the 
 board on the east side. In every position
 
 1 5 6 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 he has discharged his duties faithfully and 
 well. Religiously, he and his wife are 
 members of the Lutheran church, one of 
 its charter members in Dundee. In the 
 erection of their house of worship, in Dun- 
 dee, he contributed liberally of his time 
 and money. 
 
 For forty-four years Mr. Roehl has been 
 identified with the business interests of 
 Dundee. He has built for himself in this 
 time some fifteen business houses and resi- 
 dences in addition to those erected for other 
 people. He has probably done as much as 
 any one man toward improving and develop- 
 ing his adopted city. Numbered among the 
 old settlers of the place, he enjoys the con- 
 fidence and respect of all. 
 
 WILLIAM MARSHALL, proprietor of 
 the Railroad avenue farm, on section 
 19, St. Charles township, is admitted to be 
 one of the best farmers in the township, and 
 the man who is well regarded by the com- 
 munity in general. He was born in North 
 Clifton, on the banks of the river Trent, 
 Nottinghamshire, England, April 21, 1821. 
 His father, William Marshall, Sr. , was also 
 a native of the same shire, where he married 
 Mary Bingham, a native of Lincolnshire, 
 England, by whom he had eleven children, 
 five sons and six daughters, all of whom 
 grew to mature years, save one son. 
 
 William Marshall, our subject, was reared 
 in Nottinghamshire, England, and in his 
 boyhood received a very limited education. 
 In his youth he was apprenticed for a term 
 of seven years to learn the blacksmith trade, 
 his only compensation being his board dur- 
 ing that time. After completing his trade 
 he worked as a journeyman in Nottingham- 
 shire and Lancastershire, and had the repu- 
 
 tation of being one of the best mechanics in 
 the vicinity. On the 2$th of March, 1843, 
 in Nottinghamshire, he married Miss Sarah 
 Harpham, a native of Headon, near shire- 
 town of Retford, Nottinghamshire, and 
 three years later, with his wife, he set sail 
 for America, taking ship at Liverpool, April 
 22, 1848, and landed in New York, May 24, 
 1848, being thirty-two days in making the 
 trip, during which time they encountered 
 some severe weather. From New York he 
 went up the Hudson river to Albany, and 
 by the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes to 
 Chicago, where he worked for a few days 
 for the McCormick company, and then 
 came to St. Charles, started a shop, and 
 worked at his trade for about four years. 
 
 Believing he could better himself, Mr. 
 Marshall sold his shop and rented a farm 
 for two years, and then purchased seventy- 
 six acres of the farm on which he now re- 
 sides. The farm was partially improved, 
 having on it a log house with a stone chim- 
 ney, and shake roof. He lived in that 
 house until he had made considerable im- 
 provements in the place, when he erected a 
 neat and substantial house, that was burned 
 down May 21, 1894. He then built his 
 present residence, which is a frame, with 
 pressed brick veneer and stone. This is a 
 fine residence, and one of the best in the 
 township. Mr. Marshall has also upon the 
 place five barns, and other outbuildings, of 
 the most substantial character. From time 
 to time he added to his additional purchase, 
 until he had three hundred acres of as fine 
 land as could be desired, but he has since 
 sold one hundred and ten acres, leaving him 
 one hundred and ninety acres in his present 
 farm. In addition to this farm he owns a 
 valuable four-acre tract and several lots in 
 St. Charles, as well as a number of lots in
 
 MR. AND MRS. WM. MARSHALL.

 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1,5 9 
 
 Chicago, Aurora, Evergreen Park and else- 
 where. 
 
 Some five years after Mr. Marshall lo- 
 cated in St. Charles township, he was joined 
 by his father, and later his brothers and sis- 
 ters came to this country. The parents and 
 youngest son remained with our subject for 
 about one year and then removed to De- 
 Kalb county, where they spent the remain- 
 ing years of their life, the father dying at 
 the age of about ninety, while the mother 
 was ninty-four years old at the time of her 
 death. Thomas Marshall, their youngest 
 son, remained with them until their death, 
 when he succeeded to the property which 
 they had accumulated, and is now one of 
 wealthy men of De Kalb county. All the 
 brothers and sisters started in life without a 
 dollar and now all are wealthy and influen- 
 tial. Three of the sisters married three 
 brothers, Edward, John and William Law- 
 rence, and became wealthy. 
 
 After a long and happy married life, Mr. 
 Marshall was deprived of his wife, her death 
 taking place February 14, 1895, leaving five 
 children Jane, wife of Richmond Cook, 
 who was a farmer of Kane county, and is 
 now deceased, by whom she had six chil- 
 dren; Mary Ann, wife of Joseph Kirk, of 
 St. Charles township, Kane county, by 
 whom she -has ten children; Elizabeth, wife 
 of Charles T. Shaver, whose farm adjoins 
 that of Mr. Marshall; they have one child; 
 Addie Eliza, wife of Truman Albee, of El- 
 gin, a machinist in the watch factory, by 
 whom she had two children; and William 
 Henry, a farmer of St. Charles township. 
 Three children died in infancy and one at 
 the age of three years. 
 
 On the i gth of May, 1897, Mr. Mar- 
 shall was again married, his second union 
 being with Mrs. Mary L. Templeton, of 
 
 Chicago, widow of Rev. John G. Temple- 
 ton, who held a position with Marshall 
 Field & Company, of Chicago. His brother, 
 Thomas Templeton, is a partner in that 
 firm. Mrs. Marshall was born in Collins- 
 ville, Marquette county, Michigan. Her fa- 
 ther, Azel Lathrop, was a pioneer of that 
 county, in which there is a town named 
 for him. Mr. and Mrs. Marshall have two 
 children (twins), Marcus Fletcher and 
 George Lathrop, born February 28, 1898. 
 By her first husband, Mrs. Marshall has 
 three children Thomas Templeton, who 
 holds a position with Orr & Lockett, Chi- 
 cago; Robert Templeton, a student in the 
 seminary at Evansville, Wisconsin; and 
 Mary Templeton. a student in the home 
 school. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Marshall was formerly a 
 Republican, but for some years has been 
 identified with the Prohibition party. He 
 is a member of the Free Methodist church, 
 with which he has been identified for thirty- 
 eight years. He was one of the original 
 members of the organization in his neigh- 
 borhood. For fifty years he has been a 
 resident of Kane county, and, although he 
 came a poor man, by industry and economy 
 he has accumulated a competency, and is 
 enabled to take life easy. His friends are 
 many throughout the county, and no man is 
 held in higher esteem. 
 
 ABRAHAM LEATHERMAN, an hon- 
 JT\ ored veteran of the Civil war now liv- 
 ing retired in the city of Elgin, is a native 
 of Illinois, born in the town of Hanover, 
 Cook county, December 21, 1840, and is a 
 worthy representative of one of the highly 
 respected pioneer families of this section of 
 the state. His father, Abraham Leather-
 
 i6o 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 man, ST., was born in Kentucky, October 
 25, 1 80 1, and was reared in Louisville. 
 The paternal grandfather was only seven- 
 teen years old at the outbreak of the Rev- 
 olutionary war, but he joined the Conti- 
 nental army and served all through that 
 terrible struggle, returning home to find that 
 the other members of the family had all 
 been killed, probably by the Indians. 
 
 At the age of eighteen years Abraham 
 Leatherman, Sr. , left his native state and 
 removed to Greencastle, Putnam county, 
 Indiana, where he engaged in farming until 
 taking up his residence in Hanover, Cook 
 county, Illinois, on the 2Oth of October, 
 1835. Here he pre-empted four hundred 
 acres of land which he later purchased when 
 it came into market, and to the cultivation 
 and improvement of the place he devoted 
 his time and attention until 1865, when he 
 sold it. This place was known as Leather- 
 man's Hill, and the famous hostelry which 
 he kept was known as Leatherman's Inn. 
 Retiring from active business life in 1866, 
 he purchased a small tract of land known 
 as the John Hill farm and there made his 
 home until coming to Elgin in 1885. Here 
 he built a house adjoining that of our sub- 
 ject, where he died February 1 6, 1889. He 
 was a large man, standing six feet in his 
 stockings, was of a genial temperament and 
 was devoted to his family. In political sen- 
 timent he was a Democrat, and in religious 
 belief was a Baptist. 
 
 Abraham Leatherman, Sr. , was married 
 at the age of twenty-one years to Miss Mary 
 Duese, who was born in Indiana January 
 1 8, 1803, a daughter of David Duese, and 
 died February 18, 1889, being laid to rest 
 by the side of her husband in the old cem- 
 tery at Elgin. She, too, was a faithful 
 member of the Baptist church. Nine chil- 
 
 dren were born to this worthy couple: (i) 
 William, born January 7, 1823, enlisted 
 August 12, 1862, in Company I, One Hun- 
 dren and Thirteenth Illinois Volunteer In- 
 fantry, for service in the Civil war, and died 
 of smallpox while at Camp Butler January 
 28, 1863. (2) David, born October 25, 
 1824, was a farmer by occupation, but is 
 now living retired in Kansas. (3) Sarah, 
 born October 26, 1826, married David 
 Longley, and makes her home in Chickasaw 
 county, Iowa. (4) Frederick, born Novem- 
 ber 5, 1828, was one of the " Forty-niners," 
 and died in California, supposed to have 
 been murdered for his money in 1852. (5) 
 Jane, born November 23, 1830, is the wife 
 of Seth Stowell, who lived for some years 
 near Spring Brook, Illinois, but is now re- 
 siding in Nebraska. (6) John, born Janu- 
 ary 7, 1833, was also one of the boys in 
 blue during the Civil war, enlisting August 
 12, 1862, in Company F, One Hundred and 
 Thirteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He 
 was taken prisoner in June, 1864, when in 
 the campaign again:;t Price, and was con- 
 fined for nine months in Andersonville prison, 
 being released after the surrender of Gen- 
 eral Lee. He is now a retired farmer, liv- 
 ing in Watseka, Illinois, but also owns a 
 place in Louisiana, where he spends the 
 winter months. (7) Elizabeth, born July 
 9, 1835, is the wife of Joseph R. McChesney, 
 of Glen Ellyn, DuPage county, Illinois. 
 (8) Evan, born December 3, 1837, was also 
 a Union soldier, having enlisted in the spring 
 of 1865 in the One Hundred and Forty-first 
 Illinois Infantry, and is now a farmer living 
 in Watseka, Iroquois county, Illinois. (9) 
 Abraham, Jr., of this review, is the young- 
 est of the family. 
 
 Reared in Hanover, Cook county, the 
 subject of this sketch attended the common
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 161 
 
 schools during his boyhood and youth, and 
 when not in the school room, assisted his 
 father in the labors of the farm. Respond- 
 ing to his country's call for aid, he enlisted 
 August 12, 1 86 1, in Company F, One Hun- 
 dred and Thirteenth Illinois Volunteer In- 
 fantry, and was mustered in at Chicago. 
 From there the regiment proceeded to 
 Memphis, Tennessee, and Mr. Leatherman 
 took part in all the marches and battles in 
 which it took part, including the Tallahassee 
 expedition, the Vicksburg campaign and the 
 Arkansas expedition. He was selected as 
 one of the guard to the prisoners brought 
 from Arkansas to Camp Butler, where he 
 remained on duty for about a year, going to 
 Memphis in the spring of 1863. He was 
 then under General Sturges in the campaign 
 against Price, and was next with his regi- 
 ment detailed to guard the railroads around 
 Memphis, being thus engaged when the war 
 ended. He was mustered out at that place, 
 and discharged at Chicago, June 29, 1865, 
 being at that time a member of what was 
 known as the Third Board of Trade Regi- 
 ment of Chicago. After his return home, 
 Mr. Leatherman successfully engaged in 
 farming and dairying, purchasing one hun- 
 dred and eighty acres of the old John Hill 
 tract. There he carried on operations in a 
 most profitable manner until 1883, when he 
 came to Elgin and took up his residence at 
 the corner of Porter avenue and Park street, 
 in a house which he had erected for his 
 home. He leases his farm, and is now en- 
 joying that ease and retirement which 
 should always follow a useful and honor- 
 able career. 
 
 On the I3thof June, 1867, Mr. Leather- 
 man was united in marriage with Miss Jos- 
 ephine A. McChesney, born in Chicago, and 
 a daughter of James H. and Mary Brown 
 
 (Hull) McChesney, who were born in New 
 York City, and are now living in Adams 
 county, Wisconsin. They have eight chil- 
 dren living, namely: Josephine, Mary and 
 Jarnes, deceased, Margaret, Jane, Samuel, 
 Joseph, John, deceased, and James, Mark 
 and Myrtle. To Mr. and Mrs. Lealherman 
 have been born the following named chil- 
 dren: William O., born April 15, 1868, died 
 September 20, of that year; Jesse T. , born 
 July 8, 1872, died September 13, 1872; 
 Foneta M. M., born June 10, 1875, ' s now 
 the wife of Edward Hunt, of Hanover, Illi- 
 nois; Ida D., born July 18, 1880, and May 
 E., born May 12, 1888, are both at home. 
 The parents are both consistent members of 
 the Congregational church, and are widely 
 and favorably known. Politically Mr. Leath- 
 erman is identified with the Republican 
 party, and socially affiliates with Elgin post, 
 No. 49, G. A. R. His efforts in life have 
 been crowned with success, so that he now 
 enjoys a handsome competence, and his 
 career has ever been such as to win for him 
 the respect and confidence of all who know 
 him. 
 
 JOHN RADLOFF, of Dundee, is a na- 
 tive of Germany, born in Mechlenberg, 
 August 25, 1839. He there grew to man- 
 hood and received a good education in the 
 German language, attending school about 
 seven years. He was reared on a farm and 
 remained with his father until nineteen years 
 of age, when he began life for himself, work- 
 ing at various occupations in his native coun- 
 try for about six years. He was united in 
 marriage at Mechlenberg, in 1863, with Miss 
 Mary Schroeder, a daughter of Frank 
 Schroeder, also a native of Germany. 
 
 With that laudable desire to better him- 
 self, Mr. Radloff determined to emigrate to
 
 1 62 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the United States, and in 1865, accompanied 
 by his young wife, he crossed the Atlantic, 
 landing in New York city, from which place 
 he came directly to Illinois, locating in 
 Huntly, McHenry county, where he joined 
 some of his relatives who had preceded him 
 to the new world. He first worked on the 
 railroad at that place, in and around the 
 depot, and was content to do anything hon- 
 orable which he could find to do. In 1868, 
 he rented a farm near Huntly and engaged 
 in farming and dairying. In 1877 he pur- 
 chased a farm of one hundred and fifty-one 
 acres near Barrington, Cook county, to 
 which he removed, and on which he con- 
 tinued to reside for nineteen years. In 1896 
 he rented the farm, built a residence on 
 First street, Dundee, into which he moved 
 with his family and has since lived a retired 
 life. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Radloff seven children 
 have been born: Sophia, wife of Charles 
 Young, of McHenry county; Rachel, wife of 
 Fred Rousch, of Starks Station, Illinois; 
 Fred, a farmer residing on the old home- 
 stead; Caroline, wife of William Miller, of 
 McHenry county; Mary, wife of Fred Miller, 
 residing in Cook county; Bertha, wife of 
 Burton Chapman, watch inspector in the 
 Elgin factory; and Louis, who is assisting 
 his brother on the farm. 
 
 Politically Mr. Radloff is a stanch Re- 
 publican and believer in protection and 
 reciprocity. His first presidential ballot 
 was cast for U. S. Grant in 1872. For 
 about fifteen years Mr. Radloff served as a 
 member of the school board and as overseer 
 of highways about seventeen years, making 
 a faithful and efficient officer. For some 
 years he was an official of the Farmers' In- 
 surance Company of Barrington township, 
 and was one of its appraisers for six years. 
 
 Religiously he is a member of the Lutheran 
 church and is one of its active members, 
 having served as deacon in the same for 
 some years. His wife and children are also 
 members of the same body, and all take an 
 active interest in the work of the church. 
 
 Mr. Radloff has been a resident of Illi- 
 nois about thirty-three years. He came 
 here a poor man, but by his industrious 
 habits he has acquired a fair share of this 
 world's goods, has seen his family well pro- 
 vided and is now enjoying a well earned 
 rest. 
 
 GEN. JOHN SHULER WILCOX, of 
 Elgin, is one of the best known men 
 in Kane county, and one highly honored by 
 all. He comes of a brave and patriotic 
 family, whose deeds are a part of the great 
 record of our country's history. His ances- 
 try is traced back to William Wilcockson, 
 who came to this country in 1635, as shown 
 by the following taken from the New Eng- 
 land Historic Genealogical Register, Vol. 
 XIV., part 4, page 304: 
 
 "2dAprilis, 1635. Theis underwritten 
 names are to be transported to New Eng- 
 land, imbarqued in the Planter, Nico Tra- 
 rice. Master: William Wilcockson (lynen 
 weaver), age 34; Margaret Wilcockson, age 
 24; Jo Wilcockson, age 2." 
 
 It will thus be seen that the name was 
 originally Wilcockson. In due time it was 
 changed to Wilcox. William Wilcockson 
 settled first at Windsor and afterward re- 
 moved to Stratford, Connecticut. His 
 fourth child, Samuel, settled at Simsbury, 
 Connecticut, where his first son, also named 
 Samuel, was born April 15, 1666. The 
 eighth child of the second Samuel was 
 named Ephraim, and was born February 4, 
 1707. He married Hannah Hill, of Sims-
 
 GEN. J. S. WILCOX.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 165 
 
 bury, Connecticut. They were the parents 
 of Silvanus Wilcox, who was born at Sims- 
 bury, November 14, 1735, and married 
 Christine Curtis, a daughter of Peter Curtis, 
 of that place. A few years later he moved 
 with his family to Nine Partners, Dutchess 
 county, New York, where he remained 
 some years, and then went to Alford, Mass- 
 achusetts, where, in 1768, he purchased a 
 farm and engaged in agricultural pursuits. 
 
 In the first town meeting held in Alford, 
 in '775. Silvanus Wilcox was elected con- 
 stable and collector of taxes, and the same 
 year was elected one of the selectmen of 
 the town, which office he held five terms. 
 The trouble with Great Britain had com- 
 menced, and Mr. Wilcox was appointed 
 one of a committee of safety. A little later 
 a company was raised for military service, 
 and he was elected captain. In the cam- 
 paign of 1775-76 it took an active part, 
 and in September, 1777, the company joined 
 the regiment of Col. John Asjley, and 
 marched to Saratoga, where they partici- 
 pated in the capture of Burgoyne. After a 
 long struggle the war for independence was 
 brought to a successful termination, and 
 Captain Wilcox retired to his farm to enjoy 
 the blessings of peace and pursuits of agri- 
 culture. After residing on his farm in Al- 
 ford for nearly thirty years, he sold it and 
 removed to the Greenland tract, where he 
 resided until his death. 
 
 Silvanus Wilcox, Jr., the son of the 
 Revolutionary hero, was born in Al- 
 ford, Massachusetts, May 26, 1762. He 
 married, and in April, 1787, moved with 
 his wife and daughter to Schoharie Creek, 
 New York, where he and his wife are buried, 
 their graves being enclosed with a stone 
 wall, a plain marble slab marking their rest- 
 ing place, with his name inscribed " General 
 
 Silvanus Wilcox." He attained the rank of 
 general in the New York State Militia. His 
 son, Elijah Wilcox, was born in Montgom- 
 ery county, New York, May 10, 1791. He 
 there married Sally Shuler, also a native of 
 New York, and was recognized as one of the 
 leading citizens of Fultonville, that state, 
 where he lived for many years. In the State 
 Militia he rose to the rank of brigadier- 
 general, and in the civil service of his town 
 and county served in several local positions. 
 In May, 1842, he came to Kane county, 
 Illinois, and located on a farm two and a 
 half miles northwest of Elgin, where his 
 last days were passed. The farm, known 
 as the Wilcox homestead, is now owned by 
 Judge Silvanus Wilcox, the eldest son. To 
 Elijah and Sally Wilcox ten children were 
 born, as follows: Amelia A., who" married 
 John Hill; John S., who died at the age of 
 sixteen years; Silvanus, who married Jane 
 Mallory; Rensselaer, who died in infancy; 
 Daniel S. , who married Sarah Ballard; Cal- 
 vin E., who married Emily Larkin; Edward 
 Sanford, who married Sarah Clarke, and 
 later Cordelia Peck Alston, sister of George 
 M. Peck; Hannah M., wife of Charles 
 R. Collin; John Shuler, our subject; Will- 
 am H., who wedded Mary A. Green, and 
 after her death Mrs. Helen Green. Of these, 
 four are living in Elgin: Silvanus, Mrs. 
 Collin, John S. and William H. 
 
 Elijah Wilcox was in politics a Demo- 
 crat, in religion a Universalist. In 1846 
 he was elected to the Illinois State senate 
 and served four years, with credit to him- 
 self and constituents. When the Civil war 
 commenced he warmly espoused the Union 
 cause; and did much in the way: of encour- 
 agement to the men who left for the front. 
 He was foremost in educational and agri- 
 cultural movements, and always labored for
 
 1 66 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the progress and advancement of the com- 
 munity and the state, and departed this life 
 holding the esteem of all who knew him. 
 He died December 1 1, 1862, while his good 
 wife survived him many years, dying April 
 4, 1882. She was a devoted member of 
 the Congregational church. With his three 
 sons he received honorable mention in 
 Moses' History of Illinois. 
 
 John Shuler Wilcox, ninth child of Gen- 
 eral Elijah and Sally (Shuler) Wilcox, was 
 born March 18, 1833, at Fultonville, Mont- 
 gomery county, New York, and with the 
 family came to Elgin, Kane county, Illinois, 
 in May, 1842, where they located on the 
 old homestead now the property of his 
 eldest brother, Judge Silvanus Wilcox. 
 When he was a boy he drove the breaking 
 team of seven yoke of oxen to a great plow 
 turning with each furrow twenty-seven 
 inches of wild prairie sod, clean cut and as 
 straight as a ribbon. The log cabin with 
 shake roof, puncheon floor, wooden latch 
 and thong latch string were familiar realities. 
 The lurid gleam of prairie fires against the 
 dark horizon of night was a common sight, 
 and the howl of prairie wolves at daybreak 
 and evening was often heard. Wolves and 
 deer were abundant, sand hill cranes, wild 
 geese and ducks abounded. Prairie chickens 
 and quails covered the prairies, and vast 
 flocks of wild pigeons darkened the sky in 
 their annual migrations. The songs of the 
 brown thrush, robin, oriole, cat bird, lark, 
 bobolink and other birds filled grove and 
 prairie with music. Myriads of wild flowers 
 bloomed from every spring until late 
 autumn, and it was indeed a beautiful and 
 fertile land. In the winter of 1842-3 the 
 lands came into market and it was a busy 
 and anxious time with the early settlers, 
 adjusting their claim lines to the govern- 
 
 ment surveys, and securing title to their 
 lands. 
 
 Mr. Wilcox's boyhood was spent on the 
 farm, and in 1851 he was employed a few 
 months in a store in Union, McHenry 
 county, Illinois. Going to Galesburg in 
 1852, he attended school there for about a 
 year and a half, at what is now Lombard 
 University. Returning to Elgin he studied, 
 law in the office of his brother, Hon. S. 
 Wilcox, and was admitted to the bar in 
 1855. That winter, as president of the 
 Young Men's Association, he introduced to 
 Elgin audiences such eminent men as 
 Wendell Phillips, Elihu Burritt, John G. 
 Saxe, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Bayard Tay- 
 lor, etc., in a course of brilliant lectures 
 rarely equaled. He was also a member of 
 the Elgin Library Association. 
 
 On September 3, 1856, Mr. Wilcox 
 married Miss Lois A. Conger, at Galesburg, 
 and in 1858 they built their first house, now 
 No. 456 Douglas avenue, Elgin, where they 
 have since resided. It has ever been an 
 ideal home to their family, and the center 
 of a most generous and genial hospitality. 
 Six children have been born to them, name- 
 ly: Dwight Conger; John Hill; Gertrude; 
 Marie, now Mrs. Robert Fuller Fitz, of 
 Boston, Massachusetts; Frank Conger; and 
 Marguerite. Frank C. and Gertrude died 
 in infancy, and John H. in 1892. 
 
 About 1856 a military company was or- 
 ganized in Elgin, of which Mr. Wilcox was 
 a lieutenant, and for two years the " Con- 
 tinentals " under the drill and discipline of 
 the lamented Col. E. E. Ellsworth, who 
 was killed at Alexandria, Virginia, early in 
 the war, was the crack military company of 
 northern Illinois. In 1855 Mr. Wilcox 
 opened an office in Elgin and soon acquired 
 a good clientage, and a fair reputation as a
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 167 
 
 popular speaker and rising young lawyer. 
 Upon the president's first call for troops he 
 at once began arranging his business, pre- 
 paratory to enlisting. 
 
 In August, 1 86 1, Mr. Wilcox became a 
 member of a military company and was 
 chosen its captain. It became Company 
 K, Fifty-second Illinois Volunteer Infantry, 
 and upon the organization of the regiment 
 he was chosen its lieutenant-colonel, was 
 subsequently promoted to the colonelcy, 
 and by the president was commissioned 
 brevet brigadier general of volunteers. 
 He served with his regiment in its cam- 
 paigns, marches and battles until the spring 
 of 1864 when he resigned. At request of 
 the governor and adjutant-general of the 
 state, he commanded the camp of organiza- 
 tion of the One Hundred and Forty-first 
 Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and practically 
 gave the summer and fall to the enlistment 
 and organization of troops and the political 
 campaign resulting in the second election of 
 Mr. Lincoln to the presidency. 
 
 Mr. Wilcox then resumed his law prac- 
 tice with flattering success although greatly 
 handicapped by an impaired hearing, re- 
 sulting from injury received at the battle of 
 Corinth, Mississippi. In 1865 he became 
 one of the original incorporators of the First 
 National Bank, serving over twelve years 
 as a director, and for a time vice-president 
 of the bank. In 1869, with others, he in- 
 corporated the Elgin. City Banking Com- 
 pany, the first savings bank in Elgin, and 
 served about ten years as one of its officers. 
 In 1866 he was elected and served one term 
 as mayor of the city. He served a number 
 of years on the public library board, and 
 while its president had the Elgin library 
 designated by the congressman of this dis- 
 trict to receive all public documents issued 
 
 by the government, including the unique 
 and very costly war records of both the Fed- 
 eral and Confederate governments. He 
 served several years as director and as pres- 
 ident of the Elgin Agricultural Society. For 
 over a quarter of a century he has been a 
 member of the board of trustees of Elgin 
 Academy, and several years its president. 
 From 1843 to 1854 his father was a mem- 
 ber of the same board. 
 
 Up to 1871 Elgin had but one railway, 
 and the excessive charges for passengers 
 and freight were exasperating. The charges 
 on a box of tea or upon a piano were heav- 
 ier from Chicago to Elgin than from New 
 York to Chicago. Committees, of which 
 General Wilcox was a member, were sent 
 by meetings of citizens at various times to 
 confer with the railway authorities, hoping 
 for favorable concessions, but failing to ob- 
 tain relief, the movement took form in the 
 organization of the Chicago & Pacific Rail- 
 way Company, in 1871, and he became a 
 member of its board of directors and its 
 general solicitor. They constructed its road 
 to Byron, Illinois, on the west bank of the 
 Rock river, where it succumbed to the com- 
 bined opposition of the Illinois Central, the 
 Chicago & Northwestern, and the Chicago, 
 Milwaukee & St. Paul railroads, and failed, 
 its property passing by lease to the last 
 named road, which has since extended the 
 line and completed the road, giving the peo- 
 ple the benefit of frequent and convenient 
 trains at liberal rates, with a prompt and 
 generous service in all respects. Mr. Wil- 
 cox lost a comfortable fortune and over six 
 years of hard service in this enterprise, but 
 has had the satisfaction of knowing it has 
 resulted in immeasurable good to his fellow 
 townsmen and to a large section of the 
 country along its line.
 
 1 68 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 In 1877 Mr. Wilcox was appointed post- 
 master of Elgin, having by reason of his 
 deafness abandoned his chosen profession. 
 In 1882 he embarked in the fuel trade and 
 warehouse business, and is now dealing in 
 coal, wood, sewer pipe, etc. He was one 
 of the incorporators of the Elgin Loan & 
 Homestead Association, and was for five 
 years on its board of directors. He out- 
 lined the organization of the Elgin Patriotic 
 Memorial Association, and prepared its arti- 
 cles of incorporation. He is a member of 
 the Grand Army of the Republic, but under 
 stipulation that his comrades shall not ask 
 him to take any office, though he has served 
 as representative to both state and national 
 encampments a number of times; been on 
 staff of the commander-in-chief; and is now 
 representing the department of Illinois on 
 the committee "in charge of patriotic exer- 
 cises in public schools," by appointment of 
 the commander-in-chief. On every "Me- 
 morial day he is called upon to address the 
 people, and at the schools and at patriotic 
 assemblages he is a frequent speaker. He 
 is a member of the military order of the 
 Loyal Legion, and of the Society of the 
 Army of the Tennessee. 
 
 General Wilcox's views are broad and 
 kindly; he loves every church and Christian 
 work. He is a devoted Universalist, and 
 has been an active member and officer of 
 the parish since its organization. For twen- 
 ty-five consecutive years he was superin- 
 tendent of the Sunday-school. He has ever 
 been a stanch friend of the Elgin Woman's 
 Club, of which his estimable wife was one 
 of its inc rporators and its president during 
 the first eight years of its work, which in- 
 cluded the appropriation of over twenty-two 
 hundred dollars in aid of the Elgin Academy 
 and the erection of the Sherman hospital. 
 
 He transmitted the money contributed by 
 the generous people to famine-stricken Ire- 
 land, and to the sufferers in Armenia. In- 
 deed it would be difficult to recall any gen- 
 erous movement in aid of education, charity 
 or patriotism, of which he has not been an 
 active factor. 
 
 DR. JAMES McELROY, a well-known 
 veterinary surgeon residing at the cor- 
 ner of Brook street and Jefferson avenue, 
 Elgin, has made his home in Kane county 
 for fifty-four years, arriving in pioneer days. 
 Elgin, which is now a great manufacturing 
 city and railroad center, was at that time 
 only a srnajl. station on the stage line be- 
 tween Galena, Rockford, Hazel Green and 
 Dubuque, and the greater part of the coun- 
 try round about was still in its primitive 
 condition. The difference between the past 
 and the present can scarcely be realized, 
 even by those who were active participants 
 in the development of the county. The 
 present generation can have no conception 
 of what was required by the early settlers in 
 transforming the wilderness into a well set- 
 tled and highly cultivated county. 
 
 Dr. McElroy was born in the eastern 
 part of Ireland, December 3, 1814, a son 
 of Tarame and Elizabeth (Cody) McElroy, 
 and in his native land acquired his literary 
 education and also studied pharmacy in 
 Dublin, graduating in 1836. He has since 
 successfully engaged in the practice of vet- 
 terinary surgery. On coming to the new 
 world in 1840, he first located in Albany, 
 New York, from there removed to Schen- 
 ectady, later to Syracuse, that state, and 
 then was for three years with Mr. Howlet, 
 coming with him to the west to buy horses. 
 Since 1844 Elgin has been his home and 
 post office address, although he has spent
 
 JAMES MCELROY.
 
 MRS. JAMES MCELROY.
 

 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 173 
 
 some time at other places, being in the em- 
 ploy of Frink & Walker, and Moore & 
 Davis, in Milwaukee, for eight years. 
 
 In 1840 Dr. McElroy was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Elizabeth Smith, who was 
 born December 17, 1816, and departed this 
 life January 27, 1894, at the age of seventy- 
 eight years. Six children were born to 
 them, five sons and ope daughter, namely: 
 Tarrence, who was married and died at the 
 age of thirty-six years; John, who was mar- 
 ried and died at the age of thirty -two; Ed- 
 ward, who for the past five years has been 
 engaged in buying horses for the United 
 States government; James, a conductor on 
 the Iron Mountain railroad, at Texarkana, 
 Texas; and Mary Elizabeth, who is now 
 her father's companion and housekeeper. 
 
 Although eighty-four years of age Dr. 
 McElroy appears much younger as he is still 
 able to attend to his professional duties; his 
 eyesight is undimmed, and his natural force 
 of character unabated. Nature deals kindly 
 with those who disobey not her laws, and 
 the Doctor attributes his good health to the 
 important fact that he has always been tem- 
 perate in all things, dissipation of every 
 kind having been studiously avoided. He 
 possesses many of the admirable character- 
 istics of the Irish race, being of a genial, 
 jovial disposition, fond of wit and humor, 
 and generous almost to a fault. Courteous 
 and companionable, he has made many 
 warm friends in his adopted country and 
 has the respect of all who know him. 
 
 BENJAMIN COX, now living a retired life 
 at No. 418 Mountain street, Elgin, traces 
 his ancestry back to John Cox, who came 
 to America long prior to the Revolutionary 
 war, accompanied by two brothers, Thomas 
 
 8 
 
 and William Cox, each of them locating in 
 New York city or state. John Cox married 
 Elizabeth Palmer, and they became the 
 parents of the following named children: 
 John, William, Jamieson, Thomas, George, 
 Clark, Henry, Joseph and Stephen, and a 
 daughter, Elizabeth. 
 
 David Cox, Sr., the paternal grandfather 
 of our subject, was born in New York city, 
 October 9, 1767. He married Judith Corn- 
 ing, of Beverly, Massachusetts, who was 
 born October 2, 1767. In early life he fol- 
 lowed the sea, but later located on a farm 
 at Wilmot, New Hampshire, where his 
 death occurred at an advanced age. In 
 their family were three sons and three 
 daughters David, John, Benjamin, Judith, 
 Betsy, who died in infancy, and Betsy the 
 second. . 
 
 David Cox, Jr., was born October 21, 
 1790, at Beverly, Massachusetts, and at 
 Wilmot, New Hampshire, married Lydia 
 Bean, by whom he had three children, two 
 now living Benjamin, our subject, and 
 Lydia, now the wife of D. O. Carter, of 
 Painesville, Ohio. Eliza, the deceased, was 
 the wife of Horace French. Early in the 
 present century he moved west, locating in 
 Mantua, Portage county, Ohio, where he 
 died in 1838, in the forty-eighth, year of his 
 age. His wife survived him until May 10, 
 1877, dying at the age of eighty-one years. 
 They were both members of the old-school 
 Baptist church. After the death of her hus- 
 band Mrs. Cox married again, her second 
 husband being Enoch Colby, of Concord, 
 Ohio, where he died. During the war of 
 1812 David Cox, Jr., was called out as a 
 soldier to help defend Portsmouth, New 
 Hampshire, but as the British did not land, 
 his regiment was disbanded. 
 
 The maternal grandfather of our subject,
 
 174 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Jeremiah Bean, was a native of Salisbury, 
 New Hampshire, and by occupation was a 
 farmer. He married Mehitable Garland, 
 also of Salisbury, New Hampshire, by whom 
 he had a large family. In the war of 1812 
 he served his country against the British, 
 and was wounded in the ankle at the battle 
 of Plattsburg. He died at an advanced age. 
 
 Benjamin Cox, of whom we now write, 
 was born in Wilrnot, New Hampshire, De- 
 cember 28, 1819, and is the son of David 
 Cox, Jr., and Lydia (Bean) Cox. He was 
 reared on his father's farm in New Hamp- 
 shire until sixteen years old, assisting in the 
 farm labor when old enough to work, and 
 attending the district schools three months 
 in winter and three in the summer each 
 year. He then accompanied his parents to 
 Ohio, where he continued to assist in farm 
 work until the death of his father, when he 
 learned the manufacture of women's shoes 
 at Lynn, Massachusetts. 
 
 On the igth of July, 1841, he married 
 Miss Susan Bell, daughter of James and 
 Betsey (Spangler) Bell. By this union were 
 four children Jennie C. , Helen E., Jay M. 
 and Charles B. Jennie C. married C. Mor- 
 ris Jennings, and they have one daughter 
 and one son, Mildred and Benjamin. They 
 reside in Union, Illinois. Helen E. mar- 
 ried Samuel Monroe, by whom she has two 
 children, Ella and Frank E. Her home is 
 in Elgin. Jay M. died at the age of twen- 
 ty-one. Charles B. lives in Juarez, Mexico, 
 where he is trainmaster for the Mexican 
 Central railway. He married at Turner 
 Junction, now West Chicago, Illinois, Mary 
 Alice Trull, and they have three children, 
 Clara B. , Helen E. and Benjamin Trull. 
 Mrs. Susan Cox died July 8, 1884, aged 
 sixty-one years and twenty-four days. She 
 was a devout member of the Methodist 
 
 church, and died in the full assurance of 
 faith. 
 
 For his second wife, in June, 1885, Mr. 
 Cox married Mrs. Esther (Gardner) Marsh, 
 widow of Mason M. Marsh, and daughter of 
 Dwight and Cynthia (White) Gardner, na- 
 tives of Massachusetts, who removed to 
 New York in childhood and were there mar- 
 ried. A brother of Mrs. Cox, Dwight Fos- 
 ter Gardner, now resides on the old home- 
 stead on which his father and grandfather 
 lived and died. Her marriage with Mason 
 M. Marsh was celebrated in Madison coun- 
 ty, New York, in 1857. He came first to 
 Elgin in 1850, where his death occurred. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Cox now reside in a large and 
 comfortable home, No. 418 Mountain street, 
 which was erected by him in 1870. In his 
 religious belief Mr. Cox is a Universalist. 
 
 In 1842 Mr. Cox left his Ohio home on 
 a prospecting tour. Believing that in Illi- 
 nois the opportunity for advancement was 
 greater than in the place where he then re- 
 sided, he came to this state, and being 
 favorably impressed with Kane county, pur- 
 chased a claim of one hundred and twenty- 
 three acres from another party, and subse- 
 quently entered the same, paying the gov- 
 ernment price of one dollar and twenty-five 
 cents per acre. In the spring of 1843 he 
 returned to Ohio, and in the fall of the same 
 year came back with his wife and baby in a 
 one-horse wagon. On that farm, which 
 lies two miles west of Elgin, and to which 
 he later added forty-three acres, he lived 
 until his removal to the city, in 1870. 
 
 On his arrival in Kane county, Mr. Cox 
 had but about ten dollars in cash, and for 
 a while worked for other persons for fifty 
 cents per day, husking corn, and taking his 
 pay in corn. The horse with which he 
 made the journey to Illinois he traded for a
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 175 
 
 yoke of oxen, with which he farmed until 
 he could purchase a span of horses. As 
 soon as he got his horses he commenced 
 hauling his wheat and other grain to Chi- 
 cago. 
 
 Farming in Illinois, in pioneer days, was 
 not an easy job. It required hard work. 
 Mr. Cox was not averse to work, and toiled 
 early and late, sowing and reaping. Suc- 
 cess crowned his efforts, and in 1870 he was 
 enabled to retire from active labor and take 
 life more easily. In the meantime, as stated, 
 he had increased the size of his home farm, 
 and had purchased a farm of ninety-three 
 acres in Union township. In addition to 
 these farms and his family residence, he 
 owns the house in which his daughter lives 
 in Elgin. For more than half a century 
 Mr. Cox has been a resident of Kane coun- 
 ty. His face is a familiar one in and around 
 Elgin, and few men have more loyal and 
 steadfast friends. 
 
 /CHARLES E. LEWIS, the well-known 
 \-^ superintendent of the Carpentersville 
 branch of the New York Condensed Milk 
 Company, has occupied that position since 
 the plant was established at that place in 
 1888. He is a native of Sharon, Litchfield 
 county, Connecticut, born September 3, 
 1847. His father, Hon. Miles B. Lewis, 
 was also a native of Connecticut, born in 
 Bridgeport in 1811. He there grew to man- 
 hood, and in 1832 moved to Sharon. His 
 marriage with Miss Maria Kelsey was cele- 
 brated at Milford, Connecticut. She was a 
 native of that state and was a woman of 
 great refinement and lovable disposition. 
 There they continued to reside and reared 
 their family of nine sons and one daughter. 
 Of their children William S., is a retired 
 
 business man of Chicago; M. K. , is a mer- 
 chant of Duchess county, New York; Charles 
 E., our subject; Eliza, who married Allan 
 Brown, of Sharon, Connecticut, but who 
 removed with her husband and family to 
 Iowa in the spring of 1 868, where both have 
 since died. 
 
 The Lewises are of Welsh origin, three 
 brothers coming from Wales at a very early 
 day, one locating in New York, another in 
 Pennsylvania, and the third in Connecticut. 
 Miles B. Lewis is a direct descendant of the 
 one who located in Connecticut. He was a 
 man of more than ordinary ability and served 
 two terms in the Connecticut legislature at 
 the time P. T. Barnum was a member of 
 that-body. His death occurred in the spring 
 of 1893. His good wife yet survives, and 
 is now eighty-four years of age and a well 
 preserved old lady. 
 
 The subject of this sketch remained at 
 home until eighteen years of age and there 
 received a good common-school education 
 and learned the milkbusiness, the family be- 
 ing intimate with the Bordens, pioneers in 
 that business. In the Borden factory at 
 Wassaic, New York, he received his first 
 lessons in the milk industry. Leaving home 
 he came to Kane county and began working 
 on the farm of Cornell & Wilder near Elgin, 
 with whom he remained about ten months, 
 although he only intended working for them 
 two weeks, that he might give them instruc- 
 tions in the care of milk. From Cornell & 
 Wilders he drifted around for quite a while 
 working at anything he could find to do that 
 was honorable. 
 
 In the spring of 1869, Mr. Lewis was 
 married at Elgin, Illinois, to Miss Marilla 
 Reaser, a native of Kane county, and a 
 daughter of Anthony Reaser, of one the 
 pioneer settlers of Plato township. She re-
 
 1 7 6 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ceived a good education in the schools of 
 Elgin, and for some time previous to her 
 marriage engaged in teaching. By this 
 union were three children, as follows: Susan, 
 now the wife of R. W. Church, who is con- 
 nected with the condensed milk factory at 
 Carpentersville; Ella, who is engaged in the 
 millinery business at Nunda, Illinois; and 
 Frank H., who holds a position in the fac- 
 tory with his father. 
 
 Soon after marriage Mr. Lewis moved 
 to Crystal Lake, McHenry county, and took 
 charge of the farm of S. S. Gates, where he 
 remained one season. He then determined 
 to go where he could get a farm of his own 
 without much expense. Accordingly, in 
 1870 he moved to Pottowatamie county, 
 Kansas, and took up a claim of one hun- 
 dred and sixty acres and at once commenced 
 its improvement. In due time he had as 
 fine a farm as was in the neighborhood, but 
 in 1876 he sold out and returned to New 
 York, locating in Wassaic, Duchess county, 
 and engaged with Mr. Borden in the con- 
 densed milk business at that place. He re- 
 mained there until 1882 when the company 
 sent him to Elgin as an operator on the 
 vacuum -pans. In that position he continued 
 until the erection of the factory at Carpen- 
 tersville, when he received the appointment 
 as its superintendent, which position he still 
 continues to hold to the entire satisfaction of 
 the company and its many patrons. The 
 capacity of the factory has been increased 
 until it is now one of the best in the coun- 
 try, and to its work Mr. Lewis gives almost 
 his entire time and attention. 
 
 Since taking the superintendency of the 
 factory, Mr. Lewis has purchased residence 
 property in Dundee, and has now one of the 
 nicest homes in the place. Politically he is a 
 Republican, with which party he has been 
 
 identified since casting his first presidential 
 vote for U. S. Grant in 1868. While pre- 
 ferring to have others serve in official posi- 
 tions, Mr. Lewis served for three years as a 
 member of the town board, with which he 
 was connected on the institution of the water 
 works. While on the board he was chair- 
 man of the finance committee and looked 
 carefully after the finances of the city. 
 
 Fraternally Mr. Lewis is a Master Ma- 
 son and also a charter member of Silver 
 Leaf camp, No. 60, M. W. A. Religiously 
 he and his wife are members of the Congre- 
 gational church of Dundee and take a com- 
 mendable interest in the work of the church 
 and its various auxiliary societies. 
 
 For a third of a century Mr. Lewis has 
 been identified more or less with the inter- 
 ests of Kane county, and has endeavored to 
 contribute his share to its growth and de- 
 velopment. He is well known throughout 
 Kane and adjoining counties as a man of 
 good business ability and exemplary habits, 
 enjoying the confidence and respect of all, 
 and it is with pleasure that he has given 
 representation in the Biographical Record 
 of Kane county. 
 
 CLINTON F. IRWIN, of the firm of 
 \^s Irwin & Egan, attorneys at law, Cook 
 block, Elgin, enjoys an enviable reputation 
 in the legal fraternity of Kane county, hav- 
 ing the past eighteen years built up a prac- 
 tice that many older attorneys might ear- 
 nestly desire. He was born in Franklin 
 Grove, Lee county, Illinois, January i, 
 1854, and is a son of Henry and Ann Eliza- 
 neth (McNeal) Irwin, the former born in the 
 north of Ireland, and the later in Pennsyl- 
 vania. Of their three children, Clinton F. 
 is the only one now living.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 177 
 
 The paternal grandfather of our subject, 
 Henry, Irwin, was a native of County Antrim, 
 Ireland. On coining to America he lived for 
 a time in Canada, and in 1836 came to Illi- 
 nois, settling in Franklin Grove, Lee county, 
 where he improved a farm and there died in- 
 1853, at the age of fifty-seven years. He was 
 the father of three sons and nine daughters. 
 
 The maternal grandfather, Thomas Mc- 
 Neal, was a native of Bedford county, Penn- 
 sylvania, of Scotch-Irish descent. By oc- 
 cupation he was a farmer, following that 
 calling during his entire life. He also moved 
 to Illinois at an early day and settled near 
 Dixon, where he died at an advanced age. 
 In his family were three sons and one daugh- 
 ter. His youngest son entered the army in 
 defense of the Union and was killed at the 
 battle of Perryville. 
 
 Henry Irwin, Jr., was but a small child 
 when he came with his parents to Canada. 
 When twelve years of age he went to Lee 
 county, Illinois, where he married Ann Eliza- 
 beth McNeal. In 1859 he came to Kane 
 county and locate'd at Maple Park, where 
 he engaged in the hotel business and in run- 
 ning a meat market. He died in 1880, at 
 the age of fifty-four years. His wife sur- 
 vived until February, 1894, dying at Elgin 
 at the home of her son, at the age of sixty- 
 one years. They were originally members 
 of the Methodist Episcopal church. Dur- 
 ing the dark days of the Rebellion Henry 
 Irwin enlisted as a membet of Company C, 
 Seventy-fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, 
 with which he served until early in 1865, 
 when he was transferred to the Twenty-first 
 Illinois Volunteer Infantry Grant's old regi- 
 ment which was sent to Texas. The war 
 ending, he was discharged after serving two 
 years and eight months. 
 
 Clinton Fillmore Irwin was six years of 
 
 age when his parents removed to Maple 
 Park, Kane county. In the public schools 
 of that village he received a common-school 
 education, which was later supplemented by 
 attendance at Wheaton College ,and the 
 Valparaiso (Indiana) Normal. Before at- 
 taining his eighteenth year he commenced 
 teaching in the public schools and continued 
 to be thus successfully engaged until he was 
 twenty-five years old. While yet teaching 
 he commenced reading law in the office of 
 W. H. H. Kennedy, of Maple Park, but the 
 last three years studied alone. After pass- 
 ing a successful examination he was ad- 
 mitted to the bar in 1879, at Chicago, and 
 at once commenced the practice of his pro- 
 fession at Maple Park. He there continued 
 until 1883, when he removed to Elgin, and, 
 forming a partnership with Robert S. Egan, 
 they have since engaged in active practice 
 with fine success. 
 
 Mr. Irwin was united in marriage No- 
 vember 3, 1880, with Miss Julia Helen 
 Egan, daughter of William and Bridget 
 (Sanders) Egan. By this union four chil- 
 dren have been born: William Henry Har- 
 rison, Clayton Franklin, Mary Mildred and 
 Clinton Francis. The second named died 
 in early childhood on the 28th of June, 
 1890. Religiously Mrs. Irwin is a member 
 of the Catholic church. 
 
 Mr. Irwin is a member of the Odd Fel- 
 lows, Knights of Pythias, Modern Wood- 
 men, Maccabees and United Workmen. 
 Politically he is a Republican, the principles 
 of which party were instilled into him from 
 his birth, which was the year in which the 
 Republican party came into existence. In 
 1896 he stumped a great portion of the 
 states of Illinois and Indiana, spending 
 about two months in that work. He deliv- 
 ered addresses at Sycamore, Batavia, Ge-
 
 1 7 8 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 neva, Aurora, Wheaton, Hinsdale, Downer's 
 Grove and various other places in Illinois. 
 In Chicago he delivered four speeches, also 
 at Geneva Lake, Wisconsin, La Porte, In- 
 diana, and other points outside the state. 
 While his professional duties have com- 
 manded much of his time, he has yet served 
 his township and city, first as supervisor 
 from Virgil in 1881-2, and was assistant 
 supervisor of Elgin in 1885. He was cor- 
 poration counsel for the city of Elgin from 
 May, 1895, until May, 1897, and discharged 
 the responsible duties of that position in a 
 most creditable manner. 
 
 A resident of the county since 1858 and 
 for eighteen years a member of the bar, 
 Mr. Irwin has gone in and out among the 
 people, making many friends and establish- 
 ing a reputation as one of its leading attor- 
 neys. Genial and affable, possessed of a 
 logical mind and of rare persuasive powers, 
 he is enabled to appear well before a jury 
 and to exert over it a wonderful influence. 
 As a citizen he has at all times the good of 
 the community at heart and all his abilities 
 are exerted to make the city and county of 
 his adoption rank among the brightest and 
 best of all composing this great common- 
 wealth. 
 
 ELON G. DOUGLASS, a prominent citi- 
 zen of Elgin, now retired from active 
 business cares, is one of the men who make 
 old age seem the better portion of life. He 
 is a very intelligent and well-informed man, 
 and to those who have the pleasure of his 
 acquaintance his well-stored mind and con- 
 versational powers are a source of perpetual 
 pleasure. 
 
 , Mr. Douglass was born near Gorham, 
 Ontario county, New York, and is a worthy 
 representative of an honored old family of 
 
 the east. His father, George Douglass, was 
 a native of Connecticut, born in 1804, and 
 was a son of Rev. Caleb Douglass, also a 
 native of that state, whence he removed 
 with his family to Ontario county, New 
 York, settling near Whitesboro. He died 
 at Gorham in 1835, at a very advanced age, 
 being blind for the last seven years of his 
 life. His father, a colonial soldier in the 
 Revolutionary war, was one of three broth- 
 ers who crossed the Atlantic from Scotland 
 at a very early day, and who first located in 
 Massachusetts, but afterward removed to 
 Connecticut. One brother settled in New 
 York, the other in Pennsylvania. 
 
 . George Douglass, our subject's father, 
 was unusually well educated for his time, 
 and successfully engaged in teaching when 
 a young man, after which he served as school 
 inspector in New York for many years, while 
 he followed the occupation of a farmer. In 
 1856 he became a resident of Kane county, 
 Illinois, and here died ten years later. In 
 early life he married Miss Eliza Metcalf, 
 who was born in the town of Gorham, On- 
 tario county, New York, about 1809, of 
 English ancestry, and who was called to 
 her final rest in 1894. Her father, Irwin 
 Metcalf, who died in New York at about 
 the age of eighty years, was three times 
 married, his first wife being the mother of 
 Mrs. Douglass. 
 
 The subject of this sketch is the second 
 in order of birth in the family of four chil- 
 dren, the others being as follows: Mary 
 died in July, 1897; Ada, who was the wife 
 of Ogden Seward, of D'ltchess county, New 
 York, died in May, 1893; Ora P. enlisted 
 in September, 1861, in the Union army 
 during the Civil war, was wounded at the 
 siege of Vicksburg, and died at Jefferson 
 Barracks in June, 1863. Going to see him,
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 179 
 
 our subject wished to bring him home, and 
 it is probable that he might have lived if 
 permitted to come. 
 
 Elon G. Douglass began his education in 
 the public schools of his native county, sub- 
 sequently attended the Canandaigua Acad- 
 emy, and after his removal to Rochester, 
 New York, at the age of twenty years, he 
 attended the Rochester University for four 
 years. Having thus obtained an excellent 
 education, he successfully engaged in teach- 
 ing school for several years during early 
 life. In April, 1856, he became a resident 
 of Kane county, and has since been identi- 
 fied with its interests. By rail he and his 
 father came to Chicago, thence proceeded 
 to DuPage county, Illinois, Rock Island, 
 and on to Iowa City, Iowa, looking for a 
 suitable location, and finally decided to set- 
 tle in Kane county, with which they were 
 best pleased. Our subject remained in El- 
 gin while the father returned for the family, 
 which arrived in June, 1856. Upon section 
 22, Elgin township, the father bought one 
 hundred seventy-two acres of prairie land, 
 and also eleven acres of timber, and with 
 him the son engaged in farming until the 
 father's death. On first locating here Mr. 
 Douglass gave his attention principally to the 
 raising of cereals adapted to this climate 
 wheat, corn, oats, etc. later engaged in 
 stock raising, and finally devoted his ener- 
 gies to dairy farming, being thus employed 
 from 1879 until 1895. Having met with a 
 well -deserved success in his undertakings, 
 he has now laid aside business cares, and is 
 enjoying the fruits of his former toil at his 
 pleasant home, at No. 636 Lillie street, 
 Elgin, where he has resided since August, 
 1895. 
 
 In Rochester, New York, October 7, 
 1856, Mr. Douglass married Miss Angie 
 
 Bradbury, a native of Erie county, New 
 York, and a daughter of William B. 
 and Maria (Van Scoten) Bradbury. Her 
 mother's people came to this country with 
 the Van Rensselaers and other patrons 
 from Holland. Her father, who was quite 
 prominent in musical circles, was born in 
 Bath, England, in 1787, a son of William 
 B. Bradbury, Sr., and when three years of 
 age he came to America. He was a farmer 
 by occupation, and having accumulated a 
 comfortable competence, he spent his last 
 years in ease and retirement from active 
 labor. At about the age of thirty-five he 
 was married to Maria Van Scoten, by whom 
 he had nine children, Mrs. Douglass being 
 the fourth in order of birth. Only four are 
 now living, the others being two older sisters 
 and a younger brother. The father died at 
 Caledonia, Livingston county, New York, 
 at the age of ninety years, and Mrs. Doug- 
 lass had an uncle who lived to the extreme 
 old age of one hundred four. 
 
 Two children were born to our subject 
 and wife Ella and Irving but both died 
 when young. Mr. Douglass' nephew, Ora 
 Seward, now makes his home with them. 
 He is a graduate of the Elgin Academy and 
 the Chicago University, completing both 
 the literary and law courses in the latter in- 
 stitution, and for a time he engaged in the 
 practice of his chosen profession in Ne- 
 braska. He also taught in Shurtliff Col- 
 lege, Upper Alton, Illinois; Elgin Academy, 
 and in the Lake Forest Seminary; and is 
 now taking a post-graduate course in lan- 
 guages. He studied in Europe for fourteen 
 months. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Douglass are devout and 
 earnest Christians, are active and promi- 
 nent members of the Baptist church of El- 
 gin, and take considerable interest in all
 
 i8o 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 kinds of church work. Mr. Douglass can 
 well remember the exciting campaign of 
 1840, when the Whig cry was "Tippecanoe 
 and Tyler, too." He now gives his un- 
 wavering support to the men and measures 
 of the Republican party, but has never cared 
 for political honors. He is, however, one 
 of the representative and honored citizens 
 of his community, having the respect and 
 esteem of all who know him. 
 
 LYSANDER STOWELL, for many years 
 one of the leading agriculturists of El- 
 gin township, Kane county, and one of its 
 honored pioneers as well as highly respect- 
 ed citizens, was born October 21, 1824, 
 near Hartford, Connecticut. With his 
 father, Seth Stowell, he came to Elgin 
 when there was but one house standing in 
 the prospective city, and with the growth and 
 development of the county he was prom- 
 inently identified until his death. The 
 father, a cabinet maker by trade, manufact- 
 ured the first organ built in St. Charles. 
 He became quite well-to-do, owning a large 
 tract of land three miles in extent in Elgin 
 and St. Charles townships, and to each of 
 his three sons, Lysander, Washington and 
 Franklin, he gave a farm. 
 
 Reared to agricultural pursuits, Lysand- 
 er Stowell adopted farming as a life work, 
 and in his undertakings met with excellent 
 success. He died upon his farm in Elgin 
 township, May 18, 1889. He was a man 
 of studious habits, always a great reader, 
 and was well posted on the leading questions 
 and issues of the day. He was a supporter 
 of the Republican party, but never cared 
 for the honors or emoluments of public 
 office. As a citizen and neighbor he mer- 
 
 ited and received the high regard of the en- 
 tire community. 
 
 In 1884 Mr. Stowell was united in mar- 
 riage with Mrs. Martha Knettle, widow of 
 George Knettle. She was born March 16, 
 1831, near Warm Springs and Randesburg, 
 Pennsylvania, fifteen miles from Carlisle, 
 and is the daughter of Jesse and Mary 
 (Stone) Hippie, also a native of that state. 
 Her maternal grandfather, Richard Stone, 
 was a native of London, England, while 
 her paternal grandfather, John Hippie, was 
 one of five brothers who left their old home 
 in Germany and together came to America 
 prior to the Revolutionary war. He served 
 as a farrier through a part of that struggle 
 and shod a horse for General Washington. 
 He was a well-to-do farmer, but on selling his 
 farm received his pay in Continental mon- 
 ey, which proved useless and he lost all. 
 Jesse Hippie, Mrs. Stowell's father, was 
 born October 1 1, 1800, and died in Geneva, 
 Illinois, at the age of eighty-three or eighty- 
 four years. By trade he was a tailor, but 
 for some years prior to his death he lived 
 retired. In his family of six children, Mrs. 
 Stowell was the fourth in order of birth. 
 
 George Knettle, Mrs. Stowell's first hus- 
 band, was born near Mifflintown, Cumber- 
 land county, Pennsylvania, December 18, 
 1806, a son of Henry and Hannah (Walker) 
 Knettle, who were born near the Delaware 
 river in Bucks county, that state. His pa- 
 ternal ancestors were from Wurtemburg, 
 Germany, while the Walkers were of Scotch 
 descent. His grandfather was George Knet- 
 tle, who married a Miss Sleuker. George 
 Knettle, Jr., was twice married, his first 
 wife being a Miss Steward, also a native of 
 Pennsylvania, by whom he has four children 
 one son and three daughters. In Chica- 
 go he married Miss Martha Hippie, and to
 
 LYSANDER STOWELL.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 183 
 
 them were born three children: One died 
 in infancy, unnamed; Lacy, deceased; and 
 Grace F. Mr. Knettle was a prosperous 
 business man and accumulated considerable 
 property. Going to Minneapolis in 1857 
 he purchased a large tract of timber land in 
 "The Big Woods" west of that city, where 
 he erected large sawmills and became exten- 
 sively interested in the manufacture of lum- 
 ber. He sustained heavy losses, however, 
 through fire, and in 1868 came to Kane 
 county, Illinois, where he rented a farm and 
 established a cheese factory. Later he re- 
 tired from active business and returned to 
 Minnesota, where he died April 10, 1883, 
 honored and respected by all who knew 
 him. Mrs. Stovvell now makes her home 
 at No. 304 Walnut street, Elgin, and is 
 surrounded by a large circle of friends and 
 acquaintances. 
 
 FRANK KRAMER. Much of the civili- 
 zation of the world has come from the 
 Teutonic race. Continually moving west- 
 ward they have taken with them the enter- 
 prise and advancement of their eastern 
 homes and have become valued and useful 
 citizens of various localities. In this coun- 
 try especially have they demonstrated their 
 power to adapt themselves to new circum- 
 stances, retaining at the same time their 
 progressiveness and energy, and have be- 
 come loyal and devoted citizens, true to the 
 institutions of "the land of the free " and 
 untiring in promotion of all that will prove 
 of benefit to their adopted country. The 
 German element in America forms an im- 
 portant part of American citizenship, and of 
 this class Mr. Kramer is a worthy repre- 
 sentative. He is now editor and proprietor 
 
 of the "Deutsche Zeitung,"of Elgin, and 
 has made his paper an important factor in 
 the public welfare of the city. 
 
 Mr. Kramer was born in Bodenheim, 
 Hessen Darmstadt, Germany, April 24, 
 1838, a son of John Kramer, also a native 
 of that locality, who was a son of Bernhardt 
 Kramer. The father of our subject was a 
 farmer and grape cultivator, and spent his 
 entire life in his native land, where he died 
 in 1882. His wife, who bore the maiden 
 name of Catherine Kirchner, was a. .daughter 
 of Hanry and Elizabeth (-Koegler) Kirchner, 
 and her father was one of the soldiers who 
 fought under the great Napoleon. She 
 died in 1890. The parents of our subject 
 had four children, of whom he is the sec- 
 ond. The others are Henry, John and 
 Elizabeth, who are still living in the Father- 
 land. The sister visited Mr. Kramer in El- 
 gin during the summer of 1893, and also at- 
 tended the Columbian Exposition in Chi- 
 cago. 
 
 Frank Kramer was educated in the 
 schools of his native land and when nineteen 
 years of age bade adieu to home and friends 
 and sailed for America, landing in New 
 York in 1857. He spent a short period in 
 Elmira, New York, then went to Chicago, 
 and at Elmhurst, Illinois, took up his resi- 
 dence. He worked there as a farm hand 
 for a time and then went to the lumber 
 woods of Wisconsin, after which he returned 
 to Elgin and again secured work on a farm. 
 
 Later he located in the city of Elgin, 
 where he learned the cooper's trade, which 
 he followed five years in Elgin and Chicago. 
 Returning to Elgin, he entered the employ 
 of Dr. H. K. Whitford, with whom he re- 
 mained six years, looking after the Doctor's 
 collections and other business interests. 
 He then engaged in the dray business on
 
 1 84 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 his own account, and was thus engaged un- 
 til 1880, when he established the Elgin 
 "Deutsche Zeitung," which he has since 
 published with good success. He has en- 
 larged it from a six-column quarto to a six- 
 column five-leaf paper, and now has a large 
 circulation among the German population of 
 this section of the state. Its political sup- 
 port has ever been given the Democratic 
 party, and it strongly advocates the free 
 silver and other planks of that platform. 
 However, at local elections, where no na- 
 tional issue is involved, it upholds the best 
 man regardless of party affiliations. Its 
 circulation is now the largest of any Ger- 
 man weekly paper in the county. The 
 paper is a neat and attractive sheet, devot- 
 ed to the best interests of the community, 
 and to the advancement of the sons of the 
 fatherland. Its editorials are interesting, 
 just and progressive, and the "Zeitung" is 
 a popular visitor in many homes. 
 
 Mr. Kramer has not always been a 
 Democrat. In ante bellum days he was an 
 abolitionist. He voted for Lincoln and in 
 1868 for Grant, but in 1872 supported 
 Horace Greeley and has been a Democrat 
 since that time. In 1878 he was elected as 
 an independent candidate to the office of 
 town collector and filled that position in a 
 most creditable way. From 1888 to 1891 
 he represented the first ward of Elgin in the 
 city council and was chairman of the finance 
 committee. In 1897 he was appointed by 
 Mayor Price, park commissioner for a term 
 of three years and has ever proved a capable 
 and faithful public officer. He owns con- 
 siderable real estate, having made judicious 
 investments in various parts of the city. 
 
 On the 26th of October, 1860, Mr. 
 Kramer married Miss Carrie H., born in 
 Chicago September 8, 1840, daughter of 
 
 Joseph and Mary (Atzel) Markel, natives of 
 Alsace and Loraine, Germany, respectively. 
 They died in Hanover township, Cook 
 county, Illinois. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Kramer are the parents of 
 the following named children: John F., who is 
 now in the express business and also deals in 
 coal and wood ; Henry J. , a ranchman of Cus- 
 ter county, Montana; Katherine E. ,a gradu- 
 ate of the Elgin high school, who was for three 
 terms deputy town collector and for seven 
 years a deputy in the county treasurer's 
 office during the busy season; Martha M., a 
 graduate of the high school, who married 
 Ed Dolph, of Chicago, and has one child, 
 Alvin; Mamie A., a graduate of the high 
 school and of a short hand and typewriting 
 course, in Kimball's College, Chicago, who 
 died February 9, 1896; Carolyn H., who 
 attended the high school and Drews Busi- 
 ness College; Rutherford B., a graduate of 
 the Elgin Academy and now a student in 
 the law department of the University of 
 Michigan at Ann Arbor; William M. and 
 N. Elsie, who are now students in the pub- 
 lic schools of Elgin. 
 
 Mr. Kramer is president of the Elgin 
 German Benevolent Society, the oldest or- 
 ganization of the kind in the county, and at 
 intervals has served as its president for 
 twelve years. The family attend the First 
 Baptist church. Mr. Kramer belongs to 
 that class of men whom the world terms 
 self-made, for coming to this country empty- 
 handed, he has conquered all obstacles in 
 the path to success, and has not only se- 
 cured for himself a handsome competence, 
 but by his efforts has materally advanced 
 the interests of the community with which 
 he is associated. He is a prominent figure 
 in business, political and social circles and 
 ranks among the leading citizens of Kane
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 185 
 
 county. Mr. Kramer has twice visited his 
 old home in Germany, once in 1881 and 
 again in 1891. 
 
 EDWARD S. ENO, superintendent of 
 the Elgin branch of the New York 
 Condensed Milk Company, Elgin, Illinois, 
 is one of the best known and highly esteemed 
 citizens of the place. He traces his ances- 
 try back to James Eno, who was of French 
 extraction, but who came to this country 
 from England in 1648, locating in Windsor, 
 Connecticut. A sword said to have been 
 brought by him from England has passed 
 from father to eldest son from that day to 
 this, and is now in possession of John S. 
 Eno, of Brewster, New York. 
 
 Samuel Eno, the great-great-grandfather 
 of our subject, was the father of Daniel 
 Eno, who married Chloe Mills, December 
 23, 1809, by whom he had six children 
 Charlotte, Esther, Erastus S. , Emeline E., 
 Daniel Mills and Aurelia E. 
 
 Daniel Mills Eno was born October 28, 
 1812, in Connecticut, where he grew to 
 manhood, and was there married March 30, 
 1836, to Eunice C. Sage, a native of the 
 same state, born in 1813. Later he moved 
 to Wayne county, Pennsylvania, where he 
 engaged in farming until his death, which 
 occurred December 25, 1891. He was a 
 good man, a member and deacon in the 
 Presbyterian church for many years, and 
 from time to time held a number of minor 
 official positions. His wife, who was also a 
 member of the same religious body, is yet 
 living, an honored resident of Seeleyville, 
 Pennsylvania. They were the parents of 
 ten children, eight of whom are yet living. 
 In order of birth they are as follows: (i) 
 John S., a resident of Brewster, New York, 
 
 married Susan Clark and had five children- 
 Clark, Emma, Frank, Daniel (deceased) 
 and Susan. (2) Eunice is the wife of John 
 E. Woodward and is the mother of two 
 children Anna M. and Alfred. (3) Susan 
 is the widow of John K. Jenkins and had 
 nine children Frederick W. (deceased), 
 Mary, Benjamin, Laura, Martha, Susan, 
 John K. , Gail and Grace. (4) Laura is the 
 wife of Eben H. Clark and has five chil- 
 dren Elizabeth, Herbert, Edward, Bertha 
 and Daniel. (5) Edward S. , our subject, 
 is the next of the family. (6) George died 
 in infancy. (7) Alfred W. married Rose 
 Miller and has two children Daniel and 
 Helen. (8) Fred K. died in infancy. (9) 
 Lillie G. is at home. (10) Charlotte E. is 
 the wife of J. O. Southard, by whom she 
 has one child, Eunice. 
 
 Edward S. Eno, our subject, was born 
 in Seeleyville, Pennsylvania, May 26, 1848, 
 and was reared on his father's farm in Wayne 
 county, being educated in the public schools. 
 After leaving school he clerked for about 
 eighteen months in a hardware store in his 
 native town, and in 1870 commenced work 
 for the New York Condensed Milk Company 
 at Brewster, New York. From that time 
 to the present he has been connected with 
 that company and has served in almost 
 every capacity, commencing work in the 
 least responsible position and working his 
 way up to the superintendency of one of the 
 most important branches of the business. 
 They manufacture Gail Borden's condensed 
 milk. 
 
 Mr. Eno was married in Wayne county, 
 Pennsylvania, October 21, 1873, to Miss 
 Helen A. Conyne, a native of that county, 
 and a daughter of Alexander and Laura 
 (Gregory) Conyne, the former a native of 
 New York, the latter of Susquehanna coun-_
 
 1 86 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ty, Pennsylvania, who removed to Wayne 
 county in a very early day. Alexander 
 Conyne was by occupation a stationary en- 
 gineer, and followed that pursuit within a 
 few years of his death, when he purchased 
 a farm and engaged in agriculture. His 
 death occurred April i, 1876. His wife, 
 who is a member of the Baptist church, is 
 still living and makes her home with her 
 children. They were the parents of ten 
 children, as follows: George W. , who mar- 
 ried Charlotte Webster (now deceased) and 
 resides in New Haven, Connecticut; Charles 
 W., deceased; Frank F., a resident of Mon- 
 tana; Helen A., wife of our subject; Clara 
 P., wife of Horace White, of White Valley, 
 Pennsylvania; Charles G., who married 
 Anna Hawkins and now resides in Mandan, 
 North Dakota; Case V., who married Mary 
 Pullis and lives in Bangor, South Dakota; 
 Eva L., wife of Fred W. Chase, of Butte, 
 Montana; Fannie I., also a resident of 
 Butte; and Herbert A., of Anaconda, Mon- 
 tana. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Eno four children have 
 been born: Charles Edward, who died at 
 the age of fifteen months; and Herbert S. 
 Laura E. and Alfred W., all of whom are 
 yet under the parental roof. The family 
 reside in a neat and comfortable home on 
 North Spring street, Elgin, where they de- 
 light to entertain their many friends. The 
 parents are members of the Prospect Street 
 Congregational church, in the work of which 
 they are actively engaged. Fraternally, 
 Mr. Eno is a member of Monitor lodge, 
 No. 522, F. & A. M.; and Washington 
 lodge, No. 13, A. O. U. W., of Elgin. 
 
 In politics Mr. Eno is a thorough Re- 
 publican, and has been identified with that 
 party since casting his first presidential vote 
 for U. S. Grant. His business interests 
 
 have usually been such that he could not 
 give much of his time to political affairs, 
 more than to attend the conventions of his 
 party, vote its ticket and in a quiet way 
 advocate its principles. In the municipal 
 affairs of his adopted city he has always 
 manifested the greatest interest, and in the 
 discharge of his duties as a citizen he has 
 done his full share in its development. For 
 two years he served as alderman from his 
 ward, and his record as a member of the 
 city council is a commendable one. While 
 serving in that capacity he was chairman of 
 the finance committee and of the special 
 committee on water works. To him prob- 
 ably as much as any other man is due the 
 present fine water works in Elgin, acknowl- 
 edged to be among the very best in the en- 
 tire country. To secure the admirable sys- 
 tem he devoted much time and study. He 
 also served three years as a member of the 
 board of education. 
 
 For some eight or ten years Mr. Eno 
 served in the fire department of the city, 
 only resigning his position because he could 
 not give it the time and attention necessary. 
 The same energy shown in creating and 
 making efficient the water works was dis- 
 played by him in the fire department. 
 
 It is, however, as superintendent of the 
 Elgin Branch of the New York Condensed 
 Milk Company that he is best known through- 
 out Kane and adjoining counties. In 1870 
 he came to Elgin as a representative of that 
 company, and in 1882 he was made super- 
 intendent, and has since occupied that posi- 
 tion. In 1870 there was comparatively lit- 
 tle doing in the milk business in Elgin, and 
 what little milk found its way into this mar- 
 ket was shipped to Chicago. With the es- 
 tablishment of the condensed milk factory 
 the business began rapidly to grow until
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 187 
 
 to-day Elgin is recognized as the leading 
 place in the United States for this industry. 
 In addition to the large quantity used by 
 the New York Condensed Milk Company, 
 vast quantities of milk are used in the man- 
 ufacture of butter and cheese. All con- 
 versant with the subject acknowledge that 
 to Mr. Eno and his wise management of the 
 affairs of the company much of this success 
 is due. In all the thirty-three years in 
 which the company have operated here 
 there has never been a strike among its em- 
 ployees, and the best feeling is always main- 
 tained by all connected with it. The super- 
 intendent is honored and respected by the 
 men and he honors and respects them. Dur- 
 ing the campaign of 1896 a lot of politicians 
 were discussing the relation between em- 
 ployers and employees, one party endeavor- 
 ing to show that they were antagonistic, one 
 to the other. Reference was made in proof 
 of this to several large institutions, when 
 some one mentioned the Elgin branch of the 
 New York Condensed Milk Company. The 
 contending party at once objected to refer- 
 ence to that company, stating aside from 
 the New York Condensed Milk Company 
 his contention was true. "In that com- 
 pany," said he, "the superintendent and 
 employees are too much like one family." 
 A greater compliment could not have been 
 bestowed upon Mr. Eno. All classes and 
 all professions speak of him in the highest 
 terms of praise. 
 
 HENRY BLAZIER is a retired farmer 
 residing in the village of Hampshire. 
 His father, John Blazier, was born in the 
 village of Diefenalern, Bavaria, May 28, 
 1819. In his native country he learned the 
 trades of cooper and brewer, and, while yet 
 
 residing there, served three years in the Ba- 
 varian army. He remained in his native 
 land until 1847, when he started for Amer- 
 ica with the design of enlisting in the Mexi- 
 can war, but the war was closed before he 
 reached the field. He sailed from Ham- 
 burg and landed in New York after a voy- 
 age of forty-nine days. He there secured 
 work, and for a time was engaged in the 
 tile factory across the river in New Jersey. 
 Desiring to come west he ascended the 
 Hudson, and by canal went to Buffalo, New 
 York, and thence by lake to Chicago. 
 Coming to Kane county, he settled in 
 Hampshire township, but secured work for 
 a time at the cooper's trade in Belvidere, 
 Boone county, and then worked for various 
 farmers in the neighborhood. During the 
 war he bought land in Hampshire county, 
 and, as wheat, during the latter part of the 
 struggle, was two dollars per bushel, he was 
 enabled to ' add to his original purchase, 
 paying cash for the same. In the fall of 
 1 88 1, he rented his farm and moved to the 
 village of Hampshire, where he is living re- 
 tired. 
 
 John Blazier is the son of Wolf Blazier, 
 of French descent, who fought against Na- 
 poleon, and who served as a revenue officer 
 in Germany. John Blazier first married in 
 New York Barbara Ber, by whom he had 
 seven children, five yet living, as follows: 
 Henry, our subject; Carrie, who, on the 
 29th of March, 1880, married Albert Eich- 
 ler, a native of Saxony, Germany, born 
 March 15, 1853, and who died May 17, 
 1885. He came to this country with his 
 parents, George and Sophia Eichler, and 
 later purchased a farm in De Kalb county, 
 Illinois, which is yet owned by his widow. 
 They were the parents of two children, Al- 
 bert and Ida, who now attend the public
 
 i88 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 schools of Hampshire; George is a farmer 
 in Hampshire township; Mary married Will- 
 iam Huber, by whom she has one son, 
 Frank Blazier, and they reside in Kane 
 county, Illinois; John is engaged in farming 
 in the south end of Hampshire village. 
 
 Henry Blazier was born in Woodbridge, 
 New Jersey, April 15, 1858, and came west 
 with his parents at the age of two years. 
 He first attended school in Reid's district, 
 and later in the Bean district, until twenty 
 years of age. He then hired to his father, 
 and remained with him until 1887, when he 
 purchased one hundred and sixty acres in 
 section 16, and boarded with a family on an 
 adjoining farm, and for eleven years was en- 
 gaged in its cultivation with good success. 
 In the spring of 1898 he rented the farm, 
 and now makes his home with his sister, 
 Mrs. Carrie Eichler, who has recently 
 moved to the village of Hampshire. Mr. 
 Blazier engaged principally in dairying while 
 on the farm, usually having some twenty to 
 thirty head of cows. His place was well 
 improved, being tilled and ditched at a cost 
 of one thousand dollars, and having a barn 
 36x68 feet, and a good dwelling house at a 
 cost of eighteen hundred dollars. In poli- 
 tics he is a thorough Republican. 
 
 VINCENT S. LOVELL, deceased, 
 through the years of his identification 
 with Kane county, enjoyed the highest re- 
 spect of his fellow townsmen by reason of 
 his strict integrity, true manhood and intel- 
 lectual attainments. He was a gentleman 
 of refinement and culture, and his deport- 
 ment was always courteous and kind. His 
 devotion to the public welfare also made 
 him a valued factor in public life, and by 
 his death Elgin was deprived of one of her 
 
 best citizens. He was one of her native 
 sons, of whom she had every reason to be 
 justly proud. On the 2d of May, 1845, he 
 began his earthly pilgrimage, which was 
 ended December 7, 1892, covering a life- 
 span of forty-seven years. 
 
 Vincent Smith Lovell was a son of Vin- 
 cent Sellar and Lucy (Smith) Lovell, and 
 in a private school conducted by his mother 
 he acquired his elementary education, which 
 was supplemented by a course in the Elgin 
 Academy. At the age of fourteen he began 
 learning the printing trade in an office in 
 Chicago, and after learning that trade he 
 secured a position under Finder F. Ward in 
 the abstract office of Geneva, Illinois. Later 
 the mother removed with her two sons to 
 Ann Arbor, Michigan, in order to give them 
 the advantages of a college education, and 
 in 1872 our subject was graduated in the 
 State University. He then secured a place 
 on the staff of the "Argus," a journal pub- 
 lished in Albany, New York, with which he 
 was connected for two years, when he again 
 came to the west and became a member of 
 the staff of the Chicago "Post and Mail," 
 with which he was associated until entering 
 into partnership with his brother, Judge 
 Lovell, in the real-estate business and law 
 practice. They thus carried on business 
 until the death of our subject, and their ju- 
 dicious management, keen foresight and un- 
 flagging enterprise brought them a gratify- 
 ing success. 
 
 Mr. Lovell was married at Frankfort-on- 
 the-Main, Germany, August 19, 1876, to 
 Miss Eliza A. Hadwen. The lady was born 
 near Halifax, Yorkshire, England, a daugh- 
 ter of Thomas Wilson Hadwen, who, like 
 his father, John Hadwen, was a wealthy 
 cotton and silk manufacturer. The last 
 named married Margaret Lovell, a daugh-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 189 
 
 ter of John J. Lovell, a gentleman fanner 
 of England. The father of Mrs. Eliza Lo- 
 vell had retired from business, and with his 
 family was living abroad at the time of her 
 marriage. Mr. Lovell continued in active 
 business in his native city until called to the 
 home beyond. Although not connected 
 with any church, his life was permeated by 
 true Christian principles. He was consid- 
 erate of the welfare and rights of others, 
 had great sympathy for his fellow men, was 
 benevolent, and never spoke an uncharita- 
 ble word. His ability was recognized by his 
 fellow citizens, he serving as mayor of the 
 city, discharging the duties of the office in a 
 highly satisfactory manner until he resigned 
 for the reason that he could not conscien- 
 tiously perform the duties of his office. He 
 also served for some years as director of the 
 public library. He was, however, very re- 
 tiring, and few knew the depths of his na- 
 ture, but his intimate friends had an appre- 
 ciation and respect for him which arises 
 only from true worth. 
 
 OAMUEL C. ROWELL, deceased, was 
 O for many years one of the leading men 
 of Hampshire township. He was born at 
 East Plainfield, Sullivan county, New Hamp- 
 shire, April 13, 1819, and was the son of 
 Jacob and Mary (Currier) Rowell, the for- 
 mer being a farmer in New Hampshire, 
 where he was born, and where his entire 
 life was spent, dying after having passed 
 his three score years and ten. His father, 
 the grandfather of our subject, was Enoch 
 Rowell, who was a soldier in the Revolu- 
 tionary war. 
 
 Samuel C. Rowell was reared on a farm 
 and attended the district schools until the 
 age of fifteen, when he entered Kimball 
 
 Union Academy, at Meriden, New Hamp- 
 shire, where he spent three years. He 
 taught school winters and worked on farms 
 other seasons for a time, and while working 
 with a companion, laying stone wall one 
 hot day, both resolved to leave the stony 
 country and get a living more easily else- 
 where. Accordingly, in 1840, he went to 
 Kentucky, where Yankee teachers were in 
 demand. He there engaged in teaching for 
 about three years, and then came to Kane 
 county, Illinois, riding on horseback some 
 eight hundred miles. After examining con- 
 siderable country, looking for a location, he 
 finally decided to locate in Hampshire town- 
 ship, where he bought a farm of one hun- 
 dred and eighty acres from the government, 
 on which he erected a dwelling house and 
 then returned south teaching school in Ten- 
 nessee. 
 
 On his return north, Mr. Rowell stopped 
 in Kentucky to marry the girl of his choice, 
 who had been a pupil of his while teaching 
 there. He was married May 13, 1844, in 
 Fairview, Fleming county, Kentucky, to 
 Miss Elizabeth Ball, a native of that place, 
 born December 11, 1823, and a daughter of 
 Silas and Tennie (Brown) Ball, the former 
 born in Mason county, Kentucky, in March, 
 1800. He was the son of Benjamin Ball, 
 a soldier of the war of 1812, who was born 
 in Virginia, and who married Nancy Cook. 
 Benjamin Ball was a farmer, a relative of 
 Mary (Ball) Washington, the mother of 
 George Washington. He died when about 
 eighty years of age. Silas Ball followed 
 agricultural pursuits all his life, dying in 
 1830. Elizabeth was first in the family of 
 twelve children, born to Silas and Tennie 
 Ball. To Mr", and Mrs. Rowell six children 
 were born, of whom four survive, as follows: 
 (i) Mary, wife of Corydon L. Dickson, of
 
 190 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Plato township, and the mother of two 
 children Luella, and Ethel. The former 
 married Edward Walgren, by whom she has 
 one child, Eugene. (2) Fremont, who is 
 in partnership with his mother, in the 
 mercantile business. He married Nellie 
 Ketchum, born in Hampshire, and a daugh- 
 ter of Martin Van Buren and Sophronia 
 (Buzzell) Ketchum, the former a native of 
 New York, who died at Rouse's Point, on 
 Lake Champlain, when Nellie was an infant. 
 Her father was a son of Horace Ketchum, 
 and her mother a daughter of Aaron Buz- 
 zell. To Fremont and Nellie Rowell have 
 been born two children: Beulah and Leone. 
 
 (3) Jessie C., who married Edward Buzzeil, 
 of Leaf River, Illinois, by whom she has 
 two children Walter and Arthur, twins. 
 
 (4) Olivia, who married George York, of 
 Lyons, Iowa, and they have one child, 
 Jessie. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Rowell brought 
 his bride to Hampshire township and en- 
 gaged in farming, which occupation he con- 
 tinued until 1850, when he sold his farm 
 and devoted his time to mercantile pursuits, 
 having acquired an interest in a store at the 
 old village of Hampshire, where he was in 
 business until 1875, when he removed to 
 the new village, soon after the completion 
 of the railroad to that point. He erected 
 one of the first business buildings in the 
 village, and purchased the interest of his 
 partner, and continued in the mercantile 
 trade. Later he took into partnership his 
 son, Fremont, and the business is still con- 
 ducted under the firm name then adopted, 
 Samuel C. Rowell & Son, Mrs. Rawell re- 
 taining a half interest. 
 
 Mr. Rowell was a very prominent man 
 during life, his superior education giving 
 him an advantage over others. He was' 
 
 one of the incorporators of the new village 
 of Hampshire, and was the first president 
 of the village board. From 1858 to 1861 
 he served as supervisor of the township, 
 and again from 1864 to 1867. For twenty 
 years he was postmaster of the village, and 
 during that time would open office any time, 
 day or night, for the accommodation of pa- 
 trons. During his incumbency the office 
 was moved from the old village to the new. 
 For forty years he served as justice of the 
 peace, and his administration of that office 
 .was satisfactory in every respect. He also 
 served as school inspector before the office 
 of county superintendent of public schools 
 was established. 
 
 Mr. Rowell was made a Mason at Ma- 
 rengo, Illinois, in 1850, and was one of the 
 charter members of Hampshire lodge, serving 
 as secretary of the lodge for over thirty 
 years. Prior to the war he was a Demo- 
 crat, but when the South rebelled he be- 
 came a Republican, with which party he 
 was identified until his death, which occurred 
 November 24, 1892. He was a man of 
 broad character and liberal views, univer- 
 sally respected, and was greatly missed from 
 his accustomed place when called to rest. 
 
 COL. RICHARD PARRAM McGLINCY, 
 eldest son of George D. and Rukamah 
 McGlincy, of English and Irish descent, was 
 born in Shepardstown, Jefferson county, 
 West Virginia, and at an early age entered 
 the printing office of John H. Yittle, of the 
 "Shepardstown Register," where he re- 
 mained, except during the time of the Civil 
 war, rising from the position of errand boy, 
 at the age of eleven years, when not much 
 taller than a common ink keg, to that of 
 foreman of the office, which he occupied
 
 COL. R. P. McGLINCY.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 193 
 
 from the close of the war. He was fully 
 equipped for all newspaper work, for which 
 he had a passionate love. Trusted and 
 helpful to his employer, the latter said, 
 "As Dick has always stood by me, through 
 thick and thin, come weal or woe, I am loth 
 to part with him," when he married Asenath 
 R. Wells, a graduate of the Mount Morris, 
 Rock River Seminary, and at the time of 
 marriage assistant principal of the Martins- 
 burg, West Virginia, public schools, and 
 left for Chicago in 1868. He was there 
 engaged in newspaper work on the " Inter 
 Ocean," and other papers, until he came to 
 Elgin, Illinois, in 1869, where he entered 
 more fully into the editorial and printing 
 work. He soon became dairy editor on the 
 Elgin " Gazette, "and also of a Minneapolis 
 paper, taking an active part in the great 
 dairy interests of Elgin and the Northwest, 
 often serving as president of prominent so- 
 cieties, and acting as secretary of two or 
 three at the same time, publishing their 
 annual reports, board of trade reports, etc. 
 During his last ten years in Elgin he was 
 the honored and valued secretary of the 
 Elgin Board of Trade. He was very prom- 
 inent in all dairy circles, so that hardly any 
 of their conventions were considered com- 
 plete without an address from him, and he 
 was called to many states and cities to or- 
 ganize boards of trade. He was therefore 
 well and favorably known to most men in 
 his line of work. 
 
 A typical Southerner, whole-souled and 
 generous, he made friends wherever he 
 went, prominent among them being ex-Gov. 
 W. D. Hoard, of Wisconsin, who was one 
 of his dairy co-laborers. Being an Odd 
 Fellow of many years standing, he was very 
 prominent in that order in Elgin, and on all 
 public occasions was generally their repre- 
 
 9 . 
 
 sentative and spokesman. He held the 
 position of deputy grand master for many 
 years, and retained his membership in the 
 Elgin encampment up to the time of his 
 death. Col. McGlincy served with dis- 
 tinction all through the Civil war, and part 
 of the time fought under Stonewall Jack- 
 son. His father, a very prominent, dyed- 
 in-the-wool West Virginia Democratic poli- 
 tician, died at Shepardstown, that state, in 
 1885, leaving a wife and five children, all 
 of whom are living with the exception of 
 Richard P., in Washington,. District of 
 Columbia. 
 
 In the fall of 1887, Colonel McGlincy 
 went to San Jose, California, where he be- 
 came very highly esteemed and prominent 
 in the state, on account of his interest in 
 all that tended to its advancement, espe- 
 cially its horticultural and fruit interests. 
 He was extensively engaged in the fruit 
 raising and its shipping, and was given 
 charge of the Santa Clara county fruit and 
 wine exhibit at the Columbian World's 
 Fair, at Chicago, in 1893, where many of 
 his old friends were glad to see him. 
 
 On his return to California after the 
 fair, Colonel McGlincy received much favo- 
 rable newspaper mention as a representa- 
 tive to the state legislature. He became 
 deputy internal revenue collector, and was 
 holding the position at the time of his cruel 
 murder, in May, 1897. In California, as 
 always before, he was prominently active 
 among, and helpful to the Odd Fellows, 
 who honored and loved him in life, and 
 now, as brothers, sincerely mourn his sad 
 fate and untimely death. The hall of 
 Morning Light lodge, which he had organ- 
 ized at his home town, is decorated with his 
 portrait, and Odd Fellows souvenirs, which 
 he had received from Illinois friends.
 
 194 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Mrs. Asenath Rhodlna (Wells) McGlincy 
 was born and spent the early years of her 
 life at the foot of the Alleghany mountains, 
 in West Virginia, on the banks of the Val- 
 ley river, whose bed is almost one contin- 
 uous heap of stones. No wonder she sees 
 "books in running brooks," reads "ser- 
 mons in stones," and having often picked 
 chestnut burrs from the trees, while stand- 
 ing on the rocks, and there gathered mosses, 
 wild spice, holly and wintergreen, and at- 
 tended " sugaring off," in the maple woods, 
 sees in the groves, "God's temples, the 
 hills his dwelling place," and loves the 
 rocks the more the higher they tower. 
 Being the eldest daughter of David and 
 Mary Ann Wells, of Scotch, German and 
 English origin, she largely inherits Scotch 
 characteristics and their love of the sciip- 
 tures, the German literary taste, with love 
 of flowers and home, and a puritanic rever- 
 ence of much in our forefathers, which so 
 conspired to make our loved America great 
 as it is. 
 
 In her early life her parents came west, 
 and with a family of eight children, settled 
 near Galena. Having made good progress 
 in her studies, at the age of twelve she was 
 placed in the noted school of A. B. C. 
 Campbell, in that hilly city, the early home 
 of U. S. Grant, then all surrounded by rich 
 lead mines. From Galena she became a 
 neighbor and schoolmate of John A. Raw- 
 lins, first on General Grant's staff, and later, 
 secretary of war in General Grant's cabi- 
 net. At this country school they sat 
 together on backless benches, ran races, 
 played ball and " spelled down " the con- 
 test always hot between the two. From 
 this country school both went to Rock River 
 Seminary, at Mt. Morris, Illinois, then the 
 most prominent Methodist educational in- 
 
 stitution in Illinois to the state then, what 
 Evanston is now. After years of hard study, 
 alternated with teaching in Mt. Morris, and 
 other places in the country, she com- 
 pleted her course of study in the seminary, 
 and went again to Galena, and assisted her 
 brother, James William Wells, who was 
 principal of its public schools. From that 
 position she went in charge of the Galena 
 Academy, remaining until her brother de- 
 cided to go to California, in 1850, when she 
 left and took the principalship of the Shulls- 
 burg, Wisconsin, school, where she gave 
 good satisfaction for years. Her next 
 teaching was as assistant principal in the 
 Dubuque, Iowa, schools, and from there in 
 1863, she took the principalship of the Des 
 Moines, Iowa, schools, remaining until near 
 the close of the late Civil war. In April, 
 1865, as she was boarding a train fora visit 
 to her early West Virginia, home the news 
 came of President Lincoln's assassination. 
 While in this old mountain home, visiting 
 and teaching, the last of which was as assist- 
 ant principal in the Martinsburg, West 
 Virginia, schools, she formed the acquant- 
 ance of Richard Parran McGlincy, to whom 
 she was married in July, 1868. Coming 
 immediately west, by way of Washington, 
 Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and 
 Niagara Falls to Chicago, they there re- 
 sided until March, 1869, and then settled in 
 Elgin, Illinois. After coming to Elgin she 
 engaged in teaching in a select school for a 
 number of years, having among her scholars 
 many young men and women now promi- 
 nently engaged in business in Elgin and 
 elsewhere. She is a Chautauqua graduate, 
 now holding her certificate as a graduate of 
 the Chautauqua National Literary Circle. 
 She now lives again on the banks of a river, 
 in the lovely valley of the Fox, in her own
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 '95 
 
 beautiful home, trying to make the most and 
 best of life, for self and others, surrounded 
 by and loving as ever, her flowers and 
 books. 
 
 DR. BEEBE, a well-known insurance 
 agent living at No. 4 1 1 Walnut avenue, 
 Elgin, was born September 6, 1847, m Co- 
 lumbia county, New York, of which state his 
 parents, Riley and Amelia (Bunker) Beebe, 
 were also natives. The father, who was a 
 cooper by trade, removed from New York 
 to Kane county, Illinois, in 1852, locating in 
 Geneva, where he engaged in farming and 
 gardening for some years. Subsequently 
 he came to Elgin, where he passed away in 
 his eighty-eighth year, while his wife died in 
 May, 1897, in her eighty-second year. He 
 was a consistent member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, while she was a Spiritual- 
 ist in religious belief. 
 
 Born to this worthy couple were four- 
 teen children, but only six are now living, 
 three of whom are residents of Kane coun- 
 ty, those beside our subject being Amos C., 
 a blacksmith employed in the Chicago, 
 Burlington & Quincy railroad shops at 
 Aurora, and Mrs. Mary E. Olson, of Elgin. 
 Four of the sons were numbered among 
 the defenders of the Union during the Civil 
 war. Thomas J., the oldest, who is now 
 a resident of Anthony, Harper county, 
 Kansas, enlisted August 7, 1861, in an in- 
 dependent company, known as the Kane 
 County Cavalry, which afterward served as 
 body guard to Generals Halleck, Curtis and 
 Steele. He entered the service as a pri- 
 vate, was made orderly, and on the 2d of 
 October, 1863, was commissioned captain 
 of his company, which was afterward con- 
 solidated by the War Department and made 
 a part of the Fifteenth Illinois Cavalry. He 
 
 remained in the service three years, and 
 was in many important battles. James E. 
 was a member of the same company, but 
 at the end of nineteen months of faithful 
 service he was honorably discharged on ac- 
 count of physical disability. On regaining 
 his health, he re-enlisted and served 'until 
 the close of the war, being in Texas with 
 the last remnant of the forces against Kirby 
 Smith. He died October 8, 1895, at tne 
 age of fifty-four years. John W., who was 
 born December 5, 1843, enlisted at the same 
 time as his older brothers in the s'ame com- 
 pany, in which he served as a private until 
 mustered out at the expiration of his three 
 years' term of enlistment. He died Sep- 
 tember 27, 1883. 
 
 Our subject, also one of the boys in blue, 
 was reared and educated in Kane county, 
 and when only sixteen years of age joined 
 the Union army, enlisting November 18, 
 1863, in Company B, Seventeenth Illinois 
 Cavalry. He was engaged in the most dan- 
 gerous kind of warfare, that of hunting 
 bushwhackers, never being able to meet 
 them in fair field. After the surrender of 
 Lee the company of which Mr. Beebe was 
 a member was ordered to the plains under 
 command of General Dodge, and there took 
 part in several engagements with the hos- 
 tile Indians, being stationed on Big creek in 
 western Kansas. There were no railroads 
 or settlements in that region, but Mr. Beebe 
 enjoyed the time spent there, as he had 
 ample opportunity to engage in his favorite 
 sport, that of hunting, killing many buffa- 
 loes and wolves. In December, 1865, he 
 was honorably discharged, after having 
 served two years and one month, and re- 
 turned to his home. 
 
 On starting out in life for himself Mr. 
 Beebe was employed as a blacksmith's
 
 196 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 helper in the C. , B. & Q. shops at Aurora. 
 In 1872 he went to Guthrie county, Iowa, 
 and for about four years was engaged in 
 farming near Casey. He then removed to 
 Marshalltown, Iowa, where he was em- 
 ployed in the railroad shops for six years. 
 Later he worked in the Iowa Central rail- 
 road shops, where he learned railroad spring 
 making, at which he worked for about three 
 years, returning to Kane county at the end 
 of that time, and was employed in the Elgin 
 Watch Factory for about twelve years. 
 Since the spring of 1893 he has successfully 
 engaged in the insurance business in Elgin, 
 representing the Mutual Benefit, of Newark, 
 New Jersey, and the Atlas Accident Com- 
 pany, of Boston. 
 
 While in Iowa Mr. Beebe was married, 
 October 7, 1874, to Miss Angelina C. Por- 
 ter, who successfully engaged in teaching in 
 that state for four years, conducting one 
 village school and the others in the country. 
 Her parents, James and Lucy (Carpenter) 
 Porter, were natives of Ohio, born near 
 Zanesville. Her father, who served as 
 county superintendent of schools in Jasper 
 county, Iowa, for six years, always took an 
 active and prominent part in educational 
 affairs. Helso filled the office of justice 
 of the peace. His death occurred in 1876, 
 when he was fifty-eight years of age, but his 
 widow is still living and now makes her 
 home in Nebraska. Of their six children, 
 five are also living. They are as follows: 
 Lyman, an attorney of Loveland, Colorado; 
 Angeline C., wife of our subject; Horace, 
 a farmer of Cozad, Nebraska; Frank, a 
 farmer of Casey, Iowa; George, also a farmer 
 of Cozad, Nebraska; and Docia, who was 
 the second in order of birth and died at the 
 age of thirteen months. Mr. Porter's ma- 
 ternal grandfather served for seven long years 
 
 inthe Colonial army duringthe Revolutionary 
 war, and in the possession of the family is 
 an old brass kettle which he captured full 
 of butter from the Tories at the battle of 
 Monmouth. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Beebe were born four 
 children, namely: Edgar D., who is now 
 working in a shoe factory in Elgin; Edith, 
 who died at the age of one year; Ethel May 
 and Ruth, both at home. Mrs. Beebe holds 
 membership in the Eastern Star and the 
 Woman's Relief Corps, having served as 
 president of the latter for three terms. Mr. 
 Beebe is the present recording secretary of 
 the Court Bluff City, -No. 74, Independent 
 Order of Foresters of Illinois, and for three 
 years he has also served as commander of 
 Veteran post, No. 49, G. A. R., of Elgin. 
 He is very progressive in his views, believ- 
 ing in keeping abreast with the latter day 
 nineteenth-century progress. In 1892 he 
 was elected alderman of Elgin, and accepta- 
 bly filled that position for two terms. 
 
 WILLIS LYMAN BLACK. One of 
 the prominent representatives of the 
 journalist profession is the gentleman whose 
 name heads this brief notice, junior mem- 
 ber of the firm of Lowrie & Black, proprie- 
 tors of the "Daily News" and "Weekly Ad- 
 vocate," of Elgin, Illinois. He is one of the 
 leading and prominent business men of the 
 city, being especially interested in its bank- 
 ing institutions. 
 
 Mr. Black was born in Elgin, where the 
 Baptist church is now located, April 18, 
 1855, and is a son of Lyman and Harriet 
 (Weston) Black. His paternal grandfather, 
 James Black, spent his entire life in Massa- 
 chusetts. The father, Lyman Black, was 
 born in Granville, that state, October 26,
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 197 
 
 1815, and was the youngest in a family of 
 eight children. In the spring of 1836 he 
 came to Elgin, passing through Chicago, 
 where he was offered the block on which the 
 Palmer House now stands for a pair of boots 
 he was carrying over his shoulder, but he 
 declined the offer. On the present site of 
 Elgin he engaged in farming for some time, 
 but later in life devoted his time and atten- 
 tion to the banking business, being one of 
 the organizers of the First National Bank, 
 and also the Elgin City Banking Company, 
 more familiarly known as the Savings Bank, 
 and in both of these institutions he was a 
 director and vice-president. He continued 
 his connection with them until his death, 
 which occurred May 15, 1889. He was a 
 man of medium size, was quite domestic in 
 his tastes, was pleasant and genial in his 
 disposition, and was gifted with a fine mem- 
 ory, which was of great benefit not only to 
 himself but to others who desired informa- 
 tion concerning current matters. His wife 
 was born in Utica, New York, December 
 1 6, 1823, and was the daughter of James 
 and Margaret Weston, who, in 1846, came 
 to Elgin, where Mr. and Mrs. Black were 
 married June 27, 1847. She was a devot- 
 ed member of the Baptist church, and died 
 in that faith November 26, 1891. Of their 
 five children three died in infancy, and 
 Weston died at the age of eighteen years 
 from the effects of a kick from a horse. 
 
 Our subject, the only one of the family 
 now living, acquired his primary education 
 in the public schools of Kane county, later 
 graduated at the Elgin Academy, and in 
 1874 entered the Chicago University, where 
 he was graduated with the class of 1878. 
 For a year after leaving college he was em- 
 ployed in Chamberlain's clothing house, and 
 then entered the office of the "Advocate" 
 
 to learn the business. In 1 886 he purchased 
 a half interest in that journal and the 
 "Daily News," the former of which was 
 founded in 1848, the latter in 1873. The 
 "Advocate," now the oldest paper in the 
 county, is a seven-column quarto, and en- 
 joys the largest circulation of any paper in 
 the district. It is published on Saturdays. 
 The "News" is the same size, and is also 
 the oldest daily in the county. The office 
 of these journals is equipped with modern 
 machinery, including type-setting machines 
 and Webb press, and in connection with the 
 printing department there is also a bindery. 
 Both papers are unwavering in their sup- 
 port of the Republican party and its prin- 
 ciples, and are devoted to the interests of 
 Elgin and Kane county. Mr. Black is a 
 heavy stockholder in both the First National 
 Bank and the City Savings Bank, in which 
 he is a director and vice-president. 
 
 On the 4th of September, 1884, Mr. 
 Black was united in marriage with Miss 
 Etta D. Roe, who was born in Rolling 
 Prairie, Indiana, May 4, 1864, a daughter 
 of George W. and Marietta (Drummond) 
 Roe, of Chicago. She is the second in or- 
 der of birth in their family of four children, 
 the others being Alta May; James, who was 
 drowned at Rolling Prairie, Indiana, in 
 1883; and Clifford G. Mr. and Mrs. Black 
 have two children: Lyman Foster, born 
 March 16, 1887; and Mareta Vergine, born 
 August 31, 1892. The family have a beau- 
 tiful home at No. 237 Villa street, Elgin, 
 which was erected by Mr. Black, and also 
 have a cottage at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, 
 where they spend the summer months. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Black is a Republican, 
 and socially is an honored member of the 
 Century Club, while his wife is an active 
 and prominent member of the Coffee Club
 
 198 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and the Every Wednesday Literary Club. 
 Of high social qualities, they are very pop- 
 ular, having a most extensive circle of 
 friends and acquaintances, and their home 
 is the abode of hospitality and good cheer. 
 
 /CHARLES P. DEANE, a well-known 
 v_> retired business man living in Elgin, 
 was born in Worcester county, Massachu- 
 setts, April 4, 1813, a son of Cyrus and 
 Nancy (Howe) Dean, also natives of that 
 state, where they spent their entire lives, 
 the father dying at the age of eighty-seven 
 in the house where he learned his trade, 
 and the mother at the age of eighty-five. 
 Throughout life he worked on watches and 
 clocks at the goldsmith's trade, and gave 
 his entire time to his business affairs, taking 
 no active part in public life. Both he and 
 his wife were faithful members of the Con- 
 gregational church, and were held in high 
 esteem by all who knew them. Of their 
 seven children only two are now living: 
 Charles P. ; and Nancy, wife of Charles 
 Lyon, of Oak Park, Chicago. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was educated 
 in the common schools of Massachusetts, 
 and when his school days were over he 
 went to New York, where he was employed 
 at various occupations for a few years. For 
 four years he engaged in the planing-mill 
 business in Lewiston, Maine, and then re- 
 turned to Massachusetts, assisting his brother 
 George in the manufacturing business at 
 Maiden for two years. Coming west in 
 1857, Mr. Deane located in Elgin and 
 opened up and developed a good farm two 
 miles northwest of the city, but now within 
 the corporate limits. To agricultural pur- 
 suits he devoted his energies for six years, 
 and then erected a store on Grove avenue, 
 
 Elgin, purchased a stock of goods, and 
 began business as a merchant, being thus 
 engaged until 1880, when he sold out, and 
 has since lived retired. 
 
 On the 3d of July, 1841, Mr. Deane was 
 united in marriage with Miss Mary P. Bald- 
 ridge, who died April 21, 1851, aged twenty- 
 seven years. To them were born three 
 children, namely: Cyrus F., born Novem- 
 ber 13, 1842, was a member of the Army of 
 the Southwest during the Civil war, and 
 was mortally wounded at the battle of Stone 
 River in 1862, dying at Nashville, January 
 15, 1863; Maria N. married Daniel W. 
 Brown, also a Union soldier, who died in 
 Elgin, and to them were born three chil- 
 dren Edna, Charles and Cyrus; she resides 
 in Elgin. Charles H., the youngest of the 
 family, died February 25, 1850, at the age 
 of six years. 
 
 Mr. Deane was again married, March 24, 
 18^3, his second union being with Miss 
 Abbie M. Haskell, by whom he had four 
 children: Mary A. is now a successful kin- 
 dergarten teacher in Elgin; Ella J. is the 
 wife of Joseph Mitchell, of Elgin, and has 
 three children, Howard, Deane and Ethelyn; 
 Lizzie A. died March 7, 1859, when only 
 six months old; and Julia F. is a stenog- 
 rapher and type writer employed in an 
 office in Chicago. 
 
 Politically Mr. Deane was originally a 
 Whig, but since the dissolution of that 
 party he has been a stanch Republican. 
 For many years he was one of the active 
 and progressive business men of the county, 
 as well as one of its most reliable and hon- 
 ored citizens, and now in his declining years 
 he is enjoying a well-earned rest, free from 
 the cares and responsibilities of business 
 life. Throughout Kane county he is widely 
 and favorably known.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 199 
 
 DAVID HILL, proprietor of the nursery 
 near Dundee, has been a resident of 
 Kane county since 1872. He was born in 
 Hartfordshire, about thirty miles from Lon- 
 don, England, January 17, 1849, and is the 
 son of Henry and Martha (Grayes) Hill, 
 both of whom were natives of the same shire. 
 In his native land he grew to manhood, and 
 had fair educational advantages. He com- 
 menced nursery work in Bedford, England, 
 in early life, and worked there for some 
 years. In 1871 he came to the United 
 States, forming one of a party of three 
 young men. Going to Boston he made 
 application for work at the Young Men's 
 Christian Association rooms, and on the 
 advice of the secretary went to Wood- 
 stock, Windham county, Connecticut, where 
 he secured work in the Spaulding's nursery 
 and fruit farm, where he remained about one 
 year. In 1872 he came west to Dundee, 
 and went to work on a farm near that place 
 for one winter. The next season he com- 
 menced work in the nursery then owned by 
 William Hill, and continued with him until 
 his death. He then succeeded to the busi- 
 ness through his wife, who was a niece of 
 William Hill, and came with him from Scot- 
 land when a child. At that time the place 
 consisted of six acres, with but two in nurs- 
 ery stock. An incumbrance was on the 
 place of two thousand dollars. Our subject 
 went to work and put out more stock, and 
 buying land from time to time is now the 
 owner of one hundred and six acres, all of 
 which is near, but not contiguous, to the old 
 place. He has put out nursery stock until 
 he has in all some eighty-five acres. He 
 grows for the wholesale trade as well as re- 
 tail. His specialties are hardy evergreens, 
 shade, ornamental and forest trees, although 
 he grows and deals in fruit trees and small 
 
 fruit. His trade is mostly in the western 
 states, and he has built up an extensive 
 business, employing from seventy-five to one 
 hundred men in packing and shipping in the 
 busy season. 
 
 In June, 1878, Mr. Hill was united in 
 marriage at Dundee, Illinois, with Miss 
 Maggie Grant, a native of Aberdeen, Scot- 
 land, and a niece of William Hill, who came 
 with him to the United States when a miss 
 of twelve years. Her education, began in 
 her native country, was completed in the 
 schools of Kane county. By this union there 
 are six living children George W., Arthur 
 H., Waudie, Mabel, Vernon and Florence. 
 They lost one daughter, Marguerite, who 
 died at the age of six months. 
 
 Politically Mr. Hill is a stanch Republic- 
 an, his first Presidential vote being cast for 
 James A. Garfield. Since becoming a resi- 
 dent of this country he has always mani- 
 fested a commendable interest in its political 
 affairs, though not in a strictly partisan 
 sense. A friend of education and the public 
 schools, he has given^of his time to advance 
 their interests as a member of the school 
 board. Fraternally he is a member of the 
 Masonic fraternity, the blue lodge at Dun- 
 dee, and the chapter at Elgin. With his 
 estimable wife he holds membership in the 
 Baptist church. 
 
 Mr. Hill has now been a resident of Illi- 
 nois for twenty-nine years. His life affords 
 an example to the young in that he com- 
 menced his life here without money or 
 friends, but having a determination to suc- 
 ceed he industriously applied himself until 
 he has acquired a good property and a large 
 and fairly prosperous business. He is well 
 known throughout Illinois and other west- 
 ern states for his sterling character and 
 worth.
 
 200 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 M 
 
 ERRITT HARGER, an honored and 
 highly respected citizen of Elgin, is 
 now retired from the active labors of life 
 and occupies a comfortable home on Hen- 
 dee avenue, overlooking the Fox river. He 
 was born July 31, 1819, in Lewis county, 
 New York, a son of Noah N. and Lucy 
 (Gillette) Harger, who were both born and 
 reared in Connecticut. The father was a 
 carpenter and joiner, and also followed the 
 occupation of farming. In 1855 he came 
 with our subject to Kane county, Illinois, 
 where he died April n, 1863, his wife hav- 
 ing previously passed away at their old 
 home in New York, on the 2Oth of May, 
 1850. Both were consistent members of 
 the Presbyterian church, and in politics he 
 was first a Whig and later a Republican. 
 Their children were Morgan and Mrs. Maria 
 Arthur, both deceased; Madison, who died 
 in Ohio; Mary, now the widow of Henry 
 Ragan, and a resident of Syracuse, New 
 York; Milton, deceased; Merritt, the sub- 
 ject of this sketch; and Lydia and Mar- 
 tha, both deceased. 
 
 In the county of his nativity, Merritt 
 Harger grew to manhood, obtaining his edu- 
 cation in the district schools, and early be- 
 coming familiar with the duties which fall 
 to the lot of the agriculturist. There he 
 continued to follow farming until 1855 
 when he came to Kane county, Illinois, and 
 bought a small farm in Plato township, to 
 the cultivation and improvement of which 
 he devoted his energies for ten years. Sell- 
 ing that place, he purchased four hundred 
 and ten acres of slightly improved land in 
 the southern part of the same township, 
 which he placed under a high state of culti- 
 vation. He erected thereon good and sub- 
 stantial buildings and made many other use- 
 ful improvements, which added to its value 
 
 and attractive appearance, making it one of 
 the best farms in the county. He was one 
 of the first men in the community to engage 
 in sheep raising to any great extent, but 
 when wool became so cheap that it proved 
 unprofitable he discontinued the business. 
 He then directed his attention to dairying, 
 and was one of the first to engage in the 
 manufacture of cheese, which was then in 
 demand. At one time he sold his cheese 
 by the ton at twenty cents per pound. 
 After residing upon his second farm for 
 twenty-nine years, he decided to retire from 
 active work, and removed to Elgin, where 
 he has since made his home, enjoying the 
 fruits of former toil. 
 
 In Lewis county, New York, Mr. Harger 
 was married October 17, 1843, to Miss 
 Mary E., daughter of Jonathan and Eliza- 
 beth (Herin) Rogers, natives of the Empire 
 state. Her paternal grandfather was born 
 in Connecticut, and was one of the first set- 
 tlers of Lewis county, New York. Soon 
 after our subject came west, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Rogers also came to Kane county and 
 located in Elgin township, where he pur- 
 chased and operated a large tract of land. 
 Besides Mrs. Harger, their other children 
 were Betsy Ann, Grange L. and Henry C. , 
 all deceased; and Nelson, John H. and Jane, 
 still residents of Illinois. Mrs. Harger de- 
 parted this life September 2, 1895. By her 
 marriage to our subject she became the 
 mother of one child, Lucy Maria, who was 
 born December 21, 1864, and married 
 James M. Buzzell, now deceased. She died 
 September -22. 1884, leaving no children. 
 Mr. Harger was again married, November 
 26, 1896, his second union being with 
 Adella Kenyon, a daughter of Lafayette and 
 and Mary (Winsor) Kenyon. 
 
 Mr. Harger cast his first presidential
 
 MERRITT HARGER.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 203 
 
 vote for William Henry Harrison in 1840, 
 during one of the most exciting campaigns 
 ever held in this country. His support is 
 now given to the men and measures of the 
 Republican party. He has sold his farm 
 and has invested in real estate in Elgin, 
 which is proving quite profitable. Mr. Har- 
 ger is widely and favorably known through- 
 out Kane county, and it is safe to say that 
 no man in Elgin county has more or warmer 
 friends. 
 
 HOWARD L. PRATT, M. D. Among 
 the well-known representatives of the 
 medical profession in Elgin, whose reputa- 
 tion is not confined alone to the city in which 
 he makes his home, but who is favorably 
 known in several counties and in at least 
 two states of the union, is the subject of 
 this sketch. Born at Unionville, Lake coun- 
 ty, Ohio, February 27, 1850, he is the son 
 of George and Adaline S. (Torrey) Pratt, 
 the former a native of Ohio, the latter of 
 New York. They were the parents of five 
 children, of whom three are now living: 
 Howard Lewis, our subject; Mary E. , wife 
 of F. E. Miller, of Chicago; and Edith, wife 
 of Frank McAllister, of Chicago. 
 
 George Pratt, the father, grew to man- 
 hood in his native state, and in youth learned 
 the trade of a blacksmith, which trade he 
 followed until his removal to Illinois in 
 1855. While yet residing in Ohio he mar- 
 ried Adaline S. Torrey, a daughter of Ira 
 Allen Torrey, a native of Vermont, and a 
 hotel keeper for many years, who later emi- 
 grated to Neenah, Wisconsin, where his 
 death occurred at the age of sixty-nine years. 
 His wife traced her ancestry back to Tabitha 
 Goodenough, her great-grandmother. Mrs. 
 Torrey's father, who bore the name of 
 Wallis, was a soldier of the war of 1812, 
 
 and died while held a prisoner by the British 
 in Canada. 
 
 On coming to Illinois with his family, in 
 1855, George Pratt located at Woodstock, 
 McHenry county, where he followed his 
 trade and engaged in farming for some years, 
 besides being interested in the lumber busi- 
 ness. He later removed to Chicago, where 
 his wife died in January, 1895. She was a 
 conscientious Christian woman, a member 
 of the Baptist church for many years, and 
 died in the faith of a resurrection beyond 
 the grave and a re-union of loved ones. 
 After her death her husband returned to 
 Woodstock, where he is now working at his 
 trade, although seventy-five years of age. 
 He is yet hale and hearty. 
 
 Lewis Pratt, the paternal grandfather 
 of our subject, was a native of Vermont, 
 and was numbered among the pioneers of 
 the "Western Reserve," settling in Ash- 
 tabula county, Ohio. His death occurred 
 after a short illness while he was on a busi- 
 ness trip to western Ohio, before he was 
 forty years of age. His brother, Charles, 
 built by contract the first government har- 
 bor at Ashtabula. His family consisted of 
 three sons and four daughters who grew to 
 mature years. By occupation he was a 
 farmer, following that vocation during his 
 entire life. His father, the great-grandfa- 
 ther of Dr. Pratt, was a Baptist minister in 
 Vermont, and lived to the age of ninety- 
 nine years and six months. He was a man 
 of remarkable mental and physical activity. 
 At the age of ninety he invited his grand- 
 son, Charles, Jr., who was visiting him, to 
 go with him to the barn to see a favorite 
 colt. On reaching the farmyard gate he 
 placed his hands on the top bar and cleared 
 it with a leap, saying, "Charles, you can't 
 do that."
 
 2O4 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Howard Lewis Pratt was but five years 
 old when he was brought by his parents to 
 Illinois. His literary education was obtained 
 in the public schools of Woodstock, Mc- 
 Henry county, and in Todd's Academy, now 
 conducted as a seminary at that place. In 
 1874 he commenced reading medicine and 
 the following year entered Rush Medical 
 College, Chicago, an institution noted for 
 the better class of its graduates, from which 
 he received a diploma in 1878. Returning 
 to Woodstock, he at once commenced prac- 
 tice with his preceptor in the city in which 
 he was reared and where his manner of life 
 was well known. Kansas, the great Sun- 
 flower state, was now having a boom and a 
 large nnmber of people were attracted there. 
 Dr. Pratt was among the number, and in 
 April, 1879, he took up his residence in 
 Wellington, that state, where he resumed 
 practice. 
 
 While in Wellington, on the 2ist of Oc- 
 tober, 1880, Dr. Pratt married Miss Edith 
 A. Smith, a daughter of Joel and Emaline 
 L. (Brown) Smith, of Marengo, Illinois, the 
 latter a native of Cortland, New York, and 
 one of the early teachers in the public schools 
 of Dundee, Illinois, and the former of Rut- 
 land, Vermont. Her father was a pioneer 
 of DuPage county, Illinois, where he located 
 in 1857. To Dr. and Mrs. Pratt two chil- 
 dren were born Ada A. and Alice M., who 
 yet remain at home. 
 
 In October, 1883, Dr. Pratt removed 
 with his family to Elgin and in the fifteen 
 years that have since passed he has built up 
 an extensive practice. His office is in his own 
 home at No. 266 Chicago street. He is 
 engaged in general practice. He was elected 
 in 1897 president of the Fox River Valley 
 Medical Association. 
 
 Dr. and Mrs. Pratt are members of the 
 
 First Baptist church of Elgin. In the work 
 of the church they both take a lively inter- 
 est. Politically he is a Republican. So- 
 cially the family move in the best circles 
 and are universally esteemed for their many 
 excellent qualities of head and heart. 
 
 JOHN A. RUSSELL, a representative 
 of the legal fraternity, with office in 
 Cook block, Elgin, is a native of Kane 
 county, Illinois, born in St. Charles, Oc- 
 tober 4, 1854. He is the son of John 
 and Jeanette (Beith) Russell, natives of 
 Scotland, and the parents of three children, 
 the others being Wm. B., of Newhall, Iowa, 
 and Hannah M., of Elgin. John Russell, 
 the father, was a stone mason by trade, and 
 on coming to America located at St. Charles, 
 where he died in 1857, while still a young 
 man. His wife died the previous year. 
 Both were members of the Congregational 
 church. 
 
 Both the paternal and maternal grand- 
 fathers of our subject were of Scotch birth. 
 The former, the father of four sons, died in 
 his native land at an advanced age. The 
 latter, Robert Beith, came to America with 
 his wife, Barbara, in company with Mr. 
 and Mrs. Russell, and also located at St. 
 Charles, where he died at the age of 
 about seventy years. His wife lived to be 
 ninety. Robert Beith was in comfortable 
 circumstances financially and lived a retired 
 life in St. Charles. 
 
 John A. Russell was but two years of age 
 when his mother died, and only three years 
 old when his father passed away, so that he 
 never knew the great love of father or 
 mother. When five years old he was taken 
 from his native town and for five or six 
 years was in Minnesota and Iowa. Return-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 205 
 
 ing to Kane county, be attended Elgin 
 Academy for a time, and then read law in 
 the office of Botsford & Barry. After com- 
 pleting his studies he passed a successful ex- 
 amination at Springfield and was admitted 
 to the bar January 3, 1879. Opening an 
 office in Elgin he has since continued to 
 practice there with good success. 
 
 Mr. Russell was married December 24, 
 1888, to Miss Clara Mair, of Batavia, Illi- 
 nois, daughter of James Mair, a well-known 
 resident of that place. Two children have 
 come to bless this union: Marion and Mar- 
 jorie. In her religious views Mrs. Russell 
 is a Methodist, holding membership in the 
 church of that denomination in Elgin. 
 
 Fraternally Mr. Russell is a member of 
 Monitor lodge, No. 522 A. F. & A. M.; 
 Loyal L. Munn chapter, No. 96, R. A. M. ; 
 Bethel cornmandery, No. 36, K. T. , all of 
 Elgin, and Medina Temple of the Scottish 
 Rite, Chicago. Politically he is an enthu- 
 siastic Republican, and in the welfare of 
 his party takes great interest. He has been 
 a member of the county central committee 
 four years; chairman of the senatorial com- 
 mittee of the fourteenth senatorial district 
 two years; and was also secretary of the 
 State League of Republican clubs two years, 
 preceding the campaign of 1 896. For some 
 years be has done more or less campaign 
 work, taking the stump in Kane and adjoin- 
 ing counties. A fluent speaker, he has done 
 much to keep his native county in line with 
 the Republican party. 
 
 It is as an attorney, however, that Mr. 
 Russell is best known, the one profession in 
 which he takes great delight. His ability 
 in this calling is unquestioned and success 
 has crowned his efforts. In addition to his 
 private practice he served three years as 
 city attorney of Elgin, and four years as 
 
 state's attorney of Kane county. Law 
 breakers had reason to fear him as a prose- 
 cutor. 
 
 While confining himself principally to 
 his legal business Mr. Russell has always felt 
 an interest in the manufacturing institutions 
 and other industries of the county. He is 
 now serving as secretary of the W. H. How- 
 ell Company, of Geneva, that manufactures 
 six tons of sad irons per day in connection 
 with a machine shop where many other ar- 
 ticles of usefulness are manufactured. 
 
 An almost life-long resident of the coun- 
 ty, Mr. Russell has an extended acquaint- 
 ance in all parts, and this acquaintance is 
 not confined to Kane county, but extends 
 throughout the state, his position as secre- 
 tary of the Republican League bringing him 
 in contact with many of the oldest and best 
 men in the state. His pleasant manners 
 and good conversational powers make him 
 friends wherever he goes. 
 
 WILLIAM HENRY GOETTING, pro- 
 prietor of the Elgin Steam Laundry 
 at 115-117 Division street, has for fifteen 
 years been a resident of Elgin. Through- 
 out his career of continued and far-reaching 
 usefulness his duties have been performed 
 with the greatest care, and his business in- 
 terests have been so managed as to win him 
 the confidence of the public and the pros- 
 perity which should always attend honorable 
 effort. 
 
 Mr. Goetting was born in Schaumberg, 
 Cook county, Illinois, October 9, 1859, and 
 is a son of Charles and Dorothea (Kraegel) 
 Goetting, in whose family were five chil- 
 dren, but only two are now living, the other 
 being Matilda, widow of Jacob Theobold. 
 The father, who was a brick and stone
 
 2O6 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 mason and a plasterer by trade, came to 
 Americ?. from Germany in 1863 and first 
 located in Addison township, Du Page coun- 
 ty, Illinois, but later took up his residence 
 in Cook county, where he died in 1888, at 
 the age. of eighty-two years. His wife had 
 passed away some years previous, dying in 
 1873, at the age of fifty. Both held mem- 
 bership in the Lutheran Church, and were 
 widely and favorably known. The paternal 
 grandfather of our subject was a laboring 
 man and while serving in the German army 
 was killed by a French soldier. He had 
 only one son. Dietrich Kraegel, the ma- 
 ternal grandfather, also served for some 
 time in the German army, but later came 
 to America, and his death occurred in 
 Du Page county, Illinois, when in his eight- 
 ieth year. By trade he was a tailor. In 
 his family were six children. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared in 
 much the usual manner of farmer boys and 
 in the public schools of Cook county ob- 
 tained his education. During his youth he 
 first worked on a farm, then he learned the 
 carpenter's trade and also learned to operate 
 a stationary engine. On coming to Elgin 
 in 1882 he worked at his trade of carpenter 
 for three years, and for the same length of 
 time was employed in the Elgin Steam 
 Laundry. At the end of that time he pur- 
 chased the plant and business, which he has 
 since successfully conducted. He gives em- 
 ployment to from twenty to twenty-five 
 persons, and the work turned out is excep- 
 tionally fine. 
 
 On the 26th of June, 1886, was cele- 
 brated the marriage of Mr. Goetting and 
 Miss Mary Borchert, a daughter of Gottlieb 
 and Elizabeth (Springer) Borchert. Three 
 children were born to them Charles G., 
 Bertha A., and Ida E. , but the first two 
 
 named are now deceased. The parents are 
 prominent members of the St. Paul's Evan- 
 gelical Church, and Mr. Goetting is now 
 serving as church treasurer. He belongs to 
 St. Paul's Benefit Society, and the Colum- 
 bian Knights, and politically is identified 
 with the Republican party. He resides at 
 216 Dexter avenue, where he has a pleasant 
 home, and there the many friends of the 
 family are always sure of a hearty welcome. 
 As a business man he is enterprising and 
 progressive, and as a citizen he meets every 
 requirement. 
 
 JACOB PHILIP LONG, deceased, was 
 born in Hamburg, Germany, in' the val- 
 ley of the Rhine, March 6, 1825, and died 
 at his home in Elgin, on the 2Oth of Sep- 
 tember, 1896. His life span therefore 
 covered the Psalmist's span of three score 
 years and ten, and the record which he 
 made during that period was one character- 
 ized by business ability and well-merited 
 successes, by honorable dealing and by the 
 regard which is ever accorded genuine 
 worth. 
 
 Mr. Long was a son of Jacob and Kath- 
 arine (Younge) Lange, also natives of Ger- 
 many, and it is only by the American repre- 
 sentatives of the family that the name is 
 spelled " Long." The father of our subject 
 was a wagon-maker and spent his entire life 
 in the country of his nativity. His wife was 
 a daughter of a wealthy distiller of the pro- 
 vince of Hessen, who was the owner of a 
 large farm and much real estate, and who 
 was also a soldier under Napoleon. 
 
 Mr. Long, of this review, learned the 
 trade of wagon making under the direction 
 of his father, and that of distilling with his 
 maternal grandfather. After his mother's
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 207 
 
 death he entered the German army in which 
 he served for four years. Upon his return 
 home he found that his father had married 
 again and being much displeased with this 
 state of affairs he resolved to come to Amer- 
 ica. Accordingly he made all preparations 
 to leave his native land and sailed from 
 Havre to New York, whence he made his 
 way to Chicago and then to Elgin. Here 
 he worked at the wagonmaker's trade as a 
 journeyman for a time, and then embarked 
 in business on his own account. His first 
 factory, established on Milwaukee and River 
 streets, was destroyed by fire, and he then 
 removed to a temporary shop on River 
 street, in which he carried on business until 
 the completion of a fine two-story brick 
 shop and factory, which was erected at No. 
 112 Division street, in 1879. There he 
 carried on business until his death. He did 
 a large repairing trade and built up an ex- 
 tensive business in the manufacture of all 
 kinds of vehicles, which on account of the 
 excellence of the workmanship found a 
 ready sale on the market. The enterprise 
 which he conducted therefore proved a prof- 
 itable one and enabled him to surround his 
 family not only with the necessities, but also 
 many of the luxuries, of life. 
 
 Mr. Long was married in Cook county, 
 Illinois, about ten miles east of Elgin, to 
 Miss Caroline Wilhausen, who was born in 
 Kur Hessen, Germany, and came to Amer- 
 ica when fourteen years of age with her par- 
 ents, Frederick and Caroline Wilhausen. 
 Her father owned a small farm in Kur Hes- 
 sen, but disposed of that property in 1847, 
 and with his family sailed from Bremen to 
 New York. He then made his way to Chi- 
 cago, where he resided for two months, while 
 seeking a desirable farm. Finally he pur- 
 chased land near Schaumberg, Cook coun- 
 
 ty, where he continued to make his home 
 until his death, about 1853. To Mr. and 
 Mrs. Long were born six children, but three 
 died in infancy. Those still living are Julia, 
 wife of August Schwemm, a machinist of Chi- 
 cago; Anna, who is residing with her mother; 
 and Herman Frederick, who carries on the 
 business left by his father. He learned the 
 blacksmith's trade in his father's shop, also 
 wagon making and carriage painting, and 
 now displays marked ability in his conduct 
 of the industry. He was born in Elgin, 
 May 1 6, 1872, was educated in the public 
 schools and Drew's Business College, and 
 when twenty years of age put aside his text 
 books to take up the practical duties of busi- 
 ness life. Like his father, he is a Democrat, 
 and is a progressive, wide-awake young 
 business man, and a popular citizen. 
 
 Jacob P. Long was a valued member of 
 the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and 
 a consistent member of St. John's Evangel- 
 ical church. He found his greatest enjoy- 
 ment in his home arnid his family, but was 
 not without a large circle of warm friends. 
 He was large-hearted, generous and kindly, 
 possessed a jovial disposition, was true to 
 every trust reposed in him, and possessed 
 such sterling characteristics that the highest 
 regard was ever his. 
 
 EDGAR E. HOXIE, a locomotive engin. 
 eer on the Chicago & Northwestern 
 railroad, now residing at No. 320 Center 
 street, Elgin, is one of the valued citizens of 
 that place, and is a representative of one of 
 the old and respected families of Kane coun- 
 ty. He was born in Dundee, October 18, 
 1845, a son of George W. and Fidelia (Aid- 
 rich) Hoxie, who were natives of Massachu- 
 setts, and were married just across the line
 
 208 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 in Pownall, Vermont. The father, who 
 was a farmer by occupation, came to Illi- 
 nois in 1836 and purchased land in Kane 
 county, after which he returned to the east 
 and was married in that year or the year 
 following. He then brought his bride to 
 his new home in the wilderness, erecting a 
 log house, in which they began their do- 
 mestic life. The farm, comprising one hun- 
 dred and sixty acres of wild land, purchased 
 of Mr. Dewesse, was soon placed under a 
 high state of cultivation, but in the mean- 
 time the family endured all the hardships 
 and privations incident to life on the front- 
 ier. At that time Chicago was a mere ham- 
 let, and the land on which the court house 
 is now located could be bought for ten 
 shillings per acre. The father took no act- 
 ive part in public affairs aside from serving 
 as school director in his district, which office 
 was very important in those pioneer days. 
 He died in 1889 at the age of seventy- six 
 years, his wife a year later at the age of 
 eighty-one. Both were earnest members of 
 the Baptist church, with which he was offi- 
 cially connected. Reared to habits of in- 
 dustry and economy, they were always hard 
 working people, and were thus well equipped 
 for frontier life. 
 
 In the family of this worthy couple were 
 five children, namely: Emily, who died of 
 cerebro-spinal meningitis when past the 
 ^age of thirty years; Homer, a resident of 
 Dundee, and foreman of the condensing 
 factory in Carpentersville; Jane, wife of Je- 
 rome Irick, of Dundee; Edgar E., of this 
 sketch; and Charles A., station agent at 
 Dundee for the Chicago & Northwestern 
 railroad. 
 
 Upon the home farm at Dundee Edward 
 E. Hoxie was reared until fifteen years of 
 age, and then learned the trade of sash and 
 
 blind making, which he followed at that 
 place, in Elgin and in Chicago for sixteen 
 years. He then entered the service of the 
 Chicago & Northwestern railroad as fireman, 
 and after being thus employed for four years, 
 he was promoted engineer in 1881, com- 
 pleting his seventeenth year in that capac- 
 ity in July, 1898. During the twenty-one 
 years he has been with the company, he 
 has never been reprimanded or had any un- 
 pleasant relations with them, which fact 
 speaks volumes as to the faithful manner in 
 which he has labored for their interests. 
 He has never met with any serious accident, 
 never had but one collision, which was not 
 his fault, but the fault of the pay car, which 
 ran into him; twice his engine has left the 
 tracks, but no serious accident has hap- 
 pened to himself. 
 
 During the early part of the Civil war 
 Mr. Hoxie enlisted for three months, in a 
 call to guard prisoners from Fort Donelson 
 and Shiloh, and after serving for four 
 months, he returned home. In 1863 he 
 enlisted in Company B, Sixty-ninth Illinois 
 Volunteer Infantry, as corporal, and after- 
 ward re-enlisted in Company I, Fifty-second 
 Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He partici- 
 pated in the Atlanta campaign, when the 
 Union troops were almost constantly under 
 fire for ninety days, and he was with Sher- 
 man on his celebrated march to the sea, 
 walking the entire distance. He was under 
 the command of General Corse, who, after 
 General Sherman signaled him to hold the 
 fort at Altoona Pass, sent back the reply: 
 " I am short a cheek bone and an ear, but 
 able to whip the Rebs and all hell yet. " It 
 will be remembered that Altoona Pass is in 
 the vicinity of the town of Altoona, in 
 northwestern Georgia. Here, on the 5th of 
 October, 1864, occurred the battle made
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 209 
 
 memorable by the gallant defense of Altoona 
 by General John M. Corse, of the Federal 
 army. General Sherman was occupying At- 
 lanta, having garrisoned Altoona as his sec- 
 ond base; this point the Confederates deter- 
 mined to capture, and General S. G. French, 
 under General Hood, was commissioned to 
 accomplish the work. Sherman being in- 
 formed of these designs, signaled from Ken- 
 esaw Mountain to General Corse, stationed 
 at Rome, to move with the utmost speed to 
 Altoona and " hold the fort " against all op- 
 position until he himself could arrive with 
 aid. Here General Corse, with scarcely two 
 thousand men, maintained the defense from 
 nine in the morning until three in the after- 
 noon against a large force of Confederate 
 soldiers. At three General French sounded 
 a retreat, and Altoona was saved. The 
 proudest day of Mr. Hoxie's life was when 
 he participated in the grand review at Wash- 
 ington, District of Columbia, at the close of 
 the war. Fortunately, during the entire 
 service he was never wounded or taken pris- 
 oner, and when the war was over he was 
 honorably discharged in Chicago, in July, 
 1865. 
 
 On the 3d of February, 1869, Mr. 
 Hoxie was united in marriage with Miss 
 Lucy Lown, daughter of George and Fanny 
 Lown, who were from Dutchess county, 
 New York, her father's farm bordering on 
 the Hudson river in the town of Rhinebeck. 
 Two children blessed this union: Maud, 
 who was born December 18, 1870, and died 
 March 20, 1883; and Mabel, who is attend- 
 ing school in Elgin. 
 
 Fraternally, Mr. Hoxie is an honored 
 member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive 
 Engineers, the Masonic order, and the 
 Grand Army of the Republic. His political 
 support is always given the men and meas- 
 
 ures of the Republican party, and he takes 
 quite an active interest in local affairs. As 
 a citizen he commands the respect and es- 
 teem of all who know him, and has a host 
 of friends throughout his native county. 
 
 JOHN A. LOGAN, whose name is insep- 
 arably connected with the political his- 
 tory of Elgin, served his fellow citizens as 
 United States deputy marshal for four 
 years and as alderman from the seventh 
 ward of Elgin. He was born in that city 
 August 9, 1 86 1, a son of John and Julia 
 (Murphy) Logan, who were born, reared 
 and married in County Cork, Ireland. On 
 coming to the United States during the '505 
 they located in Elgin, Illinois, where the 
 father died about the close of the Civil war. 
 On his emigration to America he was accom- 
 panied by his father, Owen Logan, who, 
 with his family settled in Elgin. In politics 
 the father of our subject was a Democrat, 
 and in religious belief was a Catholic, to 
 which church his wife also belonged. She 
 is now deceased. Their children were Mary, 
 Nellie, Julia, Margaret, Thomas, John A. 
 (ist), John A. (our subject), and Margaret 
 (2d), all deceased with the exception of 
 Thomas, a resident of Elgin, and our sub- 
 ject. 
 
 Reared in Elgin, John A. Logan, of this 
 review, acquired his education in the public 
 schools. On starting out in life for him- 
 self he first worked in a brickyard, later was 
 employed in a butter factory for two years, 
 and in a cheese box factory for about four 
 years. He then entered the service of the 
 Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad, remaining 
 with that company for about ten years, or 
 until 1889, when he established a saloon in 
 Elgin and successfully conducted the same
 
 2IO 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 for two years. In 1888 he was appointed 
 deputy sheriff of Kane county under Will- 
 iam H. Reed, and served in that capacity 
 for four years. Since 1 894 he served as 
 United States deputy marshal, and most 
 ably and satisfactorily discharged the duties 
 of that office. 
 
 Mr. Logan was married in 1881, to Miss 
 Mary A. Althen, a native of Sycamore, De- 
 Kalb county, Illinois, and a daughter of 
 Casper and Louise (Miller) Althen, natives 
 of Germany. Two children bless this union, 
 namely: Margaret and John. 
 
 The Democratic party has always found 
 in Mr. Logan a stanch supporter of its prin- 
 ciples, and he is a recognized leader in local 
 political affairs, being the present chairman 
 of the Democratic committee of Elgin and 
 a member of the senatorial committee. He 
 has also been a delegate to many county, 
 senatorial, congressional and state conven- 
 tions, and is active and influential in the 
 councils of his party. In 1886 he was first 
 elected alderman from his ward for the 
 short term, and at the two succeeding elec- 
 tions was re-elected, serving continuously 
 until 1891. In 1894 was again elected to 
 the same position, and two years later was 
 re-elected, being the- present incumbent, 
 chairman of the railroad committee, and a 
 member of the street lighting, fire and 
 health committees. Socially he is a mem- 
 ber of Lochiel lodge, K. P., of Elgin, and is 
 also a Mason, belonging to the blue lodge 
 of Elgin, and the Medina Temple and 
 Oriential Consistory of Chicago. 
 
 JOHN B. MOORE. Among the many 
 who came to the grand prairie state in 
 pioneer days, and who have been instru- 
 mental in making it take the highest rank 
 
 among its sister states of the Union, is the 
 man whose name heads this sketch, who 
 dates his residence in Illinois since Septem- 
 ber 27, 1844. A native of New York, he 
 was born at College Hill, Oneida county, 
 July 26, 1815, and is the son of Shubel and 
 Betsy (Watson) Moore, natives of New 
 England, but who were among the pioneers 
 of Oneida county, New York. The Moores 
 are of Scottish descent. The family on 
 leaving that country located for a time in 
 Ireland and then came to the United States, 
 first settling in Connecticut. Thomas Moore 
 was a drover and furnished beef to the army 
 during the Revolutionary war. 
 
 Shubel Moore grew to manhood in Con- 
 necticut, and was twice married, having 
 five children by his first union. His second 
 wife was Betsy Watson, the mother of our 
 subject. She was born in Massachusetts, 
 and was the daughter of Alexander Watson, 
 a native of Middlesex county, that state, 
 and a soldier of the Revolutionary war, who 
 entered the service in July, 1776, when a 
 lad of sixteen years. He participated in 
 many important engagements during the 
 struggle for independence. In 1793, he 
 removed with his family to Herkimer coun- 
 ty, New York, cleared off the timber, 
 opened up a farm, and there spent the re- 
 mainder of his life, dying April 6, 1840. 
 His wife, Persis Watson, survived him some 
 months, dying June 2, 1841. 
 
 Shubel Moore moved to Oneida county, 
 New York, at a very early day, locating on 
 College Hill, where he purchased a partially 
 improved place, which he converted into 
 one of the best farms in that locality. He 
 there died in 1820, when but forty-nine 
 years old. His widow survived him many 
 years, dying on the old homestead Decem- 
 ber 1 8, 1859. After her husband's death,
 
 JOHN B. MOORE.
 
 MRS. J. B. MQORE,

 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 213 
 
 she managed the farm and reared her fam- 
 ily, doing by them as well as her means and 
 opportunities afforded. She was a woman 
 of good business ability, and it can be said 
 of her as of one of old "she did what she 
 could." On the death of her husband, 
 there was quite an indebtedness on the 
 place, which, with the aid of her sons, she 
 in due time paid off, and later built a good, 
 substantial residence. By his first wife 
 Shubel Moore had four sons, Hiram, Miles, 
 Ira and Frederick, and one daughter, Ma- 
 tilda. By his second wife he had ten chil- 
 dren: Persis, Caroline, Keziah, Maria, 
 Thomas, John B., Bright Alexander, 
 Shubel, -and two, Cornelia and Eliza, who 
 died in infancy. Of this number, Johtr B. 
 and Shubel are the only survivors, Shubel 
 residing in Utica, New York. 
 
 John B. Moore was but five years of age 
 when his father died. He remained under 
 the parental roof until attaining his seven- 
 teenth year, assisting in the cultivation of 
 the home farm. He then commenced to 
 learn the carpenter's trade, which occupa- 
 tion he followed for a number of years. 
 While yet residing in New York, on the 
 1 2th of March, 1839, he was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Sophia Todd, born at Col- 
 lege Hill, May 6, 1819. By this union 
 were one son, and one daughter. Albert B., 
 the son enlisted in 1862 in the Ninety-first 
 Illinois Volunteer Infantry, was taken pris- 
 oner by the raider, Morgan, and was after- 
 wards exchanged. He is now a farmer, re- 
 siding in Jackson county, Kansas. The 
 daughter, Adelaide, is now the wife of 
 Andrew Schofield, of Los Angeles, Cali- 
 fornia. 
 
 In 1844, Mr. Moore came to Illinois, 
 by way of the Erie canal to Buffalo, and by 
 
 the great lakes to Chicago. Moving on 
 10 
 
 west, he settled in Grundy county and there 
 entered one hundred and forty acres of 
 land, which he commenced to improve. 
 Being without capital, for a time he en- 
 gaged in contracting and building to pay 
 for the land, and make other necessary im- 
 provements. He continued to do more or 
 less contracting and building for several 
 years. As his means increased he bought 
 more land, and at one time owned one 
 thousand acres, comprising the farm on 
 which he lived. In the early days he hauled 
 his wheat and other grain to Chicago, the 
 trip requiring two days each way. At night 
 he slept under the wagon when the weather 
 was not too severe. His wheat brought at 
 different times from forty-eight cents to 
 ninety-five cents per bushel. His trips to 
 Ghjcago were with a wagon and two yoke 
 of oxen, and he usually hauled fifty-two 
 bushels at a time. 
 
 While residing in Grundy county, Mrs. 
 Sophia Moore died November 25, 1851. She 
 had been a member of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal church since reaching the age of thir- 
 teen years. On the 25th of April, 1852, 
 Mr. Moore .was united in marriage with Miss 
 Lucy Sterling, a native of Michigan, born 
 May 31, 1831. She is the daughter of 
 Samuel and Cornelia (Lathrop) Sterling, 
 natives of Connecticut, but who were married 
 in New York, removed from thence to Mich- 
 igan, and in 1834, to Kane county, Illinois. 
 They located at Geneva, where Mr. Sterling 
 bought a farm, and built the first hotel in 
 the place. He also built the first dam and 
 erected the first mill in Geneva. Mrs. 
 Sterling was the first teacher in the place. 
 After residing in the village for some years, 
 Mr. Sterling removed to his farm, which is 
 now owned and occupied by our subject, 
 and there built a substantial stone residence.
 
 214 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 The last years of his life were spent on that 
 farm, although his death occurred in Grundy 
 county, at the residence of Mr. Moore, 
 August 30, 1871, at the age of seventy-nine 
 years. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Moore, nine children 
 have been born, as follows: Sterling, who 
 died in infancy; George, who died at the 
 age of twelve years; Shubel, a stockman, 
 married, and residing in Jackson county, 
 Kansas: Arabella, wife of Heiko Felkamp, 
 of Great Bend, Kansas; Frederick, a farmer 
 residing near Great Bend, Kansas; Mrs. 
 Maria Fellows, residing in Jackson county, 
 Kansas; Delia, wife of John Strader, a drug- 
 gist of Geneva, Illinois; Emery T. , a farmer 
 of St. Charles township; and John, who re- 
 sides on the old homestead. 
 
 After the death of Mr. Sterling, his 
 homestead was put up at auction, and was 
 purchased by Mr. Moore. It then com- 
 prised one hundred and eighty-seven acres, 
 to which Mr. Moore subsequently added 
 three adjoining farms, making one of about 
 seven hundred acres. For some years he 
 engaged in its active management, but is 
 now practically retired. He was one of the 
 prime movers in the establishment of the 
 factory at Geneva, and also the one at St. 
 Charles. He later purchased the Geneva 
 factory, but soon made it co-operative. It 
 is now controlled by a stock company. In 
 every enterprise calculated to advance the 
 material interest of his adopted city and 
 county, Mr. Moore has ever done his part. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Moore is a life-long 
 Democrat, being reared in the faith. He 
 cast his first presidential ballot for Martin 
 Van Buren, and has never since missed a 
 presidential election and has always voted 
 for the Democratic nominee. While resid- 
 ing in Grundy county he served for a time 
 
 as chairman of the Democratic central com- 
 mittee. By his fellow citizens he was there 
 elected to various local offices, including 
 that of county commissioner. Since com- 
 ing to Kane county he has steadily refused 
 official position, preferring to give his un- 
 divided time and attention to his extensive 
 business interests. While not a member, 
 he and his wife attend the Baptist church 
 and contribute to its support. Mr. Moore 
 is well-known throughout Kane and adjoin- 
 ing counties, and by all who know him he 
 is held in the highest esteem. 
 
 HENRY G. SAWYER, of Carpenters- 
 ville, Illinois, is one of the active and 
 enterprising business men and manufactur- 
 ers of Kane county. He. has been connect- 
 ed with the Star Company since its organi- 
 zation in 1873, and to him much of the 
 credit is due for its prosperous condition. 
 He was born in Elgin, Kane county, March 
 21, 1844, and is the son of George E. Saw- 
 yer, a native of Vermont, born at Bradford, 
 October 17, 1815. John W. Sawyer, the 
 grandfather, was also a native of Vermont, 
 the family locating in that state at an early 
 day. They are of English descent. 
 
 George E. Sawyer grew to manhood in 
 Vermont, and there married, January 5, 
 1837, Abigail P. Blake, a native of New 
 Hampshire, of which state her father, Hez- 
 ekiah Blake, was a native. By trade Mr. 
 Sawyer was a carpenter, which occupation 
 he followed in early life. In April, 1837, 
 with a one-horse wagon, he started from 
 his Vermont home to Illinois, arriving in El- 
 gin in October of the same year. In his 
 wagon were his entire earthly possessions, 
 but he came here with an earnest desire to
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 215 
 
 better himself in life. At Elgin his wife 
 had some friends, including a sister, Mrs. 
 David Corliss, who located here the previ- 
 ous year. Commencing work at his trade, 
 he continued at that but a short time and 
 then took up a claim of one hundred and 
 sixty acres in Elgin township, which he 
 later entered and subsequently sold and 
 then purchased a farm in Dundee township, 
 near the present village of Carpentersville, 
 to which he removed and on which he re- 
 sided for about thirty years. Leaving the 
 farm, he removed to Carpentersville, where 
 he died May 22, 1894, at the age of sev- 
 enty-nine years. His wife passed away 
 August 31, 1891. Their remains were laid 
 to rest in the Dundee cemetery. They 
 were the parents of two children William 
 G., of Elgin, and our subject. 
 
 Henry G. Sawyer grew to manhood in 
 Kane county, received his primary educa- 
 tion in its district schools and for a time at- 
 tended the Elgin Academy. He remained 
 "at home assisting his father in the cultiva- 
 tion of the farm until twenty-two years of 
 age, when in company with his brother he 
 purchased the mercantile business of J. A. 
 Carpenter, at Carpentersville, in which he 
 continued for eight years. He then en- 
 gaged in settling up the business and was 
 employed as a commercial salesman. He 
 was one of the charter members and stock- 
 holders of the Star Manufacturing Com- 
 pany, of which he was the first secretary 
 and treasurer. That position he continued 
 to occupy until 1896, when he was elected 
 president of the company. This is one of 
 the extensive enterprises in Kane county, its 
 products being sent all over the northwest, 
 including Indiana, Ohio and Pacific coast. 
 The institution was started in a small way 
 on small capital, but under the wise man- 
 
 agement of Mr. Sawyer it has grown from 
 year to year. 
 
 On the yth of November, 1867, at Car- 
 pentersville, Illinois, Mr. Sawyer was united 
 in marriage with Miss Ella A. Brown, 
 daughter of True and Lucinda Brown, the 
 father being an old settler and substantial 
 farmer of Kane county. She was born in 
 New Hampshire, but came to this county 
 with her parents in early childhood. Her 
 death occurred in November, 1868, and 
 Mr. Sawyer was again married March 23, 
 1871, to Miss Mary Kingsley, a native of 
 Illinois, born in Cook county, and the 
 daughter of S. W. Kingsley, a native of 
 Massachusetts, and came west by way of 
 the New York and Erie canal and the great 
 lakes. Settling in Barrington township in 
 1840, he entered about four hundred acres 
 of land, which he improved and on which 
 he resided for many years, but is now liv- 
 ing a retired life in Dundee. By this union 
 were five children: Lora, now the wife of 
 Charles H. Harvey, of Carpentersville; 
 Bertha E., who married Robert Nightin- 
 gale, Barrington, Cook county, but is now 
 deceased; Clara, now a student of Dickson 
 College; George K. and Addie K., twins. 
 The latter died in infancy. The former is 
 a student of the Illinois State University. 
 The mother of these children died March 
 25, 1879, and Mr. Sawyer, December 25, 
 1880, married Lillian M. Burkitt, who was 
 born and reared in Cook county, and a 
 daughter of William Burkitt. By this mar- 
 riage were three children. Clarence E., 
 Ethel M. and Howard C. , all attending the 
 home school. 
 
 Politically Mr. Sawyer is a Republican 
 and a strong believer in the principles of 
 that party. While taking an active interest 
 in political affairs, especially local politics,
 
 216 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 his .business interests have been such as to 
 preclude his holding public office. Fra- 
 ternally he is a member of the Modern 
 Woodmen of America, the Maccabees, and 
 the Knights of the Globe, while Mrs. Sawyer 
 is a member of the Daughters of the Globe. 
 A lifelong resident of Kane county, Mr. 
 Sawyer has gone in and out among its peo- 
 ple, attending strictly to business, and is 
 regarded as one of its valued citizens. Few 
 men are better known throughout Kane and 
 adjoining counties and he is held in the 
 highest esteem by all. 
 
 EZRA M. STARR, who is spending his 
 declining years in ease and retirement 
 at his pleasant home, No. 539 Ryerson 
 avenue, Elgin, was born June 23, 1836, in 
 Cattaraugus county, New York, of which 
 state his parents, William B. and Sallie M. 
 (Bailey) Starr, were also natives. There 
 the father continued to engage in agricult- 
 ural pursuits until 1860, when he emigrated 
 to Kane county, Illinois, purchasing a farm 
 in the town of Campton, where he made his 
 home until called to his final rest in 1892, at 
 the age of eighty-two years. He held mem- 
 bership in the Universalist church, and was 
 widely and favorably known throughout 
 Kane county, having lived in several differ- 
 ent localities. 
 
 The paternal grandfather of our subject, 
 Samuel Starr, was born August 4, 1780, and 
 died February 23, 1856. He served for 
 three months in the war of 1812, being dis- 
 charged at Sackett's Harbor, November 12, 
 1814, and for his services he received aland 
 warrant. He was in every way a most re- 
 liable and excellent man and most capably 
 filled the offices of township clerk and jus- 
 tice of the peace. Religiously he was a con- 
 
 sistent member of the Presbyterian church. 
 He married Miss Catherine Wright, who 
 was born May 10, 1783, and died April 7, 
 1848. They reared a large family of chil- 
 dren, but Mrs. Shaw, of Toledo, is the only 
 one now living. Her husband was a pioneer 
 of Lucas county, Ohio, and served as its 
 first sheriff. 
 
 The subject of this sketch is the oldest 
 of five children, the others being as follows: 
 William A., one of the early settlers of La- 
 bette county, Kansas, died there at the age 
 of thirty-five years, at which time he was 
 serving as county auditor. He was also a 
 successful teacher of that state, was quite 
 an influential man, and was a most intimate 
 friend of Senator Plum, of Kansas. Mil- 
 lard F. is a resident of Rutland, Kane coun- 
 ty, and has served as assessor and in other 
 county offices. Lydia C. is the wife of 
 Frank P. Shepard, of South Elgin. Arthur 
 died in infancy. 
 
 In the public schools of New York state, 
 Ezra M. Starr acquired his education and 
 upon the home farm early became familiar 
 with the duties which fall to the lot of the 
 agriculturist. He first came west in 1854, 
 but later returned to New York. In 1857, 
 however, he located in Ripon, Fond du Lac 
 county, Wisconsin, where he worked at 
 brick making for fifteen dollars per month 
 and board, -remaining there two years. He 
 then came to Hanover, Cook county, Illi- 
 nois, where he worked by the month for two 
 seasons, and in 1863 purchased two hun- 
 dred acres of land in Elgin township, Kane 
 county, of Virgil B. Bogue, Mrs. Starr's 
 father, who was one of the early settlers of 
 the county. Our subject successfully en- 
 gaged in the operation of this farm until 
 laying aside business cares after a long and 
 useful career.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 217 
 
 On the 7th of January, 1863, Mr. Starr 
 was married to Miss Jane Clarissa Bogue, 
 who was born on the farm in Kane county 
 which her husband purchased of her father. 
 Four children graced this union, namely: 
 Gertrude M., wife of E. D. Wheeler, a trav- 
 eling salesman residing in Elgin; Chester, a 
 cattle dealer of Kane county; and Catherine 
 and William Virgil, who are attending 
 school. Catherine gives lessons on the vio- 
 lin at the College of Music, Elgin, and well 
 understands the art of bringing forth sweet 
 strains from that favorite instrument. 
 
 Mr. Starr is a progressive and enterpris- 
 ing citizen, is broad and liberal in his views, 
 and keeps well abreast with the times. He 
 is quite domestic in his tastes, his greatest 
 enjoyment being found in his home, and 
 through his own efforts, he acquired a com- 
 petence which now enables him to lay aside 
 business cares and enjoy his quiet home life. 
 Politically he is a stanch Republican, and 
 he has served his fellow citizens as super- 
 visor of his township two years and school 
 director twenty years. 
 
 LEVI S. STOWE. There is particular 
 satisfaction in reverting to the life his- 
 tory of the honored and venerable gentle- 
 man whose name initiates this review, since 
 his mind bears the impress of the historical 
 annals of Kane county from early pioneer 
 days, and for many years he has actively 
 and prominently identified with the com- 
 mercial and business interests of Elgin, in 
 which city he is now living retired. 
 
 Mr. Stowe was born June 24, 1826, in 
 Granville, Washington county, New York, 
 and is a son of Asahel and Lydia (Daven- 
 port) Stowe. The father was born April 
 24, 1795, and was the son of Cyrus Stowe, 
 
 who was born July 16, 1769, a descendant 
 oi Lord John Stowe, who on account of re- 
 ligious persecution was driven out of Eng- 
 land and came to America, settling in either 
 Massachusetts or Vermont. At an early 
 day members of the family removed to New 
 York. The Davenports were also early 
 settlers of that state, but little is known of 
 their history. 
 
 Leaving New York, Asahel Stowe, with 
 his family, journeyed westward by team, 
 and on the 28th of September, 1843, ar- 
 rived in Elgin, Illinois, where his brother, 
 Cyrus Stowe, had located three years previ- 
 ously. Besides these two brothers, the 
 other children were Polly E., Samuel, Han- 
 nah, Edwin C. , William C., Parley W. and 
 Wealthy B. Cyrus C. Stowe was an active 
 and prominent member of the Congrega- 
 tional church, of Elgin, in which he served 
 as one of the first deacons. The children 
 born to Asahel and Lydia (Davenport) 
 Stowe were as follows: William H. ; Louise 
 J., wife of Jesse Rose; Marilla, wife of 
 Theodore Cowen; Levi S.; Rebecca L., 
 wife of Monroe Hammon; Electa and Eve- 
 line, who both died in childhood; Albert, 
 deceased; Edwin, deceased; Martha, widow 
 of William Battles. Of these, only five are 
 now living: Levi S. ; Henry; and Louise, 
 of Martin county, Minnesota; Rebecca, of 
 Michigan; and Martha, of Marseailles, Illi- 
 nois. The mother of these children died in 
 Conewango, Cattaraugus county, New York, 
 in 1841, the father in Sycamore, Illinois, in 
 June, 1859. In religious belief he was a 
 Congregationalist, and in politics a Whig, 
 until 1856, when he became a Republican. 
 
 On coming west with the family, Levi 
 S. Stowe found employment in Elgin at 
 chopping wood for twenty-five cents per 
 cord, and subsequently he went to De Kalb
 
 218 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 county, where he engaged in farming for 
 about three years. The following three 
 years were spent in farming and lumbering 
 in Wisconsin, and on his return to Illinois 
 he located in Sycamore, where he remained 
 for one year. After passing a year at St. 
 Charles, he came to Elgin, where he first 
 conducted a restaurant, and then opened a 
 general store on Chicago street in the build- 
 ing now occupied by the Barclay hardware 
 firm, carrying on general merchandise very 
 successfully there for almost a quarter of a 
 century. Since selling out his store in 1881, 
 he has practically lived retired. Besides 
 his own pleasant home at No. 56 Villa 
 street, he owns considerable real estate, in- 
 cluding residence property in the city which 
 he rents. 
 
 Mr. Stowe was married October 26, 
 1852, to Miss Jane E. Holgate, of Elgin, 
 Kane county, who was born in Franklin 
 county, New York, April 27, 1833, a daugh- 
 ter of Rev. Ozem and Angeline (Safford) 
 Holgate. She died in Elgin on the 6th of 
 July, 1855, a worthy member of the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal church, of which her father 
 was a minister. On October 3, 1857, Mr. 
 Stowe was again married, his second union 
 being with Miss Betsy Lessenden, who was 
 born in 1835, a daughter of Ephraim and 
 Caroline (Anderson) Lessenden, natives of 
 Sheerness, Kent county, England. In 1849 
 they became residents of Kane county, Illi- 
 nois, where the father engaged in farming 
 many years, and both died in Elgin in 1895. 
 They were earnest and faithful members of 
 the Methodist church. Of their five chil- 
 dren, John is now a resident of Osawatomie 
 county, Kansas; Sarah, born in 1832, mar- 
 ried Edwin Stowe, and both died leaving 
 two sons, Sherman and Warren, residents 
 of Elgin; Mrs. Betsy Stowe is next in order 
 
 of birth ; George is a resident of Osawatomie, 
 Kansas; and Jane is the wife of Milton 
 Townsend. 
 
 In his political views Mr. Stowe is a 
 Republican, and has ever taken a deep and 
 commendable interest in public affairs, giv- 
 ing his support to all measures which he be- 
 lieves calculated to prove of public benefit. 
 He is one of the few early merchants of El- 
 gin now living, and with the growth and up- 
 building of the place he has been prominent- 
 ly identified. His wife holds membership 
 in the Congregational church, and they have 
 the respect and esteem of all who know 
 them. 
 
 HENRY J. GAHAGAN, M. D. , is a skilled 
 physician and surgeon of Elgin, whose 
 knowledge of the science of medicine is 
 broad and comprehensive, and whose ability 
 in applying its principles to the needs of 
 suffering humanity has gained him an envi- 
 able prestige in professional circles. A na- 
 tive of Grafton, Illinois, born December 27, 
 1866, he is of Irish lineage. His paternal 
 grandfather, a native of the Emerald Isle, 
 having emigrated to America, died in New 
 York at the age of one hundred and four 
 years. His wife passed away in Ireland at 
 the age of seventy. 
 
 The Doctor's father, Bernard Gahagan, 
 was born in County Sligo, Ireland, and on 
 coming to America located near Lake Cham- 
 plain, New York, whence he afterward re- 
 moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Later 
 he floated down the Mississippi river on a 
 raft and became one of the pioneer settlers 
 of Jersey county, Illinois, locating at Graf- 
 ton, where he lived for many years. He 
 was a contractor and builder by occupation. 
 He married Ellen Armstrong, also a native 
 of County Sligo, Ireland, as was her father,
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 219 
 
 who crossed the Atlantic to America in an 
 early day, and spent the remainder of his 
 life in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Gahagan became the parents of seven 
 children, four sons and three daughters, four 
 of whom are now living: Michael, of Tus- 
 can, Arizona; Bernard, who is living in New 
 York city; Henry J. ; and Kate, wife of 
 Simon Conroy, of Grafton, Illinois. The 
 father of this family passed away in 1881 
 at the age of fifty-four years, and the mother's 
 death occurred several years before. Both 
 were members of the Roman Catholic 
 church. 
 
 The Doctor was reared in his native 
 town, was graduated in the high school 
 there, and later attended a private school in 
 Chicago. He also pursued a private course 
 in medicine for two years, and in 1890 
 matriculated in the Rush Medical College 
 of that city, in which institution he was 
 graduated in 1893. During that time he 
 had charge of the surgical instruments de- 
 partment of the Cook county hospital. 
 
 On leaving Chicago Dr. Gahagan ac- 
 cepted the position of assistant physician in 
 the Eastern Illinois Hospital for the Insane, 
 at Kankakee, and a few months later, at his 
 own request, was transferred to the North- 
 ern Illinois Hospital for the Insane, at Elgin, 
 having charge of the annex building until 
 April i, 1897. He then opened an office in 
 Elgin for private practice and has already 
 succeeded in establishing a good business. 
 On the 2Oth of May, 1897, he was appointed 
 city physician. He is already popular with 
 Elgin's citizens as an able physician and his 
 practice is constantly increasing in volume 
 and importance. As he is yet a young man 
 and possesses enterprise and laudable ambi- 
 tion, a successful future is undoubtedly be- 
 fore him. 
 
 The Doctor was married August 12, 
 1893, to Miss Delia Cullen, daughter of 
 William and Ellen (Conners) Cullen. They 
 have one child, Edna. The parents are 
 members of the Roman Catholic church, 
 and the Doctor is a valued member of the 
 Knights of Pythias fraternity of Elgin, in 
 which he is now serving as chancellor com- 
 mander. He is a medical examiner of the 
 male and female Catholic Order of Forest- 
 ers, Elgin court No. 137, St. Regina court 
 No. 92, and of courts located at Elburn, 
 Batavia, St. Charles, Huntley and Rutland, 
 and belongs to Silver Leaf camp, Modern 
 Woodmen of America; the Columbus Club, 
 of Chicago; the Fox River Valley Medical 
 Association, being chairman of its executive 
 committee; the Illinois Medical Society and 
 a charter member of the Association of As- 
 sistant Physicians of Hospitals for the In- 
 sane. In his political predilections he is a 
 Democrat, but has never sought official 
 preferment, desiring rather to give his en- 
 tire time and attention to his profession, in 
 which he is winning a desirable reputation. 
 
 JUDGE JOHN W. RANSTEAD, who has 
 attained distinctive prestige at the bar of 
 Kane county, was born in Udina, Kane 
 county, Illinois, June 14, 1843, and is a 
 representative of one of the most prominent 
 and honored old families in this section of 
 the state. His great-grandfather was one 
 of the heroes of the Revolution and fell at the 
 battle of Bennington, giving his life for the 
 cause of his country. The grandfather of 
 the Judge was John Ranstead, a native of 
 New Hampshire, and his son John was also 
 born in the Granite state. The latter mar- 
 ried Mercy West, a native of Vermont, and 
 a daughter of Albert West, whose birth also
 
 22O 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 occurred there. He studied for the medical 
 profession but died in early life. In 1837, 
 John Ranstead, father of the Judge, came 
 with his family to Kane county, Illinois, lo- 
 cating in Udina, where he carried on agri- 
 cultural pursuits. His ability for leadership 
 made him one of the prominent citizens of 
 the community and he was honored by an 
 election to the state legislature, serving in 
 the years 1852 and 1853. He died in 1868 
 at the age of sixty-five years, and his wife, 
 who was a member of the Methodist church, 
 passed away in 1895, a * the advanced age 
 of seventy-eight years. Their family num- 
 bered one son and two daughters, the latter 
 being Julia W., now deceased, and Sarah, 
 wife of G. H. Britton, of Udina. 
 
 Judge Ranstead was reared on his father's 
 farm in Kane county, and in early life at- 
 tended an old-time subscription school. He 
 afterward pursued his studies in the public 
 schools and Elgin Academy, leaving the last 
 named institution in 1858 to enter Lombard 
 University at Galesburg, Illinois, where he 
 continued his studies until 1863. Having 
 determined to enter the legal profession he 
 matriculated in the law department of Mich- 
 igan University and was graduated in the 
 class of 1866. 
 
 In 1868 Mr. Ranstead came to Elgin, 
 where he opened a law office. His success 
 at the bar was marked and immediate, and 
 the confidence reposed in him by his fellow- 
 townsmen was indicated in 1873 by his 
 election to the office of county judge, in 
 which capacity he served for nine consecu- 
 tive years, discharging his duties with marked 
 fairness and displaying in his decisions a 
 comprehensive knowledge of the science of 
 jurisprudence. Since his retirement from 
 the bench he has engaged in private practice 
 and has an extensive clientage which has 
 
 connected him with much of the important 
 litigation of the district during his affiliation 
 with the Elgin bar. He is also a director 
 in the Home Savings Bank and is the presi- 
 dent of the Home National Bank. 
 
 On the 2nd of April, 1867, the Judge 
 wedded Miss Eugenia A. Fuller, a daughter 
 of Rev. J. P. and Adeline (Cady) Fuller, of 
 Galesburg, Illinois, both natives of Con- 
 necticut. One child graces this union 
 Janet M. The Judge and his wife attend 
 the Universalist church, and in his social 
 relations he is a Master Mason and a mem- 
 ber of the Elgin Waltonian Club and the 
 Black Hawk Club. His political support 
 has always been given the Democracy, and 
 of the principles of the party he is a stanch 
 advocate. His entire life has been passed 
 in Kane county, and his useful and honor- 
 able career commends him to the confidence 
 of all. In his profession he has won the 
 success which only close application and 
 earnest purpose can bring, and in private 
 life he has gained the respect which is ever 
 accorded genuine worth. 
 
 ANTON F. SCHADER. Germany has 
 furnished to the New World many of 
 her best and most useful citizens. It has 
 furnished not only needed workmen, skilled 
 and unskilled, but enterprising merchants, 
 manufacturers, artists and apt dealers upon 
 our marts of trade. It has also naturally 
 embraced the various professions, where 
 these German-Americans prove themselves 
 useful, talented and influential. Among 
 Elgin's leading citizens is Anton F. Schader, 
 native of the Fatherland, who is now the 
 well-known and populareditorof the "Week- 
 ly Herald," and the " Germania. " 
 
 He was born April 24, 1868, in Mayence,
 
 A. F, SCHADER,
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 223 
 
 Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany, of which place 
 his parents, Frank and Anna (Haas) 
 Schader, are still residents. The father was 
 born in Worms, Germany, in 1 844, a son 
 of Frank Schader, Sr., while the mother 
 was born in Bodenheim, Germany, in 1846, 
 a daughter of Anton Haas, a school teacher, 
 whose father, who was also a school teacher, 
 bore the same name. The father of our 
 subject is a well educated man, of scholarly 
 tastes, who has for many years been profes- 
 sor of mathematics in the schools of May- 
 ence. Anton F. is the oldest of his four 
 children, the others being Frank, who is 
 with his brother and is now serving as assist- 
 ant editor; Lina, wife of Jacob Wollweberi 
 of Mayence, Germany, and Elizabeth, who 
 is still with her parents. 
 
 Anton F. Schader began "his education 
 in a private school, later attended the 
 gymnasium at Mayence, and also took up 
 the study of languages. After leaving col- 
 lege he studied pharmacy and chemistry at 
 a pharmaceutical institution, and then went 
 to Darmstadt with the view of preparing for 
 that profession, but was obliged to give up 
 his plans on account of ill health. In 1887 
 he entered the German army after having 
 passed an examination which required of him 
 to serve only one year. He entered the 
 artillery service as a private, but at the end 
 of six months was promoted to assistant 
 corporal, and before the end of his year was 
 made a non-commissioned officer. He suc- 
 cessfully passed an examination for the rank 
 of lieutenant, but at the end of his time, 
 resigned his position in the army. 
 
 In the fall of 1888 Mr. Schader began 
 traveling over Europe for pleasure and in- 
 struction, and in April, 1889, sailed for the 
 United States, arriving in New York on the 
 24th of that month. He remained in that 
 
 city until May, 1891, and then came to 
 Elgin, Illinois, accepting the position of 
 editor of the Elgin "Deutsche Zeitung. " 
 About two months after his arrival the 
 proprietor, Mr. Kramer, went to Europe, 
 leaving him in charge. Upon his return 
 Mr. Schader, in connection with Otto May, 
 started a paper of his own " The Herold " 
 which he has successfully published since 
 1891.. They began in a small way, at first 
 having the paper printed in Chicago, but 
 meeting with success they enlarged the busi- 
 ness, and in 1895 Mr. Schader purchased 
 his partner's interest, being now sole pro- 
 prietor. " The Herold " is now home-print- 
 ,,ed, and is a seven-column quarto published 
 every Saturday, while the " Germania " is 
 issued on Wednesday. Both papers have a 
 very good circulation, and are proving quite 
 profitable. They have a better advertising 
 patronage than any weekly in the county. In 
 connection with the regular plant Mr. Scha- 
 der has a job printing office, where first-class 
 work is done in both German and English. 
 There are now seven employees in the 
 office. 
 
 On the 29th of September, 1892, in 
 Elgin, Mr. Schader was united in marriage 
 with Miss Anna M. Muetterries, a native of 
 Westphalia, Germany, who, when a little 
 child, was brought to the United States by 
 her parents, Conrad and Catherine Muetter- 
 ries. Two children grace this union, namely, 
 Anna and May. 
 
 In his political views Mr. Schader is a 
 Republican, and gives his personal influence 
 and support of his papers to the financial 
 policy of that party. Being a young man 
 of excellent education, he is well fitted for 
 the profession he now follows, and is most 
 ably conducting his journals. He is also 
 serving as notary public. Socially he is a
 
 224 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 member of the Royal Arcanum, the Knights 
 of the Maccabees, the Foresters, and the 
 Order of Mutual Protection, being president 
 of the last named. In 1897 he returned to 
 Germany, visiting his old home, relatives 
 and friends. 
 
 AMASA WIGHTMAN LOOMIS, residing 
 on section 29, Elgin township, was 
 born in the town of Sangerfield, Oneida 
 county, New York, May 12, 1818, and is 
 the son of Alvin and Wealthy (Wightman) 
 Loomis, the former a native of Wethers- 
 field, Connecticut, and the latter of the 
 town of New Berlin, Ottego county, New 
 York. Alvin Loomis was born in August, 
 1781, and lived in Connecticut until the age 
 of twenty-five years, when he emigrated to 
 the wilds of central New York, locating in 
 Oneida county. In his youth he served as 
 a sailor for a time and was once taken 
 prisoner by the French, then fighting under 
 the great Napoleon. In Oneida county he 
 purchased a farm and engaged in agri- 
 cultural pursuits, dying there in 1856, at 
 the age of seventy-six years. 
 
 The paternal grandfather of our subject, 
 Stephen Loomis, served through the Revolu- 
 tionary war as teamster. He furnished his 
 own teams and hauled provisions to the 
 various camps of American soldiers. During 
 the winter, when nothing could be done, he 
 returned to his home in Connecticut, and in 
 the early spring again engaged in transport- 
 ing provisions. At the close of the war he 
 was paid in continental money, which de- 
 preciated until it became utterly worthless. 
 He died at an advanced age. The Loomis 
 family were among the first to settle in 
 Connecticut. 
 
 The subject of this sketch remained 
 
 upon the home farm until the age of 
 eighteen years, assisting in its cultivation, 
 and as the opportunity was afforded him 
 attended the Waterville Academy. On 
 leaving home he worked by the month on 
 farms in New York, until coming west in 
 1846. Previous to this time his brothers, 
 Hemen and Amenzo, came west, the former 
 locating in Burlington, Wisconsin, and the 
 latter at Half Bay, Lake county, Illinois. 
 In 1842 Amenzo took up a claim of one 
 hundred and twenty acres for our subject 
 near Half Bay, and land was inspected by 
 him in the fall of 1844, when he came west 
 and remained one month. In 1846 he 
 located upon his farm at Half Bay where 
 he resided until 1850, when he went to 
 California, taking passage on the steamer 
 Illinois at New York city, for Aspinwall. At 
 Panama he found all passage by steamer 
 engaged many months ahead. Securing 
 passage in a schooner he sailed for San 
 Francisco, but the vessel was driven far out 
 of its course and very nearly wrecked on a 
 sharp needle of rock, rising from the ocean. 
 He reached San Francisco July i, being 
 nearly two months in making the voyage. 
 During the first year of his stay in Cali- 
 fornia, he prospected with varying success. 
 In 1851 he did much better, and continued 
 to do fairly well until 1853, when he re- 
 turned home with some "dust," though not 
 a fortune. 
 
 In 1854 Mr. Loomis sold the Half Bay 
 farm and purchased two hundred and forty- 
 seven acres of G. W. Raymond, in Han- 
 over township, Cook county. In 1864, he 
 bought one hundred and sixty acres in Plato 
 township, near Plato Centre, which he sold 
 in 1882, and bought his present farm of one 
 hundred and ninety acres in sections 29, 32 
 and 33, Elgin township. The farm is de-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 225 
 
 voted to grain and dairying purposes, on 
 which he raises about two thousand bush- 
 els of corn each year. He usually keeps 
 about thirty-three head of milk cows. Fire 
 destroyed all his farm buildings, November 
 5, 1893, since which time he has erected 
 all the buildings on the place, which, 
 though not large, are well adapted to the 
 purposes for which they are used. 
 
 Mr. Loomis was married, October 18, 
 1859, to Mrs. Julia A. Jones, widow of 
 William Jones, whom she married in 1845, 
 and who died in 1856, leaving four chil- 
 dren, only one of whom is now living, 
 Franklin Jones, superintendent of the Ter- 
 minal Railroad in Missouri. Mrs. Loomis 
 was born October 2, 1824, and is the 
 daughter of Judge Joshua Carmen and 
 Almeda (Moore) Morgan, natives of Con- 
 necticut. 
 
 Judge Morgan was the son of Isaac Mor- 
 gan, a soldier of the Revolutionary war, 
 and a pensioner of that war, and who died 
 at the age of seventy-four years. Isaac 
 Morgan married Margaret Carmen, a 
 daughter of Rev. Joshua Carmen, a pio- 
 neer Baptist preacher. The Morgans are 
 of Welsh descent. In early life Judge 
 Morgan moved to Ohio, and, later, to San- 
 gamon county, Illinois, where he served as 
 county judge. He also held that position 
 until his death, after removal to Tremont, 
 Tazewell county. He served in the Black 
 Hawk war, and at Starved Rock found a 
 tomahawk, which was probably left by one 
 of the Illini Indians starved there. The 
 relic was preserved in the family for many 
 years. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Loomis six children 
 were born, as follows: Elizabeth, who died 
 at the age of two years; Elmer Ellsworth, 
 who died aged one year; Grant, who died 
 
 when three months old; Amasa Sherman, 
 who died at the age of six years; Alvin, who 
 married Rose Emory, of St. Louis, by 
 whom he has two children, Edna Belle and 
 Lilian Jennett; and Benjamin Franklin, 
 who married Ellen . Suttle, of Evansville, 
 Indiana, by whom he, has one child, Mabel 
 Julia. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Loomis are members of 
 the Congregational church, in the work of 
 which they are much interested. Politic- 
 ally, he is a Republican, with which party 
 he has been connected ever since its organ- 
 ization. While taking an interest in polit- 
 ical affairs it has never run in the direction 
 of office seeking, and he has held but one 
 local office, that of school director. A 
 man of the strictest honor and integrity, he 
 is esteemed for his many excellent traits of 
 character. 
 
 /CHARLES A. GRONBERG, of Aurora, 
 V-> Illinois, is a representative of the 
 Swedish-Americans of Kane county, which 
 has been his home since 1854. He is a na- 
 tive of Sweden, born May 23, 1837, and is 
 the son of Charles P. and Johanna (Hem- 
 ming) Gronberg, both of whom were also 
 natives of Sweden, and who emigrated to 
 this country in 1853, locating first in Chi- 
 cago. The father was a machinist by trade, 
 and in 1854 moved to Geneva, and found 
 employment in the reaper factory, at that 
 place. Three years later he moved to Au- 
 rora, started a factory, and engaged in the 
 manufacture of reapers. He carried on 
 business in Aurora, until 1872, when he 
 moved to Elgin, and there engaged in the 
 same business. His death occurred in El- 
 gin about 1 88 1, his good wife dying some 
 twenty years previously. Of their family
 
 226 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of five sons and one daughter, John was a 
 soldier in the Thirty-sixth Regiment, Illi- 
 nois Volunteer Infantry, and now resides in 
 Evanston, Illinois; Otto was a member of 
 the Fifty-second Regiment, Illinois Volun- 
 teer Infantry, and after the war served for 
 years as chief engineer at the asylum at 
 Elgin, but is now deceased; Christine, wife 
 of Charles Barlow, a merchant tailor of 
 Aurora; Oscar, an employee of the Elgin 
 Watch Factory; and Gustave, also in the 
 watch factory at Elgin. 
 
 The boyhood and youth of our subject 
 were spent in his native land, and when 
 about sixteen years old, he came with his 
 parents to America. In the old country he 
 had good educational advantages in his own 
 language, and also in the German tongue. 
 On coming to this country, he attended 
 school at Geneva and Montgomery, that he 
 might acquire the English language. With 
 his father he learned the trade, and also 
 drawing, becoming a superior draughtsman. 
 He worked in the factory with his father, 
 and also in the shops in Aurora with him, 
 and later in the car shops at Aurora. In 
 1886 he went to Pullman, Illinois, as fore- 
 man in the machine shops at that place, 
 continuing there until 1893, since which 
 time he has lived retired. While in Pull- 
 man he still maintained his residence in 
 Aurora. 
 
 Mr. Gronberg was married in Rockford, 
 Illinois, in 1862, to Miss Charlotte Lin- 
 guist, a native of Sweden, where she was 
 reared and educated. By this union were 
 two daughters, Alma and Esther Iliana. 
 The former holds a position with the Prang 
 Educational Company, of Chicago. The 
 latter also holds a position in a business 
 house in Chicago. Immediately after mar- 
 riage, Mr. and Mrs. Gronberg located in 
 
 Aurora, and two years later he built a resi- 
 dence on River street, where they resided 
 about eighteen years. He then erected his 
 present residence on 233 West Park avenue, 
 and since 1882 it has been their home. 
 
 Politically Mr. Gronberg is a steadfast 
 Republican, with which party he has been 
 identified since casting his first presidential 
 ballot for Abraham Lincoln, in 1860. He 
 is a member of the Swedish Lutheran 
 church, of which body his wife is also a 
 member. Fraternally he is a Master Mason. 
 As a citizen he has ever been willing to do 
 his part, to advance the material interests 
 of his adopted city and county. For forty- 
 four years he has gone in and out among 
 the people of Kane county, with whom he 
 is held in the highest respect. 
 
 FRED R. BRILL, the efficient postmas- 
 ter of Hampshire, Kane county, Illi- 
 nois, was born in Shaumburg, Cook county, 
 Illinois, January 5, 1870, and with his par- 
 ents came to Hampshire in 1876. Here he 
 attended the village school until the age 
 of fourteen, then worked in a grist-mill 
 for his father for three years, and then 
 he entered the office of the Hampshire 
 "Register," under the control of G. E. 
 Sisley, and after thoroughly mastering 
 the trade and having also considerable ex- 
 perience in editorial work, in 1889, in part- 
 nership with C. H. Backus, they purchased 
 the plant and continued the publication of 
 the paper, with our subject as editor until 
 1892, when he purchased Mr. Backus' in- 
 terest and alone continued its publication. 
 Having received the appointment as post- 
 master of Hampshire, on July i, 1897, he 
 took his brother, William C. Brill, into 
 partnership, and the duties of editor and
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 227 
 
 manager devolved upon the junior member. 
 One year later the plant was leased to Will- 
 iam C. Brill, who is now in full control of 
 the paper. 
 
 Mr. Brill was married in Hampshire, to 
 Miss Nellie M. Backus, a native of Chap- 
 lain, Connecticut, and a daughter of Jirah 
 L. Backus, of which further mention is 
 made in the sketch of C. H. Backus, found 
 elsewhere in this work. Although deprived 
 of as extensive schooling as he desired, Mr. 
 Brill through the educational advantages of 
 his profession, made up that deficiency, and 
 ambitious of learning, has completed the 
 Chautauqua course and pursued independ- 
 ent study, until he is possessed of a liberal 
 education, which is above the average. He 
 is fond of good books and knows how to use 
 them. 
 
 In politics Mr. Brill is a stanch Republic- 
 an and is a local leader in politics. He 
 has attended various county, district, state 
 and national conventions of his party, and 
 in the great convention at St. Louis in 
 1896, in which William McKinley was nom- 
 inated for President, he served as assistant 
 sergeant-at-artns. For six years prior to 
 his appointment as postmaster he served as 
 clerk of the village and township. Frater- 
 nally he is a member of the Independent 
 Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of the 
 Globe, Modern Woodmen of America and 
 Royal Neighbors. In each of these orders 
 he has filled nearly ail the official chairs. 
 
 John Brill, the father of our subject, was 
 born in the village of Abterote, Hessen 
 Cassel, Germany, April 27, 1831. He is 
 the son of Martin Brill, also a native of 
 Germany, who followed farming and lime 
 burning in the old country, where his entire 
 life was spent, he dying in 1849, at the age 
 of about fifty years. John Brill attended 
 
 the common and Latin schools in Germany, 
 until the age of fourteen. For some years 
 he lived in Albungen, where he married 
 Martha Seppel, a native of that city, and in 
 1851 they emigrated to America, sailing 
 March i from Bremen, on the sailing vessel 
 Victoria, and after a voyage of six weeks 
 landed at Baltimore. From that city he 
 came west to Chicago, where he lived one 
 month, and then located at Hoosier Grove, 
 Cook county, where he followed his trade of 
 shoemaking six years. In 1875, he moved 
 to Hampshire, followed his trade a short 
 time, and then engaged in other lines of 
 business for six years. In 1883 he bought 
 the mill at Hampshire, and ran the same 
 until 1896, when he sold out and retired, 
 and is now living in a comfortable home in 
 the northern part of the village. 
 
 William C. Brill, the brother and part- 
 ner of our subject in 1897-8, was born in 
 Hampshire, April 24, 1875, and received his 
 education in the village schools, graduating 
 from the high school at the age of seven- 
 teen. Since boyhood he worked in his 
 father's mill during vacation, and when out 
 of school. He became an expert engineer, 
 and passed the state examination for an en- 
 gineer's certificate, before attaining the age 
 required for such certificate. Having also 
 spent much spare time in his brother's 
 printing office, he learned type-setting and 
 press work, so when his father sold his mill 
 in 1895, William C. entered the printing 
 office, and, as Before stated, became a part- 
 ner in the publication of the paper in 1897. 
 
 In addition to the work in the office of 
 the "Register," he had some experience in 
 editorial work elsewhere. While Mr. G. E. 
 Sisley, of the " Genoa Issue," was absent, 
 attending to his duties as clerk of the state 
 senate, he did editorial work on his paper.
 
 228 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 He was also employed three or four months 
 on the " Harvard Herald." A ready and 
 fluent writer, he is making of the " Regi- 
 ter" a No. i home paper. Fraternally he 
 is a member of the Knights of the Globe, 
 and politically he is a Republican. 
 
 SIMON P. BROWN, M. D., is recog- 
 nized as one of the leading physicians 
 of Kane county. His office is room 18, 
 Spurling Block, Elgin, and he has been a 
 resident of the city since 1874, during which 
 time he has built up an extensive practice. 
 He is a native of New Hampshire, born in 
 Concord, June 11, 1832, and is a son of 
 Manley H. and Hannah (Martin) Brown, 
 the former a native of Vermont, and the 
 latter of New Hampshire. 
 
 The Browns are of English descent, the 
 first representative of the family coming to 
 this country early in the seventeenth cen- 
 tury, locating in Providence, Rhode Island. 
 Rudolphus Brown, the paternal grandfather 
 of our subject, was a native of Orange coun- 
 ty, Vermont, and died at the place where 
 he was born and reared. By occupation he 
 was a farmer. Of his family of fifteen chil- 
 dren, Manly H., our subject's father, was 
 the youngest. Jacob Martin, the maternal 
 grandfather, was a native of Scotland. On 
 coming to this country he located in New 
 Hampshire, and on the farm selected on his 
 arrival lived, and died at the age of about 
 seventy-six years. 
 
 Manley H. Brown grew to manhood in 
 his native state, and there learned the tan- 
 ner and currier trade. He was a man of 
 more than ordinary ability, and while living 
 in the east served as captain of a company 
 in the state militia, and also served as 
 justice of the peace. His marriage with 
 
 Hannah Martin was celebrated while living 
 in New Hampshire in 1831. With a laud- 
 able desire to better himself and give his 
 children better opportunities to advance in 
 this world, he came west with his family in 
 1843, ar "d located on a farm in Du Page 
 county. His ability was soon recognized by 
 his neighbors, and in 1846 he was elected a 
 member of the legislature from Du Page 
 county, but died the same year before tak- 
 ing his seat, while in his thirty-seventh year. 
 His wife died in 1840. They were the par- 
 ents of four sons and one daughter, of whom 
 our subject is the oldest. 
 
 Simon Preston Brown was eleven years 
 of age when he accompanied his parents 
 west. While in his native state he attended 
 the public schools, and on coming to Illi- 
 nois he attended first the Warrenville Acad- 
 emy and later entered Wheaton College, 
 where he pursued his studies about two 
 years. In 1856 he began studying medicine 
 at Danby, Illinois, with Drs. Newton and 
 Potter, and in 1860 entered Rush Medical 
 College, Chicago, graduating from that in- 
 stitution in the spring of 1868. 
 
 On receiving his diploma Dr. Brown 
 went to Arlington Heights, Illinois, where 
 he opened an office and commenced the 
 practice of his profession. He continued 
 there with good success for eight years, 
 and then went to Polatine where he re- 
 mained two years. Desiring a more ex- 
 tended field he came to Elgin, where he 
 has now been some twenty-four years. 
 While engaged in general practice, he has 
 made a specialty of diseases of Women, 
 and on that subject is an acknowledged 
 authority. His practice has been for years 
 a large and extensive one, and his success 
 has been such as to warrant it. 
 
 On the isth of October, 1863, Dr.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 229 
 
 Brown was united in marriage with Miss 
 Mary Hitchcock, of DuPage county, daugh- 
 ter of Earl and Mary (Miller) Hitchcock. 
 By this union seven children have been born, 
 namely: Frank died June 3, 1892; Kate 
 died November 15, 1894; Harriet Ann is 
 now the wife of George E. Haskell, of 
 Grand Junction, Colorado; William is at 
 home; Georgia and Mary Jeannette both 
 died in infancy; and Cora J. is at home. 
 
 The Doctor and his wife are members of 
 the Universalist church, of Elgin, and fra- 
 ternally he is a member of Palatine lodge, 
 F. & A. M.; Palatine chapter, R. A. M.; 
 and Chicago consistory. Politically he is 
 a Democrat, and while he takes that inter- 
 est in political affairs that all patriotic 
 American citizens should take, he has never 
 sought official position, perferring to give 
 his time to his professional duties. Profes- 
 sionally he is a member of the Fox River 
 Medical Association, and in its work has 
 taken an active interest. 
 
 The Doctor resides with his family in a 
 comfortable home at No. 402 North Spring 
 street, Elgin. He has been prospered in a 
 financial way, and in addition to his city 
 residence has a fine farm of two hundred 
 and thirty-four acres five miles south of 
 Elgin, and one near Palatine, Cook county, 
 of two hundred and twenty acres. A resi- 
 dent of the state a period of fifty-five long 
 years, and a practitioner of thirty years, he 
 has been brought in contact with the best 
 people of Cook, DuPage and Kane counties, 
 and his friends are numerous in each. By 
 all who know him he is held in the highest 
 esteem. 
 
 SAMUEL SWITZER, section 15, St. 
 Charles township, is actively engaged 
 in farming and in dairying, two and a half 
 
 miles north of the city of St. Charles. He is 
 numbered among the settlers of 1 849, and is a 
 native of Canada, born near Toronto, May 8, 
 1829. He is the son of Joseph Switzer, a 
 native of Ireland, who went to Canada a 
 young man, with his father, Samuel Switzer, 
 who settled near Toronto. He there mar- 
 ried Selina Switzer, a native of New Jersey, 
 but reared in Canada. They were the par- 
 ents of ten children, all of whom grew to 
 mature years, save one. In order of birth 
 they are as follows: Samuel, of this review; 
 Martin, a farmer residing in St. Charles 
 township; Charles, of St. Charles; Sarah, 
 wife of E. W. Blackman, of Elgin; Mary 
 Ann, wife of I. C. Towner, of Elgin; Eliza- 
 beth, who married Stephen Gates, is now 
 deceased; Russell, who resides with our 
 subject; William H., a farmer residing in 
 California; and Jabez, who resides in Pin- 
 gree Grove, Illinois. 
 
 In 1849, Joseph Switzer came to Illi- 
 nois, and located in St. Charles township, 
 Kane county, Illinois, where he purchased 
 a farm of over four hundred acres, and here 
 died in 1853. His wife died in Canada, 
 just previous to his removal to the States. 
 Samuel Switzer, our subject, was twenty 
 years old when he came with the family to 
 Kane county In his native country, he re- 
 ceived a fairly good education in the 
 Churchville Academy. He remained on the 
 farm with his father, until the latter's death. 
 On the sixteenth of June, 1853, in Kane 
 county, he married Harriet Louisa Towner, 
 a native of Lower Canada, born near Mont- 
 real, where she remained until sixteen years 
 of age, when she came to Kane county, her 
 father, William A. Towner, and family 
 coining several years after her arrival. His 
 last days were spent at the residence of 
 his son in Elgin. By this union are six
 
 230 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 living children as follows: Philene M., wife 
 of M. W. Stanhope, of Elgin; Joseph E. , 
 married and is a contractor residing in St. 
 Charles; Florilla, wife of Walter Hare, of 
 St. Charles, Illinois; Mary S., wife of 
 Donald McDonald, of Brookwalter, Pawnee 
 county, Nebraska; Hattie M., wife of C. 
 Arthur Purcell, of New Haven, Connecticut; 
 and Nellie M., wife of George Simmons, 
 who is assisting in managing the home 
 farm. They have lost three sons and two 
 daughters Henry C. , who grew to the age 
 of twenty-two years; I. C. , who died at the 
 age of eighteen; Grant, who died in child- 
 hood; Kate C. , who died at the age of four- 
 teen years; and Alice. Belle, who died in 
 childhood. They are also the grandparents 
 of ten children. 
 
 Soon after marriage, Mr. Switzer located 
 on a part of the old homestead, having suc- 
 ceeded to one hundred acres. After re- 
 maining upon that place three years, he sold 
 out and moved to Palatine, Cook county, 
 Illinois, where he purchased a farm and 
 there remained twelve years. About 1867, 
 he came back to Kane county, and purchased 
 the farm where he now resides, which since 
 coming into his possession has been greatly 
 improved. Since residing here he has built 
 a large residence, three good barns, erected 
 a pump and wind mill for grinding feed, and 
 otherwise improved the place, making it one 
 of the best farms on Fox River, on which it 
 is located. For some years he has been 
 principally engaged in dairying and has kept 
 on an average about thirty cows. 
 
 Since 1856, when he gave his support to 
 John C. Fremont, he has voted the Repub- 
 lican ticket at every presidential election. 
 While always interested in political affairs, 
 he has never held office. For forty-eight long 
 years he has been a resident of Kane coun- 
 
 ty, and in that time he has done much 
 towards its growth and development. On 
 the 2 ist of March, 1889, he lost his resi- 
 dence and household effects by fire, which 
 was a very severe loss. With characteristic 
 energy, he rebuilt better than ever. Mr. 
 Switzer is well known in Kane county, and 
 he and his estimable wife are honored and 
 respected by all who know them. 
 
 PERSONS C. GILBERT, deceased, was 
 for many years one of the leading agri- 
 culturists and representative citizens of El- 
 gin township, Kane county, but spent his 
 last years in retirement in the city of Elgin, 
 where he was also numbered among the 
 valued and highly respected citizens. He 
 was born in Cassanovia, New York, Octo- 
 ber 23, 1812, a son of Benjamin and Sarah 
 (Wells) Gilbert. The father, born August 
 2 9, '7 8 9. died in 1816, and the mother, 
 born March 25, 1790, departed this life in 
 1889, when in her one hundredth year. At 
 the age of eighty-four she came from the 
 east all alone to visit friends in Elgin. She 
 was a cultured and refined lady of pleasing 
 presence and was always very active. Our 
 subject was the second in order of birth in 
 the family of three children, the others be- 
 ing George, a farmer, who died in New 
 York state; and Mary Ann, who married 
 Gardner Wescote and both are now de- 
 ceased. 
 
 Being only four years old at the time of 
 his father's death, Persons C. Gilbert was 
 reared by his grandparents, Theodore and 
 Lydia (Albard) Gilbert, of Cassanovia, New 
 York, remainingwith them until he attained 
 his fifteenth year, and acquiring his educa- 
 tion in the public schools. Twice he un-
 
 Of 
 
 Of
 
 PERSONS C. GILBERT.
 
 
 MRS. P. C. GILBERT.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 233 
 
 dertook to learn a trade, but was obliged to 
 give it up owing to ill health. 
 
 In his native state Mr. Gilbert worked at 
 farm labor until twenty-three years of age, 
 when, in 1835, he came to Illinois with two 
 aunts Fannie, wife of Dr. Nathan Collins, 
 who settled at St. Charles; and Emeline, 
 wife of Dr. Joseph Tefft, who located in 
 Elgin. The journey was made in two 
 wagons, each drawn by three horses, one 
 wagon containing Dr. Collins' family, and 
 also Dr. Tefft's. They were accompanied 
 by Jonathan Tefft and family in the other 
 wagon. These physicians were important 
 factors in the new settlement, where fever 
 and ague held sway, and at an early day 
 their practice extended over a wide territory. 
 Dr. Tefft was the first physician to locate in 
 Elgin, and for many years was its most 
 prominent one. Later he was elected pres- 
 ident of the Elgin Academy and served in 
 that capacity until his death. He was wide- 
 ly and favorably known both as a physician 
 and educator, was president of the Scientific 
 Society, and was the first mayor of Elgin, 
 serving as such two terms. He was born 
 August 29, 1812, and died in 1888, being 
 buried on the seventy-sixth anniversary of 
 his birth. His first wife, Mrs. Emeline 
 (Gilbert) Tefft, died August 18, 1844, and 
 the two children born to them are also de- 
 ceased. For his second wife Dr. Tefft 
 married Mrs. Lavina Ormsby, who died in 
 July, 1897, whenever eighty years of age, 
 and to them was born a son, Dr. L. E. 
 Tefft. The mother had a daughter by her 
 first marriage, Cornelia Ormsby, now Mrs. 
 Strothers, of Texas. 
 
 After coming to Kane county, Mr. Gil- 
 bert took up a tract of government land and 
 subsequently purchased a claim, the first 
 
 tract being the present site of the shoe fac- 
 11 
 
 tory in Elgin. He was a very successful 
 farmer, owning at one time several fine 
 farms, including the old homestead, which 
 originally contained two hundred and twelve 
 acres, and after selling a right of way to a 
 railroad company still comprised one hun- 
 dred and sixty acres. He continued to re- 
 side upon that place until 1843, when they 
 removed to the farm of one hundred and 
 seventy-six acres on the St. Charles road, 
 adjoining the city limits of Elgin, where 
 they resided until their removal to the city 
 of Elgin in 1 869, locating on the lot where 
 his widow still lives. His fellow-citizens 
 recognizing his worth and ability, offered 
 him the nomination of mayor of the city, 
 but he refused all public positions, only 
 serving as a member of the school board, as 
 he always- topk a deep interest in educational 
 affairs. Politically he was first a Whig and 
 later a Republican. He was a man of ex- 
 cellent business qualifications, was enter- 
 prising and industrious, and was justly re- 
 garded as one of the valued and useful citi- 
 zens of his community. Wherever he went 
 he commanded the respect and confidence 
 of all with whom he came in contact. He 
 died April 22, 1895. 
 
 On the 30th of September, 1840, Mr. 
 Gilbert was united in marriage to Miss 
 Louisa Tefft, who was born in New York, a 
 daughter of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Col- 
 lins) Tefft, the former a native of Rhode 
 Island, the latter of Poughkeepsie, New 
 York. Her paternal grandparents were 
 Jeremiah and Rhoda (Hoxie) Tefft, also na- 
 tives of Rhode Island, and they died in 1823 
 and 1832, respectively. The maternal grand- 
 parents were Solomon and Sarah (Perry) 
 Collins, the latter a cousin of Commodore 
 Perry. Mrs. Gilbert still lives at the old 
 home in Elgin, where she is surrounded by
 
 234 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 many warm friends and acquaintances who 
 appreciate her sterling worth and many ex- 
 cellencies of character. 
 
 The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Gil- 
 bert were as follows: (i) George P., born 
 August 20, 1841, began his education in a 
 private school and later became one of the 
 first students in the Elgin Academy. He 
 was a bright young man and was his father's 
 able assistant on the farm until July, 1861, 
 when he responded to President Lincoln's 
 first call for three hundred thousand volun- 
 teers, being one of the first of the town to 
 enlist. As a member of Company A, Sev- 
 enth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, he went to 
 the front and assisted in the destruction of 
 a railroad. While thus employed he was 
 drenched by a cold rain, from the effects of 
 which he took a violent cold which settled 
 on his lungs, causing his death. He died 
 on his way back to Cairo, Illinois, February 
 4, 1862, and while on this journey his regi- 
 ment took part in their first battle, that of 
 Fort Henry, Tennessee. (2) Melissa, born 
 August i, 1843, died August 25, 1844. (3) 
 Mary G. is now the widow of A. D. Martin, 
 of Elgin, by whom she had two children: 
 Percy G. and Alia May. Percy married 
 Leah McComb and has two children, Earl 
 G. and Harry P. (4) Ada H. Baird, an 
 adopted daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert, 
 always found a happy home with them. 
 She is now the wife of George W. Hinsdale, 
 of Elgin, and has two children, Lillian and 
 Ray W. 
 
 JAMES WALKER, ex-mayor of Aurora, 
 and for forty-one years foreman of the 
 blacksmith department of the Chicago, 
 Burlington & Quincy railroad at Aurora, 
 was born in Wilmington, Delaware, Novem- 
 
 ber 20, 1834, and is the son of William and 
 Demaris (Patchet) Walker. Early in 1841 
 the family emigrated from Delaware to De- 
 troit, Michigan, and while en route, at Har- 
 risburg, Pennsylvania, they received the 
 news of the sudden death of President Har- 
 rison. Soon after their arrival in Detroit 
 the father was taken down with typhoid 
 fever, from which he never recovered. The 
 mother long survived him, dying at the age 
 of eighty-four years. They were both mem- 
 bers of the Baptist church, and lived and 
 died in the faith. Of their family of seven 
 children our subject was second in order of 
 birth, and of the number six are still liv- 
 ing, and all save our subject reside in Mich- 
 igan. 
 
 James Walker was but seven years old 
 when his parents settled at Detroit, Michi- 
 gan. He there grew to manhood, and in 
 his youth began to learn the blacksmith and 
 machinist trade, which he has followed 
 throughout life. After obtaining a thor- 
 ough knowledge of his trade, when but 
 nineteen years of age, he was chosen to 
 take charge of the blacksmithing depart- 
 ment of the Chicago Steam Engine Works, 
 in Chicago. This responsible position he 
 held until chosen to hold a position with 
 what is now the Chicago & Northwestern 
 Railroad Company. On the ist of June, 
 1857, he accepted a position with the Chi- 
 cago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Com- 
 pany as foreman of their blacksmith shop 
 at Aurora, with which corporation -he has 
 since been connected, a term of service 
 which is without a parallel in the state for 
 long, efficient and satisfactory service. He 
 has from sixty to one hundred men under 
 his supervision. 
 
 Mr. Walker was married in 1856 to Miss 
 Jane Ann Atkinson, of Chicago, daughter of
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 235 
 
 William and Hannah Atkinson, the latter 
 still residing in Chicago, at the age of eighty- 
 six years, with mind as clear as ever. By 
 this union there has been one child, Alice, 
 now the wife of C. C. Nichols, of Aurora. 
 Mrs. Walker is an active and honored mem- 
 ber of the Eastern Star, and is a past grand 
 matron of the state of Illinois. She is a 
 lady of culture and refinement, and in every 
 way worthy to fill the high position in the 
 state to which she has been chosen. At 
 present she is president of the board of 
 trustees of the Masonic and Eastern Star 
 Home of Illinois, located at Macon. Her 
 daughter, Mrs. Nichols, is a co-worker with 
 her in the order, while Mr. Nichols takes 
 high rank with the brethren, at present hold- 
 ing the position of grand lecturer of Royal 
 Arch Masonry of Illinois. 
 
 In politics Mr. Walker is a Republican 
 and has been honored by the citizens of 
 Aurora with the highest office in their gift, 
 being unanimously elected as mayor in 
 1870, and serving one term with credit to 
 all concerned, While serving as mayor, 
 great improvement was made in the streets 
 by graveling. Fraternally he is a member 
 of the Masonic order, having obtained the 
 thirty-second degree. He is deeply inter- 
 ested yet, as he always has been, in public 
 affairs and the good of the community where 
 he has so long resided. He is genial, court- 
 eous, enterprising and progressive, of com- 
 mendable public spirit, and the highest in- 
 tegrity, and reflects credit on the commun- 
 ity which has honored him in the highest 
 office. His practical knowledge of all the 
 details of his business, as well as his ac- 
 quaintance with men, renders him a most 
 valuable employee, as is evinced by his long 
 continuance in so important a position in 
 one of the leading railroad companies of the 
 
 Union. When the dark cloud of war arose, 
 Mr. Walker rendered a very valuable serv- 
 ice in raising means for the support of the 
 soldiers at the front, and their families at 
 home. Mr. and Mrs. Walker are highly 
 respected citizens, and are justly entitled to 
 the high social position they now occupy. 
 
 JUDGE HENRY B. WILLIS. Illinois 
 has always been distinguished for the 
 high rank of her bench and bar. None of 
 the western states can, justly boast of abler 
 jurists or attorneys. Many of them have 
 been men of national fame, and among 
 those whose lives have been passed on a 
 quieter plane there is scarcely a town or 
 village in the state but can boast of one or 
 more lawyers capable of crossing swords in 
 forensic combat with any of the distin- 
 guished legal lights in the United States. In 
 Judge Willis we find united many of the 
 rare qualities which go to make up the suc- 
 cessful lawyer and jurist. His home is at 
 No. 503 Prospect street, Elgin, and he is 
 now serving his second term as judge of the 
 sixteenth judicial circuit. 
 
 The Judge was born in Bennington, Ver- 
 mont, May 8, 1849, an< ^ ' s a son f David 
 W. and Laura (Haliday) Willis, also natives 
 of the Green Mountain state. Four chil- 
 dren were born to them, but two died in in- 
 fancy. The only brother of our subject, 
 Seneca Willis, is now a farmer of Sycamore, 
 Illinois. The father, who was an agricult- 
 uralist, came to Illinois in 1852 and located 
 in Genoa, where he purchased a farm and 
 reared his family. In 1877 he removed to 
 Sycamore, where he died September 23, 
 
 1896, when past the age of seventy-nine 
 years, and his wife passed away in March, 
 
 1897, aged seventy-two. She was a faith-
 
 236 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ful member of the Methodist church. Her 
 father, Joseph Haliday, also a native of 
 Vermont, and a farmer by occupation, came 
 to this state in 1855 and located in Genoa, 
 where he died at about the age of seventy- 
 four. In his family were six children who 
 reached years of maturity. 
 
 Judge Willis was reared like most farmer 
 boys upon the home farm in Genoa town- 
 ship, De Kalb county, and in the district 
 schools of the locality he began his educa- 
 tion. Later he attended Clark Seminary 
 at Aurora, Illinois, and Hillsdale College at 
 Hillsdale, Michigan. In 1869 he entered 
 the Albany Law School of Albany, New 
 York, and after completing the prescribed 
 course, he was admitted to the bar in that 
 state in 1870. The following year he was 
 granted a license to practice in the courts 
 of Illinois, and in 1872 opened an office in 
 Elgin, where he has since made his home. 
 
 In October, 1874, Judge Willis was 
 united in marriage to Miss Lucy, daughter 
 of John and Betsy (Hammond) Wait, and 
 they have become the parents of two chil- 
 dren Oliver P. and Meribah T. The Judge 
 is a prominent member of a number of civic 
 societies, including Monitor lodge, No. 522, 
 F. & A. M.; Loyal L. Munn chapter, No. 
 96, R. A. M. ; Everet commandery, K. T. ; 
 and Medinah Temple. He also belongs 
 to the Modern Woodmen of America, the 
 Royal Arcanum, and is one of the oldest 
 members of the Ancient Order of United 
 Workmen in Elgin. His political support is 
 given the Republican party. 
 
 After four years of successful practice in 
 Elgin, Judge Willis was elected state's attor- 
 ney of Kane county, serving in that posi- 
 tion from 1876 until 1880. He also filled 
 the office of mayor of Elgin for one term 
 and during that time was instrumental in 
 
 securing the city water works. In June, 
 1891, he was first selected judge of the cir- 
 cuit court, and in June, 1897, was re-elected 
 to that position which he had so capably 
 and satisfactorily filled. His mind is ana- 
 lytical, logical and inductive. With a thor- 
 ough and comprehensive knowledge of the 
 fundamental principles of law, he combines 
 a familiarity with statutory law and a sober, 
 clear judgment, which makes him not only 
 a formidable adversary in legal combat, but 
 has given him the distinction of being one 
 of the ablest jurists of the state. 
 
 HARRISON H. REAMS. The Reams 
 family originally was from Alsace or 
 Loraine in the valley of the Rhine. The 
 earliest ancestor of whom anything definite 
 is known is Henry Reams, a native of Berks 
 county, Pennsylvania. His son, Benjamin, 
 born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, moved 
 to Union county in the same state, where 
 Levi, the father of our subject was born. 
 Benjamin Reams was born August 8, 1797, 
 and died in June, 1847. He married Su- 
 sanna Aurand, a native of Union county, 
 Pennsylvania, and a descendant of General 
 Aurand, who was an officer during the Revo- 
 lutionary war and who came from England 
 prior to that conflict. 
 
 Levi Reams was born in Buffalo Valley, 
 Union county, Pennsylvania, June 1 1, 1826, 
 and with his parents moved to Ohio in 1832. 
 In 1846 they carne further west to Kane 
 county, Levi having preceded the family 
 two years. Levi worked three years for an 
 uncle, Henry Decker, then married and be- 
 gan life for himself. Having learned the 
 carpenter's trade, he secured remunerative 
 employment, saved his money and pur- 
 chased land. He bought and sold several
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 237 
 
 tracts, each time bettering himself. During 
 the war for the Union he enlisted, and after 
 serving his term returned and purchased 
 one hundred acres of land in Hampshire 
 township, near Harmony, McHenry county, 
 which he cultivated ten years, sold and 
 bought one hundred and twenty-four acres 
 two miles from Harmony, which he owned 
 until 1884, when he sold and moved to Chi- 
 cago, lived there six months, then came to 
 the village of Hampshire, built his present 
 house and has lived there since. 
 
 Levi Reams has a creditable record in 
 the army. He enlisted February i, 1864, 
 and served faithfully until July 6, 1865. 
 He was sent first to Pulaski, Tennessee, 
 thence to Atlanta, his first battle being at 
 Dallas, which was followed by Resaca, Buz- 
 zard's Roost, and ten other battles of the 
 campaign around Atlanta. He was on the 
 famous march to the sea. He received his 
 first mail for many weeks at Cape Fear 
 River. At Rossville, North Carolina, he 
 first heard of Lee's surrender. With his 
 regiment he later participated in the grand 
 review at Washington. He returned through 
 Wheeling, West Virginia, and Louisville, 
 Kentucky, to Chicago, where he was finally 
 discharged. Of his father's family, he and 
 his brother Thomas alone survive. His eld- 
 est brother, John, died in service during the 
 Mexican war. His brother Samuel, who 
 recently died in Hampshire, also served 
 with credit through the Civil war. 
 
 Levi Reams first married Magdalena 
 Schoemaker, a native of Alsace, born in 
 1827, and who came to America in 1829, 
 with her father, Peter Schoemaker, who was 
 by occupation a farmer. She died June 6 V 
 1884. By this marriage there were nine 
 children, as follows: Louise, wife of Charles 
 Wiedmeyer, of Jacksonville, Illinois; George, 
 
 who lives in Hageman, New Mexico; Israel, 
 in business in the village of Hampshire; 
 Lydia, who married Frank Nichols, of Chi- 
 cago; Matilda, who married Ernest Wied- 
 meyer, of Virginia City, Illinois; Harrison 
 H., our subject; Jane, who married Will- 
 iam Daum, a farmer in Hampshire town- 
 ship; William, a minister of the Congrega- 
 tional church, at Cumberland, Wisconsin; 
 and Emma, at present making her home 
 with her brother George, in New Mexico. 
 
 Harrison H. Reams was born in Hamp- 
 shire township, July 26, 1860, and attended 
 the district schools until the age of twenty, 
 in the meantime assisting in the cultivation 
 of the home farm. At the age of twenty- 
 one, in partnership with his brother, he 
 bought one hundred and twenty- four acres of 
 land in Hampshire township, farmed seven 
 years, sold out and moved to the village of 
 Hampshire, in 1888, where he began the 
 livery and transfer business, in which he is 
 meeting with good success. He is also en- 
 gaged in feeding and dealing in thoroughbred 
 horses, French Coach and Percheron. He 
 married Lydia Detmer, of Kane county, and 
 a daughter of A. H. Detmer. In politics 
 Mr. Reams is a Republican, and for nine 
 years served as highway commissioner, was 
 six years a member of the village board of 
 trustees, and is at present deputy sheriff of 
 Kane county. Fraternally he is a member 
 of the Modern Woodmen of America, 
 Knights of the Maccabees, and of lodge No. 
 730, I. O. O. F., at Hampshire, Illinois. 
 
 DANIEL B. WATERMAN, of Aurora, 
 Illinois, is numbered among the pio- 
 neers of 1843, and in the fifty-five years of 
 his residence here has been a most impor- 
 tant factor in the development and improve-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ment of the place. Not alone in Aurora has 
 his influence for good been felt, but through- 
 out all northern Illinois. He was born in 
 Rochester, Monroe county, New York, and 
 traces his ancestry back to Richard Water- 
 man, who emigrated from England with 
 Roger Williams in the ship Lion, and who 
 married his daughter, Mary Williams. They 
 first settled in Boston, Massachusetts, from 
 which they were driven out on account of 
 their being of the Quaker faith. Resolved 
 Waterman, the son of Richard and Mary 
 "(Williams) Waterman, was born in Rhode 
 Island, and his son, John Waterman, born 
 in Rhode Island in 1730, was a soldier in the 
 Revolutionary war, holding a colonel's com- 
 mission. His son, Benjamin Waterman, 
 was the father of Daniel Waterman, also 
 a native of Rhode Island, born July 15, 
 
 1789- 
 
 Daniel Waterm in grew to manhood in 
 Rhode Island, and engaged extensively in 
 the manufacture of cotton goods, having 
 three large mills. Soon after the close of 
 the war of 1812 he moved with his family 
 to Rochester, New York, where he estab- 
 lished himself in business, and a little later 
 read medicine, and engaged in practice until 
 his death. He married in Rhode Island, 
 Sabra Pierce, a native of Coventry, Rhode 
 Island, born September 7, 1785, and a 
 daughter of Wheeler Pierce, a native of 
 Massachusetts, who spent the last years of 
 his life in Rochester, New York, dying in 
 January, 1858. His wife died many years 
 previously, passingaway in 1833. To Daniel 
 and Sabra Waterman six children were born, 
 who grew to mature years, of whom our 
 subject is the oldest. Hiram M. , next in 
 order of birth, is a farmer and printer re- 
 siding in Orleans county, Nebraska; Mrs. 
 Dr. A. K. Smith resides in Chicago; George 
 
 G., for many years a prominent man and 
 merchant of Aurora, is now deceased; Ann 
 Eliza, located in Waterloo, New York, but 
 died at the residence of her sister at Bridge- 
 port, Connecticut; and Sabra Caroline, now 
 deceased, married D. S. Thorpe, and lo- 
 cated at Bridgeoprt, Connecticut. 
 
 Daniel B. Waterman was born April 2 1 , 
 1821, and spent his boyhood and youth in 
 Rochester. New York, and was educated in its 
 common schools and Yates County Academy. 
 In 1842, after reaching his majority, he 
 came west to Indiana, and spent one sea- 
 son, earning sufficient to purchase eighty 
 acres of timber land, in Whiteley county. 
 He returned to Rochester, and in the spring 
 of 1843 came to Aurora, where he joined 
 his brother, George G. Waterman, who had 
 located here in 1837, and was engaged in 
 the hardware trade on the east side. He 
 commenced clerking for his brother, and a 
 little later purchased an interest in the es- 
 tablishment. In the fall of 1849, he started 
 in business alone, on the west side in a very 
 small way, putting in a stock of sheet iron, 
 stoves, etc., to which was added hardware 
 the following year. As his trade increased 
 he added to his stock from year to year, 
 building up a very extensive business, which 
 he continued until about 1866, when he sold 
 out to engage in railroading. Through his 
 personal influence, there was raised about 
 eight hundred thousand dollars, with which 
 to build the Chicago & Iowa railroad. By 
 the governor he was appointed a director to 
 represent the cities and townships that had 
 subscribed to the capital stock. The city 
 of Aurora subscribed one hundred thousand 
 dollars to the stock of the road, issuing 
 bonds for the same bearing ten per cent in- 
 terest, taking certified stock for the amount. 
 Mr. Waterman continued to serve as a
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 239 
 
 member of the board of directors until 1877. 
 In 1870 the people of Clinton, DeKalb 
 county, along the line of said road, named 
 the station Waterman in recognition of his 
 service in the completion of the road, at 
 which time, owing to the mismanagement 
 of its president, it was placed in the hands 
 of a receiver. Previous to this a line of 
 road had been completed from Rochelle to 
 Rockford, of which Mr. Waterman was 
 made president, and it was later leased to 
 the Chicago & Iowa railroad as a feeder to 
 that road. In 1870 he was appointed by 
 Governor Palmer to represent the stock 
 subscribed by cities, towns and counties 
 under the law existing at that time, and 
 subsequently Mr. Waterman was elected by 
 the directors president of the Chicago & 
 Iowa railroad, in which capacity he 
 continued to serve for six or seven 
 years. While connected with the road, it" 
 was decided by the people of Aurora to dis- 
 pose of the stock it held at public sale. 
 Through the influence of Mr. Waterman it 
 was sold for one hundred and thirty thou- 
 sand two hundred dollars. With the pro- 
 ceeds of this sale, the public roads of Aurora 
 were graveled, and bridges constructed over 
 Fox river. Mr. Waterman has also been 
 connected with other important railroad 
 enterprises in Illinois and Minnesota, in- 
 cluding the -Chicago & Northwestern rail- 
 road. He was with the Northwestern while 
 it was being built through Minnesota and 
 Dakota, and for it purchased the land, se- 
 cured the right of way and located the 
 stations. 
 
 Mr. Waterman was married in Aurora, 
 February 17, 1852, to Miss Ann White, a 
 native of Jefferson county, New York, and 
 the daughter of Harry White, one of the 
 first settlers of Blackberry township, where 
 
 he opened up a farm of four hundred and 
 twenty acres. By this union there was one 
 daughter, Emma Sabra, who grew to ma- 
 ture years and died February 4, 1875, when 
 in her twenty-second year. 
 
 Politically Mr. Waterman was originally 
 a Whig.and beinga strong anti-slavery man, 
 he later identified himself with the Free-soil 
 party, and was a delegate to the convention 
 that nominated James H. Woodruff, of Chi- 
 cago, to congress, to which office he was 
 elected. On the organization of the Repub- 
 lican party, he became identified with it, 
 and has since been a stanch advocate of its 
 principles. He has served as delegate to 
 various state and county conventions, as a 
 Whig and Republican, and early in the 
 fifties was a Whig candidate for the legisla- 
 ture. For ten years he served as alderman 
 and one term as mayor of the city. Fra- 
 ternally he is a Mason, and member of the 
 blue lodge and chapter of Aurora. As a 
 citizen none stands higher in the estimation 
 of his fellow-men, and no man has done 
 more for the material interests of Aurora, 
 than has the subject of this sketch. 
 
 DANIEL M. McKINDLEY, who owns 
 and operates a valuable and well-im- 
 proved farm of two hundred and twelve 
 acres, a mile and a half east of the city of 
 St. Charles, and which is known as the 
 Glenmona farm, dates his residence in Illi- 
 nois since August, 1872, and in Kane coun- 
 ty since 1 894. He was born in the city of 
 Belfast, Ireland, February 2, 1850, where 
 he remained until thirteen years of age. 
 His father, Hugh McKindley, died in Bel- 
 fast, and, being thrown on his own re- 
 sources, Daniel determined to come to 
 America that he might better himself in'
 
 240 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 life. He was a young man of seventeen 
 years, and, with the buoyancy of youth, de- 
 termined to succeed in life. Landing in 
 New York city, he remained there about 
 one year and then went to Canada, and 
 there worked for a farmer for a short time, 
 near Montreal. In August, 1872, he came 
 west to Chicago, and run on the lakes for 
 one season. He then attended the Bryant 
 & Stratton Commercial College, and re- 
 ceived a fair business education. For a 
 few years following he worked in a grocery 
 store, and then engaged in the coal busi- 
 ness, which he operated with success for 
 some years. In 1894 he came to Raife 
 county and bought the farm where he has 
 since resided. He is now regarded as one 
 of the active and enterprising farmers of 
 the county, and is also engaged in the dairy 
 business. Since coming here he has made 
 some substantial improvements on the 
 farm, erecting a large barn, 54x116 feet, 
 with a basement, a large carriage house 
 and horse barn, put in a wind pump and 
 water works, both for his residence and 
 barn, and it is now one of the most valu- 
 able places in the township. 
 
 Mr. McKindley married, in the city of 
 Chicago, December 29, 1886, Miss Hannah 
 Carbine, a lady of fine education, and a 
 graduate of the old Chicago Normal, in the 
 class of '76. Later she was one of the suc- 
 cessful teachers in the Chicago schools, 
 where she was engaged for a period of ten 
 years. She was born and reared in Chi- 
 cago, and is the daughter of James Carbine, 
 now deceased. She was elected a member 
 of the board of directors of District No. 6, 
 St. Charles township, the first lady elected 
 to that position, and being a practical 
 teacher, she was enabled to discharge her 
 duties of the office in a most satisfactory 
 
 manner. She later resigned. To Mr. and 
 Mrs. McKindley six children have been born, 
 as follows: Daniel, Hugh, Innoc, Virginia, 
 Leo and Adelaide. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. McKindley and their fam- 
 ily are members of the Catholic church of 
 St. Charles. Politically he is an independent, 
 voting for men, not party. Although they 
 have resided here but a few years, they have 
 made many friends in that time, and are 
 held in high esteem because of their many 
 excellent traits of character. 
 
 WILLIAM E. MARSHALL, one of the 
 substantial and wide-awake farmers 
 of Plato township, residing on section 25, is 
 the son of George P. and Mary (Burton) 
 Marshall, the former a native of Yorkshire, 
 England, born May 9, 1817, and the latter 
 near Montreal, Canada, in the town of Shar- 
 rington, August 14, 1825. 
 
 The boyhood and youth of George P. 
 Marshall were spent in his native land and 
 he there learned the carpenter's trade, 
 which occupation he followed for some 
 years. In 1842 he crossed the Atlantic, lo- 
 cating near Montreal, Canada, where his 
 marriage occurred. In 1844 he came to 
 Kane county, Illinois, and rented a farm in 
 Plato township for two years, then pur- 
 chased seventy-seven acres in sections 27 
 and 28, where he continued to farm until 
 his death, which occurred October 3, 1881. 
 While residing in England he was a mem- 
 ber of the Odd Fellows, but did not affiliate 
 with the order after coming to America. 
 A man of unblemished character, he com- 
 manded the highest respect of all who knew 
 him. He was a man of his word and up- 
 right in his dealings with his fellowmen. 
 
 The paternal grandfather of our subject,
 
 WILLIAM E. MARSHALL.
 
 MRS. W. E. MARSHALL.
 
 0*
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 243 
 
 James Marshall, married Ann Parker, and 
 lived and died in Yorkshire, England. The 
 maternal grandfather, John Burton, was 
 born at North Burton, Yorkshire, England, 
 a town named for one of his ancestors. He 
 was a son of Richard and Mary Burton. 
 While yet residing in England he married 
 Jane Stringer, born in Hull, Yorkshire, 
 England, in 1794, and daughter of Richard 
 and Hannah (Garbutt) Stringer, both of 
 Yorkshire, England. Her death occurred 
 at the age of sixty-seven years. In 1818 
 John Burton emigrated to Canada and was 
 killed in battle during the Canadian rebel- 
 lion, while in the service of the crown. 
 
 William E. Marshall was born in Elgin 
 township, December 25, 1847. He at- 
 tended the district school until about eight- 
 een years of age, and remained at home un- 
 til thirty years old, working for and with his 
 father. In 1878 he was united in marriage 
 with Miss Agnes. McKinnell, daughter of 
 Peter and Jessie (McDowell) McKinnell. 
 She was the second in a family of seven 
 children born to her parents. Her father 
 was born in the parish of Kirk Kinner.Wig- 
 tonshire, Scotland, June 26, 1825. He 
 was the son of James McKinnell, of the 
 same parish, who married Janet Hawthorn, 
 daughter of John and Elizabeth (Cleave) 
 Hawthorn. Jessie McDowell was born in 
 the parish of Kirk Kinner, February 2, 
 1834, and her marriage with Peter Mc- 
 Kinnell occurred in that parish April 20, 
 1854. In the winter of 1854-5 they came 
 to America. She was the daughter of 
 Charles McDowell, who married Ellen Pat- 
 terson, of the same parish, and a daughter 
 of James and Janet (McHarg) Patterson. 
 To our subject and his wife six children 
 .have been born Charles H., Jessie May, 
 Lucy, Mary, Hattie and Willie. 
 
 Soon after his marriage, Mr. Marshall 
 rented eighty acres in Elgin township, for 
 two years, then rented the Sargent farm 
 two years, in Plato township, and the 
 Roseburough farm, near Udina, one year. 
 He then went to DuPage county, and lived 
 upon a rented farm, near Wayne, one year, 
 when he returned to Elgin township and 
 rented the George Stringer farm, upon which 
 he resided seven years. In 1890 he pur- 
 chased his present farm of two hundred 
 and thirty acres, upon which he has since 
 continued to reside, and for some years has 
 engaged in dairying, usually keeping about 
 sixty head of cows, and shipping the product 
 to Chicago. For some time he engaged in 
 raising driving horses, principally the Ham- 
 bletonian stock. His farm is in a good state 
 of cultivation, having on it a good dwelling 
 house, a large barn and various outbuild- 
 ings. Fraternally Mr. Marshall is a mem- 
 ber of Silver Leaf camp, No. 60, M. W. A. 
 Politically he is a Republican, and has ac- 
 ceptably filled several minor official positions 
 in his township. He is a man well esteemed 
 throughout the community and has many 
 warm friends. 
 
 f->EORGE S. CHISHOLM, of Elgin, 
 \-t residing at No. 306 Spring street, was 
 born in La Fayette county, Wisconsin, 
 February 13, 1845, a son f Robert S. and 
 Sarah (Van Vaulkenburgh) Chisholm, in 
 whose family were the following named 
 children: One daughter, Frances, died at 
 the age of nine years. William W. is a 
 resident of Salt Lake City, Utah, and is 
 president of the Bank of Commerce there. 
 O. P. was formerly an attorney of Elgin 
 and represented this district in the Illinois 
 legislature, but is now a resident of Boze-
 
 244 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 man, Montana. George S. is next in order 
 of birth. Robert B., Jr., lives in Manhat- 
 tan, Montana. Mary Emma is the wife of 
 George Bennett, of Geneva, Illinois. 
 
 The father was a man of marked busi- 
 ness ability, was the discoverer of the Emma 
 mine, named in honor of his daughter, and 
 was eminently successful in his mining oper- 
 ations, that mine alone yielding from five 
 to six hundred thousand dollars, principally 
 in gold and silver. It is located twenty- 
 seven miles southeast of Salt Lake City, 
 Utah, in the Little Cottonwood district in 
 the Wausatch range of mountains. At an 
 early day he became interested in lead min- 
 ing at a place called Benton, twelve miles 
 east of Galena, Illinois, and here also met 
 with success. In 1851 with an ox team he 
 crossed the plains to California and Nevada, 
 where he engaged in mining with Captain 
 Day, of Galena, Illinois, who died in Ga- 
 lena in 1895. The original owners of the 
 Emma mine were Robert B. Chisholm, 
 Captain Day, Captain James Smith, of 
 Chicago, and J. F. Woodman, now the 
 president of the Centennial Eureka mine, 
 located at Eureka, Utah, eighty miles south 
 of Salt Lake City. With the exception of 
 Captain Smith, the others were associated 
 in the mining business from boyhood. The 
 father of our subject died in Oakland, Cali- 
 fornia, June 30, 1893, at the age of seven- 
 ty-eight years, and his remains were brought 
 back to Elgin for interment. He was a 
 Knight Templar Mason, and was honored 
 and respected by all who knew him. His 
 wife died in 1882 aged fifty-two years. 
 
 George S. Chisholm was reared princi- 
 pally in Elgin, and in the Elgin Academy 
 completed his literary education. For some 
 years he successfully engaged in agricultural 
 pursuits in Du Page county, Illinois, where 
 
 he owned a fine farm of four hundred acres, 
 which he sold about ten years ago. In 
 connection with general farming he was also 
 extensively engaged in the raising of fine 
 stock, making a specialty of Norman horses, 
 shorthorn and Durham cattle and Poland 
 China hogs, getting his stock from Ohio; 
 but in 1887 he disposed of that business and 
 has since devoted his time and attention to 
 his mining and real-estate interests. The 
 shares of the Eureka mine, above referred 
 to, are owned by Mr. Woodman, George S. 
 Chisholm, his brothers, William W., O. P., 
 Robert B., and their sister, Mrs. Bennett, 
 William W. being the secretary and treas- 
 urer of the company. The mine has now 
 been in successful operation for twenty 
 years, and up to April 15, 1897, had paid 
 in the way of dividends two million and ten 
 thousand dollars. The company is now 
 testing a new process of treating ores from 
 this property, which, if successful, a plant 
 will be erected abundantly large enough to 
 care for all the ores taken from the mine. 
 Both gold and silver are here mined and 
 also a certain per cent of copper. 
 
 In 1872, Mr. Chisholm, the subject of 
 this sketch, was married to Miss Angeline 
 Hatch, a daughter of James C. Hatch, who 
 is now ninety-four years of age, and is still 
 well preserved both physically and mental- 
 ly. Her mother died in 1877, at the age 
 of sixty-five years. The children born to 
 Mr. and Mrs. Chisholm are: Cora May, 
 Marie Louise, Archie S., James Harold, 
 William Wallace, Olive Edith, and George 
 Edward, who are all living, except Cora 
 May, who died October 15, 1878, and Olive 
 Edith, who died on the ist day of August, 
 1896, at the age of four years. 
 
 Mr. Chisholm takes some interest in po- 
 litical affairs, but votes rather for the man
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 245 
 
 than for the party which he represents. 
 Socially, he is a prominent Mason, belong- 
 ing to Monitor lodge, No. 522, F. & A. M., 
 and the consistory and Medinah Temple of 
 the Mystic Shrine of Chicago. He also 
 belongs to the Uniformed Rank, Knights of 
 Pythias. He takes a deep interest in every- 
 thing pertaining to the public welfare of his 
 adopted city, and withholds his support 
 from no enterprise calculated to prove of 
 public benefit. His wife is a member of 
 the Congregational church, also a member 
 of the Elgin Woman's Club and the Elgin 
 Philharmonic Society, and in the social 
 circles of Elgin they occupy an enviable po- 
 sition. 
 
 HON. SILVANUS WILCOX, ex-judge 
 of the twenty-seventh judicial circuit 
 of Illinois, now residing on the corner of 
 Bridge and West Chicago streets, Elgin, is 
 one of the best-known and most distin- 
 guished citizens of Kane county. He was 
 born in Charleston, Montgomery county, 
 New York, September 30, 1818, and is a 
 son of Elijah and Sally (Shuler) Wilcox, 
 both of whom were natives of New York, 
 the former born in Charles, and the latter 
 in the town of Florida, Montgomery county. 
 Of their ten children, eight grew to manhood 
 and womanhood, and five are yet living 
 Silvanus, our subject; Hannah Maria, wife 
 of Charles R. Collins, of Elgin; Edward 
 Sanford, of Cloud Chief, Oklahoma; John 
 S., of Elgin; and Captain William H., also 
 of Elgin. 
 
 Elijah Wilcox was a man of marked 
 ability, and in his native state was duly 
 honored by his fellowmen. For some years 
 he served as county commissioner of Mont- 
 gomery county, was collector of toll on the 
 
 Erie canal, and held various town offices. 
 He also served as general in the state 
 militia. By occupation he was a farmer. 
 In 1842 he came to Illinois, bringing his 
 family with him, and located on a farm of 
 three hundred acres two and a half miles 
 west of Elgin. Three years later he was 
 elected a member of the state senate, the 
 duties of which office he discharged in a 
 most satisfactory manner. The farm on 
 which he settled was in an almost primitive 
 condition, and he at once began its improve- 
 ment. His death occurred there in 1862 at 
 the age of seventy-two years. His wife sur- 
 vived him some years, dying at the age of 
 eighty- five. In early life she was a Pres- 
 byterian, but later in life became a Univer- 
 salist, accepting the faith of her husband, 
 who was steadfast in that belief. 
 
 The paternal grandfather of our subject, 
 Silvanus Wilcox, was a native of Dutchess 
 county, New York, of Welsh origin. He 
 was a Revolutionary soldier, and was one 
 of the guard at Tarrytown when Major An- 
 dre was captured, and was present at the 
 execution. His death occurred at Fulton- 
 ville, Montgomery county, New York, when 
 he was eighty-seven years old. 
 
 The maternal grandfather, John Shuler, 
 was also a native of New York, born near 
 Catskill, of German parents. For years he 
 served as justice of the peace and held other 
 minor offices in the town of Florida, Mont- 
 gomery county. He was a very able man 
 and one of strong intellect. He was eighty- 
 six years old at the time of his death. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared in 
 his native county, and received his primary 
 education in the common schools of the 
 town in which the family resided. Later 
 he attended the academy at Amsterdam, 
 and in July, 1836, was appointed a cadet at
 
 246 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 West Point, his examination giving dim 
 fifth place in a class of fifty. On account 
 of failing health he resigned August 15, 
 1839. His room mates were H. W. Hal- 
 leek, R. Q. Butler, Stewart Van Vliet and 
 Schuyler Hamilton, all of whom are dead 
 except Van Vliet. In 1861, at the Planters 
 House in St. Louis, he met Hamilton going 
 up the stairs and accompanied him to Hal- 
 leek's room. He was a great friend of 
 these gentlemen, and on meeting them Hal- 
 leek exclaimed "Wilcox, I thought you 
 were dead." He corresponded with them 
 all through the war. Besides those men- 
 tioned, William T. Sherman and George H. 
 Thomas, both famous generals of the Civil 
 war, were his classmates. The following 
 is a letter to Mr. Wilcox from the superin- 
 tendent of the military academy at West 
 Point: 
 
 MILITARY ACADEMY, ) 
 
 WEST POINT, December 4, 1839. j 
 Mr. S. Wilcox: 
 
 SIR: Your'friend, Cadet Van Vliet, has 
 requested me in your behalf for such a state- 
 ment of standing and merit in your studies 
 and character relative to conduct, as the 
 records of this institution will enable me to 
 give. 
 
 It appears that you joined the Academy 
 as a cadet in July, 1836, and that, at the 
 last examination at which you were present, 
 the Academic staff pronounced you the 
 fourth in order of merit in mathematics, the 
 ninth in French, and the thirteenth in draw- 
 ing; which, when compared with the rest of 
 your class, then consisting of fifty members, 
 secured you the fifth place in general merit. 
 It also appears from the records of the In- 
 stitution that you left here in bad health, 
 and that, after a protracted illness of more 
 than a year, you tendered your resignation, 
 
 which was accepted by the secretary of war, 
 to take effect the I5th of August, 1839. 
 
 It gives me much pleasure to have it in 
 my power to put you in possession of such 
 highly favorable testimonials of your con- 
 'duct and talents when a member of this In- 
 stitution. 
 
 Respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 RICHARD DELAFIELD. 
 Major of Engineers, Superintendent of Mili- 
 
 itary Academy. 
 
 For over two years after his resignation 
 from West Point Mr. Wilcox was an in- 
 valid, but in 1840 he came west to Elgin, 
 and located some land in that vicinity. Re- 
 turning to New York for a time, he acted 
 as agent for his father for a line of boats 
 running from New York City to Utica. 
 
 On the 27th of August, 1840, Mr. Wil- 
 cox was united in marriage with Miss Jane 
 Mallory, daughter of Henry and Polly Bent 
 Mallory, of Yankee Hill, town of Florida, 
 Montgomery county, New York. One son 
 was born to this union, Silvanus Marcus, 
 who died at the age of thirty-two years. 
 Mrs. Wilcox died in Elgin April 24, 1884. 
 Religiously she was a Universalist, as is 
 also the Judge. She was a woman of do- 
 mestic tastes and habits, one who tried to 
 make a happy home, and in this she suc- 
 ceeded admirably. 
 
 In May, 1844, Mr. Wilcox came with 
 his family to Elgin, and here has since 
 made his home. Since 1845 he has lived 
 upon the site of his present home, except 
 five years, when he resided upon his farm 
 near Elgin. About the time he came here 
 he commenced the study of law, and in 
 1846 was admitted to the bar, and at once 
 commenced an active practice. His success 
 was assured from the very start, and it was 
 not long before he secured recognition as
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 247 
 
 one of the most active practitioners in his 
 circuit. His standing among the legal fra- 
 ternity was such that in 1867 he was nomi- 
 nated and elected circuit judge, and served 
 the full term of six years. In the spring of 
 1873 he was re-elected for another term, 
 but in the fall of 1874 he was compelled to 
 resign on account of ill health. The im- 
 partiality displayed as a judge, and the just- 
 ness of his decisions, is well known and duly 
 acknowledged by all his circuit. 
 
 For some two or three years after his 
 resignation from the bench, Judge Wilcox 
 devoted his time principally to regaining his 
 health and looking after his private business 
 interests. In 1891 he platted a part of a 
 farm, and for a time was engaged in the dis- 
 posal of town lots, with which he combined 
 other real estate business, greatly to his 
 profit. In addition to his other private 
 business, he was a stockholder in the Elgin 
 Condensed Milk Company, and was its 
 president for three years. In every enter- 
 prise in which he engaged he brought to 
 bear a well-trained and well-balanced mind, 
 and was therefore greatly relied on by his 
 business associates. 
 
 The Judge has traveled extensively for 
 business and pleasure, and has visited every 
 state and territory in the United States. In 
 1891 he went to the Pacific coast, and on 
 this trip visited Salt Lake City, San Fran- 
 cisco, Portland, Tacoma, Seattle and Yel- 
 lowstone Park. His next trip was from 
 Portland, Oregon, thence to Tacoma, then 
 to Sitka, Alaska. His third long trip was 
 to Mexico, at which time he visited nearly 
 every city of any note in that country. 
 
 Politically the Judge is a gold Demo- 
 crat, from the fact that in order to have 
 genuine prosperity in the country its cur- 
 rency must have stability and be accepted at 
 
 its face in any country in the civilized world. 
 He has never cared lor political office, and 
 has held but few. In 1844 he was appoint- 
 ed and served as postmaster of Elgin until 
 1849. As a citizen he is honored and es- 
 teemed by all. The Judge, B. F. Law- 
 rence, Walter Pease and Henry Sherman 
 were instrumental in locating the Elgin 
 watch factory in this city; was also identi- 
 fied in locating the Elgin Packing Company. 
 
 JOHN GUSTAVUS LINDGREN, a re- 
 tired mechanic, who for thirty-five 
 years was a trusted employe of the Chicago, 
 Burlington & Quincy railroad shops at 
 Aurora, dates his residence in Kane county 
 from 1854. He is a native of Sweden, 
 born March 18, 1826, and in his native 
 country grew to manhood, and received a 
 common-school education. His knowledge 
 of the English language was obtained after 
 coming to this country. In Sweden he 
 learned the trade of a carpenter and joiner, 
 serving a regular apprenticeship. The 
 chance for advancement in the countries of 
 the old world are very limited, and the as- 
 piring young man usually thinks very 
 seriously of emigrating to the United 
 States, where golden opportunities are 
 offered to every one. Our subject had 
 heard much of this country and here deter- 
 mined to make his home. Accordingly in 
 June, 1854, he took a sailing vessel at. Gut- 
 tenberg, for Boston, and was six weeks on 
 the Atlantic, making landing July 24, and 
 coming direct to Chicago, and thence to 
 Geneva, where friends had previously 
 settled. He immediately began work at his 
 trade, and soon engaged in contracting and 
 building. 
 
 On the 6th of May, 1855, Mr. Lindgren
 
 248 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 was united in marriage with Miss Mary 
 Olson, a Swedish lady, born in 1822, in the 
 same neighborhood as her husband, and who 
 came with him on the same vessel to the 
 new world. By this union there are three 
 children Charles John, married and re- 
 siding in Aurora, and employed as foreman 
 in the foundry of the Chicago, Burlington 
 & Quincy railroad; Christine, wife of Ed- 
 ward Lundgren, a machinist residing in 
 Aurora; and F. W., married, and who is 
 also a machinist in the employ of the 
 Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad. 
 In 1860 Mr. Lindgren began work at the 
 reaper shops in Geneva, and in December 
 of that year moved to Aurora, and com- 
 menced work in the railroad shops, doing 
 the wood work for the locomotives. He re- 
 mained in the employ of the company for 
 thirty-five years, a length of time which 
 tested his ability, and showed the estimation 
 in which he was held by the Company. 
 Soon after coming to Aurora, Mr. Lindgren 
 erected a neat residence and is now the 
 owner of another which he rents. Both 
 himself and wife are members of the 
 Swedish Lutheran church. Politically he 
 is a Republican, with which party he has 
 been identified since becoming a naturalized 
 citizen. While Swedish born, he is a 
 thorough American, and has great love for 
 the country of his adoption. A man of ex- 
 emplary habits, and upright character, he 
 has many friends in Aurora and Kane 
 county. 
 
 MAJOR J. S. VAN PATTEN is a well- 
 known business man and the present 
 efficient postmaster of St. Charles. He has 
 been a resident of the city since 1854, a 
 period of forty-four years, and in that time 
 
 has built up a reputation and established a 
 character which will be as enduring as time. 
 He is a native of the grand old Empire state, 
 born in Preble, Cortland county, July 23, 
 1823, and is a son of Ryer and Mary 
 (Spence)Van Patten, nativesofSchenectady 
 county, New York, and County Down, near 
 Belfast, Ireland, respectively. 
 
 The Van Pattens are of Holland de- 
 scent, the grandfather of our subject being a 
 native of that country, from which he emi- 
 grated at a very early day. A year or two 
 prior to the opening of the present century 
 he located in Schenectady county. New 
 York, and was one of its pioneers. Ryer 
 Van Patten, his son, and the father of our 
 subject, was born in Schenectady county, in 
 1789, but in 1809 removed to Cortland 
 county, where he opened up a farm, mar- 
 ried Mary Spencer, who was born near Bel- 
 fast, County Down, Ireland, of Scotch par- 
 ents, and reared his family of two sons and 
 seven daughters. His death occurred there 
 in 1874 at the age of eighty-five years. John 
 R. Van Patten, his son, yet occupies the old 
 homestead, which comprises about three 
 hundred and fifty acres, but he owns adjoin- 
 ing lands sufficient to make in all twelve 
 hundred acres, and which is a most valua- 
 ble property. 
 
 On the home farm in Cortland county, 
 New York, our subject spent his boyhood 
 and youth. His education, begun in the 
 common schools, was completed in Cort- 
 land Academy. Like the average farmer 
 boy, he did his sharein the work of cultivat- 
 ing the soil, but his tastes were not in that 
 direction. At the age of nineteen he com- 
 menced teaching and for three winter terms 
 was in charge of the same school. How- 
 ever, he commenced farming on his own ac- 
 count in his native county, and continued in
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 249 
 
 that line until his removal west to Kane 
 county, Illinois, in 1854. 
 
 In December, 1847, Mr. Van Patten was 
 married in Cortland county, New York, to 
 Louisa R. Bacon, who died six years later 
 in 1853, leaving one son, Dr. Louis Van 
 Patten, one of the leading physicians of St. 
 Charles. The following year Mr. Van Pat- 
 ten took up his residence in St. Charles, 
 purchasing the drug business which was es- 
 tablished in 1842 by Elisha Freeman, and 
 which was then enjoying a good patronage. 
 This business he yet continues, and it is one 
 of the oldest establishments in the city. 
 
 After residing in St. Charles about two 
 years, Mr. Van Patten was again married, 
 his second union being with Miss Jane A. 
 Clark, a native of Green Oak, Michigan, 
 where she was reared and educated. She 
 removed with her parents to Chicago, where 
 she was married December 18, 1856. By 
 this union two daughters were born: Eve- 
 line, now the wife of Lorenzo Van Patten, 
 of Cortland county, New York; and Mabel, 
 wife of Frank Rockwell, assistant postmas- 
 ter of St. Charles, by whom she has three 
 sons. 
 
 The first seven years of Mr. Van Pat- 
 ten's stay in St. Charles covered a very try- 
 ing period in the history of the country. In 
 that time occurred the financial panic of 
 1857, which destroyed many valuable busi- 
 ness concerns in all parts of the country, 
 but which was particularly severe upon the 
 west, which was flooded with worthless Ne- 
 braska currency. This panic he passed 
 through safely with well-established credit. 
 
 But a mote trying period was close at 
 hand. The war cloud which commenced 
 forming about this time continued to grow 
 in size, and notwithstanding the heroic 
 efforts of the lamented Stephen A. Douglas 
 
 and others to prevent the calamity, it broke 
 upon the country in 1861, upon the inaugu- 
 ration of President Lincoln. The southern 
 states, restive for some years, committed 
 the overt act, firing upon Fort Sumter in 
 April of that year. A call was immediately 
 made by the president for troops to put 
 down the rebellion. The first call was fol- 
 lowed by others until soon the armies 
 ranged upon either side were greater than 
 those in any modern war. 
 
 Through the stirring scenes of those 
 first days of the war our subject was not an 
 unconcerned witness. As soon as possible 
 he offered his services to his country and 
 was commissioned quartermaster of the 
 first battalion of the Eighth Illinois Volun- 
 teer Cavalry, with rank of first lieutenant. 
 In "February, 1862, he was promoted regi- 
 mental quartermaster and served in that 
 capacity until November, 1862, when he 
 resigned. He was at once, however, com- 
 missioned first lieutenant of Company M, 
 and was detailed April, 1863, as acting com- 
 missary of subsistence of the cavalry divis- 
 ion, Army of the Potomac, Major-General 
 A. Pleasanton commanding, when he re- 
 turned home. 
 
 Nine months later, Mr. Van Patten again 
 re-enlisted in the Eighth Cavalry, and in 
 February, 1864, was appointed quarter- 
 master in the Eighth Illinois Cavalry. In 
 May, 1864, he was commissioned captain 
 and assistant quartermaster United States 
 Volunteers, and was assigned to Vicksburg, 
 where he remained as post quartermaster 
 until November 3, 1865, when he resigned 
 and again returned home in March, 1866, 
 when he was breveted major by President 
 Johnson, and as such was mustered out of 
 service. 
 
 On his return to St. Charles, Major Van
 
 250 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Patten again resumed the drug business, 
 and in 1872 was elected cashier of the Kane 
 County National Bank and served in that 
 capacity for six years. During all the time, 
 either in the military service or in the bank, 
 he retained his interest in the drug store, 
 and when released from the latter duties 
 again took his place in the store. He has 
 always enjoyed a good trade. 
 
 Politically Major Van Patten has always 
 been a Democrat, having an abiding faith 
 in the principles of that party as best calcu- 
 lated to subserve the best interests of the 
 people. In 1894 he was commissioned 
 postmaster of St. Charles, and yet fills that 
 position acceptably to the people. In the 
 great campaign of 1896 he espoused the 
 gold wing side of his party. Fraternally 
 he is a Master Mason. As a citizen he is 
 greatly esteemed and his friends are numer- 
 ous throughout the entire county. 
 
 PHILIP FREILER, the leading whole- 
 sale liquor dealer of Elgin, was born in 
 Hartford, Connecticut, April 3, 1860, his 
 parents being Joseph and Mary (Bachrach) 
 Freiler. His father was a native of Austria, 
 born near Prague in 1833. He came to the 
 United States about 1850, locating in Hart- 
 ford, where he engaged in the wholesale 
 meat business. About 1863 he removed to 
 New York city, where he conducted a hotel 
 until 1867, when he went to Chicago. He 
 engaged in the wholesale liquor business in 
 that city until 1878, when he removed to 
 Elgin, carying on business along the same 
 line and at the same time retaining his busi- 
 ness interests in Chicago. In 1883, owing 
 to failing health, he sold out to his son 
 Philip and went abroad, remaining in 
 Europe for about six months, after which 
 
 he returned to this country. He died on 
 the 6th of August, 1884. He was a man 
 five feet, eight inches in height, solidly 
 built, and of genial temperament. In his 
 political views he was a Democrat. His 
 wife was a daughter of Jacob Bachrach, who 
 was born near Frankfort-on-the-Rhine. 
 Crossing the Atlantic, he located at Hart- 
 lord in 1860, having a daughter living in 
 that city. Later he took up his residence 
 in Chicago, where he died in 1884, at the 
 age of ninety-seven years. 
 
 Joseph and Mary Freiler had a family of 
 seven children, namely: Emma, wife of 
 Adolph Stein, of Chicago; Philip; Frances, 
 wife of Lewis Kuhn, now deceased; Moses 
 J., a resident of Chicago; Benjamin, de- 
 ceased; and Julia, wife of Bernard Stein; 
 and Harriet, wife of Nathan Herzog, of 
 Chicago. The mother is still living and 
 makes her home with her daughter Frances. 
 
 Philip Freiler spent the first five years 
 of his life at Hartford and afterward at- 
 tended school during a three-years residence 
 in New York. He then removed with his 
 parents to Chicago, where he continued his 
 studies in the German high school, later 
 pursuing a course in the Dryenfurth Educa- 
 tional and Business College. He entered 
 upon his business career in connection with 
 his father and his brother-in-law, Adolph 
 Stein, who were at that time in partnership. 
 Later Mr. Stein purchased his partner's in- 
 terest and our subject continued with his 
 brother-in-law until 1883, when he came to 
 Elgin. Here he began business on his own 
 account as a wholesale liquor dealer on 
 River street, near his present location and 
 from the beginning he prospered in his 
 undertakings, his trade constantly extending 
 until it covers the territory embraced within 
 the Dakotas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wis-
 
 PHILIP FREILER.
 
 *****
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 253 
 
 consin, Iowa, Indiana and Missouri. He 
 has the largest jobbing trade of any dealer 
 in the west outside of Chicago, and his ex- 
 tensive patronage has brought to him a 
 handsome competence. As his financial re- 
 sources have increased he has made judi- 
 cious investments in real estate and is also 
 a stockholder in banking institutions and in 
 city railway lines. 
 
 Mr. Freiler was married July 8, 1883, 
 in Elgin, to Miss Lizzie Ehrlich, daughter 
 of Joseph and Kate (Smith) Ehrlich, the 
 former a native of Austria and the latter of 
 Frankfort, Germany. Mr. Ehrlich is now 
 deceased, but the mother is still living. 
 Mrs. Freiler is a native of New York city, 
 and by her marriage she has become the 
 mother of four children; Florence, who is 
 attending school: Helen, deceased; Hilda, 
 who is also in school; and Ruth. 
 
 In his political affiliations Mr. Freiler is 
 a Democrat. He held the office of treasurer 
 of the Insane Hospital for four years under 
 Governor Altgeld, but has never been a poli- 
 tician in the sense of office seeking, prefer- 
 ring to devote his energies to his business 
 interests, in which he has met with signal 
 success. He is a prominent Mason, holding 
 membership in the blue lodge of Chicago, 
 the chapter of Elgin, and the consistory 
 and mystic shrine of Chicago. He is also 
 connected through membership with the 
 Knights of Pythias, Korassin, Foresters, 
 Red Men and the Free Sons of Israel of 
 Chicago. He is a man of sound judgment 
 in business affairs, reliable and trustworthy, 
 and is very popular with all who know him. 
 
 /->APTAIN A. C. GRAVES, a veteran of 
 \~J the war of the Union, and a pioneer of 
 the state of 1834, but now living a retired 
 
 18 
 
 life in the city of Aurora, is well known 
 throughout Kane, Du Page and adjoining 
 counties. He was born in Cortland county, 
 New York, February 15, 1825, and is the 
 son of Phineas and Anna (Kendall) Graves, 
 the former a native of Cortland county, New 
 York, and the latter of Vermont. Phineas 
 Graves grew to manhood in his native state, 
 where his marriage with Ann Kendall oc- 
 curred. By occupation he was a farmer, 
 and with that laudable desire to better him- 
 self he determined to come west. Accord- 
 ingly on the loth of February, 1834, with 
 his family, accompanied by his brothers, 
 Amos and Jesse, he left his old home and 
 drove through with teams, being thirty-one 
 days on the road. He first located in Will 
 county, three miles from the present village 
 of Lockport, where he bought a claim, on 
 which was a log house, and which had eight 
 or ten acres broken. This was known as 
 canal land. Three years later he sold out 
 and moved to Du Page county, located mear 
 Warrensville, taking up a claim of one hun- 
 dred and sixty acres, which he improved and 
 made one of the finest farms in the county. 
 He later sold that farm and purchased 
 another in the same township, where he re- 
 resided a number of years and reared his 
 family. He subsequently sold the farm, 
 and moved to Aurora, where he died De- 
 cember 24, 1889, in his ninetieth year. His 
 wife passed away February 8, 1887, and 
 they were laid to rest side by side in the 
 west side cemetery, where a substantial 
 monument marks their last resting place. 
 
 Captain Graves is the oldest son and 
 second in order of birth of the family of 
 eleven children born to Phineas and Anna 
 Graves. The others are Lucy Ann, wife 
 of Samuel Bartholomew, who resides near 
 Turner Junction, Du Page county; Capt.
 
 254 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 A. C. ; Mary, widow of Lucius Bartholo- 
 mew, residing in Batavia, Illinois; Juliet, 
 widow of Richard S. Reynolds, residing in 
 Iowa; Betsy, widow of Orlando Stolp, re- 
 siding in Missouri; Ellen S., wife of James 
 Vallett, of Naperville; Martha, now de- 
 ceased, was the wife of Norman T. Gaz- 
 ette, of Chicago; Emma, wife of Samuel 
 Wright, of Denver, Colorado; Addison B., 
 of Lament, Will county, Illinois; James D., 
 of Chicago; and A. Judson, of Calhoun 
 county, Iowa. 
 
 The subject of this sketch came to Illi- 
 nois with his parents, a lad of nine years, 
 and was twelve years old when the family 
 moved to Du Page county. He there as- 
 sisted his father in opening up, and carrying 
 on the home farm. His educational advan- 
 tages were very limited, and were confined 
 to the country district schools. After arriv- 
 ing at mature years, he settled on a farm of 
 sixty acres adjoining that of his father, 
 which he operated for some years, then sold 
 out and moved to Naperville. 
 
 Mr. Graves was married in Du Page coun- 
 ty, December 3, 1847, to Mary A. Buck, a 
 native of Erie county, New York, and a 
 daughter of Stephen Buck, who was one of 
 the pioneers of Du Page county. She was 
 reared and educated in her native state, and 
 previous to her marriage was a teacher in 
 the public schools of Du Page county. By 
 this union are four daughters: Julia E. , 
 wife of Judge Gary, of Wheaton, Illinois; 
 Anna P., wife of William Judd, of Aurora; 
 Eva Viola, wife of Oscar Hamilton, of Au- 
 rora; and Bertha, wife of Lemuel Northam, 
 of Joliet, Illinois. 
 
 In 1862, Mr. Graves raised a company, 
 and was commissioned captain of Company 
 D, One Hundred and Fifth Regiment, Illi- 
 nois Volunteer Infantry, and with his regi- 
 
 ment went immediately to the front. He 
 served on detached duty, and was in charge 
 of a company of mounted scouts, having 
 under him when he first started about 
 seventy-three men when considered neces- 
 sary. After serving through the winter of 
 1862-3, he was compelled to abandon act- 
 ive duty on account of ill health, having 
 been taken down with typhoid fever. After 
 he had somewhat recovered, he was placed 
 on duty in the spring of 1863, on the staff 
 of General Granger at Nashville. Pre- 
 vious to his being assigned to the staff of 
 General Granger he had been home on sick 
 furlough, and returned to the front, ac- 
 companying Col. Hammond, of the One 
 Hundredth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, with 
 a large body of recruits. Joining his own 
 command, he was in various engagements, 
 including Dalton, Burnt Hickory, Kene- 
 saw Mountain, New Hope Church, Big 
 Shanty, Peach Tree Creek, and a number 
 of lesser fights and engagements. After the 
 Atlanta campaign, he was ordered back to 
 Lookout Mountain, and reporting to the 
 medical board, was sent to the hospital. 
 Feeling that he could no longer remain in 
 the service on account of his health, his res- 
 ignation was accepted, March 8, 1865. 
 
 Returning home, he again commenced 
 farming, at which he continued two years, 
 when he moved to Aurora, and has since 
 been a resident of this city. He lately sold 
 his original farm but still has other farms 
 and some Iowa land. He has always been 
 quite active in political affairs, and since the 
 organization of the party has been quite 
 active in political affairs, and since the or- 
 ganization of the party, has been a stanch 
 Republican. While yet residing in Du Page 
 county, he was honored by his fellow citi- 
 zens, with various official positions. For
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 255 
 
 three years he served as collector of his 
 township, and in 1855, was elected sheriff 
 of the county, and moved to Napersville. 
 After filling out his official term, he engaged 
 in merchandising in Naperville and served 
 as deputy sheriff two years. He was then 
 re-elected sheriff and served another term. 
 He also served his township as a member 
 of the board of supervisors several terms; 
 since coming to Aurora he served as city 
 marshal four terms in succession. In what 
 ever position held, he discharged its duties 
 faithfully and well. 
 
 Captain Graves and his wife are mem- 
 bers of the Aurora Baptist church. For 
 some years he was a member of the Masonic 
 lodge at Naperville, but is now a dimitted 
 member. For sixty-four years he has been 
 a resident of the Prairie state. On his ar- 
 rival here, Chicago was an insignifigant vil- 
 lage, which he has lived to see become the 
 second city in the union. Northern Illinois 
 was then a vast wilderness, while to-day it is 
 acknowledged to be the garden spot of the 
 Northwest. In its transformation Captain 
 Graves has borne no inconsiderable part. 
 
 A BRAHAM P. SHERWOOD, who for 
 r\ many years was actively identified with 
 the agricultural interests of Kane county, 
 but- is now living retired at No. 226 Hamil- 
 ton avenue, Elgin, was born in the town of 
 Sweden, Erie county, New York, July 5, 
 1827. His father, John Sherwood, was a 
 native of the same state, born April 6, 1790, 
 and was a son of Hezekiah Sherwood. In 
 1836 John Sherwood, who was a carpenter 
 by trade left New York and removed to 
 Canada, but ten years later came to Kane 
 county, Illinois, making the journey by boat 
 from Chatham, Canada, to Detroit, and 
 
 thence overland to Chicago and Kane coun- 
 ty, being twenty-two days en route. On 
 his arrival his cash capital consisted of 
 about ten dollars, but he rented a farm in 
 Plato and Campton townships, and began 
 life in earnest on the western frontier. A 
 year later he purchased eighty acres of land 
 on section 19, Plato township, and to the 
 cultivation and improvement of his place 
 he devoted his energies until called to his 
 final rest on the 2oth of May, 1879. He 
 was a soldier of the war of 1812, and at 
 the battle of King's Mountains was taken 
 prisoner, but was soon paroled and sent 
 home. In early life he was a Democrat, 
 but being a strong Union man he joined the 
 Republican party about the time of its or- 
 ganization, and continued one of its stanch 
 supporters. In religious belief he was a 
 Methodist. 
 
 John Sherwood was twice married, his 
 first union being with Sybil Jeffords, by 
 whom he had three children. For his sec- 
 ond wife he married Sarah Pease, a daugh- 
 ter of Abraham and Sarah (Dunham) Pease, 
 and to them were born six children, namely: 
 Seth, who was for many years a partner of 
 our subject in business; Abraham P., of this 
 sketch; Melton, a resident of California; 
 Martha, wife of Charles Harvey, of the 
 same state; John, a resident of Nebraska; 
 and Mary, deceased. 
 
 Mr. Sherwood, of this review, began his 
 education in the public schools of New York, 
 later attended the subscription schools of 
 Canada, but as his father was in rather lim- 
 ited circumstances his school privileges were 
 meager, and he is almost wholly self-edu- 
 cated. At the age of nineteen years he ac- 
 companied the family on their emigration 
 to Kane county, and he and his oldest 
 brother assisted the father in paying for his
 
 256 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 eighty-acre farm. Later the sons embarked 
 in business on their own account, at first 
 renting a tract of one hundred and sixty 
 acres, which they successfully operated. 
 Meeting with success in this undertaking, 
 they purchased land, and being thrifty, 
 energetic and of good business ability, they 
 were soon able to add to their original pur- 
 chase, increasing the boundaries of their 
 land from time to time until they had nearly 
 two thousand acres at the time of the divis- 
 ion of the property. Their success was 
 marvelous when compared with the careers 
 of others who began life with them under 
 far more advantageous conditions. Besides 
 general farming, Abraham P. Sherwood was 
 interested in dairying, and also in buying, 
 feeding and shipping cattle. He continued 
 to engage in active business until 1891, 
 when, having secured a comfortable com- 
 petence, he laid aside business cares, leas- 
 ing some of his land, while other tracts he 
 gave to his sons. Since then he has lived 
 retired at his pleasant home at No. 226 
 Hamilton avenue, Elgin. 
 
 On November 11, 1852, Mr. Sherwood 
 was married in Plato township, to Miss 
 Phoebe Ann Wright, a native of New York 
 state, and a daughter of E. Baldwin and 
 Eliza (Foster) Wright. Her father, who 
 was a soldier of the war of 1812, was a son 
 of Solomon and Zelpha Wright. Her ma- 
 ternal grandparents were James and Phoebe 
 Foster. To Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood were 
 born six children, as follows: George W. 
 married Lillie Warner and is engaged in 
 farming on section 30, Plato township; John 
 B. , who is also engaged in farming on the 
 same section, married Jennie McKellar and 
 has two children John Leroy and Harry; 
 Margaret is the wife of A. M. Chapman, of 
 Elgin; Lewis H. married Etta Haygreen 
 
 and lives in Elgin; Benjamin A., a farmer 
 on section 25, Burlington township, married 
 Etta Cripps and has two children Dewitt 
 and Gracie; and Elizabeth Ann died at the 
 age of two years. 
 
 Although an ardent Republican in pol- 
 itics, Mr. Sherwood has always refused to 
 accept office of any kind, preferring to give 
 his entire time and attention to his exten- 
 sive business interests. His life record is 
 one well worthy of emulation and contains 
 many valuable lessons of incentive, showing 
 the possibilities that are open to young 
 men who wish to improve every opportu- 
 nity for advancement. Upright and hon- 
 orable in all the relations of life, he merits 
 and receives the respect and confidence of 
 all with whom he comes in contact. Mrs. 
 Sherwood is a member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church. 
 
 ERASTUS W. BLACKMAN. Canada 
 has furnished to the United States 
 many bright, enterprising young men who 
 have left the Dominion to enter the business 
 circles of this country with its more pro- 
 gressive methods, livelier competition and 
 advancement more quickly secured. Among 
 this number is Mr. Blackman, who was for 
 many years successfully engaged in agricul- 
 tural pursuits in Kane county, but is now 
 living retired at No. 610 West Chicago 
 street, Elgin. 
 
 He was born in Toronto, Canada, June 
 1 8, 1825, a son of Zenas and Elvira (Mitch- 
 ell) Blackman, the former a native of Ver- 
 mont, the latter of Canada. In early life 
 the father emigrated to Lower Canada, and 
 from there to Upper Canada, where he 
 opened up a farm. He was born in 1795, 
 and, although quite young, he participated
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 257 
 
 in the latter part of the war of 1812, receiv- 
 ing for his service a land warrant, which he 
 traded for land in Canada without seeing 
 the tract. In 1848 he came to Kane coun- 
 ty, Illinois, and first located at St. Charles, 
 but removed to Wheeling, Cook county, in 
 1868. He died in 1878, and his wife in 
 1896, at the age of eighty-one years. Both 
 were devout members of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church and took an active part in 
 its work. 
 
 Our subject is the oldest of their ten 
 children, of whom eight are still living. 
 Three of the sons were soldiers of the Civil 
 war. At President Lincoln's first call for 
 two hundred thousand volunteers, Ephraim 
 enlisted in Dodson's Cavalry and served 
 three years in the Western army, during 
 which time he was never wounded or taken 
 prisoner. He is married and resides in 
 Arkansas. George enlisted in the One 
 Hundred and Twenty-seventh Illinois Vol- 
 unteer Infantry, which was also assigned to 
 the Western army, and he -participated in 
 many important battles. His arduous serv- 
 ice broke down his health, and he died at 
 his home in Kansas, leaving a widow and 
 one child. As soon as old enough Emer- 
 son A. enlisted in the ajtillery service as a 
 private, and with the Army of the Potomac 
 took part in some hotly contested engage- 
 ments, including the battle of Gettysburg, 
 where he was the last one to leave a gun 
 which was captured by the Rebels. He was 
 never wounded. Our subject's sisters are 
 Matilda, wife of William Comfort, a farmer 
 of Independence, Iowa; Eliza J., widow of 
 Lucian Scott, of Elburn, Kane county; Ada- 
 line, deceased wife of Walter Sutherland, a 
 farmer of Kansas; Adalaide, wife of Nelson 
 Sales, of Nebraska; and Laura, wife of 
 Herbert Johnson, a farmer of Kansas. 
 
 In the schools of Canada Erastus W. 
 Blackman obtained his education. Through- 
 out his business career he successfully en- 
 gaged in farming, and on coming from 
 Canada to Illinois, in 1848, he purchased 
 one hundred acres of land in Wheeling 
 township, Cook county, twenty-two miles 
 northwest of Chicago, between Arlington 
 Heights and Palatine. Subsequently he 
 traded that place for two hundred acres in 
 Kane county, five miles 'northwest of St. 
 Charles, to the cultivation and improvement 
 of which he devoted his time and attention 
 for twenty years. On selling out to his son, 
 he bought his present comfortable home in 
 Elgin, where he now enjoys a well-earned 
 rest. 
 
 Mr. Blackman was married May 2, 1852, 
 to Miss Sarah Jane Switzer, a daughter of 
 Joseph and Salina Switzer, natives of Can- 
 ada, where Mrs. Blackman was also born. 
 Her mother died in that country at the age 
 of forty-three years, and the father after- 
 ward married Catherine Robinson, by whom 
 he had one daughter, Amelia, who is now 
 the wife of Jacob Miller, of St. Paul, Min- 
 nesota, by whom she had seven children. 
 He came with his family to Illinois in 1849. 
 Both the mother and daughter are still liv- 
 ing but Mr. Switzer died in 1855, aged 
 fifty-three years. By his first marriage he 
 had ten children, eight of whom still sur- 
 vive, namely: Samuel; Martin; Charles; 
 Mrs. Blackman; Lizzie, who married 
 Stephen Gates and died about 1857, at the 
 age of twenty-two years; Mary A., wife of 
 I. C. Towner, of Elgin; Joseph Russell, a 
 resident of St. Charles, Kane county; Will- 
 iam Henry, of California; Jabez, a farmer 
 of Kane county; Emma, who died in in- 
 fancy. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Blackman have seven chil-
 
 2 5 8 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 dren: Salina is the wife of L. A. Hovey, a 
 railroad man residing in Elgin, and they 
 have three children Lucia, Julia and Vine; 
 Frank M., who has been a policeman in 
 Aurora for many years, wedded Mary Fish 
 and has two children Claud M. and May; 
 Emma M. is the wife of Bela Ward, a 
 farmer of Campton township, Kane county, 
 and has two children Pearl and Ruby; 
 Mary E. is the wife of Charles Searles, of 
 Freeport, Illinois, and has three children 
 Earl, Paul and Charles Raphael; Ray Allen, 
 of St. Charles, married Ella Shaw and has 
 one child, Myrl; Amelia is the wife of 
 Arthur Bullock, who is employed in the 
 watch factory at Elgin; and Philo M. is a 
 machinist, residing with his parents. 
 
 In the Methodist Episcopal church, Mr. 
 and Mrs. Blackman and several of their 
 children hold membership, while he has 
 served as steward and filled other offices in 
 the same. For thirty-eight years he has 
 been a teacher in the Sunday-school, and 
 for many years was superintendent, always 
 taking an active and prominent part in all 
 church work. He is a grand, good man, 
 upright and honorable in all his dealings, 
 and commands the confidence and respect 
 of all with whom he comes in contact. For 
 many years he served as school director in 
 his township. 
 
 HERMAN F. DEMMER, chief of police 
 of Aurora, was born in Germany, and 
 with his parents started for America, when 
 about two months of age. Soon after their 
 arrival, the mother died in St. Louis, with 
 cholera during the great epidemic of that 
 disease in that city. The father died about 
 one year later in Buffalo, Iowa. In their 
 fa/nily were four children, Herman F., our 
 
 subject; Lena, now the wife of B. F. 
 Stevens, of Orion, Henry county, Illinois; 
 Anna, widow of Andrew Bolden, now resid- 
 ing in Chicago; and Ida, wife of George E. 
 Hampson, a retired farmer of Millford, 
 Illinois. 
 
 After the father's death, Herman was 
 bound out to a Mr. Dodge, in Buffalo, 
 Iowa, with whom he remained a number of 
 years. He was educated in Moline, Illinois, 
 where he resided after leaving Iowa. In 
 1 86 1 he came to Aurora, which has since 
 been his home with the exception of about 
 six years. During the late war he enlisted 
 and served about five months and on his re- 
 turn went to railroading for the Chicago, 
 .Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company, 
 until 1868, when he left the service of that 
 company and was engaged with the Hanni- 
 bal & St. Joseph Railroad Company. At 
 Davenport, Iowa, January 5, 1870, he en- 
 listed in the regular army, and was sent to 
 Fort Leavenworth, where he remained a 
 month. He was then sent west and served 
 on the plains for two and a half years. He 
 was then sent to Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, 
 thence to Little Rock, Arkansas, from 
 which place he was again sent west to en- 
 gaged in the Modoc war, but order counter- 
 manded before they got to Council Bluffs. 
 He was next stationed at Fort D. A. Rus- 
 sell, and later at Fort Laramie. He was 
 discharged at the latter place, having served 
 five years, lacking five days. His record 
 was an excellent one. 
 
 Returning to Aurora, Mr. Demmer again 
 began railroading, first as brakeman, and 
 then conductor. After about four years 
 spent in that service, he again left the 
 road, and for a time engaged in business. 
 He was then appointed on the police serv- 
 ice, and served as patrolman two years,
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 259 
 
 when he received the appointment of chief 
 of police, which position he yet holds, 
 making eleven years continuous service, 
 which is the longest continuous service 
 of any chief ever having been employed in 
 this city. At present he is president of the 
 Chief of Police Union of the state of Illinois, 
 which position he has held for five years. 
 This is certainly an acknowledgment of his 
 ability, by the chiefs throughout the state. 
 
 On the I5th of January, 1881, Mr. 
 Demmer was united in marriage with Miss 
 Alma Steele, of Aurora, and a daughter of 
 Catherine Steele, who is the mother of 
 four children Dyer, a railway brakeman, 
 residing in Aurora; Mary A., who married 
 S. M. Farwell, and died in Aurora, at the 
 age of forty-four years; Nelson, deceased; 
 and Alma. To Mr. and Mrs. Demmer 
 seven children have been born, five of whom 
 are living Daisy, Mabel, Nellie, Anna, and 
 Lily. Those deceased are Frank and 
 George. 
 
 In politics Mr. Demmer is an ardent Re- 
 publican, who takes pleasure in upholding 
 the platform and measures of his party on 
 all occasions. He is one of the reliable 
 men of Aurora, and his many admirable 
 qualities have tended to make him popular 
 with all classes with whom he comes in con- 
 tact. As a public officer he has given the 
 fullest satisfaction through his constituency. 
 Socially he is a courteous gentleman, and is 
 a man whom misfortunes have not disheart- 
 ened, nor has disaster had an appalling 
 effect. He was nominated by the Repub- 
 lican party for sheriff in 1898. 
 
 MANLEY P. TREADWELL, residing 
 on section 10, Elgin township, was 
 born on the farm where he now resides. 
 
 His father, William Treadwell, was born 
 July 22, 1823, in Almyr, Ontario, Canada, 
 and came west in 1840, and later purchased 
 a farm on section 10, Elgin township, where 
 he resided for many years. He was the 
 son of Anson and Nancy (Sorners) Tread- 
 well, natives of Canada and New York, re- 
 spectively. Martha A. Adams was the 
 daughter of Edward and Abigail (Padel- 
 ford) Adams. To William M. and Martha 
 A. Treadwell three children were born, as 
 follows: William E. , a physician and sur- 
 geon at Maple Park; one who died in in- 
 fancy; and Manley P., our subject. 
 
 The boyhood and youth of Manley P. 
 Treadwell were spent upon the home farm, 
 and his education was obtained in the dis- 
 trict schools and Elgin Academy. At the 
 age of eighteen years he went to Chicago, 
 and was there engaged in the milk business 
 one year. He then returned and farmed 
 with his father one year, after which he 
 moved to Elgin, and for one year was en- 
 gaged in teaming, and in the watch factory 
 for seven years. In 1886 he again returned 
 to the farm, which consists of one hundred 
 and sixty acres of fine arable land, and 
 where he has since continued to reside. He 
 usually keeps about fifty head of cows, the 
 milk from which he sells to the condensing 
 factory at Elgin, and ships to Chicago. 
 
 On the 1 6th of February, 1882, Mr. 
 Treadwell was married in St. Charles, Illi- 
 nois, to Miss Kate Vanderwalker, born in 
 Chester, Warren county, New York, and 
 eighth in a family of nine children born to 
 William and Sophia (Churchill) Vander- 
 walker, the latter a daughter of Otis 
 Churchill. Her father did good service in 
 the war of 1812. By this union one child 
 has been born Alice M., who yet resides 
 under the parental roof.
 
 260 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Mr. Treadwell in politics is thoroughly 
 independent, voting for such men as he 
 thinks best qualified for the office. For 
 many years he served as clerk of the board 
 of school directors of his district and was 
 annually re-elected, until he refused longer 
 to serve. He is a member of the Baptist 
 church, of which body his wife is also a 
 member, .and was one of the main pro- 
 moters of the chapel built near his residence 
 in 1896. Fraternally he is a member of 
 Monitor lodge, No. 522, A. F. & A. M., 
 and of Silver Leaf camp, No. 60, M. W. A. 
 
 For some years the family has been ac- 
 customed to taking long trips overland, for 
 health and pleasure. A number. gf seasons 
 they drove through to St. Paul and back, 
 returning on the west side of the rivsr-^.and 
 camping by the way. They have also trav- 
 eled east, visiting many of the large cities 
 of New England and the central states. As 
 as farmer, Mr. Treadwell ranks among the 
 best, his farm being well supplied with sub- 
 stantial buildings, and it is well watered by 
 a large stream which flows through it. The 
 farm lies very near the corporate limits of 
 Elgin. 
 
 EORGE W. L. BROWN, a well-known 
 real-estate dealer of Elgin, living at 
 158 North Liberty street, is proud to claim 
 Illinois as his native, state, his birth having 
 occurred in Cook county, April 19, 1848. He 
 is a representative of one of its old and highly 
 respected pioneer families, his parents being 
 Schnyler and Mary Ann (Youngs) Brown, 
 the former a native of New York and the 
 latter of Canada. Of their seven children, 
 only two are now living Charles and George 
 W. L. The father, a farmer by occupation, 
 came to Illinois as early as 1833, with a Mr. 
 
 Scuttler and located at old Fort Dearborn, 
 now Chicago. He carried on farming seven 
 miles west of Blue Island, in Cook county, 
 and there reared his family, but in 1856 he 
 removed to Humbolt county, Iowa, where 
 he engaged in his chosen calling until 1887, 
 when he returned to Genoa, Illinois, to live 
 with our subject. His wife, who was a 
 consistent member of the Methodist church, 
 had died in 1869, at the age of fifty years, and 
 his death occurred in Genoa, in 1892, when 
 in his eighty-eighth year. During his early 
 manhood he was a member of the New York 
 State Militia, and originally he was a Dem- 
 ocrat in politics, but, after voting for Lin- 
 coln in 1860, he continued to support the 
 Republican party. Wherever known he 
 was held in high regard, having the respect 
 and confidence of all with whom he came in 
 contact. 
 
 Hugh Brown, our subject's paternal 
 grandfather, was born in New York state, 
 of English ancestry, and throughout life 
 principally engaged in farming. He reared 
 a family of eleven children, was a soldier in 
 the war of 1812, and was over seventy years 
 of age at the time of his death. The ma- 
 ternal grandfather, Jerry Youngs, was a na- 
 tive of Canada and died at an advanced age. 
 
 Upon his father's farm, Mr. Brown, of 
 this review, spent the days of his boyhood 
 and youth, and in the district schools of 
 Cook county he acquired his education. At 
 the early age of fifteen, however, he laid 
 aside his text books to aid his country in 
 the struggle to preserve the Union, enlisting 
 in Company G, Thirty-ninth Illinois Volun- 
 teer Infantry, " Yates' Phalanx." He served 
 a little less than two years and during that 
 time participated in the battle of the Wil- 
 derness, the siege of Washington, the bat- 
 tles of Hatchie's Run, Petersburg and many
 
 G. W. L. BROWN.
 
 MRS. G. W. L. BROWN.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 265 
 
 skirmishes. He had entered the service as 
 a private, but was promoted corporal on the 
 day he was shot, but did not hear the order 
 of promotion. It was on the 2nd of April, 
 1865, at the battle of Petersburg, that he 
 was wounded, and, being sent to the hos- 
 pital at Fortress Monroe, he remained there 
 from the 4th of that month until July 19, 
 when he was honorably discharged and re- 
 turned to his home in Cook county. 
 
 Soon after the war Mr. Brown removed 
 to De Kalb county, Illinois, where he made 
 his home for three years, and then went to 
 Humbolt county, Iowa, engaging in farming 
 there until his return to De Kalb county, in 
 1872. On the ist of March, 1893, he came 
 to Elgin and has since successfully engaged 
 in the real estate business in this city. Be- 
 ing an honorable, upright business man, he 
 has met with a well deserved success in his 
 undertakings, and is to-day numbered among 
 the leading and valued citizens of the place. 
 
 On the I4thof October, 1869, Mr. Brown 
 married Miss Margaret J. Vote, a daughter 
 of John and Anna Maria (Karn) Vote. The 
 children born to them areas follows: Charles 
 Elmer, who died in infancy; Clara Belle, 
 who is now the wife of G. H. Brown, of 
 Genoa, Illinois, and has three children, 
 Hazel May, Clayton George and Floyd Har- 
 vey; Maggie May, who is the wife of J. B. 
 Brown, a brother of George H. , and has 
 one child, Raymond Claire; George W. L. , 
 Jr., a graduate of Callow's Business College; 
 and Charles F. and Alta Adell, both at 
 home. 
 
 Socially, Mr. Brown is a member of the 
 Masonic order, the Modern Woodmen of 
 America, and -Genoa post, G. A. R. ; while 
 politically he has always been an uncom- 
 promising Republican, doing all in his power 
 to advance the interests and insure the suc- 
 
 cess of his party. For about thirteen years 
 he served as school director in New Leb- 
 anon, Illinois, and was commissioner of 
 highways for the same length of time. He 
 is a man of recognized ability and, with his 
 amiable wife, stands high in the communi- 
 ties where they have made their home. 
 Those who know them best are numbered 
 among their warmest friends, and no citi- 
 zens in Kane county are more honored or 
 highly respected. 
 
 AUGtJS"P JAPP, a retired farmer living 
 in the village of Hampshire, is a rep- 
 resentative of the German-American citi- 
 zens, who by their industry and thrift, have 
 done much in making Kane county occupy 
 its proud position among the counties of 
 the great state of Illinois. He was born in 
 the village of Hanshagen, province of Meck- 
 lenberg Schwerin, Germany, October 5, 
 1847, and is the son of August Japp, Sr. , 
 and Dorothy (Bottcher) Japp, the former a 
 native of Jesse, Mecklenberg Schwerin, 
 Germany, born in 1813, and is yet living at 
 the advanced age of eighty-one years. His 
 father was Hans Japp, a native of the same 
 country. Dorothy Bottcher was a daugh- 
 ter of Hans Bottcher, who lived and died in 
 Germany. 
 
 The subject of this sketch attended the 
 parochial schools in his native country un- 
 til the age of fourteen, when he engaged in 
 farm work, which he continued until his re- 
 moval to America in 1865. He was then 
 but eighteen years of age and left just be- 
 fore he would have been called into the serv- 
 ice of his country in the German army. 
 The family sailed from Hamburg, October 
 27, 1865, on the steamer Saxonia, and 
 after being twenty-two days upon the water
 
 266 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 laded at New York. They came at once 
 to Cook county, Illinois, and located at 
 Shaumberg. For two years our subject 
 worked as a day laborer at anything he 
 could find to do. His father then rented a 
 farm and for the four succeeding years he 
 worked with him, giving him his time until 
 twenty-five years of age. He then formed 
 a partnership with his father, which was 
 maintained for four years. 
 
 On the 2 ist of September, 1872, Mr. 
 Japp was united in marriage with Miss Wil- 
 helmina Bredetneyer, who was born in the 
 village of Katherinshagen, Hesse, Germany, 
 in 1852, and who came with her parents to 
 America in 1853. By this union eight 
 children have been born, Mina, ist, de- 
 ceased; Lena, who married Henry Koerner, 
 of Genoa township, DeKalb county, Illinois; 
 Mina, who married John Bottcher, and 
 lives in Genoa township, De Kalb county; 
 Louisa, deceased; August, John, William, 
 and Henry at home. 
 
 Immediately after his marriage, Mr. 
 Japp moved with his young bride to Hamp- 
 shire township, and a few years later bought 
 one hundred and forty acres in sections 18 
 and 19, and two hundred and fifty acres 
 across the line in De Kalb county, making 
 him a fine farm of three hundred and ninety 
 acres. He there carried on mixed farming, 
 giving special attention to stock and grain 
 and making many improvements upon the 
 place. He was a good farmer, industrious 
 as the day was long, and success crowned 
 his efforts in a remarkable degree, enabling 
 him to rent the place and in the spring of 
 1898 move to the village of Hampshire, 
 where he is now living a retired life. Po- 
 litically Mr.- Japp is a Republican and for 
 sixteen years was school director of his dis- 
 trict, and served as road commissioner for 
 
 two terms. He is a member of the Luth- 
 eran church, of which body his wife is also 
 a member, and was the first to suggest the 
 organization of a church of that denomina- 
 tion in Hampshire township in 1876. Both 
 are held in the highest esteem in Hamp- 
 shire township and wherever known. 
 
 OTIS N. SHEDD, now living a retired 
 life in the city of Aurora, but who for 
 years was one of the active, enterprising 
 and representive business men of the city, 
 is numbered among the settlers of 1856. 
 He is a native of Maine, born in Oxford 
 county, July 10, 1831, and is the son of Silas 
 Shedd, a native of Massachusetts, born Oc- 
 tober 2, 1794. His father, the grandfather 
 of our subject, was also a native of Massa- 
 chusetts. Otis N. Shedd is the seventh 
 generation from Daniel Shedd, a native of 
 England, who settled in Bramtree, Massa- 
 chusetts, in 1644. 
 
 Silas Shedd, the father of our subject, 
 grew to manhood in his native state, and 
 served in the war of 1812, for which he drew 
 a pension until his death at the advanced 
 age of ninety-one years. He married Miss 
 Clarissa Noyes, a native of New England, 
 born in 1800, and a daughter of Captain 
 Ward Noyes, who for many years was a 
 captain in the militia of his native state. 
 Silas Shedd was a cooper by trade, and also 
 engaged in agricultural pursuits. His wife 
 preceded him to the land beyond, dying in 
 1880. They were the parents of four chil- 
 dren, of whom our subject was third in order 
 of birth. Of the others, Calvin married 
 and settled on the old homestead, where his 
 death occurred; Alice N. married Robert 
 Frost, and they reside in Norway, Maine; 
 and Caroline, who married Benjamin Henry
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 267 
 
 Noble, and after making their home in 
 Maine for a few years, removed to Cali- 
 fornia, where they now reside. 
 
 In his native county and state, Otis N. 
 Shedd spent his boyhood and youth on the 
 farm, and during the winter months attended- 
 the public schools, and later a private 
 school taught by Samuel Cobb, a brother of 
 Sylvanus Cobb, a noted educator and divine. 
 Before attaining his majority he taught in 
 his home district, and was quite successful. 
 A young man, he removed to Lawrence, 
 Massachusetts, and there engaged in a 
 woolen mill, now known as the Washington 
 Mill. Later he went to work in a soap fac- 
 tory, where he continued three years, and 
 learned the business of soap making. While 
 residing in Lawrence he was married August 
 28, 1853, to Miss T. F. Hawkins, a native 
 of Vermont, reared and educated in Bruns- 
 wick, that state, and a daughter of W. W. 
 and Susannah (Wait) Hawkins, of Bruns- 
 wick, Vermont. By this union are five 
 children, one of whom died in infancy, and 
 Otis N., who died in his sixth year. The 
 living are Clara A., wife of Dr. S. S. De- 
 lancy, of Williamsport, Indiana, and they 
 have two children, Helen Delancy and 
 Julius; Isabella F. widow of Professor 
 Stein, of Aurora, by whom she had two 
 children, Alma F. , and Edwin Arthur; and 
 Alma E. , who married Mr. Merrill, moved 
 to Tacoma, Washington, and there died 
 leaving one daughter, Elizabeth. 
 
 In 1855, Mr. Shedd moved west to Chi- 
 cago, and there resided one winter. In the 
 spring of 1856, in company with Mr. Beach, 
 a former employer, he came to Aurora, and 
 bought a farm of one hundred acres, which 
 now lies within the city limits. On that 
 farm he located, and began its improve- 
 ment, and also started a soap factory and 
 
 engaged in the manufacture of candles. In 
 the same spring he laid out Beach & Shedd's 
 addition to the city of Aurora. He later 
 bought thirty-seven acres more, which he 
 platted as Shedd's subdivision. In addition 
 to this, he purchased another tract which 
 was laid out as Shedd & Nobble's subdivi- 
 sion. He also had charge of the old fair 
 grounds, and with Mr. Dickinson had a por- 
 tion of it surveyed and platted, and it is 
 now known as Dickinson & Shedd's addition. 
 Since its organization, he has been a stock 
 holder in the Aurora Silver Plate Manufact- 
 uring Company, and was a director in it 
 for a number of years. He also owns stock 
 in the building and loan association and in 
 the German National Bank. 
 
 Politically Mr. Shedd is a Republican, 
 his first presidential ballot being cast for 
 John C. Fremont, and from that time to 
 the present, he has never faltered in the sup- 
 port of the men and measures of that party. 
 He has taken quite an active part in local 
 politics, and has served four years as alder- 
 man, three years as commissioner of high- 
 ways, and as supervisor of the town two 
 years and has been a delegate to various 
 county and congressional conventions. He 
 is a man of good business ability, and in 
 whatever position he has been tested, has 
 proven his true worth. 
 
 CYRUS H. LARKIN, a farmer and 
 dairyman residing on Larkin avenue, 
 Elgin, Illinois, has made his home in Kane 
 county for over sixty years, and his name is 
 inseparably connected' with its agricultural 
 and business interests. His thoroughly 
 American spirit and his great energy have 
 enabled him to mount from a lowly posi- 
 tion to one of affluence. One of his lead-
 
 268 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ing characteristics in business affairs is his 
 fine sense of order and complete system, 
 and the habit of giving careful attention to 
 details without which success in an under- 
 taking is never an assured fact. 
 
 Mr. Larkin was born in Waterville, 
 Vermont, May 20, 1830, and is a son of 
 Cyrus and Sarah A. (Homer) Larkin, also 
 natives of that state. In their family were 
 only two children, and Emily W. is now 
 deceased. The father was a woolen manu- 
 facturer in early life and later a farmer. 
 On coming to Illinois, in 1837, he secured 
 a farm in Dundee township, Kane county, 
 five miles frbm Elgin, and four years later 
 he removed to that city. As he was in poor 
 health our subject took charge of the farm 
 at the age of nineteen, and in 1865 he built 
 his present commodious residence, his par- 
 ents living with him until called to the 
 world beyond. The father died June 17, 
 1885, aged eighty-five years, and the 
 mother November n, 1887, at the age of 
 eighty-two years and three months. In early 
 life they were members of the Congrega- 
 tional church, but later joined the Method- 
 ist Episcopal church, and died in that faith. 
 The father never sought office, but was fre- 
 quently called upon to fill some local posi- 
 tions, the duties of which he faithfully and 
 capably discharged. His first purchase in 
 Kane county consisted of one hundred and 
 sixty acres of land, but this he sold, and 
 purchased one hundred and twenty acres, 
 which are still owned by our subject. 
 
 Joseph Larkin, the paternal grandfather 
 of our subject, was a son of Edward Larkin, 
 in whose family were several sons, Joshua 
 and Lorin being among the number. Joseph 
 was a lumber manufacturer and was killed 
 in the mill yard. He had aided the colo- 
 nies in achieving their independence during 
 
 the Revolutionary war. In Brandon, Ver- 
 mont, March 24, 1785, he married Miss 
 Hannah Winslow, and at that place all of 
 their children were born. She was a lineal 
 descent of Edward Winslow, who lived in 
 England in 1560. Among his sons was 
 Kenelm, and in the next generation two 
 Kenelms. Kenelm Winslow, of this third 
 generation, came to America with his brother 
 Josiah on the Mayflower in 1629, but pre- 
 vious to this time Edward Winslow, the 
 second, came over in the same vessel, ac- 
 companied by his brother Gilbert, they being 
 among the first detachment of Pilgrims who 
 landed at Plymouth Rock, May 20, 1620. 
 Gilbert afterward returned to England where 
 he died, but Edward was the leader of the 
 colony from the beginning, was afterward 
 chosen governor of the same, and possessed 
 considerable ability as a statesman. Jede- 
 diah Winslow, the father of Hannah, was 
 born March 26, 1727, in Rochester, Massa- 
 chusetts, and died in Brandon, Vermont, 
 April 5, 1794, while his wife, Elizabeth 
 (Goodspeed) Winslow, was born in Barn- 
 stable, Massachusetts, in March, 1750. 
 They had a family of ten children. 
 
 Cyrus H. Larkin was but seven years 
 old when he came with his parents to Kane 
 county, where he has since made his home. 
 His early education was received under the 
 instruction of his father, but he afterward 
 attended school in Elgin, and later was a 
 student in the college at Beloit, Wisconsin. 
 For five years he successfully engaged in 
 teaching, but since that time has devoted 
 his attention to agricultural pursuits and his 
 other business interests. He is now the 
 owner of four hundred acres of valuable 
 farming land adjoining the city of Elgin, is 
 a stockholder in the First National Bank of 
 that place, and is interested in a large mer-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 269 
 
 cantile establishment in Texas and also in 
 the cattle business in that state. 
 
 On the 24th of August, 1854, Mr. 
 Larkin married Miss Jane E. Johnson, a 
 daughter of Ashbel Johnson, and to them 
 were born two children, (i) May, who is 
 now the wife of D. B. Hoornbeek, of Al- 
 pine, Texas, and has two children Brew- 
 ster and Etta May; (2) Fred A., M. D. , a 
 physician of Englewood, Illinois. The 
 mother of these children, who was a con- 
 sistent member of the Methodist church, 
 died May 2, 1874. Mr. Larkin was again 
 married December 27, 1888, his second 
 union being with Mrs. Jeannette Crane, 
 widow of Franklin Crane. 
 
 Politically Mr. Larkin is a stanch Repub- 
 lican, and has served as supervisor several 
 terms and also town treasurer. He is justly 
 regarded as one of the most progressive and 
 reliable business men of Elgin, and in all 
 life's relations merits the confidence so 
 freely accorded him. His residence in Kane 
 county covers a period of sixty years, during 
 which he has ever borne his purt in the 
 work of development and progress, and is 
 therefore deserving of honorable mention 
 among the pioneers. 
 
 WILLIAM E. CONSTANT, M. D., a 
 successful and popular physician and 
 surgeon of St. Charles, is a native son of 
 Illinois, his birth having occurred in San- 
 gamon county, February 28, 1854. The 
 Constant family is of French origin and was 
 early founded in Kentucky, where Isaac 
 Constant, our subject's grandfather, was 
 born. The Doctor's father, Dr. Jacob 
 Constant, was also a native of Kentucky, 
 born near Winchester, in 1826, but when 
 only a year old was brought to Sangamon 
 
 county, Illinois, by his father, being num- 
 bered among the pioneers of the state. The 
 latter pre-empted land in Sangamon county, 
 near Springfield, and from the wild tract 
 developed a good farm, upon which he 
 reared his family. 
 
 At an early age Dr. Jacob Constant took 
 up the study of medicine, becoming a stud- 
 ent of the great Hahnemann, and later en- 
 gaged in the practice of his chosen profes- 
 sion, while he also owned and operated a 
 farm. In Sangamon county he married 
 Miss Lillian Wilson, a native of Scotland, 
 and a daughter of James Wilson, also an 
 early settler of Sangamon county. Mrs. 
 Constant was reared and educated in Edin- 
 burg, Scotland. 
 
 In the county of his nativity, Dr. Will- 
 iam E. Constant grew to manhood, and in 
 its public and high schools obtained a good 
 practical education. Under the direction 
 of Dr. Morgan, a leading physician of 
 Springfield, he commenced the study of 
 medicine, and in 1881 entered Hahnemann 
 Medical College, of Chicago, where he grad- 
 uated \vith the class of 1883. He began 
 the practice of his profession in Decatur, 
 Illinois, later was located for about twenty 
 months in Arcola, Douglas county, and for 
 the following five years successfully engaged 
 in practice in Rochelle. On selling out 
 there, he came to St. Charles, where he 
 soon succeeded in building up a large and 
 remunerative practice. He keeps abreast 
 with the latest discoveries and theories in 
 the science by his perusal of medical jour- 
 nals, and his skill and ability is attested by 
 the liberal patronage he enjoys. 
 
 In Rochelle, on the 28th of November, 
 1888, Dr. Constant was united in marriage 
 to Miss Belle Ogden, a native of Ogle coun- 
 ty, Illinois, who completed her education in
 
 2/0 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the high school of Rochelle, and is a daugh- 
 ter of John Ogden, a substantial farmer of 
 Ogle county. Politically the Doctor is a 
 stanch Republican, but has never aspired 
 to office, preferring to give his undivided at- 
 tention to his professional duties. Frater- 
 nally he is a member of the Masonic lodge 
 of Rochelle, and also belongs to the Knights 
 of Pythias. He has made many warm 
 friends since coming to St. Charles, and in 
 social as well as professional circles occupies 
 a prominent position. 
 
 /CHARLES MELMS, SR., after years of 
 \^ honest toil, is now living a retired life 
 in the village of Hampshire. He was born 
 in the village of Rostow, Pomeramia, Prus- 
 sia, January 15, 1838, and is the son of 
 John and Christina (Heckstadt) Melms, 
 both of whom are natives of the same coun- 
 try, the latter dying when our subject was 
 only three years of age, and the former 
 when he was nineteen years old. After the 
 death of his mother, he lived with an uncle 
 until fourteen years old, and then with a 
 sister until he attained his majority. From 
 the time he was seven years old, until the 
 age of fourteen, he attended the public 
 schools of his native land. In his youth he 
 worked on the farm and spent one year at 
 the wagonmaker's trade. In October, 
 1862, he sailed from Hamburg, in the two 
 masted sail vessel, Helena, and after a voy- 
 age of eight weeks and two days, landed at 
 New York. He came west, working two 
 years at Waukesha, Wisconsin, after which 
 he spent some four or five years in different 
 states, going as far south as Helena, Arkan- 
 sas, and points in Mississippi, Kansas, Mis- 
 souri, Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin as far 
 north as Lake Superior, working at what- 
 
 ever he could find to do. He then went to 
 Chicago, and on the I3th of May, 1867, 
 married Christina Richter, who was born in 
 TridelfiU, the province of Pomeramia, 
 Prussia, and the daughter of George and 
 Hannah (Krumhorn) Richter, whose lives 
 were spent in Germany. She came to 
 America in 18^8 at the age of twenty-three 
 years. By this union five children were 
 born, as follows: Charles, Jr., and Henry, 
 of whom further mention is made in this 
 sketch; William, in the milk business in 
 Chicago; Bertha, wife of Frank Channing, 
 a conductor on the Chicago, Milwaukee & 
 St. Paul road, running between Hampshire 
 and Chicago, and Mary, wife of John F. 
 Janeck, Jr., a prominent young business 
 man of Hampshire, whose sketch appears 
 elsewhere in this work. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Melms settled 
 down to business and for a time was em- 
 ployed in a lumber yard and on vessels. He 
 then ran a fruit and vegetable wagon two 
 years in the city, saved his money and went 
 into the wood and coal business, in which 
 he was engaged seven years. In the mean- 
 time he invested in real estate in Chicago, 
 which he traded for land in Hampshire 
 township, on closing out his coal business, 
 and here moved with his family and en- 
 gaged in farming. He secured a hundred 
 and fifty acres and later bought a farm ad- 
 joining consisting of one hundred and three 
 acres. Subsequently he bought another 
 farm of one hundred and sixty acres and a 
 ten-acre timber tract, in all four hundred 
 and twenty-three acres. He continued to 
 actively engage in farming until March i, 
 1891, when he leased the farms to his sons, 
 Henry and Charles, removed to the village 
 of Hampshire, built a handsome modern 
 house and is living in ease and comfort.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 271 
 
 CHARLES MELMS, JR., the son of Charles 
 Melms, Sr., and Christina (Richter) Melms, 
 was born in Chicago, April 28, 1868, and 
 came to Kane county, in 1876, and grew to 
 manhood on his father's farm on section 
 14. He attended school in the Bean dis- 
 trict until eighteen years of age, and from 
 the time he was old enough to hold a plow 
 assisted in the cultivation of the farm. He 
 remained under the parental roof until 
 February 24, 1891, when he was united in 
 marriage at Huntley, Illinois, with Miss. 
 Emma Schrader, who was born in Huntley, 
 and a daughter of Henry and Dora (Dueses- 
 ing) Schrader, the former a native of Han- 
 over, Germany, and now residing in Hunt- 
 ley, at the age of sixty-seven years. By 
 this union are two sons Glen, born January 
 23, 1892, and Harry, born September i, 
 1894. In March, following his marriage, 
 he began farming for himself, renting the 
 farm of his father on section 14, for two 
 years. He then came to his present farm, 
 which is a well-improved dairy farm of one 
 hundred and fifty acres, on which he keeps 
 thirty-five head of cows, and is meeting 
 with good success. In politics he is inde- 
 pendent, and fraternally a member of the 
 Modern Woodmen of America. 
 
 HENRY MELMS was born in Chicago, De- 
 cember 10, 1869, and came to Kane county, 
 Illinois, in 1876, with his parents, Charles 
 Melms, Sr. , and Christina (Richter) Melms. 
 He attended school in the Bean district 
 during the winter months until fourteen 
 years of age, and remained at home assist- 
 ing his father until twenty-one years of age. 
 On the 1 2th of April, 1891, he married Lena 
 Reinking, who was born in Ontarioville, 
 Illinois, July 5, 1870, and is a daughter of 
 Deitrich and Dora (Fisher) Reinking, and to 
 them have been born four children Elma, 
 
 Myrtle, Frank and an infant. The first 
 named died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Melms are members of the Lutheran church 
 and in politics he is a Republican. 
 
 ROMEO W. MARSHALL, who is living 
 retired in the city of Aurora, and who 
 came west in 1868, was born in Trenton 
 Falls, Oneida county, New York, January 
 12, 1824. His father, Romeo W. Marshall, 
 Sr. , born in 1787, and his grandfather, John 
 Marshall, were natives of Connecticut. The 
 latter served as a teamster in the Revolution- 
 ary war. The Marshalls are of Scotch de- 
 scent, but came to this country from Eng- 
 land. There were two brothers, one locat- 
 ing in Rhode Island, from which branch of 
 the family our subject was descended, while 
 the other located in North Carolina, and 
 was an ancestor of Chief Justice Marshall. 
 
 When a young man, R. W. Marshall, 
 Sr. , moved from Connecticut to New York 
 with his father, first locating in Herkimer 
 county, where the father died when ninety- 
 eight years old. In that county R. W. 
 Marshall, Sr. , married Harriet Van Antwert, 
 a daughter of Lewis Van Antwert, a native 
 of Holland. Soon after their marriage they 
 moved to Oneida county, New York, where 
 they resided for some years, and then re- 
 moved to Jefferson county, on the St. Law- 
 rence river. In the vast wilderness he 
 opened up a farm of two hundred acres, and 
 there spent the last years of his life, dying 
 in 1874. His wife passed away three years 
 previous. In the war of 1812 he served for 
 a short time, and for a number of years 
 served as postmaster in both Oneida and 
 Jefferson counties. Of their nine children 
 four are yet living. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared in
 
 272 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Jefferson county, New York, where he helped 
 to open up and develop the farm. His 
 educational advantages were very limited, 
 but he made the best use of them, and in 
 after years by reading and observation he 
 has become a well informed man. He re- 
 mained on the home farm until twenty-six 
 years of age, and on the I3th of March, 
 1850, married Mary A. Jewett, of Windsor, 
 Vermont, where she was reared and edu- 
 cated, and a daughter of Rev. Jewett, who 
 died when she was a mere child. He was 
 a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
 For some years previous to her marriage 
 she was a teacher in the public schools. By 
 this union there were three children: Phila, 
 who resides at home; C. N., married and 
 engaged in merchandising in Aurora; and 
 Josephine, wife of John W. Miller, a busi- 
 ness man of Aurora, by whom she had one 
 child Marshall J. 
 
 Soon after their marriage Mr. Marshall 
 bought a farm in Jefferson county, near that 
 of his father, and engaged in farming and 
 butter-making for some years. Selling out 
 the farm he engaged in the hotel business at 
 Redwood, Jefferson county, New York, 
 which he continued for five years, and in 
 the fall of 1868 came to Aurora, and located 
 in the suburbs of the city. In 1875 he en- 
 gaged in the hotel business, and for thirteen 
 years was proprietor of the city hotel, where 
 he did a large and profitable business, hav- 
 ing a feed barn in connection, and catering 
 to the country trade. On the organization 
 of the Merchants' National Bank he pur- 
 chased some stock, and is now one of the 
 directors of that financial institution. He 
 is now residing in a neat and attractive home 
 on South Lake street, where he delights to 
 entertain his many friends. 
 
 Politically Mr. Marshall is a stanch Re- 
 
 publican, with which party he has been 
 identified since its organization, having voted 
 for its first presidential nominee, General 
 John C. Fremont. He has voted for every 
 presidential candidate of that party up to 
 the present time, with one exception. He 
 never wanted or would accept official posi- 
 tion, giving his time and attention to his 
 business interests. While not connected 
 with any church organization, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Marshall attended the People's church. He 
 is a man of exemplary habits, upright char- 
 acter, and is classed among the representa- 
 tive business men of Aurora. 
 
 WILLIAM McCREDIE. A brilliant 
 example of a self-made American 
 citizen and a grand exemplification of the 
 progress that an ambitious foreigner can 
 make in this country of unbounded oppor- 
 tunities, is shown in the case of Mr. Mc- 
 Credie, a leading business man of Elgin, 
 whose home is at No. 138 North Gifford 
 street. His wonderful success is due to his 
 own energy and the high ideal which his 
 lofty and laudable ambition placed before 
 him. Success in any walk of life is an indi- 
 cation of earnest endeavor and persevering 
 effort characteristics that he possesses in 
 an eminent degree. 
 
 Born in Scotland, February 10, 1848, 
 Mr. McCredie is a son of William and Mar- 
 garet (Limmond) McCredie, also natives of 
 that country. The father was born in Wig- 
 tonshire, and was the only son of Peter and 
 Margaret (Fraser) McCredie, farming peo- 
 ple, who spent their entire lives in Scotland, 
 the former dying at the age of sixty-two 
 years, the latter at a much more advanced 
 age. They had one daughter, Elizabeth, 
 who married George Jamieson and both are
 
 WM. McCREDIE.
 
 -Of
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 275 
 
 now deceased. The mother of our subject 
 was one of a large family of children whose 
 parents were Quintin and Margaret (Mc- 
 Adam) Limmond, natives of Ayrshire, Scot- 
 land. 
 
 William McCredie, Sr. , who, born in 
 1806, was a farmer by occupation, emi- 
 grated to Canada in 1872, but after residing 
 there for seven years, he returned to his 
 native land in 1879, on a visit, and died 
 there. While on this side of the Atlantic 
 he visited Illinois. He died in 1880, aged 
 seventy-five years, a faithful member of the 
 Presbyterian church and a most excellent 
 man. His widow, who is also a member of 
 that church, now lives with her daughter, 
 Jane, in Elgin. The subject of this sketch 
 is the oldest of their nine children, and, like 
 all his brothers, is engaged in the creamery 
 business. Quintin, who was engaged in 
 business in Huntley, Illinois, died in Mc- 
 Henry county, in 1888, aged thirty-eight 
 years. Margaret Ann is the wife of James 
 Campbell, who is also engaged in the cream- 
 ery business in Jefferson, Wisconsin. Eliza- 
 beth is the widow of Robert Marshall, a 
 Scotch-Canadian, and is a resident of Mar- 
 shall, Wisconsin. Jane lives with her 
 mother in Elgin. Thomas Limmond is a 
 resident of Ohio, Illinois. James makes 
 his home in Earlville, this state. Robert 
 Gumming lives in Mt. Morris, Ogle county, 
 and Edward Limmond, in Ohio, Bureau 
 county, this state. Our subject had two half 
 brothers. The older, Captain Patrick Mc- 
 Credie, was a sea captain, and was in sev- 
 eral ship wrecks. While commanding the 
 Greta, he saved the crew of the ship Great 
 Britain, which was destroyed during a gale 
 on the British Channel, March u, 1876, 
 and for his bravery displayed by this act he 
 received a written communication from the 
 
 13 
 
 committee of " Liverpool Shipwreck and 
 Humane Society " commending his gallant 
 service. John McCredie, the other half 
 brother, was also a sailor for twenty years, 
 but when the family came to America he 
 accompanied them, and .now lives with his 
 widowed sister, Mrs. Marshall, in Wis- 
 consin. 
 
 Reared on a farm, William McCredie 
 continued to engage in agricultural pursuits 
 until twenty-seven years of age, when he 
 became interested in the creamery business, 
 working for the firm of Braman, Horr & 
 Warner, > at.-Elyria, Lorain county, Ohio, 
 far three years. He then came to Algon- 
 quin, Illinois, and near that place engaged 
 in the same business with Robert McAdam 
 until 1 88 1, when he purchased his partner's 
 interest after being together for three years. 
 Since then he has carried on operations at 
 different places, including Barrington Sta- 
 tion, Barrington Center, and Elgin, where 
 he still resides in active business. He owns 
 one creamery in Lee county which is under 
 the management of his brother James, and 
 is also interested in many others. For 
 twenty years he has successfully engaged 
 in this business, and the prosperity that has- 
 crowned his efforts is certainly well de- 
 served for in him are embraced the charac- 
 teristics of an unbending integrity and in- 
 dustry that never flags. 
 
 On the a'jd of January, 1884, in Halton 
 county, Ontario, Mr. McCredie was united 
 in marriage with Miss Mary Jane Marshall, 
 a native of Canada and daughter of John 
 and Margaret (Archibald) Marshall, who 
 emigrated from Scotland to that country at 
 an early day. Her parents celebrated 
 their golden wedding in 1892, at which 
 time all of their large family of children 
 were present as well as many other gueets.
 
 276 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Since then the father has passed away, dy- 
 ing in 1896, but the mother is still living on 
 the old home farm in Canada. With one 
 exception her children are also living. 
 Mr. and Mrs. McCredie have three children, 
 namely: Maggie Jane, William, and Mar- 
 ian Elizabeth. ' 
 
 Politically Mr. McCredie is independent, 
 generally voting for the man rather than 
 the party, though he is rather inclined to- 
 ward Democracy. He is a prominent Ma- 
 son, belonging to the blue lodge of Barring- 
 ton. Illinois; L. L. Munn chapter; Bethel 
 commandery, Elgin; and Medinah Temple, 
 Knights of the Mystic Shrine, of Chicago. 
 With the First Congregational church of 
 Elgin he and his wife hold membership and 
 by all who know them they are held in high 
 regard. He has several times visited his 
 native land, but has no desire to return 
 there to live. As a representative business 
 man and highly respected citizen of Elgin 
 none are more deserving of honorable men- 
 tion in a work of this character than Will- 
 iam McCredie. 
 
 WILLIAM BURTON has been identi- 
 fied with Kane county for more than 
 half a century, and has contributed his share 
 to its material progress and prosperity, but 
 has now laid aside all business cares and is 
 enjoying a well-earned rest at 'his pleasant 
 home in Elgin. He was born November 
 26, 1821, in Sherrington, Province of Que- 
 bec, about twenty-seven miles from Mon- 
 treal, and is a son of John and Jane (String- 
 er) Burton. 
 
 The father was born in North Burton, 
 Yorkshire, England, in 1791, and in 1819 
 emigrated to Canada, locating in Sherring- 
 ton, where he engaged in farming. He had 
 
 three brothers, namely: William, Richard 
 and Francis. He was short of stature, of 
 light complexion, of positive character, but 
 of gentle disposition. In religious belief he 
 was an Episcopalian, as was also his wife. 
 In manner she was rather firm, and was char- 
 itable to an eminent degree. She was born 
 January 31, 1796, in Hunenby, Yorkshire, 
 England, of which her parents, Richard and 
 Hannah (Wallace) Stringer, were also na- 
 tives. They removed to Canada in 1818, 
 and in that country her father died, but 
 her mother spent her last days in Kane 
 county. Besides Mrs. Burton, they had 
 three sons and one daughter, namely: 
 Mark, George, John and Alice, wife of Ar- 
 thur Allison, all now deceased, with the ex- 
 ception of Robert, who makes his home in El- 
 gin. The father of our subject continued to 
 reside in Sherrington, Canada, until killed at 
 the battle of Odeltown, November 9, 1838. 
 The mother died in Elgin township, Kane 
 county, April 9, 1864. 
 
 In the family of this worthy couple were 
 nine children, of whom William is the old- 
 est; Richard, born September 13, 1823, 
 died in August, 1897; Mary, born August 
 14, 1825, married George Marshall; John, 
 born September 19, 1827, died in Elgin, in 
 1870; Francis, born December 14, 1829, of 
 whom see sketch elsewhere in this volume; 
 George B., born February 9, 1831, died De- 
 cember 12, 1838; Alice, born December 7, 
 1833, married George Church, and died in 
 Dayton, Washington, November 19, 1886; 
 Mark, born September 6, 1835, died July 
 27, 1883, in Helena, Montana; and Annie, 
 born July 4, 1838, married George Cook- 
 man, and died April 11, 1891, at Mason, 
 Iowa. 
 
 Upon the home farm in Canada, William 
 Burton was reared, and in the schools of
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 277 
 
 the neighborhood acquired his education. 
 On leaving the parental roof at the age of 
 sixteen, he went to Albany, New York, to 
 learn the blacksmith's trade, but not liking 
 that occupation, he obtained work on a 
 farm in Cherry Valley, New York, where he 
 remained for two years. After his father's 
 death he returned home to look after the 
 family, remaining in Canada until 1844, 
 when he left for the far west, accompanied 
 by his uncle Robert, uncle Mark and brother 
 Richard. They made the journey by way 
 of the lakes to Chicago, and from there on 
 foot to Kane county. 
 
 In 1845 William Burton purchased a 
 tract of two hundred and forty acres in 
 Plato township, to the cultivation and im- 
 provement of which he devoted his time 
 and attention for sixteen years. Having se- 
 cured a comfortable competence, he then 
 retired from the arduous duties of farm life 
 and removed to Elgin, where he erected a 
 pleasant residence on Walnut avenue. Five 
 years ago he sold his farm, which was one of 
 the best in Kane county. While engaged 
 in agricultural pursuits, he and his brother 
 Richard built a cheese factory in Genoa, 
 De Kalb county, Illinois, which they op- 
 erated for five yeare. There they also 
 bought a tract of two hundred and ninety 
 acres of land, which they converted into a 
 dairy faun, keeping thereon fifty head of 
 cattle. When they finally divided the prop- 
 erty, the brother took the farm and our sub- 
 ject the factory, which he later sold. He 
 also built the first factory in Plato town- 
 ship, Kane county, in partnership with John 
 McDonald, but later sold his interest. 
 Upon his farm in that township he kept 
 forty head of cows for dairy purposes. 
 
 In St. Charles, Kane county, Mr. Bur- 
 ton was married January i, 1855, to Miss 
 
 Sarah Poole, a daughter of Charles Poole 
 and wife, natives of England, now deceased. 
 Her father lived to the extreme old age of 
 one hundred and nine years. The children 
 born of this union were as follows: Clara, 
 born December 24, 1855, married Samuel 
 Buckley, a farmer of Marshall county, Kan- 
 sas, and died July 10, 1874; Georgiana 
 May, born May 6, 1857, is the wife of 
 George Burton, of Genoa, De Kalb county; 
 Alice Maud Mary, born May 13, 1859, is 
 the wife of Peter Young, a resident of Pot- 
 tawatomie county, Kansas; Ernest W., born 
 December 9, 1860, is a carpenter living in 
 Elgin; and John Francis, born February 
 21, 1863, is a farmer of Marshall county, 
 Kansas. The mother of these children, 
 who was a consistent member of the United 
 Brethren church, died March 27, 1863. 
 
 Mr. Burton was again married, July 18, 
 1863, his second union being with Miss 
 Jane Cookman, a native of Yorkshire, Eng- 
 land, as were her parents, Francis and 
 Maria (Dibbs) Cookman. She was a Meth- 
 odist in religious belief, and died in that 
 faith, June 16, 1892, being laid to rest at 
 Udina, Kane county, where Mr. Burton's 
 mother, his children and grandchild have 
 all been buried. By his second marriage 
 he had four children, namely: Margaret, 
 born June 3, 1865, is the wife of Nelson 
 Their and lives in Missouri; William C., 
 born July 23, 1867, died August 30, 1880; 
 Sarah Ann, born June 28, 1870, keeps house 
 for her father; and Mary, born February 
 26, 1872, died August 20, 1880. 
 
 At local elections, where no issue is in- 
 volved, Mr. Burton votes independent of 
 party ties, but at other times never fails to 
 support the Republican ticket. While liv- 
 ing on his farm he efficiently served as 
 school director most of the time. Prior to
 
 2 7 8 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 coming to Elgin he held membership in the 
 United Brethren church, but as there was 
 no church of that denomination in this city, 
 he united with the Methodist congregation. 
 During the long years he has been a resi- 
 dent of Kane county, he has championed 
 every movement designed to promote the 
 general welfare, has supported every enter- 
 prise for the public good, and has materially 
 aided in the advancement of all social, edu- 
 cational and moral interests. After a use- 
 ful and honorable career he can well afford 
 to lay aside all business cares and live in 
 ease and retirement. His daughter pre- 
 sides over his home, which, in its appoint- 
 ments, evinces the refinement and culture 
 of the inmates. 
 
 JAMES SHAW, city librarian and clerk 
 of the city court, Aurora, Illinois, was 
 born in Lancashire, England, July 9, 1840, 
 and is the son of James and Anna (Gould) 
 Shaw, both of whom are natives of England. 
 Thre parents came to America during the in- 
 fancy of our subject and sertled in Ports- 
 mouth, New Hampshire, where James was 
 reared and educated in the common schools 
 and graduated from the high school. After 
 leaving school he entered the office of the 
 daily " Chronicle," at Portsmouth, to learn 
 the printer's trade and was there nearly five 
 year. 
 
 In the summer of 1862, Mr. Shaw en- 
 listed as a private in Company K, Sixteenth 
 Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteer In- 
 fantry, with which he was sent to the 
 southeast, the regiment being assigned to 
 the Nineteenth Army Corps, under com- 
 mand of General Banks. It was engaged in 
 the Port Hudson campaign. His term of 
 enlistment expiring, he returned home in the 
 
 fall of 1863. After spending a year as clerk 
 in the navy yard at Portsmouth, he came 
 west to Chicago, and engaged in the print- 
 ing business. In the following winter, how- 
 ever, he went south to Mobile, Alabama, 
 being one of the army of "carpetbaggers" 
 and was there some six years, engaged in 
 newspaper publishing, and assisted in re- 
 construction generally. In 1873 he came 
 north and in 1874 joined Pierce Burton in 
 the publication of the Aurora "Herald." He 
 remained with that paper six years, when 
 the partnership with Mr. Burton was dis- 
 solved. He was soon afterward elected 
 clerk of the city court, to fill a vacancy, and 
 by re-election has held the office until the 
 present time. In 1884 he was appointed 
 librarian, which position he has also held 
 until the present time. In 1888 he was 
 appointed by recommendation of the whole 
 bar, official reporter of the circuit court of 
 Kane county, which position he held for 
 three years. He ran the Aurora Centre for 
 the University Extension Course of Lectures 
 for popular instruction, Mrs. Pierce Burton 
 being the first secretary, and our subject the 
 second one, which office he has since con- 
 tinued to fill. 
 
 On the 30th of June, 1885, Mr. Shaw 
 was united in marriage with Miss Ella D. 
 Lowd, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to 
 which place he returned for that purpose. 
 Her parents were William D. and Rebecca 
 Lowd, on the mother's side being a direct 
 descendent of the martyr, John Rogers, who 
 was burned- at the stake during the reign of 
 Bloody Queen Mary. The great-great- 
 grandfather of Mrs. Lowd was for many 
 years a minister, at the little stone church 
 on one of the Isles of Shoals, on the coast 
 of New Hampshire, and now a famous 
 watering place or summer resort. To Mr.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 279 
 
 and Mrs. Shaw two children have been born 
 Alice Ada, attending the schools of Aurora, 
 and Marian H., who died at the age of 
 seven years. 
 
 Mrs. Shaw is a consistent member of the 
 Episcopal church. Fraternally Mr. Shaw 
 is a member of the Masonic order, and also 
 of the Grand Army of the Republic. In 
 politics he is a Republican, and takes an 
 active interest in his party. He is a man of 
 studious habits, of positive convictions and 
 indomitable energy, and for what he believes 
 to be right, will stand against all odds. 
 
 OAMUEL L. ADAMS, who is now effi- 
 O ciently serving as justice of the peace 
 in St. Charles, was for many years one of 
 the active, enterprising and representative 
 business men and farmers of Kane county, 
 dating his residence here from the spring of 
 1860. He was born in Cavendish, Wind- 
 sor county, Vermont, June 16, 1820, and is 
 a worthy representative of a very old and 
 prominent family of New England, belong- 
 ing to the "presidential branch " of the 
 Adams family. Benjamin Adams, the grand- 
 father of our subject, was a native of Mas- 
 sachusetts, and was one of the minute men 
 of the Revolutionary war, taking part in the 
 battle of Bunker Hill. 
 
 Samuel Adams, Sr. , our subject's father, 
 was born in Vermont about 1790, and man- 
 ifested his patriotism by serving as a 
 soldier in the war of 1812. He married 
 Miss Calista French, also a native of Ver- 
 mont, and a daughter of Josiah French, 
 who also belonged to an honored family of 
 Massachusetts. Samuel Adams, Sr., was 
 a tanner and currier by trade, but in early 
 life followed farming. He was one of the 
 most prominent and influential men of his 
 
 town and county, served as justice of the 
 peace for nearly half a century, and also 
 filled the offices of selectman, town clerk 
 and other positions of honor and trust. He 
 died in Vermont in 1875, and his wife passed 
 away the year previous. 
 
 Mr. Adams, of this review, is the oldest 
 in their family of seven children, two sons 
 and five daughters, who reached mature 
 years, the others being Josiah Quincy, who 
 still resides at the' old homestead in Caven- 
 dish, Vermont; Marietta, who is now the 
 widow of Friend Weeks, of Rutland county, 
 Vermont, and is now a resident of Caven- 
 dish; and Marcella, a resident of Chester, 
 Vermont, and the widow of Ira H. Adams, 
 who died in 1896. Jane, Ellen and Betsy 
 are deceased. 
 
 In his birthplace Samuel L. Adams 
 spent the days of his boyhood and youth, 
 and in the schools of that place obtained a 
 fair education, which enabled him to engage 
 in teaching for three years in Vermont. 
 He also learned the tanner's and currier's 
 trade which he followed for a number of 
 years before coming to Kane county, Illi- 
 nois in 1860. Landing here in March of 
 that year, he located on a farm in St. 
 Charles township, where he engaged in ag- 
 ricultural pursuits until 1876, and also fol- 
 lowed school teaching during three winter 
 terms. On selling his farm, which adjoined 
 the corporation limits of St. Charles, he lo- 
 cated in the village where he has engaged 
 in merchandising at three different times, 
 some seven or eight years in all, the first 
 three years being devoted to the grocery 
 trade. 
 
 On the 2d of July, 1848, in the town of 
 Cavendish, Windsor county, Vermont, was 
 celebrated the marriage of Mr. Adams and 
 Miss Betsey M. Parker, also a native of that
 
 280 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 state, and a daughter of Dr. Isaiah Parker, 
 who belonged to a Massachusetts family, 
 and lived to the advanced age of ninety-six 
 years. During her girlhood Mrs. Adams 
 obtained an excellent education and success- 
 fully engaged in teaching both in Vermont 
 and after coming to Illinois. She died Jan- 
 uary 26, 1882, leaving a sorrowing husband 
 and many friends to mourn her loss. Hav- 
 ing no children of their own, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Adams adopted Ella D. Howard at the age 
 of four years. She was reared and educated 
 by them, and is now the wife of A. D. Bell, 
 of St. Charles. 
 
 Although not old enough to vote at the 
 Presidential election of 1840, he carried a 
 banner in the processions during the cam- 
 paign of that year, his interests being with 
 " Tippecanoe and Tyler, too," and on be- 
 coming a voter he supported the Whig party 
 until the organization of the Republican 
 party, voting for John C. Fremont in 1856. 
 He has served as a delegate to many of the 
 county conventions of his party, and has 
 been called upon to fill the offices of super- 
 visor seven years, township trustee, and 
 commissioner of highways twelve years. He 
 was one of a committee of three who built 
 the present bridge across Fox river at St. 
 Charles, and was also secretary of the build- 
 ing committee of supervisors when the pres- 
 ent fine court house and jail of Kane county 
 were erected. He has been a member of 
 the old town council, was president of the 
 board of trustees, and has now acceptably 
 served as justice of the peace for five years. 
 In all of these various positions he has dis- 
 charged his duties with promptness and fidel- 
 ity, proving a most capable and popular 
 official. Socially he is a prominent mem- 
 ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
 lows, is past grand of his lodge, has served 
 
 as secretary of his lodge and also the en- 
 campment in the grand lodge several terms, 
 has been chief patriot and filled all the chairs 
 in the encampment. For thirty years he 
 has been identified with the interests of 
 Kane county and has become widely and fa- 
 vorably known throughout this section of the 
 state. 
 
 CHARLES OSCAR CUMMINGS, de- 
 ceased, was born in New Albany, In- 
 diana, June 6, 1845, died at his residence in 
 New Orleans, Louisana, August 16, 1882. 
 About 1850, his father moved to New Or- 
 leans, which continued to be the family 
 residence. He attended private schools in 
 that city, and later Professor Soule's Busi- 
 ness College. His father having died in 1855, 
 he early became the mainstay of the family 
 and contributed to the support of his mother 
 and sisters from the age of fifteen. He 
 secured a place as clerk in a store, and while 
 thus engaged, attended business college. 
 Having saved from his earnings, he later in 
 partnership with his brother-in-law, went 
 into the commission business, in which he 
 prospered through strict integrity and honest 
 dealing, accumulated a comfortable com- 
 petence. Owing to ill-health, he traveled 
 in the north every summer, sometimes on 
 the Atlantic coast, and again in the lake 
 regions of Wisconsin and in Maine. In 
 July, 1882, he bought a farm of one hundred 
 and twenty acres in Kane county, near his 
 wife's birthplace, in order that he might 
 have a home of his own to go in summer 
 when he so desired. But he never had the 
 pleasure of spending his time on the place, 
 his death occurring but a month later. He 
 was an affectionate husband and father, 
 honored and respected by a wide circle of
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 281 
 
 friends. In politics he was a Democrat 
 and a Confederate during the war. He was 
 reared a Methodist but when married he 
 united with the Episcopal church. 
 
 Charles O. Cummings was the son of 
 Thomas Cummings, who was born in Balti- 
 more, November 25, 1816, and at Pittsburg, 
 Pennsylvania, October 10, 1838, married 
 Mary Jane McConnell, a daughter of Hugh 
 McConnell and Mary (Perrine) McConnell. 
 She was born in New York, November 24, 
 1822, and is yet living in New Orleans. 
 The mother of Thomas Cummings died 
 when he was quite young. His father mar- 
 rying again, he left home and soon lost 
 track of his family and therefore knew little 
 of his ancestors. He learned ship carpen- 
 tering in his youth and held a position for 
 many years on boats running north from 
 New Orleans. While repairing a wheel of 
 his boat he got wet, took cold, and after a 
 short illness died November 15, 1855. 
 
 The subject of this sketch married in 
 New Orleans, January I, 1872, Miss Susan 
 Jane Babcock, who was there on a visit to 
 her half-brother, Professor George Soule, who 
 was a Confederate colonel in the Rebellion, 
 was taken prisoner at Shiloh and taken to 
 Johnson's Island for five months, in whose 
 business college Mr. Cummings had received 
 his business education. She was born in 
 Barrington, Yates county, New York, April 
 6, 1844, and is a daughter of William H. 
 and Cornelia E. (Hogeboom) Babcock. The 
 latter was born in Green county. New York, 
 November 8, 1814, and died September 11, 
 1893. She was the daughter of Andrew 
 and Julia (Distant) Hogeboom, the father 
 being a farmer by occupation. His wife at- 
 tained the age of ninety years. Cornelia 
 E. Hogeboom first married Ebon Soule, a 
 Frenchman, by whom she had three sons, 
 
 Andrew, George and Stephen. George is a 
 professor in a business college in New Or- 
 leans, while the other two live in California. 
 
 William H. Babcock. the father of Mrs. 
 Cumrnings, was born in New York, Octo- 
 ber 10," 1816, and died in Kane county, Il- 
 linois, September 12, 1884. By occupation 
 he was a farmer after coming west in 1854. 
 By trade he was a mason, and an excellent 
 workman. On coming to Kane county, he 
 settled on section 30, Hampshire township, 
 where he purchased forty acres of land ad- 
 joining a forty-acre tract his wife received 
 from her father. He was the son of Abiram 
 Babcock and Susan (Lee) Babcock, the lat- 
 ter being a cousin of Robert E. Lee. To 
 William H. Babcock and wife nine children 
 were born as follows: Sallie, who died at 
 the age of six months; Mary, who married 
 David Davis, and lives in Beloit, Wiscon- 
 sin; Julia, who married Hiram S. De Witt, 
 and is living in Hampshire, Illinois; Abiram 
 Lee, who resides in California; Susan J., 
 widow of our subject; Lucy, who married 
 James F. Bell, and is living on section 30, 
 Hampshire township; Charlotte, wife of 
 John Oesterman, residing on the old home 
 farm on section 30; and Phebe E., who 
 married Edward Everitt Crawford, a mer- 
 chant of Genoa, Illinois. One son was a 
 member of the Seventeenth Illinois Cavalry 
 in the war for the Union. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Cummings four chil- 
 dren were born in New Orleans Mary Cor- 
 nelia, Charlotte E., William Arthur and 
 George Bidwell. The daughters are teach- 
 ers of recognized ability in Kane county. 
 Mrs. Cummings resides on the farm, to which 
 she gives her personal attention. She also 
 owns a house and lots in Hampshire and 
 several fine building lots in Elgin, in a select 
 quarter of the city.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 /^>EORGE P. MARSHALL, deceased, 
 Vj was one of the honored pioneers and 
 highly respected citizens of Kane county, 
 with whose agricultural interests he was 
 prominently identified for many years. He 
 was born May 9, 1817, in Ryther, York- 
 shire, England, a son of James and Ann 
 (Parker) Marshall, also natives of that place. 
 In that country they spent their entire lives, 
 the father dying in 1883, at the advanced 
 age of ninety-five years; the mother Au- 
 gust 22, 1872, at the age of eighty-five. 
 
 In 1842, at the age of twenty-five years, 
 George P. Marshall crossed the broad At- 
 lantic and first located in Canada, where he 
 spent two years. In his native land he had 
 learned the carpenter's trade, but after com- 
 ing to the United States he devoted his en- 
 ergies exclusively to farming. It was in 
 1844 that he became a resident of Kane 
 county, at which time most of the land was 
 still in its primitive condition, and he and 
 his young wife were forced to endure all of 
 the hardships and trials incident to pioneer 
 life. After renting a farm for two years 
 near Plato, he purchased seventy-seven 
 acres on section 29, Elgin township, and 
 thereon erected the first frame house in the 
 township. He also employed the first 
 teacher in his district, the pupils being two 
 of his own children and one of the teacher's. 
 Upon the farm which he first bought, he 
 continued to reside until called to his final 
 rest October 3, 1881. In England he had 
 joined the Odd Fellows Society, but in this 
 country held membership in no secret or- 
 ganization. He was always loyal to his 
 adopted. country and her institutions, and 
 most acceptably served his fellow citizens 
 as school trustee, road commissioner and 
 thistle commissioner. 
 
 Mr. Marshall was married in Canada, in 
 
 1842, to Miss Mary Burton, who was born 
 in Sharington, near Montreal, August 14, 
 1825, adaughter of John and Jane (Stringer) 
 Burton, and granddaughter of Richard and 
 Hannah (Garbutt) Stringer. Her father was 
 born in North Burton, Yorkshire, England, 
 in 1792, and was a son of Richard and 
 Mary Burton. In 1818 he emigrated to 
 Canada, and was killed November 9, 1838, 
 at the age of forty -six years, while serving 
 in the militia during the rebellion in that 
 country. Mrs. Marshall's mother was a na- 
 tive of Hull, England, born in 1794, and 
 died at the age of sixty-seven years. 
 
 The children born to our subject and 
 his wife were as follows: Ann Jane married 
 Hosea E. Perkins, who was born in Jeffer- 
 son county, New York, November 8, 1819,' 
 but when seven years old went to Ohio, 
 and in the fall of 1841 came to Illinois; Le- 
 vina is now Mrs. Padelford; William is en- 
 gaged in farming at East Plato, Kane coun- 
 ty; Charles H. is a mason and builder living 
 at Chico, California; George F. follows 
 farming near Wasco Station, Campton 
 township, Kane county; Caroline L. is the 
 wife of Hiram Brown, of Port Walthal, 
 Virginia; Ellen L. is the wife of Millard 
 Starr, who is engaged in agricultural pur- 
 suits near Pingree station; Richard S. is a 
 merchant of South Elgin; Frederick J. is 
 engaged in farming near Plato Center; and 
 Henry L. is living with his mother in South 
 Elgin. 
 
 Mrs. Marshall well remembers the region 
 around her birthplace, which was in the 
 midst of a deep forest, and among the prim- 
 itive scenes of frontier life she was reared 
 to womanhood. Her father had to clear 
 away the trees in order to secure space for 
 his home, and the family were obliged to 
 carry their butter and other produce to
 
 GEORGE P. MARSHALL.
 
 1* TE
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 287 
 
 market, walking the entire distance of 
 eighteen miles. Thus inured to such a life 
 she was well fitted to endure the hardships 
 which surrounded her early residence in 
 Kane county. In coming to this state she 
 and her husband came by way of the Wel- 
 land canal and great lakes from Buffalo to 
 Chicago, and thence by wagon to Kane 
 county. Game was still quite plentiful in 
 this region, furnishing the early settlers 
 with most of their meat, and most of the 
 land was still wild prairie and timber. She 
 has watched with interest the wonderful 
 changes that have since taken place. 
 
 RICHARD S. MARSHALL, son of 
 George P. Marshall, is one of the rep- 
 resentative and prominent business men of 
 South Elgin. He is a native of Kane coun- 
 ty, born on his father's farm, on section 29, 
 Elgin township, May 16, 1856, and there 
 remained until sixteen years of age, aiding 
 in the work and attending the district 
 schools of the neighborhood. At that age 
 he began to work for others as a farm hand 
 and was thus employed until he attained his 
 majority. 
 
 On the 22d of February, 1877, at the 
 age of twenty years, Mr. Marshall was uni- 
 ted in marriage with Miss Clara Campbell, 
 a native of Vermont, who when a child of 
 eleven years came to Illinois with her par- 
 ents, Emmett and Marian Campbell, the 
 former of Scotch descent. To Mr. and 
 Mrs. Marshall have been born three chil- 
 dren, namely: Bertha, Albert and Frank. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Marshall rented 
 a farm of one hundred and. eighty-three 
 acres, which he operated for three years, 
 and for the same length of time engaged in 
 agricultural pursuits upon a farm in Hamp- 
 
 shire township belonging to M. C. Getzel- 
 man. He then rented the old homestead 
 for two years, and at the end of that time 
 removed to South Elgin, where he was first 
 engaged in buying and selling stock for six 
 years, meeting with success in his new un- 
 dertaking. This naturally led to his enter- 
 ing the meat business, and to his market he 
 subsequently added a stock of groceries. 
 On the 8th of January, 1897, his store was 
 destroyed by fire, probably the work of in- 
 cendiaries, but the same spring he rebuilt 
 on the new trolly line west of the Fox river 
 and has built up a good trade for a small 
 village a trade that is constantly increas- 
 ing. He is an enterprising, progressive 
 business man of known reliability, and his 
 "genial, pleasant manner has made him quite 
 popular in both business and social circles. 
 
 ISAAC T. BEVIER, who for many years 
 was one of the leading merchants of Au- 
 rora, was born at Leurenkill, Ulster county, 
 New York, March 13, 1818. His parents, 
 Johannis and Elizabeth (Teachout) Bevier, 
 were both natives of New York state. The 
 name was originally spelled Bovier, and is 
 of French origin. The Boviers were of the 
 Huguenot faith and fled from France to Hol- 
 land, during the time of those religious 
 persecutions and found refuge with friends 
 in the Palatinate. Louis Bovier, or Bevier, 
 emigrated from Frenken, on or about March 
 5, 1675, and on arriving in America, they 
 stopped temporarily at New Amsterdam, 
 afterwards at New Paltz, and were among 
 the original twelve patentees of that place. 
 They had a family of eight children Marie, 
 Jean, Abraham, Samuel, Andrius, Louis, 
 Esther and Solomon. Abraham Bevier 
 married Rachel Quernory, and they settled
 
 288 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 at Warwarsing, New York. Their children 
 were Louis, Annie, Cornelius, Samuel, Ja- 
 cobus, Abraham, Maria, Johannis, Benjamin 
 and Daniel. Johannis, the father of our 
 subject, married Elizabeth Teachout, and 
 their children were Mary Ann", Cornelius 
 H., Esther B., Simon J., Isaac T. , Corne- 
 lius A., Sarah E. , Rachel M., Antoinette, 
 Sarah J., William E. and Harriet E., all, 
 excepting Sarah E., living to the age of 
 maturity. 
 
 Isaac T. Bevier obtained his education 
 in the public schools at Leurenkill, residing 
 in boyhood upon his father's farm. In 
 boyhood he learned the tailor's trade at 
 Elmira, New York, to which place the 
 family had removed. After learning his 
 trade he worked at Elmira as a journeyman 
 for several years. In the meantime he 
 married, March 11, 1841, Miss Sarah Brad- 
 ner, daughter of William and Frances 
 Emily (Wood) Bradner, of Goshen, New 
 York. In 1844 he came to Aurora, and de- 
 ciding to make this city his future home, 
 returned to Elmira for his family. In 1848 
 he commenced the tailoring business here 
 in partnership with the late William Mc- 
 Michen, each conducting an establishment, 
 one on each side of the river, but in part- 
 nership. After a year or so, Mr. Bevier 
 retired from busmess on account of failing 
 eyesight, after which he served as constable 
 and collector for several years. In 1858 
 he went into the drug business on Broad- 
 way with J. D. Moore, but soon afterwards 
 purchased his partner's interest and contin- 
 ued the business alone up to the time of 
 his death, which occurred January 3, 1884. 
 He was subject to heart trouble, and died 
 suddenly in Florida, where he had gone to 
 gain health and strength. His remains 
 were brought back to Aurora and buried in 
 
 Spring Lake cemetery, escorted to the grave 
 by the Knight Templars and Odd Fellows, 
 of which in the former body he had been 
 prelate, and had filled all the offices in the 
 Odd Fellows society. Mr. and Mrs. Bevier 
 had a family of four children as follows: 
 Cornelia F., who resides with her mother. 
 William B., who married November 25, 
 1898, Emma S. Borwell, of Fon du Lac, 
 Wisconsin, by whom he has two children, 
 George, S. , born August 20, 1872, and Ben- 
 jamin B., born April 9, 1880; John E. , 
 who was married October 26, 1868, to Mary 
 J. Seymour, by whom he has one child, 
 Frank H., born June 23, 1874; Frank H., 
 who died April 8, 1873. John E. Bevier 
 died in Aurora, August 20, 1875. 
 
 Mr. Bevier was a public-spirited man 
 and in addition to those already mentioned; 
 he held the position of street commissioner 
 several years and highway commissioner for 
 nine years. With his wife he was an at- 
 tendant of the Congregational church. As 
 a citizen he was well known and univer- 
 sally esteemed. His death was a sincere 
 loss to the community in which he had so 
 long resided. Mrs. Bevier still resides in 
 Aurora in a pleasant home at No. 285 Main 
 street, and is also held in the highest 
 esteem. 
 
 MORRIS CLINTON TOWN, now de- 
 ceased, was for many years one of the 
 best known business men of Elgin. He was 
 of English and French extraction, his an- 
 cestors settling in America prior to the Rev- 
 olutionary war. His father, Bester Town, 
 was born in New York August 20, 1794. 
 He was reared in his native state, and Sep- 
 tember 22, 1816, married Betsy M. Martin, 
 a native of Vermont, born in 1795. For
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 289 
 
 some years after marriage he followed farm- 
 ing in Washington county, New York. In 
 1824 he removed with his family to Erie 
 county, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in 
 hotel keeping and farming, but later com- 
 menced the manufacture of hats, and em- 
 barked in the mercantile trade. His death 
 occurred in Erie county, Pennsylvania, De- 
 cember 2, 1870, and he was followed to the 
 grave by his loving wife, January 22, 1872. 
 During the war of 1812 he served his coun- 
 try as one of its soldiers. 
 
 Morris C. Town was born at Granville, 
 Washington county, New York, February 
 7, 1818, and was eldest in a family of eight 
 children. His boyhood and youth were 
 spent at home with his parents and he 
 learned the hatter's trade in his father's 
 manufactory, receiving at the same time a 
 common-school education. At the age of 
 twenty-two he began life for himself as a 
 merchant, at North East, Erie county, 
 Pennsylvania, and was quite successful. 
 But life in the east was not suited to his 
 temperament. He wished to broaden out, 
 and so resolved to come west. Accordingly 
 in the spring of 1846 he came to Chicago 
 and commenced in mercantile business, 
 which he continued until the fall of 1847, 
 when he came to Elgin and for three years 
 was one of its most prosperous merchants. 
 He then opened a banking office, and in 
 1851 secured a charter from the state. In 
 1858 he sold his banking business and re- 
 moved to Chicago, where he remained until 
 1860, when he again came to Elgin and for 
 the second time engaged in merchandising. 
 In 1862 the banking house of Lawrence 
 Pease & Town was established and Mr. 
 Town assumed the general management of 
 the same. In the summer of 1865 the First 
 National Bank of Elgin was organized and 
 
 he was elected cashier, a position he held 
 for a number of years, and was then elected 
 president, serving as such until his death. 
 
 Mr. Town was twice married. His first 
 wife, whom he married August 27, 1839, 
 was Miss Hannah S. -Oviatt, born at Hud- 
 son, Ohio, July 27, 1819, and by her he 
 had one child, Helen S., who became the 
 wife of William O. De Long, and who is 
 now living at Titusville, Pennsylvania. 
 Mrs. Town passed to her reward in 1843, 
 and Mr. Town married Miss Maria Sel- 
 kregg, November 12, 1844, at North East, 
 Pennsylvania. She was a native of that 
 state, born at Colt's Station, Erie county, 
 December 19, 1821, and a daughter of Osee 
 and Harriet (Robinson) Selkregg, natives 
 of Connecticut and Pennsylvania, respect- 
 ively. Six children were born of this union, 
 as follows: Ella L. , born September 30, 
 1845, is now Mrs. L. B. Hamlin, of Elgin; 
 Morris Clarence, born July 4, 1847, died 
 January 8, 1850; Frank, born April 27, 
 1849, died June 5, 1881; Harriet E., born 
 March 27, 1851, married John H. Volk, 
 and is now living at Mont Clare, Illinois; 
 Carrie M. , born May 27, 1855, is the wife 
 of W. W. Sherwin, of Elgin; and Morris 
 Clinton died in infancy. Mrs. Town died 
 January 26, 1897. She was a member of 
 the Congregational church, a true Christian 
 woman, one who was greatly esteemed 
 by all. 
 
 After a residence in Elgin of forty-five 
 years, save for a short time spent in Chica- 
 go, already mentioned, Mr. Town passed 
 from this life, his death taking place July 
 31, 1892, at the age of seventy-four years 
 and five months. He was a man of more 
 than ordinary ability, and did much to 
 make Elgin the thriving city it now is. 
 Few enterprises of a public nature but what
 
 290 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 secured from him financial as well as moral 
 support. He added much to the city by 
 the erection of a fine business block which 
 bears his name. A friend of education, he 
 was one of the founders of the Elgin Acad- 
 emy, and served as one of its directors un- 
 til his death. In 1878 he was elected a 
 local director in the Elgin National Watch 
 Company, -a position which he held until 
 his death. Fraternally he was an Odd 
 Fellow, and was one of the charter mem- 
 bers of Kane lodge, at Elgin. 
 
 MRS. D. P. GRAY, of Aurora, Illinois, 
 was born in Covington, Tioga county, 
 Pennsylvania, April 7, 1817. Her father, 
 Thomas Putnam, was a native of Massa- 
 chusetts, and the son of Elijah Putnam, a 
 cousin of Israel Putnam, of Revolutionary 
 fame. Thomas Putnam married Hannah 
 Huntington, a native of Massachusetts, 
 where he then resided. Soon after his 
 marriage he moved to Pennsylvania, and 
 settled in Tioga county, when he followed 
 his trade of saddle-tree maker for sev- 
 eral years, and there reared a family. 
 His wife died in Pennsylvania, and he 
 later married again. He was a very 
 prominent man, serving for some years as 
 postmaster of Covington, and also justice of 
 the peace. For some years he was a gen- 
 eral in the state militia. 
 
 Our subject was reared in her native 
 town, where she received a fairly good ed- 
 ucation, and on March 3, 1833, a young 
 lady of sixteen years, gave her hand in mar- 
 riage to L. W. Gray, a native of Ohio, born 
 July ii, 1812, but who was reared in Tio- 
 ga county, Pennsylvania, where he received 
 a good education in the common schools, 
 and in Wellsborough College. After their 
 
 marriage they began their domestic life in 
 Covington, Pennsylvania, where he worked 
 at his trade of tanner and currier, and car- 
 ried on that business for six years. In 
 1838, they moved west, first locating in 
 Oquawka, Henderson county, Illinois, and 
 six months later moving to Henderson, 
 where he was elected constable and served 
 until 1843. 
 
 In that year they moved to Kane 
 county, where Mr. Gray bought land near 
 Aurora, which he farmed some four or five 
 years. He then sold the farm and moved 
 into Aurora, purchasing some land, which 
 now lies within the city limits. He laid 
 out an addition to the city, on the west 
 side, known as Gray's addition to Aurora. 
 He served as one of the first aldermen of 
 the city, and was continued in that office until 
 his death, October 10, 1881, at the age of 
 seventy years. 
 
 Politically Mr. Gray was identified with 
 the Democratic party, and was a firm be- 
 liever and a stanch advocate of its princi- 
 ples. A friend of education, he served for 
 some years as a member of the school board, 
 and did much to advance the educational 
 interests of his adopted city. Progressive 
 in all things, he encouraged every enter- 
 prise that he considered would have a ten- 
 dency to advance the material interests of 
 Aurora. In his death the city lost one of 
 its best men. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Gray were the parents of 
 seven children, of whom four survive. John 
 married Lucretia Smith, of Henry county, 
 and they now make their home in Jefferson, 
 Iowa, where he is engaged in business. He 
 was a member of the Forty-fifth Illinois 
 Volunteer Infantry, and during the last two 
 years of his service was on the staff of 
 General McKean. Thomas P. was also a
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 291 
 
 soldier in the late war, serving in the Elev- 
 enth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was 
 wounded near Pittsburg Landing. For 
 some years he has been employed in the 
 pension office at Washington. He married 
 Hetty Headley, and they made their home 
 in Washington. Ann married Salmon Den- 
 nison, of Aurora, who served during the 
 late war, as a member of Company H, One 
 Hundred and Twenty-fourth Regiment Illi- 
 nois Volunteer Infantry. He died in Au- 
 rora, in January, 1891. Wright married 
 Rosella Miles, and resides in Windsor, Col- 
 orado. Warren died in infancy. Grant 
 died in early childhood. Wells grew to ma- 
 ture years, and died when about thirty-five 
 years of age. Mrs. Gray has twelve grand- 
 children, and six great-grandchildren. She 
 is a member of the Peoples church of Au- 
 rora, and is a woman who is held in the 
 highest esteem by all who know her. 
 
 EDWARD BAKER, a leading merchant 
 of St. Charles, is an important factor 
 in business circles, and his popularity is 
 well deserved, as in him are embraced the 
 characteristics of an unbending integrity, 
 unabated energy and industry that never 
 flags. As a public-spirited citizen he is 
 thoroughly interested in whatever tends to 
 promote the moral, intellectual and material 
 welfare of the community. 
 
 Mr. Baker was born in Canandaigua 
 county, New York, September 13, 1828, a 
 son of Chauncey and Rhoda (Webster) 
 Baker. The birth of the father occurred in 
 1800, in Vermont, but he was reared in 
 New York, of which state his wife was a 
 native. In 1835 he removed with his fam- 
 ily to Medina county, Ohio, where he worked 
 at his trade of blacksmithing and also oper- 
 
 ated a farm, which he purchased when only 
 partiallyimproved. Hewas highly respected 
 and was called upon to serve in a number 
 of local offices of honor and trust. He died 
 in Medina county, Ohio, in 1852, and his 
 wife departed this life in 1872. In their 
 family were five children, two sons and three 
 daughters. William Baker, the brother of 
 our subject, died in Ohio, at the age of 
 thirty- five, leaving a family. The three 
 sisters were all married and are living at 
 this date (1898). 
 
 Upon the home farm in Medina county 
 Edward Baker grew to manhood and during 
 his youth was provided with good school 
 privileges, attending both the common and 
 high schools of that locality. For some 
 years he successfully engaged in teaching in 
 Ohio during the winter months, while the 
 summers were devoted to farm work. On 
 coming to Illinois in 1853, he purchased a 
 farm near Aurora, in Kane county, but after 
 operating it for one season, he sold and 
 bought another place in St. Charles town- 
 ship, two miles west of the village of that 
 name. This farm was partially improved, 
 and to its further development and cultiva- 
 tion he devoted his time and attention for 
 about twenty years, during which time he 
 built an addition to his house, erected a 
 barn and made many other improvements 
 which added greatly to its value and at- 
 tractive appearance. Subsequently he sold 
 his farm, and removing to St. Charles, he 
 formed a business partnership and engaged 
 in merchandising, being at the present time 
 the oldest merchant in the village. 
 
 In Summit county, Ohio, Mr. Baker was 
 married in 1850, the lady of his choice be- 
 ing Miss Martha E. Phelps, a nativeof New 
 York state, and a daughter of John Phelps, 
 who at an early day removed from New
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 York to Ohio. Mrs. Baker was reared and 
 educated in Summit county. The children 
 born to our subject and his wife are as fol- 
 lows: Charles, who died at the age of 
 thirteen years; Delora, wife of J. W. Gates, 
 of Chicago, who is president of the Illinois 
 Steel Company and is largely interested in 
 mines in the west; Vernie, wife of R. F. 
 Angel, of St. Charles; and Edward J. , a 
 grain inspector of Chicago, who is married 
 and lives in Chicago. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Baker is a life-long Re- 
 publican, an advocate of protection and 
 sound money, and has served as alderman in 
 St. Charles. He has ever taken an active in- 
 terest in educational affairs, has been a lead- 
 ing member of the school board for almost a 
 quarter of a century, and his labors have 
 been very effective in raising the standard 
 of schools in St. Charles. Religiously he 
 and his wife are active and prominent mem- 
 bers of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
 while he has been a member of its board for 
 thirty-five years. He also belongs to the 
 Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has 
 been treasurer of the lodge for the long 
 period of twenty years. Over his life record 
 there falls no shadow of wrong, and in many 
 respects his life is well worthy of emulation, 
 for he is an honorable, upright business 
 man, and has ever been found true and 
 faithful to every trust reposed in him. 
 
 WILLIAM PFRANGLE, city clerk, and 
 also town clerk of Aurora, was born 
 in this city March 7, 1860, and is the son 
 of Sebastian and Lena (Heimelsbach) Pfran- 
 gle, both of whom are natives of Germany, 
 and were there married. In 1853, the fam- 
 ily came to America, first stopping in New 
 York for a short time, then coming west to 
 
 Chicago, where they remained about two 
 years, moving from there to Wheaton, Illi- 
 nois, Mr. Prangle being elected professor of 
 German and music in the college at that 
 place. He was a highly educated man and 
 was engaged in teaching before coming to 
 America. From Wheaton they came to 
 Aurora in 1858, and he engaged in teaching 
 in the old Clark seminary. He died in 1859, 
 before the completion of the school build- 
 ing, when about forty-three years of age. 
 His wife survived him many years, dying in 
 1886, at the age of seventy-one years. 
 
 Our subject is the youngest of twelve 
 children, born to Professor and Mrs. Pfran- 
 gle. Of the twelve, four sisters and three 
 brothers are still living, while three died in 
 early childhood, and two in mature years. 
 The living are Amelia, wife of Conrad Hoff- 
 man, residing in Aurora; Emma, wife of 
 John Lackner, of Aurora; Charles J., who 
 married Laura Wagner, is a sign writer in 
 Aurora; Pauline, wife of Zopher Ketchum, 
 of Aurora; Albert, janitor of the east side 
 high school, Aurora; Jenny, wife of Benja- 
 min B. Hayford, chief engineer of the 
 Columbus Memorial Building, Chicago; 
 and William of this review. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was educated 
 in the Aurora public schools, and at the age 
 of sixteen secured a position as clerk in the 
 postoffice, and for nineteen years was con- 
 nected with the postal service, and for fif- 
 teen years was assistant postmaster, termi- 
 nating his career there May 6, 1895, when 
 he resigned, having been elected city clerk, 
 which office he still holds and is now serv- 
 ing his second term. He was also elected 
 town clerk in April, 1895, and is serving 
 his third term in that office. 
 
 On the 3rd of May, 1882, Mr. Pfrangle 
 was united in marriage with Miss Sadie
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 293 
 
 Cross, daughter of Prof. J. G. Cross, and 
 author of the eclectic shorthand system. 
 He is a teacher of wide experience, and for 
 a time was connected with the college at 
 Naperville, the seminary at Aurora, and 
 the State Normal School, at Normal, Illi- 
 nois. He is now conducting a school in 
 Los Angeles, California. He is also a min- 
 ister in the Methodist Episcopal church, 
 and filled pulpits in the Rock River confer- 
 ence before taking up college work. To 
 Mr. and Mrs. Pfrangle five children have 
 been born Jessie, Bessie, George, Charles 
 and Mabel, the latter two being twins. 
 They were born February 13, 1893, and 
 Mabel died July 4, 1894. 
 
 Mrs. Pfrangle is a member of the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal church, and is active in all 
 church and benevolent work. Mr. Pfrangle 
 is a member of the Uniform Rank of Knights 
 of Pythias, and affiliates with the Repub- 
 lican party, in state and national campaigns. 
 He is a good and accommodating officer, 
 and a most worthy citizen, such as give 
 character to a community. His official ca- 
 reer speaks of the right man in the right 
 place, and duty well done, and duty appre- 
 ciated. 
 
 GEORGE S. HALEY, the present effi- 
 cient police magistrate of Batavia, has 
 been a resident of Kane county since 1854. 
 He was born in the town of Guilford, Wind- 
 ham county, Vermont, July 14, 1827. He 
 traces his ancestry to Belcher Haley, a na- 
 tive of Ireland, who came to this country 
 at a very early day, and located in Wind- 
 ham county, Vermont, where his son Nathan 
 T. Haley, the father of our subject, was 
 born in 1800. In his native county, Nathan 
 T. Haley, grew to manhood, and there mar- 
 
 ried Harriet Holton, also a native of Wind- 
 ham county, Vermont. He was by occupa- 
 tion a farmer and upon his farm in that 
 county reared his family and spent his en- 
 tire life, dying in 1867. His wife survived 
 him a number of years, dying about 1885. 
 
 George S. Haley spent his boyhood upon 
 his father's farm, and until the age of six- 
 teen attended the public schools as the op- 
 portunity was afforded him, usually three 
 months during the winter, in the meantime 
 working on the farm. He then went to 
 Greenfield, Massachusetts, to learn the cut- 
 ler's trade, serving an apprenticeship of six 
 years, and then worked as a journeyman, 
 from 1845 to 1854. With that laudable de- 
 sire to better himself, he came west, locat- 
 ing at Geneva, Illinois, and there went to 
 work as a machinist. . For ten years he was 
 thus employed, and in 1864, came to Bata- 
 via and entered the machine shop, and has 
 since been a resident of the city. For twen- 
 ty-five years he was foreman in the foundry 
 of the United States Wind and Pump Com- 
 pany, and was one its oldest employees. 
 
 In 1847, at Brattleboro, Vermont, Mr. 
 Haley was united in marriage to Miss Lu- 
 cinda Nash, a daughter of Lewis Nash, by 
 whom he has nine children, as follows: 
 Charles H., a foreman for the Challenge 
 Engine and Feed Mill Company, who is 
 married and has a family; Rev. Fred H., 
 married and now resides in Kansas City; 
 Edward, married, and is a machinist, re- 
 siding in Batavia; Clarence H., married, 
 and is also a machinist, residing in Batavia; 
 Hattie M., wife of Merritt McMaster, a 
 blacksmith of Batavia; Dexter Garrett, a 
 cabinet maker, who is married and resides 
 in Batavia; and Frank E., at home. Two 
 died in early childhood. 
 
 Politically Mr. Haley was a Republican
 
 294 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 for years, and cast his vote for John C. 
 Fremont, the presidential candidate of that 
 party. He was originally a Whig and cast 
 his first presidential vote for Zachary Tay- 
 lor. Of late he has been identified with the 
 Democratic party. By his fellow citizens, 
 he has been honored with several positions 
 of honor and trust. He served as village 
 trustee and one term as president of the 
 board. He is now police magistrate, which 
 position he has held for twelve years, with 
 credit to himself and constituents. In po- 
 litical affairs he has always manifested great 
 interest, and has often served as a delegate 
 to the various conventions of his party. 
 Fraternally he is a member of the Masons 
 and has served in every position in the blue 
 lodge except Master, and in some of the 
 offices of the Chapter. 
 
 In July, 1894, Mrs. Lucinda Haley de- 
 parted this life, and on the 24th of Novem- 
 ber, 1897, Mr. Haley married Mrs. Caro- 
 line Patterson, nee Carter, of Chicago, but 
 a native of Ohio. She is a member of the 
 Episcopal church, in which she takes a com- 
 mendable interest. A resident of Kane 
 county for forty-four years, Mr. Haley is 
 well known as a man of exemplary habits, 
 true to his friends and one who is willing to 
 do his duty in all things. 
 
 THOMAS F. RICH, a veteran of the war 
 for the union, and for many years a 
 substantial farmer in Kane county, is now 
 living a retired life in the village of Hamp- 
 shire. He was born in the town of Benson, 
 Rutland county, Vermont, where he at- 
 tended country schools until the age of 
 twelve years. In 1836 the family came 
 west, leaving Whitehall, Vermont, May 16, 
 going by canal to Buffalo, New York, and 
 
 thence by lake to Chicago. On account of 
 severe storms, they were required to lay by 
 for three days at Manitou Islands. Arriving 
 at Chicago, they at once went to Naperville, 
 Illinois, where they resided until the follow- 
 ing October, when they moved to Deerfield 
 precinct, now Rutland township, Kane coun- 
 ty, where the father took up three hundred 
 acres in the southwest corner of the town- 
 ship. 
 
 Elijah Rich, the father, was one of the 
 first settlers of Rutland township. He was 
 born in Worcester, Massachusetts, June 10, 
 1795, and with his parents removed to the 
 town of Benson, Rutland county, Vermont, 
 in 1810. His father, Elijah Rich, Sr. , was 
 a soldier in the Revolutionary war. Elijah 
 Rich married Tryphosa Fosvler, a native of 
 Vermont and a daughter of Thomas and 
 Betsy Fowler. By this union there were 
 four children, of whom our subject was sec- 
 ond in order of birth. In 1835 the father 
 came west, riding all the way from his Ver- 
 mont home to Kane county, Illinois, on 
 horseback. Being favorably impressed with 
 the country he returned home and, as already 
 stated, brought out his family in 1836. 
 Here his last days were spent, and he died 
 full of years, while honored and respected 
 by all. 
 
 The subject of this sketch remained at 
 home until nineteen years of age, when he 
 ran away and lived with the Indians for a 
 time. He then went to Chicago, where he 
 worked one year, going from thence to Ga- 
 lena, Illinois, where for three years he found 
 employment in the lead mines. Attracted 
 by the glitter of a traveling circus, he joined 
 it, and remained with it for six months. 
 The life was a hard one and he was well 
 pleased to break his connection with it. 
 For two summers he was on the Mississippi
 
 THOMAS F. RICH.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 297 
 
 river, running on the steamer, Amaranth, 
 plying between St. Peters, Minnesota, and 
 St. Louis. The greater part of the time, 
 however, the boat ran no farther north 
 than Galena. 
 
 Having enough of a roving life, he re- 
 turned to Kane county and purchased one 
 hundred and twenty acres in section 20, Rut- 
 land township, which had been partially im- 
 proved, having on it a log house and log 
 stable. He at once went to work and in 
 due time had one of the most productive 
 farms in the township, and all improve- 
 ments were in keeping with the time. He 
 there remained until 1891, when he sold 
 the place and removed to the village of 
 Hampshire, where he owns a good dwelling 
 and also a store building on Main street. 
 Mr. Rich has been twice married, his first 
 union being with Miss Priscilla Noakes, who 
 was born April 14, 1823, on the ocean, 
 while her parents were emigrating to Amer- 
 ica from England. She was a daughter of 
 Thomas and Mary Noakes. This wedding 
 ceremony was celebrated in Rutland town- 
 ship in 1850, and by this union were four 
 children as follows: Albert, who lives in 
 Dundee; Anise, who married Henry Stevens, 
 and now lives at Molino, Florida; Mary, 
 who died at the age of four years; and Alan- 
 son, who lives in Nebraska. Mrs. Priscilla 
 Rich dying December 3, 1876, Mr. Rich 
 was again married, March 3, 1880, his second 
 union being with Miss Mary Welsh, born in 
 Lewisburg, Virginia, and a daughter of Will- 
 iam and Catherine (Schaver) Welsh. By 
 this second union, one daughter was born, 
 Ada, who resides at home. 
 
 When the South rebelled, and endeav- 
 ered by force of arms to dismember the 
 union, Mr. Rich showed his patriotism by 
 enlisting in the Eighth Illinois Calvary, 
 
 14 
 
 serving from September 18, 1861, until 
 September, 1864, when he was honorably 
 discharged. He was in the first battle of 
 Bull Run, was at Seven Pines, Whitehouse 
 Landing, Mechanicsville, and in all sixty 
 regular battles. His interest in war mat- 
 ters has been maintained and he is now a 
 member of the Grand Army of the Repub- 
 lic, while his wife is a member of the Relief 
 Corps. In politics he is a Republican. 
 
 H. WOODRUFF is one of the 
 old and honored citizens of Elgin, his 
 home being at No. .306 Chicago street. A 
 native of Massachusetts, he was born Feb- 
 ruary 15, 1819, in the "f own of West Stock- 
 bridge, Berkshire county, and is a son of 
 Henry and Belinda (Benedict) Woodruff, 
 also natives of that state. His paternal 
 grandfather, Asaph Woodruff, was a soldier 
 of the Revolutionary war, serving under 
 Captain Reddington, olRichmond, and Colo- 
 nel Williams and Benedict Arnold. In 
 November, 1775, he went with his regiment 
 to Canada, under command of General 
 Montgomery, and after the capture of St. 
 Johns and Montcalm, they joined Arnold's 
 forces at Quebec. The siege at that place 
 lasted until December 31, during which 
 Montgomery was killed. The troops then 
 fell back, spending a miserable winter in 
 fortifications of snow, where they were 
 without food for three days, and at any time 
 the soldiers could be tracked by bloody foot- 
 prints. Mr. Woodruff re-enlisted July 17, 
 1777, but the same month was discharged 
 and transferred to another company. He 
 never received a pension, as when the army 
 was finally discharged and paid off, he and 
 some of his comrades were taking home 
 some sick soldiers. He died in 1833, at
 
 298 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 about the age of ninety years, and his last 
 wife, Ruth (Stone) Woodruff, died a few 
 years later at a ripe old age. 
 
 Henry Woodruff, our subject's father, 
 was born in 1794, and was a soldier of the 
 war of 1812, being a member of an artillery 
 company stationed at Boston. He died be- 
 fore pensions were issued for that war. He 
 was a practical surveyor, and also engaged 
 in farming and the manufacture of lime and 
 brick. One night while sawing marble in a 
 mill, he became entangled in the gearing 
 about nine p. m., and being all alone he 
 was unable to make any one hear his cries 
 for help, no one coming to his relief until 
 about six o'clock the next morning. After 
 twenty-four hours of terrible suffering, he 
 passed away, in 1826. He was one of a 
 large family of children, of whom Gilbert 
 Woodruff is still living at the age of eighty- 
 eight years, being the oldest man in the sec- 
 tion of North Carolina where he makes 
 his home. For the past twenty years he 
 has been the only survivor of the family. 
 The mother of our subject, who was a 
 daughter of John and Betsy Benedict, died 
 in 1832, in the faith of the Presbyterian 
 Church, of which she was a consistent mem- 
 ber. Cyrus H. is the oldest of the four 
 children and is the only one now living. 
 John B., an attorney, died at the age of 
 twenty-six years; Harriet B. died in 1831, 
 at the age of eleven ; and Lewis T. died at 
 the age of twenty-three. All were residents 
 of West Stockbridge, Massachusetts. John 
 B. was a graduate of Union College, New 
 York. 
 
 Mr. Woodruff, of this review, began his 
 education in the schools of West Stock- 
 bridge, and later attended an academy at 
 Canaan, New York. He was reared on a 
 farm, and before attaining his majority he 
 
 engaged in teaching for three winters. He 
 then embarked in the hardware business in 
 Stockbridge, meeting with fair success in 
 this undertaking. A few years later he be- 
 came a partner in a blast furnace at \Vest 
 Stockbridge, with which he was connected 
 until coming west in 1856. In partnership 
 with another gentleman, he engaged in the 
 hardware business in Lena, Illinois, until 
 1862, when he removed to Dundee, Kane 
 county, organizing the Illinois Iron & Bolt 
 Company, of which he was secretary and 
 treasurer for three years. Since 1868 he 
 has made his home in Elgin, where he was 
 engaged in the foundry business for six 
 years, being forced to retire at the end of 
 that time on account of rheumatism. Since 
 then he has engaged in no active business. 
 
 On the 1 9th of March, 1840, Mr. Wood- 
 ruff was united in marriage with Miss Louisa 
 Sprague, of Austerlitz, New York, a daugh- 
 ter of Heman and Anna Sprague. Of their 
 five children, Mary Ann died at the age of 
 nine years, Harriet B. , at the age of five 
 years, and Emma Isabel, at the age of ten 
 months. Ida Louise is the wife of W. Eu- 
 gene Bosworth, a merchant of Elgin, and 
 they have five children Cyrus I., who 
 graduates from Yale College with the class 
 of 1898; Charles E., who died in 1885, at 
 the age of nine years; Ralph Roy, Ethel M. 
 and Walter Henry. Charles Henry, the 
 youngest child of our subject, married 
 Marian Eaton and has two children Wilda 
 E. and Rosella. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Woodruff, their son, 
 daughter and son-in-law are all members of 
 the Baptist church, in which the last named 
 is serving as deacon. Since attaining his 
 majority in 1840, Mr. Woodruff has been 
 identified with the Democratic party, and 
 since 1856 he has affiliated with the Mason-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 299 
 
 ic order. While a resident of Massachus- 
 etts, he took quite an active and prominent 
 part in political affairs, and in 1849 and 
 1853 was elected to the state legislature, 
 serving .for two terms with credit to himself 
 and to the satisfaction of his constituents. 
 Among his colleagues were several noted 
 men, including George S. Boutwell, Gen. 
 N. P. Banks, Benjamin Butler, Amasa 
 Walker and H. L. Dawes. After coming 
 west his business interests occupied his en- 
 tire attention, leaving no time to devote to 
 political affairs. He never acts except from 
 honest motives and in all his varied relations 
 in business affairs and in social life, he has 
 maintained a character and standing that 
 has impressed all with his sincere and man- 
 ly purpose to do by others as he would have 
 others do by him. 
 
 JOHN McKELLAR, who resides on a 
 farm on section 20, Plato township, was 
 born at Plato Corners January u, 1857. 
 His grandfather, Archibald McKellar, was a 
 native of Argyleshire, Scotland, born Janu- 
 ary 12, 1777, and there died February 25, 
 1864, at the age of eighty-six years. He 
 was by occupation a farmer and fisherman, 
 and married Mary McGregor, a descendant 
 of Rob Roy, the Scottish chieftain. 
 
 Daniel McKellar, the father of our sub- 
 ject, was born in a fishing boat in Argyle- 
 shire, forty miles from Glasgow, June 12, 
 1813, and died March 16, 1889. He lived 
 on the farm and followed fishing with his 
 father. Their old stone house on the Clyde 
 is yet visible from passing boats. When a 
 young man he and his brother Duncan 
 opened a store on one of the islands, and 
 there secured a good trade. His brother 
 had served with the Scotch Greys in the 
 
 British army. During a short visit to his 
 home on the mainland his brother died, and 
 the widow in a very short time disposed of 
 everything and sailed for America. 
 
 In 1836 Daniel McKellar, in company 
 with his cousin, Colin McKellar, came to 
 America, sailing from Greenock, Scotland. 
 He lived ten years at Dryden Corners, 
 Tompkins county, New York, where he 
 rented land and engaged in farming. In 
 1837 his parents also came to this country, 
 and later his brother, Hugh McKellar, came. 
 In 1846 the family came to Kane county, 
 Illinois, lived one year in Elgin township, 
 and then Daniel and his father bought one 
 hundred and sixty acres of land west of 
 Plato Corners, to which he subsequently 
 added twenty-five acres more. Daniel Mc- 
 Kellar lived at Plato Corners from 1853 
 until his death in 1889. 
 
 On the 4th of July, 1850, Daniel Mc- 
 Kellar married Miss Emily Sovereign, born 
 at Simcoe, Canada, August 3, 1827. She 
 lived at Simcoe and in New York state until 
 she came west, in October, 1845. She is 
 the daughter of Richard Sovereign, a native 
 of New Jersey, who died about 1866, at the 
 age of seventy-three years. He was a car- 
 penter and builder by trade, but purchased 
 eighty acres in Plato township, and there 
 engaged in farming. His father, Henry 
 Sovereign, also a native of New Jersey, died 
 at Ludlow, New York. Richard Sovereign 
 married Elizabeth Plummer, daughter of 
 George and Hannah (Murtrie) Plummer. 
 To Daniel and Emily McKellar eleven chil- 
 dren were born, as follows: Richard, who 
 died at the age of twelve years; Jennie, wife 
 of John Sherwood; Archibald, who died at 
 the age of thirty-seven; John, our subject; 
 Mary, who married Thomas Dadswell; Ana- 
 belle, who married Robert Shedden; Ruby,
 
 300 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 wife of Arthur Durrant; Richard married 
 Lydia Wright, and lives in Elgin; Daniel, 
 who died at the age of fifteen months; James 
 Gregor lives at home with his mother; and 
 Benjamin, who died in infancy. 
 
 John McKellar, our subject, remained at 
 home with his father until his marriage, 
 when he began farming for himself. He 
 was married in Plato township February 
 12, 1884, to Miss Minnie Sherwood, a 
 daughter of Seth Sherwood, a native of 
 New York, who came west in 1846 with his 
 father's family. Seth Sherwood was the 
 son of John and Sarah (Pease) Sherwood, 
 the former a native of Virginia, who lived 
 some years in New York, served in the war 
 of 1812, and later emigrated to Kane county, 
 where he died at the age of seventy- four 
 years. Of the eight children born to Seth 
 Sherwood and wife, Mrs. McKellar is the 
 youngest. 
 
 Mr. McKellar owns a fine farm of one 
 hundred and forty acres, while Mrs. McKel- 
 lar is the owner of one hundred and sixty 
 acres in several tracts, but all lying in Pla- 
 to township. Mr. McKellar devotes his 
 time to general farming, making a specialty 
 of raising and fattening cattle for the mar- 
 ket. In politics he is an uncompromising 
 Republican, taking great interest in political 
 affairs, and has served as a member of the 
 county executive committee of his party. 
 He has been honored by his friends and 
 neighbors with a number of local township 
 offices. 
 
 /CHARLES W. SUHR, who is operating 
 v> a fine farm on section 7, Hampshire 
 township, was born in Belvidere, Illinois, 
 November 26, 1867. His father, Joseph 
 C. Suhr, was born in the village of Lang- 
 
 felden, Pomerania, Germany, August 30, 
 1837, and was the son of Joseph Suhr, also 
 a native of the same country. The father 
 was reared to farm life, and received a good 
 education in his native land. In 1867 he 
 sailed from Hamburg on the sailing vessel 
 Liverance, and after a voyage of seven 
 weeks and three days landed at New Yo,rk, 
 November 12, 1867. From there he came 
 direct to Belvidere, Illinois, where he lived 
 for nine years, working at odd jobs, but 
 the greater part of the time on farms. In 
 1876 he came to Hampshire township, Kane 
 county, Illinois, rented a farm, and in eight 
 years saved enough to make his first pur- 
 chase of land, which is comprised in the 
 farm now occupied by our subject. He was 
 married in Pensingen, Pomerania, in Oc- 
 tober, 1866, to Lena Grawe, born in 
 Sophienhove, Pomerania, November i , 1 840, 
 and the daughter of Johakeim and Lena 
 Grawe. Johakeim Grawe was the son of 
 John Grawe, and all passed their days in 
 Pomerania. By this union were four chil- 
 dren, as follows: Carrie, who married 
 Charles Terwillinger, of Hampshire town- 
 ship, and now resides in California; Will- 
 iam, a plasterer by trade, living in Chicago; 
 Charles W., our subject; and Bertha, wife 
 of Robert Leitner, a prosperous business 
 man of Elgin. Religiously Joseph C. Suhr 
 was a member of the Lutheran church, and 
 fraternally a member of the Odd Fellows. 
 His death occurred August 23, 1894, on 
 his farm on section 7, Hampshire township. 
 The subject of this sketch received his 
 education in the district schools, beginning 
 in Belvidere and ending in Hampshire town- 
 ship. He attended school during the winter 
 season until eighteen years of age. He re- 
 mained at home assisting his father until 
 the latter's death, when he took charge of
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 301 
 
 the farm for his mother, and in 1896 rented 
 the place. In 1 896 he married Miss Carrie 
 Leitner, a sister of Robert Leitner, and a 
 daughter of John George Leitner, a success- 
 ful farmer residing in Hampshire township, 
 but who was born in Katolzburg, Bavaria, 
 March 15, 1834, and who learned the trade 
 of a weaver from his father, who lived on a 
 small farm. Mr. Leitner came to America 
 in June, 1852, sailing from Bremen on the 
 Swedish sailing vessel Richard Anderson, 
 which had three hundred and ten passengers 
 and were fifty-four days in making the voy- 
 age. Landing at New York, Mr. Leitner 
 there worked some two years, then came 
 west to Kane county, Illinois, and worked 
 for thirteen dollars a month at farm labor 
 for several years. He bought his first eighty 
 acres of land in 1861, to which he has since 
 added sixty acres, making one hundred and 
 forty acres in all. His father, Leonard 
 Leitner, was a weaver by trade, and died 
 in Germany at the age of seventy-seven 
 years. His mother, Sophia (Rupp) Leitner, 
 also died in Germany, which was her native 
 'country. John G. Leitner married Sophia 
 Wiedmeyer, born in Marck, Gronegin, Ger- 
 many, September 20, 1842, and they at 
 once came to America. They were the par- 
 ents of fifteen children, of whom Caroline, 
 wife of our subject, is eighth in order of 
 birth. To our subject and wife one son has 
 been born, Edwin. 
 
 The farm on which our subject resides 
 consists of one hundred and seventy acres 
 of fine prairie land, large dwelling house 
 and barns, built by his father. Here he 
 carries on general and dairy farming, usually 
 milking about twenty-five head of cows, 
 the products of which he ships to Chicago. 
 In politics Mr. Suhr is an independent Dem- 
 ocrat, and religiously he and his wife are 
 
 members of the Evangelical church. Fra- 
 ternally he is a member of the Independent 
 Order of Odd Fellows, Modern Woodmen 
 of America, and Court of Honor. He is a 
 progressive young farmer, genial and popu- 
 lar with all his acquaintances. 
 
 /CAPTAIN JOHN F. ELLIOTT, an hon- 
 ^.s ored veteran of the Civil war, who has 
 for over forty years been prominently iden- 
 tified with the interests of St. Charles, was 
 born September 9, 1834, near Meadville, 
 Crawford county, Pennsylvania. His fa- 
 ther, Thomas Elliott, was a native of Ire- 
 land, born in 1811, and when a lad of four- 
 teen years accompanied his brother on his 
 emigration to the new world, first locating 
 in I he city of New York, where he was 
 mostly educated. For some years he en- 
 gaged in merchandising there and for two 
 years he was interested in a manufacturing 
 enterprise in Buffalo, New York. Subse- 
 quently he bought a farm in Crawford coun- 
 ty, Pennsylvania, which he operated for 
 some years, and then removed to Erie 
 county, New York, residing there until 1852, 
 when he came to Illinois, spending the .last 
 years of his life in St. Charles, an honored 
 and highly respected citizen. 
 
 In New York city, Thomas Elliott 
 wedded Mary Farrell, who died in March, 
 1893, having survived him several years, his 
 death having occurred in 1881. While liv- 
 ing in Crawford county, Pennsylvania, he 
 had served as deputy sheriff for some time. 
 In the family of this worthy couple were 
 five sons and two daughters who reached 
 years of maturity. Mary A., the eldest, 
 died in childhood; John F. is next in order 
 of birth; Charles is engaged in business in 
 Chicago; George C. is a farmer residing at
 
 302 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Seattle, Washington; Theressa and James 
 K. both died unmarried; Henry C. married 
 and settled at Blue Island, Cook county, 
 Illinois, but died at St. Charles, and Lucy 
 died at the age of seventeen years. 
 
 John F. Elliott spent his boyhood and 
 youth in Pennsylvania and New York, and 
 received very limited school privileges, being 
 almost wholly self-educated. On the fifth 
 of December, 1855, he became a resident 
 of St. Charles, and having previously 
 learned the mason's trade, he worked at 
 that occupation in both Aurora and Chicago 
 for about twenty years, being employed on 
 many of the early buildings and bridges in 
 this section of the state. 
 
 Feeling that his country needed his serv- 
 ices during the dark days of the Rebellion, 
 Mr. Elliott enlisted August 12, 1861, in 
 Company K, Thirty-sixth Illinois Volunteer 
 Infantry the Fox River Regiment which 
 was raised at Wayne, Illinois, and he was 
 soon afterward appointed first sergeant, 
 serving as such fourteen months. . For faith- 
 ful service on the field and on the march 
 after the battle of Corinth, he was promoted 
 first lieutenant, and was subsequently com- 
 missioned captain. He participated in the 
 engagement at Pea Ridge, Arkansas, the 
 siege of Corinth, and the battles of Perry- 
 ville, Kentucky, and 'Stone River, Tennes- 
 see. At the last named he was taken pris- 
 oner with forty- two others of his regiment, 
 including seven officers, and was sent to 
 Atlanta, where the officers were confined 
 until February 26, 1863, when they were 
 ordered to march to Libby prison, Rich- 
 mond. While en route Mr. Elliott made 
 his escape from the train at Conyers, Geor- 
 gia, and after traveling a distance of five 
 hundred miles through the rebel country, 
 reached the Union lines, joining the troops 
 
 at Corinth, Mississippi, March 26, 1863. 
 Later he rejoined his own regiment at Mur- 
 freesboro, Tennessee. On the 1 8th of May 
 following, through the kindness of General 
 Phil Sheridan, he was detailed for recruit- 
 ing service in Illinois, and returned to 
 Springfield, where he received his orders. 
 He then opened a recruiting office in St. 
 Charles, but was afterward ordered to re- 
 port at Springfield, and in September, 1863, 
 was placed in charge of Camp Yates, where 
 he remained from the I4th of that month 
 until March 28, 1864, during which time 
 nineteen thousand, eight hundred recruits 
 were received and transferred to their regi- 
 ments. He had received only one order 
 for correction from the auditing department 
 at Washington. After making his final re- 
 port, he was placed in charge of the camp 
 of veteran corps, remaining there until he 
 resigned the commission, on June 4, 1864. 
 
 For a few years after his return home, 
 Captain Elliott worked at his trade in Chi- 
 cago and Kane county. At St. Charles he was 
 married September 6, 1860, to Miss Sarah 
 Clark, a native of Birmingham, England, 
 who came to the United States when a child 
 of eight years, and was reared and educated 
 in St. Charles. Mr. and Mrs. Elliott have 
 three sons living, namely: Charles E., now 
 a carpenter and joiner of San Francisco, 
 California; Ulysses S., also a carpenter and 
 joiner, who is married and resides in St. 
 Charles; and John J., at home with his par- 
 ents. They have also lost three children: 
 May and Nellie, who both died at the age 
 of fourteen months; and Nettie, who was a 
 successful teacher in St. Charles, and died 
 in early womanhood. 
 
 The parents are both active members of 
 the Methodist Episcopal church, of which 
 Mr. Elliott is now a trustee, and has been
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 303 
 
 a member of the official board for some 
 years. He is a prominent member of the 
 Elon J. Farnsworth post, No. 456, G. A. R. , 
 was its first commander and served in that 
 capacity two or three terms. He is now 
 officer of the day. Politically he is a life- 
 long Republican, casting his first presiden- 
 tial vote for John C. Fremont in 1856, and 
 four years later supported Abraham Lin- 
 coln. He has always taken an active and 
 prominent part in local affairs, was alder- 
 man of St. Charles for ten years, and for 
 the long period of 'twenty-one years was a 
 most efficient and faithful member of the 
 school board. In 1876 he was elected 
 justice of the peace, and with the exception 
 of two years has since served in that capac- 
 ity, being at the present time the oldest 
 justice of the peace in point of service in 
 Kane county. He is also filling the office 
 of police magistrate, and is recognized as 
 one of the most valued and useful citizens 
 of St. Charles. He is a man of sterling 
 worth in all the relations of life, and his 
 name is honorably and inseparably con- 
 nected with the history of his adopted city. 
 
 /CHARLES A. STONE is a representa- 
 ^> tive one of the earliest pioneers of 
 Kane county. His father, Isaac Stone, was 
 born in Orford, Grafton county, New 
 Hampshire, January i, 1811, where he 
 lived until attaining his majority. In 1833, 
 he moved to White Pigeon, Michigan, and 
 in the spring of 1834, came to Kane county, 
 when there was but one house in Elgin, 
 that of James T. Gifford, and it was not 
 finished. He hewed and hauled logs to 
 build the first log house on the west side for 
 Jonathan Kimball, which served as resi- 
 dence, hotel and justice's office. In that 
 
 house Mr. Stone and Mr. Kimball kept 
 " bach " until the arrival of Mrs. Phinneas 
 Kimball. In the summer of 1835, Mr. Stone 
 made claim to two hundred and forty-six 
 acres which now comprises the farm of our 
 subject. He married Abigail Knapp, born 
 at Homer, New York, about 1820. She is 
 the daughter of James Knapp, of Homer, 
 New York, who died when about eighty 
 years of age. He married Abigail May, born 
 in Hartford, Connecticut, and daughter of 
 Eleazer May. She died at the age of fifty- 
 two years. The grandfather of Mrs. Isaac 
 Stone fought through the Revolutionary 
 war, and while on the way home was killed 
 by the Indians within sight of his house. 
 Isaac and Abigail Stone had four children, 
 two of whom are living Elvena, now Mrs. 
 S. W. Chapman and Charles A., our sub- 
 ject. The mother is yet living and makes 
 her home with Mr. Chapman in Elgin. 
 
 Charles A. Stone, our subject, was born 
 on the farm where he now resides, April 4, 
 1856. He attended the public schools of 
 Elgin township, and completed his educa- 
 tion in the Elgin Academy. He remained 
 at home, assisting his father in the cultiva- 
 tion of the farm until the latter's death, 
 which occurred January 14, 1881, since 
 which time he has been in charge of the 
 place. For years he has made a specialty 
 of stock raising, principally horses, and has 
 charge of many driving horses through the 
 winter, caring for them until spring. The 
 farm is well-improved and in front of his 
 residence is a fine lawn shaded by oak trees 
 of unusual size. 
 
 Mr. Stone was married in Clinton, Iowa, 
 December 28, 1880, to Miss Emma E. 
 Fletcher, born in Plato township, and 
 daughter of Lewis and Lydia (Griste) 
 Fletcher, the former a native of England
 
 304 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECC: 
 
 and the latter of Pennsylvania. They were 
 the parents of three children Emma E. , 
 now Mrs. Stone; Albert and Henry, whc 
 reside in Elgin. To Mr. and Mrs. Stone 
 five children have been born: Fred, born 
 October 22, 1881; Leon, December 19, 
 1882; Ray, August 18, 1883; Isla, Novem- 
 ber 20, 1888; and Vernette, November 25, 
 1890. 
 
 In politics Mr. Stone is a Democrat and 
 a firm believer in free silver. The only of- 
 fice that he has held has been that of school 
 director. As a farmer he ranks among the 
 best in Elgin township, and as a citizen he 
 is held in the highest esteem. 
 
 ASA ROSENCRANS, deceased, was one 
 of the representative and honored pio- 
 neers of Kane county, with whose early de- 
 velopment and prosperity he and his family 
 were prominently identified. The family is 
 of Danish extraction, being founded in this 
 country by two brothers who came from 
 Amsterdam, and the name was formerly 
 spelled Rosenkrans. Representatives of 
 the family have figured largely in American 
 history, one of whom was General Rosen- 
 crans, of the Civil war. 
 
 Col. John Rosencrans, our subject's 
 grandfather, was a famous Indian fighter, 
 and commanded a regiment during the 
 French and Indian war from 1755 until 
 1762. In 1777 he was made a colonel in 
 the war of the Revolution. Filled with the 
 spirit of adventure, he did much toward 
 opening up new country to civilization. He 
 was born in 1724 and was married in 1751 
 to Miss Margaret De Witt. Their second 
 oldest child, John Rosencrans, was a native 
 of New Jersey, and was a farmer by occu- 
 pation. The first of the family, who also 
 
 bore the name of John, died in infancy. 
 These were followed by Jacob; Arrantie, 
 who died in infancy; Arrantie, married 
 Abraham Van Coopen; Alexander, born in 
 1759, married Mary Mortman; Catherine, 
 born in 1761, who first married a Mr. 
 Woodard, and, after 'his death, wedded 
 John Pelton; Charrick De Witt, born in 
 1764, who married Sarah Pelton; Dr. Eli- 
 jah, born in 1766, who married Cornelia 
 Suffern; Levi, born in 1770, who married 
 Polly Hankinson; Benjamin, who was a 
 twin brother of Levi, and married Margaret 
 Schoonover; Simon, who died in infancy; 
 Dr. Simon, who married Sarah Schoonover; 
 and Polly, who was born in 1777 and died 
 unmarried. 
 
 Of this family John Rosencrans was the 
 father of our subject. He married Eliza- 
 beth Van Nest, and they made their home 
 upon a farm in New Jersey, which was aft- 
 erward purchased by their son Asa, with 
 whom they lived until called to their final 
 rest. In order of birth their children were 
 as follows: Isaac, Asa, Elijah, Dr. Char- 
 rick; Lucy, who married John Dennis, and 
 during her widowhood came from New 
 York to Elgin, Illinois, where she died dur- 
 ing the "505; Catherine, who died unmar- 
 ried, in 1827; and Garret, a farmer by oc- 
 cupation, who removed from New Jersey to 
 Wisconsin, where his death occurred. All 
 are now deceased. 
 
 Asa Rosencrans was born in Sussex 
 county, New Jersey, in 1785, and on reach- 
 ing manhood he married Miss Jane Cole, 
 also a native of that county, born December 
 I, 1789, where their children were all born 
 excepting the youngest Mrs. J. R. Hawes 
 whose birth occurred in New York. On 
 leaving his native state, Mr. Rosencrans re- 
 moved to Steuben county, New York, and
 
 GARRETT ROSENCRANS.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 307 
 
 in the autumn of 1836 sent his two oldest 
 sons, Horace and Frazier, to Illinois to pur- 
 chase a farm. They were very fortunate 
 in their selection of land, choosing a tract 
 about two and one-half miles from the pres- 
 ent public square in Elgin. The following 
 year the family located here, and with the 
 interests of Kane county some of its mem- 
 bers have since been identified. In this 
 state Mr. Rosencrans followed farming, but 
 in New Jersey he had worked at the carpen- 
 ter trade. He was very handy with tools, 
 did considerable cabinet work, and some of 
 the bureaus and other articles of furniture 
 which he manufactured are still in posses- 
 sion of the family, prized as precious heir- 
 looms. He died October 30, 1884, and his 
 wife passed away January 18, 1877. For 
 thirty years her health was very poor, but 
 her mind was very active, and she was very 
 devoted to her family. She and her hus- 
 band were among the first members of the 
 Congregational church of Elgin, always took 
 an active and prominent part in its work, 
 and will long be remembered for their 
 countless acts of kindness and hospitality, 
 so characteristic of the pipneer settlers. 
 She was a woman of deep piety and great 
 strength of character. 
 
 In the family of this worthy couple were 
 the following named children: (i) Horace, 
 born in New jersey November 15, 1810, 
 married Maria Ingersol, and had nine chil- 
 dren, of whom four died in infancy. The 
 others are Horace Edgar, a resident of 
 Marengo, Illinois; Louisa, wife of D. Hen- 
 derson, a carpenter; Mrs. Sarah Ann Eggle- 
 ston, of Iowa; and Mrs. Deborah Wood- 
 ward. The father of these children died in 
 '893. aged eighty-three years. (2) Frazier, 
 born in 1813, came with his brother Horace 
 to Illinois in 1836. Two years later, with 
 
 his brothers, he was bathing in the Fox river 
 above where the shoe factory is now located, 
 and one of the younger brothers went be- 
 yond his 'depth. Being unable to swim, 
 Frazier went to his assistance and succeeded 
 in rescuing him, but was himself taken with 
 a cramp and sank to rise no more. His 
 untimely death, by such a heroic deed, cast 
 a pall of gloom not only over .the happy 
 family, but over the entire neighborhood, 
 for he was a great favorite among the early 
 settlers, and made friends of all with whom 
 he Cctme.. in c&iUact. (3) Maria, who was 
 born December 26, 1815, died in the early 
 '503. She first married James H. Scott, 
 and after his death wedded Jerome B. Smith, 
 by whom she had three children Helen, 
 Arthur and Alfred all now deceased. By 
 her first marriage she also had three children 
 Harriet, Fannie and John Frazier Scott. 
 The last named is the only one now living, 
 his home being in Pittsfield, Illinois. He 
 married Mary Pike and has three children: 
 John, an attorney of Chicago; Daniel, a 
 dentist of that city; and Fannie E. , who 
 now makes her home with Mrs. Hawes in 
 Elgin. (4) Dr. Halsey Rosencrans was edu- 
 cated for the medical profession in Chicago 
 under Dr. Brainard, first practiced in Lake 
 Zurick, Wisconsin, for a short time, and 
 then went to Port Lavaca, Texas. His first 
 wife was Anna Eliza Hale, daughter of Dr. 
 Hale, of Dundee. By this union there were 
 three children: Fannie, Lizzie and Cora. 
 For his second wife he married Miss Cynthia 
 E. Bowen September 1 1, 1873. (5) Garrett, 
 mentioned below. (6) Elizabeth, born in 
 December, 1823, was her mother's constant 
 companion for many years. She died in 
 1892. (7) Catherine, born November 19, 
 1826, died at the age of twenty-one years. 
 (8) Hiram, born April 29, 1828, is living
 
 308 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 near Mount Carmel in Southern Utah. (9) 
 Jennie, widow of Moses W. Hawes. 
 
 Garrett Rosencrans, fifth in order of birth, 
 was born in New Jersey April i, 1821, 
 where his boyhood was passed. In the 
 primitive schools of that period he received 
 his elementary education, and at the age of 
 sixteen accompanied his parents on their 
 removal to Illinois, where they settled in 
 Kane county. Here he assisted in the work 
 of the farm until his removal to Elgin. 
 Politically an ardent Republican, he could 
 never be prevailed upon to accept office, 
 with the exception of that of assessor, which 
 he filled with credit for many years. He 
 was also engaged in surveying. He died in 
 Elgin September i o, 1891. Garrett Rosen- 
 crans was one of the well known citizens of 
 Elgin, and was actively identified with every 
 enterprise calculated to develop and foster 
 the growth of his adopted city. By his up- 
 right and honorable career he won the respect 
 of all. 
 
 WILLIAM W. SHERWIN. There are 
 few men in Elgin in the past quarter 
 of a century who have done more for its 
 commercial interests and its growth and de- 
 velopment than the man whose name heads 
 this review. Without vain display he has 
 moved on the even tenor of his way, and 
 yet left his mark on almost everything that 
 has served to make the city of his adoption 
 take front rank among its sister cities of 
 northern Illinois. 
 
 Albert Sherwin, father of our subject, 
 who is now a leading business man of Lead- 
 ville, Colorado, is a native of Vermont, born 
 February 23, 1828, and is a son of Timothy 
 Sherwin, also a native of Vermont. He 
 married Louise Davis, born in Vermont, and 
 
 a daughter of John and Susan (Billings) 
 Davis, both of the same state. By this 
 union were four children, as follows: Will- 
 iam W. and Carrie, twins, the latter dying 
 in childhood; Albert E. , who is with his 
 father in Leadville, and Susan B. , also at 
 Leadville. 
 
 In 1852 Albert Sherwin came west, first 
 locating in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he 
 was engaged in railroad building. From 
 there he moved to Madison, in the same 
 state, where he lived several years. Mrs. 
 Sherwin departed this life in 1865, and he 
 later married Miss Frances M.. Lang, by 
 whom he had one son, Fred L. , now with 
 his parents in Leadville. In 1868, Mr. 
 Sherwin came with his family to Elgin, and 
 engaged in the manufacture of butter and 
 cheese, which business he carried on for ten 
 years, when he sold out and transferred his 
 business operations to Leadville, Colorado, 
 where he has devoted his energies to min- 
 ing, smelting and banking, in which he has 
 been successful. He is a man of fine char- 
 acter and sound business principles. In 
 politics he is a Republican. 
 
 The subject of this sketch spent a part 
 of his boyhood days in Madison, Wisconsin, 
 and was about thirteen years of age when 
 his parents settled in Elgin. After attend- 
 ing the district schools for a short time he 
 was sent to the Academy. In 1871 he en- 
 tered the University of Michigan, at Ann 
 Arbor, but did not complete the course of 
 study. In 1875, when in the senior class, 
 he gave up his studies and returned home 
 to enter upon a business career. 
 
 Forming a partnership with D. E Wood 
 in 1880, under the firm name of Wood & 
 Sherwin, he commenced the manufacture of 
 butter and cheese. This continued until 
 1890, when he purchased his partner's in-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 309 
 
 terest, and has since conducted the business 
 alone. In 1887 he was one of the organ- 
 izers of the Creamery Package Manufactur- 
 ing Company, of which he has since been 
 secretary, and also one of its directors. 
 
 Mr. Sherwin is a member of the Board 
 of Trade of Elgin, and has been its treasurer 
 for a number of years. In 1887 he organ- 
 ized the Elgin Milkine Company, which is 
 also incorporated, and of which he is presi- 
 dent. This product will in due time add to 
 the reputation of Elgin, and will be one of 
 the most popular articles for the table. 
 Aside from all these interests, he is the 
 holder of considerable realty in his adopted 
 city. 
 
 On the 28th of April, 1880, Mr. Sher- 
 win was united in marriage with Miss Carrie 
 M. Town, who was born in Elgin, a daugh- 
 ter of Morris Clinton Town, whose sketch 
 appears elsewhere in this work. They 
 reside in a beautiful home, No. 80 South 
 State street, Elgin, the abode of hospitality. 
 Politically, Mr. Sherwin is a Republican. 
 Fraternally he is a thirty-second degree 
 Mason, a member of Monitor lodge, No. 
 522, F. & A. M. ; Loyal L. Munn chapter, 
 No. 96, R. A. M.; Bethel commandery, No. 
 36, K. T. , all of Elgin, and the Consistory 
 of Chicago. Socially he takes an active in- 
 terest in, and is a member of, the Century 
 Club of Elgin, the Lake Side Park Club, of 
 Lake Geneva, Wisconsin; the Chicago 
 Athletic Club and the University Club of 
 Chicago. With his wife he attends the 
 Congregational Church of Elgin. 
 
 T HERON J. POTTER, of Aurora, Illi- 
 nois, is a native of the great Empire 
 state, which has sent many of its best citi- 
 zens to Illinois, and who have done their 
 
 full share in making it occupy its present 
 proud position as the third state of the Un- 
 ion. The family are of English descent, 
 some of the ancestors of our subject locat- 
 ing in New England at a very early day, the 
 grandfather, Silas Potter, moving to Dutch- 
 ess county, where his son, James Potter, was 
 born in 1798. In his native county James 
 Potter married Margaret Thorne, also a na- 
 tive of that county. By occupation he was 
 a farmer, in which he continued during his 
 entire life. In 1853 he came to Illinois, 
 settled first in Kane county, where he re- 
 sided a few years and then moved to De- 
 Kalb county, where he spent the last years 
 of his life, dying in 1862. His wife sur- 
 vived him a number of years, dying in 1880. 
 They were the parents of five sons and one 
 daughter, who grew to mature years. The 
 oldest, Silas, married, moved west, spent 
 his last years in Aurora, living a retired life, 
 and where his death occurred; Fannie, who 
 is the widow of Lucian Burr, resides in De- 
 Kalb county; William first settled in Kane 
 county and later moved to De Kalb county, 
 where his death occurred; Theron J., of 
 this review; Isaac, a business man of Water- 
 man, Illinois; and Seneca, who is living re- 
 tired in De Kalb, Illinois. 
 
 Theron J. Potter was born in Dutchess 
 county, New York, April 3, 1829. Upon 
 the home farm in his native state he grew 
 to manhood, and as the opportunity was 
 afforded him attended the common schools 
 during the winter months. On attaining 
 his majority he left the parental roof, came 
 west and joined his brother, Silas, in Kane 
 county. Here he was married, September 
 n, 1851, to Miss Ellen Graves, a daughter 
 of D. T. Graves, a minister of the Baptist 
 church, who was a native of Vermont, but 
 in New York married Electa Babcock, a
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 daughter of Samuel Babcock, who was a 
 colonel in the Revolutionary war. With 
 his family Rev. Graves came west in 1838, 
 settling in Warrensville, Du Page county, 
 Illinois, from which place he moved to 
 Aurora in the fall of 1845. He was an ear- 
 nest and active minister of the Gospel, and 
 continued in the ministry until his death in 
 1851. His wife survived him many years, 
 passing away in 1893, at the age of eighty- 
 six years. The)' were laid to rest in the 
 West side cemetery. Mrs. Potter is one of 
 their family of four daughters. Iwanona J. , 
 widow of Richard Breese, resides in Aurora; 
 Ellen, wife of our subject; Mrs. Eliza Free- 
 man, a widow, of Aurora; and Emma, wife 
 of Theodore Howard, of Aurora. 
 
 On coming to Aurora, Rev. Graves pur- 
 chased a farm of one hundred acres lying 
 near the city. After their marriage, Mr. 
 and Mrs. Potter began their domestic life 
 on that farm, where they resided some 
 three or four years. They then moved to 
 De Kalb county, where Mr. Potter pur- 
 chased a farm which he operated two 
 \ears, when he sold out and returned to the 
 old Graves homestead, having purchased 
 the interests of the heirs. He at once be- 
 gan its improvement, and in due time built 
 a large, neat residence, barn and other out- 
 buildings, making of it one of the most de- 
 sirable farms in the township. He contin- 
 ued to work the farm until 1883, when he 
 removed to Aurora, but soon after pur- 
 chased a farm lying partly in Kendall coun- 
 ty, and partly in Sugar Grove township, 
 Kane county, which he operated some 
 three or four years. In 1889 he purchased 
 residence property in Aurora, and has 
 since been living a retired life. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Potter have reared three children, of 
 whom Fannie is the wife of Lewis Paull, a 
 
 stockdealer of Aurora; Arthur J., married 
 and in business in Aurora; and Minnie E., 
 wife of Arthur Winteringham, representing 
 the Covenant Mutual Insurance Company, 
 of Galesburg, Illinois. 
 
 In his political views, Mr. Potter is a 
 stanch advocate of the principles of the Re- 
 publican party. Voting first for John C. 
 Fremont in 1856, he has continued to vote 
 for the nominees of that party from that 
 time to the present. Both he and his wife 
 are consistent members of the New England 
 Congregational church of Aurora. For for- 
 ty-eight years he has resided in Kane and 
 DeKalb counties, while his wife has been a 
 resident sixty years. In the development 
 of Kane county he has borne his part well, 
 and no family in Kane county is held in 
 higher esteem. Honest and upright in 
 character, he has made many friends 
 throughout Kane and De Kalb counties. 
 
 OAMUEL J. GIFT, a farmer residing on 
 O section 15, Hampshire township, traces 
 his ancestry back to Colonial times, his 
 grandfather, Jeremiah Gift, who was of 
 German parentage, being born in Berks 
 county, Pennsylvania, where he died at a 
 ripe old age. His son, Daniel Gift, the fa- 
 ther of our subject, was born in Union 
 county, now Snyder county, Pennsylvania, 
 July 1 8, 1811, and there died June 6, 1879. 
 He married Sophia Hassinger, who died at 
 the age of sixty years. She was the daughter 
 of Jacob Hassinger, who was also of Ger- 
 man descent. To Daniel and Sophia Gift, 
 ten children were born, eight of whom are 
 yet living. In order of birth they were 
 Samuel J., our subject; Mary, who married 
 Simon Wetzel, and lives in Kansas; Ros- 
 well, who served in the war for the union,
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and who died in Ohio after its close; Mar- 
 garet, wife of George Dibler, a retired 
 farmer of Hampshire; Barbara, who mar- 
 ried Philip Gilman, and lives at Milton, 
 Pennsylvania; Jonathan, who also served in 
 the Union army, died in Kentucky during 
 the war; Emeline married Mr. Gilman, 
 of Shamokin, Pennsylvania; Sarah, who 
 married Reuben Bauersox, of Paxton, Penn- 
 sylvania; Austin, who lives at Paxton, 
 Pennsylvania; and Addie, who married Mr. 
 Homer, of the same place. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was born near 
 Middleburg, Union county, Pennsylvania, 
 May 22, 1832, prior to the time that county 
 was cut off from Snyder county. His edu- 
 cation was obtained in the subscription 
 schools of his native county, before the pub- 
 lic school system was adopted. The school 
 facilities were very poor, the terms of school 
 being short and indifferent teachers em- 
 ployed. Until eighteen years of age he 
 worked on the farm and then learned the 
 bricklaying trade at which he continued for 
 five .years. He also learned the tanner's 
 trade, and was also engaged at that business 
 for about five years. In 1866 he came to 
 Kane county, Illinois, and rented land for 
 five years, raising a crop of tobacco. In 
 the fall of 1862 he came to his present 
 place, comprising one hundred and twenty 
 acres which he rented for five years and 
 then purchased. It is fine rolling land, 
 well drained with one and a half miles of 
 tiling, and has on it a good, substantial 
 dwelling, good barns and other outbuildings. 
 Here he has resided for thirty-six years, en- 
 gaged in general dairy farming. He now 
 keeps about twenty head of cows, the prod- 
 uct of which he sells at the creamery in 
 Hampshire. 
 
 Mr. Gift has been married three times, 
 
 his first wife being Catherine Aurend, who 
 was born in Union county, Pennsylvania, 
 in 1832, and was the daughter of John 
 Aurend, who married a Miss Reams. By 
 this union were six children, as follows: 
 James W., who married Kate Madre, by 
 whom he has two children, Maggie and 
 Arthur, and they reside in Kansas; Edgar 
 and Agnes, who died in childhood; John D., 
 who lives in Iowa; Charles E. , who is as- 
 sisting his father in the cultivation of the 
 home farm; and one who died in infancy. 
 For his second wife, Mr. Gift married Bar- 
 bara Frederick, a native of Kane county, 
 Illinois, and a daughter of Mathias Fred- 
 erick. By this marriage are two children, 
 Emma J., who married James Kemmerling, 
 and they have one child, Hilda May; Dora 
 A., who married Reuben Wright. The 
 third wife of Mr. Gift was Lusetta Klick, 
 born in Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, and 
 a daughter of John and Katherine (Decker) 
 Klick. Her father was the son of Conrad 
 and Elizabeth (Decker) Klick, while her 
 mother was a daughter of Jacob and Eliza- 
 beth (Brandt) Decker. By the third mar- 
 riage is one son, Edwin Henry, who is 
 farming with his father. 
 
 Mr. Gift is a member of the United 
 Evangelical church. In politics he is a 
 Republican, and has served his township as 
 school director, road commissioner and vari- 
 ous other official positions. A good neigh- 
 bor and citizen, he is respected by all who 
 know him. 
 
 A LEAN L. MANN, M. D., who is suc- 
 cessfully engaged in the practice of 
 medicine and surgery in Elgin, with office 
 in the Spurling block, was born in that city 
 on the 22d of September, 1859, and is a
 
 312 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 son of Michael and Margaret (O'Connor) 
 Mann, natives of Westmeath and Queens 
 counties, Ireland, respectively. The pa- 
 ternal grandfather spent his entire life in 
 that country, where he died at the age of 
 seventy-two years. In his family were four 
 sons and four daughters. Michael O'Con- 
 nor, the maternal grandfather, came to 
 America in 1852 and lived for a time near 
 Syracuse, New York. From that place he 
 came to Elgin, where he conducted a black- 
 smith shop for many years. He died here 
 in 1893 at the advanced age of eighty-eight 
 years. He had a family of two sons and 
 three daughters. 
 
 In 1852 the Doctor's parents also crossed 
 the Atlantic and at once became residents 
 of Elgin, where the father was a harness- 
 maker for some years. During the Civil 
 war, he served as a telegraph operator at 
 the West Elgin depot, and subsequently 
 followed carpentering for a number of 
 years, but for the last ten or twelve years 
 of his life he was engaged in commercial 
 pursuits. By reason of his business acu- 
 men and the exercise of thrift and frugality, 
 he accumulated considerable property, be- 
 ing in comfortable circumstances at the 
 time of his death, which occurred in Oc- 
 tober, 1895, at the age of sixty-three years, 
 resulting from an accident sustained by 
 being thrown from a cart while breaking a 
 colt. His widow still survives him and 
 lives at the old homestead with her daugh- 
 ters. In the family are eight children, four 
 sons and four daughters, namely: Alban 
 L. ; Blanche; Godfrey; Agnes, wife of 
 Frank Hurlburt; John; Maggie; James and 
 Mary. 
 
 Dr. Mann acquired his literary educa- 
 tion in the schools of Elgin, and at the age 
 of seventeen entered the drug store of Kel- 
 
 ley & Hart for the purpose of acquainting 
 himself with medicine preparatory to enter- 
 ing a medical college. After five years in 
 their employ he matriculated at Bennett 
 Medical College of Chicago, where he grad- 
 uated in March, 1883. For about a year 
 he practiced his profession at Silver Reef 
 Mining Camp, Utah, and then returned to 
 Elgin, where he has since continuously en- 
 gaged in practice. 
 
 On the 7th of January, 1887, Dr. Mann 
 married Miss Bertha S. Kohn, a daughter 
 of Charles and Dorothea (Andorff) Kohn. 
 They now .have two children Alban W. 
 and Marguerite and the family have a 
 pleasant home at No. 392 Chicago street. 
 
 Socially the Doctor belongs to the Ma- 
 sonic fraternity, the Modern Woodmen of 
 America, the Ancient Order of United 
 Workmen, the Royal Arcanum, and the 
 Knights of the Maccabees, and he is also a 
 member of the Illinois State Eclectic Med- 
 ical Society, and the Association of Military 
 Surgeons of the United States, belonging 
 to the last named by reason of having 
 served for five years as surgeon, with the 
 rank of major, in the Third Infantry, Illi- 
 nois National Guard. Politically the Doc- 
 tor is independent, but usually votes with 
 the Republican party, and for three years 
 he served as city physician. 
 
 PETER McKINNELL, a farmer residing 
 near Udina, in Elgin township, was 
 born June 26, 1825, in Kirkkinner parish, 
 Wigtonshire, Scotland, where his early 
 life was passed. In his native land he en- 
 gaged in farming, and continued in that 
 occupation until his emigration to America. 
 Early in December, 1854, he sailed from
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 313 
 
 Liverpool, on "The Driver," but his vessel 
 was wrecked on the Irish coast, where he 
 was detained two weeks. He re-embarked 
 at Liverpool on the vessel '-Constellation" 
 Sunday, December 31, 1854, and after a 
 voyage of four weeks reached New York 
 Saturday, January 27, 1855, and landed 
 Monday, the 29th. By rail he came direct 
 to Chicago, but owing to heavy snowstorms 
 they were a week on the way. From Chi- 
 cago he came by rail to Elgin, where he 
 arrived February 4, five weeks from time of 
 sailing. After a short time spent in Elgin 
 he moved to the northeast corner of Plato 
 township, near where McQueen's station is 
 now located, where he lived one year. At 
 the suggestion of a cousin in business there, 
 he removed to Peoria and worked for him 
 one year. He then moved to the farm of 
 his cousin near El Paso, Woodford county, 
 which he cultivated five years. 
 
 In the spring of 1862 Mr. McKinnell re- 
 turned to Elgin, and for two and a half years 
 worked out on farms to get money on which 
 to again start for himself. For one year he 
 had charge of the dairy farm of Martin 
 McNeal, and for one year the farm of Paul 
 B. Ring. He then rented the D. C. Scho- 
 field farm two years, and then the large 
 farm of George Stringer, now deceased, on 
 which he worked fifteen years. Although 
 they had no written contract, and only a 
 verbal agreement, during the fifteen years 
 of his tenancy no disagreement ever arose 
 between him and Mr. Stringer. In the 
 spring of 1883 he purchased his present 
 farm of eighty-six acres. This he has since 
 continued to work, together with twenty-five 
 acres that he leased. The farm is used for 
 grain and dairy purposes. 
 
 Peter McKinnell is the son of James 
 McKinnell, a native of the same parish in 
 
 which he was born, and who was a farmer 
 who lived and died in his native land about 
 1862, at the age of seventy-seven years. 
 James McKinnell married Janet Hawthorn, 
 born in the parish of Newton Stewart, and 
 daughter of John and Elizabeth (Cleaves) 
 Hawthorn, of the same parish. They were 
 the parents of eight children, of whom our 
 subject was the second in order of birth, 
 and the only one to come to the United 
 States. One brother went to Tasmania, 
 and one to Buenos Ayres, South America. 
 
 Our subject was married in the parish 
 of Kirkkinner, April 20, 1854, to Miss Jessie 
 McDowell, of the same parish, daughter of 
 Charles McDowell, a fanner and large stock 
 dealer, who died when Jessie was two years 
 old. He married Miss Ellen Patterson, 
 daughter of James and Janet (McHarg) Pat- 
 terson. Mrs. McKinnell, who was born 
 February 2, 1834, was sixth in a family of 
 seven children, two of whom came to 
 America John McDowell, deceased; and 
 Mary, wife of William Kirkpatrick, of East 
 Plato. 
 
 To our subject and wife nine children 
 have been born: Ellen Jessie, born March 
 26, 1855, is now the wife of Dr. William 
 Bishop, of St. Charles; Agnes, born August 
 3, 1856, is the wife of William E. Marshall, 
 of East Plato; Eliza Jane, born March 20, 
 1858, died November 26, 1862; Mary, born 
 August 24, 1860, is the wife of Fred J. 
 Marshall, of Plato township; Anna, born 
 January 31, 1863; James, born March 18, 
 1866; one who died in infancy; George, 
 born July 13, 1875; and Hattie, born Feb- 
 ruary 14, 1880, died December 16, 1885. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. McKinnell were reared in 
 the Presbyterian faith, but are now mem- 
 bers of the Congregational church at Udina, 
 in which he for a time was a deacon. In
 
 34 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 politics he is a Republican, but would never 
 accept office, save that of school trustee, 
 which position he filled for some years. 
 
 SMITH YOUNGES, an energetic and 
 thriving farmer residing on section 33, 
 Elgin township, was born in the village of 
 Amsterdam, Schoharie county, New York, 
 October 17, 1852. His father, Charles 
 Younges, was also a native of Schoharie 
 county, where he married Miss Magdeline 
 Lingenfelter, a native of Amsterdam, New 
 York. They were the parents of six chil- 
 dren, as follows: William, living on the 
 old homestead, near Plato; Peter, residing 
 in Bigelow, Kansas; James, deceased; Eliza- 
 beth, wife of W. W. McDonald, of East 
 Plato; Mary, wife of Dell McCarthy, of 
 Watseka, Illinois; and Smith, our subject. 
 Charles Younges was a farmer and stock 
 trader during his entire life. He was a 
 hustling, energetic man, who did all it was 
 possible for any one man to do. He came 
 to Kane county in 1860, but did not remove 
 his family here until 1861. He first pur- 
 chased the Duncan Frazer farm in St. 
 Charles township, but seeing a more desira- 
 ble piece of land in Plato township, forfeit- 
 ed what had been paid on the Frazer farm 
 and bought two hundred and ten acres near 
 East Plato, where he spent the remainder 
 of his life. He also bought the Sovereign 
 farm in Plato township, consisting of one 
 hundred and twenty acres, and also the 
 Payton farm, of one hundred and sixty 
 acres, in Elgin township. He was politic- 
 ally, a Republican and served as school di- 
 rector many terms and also supervisor of 
 his township. His death occurred January 
 3, 1867, at age of forty-eight years. 
 
 Smith Younges was eleven years of age 
 when he came with his parents to Kane 
 county. His education began in the com- 
 mon schools of Amsterdam, New York, and 
 completed in the public schools of Kane 
 county. At the age of nineteen he began 
 life for himself, and worked by the month 
 on farms for three years. He then rented 
 one hundred acres from his mother which 
 he cultivated three years, at the expiration 
 of which time he rented the farm that he 
 now owns for three years. Having been 
 quite successful he purchased the place, 
 which consists of two hundred acres of fine- 
 ly improved land. He rebuilt the dwelling 
 house and also the barn, making the latter 
 thirty-six by eighty feet and also built a 
 stable twenty-six by thirty feet. When the 
 railroad cut through his farm, he bought 
 seventeen acres where his present residence 
 now stands, which with that part of his 
 former farm north of the railroad track, 
 makes one farm, while the south part on 
 which is the old residence, makes a good 
 tenant farm. Two additions have since 
 been built to his residence, and he has also 
 erected a new horse barn thirty by thirty- 
 four feet, wagon-house, twenty by twenty- 
 four, cattle sheds, sixteen by twenty, and 
 cattle barn, thirty-eight by eighty-two feet. 
 Youngdale Station, on the Illinois Central 
 railroad, is located on his farm, and there is 
 also a postoffice at the station. 
 
 Mr. Younges was married in St. Charles 
 township, December 25, 1874, to Miss Car- 
 rie Person, born in that township, and the 
 daughter of Parker and Aurilia (Clark) Per- 
 son, natives of Vermont and New York re- 
 spectively. By this union four children 
 have been born: Clyde, who is assisting his 
 father in the handling of stock; Nellie, 
 Maude and Libbie; Maude is attending the
 
 

 
 SMITH YOUNGES.
 
 MRS. SMITH YOUNGES.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 319 
 
 Elgin Academy; and Libbie, who is attend- 
 ing the district school in Elgin. 
 
 Politically Mr. Younges is a Republican, 
 and has served as school director. Frater- 
 nally he is a member of Elgin lodge, No. 
 117, A. F. & A. M. He is a good business 
 man and is dealing very extensively in stock, 
 buying and shipping from the west more 
 milch cows for the home and Chicago mar- 
 kets than any dealer in this county. ^ He 
 is a good judge of stock and a careful buyer, 
 and he is meeting with deserved success. 
 
 JOSEPH VOLLOR, an honored veteran 
 of the Civil war, and one .of the most 
 highly respected citizens of Elgin, was for 
 many years actively identified with the busi- 
 ness interests of the city, but is now living 
 retired at his pleasant home 169 South 
 Channing street. 
 
 He is a native of Canada, born in Tor- 
 onto, October 12, 1836, and is a son of 
 Joseph and Ellen (Donahue) Vollor, the 
 former a native of Portsmouth, England, 
 and the latter of Belfast, Ireland. For 
 about twenty years the father owned and 
 commanded a vessel on Lake Ontario, and 
 for several years carried passengers and the 
 mail between Toronto and Rochester, New 
 York. During the " McKenzie Rebellion ", 
 as he was about to leave Toronto, one of 
 his passengers (a friend of McKenzie) was 
 arrested and his baggage taken to the May- 
 or's office. Capt. Vollor followed and 
 while addressing the mayor was requested 
 by his honor to take off his hat; he refused, 
 and informed the mayor that he bought the 
 hat, paid for it, and would wear it; for that 
 offence he was committed to jail for 24 hours. 
 Capt. Vollor took the first vessel through 
 the Welland Canal, also landed at Grand 
 
 15 
 
 Haven, Mich., the machinery for the first 
 saw-mill erected in that section. His wife 
 died in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1847 and 
 he in 1851, at Batavia, Illinois. 
 
 The first ten years of his life Joseph 
 Vollor spent in Toronto, where he attended 
 school to a limited extent and then accom- 
 panied his parents on their removal to Mil- 
 waukee, Wisconsin. After eighteen months 
 in that city the family, father and three 
 children, moved to Chicago and six months 
 later to Batavia, Illinois. Upon .the death 
 of his father Joseph Vollor was taken by 
 Spencer Johnson, a farmer, to keep until 
 he became of age, the understanding being 
 that he^would attend school three months 
 each winter,- .and when twenty-one would 
 receive one hundred dollars and two suits of 
 clothes. The last winter he attended school 
 but four weeks, as he had been notified that 
 he would have to "speak a piece" before 
 the school on Friday afternoon. He con- 
 cluded that he was not cut out for an ora- 
 tor, and when Friday noon came around he 
 gathered up his books, went home and cut 
 stove wood the balance of the winter. 
 
 In 1859 he was taken with the Pike's 
 Peak fever, and with his hard earned sav- 
 ings invested in teams, provisions and outfit 
 necessary for gold mining, full of hope and 
 with big letters, " Pike's Peak or Bust," on 
 his wagon cover, he started. Did not get 
 half way before thousands were met com- 
 ing back, hungry and foot sore, and he and 
 his companion had to join the procession 
 and return. When the outfit was disposed 
 of he had but little left of his seven years 
 hard earnings, and felt that he was " busted." 
 In 1860 he worked a farm on shares, and 
 crops being extra good he cleared about 
 $400, which he took with him to Chicago 
 in September and went through a course in
 
 320 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Bryant & Stratton's Commercial College. 
 He deposited his money in a bank and lost 
 something over $200 by failure. 
 
 At the outbreak of the Civil War Mr. 
 Vollor was residing at Batavia and enlisted 
 under first call for troops, but company was 
 not accepted ; enlisted twice afterwards 
 and was finally, on the ist day of August, 
 1 86 1, mustered in as fourth corporal 
 Company I, Forty-Second Illinois In- 
 fantry. In September the regiment pro- 
 ceeded to St. Louis, Missouri, and for a 
 time was quartered in Benton Barracks, 
 where daily drills were had, and arms 
 were furnished. From Benton Barracks 
 took boat for Jefferson City, where the 
 regiment received twenty-four six- muled 
 teams two for each company and four for 
 headquarters, including hospital. After re- 
 ceiving transportation and equipment regi- 
 ment was started on a tramp for Spring- 
 field, Missouri, after rebel army, under 
 Price. From Springfield tramped back to 
 Smithton, which was headquarters for the 
 regiment. Mr. Vollor's company (I) was 
 stationed at Farmers' City, about two miles 
 farther west, and patrolled the railroad be- 
 tween there and Sedalia. Col. Webb and 
 many of the larger and apparently strong- 
 est men of the regiment died during the 
 winter. Company I being alone, some of 
 the members would go out nights and con- 
 fiscate bee-hives, geese, chickens and other 
 good things. In February, 1862, started 
 on march to St. Louis, and there took boats 
 for Cairo and crossed the river from there 
 to Fort Holt, Kentucky. Fort Donelson 
 prisoners had just arrived at Cairo when 
 Forty-second reached there. In a short 
 time were ordered to Columbus, Kentucky, 
 and werethe first infantry to enter the place. 
 
 After remaining at Columbus a short 
 
 time accompanied the gunboat fleet down 
 the river to Island No. 10, where mortar 
 boats amused the Johnnies for several weeks 
 by throwing fifteen-inch shells over the isl- 
 and every fifteen minutes only damage to 
 the enemy being the breaking of one leg of 
 a mule. The gunboats did a great deal of 
 firing at a battery in bend of river on the 
 Tennessee shore, but did little damage. 
 Colonel G. W. Roberts, of the Forty-sec- 
 ond Illinois, became restive at waste of time 
 and ammunition, and offered to take fifty 
 men of his regiment if boats would be 
 furnished him and go down and spike the 
 battery. Boats were furnished, and he went 
 down on the night of April i, 1862, during 
 a terrible wind and rain storm, and spiked 
 the battery he being the first man ashore 
 and driving the first spike. A few nights 
 after a gunboat ran by the island, later 
 others followed, and on April jth the Rebels 
 surrendered about sixty-five hundred prison- 
 ers, seven thousand small arms and one 
 hundred pieces of artillery. 
 
 After surrender of Island No. 10, regi- 
 ment proceeded to Fort Pillow, remained a 
 short time, and then took boats for Ham- 
 burg Landing, Mississippi, to take part in 
 siege of Corinth. During siege, engaged in 
 battle of Farmington, where the regiment 
 made the Johnnies a present of all knap- 
 sacks and contents. Mr. Vollor had in his 
 quite a sized book, in which he had been 
 keeping a record of daily experiences. 
 Thinks if he had the book now he would 
 keep it under lock, as there were things re- 
 corded that might not read well at the pres- 
 ent time. 
 
 Flag of Forty-second Illinois was first 
 to float over Corinth after the Rebels left. 
 Followed Rebels to Rienzi and in few days 
 returned to Camp Blue Springs near Cor-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 321 
 
 inth. While there, were furnished with 
 "pup Tents" in exchange for Sibley's; ten 
 companies were also furnished with Austrian 
 rifles and saber bayonets in exchange for 
 the almost worthless Springfield muskets, 
 received at St. Louis. From Blue Springs 
 regiment with two pieces of artillery was 
 ordered to Cortland, Alabama, and remained 
 there from July 25th until September 3d, 
 1862, when were started on forced march 
 for Nashville, Tennessee, and on the way 
 took part in a skirmish with Rebel cavalry 
 at Columbia, losing one man killed while 
 Rebels lost eight killed and forty-five wound- 
 ed. The march to Nashville was a hard 
 one, the weather being very hot, and the 
 broken stone roads caused many blistered 
 feet. Mr. Vollor had, on one day, three 
 blisters on bottom of one foot and two on 
 other. He was the only non-commissioned 
 officer (except the orderly) of Company I 
 to get into camp with the colors. A ser- 
 geant was called for for picket and there 
 being none in camp Mr. Vollor (a corporal) 
 had to go. He considered that he was 
 punished for keeping up on the march. 
 
 The Forty-second occupied Nashville 
 during the race between Buell and Bragg's 
 armies through Kentucky. Being cut off 
 from base of supplies army rations were 
 short, but by foraging, a good supply of 
 sweet potatoes and sometimes fresh pork 
 was procured. After the return of the army, 
 then under command of Gen. Rosecrans, 
 Col. Roberts, who was very ambitious and 
 opposed to doing garrison duty, requested 
 that his regiment (the Forty-second Illinois) 
 be allowed to join the army then preparing 
 to move on Murfreesboro. His wish was 
 granted and he was assigned to the com- 
 mand of a brigade, composed of the Twenty- 
 second, Twenty-seventh, Forty-second and 
 
 Fifty-first Illinois regiments, in Sheridan's 
 division of the Twentieth Corps, commanded 
 by Alex. McDowell McCook. 
 
 On December 26, 1862, the army under 
 Rosecrans started on a winter campaign 
 toward Murfreesboro. The rain came down 
 in torrents all day and a bitter cold wind 
 blew from the northeast. The condition 
 and feelings of the men when night came 
 can be imagined better than described. 
 There were no tents for shelter that night, 
 and no fires could be built to make coffee. 
 With 'plenty of hot coffee the boys could 
 endure almost any exposure without it life 
 was hardly worth living. Mr. Vollor says 
 he will never forget that night. Sitting on 
 the wet ground, at the roots of a large tree, 
 with cape of overcoat over his head, he 
 would doze for a short time and would 
 awake so cold that he had to get up and 
 walk around. That was kept up during the 
 .night. On December 3Oth arrived within 
 two and a half miles of Murfreesboro and 
 had skirmish with the enemy in which 
 quite a number of the Forty-second were 
 killed and wounded. Rebel cavalry had 
 captured and destroyed a large number of 
 wagons loaded with rations, and the morn- 
 ing of the 3 ist found the men with empty 
 haversacks, preparing for one of the blood- 
 iest battles of the war. A little corn meal 
 had been secured the day before and some 
 mush had been made by some of the Forty- 
 second. As the men of Sheridan's Division 
 stood under arms at 3 o'clock that winter 
 morning and listened to the reading of or- 
 ders from General Rosecrans little did they 
 realize what they would pass through before 
 night. The Forty-second Illinois took acon- 
 spicuous part in the battle, and while regi- 
 ment was falling back to escape capture the 
 Rebels coming in on their flank Mr. Vollor
 
 322 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 was hit on foot by a spent ball, also on right 
 elbow, his gun dropping from his hands. 
 Although the Rebels were close on to him 
 he stopped and picked his gun up and by 
 doing so came near being captured. He 
 was unable to use his arm for a week or 
 more but kept his position with his com- 
 pany. Three balls passed through his cloth- 
 ing during the battle. His name is on Roll 
 of Honor of Army of the Cumberland for 
 meritorious service, was also promoted from 
 Fourth Corporal of Company I, to quarter- 
 master sergeant of the regiment. 
 
 During a foraging expedition near Mur- 
 freesboro, a company of Rebels attacked the 
 foraging party, but were dispersed, some 
 of the enemy being discovered in the woods 
 for the purpose of picking off Union gun- 
 ners. Mr. Vollor and three men went out 
 got in their rear and brought two of them 
 in, and for this action received commenda- 
 tion. When the army moved out from 
 Murfreesboro, the objective point being 
 Chattanooga, Mr. Vollor, as quartermaster- 
 sergeant, was in charge of his regimental 
 train. The crossing of Raccoon and Look- 
 out mountains was difficult and dangerous. 
 While ascending Lookout, after dark, a six- 
 mule team, a short distance ahead of Mr. 
 Vollor's wagon became frightened at some 
 object and unmanageable and went off the 
 side of the mountain, which was very steep. 
 Mules were killed and kindling wood made 
 of wagon. After reaching top of mountain 
 Mr. Vollor discovered a sutler's wagon a 
 few wagons ahead of his, and during the 
 darkness he succeeded in borrowing a num- 
 ber of boxes of sardines, cans of fruit and 
 other eatables. On igth and 2Oth of Sep- 
 tember, occurred battle of Chickamauga, 
 where Forty-second Illinois lost in killed, 
 twenty-eight; wounded, one hundred and 
 
 twenty-eight; prisoners, thirty-six, out of a 
 total of less than four hundred and fifty. 
 The greater part of loss occurred inside of 
 thirty minutes. After Chickamauga the 
 Army of the Cumberland was shut up 
 around Chattanooga on short rations 
 and in danger of starvation. Ten thousand 
 horses and mules starved to death, and ac- 
 cording to General Grant's report there 
 were not horses enough in the Army of the 
 Cumberland to haul a single piece of artil- 
 lery. General Grant telegraphed Thomas: 
 "Hold Chattanooga at all hazards." He 
 replied, "We will hold it till we starve." 
 Mr. Vollor says he felt as if a person stand- 
 ing in front of him could see his backbone. 
 He saw men pick kernels of corn out of 
 mud and manure, and parch it to eat. The 
 arrival of Eleventh and Twelfth Corps 
 saved the army from starvation. 
 
 On November 25th, the battle of Mission 
 Ridge was fought, and resulted in a glori- 
 ous victory. General Grant says in his 
 memoirs, to Sheridan's prompt movement 
 the Army of the Cumberland and the na- 
 tion are indebted for the bulk of the cap- 
 ture of prisoners, artillery and small arms 
 that day. Mr. Vollor followed the troops 
 in the charge and helped take care of 
 wounded, although his position did not re- 
 quire him to be there. Shortly after the 
 Fourth Corps was sent to Knoxviile to the 
 relief of Burnside, and Mr. Vollor was de- 
 tailed to take charge of tools of his brigade. 
 Remained in East Tennessee during the 
 winter without tents, but little clothing and 
 short rations. Bran bread was a luxury. 
 On the memorable cold January i, 1864, 
 while bivouacked in the woods with two 
 inches of snow, and mercury three degrees 
 below zero, a majority of the Forty-second 
 re-enlisted for another three years, and Mr.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 323 
 
 Vollor again put his name down as a private 
 of Company I. 
 
 On the way to Knoxville, the home of a 
 Rebel colonel was passed. In a storeroom 
 a barrel of sorghum syrup was found, and 
 soon a line of blue coats with tin cups were 
 going in the back door, dipping the cups in 
 the barrel and rushing out through the front 
 parlor with syrup dripping all over the 
 carpet. It was the first house Mr. Vollor 
 had entered to take anything. He had 
 sympathy for the female Rebel who was 
 calling his comrades all sorts of names. 
 Mr. Vollor, before reaching Knoxville, 
 picked up a very fine pair of mules, which 
 had been used for a carriage team. He 
 was offered four hundred dollars for them 
 by a sutler, but refused, and put them in 
 one of his teams. 
 
 In February the regiment started for 
 Chattanooga on their way home on a thirty- 
 days' furlough. Next morning, after reach- 
 ing Chattanooga, the fine mules were miss- 
 ing, and Mr. Vollor had to pick up a pair 
 that had been turned out to die, in order to 
 to have the right number to turn over to the 
 post quartermaster. He regretted that he 
 did not take the four hundred dollars. The 
 regiment took the furlough, and returned to 
 Chattanooga the latter part of April, and 
 became a part of Sherman's army for the 
 Atlanta campaign. Mr. Vollor was again 
 appointed quartermaster-sergeant, and acted 
 as quartermaster during the campaign, the 
 quartermaster being sick at Chattanooga. 
 The Forty-second Illinois took part in the 
 following engagements during the Atlanta 
 campaign Rocky Face Ridge, Resaca, 
 Adairsville, New Hope Church, Pine Mount- 
 ain, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, 
 Siege of Atlanta, Jonesboro and Lovejoy 
 Station. After the capture of Atlanta, and 
 
 before Sherman started on his march to the 
 sea, the Fourth Corps was sent back to 
 Chattanooga, and the Forty-second was 
 stationed for a while at Bridgeport, and 
 from there went to Pulaski, Tennessee; 
 remained there until Hood started in on his 
 invasion of Tennessee, and fell back with 
 the rest of the army toward Nashville. 
 The Forty-second received a number of new 
 recruits at Spring Hill, several of whom 
 were killed during some severe fighting at 
 points, the enemy having made attempt to 
 capture trains that were packed by the 
 roadside. Trains were on the move all 
 night toward Franklin, and many times 
 during the night were fired on by Rebel cav- 
 alry. The next day (3oth) some Rebel cav- 
 alry with blue overcoats came in from a 
 crossroad and commenced firing, killing a 
 number of mules and burning wagons. 
 Some of the drivers became demoralized 
 and jumped from their mules and sought 
 shelter. One driver was stopped by Mr. 
 Vollor threatening to shoot him. The 
 driver thanked him afterward for keeping 
 him from being a coward. 
 
 November 3, 1864, was fought the battle 
 of Franklin for the number of men engaged 
 and the time it lasted, the hardest fought bat- 
 tle of the war. Rebel loss, one thousand, sev- 
 en hundred and fifty killed, three thousand, 
 eight hundred wounded, among them six 
 generals killed and six wounded. Union 
 loss was light, comparatively. During the 
 night fell back to Nashville and remained 
 until December 15 and 16, when battle of 
 Nashville was fought. While there the 
 colonel of the Forty-second sent to the 
 governor for a commission as first lieutenant 
 for Mr. Vollor, but it was not granted. Dur- 
 ing battle of Nashville, while riding through 
 a cornfield, Mr. Vollor was fired at, ball
 
 324 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 cutting off corn stalk near his horse's head. 
 From Nashville regiment pursued the enemy 
 about eighty miles to Lexington, and then 
 marched to Decatur, Alabama, leaving there 
 April i, 1865, for East Tennessee, it being 
 thought that Lee's army might undertake to 
 come through. Heard of Lee's surrender 
 and Lincoln's assassination while there. The 
 Forty-second returned to Nashville, remained 
 until June, and then, with balance of Fourth 
 Corps, embarked for New Orleans, en route 
 to Texas, it being thought at the time that 
 there might be some trouble with Maximil- 
 ian. Mr. Vollor was left to follow with 
 transportation and camp equipage, and when 
 he reached Cairo he invested fifty dollars in 
 condensed milk at one dollar per can and a 
 lot of soft bread, and for a few days he and 
 the men who were with him lived high. 
 Arrived at Vicksburg afternoon of July 4, 
 remaining until next day. In evening at- 
 tended a negro dance. It was terribly hot, 
 and concluded it was pleasanter in open air. 
 Reached New Orleans about roth and found 
 regiment on bank of river below the city. 
 A short time after, embarked for Port La- 
 vaca, Texas, where remained a short time 
 and afterward went into camp some distance 
 out on prairie, and were finally mustered out 
 on December 15, 1865, and started for home. 
 Total enrollment of Forty-second Illinois 
 was one thousand, six hundred and twenty- 
 two, of whom one hundred and eighty-one 
 were killed, four hundred and seventy-three 
 wounded, two hundred and six died of dis- 
 ease and accident and thirty-three in Rebel 
 prisons. The Forty-second is numbered as 
 one of Colonel Fox's three hundred fighting 
 regiments. While in Texas Mr. Vollor re- 
 ceived commission as first lieutenant and 
 quartermaster. Were in New Orleans on 
 Christmas eve and needed mosquito netting 
 
 to protect us from the pests. Were paid off 
 at Springfield on January 10, 1866, nearly 
 four and one-half years after first muster. 
 Mr. Vollor is proud to say that he has no 
 hospital record, being one of those who es- 
 caped being shot and had little sickness. 
 Although has at times been laid up for sev- 
 eral weeks by rheumatism and having heart 
 trouble, has not drawn a pension. 
 
 After the war Mr. Vollor returned to 
 Batavia for a time, and then was employed 
 as bookkeeper in a wholesale house in Chi- 
 cago. Later went into wholesale wooden- 
 ware, cordage and notion business, and was 
 cleaned out by the big fire of 1871. In 
 1872 went to Portland, Maine, and for two 
 and one-half years had charge of the busi- 
 ness of Curtis & Son, and then returned to 
 Elgin and for many years did an extensive 
 business as a manufacturer of chewing gum. 
 Mr. Vollor is one of those who believes "the 
 laborer is worthy of his hire, "and always 
 paid nearly double the wages that any other 
 manufacturers of chewing gum did. 
 
 In 1868 Mr. Vollor married Miss Martha 
 C. Waldron, a daughter of Andrew J. and 
 Calista S. (Smith) Waldron, and to them 
 have been born three children: Joseph Tru- 
 man died in Portland, Dunbar W. married 
 Grace Bristol, of Galesburg, Illinois, and 
 has one daughter, Madelin. He is now em- 
 ployed in the Home National Bank of El- 
 gin. Helen is with her parents. Mrs. Vollor 
 is a member of the Universalist church, and 
 a most estimable lady. 
 
 Since casting his first vote for John C. 
 Fremont first candidate of the Republican 
 party for the presidency Mr. Vollor has 
 been unwavering in his support of the 
 G. O. P. He is one of the most prominent 
 members of Veteran post 49, G. A. R. , of 
 Elgin; served four years as its quartermaster,
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 325 
 
 two years a junior vice-commander and 
 three years as commander. He is also a 
 member of the Military Order of the Loyal 
 Legion, and at the present time is president 
 of the Veteran Republican Club, which is 
 composed of old soldiers, also president of 
 Forty-second Illinois Veteran Association. 
 He served on staff of Commander-in-chief 
 Adams, and on the staff of three different 
 department commanders. His loyalty as a 
 citizen and his devotion to the interests of 
 his adopted country have been among his 
 most prominent characteristics. He is more 
 thoroughly American than many who are 
 native born. The community is fortunate 
 that numbers him among its citizens. 
 
 JABEZ SWITZER, now living a retired 
 life in Plato township, traces hfs descent 
 back to one of three brothers of Swiss origin, 
 who were residing in France and were com- 
 pelled, on account of religious persecutions, 
 to flee the country during the time of Louis 
 XIV. They enlisted under the banner of 
 William, Prince of Orange, were officers, 
 and participated in the battles of Boyne, 
 and were allotted portions of the territory 
 for their services. From one of these 
 brothers descended John Switzer, who set- 
 tled in Tipperary. His son, Martin, was 
 the first of the family to come to America. 
 In 1803, Martin Switzer married Mary 
 Maurice, and in July, 1804, came to Amer- 
 ica, settling at Elizabeth, New Jersey, 
 where he lived until after the war of 1812. 
 He then moved to New York, and later, in 
 1820, to Canada, where he secured one 
 hundred acres of land and engaged in farm- 
 ing. Martin Switzer was the father of 
 Samuel, whose third son, Samuel, was the 
 father of Jabez Switzer, of this sketch. 
 
 One of the ancestors of Mary Maurice was 
 among the supporters of Cromwell in 1640. 
 
 Jabez Switzer was born near Streets- 
 ville, Ontario, Canada, August 7, 1848, and 
 was ninth in a family of ten children. One 
 year later his parents came to Kane county, 
 locating three miles from St. Charles. On 
 his father's farm he grew to manhood, and 
 received his education in the country schools, 
 supplemented by an attendance in the St. 
 Charles High School. His mother died in 
 Canada while he was an infant, and his 
 father in 1853, when he was but five years 
 old. His brother was appointed his guardian, 
 and with him he remained until he was 
 eighteen years of age, when he married and 
 rented a farm near Chebanse, Iroquois 
 county, Illinois, one year, and one year 
 near Kankakee. He then returned to Kane 
 county, and for a short time worked for his 
 brother, when, in 1867, he came to his 
 present farm on section 1 1, Plato township, 
 which he rented one year on shares, and 
 three years for cash. In 1871 he bought 
 the farm, consisting of one hundred and 
 sixty acres, and for some years engaged in 
 raising grain principally, but for the past 
 few years has devoted himself to dairying/ 
 On the first of March, 1898, he retired from 
 active farming, leasing his farm to his son, 
 Ira J., who is now in control of the place. 
 
 Jabez Switzer was married, February 
 14, 1866, in St. Charles, Kane county, to 
 Miss Elizabeth Banks, a native of England, 
 who came to America at the age of ten 
 years, lived in Canada four years, and then 
 came to St. Charles, Kane county. She is 
 the daughter of Robert and Hannah (Butler) 
 Banks, the latter being a daughter of John 
 Butler, who died when she was quite young, 
 so she knew but little of his ancestry. Han- 
 nah Banks dying, her husband married
 
 326 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Rachel Swales, daughter of William and 
 Elinor Swales, by whom Hannah was 
 reared. A drinking glass that belonged to 
 them is treasured by Mrs. Switzer for its 
 age and associations. 
 
 Robert Banks was born at Water, York- 
 shire, England, in 1814, and died July u, 
 1877. He was a man of fine education, a 
 writer of no little literary ability, and a 
 teacher for some years. In England he was 
 a mill-owner and lived at Brampton, near 
 Scarborough. In emigrating to America, 
 he sailed from Liverpool, on the 2ist of 
 March, 1849, and was six weeks in making 
 the voyage, which was a stormy one, the 
 captain declaring it the worst that he had 
 experienced in twenty years. At one 
 time the ship was on fire, and the passen- 
 gers were greatly alarmed. They landed at 
 New York and in a few days went 'to To- 
 ronto, Canada, and later to Simcoe county, 
 where he settled, and bought two hundred 
 acres of land. After residing there three 
 years, he sold out and came to Illinois, and 
 rented a farm near Fayville. He also 
 taught school near Huntley. Later he re- 
 moved to St. Charles, and worked at mill- 
 ing until he retired from active life. Of 
 the ten children born to Robert Banks and 
 wife, all attained maturity and six of these 
 still survive. 
 
 To Jabez and Elizabeth Switzer, thir- 
 teen children were born, nine of whom are 
 yet living: (i) Ray, deceased. (2) Hor- 
 tense, who married E. D. Pease, of Elgin, 
 by whom she has five children: Helen J., 
 Minnie L. , Elizabeth E., Clarence D. and 
 Glenn I. (3) Joseph Robert, who married 
 Emma Robinson, by whom he has one son, 
 Robert J., and they now reside in Chicago. 
 (4) Ira J. married Mamie Brady, born in 
 North Plato, and daughter of Henry 
 
 and Lily (Collins) Brady, and they have one 
 son, Arthur Walter, born June 20, 1895. 
 Ira J. Switzer attended the Pingree Grove 
 School, Elgin Academy and Drew's Busi- 
 ness College. Fraternally he is a member 
 of Pingree Grove Camp, No. 65 5, M. W. A. 
 (S) Salina E., who married Charles Camp- 
 bell, by whom she had one son, Lawrence 
 C. Her husband is now deceased. (6) 
 Grace A., deceased. (7) Blanche. (8) 
 Mabel, deceased. (10) Eva May. (u) 
 Minnie, deceased. (12) Alice I. (13) Boyd. 
 Mr. Switzer is a member of Oak Leaf 
 Tent, No. 22,508, K. O. T. M. of Pingree 
 Grove. Politically he is a Democrat and 
 served some years as school director. As a 
 citizen he has done his full share in develop- 
 ing the material interests of Kane county. 
 
 EDWARD S. SMITH, who is engaged in 
 the real estate, insurance and loan busi- 
 ness, at Batavia, has been a resident of 
 Kane county for a period of forty-five years. 
 He is a native of New York, born in Es- 
 sex county, on the borders of Lake Cham- 
 plain, March 20, 1832, and is the son of 
 Elias Smith, born in Washington county, 
 New York, of which his father was an early 
 settler. Elias Smith, who was a soldier in the 
 war of 1812, for which service he received 
 a land warrant, grew to manhood in his na- 
 tive county and there married Miss Zeruiah 
 Reed, also a native of Washington county, 
 New York. Soon after their marriage, they 
 moved to Moriah, Essex county, near Lake 
 Champlain, where the remainder of their 
 lives were spent, and where they reared their 
 family, and where they both died, the fa- 
 ther at the age of eighty-three years, the 
 mother at the age of forty-one years. 
 
 Until the age of fifteen years, our sub-
 
 E. S. SMITH.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 329 
 
 ject remained under the parental roof, and 
 received his education in the public schools 
 and the academy. He then went to Sara- 
 toga, and spent one year, then accepted a 
 position in the mercantile establishment of 
 J. & J. H. Peck & Company, of Burlington, 
 Vermont, where he received his business 
 education, remaining with them five years. 
 In 1853, a young man who had just passed 
 his majority, he came to Batavia, Illinois, 
 and for the first year was in the grain busi- 
 ness, as the junior member of the firm of 
 Rogers & Smith. He was then associated 
 with Mr. Harris Hoyt, in the manufacture 
 of barrels by machinery for about two years, 
 the business proving financially disastrous. 
 For a time he was connected with various 
 enterprises and for many years agent of the 
 American Express Company. In 1861, he 
 was appointed by Montgomery Blair, post- 
 master-general under President Lincoln, as 
 postmaster of Batavia, and by successive re- 
 appointments served a period of twenty-five 
 years, under seven different presidents. 
 That he made a satisfactory officer is at- 
 tested by his long continued service. 
 
 Mr. Smith was united in marriage, in 
 Batavia, Illinois, April 15, 1861, to Jane M. 
 Mallory, a native of Penn Yan, Yates coun- 
 ty, New York, who came to Batavia, Illi- 
 nois, when fifteen years of age, and was 
 educated in the schools of Batavia and 
 Evanston, Illinois; her father, Smith L. 
 Mallory, was a prominent railroad contract- 
 or. By this union are five children, as fol- 
 lows: Elinor Louise, now the wife of Rev. 
 P. C. Walcott, of Highland Park, Lake 
 county, Illinois; Mary W., wife of Fred 
 H. Burke, a resident of Batavia; Ed- 
 ward M., who is associated with his father 
 in the insurance and real estate business. 
 Frank P., who resides at home; and Jessie 
 
 M., who is now one of the teachers of the 
 West Batavia public schools. 
 
 Mr. Smith fiist began the insurance busi- 
 ness in 1859, but abandoned it after receiv- 
 ing his appointment as postmaster. When 
 he retired from that office, he again re- 
 sumed the insurance business, in which he 
 has continued to the present time. In July, 
 1890, he was appointed to a position in the 
 sub-treasury, by Colonel Dustin, and served 
 during Harrison's administration. He has 
 been identified with the Republican party 
 since its organization, and has never missed 
 casting his vote for the presidential nomi- 
 nee of that party, up to the present time. 
 In addition to the offices already mentioned 
 as held by him, he has served as town 
 clerk, village trustee and other minor posi- 
 tions. In the various conventions of his 
 party he has frequently served as a delegate, 
 and in them has wielded considerable influ- 
 ence. Religiously, he is liberal in his views 
 but attends the Methodist Episcopal church, 
 of which his wife is a member, while some 
 of the family are Protestant Episcopal. 
 Fraternally, he is a Master Mason and for 
 many years served as secretary of the 
 lodge. As a citizen he is held in the high- 
 est esteem and is popular with all classes in 
 the community. 
 
 JACOB R. GORHAM. In the respect 
 that is accorded to men who have fought 
 their way to success through unfavorable 
 environments we find an unconcious recog- 
 nition of the intrinsic worth of a character 
 which cannot only endure so rough a test, 
 but gain new strength through the disci- 
 pline. The following history sets forth 
 briefly the steps which our subject, now one
 
 330 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 
 
 of the substantial citizens of St. Charles, 
 overcame the disadvantages of his early life. 
 Coming to this section of the state Novem- 
 ber 1 8, 1852, he was for many years active- 
 ly identified with the farming and stock 
 raising interests of Du Page and Kane coun- 
 ties, but having secured an ample fortune, 
 he has now laid aside all business cares. 
 
 Mr. Gorham was born September 26, 
 1830, in Dutchess county. New York, a son 
 of William Gorham, whose birth occurred 
 in Stratford, Connecticut, about 1780. His 
 grandfather, Stephen Gorham, was a native 
 of France, and came to the new world 
 with General LaFayette to aid the colonies 
 in their struggle for independence during the 
 Revolutionary war. Subsequently he lo- 
 cated in Stratford, Connecticut, and for the 
 remainder of his life was a pilot, holding a 
 government license, which allowed him to 
 conduct vessels through Hell Gate. In his 
 family were five sons who were reared in 
 Connecticut. Two of them located in 
 Great Barrington, Massachusetts; Louis, a 
 farmer by occupation; and Le Grand, a mil- 
 ler and hotel keeper; Kirk was a tailor by 
 trade; Benjamin went to the West Indies. 
 Two of these never married. 
 
 William Gorham, our subject's father, 
 completes the family. At an early day he 
 removed to Pawling, Dutchess county, New 
 York, where he established two tan yards, 
 being a tanner and currier by trade, and 
 also engaged in farming and merchandizing 
 with good success, accumulating a nice 
 estate. He married Sarah Holloway, a 
 native of Pawling, and a daughter of Justin 
 Holloway, who was also born in Dutchess 
 county. Our subject's great-grandfather 
 Parks, on the maternal side, was a Revolu- 
 tionary soldier, and lived to the advanced 
 age of ninety years. Mr. and Mrs. Gor- 
 
 ham came to Illinois and spent their last 
 years in Will county, the father dying dur- 
 ing the Civil war. The mother survived 
 him a few years, passing away at the age 
 of eighty-four years. 
 
 In their family were the following chil- 
 dren: Hannah Etta married a Mr. Dodge, 
 and first located in Dutchess county, New 
 York, but later came to Will county, Illi- 
 nois, where she died; Mary Ann is the 
 widow of R. H. Leake, and is a resident of 
 St. Charles; Akin H. died at his home in 
 Will county; Emma E. married a Mr. Cald- 
 well, of Dutchess county, New York, and 
 both are now deceased; Jacob R. , of this 
 sketch, is the next of the family; Elijah is 
 engaged in the grain business in Russell 
 county, Kansas; and William was killed by 
 lightning at his home in Du Page county, 
 Illinois. 
 
 Reared in Dutchess county, New York, 
 Jacob R. Gorham obtained a good com- 
 mon-school education, and assisted his fa- 
 ther in the work of the farm and tan yard 
 until twenty-one years of age. Determined 
 to try his fortune in the west, he came alone 
 to Du Page county, Illinois, and at first 
 worked on a farm in Wayne township. 
 With a partner, he afterward engaged in 
 farming, and in 1853 successfully operated 
 a farm on the shares. Borrowing one hun- 
 dred dollars, he began buying and selling 
 cattle, and in this business cleared about 
 eight hundred dollars. The following fall 
 he returned to New York, but after visiting 
 his parents and friends for three months, he 
 again came to Wayne township, Du Page 
 county, where he purchased a farm, though 
 he went in debt for it. In connection with 
 farming, he continued to engage in stock 
 dealing, and after operating that place until 
 1860, he sold and bought a larger farm in
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 331 
 
 the same neighborhood, residing there for 
 five years. 
 
 In Du Page county, Mr. Gorham was 
 married in 1855 to Miss Adelia Read, a na- 
 tive of that county, and the only daughter 
 of Horace Read, one of the earliest settlers 
 of that county, having located there in 1836. 
 He was a native of Cambridge, Vermont, 
 was a soldier of the war of 1812, and died 
 in this state in 1867. After his death, Mr. 
 Gorham sold his place in Wayne township 
 and removed to the Read farm, which he 
 operated for a number of years and still 
 owns. He was one of the most successful 
 stock dealers in this section of the state, 
 and through his own unaided efforts and ex- 
 cellent management, he has acquired a 
 handsome property, including a- farm of 
 three hundred and thirty-seven acres in 
 Wayne township, Du Page county; another 
 of one hundred and forty acres in Carnpton 
 township, four miles west of St. Charles, 
 and three hundred and twenty acres of land 
 in Kansas, besides his pleasant home in St. 
 Charles. He removed to that city in 1884, 
 and has since lived retired, enjoying the 
 fruits of his former toil. During his resi- 
 dence here, however, he has stimulated in- 
 dustries in Kane and Du Page counties, by 
 loaning money. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Gorham have four daugh- 
 ters, namely: Mira, now the wife of F. W. 
 Leake.a merchant of St. Charles; Augusta, 
 wife of C. S. Green, of Kane county; Edith 
 L. , wife of Merritt Green, now of Dutchess 
 county, New York; and Mamie, who is a 
 graduate of the St. Charles high school, and 
 resides with her parents. Since retiring 
 from active business, Mr. and Mrs. Gorham 
 have traveled quite extensively over the 
 south and west, and also frequently visited 
 his old home in Dutchess county, NewYork. 
 
 Politically he has always been a stanch sup- 
 porter of the Democratic party, but has 
 never had any aspiration for office, prefer- 
 ring to give his undivided attention to his 
 business interests. In the Methodist Epis- 
 copal church, of St. Charles, he and his 
 family hold membership, and in the social 
 circks of the community they occupy an en- 
 viable position. A man of strict integrity 
 and sterling worth, Mr. Gorham commands 
 the respect of all with whom he comes in 
 contact, and. the success that he has achieved 
 in life is certainly well .deserved. For forty- 
 five years he has been identified with the 
 interests of this section of the state and his 
 circle of friends is extensive. 
 
 HARMAN Y. LONGACRE, M. D., is 
 an enterprising and representative busi- 
 ness man of St. Charles, where he has suc- 
 cessfully conducted a drug-store since Au- 
 gust, 1883, and has also engaged in the 
 practice of his profession to a limited extent. 
 He was born December 31, 1853, near 
 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a son of David 
 and Hannah B. (Reinhart) Longacre, also 
 natives of the Keystone state. The paternal 
 grandfather was born in Saxony, Germany, 
 and was an early settler of Pennsylvania. 
 For many years the Doctor's father engaged 
 in the drug business near Philadelphia, but 
 is now spending his declining years upon a 
 farm. The mother died in 1870. In the 
 family were two sons and two daughters 
 who reached years of maturity, the brother 
 of our subject being Milton P., who mar- 
 ried and engaged in the manufacture of 
 lumber in Indiana, where his death occurred. 
 In Pennsylvania Dr. Longacre grew to 
 manhood, completing his literary education 
 in the State Normal School at Millersville,
 
 332 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and subsequently he successfully engaged in 
 teaching school for about two years. In 
 his father's store he became thoroughly 
 familiar with the drug business, which has 
 principally claimed his attention throughout 
 his business career. Entering the Michigan 
 University at Ann Arbor, in 1874, he at- 
 tended medical lectures there for two years, 
 graduating with a class of sixty in the spring 
 of 1876. He then located in Titusville, 
 Pennsylvania, where he engaged in the 
 practice of medicine for two years, and for 
 the same length of time practiced in Olney, 
 Illinois. At the end of that time he went 
 to Chicago and took charge of a drug-store, 
 which he conducted for two years. In 
 August, 1883, we find him in St. Charles, 
 where he has since made his home, while 
 he has been actively and prominently identi- 
 fied with the business interests of the place. 
 Purchasing a drug-store, he successfully 
 carried on the same until April, 1885, when 
 his stock of goods and building were de- 
 stroyed by fire. With characteristic energy, 
 however, he had opened another store in 
 the Hunt block at the end of three months, 
 and is now doing an excellent business. He 
 also gives some attention to the practice of 
 medicine, though principally confined to an 
 office practice. 
 
 In St. Charles, Dr. Longacre was mar- 
 ried in 1884, to Miss Nettie B. Norton, who 
 was born, reared and educated in Kane 
 county, and they now have one son, Frank 
 H. Since attaining his majority the Doctor 
 has been a stanch supporter of the Repub- 
 lican party, but has never cared for official 
 honors, preferring to give his undivided at- 
 tention to his business interests. Fra- 
 ternally he is a Royal Arch Mason, having 
 joined the blue lodge in Pennsylvania, and 
 also united with the Odd Fellows Society 
 
 in that state in 1876. He has filled all the 
 chairs in the former order, and is past grand 
 of the latter. He is also a member of the 
 Modern Woodmen of America. A very 
 agreeable and affable gentleman, he has 
 made made many friends during his resi- 
 dence in St. Charles, and receives and 
 merits the high regard of the entire com- 
 munity. His estimable wife is a member of 
 the Congregational church. 
 
 REV. W. D. ATCHISON, chaplain of 
 the insane hospital at Elgin, has de- 
 voted his life to the ministry and in that 
 noble calling his influence has been wide- 
 spread, bringing comfort and happiness to 
 many saddened hearts, while into many 
 darkened lives he has brought the light of 
 Christianity. He was born in Mercer coun- 
 ty, Pennsylvania, February 19, 1833, a son 
 of Matthew and Mary (Dowling) Atchison, 
 who were also natives of the Keystone 
 state. On the paternal side he is of Scotch 
 descent, his grandfather, John Atchison, 
 having been a native of that land of hills 
 and heather. Coming to America, he lo- 
 cated in Redstone, Washington county, 
 Pennsylvania. He was accompanied by two 
 brothers, one of whom, Matthew, took up 
 his residence in Ohio, while the third set- 
 tled in Kentucky. The grandfather spent 
 the remainder of his life in Pennsylvania, 
 where he died at an advanced age. The 
 maternal grandfather of Rev. Atchison was 
 James Dowling, who was born in the north 
 of Ireland, of Scotch lineage. He came 
 to the United States about the time of the 
 Revolutionary war, and followed farming as 
 a life occupation. His death occurred at the 
 age of sixty years. The history of the
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 333 
 
 Dowling family can be traced back prior to 
 the advent of Christianity in Ireland. The 
 wife of James Dowling was a relative of 
 Lord Nelson, the great Irish admiral. 
 
 Matthew Atchison, father of our subject, 
 was a millwright and carpenter, following 
 those pursuits in order to provide for his 
 large family. He died in his native state 
 when about forty-four years of age. By 
 his marriage he had thirteen children, nine 
 of whom are now living, while four have 
 reached the age of three score and ten. 
 Those who still survive are: James, who 
 is living near Kirwin, Kansas; Sarah, wife 
 of Donald McKenzie, of Elizabeth, Illinois; 
 John, of Lena, Illinois; Nelson, of Eliza- 
 beth, Illinois; Mary, wife of Solomon Snod- 
 grass, of Jo Daviess county, Illinois; Will- 
 iam Dowling; Jane, widow of Samuel Mc- 
 Grath, of Freeport, Illinois; Samuel, of La- 
 nark, Illinois; and Matthew, of Elizabeth, 
 Illinois, are half brothers, the mother having 
 married for her second husband Thomas 
 Gault. 
 
 Rev. William D. Atchison resided in 
 Mercer county, Pennsylvania, until fourteen 
 years of age, and then came to Illinois with 
 his mother and stepfather, locating in Jo 
 Daviess county, about fifteen miles from 
 Galena, where he resided until eighteen 
 years of age. In the meantime he had in 
 contemplation the work of the ministry. 
 When only thirteen years of age he was 
 converted and felt the call to preach and all 
 his aims and hopes were directed toward 
 that end. Prayer was always to him a 
 means of strength and help and the study 
 of the Bible his delight from boyhood. His 
 early literary education was acquired in the 
 schools of Jo Daviess county, and later he 
 entered Mt. Carroll Collegiate Institute, 
 and subsequently was a student of languages 
 
 in Beloit College, under the tutorage of 
 Professor Emerson, and a Greek professor, 
 a native of Smyrna. When eighteen years 
 of age he began teaching in Jo Daviess 
 county, using the money thus earned to pre- 
 pare for the ministry. While in Beloit 
 College he received a call to teach in 
 Elizabeth, and there remained for one year. 
 At the age of nineteen he entered upon the 
 work of the ministry to which he has since 
 devoted his life. Joining the Rock River 
 conference in 1854, he was first assigned to 
 the church at Twelve Mile Grove, Stephen- 
 son county, Illinois, where he remained one 
 year, then spent two years in Pleasant Val- 
 ley. He had charge of a mission in Savan- 
 nah, Illinois, for two years, after which he 
 was pastor of the churches in Elizabeth, 
 Cedarville and Belvidere in turn. 
 
 On leaving the latter place Rev. Atchi- 
 son became chaplain of the Forty-fifth Illi- 
 nois Infantry and went with Sherman on 
 the celebrated march to the sea and through 
 the Carolinas. After the war, in the fall of 
 1865, he came to Elgin as pastor of the 
 First Methodist church, continuing in that 
 place for three years, during which time the 
 house of worship was erected. For three 
 years he filled the pulpit of his church in 
 Kankakee and for a similar period was pas- 
 tor of the church in Aurora, and spent one 
 year in Oak Park, Illinois. After three 
 years passed in Waukegan, he was called to 
 Sterling, and afterward filled the pulpits of 
 the churches in Princeton, Sycamore and 
 Galena. For four years he continued to 
 minister to the spiritual needs of the people 
 of Galena, and then assumed a superanu- 
 ated relation with the church, since which 
 time he has acted as supply at different 
 points. On the 4th of April, 1897, he was 
 appointed chaplain of the Illinois Northern
 
 334 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Hospital for the Insane at Elgin, and 
 preaches there each Sunday. 
 
 On the 3d of January, 1855, Mr. Atchi- 
 son married Miss Hannah Jennie Cook, 
 daughterof John and Martha (Bennett) Cook, 
 natives of England, who came to the United 
 States in 1834, locating near Galena, Jo 
 Daviess county, where they remained some 
 years, when they moved to Iowa where their 
 death occurred. Six sons and two daugh- 
 ters have been born of this union: John E., 
 of Atchison, Kansas, married Emma Pearl 
 Solomon and had three children, Frederick, 
 William and George; Wilbur F., now pas- 
 tor of the Methodist church of Woodlawn, 
 married Rena Michaels, dean of the 
 Woman's College, at Evanston; Florence 
 Josephine resides at home; Hugh D. is a 
 minister of the Methodist church at Wil- 
 mette, Illinois; Howard H. died at the age 
 of three years; George B. is a dentist of 
 Elgin; Nellie C. died at the age of three 
 months; and Robert Hall Bruce completes 
 the family. 
 
 Rev. Atchison is a member of the An- 
 cient Order United Workmen and of Vet- 
 eran post, No. 49, G. A. R. In politics he 
 has been a stanch Republican since casting 
 his first presidential vote for Fremont. 
 He has always been a strong and popular 
 pulpit orator, standing high in the councils 
 of his church, and his life has been perme- 
 ated with the noblest principles and pur- 
 poses known to humanity. 
 
 WILLIAM C. KIMBALL, deceased, was 
 for many years one of the best known 
 and most highly respected citizens of Elgin. 
 He was a native of Groton, New Hamp- 
 shire, born February 17, 1806, and was the 
 son of Joseph and Nancy (Currier) Kimball, 
 
 also natives of the Granite state. They 
 were the parents of six children, two sons 
 and four daughters. With a view of bet- 
 tering his condition in life and giving his 
 children better opportunities for advance- 
 ment, Joseph Kimball made a trip west, 
 and, after looking around, decided to make 
 Kane county his future home. In 1835 he 
 started back east for his family, but died 
 while passing through Ohio. His son, Sam- 
 uel, who came with him to Kane county, 
 remained here while his father went back, 
 and shortly after the death of the latter, the 
 remainder of the family, save our subject, 
 joined him, making Elgin their home. The 
 daughters were Nancy Currier, who married 
 Alden V. Hills; Laura, widow of Asa Smith, 
 and a resident of St. Louis; May Carter, 
 now Mrs. Bartlett Adams, of St. Louis; 
 Mrs. Ruth Ann Thiers, of Elgin; and Su- 
 sanna Clement, who married Hiram George. 
 William C. Kimball grew to manhood in 
 his native state, and was educated in the 
 public schools of Groton. In 1835 he mar- 
 aied Caroline Willard, daughter of William 
 R. and Eleanor (Mann) Willard. From 
 Groton, New Hampshire, he removed to 
 Sherbrooke, Canada, where he engaged in 
 mercantile business for a time, but in 1837 
 sold out and came to Elgin, Illinois, and 
 purchased a large tract of land, but turned 
 his attention principally to the mercantile 
 business, opening a store and for years 
 being successfully engaged in trade. The 
 country was then new and his trade ex- 
 tended for many miles in each direction. 
 He later erected a flouring mill, which was 
 called the Waverly Mill, and which is now 
 owned and operated by the Stewart Broth- 
 ers. This was the first mill erected in this 
 part of the country and its patrons came 
 from far and near.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 335 
 
 The next venture of Mr. Kimball was 
 the erection of a hotel which was given the 
 name of Waverly house. Previous to its 
 erection he lived over his store, but on the 
 completion of the hotel he moved into it, 
 and for some years served as landlord in ad- 
 dition to his other business. With his 
 brother Samuel, he purchased large tracts of 
 land on the west side of the river, which he 
 sold off in parcels from time to time. 
 
 In 1856 Mr. Kimball met with some re- 
 verses in his business interests in Elgin, and 
 later lost quite heavily in operating some of 
 the lead mines of Missouri, the ore not 
 being as extensive as anticipated. His re- 
 verses, however, did not cripple to any ex- 
 tent his milling business, which he continued 
 until his death. His business interests 
 were of such a nature as to require a large 
 number of employees, and his trade was for 
 many years very large. His name was a 
 household word, and he was known far and 
 near for his good deeds and his charity. 
 He had a soul that sympathized with those 
 in distress and would do all in his power for 
 their relief. 
 
 In his political belief, Mr. Kimball was 
 a stanch Democrat, and was ever ready 
 with time and money to advance the inter- 
 ests of his party, though he never cared for 
 official position. On the urgent solicitation 
 of friends he ran for mayor of Elgin and was 
 duly elected, serving one term in a satisfac- 
 tory manner. He was a great admirer of 
 Stephen A. Douglas, the "Little Giant," 
 and followed his lead through the stormy 
 political career of that statesman. Like 
 his great leader, when the question came up 
 for final settlement as to whether the union 
 of states should be maintained, he sunk the 
 partisan in the patriot and unhesitatingly 
 declared for the union. While not in the 
 
 service, his sympathies were with those en- 
 gaged in putting down the rebellion. 
 
 In his religious views Mr. Kimball was 
 a Universalist, believing in the fatherhood 
 of God, and brotherhood of man, and that 
 while man might stray from the paths of 
 virtue and right, a just God was always 
 ready to welcome the return of the prodigal 
 and receive him again in favor. His wife 
 believed with him in these great views and 
 was likewise a member of the Universalist 
 church. 
 
 After a long and useful life, Mr. Kimball 
 was called to his reward May 5, 1875, and 
 his body was laid to rest in the beautiful 
 cemetery at Elgin. The city council of 
 Elgin, on the announcement of his death, 
 passed the following complimentary pre- 
 amble and resolutions: 
 
 WHEREAS, this council has learned of 
 the death of one of the oldest and most 
 highly esteemed citizens, an honored ex- 
 mayor of the city, and wishing to express 
 our feelings and the sense of the people 
 upon the sad event; therefore 
 
 Resolved, That in the death of William 
 C. Kimball, the city has lost an honored 
 and highly respected citizen, whose private 
 and public record was characterized by in- 
 dustry, purity and generosity. 
 
 Resolved, That, as a fit expression of 
 our feelings and a slight honor to his mem- 
 ory, this council attend the funeral in a 
 body. 
 
 Resolved, That the business men of the 
 city be requested, as a further mark of re- 
 spect, to close their places of business at 
 the hour appointed for the funeral, to re- 
 main closed for the space of one hour. 
 
 Resolved, That we tender to the family 
 of the deceased, our heartfelt sympathy at 
 the great loss which has overtaken them.
 
 336 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 The resolutions were ordered spread 
 upon the records of the council and an en- 
 grossed copy furnished the widow and pub- 
 lished in the city papers. Mrs. Kimball 
 survived her husband some years, dying 
 January 3, 1883. They were the parents 
 of seven children: William, who died young; 
 Leonidas, who also died young; Eugene, 
 who died at the age of seventeen years; 
 Ernma and Ella, twins, the latter being the 
 wife of John J. Williford, and residing in 
 Anna, Illinois; Anna, who died in child- 
 hood; and Charles W., who lives in Elgin. 
 
 Emma Kimball grew to womanhood in 
 Elgin and was educated in its public schools. 
 On the 25th of June, 1863, she married 
 Charles J. Hawkins, a native of Cayuga 
 county, New York, and a son of Joseph and 
 Lucy (Adams) Hawkins. To them have 
 been born five children: Frank J., who is 
 now operating the home farm, married Rose 
 Grove, and has two children Morris and 
 Mabel; William J. and Morris B. are at 
 home; Lucy died at the age of one year; 
 and Ella W. is at home. 
 
 On the discovery of gold in California, 
 Mr. Hawkins, though quite young, started 
 to the new Eldorado, and is numbered 
 among the '49ers. His experience going 
 and coming and his life in that rich field can 
 never be forgotten. On his return, about 
 four years later, he went to his home in 
 Genoa, New York, where he engaged in 
 farming until he came west in 1857, settled 
 in Elgin, and engaged in the business of 
 loaning money for several years. In 1869 
 he purchased the farm in Cook county, near 
 Elgin, consisting of about three hundred 
 and twelve acres, where he has since re- 
 sided, and for a number of years gave a part 
 of his time to its cultivation. He is now 
 living retired. Politically he is a stanch 
 
 Democrat. Religiously Mrs. Hawkins is a 
 Universalist. Like her father she is hon- 
 ored and respected by a large circle of friends 
 and acquaintances, who appreciate her lov- 
 ing kindness and many acts of true Christian 
 charity. A life-long resident of Elgin and 
 vicinity, she has witnessed with pride its 
 growth and prosperity. The poor have al- 
 ways had in her a true friend, and many 
 sacrifices has she made to alleviate the suf- 
 ferings of others. 
 
 FRANK W. JOSLYN, the efficient state's 
 attorney for Kane county, now serving 
 his second term, is the senior member of 
 the firm of Joslyn & Schultz, with offices in 
 the Spurling block, Elgin, Illinois. He was 
 born in that city April 27, 1860, and is the 
 son of Edward S. and Jennie (Padelford) 
 Joslyrl,' the former a native of New York 
 and the latter of Massachusetts. 
 
 Edward S. Joslyn was by profession a 
 lawyer, and in 1835, when but seven years 
 of age, was brought by his parents to Mc- 
 Henry county, Illinois, where he grew to 
 manhood. His primary education was ob- 
 tained In the subscription schools of Mc T 
 Henry county. When fifteen years of age 
 he went into a blacksmith shop to learn the 
 trade, and there continued for five years. 
 He then took a course in Elgin Academy, 
 later read law in the office of Paul R. 
 Wright, and after examination was admitted 
 to the bar. Like all attorneys of an early 
 day, he mixed politics with his legal business, 
 and in 1856 stumped the state for Fremont, 
 the first presidential candidate of the Re- 
 publican party. For some cause, in 1859 
 he endorsed the views of Stephen A. Doug- 
 las, and was known as a Douglas Democrat 
 during the remainder of his life.
 
 UBKARY 
 0* 1HE 
 
 Of 1U1N01S.
 
 FRANK W. JOSLYN.
 
 COL. E. S. JOSLYN.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 34' 
 
 Like his lamented leader, Edward S. 
 Joslyn was a strong Union man, and when 
 the south attempted to secede he took up 
 arms in defense of the Union. He was 
 first commissioned captain of Company A, 
 Seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, which 
 was the first company of the first regiment 
 from Illinois, with which he served six 
 months. Resigning his commission, he 
 came home and assisted in organizing the 
 Thirty-sixth Regiment of Illinois Infantry, 
 and was commissioned lieutenant-colonel. 
 With his regiment went to the front, and 
 was actively engaged until the battle of Pei''. 
 Ridge, where he was wounded. Soon after 
 the battle, and on account of his wound, 
 and also from having contracted dysentery, 
 he received a furlough and returned to his 
 home in Elgin. His health not being re- 
 stored as soon as anticipated, he tendered 
 his resignation. His bravery being recog- 
 nized by his superior officers, the resigna- 
 tion was not accepted, but the time of his 
 furlough was extended. This extension was 
 made several times with the hope that he 
 could return to his post of duty, brave men 
 and efficient officers being then in great de- 
 mand. On the statement of his physician, 
 his resignation was finally, but reluctantly, 
 received, and his discharge granted in the 
 fall of 1862. 
 
 It was some time, however, before he 
 regained his usual health. In the meantime 
 he gradually resumed his law practice, and 
 for many years was recognized as one of the 
 ablest criminal lawyers in Illinois, and as a 
 general practitioner had few superiors. 
 Among the most noted cases in which he 
 figured was that of the Emma mine case in 
 Utah, involving some three million dollars, 
 which he won for his clients. 
 
 As an orator, his reputation extended 
 
 16 
 
 far and wide. While in Utah obtaining 
 evidence in the case just mentioned, he 
 dressed as a mountaineer, in buckskin 
 breeches, jacket, wore a sombrero hat, and 
 went in and out among the natives as one 
 of them. His oratorical ability was soon 
 discovered, and was often called upon for a 
 speech, and responding spoke upon various 
 subjects to the edification of all. By the 
 citizens of that region he was dubbed "the 
 old man eloquent of the mountains. " While 
 there he defended the accused in two mur- 
 der cases, winning them both. At home he 
 was often called upon on short notice for a 
 speech, and it mattered not what the sub- 
 ject, he Was, always ready. His imitative 
 powers were great, and few were the public 
 men but what he could imitate their style of 
 speech. His speeches always abounded in 
 apt illustrations, bright witicisms, and 
 caught the crowd. 
 
 As a citizen he was at all times progress- 
 ive and devoted much time to advancing the 
 material interests of his adopted city. For 
 a number of years he served as alderman 
 and for two terms was mayor of Elgin. A 
 friend of education he helped establish the 
 free school system for the state. Relig-. 
 iously he was a Baptist, of which church his 
 wife is also a member. His death occurred 
 at the age of fifty-eight years, and his loss 
 was felt most deeply, not alone by his good 
 wife, who still survives him, but by many 
 friends throughout the county who knew his 
 worth as a lawyer and as a man. 
 
 The paternal grandfather of our subject, 
 Lindsey Joslyn, was a native of Vermont, of 
 English origin. In early life he followed 
 farming and the millwright trade. About 
 1858 he came to Kane county, where he 
 practiced law and served as justice of the 
 peace some years. He was better known
 
 342 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 among the settlers of Crystal Lake and 
 around Woodstock, McHenry county, where 
 he lived many years. His death occurred 
 in Elgin, when seventy-three years of age. 
 
 The maternal grandfather, Rodolphus 
 W. Padelford, was born at Savoy, Berk- 
 shire county, Massachusetts, in 1806, and 
 came west in 1842, locating in Elgin. He 
 was of English descent, a descendant of 
 Jonathan Padelford, who came across the 
 water in a very early day. In early life he 
 followed farming, but learning the daguer- 
 reotype business he established the first gal- 
 lery in Elgin, and followed that profession 
 until 1866, when he was burned out. A 
 friend of liberty, while residing in Buffalo, 
 New York, he conducted a station on the 
 underground railroad, and many a poor 
 colored person owed his liberty to Mr. Pa- 
 delford's watchful care. Owen Lovejoy, 
 Wendell Phillips and other noted abolition- 
 ists were numbered among his personal 
 friends. 
 
 Few men were ever better known in 
 Kane county than Adolphus Padelford. On 
 the organization of the city of Elgin in 1854, 
 he was elected its first city clerk, and con- 
 tinued in that office for twenty years consec- 
 utively. In 1866 he was elected clerk of 
 the city court of Elgin, and served as such 
 until 1889. In 1886 he was elected police 
 magistrate of Elgin and held that office two 
 terms. A strong Baptist, he was clerk of 
 the Baptist Association of Illinois from 1850 
 until ,his death, and was clerk of the First 
 Baptist church of Elgin for over forty years, 
 and deacon for the same length of time. 
 He was clerk of the board of trustees of the 
 Northern Illinois Hospital for the Insane for 
 twenty years, and township treasurer of El- 
 gin for twenty-five years. As a bookkeeper 
 and accountant he had few superiors. His 
 
 death occurred at Elgin in 1894 at the age 
 of eighty-eight years, four months and 
 twenty-four days. 
 
 Frank W. Joslyn, our subject, was born 
 and reared in Elgin, and here has spent his 
 entire life. His primary education was ob- 
 tained in the public schools of the place, 
 and his higher literary education in the 
 Elgin Academy, from which he graduated 
 in 1 88 1. The succeeding three years he 
 spent in teaching, and during his leisure 
 moments read law, passed a successful ex- 
 amination, and was admitted to the bar in 
 1884. He commenced practice in his native 
 city and while as a rule it is true that "a 
 prophet is never without honor, save in his 
 own country," here where he grew up and 
 was well known in boyhood and youth, he 
 began his life work and success has crowned 
 his efforts. Since 1894 he has been in part- 
 nership with Fred W. Schultz. 
 
 On the 7th of December, 1886, Mr. Jos- 
 lyn was united in marriage with Miss Carrie 
 A. Mead, daughter of F. W. and Emma 
 (Colby) Mead, and one son Paul has been 
 born unto them. 
 
 Religiously Mr. and Mrs. Joslyn are 
 identified with the Baptist church. Frater- 
 nally he is a member of the Odd Fellows, 
 Knights of Pythias, Modern Woodmen, 
 Home Forum, Maccabees, and Sons of 
 Veterans. In woodcraft he has taken espe- 
 cial interest and from 1886 to 1890 he was 
 consulting attorney for the Modern Wood- 
 men. In behalf of that order he has made 
 addresses in four or five states of the union. 
 
 Politically, he is a Republican and for 
 the principles of the party he has taken an 
 active part in several campaigns, speaking 
 in Kane and adjoining counties. In 1885 
 he was elected city attorney of Elgin and 
 served two terms. In 1 889 he was appointed
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 343 
 
 master in chancery in the city court of El- 
 gin, and in 1892 was elected state's attorney 
 for Kane county, and re-elected in 1896, 
 and is now serving his second term. As a 
 prosecutor he discharges his duty faithfully 
 without fear or favor, and has had remark- 
 able success, securing the conviction of a 
 very large proportion of those prosecuted. 
 Inheriting the talents of his father as a pub- 
 lic speaker, he makes a good impression be- 
 fore a jury, and in the trial of cases holds 
 his own with the best. 
 
 DANIEL TUTTLE, a -substantial and 
 enterprising farmer of Kane county, 
 first came to the state in 1847. He is a 
 native of New York, born in Oswego coun- 
 ty, February 11, 1824, and is the son of 
 Ethel Tuttle, a native of Vermont. His 
 grandfather, David Tuttle, was a native of 
 Tuttle Hill, England, and in 1816 settled 
 in Oswego county, New York, where he 
 purchased a farm and lived until the age of 
 ninety-four years. Ethel Tuttle grew to 
 manhood and in Oswego county married 
 Rhoda A. McAlpine, a Scotch lady. Her 
 father, John McAlpine, was an early settler 
 of Oneida county, New York, and when 
 Mrs. Tuttle was a child moved to Oswego 
 county. After their marriage Ethel Tuttle 
 and his wife resided in Oswego county a 
 few years, and in 1829 moved to Madison 
 county, New York, and located' on a farm, 
 where he reared his family. In the spring 
 of 1849 he moved west, and settled in De- 
 Kalb county, Illinois, where he engaged in 
 farming for a few years. In 1852, accom- 
 panied by one of his sons, he went overland 
 to California, where he remained five years, 
 engaged in mining and freighting. He was 
 
 only fairly successful, and in 1857 returned 
 home, but soon went to Missouri, where he 
 purchased land to which he later removed 
 with his family. He there spent the last 
 years of his life, dying in 1863. He was an 
 old Jackson Democrat in his political views. 
 His wife died in De Kalb county in 1860. 
 
 Daniel Tuttle is the oldest of five sons 
 born to Ethel and Rhoda A. Tuttle. Milo, 
 the next in order of birth, settled in De Kalb 
 county, and some years later moved to Iowa, 
 bought a large tract of land near Webster 
 City, engaged in stock-raising, and there 
 died. George W. married in De Kalb 
 county, where he lived some years, and 
 later removed to Kansas, and now resides 
 in Eldorado, that state. Joel grew to ma- 
 ture years, went to California with his fa- 
 ther, and there died some years ago. David 
 married in De Kalb county, there resided 
 for a time, but later moved to Iowa, locat- 
 ing at Clear Lake, where he now resides. 
 
 In Madison county, New York, our sub- 
 ject spent his boyhood and youth, and re- 
 ceived a fair education in its common schools. 
 When eighteen years of age he began life 
 for himself, purchasing his time from his 
 father, giving him therefor one hundred and 
 fifty dollars. For several years he engaged 
 in lumbering in his native state, with fair 
 success. He then determined to come west, 
 and in 1847 moved to De Kalb county, Illi- 
 nois, where he purchased eighty acres of 
 land, and later went to Wisconsin, and for 
 a few years engaged in lumbering, going 
 back and forth during the time. In 1852 
 he made a permanent settlement on his 
 land in De Kalb county, and also bought 
 out his father's improvements, and began 
 farming. This land was located near the 
 present village of Waterman, and by subse- 
 quent purchase he made a fine farm of two
 
 344 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 hundred and forty acres, on which he erected 
 a good, substantial residence, good barn, and 
 made of it one of the best-improved places 
 in that vicinity. He there remained until 
 1870, when he rented the place and moved 
 to Aurora, to give his children the advan- 
 tages of its public schools. Some years 
 later he sold his De Kalb county farm and 
 purchased the Lawton farm of one hundred 
 and sixty acres, just outside of the corporate 
 limits of the city, since which time he has 
 been engaged in agricultural pursuits. In 
 1889 he bought the residence where he now 
 resides, but still gives his personal attention 
 to his farm. 
 
 In February, 1854, in De Kalb county, 
 Illinois, Mr. Tuttle was united in marriage 
 with Miss Margaret Platt, a native of Scot- 
 land, but who removed with her father, 
 John Platt, to Prince Edward Island in 
 early childhood, where she was reared and 
 educated, and came with him to De Kalb 
 county, Illinois, in 1853. By this union 
 are four children: the oldest, John, is now 
 married and engaged in business in Aurora; 
 Rhoda remained at home; Margaret is the 
 wife of Frank Minard, of Aurora, and Jane 
 Elizabeth, also at home. 
 
 In early life Mr. Tuttle was a Democrat, 
 but believing in the principle of liberty for 
 all men, he became a Republican on the 
 organization of the party, casting his vote 
 for its first presidential candidate, John C. 
 Fremont, in 1856. While residing in De- 
 Kalb county he served as highway commis- 
 sioner and assessor, and also served for some 
 years as a member of the school board. 
 Since that time he has steadfastly declined 
 all official honors. Mr. and Mrs. Tuttle are 
 members of the United Presbyterian church, 
 in which he has been actively engaged for 
 nearly forty years. In the work of the Mas- 
 
 ter they have always taken great interest, 
 giving of their time and means to advance 
 the cause. 
 
 JAMES ROCKWELL, of Batavia, Illi- 
 nois, has spent sixty-four years of a 
 long and useful life in Illinois, and all but 
 four years of that time in Batavia. He is 
 a native of Connecticut, born at Ridgefield, 
 November 9, 1812. His father, Thomas 
 H. Rockwell, was also born in the same 
 town and state, May 21, 1776. The Rock- 
 well family are of English descent, the first 
 coming to this country some years prior to 
 the Revolutionary war, locating in Connect- 
 ticut. Thomas H. Rockwell, the father of 
 our subject, at Ridgefield, Connecticut, 
 married Polly Smith, a daughter of Capt. 
 David Smith, of the Revolutionary war. He 
 built the home residence at Ridgefield, 
 which was first used for a hotel. Observing 
 the tendency of the liquor traffic, even in 
 that early day, he took out the bar, de- 
 stroyed the liquor and soon gave up the ho- 
 tel business. He was an influential man at 
 Ridgefielcl, where he reared his family and 
 spent his entire life. He died there Sep- 
 tember 25, 1865, and his wife died February 
 27, 1869. 
 
 To Thomas H. and Polly (Smith) Rock- 
 well ten children were born: Harry Smith, 
 who died in infancy; Phebe M., grew to 
 mature years, married Rev. Moses Hill, and 
 died March 18, 1832; William S., born 
 February 24, 1806, died at sea about 1823. 
 Rev. Thomas Burr, a minister of the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal church, came west, locating 
 in Batavia, where he died; David S. mar- 
 ried and died in New Canaan, Connecticut; 
 James of this review; George, who died in 
 1865, injunction City, Kansas; Francis A.,
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 345 
 
 who died in Ridgefield, Connecticut; John, 
 who died in infancy; and John Wesley, who 
 lives in the old homestead. 
 
 In his native town, James Rockwell 
 grew to manhood, and there learned the 
 cabinet-maker's trade and at the age of 
 eighteen went to New Haven, Connecticut, 
 where he remained a>bout one year, working 
 at his trade. The wages being small and 
 the opportunities for advancement very 
 meager, he determined to try the west, of 
 which he had heard such glowing accounts. 
 Arriving at Detroit, Michigan, he set out on 
 foot from that place for Chicago, and was 
 eight days in making the trip. Chicago at 
 that time was composed of but a few shan- 
 ties, but he there went to work at his trade 
 and in a short time built a factory, where 
 he employed twelve men. He remained in 
 Chicago about four years, until the failure 
 of the state banks and then discontinued 
 his business and came to Kane county, ar- 
 riving in Batavia, in February, 1838. 
 
 Soon after coming to Batavia, Mr. Rock- 
 well was united in marriage with Miss Mar- 
 garet Van Nortwick, a native of Argyle, 
 New York. Her father, William Van Nort- 
 wick, was one of the first settlers on the Fox 
 river. In 1840, Mr. Rockwell again com- 
 menced working at his trade, and for a few 
 years was a manufacturer of furniture. He 
 then retired from business three or four 
 years and then engaged in general mer- 
 chandising, in which he continued up to 
 1885. 
 
 Mr. Rockwell lost his first wife, who 
 passed away September 30, 1857, leaving 
 two children Frances Minerva, who mar- 
 ried J. M. Davidson, and now resides in 
 York county, Nebraska; and Martha Jane, 
 who died in 1850. In 1848 Mr. Rockwell 
 married Miss Susan Grow, who was born at 
 
 Clyde, New York, where she was reared 
 and educated. The children by this mar- 
 riage are: Margaret, married N. C. Twin- 
 ing, now living in Batavia, and who has 
 been librarian of the public library about 
 ten years; Anna Maria, living with her par- 
 ents; and Hattie L. , who died in childhood. 
 Mr. Rockwell is a member of the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal church, and assisted in the 
 organization of the first church of that de- 
 nomination in Chicago, and also in Batavia; 
 he served as superintendent of the Sunday- 
 school, both in Chicago and Batavia, and 
 was very active in church work until his 
 health failed. On April 18, 1898, he at- 
 tended the sixtieth anniversary of the First 
 Methodist Episcopal church, Chicago, and 
 with Rev. J. P. Brushingham and G. W. 
 Dixon, took part in the exercises. As the 
 first superintendent of the Sunday-school of 
 that church he gave an historical account of 
 its organization and progress. From the or- 
 ganization of the party, he has ever been a 
 stanch Republican. For more than sixty 
 years he has gone in and out among the peo- 
 ple of Batavia, and is one of the oldest and 
 honored citizens, well-known throughout 
 Kane and adjoining counties. The poor and 
 needy have ever found in him a friend, and 
 no man in Kane county is more highly 
 honored. 
 
 C DALLAS MONROE, superintendent 
 of the Illinois Creamery Company, at 
 Elgin, was born in Hazleton township, 
 Shiawassee county, Michigan, June i, 1875. 
 His father, Hiram Monroe, is a native of 
 Tompkins county, New York, and is the 
 youngest in a family of three children whose 
 parents were Isaiah and Phcebe Monroe, 
 worthy representatives of old colonial fam-
 
 346 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ilies. On reaching manhood Hiram Mon- 
 roe married Miss Louisa, daughter of Mar- 
 vin Monroe, a distant cousin of President 
 Monroe. Her parents moved to Michigan, 
 where her father resides at the age of 
 eighty-three years, the mother at the age 
 of seventy-eight, after having celebrated 
 their golden wedding. The mother of our 
 subject was a native of Tioga county, New 
 York, and although bearing the same name 
 as her husband, they were not related pre- 
 vious to their marriage. He is a stanch 
 supporter of the Republican party. 
 
 The subject of this sketch obtained a 
 good practical education in the public 
 schools of Owosso, Michigan, which he at- 
 tended until sixteen years of age. On start- 
 ing out upon his business career, he was em- 
 ployed for two years as a glazier in a casket 
 factory in Owosso, and for a year and a 
 half held a position in the electric light sta- 
 tion. Coming to Chicago March 10, 1896, 
 he remained in that city until June, exper- 
 imenting for the company with which he is 
 now connected, perfecting their system for 
 reworking country butter to convert it into 
 creamery butter. A member of the firm 
 while traveling in Michigan met Mr. Mon- 
 'roe, was pleased with him, and recognizing 
 his business qualifications thought he would 
 make a good manager for their business in 
 Elgin. This resulted in his engagement, 
 and on coming here he rebuilt the old fac- 
 tory at North Elgin, where they conducted 
 operations until May, 1897, when they re- 
 moved to their present large factory, built 
 under the direction of our subject. The 
 main building is one hundred feet square 
 and two stories in height, while the engine 
 room is forty by sixty feet. Here thirty 
 thousand pounds of common butter can be 
 converted into creamery butter in one day. 
 
 The idea of reworking the butter is not 
 original with Mr. Monroe, but the peculiar 
 method of doing so is his invention and is a 
 secret process. The development of the 
 business is due not a little to his energy, 
 activity and excellent management, for he 
 is a wide-awake young business man of 
 sound judgment and progressive ideas. 
 
 In Owosso, Michigan, Mr. Monroe was 
 united in marriage with Miss Anna, daugh- 
 ter of M. A. and Helen (Whimple) Parks, 
 the former a carpenter and builder by oc- 
 cupation. Mrs. Monroe's uncle, Davis Parks, 
 a pensioner of the war of 1812, lived to 
 the extreme old age of one hundred and four 
 years, dying in 1894. At the age of one 
 hundred and two, he and his wife, aged 
 ninety-six years, visited Owosso, Michigan, 
 and walked quite a distance from the depot 
 to the residence of relatives. Mrs. Monroe's 
 great-grandfather Whimple, a friend of 
 General Washington, served as an Indian 
 interpreter for that commander during the 
 Revolutionary war, and for his services re- 
 ceived a large grant of land. 
 
 HENRY RANG, the efficient superin- 
 tendent of streets of Aurora, was born 
 in Bavaria, Germany, October 3, 1838. 
 His father, Adam Rang, and his mother, 
 Margaret (Hoffeker) Rang, were also natives 
 of Germany, were there married, and there 
 the father died in 1844 when about forty- 
 eight years of age. He was a potter by 
 trade, and ran a pottery in Bavaria. A pro- 
 gressive and enterprising man, and a good 
 and worthy citizen, he was honored with 
 several local offices. They were the parents 
 of seven children. 
 
 In 1852 two of the children, Fred and 
 Minnie, came to the United States and
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 347 
 
 located in Aurora. They were so favorably 
 impressed with the country that the remain- 
 der of the family determined to come, and 
 on the loth of March, 1853, our subject and 
 his sister, Margaret, set sail for America. 
 They were on the ocean fifty- six days, and 
 had a good time, good treatment, plenty to 
 eat, and plenty to see of seastorms, sharks 
 almost by the acre. While encountering 
 some terrible storms, no accident occurred. 
 They landed at New York Saturday, May 
 21, 1853, and left the Monday evening fol- 
 lowing, and arrived in Aurora on Saturday. 
 They came all the way by rail, except from 
 Buffalo to Detroit. The same trip can now 
 be made in twenty-five hours. The train 
 ran slowly, stopped at about every station, 
 and from Detroit to Chicago required an 
 entire day. 
 
 In the fall of 1853 the mother and the 
 other children came to America, and joined 
 the others at Aurora. A few weeks after 
 their arrival Barbara, aged ten years, and 
 Christina, aged twenty-seven, died from 
 fever. This was a very sad event, and was 
 a hard blow to the mother, coming so soon 
 after their arrival here. Of the other chil- 
 dren, William now resides in Aurora; Fred, 
 who for many years was shoe merchant in 
 Aurora, died in 1890; Henry is the subject 
 of this sketch; Margaret is now the wife of 
 John Grometer, of Aurora; Minnie married 
 Fred Kehm, a wagon-maker by trade, who 
 removed to Chicago, where his death oc- 
 curred May, 1894, she surviving him, dying 
 November, 1895, when about sixty-five 
 years of age. The mother died in Aurora 
 in July, 1868, when sixty-six years of age. 
 
 Henry Rang received his education in 
 the schools of Bayerberg, Bavaria, where 
 he completed a course. On his arrival in 
 Aurora, he worked four weeks on a farm 
 
 near the city, and on the 4th of July, 1853, 
 began working for the Chicago, Burlington 
 & Quincy Railroad Company, carrying wa- 
 ter, running errands, and doing such work 
 as a boy of fifteen could do. The road at 
 that time was in process of construction, 
 and he continued to be thus employed until 
 it was finished to Mendota. In the winter 
 of 1853-4 he was unemployed on account 
 of sickness, but in the spring began working 
 on the railroad again, continuing until Sep- 
 tember. He then found employment in a 
 dry-goods store as a clerk, where he re- 
 mained a year and a half. Believing it 
 essential that he should have a trade, he 
 engaged with a carpenter and served three 
 years. He then worked three years in the 
 bridge department of the railroad company, 
 and from 1866 to 1891 he was in the build- 
 ing department, becoming quite proficient, 
 and a valuable man. During the years that 
 had passed he mingled more or less in so- 
 ciety, and served his city as alderman for 
 some time, and thus familiarized himself 
 with the needs of the city. On leaving the 
 railroad company in 1891 he was appointed 
 by Mayor Fisher superintendent of streets 
 of Aurora, which position he still holds. He 
 has rendered a very efficient service, as is 
 evinced by the time he has thus been em- 
 ployed. 
 
 On the 28th of June, 1858, he married 
 Miss Margaret Muchler. By this union are 
 six children, as follows: Maggie, now the 
 wife of W. C. Fickenscher, is the mother of 
 four children, Metha, Paul, Arthur and 
 Hugo, the latter being twins, and the fam- 
 ily resides in Buffalo, New York, where Mr. 
 Fichenscher is employed in the parochial 
 school; Henry, who died at the age of ten 
 months; Carl H. married Josie King, by 
 whom he has one son, Carl, Jr. , and they
 
 348 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 reside in Rockford, Illinois; August, who 
 died at the age of two and a half years; 
 Bertha and Pauline, at home. The mother 
 died January 28, 1891, at the age of fifty- 
 six years. She was a member of the Lu- 
 theran church, a devout Christian, a good 
 mother, and did much to make a happy 
 home. Mr. Rang's second wife was Mrs. 
 Catherine Kemerle, native of Germany, and 
 widow of Christian Kemerle. Their mar- 
 riage was celebrated November 5, 1896. 
 Both Mr. and Mrs. Rang are members of 
 the Lutheran church, in which he has held 
 the office of trustee since 1862, with the ex- 
 ception of one or two years. He is now 
 the treasurer of the church. Politically he 
 is independent, giving more attention to the 
 man to fill the office than the party to which 
 he belongs. He is a good citizen, true to 
 the best interests of the community, and 
 represents the progressive element of the 
 German population of Aurora. 
 
 ARTHUR A. BENNETT, the efficient 
 mayor of St. Charles, Illinois, now 
 serving his fourth term, has been a resi- 
 dent of the city since 1885. He is of Eng- 
 lish and Scotch descent, the first of the 
 family coming from England about 1700 
 and locating in Massachusetts. His great- 
 grandfather, Andrew Bennett, was a native 
 of Vermont and served as a soldier in the 
 Revolutionary army. William Bennett, the 
 grandfather, served in the war of 1812, 
 and was in the battle of Plattsburg. He 
 was also a native of Vermont. George H. 
 Bennett, the father, was born in Mont- 
 pelier, Vermont, where he married Emeline 
 Young, a daughter of Rev. Zebina Young, 
 a minister in the Baptist church, and pas- 
 tor of the church at Montpeiier. To Mr. 
 
 and Mrs. George II. Bennett were born six 
 children, of whom three are yet living, our 
 subject being the eldest. The second, 
 Professor William Z. Bennett, is a gradu- 
 ate of Harvard University, and was seventh 
 in a class of one hundred and ninety-two. 
 He now occupies the chair of physics and 
 .English literature in Wooster University, at 
 Wooster, Ohio. Adela E. Bennett now 
 resides with her brother. The mother died 
 in 1865, and the father, who was well 
 known in business circles throughout Ver- 
 mont and Massachusetts, passed away in 
 August, 1896. 
 
 Mr. Bennett, whose name introduces 
 this sketch, was born in Montpeiier, Ver- 
 mont, July 31, 1847, and was educated at 
 Dartmouth College. When his school days 
 were over he engaged in farming in Ver- 
 mont for several years, also became inter- 
 ested in the creamery business, establishing 
 about thirty creameries in the Province of 
 Quebec, which he successfully operated for 
 seven years. That business naturally led 
 to the manufacture of sugar of milk, and 
 for three years he carried on operations 
 along that line in Burlington, Vermont. 
 In. 1885 at the end of that time he came 
 to St. Charles, removing his plant to this 
 place, where he has since successfully en- 
 gaged in business. This is the only manu- 
 factory of the kind in the state, and three- 
 fourths of all the sugar of milk manufactured 
 in the world is now made in St. Charles. 
 From the beginning Mr. Bennett's business 
 has rapidly increased until it has assumed 
 extensive proportions and has become quite 
 profitable. His refinery is located at St. 
 Charles, and he has five other evaporators, 
 all in the Elgin district. 
 
 In 1869, in Brookfield, Vermont, Mr. 
 Bennett was united in marriage to Miss
 
 A. A. BENNETT.
 
 0*
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 35i 
 
 Harriet French, a native of that state, who 
 was reared and educated in Brookfield. Her 
 father, Otis French, was a business man and 
 early settler of Barre, Vermont. Mrs. Ben- 
 nett died in 1879, leaving one daughter, 
 Clara E. , who was provided with a good 
 education, and is now the wife of Rev. W. 
 E. Clark, of St. Charles, an evangelist, 
 professor and teacher now located in Boyd- 
 ton, Virginia. In Montpelier, Vermont, 
 Mr. Bennett was again married, in 1883, his 
 second union being with Miss Eleanor. C. 
 Needham, also a native of the Green Mount- 
 ain state, and a daughter of Captain Sidney 
 R. Needham, of Montpelier, who for twenty 
 years was captain of a merchant vessel sail- 
 ing between Liverpool and Sidney, Australia. 
 Two sons have been born of the second 
 marriage, namely: Edward Ellsworth and 
 Sidney Royal. 
 
 Since casting his first presidential vote 
 for General Grant in 1868, Mr. Bennett has 
 been an ardent Republican, and earnestly 
 advocates a protective tariff and sound 
 money. He has taken quite an active and 
 prominent part in local politics, is a recog- 
 nized leader of his party in his community, 
 and in 1891 was elected mayor of St. Charles, 
 to which office he has been continuously re- 
 elected up to the present time, plainly indi- 
 cating his popularity and the confidence and 
 trust reposed in him by his fellow-citizens. 
 The reins of city government have never 
 been in more capable hands, for he is a pro- 
 gressive man, pre-eminently public-spirited, 
 and all that pertains to the public welfare 
 received his hearty endorsement. Mr. Ben- 
 nett is a Master Mason, having joined Seneca 
 lodge, No. 40, F. & A. M., of Milton, Ver- 
 mont, many years ago, and both he and his 
 wife are active and prominent members of 
 the Congregational church of St. Charles. 
 
 HON. WILLIAM F. DICKINSON, pres- 
 ident of the Aurora Silver Plate Man- 
 ufacturing Company, but who is practically 
 living a retired life, has been a resident of 
 Kane county since 1866. He is a native of 
 Vermont, born in the town of Washing- 
 ton, Orange county, April 19, 1814. The 
 family was originally from England, the 
 first of the name, Nathaniel Dickinson, 
 coming to the New World in 1629. In 
 England the family occupied a prominent 
 position and had its coat of arms. Gideon 
 Dickinson, the grandfather of our subject, 
 was a native of Massachusetts, and in his 
 day was quite prominent. His son Joshua 
 Dickinson was also born in Massachusetts, 
 where he grew to manhood and married 
 Mrs. Prudence Stone, nee Fuller, who was 
 then a widow and a daughter of Simeon 
 Fuller. They became the parents of six 
 children, of whom Emily married Nehe- 
 miah S. Tinker and settled in Chelsea, 
 Vermont, afterwards moving to Derby, 
 Vermont, where her death occurred; Joshua 
 B., who removed to Mt. Clemens, Michi- 
 gan, and married Katherine Lee of that 
 city. He was elected first mayor of the 
 city, and died while the incumbent of that 
 office; William F. , of this review; Pru- 
 dence, who married Judge Thurston, re- 
 moved to Mt. Clemens, Michigan, and there 
 died; Franklin, who married a daughter of 
 Judge Peasley, located in Chelsea, Ver- 
 mont, was sheriff of his county for some 
 years and died at that place; Fannie who 
 married Judge Porter Kibbey, of Randolph, 
 Vermont, and who afterwards removed to 
 Detroit, Michigan, where he served as 
 judge of the probate court; Persis Jane, 
 who married Edward Blackwell, of New 
 York; he is now deceased, while she is 
 living at Montpelier, Vermont; her son-in-
 
 352 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 law, James C. Houghton, is vice-president 
 and general manager of the National Life 
 Insurance Company. 
 
 Joshua Dickinson, soon after his mar- 
 riage, removed to Washington, Vermont, 
 where he engaged in merchandising for 
 some years. About 1815, he moved to 
 Chelsea, there engaged in business, and 
 was elected judge of the county court, and 
 held other positions of honor and trust. 
 He subsequently removed to Mt. Clemens, 
 Michigan, where he and his wife both died. 
 He was a man of prominence wherever he 
 lived, and was held in high esteem. 
 
 William F. Dickinson grew to manhood 
 in Chelsea, Vermont, and there received 
 his education in the public schools. His 
 youth, when not in school, was spent in his 
 father's store, where he received a thor- 
 ough, practical business training. After 
 arriving at manhood, he engaged in the 
 mercantile business, at Plainfield, Vermont, 
 and was there two years. He then re- 
 turned to Chelsea, where he succeeded his 
 father in business, and was thus engaged 
 for twenty-six years. During this time he 
 took an active part in public affairs, and 
 rilled various official positions. 
 
 Mr. Dickinson was married in February, 
 1837, at Tonbridge, Vermont, to Mary 
 Helen Hall, a native of Vermont, and a 
 daughter of Jonathan C. Hall, a business 
 man of Tonbridge, where she was reared 
 and educated. Three children were born 
 of this union, as follows: Chase Hall, who 
 grew to mature years, married Ruth S. 
 Pitkin, of Delavan, Wisconsin, and for 
 some years was a merchant at Kalamazoo, 
 Michigan, and there died in 1897. He was 
 a prominent and successful merchant and 
 had the .reputation of being one of the best 
 business men of the place. He left a wife 
 
 and son, Bartlett C. Dickinson, now a 
 student in the Michigan University, Ann 
 Arbor. His daughter, Helen Louise, met 
 her death by drowning, while bathing in a 
 lake near Kalamazoo, Michigan. Helen 
 Louise, married Henry B. Towne, Novem- 
 ber, 1871. She died in April, 1873. Henry 
 B. Towne died in Chicago in 1885. Marcia 
 Isabel, who remains with her father at 
 home. 
 
 In October, 1866, Mr. Dickinson moved 
 with his family to Aurora, where he engaged 
 in the lumber business. For some years he 
 had been interested in the lumber interests 
 at South Haven, Michigan, having invested 
 largely in pine lands in that region. After 
 continuing the business some eight years at 
 Aurora, he sold his lumber interest and ac- 
 cepted the position of secretary and general 
 manager of the Aurora Silver Plate Man- 
 ufacturing Company, in which capacity he 
 served for several years. He was then 
 elected president of the company, which 
 position he still continues to hold. The 
 factory is one of the important industries of 
 Aurora, and much of the credit of its success 
 is due to Mr. Dickinson. 
 
 Mr. Dickinson cast his first presidential 
 ballot for Martin Van Buren. He continued 
 to act with the Democratic party until the 
 organization of the Republican party, and 
 in 1856 was a delegate to the first National 
 Republican Convention, at Philadelphia, and 
 assisted in the nomination of the "Great 
 Pathfinder," General John C. Fremont. 
 For several years he served as treasurer of 
 Orange county, Vermont, and in 1859 was 
 elected judge of probate for the district of 
 Randolph, and re-elected in 1860, serving 
 two terms in that office. He was also 
 elected in 1860 a member of the state legis- 
 lature, and, being re-elected, served two
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 353 
 
 terms. While a member of that body, he 
 served on several important committees, in- 
 cluding that of banking. He was later 
 elected state railroad commissioner, in 
 which position he also served two terms. 
 Since coming to Aurora he was elected and 
 served two terms as alderman of the city, 
 and for some years served as assistant super- 
 visor on the county board. In whatever 
 position he was called upon to fill, he made 
 a faithful and efficient officer. 
 
 Mr. Dickinson was one of the organizers 
 of the Second National Bank, of Aurora, 
 and was elected director, a position he held 
 during its existence. He also served as a 
 director of the Old Second National Bank, 
 which succeeded the former organization. 
 While residing in Orange county, Vermont, 
 he was also a director in a bank, being as- 
 sociated with Senator Morrill. For more 
 than fifty years he was a bank director, a 
 a term of service of which there are but few 
 equals. 
 
 Mrs. Dickinson died in Aurora, in 
 March, 1872. She was a woman of great 
 refinement and lovable character, and her 
 friends were many wherever known. Mr. 
 Dickinson and his daughter, who are rnem- 
 of the New England Congregational church, 
 reside in a beautiful home on Downer Place, 
 where they delight to entertain their many 
 friends. For almost a third of a century 
 he has been a resident of Aurora, and in 
 that time has done much to advance its 
 material interests. Few men have more or 
 stronger friends. 
 
 pvIETRICH LAUE is one of the leading 
 \~J farmers of Hampshire township, his 
 large farm lying in sections 2 and 3. Of 
 the many races that make up the component 
 
 parts of our mixed nationality, none, per- 
 haps, have added more to the national 
 wealth than the sturdy sons of the Father- 
 land. Germany has furnished to America 
 many who have become prominent in the 
 councils of the nation. In her fleets and 
 armies, and in her works of peace, many 
 have risen to places of honor and trust. In 
 the commercial world and upon the farm, 
 many have obtained wealth and prominence. 
 The family from which sprang the sub- 
 ject of this sketch was one of wealth and 
 prominence in the old kingdom of Hanover. 
 In the days prior to its absorption by Prus- 
 sia, Hanover was the richest of the German 
 kingdoms. The public treasury was so well 
 filled that interest of the kingdom's capital 
 was sufficient to sustain their army, and the 
 peaceful avocations of life were not as 
 heavily taxed as now to keep them on a 
 war footing. All its sons were not then re- 
 quired to spend three or four years in the 
 army, and their time was not, therefore, 
 withdrawn from the pursuits of peace. This 
 was the condition of affairs when Dietrich 
 Laue, grandfather of our subject, removed 
 from France to the kingdom of Hanover 
 with his parents, who were French. When 
 an old man it was his delight to call his 
 grandchildren around him and relate in- 
 cidents of earlier times, and talk to them in 
 French, in which he was a fluent speaker, 
 much to their amusement, their cars being 
 accustomed only to the German tongue. He 
 was a man of wealth and prominence, a 
 large land owner for the time in which he 
 lived and one having a fine education. For 
 many years he was a magistrate, and the 
 leading man of Hemsem, the village and 
 district in which he lived. It is related that 
 it fell to his duty to find quarters for some 
 thousands of French soldiers who were sta-
 
 354 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Honed there during the Napoleonic wars. 
 During this time, at noon each day, he was 
 required to act as escort to the women who 
 took food to their husbands in the field, 
 they fearing the troops of the foreign in- 
 vader. He attained a good old age, passing 
 away when eighty-two years and four months 
 old, revered by several generations of the 
 Hemsem villagers. He was twice married, 
 first to a widow lady, and to extinguish title 
 to property, of the former husband's estate, 
 he gave the daughter a thousand dollars as 
 a settlement, a very large sum of money at 
 that time, showing him to be a man of more 
 than ordinary wealth at the time. After 
 her death he married a Miss Pinne, who be- 
 came trie mother of Henry Laue, father of 
 the sub'ject of this review. 
 
 Henry Laue was born in the village of 
 Hemsem, in 1812, and attended the schools 
 conducted by the Lutheran church, and at 
 the age of fourteen was confirmed and ad- 
 mitted to membership in the church. He 
 devoted himself to farming and lived most of 
 his life on a comfortable farm of sixty acres, 
 which in that county, under their system 
 of cultivation, amounts to two or three 
 times that number of acres in this country. 
 In 1 88 1, he came to America, and for seven 
 years made his home with his son near Har- 
 mony, Illinois. But it is hard to transplant 
 an old tree into new soil. Thoughts of 
 the fatherland crowded themselves upon 
 him, and finally the longing for the old 
 home became too great to be withstood. In 
 1888, he returned to the home of his child- 
 hood, and in January, 1891, went to his 
 rest, having lived a long and useful life of 
 which his children may well be proud. 
 
 Henry Laue married Mary Vogel, daugh- 
 ter of Dietrich Vogel, who was a farmer in 
 comfortable circumstances in Hemsem. 
 
 The mother died at the age of sixty-one, a 
 woman full of Christian virtues. To them 
 were born seven children as follows: Hen- 
 ry, who lives on the old home farm; served 
 during the Franco-Prussian war, and was 
 detailed for service at the officers' quarters 
 because of his faithfulness and steady hab- 
 its; Louisa, who married Henry Deusing, 
 and lives in Germany; Fred, who also 
 served .during the Franco- Prussian war, 
 and, like Henry, because of his faithfulness, 
 was retained at headquarters with the pay- 
 master, receiving mail, and handling money; 
 he came to America in 1882, and now owns 
 a fine farm in McHenry county, near Har- 
 mony; Dietrich, our subject, who was 
 named for his grandfather; August, who is 
 engaged in farming in the old country, and 
 who never came to America; William, who 
 came to America some years after our sub- 
 ject, and now owns two fine large farms in 
 McHenry county, not far from the Kane 
 county line; and Sophia, who married Pat- 
 rick Kain, and lives in Chicago. 
 
 Dietrich Laue was born in the village of 
 Hemsem, near the market town of Nien- 
 burg, July 29, 1848, the year of the revolu- 
 tion of the German states. He attended 
 the parochial school as usual, but owing to 
 the family residence having been burned, 
 and the necessity of his being employed in 
 some capacity, he was passed through the 
 school a year earlier than common, though 
 he passed all the examinations to the satis- 
 faction of the teacher in charge. At an 
 early age he was employed on a large es- 
 tate, keeping watch over the cattle in the 
 fields for several years, when he was ap- 
 pointed, and for four years had full charge 
 of the sheep of a large estate. The last 
 six months before sailing for America he 
 was employed at ordinary farm work.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 355 
 
 When it came to breaking home ties, 
 the grief of the family was profound. The 
 aged grandfather threw his arms around 
 the neck of his favorite grandson, named 
 for him, and implored him to remain. Sail- 
 ing from Bremen October 16, 1868, in the 
 Hansen, the largest and safest vessel of the 
 line, after a fair voyage of ten days our emi- 
 grant landed at New York, and came di- 
 rectly west to Chicago, the time occupied 
 by the emigrant train, in which he took 
 passage, being five days. At this time he 
 was thirteen dollars in debt, and this is the 
 start he had in this country. 
 
 From Chicago, Mr. Laue went to Bloom- 
 ingdale, Du Page county, securing work 
 with Henry Harmoning, with whom he re- 
 mained one year. The four following years 
 he was employed on the farm of Lewis Bart- 
 lett, and then returned to his former em- 
 ployer, remaining two years. It is a no- 
 ticeable fact that Mr. Laue remained for a 
 long period of time at each place, and re- 
 ceived from forty to fifty dollars a year 
 more than others working for the same per- 
 son. His employers could rest easy when 
 away from home, knowing that Dietrich 
 Laue was in charge and that everything 
 would be as well cared for as if they were 
 on the place. One of the secrets of Mr. 
 Laue's success, was that he always endeav- 
 ored to take as careful interest in his em- 
 ployer's affairs, as if they were his own. 
 
 Mr. Laue was married in Chicago, Feb- 
 ruary 24, 1875, to Miss Sophia Reinking, a 
 native of Ontarioville, Illinois, daughter of 
 Dietrich Reinking and Dora (Fisher) Reink- 
 ing. By this marriage, have been born 
 seven children, all of whom yet remain un- 
 der the parental roof. They are Fred- 
 erick, Emma, William, Herman, Tillie, 
 August and Lena. 
 
 At the time of his marriage Mr. Laue 
 had saved fourteen hundred dollars. He 
 then came to Hampshire township and pur- 
 chased two hundred and sixty acres on sec- 
 tion 2, on which he made a payment of 
 twelve hundred dollars. He then began a 
 career of unusual success, which has made 
 him the owner of a large tract of as fine land 
 as lies in the state of Illinois. Before he 
 had completed the deferred payments on 
 his first purchase he bought one hundred 
 and fifty acres adjoining'his farm on section 
 3, on which stands a substantial house and 
 barn. On the first tract he erected a large 
 two-story frame house and a fine basement 
 barn, 36x80. He follows dairy farming 
 and keeps on hand from one hundred to 
 one hundred and ten milch cows, the prod- 
 ucts of which he ships to Chicago. A man 
 of unusual good business management, he 
 is training his sons in the same energetic 
 ways. 
 
 The family are all members of the 
 Evangelical Lutheran church, of Harmony. 
 In politics Mr. Laue is a Republican, and 
 sees no present reason why he should ever 
 make a change. He has served a number of 
 years as school director for his district, 
 which extends into McHenry county, and in 
 the spring of 1898 was elected one of 
 the road commissioners of Hampshire town- 
 ship. His life of patient industry, should 
 be an incentive to others who would succeed 
 in life. 
 
 JOHN A. McQUEEN, residing on sec- 
 tion i, Plato township, Kane county, 
 has spent almost sixty years of his life in 
 this county. The McQueen family is one of 
 the oldest and most respected of the Scot- 
 tish yeomanry. For many generations, rep- 
 resentatives of the family were to be found
 
 356 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 in southwest Scotland. The first to come 
 to America was George McQueen, who was 
 born in Wigtonshire, Scotland, in 1805, and 
 was the youngest of a family of ten chil- 
 dren. He was educated for the ministry, 
 but feeling no call for clerical life, became 
 an ironmonger in Scotland. His father was 
 well-to-do and owned a large farm, on 
 which George was reared. The latter was 
 also a farmer, as well as a merchant. 
 
 In 1836 George McQueen sold his prop- 
 erty in Scotland and came to America, and 
 for three years lived at Croton Point, New 
 York, on the Hudson river. In 1839 he 
 came west by boat to Troy, New York, 
 thence by canal to Buffalo, and from there 
 to Chicago by lake. He came at once to 
 Kane county and purchased two hundred 
 and thirty acres in section i,in Plato town- 
 ship, where the remainder of his life was 
 passed, he dying in 1859. Before leaving 
 Scotland he married Margaret McCornack, 
 born in Scotland in 1807, and the eldest of 
 a family of six children born to Andrew and 
 Helen (McGeogh) McCornack. Her par- 
 ents came to America in 1837 and her father 
 died here at the age of ninety-nine years. 
 She died in 1860 at the age of fifty-three 
 years. To George and Margaret McQueen 
 seven children were born, as follows: El- 
 len, who married Alexander Caskey, of Chi- 
 cago Heights, and is now deceased; Will- 
 iam, who died at the age of nineteen years; 
 Andrew, living in Adams county, Washing- 
 ton; John A. of this review; Elizabeth, wife 
 of James Rosborough, of Plato township; 
 Janet, wife of W. J. Christie, of Elgin; and 
 Mary H., wife of W. J. McEldowney, of 
 Chicago Heights. 
 
 John A. McQueen was born at Croton 
 Point, April 14, 1839, and was but three 
 months old when his parents came to Kane 
 
 county. He grew to manhood on his fa- 
 ther's farm and attended the public schools 
 at Udina and also Elgin Academy until the 
 age of eighteen years. He then taught 
 school for two years, and on his father's 
 death, in 1859, he took charge of the home 
 farm until his mother's death, one year 
 later. He continued to remain on the farm 
 until the outbreak of the rebellion, when he 
 enlisted August 17, 1861, in Company B, 
 a calvary company attached to the Thirty- 
 sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. His com- 
 pany was mustered in at Camp Hammond, 
 Aurora, and was from there sent to Benton 
 Barracks, where the regiment remained one 
 month, engaged in drilling. It was then 
 sent to Camp Rolla, where it remained un- 
 til Januar.y, 1862, and was in the battle of 
 Pea Ridge, under Curtis. It then marched 
 to Cape Girardeau, where it took a steamer 
 to Pittsburg Landing, and marched thence 
 to Corinth, participating in the siege of that 
 place. The regiment was then sent to 
 Nas hvilleand took part, under Buell, in the 
 race with Bragg for the Ohio river at Lou- 
 isville, Kentucky. It was in the battle of 
 Perryville, and later in the battles of Stone 
 River and Murphrysboro. In the Chatta- 
 nooga campaign it participated in the bat- 
 tles of Chickamauga and Lookout Mount- 
 ain, under Hooker, in that engagement so 
 graphically described as the battle above 
 the clouds. It was then in the campaign 
 and the battles around Atlanta. 
 
 While in Lookout Valley, Mr. Mc- 
 Queen's time expired, and he re-enlisted 
 for three years or "until the close of the 
 war." From Atlanta, under Howard, the 
 regiment marched to Savannah, on the 
 world famed march to the sea. With the 
 division that moved to Beaufort by the 
 steamer and thence to Pocotalico, the regi-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 357 
 
 ment moved on to Columbia and Goldsbor- 
 ought where Sherman and Scofield made a 
 junction. After leaving Beaufort Mr. Mc- 
 Queen had charge of General Howard's 
 scouts, and was recognized as one of the 
 most daring of men in that service of the 
 many fearless ones who made enviable rec- 
 ords during the war. 
 
 Two days after leaving Columbia, while 
 out with a scouting party, Mr. McQueen 
 was riding a white horse that he had picked 
 up, his own having become disabled. This 
 made him conspicuous, and in consequence 
 he was an easy mark for the enemy, and 
 received a severe wound in the groin. 
 After lying twenty-four hours in a nearby 
 cabin he was captured. From this time on 
 his experience reads like a romance. Dur- 
 ing the time of the disorder, when Columbia 
 was burned during its occupancy by the fed- 
 eral troops, Mr. McQueen used every effort 
 to restrain the troops and posted a guard to 
 protect the residence of an aged couple. It 
 proved to be that of Rev. A. Toomer Porter, 
 chaplain of a confederate general and a 
 man of great influence in the south. Be- 
 cause of this fact the minister gave him a 
 letter addressed to Gen. Wade Hampton 
 or any confederate officer into whose hands 
 it might fall, stating the fact and commend- 
 ing him to their consideration. After re- 
 ceiving the wound, Mr. McQueen was re- 
 moved to the home of a southern soldier 
 who had lost an arm in the battle of Peters- 
 burg, under General Lee. He carried our 
 subject one mile to his home, and there 
 cared for and protected him. That letter 
 secured for him the consideration he re- 
 ceived. A noted guerrilla came to the cabin 
 with the intention of killing him, but was 
 prevented by the owner, who would have 
 protected him with his life. 
 
 When Rev. Porter learned of the wound- 
 ing of Mr. McQueen he came to him and se- 
 cured his removal to a confederate hospital 
 at Camden. Here he was commended to 
 the favor of Bishop Davis, of South Caro- 
 lina, and by his own generosity to fellow in- 
 mates in dividing the food sent him by 
 friends of the Bishop, won their hearts and 
 was given better treatment than he would 
 have otherwise received. When somewhat 
 recovered he was removed to trie military 
 prison, and here the Bishop's son came to 
 him and secured for him the best to be had. 
 While here he saw Dr. Todd, a brother-in- 
 law of President Lincoln, who was serving 
 as surgeon in the confederate army. Bishop 
 Davis and Rev. Porter also visited him 
 while in the prison, and as soon as he was 
 able to travel Rev. Porter took him to 
 Chester, South Carolina. Their only con- 
 veyance to Chester was a rickety old buggy 
 and a condemned army mule. The latter 
 was so weak that he could not draw both 
 men in the buggy, so Mr. Porter walked the 
 greater part of the way. 
 
 At Raleigh Mr. Porter secured the parole 
 of our subject, and he there waited the ar- 
 rival of 'Sherman's army. The pages of 
 history do not record a greater expression of 
 gratitude for favors shown than that exhib- 
 ited by Rev. Porter to Mr. McQueen. He 
 traveled with him more than thirteen hun- 
 dred miles, the greater part of the distance 
 on foot, and using his influence with supe- 
 rior officers, finally secured his parole. On 
 several occasions he was instrumental in 
 saving our subject's life. At a G. A. R. re- 
 union at Washington, some years after the 
 close of the war, there was a very affecting 
 meeting of Mr. Porter and Mr. McQueen. 
 The reverend gentleman now conducts a 
 school for orphans of the war, both union
 
 358 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and confederate, and for its maintenance 
 secures large sums of money from the north. 
 Beginning as a private, Mr. McQueen was 
 later commissioned first lieutenant, and was 
 known as a fearless and daring scout of great 
 service to Sherman's army. 
 
 On his teturn home Lieutenant McQueen 
 purchased from the other heirs the old 
 homestead and has now one hundred and 
 ninety-five acres under a high state of culti- 
 vation. On the place he has erected two 
 dwellings and three large barns. For some 
 six years after the close of the war he made 
 a specialty of sheep raising, but that indus- 
 try becoming unprofitable he abandoned it. 
 About 1871 he began dairy farming, and 
 ke.:ps upon the place about one hundred 
 head of cattle. The Chicago, Milwaukee 
 & St. Paul railroad cutting through his 
 farm, a station was there located, which he 
 named Plato, but which name was changed 
 by the railroad company to McQueen's 
 Station. Here for a time he engaged in the 
 mercantile business. The farm is now con- 
 ducted by his sons. 
 
 Lieutenant McQueen was united in mar- 
 riage at Chicago Heights November 28, 
 1865, with Miss Martha E. Eakin, born 
 May 22, 1845, and a daughter of Stewart 
 B. and Catherine (McEldowney) Eakin, 
 both of whom were natives of Ireland. By 
 this union five children were born as fol- 
 lows: (i) Catherine Margaret, who at- 
 tended the Elgin academy, and later grad- 
 uated from the Rockford Female College, 
 and who is now holdings position in the Gail 
 Borden Library at Elgin. (2) Alice J., a 
 graduate of both the Elgin Academy and 
 Rockford Female College. She is a teacher 
 of great ability. When Professor Welch 
 resigned as principal of the Elgin Academy 
 and took charge of Lake Forrest Seminary, 
 
 he insisted on Miss McQueen receiving an 
 appointment, and she was the first female 
 teacher in that institution. (3) William 
 Charles, a graduate from the Elgin Acad- 
 emy and who spent one year at Knox Col- 
 lege, Galesburg, married Irene McCornack, 
 daughter of Andrew H. and Isabella M. 
 (Eakin) McCornack. The latter was a 
 daughter of Samuel and Jane (Christy) 
 Eakin, Jane being a daughter of William 
 Christy. Andrew H. McCornack was the 
 son of William and Eliza (Frazer) McCor- 
 nack, the former from Wigtonshire, and 
 and the latter from Inverness-shire. She was 
 the daughter of William and Isabella (Mc- 
 Lean) Frazer. William McCornack was 
 the son of Andrew and Ellen (McGeough) 
 McCornack. To William C. McQueen and 
 wife two children have been born, one dy- 
 ing in infancy, the other being Martha Isa- 
 belle. (4) George Stewart, who attended 
 the public school and Elgin Academy, now 
 engaged in farming at McQueen's Station. 
 He married Jenny Mink, daughter of Le- 
 ander and Marcia (Woodward) Mink, by 
 whom he has two children, Margaret and 
 Harry. Leander Mink was the son of Rob- 
 ert and Jane (Vantine) Mink. His wife, 
 Marcia, was the daughter of Robert and 
 Mary (Crandall) Woodward. (5) John 
 Walter, a graduate of the Elgin Academy, 
 is now a student in Beloit College. 
 
 Lieutenant McQueen is a member of 
 Elgin post No. 49, G. A. R. No man 
 stands higher in the community. He is 
 conscientious and upiight, a good citizen, 
 thrifty and energetic. 
 
 MT. BARROWS, now living a retired 
 life in Dundee, Illinois, has been a 
 resident of the state since January, 1856.
 
 LIBRARY 
 Of THE 
 
 of -it-'ns.
 
 M. T. BARROWS.
 
 MRS. M. T. BARROWS.
 
 0*
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 363 
 
 His life is 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 
 utilize the opportunities that surround his 
 path. The essential conditions of human 
 life are ever the same, the surroundings of 
 individuals differ but slightly. When one 
 man passes another on the highway of life 
 it is because he has the power to use advan- 
 tages which probably encompass the whole 
 human race. Among the most prominent 
 men of Kane county, is the one whose 
 name heads this sketch. He was born in 
 the town of Corinth, Saratoga county, New 
 York, July 15, 1834, and is the son of The- 
 ron Barrows, born in the same town in 
 1812. His grandfather, Joseph BarYows, . 
 was also a native of New York, and one of 
 the early settlers of Saratoga county, where 
 he was for many years one of the leading 
 farmers. The family are of English de- 
 scent, three brothers coming to this country 
 at an early day, one locating in Connecti- 
 cut, one in Massachusetts, and the ancestor 
 of our subject in New York. 
 
 Theron Barrows was a blacksmith by 
 trade, which occupation he followed in his 
 native state. He there married Marietta 
 Grippin, a native of Saratoga county, New 
 York, and a daughter of William Grippin, a 
 pioneer farmer of that county. Both re- 
 ceived the common-school education of early 
 days, gleaning their greatest knowledge in 
 the stern school of experience. They were 
 brought up believers in the Baptist faith, 
 and joined a church of that denomination in 
 the town of Corinth, New York. They never 
 changed from this belief, but continued 
 firm to the end of their lives. At the early 
 ages of nineteen and seventeen years, re- 
 
 17 
 
 spectively, they joined hands in the holy 
 bonds of matrimony, and started forth on 
 life's journey, spending nearly sixty years 
 together. 
 
 In 1854 Theron Barrows moved with his 
 family to Dundee, Illinois, where he engaged 
 in the hardware business, which he success- 
 fully conducted for a number of years. Clos- 
 ing out his stock, he removed to Elgin, and 
 became a stockholder and vice-president of 
 the Home National Bank, with which insti- 
 tution he was connected until his death, in 
 December, 1892. His wife survived him a 
 few months, passing away in 1893. They 
 were laid to rest in the Dundee cemetery. 
 In early life he was a stanch Whig and an 
 enthusiastic supporter of Henry Clay. He 
 believed in maintaining a high tariff and was 
 . unalterably opposed to slavery. After the 
 change of "political parties, he remained a 
 firm Republican to the end of his life. In 
 his business relations he was ever accounted 
 honest and upright, valuing his word higher 
 than written guarantee. Socially he was a 
 man of genial and pleasant manners, mak- 
 ing and retaining many friends. 
 
 M. T. Barrows, our subject, grew to 
 manhood in Greenfield Centre, Saratoga 
 county, New York, and there learned the 
 blacksmith's trade, at which he worked and 
 carried on a shop for some years. In Jan- 
 uary, 1856, he came west, locating first in 
 Dundee, where he operated a blacksmith 
 shop for two years, when he sold out and 
 removed to Barrington, Cook county, where 
 he carried on a shop for five years. Re- 
 turning to Dundee he took an interest in the 
 hardware store, in partnership with his father, 
 which connection was continued for eight 
 years. He then purchased his father's in- 
 terest and continued the business with grat- 
 ifying success, until 1888, when he sold out
 
 364 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and has since lived a retired life. He has 
 also dealt somewhat extensively in real es- 
 tate, buying and selling farm land. He 
 now owns several farms, one in Kane county, 
 two in Cook county, one in Lake county, 
 one in Boone county and one of nine hun- 
 dred and sixty acres in Howard county, Iowa, 
 and a plantation in Monticello, Jefferson 
 county, Florida, of over five hundred acres. 
 The farms are all for stock and dairy pur- 
 poses, and are all well improved places, 
 comprising a total of three thousand, five 
 hundred acres. 
 
 Mr. Barrows was united in marriage at 
 Dundee, Illinois, in December, 1856, to 
 Miss C. L. Oatman, only daughter of Jesse 
 Oatman, a pioneer settler of Kane county. 
 There were ten children born of this union, 
 five of whom died in infancy and early 
 childhood. The living are Clara M., wife 
 of Dr. Briggs, of Elgin; Herbert A., in the 
 insurance business at Dundee; EltaV. , wife 
 of A. C. Crawford, of Freeport, Illinois; 
 Lucy B., wife of Alfred Ketchum, a farmer 
 of Dundee township; and L. Gertrude, now 
 taking a course of music in Newport, New 
 Hampshire. 
 
 Politically Mr. Barrows is a Republican, 
 and cast his first presidential ballot for 
 Abraham Lincoln in 1860. From that time 
 to the present he has voted for the nominees 
 of that party for president at each election. 
 While preferring to give his time and atten- 
 tion to his extensive business interests, he 
 was elected and served as president of the 
 town board three terms. When a young 
 man he united with the Odd Fellows and 
 passed all the chairs, but is now an ancient 
 Odd Fellow. He is a member of the Bap- 
 tist church, of which body his wife and chil- 
 dren are also members. 
 
 Mr. Barrows commenced life for himself 
 
 a poor boy, working for twenty-five cents a 
 day, and later four dollars a month. At the 
 age of eighteen he had saved one hundred 
 and forty-nine dollars, with which he com- 
 menced blacksmithing for himself at Green- 
 field Centre, New York. By his own in- 
 dustry and thrifty habits, he has acquired a 
 competency, and is able to live a retired 
 life. When he came west he had about 
 twelve hundred dollars, which he invested 
 in business, and success has crowned his 
 efforts in a remarkable degree. For forty- 
 two long years he has been a resident of this 
 vicinity, and is well known in Kane and ad- 
 joining counties, and those who know him 
 best hold him in the highest regard. 
 
 JOEL GOODELL, who for twenty years 
 has been the efficient assessor of St. 
 Charles township, has made his home in 
 the city of St. Charles almost continuously 
 since January 24, 1857, and, as a public- 
 spirited and progressive citizen, he has 
 given his support to all measures for the 
 public good. 
 
 Mr. Goodell was born in St. Lawrence 
 county, New York, March 25, 1832, a son 
 of Levi and Elizabeth (Covey) Goodell. 
 The father was born in Salem, Massachu- 
 setts, about 1796, and died in 1858, while 
 the mother died in Jefferson county, New 
 York, when our subject was about twelve 
 years old. In their family were five children 
 four sons and one daughter all of whom 
 are still living in New York, with the excep- 
 tion of our subject, and are heads of fami- 
 lies, and Levi, Daniel, Hiram and Lucinda 
 are all residents of Lewis county, that state. 
 About 1837 Joel Goodell accompanied 
 the family on their removal from St. Law- 
 rence county to Jefferson county, New York,
 
 L. GERTRUDE BARROWS.
 
 HERBERT A. BARROWS. 
 
 M. T. BARROWS. THERON BARROWS. 
 
 THERON C. BARROWS.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 365 
 
 locating sixteen miles from Watertown, 
 where he grew to manhood.- As his educa- 
 tional advantages were limited, he is almost 
 wholly self-educated. At the age of sixte'en 
 he began learning the tanner's and currier's 
 trade, in the village of Champion, -New 
 York, serving a four-years' apprenticeship, 
 but after working as- a journeyman for one 
 year in Carthage, his health failed, and dur- 
 ing the following year he spent most of his 
 time in hunting and fishing with the hope 
 of regaining his lost strength. He then en- 
 gaged in farming for a year or two. 
 
 In Jefferson county, New York, Mr. 
 Goodell was married to Miss Mary Orrinda 
 Everden, September i, 1855. She was 
 born at Clayton, Thousand Islands, in the 
 St. Lawrence river, a daughter of G. W. 
 Everden, who was captain of a vessel, and 
 was drowned the night of November 11, 
 1835, when his ship was lost. In his family 
 were only two children, his son being E. G. 
 Everden, a farmer and business man of 
 Benona, Oceana county, Michigan, who is 
 married and has a family. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Goodell have one son, Ernest F. , cashier of 
 the banking house of Bowman, Warne & 
 Stewart, of St. Charles. He is a well edu- 
 cated and successful business man, of ster- 
 ling worth and many excellent traits of 
 character. He is married and has two 
 sons, Harry and Ralph, and a daughter, 
 Charlotte M. 
 
 After his marriage, Joel Goodell contin- 
 ued to engage in farming in his native state 
 until 1857, when he emigrated to St. 
 Charles, and began the practice of veteri- 
 nary surgery, with which he was perfectly 
 familiar, his father having been connected 
 with that profession. At the end of a year 
 he returned to New York to care for his 
 father who was ill, and while there he en- 
 
 listed, in 1861, in the Seventeenth New York 
 Artillery, stationed at Sackett's Harbor, 
 but on examination he was relused. Re- 
 turning to St. Charles, in 1863, he was for 
 about a year in the government employ, 
 treating horses at the government corral in 
 Chicago. Subsequently he practiced vet- 
 erinary surgery in St. Charles for a number 
 of years. 
 
 The Republican party has always found 
 in Mr. Goodell a stanch supporter, having 
 voted for every presidential candidate since 
 casting his vdta-.for J'ohn C. Fremont, in 
 1856, with the e'jtce.priqri . of once when 
 not at home during the election. He has 
 been a delegate to many county ^conventions, 
 has taken an active interest in local politics, 
 and for four years served as collector of St. 
 Charles township, since which time he has 
 been assessor. For a number of years he 
 was also a member of the school board, and 
 has most capably and faithfully discharged 
 the duties of whatever office he has been 
 called upon to fill, including that of deputy 
 sheriff of Kane county, in which he -served 
 for three years. Although not a member of 
 any religious organization, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Goodell attend the Congregational church, 
 and they have the respect and esteem of all 
 who know them. 
 
 EJ. BOLDT is one of the important 
 factors in the business circles of Elgin, 
 and his life is an exemplification of the term 
 "the dignity of labor." The possibilities 
 that America offers to her citizens he has 
 utilized, and though he came to this coun- 
 try in. limited circumstances he has steadily 
 and perseveringly worked his way upward, 
 leaving the ranks of the many to stand 
 among the successful few. He now con-
 
 366 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ducts in Elgin a store which would be a 
 credit to a city of much greater size, deal- 
 ing in wall paper and paints and doing a 
 general painting and decorating business. 
 
 Mr. Boldt was born in Tessin, Mecklen- 
 burg Schwerin, Germany, November 6, 
 1858, a son of Ernest J. and Mary (Hoff- 
 man) Boldt, also natives of Germany. The 
 former was an officer on board a German 
 vessel and followed the sea during the 
 greater part of his active business life, mak- 
 ing a number of trips to India on merchant 
 marines. At the age of sixty-five he laid 
 aside business cares and lived retired in the 
 enjoyment of a well-earned rest until his 
 death, in 1862. He was at the time in his 
 sixty-ninth year, his birth having occurred 
 in 1791. In religious belief he was a Lu- 
 theran. Mrs. Mary Boldt, who was his 
 second wife, is now living in Elgin, at the 
 age of sixty-three years. They had three 
 children: E. J. ; Adolph, employed in the 
 postal service of Germany, and Caroline, 
 wife of John Wagner, who resides on a 
 farm near Dundee, Illinois. 
 
 Mr. Boldt, of this sketch, completed his 
 literary education by his graduation in a 
 high school at Tessin, about 1873. He 
 then entered upon an apprenticeship to the 
 painter's and decorator's trade under Will- 
 iam Toellrfer, painter and decorator, com- 
 pleting his term at the age of nineteen, but 
 remaining with his employer through the 
 following year. When twenty years of age 
 he entered the German army and on the ex- 
 piration of his two years' term went to 
 Hamburg, where he worked at his trade for 
 six months. He then again entered the 
 army, being called for a drill of six weeks. 
 On once more returning to civil life, he de- 
 termined to seek a home in America, and 
 on the 22d of October, 1881, landed in 
 
 New York, whence .he came to Elgin. He 
 made this place his destination by reason of 
 his uncle, F. O. Hoffman, living on a farm 
 near here. After visiting his uncle for two 
 weeks he secured employment with the firm 
 of Day & Fencher, painters and decorators. 
 After eight months Mr. Day removed to 
 Syracuse, New York, and Mr. Boldt entered 
 into partnership with Mr. Fencher, a con- 
 nection which was maintained for a year. 
 
 Since that time Mr. Boldt has been alone 
 in business, and has met with a splendid 
 success, which he well merits. He carries 
 a large and well-selected stock of wall 
 paper, and has taken contracts for papering, 
 painting and decorating some of the finest 
 structures that have been erected in this 
 part of the state. His business has con- 
 stantly grown in volume and importance, 
 and has now assumed extensive proportions. 
 The frescoing in some of the churches in 
 Elgin, Barrington, Hampshire and Geneva 
 has been done by him and able assistants. 
 He has taken contracts for painting many 
 of the public buildings, and now has a con- 
 tract for such work in the new park pavilion 
 in course of construction; also a large new 
 club-house at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. He 
 has painted and tinted the inside walls of 
 most of the Elgin school buildings, and in 
 papering and decorating private residences 
 he has a very large business. His artistic 
 taste at once recognizing harmony in colors 
 and tints, and grasping almost intuitively 
 the effect that will be produced by certain 
 combinations proves a very valuable factor 
 in his work. He keeps always on hand a 
 force of employes, and during the busy 
 season frequently has as many as sixteen 
 skilled workmen. 
 
 On the 4th of October, 1884, Mr. Boldt 
 was united in marriage to Miss Lizzie, daugh-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 367 
 
 ter of Fred Yurs, an agriculturist living near 
 Elgin. They now have an interesting family 
 of three children: Walter A., A. Herbert 
 and Hazel Esther. The parents are mem- 
 bers of the Evangelical Lutheran church, 
 and in social circles occupy an enviable 
 position, their generous hospitality being 
 enjoyed by many friends. Mr. Boldt gives 
 his political support to the Republican party, 
 but has never aspired to office, preferring to 
 devote his time and energies to his business, 
 in which he has met with signal success. 
 
 EBENEZER P. EATON, deceased, was 
 widely and favorably known through- 
 out various sections of the west, with whose 
 business interests he was prominently iden- 
 tified. He was born in Northampton, 
 Massachusetts, in 1821, and when a lad of 
 ten years removed to Waterloo, New York, 
 with his parents, Ebenezer and Mary 
 (Stuart) Eaton. His father was a descend- 
 ant of Francis Benjamin Eaton, a Pilgrim 
 who came to this country in the Mayflower. 
 About 1843 or 1844 Mr. Eaton came 
 west and first located in Milwaukee, Wis- 
 consin, where he was employed as a clerk 
 in a hotel for three years. Becoming thor- 
 oughly familiar with that business, he 
 opened a hotel in Chicago, which he con- 
 ducted for two years, and subsequently he 
 was successfully engaged in the same busi- 
 ness at Elkhorn, Walworth county, Wis- 
 consin, for sixteen years. In 1865 he re- 
 moved to Clinton, Iowa where he engaged 
 in hotelkeeping and also conducted a livery 
 stable for ten years. Removing to Dixon, 
 Illinois, in 1875, ne carried on a livery 
 there until 1880, when he retired from act- 
 ive business, enjoying a well earned rest at 
 his pleasant home in Elgin, where he lived 
 
 for two years. A pleasant, genial gentle- 
 man, he made a most popular and success- 
 ful landlord, and his house was always a 
 great favorite with the traveling public. 
 His politicalsupportwasalways given the men 
 and measures of the Democratic party, and 
 fraternally he affiliated with the Masonic 
 order, and the Independent Order of Odd 
 Fellows. In Clinton, Iowa, on the 23d of 
 January, 1891, he was called to his final 
 rest, and his death was mourned by a large 
 circle of friends and acquaintances as well 
 as by his immediate family. 
 
 In early manhood Mr. Eaton married 
 Miss Julia Harriman, a native of Canada, 
 born at Jerusalem, thirty miles from Mon- 
 treal. She is a representative, however, of 
 some of the oldest and most highly 
 respected families of the United States. 
 Her paternal grandfather, Rufus Harri- 
 man, was born in Vermont of New Eng- 
 land parentage, and married Lucinda Dav- 
 is, a native of Connecticut, and a daugh- 
 ter of Samuel and Abigail (Clark) Dav- 
 is, who were also descended from old 
 Colonial stock. Mrs. Eaton's father, Noah 
 Harriman, was born in Vermont, but spent 
 much of his early life in Canada and New 
 York, coming west in 1844 and locating in 
 Elkhorn, Wisconsin, where he died in No- 
 vember, 1894, at the ripe old age of eighty- 
 eight years. By occupation he was a farm- 
 er, and he had the respect and esteem of all 
 who knew him. Mrs. Eaton, who is a most 
 estimable lady, has a pleasant home at No. 
 363 Park avenue, Elgin, where she expects 
 to spend her declining years. 
 
 Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. 
 Eaton, as follows: (i) Orien C., who makes 
 his home with his mother in Elgin, was in 
 the one-hundred-days' service during the 
 Civil war, and is now a traveling salesman
 
 3 68 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 for a Chicago house. He married Eva Bab- 
 cock, now deceased. Politically he is a 
 Democrat, and socially he is a member of 
 the Masonic fraternity. (2) Edgar Stewart, 
 a grocer of Elgin, is a Republican in polit- 
 ical sentiment, and is also a Mason. (3) 
 Dora Louisa is living with her mother. (4) 
 Stella M. is the wife of Walter Bates, a 
 traveling salesman of Council Bluffs, Iowa, 
 and has one child, Dorothy. 
 
 /CHARLES J. ANDERSON, farmer and 
 V> station agent at McQueen Station, 
 Plato township, is a native of Kane county, 
 born in Elgin, October 31, 1855. He at- 
 tended the public schools of that city until 
 about fourteen years of age, when it became 
 necessary that he should find some useful 
 employment, and for about six years he 
 worked in the condensing factory, planing 
 mill and in other places. In 1875 his 
 father bought a farm of ninety acres, lying 
 in Plato and Rutland townships, to which 
 the family removed. For his father Charles 
 worked until he purchased the farm to 
 which he has since added twenty additional 
 acres, bought of Andrew McCornack. The 
 farm is used for dairy purposes, Mr. Ander- 
 son shipping the products to Chicago. 
 
 John Anderson, the father of our sub- 
 ject, was born in the city of Boroas, Swe- 
 den, and came to America in 1854, sailing 
 from Gottenberg, and landing at Boston, 
 where he remained six months. He then 
 went to Chicago and thence to Elgin, and 
 labored at what he could find to do. For a 
 time he followed mattress making, and 
 worked in the condensing factory until he 
 purchased his farm in 1875. He has now 
 retired from active work and makes his 
 home with our subject. While residing in 
 
 Sweden, he married Anna Peterson, by 
 whom he had seven children, five of whom 
 reached maturity Andrew, who was born 
 in Sweden, six months before sailing, died 
 in Elgin, at the uge of forty-seven years; 
 Sophia, living in Chicago; Louise, now Mrs. 
 Peder Rovelstad, of Elgin; and Charles J., 
 our subject, and his twin brother, William, 
 who resides at South Manchester, Con- 
 necticut. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was married 
 at McQueen's Station, February 10, 1887, 
 to Miss Christine Caroline Johnson, a na- 
 tive of Sweden, who came to America with 
 her brother in 1880. By this union five 
 children have been born Agnes, Anna, 
 Antonia, Clara, and Carl William. The 
 first named died at the age of three years 
 and eight months. Mrs. Anderson died 
 April 15, 1898. Her funeral was held in 
 Elgin, and was attended by many friends 
 who knew her in this life and who grieved 
 with husband and motherless children. Her 
 remains were laid to rest in Bluff City 
 cemetery. 
 
 Since September, 1882, Mr. Anderson 
 has served as station agent at McQueen's 
 Station, and has been postmaster since 
 Harrison served as president. He is a mem- 
 ber of the Swedish Lutheran church of El- 
 gin, of which body his wife is also a mem- 
 ber. In politics, is a thorough Republican. 
 As a citizesn, he stands high in the estima- 
 tion of his fellow men. 
 
 LABAN HAYWARD, who is now living 
 retired in Aurora, but who for over 
 forty years was one of the active, enterpris- 
 ing and representative business men of the 
 city, dates his residence in the state since 
 1849, and in Aurora, Kane county, since
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 369 
 
 1865. The Hay ward family are of English 
 descent, the first of the name settling in 
 Vermont at a very early day. In that state 
 Asa Hayward was born in 1784, and died in 
 1868. His son, Willard Hayward, was 
 born in Rutland county, Vermont, in 1808. 
 He was there reared, and married Betsy 
 Bradish, the youngest of a family of eight 
 children of Jonas M. Bradish, who was also 
 a pioneer of Vermont. After his marriage 
 Willard Hayward engaged in farming in 
 Rutland county, Vermont, where he re- 
 mained until 1849, and then moved west by 
 way of the Erie canal and the lakes to Chi- 
 cago, where he secured teams to haul his 
 family and personal effects to Will county, 
 Illinois. He there purchased one hundred 
 and sixty acres of land, and commenced the 
 improvement of the place. For thirteen 
 years he resided there, engaged in agricult- 
 ural pursuits, then moved to Aurora and 
 purchased residence property, where his 
 death occurred in 1880, at the age of sev- 
 enty-two years.. His good wife survived 
 him for over eleven years, being called to 
 her reward in 1892. Their remains lie 
 buried in Spring Lake cemetery, where a 
 substantial monument marks their last rest- 
 ing place. They were the parents of two 
 sons and one daughter: Henry, who for 
 some years was an invalid, died in 1855; 
 Mary E. married William Hattery, who is a 
 business man residing in Waterloo, Iowa; 
 Laban, the younger son, completes the 
 family. 
 
 Laban Hayward was born in Rutland 
 county, Vermont, August 21, 1836,- and was 
 a lad of thirteen years when he came with 
 the family to Will county, Illinois. He there 
 grew to manhood, and assisted in the cultiva- 
 tion of the home farm. His educational ad- 
 vantages were limited, but he acquired suffi- 
 
 cient knowledge to pass an examination, 
 and for two winters engaged in teaching in 
 the public schools. He has been twice mar- 
 ried, his first union being with Miss Emer- 
 ancy Moore, a native of New York, where 
 she was reared and educated, and who for 
 some time was a teacher in the public 
 schools. The wedding ceremony took place 
 August 19, 1858. On the 3<Dth of Novem- 
 ber, 1 86 1, she was called to her final rest, 
 leaving two children Ada, wife of James 
 A. Cook, of Waterloo, Iowa, and Eva, wife 
 of Mr. Banister, of near Dwight, Illinois. 
 Mr. Hayward's second marriage was in 
 Will county, September 24, 1863, when he 
 wedded Elizabeth Barclay, a native of Glas- 
 gow, Scotland, born November 18, 1841, 
 and who came with her father, James Bar- 
 clay, to this country in 1857. Her father 
 was for years a prominent farmer in Will 
 county, but now resides in Aurora, living a 
 retired life. By this union there were six 
 children, of whom one is deceased, Clara, 
 who died in childhood. The living are: 
 Mary, wife of S. D. Brown, who holds a 
 position with the Chicago, Burlington & 
 Quincy railroad; Martha, formerly a teach- 
 er in the Aurora public schools, residing at 
 home; George, Arthur and Charles, who 
 succeeded their father in the grocery busi- 
 ness at the old stand. 
 
 After his first marriage, Mr. Hayward 
 took charge of the old homestead, and for 
 nine years was there engaged in farming. 
 He then moved to Aurora and engaged in 
 the butchering business on the east side. 
 Three years later he built a business house 
 on Broadway, and continued in the meat 
 business, later adding a stock of groceries. 
 For five years he engaged in meat packing, 
 in connection with his other lines of trade, 
 also in buying and handling fruit and veg-
 
 370 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 etables. Until January, 1898, he was act- 
 ively engaged in business, when he was 
 succeeded by his sons. Success crowned 
 his efforts in every respect, his trade at all 
 times being quite extensive, due in a great 
 measure to his public spirit and the deter- 
 mination to succeed. He is now a stock- 
 holder, and for several years was a director 
 in the First National Bank of Aurora. He 
 is also a stockholder in the Home Building 
 and Loan Association, the Aurora National 
 Loan Association, and the Ice Company. 
 In many of the business enterprises of 
 Aurora, in the past thirty years, he has lent 
 a helping hand. 
 
 The first ballot cast by Mr. Hayward 
 for president of the United States, was in 
 1860, when he voted for Abraham Lincoln. 
 From that time to the present, he has been 
 an earnest advocate of the principles of the 
 Republican party, and has voted for each of 
 its presidential nominees. For two years 
 he served as alderman of his ward, during 
 which time he was on several important 
 committees, including the railroad commit- 
 tee, that secured the building of the viaduct 
 over the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy 
 railroad. In his second year he was chair- 
 man of the committee on sewers, and was 
 instrumental in having built the large sewer 
 on the east side. He has ever been a friend 
 of education and the public schools, and 
 has given earnest support to every effort 
 calculated to advance the school interest. 
 While not a member of any church, he has 
 assisted in the erection of several of the 
 church buildings in the city, and has con- 
 tributed of his means to other benevolent 
 purposes. Mrs. Hayward is a consistent 
 member of the Presbyterian church. Fra- 
 ternally he is a Mason, a member of the 
 blue lodge and chapter, and has represented 
 
 the former several times in the grand lodge 
 of the state. 
 
 Mr. Hayward has been a resident of 
 northern Illinois for forty-nine years, almost 
 a half a century. For thirty-three years he 
 has resided in Aurora. He has witnessed 
 the growth and development of this part 
 of the state, seen it change from a wilder- 
 ness, and in its transformation has borne no 
 inconsiderable part. Identified with the 
 institutions of the city, and the prosperity of 
 its people, he is numbered among the hon- 
 ored old settlers of Kane county. He is a 
 man of good business ability, of exemplary 
 habits, of tried integrity and worth, and he 
 and his most estimable wife and family are 
 esteemed and respected by all, and their 
 many friends will be pleased to read this 
 short sketch in the Biographical Record of 
 Kane county. 
 
 JOHN HENRY KARL, deceased, was 
 for years one of the active business men 
 of Aurora, and one of its most highly- 
 esteemed and valued citizens. He was 
 of foreign birth, but his duties of citi- 
 zenship were performed with a loyalty equal 
 to that of any native son of America, and, 
 when this nation was imperiled by the 
 hydra-headed monster, Rebellion, he went 
 at once to its defense. Mr. Karl Was born 
 in the principality of Reis, Germany, No- 
 vember 15, 1835, of which place both his 
 father and mother were natives. The 
 father was by trade a builder and contract- 
 or and emigrated to America in 1850, set- 
 tling in Buffalo, New York, soon after, and 
 there engaged in business, very extensively, 
 in contracting and building. 
 
 John Henry Karl had attended school 
 in Germany and continued his studies in
 
 J. HENRY KARL.
 
 tf
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 373 
 
 Buffalo, principally at a night school, work- 
 ing during the day. In that city he learned 
 the drug business thoroughly, then removed 
 to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he carried on 
 the business for a time. In 1859 he came 
 to Aurora, in response to a call from John 
 Stout, and entered the drug business with 
 that gentleman, on Broadway street. There 
 he continued in active operation until the 
 breaking out of the war in 1861, when he 
 hired a man to represent him in the busi- 
 ness and joined the Thirty-sixth Regiment. 
 Illinois Volunteer Infantry, under Colonel 
 Grisel, his position being that of hospital 
 steward. After serving eleven months, on 
 account of sickness, he was discharged for 
 disability. Returning home to Aurora, and 
 after recuperating, he entered into the act- 
 ive duties of his business again, still in part- 
 nership with Mr. Stout. The business was 
 continued until 1870, at which time the 
 stock was sold and the partnership dis- 
 solved. 
 
 In the spring of 1872, Mr. Karl bought 
 the undivided half interest in the Aurora 
 stone quarry, in partnership with Blasius 
 Berthold, and the business was carried on 
 under the firm name of Berthold & Karl. 
 The same year Mr. Berthold was killed by 
 the explosion of a pump engine, and the 
 widow of Mr. Berthold and Mr. Karl car- 
 ried on the business in partnership for a 
 time, until she sold her interest to Mr. King. 
 The partnership of Karl & King was very 
 brief, a brother of his former partner, Mr. 
 Berthold, Antone Berthold, buying Mr. 
 King's interest, and for eight years Karl & 
 Berthold successfully worked the quarry. 
 Ever since his return from the army Mr. 
 Karl had experienced delicate health, and 
 in 1880 he sold out his interest in the 
 quarry to his partner, and in April, 1881, 
 
 he died and was buried in Spring Lake 
 cemetery, his death being mourned by a 
 large circle of friends. 
 
 The marriage of Mr. Karl to Elisabeth 
 Leppert, daughter of John and Helena 
 (Baum) Leppert, was solemnized in June, 
 1867. To this union five children were 
 born, all of whom are yet living Robert 
 Henry, Edward George, Oda Leonora, 
 Louis William and Harry Herman. All are 
 yet residing in Aurora, and Robert H. was 
 married to Martha Swartz, of Columbus, 
 Ohio. Louis and Harry are competing a 
 drug store in the Coulter block. 
 
 Mr. Karl served several years in the 
 volunteer fire department of Aurora, and 
 was a member of the Aurora Rifle Com- 
 pany. In 1867 he erected a residence on 
 Broadway, which he afterward sold, and 
 then erected a beautiful home at 189 South 
 LaSalle street, in which the family yet re- 
 side, and also a prominent business block, 
 and was the owner of other business prop- 
 erty in the city. A good business man, 
 conscientious in all his dealings, his death 
 left a void in business circles. Mrs. Karl 
 and the family occupy a prominent position 
 in the social circles of Aurora and are held 
 the in highest esteem. 
 
 SN. HOOVER is numbered among the 
 ablest young attorneys of Kane county, 
 and although but a few years a citizen' of 
 the coiinty he has attained high rank at the 
 bar. His office is in the Mercantile Block, 
 Aurora. He was born in Clermont county, 
 Ohio, and is the son of Peter H. and Au- 
 gusta A. (Prather) Hoover, both of whom 
 are natives of Ohio. The father has been 
 a farmer for a number of years. He came 
 to Illinois, in 1868, locating in Randolph
 
 374 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 township, McLean county, where he pur- 
 chased a quarter section of land, and en- 
 gaged in agricultural pursuits. He is now 
 living retired in the city of Bloomington. 
 Although an ardent Republican, and one 
 who in almost every campaign has made 
 many public speeches in the interest of his 
 party, he has never aspired to office. He 
 favored a vigorous prosecution of the war, 
 and was a strong Lincoln man. Although 
 about seventy-six years of age, he is a well- 
 preserved man, physically and mentally, 
 and is yet strong in the faith of his party, 
 being a great admirer of William McKinley. 
 His wife died January 5, 1892, at the age 
 of sixty-three years. Both parents were of 
 the Methodist faith and communion. The 
 Hoover family of Lancaster county, Penn- 
 sylvania, are of the same stock, and were 
 originally from Frankfort-on-the-Main, Ger- 
 many. Our subject is the youngest of five 
 children, born to Peter H. and Augusta A. 
 Hoover, the others being Orlando J., a res- 
 ident of Paoli, Kansas; Nettie, now Mrs. 
 W. P. Jones, of Bloomington, Illinois; 
 Thomas Henry, a resident of San Fran- 
 cisco, California; and William W. , who re- 
 sides at Manson, Iowa. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was educated 
 at the Illinois Wesleyan University, at 
 Bloomington. Leaving college, he studied 
 law with Brock & Holly, of Bloomington, 
 and then taught school at Rankin, for two 
 years. Removing to Red Cliff, Colorado, 
 he there engaged in teaching for two years, 
 and on June i, 1891, was admitted to the 
 bar, and began the practice of his profes- 
 sion at that place. Soon after his admis- 
 sion to the bar, he was elected district at- 
 torney for the fifth judicial district of Col- 
 orado; was re-elected, but resigned the 
 position to come to Aurora, in 1893. In 
 
 July, 1892, he was chairman of the commit- 
 tee on resolutions in the silver convention 
 of the Pacific states in Denver, and intro- 
 duced a resolution by which the convention 
 declined to co-operate with any political 
 party. This resolution being carried and 
 Mr. Hoover having taken a decided stand 
 in a speech before the convention in its 
 favor, he was antagonized by Governor 
 Waite and the Populists who were seek- 
 ing to commit the convention to the 
 support of their candidates. While in Col- 
 orado he was a candidate for the legislature 
 on the Republican ticket, and during the 
 campaign of 1892 he stumped that state 
 for General Harrison. While attending the 
 Columbian exposition at Chicago, in 1893, 
 he determined to cast his lot with the peo- 
 ple of Aurora, and removed to the place in 
 the fall of that year. He then formed a 
 partnership with Senator George E. Bacon. 
 Mr. Bacon died in 1896, since which time 
 Mr. Hoover has been alone in the practice. 
 His ability was soon recognized by his fel- 
 low members at the bar, and he was ap- 
 pointed in 1894, assistant state's attorney 
 for Kane county, which position he resigned 
 in July, 1896, at which time he left the Re- 
 publican party, on account of his position 
 on the silver question, which was antago- 
 nistic to the party platform, adopted at St. 
 Louis, in the convention which nominated 
 William McKinley. His position on the 
 silver question, and the ability displayed 
 by him, in presenting his views to the peo- 
 ple, secured for him the nomination for 
 congress, in the Eighth congressional dis- 
 trict, by the free silver Republicans and the 
 Democratic party. At the convention, 
 where his nomination was made, in Aurora, 
 he made a speech, that was attentively 
 listened to by the large crowd assembled,
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 375 
 
 and which carried conviction to the minds 
 of many personsr Notwithstanding the 
 strong canvass made, and that he ran ahead 
 of his 'ticket, he was defeated for election 
 by Mr. Hopkins, the candidate of the Re- 
 publican party, which has an overwhelming 
 majority in the district. 
 
 Mr. Hoover was married August 29, 
 1888, to Miss Carrie I. Lowry, a daughter 
 of James B. Lowry, of Yorkville, Kendall 
 county, Illinois, to which place Mr. Lowry 
 removed from Erie county, Pennsylvania, 
 where he had attained prominence, and had 
 served as the first county clerk of Erie county. 
 He came to Illinois, in the latter part of the 
 forties, and was numbered among the early 
 settlers of Kendall county. To Mr. and Mrs. 
 Hoover one child, James Elaine Hoover, 
 was born, January 23, 1893. 
 
 Fraternally Mr. Hoover is a Mason, and 
 in politics is a silver Republican, and is a 
 committee man at large for the state of Illi- 
 nois. He is recognized as an able orator, 
 and since coming to Aurora has built up a 
 large and profitable practice, and occupies 
 a position second to none as a member of 
 the Kane county bar. 
 
 JAMES W. HIPPLE, an enterprising 
 farmer residing on section 32, Elgin 
 township, was born in Landisburg, Perry 
 county, Pennsylvania, September 11, 1835. 
 His father, Jesse Hippie, was a native of 
 Pennsylvania, as was his grandfather, John 
 Hippie. The latter dying when quite young, 
 but little is known of his ancestry, save that 
 the family, consisting of five brothers, came 
 to this country prior to the Revolutionary 
 war. John Hippie was a blacksmith by 
 trade, and was employed in that capacity 
 during the war for independence. He owned 
 
 a farm which he sold about the close of 
 hostilities and was paid in Continental money, 
 which proved to be worthless, so all was 
 lost. Our subject has some of the old 
 money yet in bills of twenty dollars, eight 
 dollars, one dollar and other smaller denom- 
 inations. 
 
 Jesse Hippie, our subject's father, was 
 born October n, 1800, and died at the age 
 of eighty-three or eighty-four years, at Ge- 
 neva, New York. In early life he learned 
 the tailor's trade, which occupation he fol- 
 lowed until retiring at an advanced age. He 
 married Miss Mary Stone, born in Juniata 
 county, Pennsylvania, and daughter of Rich- 
 ard Stone, who came from London, Eng- 
 land, and who was an only child of his par- 
 ents. He left his native land when quite 
 young, and never but once visited his par- 
 ents in the old country, since which time all 
 trace of them was lost. Their estate is still 
 due the heirs. To Jesse and Mary Hippie 
 were born six children George, living re- 
 tired in Chicago; Catherine, who died at the 
 age of six years; Jane, wife of Israel Knettle, 
 of Elgin; Martha, widow of Lysamder 
 Stowell, now living in Elgin; Ann, wife of 
 David R. Shively, of Chicago; and our sub- 
 ject. 
 
 James W. Hippie remained under the 
 parental roof until sixteen years of age, and 
 during that time received a good common- 
 school education. He then went to Geneva, 
 New York, and worked at the tailor's trade 
 and was there engaged in business. He 
 later formed a partnership with his brother, 
 which continued a few years, and, being 
 dissolved, he went to New York City and 
 for a time was engaged as a traveling sales- 
 man for a wholesale house dealing in men's 
 furnishing goods. While residing in Geneva, 
 New York, he was united in marriage, Feb-
 
 376 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ruary 15, 1859, with Miss Arrietta T. Beck- 
 er, a native of New York City, and daugh- 
 ter of Vrooman Becker, who was born in 
 Schoharie county, New York, July 4, 1808, 
 and died July 16, 1865, in Chicago. In early 
 life he learned the carpenter's trade, and in 
 1855 came west to Chicago, and became an 
 extensive lumber merchant in that city, his 
 business being later transferred to his son 
 and our subject. He was four times mar- 
 ried, becoming the father of ten children. 
 His first marriage was with Eliza Van Dol- 
 son, daughter of Garrett Van Dolson, a 
 soldier of the war of 1812. She was born 
 February 24, 1814, in New York City, and 
 died in Geneva, New York, March 19, 1842. 
 His second marriage was with a Miss Ans- 
 ley, and his third one with Martha Van Dol- 
 son, a sister of his first wife, who became 
 the mother of two children, both deceased. 
 His fourth marriage was with Miss Cornelia 
 Dodge, by whom he had four children: 
 Edwin D., Sarah L. , Albert and Kate. Of 
 the four children by his first wife, two sur- 
 vive: Helen, wife of George Hippie, of 
 Chicago; and Arrietta, wife of our subject. 
 The deceased were Gideon L. , who was 
 a partner with our subject in the lumber 
 business; and John William, who served 
 during the late war and was wounded at the 
 siege of Vicksburg, and who died in Chicago 
 in 1897. 
 
 To our subject and wife five children 
 were born: (i) Jesse Vrooman, born Janu- 
 ary 30, 1862, married Lena Peterson, daugh- 
 ter of Peter Peterson, by whom he has three 
 children, James David, John Becker, and 
 Annie Elizabeth. (2) Gideon Becker, at 
 home. (3) James Stone, a student of me- 
 chanical engineering in the state university 
 at Champaign, Illinois. (4) Marietta, a 
 graduate of the Elgin Academy, and in the 
 
 class of 1898, University of Michigan, Ann 
 Arbor. (5) Annie Louisa, a graduate of 
 the Nurses' Training School of Elgin. 
 
 After being upon the road for some time 
 Mr. Hippie decided to again go into busi- 
 ness, and located at Watkins, New York, 
 but soon removed to Geneva, at the other 
 end of the lake, and opened a store next to 
 that of his brother. After remaining there 
 a short time he sold out to his brother, re- 
 moved to Chicago, and worked for his 
 father-in-law in an agricultural implement 
 factory for one year, at the expiration of 
 which time he engaged in the lumber busi- 
 ness until the great fire of 1871 wiped him 
 out. Soon after the fire, in partnership with 
 Jacob Oestmann, he opened a lumber yard 
 and conducted the same until 1875, when 
 our subject disposed of his interests, and in 
 the spring of that year moved to his present 
 farm which he had purchased some time 
 previous to the fire. 
 
 The experience of Mr. Hippie and his 
 family were thrilling during the fiery ordeal. 
 Owning teams for delivery of lumber, he was 
 enabled to move his household effects to 
 vacant property at a safe distance, and by 
 strenuous efforts saved his house from burn- 
 ing and prevented robbery by the lawless 
 thugs that infested all parts of the city, 
 from which the inhabitants had fled. 
 
 On coming to his farm, a fine tract of 
 three hundred acres, Mr. Hippie began its 
 improvement. He rebuilt the barn, which 
 is now forty by one hundred and forty-eight 
 feet, with high basement stables for nearly 
 one hundred head of cattle. He also built 
 an addition to the dwelling house making it 
 one of the most comfortable country resi- 
 dences in the county. A good tenant house 
 was also erected, a residence for his married 
 son. A horse barn was also built separate
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 377 
 
 from the main cattle barn, and a nice milk 
 house, where milk is cooled before taking to 
 market. The farm is now thoroughly under- 
 drained, with some twenty miles of tiling, 
 main and lateral. Two-thirds of the land 
 is under cultivation and all crops are used 
 on the farm. He keeps an average of eighty 
 milk cows in addition to young stock. 
 
 In his political views Mr. Hippie is a 
 Republican. He would never accept public 
 office save of that of school director, which 
 he filled for six years, preferring to give his 
 entire time and attention to his private 
 business interests. The family is held in 
 the highest esteem throughout the commu- 
 nity. Religiously, Mrs. Hippie is a member 
 of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which 
 our subject is an attendant. 
 
 T HERON BAKER, a %vell-known resi- 
 dent of St. Charles, is a man whose 
 successful struggle with adverse circum- 
 stances shows what can be accomplished 
 by industry and economy, if guided by 
 sound judgment and good business ability. 
 From the early age of fourteen years he 
 was obliged to make his own way in life 
 without the aids which are usually consid- 
 ered essential to success, but now in his de- 
 clining years he is able to live retired and 
 enjoy the fruits of his former toil. 
 
 Mr. Baker was born in Genesee county, 
 New York, November 7, 1817, a son of 
 George and Phoebe (Hall) Baker, also na- 
 tives of the Empire state, the latter born 
 in the town of Hartford, Washington coun- 
 ty. The Baker family is of Welsh descent, 
 and was founded in New York at an early 
 day in the history of this country. Our 
 subject's father was a soldier of the war of 
 1812, and for his services he subsequently 
 
 received a pension. In Genesee county, 
 New York, he followed farming until 1843, 
 when he came to Illinois and settled in 
 Waukegan. Later he removed to Bureau 
 county, this state, but spent his last years 
 in Wichita, Kansas. In his family were 
 nine children five sons and four daughters 
 all of whom reached years of maturity, 
 and three sons and two daughters are still 
 living. 
 
 The subject of this sketch spent his boy- 
 hood and youth in Genesee and Wyoming 
 counties, New York, acquiring .a very mea- 
 ger education, but his training at farm work 
 was not limited. In Wyoming county he 
 was married, December 22, 1842, to Miss 
 Isabella Culberson, a native of Ireland, who 
 came to the New World when a child of 
 ten years. Coming west in 1843, they first 
 located in the town of Delavan, Walworth 
 county, Wisconsin, where Mr. Baker had 
 entered a tract of forty acres the year pre- 
 vious. Upon the place he built a log 
 house, and to the improvement and cul- 
 tivation of his land he devoted his ener- 
 gies for thirteen years, transforming it 
 into a good farm. He then sold and re- 
 moved to Green county, Wisconsin, where 
 he purchased one hundred and sixty acres 
 of wild land and opened up another farm, 
 making this place his home for fifteen 
 years. On disposing of that property he 
 came to Kane county, Illinois, in Septem- 
 ber, 1870, and bought a farm of forty-one 
 and one-half acres in St. Charles township, 
 on the Elgin road, two miles from St. 
 Charles. He completed the house, built a 
 good barn and substantial outbuildings, set 
 out an orchard, and made many other im- 
 provements upon the plnce which added 
 greatly to its value and attractive appear- 
 ance. After successfully operating the farm
 
 378 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 for twenty-two years, he sold it and bought 
 a residence lot in St. Charles, on which he 
 erected a comfortable home, where he is 
 now living. Besides this property he owns 
 one good residence which he rents, and also 
 seven building lots. 
 
 Mr. Baker lost his first wife December 
 12, 1 887,. and in Kane county was again 
 married, September 12, 1888, his second 
 union being with Miss Harriet Butler, a sis- 
 ter of O. M. Butler, an early settler and 
 prominent manufacturer of St. Charles. 
 She was born in Rochester, Windsor coun- 
 ty, Vermont, and was reared in Essex, 
 Chittenden county, that state. She ob- 
 tained a good education, and in early life 
 was a successful teacher in Kane county, 
 Illinois, having come to the west in 1847. 
 Religiously she is a member of the Congre- 
 gational church of St. Charles and takes an 
 active interest in its work. 
 
 Politically Mr. Baker is a stanch Repub- 
 lican, and has never failed to cast his ballot 
 for its candidates at every presidential elec- 
 tion since voting for John C. Fremont in 
 1856. He has never aspired to office, how- 
 ever, preferring to give his attention to his 
 private affairs. His business undertakings 
 have been crowned with success, and he 
 has not only secured a comfortable compe- 
 tence, but has gained the respect and es- 
 teem of all who know him. 
 
 LYMAN D. MORGAN, who resides on 
 section 25, Hampshire township, was 
 one of the ' ' boysin blue, " who, at their coun- 
 try's call, went out in defense of the Union, 
 and gave between two and three years of his 
 young life to the service of his country. He 
 was born in Coral township, McHenry coun- 
 ty, Illinois, May 9, 1845, ar >d is the son of 
 
 Lyman Morgan, Jr., who was born in Pom- 
 pey, Onondago county, New York, and who 
 married Polly Thomas, also a native of 
 Pompey and a daughter of John Thomas, 
 of that place. The paternal grandfather, 
 Lyman Morgan, Sr. , was likewise a native 
 of Pompey, New York, and there died when 
 about eighty years of age. Lyman Morgan, 
 Jr., left his native state in 1839, came west 
 and settled in McHenry county, Illinois, 
 and there engaged in farming, and where 
 he died in 1866, at the age of fifty-six years. 
 His family consisted of seven children of 
 whom two only are now living LeRoy, 
 who is living at Platte, Michigan, and who 
 served during the war in the Fifty-second 
 Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry; and 
 Lyman D., our subject. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood on his father's farm and attended the 
 district schools until the age of fourteen 
 years. In 1859 the family moved into Kane 
 county, Illinois, locating on the farm which 
 is now owned by our subject. Mr. Mor- 
 gan enlisted October 17, 1862, as a member 
 of Company B, Seventeenth Illinois Cav- 
 alry, and served until December 15, 1865. 
 He went first to Jefferson Barracks, near St. 
 Louis, Missouri, and thence to Alton, Illi- 
 nois, guarding prisoners. At that place he 
 was taken ill, from impure water and food, 
 and would have died but for the kindness 
 and care of an old Scotch woman. He 
 was next sent to St. Joseph, Missouri, 
 thence to Weston, south of St. Joseph, 
 doing scouting duty, which kept him out 
 most of the night in order to prevent bush- 
 whackers and thieves from depredation. 
 From Weston he went to Macon City, 
 Missouri, then to Brookfield and Laclede. 
 For a while he was stationed at Fort Leav- 
 enworth, and then sent to do scouting duty
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 379 
 
 around Fort Scott and west of that place 
 to Humboldt, Kansas. While there they 
 learned that their command had been or- 
 dered to Lawrence, Kansas, at the close of 
 the war to be discharged. The troops be- 
 came incensed at the officers for not com- 
 plying with orders. The officers desired 
 promotion before disbanding and for that 
 reason withheld the orders. The troops 
 mutinied, when they learned that instead of 
 being mustered out they were to be sent 
 west to fight Indians, and many of them 
 deserted. Those who stayed went west to 
 guard the Butterfield overland dispatch and 
 the government mail. Some stole cavalry 
 horses and escaped with them. Our sub- 
 ject was sergeant of the guard during the 
 last days and tried to hold deserters in check. 
 He was at last mustered out, at Fort Leav- 
 enworth and was discharged at Springfield, 
 Illinois. 
 
 After receiving his discharge, Mr. Mor- 
 gan returned home and worked for his father 
 until the latter's death in 1866, about the 
 time he attained his majority. He promised 
 his father on the latter's deathbed to remain 
 with his mother. He intended to study for 
 a profession, having a thirst for learning, 
 and was well fitted, mentally, for success in 
 any profession. His life work, however, 
 was changed by the death of his father. 
 After returning home he attended school 
 for two years in winters, one year of which 
 time he was in Elgin Academy, and being a 
 diligent student he secured a teacher's cer- 
 tificate and taught in the old village of 
 Hampshire. 
 
 Mr. Morgan was promised the home farm 
 on condition that he take care of his mother, 
 but had to buy the interest of the other 
 heirs in the estate. He secured sixty acres 
 of the original farm and bought ten acres 
 
 additional. In 1871 he went to Otter Creek, 
 Michigan, and went into the wood business 
 in partnership with an uncle, supplying wood 
 to be used in an iron furnace. The iron 
 company failed and they had thirteen hun- 
 dred cords of wood left on their hands, 
 which was a severe financial loss. In 1874 
 he returned to the farm and has here since 
 resided. 
 
 On the pth of May, 1874, at Platte, 
 Benzie county, Michigan, Mr. Morgan was 
 united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Ann 
 Helmer, born at Rainham Centre, Haldirnan 
 county, Canada, and a daughter of Jonas 
 E. and Sophie (Miller) Helmer. The father 
 of the latter, Joseph E. Miller, was a soldier 
 under the great Napoleon. Jonas E. Helmer 
 was born in Ohio, from which state he moved 
 to Canada, where he lived several years, 
 and in 1858 returned to Ohio. In the latter 
 state Mrs. Morgan grew to womanhood. 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Morgan seven children 
 were born: Alice M., deceased, was burned 
 to death, her clothes taking fire while burn- 
 ing brush; Ora, Mabel L. , Izo T. , Ambert 
 Delos, Eugenia and Lyman Judd. Ora at- 
 tended the State Normal school two years 
 and has taught school in the district in Mc- 
 Henry county, where his father attended 
 when a boy. Mabel has also engaged in 
 teaching, and for three years had charge of 
 a school at Old Hampshire, where her father 
 taught when a young man. 
 
 Fraternally, Mr. Morgan is a member of 
 the Modern Woodmen of America, Knights 
 of the Globe, and of the Royal Neighbors. 
 In the latter order Mrs. Morgan also holds 
 membership. They attend the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, and in politics he is a 
 Republican. Among the local offices held 
 by him is that of school trustee and school 
 director. As a citizen he is held in the
 
 380 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 highest esteem and is ever ready to do his 
 part in whatever tends to advance the in- 
 terest of his county and state. 
 
 MOSES W.HAWES, deceased. In stud- 
 ying the lives and characters of prom- 
 inent men, we ars naturally led to inquire 
 into the secret of their success and the mo- 
 tives that prompted their action. Success 
 is a question of genius, as held by many, 
 but is it not rather a matter of experience 
 and sound judgment? When we trace the 
 career of those who stand highest in public 
 esteem, we find in nearly every case that 
 they are those who have risen gradually, 
 fighting their way in the face of all opposi- 
 tion. Self-reliance, conscientiousness, en- 
 ergy, honesty these are the traits of char- 
 acter that insure the highest emoluments 
 and greatest success. To these we may at- 
 tribute the success that crowned the efforts 
 of our subject. 
 
 Moses W. Hawes was born September 
 2, 1814, in Watertown, New York, receiv- 
 ing his early education in that city. Later 
 he went to Baltimore where he learned 
 civil engineering, and 'in 1837 was sent 
 from that city to the province of Conception, 
 Chili, South America, to erect and put into 
 operation the second flouring mill in that 
 country. He was chosen from among one 
 hundred applicants for the position. In 
 that country he became a very prominent 
 man and there continued to live for over 
 twenty years. Being a first-class engineer 
 he became a large government contractor 
 and built many bridges, docks, etc. While 
 residing in Chili, he married a Spanish lady, 
 by whom he had six children, only one of 
 whom is now living, a daughter who mar- 
 ried Bernardo Bambach. He died in 1877, 
 
 and his widow now resides in Tome, Chili. 
 In 1859 Mr. Hawes went to China and 
 completing the circumnavigation of the 
 globe returned to the United States. His 
 wife having died, Mr. Hawes was married 
 February 12, 1860, to Miss Jennie Rosen- 
 crans, who was born October 4, 1833, and 
 is the daughter of Asa and Jane (Cole) Ros- 
 encrans. On the first of August, 1860, ac- 
 companied by his wife Mr. Hawes went to 
 Chili, where he remained until the autumn 
 of 1869, when they returned to the United 
 States and first located in Elgin, Illinois. 
 In 1870 he went to Mendota, Illinois, 
 where he was engaged in the lumber busi- 
 ness until 1872, when he returned to Elgin. 
 After a short time he went to Europe and 
 subsequently made two other trips across 
 across the ocean. 
 
 In 1877 Mr. Hawes was called home to 
 serve as president of the Home National 
 Bank, which position he resigned in 1879 
 and again moved to Mendota. In 1892 he 
 once more returned to Elgin where he re- 
 mained until his death, November 22, 1894, 
 at the age of eighty-three years. He was a 
 consistent member of the Congregational 
 church, to which Mrs. Hawes also belongs. 
 She is a lady of pleasing presence, and 
 scholarly attainments, and is the only rep- 
 resentative of the Rosencrans family once so 
 prominent in Kane county. 
 
 JAMES C. BROWN, whose home is at 
 No. 403 North Spring street, Elgin, 
 was for many years prominently identified 
 with the agricultural interests of Kane 
 county, but is now living retired. He was 
 born in Steuben county, New York, March 
 20, 1832, a son of Henry and Lois (Colvin) 
 Brown, the former a native of Dublin, Ire-
 
 M. W. HAWES.
 
 vu
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 383 
 
 land, the latter of Connecticut. While 
 living in the east the father worked at the 
 tailor's trade, but after coming to Illinois, in 
 1844, he turned his attention to agricultural 
 pursuits, buying a tract of government land 
 in Hampshire township, Kane county, which 
 he transformed into a good farm. His wife 
 died in May, 1845, at about the age of 
 thirty-six years, and he subsequently mar- 
 ried Lavina Gleason. He cared nothing for 
 official honors, perferring to devote his en- 
 tire time and attention to the development 
 and improvement of his farm. In 1850, 
 accompanied by our subject, he went to 
 California by the overland route, starting 
 from Grundy county, Illinois. On reaching 
 Green River, Utah, the son was taken ill, 
 so that he did not reach his destination un- 
 til in 1851. The father remained on the 
 Pacific slope, dying in Oregon, in 1870, when 
 about seventy years of age. He was a con- 
 sistent member of the Free Will Baptist 
 church, to which the mother of our subject 
 also belongs. Fraternally he was a Mason 
 of high standing. In the family of this 
 worthy couple were nine children, of whom 
 five are still living: Betsy A., now residing 
 on Ashland avenue, Elgin, is the widow of 
 Willard B. Allen, who died at Baton Rouge, 
 Louisiana, while serving in the Union army 
 during the Civil war; Charlotte is a resident 
 of Hampshire, Kane county; James G. is 
 next in order of birth; and Lois V. and 
 Henry W. are both residents of California. 
 In the schools of New York, James C. 
 Brown began his education, which was 
 completed after the removal of the family 
 to Illinois in 1844, by attending the public 
 schools in Kane county. He assisted his 
 father in the work of the home farm until 
 the ist of May, 1850, when they started for 
 California. For eleven months he remained 
 
 18 
 
 in Salt Lake City, becoming well acquainted 
 with Brigham Young, and at balls would 
 dance with several of his wives the same 
 evening. He attended one wedding where 
 the bridegroom, a Mr. Cook, married two 
 sisters, standing up between them, the veil 
 being over them all. This was a common 
 occurrence in Salt Lake City at that time. 
 Mr. Brown boarded with a man who had 
 four wives living in the same home. Meet- 
 ing with many interesting experiences, he 
 thoroughly enjoyed his trip to California, in 
 which state he engaged in mining for a 
 year, and later farmed in the Suisun Valley 
 for two years. 
 
 After about four years spent upon the 
 Pacific slope, Mr. Brown returned to Illinois 
 in the fall of 1853, having met with mod- 
 erate success. Two years later, on the 23d 
 of September, 1855, Mr. Brown was united 
 in marriage with Miss Teressa P. Harney, 
 who was born in Massillon, Stark county, 
 Ohio, a daughter of T. }. and Mary (Bur- 
 gess) Harney, natives of Canada. She was 
 educated in a private school on the Western 
 Reserve in that state, and at the age of 
 eighteen began teaching near Massillon. 
 After coming to Kane county, in 1854, she 
 taught in the schools of Hampshire, teach- 
 ing boys and girls, whose children years 
 later attended a school conducted by her 
 daughter, Mrs. Hollenbeck. Mrs. Brown 
 is the only survivor in a family of six chil- 
 dren, three of whom died when young. 
 Thomas, the oldest, was a soldier of the 
 Mexican war, and Sarcfield M. was a sol- 
 dier of the Civil war. He was the first sol- 
 dier whose remains were brought back to 
 Elgin for interment. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Brown were born four 
 children, namely: (i) Lillie was educated 
 in the Elgin Academy, began teaching in
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the schools of Hampshire township, and 
 later taught for six years in the graded 
 schools of Elgin. In 1884 she married 
 Ralph D. Hollenbeck, who is a prominent 
 attorney and graduated in the same class 
 with his wife, by whom she has one child, 
 Helen. In 1891 she was elected a member 
 of the school board and served in that ca- 
 pacity for two terms, being chairman of the 
 teachers committee for three years. Since 
 its organization she has been identified with 
 the Woman's Club, which is one of the best 
 and largest clubs of the kind in the state 
 outside of Chicago. It has erected and con- 
 ducts an excellent hospital in Elgin, and 
 has taken an active part in many enterprises 
 for the good of the city. In its work Mrs. 
 Hollenbeck has borne an active and promi- 
 nent part. (2) Ira J., the second child of 
 our subject, finished his education at the 
 Elgin Academy, and is general milk solicitor 
 for the Illinois Central Railroad, having 
 charge of all the milk carried by that road. 
 He married Estella Wilcox, by whom he 
 has three children Calvin W. , James P. 
 and Harry H. and they live in Genoa, Illi- 
 nois. (3) Dairy died at the age of eleven 
 years. (4) Mary L. is the wife of Walter 
 P. Johnson, a grandson of Gail Borden, and 
 they live in southern California. Their chil- 
 dren are Borden, Calvin, Gail and Richard. 
 On his return from California Mr. 
 Brown invested his capital in a farm in 
 Kane county, to which he added from time 
 to time until he had one of the most val- 
 uable and desirable places in the commu- 
 nity. To agricultural pursuits he devoted 
 his energies until elected sheriff in 1870, 
 when he removed to Geneva to assume the 
 duties of that office, which he so acceptably 
 discharged that in 1872 he was, re-elected, 
 serving in all two terms. 
 
 In October, 1861, during his country's 
 hour of peril, Mr. Brown laid aside all per- 
 sonal interests and enlisted in Company B, 
 Eighth Illinois Cavalry, under Colonel Farns- 
 worth. For three years he was in the serv- 
 vice, participating in all the battles in 
 which his command took part, and when 
 his term of service had expired, he was hon- 
 orably discharged October 18, 1864. For- 
 tunately he was never wounded, taken pris- 
 oner, sent to the hospital, nor confined in 
 the guard house during the entire time, 
 though he met with many narrow escapes. 
 For a time he was on detached service. 
 Since his retirement from the office of 
 sheriff he has made his home in Elgin. 
 
 Socially Mr. Brown affiliates with the 
 Masonic order and the Independent Order 
 of Odd Fellows, while politically he is iden- 
 tified with the Republican party. Besides 
 serving as sheriff of the county, he has filled 
 all the township offices while residing in 
 Hampshire township, and has always been 
 recognized as one of the valued and useful 
 citizens of his community. His wife and 
 some of their children are members of the 
 Congregational Church, and in social cir- 
 cles the family is one of prominence. 
 
 JOSEPH CLARK, one of the highly re- 
 J spected citizens of St. Charles, who for 
 nearly half a century has been identified 
 with the interests of Kane county, is a na- 
 tive of England, born in the city of London, 
 August 27, 1837. His father, Edward Clark, 
 also a native of that country, emigrated with 
 his family to the New World in 1852, the 
 voyage across the Atlantic consuming six 
 weeks. The vessel on which they sailed, 
 the American Eagle, carried them safely 
 from London to New York, whence they
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 385 
 
 proceeded by wa} - of the great lakes to 
 Chicago, and in May, 1852, they arrived in 
 Kane county. St. Charles was then the ter- 
 minus of the railroad. About a mile and a 
 half from the village the father purchased a 
 tract of ninety-one acres of land, which he 
 at once commenced to clear and improve, 
 erecting thereon a good frame residence. 
 Upon that place he continued to make his 
 home until about two years prior to his 
 death, when he removed to St. Charles, 
 where he passed away March i, 1886. The 
 mother of our subject died in England, and 
 there the father was again married, his sec- 
 ond wife dying in Kane county, in 1853. 
 
 The children born of the first marriage 
 were Ellen, wife of W. H. Britt, of Chicago; 
 William, now deceased; Joseph, of this 
 sketch; Mrs. Cooley, of Batavia, Kane 
 county; Mrs. J. F. Elliott, of St. Charles; 
 and Edward, who during the Civil war was 
 a member of the Thirty-sixth Illinois Vol- 
 unteer Infantry, and died from effects of 
 wounds received while defending the old flag 
 and the cause it represented. 
 
 At the age of fourteen, Joseph Clark 
 came to the United States with his father, 
 and in Kane county grew to manhood. He 
 had received good educational advantages 
 in his native land, but after coming to this 
 country attended school but very little. 
 Remaining at home he assisted his father in 
 the arduous task of developing the wild land 
 into highly cultivated fields. Although of 
 foreign birth, he had great love for his 
 adopted country, and during her hour of 
 peril he offered his services to the govern- 
 ment to assist in putting down the rebellion. 
 In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company 
 E, One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Illinois 
 Volunteer Infantry, which was assigned to 
 the Army of the Tennessee, and with his 
 
 command he participated in the engagement 
 at Tallahassee; followed Price while on his 
 raid; was in the first siege at Chickasaw 
 Bayou; took part in the battle of Arkansas 
 Post, and in the siege of Vicksburg. He 
 was then detailed for hospital service at 
 Young's Point, where he remained for some 
 time, and from March until July, 1863, he 
 served on a hospital boat on the river. On 
 account of illness he was then discharged 
 and returned home, where he remained un- 
 til he had somewhat regained his lost 
 strength. 
 
 The following year Mr. Clark began 
 farming upon rented land and continued to 
 follow that occupation for a few years. He 
 then removed to St. Charles, where he pur- 
 chased a lot and erected his present resi- 
 dence in 1876, while he engaged in teaming 
 for some years. After his father's death he 
 bought the interests of the other heirs in 
 the old homestead and to agricultural pur- 
 suits again turned his attention, successfully 
 operating the farm until 1892, when he 
 rented it and returned to St. Charles, where 
 he is now living retired. Upon the farm he 
 has made a number of useful and valuable 
 improvements. 
 
 On the 22d of October, 1863, in Kane 
 county, Mr. Clark was united in marriage 
 with Miss Amanda A. Wood, a native of 
 Erie county, Pennsylvania, who, when a 
 child of three years, was brought to Illinois. 
 Her father, William Wood, was a pioneer 
 of Kane county, first locating in Blackberry, 
 and later in Batavia, where he spent his 
 last years. Mrs. Clark grew to woman- 
 hood and was educated in Kane county. 
 
 The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Clark 
 are as follows: Hattie A. died at the age of 
 twenty-two years; Mabel A. is the wife of 
 S. W. Durant, formerly of St. Charles, but
 
 3 86 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 now of Huntley, Illinois; William Edward 
 married Clara Bennett, of St. Charles, a 
 daughter of A. A. Bennett, whose sketch 
 appears elsewhere in this volume. They 
 are both connected with the Boydton Mis- 
 sionary School, at Boydton, Virginia, where 
 Mrs. Clark is serving as a teacher and Mr. 
 Clark as an editor and publisher. They 
 are well educated and both were formerly 
 teachers. Mary J., the next of the family, 
 was for a time matron of the Boydton 
 School, but is now at home; Joseph O., 
 Anson I. and Ruth Ellen are all at home. 
 
 The Republican party finds in Mr. Clark 
 a stanch supporter of its principles, and he 
 has voted for every presidential nominee of 
 the party since casting his vote for John C. 
 Fremont in 1856. Although he has never 
 sought office, he was elected and acceptably 
 served as collector of St. Charles for four 
 or five years. Mrs. Clark, her oldest sons 
 and two daughters, are members of the 
 Congregational church, the services of which 
 Mr. Clark also attends, although not a 
 member, and to its support he contributes 
 of his means. As a citizen he has always 
 been true and faithful to every trust reposed 
 in him, so that his loyalty is above ques- 
 tion, being manifest in days of peace as 
 well as when he followed the old flag to 
 victory on southern battle fields. As an 
 nonored pioneer and representative man of 
 the community he is also worthy of the 
 high regard in which he is. uniformly held. 
 
 REV. CALEB FOSTER, who resides at 
 No. 93 South Fourth street, Aurora, 
 Illinois, has been a minister of the Gospel 
 for sixty-one years and in that time has 
 been instrumental in bringing many into the 
 kingdom, and has left the impress of his 
 
 mind upon the minds and hearts of thou- 
 sands of persons where he has broke the 
 bread of life. He was born February 14, 
 1812, near Franklin, Venango county, 
 Pennsylvania, and is the son of John and 
 Mary (Martin) Foster, both of whom be- 
 came residents of the Keystone state, in 
 early life accompanying their respective 
 parents from Baltimore, Maryland, during 
 the last century. 
 
 John Foster was a farmer by occupa- 
 tion, owning a farm on the banks of the 
 Allegheny river, where he and his wife re- 
 sided until his death, the former in 1837, 
 at the age of fifty-one years, though natu- 
 rally a healthy man. When Caleb Foster 
 was four months old his father was drafted 
 into the war of 1812 being drafted a sec- 
 ond time. His wife survived him many 
 years, dying at the age of eighty-four. 
 They were the parents of seven children, 
 who reached maturity: Ross; James, who 
 is still living in Pennsylvania, at the age of 
 eighty-nine years; Caleb, now in his eighty- 
 seventh year; Mary, who married William 
 De Woody, and raised a large family of 
 children, most of whom grew to be men 
 and women, is still living in Pennsylvania 
 at an advanced age; John; Julia Ann, who 
 married John Temple; and Eliza, the young- 
 est of the family, who married Seth Tem- 
 ple, all of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Caleb Foster began his education in 
 the common subscription schools of his 
 state, where it was often found difficult to 
 support the schools for lack of funds. He 
 afterwards attended Allegheny College, at 
 Meadville, Pennsylvania, during parts of 
 1834-5-6. He entered the ministry of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church and received 
 an appointment July, 1846, at the organiza- 
 tion of the Erie conference at Meadville,
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 387 
 
 Bishop Soule, presiding, and Bishop Morris 
 by his side. From that organization he 
 was transferred to the Pittsburg conference 
 and was assigned to Florence circuit, Alle- 
 gheny county, then Kittanning circuit, then 
 Somerset, then Fish Creek Mission in Vir- 
 ginia, then Harrison circuit, West Virginia, 
 Lewis circuit, West Virginia, and from there 
 he was transferred back to his native state 
 and assigned to Blairsville, where he formed 
 the acquaintance of Miss P. J. Waterman, 
 who afterward became his wife, and from 
 there to the Pittsburg Wesleyan Chapel. 
 
 Mr. Foster was married in October, 
 1843, to Miss Parmelia Jane Waterman, 
 daughter of Lyman and Parmelia Wat- 
 erman, of Blairsville, Pennsylvania, her 
 father at that time being a wholesale 
 merchant at Blairsville. Subsequently 
 removing to Pittsburg, he continued in 
 the same line of business for some time. 
 The year after his marriage, our sub- 
 ject removed to East Liberty circuit, 
 where he remained two years; then to 
 Chartier circuit, near the city of Pittsburg, 
 one year; then to Asbury Chapel, Pittsburg, 
 two years. While here he was a member 
 of the committee on publication of the Pitts- 
 burg " Advocate. " He was next assigned to 
 Brownsville, two years; then to Mononga- 
 hela City, two years; then back to Asbury 
 Chapel, one year. In 1854 he was trans- 
 ferred to the Rock River conference, and 
 was stationed at Peoria, Illinois, one year, 
 and was then at Canton, Illinois, two years. 
 Rock River conference being divided at that 
 time, he fell in with the southern division, 
 and took his certificate of location and 
 moved to Ottowa, Illinois, where he spent 
 one year, at the end of which time he was 
 re -admitted to the Rock River conference 
 at Waukegan and sent to Mendota, where 
 
 he remained two years, and was then as- 
 signed Sandwich for two years and Oswego 
 one year. While there, in September, 1863, 
 he received the appointment of agent for 
 Clark's, now Jennings' seminary at Aurora, 
 in which he was engaged for three years, 
 and so active were his exertions that in that 
 time he raised by voluntary contributions 
 the sum of eighteen thousand dollars to 
 apply to the benefit of the seminary. 
 
 In the fall of 1866 Mr. Foster retired 
 from that work, and being quite worn out 
 by his excessive labor, sought needed rest, 
 but for a brief period only, as the limited 
 state of his finances urged further active 
 exertions. His many friends ill-advisedly 
 counselled him to take a supernumerary re- 
 lation to the church, which he tried without 
 much reward, turning his attention to vari- 
 ous occupations, until February, 1871. In 
 that year he was invited to enter into the 
 American Bible work, a position he accepted, 
 and has ever since been actively engaged in 
 it with most gratifying success, and al- 
 though eighty-six years of age, is as vigorous 
 and energetic as most men who are thirty 
 years his junior. 
 
 To Mr. Foster and wife were born seven 
 children, five of whom are now living, as 
 follows: Mary Emma, Parmelia A., Ly- 
 man W., Ada J. and Robert N. Parmelia 
 A. is now the wife of Rev. W. H. Burns, 
 D. D., of Oak Park, Cook county, Illinois. 
 Mr. Foster is the oldest member, as well as 
 being the oldest man, on the board of trus- 
 tees of Jennings seminary, and has been 
 trustee a longer period than any man ever 
 connected with the position. He is widely 
 known and respected by all who have the 
 pleasure of his acquaintance, and he pos- 
 sesses a wonderful retentive memory of 
 people and events of the past, and his mind
 
 388 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 is no less active on those of the present. A 
 good conversationalist, genial and pleasant 
 with all, he finds pleasure in his work and 
 health in the active exercise pertaining 
 thereto. At his own request his relation to 
 the conference is now that of superanuate. 
 In politics he is a Republican. 
 
 DUANE B. BALDWIN, a farmer re- 
 siding on section 24, Hampshire town- 
 ship, traces his ancestry back to Joseph 
 and Elizabeth Baldwin, his great, great- 
 grandparents, who were natives of New 
 England, the former dying January 9, 1808, 
 at the age of seventy-nine years, and the 
 latter March 13, 1808, at the age of sixty 
 years. Their son, Thomas Baldwin, was 
 born in April, 1784, probably in Connecti- 
 cut. He was a blacksmith and tool-maker 
 by trade, and during dull seasons of the 
 year would take his tools that he had manu- 
 factured and sell them through the coun- 
 try. On the 1 9th of April, 1817, in Con- 
 necticut, he married Polly Lanfear, who 
 was born in 1798, and who was the daugh- 
 ter of John and Mary Lanfear. Shortly 
 after their marriage they moved to Dorset, 
 Vermont, where he died July 4, 1854, 
 she surviving him, dying in 1872. 
 
 Lucian Baldwin, son of Thomas and 
 Polly Baldwin, was born at Dorset, Ver- 
 mont, March 29, 1819. He there grew to 
 manhood and married Maria J. Lanfear in 
 May, 1843. She was born at Ticonderoga, 
 New York, and in childhood made the old 
 fort a playground. Her father, David Lan- 
 fear, was a soldier in the war of 1812. He 
 married a Miss Phillips and came west with 
 Mr. Baldwin, later went to California, 
 where he died in 1870, at the residence of 
 a daughter. Lucian Baldwin came to Kane 
 
 county, Illinois, in July, 1843, and settled 
 on the farm now owned by our subject. It 
 was all in timber at the time, and he 
 cleared the land, split rails to fence it, built 
 the log house in which our subject was 
 born, there lived for some twenty years, 
 and, in 1872, built the present large frame 
 house. He died January 29, 1889. To 
 Lucian and Maria J. Baldwin, four chil- 
 dren were born Charles H., who lives at 
 Pingree Grove; Duane B. , our subject; 
 Ella J., wife of Scott Phillips, an employee 
 of the watch factory in Elgin; and Anna 
 M., wife of Silas E. Crane, a carpenter 
 living on section 25, Hampshire township. 
 Duane B. Baldwin, was born on the farm 
 on which he now resides, November 22, 
 1849. His education was obtained in the 
 district schools of Hampshire township, sup- 
 plemented by two terms at the Elgin Acad- 
 emy. The first school he attended was in 
 an old log house with puncheon floor and 
 puncheon benches. He attended school 
 until about nineteen years old, in the mean- 
 time assisting in the cultivation of the 
 home farm. In 1869 he took charge of the 
 farm, and continued its cultivation until 
 1873, with the exception of a short time 
 in 1870, when he operated a sawmill in 
 Kansas City, Missouri. In 1873, ne went 
 to California and at Truckee, Nevada coun- 
 ty, engaged in the lumber and wood busi- 
 ness. He remained in California until 
 1876, a part of which time he was working 
 in the interest of the Bank of California, 
 getting out timber and lumber at Virginia 
 City. Returning home, from 1876 to 1891, 
 he was engaged in farming, then moved to 
 the village of Hampshire, where he en- 
 gaged in cultivating land near there, and 
 also in bailing hay and other occupations. 
 On the ist of March, 1898, he returned to
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 389 
 
 the home farm which comprises one hun- 
 dred and sixteen acres, and is used for 
 dairy purposes. He keeps about twenty- 
 five head of cows and ships the product to 
 Chicago. 
 
 Mr. Baldwin has been twice married, 
 first in Elgin, February 11, 1879, to Mi ss 
 Etta Allen, daughter of John A. and Pa- 
 tience (Bowen) Allen, by whom he had one 
 child, Emory D., who is with a relative op- 
 erating a steamer on Lake Michigan. The 
 second marriage of our subject was at Co- 
 lumbiana, Ohio, December 30, 1885, when 
 he wedded Verana Sinsel, a -daughter of 
 Henry and Caroline Sinsel. By this union 
 four children have been born Ethel M., 
 Eva, Walter and Iva. 
 
 Fraternally, Mr. Baldwin is a member 
 of Hampshire lodge, No. 443, A. F. & A. 
 M. Politically he is a Republican. For 
 years he served as assessor of his township, 
 and has served as road commissioner and 
 school director for several terms each. He 
 is a wholesouled, genial man, very popular, 
 and has many friends throughout Kane and 
 adjoining counties. 
 
 /~>EORGE FREAR, who is living a re- 
 V_J tired life in Aurora, was for many 
 years one of the trusted employees of the 
 Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad 
 Company, and also a contractor and build- 
 er, having charge of the erection of a num- 
 ber of the substantial buildings of the city. 
 He has been a resident of Aurora since 
 April, 1856. A native of Canada, he was 
 born in Quebec, February 4, 1821. His 
 father, Joseph Frear, was born in North- 
 umberland county, England, April 2, 1777. 
 In coming to America, he was nine weeks 
 
 in crossing the Atlantic. He first settled in 
 Oswego, New York, but remained there 
 only a short time, moving to Quebec, Can- 
 ada. He married Eleanor Lee, also a na- 
 tive of Northumberland county, England. 
 By trade he was a cabinet-maker, joiner 
 and wheelwright, having served an appren- 
 ticeship in the old country. In Quebec he 
 worked at his trade, and also for a time was 
 engaged in merchandising. In 1828 he re- 
 turned to the states, locating in the city of 
 New York, where he worked at his trade a 
 number of years. In 1839 he moved to 
 Ulster county, New York, and purchased a 
 farm of one hundred acres, and for ten 
 years was engaged in farming. He later re- 
 moved to Binghamton, New York, and 
 there died, January 2, 1851. His wife 
 passed away April 17, of the same year. 
 
 George Frear is the youngest and only 
 surviving child of Joseph and Eleanor 
 Frear. While residing in New York city 
 he attended St. John's Academy, where he 
 received a liberal education. He there 
 learned the carpenter and joiner's trade, but 
 had previously worked three years at wood 
 carving. With his father he went to Ulster 
 county, New York, and took charge of the 
 farm. He also removed with him to Bing- 
 hamton, and there worked at his trade. 
 
 While residing in Ulster county, Mr. 
 Frear was married November n, 1847, to 
 Miss Jane demons, a native of New York, 
 where she was reared and educated, and a 
 daughter of Ira demons, a farmer of Ulster 
 county. By this union they became the 
 parents of four children, as follows: Mary 
 Anna, now the wife of E. W. Shepherd, a 
 soldier of the late war, but now a machinist 
 of Aurora; Eleanor L. , who for some years 
 was a successful teacher in the public 
 schools of Aurora; George William, who
 
 39 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 died in early childhood; and Maria Emily, 
 who died at the age of four years. 
 
 After residing nearly five years in Bing- 
 hamton, Mr. Frear moved back to Ellen- 
 ville, Ulster county, New York, where he 
 engaged in contracting and building for two 
 years. In 1856, he came west, located in 
 Aurora, then a town of less than two thou- 
 sand inhabitants. Here he also engaged in 
 contracting and building for a little more 
 than two years, and in 1859, went into the 
 Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad 
 shops, working in various departments, 
 principally as a pattern maker, and also in 
 the construction and the repair of coaches. 
 He continued with the road some five years, 
 and then purchased a farm in Cook county, 
 to which he removed, and where he re- 
 mained but eleven months. Selling out he 
 returned to Aurora and went back into the 
 shops, where he remained about twenty -five 
 years. 
 
 Politically Mr. Frear was first a Whig, 
 then an AbolitiDnist, and on the organiza- 
 tion of the Republican party, became iden- 
 tified with it. His first presidential ballot 
 was cast for General Winfield Scott, and 
 his first Republican ballot for John C. Fre- 
 mont. He has never desired or held public 
 office, with the exception of being a mem- 
 ber of the school board for three years, dur- 
 ing which time he used his influence in se- 
 curing good schools. Religiously he is a 
 member of the Presbyterian church, in which 
 he has been an elder lor a number of years. 
 Mrs. Frear is also a member of that church, 
 and both take a lively interest in whatever 
 tends to promote the Master's cause. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Frear celebrated their 
 golden wedding November n, 1897, at 
 which time a large number of their friends 
 congregated and gladdened the hearts. 
 
 They were the recipients of a number of 
 presents, showing the friendship and esteem 
 in which they are held. The session of the 
 church presented him with a gold-headed 
 cane on that occasion. In the forty-two 
 years of their residence in Kane county, Mr. 
 and Mrs. Frear have made many warm 
 friends, who esteem them for their Christian 
 character. 
 
 LOUIS A. CONSTANTINE, postmaster 
 of Aurora, was born in Buffalo, New 
 York, March 13, 1853, and is the son of 
 Louis A. and Fannie (Case) Constantine, 
 the former born about 1800, in Berlin, Ger- 
 many, while his father was a member of the 
 French Legation. He came to the United 
 States in the '303, where he lived for some 
 time and where his death occurred in 1865. 
 On coming to this country, he adopted the 
 principles of the Whig party, and later be- 
 came a Republican. His wife, Fannie (Case) 
 Constantine, was born in Devonshire, Eng- 
 land, and came with her parents to Canada, 
 when she was eleven years of age. She died 
 in 1892, at Davenport, Iowa, where she was 
 visiting her daughter. Louis A. and Fannie 
 Constantine were the parents of eight chil- 
 dren, four of whom are yet living: Sidney 
 M., an attorney at Three Rivers, Michigan; 
 Alice, now Mrs. Charles Stephens, of 
 Davenport, Iowa; Louis A., our subject; 
 and Benjamin F., manager of the "Post," 
 Aurora. The deceased are William, Carrie, 
 Maria, and Mary. 
 
 The subject of this sketch attended the 
 public schools at Buffalo, N. Y., and Grand 
 Rapids, Michigan. He then entered a print- 
 ing office as an apprentice, serving through 
 all the grades and was then transferred to 
 the business office. His first work was in
 
 LOUIS A. CONSTATINE.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 393 
 
 the office of the "Republican," at Dowa- 
 giac, Michigan, then the Grand Rap- 
 ids "Eagle," the Jackson "Citizen" 
 and the "Gazette" at Davenport, Iowa, 
 and the Chicago "Daily News." From the 
 " News" he came to Aurora, in November, 
 1877, and bought the "Post," which he has 
 since published. This paper is a daily, 
 seven-column folio, and devoted to the in- 
 terest of the Republican party. It has been 
 a prosperous paper since it was started, and 
 has absorbed the "Democrat," "Times," 
 " The Journal " and " Blade," weekly news- 
 papers of Aurora. 
 
 Mr. Constantine was united in marriage 
 March 27, 1882, at Aurora, with Miss Lil- 
 lian Loomis, daughter of William and Isabel 
 (Seeley) Loomis. She is a native of Aurora, 
 and her parents were natives of Erie coun- 
 ty, Pennsylvania. They had three children 
 William, deceased; Mary, now the wife 
 of Dr. Douglas Long, of Detroit, Michigan; 
 and Lillian. Mr. and Mrs. Constantine are 
 members of the Peoples church, Aurora. 
 
 Since attaining his majority, Mr. Con- 
 stantine has been actively engaged in poli- 
 tics, and, as a Republican, has been a leader 
 in the councils of his party. He was clerk 
 of the senate committee two terms, and 
 was private secretary pf President Bogardus, 
 of the senate. For two years he was in the 
 internal revenue service, in Chicago, under 
 Christian Mamer. On the 1 3th of January, 
 1898, he was appointed by President Mc- 
 Kinley, postmaster of Aurora, commissioned 
 on the 2Oth and took possession of the office 
 February i, 1898. He has served as delegate 
 to many county, district and state conven- 
 tions, has been chairman of the city exec- 
 utive committee, and chairman of the sena- 
 torial committee. He is president of the 
 Republican press association, of the eighth 
 
 congressional district, and state organizer 
 of the Illinois Republican League. A man 
 of action, pleasing manners and good ad- 
 dress, he has many friends, not only in 
 Kane county, but throughout the state. 
 
 DR. WILLIAM A. PRATT, proprietor 
 of the Cedarside Stock Farm, and 
 breeder of Holstein-Friesian cattle, section 
 i, Elgin- township, has the reputation of 
 being one of the best breeders in the state 
 of Illinois, his stock being found in nearly 
 every state and territory irT the Union. He 
 was born in Naperville, Du Page county, 
 Illinois, October 25, 1843, and is the son 
 of Dr. Philomen Brown and Mary (Grimes) 
 Pratt, the former a native of Brattleboro, 
 Vermont, born in 1815, and the latter of 
 Genesee Valley, New York, born in 1818. 
 Her uncles on both sides participated in the 
 war of 1812. Dr. Philomen B. and Mary 
 (Grimes) Pratt, were early settlers : of Du- 
 Page county, and- he was one of the first 
 dentists in Illinois, beginning practice in 
 Chicago, in 1850. On the discovery of 
 gold in California, he made a trip to the 
 new Eldorado, but only remained one year, 
 returning to engage in the practice of his 
 profession, having previously studied under 
 his brother, D. Amos Pratt. In early life 
 he was politically a Whig, and later a 
 stanch Republican. 
 
 When our subject was but six years of 
 age, the family moved to Batavia, Illinois. 
 Young as he was he drove three head of 
 cattle twelve miles, on foot. After living 
 in Batavia, they moved to his present farm, 
 where he since continued to reside, a period 
 of forty-seven years. He came soon after 
 a railroad was built to Elgin, and when 
 wolves and foxes were yet seen in the vicin-
 
 394 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ity. His education was received in the com- 
 mon schools of Batavia and Elgin, supple- 
 mented by an attendance at Wheaton Col- 
 lege, then under the presidency of the elder 
 Blanchard. At the age of twenty-one he 
 began the practice of dentistry with his 
 father at Elgin, at which he continued 
 eight years. 
 
 Since discontinuing the practice of den- 
 tistry, Dr. Pratt has given his entire atten- 
 tion to stock raising. At first he raised 
 only Jersey cattle, but soon changed to Hos- 
 stein-Friesian and is now one of the largest 
 individual breeders in America of that stock. 
 He has been in the business since 1880, 
 and has three farms stocked with registered 
 cattle. The home farm consists of one 
 hundred and fifty acres, partly lying in 
 Cook county. He has one hundred and 
 sixty acres near Gilbert and one hundred 
 and thirty-five acres near Spaulding. The 
 following are some of the noted strains that 
 he has on hand in the spring of 1898: 
 Pauline Paul, Nierop, Coronet, Duchess of 
 York, Mathilda K., Ondine, Empress, 
 Snowflake, Queen Bess, ZuiderZee, Astrea, 
 Countess of Flanders, Maid of Twisk, Echo, 
 Aaggie, Netherlands, Cliftons, Minks and 
 Mercedes. 
 
 Dr. Pratt has been twice married, his 
 first union being with Miss Mattie Patrick, 
 born in Bloomingdale, Illinois, and a daugh- 
 ter of Hiram Patrick. After her death he 
 married Katie Gibbons, daughter of John 
 and Mary (Prendergast) Gibbons, by whom 
 he has six children Walter, Matie, Alice, 
 Ada, Alpha, and William A. The first two 
 died in infancy. 
 
 Dr. Pratt is a scientific and expert 
 breeder and is an acknowledged authority 
 on cattle. Cedarside farm, which adjoins 
 the corporate limits of Elgin, is one of the 
 
 best known farms in this section of the 
 state. His dwelling house, which is of the 
 Italian style of architecture, occupies an ex- 
 ceedingly fine location, with fine groves sur- 
 rounding the house and cedars lining the 
 roadside. Soon after electric roads were 
 built to Dundee, the Doctor laid out a fine 
 park of thirty-five acres, which he gave the 
 name of Trout Park, making of it a fine 
 summer resort. All kinds of outdoor 
 amusements are provided for its patrons in 
 the summer and Trout Lake is well stocked 
 with brook trout secured from Seth Green. 
 Politically Dr. Pratt is aRepublican and fra- 
 ternally a member of Lochiel lodge, No. 
 105, K. of P., of Elgin. 
 
 BRYANT DURANT.-- Years of quiet 
 usefulness and a life in which the old- 
 fashioned virtues of sincerity, industry and 
 integrity are exemplified have a simple 
 beauty that no words can portray. Youth 
 has its charms, but an honorable and hon- 
 ored old age, to which the lengthening years 
 have added dignity and sweetness, has a 
 brighter radiance, as if some ray from the 
 life beyond already rested upon it. Mr. 
 Durant, one of the oldest residents of St. 
 Charles, is also one of the honored pioneers 
 of Kane county, where he has made his 
 home since May, 1837, and it is safe to say 
 that no citizen of the community is held in 
 higher esteem than he. 
 
 In the town of Ware, Hampshire coun- 
 ty, Massachusetts, Mr. Durant was born 
 December 14, 1807, and is of the eighth 
 generation of the family in this country. 
 His ancestors were among the earliest set- 
 tlers of the old Bay state, making their 
 homes in Boston and Newton, and arrtong 
 their number were several who participated
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 395 
 
 in the Revolutionary war, aiding the col- 
 onies in their struggle for independence. 
 Our subject's grandfather, Denny Durant, 
 was born in Newton, near Boston, of French 
 extraction, and the father, John Durant, 
 was a native of the same place. The latter 
 engaged in merchandising in early life, but 
 later turned his attention to agricultural 
 pursuits. He married Abigail Ward, also a 
 native of Massachusetts, and a daughter of 
 Elijah Ward, another representative of one 
 of the first families of that state, and a 
 Revolutionary soldier. In 1849 John Du- 
 rant joined our subject in St. Charles, where 
 he spent his last days, and now he and his 
 wife, who survived him about two years, 
 sleep side by side in the cemetery at that 
 place. 
 
 The subject of this sketch attended the 
 public schools of his native state to a limited 
 extent, but is principally self-educated and 
 is a well-informed man. During his youth 
 he learned the bricklayer's trade, at which 
 he worked at Cambridge, Brighton and 
 Newton for about sixteen years, and also 
 engaged to some extent in farming in Mas- 
 sachusetts. In 1837 he came to Illinois, by 
 way of the lakes to Chicago, where his 
 brother James engaged in merchandising for 
 many years. He arrived in that city in 
 March, and the following May came to Kane 
 county, where, in company with his brother 
 and another gentleman, he bought a claim 
 of .one thousand acres, which he at once 
 began to open up and improve. After fol- 
 lowing agricultural pusuits for two years, he 
 had the farm operated by others while he 
 worked at his trade in St. Charles and in 
 different sections throughout Kane county 
 for some years, though he still continued to 
 live upon the farm. When the property 
 was divided he obtained two hundred acres, 
 
 on which he erected a substantial brick res- 
 idence, good barns and other outbuildings, 
 and made many other valuable improve- 
 ments. The place is pleasantly located only 
 two miles from St. Charles. About 1881 he 
 rented the farm and removed to St. Charles, 
 where he has since lived retired, enjoying 
 the rest he has so well earned and so richly 
 deserves. 
 
 At Genoa, DeKalb county, Illinois, Mr. 
 Durant was married in 1842, to Miss Jerusha 
 Shurtliff, who was born and reared in 
 Lowell, Massachusetts Her father, David 
 Shurtliff, was born in Plymouth, that state, 
 and belonged to one of its earliest families. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Durant have six children, 
 namely: Julia is the wife of J. W. Johnston, 
 of St. Charles; Henrietta is the widow of 
 Frank Herrington and now resides in Ober- 
 lin, Ohio; William H. is a business man of 
 Chicago; Emma is the widow of Dr. Lane, 
 who was a leading physician of St. Charles 
 for some years, and she now resides with 
 her parents, while she is successfully en- 
 gaged in teaching in St. Charles, being a 
 lady of superior education; Abbie is the 
 wife of Henry Allen, of Iowa; and Charles 
 is married and engaged in farming in 
 Kansas. 
 
 Since the election of General Jackson to 
 the presidency, Mr. Durant has always been 
 found at the polls on each election day, sup- 
 porting first the candidates of the Whig 
 party, and since the organization of the 
 Republican party has been one of its earnest 
 advocates, voting for John C. Fremont in 
 1856. He attended the convention that 
 nominated Abraham Lincoln for the presi- 
 dency, and was always a warm admirer of 
 the martyr president and his policy. Be- 
 lieving that a protective tariff is best suited 
 to the needs of the American people, he
 
 396 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 gives it his hearty support, and he is also a 
 stanch supporter of the gold standard of 
 currency. With the Congregational church 
 he and his wife hold membership. Although 
 their lives have been quiet and unassuming, 
 they have made hosts of friends throughout 
 Kane county, and by all who know them 
 they are held in high regard. 
 
 HORACE J. SEYMOUR, a well-known 
 contractor and builder residing at No. 
 40 Jefferson avenue, Elgin, is a native of 
 Illinois, born in Cook county, February 10, 
 1851, and is a representative of one of the 
 oldest and most distinguished families of the 
 United States, its members being well 
 represented in the early wars of the coun- 
 try. On the paternal side he traces his an- 
 cestry back to ' Richard Seymour, who 
 came to the New World about 1635, ar >d 
 was the first mayor of Hartford, Connect- 
 icut, his name appearing on the monument 
 erected to the first settlers of that place, 
 in Center church burying ground. His son 
 Thomas was the father of Captain Matthew 
 Seymour, whose son, Captain Thomas Sey- 
 mour, took an active and prominent part in 
 the French and Indian war. The son of 
 the last named, Ebenezer Seymour, was 
 born May 16, 1729, near Greenwich, Con- 
 necticut, and married Ruth Scribner, who 
 was born in 1730 and died in 1820. Their 
 son Jesse, who was the great-grandfather 
 of our subject, was a commissary in the 
 war of the Revolution, and emptied his 
 private purse to pay for food for the sol- 
 diers. He married Mercy Fancher, of 
 Dutchess county. New York, and to them 
 were born fifteen children. 
 
 John Seymour, our subject's grand- 
 father, married Elizabeth Wright, who was 
 
 born November, 1794, and was one of a 
 family of six children, whose parents were 
 Ephraim and Martha Wright, the former 
 born February 6, 1766, the latter April 8, 
 1770. Her grandparents were John and 
 Elizabeth Wright, the former born Decem- 
 ber 25. 1736, the latter May 2, 1746. John 
 Wright was a son of John and Ruth Wright, 
 the former born April 5, 1703, a son of 
 Gideon and Margaret W. Wright. Gideon 
 Wright was born in Germany, January 8, 
 1675, and was the founder of the branch of 
 the family in America. To John and Eliz- 
 abeth (Wright) Seymour were born the 
 following children: Samuel, Susan, Wright, 
 and Ephraim, all deceased; Hannah, who 
 is still living; Elizabeth and Frederick, 
 both deceased; and Harvey, Joseph, John 
 W.', Cordelia, deceased, and Deziah, all 
 living. The mother of these children died 
 September 28, 1816, aged sixty-six years, 
 nine months and twenty-seven days, and 
 the father passed away at the home of John 
 Seymour, in Elgin, aged ninety-seven years, 
 nine months and seven days. Both were 
 laid to rest in the cemetery at Barrington, 
 Cook county. 
 
 Our subject's father, Joseph B. Sey- 
 mour, was born near Dundee, Steuben 
 county, New York, and on coming west in 
 1844 located upon a partially improved 
 farm in Barrington township, Cook county, 
 where he engaged in agricultural pursuits 
 until his removal to Aurora in 1867. There 
 he still continues to reside at the age of 
 seventy-four years.. He married Mary S. 
 Haven, who was born in Carthage, Jeffer- 
 son county, New York, November 28, 1832, 
 a daughter of Samuel and Lydia (Strong) 
 Haven. Her mother was born in Stafford, 
 New Hampshire, August 22, 1799, and died 
 November 22, 1874. Mrs. Seymour is one
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 397 
 
 of a family of seven children, of whom only 
 two are now living, the other being Martha 
 Malvina, who was born in Carthage, New 
 York, July 9, 1836. The parents of our 
 subject are both earnest and consistent 
 members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 and are held in high regard by all who know 
 them. 
 
 Horace J. Seymour was reared upon the 
 home farm in Cook county, and after the 
 removal of the family to Aurora continued 
 his education, taking a miscellaneous and 
 business course. He is the only child 
 of his parents. After his marriage he en- 
 gaged in farming for three years in Cook 
 county, and for the following four years was 
 employed as clerk and driver by the Amer- 
 ican Express Company at Aurora. He then 
 engaged in fanning near Kankakee for three 
 years, after which he lived in that city for 
 two years, and in 1884 came to Elgin in 
 time to vote for James G. Elaine for presi- 
 dent. Having learned the carpenter's 
 trade in early life, he has successfully en- 
 gaged in contracting and building in Elgin, 
 erecting residences principally. He has also 
 been interested to some extent in the real- 
 estate and mercantile business, and in his 
 undertakings has met with a fair degree of 
 success. 
 
 On the 2Oth of March, 1872, Mr. Sey- 
 mour was united in marriage with Miss R. 
 Jennie Smith, a daughter of Reuben B. 
 Smith, of Lament, Cook county. Her great- 
 grandmother, a Mrs. Streator, of Washing- 
 ton county, New York, lived to the extreme 
 old age of one hundred six years. Her seven 
 brothers all went as volunteers in the Con- 
 tinental army during the Revolutionary war, 
 while the sisters were left at home to carry 
 on the farm. Mr. and Mrs. Seymour have 
 two children: Hattie and Fred Wesley. 
 
 The former is now the wife of H. T. Pix- 
 ley, of Marion, Iowa, and has two children: 
 Merle Seymour and Ira A. 
 
 Our subject, his wife and children all 
 hold membership in the Methodist Episco- 
 pal church, and Mrs. Seymour is a teacher 
 in the Sunday-school. She is a graduate 
 of the Aurora high school, and for several 
 years successfully engaged in teaching in 
 that city. Mr. Seymour is a charter mem- 
 ber of and active worker in the Modern 
 Woodmen Society of Elgin, of which he was 
 treasurer for several years after its organi- 
 zation, and is at present a member of the 
 sick committee, which during the past year 
 dispensed about two thousand dollars for 
 the relief of the sick. Politically he is an 
 ardent Republican, and has rilled the office 
 of assistant supervisor, but cares nothing for 
 political honors. As a business man and 
 citizen he enjoys the esteem of the entire 
 community. 
 
 T ESTER M. BURROUGHS, M. D., is 
 I/ one of the oldest and most successful 
 practitioners in Kane county, and has been 
 a resident of Batavia since 1861. He is a 
 native of Ohio, born in Shalersville, Portage 
 county, September 25, 1820. His father, 
 Daniel Burroughs, Jr., was born in New 
 Hampshire, but reared in Williamstown, 
 Vermont, while his grandfather, Daniel Bur- 
 roughs, Sr., was a native of Connecticut, 
 born in May, 1755, and was a faithful soldier 
 in the Revolutionary army. The family 
 are of English descent. 
 
 In 1810 Daniel Burroughs, Sr., accom- 
 panied by his father's family, located in 
 Portage county, Ohio, and were among the 
 earliest settlers of that locality. In that 
 county Daniel Burroughs, Jr., married Miss
 
 398 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Abigail Hine, a native of Connecticut, whose 
 father, Daniel Hine, was also a native of 
 that state. He located in Trumbull county, 
 Ohio, in 1808. By trade Daniel Burroughs, 
 Jr., was a brick and stone mason, but in 
 later life followed fanning. He was a sol- 
 dier in the war of 1812, and at Detroit was 
 among the number surrendered to the en- 
 emy by General Hull, but was soon after 
 paroled. In 1836 he moved to Illinois and 
 located in Kendall county, where he en- 
 gaged in farming. His last years, however, 
 were spent at Batavia, and his death oc- 
 curred at the residence of his son in 1866. 
 His wife passed away in Kendall county in 
 1863. 
 
 The subject of this sketch came to Illi- 
 nois with his parents at the age of sixteen 
 years. His literary education commenced 
 in the common schools of Ohio, and com- 
 pleted in the public schools of Illinois. In 
 early life he conceived the idea that he 
 would make the medical profession his life 
 work. Purchasing some books he com- 
 menced reading, and later entered the office 
 of Dr. Gardiner, of Blackberry, Illinois, and 
 under his instruction continued his studies. 
 He then took a special course of lectures in 
 the medical college at Cleveland, Ohio, and 
 later spent one year in the medical college 
 at Kenosha, Wisconsin. After some three 
 or four years' study he commenced the prac- 
 tice of medicine. Soon after he commenced 
 practice, he was called to attend a small- 
 pox patient, and before his patient recov- 
 ered he was called to treat sixty-nine other 
 cases. 
 
 While residing in Blackberry, Dr. Bur- 
 roughs was united in marriage, November 
 24, 1849, with Miss Almira Wheeler, a na- 
 tive of Troy, New York, who came with her 
 parents to Kane county, Illinois, in 1838. 
 
 Her father, David Wheeler, was a promi- 
 nent man in Troy, and there served as post- 
 master eight years under General Jackson. 
 After his removal to Blackberry he served 
 in like capacity for ten years. In the war 
 of 1812 he was taken prisoner by the Brit- 
 ish, and held at Barbados for some time. 
 He married Judith Pearson, of Newberry- 
 port, Massachusetts, in 1815. He reared a 
 family of eight sons and one daughter. In 
 Kane county he was quite a prominent man 
 until his death. 
 
 In 1 86 1, Dr. Burroughs located at Bata- 
 via, where he has since continued in active 
 practice, although nearing his four score. In 
 the early days he was an Abolitionist, and 
 was one of the conductors on the under- 
 ground railroad, assisting fugitives who were 
 fleeing to a free land. His first presidential 
 ballot was cast for James G. Birney. Believ- 
 ing that the desires of his heart might the 
 sooner be gained, on the organization of the 
 Republican party, he identified himself with 
 it and has voted for each of its presidential 
 candidates from Fremont to McKinley. 
 While always taking an active interest in 
 political affairs, his professional duties have 
 prevented his holding official position. 
 
 To the Doctor and Mrs. Burroughs, two 
 daughters were born. Mary B. is now the 
 wife of William K. Coffin, a banker of Wis- 
 consin, and president of the Bankers' Asso- 
 ciation of that state, and Nellie May, who yet 
 resides at home. Fraternally Dr. Burroughs 
 is a Master Mason and is also a member of 
 the Odd Fellows. In the subordinate lodge 
 of that order he has passed all the chairs, 
 and in the encampment he has likewise 
 filled all the offices. For sixty-two years 
 he has been a resident of the state of Illi- 
 nois, the greater part of which time he has 
 been engaged in his professional duties, and
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 399 
 
 the good that he has done in the alleviation 
 of human suffering can never be known. 
 Few men have more friends throughout 
 Northern Illinois than has the subject of 
 this sketch. 
 
 WILLIAM KLICK, section 10, Hamp- 
 shire township, is descended from an 
 old German family, whose ancestors came 
 to America prior to the Revolutionary war. 
 His grandfather,, Conrad Klick, was prob- 
 ably born in Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, 
 the family being well known pioneers of that 
 section, the great-great-grandfather there 
 being killed by the Indians. Conrad Klick, 
 who was a farmer by occupation, married 
 Elizabeth Weidmeyer, also of an old colonial 
 family. His death occurred when he was 
 about sixty-five years old. 
 
 John Klick, the son of Conrad and 
 Elizabeth Klick, was born in Lebanon 
 county, Pennsylvania, in December, 1806, 
 and was reared in his native county. When 
 a young man he worked in a mill, but fol- 
 lowed the occupation of a farmer the greater 
 part of his life. In 1847, he came west, 
 driving through from Pennsylvania to Kane 
 county, Illinois, with horse teams, and was 
 five weeks on the way. He settled in sec- 
 tion ii, Hampshire township, where he 
 purchased one hundred and twenty acres of 
 timber land, a very small part of which had 
 been cleared. He went to work and cleared 
 most of the land and there resided until his 
 death. He was a thrifty man and a good 
 farmer and was fairly successful in life. 
 Before leaving his Pennsylvania home he 
 married Katherine Decker, a native of Berks 
 county, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Jacob 
 was Elizabeth (Brandt) Decker. Her father 
 was a carpenter by trade, and died when she 
 
 was quite young. Her paternal grandfather 
 was in the Revolutionary war, and was 
 markedby a bullet wound on the forehead, the 
 scar of which remained until his death. To 
 John and Katherine Klick ten children 
 were born, of whom nine are living, as fol- 
 lows: William, our subject; Elizabeth, who 
 married Moses Reams, and lives on section 
 ii, Hampshire township; Anna, who mar- 
 ried Ephraim Reams and lives in Iowa; 
 Susanna, wife of Rev. Henry Shoemaker, 
 of Elgin; John Henry, a resident of the vil- 
 lage of Hampshire; Jonathan, engaged in 
 farming in Iowa; Mrs. Lucetta Gift, of 
 Hampshire township; Catherine, widow of 
 Christian Schiller; and Henry, residing 
 in Iowa. Amanda died in young woman- 
 hood. 
 
 William Klick was born in Bethel town- 
 ship, Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, No- 
 vember 17, 1829. He attended the common 
 schools of his native county until thirteen 
 years of age, and worked on a farm until he 
 came west in 1847. Here he remained un- 
 der his father's roof and assisted in the 
 cultivation of the farm until his marriage, 
 when he rented the farm and began life for 
 himself. Some four or five years later he 
 purchased twenty acres, which he worked 
 in connection with his father's farm, and 
 subsequently bought eighty acres of prairie 
 land, lying three miles west. The two 
 places being so far apart made it incon- 
 venient to work them, so he sold both in 
 1865, and September 13, of that year,, 
 bought his present farm of seventy-five 
 acres, in sections 10 and 15, on which was 
 a log house and barn. He improved the 
 house, covering the outside with siding and 
 lathing and plastering the inside, making it 
 a comfortable house, in which he resided 
 with his family for some years. Later he
 
 400 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 built a neat frame house, good, commodious 
 barns and other outbuildings, and placed 
 the farm under a good state of cultivation. 
 He planted an orchard, which for years 
 bore a large amount of fruit. In addition 
 to general farming, he is engaged in dairy- 
 ing in a small way, selling milk to the fac- 
 tory in Hampshire. From his dooryard, a 
 fine view is obtained across the country 
 west, the village of Genoa being distinctly 
 
 seen. 
 
 Mr. Klick was married in Hampshire 
 township, June i, 1850, to Caroline Reams, 
 born in Union county, Pennsylvania, and a 
 daughter of Samuel and Salome (Aurand) 
 Reams, the latter being a daughter of John 
 and Catherine (Young) Aurand. The 
 mother of Samuel Reams attained the age 
 of eighty-eight years, and her brothers, Pe- 
 ter and Henry, lived to be eighty-eight and 
 eighty-sixyears respectively. Both served in 
 the Revolutionary war. Samuel Reams 
 left Union county, Pennsylvania, in 1834, 
 and moving to Ohio, there resided eleven 
 years. In 1845 he came to Kane county, 
 Illinois, coming through with ox teams and 
 bringing also four cows; he was four weeks 
 on the road, camping each night by the 
 wayside. He arrived in Kane county in 
 July, bought a farm in Hampshire township, 
 and there resided until his death at the age 
 of seventy-three years. 
 
 To our subject and wife six children 
 were born, of whom Ira and Nathan are de- 
 ceased, the living are: (i) William Frank- 
 lin, who married Lydia Marshall, by whom 
 he has three children, Carrie, Lydia and 
 Daniel. They lived in Elgin a number of 
 years, but in 1894 went to Chicago: (2) 
 Aaron, who married Ellen Williams, by 
 whom he has eight children, Alonzo, Emma, 
 Samuel, Rosa, William, Wilbur, Clarence 
 
 and Malinda; of these, Emma is now de- 
 ceased. (3) Elias.who makes his home with 
 his parents, is an expert carpenter and cab- 
 inet maker, very ingenious, manufacturing 
 various sweet-toned musical instruments. 
 (4) Samuel, who is employed on neighbor- 
 ing farms, makes his home with his parents. 
 Politically Mr. Klick is a Republican 
 and has been honored with several town- 
 ship offices including school director, road 
 commissioner and constable. In the first 
 named office he served for. thirteen years. 
 Our subject well remembers pioneer days 
 in Kane county. There were yet wolves 
 and deer here when the family came and he 
 remembers on one occasion that his dog 
 bringing a deer at bay, and endeavoring to 
 shoot it his gun failed to discharge. Some 
 hunters who were chasing it soon came up 
 and pursued it to its death. 
 
 NATHANAEL J. THOMAS, city elec- 
 trician of Aurora, was born in Greene 
 county, Ohio, April 7, 1838, and is the son 
 of Henry and Susannah (Bayliff) Thomas. 
 The father was a native of Virginia, born 
 March 14, 1803, and was the son of Jacob 
 Thomas. By occupation Henry Thomas 
 was a farmer, and he removed to Ohio with 
 his parents, when a small boy, and where 
 he resided for many years. He came to Ill- 
 inois, locating in Bureau county. In 1862, 
 he removed to Iowa, locating in Pocahontas 
 county, where he purchased a farm, and car- 
 ried on farming until his death, October 25, 
 1 88 1. In religion he was a Methodist, and 
 politically was originally a Henry Clay Whig, 
 and later a Republican. His wife, Susannah 
 Bayliff, was born February 15, 1808, and 
 died February 20, 1883. She was a con- 
 sistent member of the Methodist Episcopal
 
 NATHANAEL J. THOMAS.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 403 
 
 church. They were the parents of eleven 
 children, nine of whom grew to mature 
 years. They were Daniel, now living in 
 Washington; Jacob, deceased; Lydia, who 
 married Jeremiah Young, and is living in 
 Washington; Joshua, deceased; Benjamin, 
 who died in infancy; Joel B., of Oklahoma; 
 Nathaniel J., our subject; William A., who 
 died in the army, was a member of Com- 
 pany B, Ninety-third Illinois Volunteer In- 
 fantry; Ellen, who married Barney Hanshire, 
 living in Iowa; Henry H., who died in 
 infancy, and Sally A., who married George 
 Strong, and after his death, married Mr. Brice 
 and is in living in Washington. 
 
 Our subject was in his twelfth year, 
 when his parents left Ohio and came to Ill- 
 inois. He was reared on the home farm, 
 where he assisted his father, and attended 
 the country schools as the opportunity was 
 afforded him. On the I2th of August, 
 1862, at Dover, Illinois, he enlisted in Com- 
 pany B, Ninety-third Illinois Volunteer In- 
 fantry, and went into camp in Chicago, on 
 duty at Camp Douglas, guarding Shiloh 
 prisoners. The regiment remained there until 
 Novemberber gth, and was then ordered to 
 Memphis, Tennessee, and was with Grant on 
 the Holly Springs expedition. Returning to 
 Memphis they remained until they went out 
 against Vicksburg. The regiment was in 
 the Third Brigade, under command of Gen- 
 eral McPherson, which formed a part of the 
 Seventh Division, of the Seventeenth Army 
 Corps. Mr. Thomas took part in all that 
 siege, until the surrender. He was next on 
 the expedition against Johnston, on the Big 
 Black river, after which he was transferred 
 to the Veteran Reserve Corps, February 14, 
 1864. He was then sent to Pittsburg, 
 Pennsylvania, where they had a recruiting 
 camp, and was there until ordered to Little 
 
 19 
 
 York, Pennsylvania, where he remained two 
 months. From Little York they went to 
 Scranton, Pennsylvania, and was there seven 
 months, then to Philadelphia, and Chester, 
 Pennsylvania, where he remained until mus- 
 tered out, July 8, 1865. He came out of 
 the service without a scratch. 
 
 After being mustered out, Mr. Thomas 
 returned to Bureau county, and February 
 i, 1866, went to Mendota, and there en- 
 tered the telegraph service of the Chicago, 
 Burlington & Quincy railroad company until 
 December, 1886. Early in 1887. he re- 
 signed from the service of the company, and 
 entered the service of the city of Aurora, in 
 charge of its electric lights. 
 
 Mr. Thomas was married August 12, 
 1862, to Miss Mary E. Barr, a native of 
 Coshocton, Ohio, and daughter of Hezekiah 
 and Hannah Barr. By this union was one 
 child, which died in infancy. Mrs. Thomas 
 died July 18, 1871, and Mr. Thomas mar- 
 ried his second wife, Adaline Warner, Oc- 
 tober 1 1, 1874. She was a native of Proph- 
 etstown, Illinois, where her parents now 
 live. She died December 23, 1876. The 
 third marriage was to Miss Libbie M. Evans, 
 who was born in Aurora, and was a daugh- 
 ter of Griffith and Elizabeth (Welden) 
 Evans, both of whom are natives of Penn- 
 sylvania. She died February 27, 1897. 
 
 In politics, Mr. Thomas is a Republican, 
 and a stalwart member of the party. He is 
 a charter member of Charlemagne lodge, 
 No. 245, K. P., and of the Mendota lodge, 
 No. 293, I. O. O. F. He is also a member 
 of the Aurora post, No. 20, G. A. R., of 
 which he is past commander, and has 
 served as delegate to the state encampments, 
 also a member of Greusel Garrison, No. 
 143, Knights of the Globe. For his serv- 
 ices during the late war, he is now receiving
 
 404 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 a pension. In political matters he has 
 always taken an active part, and is regarded 
 very highly as a citizen, and as an official. 
 In him the city has a faithful and a capa- 
 ble officer in charge of their electric system, 
 and one in whom they can rely as always 
 being ready, and at his post of duty. 
 
 EBENEZER .DENNEY, one of the old 
 and much respected citizens of Aurora, 
 and president of the board of public works, 
 was born in Yorkshire, England, August 15, 
 1840, and is the son of Joseph and Jane 
 (Spur) Denney. His father came to the 
 United States in 1855, located in Aurora; 
 he was a cabinet maker and followed his 
 trade in this country for a time, and then 
 retired from active business. His death oc- 
 curred in 1878, at Aurora. Politically he 
 was a Republican, and religiously a mem- 
 ber of the First Congregational church. He 
 was a man of medium size, solid built, of 
 strong character, but generous with all. His 
 wife, Jane Denney, was a native of Not- 
 tinghamshire, England, and was also a mem- 
 ber of the Congregational church. She 
 died in 1861. They were the parents of 
 seven children, and those living are Thomas, 
 residing in Aurora; Joseph, Hallifield and 
 our subject, all residing in Aurora. 
 
 Ebenezer Denney, our subject, attended 
 the schools of Yorkshire, and worked with 
 his father at the cabinet maker's trade. In 
 1850, his brothers, William and Joseph, 
 came to the United States and engaged in 
 cabinet making at Aurora. On their recom- 
 mendation, the remainder of the family 
 came also to this country, and our subject 
 went into the business with his brothers. 
 William died in 1861. Our subject enlisted 
 to serve his adopted country, and was mus- 
 
 tered into the service on his birthday, in 
 1862, at Chicago, as a member of Com- 
 pany G, Seventy-second Regiment Illinois 
 Volunteer Infantry. From Chicago they 
 went to Cairo, and from there to Padu- 
 cah, Kentucky, thence to Columbus, at 
 which place the regiment joined Grant's 
 army, and took part in the siege and reduc- 
 tion of Vicksburg. He was with the force 
 of sappers and miners, whose duty was 
 night work in the mines and fortifications. 
 His regiment was one of the first to march 
 into Vicksburg, after the surrender. 
 
 Mr. Denney was detached from the Sev- 
 enty-second Regiment and made quarter- 
 master sergeant of the Fiftieth Regiment, 
 United States Colored Troops. He was 
 with that regiment for a few months, when 
 he received a commission as second lieuten- 
 ant of Company E, of that regiment. After 
 remaining at Vicksburg for some time, he 
 went with the regiment on the Mobile expe- 
 dition, and was in the great attack on Fort 
 Blakeley. They then returned up the Mis- 
 sissippi and was stationed at Jackson, Mis- 
 sissippi, when he was finally mustered out. 
 In 1864, he was promoted to first lieuten- 
 ant, after which he was on staff duty, on 
 the staff of General M. F. Force, who was 
 a great friend of his. While at Jackson, a 
 singular thing occurred, Lieutenant Den- 
 ney for one day being in command of the 
 department, General Force having turned 
 the command over to him when he was 
 mustered out. 
 
 After his being mustered out Lieutenant 
 Denney was sent to Vicksburg, where he 
 was paid off and discharged. He then re- 
 turned to Aurora, and took up his business 
 again. In 1882, he formed a partnership 
 with his brothers, Joseph, Thomas and Hal- 
 lifield, the firm being known as the Denney
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 405 
 
 Brothers. In March, 1894, Albert Denney, 
 son of Joseph Denney, and our subject, pur- 
 chased the interest of the other members 
 of the firm, and the firm name is now Den- 
 ney & Denney. They carry a general stock 
 of furniture, and undertaking supplies, and 
 their large warerooms are full of all kinds 
 of goods in the line of their trade. They 
 do their own upholstering, and manufacture 
 mattresses, etc. 
 
 Lieutenant Denney was married Sep- 
 tember 10, 1861, to Mary Elliott, daughter 
 of W. T. and Rebecca (Pierce) Elliott, who 
 were numbered among the early settlers of 
 Kane county, and who were natives of New 
 York. The mother is still living on the old 
 homestead in Aurora township, the farm 
 being the one purchased frprn the general 
 government. Mrs. Denney was born on 
 that farm. Her death occurred in 1862, 
 ten months after her wedding day. On the 
 7th of November, 1865, Lieutenant Denney 
 was again married, his second union being 
 with Miss Mary Mix, at Raymond, Missis- 
 sippi. Thus something was done toward 
 bringing the two factions together. Not 
 having any children of their own, they 
 adopted George Burton Denney, when the 
 child was but two years old. He is now 
 twenty-two years old and is associatedwith his 
 father in the business. In the public schools 
 of Aurora, he was liberally educated, and 
 was then sent to the conservatory of music, 
 at Chicago, to perfect his musical educa- 
 tion. He has fine musical talent, and plays 
 several instruments. He is a member of 
 the Aurora cornet band, and gives instruc- 
 tions on the clarionet, piano and guitar. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Denney are members of 
 the Congregational church of Aurora, and 
 in politics he is a Republican. He has 
 served in the city council two terms, and 
 
 has been on the hospital board, the library 
 board and is now on the board of the Old 
 Ladies' Home. For a number of years he 
 was secretary of the Building and Loan As- 
 sociation, and is now its president. In 1897, 
 he was appointed by Mayor Holden, pres- 
 ident of the board of public works, the du- 
 ties of which office he fills in the most sat- 
 isfactory manner. While a member of the 
 city council, he was chairman of the com- 
 mittee on public lights, and the present 
 splendid electric light plant, which is now 
 owned by the city, and its fine system, dates 
 back to the time when Mr. Denney took 
 hold of the subject and to the city's owner- 
 ship. He is a member of the Masonic or- 
 der, Jerusalem Temple and of the chapter. 
 He is also a member of the Odd Fellows, 
 the United Workmen, Knights of the Globe 
 and Aurora post No. 20, G. A. R. , of which 
 he past commander, and by reason of his 
 position, has been delegate to the state and 
 national encampments. 
 
 JOHN ADAM SCHOEBERLEIN, the 
 efficient chief of the fire department of- 
 Aurora, is a native of the city, born March 
 3, i86i| and is the son of John A. and Bar- 
 bara (Pfeifer) Schoeberlein, both of whom 
 were born in Bavaria, but were married in 
 this country. The father was born in 1813, 
 and came to the United States in 1854, lo- 
 cating in Aurora, where he followed his 
 trade of blacksmithing until 1873, when he 
 engaged in the coal business, which he con- 
 ducted for sixteen years. His death oc- 
 curred at Aurora, January 27, 1892. He 
 was a member of the German Methodist 
 church, and was the founder of that denomi- 
 nation in Aurora, and continued one of its 
 main pillars until his death. Politically he
 
 406 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 was a Republican, and a strong advocate of 
 the principles of that party. His father, 
 also named John Adam, was by occupation 
 a farmer, and lived and died in Bavaria. 
 His wife is still living in Aurora, and is a 
 worthy member of the church founded by 
 her husband. They were the parents of 
 eight children, of whom three grew to ma- 
 turity Fred, who was at one time an alder- 
 man in the city of Aurora, and the youngest 
 person ever holding that position in the 
 city council, died April 17, 1888; Sabilla, 
 died at the age of fifteen years. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared in 
 Aurora, and received his education in the 
 public schools. He was but sixteen years 
 of age when he commenced the grocery 
 business at the corner of New York and 
 Union streets, which business he carried on 
 for twelve years, when he sold out. He 
 was in partnership with his brother. In 
 June, 1892, he was appointed by W. S. 
 Frazier, then mayor of the city, chief of 
 the fire department, serving for two years, 
 when a change of government took place. 
 In June, 1897, he was again appointed to 
 the position by Mayor Holden, and is still 
 holding that place. His administration has 
 been satisfactory and he is making a good 
 officer, as is demonstrated by the efficiency 
 of the fire department. 
 
 Mr. Schoeberlein was married March 
 15, 1883, to Miss Mary Peetz, a native of 
 Aurora, and a daughter of Jacob and Mary 
 Peetz. By this union are three children 
 Ella May, Earl and Mate. Religiously Mr. 
 and Mrs. Schoeberlein are members of the 
 German Methodist church. In politics he 
 is a Republican, and fraternally is a mem- 
 ber of the Knights of Pythias. 
 
 John A. Schoeberlein, the father, erected 
 the Schoeberlein block, a three-story brick 
 
 structure, on Fox street, which he gave to 
 our subject before his death. Chief Schoe- 
 berlein has a good substantial home which 
 he erected for himself and family on the 
 corner of State and New York streets, and 
 where he resides, respected by all who 
 know him. 
 
 JOHN ALLEN, deceased, was for some 
 years one of the leading farmers in 
 Hampshire township, residing on section 23. 
 He was born at Louisville, St. Lawrence 
 county, New York, September 10, 1809, 
 and was the son of Elijah and Susan 
 (Edson) Allen, both of whom were natives 
 of Vermont. The former died at about the 
 age of eighty-two years in Beaver, Craw- 
 ford county, Pennsylvania. The latter 
 died at about the age of eighty years. 
 Elijah was the son of Aaron, who served 
 through seven years'of the Revolution, while 
 he served in the war of 1812. 
 
 In 1829 our subject moved to Burton 
 county, Ohio, and in 1833 moved to Craw- 
 ford county, Pennsylvania. While residing 
 in the latter county he married Jane De 
 Wolf September 26, 1852, born in the 
 town of Corinth, Saratoga county, New 
 York, January 26, 1826, and who removed 
 with her parents to Crawford county, Penn- 
 sylvania, in 1838. She is the daughter of 
 Charles and Betsy (Putnam) DeWolf, both 
 natives of Chester county, Vermont. Her 
 grandfather, Edward DeWolf, was a soldier 
 in the Revolutionary war, while her father 
 served in the war oi 1812. By this union 
 were five children Edna Jane and Edwin 
 John, twins, the latter being deceased; 
 Charles C., deceased; Adelbert and John E. 
 Politically Mr. Allen was originally a Whig, 
 and later a Republican. Religiously he was
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 407 
 
 a member of the Wesleyan Methodist 
 Church. 
 
 In 1865 Mr. Allen moved west, with a 
 view of bettering his condition in life. He 
 arrived in Kane county, Illinois, April 14, 
 of that year, and bought one hundred and 
 thirty acres of land on section 23, Hamp- 
 shire township, known as the old Doty 
 farm. In 1883 he bought eighty acres ad- 
 joining on the east, on which was a fine 
 large house and large barns. In this house 
 the family has resided for some years, the 
 old house having burned. After a long and 
 useful life Mr. Allen was called to his re- 
 ward May 28, 1895. His residence of 
 thirty years in Kane county had brought 
 him somewhat prominently before the peo- 
 ple, and he was well known in Kane and 
 McHenry counties. 
 
 Adelbert Allen, son of John and Jane 
 Allen, grew to manhood on the home farm, 
 and married Minnie Howe, November 14, 
 1894, who was fourth in a family of eight 
 children born to William J. and Johanna 
 (Benke) Howe. Her father, was born in 
 the village of Baenkenhaven, province of 
 Pomerania, Prussia, April i, 1842, and her 
 mother born April 11, 1842, was reared in 
 Germany, and came to America in 1868, 
 embarking October 15, at Hamburg, on a 
 sailing vessel. The voyage was a stormy 
 one and required eleven weeks and four 
 days. They landed at New York, Decem- 
 ber 2t, a memorable Christmas day and 
 came direct to Dundee, Kane 'county, Illi- 
 nois, where Mr. Howe secured work until 
 spring. He first worked for Dr. Crabtree 
 and later farm work near Harmony, in Mc- 
 Henry county. After working as a farm 
 hand for seven years, he rented a farm 
 near Harmony for one year, then rented 
 in Hampshire township two years and again 
 
 one year more in McHenry county, and 
 for five years on the farm of William 
 Willetts, in Hampshire township, and later 
 two years in Rutland township. He bought 
 his present farm of eighty acres in Decem- 
 ber, 1883, to which he moved January I, 
 1884. William J. Howe was a son of 
 Christian Howe, born in Pomerania, about 
 1810, and then died about 1854, when Will- 
 iam was a boy. The grandfather, John 
 Howe, was a farmer in Germany, where his 
 entire life was spent. Christian Howe mar- 
 ried Mary Miller, now living in McHenry 
 county, at the age of eighty-three years. 
 Her father was a shepherd in the old coun- 
 try. William J. Howe married Johanna 
 Benke, in the village of Giescehn, Pomer- 
 ania, December 10, 1867. She is a daugh- 
 ter of Joseph Benke, a farmer who lived and 
 died in the old country. To Adelbert Allen 
 and wife one child has been born, Walter 
 Raymond, born September 28, 1895. 
 
 JOSEPH SANFORD FERRY, of Au- 
 J rora, Illinois, has spent sixty years of 
 his life in the Prairie state, almost within 
 hailing distance of Aurora. He is a native of 
 Washington county, New York, born Octo- 
 ber 1 8, 1829. His father, Sylvanus Ferry, 
 was a native of Massachusetts, born in 1800, 
 and there grew to manhood, moving from 
 thence to Washington county, New York, 
 in company with his brother, Homer Ferry. 
 He married, in Washington county, Miss 
 Rhoda Wilson, a native of that county and 
 state, and a daughter of James Wilson, also 
 born in the same county. By trade Sylva- 
 nus Ferry was a tanner and currier, and 
 followed that occupation during his entire 
 life. In 1836 he moved to Terre Haute, 
 Indiana, where he remained about one and
 
 408 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 a half years. In 1838 he moved west to 
 Du Page county, Illinois, locating in Naper- 
 ville township, where he purchased a claim 
 and where his death occurred two years 
 later. His wife survived him many years, 
 and passed away at the advanced age of 
 eighty-seven years. Our subject was the 
 youngest and only survivor of their three 
 children. His brother, Melancthon Ferry, 
 grew to manhood, married and farmed for 
 some years, later removed to Aurora, where 
 he lived retired, and where his death oc- 
 curred. The sister, Louisa, died a single 
 lady. 
 
 Our subject was but nine years of age 
 when he came west with his parents to Du 
 Page county, and on the home farm grew 
 to manhood, and, as the opportunity was 
 afforded him, attended the district school a 
 few weeks in the winter months. He mar- 
 ried in Du Page county, November 25, 
 1855, Miss Sophronia Kenyon, a native of 
 Washington county, New York, born Janu- 
 ary 12, 1830, and a daughter of Daniel and 
 Esther (Warner) Kenyon, both of whom 
 are natives of Vermont, the latter being a 
 daughter of Israel Warner, and a grand- 
 daughter of Col. Seth Warner, who served 
 in the Revolutionary war under his father, 
 the great-grandfather of Mrs. Ferry. Israel 
 Warner was for many years a prominent 
 man in Vermont, and, later, moved west, 
 and died at the age of ninety- eight years. 
 Mrs. Ferry grew to womanhood and was 
 educated in the schools of New York and 
 Vermont, and was a teacher in each of 
 those states about eight years. She came 
 west, in 1853, with her parents, who locat- 
 ed in Du Page county, where she again en- 
 gaged in teaching, in which she continued 
 until her marriage. To Mr. and Mrs. 
 Ferry three children were born: Addie, 
 
 wife of Edward Strong, a business man of 
 Aurora; Jenny, wife of Jesse Tenney, also 
 a business man of Aurora; and William W. , 
 married, and now living retired in Aurora. 
 There are now in the family eleven grand- 
 children. 
 
 After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Ferry 
 located on his farm of one hundred and 
 thirty acres, lying near Naperville, where 
 they remained a number of years, then sold 
 and moved to Aurora, where Mr. Ferry pur- 
 chased residence property and vacant lots on 
 which he erected several neat dwelling 
 houses. They remained in the city some 
 six or seven years, then traded some city 
 property for two hundred acres of land ly- 
 ing in Du Page and Kane counties. On that 
 place they remained from 1873 until 1890, 
 in the meantime purchasing two adjoining 
 farms, giving them about six hundred acres 
 of very valuable land. In 1890 they re- 
 turned to Aurora, where they have since 
 continued to reside, Mr. Ferry again en- 
 gaging in building enterprises. Being a 
 natural mechanic and very handy with tools, 
 he has assisted in the erection of all his 
 buildings. 
 
 Like the great majority of the wealthy 
 and influential men of the country, Mr. 
 Ferry commenced life in limited circum- 
 stances, and by his own exertions, assisted 
 by his good wife, he has succeeded in ac- 
 quiring a competency, and is numbered 
 among the well-to-do men of Aurora. In 
 addition to his residence property he has in- 
 vested in the stock of the German National 
 Bank. 
 
 Politically Mr. Ferry is a Republican, 
 voting for the nominees of that party in all 
 state and national elections, but in local 
 elections he casts his ballot for the one he 
 considers the best man. He never wanted
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 409 
 
 or held office, save that of school director, 
 which he was induced to accept, because of 
 his interest in good public schools. Mrs. 
 Ferry is a consistent member of the Con- 
 gregational church of Aurora. They are 
 both highly respected, and have many warm 
 friends in Kane and Du Page counties. 
 
 MRS. SARAH F. (GIFFORD) PRES- 
 TON is a worthy representative of 
 the oldest arid one of the most highly respect- 
 ed families of Elgin. She was born in 
 Chenango county, New York, at Dundee, 
 September 13, 1834, a daughter of James 
 T. and Laura (Raymond) Gifford, also na- 
 tives of the Empire state. There the 
 father was interested in a manufacturing 
 business until 1835, when he emigrated to 
 Illinois, locating in what is now Elgin. He 
 had the distinguished title of the " father 
 of Elgin, " as he was the founder of that 
 city, erecting the first house, which was his 
 home for several years, and also served as 
 the first post office, school building and 
 church. It stood for many years, but was 
 finally torn down when Prairie street was 
 cut through. Near its site a stone has been 
 placed which bears the inscription: " One 
 hundred feet from this spot stood James T. 
 Gifford'slog house the firsthome in Elgin 
 built in the spring of 1835, where was or- 
 ganized the first Congregational church, 
 May 12, 1836, of the following members: 
 George McClure, Sarah McClure, Julia Mc- 
 Clure, Philo Hatch, Mary Ann Kimball, Re- 
 lief Kimball, Reuben Jenne, Ruth C. Dixon, 
 Experience Gifford, James T. Gifford, Laura 
 Gifford." Gifford street was named in his 
 honor, while Raymond street was named for 
 his wife's family. His sister, Miss Harriet 
 Gifford, familiarly known as "Aunt Har- 
 
 riet," was the first white woman to wade 
 the Fox river at Elgin, crossing the stream 
 for the purpose of visiting a sick friend. 
 She was an excellent, kind-hearted lady, 
 given to deeds of charity and benevolence. 
 Mr. Gifford watched with interest the growth 
 of the city which he had founded and lived 
 to see it number several thousand inhabit- 
 ants. 
 
 On the first day of January, 1800, James 
 T. Gifford was born at Herkimer, New 
 York, and on New Years day, 1823, he was 
 united in marriage with Miss Laura Ray- 
 mond, of Sherburn, New York, who was 
 born November 26, 1800. Her father, New- 
 comb Raymond, was a Revolutionary sol- 
 dier, entering the Colonial army when but 
 a boy. He married a Miss Gray. Coming 
 to Elgin in 1835, Mr. and Mrs. Gifford bore 
 an important part in the upbuilding and de- 
 velopment of the city, and became widely 
 and favorably known throughout this sec- 
 tion of the state. He erected the brick 
 building at the corner of Prairie and Villa 
 streets, which he rented. Being a good 
 mechanic, and of an inventive turn of mind, 
 he invented a reaping machine, which he 
 was giving a trial in a harvest field the day 
 of his death, which was probably hastened 
 by great exposure in the hot sun. He was 
 attacked with Asiatic cholera, dying that 
 evening, August 10, 1850. Thus passed 
 away one of the honored pioneers and rep- 
 resentative citizens of Kane county. He 
 had served as the first postmaster of Elgin, 
 and also acceptably filled the office of justice 
 of the peace for a time. In every way he 
 proved a valued and useful citizen, taking an 
 active part in the work of the Congrega- 
 tional church, of which he and his wife were 
 charter members, while he was a leader in 
 the Sunday-school and in other good works.
 
 4io 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 She, too, was an earnest Christian, and a 
 most estimable woman. Her death oc- 
 curred August 5, 1872. 
 
 In the family of this worthy couple were 
 six children, namely: Caroline, wife of Or- 
 lando Davidson; Lucy D., who died at the 
 age of eighteen years, while the family were 
 living in Wisconsin for a few years; James 
 H., who was born December 3, 1830, and 
 died in Elgin, January 15, 1883; Fulton, a 
 banker of Mendota, Illinois; Sarah F., the 
 subject of this sketch, and Newton Dexter, 
 who was born in 1841, and died in Wiscon- 
 sin, November i, 1847. 
 
 Reared in Elgin, Sarah F. Gifford began 
 her education in the public schools of that 
 place, and afterward attended a young 
 ladies' seminary on Wabash avenue, Chi- 
 cago. On the 26th of April, 1860, at El- 
 gin, she gave her hand in marriage to George 
 Preston, a native of Manchester, New Hamp- 
 shire, and a son of Paschal and Ruth Pres- 
 ton, who visited the west several times but 
 never located here, and both are now de- 
 ceased. George Preston spent his boyhood 
 and youth upon a farm in his native state, 
 and in early life came to Elgin. In the fall 
 of 1 86 1 he responded to his country's call 
 for aid, enlisting in Company I, One Hun- 
 dred and Twenty-seventh Illinois Volunteer 
 Infantry, which was assigned to the Army of 
 the Southwest. He had served but a short 
 time when he was taken ill, and was first 
 confined in a hospital at Vicksburg, and 
 later at St. Louis. On account of physical 
 disability he was honorably discharged and 
 returned home. After his recovery he 
 worked in the watch factory of Elgin until 
 life's labors were ended, August 7, 1873, 
 being forty-one years of age at the time of 
 his death. 
 
 Three children were born to Mr. and 
 
 Mrs. Preston, namely: Mabel, now the wife 
 of Dr. Peterson, of Dundee, Kane county, 
 by whom she has four children Max, Elsie, 
 Moritz and Waldemar; Starr K., who is 
 employed in the watch factory in Elgin, and 
 Ruth, an. accomplished musician, who is 
 now engaged in teaching music in Elgin, and 
 is also serving as organist at the Baptist 
 church. The mother and daughters are all 
 consistent members of the Congregational 
 church, and the family is one of promi- 
 nence in social circles. 
 
 WILLIAM LEET, deceased, was for 
 many years a well-known banker and 
 business man of Bradford, Stark county, 
 but who for the last ten years of his life re- 
 siding in Aurora, where he was recognized 
 as one of the best business men of the city. 
 He was a native of Connecticut, born in 
 Chester, October 20, 1827, and was the son 
 of Samuel ,.W. and Anna Leet, both of 
 whom are natives of- the same state. His 
 ancestry is traced back to William Leete, 
 who came from England in 1639, and who 
 filled many offices of trust, being governor 
 of the New Haven colony, and after the 
 .union of that colony with the colony of 
 Connecticut, was governor of the latter, 
 which position he filled continuously until 
 his death in 1683. 
 
 But little is known of the boyhood of 
 our subject. His parents were in limited 
 circumstances, and when quite young he 
 went to live with a Mr. Jones, of his native 
 town, and served as a chore boy. He ac- 
 companied Mr. Jones to Illinois, in 1841, 
 and remained with him on his farm in 
 Trivola township, near Elmwood, Peoria 
 county, some four or five years. The treat- 
 ment received from his employer becoming
 
 WILLIAM LEET.
 
 MRS. WILLIAM LEET.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 413 
 
 unbearable, he left and worked for other 
 persons until he secured enough to pay for 
 his return east. Having had a taste of 
 western life, he was dissatisfied with his 
 New England home, and again returned to 
 Illinois. In some way he was attracted to 
 Milo township, Bureau county, and he there 
 engaged with a farmer for ten dollars a 
 month. His first month's wages were 
 promptly paid, but on the expiration of the 
 second month, his employer told him that 
 he could not pay him. "Very well," said 
 Mr. Leet, "Give rne the amount due. I 
 want my money to be earning something as 
 well as my hands." 
 
 As a boy Mr. Leet showed none of that 
 trait of character which so distinguished him 
 in after life. In fact, his employer, Mr. 
 Jones, who was his uncle, told him that he 
 was a worthless fellow, and would never be 
 able to earn his living. The incident re- 
 lated above marked but the beginning of 
 whatever afterwards was the ruling spirit of 
 his life the determination to accumulate 
 and succeed in all his undertakings. When 
 he was able to buy out Mr. Jones three or 
 four times over, he took pleasure in calling 
 his attention to his estimate of him so freely 
 expressed. 
 
 No educational advantages were given 
 our subject, and it is doubtful if in his entire 
 life he spent six months in a school room. 
 But he was possessed of a large amount of 
 common sense and Yankee shrewdness, and 
 his remarkably success is but another illus- 
 tration of what may be accomplished, even 
 through theenvironments may not be the best. 
 Too much stress is laid by many for their 
 failures by ascribing it to the influences with 
 which they were surrounded. But William 
 Leet, the poor boy, exiled from home, and 
 the tender and loving care of parents, while 
 
 yet in his boyhood, rose above his surround- 
 ings and set a worthy example to coming 
 generations. 
 
 As soon as his accumulations were suffi- 
 cient Mr. Leet made his first purchase of 
 land, consisting of eighty acres' of wild 
 prairie in Milo township. This land he at 
 once commenced to improve, but later sold 
 to Andrew Britton, and purchased three 
 hundred and twenty acres on section 33, 
 which became the old home place. Early 
 in the spring of i&54, Mr. Wilcox came to 
 Milo township and rented a portion of the 
 Leet farm. In his family'was a young lady, 
 Miss Helen Spear, a native of England, who 
 was brought by her parents in infancy to 
 this country. Her mother having died a 
 few months after her arrival, she was kept 
 in the families of different persons until she 
 was about four and a half years old, when 
 she was taken and reared by Mr. and Mrs. 
 Wilcox. Mr. Leet was at once attracted 
 by this young lady, and after an acquaint- 
 ance of but a few months, they were united 
 in marriage, August 29, 1854. By this 
 union eight children were born, three of 
 whom died in infancy. The living are: (i) 
 Mary J., wife of Rev. J. C. Stoughton, of 
 Aurora, a noted minister of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, of whom a sketch will be 
 found on another page of this work. (2) 
 Frank M., who married Lyda Lenton, of 
 Audubon, Iowa, and has two children, 
 Helen and William. (3) Rosa, now the 
 wife of Robert Thompson, of Bradford, 
 Stark county. They are the parents of two 
 children, Claude R. and 'William L. (4) 
 Anna L. , wife of Asmus Boysen, of Man- 
 ning, Iowa, by whom she has three chil- 
 dren, Allan, Helena, and Anna. Mr. Boy- 
 sen is a land agent and dealer, owning con- 
 siderable land in Arkansas, Nebraska, Iowa,
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and Minnesota, with his main office in Chi- 
 cago. (5) George Kellar, who is unmarried 
 and resides with his mother in Aurora. 
 
 At the time of his marriage Mr. Leet 
 had accumulated about twenty thousand 
 dollars, and was considered a wealthy man. 
 But this was but the beginning. His aim 
 was still higher. Industrious as the day 
 was long, he gave himself little rest. While 
 yet residing on the farm it was his custom 
 to be up long before day, and seldom did he 
 retire until late in the night. Some years 
 before the war, he erected a warehouse in 
 Henry, Marshall county, and commenced 
 the purchase of grain, shipping to Chicago 
 and other markets. Although his farm was 
 twenty miles away, when the roads were at 
 all passable, he drove to and from each day. 
 His success here was remarkable. 
 
 Soon after the war Mr. Leet commenced 
 buying and shipping grain from Bradford, 
 and until his removal to the village in 1873, 
 he rode in daily from his farm, returning in 
 the evening. For some years he not only 
 controlled the grain market of Bradford, 
 but at Castleton, Duncan and Lombard- 
 ville, on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 
 railroad. When business was rushing he 
 would not stop to write checks for grain 
 purchases, but would tear off the corner of 
 any envelope, letter head, or take even a 
 piece of brown paper, jot down the weight 
 and price, and tell the seller to take it to 
 the bank and get his money. When the 
 cashier would remonstrate with him and tell 
 him to write regular checks, he would re- 
 ply: "You know my figures and you know 
 my signature; that is enough." They were 
 paid. 
 
 William Leet was a man of remarkable 
 brain power and great business sagacity. 
 His memory of business transactions, and 
 
 even the smallest detail of each transaction 
 was wonderful. It mattered not how many 
 loads of grain- he may have weighed any 
 day, he would remember every circumstance 
 attending the purchase of each. He could 
 not be deceived. While his accomtnoda-. 
 tions at the bank were all that could be ex- 
 pected, he felt it to his interest to have con- 
 trol of one, and in 1875 purchased the 
 Bradford Exchange bank, then operated by 
 A. B. Miner & Co. This bank he continued 
 to operate until his death, and with the suc- 
 cess attending every enterprise in which he 
 engaged. Although he had no experience 
 in that line of business, and knew nothing 
 of the system of bookkeeping in such in- 
 stitutions, he intuitively grasped every de- 
 tail. Quick of action, with clear foresight, 
 he made few mistakes. Business was rap- 
 idly carried on ; no time was lost. With 
 him a minute lost was so much money. 
 Persons having business with him were ex- 
 pected to make it known with as few words 
 as possible, and with just as few words he 
 rendered a decision, it mattered not if 
 thousands of dollars were involved. 
 
 While giving much of his time to the 
 grain trade, and later to his banking inter- 
 ests, Mr. Leet was always more or less 
 engaged in the real estate business, buying 
 and selling lands, and loaning money upon 
 real estate security. At one time he was 
 the owner of nearly five thousand acres of 
 land in Stark county alone, and his pur- 
 chases elsewhere were enormous. Loans 
 were made and morgages taken upon farms 
 not only in Stark, but in adjoining counties 
 as well. He was never known to foreclose 
 a mortgage that could be avoided. He 
 would renew loans already made time and 
 time again, giving the mortgagors all the 
 time necessary in which to meet their pay-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 415 
 
 rnents. Many fanners throughout the sec- 
 tion in which he operated, have reason to 
 bless his memory for the forbearance shown 
 them in distress. As long as he believed 
 one would do what was right, he never 
 showed a disposition to crowd. Many illus- 
 trations of this fact could be given, and but 
 few farmers within a radius of twenty miles 
 from Bradford but will bear testimony to the 
 statement. A wealthy farmer residing in 
 Osceola township, Stark county, but lately 
 remarked that all he had was due to Will- 
 iam Leet. He said he came to this country 
 a poor man, and Mr. Leet loaned him four 
 hundred dollars with which to make his 
 first purchase of land, and from time to time 
 loaned him thousands of dollars, "And," 
 said the farmer proudly, "he never re- 
 quired from me a mortgage." 
 
 In the course of time his business inter- 
 ests extended into other states, especially 
 into Iowa, and he established a bank at 
 Audubon, in that state, which is now under 
 the control of his son, Frank M. Leet, who 
 has shown much of the characteristic energy 
 that distinguished the father. The bank 
 building was personally superintended by 
 him in its erection, and the business was 
 put upon a safe footing. To-day the estate 
 has many large tracts of land in Iowa, and 
 very large sums loaned upon farm lands. 
 
 At quite an early day Mr. Leet began to 
 operate upon the Board of Trade in Chi- 
 cago, and in 1888 removed to that city, 
 where he remained two years," and then 
 made his home in Aurora, going to Chicago 
 and returning each day. The same success 
 attending him in his enterprises elsewhere 
 followed him upon the Board of Trade and 
 his profits were very large. Whether upon 
 the bull or bear side of the market, he 
 seemed to know what was best and where 
 
 his moi.ey should be placed. He continued 
 to reside in Aurora until his death which 
 occurred September 5, 1896, and his re- 
 mains were laid to rest in the beautiful 
 Spring Lake cemetery. 
 
 William Leet was a man strong in his 
 likes and dislikes. For a friend he would 
 do much; for an enemy nothing. With 
 mind fully absorbed by business, he gave but 
 little attention to his social nature. A good 
 provider, his family never lacked for the 
 comforts of life. Fraternally, he was for 
 some years a Master Mason, but later in 
 life was dimitted. Religiously, he was in 
 sympathy with the Methodist Episcopal 
 church, although he never united with any 
 organization. He believed in the Bible lit- 
 erally, and enjoyed a sound orthodox and 
 practical sermon above everything else. 
 With much of the modern style of preach- 
 ing he had no sympathy. He believed in 
 calling things by their right names, and 
 not mincing matters by trying to smooth 
 them over. Politically he was a Republic- 
 an, though he gave but little attention to 
 politics in the common acceptation of the 
 term. He would not accept local office un- 
 der any consideration. For the same rea- 
 son that he did not exercise his social nature 
 more his great business interests he gave 
 but little attention to local affairs, though 
 on the construction of the railroad through 
 Stark county he invested in its bonds and 
 advocated the local aid of his township and 
 county. 
 
 Few men with such limited opportuni- 
 ties have accomplished so much. At his 
 death he left a large estate, which, by his 
 request, has remained intact, a co-partner- 
 ship having been formed by his widow and 
 heirs under the firm style of Leet & Com- 
 pany, and under that name they now carry
 
 416 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 on the business which he established and so 
 successfully conducted for many years. The 
 family seems to have inherited much of the 
 business sagacity of the father, and are all 
 honored members of society and highly re- 
 spected. The widow yet makes her home 
 in Aurora, and enjoys the love and respect 
 of a large circle of friends and acquaint- 
 ances. 
 
 JOHN A. BROWN, a progressive business 
 man of St, Charles, who owns and suc- 
 cessfully operates a fine farm in Kane coun- 
 ty, is a native of New York, born in the 
 town of Dryden, Tompkins county, near 
 Ithaca, September 7, 1832. His grand- 
 father, Daniel Brown, also a native of New 
 York, was one of the early settlers of Tomp- 
 kins county, and was a soldier of the war of 
 1812. Jacob Brown, our subject's father, 
 was born in that county, and there married 
 Anna Baldwin, born in New York, of Hol- 
 land parentage. Throughout life he con- 
 tinued to engage in agricultural pursuits in 
 Tompkins county, where he died in 1836 
 when our subject was only four years old. 
 The mother carefully reared her family of 
 ten children, all of whom reached years of 
 maturity, but only four are now living, 
 namely: Mrs. Sally Grover, a widow, re- 
 siding in New York; William W. , a business 
 man of Cortland county, New York; John 
 A., of this sketch; and Jacob E., a resident 
 of Tompkins county. 
 
 In the county of his nativity John A. 
 Brown grew to manhood and obtained a fair 
 common-school education. Until fifteen 
 years of age he lived upon a farm and de- 
 voted his attention to agricultural pursuits. 
 He then learned the saddjer's and harness- 
 maker's trade in Ithaca, and later followed 
 
 that occupation at Deposit, New York, on 
 the Delaware river. Coming west in 1854, 
 he located at St. Charles, where he pur- 
 chased a harness shop and business already 
 established, successfully conducting the 
 same until 1864. That year he bought a 
 farm in Du Page county, Illinois, which he 
 operated for three years, and then removed 
 to Virginia owing to ill health. At Spott- 
 sylvania Court House he bought a planta- 
 tion, on which he also engaged in farming 
 for three years, trading his property at the 
 end of that time for a farm near Olean, 
 McKean county, Pennsylvania. In con- 
 nection with agricultural pursuits, he here 
 engaged in the oil business, owning an in- 
 terest in twenty-one oil wells, which were 
 in successful operation. After residing in 
 that county for six years, he sold his land, 
 but still retained his interest in the oil 
 wells. Returning to St. Charles in 1881, 
 he bought two adjoining farms of two hun- 
 dred and forty acres in Campton township, 
 and has since given his attention to their 
 cultivation and further improvement. For 
 dairy purposes he keeps upon his place from 
 thirty to sixty cows, but to a great extent he 
 now leaves the more active part of the work 
 to his son, Frank J. Brown. 
 
 In Du Page county, December 7, 1857, 
 Mr. Brown was united in marriage with 
 Miss LucietiaJ. Wheeler, a native of Massa- 
 chusetts, who, during childhood, was brought 
 to Illinois by her father, Job Wheeler, a 
 pioneer of Du Page county, where he 
 secured a tract of government land. Three 
 children bless this union: Frank J., who is 
 married and carries on the home farm; 
 Albert W., who is a resident of Houston, 
 Texas., and is a railroad engineer running on 
 the Southern Pacific; and Lucinda May, 
 wife of Harry Hatch, of Chicago.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 417 
 
 Reared a Democrat, Mr. Brown has 
 always been a stanch supporter of the prin- 
 ciples of that party and cast his first presi- 
 dential vote for James Buchanan. Although 
 he has never cared for official honors, he 
 has most creditably served his fellow citi- 
 zens as a member of the school board. 
 Socially he is a Master Mason, belonging 
 to the blue lodge of St. Charles, and both 
 he and his wife are members of the Eastern 
 Star. Wonderful indeed are the changes 
 that have taken place in Kane county since 
 Mr. Brown first came here in 1854, and in 
 this work of transformation he has borne an 
 important part, and he is justly numbered 
 among the valued and useful citizens of the 
 community. The part he has taken in the 
 development of the county has impressed 
 his name indelibly upon its records and he 
 well deserves mention among the honored 
 pioneers. 
 
 WILLIAM WALLACE McDONALD, 
 general merchant and postmaster of 
 East Plato, Kane county, Illinois, is a na- 
 tive of the county, whose parents were 
 among its earliest settlers. John McDon- 
 ald, his father, was born near Glasgow, 
 Scotland, in 1814. When about fourteen 
 years of age, he emigrated to Canada, sail- 
 ing from his native city. The weather was 
 quite stormy, with head winds, and the 
 vessel was often blown back. The voyage 
 was a long and tedious one; they ran out of 
 provisions and the water was low. The 
 last few days the passengers and crew sub- 
 sisted on tallow candles, but they arrived 
 at last, all being nearly starved. After re- 
 maining in Canada for a time, he moved to 
 the state of New York, and at the age of 
 twenty-one came to Kane county, Illinois, 
 
 when the country was in its primitive state. 
 He secured land in section 30, Elgin town- 
 ship, and by his thrifty habits acquired a 
 fine farm and goodly amount of property. 
 He was a man of strong determination, in- 
 flexible will, and spoke the Gaelic language. 
 In the early days he was, politically, a 
 Whig, and, later, a Republican. 
 
 John McDonald married Miss Rebecca 
 Denmark, born in England, March 22, 1820. 
 Her parents died when she was quite young, 
 and she came to Elgin about 1835, with 
 the Gifford family. They were' the parents 
 of ten children, as follows: Elizabeth Ann, 
 married John Linkenfelder, and is now de- 
 ceased; Mary Eliza, wife of H. H. Allan- 
 son, of Plato township; William Wallace, 
 our subject; Miranda Jane married Clark 
 Tucker, and is now deceased; James D., 
 Jiving in Plato township; George, a resident 
 of Elgin; John Horace, who died at the age 
 of six years; Sophia Jeanette married Dun- 
 can Johnson and lives in Iowa; Nancy mar- 
 ried Frank Butterfield, of Elgin; and John 
 L. , clerking in Elgin. The father of these 
 children died August 26, 1870, and the 
 mother in June, 1893. 
 
 William Wallace McDonald was born 
 on the old homestead, section 30. Elgin 
 township, October 14, 1846. His educa- 
 tion was obtained in the district school, 
 mostly in winter terms, which he attended 
 until the age of nineteen. He remained 
 with his father, assisting in the cultivation 
 of the farm until he was twenty years of 
 age, when, on the 4th of October, 1866, he 
 married Miss Elizabeth M. Younges, a na- 
 tive of Elgin township, born October 17, 
 1848, and a daughter of Charles and Made- 
 line (Linkenfelder) Younges, and fourth in 
 a family of six children. By this union 
 three children have been born, the first dy-
 
 4i8 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ing in infancy. The living are: Charles 
 Adelbert, who married Elizabeth Hogereffe, 
 by whom he has one child, Nona Emily; 
 and John Freeman, who married Annie 
 Phalen. 
 
 On 1879 our subject, in partnership with 
 his brother James, purchased fifty acres in 
 section 30, a part of his father's old farm, 
 on which they built a creamery and operated 
 the same until 1885, when they sold out. 
 Our subject had previously purchased the 
 old home farm, and engaged in farming 
 until the spring of 1896. In 1888 he 
 erected a store building at East Plato and 
 commenced merchandising, but sold out the 
 following year. In February, 1896, he 
 rented his farm to his son, repurchased the 
 store and resumed merchandising. About the 
 same time he received the appointment of 
 postmaster, and is yet holding the office. 
 In addition to his stock of general merchan- 
 dise he deals in farm machinery and imple- 
 ments. His trade is a fairly satisfactory 
 one. 
 
 Fraternally Mr. McDonald is a member 
 of Greenwood tent, No. 117, K. O. T. M. 
 In politics he is a Republican. For many 
 years he served as school director of his 
 district, since April, 1897, has been a jus- 
 tice of the peace. He is a hustling busi- 
 ness man, genial in manners and a general 
 favorite. The family have been long and 
 favorably known in the township, being 
 among the earliest settlers, who struggled 
 hard to make Kane county occupy its proud 
 and enviable position. 
 
 HENRY FICKENSHER, 271 Fox street, 
 Aurora, Illinois, is one of that sturdy, 
 persevering and honorable sons of Germany, 
 that have played such an important part in 
 
 the progress of our American Union. He 
 came to Aurora fifty years ago, when this 
 place was a struggling village of less than 
 eight hundred people. Born in Bavaria, 
 Germany, July 4 , 1828, he is the son of 
 Frederick and Mary (Giegold) Fickensher, 
 both natives of Bavaria, as were their fore- 
 fathers. 
 
 Frederick Fickensher, with his wife and 
 family of five children, emigrated to America 
 in the spring of 1848, and came direct to 
 Aurora, Illinois. They expected to here 
 meet friends, but were much disappointed 
 to learn on their arrival that their friends 
 were located at Aurora, Indiana. However, 
 they liked the appearance of the Fox river 
 village so much, that they decided to re- 
 main. The father purchased a small farm 
 of forty acres on the Wauponsie, on which 
 was a log cabin, and in this the entire fam- 
 ily resided. His children were William P., 
 Henry, George, Elizabeth, and Margaretta. 
 
 Henry Fickensher's opportunities for an 
 education were very meager. His family 
 were of limited means, and his ambition 
 from youth up was to assist in their 
 support. He therefore gained but little 
 school education, but learned much through 
 observation and association, with men 
 through nearly forty-five years of active 
 business life in his adopted city. He had 
 learned the trade of a barber in his native 
 land and soon perceived a good opening for 
 the practice of his trade here. Therefore 
 in 1850, he opened the first barber shop in 
 East Aurora, and did a fair business from 
 the beginning. In course of time he built a 
 brick block, No. 9 South Broadway, which 
 building he still owns, but in 1893 retired 
 from active business. 
 
 On the 26th of December, 1851, he mar- 
 ried Miss Dorothy Weise, whose parents
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 419 
 
 were residents of Kane county, but were 
 originally from Saxony. Our subject and 
 wife have three children living, and three 
 have gone to "the land beyond." Those 
 living are Eno L. , who is practicing his pro- 
 fession of dentistry in Chicago, and is mar- 
 ried and has one son, Harry. Bertha is 
 the wife of Asher Breemer, a druggist of 
 Amboy, Illinois, and they have three chil- 
 dren, Clara. Eno and Waller. Clara, the 
 third child of our subject, is the wife of F. 
 W. Bjoss, a hardware merchant of Aurora, 
 doing business on South Broadway. 
 
 In politics Mr. Fickensher is a Repub- 
 lican and in the early '6os held the office of 
 city collector,. Fraternally he is a mem- 
 ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
 lows, while both himself and wife are mem- 
 bers of the Lutheran church. They reside 
 in a pleasant home at 271 Fox street, which 
 he built in 1852. They are both highly re- 
 spected in the community in which they 
 have resided for fifty years. 
 
 EDWARD L. HUNT, now living a re- 
 tired life in the city of Batavia, has 
 been a resident of Kane county since 1853, 
 and for more than a third of a century was 
 one of the enterprising business men of 
 Batavia. He was born in Princeton, New 
 Jersey, July 22, 1817. His father, William 
 Hunt, born in 1785, was also a native of 
 that town and state, as was likewise his 
 grandfather, John Hunt. The family are 
 of English origin, the first of the number 
 settling in New Jersey prior to the Revolu- 
 tionary war. William Hunt, was by trade 
 a blacksmith and carried on business in 
 Princeton for many years. He there mar- 
 ried Eleanor Schenck, a native of Middlesex 
 county, New Jersey, and a daughter of John 
 
 Schenck, whose father served in the Revolu- 
 tionary war. They were the parents of 
 three sons and one daughter. John, the 
 eldest, was a soldier in the Mexican war and 
 killed in the battle of Monterey. Edward 
 L., was next in order of birth. Voorhes, 
 the third son, grew to mature years, mar- 
 ried and died in Trenton, New Jersey. The 
 one daughter, Elizabeth Schenck, is a resi- 
 dent of North Adams, Massachusetts. The 
 mother of these children passed away in 
 1839, while the father lived until 1877, dy- 
 ing at the advanced age of ninety-two years. 
 
 Edward L. Hunt grew to manhood in 
 Princeton, New Jersey, andthere received a 
 fair common-school education. When a 
 lad of thirteen years, he went into a store 
 as clerk, where he received a thorough and 
 practical business training. In 1841 he was 
 united in marriage, at Princeton, with Miss 
 Catherine F. Ross, a daughter of Robert R. 
 Ross, and a distant relative of Betsy Ross, 
 who made the first American flag. Mrs. 
 Hunt was reared and educated in Middle- 
 sex county. Her father, Robert Ross, was 
 a soldier in the war of 1812, while her 
 grandfather, Robert Ross, Sr. , was a Revolu- 
 tionary soldier, and later was elected and 
 served as sheriff of Middlesex county. He 
 was a very prominent man in his day. 
 
 In 1853 Mr. Hunt came west and located 
 in Batavia. He first clerked one year, and 
 then bought an interest in the store and 
 continued in the business until 1857. Sell- 
 ing out, he moved to Sangamon county, 
 Illinois, and engaged in farming about five 
 years. While there he formed the acquaint- 
 ance of Abraham Lincoln, our first martyr 
 president. In 1862 Mr. Hunt returned to 
 Batavia, and in Augusf, of that year, en- 
 listed as a member of Company B, One 
 Hundred and Twenty-fourth Regiment,
 
 420 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was mus- 
 tered into service at Springfield, Illinois, in 
 the later part of that month. He enlisted 
 as a private and served till the final close of 
 the war, being discharged and mustered out 
 at Camp Douglass, in August, 1865. 'He 
 was under fire of the Rebels eighty-two days 
 and sixty nights in defense of the old flag 
 and the union. Among the engagements in 
 which he participated were Port Gibson, 
 Raymond, Jackson, Champion Hills, siege 
 of Vicksburg, siege of Spanish Fort, four- 
 teen lesser fights and skirmishes and two 
 other sieges. While in the service he 
 traveled over four thousand miles. 
 
 After his discharge, Mr. Hunt returned to 
 his home in Batavia, and engaged in clerk- 
 ing for some years. In 1871, he bought out 
 an established business and engaged in the 
 mercantile trade with John Davis, under 
 the firm name of Hunt & Davis. The part- 
 nership was continued until 1891, a period 
 of about twenty years, when Mr. Hunt sold 
 his interest to his partner and has since 
 lived a retired life. However, in Decem- 
 ber, 1897, he was appointed receiver of a 
 drug stock, and has also acted in -like capac- 
 ity for several parties that have failed. 
 
 In his early life Mr. Hunt was a Whig, 
 his first presidential vote being cast for 
 William Henry Harrison in 1840, and his 
 second for Henry Clay in 1844. On the 
 organization of the Republican party in 
 1856, he voted for John C. Fremont, and 
 from that time to the present has been a 
 stanch advocate of Republican principles. 
 He never sought a public office, but in 
 1893 was elected justice of the peace and 
 was re-elected in 1896. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Hunt four children 
 were born, two of whom died in infancy. 
 The living are Robert R. , a machinist in the 
 
 watch factory at Elgin, and Mrs. Elizabeth 
 Spooner, a widow lady, now residing with 
 her parents. She has three children as fol- 
 lows: Frank Ed, married and residing in 
 New York City; Flora, wife of Ferdinand 
 Wirtz, of Chicago; and Catherine, wife of 
 Frank H. Hall, of Chicago. Mrs. Spooner 
 is a member of the First Congregational 
 church of Batavia, while her mother is a 
 member of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
 Fraternally, Mr. Hunt is a member of the 
 G. A. R. and is now past commander. He 
 is held in the highest esteem, and is popular 
 in the community where he has so long re- 
 sided. 
 
 JOHN H. HODDER, editor and pro- 
 prietor of the "Aurora Daily and Semi- 
 weekly Beacon," has been a resident of 
 Aurora for forty-four years, save a short 
 time spent at Woodstock, McHenry county. 
 He is a native of Dorsetshire, England, 
 where he grew to manhood, and served 
 an apprenticeship to the printing and 
 bookbinding trade. Hearing much of the 
 United States and believing his success 
 in life the better assured by his removal 
 there, in 1853, when about eighteen years 
 of age, he came to America, landing in New 
 York city, where he remained for a time 
 working at his trade. In 1854 he came 
 west to Chicago, and thence' to Aurora, 
 where he obtained employment in the office 
 of D. and J. W. Randall, who had just pur- 
 chased the " Aurora Beacon. " Two years 
 later he established the first book bindery 
 in Kane county, which he conducted for a 
 time, when it was consolidated with the 
 ' ' Beacon" office, Mr. Hodder becoming as- 
 sociated with O. B. Knickerbocker, in the 
 firm of O. B. Knickerbocker & Co., in the
 
 J. H. HODDER.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 423 
 
 publication of the "Aurora Beacon." In 
 1858 the "Beacon" and "Republican" 
 were consolidated and the firm of Bangs & 
 Knickerbocker formed, which continued the 
 publication of the " Beacon." Mr. Hodder 
 having sold his interest, engaged in the job 
 printing business on his own account, which 
 he continued until 1861, when he removed 
 to Woodstock, McHenry county, and for 
 two years published the "McHenry county 
 Union. In 1863 he returned to Aurora, 
 and for three years was foreman of the 
 "Beacon" establishment. In 1866 he 
 purchased Mr. Bangs' interest in the con- 
 cern, and the firm of Knickerbocker & 
 Hodder was formed, the co-partnership con- 
 tinuing until the death of Mr. Knickerbocker 
 in May, 1885. Since that time Mr. Hod- 
 der has conducted the business, and under 
 his management the "Beacon" has contin- 
 ued to maintain a position in the front rank 
 of newspapers in the northwest. In 1882 
 Mr. Hodder erected a substantial building 
 on the Island, expressly for the business, 
 and has one of the best appointed printing 
 and book binding establishments in the state 
 outside of Chicago. 
 
 In December, 1859, Mr. Hodder was 
 united in marriage with Miss Kate M. Hey- 
 wood, a native of Worcester county, Massa- 
 chusetts, who.was then engaged as a teach- 
 er in the Aurora public schools. By this 
 union there are two living children, one son 
 and one daughter. Frank H. Hodder, after 
 receiving his primary education in the pub- 
 lic schools of Aurora, entered Michigan 
 University at Ann Arbor, .from which he 
 was graduated in 1882, with the degree of 
 Ph. M. Soon after his graduation he ac- 
 cepted a position as instructor in history and 
 political science at Cornell University, New 
 
 York. After remaining there four years, he 
 20 
 
 went to Europe, spending nearly two years 
 at the German universities in study. While 
 there he was cabled an offer of the chair of 
 American History in the Kansas State Uni- 
 versity, at Lawrence, Kansas, which he ac- 
 cepted, and is now filling that position with 
 distinction. The daughter, Miss Kittie B. 
 Hodder, lives with her parents in their pleas- 
 ant home at 241 South Lincoln avenue, 
 Aurora. 
 
 In 1876 Mr. Hodder invented and pat- 
 ented " Hodder's Blotter Tablet," a simple 
 and. convenient .device in stationery bind- 
 ing, which speedily .came into general use 
 throughout the United States and Canada. 
 In educational matters he has always taken 
 interest, and for several years efficiently 
 served as a member of the board of educa- 
 tion of school district No. 5, Aurora. Com- 
 ing to this country at a time when the slav- 
 ery agitation was at its height, and when 
 the slave power was determined to force 
 slavery upon the territories of the Union, 
 notwithstanding the terms of the Missouri 
 compromise, he naturally allied himself to 
 the Republican party, casting his first vote 
 for Abraham Lincoln in 1860, and has ever 
 since taken an active part in Republican- 
 politics. In June, 1889, Mr. Hodder was 
 appointed by President Harrison, postmaster 
 of Aurora, and fiMed that position until March 
 i, 1894, his administration of the affairs of 
 the office meeting with general approval. As 
 editor of the ' ' Beacon, " he has been a prom- 
 inent advocate of every enterprise calculated 
 to build up the city and county. 
 
 JONATHAN MILLET HOLT, of Au- 
 J rora, was for thirty-seven years fore- 
 man of the freight car shops of the Chicago, 
 Burlington & Quincy railroad, at that place.
 
 424 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 His great length of service attests his abil- 
 ity as a workman and manager of men. 
 He was born in the town of Norway, Ox- 
 ford county, Maine, January 13, 1827. 
 The family are of English origin, and was 
 founded in this country long prior to the 
 Revolutionary war. Three brothers came 
 from England, one of whom settled in the 
 south, another in New York, and the third 
 in Massachusetts. Our subject is descended 
 from the one settling in the latter state. 
 His grandfather, Darius Holt, was born in 
 Massachusetts, was a soldier in the Revo- 
 lutionary war, and participated in the bat- 
 tles of Bunker Hill and Lexington. For 
 his services in the struggle for American 
 Independence, he was pensioned by the gen- 
 eral government. After the close of the 
 Revolution he moved with his family to 
 Maine, and was among the first settlers in 
 Oxford county. He there opened up a 
 farm in the vast wilderness, where he spent 
 the remaining years of his life. His son, 
 Darius Holt, Jr., there married Sarah Man- 
 son, born at Kittredge, Maine, her father 
 being one of its first settlers. After their 
 marriage he engaged in farming in Norway, 
 Oxford county, Maine, but later went to 
 Canada, where his death occurred. His 
 wife survived him a number of years, and 
 died October 20, 1870, at her home in 
 Maine at the age of eighty-one years. 
 
 Jonathan M. Holt is one of four sons 
 and two daughters born to Darius and 
 Sarah Holt, all of whom grew to mature 
 years, but three are now living. One 
 brother, Daniel Holt, is a farmer residing in 
 Norway, Maine. His sister, Ann, married 
 Silas Goud, and resides on Cousin's Island, 
 Casco bay, Maine. Our subject grew to 
 manhood in his native county and state, 
 and in its common schools received a fair 
 
 education. His boyhood and youth were 
 spent on the home farm, assisting in its cul- 
 tivation. During that time he also learned 
 the carpenter and joiner's trade with his 
 father. On attaining his majority he went 
 to Lawrence, Massachusetts, and entered 
 the carshops of the Boston & Maine rail- 
 road. He there remained until 1854, when 
 he went to California, by way of Aspinwall, 
 Panama, crossing the isthmus and proceed; 
 ing to San Francisco. He remained in 
 California for three years and a half, work- 
 ing for a time in the mines, but principally 
 at his trade in San Francisco. While there 
 the city was overrun with lawless charac- 
 ters, which he assisted in connection with 
 the vigilance commitee in subduing, thus 
 restoring law and order. In 1857, he re- 
 turned home by the same route that he 
 went, and in his native town resumed work 
 as contractor and builder. In the fall of 
 1858 he came to Aurora, where he also en- 
 gaged in contracting and building, until in 
 July, 1859, when he went into the shops of 
 the Chicago, Burlington & Qnincy Railroad 
 Company. He was soon made foreman of 
 the freight carshops, a position that he held 
 until 1897, when he was compelled to quit 
 work on account of illness. He was then 
 one of the oldest and most efficient em- 
 ployees in the shops at Aurora. 
 
 Mr. Holt was married in Lawrence, 
 Massachusetts, in April, 1853, to Miss El- 
 nora Phipps, a native of Maine, born in 
 Otisfield, in 1827, and a daughter of John 
 and Relief (Burnell) Phipps, the former a 
 native of New Hampshire, and the latter of 
 Maine. Mrs. Holt is one of their two re- 
 maining children, the other being Professor 
 Sireno B. Phipps, now a resident of Aurora, 
 where he has lived for about twelve years, 
 and is engaged as a teacher of instrumental
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 425 
 
 music. He is also a composer of music, 
 and has published a number of volumes of 
 considerable merit and which have had a 
 ready sale. To Mr. and Mrs. Holt six chil- 
 dren have been born, as follows: Eugene 
 Oscar, married, and engaged in business in 
 Aurora; Abraham Lincoln, married, and 
 also a business man of Aurora; Ansel Lewis, 
 married, and employed in the shops of the 
 Burlington road at Aurora; George Wesley, 
 also in the employ of the Burlington road, 
 residing at home; and William Francis, en- 
 gaged in clerking and residing at home. 
 They lost one daughter, Elnora May, who 
 died at the age of eleven months. 
 
 In early life Mr. Holt was a Whig, and 
 cast his first presidential vote for Zackary 
 Taylor, in 1848. He continued to act with 
 that party until 1856, when he supported 
 John C. Fremont, and has since been an 
 earnest and enthusiastic Republican. For 
 six years he served as alderman of his ward, 
 during which time he was on several im- 
 portant committees. He was on the fire 
 and water committee, when the water works 
 was established; was chairman of the elec- 
 tric light committee, when electricity was 
 adopted' as a means of lighting the city; 
 was chairman of the street and alley com- 
 mittee, and also chairman of the building 
 and public grounds committee. The work 
 done as a member of the various commit- 
 tees, is but another proof of his ability to 
 render efficient service in whatever position 
 he is placed. He Has always taken great 
 interest in political affairs, and as a delegate 
 to various county and state conventions, has 
 exerted a good influence. Fraternally he is 
 a Mason, a member of the blue lodge, chap- 
 ter and commandery. He is also prominent 
 as an Odd Fellow, having passed all the 
 chairs in the subordinate lodge, and repre- 
 
 sented his lodge in the Grand Lodge of the 
 state. Mrs. Holt is a member of the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal church, and has been active 
 in its work. The family are highly regarded 
 in Aurora, and wherever known they are 
 held in the highest esteem. 
 
 WALTER A. MERREFIELD, who for 
 twenty-three years has served as 
 assistant postmaster of Elgin, discharging 
 his duties with marked promptness and 
 fidelity, was born in Hanover, Cook coun- 
 ty, on the .I4th of November, 1850, and is 
 a son of Charles E. and Harriet E. Barnard 
 Merrefield. On the paternal side he is of 
 English descent. His grandfather, Charles 
 E. Merrefield, was a native of England, and 
 crossing the Atlantic to America, spent his 
 last days in Elgin, where he died at about 
 the age of sixty years. Farming was his 
 chief occupation. His family numbered 
 two children, one of whom, the father of 
 our subject, was born while the family were 
 crossing the Atlantic. When a young man 
 he took up his residence in Elgin and ac- 
 cepted the position of bookkeeper in the 
 bank of Towne, Lawrence & Pease. He 
 was also assistant postmaster here for some 
 years. He married Miss Harriet E. Barnard, 
 a native of New York, and a daughter of 
 Ephaphas Barnard, whow as born in the 
 Empire state and was of Dutch descent. 
 By occupation he was an agriculturist. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Merrefield became the parents of 
 two children, Walter A. and Frank C. The 
 father died at the age of thirty-four years, 
 and the mother, surviving him some time, 
 passed away in 1874, at the age of sixty- 
 one. He was a soldier in the Mexican war, 
 and a highly respected citizen of Elgin.
 
 426 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Walter A. Merrefield was reared in Cook 
 and Kane counties, Illinois, removing to 
 the latter when nine years of age. He 
 spent his minority here, and after acquir- 
 ing a preliminary education in the public 
 schools, continued his studies in the Acad- 
 emy of Elgin. Entering upon his business 
 career, he devoted his attention to agricult- 
 ural pursuits, but after a time began the 
 manufacture of cheese and butter in Hano- 
 ver. After some years service as assistant 
 postmaster of Elgin, he engaged in the 
 manufacture of cheese and butter in La- 
 Salle county for four years, and then re- 
 turned to Elgin. He was first appointed 
 assistant postmaster January i, 1871, serv- 
 ing at that time for eight years, and then 
 after his four years' residence in LaSalle 
 county, he returned and was again appointed 
 assistant postmaster, which office he has 
 now filled since 1879. His faithful dis- 
 charge of his duties and his courteous treat- 
 ment of the patrons of the office has made 
 him a popular official. 
 
 On the 5th of August, 1874, Mr. Merre- 
 field was united in marriage to Miss Esther 
 Burnidge, a daughter of Thomas and Nancy 
 (Field) Burnidge. Four children have been 
 born of this union: Hattie May, Myra 
 Jennette, Walter Charles and Floyd Aus- 
 tin. All are with their parents with the ex- 
 ception of Walter Charles, who died at the 
 age of four years. The mother died in 
 1891, in the same month in which her son's 
 death occurred. 
 
 Mr. Merrefield holds membershp with 
 the Modern Woodmen of America, and 
 gives his political support to the men and 
 measures of the Republican party. His 
 home is at No. 603 Spring street, and in 
 the city where he has long made his home 
 he is widely and favorably known. 
 
 JOHN J. CLARK. The deserved re- 
 ward of a well-spent life is an honored 
 retirement from business, in which to enjoy 
 the fruits of former toil. To-day after a 
 useful and beneficial career, Mr. Clark is 
 quietly living at the home of his son at No. 
 750 Highland avenue, Elgin, surrounded by 
 the comfort that earnest labor has brought 
 him. 
 
 Mr. Clark was born October 26, 1816, 
 in Dundee, Yates county, New York, and is 
 a son of Thomas and Jane (Plummer) 
 Clark, the former a native of Philadelphia, 
 Pennsylvania, and the latter of Yates coun- 
 ty, New York. Thomas Clark, Sr. , the pa- 
 ternal grandfather, was also born in Phila- 
 delphia, was a carpenter and contractor by 
 occupation, and during the Revolutionary 
 war he aided the colonies in achieving their 
 independence. He reared a family of three 
 children, one son and two daughters. At 
 the time of his death he had reached the 
 extreme old age of one hundred and two 
 years, but was still quite active, having walktd 
 four miles a few days before he died. The 
 maternal grandparents of our subject were 
 George P. and Hannah (McMurtrie) Plum- 
 mer. He was a farmer and during the 
 Revolutionary war made a number of sleds 
 for the soldiers. He died when about 
 ninety-two years of age. 
 
 During his early manhood Thomas 
 Clark, Jr., was a boat builder and sea cap- 
 tain, but later turned his attention to farm- 
 ing. On coming west in 1840, he located 
 in Udina, Kane county, Illinois, where he 
 -died in 1859, at the age of seventy years. 
 He was a Spiritualist in religious belief. 
 Being drafted during the war of 1812, he 
 hired a substitute. His wife survived him 
 only two years, dying in Sacramento, Cali- 
 fornia, when about seventy years of age.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 427 
 
 After his death she had crossed the plains 
 by wagon with some of her children. Nine 
 children were born to them but only four 
 are now living, namely: John J., George, 
 Palmer and Barton. 
 
 John J. Clark grew to manhood upon a 
 farm at Dundee, New York, and during his 
 youth learned the millwright's trade, which 
 he successfully followed for over twenty 
 years. In the fall of 1841, he came by 
 way of the Great Lakes to Kane county, 
 Illinois, and purchased fifty-three acres of 
 his father's farm, but after operating it for 
 a few years, he sold and bought a drove of 
 horses, preparatory to starting across the 
 plains to California. When about sixty-five 
 miles above Fort Laramie, the Indians stole 
 his horses and also shot one of the company 
 but did not kill him. They pushed on to 
 California, walking much of the distance. 
 In that state Mr. Clark and his son Byron 
 worked at bridge building, receiving three 
 dollars and a half per day, and after two 
 years spent upon the Pacific slope they re- 
 turned to Illinois by way of the Isthmus. 
 
 Mr. Clark next owned and operated a 
 planing mill and sash factory in partnership 
 with his brother Thomas, who afterward 
 raised two companies for the Civil war and 
 in the service rose to the rank of colonel. 
 His death occurred in Chicago, in 1894. 
 When our subject and his brother dissolved 
 partnership, he and his son bought a water 
 power and run a machine shop for many 
 years, but for the past three years he has 
 lived retired, enjoying a well-earned rest. 
 
 On the i6th of November, 1843, was 
 consummated the marriage of Mr. Clark 
 and Miss Delia Maria, daughter of John 
 Rich, and they became the parents of four 
 children, two sons and two daughters. 
 Roselia married Edwin Little, but is now 
 
 deceased. Byron wedded Mary Sovereign 
 and has two children Alice, wife of Joseph 
 King, by whom she has one child, Lyle; 
 George married Mary Dorrissey, now de- 
 ceased, and to them were born two children 
 Arthur, and John Ella is the wife of Jacob 
 Deill, of Chicago, who is a conductor on the 
 Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad. 
 The two children born to them are now de- 
 ceased. Mrs. Clark, who was a faithful 
 member of the Methodist church, departed 
 this life November 3, 1860, and our subject 
 now makes his home with his son Byron. 
 
 In his political affiliations Mr. Clark is a 
 Democrat. For almost fifty-seven years he 
 has been a resident of Kane county and 
 therefore has witnessed almost its complete 
 development. ' On his arrival here the land 
 was mostly in its primitive condition, and 
 wild game of all kinds was very plentiful. 
 Mr. Clark has ever taken great delight in 
 hunting, fishing and other outdoor sports 
 and when a young man he always came out 
 ahead in a jumping contest. ' He now be- 
 longs to the Elgin Rifle Club, attends the 
 big shooting matches in various parts of the 
 country, and although eighty-one years of 
 age he can shoot as well now as he could 
 twenty years ago, for his eyesight is strong, 
 being able to read without glasses. As he 
 still enjoys boating, hunting and fishing, he 
 has two small family steamboats, tents and 
 other hunting paraphernalia, and takes nu- 
 merous trips up the river, spending several 
 days at a time in his favorite sports. He 
 has always endeavored to live peaceably 
 with all men, having never had a quarrel, 
 and he therefore has the respect and esteem 
 of a large circle of friends and acquaintances 
 who appreciate his sterling worth and many 
 excellencies of character. 
 
 George P. Sovereign, the father of Mrs.
 
 428 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Byron Clark, is a native of Canada. In 
 1847 he married Agnes Windsor, a native 
 of England, from which country she came 
 with her parents when fourteen years of age. 
 Immediately after their marriage, which was 
 solemnized at Simco, Canada, they came 
 direct to Kane county, locating on a farm 
 in Plato township, where they resided until 
 1877, when they removed to Elgin. In 
 1879 they moved to St. Cloud, Minnesota, 
 where they now reside. They were the par- 
 ents, of nine children, seven of whom are 
 yet living Mary A., Frances, Ella E. , 
 George, Harriet, Myra and Daniel. Mrs. 
 Sovereign is a member of the Baptist church. 
 
 /->EORGE MUIRHEAD, the well-known 
 V_J supervisor of Plato township, resides 
 on section 16. His father, also named 
 George, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 
 1802, and died in Plato township, Kane 
 county, January 2, 1892. He grew to man- 
 hood in his native city, and learned the 
 weaver's trade, which he followed until his 
 emigration to America. He was eleven 
 years with one firm, and fifteen years with 
 Sir James Anderson. On leaving his em- 
 ployer, the latter gave him a. present of ten 
 pounds in gold, thus showing his appreci- 
 ation of his long service. He arose from 
 the rank of weaver to that of warper, and 
 had charge of the weaving over many oper- 
 ators. 
 
 On emigrating, George Muirhead, Sr. , 
 took a boat from Glasgow to Liverpool, and 
 embarked in the American ve'ssel, Thomas 
 H. Perkins, for Philadelphia. Soon after 
 landing at the latter place he went to "Balti- 
 more and thence to Cumberland, Maryland. 
 Looking through Maryland, he found noth- 
 ing that exactly suited him, so came on to 
 
 the west. Embarking on the Ohio river, 
 the family came by boat down that stream 
 and up the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, 
 and by canal to Chicago. From the latter 
 place he came to Dundee, Kane county, and 
 a few weeks later, in November, 1849, 
 came to Plato township, where he had 
 bought eighty acres in section 14. This he 
 sold in 1860, and bought one hundred and 
 sixty acres in section 16, which became the 
 nucleus of the large estate now owned by 
 his sons, the greater part of it in partner- 
 ship, but some in severalty. 
 
 The paternal grandfather of our subject, 
 William Muirhead, spent his entire life in 
 Scotland, as did his wife, who was a Miss 
 McFarland, and one of his father's brothers, 
 William, uncle of our subject, was in the 
 battle of Waterloo. George Muirhead, Sr. , 
 first married Jane Bennie, in Scotland, and 
 to them four children were born: Catherine, 
 who married William McKensie, of Creston, 
 Illinois; George, our subject; Annabella, 
 wife of Gordon Ellis, of South Dakota; and 
 Jane, wife of John McKensie, living at South 
 Grove, De Kalb county, Illinois. For his 
 second wife, Mr. Muirhead married Mary 
 Morrison, in Scotland, who bore him eight 
 children as follows: Emily Elizabeth, widow 
 of Emery Lee, of Kane county; Mary Jean- 
 ette, who first married William Tanner, and 
 at his death Brainard Goff, of Newhall, 
 Iowa; James, in charge of the brother's 
 store, at Plato Centre; \Villiam ; cultivating 
 part of the farm owned by the brothers; 
 Maggie L. , wife of Charles Sherwood, of 
 Plato township; Lily Alice, who makes her 
 home with our subject; Charles, who also 
 makes his home with our subject; and John, 
 in the store at Plato Centre. 
 
 George Muirhead, our subject, was born 
 in Glasgow, Scotland, June 8, 1838, and as
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 429 
 
 the eldest son, much of the responsibility of 
 the farm management fell upon him. For 
 over forty years he has been the recognized 
 head of the family. He was eleven years 
 old when the family emigrated to America, 
 and his education began in the schools of 
 Scotland, was completed in the district 
 schools of Plato township, which he at- 
 tended as the opportunity was afforded him. 
 Much is due to him for the successful man- 
 agement of the affairs of the Muirhead 
 brothers, which is composed of George, 
 James and William Muirhead. 
 
 James Muirhead was born on section 14, 
 Plato township, November I, 1854, and his 
 education was obtained in the district 
 schools and Elgin Academy. He occupied 
 one of the farms until 1888, engaged in ag- 
 ricultural pursuits. In 1887, in company 
 with his brothers, he opened a store at 
 Plato Centre. Since 1886, he has served as 
 postmaster of that place, and for three 
 years served as justice of the peace. He 
 has been twice married, his first union be- 
 ing with Anna A. Aiken, a native of Scot- 
 land, and his second union, with Sarah A. 
 Shedden, who was born in Plato town- 
 ship, and a daughter of John A. and Mar- 
 garet (Rosborough) Shedden. By this 
 union four children have been born 
 George, Margaret, Boyd, and one who died 
 in infancy. 
 
 William C. Muirhead was born in Plato 
 Centre, June 15, 1857. His education was 
 also received in the public schools of Plato 
 township and in Elgin Academy. His life 
 work has been principally that of farming, 
 and in 1888, when his brother James took 
 charge of the store, he moved to the farm 
 near the station. His marriage with Mar- 
 tha A. Sherwood took place December 10, 
 1884. She was born in Burlington town- 
 
 ship, Kane county, and is the daughter of 
 Milton and Sarah (Pease) Sherwood. By 
 this union are three children Milton, Mary 
 and Ethel. 
 
 Religiously, George Muirhead is a mem- 
 ber of the Congregational church, and polit- 
 ically he is a Republican, as was his father 
 before him. George Muirhead, Sr. , was 
 one of the first abolitionists in Kane 
 county. While coming here he incensed 
 the captain of a boat on the Ohio river by 
 freely expressing his opinions. He and a 
 fellow sympathizer were ordered by the cap- 
 tain to be silent on the subject of slavery, 
 as it was distasteful to the rest of the pas- 
 sengers who were mostly southerners. How- 
 ever, he continued to express his opinion as 
 freely as he wished. Our subject has been 
 honored by his neighbors with nearly all the 
 official positions in their gift. He is now 
 serving his second term as supervisor, which 
 position he most acceptably fills. His love 
 for his native land has never abated, and 
 he has twice visited the scenes of his child- 
 hood. The Muirhead family are of sterling 
 qualities, honor and honesty being their two 
 leading traits. Thrift and energy are the 
 secret of their unusual success. All are 
 held in the very highest esteem. 
 
 WP. LILIBRIDGE, secretary, treas- 
 urer and general manager of the St. 
 Charles Lumber Company, is numbered 
 among the leading business men of that city, 
 which has been his home since 1892. He 
 was born at Harvard Junction, McHenry 
 county, Illinois, January II, 1869. His 
 grandfather, O. P. Lilibridge, was a native 
 of Pennsylvania, who emigrated to McHenry 
 county early in the '303. There his son, 
 L. M, Lilibridge, was born about 1845.
 
 430 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 After he grew to manhood, L. M. Lilibridge 
 married Miss Ella J. Billings, also a native 
 of McHenry county, and a daughter of 
 Capt. William G. Billings, a prominent man 
 of that county, who served as internal rev- 
 enue collector of the northern district of 
 Illinois, and who was a soldier in the late 
 war, holding a captain's commission. At 
 present, L. M. Lilibridge is a prominent 
 business man and stock dealer of McHenry 
 county, Illinois, and the owner of consider- 
 able real estate in that county. 
 
 W. P. Lilibridge, our subject, is the son 
 of L. M. and Ella (Billings) Lilibridge. His 
 boyhood and youth were spent in his native 
 county, and after spending some time in 
 Beloit College he took a regular course in 
 the Rockford Business College. He then 
 spent two years in the lumber yard at 
 Harvard, with W. D. Hall, and in 1889 
 went to Marathon county, Wisconsin, into 
 the lumber regions, and spent two years in 
 the employ of the Alexander Stewart Lum- 
 ber Company, the greater part of which 
 time, grading, inspecting and looking after 
 the stock. In 1892 he came to St. Charles 
 as general manager of the yard here, and 
 served in that capacity one year, then pur- 
 chased an interest in the business, of which 
 he has since had entire charge as secretary 
 treasurer and general manager. 
 
 Mr. Lilibridge was united in marriage in 
 St. Charles, Illinois, December 6, 1894, 
 with Miss Lottie Marsden, a daughter of 
 Thomas Marsden, a prominent manufact- 
 urer of Kane county. She was born in St. 
 Charles, reared and educated in its public 
 schools, being a graduate of the West Side 
 High School, and for four years held a po- 
 sition in the office of the circuit clerk of 
 Kane county. By this union are two chil- 
 dren M. Duane and Gladys V. 
 
 The St. Charles Lumber Company car- 
 ries a very complete stock of building ma- 
 terial, including sash, doors and blinds, and 
 in connection have established a coal yard, 
 all of which is under the management of 
 Mr. Lilibridge, who is regarded as one of 
 the best business men of the city. Frater- 
 nally he is a member of the Masonic lodge of 
 St. Charles? of which he is the present wor- 
 shipful master. He has represented his 
 lodge in the grand lodge of the state. He 
 is also a member of the Fox River chapter 
 at Geneva; the Modern Woodmen of Amer- 
 ica, at St. Charles, of which he is venerable 
 consul, and also the Knights of Pythias. 
 
 NATHAN J. ALDRICH, senior member 
 of the well-known law firm of Aldrich, 
 Winslow & Worcester, with office on River 
 street, over the Second National Bank, Au- 
 rora, was born in Kendall county, Illinois, 
 December 3, 1851, and is the son of L. T. 
 and Delia A. (Southworth) Aldrich, both of 
 whom-aje natives of New York. The father, 
 who is a retired farmer, residing at Milling- 
 ton, Kendall county, Illinois, came to the 
 state in 1838 from New York, and is one of 
 the pioneers of Kendall county. Fraternally 
 he is a member of the Masonic order. Few 
 men are better known throughout Kendall 
 and adjoining counties. His wife is a mem- 
 ber of the Congregational church. Of their 
 three children, Nathan J. istheeldest; Eliza- 
 beth is now the wife of George J. Marvin, a 
 farmer of Livingston county, New York, 
 and Edward P., who resides in Millington, 
 Illinois. 
 
 Our subject was reared on the home 
 farm in Kendall county, and his primary 
 education received in its public schools. He 
 later attended the Fowler Institute at New-
 
 NATHAN J. ALDRICH.

 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 433 
 
 ark, Illinois, and the State Normal School, 
 at Normal, Illinois. On leaving the latter 
 institution he began reading law in the office 
 of Judge M. O. Southworth, of Aurora, 
 and then attended law school in the Michi- 
 gan University at Ann Arbor, from which 
 he was graduated in 1876. One year later 
 he came to Aurora and commenced the 
 practice of his profession. He later formed 
 a partnership with Albert J. Hopkins, and 
 under the firm name of Hopkins & Aldrich, 
 they continued in practice from 1879 to 
 1895, when the co-partnership was dissolved 
 and the present firm of Aldrich, Winslow & 
 Worcester was formed. 
 
 On the 28th of August, 1879, Mr. Al- 
 drich was united in marriage with Miss Mary 
 E. Winchell, a native of Kendall county, 
 Illinois, and daughter of George W. Win- 
 chell. By this union one child has been 
 born: Louisa A., who yet resides at home. 
 Mrs. Aldrich is a member of the Baptist 
 church of Aurora, and is quite active in all 
 church and benevolent work. Fraternally 
 Mr. Aldrich is a member of the Masonic 
 order. 
 
 In politics Mr. Aldrich is an ardent Re- 
 publican, and in every general and local 
 campaign takes an active part for his party. 
 But it is as an attorney that he is best 
 known. His practice, which is a general 
 one, is extensive, and few cases of note in 
 Kane county in which he is not employed 
 on one side or the other. He practices in 
 all the courts of the state and the United 
 States courts. 
 
 JOSEPH NEWMAN has for over a quar- 
 ter of a century been prominently iden- 
 tified with the business interests of Elgin, 
 and has taken an active part in promoting 
 
 the substantial improvement and material 
 development of the city, his labors in its 
 interests being most effective and beneficial. 
 Like many of its leading and influential citi- 
 zens he was born on the other side of the 
 Atlantic, his birth occurring May 10, 1854, 
 in Herefordshire, England, and in that coun- 
 try his parents, William and Emma (Thur- 
 good) Newman, spent their entire lives. 
 Of their twelve children, only four sons came 
 to America, the others being, John of Elgin, 
 and Henry, who resides in Chicago and is 
 with the firm of Sprague, Warner & Com- 
 pany; and Walter, who lives in Rogers 
 Park, Chicago, where he is engaged in busi- 
 ness. 
 
 Joseph Newman attended the common 
 schools of his native land, but as his par- 
 ents died when he was quite young, he 
 started out to make his own way in the 
 world at the age of twelve years, being first 
 employed as errand boy in a printing office. 
 He continued with the same company until 
 he came to America in 1869, crossing the 
 Atlantic in a London steamer, which was 
 twenty-one days in making the voyage. 
 He made his home in Chicago with a ma- 
 ternal aunt, Mrs. Sarah Pinkerton, who had 
 brought his brother John to the United 
 States in 1859. Our subject remained in 
 Chicago, working for Norton & Company 
 until the great fire of 1871, which destroyed 
 most of the city and reduced his aunt's home 
 to ashes. 
 
 Coming to Elgin in 1872, Mr. Newman 
 secured the position of bookkeeper in the 
 First National Bank, and was thus employed 
 until 1880, since which time he has been in- 
 terested in the creamery business, at first 
 as a member of the firm of Newman & Haw- 
 kins, later Nolting & Newman, with A. Nolt- 
 ing as a partner, and now with his brother
 
 434 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 John in the John Newman Company. In 
 1893 he purchased an interest in the Spring 
 Brook Creameries, forty in number, which 
 are scattered throughout several different 
 states. The firm does an extensive and 
 profitable business, and is one of the lead- 
 ing concerns of the kind in this section of 
 the country. On leaving the banking busi- 
 ness in 1877, Mr. Newman went into the 
 Fountain Creamery, east of Elgin, and worked 
 under the tutelage of L. H. Wanzer for one 
 year, thus becoming thoroughly familiar 
 with every department of the business. He 
 afterward, however, returned to the bank 
 for a time. He is now vice-president and 
 treasurer of the Illinois Dairymen's Associa- 
 tion, and is also trustee of the Universalist 
 church, to which he belongs. In business 
 circles he stands high, his upright, honora- 
 ble course winning him the confidence of 
 all with whom he comes in contact. In 
 politics he is a Republican. 
 
 On the 23d of May, 1879, Mr. Newman 
 was united in marriage to Miss Winna S. 
 Balch, a most estimable lady, who is also 
 a member of the same church. They have 
 four children, namely: Balch William, Mary 
 Emma, Louise and Margaret. 
 
 Rev. William Stevens Balch, Mrs. New- 
 man's father, was for many years one of 
 the most prominent ministers of the Uni- 
 versalist church in this country. He was 
 born in Andover, Vermont, April 13, 1806, 
 a son of Joel Balch, who was the oldest son 
 of Hart Balch. Joel Balch was not a great 
 man as the world counts greatness, but was 
 one of the representative citizens of Vermont, 
 being a man of simple ways, strong common 
 sense and rugged, sterling character. Rev. 
 W. S. Balch inherited the rare intellectual 
 and moral gifts which so distinguished his 
 ancestry; he was an ardent and practical 
 
 lover of all that was noble and good in man; 
 was a hater of selfishness, greed, hypocrisy 
 and pretence; and his influence was great 
 and always on the side of right. He led a 
 consistent, noble Christian life. At an 
 early age he entered the ministry of the 
 Universalist church, preaching in Vermont 
 and New Hampshire in 1827 and 1829. The 
 following year he married Adeline Gail 
 Capron, and removed to Albany, New York. 
 In 1830 became pastor of the church at 
 Watertown, Massachusetts; in 1832, at 
 Claremont, New Hampshire; and in 1836 at 
 Providence, Rhode Island. In 1841 he 
 took charge of the Bleeker Street church in 
 New York City, preaching for the same 
 congregation there for seventeen years, 
 during which pastorate his wife died, and a 
 few years later he married Mary Ann 
 Waterhouse. On leaving that city it was 
 his intention to retire altogether from the 
 ministry and spend his remaining years at 
 his rural home in Ludlow, Vermont, but in 
 1865 he came west, and was subsequently 
 pastor of Universalist churches at Gales- 
 burg, Illinois, Hinsdale, Elgin and Dubuque, 
 Iowa, his pastorate at the last named ex- 
 tending from 1877 until 1880. The last 
 six years of his life were passed mostly at 
 Elgin, where he died December 26, 1887, 
 after sixty years of faithful work in the min- 
 istry. In his death the Universalist church 
 lost one of its oldest ministers, as well as 
 one of its most devout and saintly charac- 
 ters, and wherever known he was held in 
 high regard, having the respect not only of 
 his own congregation, but also the esteem 
 of the entire community 
 
 The children of Rev. W. S. Balch were 
 as follows: Addie, wife of Sydney A. Miller, 
 of Omaha, Nebraska; W. D., who was vice- 
 president of a bank at Mason City, Iowa,
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 435 
 
 and died in 1897; Emma, widow of Linus 
 Dickinson; Edward E., cashier of the 
 Omaha National Bank at Omaha; Estelle.of 
 New York; Elena, whodied unmarried; John 
 J., agent for the Chicago, Milwaukee & 
 St. Paul railroad at Mount Clair, Illinois, 
 children of his first wife, and Winna S., 
 wife of Joseph Newman, of this review; and 
 George W., a civil engineer of Elgin, now 
 at Moorhead, Mississippi, constructing a 
 branch for the Illinois Central railroad; 
 and Clarence, who died at New York, chil- 
 dren by the second union. 
 
 ARTHUR L. GILLETT, who is engaged 
 in the livery business on River street, 
 Aurora, is a native of Kane county, born in 
 Sugar Grove township September 27, 1857, 
 and is the son of Lewis and Rachel 
 (Harmes) Gillett, both of whom are natives 
 of New York, the former born in Sullivan 
 county, in 1821. By occupation he was a 
 farmer and was engaged in agricultural pur- 
 suits before moving west. About 1850 he 
 came to Kane county, Illinois, and located 
 in Sugar Grove township, where he pur- 
 chased a farm of two hundred acres, to 
 which he added from time to time until he 
 owned about one thousand acres in Kane 
 and De Kalb counties, all of which was 
 under cultivation. He was a very enter- 
 prising and substantial farmer, and resided 
 upon his original tract until his death, in 
 1888. His wife survives him and resides in 
 the village of Sugar Grove. Arthur L. Gil- 
 lett was second in order of birth in a fam- 
 ily of four children, of whom two are de- 
 ceased. His sister, Rachel May, is now the 
 wife of M. O. Shoop, of Kaneville, Illinois. 
 In his native township he grew to manhood 
 and in its common schools received his pri- 
 
 mary education, which was supplemented 
 by a course in Jennings Seminary. He re- 
 mained with his father on the farm until 
 after attaining his majority, and in Kane 
 county married Helen E. Ravlin in Novem- 
 ber, 1878. After their marriage they re- 
 sided on a farm in De Kalb county for five 
 years, and then moved to Sugar Grove 
 township, where he also engaged in farming 
 for five years. Leaving the farm he re- 
 moved to the village of Sugar Grove and 
 engaged in the lumber and coal business, 
 buying out a firm that had been some time 
 established. After remaining there for five 
 years he sold out and moved to Aurora, 
 where he purchased a livery business, and 
 has since been engaged in that line. Mr. 
 Gillett lost his first wife, who died in Sugar 
 Grove in 1890, leaving two daughters, Grace 
 E. and Edith M., both students of the West 
 Aurora High School. Mr. Gillett was 
 again married in October, 1892, his second 
 union being with Miss Delia M. Todd, a 
 native of Kane county, and a daughter of 
 Eleazer and Emma Todd, her father being 
 a business man of Aurora. 
 
 Politically Mr. Gillett is a Republican, 
 the principles of which party were instilled 
 in him in his youth. He was made an Odd 
 Fellow in Sycamore, but is now a member 
 of Wabansia lodge, No. 45, of Aurora. He 
 is also a member of the Knights of the 
 Globe and the Royal League of Aurora. 
 Socially he is a member of the Aurora City 
 Club. A lifelong resident of Kane county, 
 save for the period of five years, which he 
 spent on the farm in De Kalb county, he 
 has been identified with its institutions and 
 has witnessed its growth and prosperity 
 until it is to-day one of the best counties in 
 the great state of Illinois. A man of ex- 
 emplary habits and upright character, he is
 
 436 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 held in the highest esteem, and with his 
 wife holds a high social position in the city 
 of Aurora. 
 
 ALFRED W. KELLY. Among the pio- 
 neer settlers of Kane county this gen- 
 tleman is worthy of notice in a work of this 
 kind. For fifty- three years he has been 
 identified with its interests, having located 
 here in the spring of 1845, and has con- 
 tributed his share to its material progress 
 and prosperity. He was actively engaged 
 in agricultural pursuits for many years, but 
 is now practically living retired in St. 
 Charles. 
 
 Like many of the best citizens of the 
 county, Mr. Kelly is a native of the Em- 
 pire state, born in Schenectady, March 17, 
 1828. His grandfather, William Kelly, was 
 a native of Scotland, and at an early day 
 came to the new world with his father, 
 Robert Kelly, a pioneer settler of Albany, 
 New York. John S. Kelly, our subject's 
 father, was born in the city of Schenectady, 
 in 1805, and was there married to Eliza 
 Mansfield, who was born in New York, May 
 20, 1808. In his native city he engaged in 
 the lumber business and also carried on 
 operations as a contractor and builder. He 
 took quite a prominent and active part in 
 political affairs, and served for several terms 
 as alderman of the city. Emigrating to Illi- 
 nois in 1845, ne purchased a tract of seven 
 hundred acres of land in Rutland and Plato 
 townships, Kane county, and to its improve- 
 ment and cultivation devoted his energies 
 with good results. Here he also became 
 one of the leading and influential men of 
 the county, served as justice of the peace 
 for several years, and held other positions 
 of honor and trust. In connection with his 
 farming operations, he engaged in contract- 
 
 ing and building in Elgin, and built the old 
 Baptist church at that place. He died in 
 Rutland township, in 1892; his wife passed 
 away in 1884, and both were laid to rest in 
 Udina cemetery, where a substantial monu- 
 ment marks their last resting place. 
 
 The subject of this sketch is the oldest 
 of the children of this worthy couple, the 
 others being as follows: Sarah is the wife 
 of Stiles Mansfield, of New Haven, Con- 
 necticut; Elizabeth is the wife of Owen 
 Weld, of Elgin; Captain Leveret is married 
 and resides in Washington, District of Co- 
 lumbia, where he is serving as deputy com- 
 missionerof pensions. He served through the 
 Civil war as a member of Company A, Thir- 
 ty-sixth Illinois Infantry, and from private 
 rose to the rank of captain. After his mar- 
 riage he first located in Rutland township, 
 Kane county, and was afterward elected 
 sheriff of the county, serving in that ca- 
 pacity for two terms. He was one of the 
 leading and popular men of his community. 
 Dr. Lin A. Kelly is a prominent physician 
 of Winona, Minnesota. The foregoing were 
 all born in Schenectady, New York. John 
 H., born in Rutland, Illinois, is a substan- 
 tial farmer now living in Elgin. John and 
 Marietta both died in infancy. Mary died 
 after reaching womanhood and was buried 
 in Elgin. Charles died at the age of twelve 
 years. 
 
 While living in New York Alfred W. 
 Kelly was provided with good educational 
 privileges, having attended the Lyceum at 
 Schenectady, and after coming to Illinois 
 attended school to some extent. He was 
 thus well fitted to engage in teaching. He 
 assisted his father in opening up and devel- 
 oping the home farm, and remained under 
 the parental roof until he had attained man's 
 estate.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 437 
 
 At Udina, Kane county, Mr. Kelly was 
 married, April 2, 1851, to Miss Elizabeth 
 Pruden, Rev. C. R. French officiating. She 
 was born in Romulus, Seneca county, New 
 York, October 7, 1828, a daughter of John 
 and Sarah (Ransom) Pruden, the former a 
 native of Pennsylvania, but reared in New 
 York, the latter a native of Rome, Oneida 
 county, New York. In 1843 her parents 
 came west and settled near the present city 
 of Elgin, Mr. Pruden purchasing a tract of 
 about six hundred acres four miles west of 
 that place. He was a prominent and suc- 
 cessful farmer and highly respected citizen. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Kelly have three childen : 
 Sarah Eliza, wife of Frank W. Alexander, 
 of St. Charles ; Emma Isabel, deceased 
 wife of A. H. Perkins, of Genoa, Illinois, 
 and Walter Scott, who married Nellie Gup- 
 til, of Chicago, and located on a farm in 
 Kane county, where he lived for three years, 
 removing at the end of that time to Elgin, 
 where he died, leaving a widow and four 
 sons. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Kelly located 
 upon a partially improved farm in Plato 
 township, Kane county, his residence being 
 a log house, and for four years he made 
 that place his home. He then removed 
 to a place in Rutland township, compris- 
 ing one hundred sixty-five acres, a small por- 
 tion of which was under cultivation and a 
 little frame house erected thereon. To its 
 further improvement and cultivation he de- 
 voted his energies until he had one of the 
 best farms in the locality. His first home 
 was replaced by a substantial and commo- 
 dious residence, a good orchard was set out, 
 and in fact, the place had all the conven- 
 iences and accessories of a. model farm of 
 the nineteenth century. On leaving the 
 farm he came to St. Charles, where he 
 
 was employed in a store for eight years, 
 and he subsequently had charge of a store 
 at Pingree Grove, where he served as post- 
 master for two years and a half. The fol- 
 lowing five years were spent upon his farm, 
 butsince February, 1888, he has lived retired 
 in St. Charles, enjoying a well-earned rest, 
 free from the cares and responsibilities of 
 business life. 
 
 The Republican party finds in Mr. Kelly 
 a stanch supporter, and he has voted for all 
 its presidential candidates since John C. 
 Fremont with the exception of the year he 
 supported Horace Greeley. Twice he was 
 elected alderman of St. Charles, but after 
 serving for three years he resigned. He 
 also filled the offices of school director in 
 Plato township and trustee in St. Charles 
 and his work along this line has been very 
 effective in securing better schools. As a 
 public-spirited and progressive citizen, he 
 has given his support to all measures for the 
 public good, and his life has been such as 
 to command the confidence and respect of 
 all with whom he has come in contact, 
 either in public or private life. 
 
 OIDNEY B. HAWLEY, M. D., deceased, 
 O was born in Fairfax, Vermont, March 
 29, 1831; he was the son of Lyman and 
 Melina (Wells) Hawley, both natives of the 
 Green Mountain state. Lyman Hawley, 
 the father, followed the occupation of a 
 farmer and on the home farm our subject 
 worked in his early youth and attended the 
 district schools of the neighborhood. He 
 was afterwards placed in the seminary at 
 Brattleboro, where he completed his literary 
 education. He later attended the medical 
 college at Castleton, Vermont, graduating 
 with honors in 1851, and receiving his de-
 
 438 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 gree of M. D. On the 8th of November, 
 1853, he married Mary A. Webster, a 
 daughter of Alanson and Lucy (Reed) Web- 
 ster, all residents of Fairfax, Franklin 
 county, Vermont, and there the marriage 
 ceremony took place. After his marriage 
 he removed to the town of Jefferson, Ash- 
 tabula county, Ohio, and commenced prac- 
 ticing as physician and surgeon. Her 
 father was of Welch descent, while her 
 mother came of good New England stock. 
 Alanson Webster was a second cousin to 
 Noah Webster, the renowned lexicographer, 
 and moved from Connecticut to Vermont 
 at an early day. In his family were seven 
 children Alonzo, Jane, Buell, Ami, Fidelia, 
 Clark and Mary A. 
 
 Dr. Hawley continued the practice of 
 his profession very successfully in Ashtabula 
 county, Ohio, for five years, when on the 
 advice of friends he removed to Chicago, 
 but remained there only two years. In the 
 meantime he visited Aurora, and was favor- 
 ably impressed with the beauties of the 
 place, and seeing it to be much preferred to 
 Chicago for rearing his young family, he de- 
 cided to remove here, which he did, bring- 
 ing with him his wife and three children as 
 follows: Clark, born November 15, 1854, 
 at Jefferson, Ohio; Idelia M., born March 
 9, 1856, also at Jefferson, Ohio; Burritt, 
 born October 9, 1860, in Chicago. The lat- 
 ter died in Aurora, November 26, 1883. 
 After the removal of the family to Aurora 
 two more were added, Alanson W., born 
 December 14, 1865, and Arthur Lymah, 
 born May 31, 1868. 
 
 On coming to Aurora Dr. Hawley opened 
 an office at No. 45 River street, in 1860, 
 where he practiced his profession until the 
 war commenced. He then joined the army 
 as assistant surgeon of the Thirty-sixth 
 
 Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was com- 
 missioned surgeon of the Thirty-fifth Illinois 
 Volunteer Infantry, and chief operator of 
 the Third Division, Fourth Corps, of the 
 Army of the Cumberland. He was present 
 at the battles of Mission Ridge, Lookout 
 Mountain and Chickamauga, and during 
 the latter engagement was taken prisoner 
 and spent six weeks in Libby prison, where 
 everything he possessed was confiscated. 
 Being exchanged, he returned to his regi- 
 ment and continued in the service three 
 years, ministering to sick and wounded. 
 While in the service he narrowly escaped 
 injury, but was never wounded. 
 
 In 1864 Dr. Hawley returned to Aurora 
 and resumed his practice in the same office 
 he had formerly occupied, and carried on a 
 very successful practice until his death, 
 which occurred November 26, 1877, and 
 his remains were interred at Rose Hill cem- 
 etery. While caring nothing for office, he 
 was prevailed upon to serve as alderman of 
 the First ward for one term, and discharged 
 the duties of the office in a conscientious 
 manner. Fraternally, he was a member of 
 the Aurora post, No. 20, G. A. R. He 
 was also a member of Trinity Episcopal 
 church, in which he was vestryman for thir- 
 teen years. Mrs. Hawley is also a member 
 of the same church. During his life he 
 built an elegant home at 227 Walnut street, 
 where his widow still resides. 
 
 The father of Mrs. Hawley was for 
 many years a prominent citizen of Lowell, 
 Massachusetts, where he filled the office of 
 justice of the peace and represented his 
 town in the legislature. He and his wife 
 lived together nearly sixty-five years, he 
 dying in his ninety-fourth year and she 
 when eighty-five years old. 
 
 The children of Mrs. Hawley now living
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 439 
 
 are Clark, who is practicing his profession 
 of oculist and optician at 70 State street, 
 Chicago, and who married Edna Chitten- 
 den, by whom he has two boys, Ralph and 
 Webster. Idelia L. married James Hanna, 
 by whom she has three children, Ruth, 
 Phillip and Paul; they reside in Aurora. 
 Alanson is unmarried and is a practicing 
 physician at the state asylum at Kankakee, 
 Illinois. Arthur, the youngest son, mar- 
 ried Miss Olive McGrath, of Rochester, 
 New York, and they now reside at Seattle, 
 Washington. 
 
 M 
 
 RS. CLARK WILDER, who resides 
 at No. 463 North Lake street, has 
 been a resident of Kane county since Octo- 
 ber 20, 1837. She was born in New Lon- 
 don county, Connecticut, at Old Lyme, 
 October 17, 1810. Her father, Timothy 
 Lord, who was a native of the same county 
 and state, there married May Munsel. By 
 trade he was a wheelwright, and followed 
 that occupation until his death in 1812. 
 Mrs. Lord later married William H. Harri- 
 son, said to be a relative of President Har- 
 rison. She died in February, 1826. Mrs. 
 Wilder was the youngest and the only sur- 
 vivor of three daughters by the first mar- 
 riage. She grew to womanhood at Lyme, 
 and then moved to New York, with a sister, 
 and there gave her hand in marriage to 
 Clark Wilder, the marriage ceremony tak- 
 ing place February 17, 1833. 
 
 Clark Wilder was a native of New 
 Hampshire, and when a lad of fourteen 
 years, moved with his parents, Joel and 
 Lydia (Newton) Wilder, to New York. 
 After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Wilder 
 began their domestic life On a farm in St. 
 Lawrence county, New York, where they 
 
 remained about four years. They then 
 came to Kane county, Illinois, by team and 
 the lakes, coming through Canada into 
 Michigan and after visiting a brother of Mr. 
 Wilder at St. Joseph, Michigan, they came 
 to Aurora, which then had but three frame 
 houses and one log house on the west side. 
 Mr. Wilder had visited this section in 1836, 
 and purchased a claim orf one hundred and 
 sixty acres on the west side of the river, 
 and forty acres of timber on the east side. 
 There was a log house on the claim in which 
 he moved with his family, and there they 
 lived for eleven years. It was a very rudely 
 constructed house and until repaired by Mr. 
 Wilder, snakes would stick their heads 
 through the open floor, and the roof was so 
 that one could see the stars through the 
 cracks. After residing there the time men- 
 tioned, in 1848 Mr. Wilder built a large, 
 substantial stone residence, where his 
 widow and daughter now reside. He at 
 once commenced the improvement of his 
 place, and there resided until his death, 
 August 5, 1870, at the age of sixty-nine 
 years. Clark Wilder was a man of good 
 education, was interested in the public 
 schools and served as school commissioner 
 for a time. He was a very active business 
 man, progressive in his views, and on the 
 organization of the Chicago, Burlington & 
 Quincy Railroad, invested in its stock. In 
 early life he was a Whig, and later a Re- 
 publican. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Wilder ten children 
 were born, eight of whom grew to mature 
 years, and six are now living. The oldest, 
 George W., married, has six children, and 
 is a prominent man in Aurora; Bert S. mar- 
 ried, and resides at Cedar Falls, Iowa; Joel, 
 who died at the age of one year; Mary W., 
 widow of Peter S. Lossing, by whom she
 
 440 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 : 
 
 had eight children; Emeline W., wife of 
 Fred Hotz, deputy sheriff of Kane county; 
 William Wallace, who was a soldier in the 
 Civil war, taken prisoner, held one year at 
 Andersonville, paroled, and died while on 
 his way home; Lewis, who resides in Au- 
 rora; Joel M., of Yates Centre, Kansas; 
 Amelia, who died at the age of one year, 
 and Frank C. , who met death by accident 
 at the age of about twenty years. Mrs. 
 Wilder has seventeen grandchildren and 
 twelve great-grandchildren. 
 
 When seventeen years of age Mrs. Wil- 
 der was converted and was immersed in 
 the Connecticut river and united with the 
 Baptist church. On coming to Aurora she 
 formed one of the original number in the 
 organization of the First Baptist church, 
 with which she has since been identified and 
 has been one of its active workers, and is 
 to-day the oldest member of that church. 
 Although more than four score years have 
 passed over her head, she yet takes the same 
 interest manifested in her younger days, in 
 every department of church work. Her 
 place in the house of God is always filled 
 whenever possible for her to be there. For 
 sixty-one years she has been a resident of 
 Kane county, and her experience of pioneer 
 days were such as to make her more fully 
 enjoy the luxuries and comforts of the pres- 
 ent day. 
 
 /CHARLES H. BACKUS, banker, Hamp- 
 \^s shire, Illinois, is a representative of 
 the commercial and financial interests of 
 Hampshire, and is well known throughout 
 Kane, DeKalb and adjoining counties. He 
 traces his ancestry back to colonial days 
 prior to the Revolutionary war, in which 
 both paternal and maternal ancestors were 
 
 prominent participants. On the maternal 
 side Ephraim Lyon, a descendant of Ponce 
 de Leon, served a number of years during 
 the struggle in various official capacities. 
 For a time he was adjutant in the Twenty- 
 first Massachusetts Regiment, was first 
 lieutenant in Captain Obadiah Johnson's 
 company, Third Regiment, Militia of Bos- 
 ton, was a member of Captain Bute's com- 
 pany, of "Lexington Alarms," was first 
 lieutenant in the Third Massachusetts Regi- 
 ment under General Israel Putnam, and 
 lieutenant in Captain Whiting's company, 
 Fourth Regiment, commanded by Colonel 
 John Ely. Ephraim Lyon's son James mar- 
 ried Polly Trowbridge, daughter of James 
 and Mary (Kendall) Trowbridge, the former 
 being a son of Daniel and Hannah (Spring) 
 Trowbridge. Daniel Trowbridge was a 
 sergeant in the Eighth Company under 
 Captain Ingalls, of the Eleventh Regiment, 
 from Pornfort, Connecticut. He was chair- 
 man of the committee to secure clothing for 
 the Revolutionary soldiers, and was a mem- 
 of the committee to suggest means to pre- 
 vent depression of continental money. Mary 
 Lyon, daughter of James and Mary (Trow- 
 bridge) Lyon, married Augustus Dodge, 
 whose daughter, Susan, married Jirah L. 
 Backus, father of our subject. He was the 
 son of De Lucena and Olive (Simonds) 
 Backus. The latter was a daughter of 
 Elijah and Martha (Canada) Simonds, her 
 father being a member of the Lexington 
 Alarms, from Windham, Connecticut, and 
 was a participant in the battle of Bunker 
 
 " Charles H. Barkus, our subject, was 
 born in Chaplin, Windham county, Con- 
 necticut, June 9, 1856. He attended the 
 common schools in his native town until 
 seventeen years old, and then taught school
 
 
 C. H. BACKUS.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 443 
 
 for two years. Desiring a good business 
 education, he attended Eastman's Business 
 College at Poughkeepsie, New York, and 
 after which he again engaged in teaching 
 for two years. In the spring of 1879 he 
 came west and for one year clerked in a 
 general store at Marengo, Illinois, after which 
 he was for two years in the Farmers' and 
 Drovers' Bank, at the same place. He 
 then came to Hampshire, and April i, 
 1882, established the Kane County Bank. 
 From that time to the present, he has been 
 a moving power in a number of industries 
 in the village. With E. C. Sholes, he 
 established the pressed brick and tile works, 
 with a capacity of a half million brick and 
 one hundred and fifty thousand tile per an- 
 num. For some years, under the firm name 
 of Backus & Maynard, he was in the coal 
 business. This business was discontinued 
 in 1897. At present he is the senior mem- 
 ber of the firm of Backus & Sisley, dealers 
 in clothing, boots and shoes, at De Kalb, 
 Illinois. He is half owner in the "Genoa 
 Issue," a weekly paper published at Genoa, 
 Illinois. He is also the owner of considera- 
 ble farming land in McHenry county. 
 Among other lines in which he is interested 
 is that of insurance, in which he represents 
 fourteen leading companies. This is the 
 only insurance agency in Hampshire and 
 vicinity. Some years since he established 
 the "Hampshire Register," which later he 
 sold to its present proprietor. 
 
 On the first of January, 1884, at Gen- 
 eva, Illinois, Mr. Backus was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Emma L. Sisley, born in 
 West Chicago, and a daughter of John and 
 Anna Sisley. By this union there is one son, 
 Charles Sisley, who resides at home. 
 
 In politics Mr. Backus is a Republican, 
 
 and since coming to the township has taken 
 21 
 
 a very, active interest in political affairs. 
 He has been a member of the village board 
 for six years, clerk of the school board 
 six years, township supervisor four years, 
 and village treasurer ten years. Frater- 
 nally he is a member of the Independent 
 Order of Odd Fellows, Knights of the Globe, 
 Knights of the Maccabees, and Sons of the 
 Revolution. As a citizen he is thoroughly 
 e'nterprising and has always lent a helping 
 hand in the establishment of any industry 
 calculated to advance the interest of his 
 town and county. 
 
 THOMAS HARTM*AN, who resides at 
 No. 106 South Lincoln avenue, Aurora, 
 Illinois, has been in the employ of the Chi- 
 cago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Com- 
 pany for about forty-three years, and in 
 the passenger service since 1870. He was 
 born in Cincinnati, Ohio, July 2, 1840, and 
 is the son of Michael and Margaret (Heaton) 
 Hartman, who were married in New York 
 city, and settled in Cincinnati, in 1838. In 
 1851, the family came to Aurora, where the 
 father died in 1859, his wife surviving him 
 for many years, dying in 1888. Thomas 
 Hartman was the oldest of their four sons 
 and one daughter. Mary Ellen married 
 James Sunderland, who is now a retired 
 farmer of Gifford, Illinois; William and 
 John, who died in childhood while the fam- 
 ily were residing in Cincinnati; and Eddie, 
 who died in Aurora, at the age of ten years. 
 The subject of this sketch was eleven years 
 of age when the family came to Aurora. 
 Here he finished his education in the com- 
 mon schools and at the age of fifteen, en- 
 tered the employ of the Chicago, Burlington 
 & Quincy railroad, in the freight house at 
 Aurora. He was then made yard switch-
 
 444 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 man, and later yardmaster. He next went 
 on the road, first serving as a brakeman on 
 a freight, running from Aurora to Chicago. 
 He was in the freight service for ten years 
 as brakeman and conductor, and in October, 
 1870, was given charge of a passenger train, 
 from Aurora to Chicago. He was later 
 transferred to the Fox River branch, and 
 for ten years was on the Dubuque line, after 
 which he was given charge of the Omaha 
 express, and has been on that run ever 
 since. During the great strike of 1887-8, 
 he was used by the company to get trains 
 out of Chicago, when no other man could 
 do the work. He knew the strikers, and 
 had no trouble to switch and run his trains. 
 As a matter of course his services have been 
 appreciated by the road, and by the public 
 and he is one of the most valued of the em- 
 ployees of the road. 
 
 During his residence in Aurora, he has 
 bought and built a number of residences and 
 has contributed his share in beautifying 
 the place. Mr. Hartman was married in 
 Aurora, April 29, 1897, to Mrs. Catherine 
 Russell, a daughter of John Russell, who is 
 now deceased. She is a native of Ohio, 
 and was reared and educated in Cincinnati. 
 By her first husband, she had five children, 
 three of whom are grown, while two, Clem 
 and Lillian, are yet at home. By a former 
 marriage, Mr. Hartman has two children, 
 Charles, a young man in the employ of the 
 Burlington road and on the train with his 
 father, and Katie, a young lady at home. 
 She is well educated, and after attending the 
 Aurora schools finished her course at St. 
 Joseph's College, Dubuque, Iowa. She is 
 quite proficient in music, and has gained 
 quite a reputation by her singing. 
 
 Politically Mr. Hartman has been a 
 Democrat from his youth up, but in 1896, 
 
 on account of his views on the currency 
 question, being a believer in sound money, 
 he voted for William McKinley. In local 
 elections he usually casts his vote regardless 
 of party politics. Religiously he and his 
 family are members of the St. Mary's Cath- 
 olic church, of Aurora. For nearly half a 
 century he has been a resident of Aurora, 
 and in its progress and development he has 
 taken a lively interest. As a citizen he 
 enjoys the respect and esteem of the com- 
 munity, and as a railway conductor he is 
 very popular. 
 
 LOUIS THON, a representative of the 
 great mercantile interests of Aurora, 
 doing business as a general merchant, at No. 
 1 6 North Broadway, was born in Hessen- 
 Cassel, Germany, December 22, 1846, and 
 is the son of Eckhardt and Elise Thon, both 
 of whom are natives of the same country, 
 where their entire lives were spent, the 
 father dying at the age of fifty years, and 
 the mother some years later at the age of 
 sixty -eight years. They were members of 
 the Protestant church. Of their family of 
 eight children one died in infancy. The 
 living are Wilhelm, a farmer residing in 
 Germany; Karl, also a farmer in Germany; 
 Louis, our subject; Richard, a jeweler in 
 Germany; Emma, Minnie, and Amelia, all 
 unmarried and residing in Germany. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared to 
 farm life, at which occupation he continued 
 until seventeen years of age in his native 
 land. His education was received from 
 private tutors. In 1864 he came to Amer- 
 ica in a sailing vessel, and was sixty days 
 on the water. While they encountered 
 several storms, no serious damage was done. 
 After landing in Quebec, Canada, he there
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 445 
 
 spent a day or two, and then came west to 
 Chicago where he spent a month. From 
 Chicago he came to Aurora, and engaged as 
 a farm hand by the month. In May, 1864, 
 he enlisted in the One Hundred and Forty- 
 first Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, 
 and being the only German in his company, 
 he rapidly learned the English language. 
 The regiment was one of the number called 
 into service for one hundred days, and was 
 stationed at Columbus, Kentucky, from 
 which place they scoured the country and 
 did guard duty. They were once out on a 
 raid for a full month, but had no engage- 
 ments. The service, however, was hard on 
 our subject, and although he went out 
 weighing one hundred and sixty-five pounds, 
 on his return he weighed but one hundred 
 and twenty pounds. With his regiment he 
 was discharged at Chicago, October 10, 
 1864. 
 
 Returning to Aurora he engaged with 
 the same farmer from whom he first ob- 
 tained employment, and continued with 
 him until the fall of 1865. He then went 
 to California, by the way of New York 
 and the Isthmus of Panama, taking a 
 steamer on the other side of the Isthmus 
 for San Francisco. He then went to 
 Gold Run, and worked on the Central 
 Pacific railroad for a time, and then re- 
 turned to the neighborhood of San Fran- 
 cisco, where he worked on a farm until the 
 fall of 1866. Having enough of California, 
 he came back to Aurora by the same route 
 that he went. On his return he again com- 
 menced farm work, at which he continued 
 until the spring of 1867. Securing a posi- 
 tion as clerk in the grocery store of John 
 Plains, he there remained until 1869, when, 
 having accumulated some money, on the 
 7th of June of that year, he engaged in busi- 
 
 ness for himself as the senior member of the 
 firm of Thon & Otte, dealers in dry goods 
 and groceries. That partnership continued 
 about twenty years, when it was dissolved, 
 since which time Mr. Thon continued alone 
 in the business until April i, 1898, when he 
 associated with him his two oldest sons. 
 
 On the /th of March, 1869, Mr. Thon 
 was united in marriage with Miss Augusta 
 Naeher, .a native of Germany, coming to 
 this country in 1853 with her father, Dr. 
 Naeher. Her mother died in this country, 
 and her father returned to Germany where 
 his death occurred. To Mr. and Mrs. Thon 
 six children have been born, as follows: 
 Lizzie, wife of Willie J. Eitelgoerge, a cigar 
 manufacturer of Aurora, by whom she has 
 two children, Norma and Rhoda; Eckhardt, 
 partner In his father's business; Carl, also a 
 partner; Willie and George, in the High 
 School; and Emma, who died at the age of 
 two years. 
 
 The family are attendants of the Lu- 
 theran church of Aurora, and, fraternally, 
 Mr. Thon is a member of the Grand Army 
 of the Republic. In politics he is inde- 
 pendent, though usually voting the Demo- 
 cratic ticket. Although he came to this 
 country a poor boy, by his industry, econo- 
 my and strict attention to business, he has 
 met with good success in life. He is a stock- 
 holder and one of the directors in the Au- 
 rora National Bank, and has been active in 
 many of the enterprises of the city. The 
 family reside in a beautiful home at 286 
 South Lincoln avenue, which only thirteen 
 years since was the last house out; but now 
 nice residences extend for a mile beyond. 
 Mrs. Thon, although unobtrusive, is posi- 
 tive in those qualities that go to make up 
 noble womanhood. The genial bearing of 
 the parents do much to sustain the social
 
 446 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 life of family and friends. Mr. Thon is a 
 man of strict integrity, of good business 
 qualifications, and is ranked with the lead- 
 ing business men of the city. 
 
 A. YOUNG, ESQ., a well- 
 V_J known and popular citizen of Elgin, is 
 now serving as justice of the peace, with his 
 office at No. 13 Chicago street. He was 
 born in Orange county, New York, April 
 21, 1830, and is the only child of George 
 A. and Betsy (Allen) Young, the former 
 also a native of the Empire state, and the 
 latter of Windsor county, Vermont. Dur- 
 ing his early manhood the father was em- 
 ployed as professor of mathematics, and 
 later engaged in merchandising, but his 
 earthly career was short, dying in Minne- 
 sink, New York, in 1830, at the age of 
 twenty-nine years. His widow then re- 
 turned to the home of her parents in Wind- 
 sor county, Vermont, where she died when 
 our subject was only fourteen. He then 
 went to live with his uncle, William G. 
 Young, in Oneida county, New York, re- 
 maining with him until he had attained his 
 majority. 
 
 Mr. Young began his education in the 
 schools of Vermont, and later attended the 
 Delancy Institute at Hampton, New York, 
 where he had for a room-mate the late 
 Judge Barton, of Freeport, Illinois. Be- 
 fore he reached the age of twenty-one he 
 successfully taught a village school at Deans- 
 ville. New York, where his predecessor had 
 been run out of by the older scholars, who 
 boasted that the next teacher would be 
 treated in a like manner. But Mr. Young 
 resolved to conquer the school, and for three 
 years he remained at that place. Later he 
 purchased a farm of seventy-five acres and 
 
 another tract of fifty acres in Oneida county, 
 New York, and gave his attention to agri- 
 cultural pursuits for three years. 
 
 In November, 1851, Mr. Young married 
 Miss Lydia Atherton, a daughter of William 
 Atherton, and to them were born two chil- 
 dren: Jennie, who died at the age of ten 
 years; and one who died in infancy. Emi- 
 grating westward in 1854, Mr. Young lo- 
 cated in Janesville, Wisconsin, where he en- 
 gaged in the lumber business and made his 
 home for twelve years. In the winter of 
 1861 he commenced to raise a company in 
 that place for the Civil war, but before the 
 quota was complete he was taken danger- 
 ously ill and being sick for some time, he 
 was prevented from joining the army. On 
 his recovery he was connected for two or 
 three years with the American Express Com- 
 pany in Chicago, and for a time during the 
 war had charge of the Adams Express 
 Transfer at Cairo, Illinois, which place at 
 that time did the largest transfer business in 
 the United States. 
 
 In 1866 Mr. Young removed to Leland, 
 Illinois, where for nineteen years he was en- 
 gaged in the lumber business, but since 1885 
 has made his home in Elgin. Previous to 
 coming here he had engaged in the raising 
 of fine horses, and in Elgin superintended 
 the building of race tracks and also dealt in 
 horses until 1896. Since hiselection to the 
 office of justice of the peace in 1897 he has 
 devoted his attention to the duties of that 
 position, and is proving a very capable of- 
 ficial. 
 
 Mrs. Young, who was a most estimable 
 lady, departed this life March 19, 1891, 
 after having been an invalid for many years. 
 Her husband has since made his home at 
 the corner of South Channing and Stella 
 streets. Since the organization of the Re-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 447 
 
 publican party he has been one of its stanch 
 supporters and while a resident of Leland, 
 Illinois, he served as police magistrate for a 
 number of years. He also filled the office 
 of city treasurer of Janesville for two terms, 
 and the duties of these various positions he 
 discharged in a prompt and able manner, 
 thus winning the commendation of all con- 
 cerned. He is a pleasant, genial gentleman 
 and has made a host of warm friends since 
 taking up his residence in Elgin. 
 
 NATHAN A. DRAKE, deputy sheriff 
 and alderman of the fourth ward, Ba- 
 tavia, first came to Kane county in 1870, 
 locating at Batavia, where he has since con- 
 tinued to reside. He was born in Potter 
 county, Pennsylvania, March 30, 1839. His 
 ancestry can be traced back to Sir Francis 
 Drake, of England, and was founded in this 
 country in the seventeenth century, three 
 brothers arriving here at that time, one lo- 
 cating in Virginia, another in New Hamp- 
 shire and the third in New Jersey. Our 
 subject is a direct descendant of the latter 
 brother. Thomas Drake, his great-great- 
 grandfather, was born in New Jersey, as 
 was also his grandfather, Jonathan Drake, 
 and his father, John Drake, the birth of the 
 latter being in 1805. 
 
 From Essex county, New Jersey, John 
 Drake moved with his parents to Cortland 
 county, New York, where he later married 
 Sarah Barker, a sister of L. P. Barker, a 
 former sheriff of Kane county. They were 
 the parents of four sons and one daughter, 
 all of whom grew to mature years. They 
 were as follows: Francis D. , who was a 
 soldier in the Sixteenth Wisconsin Volun- 
 teer Infantry, is now a resident of Freeborn 
 county, Minnesota; Martin V., also a sol- 
 
 dier of the Sixteenth Wisconsin Volunteer 
 Infantry, died at Corinth, in 1862; Nathan 
 A., our subject; F. H., who was a member 
 of the Third Wisconsin Cavalry, now re- 
 sides at Albion, Dane county, Wisconsin; 
 and Sarah E. , widow of Daniel P. Davis, 
 now resides at Harrison, Nebraska. 
 
 In 1845, John Drake moved west with 
 his family, and settled in Dane county, 
 Wisconsin, and later moved to Waushara 
 county and located on Indian land, being 
 the first white man to settle in that county. 
 He there engaged in farming and also kept 
 a stage station and tavern. In 1860, his 
 wife died, and in 1862, he moved to Wi- 
 nona, Minnesota, and engaged in the hotel 
 business for several years. While residing 
 there he married Mrs. Lytle, a widow lady. 
 From Winona, he moved to Ord, Valley 
 county, Nebraska, where the last years of 
 his life were spent, his death occurring No- 
 vember 2, 1888. 
 
 The subject of this sketch, a youth of 
 sixteen, came west with his parents to Wis- 
 consin, and in Waushara county, January 
 9, 1860, was united in marriage with Miss 
 Phebe Holcomb, a daughter of Joseph Hoi- 
 comb, and a native of Allegany county, 
 New York, where she was reared and edu- 
 cated. By this union are four children 
 Carrie E., wife of Solomon Trumbull, re- 
 siding in Irvington, Iowa; Frank L. , who 
 died a young man, meeting his death by 
 accident; William J., a contractor and 
 builder of Batavia; and Minnie, at home. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Drake com- 
 menced farming, but in response to the call 
 of President Lincoln and the governor of 
 his state, enlisted May 2O, 1861, in the 
 three-months' service. He re-enlisted No- 
 vember 25, 1 86 1, as a private in Company 
 K, Thirteenth Wisconsin Volunteer Infan-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 try. With his regiment he was sent first to 
 the Army of the Frontier, under Gen. Jim 
 Lane, was subsequently transferred to the 
 Army of the Tennessee, under Grant, and 
 later to the Army of the Cumberland. He 
 participated in many skirmishes and small 
 fights, marching many hundreds of miles 
 over Kansas and in Tennessee, chased For- 
 rest for nearly fifteen months, having many 
 skirmishes with his army. At Clarksville, 
 Tennessee, he was wounded and disabled 
 for life. At Nashville, Tennessee, in Feb- 
 ruary, 1864, he was discharged on account 
 of his wound. 
 
 Returning to his home in Wisconsin, 
 Mr. Drake engaged in farming during the 
 summer of 1865 and in the winter follow- 
 ing went to Memphis, Tennessee, in the em- 
 ploy of the government. There was a 
 militia regiment at that place to protect the 
 city, and with it Mr. Drake served on picket 
 duty a few times. In the spring he again 
 returned to Wisconsin, where he remained 
 one year, then went to Winona, Minnesota, 
 where he spent four years, coming to Bata- 
 via in 1870, as already stated. He here en- 
 gaged with L. P. Barker & Company, and 
 was with them fifteen years, working at his 
 trade of mason. For the last ten years he 
 has followed mason work during the season. 
 Politically Mr. Drake is a stanch Republic- 
 an, his first ballot for president being cast 
 for Abraham Lincoln in 1860. He was ap- 
 pointed deputy sheriff by Mr. Burke in 
 1894, and is now serving his fourth year. In 
 1895 he was elected constable, but after 
 qualifying he soon resigned the office. In 
 the spring of 1897 ne was elected alderman 
 of the fourth ward, and is yet filling that 
 position. As a delegate he has attended 
 many conventions of his party, both city and 
 county. Fraternally he is a member of the 
 
 G. A. R., post No. 48, from which he has 
 been sent as delegate to the state encamp- 
 ment, and in 1894 was commander of the 
 post. 
 
 HENRY C. KRUMM, general superin- 
 tendent of the tile works at McQueens 
 station, was born in the village of Klein 
 Lukow, province of Mecklenberg, Schwerin, 
 Germany, August 3, 1846. He is the son 
 of Joseph and Caroline (Strohpager) 
 Krumm, both of whom are natives of Ger- 
 many, in which country the latter died. 
 Joseph Krumm was the son of Karl and 
 Sophia (Bloom) Krumm. He came to this 
 country at an early day, and settled in Wis- 
 consin, dying at Manitowoc, at the age of 
 fifty-nine years. 
 
 Henry C. Krumm attended the public 
 schools of his native land until the age of 
 fourteen years, when he was confirmed and 
 united with the Lutheran church. He then 
 secured employment in a brick and tile 
 works in his native place, and was thus en- 
 gaged at the time of his coming to America, 
 in 1869. During this time, however, he 
 served in the German army in its war with 
 Austria in 1866. Five years later his 
 brother served in the war with France. 
 
 Mr. Krumm sailed from Hamburg, and 
 landed at New York, September 26, 1869. 
 He proceeded at once to Marine City, St. 
 Clair county, Michigan, and for seven years 
 was employed in the brick and tile works 
 at that place. He then came to Kane 
 county, and at Dundee worked in the brick 
 and tile works for D. H. Haeger nineteen 
 years. In May, 1894, he bought the tile 
 works at McQueens station, which he run 
 for two years. In 1896 the business was 
 incorporated under the name of the Elgin 
 Brick and Tile Company, the incorporators
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 449 
 
 being a number of gentlemen of Elgin and 
 Dundee. Its officers are J, B. Lane, pres- 
 ident; D. McBride, secretary; and Henry C. 
 Krumm, general manager. In addition to 
 the tile works at McQueen, the plant in- 
 cludes the brick works at Pingree. Its out- 
 put is about six hundred thousand each of 
 tile and brick per annum. 
 
 Mr. Krumm was married in Michigan, 
 February 16, 1871, to Miss Lena Haeger, 
 a daughter of Fritz and Johanna Haeger. 
 She was born in the village of Kriesow, 
 province of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Ger- 
 many, and came to America with her par- 
 ents on the same vessel with our subject. 
 By this union six children have been born, 
 as follows: Matilda, who married Richard 
 Ludwig, employed in the tile works at Mc- 
 Queen's station, by whom she has three 
 children, Herbert, Elsie and Fairy. Emma, 
 who married William Lawrence, also of the 
 tile works, is the mother of three children, 
 Bertha, Lydia, and an infant. Clara mar- 
 ried August Pasley, a machinist in Dundee. 
 Adolph, Henry and Robert, at home. 
 
 Politically Mr. Krumm is a Republican, 
 with which party he has been identified 
 since becoming a naturalized citizen. Fra- 
 ternally he is a member of Port Huron 
 tent, Knights of the Maccabees. He is a 
 member of the Lutheran church, of which 
 body his wife is also a member. As a citi- 
 zen, Mr. Krumrn is held in high esteem, and 
 in common with others of his nationality, 
 has done much to build up and improve his 
 adopted country. 
 
 /CHARLES T. WILBER, proprietor of 
 V> the Wilber House,. Carpentersville, 
 and who for some years efficently served as 
 postmaster of the village, has resided here 
 
 since 1863. He was born at Seneca Falls, 
 New York, August 5, 1838. His father was 
 a native of England and settled in New 
 York in the early part of the present cent- 
 ury. He there married Maria Walters, a 
 native of Connecticut, by whom he had two 
 sons and two daughters, as follows: Mary 
 A. , wife of Patrick Drew, of Seneca Falls, 
 New York; William, who came west in 
 1862, and worked in the shops in Carpen- 
 tersville, is now deceased; Kate M., wife of 
 W. H. Haley, of New Hartford, New York; 
 and Charles T., of this review. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood in his native state, attended the com- 
 mon schools and learned the molder's trade, 
 in Seneca Falls, and there followed the busi- 
 ness for two years. In 1863 he came to Illi- 
 nois and joined his brother in Carpentersville, 
 and soon after went to work in the shops of 
 the Illinois Iron and Bolt Company, where 
 he continued to work for about twenty-five 
 years, resigning his position in July, 1893. 
 
 Mr. Wilber was married at Carpenters- 
 ville in 1867, to Miss Mary Allison, a native 
 of Illinois, born in Chicago, and a daughter 
 of John Allison, a pioneer merchant of Car- 
 pentersville. By this union there are five 
 children, Flora M., residing at home, and 
 who served as deputy postmaster under 
 both her father and mother; Wallie B., who 
 died at the age of six months; W. H., an 
 electrician, now employed in the Bolt 
 Works; Guy R. , a farmer residing in Janes- 
 ville, Wisconsin; and Elion Gladys, a pupil 
 in the home school. 
 
 Politically Mr. Wilber is a lifelong Dem- 
 ocrat, and cast his first presidential vote for 
 the " little giant," Stephen A. Douglas, in 
 1860, and has voted for each succeeding 
 presidential nominee of that party 'to the 
 present time. Under the first administra-
 
 450 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 tion of Grover Cleveland, Mrs. Wilber re- 
 ceived the appointment of postmaster of 
 Carpentersville, and acceptably filled the 
 office for four years. Under the second ad- 
 ministration of Cleveland, Mr. Wilber was 
 appointed and efficiently conducted the of- 
 fice for four years. 
 
 In 1888, Mr. Wilber engaged in the 
 hotel business and from that time to the 
 present has continued to minister to the 
 wants of the traveling public. He makes a 
 good landlord, being of genial disposition 
 and one who tries to do right by his fellow- 
 men. For more than a quarter of a cent- 
 ury he has been a resident of Carpenters- 
 ville and his friends are numerous through- 
 out this section of the state. 
 
 JOHN F. THORWARTH, president of 
 the Aurora Brewing Company, is one 
 ot the most enterprising of the German- 
 American citizens. He was born in Ba- 
 varia, Germany, April 16, 1834. His par- 
 ents, George and Mary Thorwarth, were 
 also natives of that country, where their en- 
 tire lives were spent. On a farm in his na- 
 tive country our subject spent his boyhood 
 and youth, and there received his educa- 
 tion, with the exception of two winters' 
 schooling after coming to America. In 
 1852, when but eighteen years of age, he 
 started for the New World, shipping on 
 board a sailing vessel, and was fifty-six days 
 from London to New York. He came di- 
 rect to Cook county, and from 1852 to 1860 
 was engaged in farming. He then visited 
 the old country, and on his return to Cook 
 county engaged in general merchandising 
 in the town of Bremen, where he remained 
 until 1868. During the war Mr. Thor- 
 warth did much in helping the poor men of 
 
 Bremen township who were subject to 
 draft. On one occasion he went out and 
 collected six hundred dollars for a poor 
 blacksmith. By his own exertions he se- 
 cured means for paying bounties and secur- 
 ing substitutes for men who were unable to 
 leave their families. These kind deeds 
 brought him prominently before the people 
 and made him very popular. His popular- 
 ity was such that the people insisted on his 
 accepting the office of supervisor of the 
 township, which position he filled from 1864 
 to 1866. He also served as postmaster and 
 was justice of the peace until his removal 
 to Aurora. His acquaintance throughout 
 his section of the county was quite exten- 
 sive, and he enjoyed the confidence of one 
 and alU 
 
 In 1868 Mr. Thorwarth came to Aurora 
 and resumed general mercantile business. In 
 1873 he formed a partnership with Joseph 
 Fulton in the hardware trade which connec- 
 tion was continued until 1889, when he sold 
 his interest and in 1890 sold out his general 
 merchandise store. In the mercantile busi- 
 ness he had been quite successful. 
 
 After selling out his mercantile establish- 
 ment, with two others, he organized the 
 Aurora Brewing Company, and was elected 
 its first president, which position he still 
 continues to hold. The brewery is situated 
 on the west side of Fox river, and covers 
 several acres of land. Its output is aboutthir- 
 ty thousand barrels per year, and they pay the 
 United States government about twenty-six 
 thousand dollars per year as a revenue tax. 
 Some thirty-five men are given constant em- 
 ployment and the business is a prosperous 
 one. 
 
 Since coming to Aurora, Mr. Thorwarth 
 has repeatedly been honored by his fellow 
 citizens with various offices within their gift.
 
 

 
 J. F. THORWARTH.
 
 
 MRS. J. F. THORWARTH.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 453 
 
 From 1872 until 1884, he served as a mem- 
 ber of the city council. He was then 
 elected mayor and served one term. While 
 mayor an application was made by certain 
 persons for a franchise for the establishment 
 of water works for the city. Through the 
 influence of Mr. Thorwarth the application 
 was refused. Under their proposition they 
 were only required to lay out about ten 
 miles of water main and the water furnished 
 the city would have cost six thousand dol- 
 lars per year. Rejecting the proposition, 
 and after a hard legal fight, which was 
 taken to the supreme court of the state, the 
 city was bonded for a sufficient amount to 
 put in the works, and in due time completed 
 forty miles of water main. The interest on 
 the bonds amounts to no more than would 
 have been paid to the private corporation 
 for the use of ten miles of main and the 
 city has an income at the present time 
 (1898) of about twenty-five thousand dollars 
 per year, which, after paying the interest, 
 will secure a sinking fund that will in time 
 pay the principal of the bonds. For this 
 good work the citizens can thank Mr. Thor- 
 warth and those who backed him in the 
 matter. 
 
 For nine years he served as assistant 
 supervisor from Aurora and was a valuable 
 member of the county board. He has al- 
 ways been prominent in developing the best 
 interests of the city, and is one of Aurora's 
 valued citizens. In securing the location 
 of the present magnificent bridge across the 
 river on New York street he was quite act- 
 ive and much credit is due him. Enterpris- 
 ing and progressive in all things, he never 
 stands back when a work is being done that 
 will prove beneficial to his adopted city and 
 county. Fraternally he is a Mason, and is 
 a member of the blue lodge, chapter and 
 
 commandery. In politics he has been an 
 ardent and enthusiastic Republican since 
 the organization of that party. Religiously 
 he was reared a Lutheran, of which church 
 his parents were members, but with his 
 family he now attends the People's church 
 in Aurora. 
 
 f>HARLES C. QUACKENBUSH, who 
 \-J resides at No. 310 South Lincoln ave- 
 nue, Aurora, Illinois, is the present well 
 known and efficient superintendent and cash- 
 ier of the Carpentersville, Elgin & Aurora 
 Electric railway, was born in Aurora, May 
 12, 1866. His father, John Quackenbush, 
 is a native of Onondago county, New York, 
 where he was reared and educated. When 
 a young man he came to Aurora, where 
 he remained until the commencement of 
 the Civil war, when he enlisted in the 
 first call, for three-months men. At the 
 expiration of his time, he re-enlisted as a 
 private in Company H, Twenty-third Illi- 
 nois Volunteer Infantry, and later was pro- 
 moted to first lieutenant of the company 
 and served as such until the close of the 
 war. With his regiment he participated in 
 many engagements, was with Sherman in 
 his march to the sea, and was also in the 
 grand review at Washington, at the close 
 of the war. On receiving his discharge 
 from the service, ha returned to Aurora, 
 and engaged in the mercantile business for 
 a number of years. His marriage with 
 Sarah Riley was celebrated in Aurora. She 
 is a native of New Jersey, where she grew 
 to womanhood, and received her education. 
 Withdrawing from the mercantile trade, 
 Lieutenant Quackenbush entered the em- 
 ploy of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 
 Railroad Company, with whom he remained
 
 454 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 some years and then moved to Chicago, 
 where he now resides. 
 
 Charles C. Quackenbush grew to man- 
 hood in Aurora, received his education in 
 the public schools and was graduated from 
 the high schools. He then began working 
 in the car department of the Burlington 
 road, where he remained some eight or nine 
 years, resigning in 1891, in order to accept 
 the position of superintendent of the Au- 
 rora Street Railway Company. From that 
 time to the present, he has had charge of 
 the business and has increased the number 
 of miles of track from eighteen to twenty- 
 eight. That he has made an efficient officer 
 is attested by his length of service and by 
 the estimation in which he is held by the 
 stockholders and patrons of the road. 
 
 Mr. Quackenbush was married in Aurora, 
 October 25, 1892, to Miss -Delia Verbeck, 
 a native of Kane county, Illinois, born in 
 Aurora, where she was reared and educated, 
 and was a successful teacher in the public 
 schools. By this union there are two chil- 
 dren, Elizabeth Gail and Alta Mabel. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Quackenbush are members of the 
 People's church. They reside in a beauti- 
 ful home on the east side of Aurora, which 
 is the abode of hospitality. Politically, Mr. 
 Quackenbush is a Republican, with which 
 party he has been identified since attaining 
 his majority. A lifelong resident of Aurora, 
 he is well known by all its people, and by 
 them is held in the highest esteem. 
 
 CHARLES E. ERIKSON, secretary and 
 \~J treasurer of the Aurora Automatic 
 Machinery Company, of Aurora, Illinois, 
 was born in Stockholm, Sweden, April 19, 
 1824, and is the son of Erik and Catherine 
 Erikson. The elder Erikson came to the 
 
 United States in June, 1869, and located in 
 Chicago, where he is still living, but retired 
 from active business. He and his wife are 
 members of the Lutheran Church, and politi- 
 cally he is a Republican. They are the parents 
 of six children, of whom our subject istheold- 
 est, the others being Erika, now the wife of 
 Axel Wessman, of Chicago; Ida, wife of 
 Erik Peterson, of Chicago; Hannah, wife 
 of Gustav Osterholm, of Chicago; August, 
 in Chicago; and Adolph, who died in child- 
 hood. 
 
 The subject of this sketch received his 
 education in Stockholm, where he learned 
 the machinist's trade, becoming quite profi- 
 cient in all branches of machinery. In 1872, 
 he sailed for the United States, coming di- 
 rect to Chicago, and at once engaged at his 
 trade, making vaults, etc. This was after 
 the great fire, and his skill as a machinist 
 was particularly desirable and useful at 
 that time. He remained there until 1880, 
 when he went to New York city, and re- 
 mained one year, and then returned to Chi- 
 cago and engaged in the machinery busi- 
 ness, remaining there until 1890. He then 
 came to Aurora, and was superintendent of 
 the Gardner Sewing Machine Company up 
 to the fall of 1893, when the Automatic 
 Machinery Company was organized and he 
 was chosen secretary and treasurer. The 
 business was first established by Mr. Er- 
 ikson and Alex Levedahl, and was com- 
 menced in a small way, but has had con- 
 stant growth. In 1895, the company-was 
 incorporated, with a capital stock of fifty 
 thousand dollars, all of which is paid in. 
 The present officers are Alex Levedahl, 
 president; Simon Florsheim, vice-president; 
 and C. E. Erikson, secretary and treasurer. 
 The officers mentioned, together with Oscar 
 Norling and Thomas H. Ball, comprise the
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 455 
 
 present board of directors. The present 
 building was erected in the fall of 1895. 
 
 The Automatic Machinery Company 
 manufacture bicycle parts, hubs and all the 
 ball bearings in connection with their wheel. 
 Their goods are known by the trade mark 
 "Thor. " They ship their products to all 
 parts of the United States, England, France, 
 Germany and Sweden, and have built up a 
 large trade. The output is from two 
 hundred and fifty thousand dollars to three 
 hundred thousand dollars annually, and they 
 are running to their full capacity. The fac- 
 tory is located on Claim street, in the east- 
 ern part of the city. They employ in the 
 busy season from two hundred and thirty to 
 two hundred and fifty hands, during which 
 time they usually run night and day. The 
 plant is very complete and they make their 
 own patterns, and have their drafting rooms 
 and blacksmith shop. 
 
 Mr. Erikson was united in marriage No- 
 vember 2, 1886, with Miss Josephine L. 
 Miller, anativeof Chicago, and they have now 
 two children, Clifford and Ethel. The par- 
 ents of Mrs. Erikson are still living in Chi- 
 cago. In politics Mr. Erikson is a Repub- 
 lican. As a business man he is enterpris- 
 ing, and thoroughly abreast with the times. 
 To Mr. Levedahl and himself too much 
 credit can not be given for the successful 
 management of the business of the Auto- 
 matic Machinery Company, which is now 
 one of the leading industries of Aurora. 
 
 REV. ANDREW PINGREE. The Pin- 
 gree family in America sprang from the 
 youngest of two brothers, Aaron and Moses 
 Pengree, who emigrated from England early 
 in the seventeenth century. Aaron Pengree 
 died childless, while a large family was born 
 
 to Moses Pengree, which scattered over 
 New England. Moses Pengree died Janu- 
 ary 2, 1696, at the age of eighty-six years. 
 The spelling of the name in due time was 
 changed from Pengree to Pingree. Of the 
 descendants of Moses Pengree, was born 
 Andrew Pingree, Sr. , in the town of Rowley, 
 Essex county, Massachusetts, February 17, 
 1775. He became a manufacturer of shoes 
 in a town near Lynn, but afterward moved 
 to the town of Weare, Hillsboro county, 
 New Hampshire, where their first child was 
 born. He subsequently lived in Springfield, 
 Granthum, Meriden and Plainfield, New 
 Hampshire. In 1838, he moved with his 
 family to Kane county, Illinois, and bought 
 a farm on which he lived until his death, 
 March 25, 1846. He married Abia Straw, 
 born in Weare, New Hampshire, in 1786. 
 
 Andrew Pingree, Sr. , while not a church 
 goer, was a profoundly religious man, and 
 remained at home with his family on the 
 Sabbath day, reading his Bible. One year 
 he was elected tithing man of the church 
 and did not miss a service. One of his 
 duties was to keep order in the church, and 
 it is said that the youngsters were more cir- 
 cumspect that year than any other. Only 
 once during the year did he lose control of 
 his gravity. A small urchin sitting next to 
 him in church, drew from his pocket a knife 
 and twist of tobacco, gravely offered Father 
 Pingree a chew. He was so seriously ear- 
 nest in doing so that the humor of it struck 
 the tithing man as too ludicrous to restrain 
 an extensive smile. During the rest of the 
 year he was solemnity and gravity personi- 
 fied. Andrew Pingree, Sr. , and wife were 
 the parents of ten children, three of whom 
 are now living Sallie, Dr. Daniel, and 
 Betsy Ann. The deceased are Andrew, our 
 subject; Israel Straw, Abia, Francis, Betsy,
 
 456 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Emily, and William Cutler. Of the three 
 living, Sallie is the wife of Moses Fall 
 Ramer, of Elgin. Daniel is a physician and 
 surgeon of Hico, Texas. Betsy N. is now 
 the companion of Mrs. Pingree, the widow 
 of our subject. She first married Hiram 
 Nelson, of Vermont, and their only daugh- 
 ter, Jenny C., married A. J. Nichols, of St. 
 Charles, and they have one child, Harry. 
 The second union of Betsy N. was with Otto 
 W. Perkins, who died in 1870. They had 
 no children of their own but adopted John 
 Vanderhook, who married Lizzie Gallagher, 
 by whom he has three children, John Les- 
 ter, William Roy, and Sadie May. Father 
 Pingree was a man of noble character, in- 
 dustrious, economical, temperate and hon- 
 est. At the time of his death, he was of 
 Universalist faith. In politics he was a 
 Democrat. 
 
 Rev. Andrew Pingree, the subject of this 
 sketch, was born in Weare, New Hamp- 
 shire, July 16, 1803. He subsequently re- 
 sided in Springfield, Granthum, Meriden 
 and Plainfield, New Hampshire. He re- 
 ceived a good common-school education, 
 and at the age of about twenty-one years 
 learned the clothier's trade. He taught 
 school winters and worked at his trade dur- 
 ing the remainder of the year, until he 
 earned enough to pay his expenses while at- 
 tending Kimball Union Academy, at Meri- 
 den, until the spring of 1827. About that 
 time he went to Hingham, Massachusetts, 
 where he clerked in a store, taught school 
 in winter, and at the same time studied for 
 the ministry with Rev. A. A. Folsom, of 
 Hingham. It was during this period while 
 teaching at North Scituate that he met the 
 girl who later became his wife. She was 
 one of his pupils at one time. In 1834 he 
 began his ministry, and soon afterward went 
 
 to Belfast, Maine, where he was minister of 
 the gospel and principal of the high school. 
 Later he filled a like position at Castine, 
 Maine. In 1838 he came west with his 
 father's family and took up a tract of land, 
 shortly afterward returning to the east, 
 where he continued preaching and teaching 
 until his final emigration to Kane county, 
 in 1846. 
 
 On the i4th of January, 1844, at Scitu- 
 ate, Massachusetts, Mr. Pingree was united 
 in marriage with Miss Hannah Merritt Cur- 
 tis, born in Plymouth county, Massachu- 
 setts, April 12, 1811, and the daughter of 
 Ammiel and Hannah (Merritt) Curtis, both 
 descended from Pilgrims who carne over in 
 the Mayflower. Hannah Merritt lived all 
 her life on the place where she was born, 
 and died there in 1825, at the age of forty- 
 five years. She was the daughter of John 
 Merritt. In early life Amrniel Curtis was a 
 merchant, and, later, a farmer in Massachu- 
 setts. He came to Illinois and died in 
 1851, aged seventy-one years, his death be- 
 ing the result of an accident. He was the 
 father of three children John, who died in 
 infancy; Hannah M., widow of our subject, 
 and Martha Augusta, who made her home 
 with Mrs. Pingree until her death. 
 
 After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Pin- 
 gree took up their home at North Scituate, 
 where they resided until September i, 1846, 
 when they came to Kane county. For a 
 year and a half after coming west they re- 
 sided in St. Charles, Mr. Pingree teaching 
 school and filling the pulpit of the Universal- 
 ist church. Some time after the death of 
 his father he moved to the family estate in 
 Rutland township and began the accumula- 
 tion of land, which at the time of his death 
 aggregated nearly fifteen hundred acres. He 
 continued preaching until the business, inci-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 457 
 
 dent to the management of his large estate, 
 prevented, but at funerals and weddings he 
 officiated until the end. 
 
 Mr. Pingree was a man of wide learning 
 and culture, with a knowledge of civil en- 
 gineering, doing considerable surveying 
 throughout the county. He was the second 
 supervisor of Rutland township and served 
 in that capacity for eighteen years. He 
 often served as special commissioner for the 
 county and as executor and administrator of 
 estates, guardian of minor children, notary 
 public and for many years postmaster at 
 Pingree Grove. He was a trustee of Lom- 
 bard University, Galesburg, and did much 
 to promote its interests. In politics he was 
 a Democrat, but was in favor of the aboli- 
 tion of slavery. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Pingree were never blessed 
 with children of their own, but adopted 
 Emma Gilbert, who married Captain L. M. 
 Kelly, of. Elgin, and died, leaving three chil- 
 dren. Mrs. Pingree still attends to her own 
 business, can read without glasses, and is in 
 possession of all her faculties to a remarka- 
 ble degree. Mr. Pingree died at his home 
 at Pingree Grove, August 18, 1879, and in 
 his death Kane county lost one of its most 
 useful and highly respected citizens. Few 
 men in northern Illinois were better known, 
 and none more highly esteemed. 
 
 MICHAEL STENGER, deceased, was 
 born at Gramschatz, Bavaria, Ger- 
 many, February 2, 1827, and there grew to 
 manhood. In 1848 he accompanied his 
 parents, Peter and Barbara (Stark) Stenger, 
 to America. They were both natives of 
 Bavaria, as were also their parents. On 
 landing at New York the family made their 
 way direct to Naperville, Du Page county, 
 
 Illinois, where the father engaged in a brew- 
 ing business for a number of years. His 
 brewing plant was burned down, but at 
 once rebuilt and the business continued with 
 gratifying success. He eventually retired, 
 turning the business over to his two sons, 
 John and Nicholas, who carried it on until 
 1892, when they sold out to a syndicate. 
 The children born to Peter Stenger and wife 
 were: Anna, Peter, Nicholas, Mary, John, 
 Michael, Nicholas, second, Melchoir and 
 Barbara. Of these Anna, Michael, Nicho- 
 las and Melchoir are deceased. 
 
 Michael Stenger attained his education 
 in the parochial schools of his native coun- 
 try. In 1850, while living in Naperville, he 
 caught the gold fever and went with a body 
 to delve for the precious metal in the newly- 
 discovered mines of California. There is a 
 superstition existing among Germans that 
 the first day of August is an unlucky one to 
 commence an important enterprise, and it 
 was on August i, 1850, the expedition set 
 forth, with some misgivings as to a success- 
 ful outcome. The superstition was fully 
 verified in his case, he finding little or no 
 gold, and later turned his attention to farm- 
 ing. He remained in California for seven 
 years. 
 
 Returning home by sea and the Isthmus 
 of Panama, Mr. Stenger again took up his 
 life in the Prairie state. On the 26th of 
 December, 1857, he married Miss Margare- 
 tha Herbert, a daughter of Phillip and Mar- 
 garetha (Dieter) Herbert, natives of Hesse 
 Darmstadt, Germany, where Margaretha 
 Herbert was also born, and from which 
 country the family emigrated to the United 
 States in 1854. After marriage our subject 
 came to Aurora and carried on the business 
 of retail liquor dealer until 1876, when he 
 retired on a competence, having amassed
 
 458 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 property to the value of seventy thousand 
 dollars. At the time of his death, which 
 occurred May 25, 1895, he owned several 
 business blocks, some seventy lots in the 
 best residence portion of the city, also six 
 residences, including the one at No. 310 
 New York street, in which his widow now 
 resides. He owned a tract of land of thirty- 
 eight acres on New York street, which he 
 converted into a park called Stenger park. 
 He later sold it to a syndicate, who platted 
 the same it now being known as Arlington 
 Heights. He was a man of good educa- 
 tion and had learned much by travel and 
 business associations with other men. He 
 possessed a good knowledge of the law, 
 which was of considerable utility to him on 
 several important cases in which he became 
 involved. His desire was to obtain that 
 only which was his by right and justice, 
 and he was always willing to battle for 
 these privileges. To Michael Stenger and 
 wife were born the following named chil- 
 dren: Henry, Mary; Emma, who died young; 
 Emma, second of the name; Michael, Jr., 
 Barbara and Anna. With the exception of 
 the infant, Emma, all are still living, and re- 
 side in Aurora, save Henry, who is in busi- 
 ness at Mendota, Illinois. In politics Mr. 
 Stenger was a stanch Democrat, and a 
 member of the German Catholic church of 
 Aurora, as are his wife and family. Three 
 daughters and one son make their home 
 with their widowed mother. The family 
 are held in high esteem. 
 
 EDWIN W. THOMPSON, one of the 
 leading livery stable keepers of Aurora, 
 was born June 7, 1845, m Dorset, Vermont, 
 and is the son of John and Julia A. (Colson) 
 Thompson. The father was born in the 
 
 town of Grafton, Windham county, Ver- 
 mont, September i, 1814, while his father, 
 William Thompson, was born in London- 
 derry, New Hampshire, where he engaged 
 in farming, and from which state he re- 
 moved to Vermont at an early day, settling 
 in Windham county, where he livexL and 
 died. His children were Jonathan H., John, 
 Henry, William, Harvey, James and Mary 
 Ann, all of whom came west except Mary 
 Ann and Henry. 
 
 John Thompson was by occupation a 
 farmer, and came to Kane county in Sep- 
 tember, 1845, locating in Sugar Grove 
 township, where he purchased a partially 
 improved farm of one hundred and twenty- 
 five acres. He continued the cultivation of 
 that farm, to which he subsequently made 
 some additions, until his death in August, 
 1892. In politics he was a Republican, and 
 in early life was a member of the Congre- 
 gational Church, to which his wife also be- 
 longed. He was a large-sized man, fully 
 six feet in height, and weighed about one 
 hundred and eighty-five pounds. Julia, his 
 wife, was a daughter of David and Chloe 
 (Morse) Colson. She was a native of Dor- 
 set, Vermont, and her father was a native 
 of the same state. He was an officer or 
 the State Militia, and our subject as yet has 
 his old commission. Mrs. Thompson died 
 in August, 1891. She was the mother of 
 five children, all of whom died in infancy 
 but Bert H. and our subject. Bert H. is 
 now living on the old homestead. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared on . 
 the home farm in Sugar Grove township, 
 where he attended the common schools, 
 and assisted his father in the cultivation of 
 the farm. At the age of twenty-one years 
 he started out in life for himself by renting 
 a farm, adjoining that of his father. He
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 459 
 
 continued in that occupation until about 
 1885, with the exception of about three 
 years, when he removed to Sugar Grove 
 Station, and engaged in the lumber, coal 
 and feed business, and also did some auc- 
 tioneering. He remained in Sugar Grove 
 until 1890, when he removed to Aurora, and 
 buying out the stables of Fred Wright en- 
 gaged in the livery business which he has 
 since continued. He is located at No. 67 
 Broadway and has a full line of livery, and 
 is well equipped for the business. He also 
 operates the sprinkling wagons, and has a 
 transfer line, merchant's express, and stor- 
 age warehouse. His business is quite ex- 
 tensive, and he is worthy of the patronage 
 received. 
 
 Mr. Thompson was united in marriage 
 March 5, 1866, at Batavia, Illinois, to Miss 
 Mary E. Paul], a native of Sugar Grove 
 township, and a daughter of Stephen G. 
 and Roxey A. (Barker) Paull, who were na- 
 tives of New York, who moved to Medina 
 county, Ohio, and from there came to Illi- 
 nois in 1837, locating in Sugar Grove town- 
 ship, where they engaged in farming. Their 
 other children were Jane H. , who married 
 N. W. Thompson, and died in 1893; John 
 B., Mary E., and Flora D., the latter being 
 the wife of Robert L. Wing. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Thompson are the parents of two children, 
 Clarence Stephen, and John Paull, the lat- 
 ter dying November ro, 1895. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are members of 
 the People's church, Aurora. In politics he 
 is a Republican, and for twelve years served 
 as school trustee, in Sugar Grove township, 
 and for a time served as highway commis- 
 sioner. Fraternally he is a member of 
 Waubansie lodge, No. 45, I. O. O. F. ; 
 Aurora lodge, No. 390, K P., and is captain 
 of the uniform rank. He is also a member 
 
 of the Knights of the Globe, and Modern 
 Woodmen of America. He is a man of 
 good business standing and is respected 
 by all. 
 
 JOSEPH B. SEYMOUR, now living a re- 
 tired life at 405 Lasalle street, Aurora, 
 Illinois, came to the state in 1842. He is a 
 native of New York, born in Yates county, 
 September i, 1824, and is the son of John 
 and Elizabeth (Wright) Seymour, both of 
 whom were natives of New York, the former 
 born in Duchess county, in 1783. In 1842, 
 he came with his family to Illinois, and set- 
 tled in Cook county, where he purchased a 
 fairly improved farm on which was built two 
 log houses and he further improved and de- 
 veloped the place. Later he built a good 
 frame residence and good frame barn. An 
 active and enterprising farmer he continued 
 at farm labor until late in life, when he 
 moved to Elgin, and died at the residence 
 of his son, John W. , at the age of ninety- 
 three years. Of their family of twelve 
 children five are yet living. 
 
 Joseph B. Seymour came to Illinois 
 when eighteen years of age, having spent 
 his boyhood and youth in his native state, 
 where he had very limited educational ad- 
 vantages, attending school during a few win- 
 ter months. On coming to Illinois, he as- 
 sisted his father in the cultivation of the 
 home farm until twenty-two years of age, 
 after which he gave him half time until his 
 marriage. 
 
 Mr. Seymour was married in Cook 
 county, Illinois, June 11, 1848, to Miss 
 Mary Saviah Haven, who was born Novem- 
 ber 28, 1832, in Carthage, Jefferson county, 
 New York, and a daughter of Samuel and 
 Lydia (Strong) Haven, the former a native
 
 460 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of Massachusetts, born about 1790, and the 
 latter a native of New Hampshire. They 
 were married in Paris, Oneida county. New 
 York. In 1844, Samuel Haven with his 
 family came west, and located in Cook 
 county, Illinois. By occupation he was a 
 blacksmith and followed that business a few 
 years after coming west. He spent the last 
 years of his life with a daughter, Mrs. Lydia 
 Knowles, in Michigan, and there died. Of 
 his family of two sons and five daughters, 
 Mrs. Seymour and a sister, Mrs. Martha 
 Vernon, of Chicago, are the only survivors. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Seymour began their do- 
 mestic life on a farm in Cook county. He 
 first purchased one hundred and twenty 
 acres on which was a frame house, the farm 
 being partially improved. From time to 
 time as his means increased he purchased 
 other tracts and became the owner of four 
 hundred acres on which were three good 
 dwelling houses, two good barns, and which 
 in due time he made one of the best farms 
 in Cook count)'. He continued to reside 
 upon the place until 1867, when he rented 
 it and moved to Aurora, where he purchased 
 a residence on Broadway, in which he lived 
 until 1882, when he sold and removed to 
 Elgin and there resided six years. In 1888, 
 he returned to Aurora, purchased lots and 
 built a good substantial residence where he 
 yet resides. 
 
 While residing in Elgin, Mr. Seymour 
 farmed a small place adjacent to the city, 
 and with that exception has lived a retired 
 life, but looking after his farm in Cook coun- 
 ty. A part of the place he sold, but yet 
 owns two hundred and seventy acres. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Seymour have one son, Horace 
 Jerome, who resides in Elgin, and of whom 
 mention is made elsewhere in this work. 
 In early life Mr. Seymour was a Whig, but 
 
 on the organization of the Republican party, 
 became identified with it, supporting its 
 men and measures up to 1884, since which 
 time he has been an advocate of the princi- 
 ples of the Prohibition party. For many 
 years Mrs. Seymour has taken a very active 
 interest in temperance work, and in mis- 
 sionary work. Both he and his wife are 
 members of the First Methodist Episcopal 
 church, of Aurora, and for the erection of 
 the present house of worship they contribu- 
 ted of their means. For twenty-five years 
 he served as steward of the M. E. church 
 and has also served as trustee. 
 
 When Mr. Seymour came to Illinois, 
 Chicago was but an insignificant town 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 fifty-six 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 cities, 
 and the magnificent farms with their large 
 dwelling houses and barns indicate that the 
 people are prosperous, indeed. 
 
 NR. ZACK, senior member of the firm 
 of Zack & Mylius, engaged in plumb- 
 ing, gas and steam fitting, and sewerage, 52 
 North Broadway, Aurora, was born in this 
 city December 21, 1860, and is the son of 
 Michael and Anna (Izabaugh) Zack. The 
 father came from Austria to this country in 
 1849, located in Chicago for one year and 
 a half, and came to Aurora, and was one of 
 its first settlers. He was a tailor by trade, 
 and carried on a shop in Chicago and also 
 for a short time in Aurora; later he moved 
 to a farm, on which he is yet living, and is 
 about seventy-five years of age. He is
 
 N. R. ZACK.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 463 
 
 a member of the German Catholic church. 
 His wife died about 1890, when about sixty- 
 five years of age. She was also a member 
 of the Catholic church. Of their family of 
 nine children four are deceased. The living 
 are Mary, residing at home; Nettie, wife of 
 Jacob Marx, of Aurora; N. R. , our subject; 
 Anna, wife of Michael Wannamaker, of 
 Kane county; Michael on the old home- 
 stead; and Frances. 
 
 Our subject attended the schools of Au- 
 rora, and spent his youthful days on a farm, 
 until seventeen years old, when he went to 
 Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he com- 
 menced to learn the plumbing business. 
 After remaining in Minneapolis some eight 
 months, he returned to Aurora, and went to 
 work in the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 
 railroad shops in the coach department and 
 remained three years. He started in busi- 
 ness on the island, and was one of the firm 
 of John Linden & Co., with whom he was 
 connected six years, after which he estab- 
 lished his present business, under Fouth 
 Brothers' store, becoming the senior mem- 
 ber of Zack & Mylius. They came to their 
 present place of business, in 1894, where 
 they keep on hand a full line of plumbing, 
 steam and gas-fitting material, as much 
 probably as any other two firms in the city. 
 They do an extensive business, and are 
 worthy of the patronage received. 
 
 On the i6th of October, 1884, Mr. Zack 
 was united in marriage with Miss Frances 
 Beaver, daughter of John Beaver, a well- 
 known citizen of Aurora. Four daughters 
 have come to bless their union Kittie, 
 Mamie, Haddie, and Olga. The parents 
 are members of the Catholic church and 
 politically Mr. Zack is Democratic in 
 national affairs, and in local affairs he is 
 
 independent. 
 22 
 
 A DONIRAM RIDDLE, of Aurora, first 
 f\ came to this state in 1846, remained 
 four years, returned east, and in 1856 
 located in De Kalb county, and two years 
 later came to Kane county, where he has 
 since continued to reside. The family are 
 of Scotch descent, the first of the name lo- 
 cating in New Hampshire at an early day. 
 James Riddle, the grandfather of our sub- 
 ject, was a native of New Hampshire, as 
 was his son, Enoch Riddle, who was born 
 in the town of Grafton, Grafton county. In 
 his native state Enoch Riddle married Polly 
 Prescott, also a native of Grafton, New 
 Hampshire, and a daughter of Reuben 
 Prescott, who was a pioneer of that state. 
 They became the parents of six sons and 
 one daughter: Adoniram, our subject; Pres- 
 cott, who moved to California about 1850, 
 and there resides; Lyman, also residing in 
 California; Cyrus, who died in De Kalb 
 county, Illinois; Orisina, widow of John 
 Cole, residing in De Kalb county; Robert, 
 who resides in Will county; and Charles, 
 also residing in Will county. After his 
 marriage, Enoch Riddle engaged in farm- 
 ing in his native county, and there contin- 
 ued for many years. In his old age he 
 came west to Illinois, where he joined his 
 children, locating first on a farm in De Kalb 
 county, where his wife died, after which he 
 resided with a son in Will county, and there 
 died. 
 
 Until sixteen years of age, Adoniram 
 Riddle remained on the home farm, during 
 which time he received a fair common-school 
 education. Going to Vermont, he spent 
 three years working first on a farm and then 
 on a turnpike. He then went to Massachu- 
 setts and took a position in a cotton factory, 
 where he remained nearly three years, and 
 at Worcester, Massachusetts, entered a ma-
 
 464 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 chine shop and worked one year. He then 
 went to Boston and worked for the Boston 
 Locomotive Company for about two years. 
 From Boston he went to Keene, New Hamp- 
 shire, where he engaged in railroad work, 
 first in the repair shops, and then in charge 
 of an engine on the road. In 1846, he came 
 west, and entered a tract of some six hun- 
 dred acres in De Kalb county, Illinois, to 
 which he removed in 1856. On removing 
 to the place he at once began its develop- 
 ment, and remained on the farm about two 
 years. In 1858 he sold out, moved to 
 Aurora, purchased two lots on the corner 
 of Broadway and LaSalle streets, where he 
 built a residence into which the family 
 moved. On coming to this place he entered 
 the employ of the Burlington road, first in 
 the roundhouse department, and about one 
 year later was given charge of an engine, on 
 which he continued to run for about twenty 
 years. He then gave up railroading, pur- 
 chased a stone quarry opposite the seminary, 
 and, in partnership with his son, engaged in 
 getting out rock. They built up a large 
 business, shipping considerably, besides sup- 
 plying the home demand. In 1895, he pur- 
 chased a farm of eighty acres, adjoining the 
 city limits of Aurora, and has since been en- 
 gaged in agricultural pursuits. 
 
 In 1852, in Carroll county. New Hamp- 
 shire, Mr. Riddle was united in marriage 
 with Miss Hannah Cook, a native of that 
 county, and a daughter of Eben Cook, also 
 a native of New Hampshire. She had one 
 sister, Emily, widow of Thomas Christopher, 
 a carpenter and joiner of Boston, Massachu- 
 setts, where his death occurred. Mrs. Chris- 
 topher made her home with Mrs. Riddle for 
 a number of years. There are two living 
 children by this union, the oldest being 
 Clarence, who is married and operates the 
 
 stone quarry. The other is D. A., a manu- 
 facturing jeweler of Providence, Rhode 
 Island. They lost one daughter, Alice, who 
 died at the age of three months. 
 
 Mr. Riddle was reared a Democrat, but 
 believing in the equality of all men, he be- 
 came a Republican on the organization of 
 that party, with which he has since con- 
 tinued to act. Fraternally he is a Master 
 Mason. As a citizen he has ever borne his 
 part in the upbuilding of his adopted city. 
 He was one of the originators of the Aurora 
 street railway, became a stockholder and 
 was one of its first directors, serving until 
 the road was sold to the New York Com- 
 pany. For forty years he has been identi- 
 fied with the interests of Aurora, and has 
 here many warm friends. 
 
 JOHN GARDNER, who is living a retired 
 life in the city of Aurora, is a well-known 
 and highly respected citizen, and for many 
 years was actively engaged in business in the 
 place. He was born near the city of 
 Newark, Essex county, New Jersey, De- 
 cember 5, 1820, and is the son of Daniel 
 Gardner, born in Essex county, New Jer- 
 sey. In his native state Daniel Gardner 
 grew to manhood and married Phileta Ed- 
 wards, a native of what is now Union coun- 
 ty, New Jersey, and a daughter of Nathan- 
 iel Edwards, who at the age of sixteen years 
 offered his services to his country, and 
 fought during the entire struggle for Amer- 
 ican independence. By trade Daniel Gard- 
 ner was a cooper, and followed that occu- 
 pation, in connection with farming, during 
 his entire life. He died in New Jersey in 
 1858, his wife surviving him some three 
 years, passing away in 1861. Of their fam- 
 ily of twenty-six children, ten sons and four
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 465 
 
 daughters grew to mature years. There 
 were living sixteen of the children at one 
 time. Of the entire number, only three 
 now survive, John, Joseph and Luther, all 
 residing in Aurora. 
 
 John Gardner grew to mature years in 
 Essex county, New Jersey, and there 
 learned the cooper's trade with his father, 
 and followed it for some years. He was 
 married in Essex county in 1847, to Emma 
 Ball, a native of that county, where she 
 was reared and educated, and a daughter of 
 Noah Ball, also a native of Essex county. 
 By trade he was a hatter, but late in life 
 engaged in fanning. His wife was Fannie 
 Edwards, likewise a native of New Jersey. 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Gardner six children were 
 born, of whom Emma Frances and Charles 
 Henry died in childhood; Mary Emma died 
 at the age of seven years; Burton, when 
 about five years old; and Horace in child- 
 hood. The only survivor is Hattie, who 
 yet resides under the parental roof. 
 
 After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Gardner began their domestic life in the 
 suburbs of Newark, where they resided until 
 1853. While residing in Orange county, 
 New Jersey, he manufactured a ship load of 
 butter cases, which were filled with butter 
 and sent to Australia. In September, 1853, 
 Mr. Gardner came to Illinois, and purchased 
 a farm near Eola, consisting of one hundred 
 and twenty-one acres of improved land. He 
 further improved the place, and there re- 
 sided about fourteen months, when he sold 
 out and returned to Orange, New Jersey, 
 where he engaged in the lumber business. 
 The first year he lost heavily by having sev- 
 eral thousand feet of very valuable lumber 
 being caught in a storm and washed out to 
 sea. He continued the lumber business 
 about three years, and in February, 1858, 
 
 again came west, locating in Aurora, where 
 he bought several lots on which he erected 
 five dwelling houses, which he later sold. 
 He also erected a cooper shop, and engaged 
 in coopering, in which he was actively en- 
 gaged for over twenty years, usually employ- 
 ing two or three men. His principal prod- 
 uct was butter firkins, which he manufac- 
 tured for the Aurora market. 
 
 Mr. Gardner and his family are mem- 
 bers of the Park Place Baptist church, with 
 which body he has been connected since 
 coming to Aurora. For the past twenty- 
 five years he has devoted his time largely 
 to church work. He was ordained a deacon 
 of the church in 1873. With that earnest 
 desire to help his fellow men, he has freely 
 given of his time to the Master's cause. 
 The good that he has done will only be 
 known at the last day. 
 
 JOSEPH W. GARDNER, of Aurora, 
 Illinois, has been actively engaged in 
 contracting and building in this city since 
 1855. He is a native of Essex county, New 
 Jersey, born May I, 1825, and is the son of 
 Daniel and Phileta (Edwards) Gardner, 
 both of whom are natives of the same state, 
 the former born in 1781 and the latter in 
 1787. She was the daughter of Nathaniel 
 Edwards, who served as a soldier in the 
 Revolutionary war, under General Washing- 
 ton. By trade Daniel Gardner was a 
 cooper, which he followed in connection 
 with farming, for many years residing near 
 the city of Newark, New Jersey, where he 
 reared his large family, and where his death 
 occurred. 
 
 Joseph W. Gardner is one of a family of 
 twenty-six children born to Daniel and 
 Phileta Gardner, the children all being
 
 4 66 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 at single births. Of the number Luther, 
 John, and our subject are the only ones liv- 
 ing. Joseph W. Gardner grew to mature 
 years in his native state, and at Newark, 
 New Jersey, learned the carpenter's and 
 joiner's trade, serving a fouryears' apprentice- 
 ship. Before he attained his majority, he 
 engaged in contracting and building, super- 
 intending the erection of three dwelling 
 houses in Newark. He was married in that 
 city April 17, 1847, to Miss Elizabeth Gar- 
 rison, a native of Sussex county, New Jer- 
 sey, and a daughter of James Garrison. By 
 this union were three children, two of whom 
 are living Ann Eliza, wife of John Glaspie, 
 who was a soldier in the war for the union, 
 but is now a merchant and postmaster of 
 Galatia, Colorado. William Edward, who 
 is assisting his father in contracting and 
 building. He was married in Aurora, No- 
 vember 23, 1 88 1, to Miss Annie E. Free- 
 man, who was born, reared and educated 
 in Aurora, and the daughter of James Free- 
 man, who was for forty years a merchant 
 of the city, but who died in 1896. By this 
 union are two children, James Lewis 
 and Gertrude May, both students in the 
 Aurora schools. James Freeman, the father 
 of Mrs. William E. Gardner, was a native 
 of Wales,, born in 1830, in a house which 
 was on the line between England and Wales. 
 He came to America with his parents in 
 1838, and to Aurora in 1840. Here he 
 grew to manhood and married Ann Eliza 
 Graves, daughter of the first Baptist minister 
 of Aurora. 
 
 After their marriage,. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Gardner resided some three years in New- 
 ark, where he engaged in contracting and 
 building. From Newark, he moved to 
 Piermont, New York, where he engaged in 
 the repair and construction shops of the New 
 
 York & Erie railroad, continuing there about 
 three years, serving as foreman in the shops. 
 In 1855, he came to Aurora, Illinois, and 
 purchased the property where he now re- 
 sides. He at once commenced contracting 
 and building, in which he has been actively 
 engaged from that time until the present. 
 Many of the public buildings and substantial 
 residences of Aurora attest his skill as a 
 builder. His building operations have been 
 quite extensive, and his work has always 
 been considered the very best. Com- 
 mencing life for himself, empty-handed, by 
 his own labor he has secured a competency 
 and is recognized as one of the substantial 
 men of Aurora. 
 
 Politically Mr. Gardner was an old 
 Jackson Democrat, but of recent years he 
 has voted independent of party, casting his 
 vote for the man that he considered best 
 qualified for the office. His son is also in- 
 dependent in politics. Religiously, he is a 
 member of the Park Place Baptist church, 
 with which he has been identified for forty 
 years. His wife and family are also mem- 
 bers of the same church. On the I7th of 
 April, 1897, Mr. and Mrs. Gardner cele- 
 brated their golden wedding, a large number 
 of relatives and friends meeting with them 
 in honor of the occasion and presenting them 
 a number of testimonials of their esteem 
 and friendship. For forty years they have 
 been residents of Aurora, and their friends 
 are numerous indeed. 
 
 JAMES V. MINK. Prominent among 
 the energetic, far seeing and successful 
 business men of Elgin is the subject of this 
 sketch, who is a well-known real-estate 
 dealer, with office in room 7, Town's Block. 
 He was born in that city June 26, 1852, a
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 467 
 
 son of Robert and Sarah Jane (Van Tine) 
 Mink, natives of New York. His paternal 
 grandfather, John Mink, was also born in 
 New York, of Holland Dutch descent, and 
 was a fanner by occupation. At an early 
 day he came west and took up his residence 
 in Kane county, Illinois, but died two years 
 later, when nearly ninety years of age. He 
 reared a small family. Our subject's ma- 
 ternal grandfather was born in this country 
 and died in middle life. 
 
 In 1842 Robert Mink, our subject's fa- 
 ther, came to Kane county and purchased 
 a fine farm of two hundred acres two miles 
 northeast of Elgin, which he transformed 
 into one of the most highly-cultivated tracts 
 in the locality. After engaging in agricult- 
 ural pursuits for many years, he laid aside 
 business cares and lived retired in Elgin for 
 a few years before his death, which occurred 
 in 1880, when he was sixty-seven years of 
 age. His wife had passed away three years 
 previous at the age of sixty-five. Both were 
 earnest, consistent Christians, the mother 
 belonging to the Baptist Church, while the 
 father was a Presbyterian in faith. Four 
 children were born to them, of whom three 
 are still living: John W., Leander F., and 
 James V. 
 
 Upon the home farm James V. Mink 
 was reared, and, after attending the district 
 schools for a time, he entered the Elgin 
 Academy, where he completed his education. 
 For five or six years after starting out in life 
 for himself, he engaged in the grocery trade 
 in Elgin, but for the past twenty years has 
 been interested in real estate, doing a large 
 and profitable business along that line. 
 Besides his property in Elgin, he owns an 
 excellent farm of three hundred acres five 
 miles east of that place, and also city prop- 
 erty in Chicago. 
 
 On the 1 8th of May, 1878, Mr. Mink 
 was united in marriage with Miss Gracie 
 Todd, a daughter of Thomas and Anna 
 (McNeil) Todd, and to them have been born 
 seven children, three sons and four daugh- 
 ters, namely: Edna J., Royal J., Clyde, 
 Annie, Gladys, Mamie, and one who died in 
 infancy. Only three are now living Annie, 
 Gladys and Clyde. The family have a 
 beautiful home at No. 554 Douglas avenue, 
 which was erected in 1885. Mrs. Mink 
 holds membership in the Congregational 
 church. 
 
 Politically Mr. Mink is identified with 
 the Republican party, and for four years he 
 most efficiently served as alderman of the 
 First ward. Integrity, activity and energy 
 have been the crowning points of his suc- 
 cess, and his connection with different busi- 
 ness enterprises has been of a decided 
 advantage to the city. He is public-spir- 
 ited and progressive, giving his support to 
 all measures which he believes calculated 
 to advance the general welfare. 
 
 CAPT. FRANCIS H. BOWMAN, pres- 
 ident of the Bowman, Warne & Stew- 
 art Bank, St. Charles, Illinois, has been a 
 resident of the city since 1845, ar| d is. well- 
 known and greatly esteemed by all the peo- 
 ple of Kane county. He is a native of New 
 York, born in Broome county, May 9, 1816, 
 and is a son of Ebenezer and Sylvia (Barn- 
 aby) Bowman, both of whom were natives of 
 Vermont. TheBowmans are of English an- 
 cestry and were early settlers of the Green 
 Mountain State, where Ephraim Bowman, 
 the grandfather of our subject, was born. 
 
 Ebenezer Bowman was born about 
 1794, and grew to manhood in his native 
 state, where his marriage with Sylvia Barn-
 
 468 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 aby took place. About 1814 the young 
 couple removed to Broome county. New 
 York, where he cleared a farm in the wil- 
 derness, built a hewed log house and there 
 resided until the death of his wife in 1828. 
 He then moved to Pennsylvania, where he 
 remained a short time, afterward returned 
 to Vermont, again married, and there re- 
 sided during the remainder of his life. Our 
 subject is the oldest of two sons and three 
 daughters born to Ebenezer and Sylvia 
 Bowman. His brother, Benjamin Carlton 
 Bowman, grew to manhood and settled in 
 Pennsylvania, but later moved to Williams- 
 port, where he engaged in the lumber trade 
 and in banking, being for some years presi- 
 dent of a Williamsport bank. He died there 
 in 1896. One sister, Mrs. Mary Ann Yaw, 
 resides in Franklin county, Vermont. An- 
 other sister, Prudencia, wife of John Col- 
 cord, resides in Vermont. The third one, 
 Hannah M., married Hannibal P. Wood, 
 and located in Illinois, where she died. 
 
 Francis H. Bowman was twelve years of 
 age when his mother died. He then went 
 to live with his uncle, Hiram H. Heath, of 
 Ithaca, New York, and later removed with 
 him to Auburn, New York. Good common- 
 school advantages were given him while re- 
 siding both at Ithaca and Auburn, which he 
 industriously improved. When still in his 
 youth he entered a hardware store iri Au- 
 burn, New York, as a clerk, and there re- 
 mained nine years, securing a good practical 
 training in business affairs. The last few 
 years of his stay there he was a confidential 
 clerk of the firm and transacted much of 
 the business. 
 
 While his business relations were pleas- 
 ant and he had the full confidence of his 
 employers, the life of a mere clerk was dis- 
 tasteful to him. He desired to better his 
 
 condition in life, and with that end in view 
 came west in 1845 a d located in St. 
 Charles, Illinois. Here he at once engaged 
 in the hardware trade, a line with which he 
 was thoroughly familiar. For three years 
 he carried on the business alone, and then 
 associated with himself John Lloyd, and a 
 foundry business was added to that of hard- 
 ware, the combined line being carried on 
 under the firm name of Bowman & Lloyd. 
 This was continued from 1848 until 1861. 
 
 The war for the union was now in prog- 
 ress and Mr. Bowman determined to en- 
 list. Accordingly he sold out his interest in 
 the hardware line to Owen Butler, but by 
 mutual consent retained his interest in the 
 foundry. In October, 1861, he was com- 
 missioned captain of Company G, Fifty- 
 second Volunteer Infantry, and with his regi- 
 ment marched first to St. Louis, from which 
 place it went south, joining the advance in 
 time to take part in the battle of Shiloh in 
 April, 1862. Soon after this engagement 
 he resigned his commission and returned 
 home. 
 
 On his return Captain Bowman resumed 
 active relations with Mr. Lloyd in the 
 foundry and about one year later re-pur-, 
 chased the interest of Owen Butler in the 
 hardware trade. This relation was contin- 
 ued for some years. Captain Bowman then 
 selling, lived retired for one year. But one 
 of his temperament could not endure that 
 kind of a life. He was one of the organiz- 
 ers of the Kane County National Bank, and 
 was a director during its existence. J. C. 
 Baird & Co. succeeded to the Kane County 
 National Bank in which Captain Bowman 
 was a stockholder and director, and at the 
 death of Mr. Baird, some time later, he be- 
 came its general manager. For about 
 three years the business was continued un-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 469 
 
 der the old name, when a new co-partner- 
 ship was formed by Mr. Bowman, John 
 Warne and John Stewart, since which time 
 the bank has been run under the name of 
 Bowman, Warne & Stewart, bankers. It is 
 recognized as one of the reliable and solid 
 institutions of the county, due in a great 
 measure to the well-known business ability 
 and conservatism of Captain Bowman. 
 
 After remaining a bachelor in St. Charles 
 for four years, in October, 1849, Mr. Bow- 
 man returned to his native state, and at 
 Elmira married Helen M. Smith, who was 
 born, reared and educated in that city. She 
 was a faithful wife and helpmeet to him for 
 forty-two long years, passing away in De- 
 cember, 1891. There were three children 
 by this union: Carleton Smith, a farmer re- 
 siding in Kane county; Francis E., who 
 died in infancy, and Edward Harvey, who 
 was a lawyer by profession, practicing for 
 about five years in Chicago. He was acci- 
 dentally drowned in 1890. 
 
 In early life Captain Bowman was po- 
 litically a Whig, casting his first presiden- 
 tial ballot for William Henry Harrison in 
 1840. With that party he continued to act 
 until the organization of the Republican 
 party, when he joined its ranks, voting for 
 General Fremont for president in 1856. 
 From that time to the present he has never 
 missed voting for the Republican nominee 
 for the highest office in the gift of the 
 people. His interest in the party has never 
 abated, and in the campaign of 1896 he was 
 a warm supporter of William McKinley, 
 and an earnest advocate of protection and 
 reciprocity. In the various conventions of 
 his party county, district and state he has 
 often served as a delegate, and by his fel- 
 low citizens has been honored with many 
 local offices, including supervisor of his 
 
 township, being the first elected to that 
 office in St. Charles, trustee of the town of 
 St. Charles, school trustee and school treas- 
 urer, serving in the latter position some 
 twelve or fourteen years. In every position, 
 public or private, he has discharged its 
 duties faithfully and well. Fraternally he 
 is a member of the Odd Fellows, subordi- 
 nate and encampment, and has filled every 
 position in his local lodge and camp. He 
 has also served as a delegate from his lodge 
 to the grand lodge and also to the grand en- 
 campment. For more than fifty years he 
 has been a member of the order and has 
 taken great interest in its welfare and in the 
 dissemination of its principles, believing 
 them to be for the best good of humanity. 
 In addition to his banking business, 
 Captain Bowman is a stockholder in the 
 tile factory, the condensing company and 
 the Crown Electric Manufacturing Com- 
 pany. Few concerns established in St. 
 Charles but have had his hearty co-opera- 
 tion. For fifty-three years he has been 
 identified with the commercial and manu- 
 facturing interests of Kane county, and few 
 men are better known and none more highly 
 respected. As a business man and financier 
 he has the confidence of all. His memory 
 will long be cherished by those who know 
 him, and his industry, thrift and business 
 sagacity will be an incentive to those who 
 come after him. 
 
 CHARLES LEVEY, a retired farmer 
 V~> living at Batavia, traces his ancestry 
 in this country to Jacob Levey, a native of 
 Germany, who emigrated to this country 
 prior to the Revolutionary war, and who 
 assisted in its struggle for independence. 
 His son, John Levey, was born in Schenec-
 
 470 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 tady, New York. He married Nancy Clute, 
 a native of New York, but of German de- 
 scent. They were the parents of eight sons 
 and six daughters, the sons all growing to 
 mature years, six of whom are yet living, 
 as follows: Samuel is a farmer of McHenry 
 county, Illinois; Andrew is engaged in farm- 
 ing in Minnesota; John resides in New York; 
 James resides in Schenectady county, New 
 York, where he is engaged in farming; Peter 
 is also a resident of Schenectady county, 
 and Charles of this review. The two sis- 
 ters living are Catharine, wife of John Akin, 
 of Farmington, Illinois, and Elizabeth, wife 
 of Cornell Brunk, of New York. 
 
 Charles Levey, our subject, was born in 
 Schenectady county, New York, August 4, 
 1829, and is the son of John and Nancy 
 (Clute) Levey. He there grew to man- 
 hood and had but limited educational privi- 
 leges. A young man of twenty-four years, 
 he came west in 1853, and first located in Du 
 Page county, Illinois, where he engaged in 
 farming for several years. He was mar- 
 ried in Batavia, 'Illinois, October 10, 1855, 
 to Miss Ann Frydendall, a native of Sche- 
 nectady county. New York, and who came 
 to Illinois with her parents, Daniel and 
 Hannah (Venton) Frydendall, in 1842. Her 
 father was by occupation a farmer and en- 
 gaged in that calling during his entire life, 
 dying February 13, 1888. His wife sur- 
 vived him, and died April 15, 1898, when 
 eighty-four years old. Mr. and Mrs. Levey are 
 the parents of six living children, as follows: 
 Theodore, married and engaged in farming 
 in Blackberry township; Charles W. , mar- 
 ried and also engaged in farming; Daniel, a 
 carpenter and joiner, married and residing 
 in Aurora; Elmer, a farmer of Blackberry 
 township; Belle, wife of Lewis Krumlanz, 
 and May, wife of Thomas Mead, of Batavia. 
 
 In 1865, Mr. Levey moved with his fam- 
 ily to Kane county and purchased a farm of 
 one hundred and twenty acres in Black 
 berry township, which was partially im- 
 proved, and on which was a log dwelling 
 house. He at once commenced its improve- 
 ment and in due time built a large house, 
 barn and other outbuildings, and there re- 
 sided for some years. Renting out his own 
 farm, he subsequently rented a farm of six 
 hundred acres, on which he resided three 
 years. He still owns the old homestead, 
 which is operated by his son Elmer. Hav- 
 ing a sufficient amount of this world's goods 
 to enable him to live in ease and retirement, 
 in the fall of 1889, he purchased residence 
 property and removed to Batavia. Occa- 
 sionally he visits the old farm, when the 
 weather is pleasant, and assists his boys in 
 the farm work. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Levey was formerly a 
 Jackson Democrat, but is now independent, 
 voting for such men as he thinks best qual- 
 ified to fill the offices. He has been a resi- 
 dent of Illinois for forty-five years, while 
 his wife has resided here fifty-six years. 
 They are both well known in Kane and Du 
 Page counties and are held in the highest 
 esteem. 
 
 JOHN KEMP, of Aurora, Illinois, came 
 to this city in 1855, and for about a 
 third of a century was one of its most enter- 
 prising business men. He is now living a 
 retired life, enjoying the fruits of honest 
 toil. He was born in the town of Hull, 
 Yorkshire, England, May 29, 1816. His 
 father, John Kemp, Sr., was also a native 
 Yorkshire, and there married Francis Hart, 
 born and reared in the same shire. John 
 Kemp, Sr. , was a sailor in early life, and
 
 \ 
 
 JOHN KEMP.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 473 
 
 spent some years upon the sea. In 1829 he 
 came to America and located near Montreal, 
 Canada, and was one of the earliest settlers 
 of that county. From there he moved to 
 New York state and removed to Toronto, 
 Canada, where he died. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was but thir- 
 teen years of age when he came with his 
 parents to America. He remembers well 
 the hardships endured, as pioneers of a new 
 country. However, he went to Montreal, 
 learned the harness maker's trade, serving 
 an apprenticeship of four years. He there 
 married, September 10, 1835, Miss Eliza- 
 beth McCullum, born in the Isle of Wight, 
 and a daughter of James McCullum, a 
 native of Scotland. By this union are four 
 children, as follows: Elizabeth, who grew 
 to womanhood, married and is now de- 
 ceased; Charlotte, wife of John Kessler, re- 
 siding in Rhilander, Wisconsin; Mrs. Fannie 
 Rowland, now residing in Los Angeles, Cal- 
 ifornia; and Matilda, wife of Henry Greg- 
 ory, residing in Charleston, South Carolina. 
 
 After marriage Mr. Kemp worked in 
 Montreal for twelve years, then moved to 
 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where for a time he 
 worked at his trade as a journeyman, and 
 later started a shop of his own, and carried 
 on business for three years. He then moved 
 to Chicago, where he remained about nine 
 months, and in 1855 moved to Aurora, 
 then a town of about twelve hundred inhab- 
 tants, bought property and has here since 
 continued to reside. He commenced busi- 
 ness on the west side, and was the second 
 to engage in the harness trade on that side 
 of the city. After a few years he formed a 
 partnership with Horace Gilbert and the 
 firm did a very profitable and extensive 
 business for thirty years, often working as 
 many as fifteen men in their shops. Mr. 
 
 Kemp did all the cutting and laying out the 
 work for the entire force. He remained in 
 active business until 1888, when he sold out 
 and has since lived retired. During this 
 time he purchased two farms in Hancock 
 county, Iowa, one of which he continued to 
 hold for twenty-five years. He also pur- 
 chased vacant lots in Aurora, which he 
 held for a rise in value. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Kemp is a Republican, 
 with which party he has continued to act 
 since its formation, but he has never wanted 
 nor would he ever accept public office. 
 When a young man of nineteen, he was 
 converted and united with the Wesleyan 
 Methodist church, but later transferred his 
 membership to the Methodist Episcopal 
 church, with which body he has been act- 
 ively connected for many years, and for the 
 greater part of the time since coming to 
 Aurora a member of the official board of 
 his church. His wife has also been an 
 active member of the same church for many 
 years. For forty-three years he has been a 
 well-known citizen of Aurora, where he and 
 his most estimable wife areheld-in the high- 
 est respect by one and all. 
 
 JOHN N. KURD came to Aurora in the 
 fall of 1854 and has here since made 
 his home. While now living a retired life 
 he was for many years one of the active 
 and enterprising business men and manu- 
 facturers of the city. He was born in Ben- 
 nington county, Vermont, July i, 1830, 
 and is the son of Gilbert and Eleanor 
 (Thomas) Hurd, both of whom are natives 
 of the same state, the former born in Ben- 
 nington county, in 1803. The grandfather, 
 Abraham Hurd, was a native of Vermont, 
 of which the Hurd family were pioneers,
 
 474 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 emigrating there from Connecticut. The 
 marriage of Gilbert Hurd and Eleanor 
 Thomas was celebrated in 1827. She was a 
 daughter of Reuben Thomas, who was like- 
 wise a native of Vermont, of which state 
 his father, Reuben Thomas, Sr. , was a pio- 
 neer. Gilbert Hurd followed the occupation 
 of a farmer in his native state, and in 1853 
 emigrated to Illinois, locating in Oswego, 
 Kendall county, where he remained one year 
 and then came to Aurora, when he purchased 
 farm and town property. For many years 
 he engaged in farming and in buying and 
 dealing in stock, sheep and wool. He was 
 a very liberal man and gave of his means 
 for the erection of different churches and 
 also gave liberally to charitable and benevo- 
 lent purposes. His death occurred March 
 30, 1876. His widow survives him and re- 
 sides on the old homestead where the fam- 
 ily have lived for more than forty years. 
 She is now eighty-eight years old. 
 
 The subject of this sketch is one of a 
 family of four sons who grew to mature 
 years. Reuben T. married and resided for 
 a time in Vermont, where he was engaged 
 in business. He later moved to Aurora, 
 where he became a prominent business man 
 and died here in October, 1894. His wife 
 preceded him to their heavenly home some 
 three years previously, leaving three chil- 
 dren. John N., of this review, was next 
 in order of birth. Hosea B., who now re- 
 sides with his mother and brother in Aurora. 
 Samuel, the fourth son, died January i, 
 1897. 
 
 In his native state John N. Hurd grew 
 to manhood, and received a good common- 
 school education. After attaining his ma- 
 jority he taught six winter terms of school 
 and in the summer assisted in taking care 
 of the home farm. In 1854 lie joined the 
 
 family in Aurora, and in partnership with a 
 brother engaged in farming and also in deal- 
 ing in stock and wool. They continued in 
 these lines until about 1867, when, with his 
 brother Samuel, he engaged in the manu- 
 facture and sale of tinware, employing agents 
 and furnishing them with an outfit, sold all 
 through the country. They usually had 
 some ten or twenty teams on the road, and 
 gave employment to over fifty hands. They 
 did a very extensive business which was 
 continued until 1885. For about six years 
 of that time, our subject, in company with 
 Daniel Volentine, was engaged in the wool 
 business. The partnership was dissolved by 
 the death of Mr. Volentine, and for the 
 succeeding two years he was with William 
 Volentine, the son of the former partner. 
 The business of Mr. Hurd was not confined 
 solely to the lines mentioned. He from 
 time to time engaged in buying and selling 
 farms and in the improvement of city prop- 
 erty. He also assisted other parties who 
 were trying to establish themselves in busi- 
 ness by loaning them money. 
 
 Early in the spring of 1869, Mr. Hurd 
 went east, and in Washington county, New 
 York, March 1 6, married Maria Gray, a na- 
 tive of that county, and a daughter of Will- 
 iam Gray, also a native of that state. By 
 this union were two children, one of whom, 
 Gracia, died at the age of fourteen months. 
 The other, Rhoda M., is now the wife of 
 William H. Parker, Jr., of Aurora, by whom 
 she has one son, John Alfred. Politically 
 Mr. Hurd is a stanch Republican, as was also 
 his father, though in early life the father 
 was a Whig. He never cared for public 
 office, and has repeatedly refused to con- 
 sider his nomination or election to any. 
 However he was elected and served one 
 term as alderman of his ward, discharging
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 475 
 
 his duties in a faithful manner. On the or- 
 ganization of the Second National Bank, he 
 acquired some stock and for a number of 
 years served as director. In the forty-four 
 years of his residence in Aurora, he has 
 done his part towards its growth and de- 
 velopment. 
 
 D WIGHT A. CHAMBERLIN, super- 
 visor and a prominent business man 
 of Elgin, is the well-known district agent of 
 the Rockford Insurance Company, with office 
 in the Elgin National Bank building, Elgin, 
 Illinois. He is a native of the Prairie state, 
 born in Rockford, June 2, 1849, and is a 
 son of Alfred A. and Nancy E. (Munger) 
 Chamberlin, the former a native of Ver- 
 mont, and the latter of Massachusetts. In 
 their family were four children: Marian 
 C. , widow of John Loop, of Santa Monica, 
 California; Emma, wife of George M. 
 Welles, of Elgin; ThyrsaT., wife of George 
 W. Bridgman, of Bridgman, Michigan; and 
 Dwight A., our subject. 
 
 Alfred A. Chamberlin, the father, was a 
 pioneer of northern Illinois, locating at Au- 
 rora when the settlers' cabins were few and 
 far between. At that time the great Prairie 
 state gave but little promise of the bright 
 future that was before it. Chicago was 
 then but a small village, and the most en- 
 thusiastic of its citizens little dreamed of 
 what it was destined to be. The .county 
 of Kane existed but in name, its many thou- 
 sands of acres of fertile land unturned by 
 the plow. For some years after his re- 
 moval to Illinois, he engaged in the foundry 
 business in Rockford, with moderate suc- 
 cess. From Aurora he removed to Oregon, 
 Ogle county, Illinois, and later to Rock- 
 ford. In 1859 he moved to Cherry Valley, 
 
 Illinois, and there engaged in. the milling 
 business until his retirement to private life. 
 In 1894 he came with his wife to Elgin and 
 lived with his children, dying at the home 
 of his daughter, Mrs. Welles, June 3, 1897, 
 at the age of ninety years. His wife pre- 
 ceded him but five days, dying May 29, 
 1897, at the age of eighty-eight years. For 
 a period of sixty-three years they traveled 
 life's journey together, happy in each other's 
 love. One could not live without the 
 other, and so the angel of death tarried but 
 a few days after taking the one before he 
 called for the other. Religiously she was a 
 Baptist, and, while he never united with any 
 religious body, he attended services with 
 her. In his life he endeavored to faithfully 
 carry out the golden rule. 
 
 The paternal grandfather of our subject, 
 William Chamberlin, was a native of Ver- 
 mont and there died. In his family were 
 six or seven children who grew to maturity. 
 The maternal grandfather, Lyman Munger, 
 was a native of Massachusetts, where he 
 died at an advanced age. 
 
 Dwight A. Chamberlin, our subject, was 
 about ten years of age when his parents re- 
 moved to Cherry Valley, and his education 
 begun in the public schools of Rockford, 
 was afterward completed in the same place. 
 In 1871 he commenced the insurance busi- 
 ness in his home village, and for some years 
 traveled in the interest of the Rockford In- 
 surance Company. His success as a solic- 
 itor soon gave him standing with his com- 
 pany and his patronage rapidly grew so that 
 he became well known in many localities, 
 and many held their insurance until his ar- 
 rival that it might be given him. In 1885 
 he removed to Elgin, opened an office and 
 has here since continued to reside. Having 
 visited this place while on the road, he had
 
 476 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 here a number of patrons to begin with, and 
 that number he rapidly increased. His 
 business has been a large one and fairly 
 profitable even in the midst of the hard 
 times from 1893 to 1897. His company is 
 well known to be among the best in the 
 country and a risk placed with it is known 
 to be safe. 
 
 On the 2nd of July, 1886, Mr. Cham- 
 berlin was united in marriage with Miss 
 Cora L. Orth, daughter of John and Mary 
 (Gardner) Orth, and their union has been 
 blessed with two children: Harry D. and 
 Marie E. Mrs. Chamberlin is a member of 
 the First Congregational church of Elgin. 
 John Orth, her father, was a native of New 
 York, and came to Illinois early in the '505, 
 locating in the township of Caledonia, 
 Boone county, where he engaged in farming 
 up to the time of his death, which occurred 
 October 10, 1878. His widow is a native 
 of Lockport, Niagara county, New York, 
 where they were united in marriage. She 
 is still living on the old homestead in Cale- 
 donia township, loved and respected by a 
 large circle of friends. They were the par- 
 ents of two children: Ida C. and Cora L. 
 
 Fraternally, Mr. Chamberlin is a member 
 of the Knights of Pythias, Maccabees, Royal 
 League and Home Forum. Politically, he 
 is a Republican, with which party he has 
 been identified since casting his first presi- 
 dential vote for U. S. Grant, in 1872. For 
 two years he served as assistant supervisor 
 of Elgin, and in the spring of 1897 was 
 elected supervisor for a term of two years. 
 He has always taken an active interest in 
 political affairs and for the success of his 
 party has labored hard in season and out 
 in the dissemination of party principles. 
 During the campaign of 1896 he gave much 
 time to the work, and of his means he has 
 
 usually given with a generous hand. In his 
 business he is recognized as a hustler, and 
 in the discharge of his official duties he has 
 exhibited the same energy that character- 
 izes him as a business man. As a progress- 
 ive citizen of Elgin and Kane county he is 
 well worthy a place among its most honored 
 men, and few men in the county have more 
 stanch, true and tried friends than the 
 genial, open-handed and warm-hearted sub- 
 ject of this biography. 
 
 JOSEPH TEFFT, M. D., the first mayor 
 k-l of Elgin, and for years one of the most 
 prominent citizens of Kane county, was 
 born in Lebanon, Madison county, New 
 York, August 29, 1812, acquired a good 
 literary education for the times, read medi- 
 cine with an uncle in Great Barrington, 
 Vermont, and in 1833 attended medical 
 lectures at a college in Brattleboro, that 
 state. His father, Jonathan Tefft, Sr. , was 
 born in Madison county, New York, March 
 1 8, 1790, and in that county married Eliza- 
 beth Collins, who was born December 8, 
 1792, and died August 24, 1856. In 1835 
 they emigrated to Illinois, first settled on a 
 farm adjoining the town of Elgin, but in 
 Cook county. On removing to section 36, 
 Elgin township, Kane county, the following 
 year, he sold the Cook county farm to his 
 son. The family were members of the 
 Society of Friends, and were widely and 
 favorably known. Having sold the farm to 
 his son Jonathan, he temoved to the city of 
 Elgin, where he died January 26, 1866, at 
 the age of seventy-six years. In politics 
 he was first a Whig and later a Republican. 
 (Further mention is made of the family in 
 the sketch of Jonathan Tefft, on another 
 page of this volume.) The family has been
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 477 
 
 -identified with the history of this country 
 since colonial days. In the possession of 
 Jonathan Tefft, of Elgin township, is the 
 certificate of marriage of his grandparents, 
 Jeremiah Tefft and Rhoda Hoxsie, of Rich- 
 mond, Kings county, Colony of Rhode 
 Island, dated October 23, 1768. After the 
 Revolutionary war they removed to what 
 was then the "far west," locating in Mad- 
 ison county, New York, where they reared 
 a large family of children and spent their 
 remaining days. 
 
 With his father's family our subject came 
 to Illinois in the fall of 1835, making the 
 entire journey with ox teams. He first 
 located at South Elgin, but later traded 
 farms with his father, taking the one in 
 Cook county, a part of which is now Lord's 
 Park. Upon this place are still standing 
 apple trees which were planted by Jonathan 
 Tefft. He was the first physician of Elgin, 
 and in the discharge of his professional 
 duties, as well as the common duties of 
 pioneer life, he experienced many hardships. 
 At one time he and his brother-in-law, P. 
 C. Gilbert, had occasion to go to McHenry 
 county. On their return they found that a 
 flood had washed away the bridge over Fox 
 river, and following the direction of a 
 neighbor they started to ford the stream, the 
 Doctor taking the lead. The horses, how- 
 ever, had to swim partly across. On arriv- 
 ing home the Doctor found an urgent call 
 awaiting him. He immediately re-crossed 
 the river, saw his patient and returned, the 
 feat being accomplished with great fatigue 
 both to man and beast. 
 
 Some of the earliest settlers tried to 
 drive away those who came a little later, so 
 that they might secure larger tracts of land 
 when their first claims were perfected, but 
 their threats had no effect upon Dr. Tefft. 
 
 He was warned to leave his claim, but paid 
 no attention to it. A notice was tacked to 
 his door, and finally one of the band -came 
 to his cabin, telling him the rest of the 
 crowd were waiting at the edge of the tim- 
 ber to punish him if he did not leave. He 
 defied them and they asked for a parley. 
 He replied if they would leave their rifles in 
 the field, they might approach and seat 
 themselves upon a log in his yard, and that 
 he would come out, rifle in hand, and par- 
 ley with them. This was done, with the re- 
 sult that he told them plainly that he would 
 stand by his rights as an American citizen, 
 and if he were injured more than one of 
 them would suffer from the encounter. He 
 was left in peace, his firmness and determ- 
 ination having won the day. He continued 
 in active practice until 1875, and was fre- 
 quently called in consultation up to the 
 time of his death. Being a great reader and 
 student, as well as an enterprising pro- 
 gressive man, he kept abreast of the times 
 in his profession, the general sciences and 
 literature. He was one of the most hon- 
 ored and highly respected citizens of the 
 community. 
 
 Dr. Joseph Tefft was twice married, his 
 first union being with Miss Emeline Gilbert, 
 by whom he had one child, Julia, now de- 
 ceased. For his second wife he married 
 Mrs. Lavina (Johnson) Ormsby, a native of 
 Putney, Vermont, born August 25, 1815. 
 By this union there was one child, Leslie 
 E. She died in Elgin, January 22, 1897. 
 
 Dr. Joseph Tefft was the first mayor of 
 Elgin, and served in all five terms. He was 
 president of the Elgin Academy from its in- 
 ception until his death, which occurred 
 August 26, 1888. He was also president of 
 the Scientific Society, and was a man high- 
 ly honored and respected by all, and his
 
 478 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 death was sincerely felt in the community 
 for which he did so much, and where he so 
 long resided. 
 
 JAMES W. BATTLE, ex-mayor of Au- 
 rora, was born in the town of Gill, 
 Franklin county, Massachusetts, October 5, 
 1831. His father, Ichabod D. Battle, and 
 his mother, Miranda S. (Moore) Battle, 
 were both natives of Orange, Massachusetts. 
 By trade the father was a wheel-wright and 
 wagonmaker, which occupation he followed 
 during his entire life. His death occurred 
 at the age of eighty-seven years, and he was 
 a remarkably well preserved man until the 
 end, running a sawmill at the age of eighty- 
 three years. His wife died at the age 
 of fifty-seven years. They were the par- 
 ents of eight children, of whom four are 
 still living, as follows: Jane I., widow of 
 Hetsel Purple, resides in Greenfield, Mass- 
 achusetts, but spends most of her time with 
 her children; James W., our subject; Edwin 
 P., formerly an engineer on the Chicago, 
 Burlington & Quincy railroad, now resides 
 in Chicago; Charles S., living in Aurora. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared in 
 town and country, and attended school in 
 the country until about sixteen years of 
 age, when he secured employment on a 
 farm, at five dollars per month, during the 
 summer. He then went to work in a pail 
 factory, where he remained a year or two, 
 going from there to Athol, Massachusetts, 
 where he was employed in a hotel. From 
 Athol he went to Phillipston and worked at 
 splitting palm leaf, for making hats. He 
 continued there one season, but there was 
 too much brimstone in the business, and so 
 he secured work in the chair factory. After 
 being employed there a short time, he went 
 
 to Capa Cod and drove a peddler's wagon, 
 but soon returned to Winchester, New 
 Hampshire, where he engaged in the same 
 business. From there he went to Cleve- 
 land, Ohio, and later to Norwalk, in the 
 same state, and in 1853, commenced firing 
 on a railway locomotive, remaining there 
 fourteen months. On account of cholera 
 he went east and was married November 4, 
 1854, to Miss Cordelia Lobdell, a native of 
 Monroeville, Ohio, by whom he had one 
 child, Emma C., wife of Frank Griffith, 
 now residing in Racine, Wisconsin, by whom 
 she has three children, Jamie, Frank and 
 Sadie. In 1856 Mrs. Cordelia Battle was 
 called to her final rest. 
 
 The second marriage of Mr. Battle oc- 
 curred September 7, 1859, when he was 
 united with Miss Isabella Gilbert, daughter 
 of Lyman and Emily Gilbert, both of whom 
 were natives of Massachusetts. Her father 
 was born in 1796, and died November 4, 
 1849; her mother died May 7, 1881, at the 
 age of seventy-six years; they were members 
 of the Universalist church. In their family 
 were seven children: George, born in 1824, 
 died June 4, 1863; Foster, born February 
 19, 1825, died April 5, 1842; Cephas, born 
 October 13, 1827, moved to South Carolina, 
 in early manhood, where his death occurred 
 in June, 1894; Lyman, born August 10, 
 1829, died May i, 1856; Isabella, born Oc- 
 tober 25, 1833, is the wife of our subject; 
 Emily, born June 12, 1838, died May 19, 
 1857; and Foster, the second, born March 
 1 8, 1846, died July 27, 1889. 
 
 In 1855, our subject came west with his 
 wife, and located in Michigan City, Indiana, 
 and for seven months was with the New 
 Albany & Salem railroad as fireman, and 
 then secured a position as engineer on the 
 Michigan Central railroad. With that road
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 479 
 
 he continued until 1859, when he went to 
 the Hannibal & St. Joseph railroad, but did 
 not long remain with it, resigning on account 
 of ill health. He went to Massachusetts to 
 regain his health, and was under the doctor's 
 care for some time, and then engaged in 
 farming. In the spring of 1860, he bought 
 out a store, at Northfield Farms, Massachu- 
 setts, and was in the mercantile business 
 until 1862, when he sold out and returned 
 west to Aurora, taking an engine on the 
 Burlington road. He continued in that serv- 
 ice, until the day Lincoln was assassinated. 
 From Aurora he went to Janesville, Wiscon- 
 sin, and for four years ran an engine on the 
 Wisconsin division of the Chicago & North- 
 western railroad. He then opened a hotel 
 in Chicago, the Clarenden, on the corner of 
 Clark and Ontario streets, but only remained 
 there six months, when he sold out and re- 
 turned to the Burlington railroad at Aurora, 
 and ran an engine for six years. He next 
 engaged in the grocery business in Aurora, 
 with Robert Pierpont, and was with him six 
 years. 
 
 On the introduction of the street rail- 
 way in Aurora, he was made superintend- 
 ent, and continued to be thus employed 
 until his appointment as superintendent of 
 the water work's in 1886. He held that po- 
 sition three years, and then went into the 
 lumber business, as the senior member of 
 the firm of Battle& Glover. After five months 
 they sold the business to the street railway 
 company. In 1878, Mr. Battle was elected 
 alderman, and was re-elected until 1882, 
 when he was nominated and elected mayor 
 of the city, serving one term. In 1892, he 
 was again elected alderman of his ward, and 
 served two years. He was in the council 
 when the city changed its lighting from gas 
 to electric light, being the first city in the 
 
 country to establish that system. Repre- 
 sentatives from various cities in almost every 
 state in the union came here to see the 
 plant. 
 
 In 1894, Mr. Battle was again elected 
 mayor, but was counted out. He contested 
 the election, and was declared elected by 
 the county court. An appeal was taken to 
 the supreme court, by the other party, and 
 that court confirmed the decision of the 
 county court. He was then given the office, 
 but had only six weeks to serve. Since 
 that time he has been in private life, giving 
 his attention to other interests until in April, 
 1898, he was elected supervisor of Aurora 
 township without opposition. He is now 
 one of the directors of the Silver Plate 
 Manufacturing Company, a stockholder in 
 the cotton factory of Aurora, and has been 
 connected with various other manufactures 
 of the city, of late years. Mr. Battle was 
 made a Master Mason in Harmony lodge, 
 at Northfield, Massachusetts, in 1863, and 
 is a member of the Jerusalem Temple at 
 Aurora. For many years he was a member 
 of the Railway Locomotive Engineers. In 
 politics he is an ardent Republican. He 
 has never asked for an office for himself, 
 and it has been with -him, that the office 
 sought the man, and not the man the office. 
 In all official acts he strives to do his duty, 
 regardless of popular feeling. 
 
 JOHN W. LINDEN, who represents the 
 Seventh ward as a member of the board 
 of aldermen in the city of Aurora, was born 
 in the Grand Duchy of Luxemberg, Janu- 
 ary 27, 1859, and is the son of Peter and 
 Mary Ann (Flammang) Linden, both of 
 whom were natives of the same country. 
 In his native land Peter Linden followed
 
 480 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the trade of wagon maker, but on coming 
 to this country in 1861 engaged in farming, 
 which occupation he followed until his death, 
 January 26, 1883, at the age of sixty-seven 
 years. He was one of the first settlers in 
 what is known as the "big woods." He 
 was a member of the St. Nicholas Roman 
 Catholic church, as was also his wife, who 
 died January 4, 1898, at the age of seventy- 
 four years. Of their family of five chil- 
 dren, John is the city inspector of sewers; 
 Henry engaged in the saloon business in Au- 
 rora; Susan, wife of Nicholas Linster, of 
 Aurora, an employe of the Chicago, Bur- 
 .lington & Quincy Railroad Company in the 
 shops at Aurora; Maggie, wife of Peter 
 Wagner, an electric lineman of Aurora, and 
 John W., our subject. 
 
 John W. Linden was educated in the 
 country schools and also-in-the parochial 
 schools of Aurora. For fifteen years he 
 was an employe of the woolen mills at Au- 
 rora, in the carding and spinning depart- 
 ments. After leaving the mill he engaged 
 in the wholesale and retail liquor business, 
 as agent for the Pabst Company of Mil- 
 waukee. 
 
 Mr. Linden was married in October, 
 1885, to Miss Catherine Winkle, daughter 
 of Jacob Winkle, one of the first German 
 settlers in this section, coming here in the 
 forties. Religiously Mr. and Mrs. Linden 
 are members of the Roman Catholic church. 
 He takes great interest in politics, and is an 
 ardent believer in the restoration of silver. 
 He is the present chairman of the Demo- 
 cratic senatorial committee, of Kane and 
 Du Page counties, and has held that posi- 
 tion for the past six years. He has been a 
 delegate to the various state conventions of 
 his party, and was a delegate to the first sil- 
 ver convention held in this state. Few men 
 
 are better posted in political issues, espe- 
 cially on living questions. In 1891 he was 
 elected alderman from his ward, and has 
 since held the office by re-election. That 
 he has made a good officer is attested by his 
 continuous service. As a citizen he is alive 
 to all the best interests of Aurora. 
 
 REV. JONATHAN C. STOUGHTON, a 
 superannuated minister of the Rock 
 River conference of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church, residing at No. 70 South Lincoln av- 
 enue, Aurora, Illinois, was born in Ashta- 
 bula county, Ohio, November 3, 1820, and 
 is the son of Henry and Almira (Clapp) 
 Stoughton, both of whom were natives of 
 Connecticut. The father moved from Con- 
 necticut toAshtabula county, Ohio, in 1812, 
 when a young man, and was there married. 
 His life occupation was that of a farmer, 
 and his death occurred in Windsor town- 
 ship, Ashtabula county, in 1876, when in 
 his eighty-sixth year. He was a member 
 of the Congregational church, while living 
 in Connecticut, but, after coining to Ohio, 
 did not unite with any church, as there were 
 no churches of that denomination there at 
 that time. He was well and favorably 
 known in the county, which was so long his 
 home. His wife, who was a devout mem- 
 ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, died 
 in 1844. Of their seven children, four are 
 still living: Mary, wife of Mr. Gould, re- 
 siding in Ashtabula county, Ohio; Sarah, 
 also a resident of that county; and Henry 
 E., of Cambridge, Illinois, which has been 
 his home for many years. 
 
 Jonathan C. Stoughton, who was the 
 eldest of the seven children born to his 
 parents, remained on the home farm until 
 in his eighteenth year, when he came to Illi-

 
 REV. J. C. STOUGHTON.
 
 MRS. J. C. STOUGHTON.
 
 .<*'
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 4*3 
 
 nois, and worked on a farm in Trivola town- 
 ship, Peoria county, for one hundred dol- 
 lars per year, remaining there for three 
 years. He then entered Knox College, at 
 Galesburg, from which he graduated in 
 1846. During vacations he taught school, 
 and worked in the harvest fields, that he 
 might secure the means to continue his 
 studies. 
 
 At an early age he was converted, and 
 united with the Methodist Episcopal church. 
 From the time of his conversion, he felt the 
 desire to enter the ministry. In 1846, he 
 joined the Rock River conference, with 
 which he has since held official connection. 
 In 1854, after having served at various 
 places, he came to Aurora, and took charge 
 of the Methodist Episcopal church at this 
 place. Two years later, by appointment 
 from the conference, he built the Jennings 
 Seminary. In 1858, he went to Freeport, 
 where he continued until 1860. He was 
 elected a delegate from the Rock River 
 conference to the general conference, held 
 at Buffalo, New York, in 1860. He then 
 went to Champaign, Illinois, and there 
 erected a building, and started the Cham- 
 paign and Urbana Seminary. A few years 
 later, when the Illinois legislature had 
 passed an act for the creation of a State 
 University, the building and grounds of the 
 seminary were offered the state, as an in- 
 ducement to locate the university there. 
 Had it not been for this generous offer, it is 
 more than probable the university would 
 have been established elsewhere. 
 
 During the summer of 1861 and that of 
 1862 he was in the recruiting service, and 
 was instrumental in securing many volun- 
 teers. In the fall of 1862, Mr: Stoughton 
 offered his services as a private, and with 
 the command went to Camp Douglas, where 
 
 23 
 
 he was commissioned by Governor Yates 
 as a captain of cavalry, but never served in 
 that capacity. He was later commissioned 
 chaplain of the One Hundred and Twenty- 
 seventh Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infan- 
 try. He was sent south to Memphis, and 
 was with Sherman when after Price in Ten- 
 nessee, and on the Tallahatchie river. He 
 also took part in the siege of Vicksburg. 
 He stood the service fairly well, but took 
 sick on the Yazoo, in the fall of 1863, and 
 was compelled to leave the service. He 
 personally knew Grant, Sherman, and many 
 of the leading officers of the Western army. 
 Returning home, he shortly after was 
 assigned to . Grace Methodist Episcopal 
 church, Chicago, where he remained one 
 year, returning to Champaign, and com- 
 pleting the institution, which had been 
 abandoned thus far during the war. At this 
 time he was not engaged in pastoral work, 
 but was appointed by the conference as a 
 general agent, and lectured much on tem- 
 perance. In 1864, he started and edited a 
 temperance paper, which was wiped out by 
 the fire in Chicago, in 1871. As a lecturer 
 on temperance, he attained great celebrity, 
 and his services were in great demand. 
 After traveling in Europe for a time, he re- 
 turned and again took up the regular work 
 of the ministery. After serving the Galena 
 street church, Aurora followed with Rock 
 Falls, Rochelle and Wyanet- he then went 
 to New Mexico, in charge of the English 
 mission, at old Santa Fe. Later he was 
 sent to Chicago as pastor of the Asbury, 
 and later to the Winter street church, the 
 State street church and the Fifty-fourth 
 street church. After leaving Chicago, he 
 served three years at Sugar Grove, Kane 
 county, Illinois, when he came to Aurora, 
 where he has since continued to reside. He
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 is now retired, after having served the church 
 fifty years in the active work of the ministry, 
 though not always as a pastor. 
 
 Mr. Stoughton has always taken an in- 
 terest in political affairs, believing it to be 
 the duty of a minister, as well as a layman, 
 to exercise all the rights of citizenship. In 
 1870, he ran as an independent candidate 
 for congress, against General Farnsworth, 
 who two years previously had been elected 
 by fifteen thousand majority. Notwith- 
 standing the large majority to overcome, 
 Mr. Stoughton made a vigorous canvass. 
 For a few days after the election, the Chi- 
 cago papers had reported he was elected, 
 but the back townships counted him out. 
 
 On the Qth of January, 1847, Dr. 
 Stoughton was united in marriage with 
 Miss Amanda Cheritre, a native of New 
 York state. By this union there were three 
 children, a son and two daughters. The 
 son, Lorenzo T., was drowned in Fox river, 
 at Montgomery, in 1864. With another boy 
 he was in a skiff, floating down the river, 
 and not observing the dam, was carried over 
 and drowned. Of the daughters, Ethel is 
 now the wife of Rev. W. K. Beans, of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church, of Spokane 
 Falls, by whom she has one son, Lorenzo 
 W. , student in the medical department, of 
 the Northwestern University, class of '99. 
 Estella, now the wife of Justice Ament, of 
 Chicago. The wife and mother died, August 
 24, 1880, at the age of fifty-six years. 
 She was a member of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal church, and a very active worker in 
 the same. September i, 1881, Dr. 
 Stoughton was again married, his second 
 union being with Miss Mary J. Leet, of 
 Bradford, Illinois, and a daughter of Will- 
 iam and Helen Leet. See sketch elsewhere 
 in this volume. Mrs. Stoughton is a woman 
 
 of superior business ability, and is a very 
 successful worker in the Methodist Episcopal 
 church, of which she has been a member 
 for many years. 
 
 Since 1847, Dr. Stoughton has been a 
 member of the Sons of Temperance, and for 
 many years was grand worthy patriarch of 
 the order. Through his instrumentality, 
 many persons have been saved from the 
 curse of drink, and started in the way of 
 righteousness. In 1852, he was made a 
 Royal Arch Mason. While residing in New 
 Mexico, he was a member of the G. A. R. , 
 but has not affiliated with the order to any 
 great extent since his return to Illinois. 
 While for many years a strong Republican, 
 in 1872 he supported Horace Greeley for 
 president, making many speeches in his be- 
 half in Indiana and Illinois. For some 
 years he has been an active worker in the 
 Prohibition party. 
 
 JOSEPH MOULTON FISH, who is re- 
 siding in the city of Aurora, is a native 
 of the town of Danby, Rutland county, Ver- 
 mont, born May 27, 1816. His father, John 
 Fish, was also a native of that state, while 
 his grandfather, Elisha Fish, was born in 
 Rhode Island, and was a soldier in the 
 Revolutionary war, and also in the war of 
 1812. He was a pioneer settler of Rutland 
 county, Vermont. The family are of En- 
 glish origin, the great grandfather of our 
 subject, coming from England and locating 
 in Rhode Island. John Fish grew to man- 
 hood in his native state, and there married 
 Abigail Moulton, a daughter of Joseph 
 Moulton, who was a native of Massachu- 
 setts and a 'pioneer of Vermont. By occu- 
 pation John Fish was a farmer, and during 
 the war of 1812 served as a non-commis-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 485 
 
 sioned officer. His wife died in Vermont, 
 and he later moved to Illinois, and resided 
 with his son Joseph, his death occurring at 
 Lockport, Illinois, in April, 1863. 
 
 The subject of this sketch is the oldest 
 son of John and Abigail Fish, and fifth in 
 order of birth of a family of eight sons and 
 four daughters, eight of whom grew to ma- 
 ture years, married, reared families, and 
 are all, except subject, now deceased. In 
 his native state he grew to manhood, and 
 there received limited school privileges, but 
 made the best use of every advantage for 
 obtaining an education. His youth was 
 spent in almost every kind of employment, 
 and he received a thorough practical busi- 
 iness training. In addition to mercantile 
 training he was for a time employed in the 
 machine shops at Danby, Rutland county, 
 Vermont. After he had reached his major- 
 ity he commenced business for himself, 
 starting a blacksmith shop, in which he em- 
 ployed several men. He continued in that 
 business for five years, and was then for 
 seven years engaged in the wholesale mar- 
 ble business, quarrying and manufacturing. 
 Selling out, he removed to Buffalo, New 
 York, and engaged in the manufacture of 
 lumber on Buffalo creek, where he erected 
 a mill, and had charge of a very extensive 
 business, purchasing all the material, selling 
 all the lumber, and employing all the men. 
 
 In the spring of 1859, Mr. Fish sold his 
 interest in Buffalo, came to Illinois, and lo- 
 cated at Lockport, Will county, and there 
 engaged in the real estate and livery busi- 
 ness, and for four years served as deputy 
 sheriff of Will county. In 1865, he moved 
 to Aurora, where he engaged in farming and 
 the real estate business, continuing in that 
 line for several years, during which time he 
 was the owner of several improved farms in 
 
 Kane county, and also much city property, 
 and now owns considerable improved res- 
 idence property. 
 
 Mr. Fish was married in Rutland county, 
 Vermont, in 1846, to Miss Martha B. Smith, 
 a native of that county, and a daughter of 
 Asa Smith. After a happy married life of 
 fifty-three years, Mrs. Fish was called to 
 her final rest, May 7, 1897, and her remains 
 were interred in Spring Lake cemetery. 
 Religiously, she was reared in the Quaker 
 faith. Mr. Fish, though not a member, is 
 an attendant of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church, but like his wife was reared a 
 Quaker. While not having any children of 
 their own, they reared and educated three 
 children. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Fish was an Old-line 
 Whig, but became a Republican on the or- 
 ganization of that party, and has been iden- 
 tified with it to the present time. He was 
 elected and served eight years as a member 
 of the board of aldermen, during which 
 time he served on some important commit- 
 tee, was chairman of the courthouse, public 
 buildings, and public grounds, was also 
 chairman of the judiciary committee for 
 several years, and a member of the finance. 
 For nine consecutive years he served as jus- 
 tice of the peace, when he resigned the 
 office. He served four years as deputy 
 sheriff in Kane county, also served for nine 
 years on board of town auditors. He has 
 served as a delegate to county, congressional 
 and state conventions, where he has exerted 
 considerable influence. In whatever posi- 
 tion called upon to fill he made an efficient 
 officer. 
 
 For a third of a century, Mr. Fish has 
 b^en a resident of Aurora, and in that time 
 has made many warm friends, who esteem 
 him for his worth as a man, and who recog-
 
 486 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 nize his ability in every public or private 
 capacity. Commencing life in limited cir- 
 cumstances, by his industry, economy, and 
 business ability, he has become one of the 
 prosperous citizens of Kane county, well- 
 known throughout its length and breadth. 
 
 EZEKIEL PEARCE, a retired farmer, 
 living at 326 South La Salle street, 
 Aurora, is a pioneer of northern Illinois. 
 He was born in Logan county, Ohio, August 
 6, 1827, and is the son of Daniel and Sarah 
 (Titsworth) Pearce, the former a native of 
 Maryland and the latter of Ohio. The fa- 
 ther was by occupation a farmer, and, in 
 1832, came to Illinois, and located a claim 
 in Kendall county, to which he removed his 
 family in 1833, at which time they did not 
 know of a white man north of them. They 
 settled near what is now the town of Os- 
 wego, and there was only two families be- 
 tween them and Chicago. The family of a 
 Mr. Walker was the only one residing be- 
 tween Oswego and Joliet. 
 
 Daniel Pearce served twelve days in the 
 war of 1812, when he was called back on 
 account of the cessation of hostilities. He 
 was married three times, and was the father 
 of fourteen children, nine of whom were by 
 his last wife, the mother of our subject. 
 Of these nine, all are living but two. They 
 were Lemuel, who went to California in 
 1850, in company with our subject, and, 
 after their arrival, left him and went south 
 with a friend, to engage in farming was 
 never afterward heard from; Ezekiel, our 
 subject; Joseph, a farmer residing in Kos- 
 suth county, Iowa; Elizabeth, who married 
 J. B. Stafford, and is now deceased; Daniel, 
 who resides on a cotton plantation, in Mis- 
 sissippi; James, living near Oswego, Illi- 
 
 nois; Rebecca, wife of W. H. Chappell, of 
 St. Joseph, Missouri; Isaac, who is in the 
 grain business in Dakota; and Calvin, on 
 the homestead, near Oswego. The father 
 died in 1878, when eighty-nine years old, 
 and the mother in 1874, when seventy-five 
 yearsold. They were members of the Meth- 
 odist church at Oswego. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared on 
 the farm, and agricultural pursuits have 
 been his life work. At the age of twenty- 
 two years he began life for himself, working 
 a farm on shares. In 1850, he went to 
 California, by the overland route, in com- 
 pany with his brother, Lemuel. They left 
 Oswego, Illinois, March 11, 1850, and 
 reached Placerville, commonly known as 
 Hangtown, on the I4th of July, following. 
 They started in a company of one hundred 
 and fifty persons, but dissensions arose, and 
 there were but few of the number together, 
 on their arrival in California. They passed 
 through Salt Lake City, and there spent 
 eight days, resting and viewing the sights. 
 On account of ill health, he was compelled 
 to return home much before the time ex- 
 pected. On his return he resumed farming, 
 and in 1860, made his first purchase of land 
 in Kendall county, consisting of about thir- 
 ty-five acres. As his means increased, he 
 made additions to his farm, until he had 
 two hundred and seventy- six acres, which 
 is yet in his possession, and which he farmed 
 for many years. He also has land in Ply- 
 mouth county, Iowa. 
 
 In 1852, Mr. Pearce was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Sarah A. Brownell, a daugh- 
 ter of David Brownell, of Kendall county. 
 By this union were six children: Sarah E., 
 now the wife of J. S. Hoyt, a farmer of 
 Plymouth county, Iowa, by whom she has 
 one child, Harry; Nora, wife of Thomas
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 487 
 
 Goudie, by whom she has three children, 
 Daniel, James and Margaret, also resides in 
 Plymouth county, Iowa; Frank D. , who 
 married Miss Loucks, bywhom he has five 
 children, Roy, Nathan, Ezekiel, Lida and 
 Edith, is a farmenresiding in Oswego town- 
 ship, Kendall county; Fred K., who mar- 
 ried Miss F. Gibbons, by whom he has 
 two children, Arthur and Georgia, resides 
 on the old homestead in Kendall county. 
 Two others died in early childhood. The 
 mother of these children died in 1883, at 
 the age of fifty-seven years. Mr. Pearce's 
 second marriage was in March, 1888, to 
 to Mrs. Stafford, nee Ferris, and widow of 
 Joseph Stafford. 
 
 Mrs. Pearce is a member of the Episco- 
 pal .church, and, fraternally, Mr. Pearce is a 
 member of Oswego lodge, No. 303, A. F. & 
 A. M., of Oswego, Illinois. Politically, he is 
 a Democrat. While not in the service him- 
 self, his two brothers, Isaac and Calvin, 
 took part in the late war, each serving three 
 years. The latter went with Sherman to 
 the sea. Isaac was a member of the Fourth 
 Illinois Cavalry, and was taken prisoner, 
 and spent a short time in Andersonville. 
 Both returned and are yet living. 
 
 F)ETER VAN DEUSEN, of Aurora, Illi- 
 1 nois, though not numbered among the 
 pioneers of Kane county, has been a resi- 
 dent of Aurora for about a quarter of a cen- 
 tury. He is a native of New York, born in 
 "the town of Livingston, Columbia county, 
 July 8, 1812. His father, Robert Van 
 Deusen, was a native of the same county 
 and state, as was his grandfathe"r, James 
 Van Deusen. The family was among the 
 pioneers of Columbia county and was origi- 
 nally from Holland. Robert Van Deusen 
 
 grew to manhood in his native county, and 
 married Barbara Sharp, born at Greenbush, 
 near Albany, New York, of which place her 
 father was an early settler. Robert Van 
 Deusen was by occupation a farmer, and 
 after remaining in New York for a few 
 months after marriage, he moved to the 
 town of Sheffield, Berkshire county, Massa- 
 chusetts, where his death occurred some 
 years later, and where his wife also died. 
 Of their five sons and four daughters, all 
 grew to mature years, married and became 
 heads of families. Of this number our sub- 
 ject and one sister are the only survivors. 
 The sister, Sally, is now the wife of John 
 Hillier, and resides in Sheffield, Berkshire 
 county, Massachusetts. 
 
 Peter Van Deusen spent his boyhood 
 and youth on the farm in Columbia county, 
 and had but very limited educational ad- 
 vantages, attending school during a few 
 weeks only of the winter months. In 
 other seasons of the year, he had to work 
 on the farm. After leaving the parental 
 roof, he worked out as a farm hand for sev- 
 eral years. He first married in Litchfield 
 county, Connecticut, in 1840, Miss Har- 
 riet Foster, a native of Connecticut. By 
 this union were two sons: Ward, married 
 and residing in Cherokee county, Iowa; and 
 Frank, married and residing in Litchfield 
 county, Connecticut. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Van Deusen 
 rented a farm in Litchfield county, Connect- 
 icut, which he operated a few years, and 
 then purchased the place on which he re- 
 sided for several years. Selling that farm, 
 he purchased the old homestead in Berk- 
 shire county, Massachusetts, which was only 
 two miles from his Connecticut farm. After 
 operating that farm for a number of years, 
 he sold out and came west. While residing
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 in Massachusetts he lost his wife in 1862. 
 Some six years later, in 1868, he married 
 Miss Fannie Cleveland, a native of Massa- 
 chusetts. The following year he located in 
 Will county, Illinois, where he rented a 
 farm some four or five years. He then 
 moved to Aurora and was employed in va- 
 rious enterprises for some years. Purchas- 
 ing a lot soon after his arrival here, he built 
 a neat and substantial residence at 224 
 Claim street, which is yet his home. 
 
 In early life Mr. Van Deusen was a Whig, 
 but since the organization of the Republican 
 party he has been identified with it, and 
 has been an earnest advocate of its princi- 
 ples. While not a member of any church, 
 Mr. and Mrs. Van Deusen attend the Con- 
 gregational church. In the many years 
 that have passed since coming to Kane 
 county, they have made many warm friends, 
 who esteem them for their worth as citizens, 
 and who honor them for their upright 
 character. 
 
 JAMES WRIGHT, a progressive farmer 
 residing on section 35, Plato township, 
 was born on the farm on which he now re- 
 sides, March 5, 1859. He received limited 
 schooling in the district school until his 
 fourteenth year, attending three months 
 each winter. His father died at that time, 
 making it necessary for him to shift for him- 
 self. He worked for a farmer during his 
 fourteenth year, and attended the winter 
 term of school. Until his eighteenth year 
 he worked by the month for various farmers 
 and then leased eighty acres from his moth- 
 er, for a period of ten years. The first 
 year his mother kept house for him, after 
 which he kept "bach" for five years, then 
 sold his four-years' leasehold to a brother. 
 
 The next six ye: rs he worked on farms 
 again, saving his money, and one by one 
 bought up the shares of his brothers and 
 sisters in the farm, until he now owns the 
 entire tract, consisting of one hundred and 
 eighty acres of as fine farming land as lies 
 in the Fox River valley. He bought the 
 final share in 1884. 
 
 The house first built by his father on 
 his first purchase, in the '303, was burned 
 some years ago, and our subject now resides 
 in the old house that stood on the hundred- 
 acre-tract, purchased by his father many 
 years after his settlement in Plato township. 
 In the spring of 1898 he built a fine large 
 barn, thirty-eighty by eighty feet, with a 
 high basement stable for the sheltering of 
 his herd of half a hundred milch cattle, and 
 his teams of fine horses. A breeder of fine 
 horses, Mr. Wright owns " Ben," a beauti- 
 ful white horse, whose grandsire was the 
 famous Percheron "Success," the first of 
 his race to be brought to America. His 
 dam was of Arabian blood, and "Ben" 
 shows the finer qualities of each, and is so 
 gentle a child can drive him. He has the 
 beautiful outlines and finely arched neck of 
 his Arabian sires. In 1899, Mr. Wright de- 
 signs building a commodious residence to 
 take the place of the one he now occupies, 
 which, though old, is made comfortable and 
 cosy on the inside by the hard of Mrs. 
 Wright. 
 
 Like all thrifty fanners, Mr. Wright be- 
 lieves in building first the barn to shelter 
 the stock and store the grain, which will 
 build the house later. His farm is well 
 cultivated and is used for dairy purposes; all 
 the products of the fields are fed upon the 
 place, making it annually more fertile than 
 the previous year. When a youth of seven- 
 teen, Mr. Wright worked with a threshing
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 489 
 
 machine, and when eighteen purchased a 
 half interest in a machine, and since that 
 time has been engaged each summer and 
 fall more or less in the threshing business. 
 He early began those habits of thrift which 
 have made him independent in middle life, 
 not owing a dollar and able to pay cash for 
 all he buys. When he first began life for 
 himself he had occasionally to contract 
 debts, but which spurred him on until paid. 
 Independence is the fruit of his labor. 
 
 William Wright, the father of our sub- 
 ject, was born in London, England, in 1813, 
 and was the son of a small farmer who was 
 not able to give his son an education. He 
 had early to earn his own living, and when 
 a mere child was employed at a few shillings 
 per month, with board, to drive crows from 
 the fields for the large farmers. While thus 
 employed he was not given enough to eat; 
 but he managed to earn enough to bring 
 him to America, although his earnings were 
 small, and it took a long time to secure the 
 required amount. He reached New York 
 in 1836, with only a shilling in his 
 pocket. As soon as he could earn a small 
 sum he came on to Kane county, and for 
 three years worked at anything that came 
 to his hands. He entered eighty acres on 
 section 36, Plato township, later adding 
 adjoining one hundred acres in section 35. 
 At first he raised grain exclusively, but 
 drifted into dairy farming and that became 
 more profitable. He died in 1872, in his 
 fifty-ninth year. In politics he was a Re- 
 publican. 
 
 After living a bachelor's life for five or 
 six years after coming to Kane county, Mr. 
 Wright married Miss Sylvia Seward, a native 
 of Binghamton, New York, who came to 
 Kane county with her parents when a miss 
 of twelve or thirteen years. She was the 
 
 daughter of Levi and Harriet (Spencer) 
 Seward. By this union ten children were 
 born, eight of whom are now living: John, 
 living near Plato Centre; William, living in 
 Kansas; Mark, who resides in Nebraska; 
 Sarah, wife of Harry Elmore, of Rockford.Ill- 
 nois; James, our subject; Huldah.who makes 
 her home with our subject; Jesse; Levi, liv- 
 ing at Bafford, Kansas; Katherine, who died 
 at the age of twenty-two, and Frank who 
 died in infancy. The mother of these chil- 
 dren died at the age of sixty-seven years. 
 
 James Wright, our subject, married, in 
 Geneva, Illinois,. December 8, 1885, Miss Har- 
 riet Tucker, born in Campton township, Kane 
 county, and a daughter of Charles and Clara 
 (Andrew) Tucker, now residents of Plato 
 township. By this union five children have 
 been born, four of whom are now living: 
 Meerll Elmer, born October 14, 1886; Ida 
 May, born May 8, 1887; Lester Leroy, born 
 April 8, 1894; and Orris L., born July 4, 
 1897. One child died in infancy. 
 
 Fraternally; Mr. Wright is a member of 
 Wasco camp, No. 1701, M. W. A. In 
 politics he is a thorough Republican. 
 
 JOHN KELLY is a prominent farmer 
 residing on section 15, Hampshire 
 township, where he is engaged with his 
 brother, Timothy Kelly, Jr., in general and 
 dairy farming. He was born on the farm 
 where he now resides, October 14, 1865, 
 and is the son of Timothy and Mary (Ryan) 
 Kelly, both of whom were natives of Ireland. 
 Timothy Kelly, the father of our sub- 
 ject, was born in County Tipperary, Ire- 
 land, March 25, 1818, and came to America 
 in 1840, taking passage on an old sailing 
 vessel, and being shipwrecked. The voy- 
 age lasted sixteen weeks, when he landed
 
 490 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 at New York, where he lived one year, 
 working at his trade of blacksmith. On 
 coming to Illinois, he secured a position of 
 blacksmith for the stage line running be- 
 tween Chicago and Galena, and was placed 
 in charge of the shop at the stage station 
 one mile west of the old village of Hamp- 
 shire. He was the first blacksmith in the 
 township. Besides the company's shoeing 
 and repairing, he was allowed to do such 
 other work as came to the shop. Having 
 the only smithy in the neighborhood, he 
 was seldom idle, and, by his thrifty habits, 
 prospered. Soon he began buying land, his 
 first purchase being about 1845, when he 
 secured a portion of the tract which now 
 comprises the homestead, to which he added 
 until it now comprises two hundred and 
 forty acres of as fine land as is to be found 
 in the Prairie state. He built the house and 
 barns, and began the tiling of the land ; --to 
 which his sons have added until they have 
 more than one thousand rods of tiling. In 
 addition to his farm, Mr. Kelly purchased 
 one of one hundred and forty-five acres, 
 which he gave to his son James, who occu- 
 pies the same. 
 
 In 1 848, ".in Du Page county, Illinois, 
 Timothy Kelly married Mary Ryan, a daugh- 
 ter of Timothy and Ellen (Eagan) Ryan, 
 who emigrated to the states in the early 
 '403. By this union ten children were born, 
 as follows: Michael, a blacksmith residing 
 in Hampshire; Ellen, wife of Michael Burns, 
 an account of whom appears elsewhere in 
 this work; James, living in the village of 
 Hampshire; Julia, wife of Lawrence Somers, 
 of Hampshire; Maggie, Mary and Bridget, 
 who died quite young; John, our subject; 
 Timothy, Jr., in partnership with our sub- 
 ject on the farm; and one who died in 
 infancy. 
 
 After the building of the railroad and 
 the discontinuing of the stage line, Mr. 
 Kelly erected a forge on the farm, and con- 
 tinued his trade, until_his farming interests 
 were such as to demand his whole attention. 
 After a long and useful life, Mr. Kelly died 
 June 23, 1889. Religiously he was a Cath- 
 olic, and in politics a Democrat. 
 
 John Kelly, our subject, was reared on 
 the farm, and received his education in the 
 schools of Hampshire village, which he at- 
 tended until the age of sixteen years. He 
 remained on the farm with his father until 
 his death, since which time, in partnership 
 with his brother Timothy, he has been en- 
 gaged in its cultivation. They keep it un- 
 der a high state of cultivation, and have 
 upon the place about fifty head of cows, 
 the product of which they ship to Chicago. 
 In politics he is a Democrat, and, religiously, 
 a member of the Catholic church at Hamp- 
 shire. He married Maggie Manning, born 
 in Boston, and a daughter of Phillip and 
 Ellen (Hawes) Manning, both of whom 
 were born in County Tipperary, Ireland, 
 and both living in Rutland township, Kane 
 county, in good health. 
 
 HIRAM T. HARDY, M. D., has been 
 actively engaged in the practice of his 
 profession at Kaneville, Illinois, for a quar- 
 ter of a century. He is a native of New 
 Hampshire, born at North Groton, Grafton 
 county, March 12, 1838. The family are 
 of English descent, and early settlers of 
 New England. David Hardy, the grand- 
 father, was a native of New Hampshire, as 
 was also his son, Luther Hardy, the father 
 of our subject. The latter grew to man- 
 hood in Grafton county, and there married 
 Lucy Tenney, also a native of the Granite
 
 LIHRAflV 
 OF THE 
 
 Of 1UIN01S.
 
 H. T. HARDY, M. D.
 
 MRS. H. T. HARDY.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 493 
 
 state, and a daughter of Benjamin and 
 Betsy (Taylor) Tenney, the latter being a 
 daughter of Jacob Taylor, a soldier of the 
 Revolutionary war. Luther Hardy was a 
 substantial farmer of Grafton county, where 
 he reared his family, and there spent his 
 entire life, dying, however, while on a visit 
 to Boston, Masachussetts, March 27, 1872. 
 His wife passed away August 20, 1871. 
 
 The subject of this sketch spent his boy- 
 hood and youth upon the home farm, 
 and in the common schools received his 
 primary education, completing his literary 
 course at theThetford, Vermont, Academy. 
 After leaving school, he was engaged in 
 teaching for about two years, during which 
 time he began the study of medicine, under 
 the instruction of Dr. E. C. Worcester, and 
 took his first course of lectures at Dartmouth 
 College. In the spring of 1862, he enlisted 
 in the Seventh Squadron, Rhode Island 
 Cavalry, for three-months' service. They 
 were sent to the front, and did duty in 
 Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, principally in 
 scouting and picket duty. He was dis- 
 charged at the expiration of his term of 
 enlistment, returned home, and resumed the 
 study of medicine. His services, however, 
 were needed in the field, and, in the fall of 
 1863, he again enlisted, this time joining the 
 Third Vermont Battery, and with this bat- 
 tery he was assigned to the Army of the 
 Potomac, participating with it in many 
 engagements, among which was the battle 
 of the Wilderness, numerous engagements 
 around Petersburg and Richmond, and in 
 fact all along the line. Early in 1865 they 
 broke camp, and started after Lee, and 
 our subject was present at Appomattox 
 Courthouse, when General Lee surrendered. 
 After the surrender he was detailed to hos- 
 pital duty, at Farmville, Virginia, and there 
 
 remained until his discharge, June 15, 
 1865. 
 
 After receiving his discharge, Mr. Hardy 
 returned home, and again took up the study 
 of medicine. In the fall of 1865 he re- 
 turned to Dartmouth College, and grad- 
 uated from that noted institution of learning 
 in the class of 1866, receiving his degree of 
 M. D. Soon after graduating, he located 
 at Strafford, Vermont, and began the prac- 
 tice of his profession, remaining thereabout 
 five years, and building up a good practice. 
 
 While residing at Strafford, Dr. Hardy 
 was united in marriage, March 12, 1868, 
 with Miss Sophia E. Buzzell, a native of 
 Vermont, borri and reared at Strafford, and 
 in its schools, and at Flushing, Long 
 Island, receiving her education. She is the 
 daughter of John D. and Wealthy A. (Smith) 
 Buzzell, both natives of Vermont. Dr. 
 and Mrs. Hardy have two children living, 
 Ralph H. and Adra Genevieve. The for- 
 mer is married, and is engaged in business 
 in Kaneville. The latter is a student of the 
 Kaneville school, and has developed fine 
 musical talent. One daughter, Mabel Le 
 Rue, died in 1877, at the age of four and a 
 half years. 
 
 In the spring of 1-871, Dr. Hardy came 
 to Illinois and located at Elgin, where the 
 parents of Mrs. Hardy had previously set- 
 tled. During the summer following, Dr. 
 Hardy engaged in the practice of his pro- 
 fession at Elgin, but in the fall of that year 
 moved to Dorchester, Saline county, Ne- 
 braska, but only remained there during the 
 winter, returning to Elgin in the spring of 
 1872, and there engaging in practice about 
 eighteen months, and, in the fall of 1873, 
 removing to and making a permanent lo- 
 cation at Kaneville. Here he has since 
 been actively engaged in the practice of his
 
 494 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 profession, a period of twenty-five years. 
 His practice is a large one, extending for 
 many miles around. His success as a physi- 
 cian has been such as to commend him to 
 the entire community. He is a member of 
 the Fox River Valley Medical Association, 
 the Chicago Medical Association, the Illinois 
 State Medical Association and the American 
 Medical Association, in each of which he 
 has been somewhat active, preparing various 
 papers, and taking part in the discussions. 
 He keeps fully abreast of the times and 
 well posted in all the medical discoveries, 
 and while, naturally conservative, does not 
 hesitate to adopt that which accords with 
 his judgment. 
 
 The father of Mrs. Hardy, John D. Buz- 
 zell, came west with his family in 1870, lo- 
 cating in Elgin, Illinois, where he lived a 
 retired life, and there spent his last years, 
 dying in 1874. After his death, Mrs. Buz- 
 zell moved to Kaneville, making her home 
 with her daughter, Mrs. Hardy, where her 
 death occurred in 1881. They were both 
 highly honored and respected people. 
 
 Politically Dr. Hardy is a stanch Re- 
 publican, and in 1860, cast his first presi- 
 dential ballot for Abraham Lincoln. From 
 that time to the present, he has advocated 
 the men and measures of that party, and 
 has cast his vote for each of its presidential 
 candidates. A friend of education and the 
 "public schools, he has served several years 
 as a member of the school board of Kane- 
 ville, and is at present one of the board. 
 Religiously the Doctor and wife are mem- 
 bers of the Congregational church at Elgin, 
 and attend the Methodist Episcopal church 
 at Kaneville, and for eleven years the 
 Doctor served as superintendent of its Sun- 
 day-school, and was also leader of the 
 choir, while Mrs. Hardy was organist for 
 
 some years. Their son, Ralph H., is now 
 leader of the choir of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal church. Fraternally the Doctor is a 
 Master Mason, and is a member of the 
 Modern Woodmen of America, and the exam- 
 ining physician for the camp at Kaneville. 
 He is also a member of the Aurora post, 
 Grand Army of the Republic. Few men 
 are better known in Kane county, and none 
 more highly honored than the subject of this 
 sketch. 
 
 DANIEL J. FELLOWS, one of the en- 
 terprising and progressive business 
 men of St. Charles, dates his residence in 
 Kane county from November, 1839, and is 
 there justly numbered among its pioneers as 
 well as its representative and prominent 
 citizens. The Fellows family is of English 
 origin and was founded in the United States 
 at a very early day, its representatives lo- 
 cating in New York, of which state our sub- 
 ject's grandfather was a native. 
 
 His father, Stephen Fellows, was also 
 born in New York, and when a child of five 
 years lost his father. In Genesee county, 
 that state, he grew to manhood and mar- 
 ried Sabra Stephens, who was born in New 
 York, of German lineage. In 1835 they 
 removed to Cuyahoga county, Ohio, where 
 our subject was born March 16, 1836, but 
 after a residence there of one year they re- 
 turned to New York. In November, 1839, 
 however, they came to Kane county, Illi- 
 nois, where the father purchased a claim of 
 three hundred acres. He later entered the 
 land and converted it into a fine farm, con- 
 tinuing to make it his home until called to 
 his final rest in 1875, at the age of eighty- 
 one years. He was one of the charter mem- 
 bers of the Baptist church of St. Charles,
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 495 
 
 which he helped to organize, and always 
 took an active and prominent part in all 
 church work. His wife survived him for 
 five years, and they now lie side by side in 
 the Garfield cemetery near the old home- 
 stead. 
 
 To this worthy couple were born five 
 sons and seven daughters, of whom three 
 sons and six daughters are still living. Lu- 
 cinda was the wife of Joseph Allard, a resi- 
 dent of Iowa. Hiram has been a resident 
 of Oregon since 1847, having driven across 
 the plains with two yoke of oxen and being 
 six months en route. Darius died in Utah. 
 Mary, deceased, was the wife of Martin 
 Johnson, of Janesville, Wisconsin. Laura 
 is the widow of A. L. Wheeler and is a res- 
 ident of St. Charles. Alexander is de- 
 ceased. Daniel J. is next in order of birth. 
 Stephen A. lives in Ogle county, Illinois. 
 Caroline is the wife of John M. Kendall, of 
 Vandalia, Illinois. Lydia is the wife of 
 James Earnshaw, of Olwein, Iowa. Sarah 
 is the wife of H. M. Wing, of Olwein, Iowa. 
 Jerome Lawrence also makes his home in 
 the same town in Iowa. 
 
 Daniel J. Fellows was only a child of 
 three years when brought by his parents to 
 this state, and upon the old homestead in 
 Kane county he grew to manhood, attend- 
 ing the local schools and aiding in the work 
 of clearing and developing the home farm. 
 
 After reaching man's estate he rented a 
 farm and began life for himself. In this 
 county he was married in March, 1858, to 
 Miss Serepta Madison, a native of New 
 York State, and a daughter of Dyer Madi- 
 son, another pioneer of Kane county, who 
 brought his family here when Mrs. Fellows 
 was a child of twelve years. 
 
 After his marriage, Mr. Fellows contin- 
 ued to engage in agricultural pursuits until 
 
 1865, when he rented his farm, and since 
 November of that year has lived at his pres- 
 ent home in St. Charles. For about five 
 years he engaged in pressing hay and hand- 
 ling stock and grain, and, later, in connection 
 with the stock business, he was interested 
 in general merchandising for about three 
 years. On the 3d of June, 1874, he started 
 for California with three car loads of sheep, 
 which he disposed of in San Francisco, the 
 venture proving quite profitable, and the 
 money derived therefrom he invested in 
 half a block on Forty- eighth street, Chicago. 
 After four months spent upon the Pacific 
 slope he returned to St. Charles, and again 
 engaged in the stock and grain business un- 
 til 1887. That year he and his family went 
 to California by way of the Southern Pacific 
 railroad, and from the southern part of that 
 state proceeded to San Francisco, and, later, 
 to Oregon, visiting his brother, who had 
 left his old home in Kane county just forty 
 years before. This pleasant trip occupied 
 five months. Since his return, Mr. Fellows 
 has given his attention principally to the 
 real-estate business, handling Chicago and 
 farm property. 
 
 Our subject's first wife died November 
 ii, 1870, leaving three children. Sabra 
 Ellen married Fred Moore and removed to 
 .Kansas, where she died, leaving three chil- 
 dren. Elmer, who is now interested in the 
 stock and grain business in St. Charles, is 
 married and has six children. Harry, also 
 of St. Charles, is married and has three 
 children. In Marengo, Illinois, December 
 25, 1872, Mr. Fellows married Helen M. 
 Beam, a native of Kane county, and a 
 daughter of James Beam, an early settler 
 and pioneer teacher of this region. This 
 wife died March 5, 1889. Two children 
 blessed this union: Willis Daniel, a resi-
 
 496 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 dent of St. Charles; and Bessie L.,a graduate 
 of the East Side High School, now living 
 at home. On the 25th of September, 1889, 
 in St. Charles, Mr. Fellows was united in 
 marriage with Eliza H. Dailey, who was 
 born, reared and educated in Nova Scotia, 
 and is a daughter of James S. Dailey, also 
 a native of Nova Scotia. By the last mar- 
 riage there are three children, namely: 
 Howard M., Stephen L. and Laura Elva. 
 Mr. Fellows cast his first presidential 
 ballot for Abraham Lincoln in 1860, and 
 was an ardent supporter of the Republican 
 party for many years, but for the past eight 
 years he has been identified with the Pro- 
 hibition party. He has never cared for 
 political honors, preferring to give his entire 
 time and attention to his business interests. 
 Earnest and consistent Christian people, he 
 ana his wife are faithful members of the 
 Baptist church, with which he has long 
 been officially connected, and is now serv- 
 ing as deacon. Almost his entire life has 
 been passed in Kane county, and that those 
 who know him best are numbered among 
 his warmest friends testifies to a well-spent 
 life and honorable career. 
 
 JACOB D. RICKERT, the well-known 
 engineer at the Elgin Watch Factory, 
 of Elgin, Illinois, and one of the honored 
 early settlers of that place, is a native of 
 Pennsylvania, born May 25, 1838, in Schuyl- 
 kill county, of which his parents, Joseph 
 and Elizabeth (Diebert) Rickert, were also 
 natives. Both were of German descent and 
 were representatives of old Pennsylvania 
 families. Joseph Rickert, who was a farm- 
 er by occupation, brought his family to Illi- 
 nois about 1848, and first located in Gene- 
 va, Kane county, where he worked at his 
 
 chosen calling for about six years. He then 
 removed to Elmhurst, Du Page county, 
 twelve years later went to Bloomingdale, 
 Illinois, and, after fifteen years spent at that 
 place, removed to Wheaton, where he lived 
 for three years, at the end of which time he 
 located in Naperville, all in Du Page county. 
 At the last named place he died in 1878, 
 and his wife passed away at the home of 
 her son, Daniel, in Aurora, in 1889. They 
 were earnest members of the German Evan- 
 gelical church, and in politics the father 
 was first a Whig and later a Republican. 
 In the family of this worthy couple were 
 seven children, four of whom are still liv- 
 ing, namely: Esther, the wife of Samuel 
 Kline; Sarah, wife of Walter L. Good; Dan- 
 iel, a resident of Aurora; and Jacob D. , of 
 this sketch. 
 
 Until attaining his majority our subject 
 remained with his parents, and in the schools 
 of Geneva, Illinois, he began his education, 
 the family having removed to that place 
 when he was about eight years of age. The 
 district schools afforded him the only oppor- 
 tunity he had for obtaining an education. 
 Mr. Rickert manifested his patriotism by 
 enlisting at St. Charles, Kane county, Sep- 
 tember 1 6, 1 86 1, in Company D, Eighth 
 Illinois Cavalry, and was in all the engage- 
 ments of his regiment until after the battle 
 of Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1863. While 
 on a foraging expedition in charge of Quar- 
 termaster Chamberlain, he and his com- 
 rades met a regiment of Confederate sol- 
 diers, who made them prisoners. For about 
 a month he was confined in Libby prison 
 and was then paroled under the condition 
 that they would fight no more. They were 
 ordered to Washington, District of Colum- 
 bia, where there was a large number of 
 paroled prisoners, more than could be pro-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 497 
 
 vided for, and Mr. Rickert was among 
 those discharged by order of the Secretary 
 of War. 
 
 Since his return from the war, Mr. 
 Rickert has been employed as a stationary 
 engineer, and in that capacity has been 
 with the Elgin Watch Factory since Janu- 
 ary 8, 1867, almost a third of a century. 
 His long continuance in their service plain- 
 ly indicates the confidence and trust the 
 company repose in him. 
 
 On the 6th of January, 1864, Mr. Rick- 
 ert was united in marriage with Miss Har- 
 riet A. Smith, a native of Bloomingdale, 
 Du Page county, Illinois, and a daughter of 
 Alvin and Mrs. (Walker) Smith, who weie 
 among the early settlers of that place, 
 where the mother died. The father, who 
 was a native of Vermont and a farmer by 
 occupation, departed this life while living 
 in Elgin. Mr. and Mrs. Rickert have four 
 children: Charles A., an employe in the 
 Elgin Watch Factory, wedded Mary John- 
 son, of Carpentersville, and has one child, 
 Gale; Judson D. married Frances Barber 
 and is employed in the finishing department 
 of the watch factory; Lillian, who is also 
 connected with the factory, resides at home; 
 and Nellie E. expects to graduate from the 
 Michigan University at Ann Arbor in the 
 spring of 1898. The family have a very 
 pleasant home at No. 274 Grove avenue, 
 which was erected by Mr. Rickert, and 
 which is the abode of hospitality and good 
 cheer. 
 
 Politically, he is an ardent Republican, 
 and, socially, he is an active and prominent 
 member of the Grand Army Post, No. 49, 
 of Elgin, and he also belongs to the Ancient 
 Order of United Workmen and the Loyal 
 Legion. He is a man of domestic tastes 
 and industrious habits, and commands the 
 
 confidence and respect of all with whom he 
 comes in contact, either in business or so- 
 cial life. Mrs. Rickert is an earnest mem- 
 ber of the Congregational church and a 
 most estimable lady. 
 
 JOHN H. SCOTT, who is now living a 
 retired life in Aurora, has been a resi- 
 dent of Kane county since 1838. He is a 
 native of Oneida county, New York, born 
 October 26, 1834. His father, John Scott, 
 was a native of County Derry, Ireland, born 
 about 1804, came with his parents to the 
 New World, when a lad of eleven years. 
 They settled in Oneida county, New York, 
 where he grew to manhood, married Mary 
 Atkinson, a native of Leeds, England, and 
 who came to America with her father, 
 Francis Atkinson, when a child of nine 
 years. John Scott was a wagon maker by 
 trade, and followed that occupation in con- 
 nection with carpentering in early life. In 
 1837, he moved to Chicago, then a town 
 of about three thousand people, and for a 
 year was an overseer on the Illinois & Mich- 
 igan canal. In 1838 he came to Kane 
 county, and spent the winter of 1838-9 in 
 the village of St. Charles. In the spring of 
 1839, he took up a claim of sor .e four hun- 
 dred acres in Virgil township The Indian 
 tent-poles were still on the place, and also 
 the tent-poles of the soldiers under General 
 Scott, who removed the Indians from this 
 vicinity. 
 
 After locating upon the farm, John 
 Scott commenced its improvement, and at 
 the same time did a great deal of carpenter 
 work in Kane and adjoining counties, up to 
 within a short distance of Chicago. He 
 built three good houses on his claim, and, 
 in 1856, engaged in merchandising at Black-
 
 498 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 berry Station, now Elburn. He remained 
 there for two years, then returned to his 
 farm, but later sold it and removed to Syca- 
 more, De Kalb county, built a residence, 
 and there engaged in business for a time, 
 then returned to farm life, and still later lo- 
 cated in Elburn, where he remained about 
 a year. He then went to St. Charles, 
 where he died at the residence of his son, 
 William, in 1880. His wife passed away 
 about two years later. He was quite a 
 prominent man in the early days of Kane 
 county, and was one of the last county 
 commissioners prior to the adoption of the 
 township organization law. For several 
 years he served as justice of the peace, and 
 was one of the most active and enterprising 
 citizens of this county. 
 
 John H. Scott, our subject, came to the 
 state a lad of three years, and was but four 
 years old when he came to Kane county. 
 In the primitive schools of the early days, 
 he obtained his primary education, and later 
 attended the St. Charles High School and 
 the Elgin Academy. He remained upon the 
 home farm until after attaining his major- 
 ity, and with his father was engaged in the 
 mercantile trade at Blackberry Station. In 
 1858 he purchased his father's interest in 
 the store, which he continued for one year, 
 then exchanged it for a farm in Kaneville 
 township. 
 
 On the 22nd of November, 1858, in 
 Ogle county, Illinois, he married Miss 
 Martha J. Ostrander, a native of Erie coun- 
 ty, Pennsylvania, where she was reared and 
 educated, and, for a time previous to her 
 marriage, engaged in teaching in the public 
 schools. By this union two children were 
 born, who grew to maturity, the eldest, Lill- 
 ian Lizzie, being now the wife of F. G. 
 Hanchett, a prominent attorney of Aurora. 
 
 The other, R. B. Scott, is also a lawyer of 
 prominence in Aurora" He married Alice 
 M. Downing, a daughter of W. H. Down- 
 ing, of Aurora. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Scott began their domestic 
 life in the town of Blackberry, but, in 1859 
 moved to the farm in Kaneville township, 
 which was a tract of one hundred and forty 
 acres of improved land. He at once be- 
 gan the cultivation of the farm, and en- 
 gaged in general farming and stockraising 
 for about seven years, when he sold the 
 farm and January i, 1867, moved to Kane- 
 ville, and for a time was clerk in the em- 
 ploy of B. A. Coy, and later with B. A. 
 Coy & J. W. Prichard. After being in the 
 firm for a time, he purchased the interest 
 of the firm, and continued the business un- 
 til 1888, and meeting with gratifying suc- 
 cess. During this tirne he invested his 
 surplus means in two farms, one near Kane- 
 ville, consisting of one hundred and sixty- 
 one acres, well-improved, and a place of 
 four hundred acres in Blackberry township, 
 which was also well improved. 
 
 In his political views, Mr. Scott is a 
 Republican, his first presidential ballot be- 
 ing cast for John C. Fremont, in 1856. He 
 has cast his presidential ballot for the nom- 
 inee of that party at every election from 
 that time to the present, save in 1896, 
 when he was prevented from voting by an 
 accident, which confined him to the house. 
 By his fellow citizens he has been hon- 
 ored with various local offices, including 
 that of township treasurer, in which he 
 served several years, justice of the peace 
 for eight years, and also assessor for 
 several years. A friend of education, he 
 served for years as a member of the 
 school board, and for some sixteen years 
 was postmaster at Kaneville. In many of
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 499 
 
 the conventions of his party, county, con- 
 gressional and state, he served as a delegate. 
 Faithful in all things, he discharged every 
 duty in a satisfactory manner. 
 
 Mr. Scott lost his wife July 5, 1896, 
 and she was laid to rest in Spring Lake 
 cemetery. She was for many years a con- 
 sistent member of the Methodist church, 
 and died in the faith. For more than forty 
 years, Mr. Scott has also been a member 
 of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which 
 he has taken an active part, and where his 
 influence for good has been been felt by 
 many persons. In 1896 he moved to Au- 
 rora, where he has since lived a retired 
 life, enjoying the fruits of the years gone 
 by, honored and respected by all. In the 
 sixty-four years of his residence in Kane 
 county, he has made many friends through- 
 out its length and breadth, and has been 
 no inconsiderable factor in its development. 
 
 JOHN TYERS, of Aurora, Illinois, has 
 been a resident of the city since 1854, 
 during which time he has been actively en- 
 gaged either in contracting and building, or 
 as one of the trusted employees of the Chi- 
 cago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Com- 
 pany. He was born in Peakirk, Northamp- 
 tonshire, England, December 4, 1831, and 
 is the son of Matthew and Mary (Lewin) 
 Tyers, both of whom were natives of the 
 same shire, the father being engaged for 
 many years in the mercantile business at 
 Peakirk. The maternal grandfather, James 
 Lewin, also a native of Northamptonshire, 
 was a man of superior education, and a 
 professional teacher, and for thirty years 
 was employed in one school. 
 
 John Tyers is one of a family of four 
 sons and one daughter, all of whom grew 
 
 to mature years, save one son. Edward 
 was a well-educated man, a teacher in Eng- 
 land, where his death occurred. James 
 grew to manhood in England, came to the 
 United States and settled at Oswego, Illi- 
 nois, and there married. He was a miller 
 by trade, and for a number of years was en- 
 gaged in the milling business at Oswego, 
 later removed west to Sioux Rapids, Iowa, 
 where he purchased a mill and there car- 
 ried on business for a few years, then 
 returned to Oswego, Illinois, but is now 
 traveling with his wife in the south. Alice, 
 widow of Mark Vickers, now resides in the 
 city of London. John is the subject of this 
 sketch. William, a miller by trade, is now 
 living retired at West Brighton, near 
 Rochester, New York. In his native coun- 
 try, John Tyers grew to manhood and re- 
 ceived good common-school advantages. 
 In early life he learned the carpenter's and 
 joiner's trade, serving an apprenticeship of 
 three years. In company with his brother 
 William he emigrated to America in 1852, 
 and joined his older brother at Vienna, now 
 called Phelps, New York, and went to work 
 at his trade. He there remained. two years, 
 about half of which time he was a partner 
 in a sash and blind factory. In 1854 he 
 came to Aurora, where he worked for a 
 time at his trade as a journeyman, and then 
 commenced contracting and building. La- 
 ter he went into the shops of the Chicago, 
 Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company, 
 and was employed in the construction of 
 buildings and depots. After the Chicago 
 fire, he was sent to that city by the rom- 
 pany, and there worked for a time. Previ- 
 ous to his entering the employ of the com- 
 pany, he assisted in the erection of a school- 
 house at Piano, and the Methodist Episco- 
 pal church at Sandwich.
 
 500 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Mr. Tyers was united in marriage at 
 Aurora, December 25, 1858, with Miss 
 Sophia Corlett, a native of New York, born 
 near Utica, and a daughter of Thomas Cor- 
 lett. There are two children by this union, 
 the oldest, Mary E. , now being the wife of 
 Lester Barker, a prominent business man 
 of Sandwich. The youngest, William J., 
 is married and is the present city attorney 
 of Aurora. Since leaving the railroad com- 
 pany, Mr. Tyers has worked at his trade, 
 and in contracting and building. Many of 
 the public and private buildings of Au- 
 rora show the architectural skill and handi- 
 work of our subject. Since locating in Au- 
 rora, as a permanent investment, Mr. Tyers 
 has taken stock in the Burlington road. 
 Politically he is a Republican, his first pres- 
 idential ballot being cast for Abrahan Lin- 
 coln and his last for \Villiam McKinley. 
 He is a member of the Baptist church, of 
 which body his wife is also a member, and 
 both are active in church and benevolent 
 work. Fraternally, he is a Master Mason. 
 Mrs. Tyers is a member of the Woman's 
 Relief Corps of Aurora. In the forty-four 
 years of his residence here, Mr. Tyers has 
 witnessed many changes, and in the great 
 transformation that has taken place he has 
 been an active factor. No man in Aurora 
 stands higher in the estimation of the- 
 people. 
 
 HON. TIMOTHY N. HOLDEN, mayor 
 of Aurora, and a representative of one 
 of its pioneer families, was born in North 
 Charlestown, New Hampshire, March 21, 
 1839, and is the son of Richard and Sophia 
 (Allen) Holden. Richard Holden was the 
 son of Timothy Holden, a native of New 
 Hampshire, of English ancestry, who was 
 
 by occupation a farmer, and served in the 
 Revolutionary war. 
 
 Richard Holden was born in Charles- 
 town, New Hampshire, in 1809, and, after 
 arriving at mature years, engaged in the 
 mercantile business in that city. He came 
 west in 1853 with his family and located 
 in Rockton, Winnebago county, Illinois, 
 and there remained until the spring of 1858, 
 when he came to Aurora, where he spent 
 the remainder of his life, dying in his 
 eighty-fifth year. He was originally an 
 Old-line Whig, and, later, a Republican. 
 Sophia, his wife, was the daughter of Na- 
 than and Deborah (Farwell) Allen, all of 
 whom were natives of New Hampshire. 
 She died in Chicago in her eighty-fourth 
 year. They were the parents of four chil- 
 dren James L., living in Chicago; John 
 G., who died in 1895; Timothy N., our 
 subject; and Mary E., living in Aurora. 
 
 Mr. Holden began his education in the 
 public schools of Charlestown, New Hamp- 
 shire, and was fourteen years of age when 
 the family left for the west. He finished 
 his education in the schools of Rockton. 
 When nineteen years of age he went to 
 Chicago and entered the employ of Fuller 
 & Fuller, who are in the drug trade, with 
 whom he remained eleven years. He then 
 engaged in business for himself, in the 
 wholesale glassware trade, on South Water 
 street, Chicago, and was in that business at 
 the time of the great fire in 1871, when he 
 was burned out with the rest. Losing 
 everything, he came to Aurora, and soon 
 after found employment with the Chicago, 
 Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company, 
 and was with them seven years. He then 
 went "into the hardware business, as the 
 junior member of the firm of Kendall & 
 Holden, and that partnership continued for
 
 T. N. HOLDEN.

 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 503 
 
 fifteen years, when he sold out to his part- 
 ner. In 1895 he took up the real-estate, 
 insurance and loan business, his offices be- 
 ing in the Coulter building. 
 
 Mr. Holden was united in marriage, 
 September 17, 1868, to Marian Howell, 
 daughter of Dr. O. D. and Cornelia (Moore) 
 Howell. She was born in Moresville, Dela- 
 ware county, New York, where her mother 
 was also born, while her father was a na- 
 tive of the same county. They settled in 
 Aurora in 1855, where he continued his 
 practice. Both he and his wife are de- 
 ceased. They had six children, two of 
 whom are now living Marian, and Annie 
 the latter being the wife of Judge F. M. 
 Annis, of Aurora. To Mr. and Mrs. 
 Holden, two sons have been born Frank 
 H., and Ben E., who are now in Paris, 
 where they have been for three years, en- 
 gaged in study. They completed their pre- 
 liminary education at Aurora, then gradu- 
 ated at the Chicago Manual Training School, 
 then attended the Institute of Technology 
 in Boston, three years, and are now at the 
 Beauxarts, in Paris, and will finish the 
 course in the fall of 1898. In that school 
 are many young Americans, and all of promi- 
 nent American families. This will be a 
 splendid schooling for these young men, and 
 when they return they will be richly and 
 well endowed for life's journey. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Holden are members of 
 the People's church, in Aurora, and in poli- 
 tics he is a Republican, casting his first 
 presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln. He 
 has held various positions of honor and 
 trust, and for eighteen years was a member 
 of the board of education. For fifteen 
 years, he was a member of the board of su- 
 pervisors of Kane county, and -was chair- 
 man of the board for eight consecutive 
 
 24 
 
 years. In the spring of 1897, he was 
 elected mayor of Aurora, and has made a 
 popular and efficient officer, ever looking to- 
 wards the best interests of Aurora. He has 
 always taken an active part in the politics 
 of the county, and has been a prominent 
 factor in its growth and development. So- 
 cially he is a charter member of the City 
 Club, and has been its president. He is a 
 man of pleasing address, of social charac- 
 teristics and highly esteemed. 
 
 AH. LOWRIE is one of the most influ- 
 ential citizens of Elgin, a conspicuous 
 figure in the business and public life of the 
 city, exerting, a strong influence in support 
 of all progressive measures for the public 
 good. A man of spleh'did intellectual en- 
 dowment, broad minded and viewing with 
 comprehensive glance the needs of the com- 
 munity, he advocates all that tends to the 
 general welfare, and is accounted one of the 
 valued residents of Elgin. 
 
 Born in Berwickshire, Scotland, October 
 29, 11836, our subject is a son of David and 
 Margaret (Selby) Lowrie, also natives of 
 Scotland, The grandfather, David Lowrie, 
 was an only child. For some years he was 
 connected with the military service of his 
 country, and after the battle of Copenhagen, 
 in which he participated, he was retired on 
 half pay. He taught sword exercises after 
 leaving the army and was a respected mem- 
 ber of the community in which he made his 
 home. The maternal grandfather of our 
 subject was a farmer and died in Scotland 
 in middle life. In 1842, David Lowrie, Jr., 
 emigrated to America with his family, locat- 
 ing in Cleveland, Ohio, where he died in 
 March, 1843, at the age of sixty-one years. 
 His wife passed away in 1863 when more
 
 504 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 than sixty years of age. Both were mem- 
 bers of the Methodist church, and he was a 
 Free Soiler and strong anti-slavery man. 
 Their family numbered ten children, seven 
 sons and three daughters, of whom seven 
 are now living. 
 
 Mr. Lowrie, whose name begins this re- 
 view, was a child of six years when he came 
 with his parents to America. He went all 
 through the Cleveland schools and after his 
 graduation in the high school of that city 
 became a student in Adrian College, Michi- 
 gan. Later he matriculated in the Univer- 
 sity of Michigan at Ann Arbor, but returned 
 in the senior year to the Adrian college, 
 and was graduated on the completion of the 
 classical course. He received the degree 
 of Ph. D. in the University of Florida, and 
 afterward lectured in Florida and other 
 states on literary and economic topics, 
 being one of the popular orators of the 
 south. On his graduation in the Michigan 
 college with the degrees of A. B. and A. M. , 
 he was offered and accepted a tutorship in 
 that institution, but after a short time he 
 left it to take charge of a school in Cleve- 
 land, where he remained two years. 
 
 Resigning from that position Mr. Lowrie 
 accepted the superintendency of the schools 
 of Bellefontaine, Ohio, and after three years 
 spent in charge of the educational interests 
 of that city accepted a similar position in 
 Marion, but resigned in order to become 
 professor of English literature and political 
 science in Adrian College. For fifteen years 
 he was a member of the faculty of that in- 
 stitution and was regarded as one of the 
 most able, efficient and earnest educators in 
 the state. For three years he was senior 
 proprietor of "The Times and Expositor," 
 of Adrian, then the most influential paper in 
 southern Michigan. In 1882 he came to 
 
 Elgin and purchased the "Advocate," a 
 weekly journal, and the following year, by 
 purchase, became proprietor of the " Daily 
 News." In 1886 he associated with him 
 W. L. Black in the publication of these 
 journals, which they have since maintained 
 in a foremost place among the newspapers 
 of the state. The papers are published in 
 the interest of the Republican party, and 
 are excellent specimens of the highest art in 
 journalism. Mr. Lowrie was one of the 
 founders of the Inland Daily Press Associa- 
 tion and from the beginning has been one 
 of its officers and active members. He has 
 always avoided public office, but under 
 President Harrison served as consul to 
 Freiburg, Germany, and was an able repre- 
 sentative of the American interests there. 
 
 Mr. Lowrie was married September 1 1 , 
 1859, to Miss Mattie B., daughter of Henry 
 and Oraline (Waldo) Pease. Mrs. Pease 
 was a direct descendant of Peter Waldo, 
 who came to this country in the Mayflower, 
 and her grandfather served in the Revolu- 
 tionary war under Ethan Allen. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Lowrie have three living children. 
 Harry R. , the eldest, now on the editorial 
 staff of the "Chicago Times-Herald," is a 
 graduate of Adrian College, and pursued a 
 post-graduate course in the Yale University. 
 Will L. was graduated at Adrian College, 
 and afterward attended the university at 
 Leipsic, Germany. He is now the real- 
 estate editor on the "Chicago Tribune." 
 Alfred Richard, now a student in Yale Uni- 
 versity, spent one year in Germany, study- 
 ing the language, which he speaks very 
 fluently. In addition to excellent school 
 privileges, the sons have all had the ad- 
 vantages which only travel can bring. The 
 two elder sons have twice visited Europe, 
 and during his year's stay abroad the youngest
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 505 
 
 son made a cycle trip from Freiburg, Ger- 
 many, to Geneva, Switzerland, and all along 
 the banks of the classic Rhine. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Lowrie hold membership in the Con- 
 gregational church, and their home is the 
 center of a cultured society circle. 
 
 pOBERT ALFRED WINDETT. physi- 
 1 V sician and surgeon, No. 23 South River 
 street, Aurora, Illinois, was born in Kendall 
 county, Illinois, October 5, 1860, and is the 
 son of Alfred and Electa A. (Ford) Windett, 
 the former a native of England, and the lat- 
 ter of New York. John Windett, the pa- 
 ternal grandfather, also a native of England, 
 was for some years a soldier in the English 
 army. He had a family of six children, of 
 whom Arthur, an attorney in Chicago, and 
 Walter, a farmer in Kansas, are still living. 
 He came to America with his family in 1836 
 and located in Kendall county, Illinois, 
 where he engaged in farming. His death 
 occurred there, at the age of fifty-four years, 
 the result of an accident caused by a horse 
 stepping on his foot. His wife, Elizabeth 
 Windett, survived him some years, dying in 
 1885, at the age of eighty- four years, her 
 death hastened by a fall in which her hips 
 were broken. 
 
 Alfred Windett, the father, was a lad of 
 eleven years when he came with his parents 
 to Kendall county, Illinois. At that time 
 there were many Indians in this vicinity, 
 and he became acquainted with Blackhawk 
 and other noted, red men. His marriage 
 with Electa A. Ford took place in Kendall - 
 county, where she came with her parents 
 about 1857. She was one of a family of 
 seven children, of whom four are yet living: 
 Frank; Edgar; Amy, widow of William Cox; 
 and Electa A., the mother of our subject. 
 
 The deceased are: Martin, an engineer on 
 the Union Pacific railway, running one of 
 the first engines out of Fort Laramie, was 
 shot, and carried an arrow-head in his body 
 for eighteen years, finally dying from the 
 effects of the wound; Washington, a physi- 
 cian and surgeon, and professor of genito- 
 urinary diseases in the Kansas City Medical 
 College, died in 1886; another died in child- 
 hood from diphtheria. The mother of these 
 children is yet living in Missouri, and has 
 passed her four-score years. Alfred and 
 Electa A. Windett were the parents of three 
 children, of whom our subject is the oldest. 
 The others are John F. ,.a farmer of Ken- 
 dall county, Illinois, and James, a farmer 
 of Kane county. The father died in 1889, 
 at the age of sixty-four years. He was for 
 many years a member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, and an officer in the same. 
 The mother is yet living in Kendall county, 
 Illinois, at the age of sixty-seven years. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood in his native county and received his 
 literary education in the Sugar Grove In- 
 dustrial School, and in Jennings Seminary, 
 Aurora. After pursuing the prescribed 
 course at Rush Medical College, he was 
 graduated from it in the class of 1887, and 
 at once commenced the practice of his pro- 
 fession in Aurora, where he has since con- 
 tinued to reside. In the eleven years in 
 in which he has been professionally engaged, 
 he has built up a large and successful prac- 
 tice, and is recognized as one of the leading 
 physicians and surgeons of Kane county. 
 He has been connected with the Aurora 
 City Hospital since locating here, and is 
 now vice-president of the board of trustees. 
 He is a member of the Aurora Medical So- 
 ciety, the Fox River Valley Medical Society 
 and of the State Medical Association. In
 
 506 
 
 THK BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the first named he holds the office of presi- 
 dent. 
 
 On the 1 2th of February, 1885, Dr. 
 Windett was united in marriage with Miss 
 Evelyn S. West, daughter of Elijah West, 
 of Chicago. They reside in a pleasant 
 home at No. 96 Oak avenue, where they 
 delight to entertain their many friends. 
 Fraternally Dr. Windett is a member of the 
 Masonic order, blue lodge and chapter, 
 the Sons of St. George, Knights of the 
 Globe, and Modern Woodmen of America, 
 in which latter order he is examining physi- 
 cian for the local camp. In all national and 
 state elections he affiliates with the Repub- 
 lican party, but in local elections he votes 
 for men rather than party. 
 
 JOHN D. RANDALL, now living a 
 retired life in Aurora, has been a res- 
 ident of Kane county, since" June, 1843. 
 He traces his ancestry back to John Ran- 
 dall, who came from England in 1630, lo- 
 cating in Connecticut, where some- of the 
 family have always remained. The great- 
 great grandfather of our subject was also 
 named John Randall. His son, Col. Will- 
 iam Randall, was in command of a regi- 
 ment, during the war of 1812, and at Ston- 
 ington, defended the town and beat off the 
 British. His son, Jedediah Randall, was 
 born in Stonington, New London county, 
 Connecticut, and was the father of our sub- 
 ject. Jedediah Randall married Philura 
 Peckham, of North Stonington, and a 
 daughter of 'Squire Thomas Peckham of 
 that place. After their marriage they re- 
 mained for some years in Connecticut, and 
 in 1843, came to Kane county, Illinois, 
 where he purchased a partially improved 
 farm, of one hundred and twenty acres, in 
 
 Sugar Grove township. After further im- 
 proving the place, some eight years later he 
 sold and moved to Aurora, but died on a 
 farm near that city in 1860, at the age of 
 sixty years. 
 
 Jedediah and Philura Randall were the 
 parents of seven children, who grew to man- 
 hood and womanhood John, our subject; 
 Russell, now in the real-estate business in 
 Georgia; James, for some years an active 
 business man at Batavia and Aurora, was 
 killed by an accident in his stone quarry; 
 Mary A., married Peleg Winslow, and they 
 located in Hinckley, where she died; Dudley 
 was a printer by trade, and died in St. 
 Louis; Cyrus was a soldier in the war for 
 the union, and died in Andersonville prison; 
 and Roswell, who died at the age of eight 
 years. 
 
 John D. Randall was born in the town 
 of Stonington, New London county, Con- 
 necticut, August 9, 1823, and his boyhood 
 and youth were spent in his native state, 
 where he was reared to farm life, and in its 
 common schools procured a fair education. 
 He was twenty years old when the family 
 came to Kane county, and for several years 
 remained with his father assisting him in 
 farm work. In 1851, he purchased two 
 tracts of government land, lying near 
 Waterman, Illinois, each containing one 
 hundred and sixty acres. He located upon 
 one quarter, and commenced its improve- 
 ment, and there resided for three years. 
 Renting that farm, he built a residence and 
 moved to the other tract. In 1855 he sold 
 out and returned to Kane county, buying 
 residence property in Aurora. In the fall of 
 the same year he sold his residence property 
 and purchased a farm of three hundred and 
 twenty acres, lying near the city, to which 
 he removed and there engaged in farming
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 507 
 
 for some years. He later sold one-half of 
 the farm and yet retains one hundred and 
 sixty acres, just outside the city limits, and 
 which is a well improved and valuable 
 farm. 
 
 In 1851 Mr. Randall was married, in 
 Kane county, to Maria L. Barnes, a native 
 of New York, born in the town of Alexander, 
 Jefferson county, where she remained until 
 the age of fifteen years, when she came with 
 her father, Ira Barnes, to Kane county. 
 This was in 1845, her father being numbered 
 among the early settlers of Sugar Grove 
 township. By this union were three chil- 
 dren. Frank grew to mature years. He 
 was a natural mechanic, and invented acorn 
 harvester, which he later sold to William 
 Deering, of Chicago. He died in 1882, 
 leaving a wife and three children. Martha 
 grew to womanhood and married Oscar E. 
 Marlette, a farmer of Kane county. Lew 
 Wallace is married and carries on the home 
 farm. 
 
 In 1888 Mr. Randall purchased a lot at 
 No. 1 8 North Chestnut street, where he 
 built a neat residence, and where he has 
 since continued to reside. He has always 
 been an active and enterprising man, and 
 in 1884 was elected highway commissioner 
 of Aurora township, and served three years, 
 during which time the roads through the 
 township were graveled, and the New York 
 street and North avenue bridges were built, 
 important and much needed improvements. 
 While residing in Waterman, he was elected 
 and served two years as assessor, and was 
 also justice of the peace for two years, re- 
 signing the latter office when he returned to 
 Kane county. He was also township trus- 
 tee a number of years, and assisted in the 
 organization of the school districts of his 
 township. Being a firm believer in prohi- 
 
 bition, for some years he has been identified 
 with the Prohibition party, but formerly 
 was a Republican. When he came to Kane 
 county, there was not a railroad anywhere 
 in the vicinity, and the country was but little 
 better than a wilderness. He has lived to 
 see it thickly populated, having within its 
 borders many . thriving towns, while its 
 farms are the most productive in the country. 
 
 WILLARD CARYL TORREY, who is 
 superintendent of two departments 
 in the Elgin Watch Factory, is a native of 
 Rockland, Maine, born February 25, 1855. 
 He is a son of Joseph Grafton and Nancy 
 (Caryl) Torrey, the former a native of Han- 
 son, Massachusetts, and the latter of Stock- 
 bridge, Vermont. The father was a son of 
 Joseph Torrey, a native of Massachusetts, 
 who died in middle life. He was a minis- 
 ter in the Baptist church. His children 
 were Joseph G., George L. , Francis B. and 
 Almira L. Of these, George L. is living in 
 Kennebunkport, Maine; Francis B., in Bath, 
 Maine; and Almira L. , the widow of Zo- 
 pher Sturtevant, in Lowell, Massachusetts. 
 Joseph G. Torrey was reared in his na- 
 tive state, and in early manhood went to 
 learn the founder's trade, which he followed 
 through life. His death occurred at Rock- 
 land, Maine, February 28, 1894. He was 
 a life-long member of the Congregational 
 church, and for many years served as a 
 deacon. In politics he was a Republican. 
 His, wife is yet living in Rockland, Maine, 
 and is a worthy member of the Congrega- 
 tional church at that place. They were 
 the parents of six children: Helen Maria, 
 deceased; George Everett; Mary Frances 
 died in infancy; Willard C. ; Olive Bird died
 
 508 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 in childhood; and Arthur Lawrence. Of 
 these, George is living in Rockland, Maine, 
 and our subject and Arthur L. in Elgin. 
 
 The ancestry of Willard Caryl Torrey 
 can be traced back for many generations. 
 He is a grandson of John Caryl and Lucy 
 (Clark) Caryl, the great-grandson of Will- 
 iam and Sarah (Barren) Clark, and the 
 great-great-grandson of Captain Peter and 
 Hannah (Eppes) Clark. Captain Peter 
 Clark removed from Braintree, Massachu- 
 setts, to Lyndeboro, New Hampshire, in 
 1775. Soon after arriving there he joined 
 the Continental army, and was commis- 
 sioned captain in the Ninth Regiment, New 
 Hampshire Militia. He was engaged in 
 the battle of Bennington, commanding a 
 company of sixty men, and in that battle 
 displayed great bravery, being the second to 
 scale the British breastworks. He also 
 took part in the defeat of General Bur- 
 goyne, at Saratoga, in 1777. 
 
 On the Caryl line our subject is the 
 great-grandson of Dr. John and Eunice 
 (Willard) Caryl, the Doctor being a surgeon 
 in the Revolutionary army. Being the 
 grandson of Joseph and Elmira (Little) Tor- 
 rey, he is the great-grandson of George 
 Little, the great-great-grandson of Lemuel 
 and Penelope (Eames) Little, the great- 
 great-great-grandson of John and Constant 
 (Fobes) Little, the great-great-great-great- 
 grandson of Lieutenant William Fobes, who 
 was a brother-in-law of Captain Benjamin 
 Church and second to him in command dur- 
 ing King Philip's war. 
 
 On the Little line Mr. Torrey traces his 
 ancestry .to Thomas Little, who came from 
 Devonshire, England, in 1630. He was a 
 lawyer by profession. He married Ann 
 Warren in 1633. Theirthird son was Eph- 
 raim Little, who married Mary Sturdevant. 
 
 He died in 1717. His son, John Little, 
 married Constant Fobes, above mentioned, 
 through whom the line continued as already 
 given. Captain George Little, the grand- 
 son of John Little, was made an admiral in 
 1799. He had served in the Revolutionary 
 war. 
 
 Another line through which our subject 
 traces his ancestry is that of Richard War- 
 ren, who came over in the Mayflower. He 
 was the father of Ann Warren, who married 
 Thomas Little, and Mr. Torrey is therefore 
 his great - great - great - great - great - great- 
 grandson. It will thus be seen that the 
 genealogical record of our subject is a good 
 one, of which he may well be proud. Pa- 
 triots every one as far as known, they are 
 well represented in the history of our 
 country. 
 
 The early life of Willard Caryl Torrey 
 was spent in Rockland, Maine, where he 
 attended the public schools. Later he en- 
 tered the polytechnic institute at Worcester, 
 Massachusetts, where he was graduated in 
 1877. He then spent two years at Bath, 
 Maine, as superintendent of the Torrey 
 Roller Bushing works, owned by his uncle, 
 Francis B. Torrey. At the end of that time 
 he started west, stopping at Kalamazoo, 
 Michigan, where he remained six months. 
 He then came to Elgin and entered the 
 machine shop of the Elgin Watch factory, 
 where he was employed some fifteen months. 
 Returning east, he located at Fredonia, New 
 York, and took charge of the tool works of 
 the watch factory there. He only remained 
 at Fredonia, however,, six months, and in 
 1882 again came to Elgin, and entered the 
 watch factory there as foreman of the stem- 
 winding department. Later that depart- 
 ment was consolidated with the screw de- 
 partment, and Mr. Torrey was given charge
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 509 
 
 of both. He now has the supervision of 
 about two hundred hands. 
 
 Mr. Torrey was united in marriage at 
 Fredonia, September 2, 1884, with Miss 
 Ruth S. Wilson, daughter of Henry and 
 Almeda (Steele) Wilson, natives of New 
 York. Henry Wilson was a son of Lyman 
 Wilson. His wife was the daughter of Oli- 
 ver Wolcott Steele, also a native of New 
 York. She is still living in Fredonia, that 
 state, where her husband died September 
 8, 1876. They were the parents of three 
 children: Addie E. , wife of Frank C. Wil- 
 son, of Elgin; Elizabeth C., who resides in 
 Fredonia, New York; and Ruth S., our sub- 
 ject's wife. The mother, who is a daugh- 
 ter of Sally Potter, is a member of the Pres- 
 byterian church. The Steeles are related 
 to Governor Oliver Wolcott, of Massachu- 
 setts. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Torrey two children 
 have been born: Marion Goulding and 
 George Arthur. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Torrey reside in a pleas- 
 ant home on Watch street, which is ever 
 open for the reception of their many friends. 
 Politically Mr. Torrey is a Republican. Re- 
 ligiously Mrs. Torrey is a member of the 
 Congregational church. Both are highly 
 respected by all who know them. 
 
 F)IERCE TYRRELL, M. D. Among 
 1 those who devote their time and ener- 
 gies to the practice of medicine and have 
 gained a leading place in the ranks of the 
 profession is the gentleman whose name in- 
 troduces this sketch. He is now one of the 
 most expert physicians and diagnoticians of 
 Elgin, and his office is located at No. 209 
 Chicago street. 
 
 The Doctor was born in Bullyduggan, 
 
 parish of Mullinahone, county Tipperary, 
 Ireland, in August, 1832, a son of William 
 and Bridget (Frisby) Tyrrell, also natives of 
 the Emerald Isle. Of their eight children, 
 six sons and two daughters, only two are 
 now living Pierce, and David, who is a 
 resident of Rutland, Illinois. The paternal 
 grandparents, Patrick and Johanna (Tobin) 
 Tyrrell, spent their entire lives in Ireland, 
 where the grandfather followed farming, and 
 there both died at advanced ages, the for- 
 mer being ninety-six and the latter ninety- 
 seven at the time of their deaths. The 
 grandmother Frisby was ninety-three years 
 old at the time of her death. When past 
 the age of four score years the grandfather 
 was still very vigorous and active. 
 
 John Frisby, the Doctor's maternal 
 grandfather, was educated for the priest- 
 hood, but was never ordained, and later 
 became a farmer. He died when about 
 sixty years of age. His people were large 
 and a very warlike race. His son, William 
 Frisby, was six feet two inches in height, 
 measured fifty-two inches around the chest, 
 and although he weighed two hundred and 
 twenty-five pounds, he was an athlete and 
 was very active, able to jump over four 
 horses when placed side by side and into 
 the saddle without touchiug a stirrup. He 
 possessed a most wonderful constitution, 
 which was plainly demonstrated at the.time 
 of his death. He had fallen sixty feet and 
 broken his neck, and although he could not 
 speak he lived nine days. One son of the 
 Frisby family, David, was tried for treason. 
 Both the Tyrrell and Frisby families and 
 connection were instrumental in putting 
 down the collection of tithes in the parish 
 of Mullinahone, county Tipperary. 
 
 In his native land William Tyrrell, the 
 Doctor's father, followed the occupation of
 
 5io 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 farming. In 1847 ne crossed the Atlantic 
 with the intention of making a permanent 
 home in America, and only six hours after 
 his arrival at the city of New York went 
 before a notary public and declared his in- 
 tention of becoming a citizen of the United 
 States, as did his brother Pierce. He died, 
 however, on Lake Erie, while en route to 
 Illinois, at the age of forty-nine years, and 
 was buried at Cleveland, Ohio. His wife 
 survived him until 1856, dying at the 
 age of fifty-eight. Both were- members 
 of the Catholic church. The Doctor's 
 family are not members of any Christian 
 church. The Doctor is an outspoken ag- 
 nostic and looks upon the whole thing as a 
 confidence game of R. R. D. D. on their 
 deluded dupes. 
 
 The Doctor's primary education was ob- 
 tained in the schools of his native land. He 
 was fifteen years of age when he came with 
 his parents to America, and has since made 
 his home in Kane county, Illinois, since No- 
 vember, 1847. He was reared on a farm, 
 and having always been a great reader of 
 medical works, he began studying medicine 
 soon after his arrival here, and manufact- 
 ured fluids, fluid extracts, etc., before he 
 entered a medical school. He first read the 
 popular medical works, also studied under the 
 direction of Drs. Clark and Whitford, and 
 later* entered the Eclectic Medical Institute, 
 of Cincinnati, Ohio, where he graduated 
 with the class of 1866. He first opened an 
 office in Gilbert's, Kane county, from there 
 removed to Huntley, Grover township, but 
 in 1868 located permanently in Elgin, where 
 he had previously practiced to a limited ex- 
 tent. He has made a special study of renal 
 and chronic diseases and microscopy. He 
 has always been a believer in bacterial origin 
 of disease and for years has been an expert 
 
 in microscopic research, and probably the 
 first physician in Illinois to use or introduce 
 antiseptics and germandes, having used them 
 since 1860. 
 
 On September 14, 1868, Dr. Tyrrell 
 married Miss Margaret Ann McGrath, a 
 daughter of Patrick and Bridget (McGrath) 
 McGrath, and to them have been born four 
 children, namely: Mary Olla, born July 24, 
 1869; William D., February 20, 1871, who 
 is now attending the Chicago Medical Col- 
 lege; John Stafford, April 25, 5873; and 
 Pierce C. , November 10, 1876, all at home. 
 The children have been provided with good 
 educational privileges, and the family is one 
 of prominence. 
 
 In his political affiliations the Doctor is 
 a Republican. His skill and ability in his 
 chosen profession is attested by the liberal 
 patronage he enjoys, and which ranks him 
 as one of the leading physicians of, the coun- 
 ty, having patients in several states of the 
 Union. In social as well as professional 
 circles he stands deservedly high, and has 
 the respect and confidence of all who know 
 him. 
 
 EDWARD P. ROBERTSON, who is en- 
 gaged in the banking business at Maple 
 Park, Illinois, is an old and well-known 
 citizen of Kane county, one who has done 
 much to advance its material interests. He 
 is a native of Saratoga county, New York, 
 born January 3, 1828, and is the son of 
 John D. and Dorothy (Palmer) Robertson, 
 both natives of New York state, and the 
 parents of ten children, five of whom are 
 yet living Edward P. .Benjamin L., James 
 Q., Orville A., and Mary E. The parental 
 grandfather, John A. Robertson, was also a 
 native of New York, and a soldier in the
 
 E. P. ROBERTSON.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 513 
 
 war of 1812. He lived to be about ninety 
 years old. The great grandfather Robert- 
 son was a native of Scotland, who emi- 
 grated to the United States, in an early day, 
 locating in New York. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was born and 
 reared on a farm, and in the common-schools 
 of the neighborhood received his education. 
 In his youth he learned the shoemaker's 
 trade with his father, commencing when 
 eleven years old, and following that occu- 
 pation until 1860. In 1851 he left his 
 native state for Ohio, and there remained 
 until 1856, when he came to Maple Park, 
 Illinois, and was appointed station agent 
 for the Northwestern railroad, and occupied 
 that responsible position for twenty years. 
 Leaving the employ of the railroad, he en- 
 gaged in the lumber and hardware business, 
 in which he was successfully engaged until 
 1891, when he sold out and embarked in 
 the banking business, in which- he has since 
 been engaged. 
 
 On the 25th of April, 1846, Mr. Robert- 
 son was united in marriage with Miss Julia 
 A. Esmond, a native of New York, by whom 
 he had two sons, Charles F. and Ira E. 
 They both served their country faithfully in 
 the war for the union, the former giving up 
 his life at Vicksburg, while the latter sur- 
 vived until after the close of the war, and 
 died at home. Our subject has an adopted 
 daughter, Hattie, who married Robert S. 
 Brown, a former partner of his, and who 
 died on the 2Oth of August, 1893, when 
 about fifty years of age. They had three 
 children: Esmond R., Letitia and Amy. 
 
 In politics Mr. Robertson is an ardent 
 Republican, and has always manifested 
 more or less interest in political affairs. In 
 1857 he was elected justice of the peace, 
 and again in 1858, and in 1864, serving in 
 
 all, seven years. In 1879 he was elected 
 supervisor, and served until 1888, In the 
 village he has held all the important offices, 
 and has ever shown an interest, in the mate- 
 rial welfare of the place. No improvement 
 has ever been suggested but has met with 
 his unqualified support, and he is therefore 
 regarded as one of the most enterprising of 
 the citizens of Maple Park. Fraternally, he 
 is a Master Mason, holding membership with 
 the lodge at Sycamore, Illinois. He also 
 belongs to the chapter and commandery. 
 
 Mr. Robertson is in all respects a self- 
 made man. Through his own exertions he 
 has attained an honorable position and 
 marked prestige among the representative- 
 men of Kane county, and with signal con- 
 sistency, it may be said that he is the ar- 
 chitect of his own fortunes, and one whose 
 success amply justifies the application of the 
 somewhat hackneyed, but most expressive 
 title "a self made man." He has many of the 
 elements of character which have enabled 
 him to pass on the highway of life, many of 
 the companions of his youth, who, at the 
 outset of their careers, were more advan- 
 tageously equiped or endowed. 
 
 HB. WATERHOUSE, contractor and 
 builder, 308 Fox street, Aurora, was 
 born in Greenport, east end of Long Island, 
 New York, November 15, 1859, a:nd is the 
 son of William and Cynthia (Booth) Water- 
 house, the former a native of Clinton, Con- 
 necticut, and the latter of Long Island, New 
 York. William Waterhouse was an early 
 settler of Long Island, where he died June 
 6, 1880, at the age of sixty-eight years. 
 He was a steady-going, quiet man, a mem- 
 ber of the Baptist church, of which body his 
 wife was also a member. Her death oc-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 curred December i, 1881, at the age of 
 sixty-one years. She was visiting her 
 daughter, Mrs. Willis, in Chicago, at the 
 time of her death, which was very sudden 
 and unexpected. Of their family of eight 
 children seven are living: Amelia, widow 
 of John Terry, residing in Long Island; 
 William H., now residing in Florida, was a 
 soldier in the late war under General Kil- 
 patrick, was in the battle of Gettysburg, 
 was later taken prisoner, and was ten 
 months in Andersonville, from which he was 
 discharged at the close of the war; Cynthia, 
 wife of William H. Willis, of Woodlawn, 
 Chicago; John L. , a boat builder, residing 
 in the east end of Long Island; George B., 
 a resident of California; H. B., our subject; 
 and Edward, residing on Long Island. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared at 
 the village of Greenpert, Long Island, New 
 York, and in its public schools he received 
 his education. He then began working on 
 a farm, where he remained two years, then 
 worked in a fish factory, and in 1881 came 
 to Aurora, Illinois, and commenced work 
 with an uncle at the mason trade. In the 
 past eighteen years they have done some of 
 the principal work in many of the large 
 buildings in Aurora and vicinity. 
 
 On the 1 2th of September, 1893, in 
 Aurora, Mr. Waterhouse was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Ella Crandall, daughter of 
 D. V. Crandall, of Aurora. By this union 
 there is one child, William Levi. Both 
 parents are church members, and in the 
 work of the church they have each been 
 very active, Mrs. Waterhouse serving as 
 pipe organist for some years. In politics 
 Mr. Waterhouse is a Republican. As a 
 business man he is thoroughly reliable, and 
 is held in high esteem by all who know him. 
 
 Delos V. Crandall, the father of Mrs. 
 
 Waterhouse, is a native of Chenango county, 
 New York, born March 21, 1829. His par- 
 ents, Samuel and Ada (Goodrich) Crandall, 
 were also natives of the same county and 
 state, the father being a farmer by occupa- 
 tion. In 1854 he came west with his fam- 
 ily and settled in Wisconsin, but later moved 
 to Jones county, Iowa, and subsequently to 
 a county near Sioux City, Iowa, where his 
 death occurred. He and his wife were 
 members of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
 They were the parents of nine children, of 
 whom seven are still living. 
 
 Delos V. Crandall was a teacher in the 
 public schools until after the opening of 
 our Civil war, when, in June, 1862, he en- 
 listed in Company A, Twenty-sixth Iowa 
 Volunteer Infantry, and was appointed cor- 
 poral. He was later assistant surgeon in a 
 hospital. In 1864 he was in hospital No. 
 i, at Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was 
 then in charge of the gangrene ward under 
 Dr. Rice. In June, 1865, at Washington, 
 he was honorably discharged and mustered 
 out of the service. While in the hospital 
 he invented the twin spiral spring, on which 
 he secured a patent on the close of the war. 
 Four thousand dollars worth of these springs 
 were purchased by the city of Chicago for 
 the fire and police departments. Soon after 
 his discharge from the service, he moved to 
 Chicago, and in the great fire, October 9, 
 1871, was burned out, losing everything that 
 he had. His health failing him, in 1872, he 
 moved to Aurora, and since that time has 
 been an invalid. 
 
 Mr. Crandall was married February i, 
 1854, to Miss Esther J. Kyle, also a teacher 
 of much experience for many years. She 
 was born July 21, 1836. They have three 
 living children, as follows: Delos V., Jr., 
 who at the age of sixteen began teaching
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 515 
 
 violin music, which he still continues as a 
 profession. He married a Miss Alice Ben- 
 nett, by whom he has four children Harry, 
 Claude, Margaret and Herbert. They re- 
 side in Joliet. Ella, now Mrs. Waterhouse, 
 is also a teacher of the violin, and is leader 
 of the Urso Quintet, composed of Mrs. 
 Waterhouse, the first violinist; Miss Hila M. 
 Verbeck, Miss Florence Daily, Mrs. Frances 
 Condon, violins; and Miss Lottie Spring, 
 pianist. She is also a pipe organist, and 
 has played in both the Methodist Episcopal 
 and Baptist churches. Alice Amelia is a 
 graduate of the East Aurora High School 
 of the class of '98. She resides at home. 
 Fraternally, Mr. Crandall is a member of 
 the G. A. R. post of Aurora. 
 
 A LEXANDER REID, deceased, was a 
 /~\ descendant of an old Scotch family, 
 who lived many generations in Wigtonshire, 
 the southwest county of Scotland, just 
 across from the Irish coast. William Reid, 
 the grandfather of our subject, lived to the 
 advanced age of ninety-seven years, while 
 the great-grandfather lived to be one hun- 
 dred and three years old. William Reid 
 married a Miss Gordon, of the famous clan 
 of that name. His son, John Reid, who 
 died about 1857, a very old man, married 
 Martha Armour, a daughter of William and 
 -Margaret Armour. Alexander Reid was the 
 son of John and Martha (Armour) Reid. He 
 was born in 1823 near Aken Claurie, some 
 thirty-five miles northwest of Glasgow, 
 Scotland. In 1833 he came to America, 
 and settled in Kingston, Canada, where he 
 resided for many years. While residing in 
 Kingston, he married Miss Catherine Ab- 
 bott, a native of that city, and a daughter 
 of James and Margaret (Hamilton) Abbott, 
 
 the former a native of London, England, 
 born November 15, 1803, and died in Can- 
 ada, near Kingston, October 31, 1871. The 
 latter was born in the North of Ireland, of 
 Scotch-Irish parentage, and was a daughter 
 of Robert Hamilton, a soldier of the Irish 
 rebellion of 1798. She died at the age of 
 ninety years. Of the children of James and 
 Margaret Abbott, the only ones residing in 
 the west are Mrs. Reid and Archibald Ab- 
 bott, who resides in Kansas. 
 
 To Alexander Reid and wife ten children 
 were born, nine of whom are living as fol- 
 lows: (i) Margaret, who married Andrew 
 Burroughs, by whom she had three chil- 
 dren, Harvey, Catherine and Erwin. Mr. 
 Burroughs is now deceased, and his widow 
 is making her home with her brother Will- 
 iam on the old homestead. (2) John, who 
 resides in Shawnee county, Kansas, married 
 Amanda James, by whom he has two chil- 
 dren, Alice and Ethel. (3) Martha, who 
 married George Titus, by whom she had 
 two children, Ernest and Jennie. Mr. Titus 
 is now deceased and his widow is living in 
 Hampshire. (4) James, a farmer in Hamp- 
 shire township, of whom further mention is 
 made in this sketch. (5) Alexander, Jr., a 
 merchant in Hampshire, married Lovina 
 Lovell, daughter of Charles and Sarah 
 (Perry) Lovell. They have one child, Ber- 
 nice. (6) William, who lives on the old 
 homestead in Genoa township, De Kalb 
 county. (7) Emma, who married Joseph 
 Corson, a farmer of Genoa township, 
 De Kalb county, by whom she has one 
 child, Vernon J. (8) Alice, wife of Edgar 
 Dittmer, of Hampshire township. She was 
 for seven years a successful teacher in 
 Hampshire township. (9) May, who is a 
 teacher in the public schools of Hampshire 
 township, and who resides with her mother.
 
 5'6 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 In 1868 Mr. Reid sold his property in 
 Canada and came west, settling in the north- 
 east corner of De Kalb county, where he 
 purchased one hundied and sixty acres, 
 which was his home until his death in 1890. 
 He was a man of excellent moral qualities, 
 of sterling honesty and worth, and was for 
 many years a member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church. In politics he was a Re- 
 publican. In his death the community lost 
 one of its most valuable citizens, and the 
 family a loving husband and affectionate fa- 
 ther. Mrs. Reid now resides in the village 
 of Hampshire, where she is held in the 
 highest esteem. She is also a member of 
 the Methodist Episcopal church. 
 
 JAMES F. REID, who was fourth in 
 order of birth in the family of Alexan- 
 der and Catherine (Abbott) Reid, is engaged 
 in farming on section 7, Hampshire town- 
 ship. He was born near Kingston, Canada, 
 April 3, 1858, and attended school in his 
 native country until coming west in 1868. 
 He then attended the district schools in De 
 Kalb county until the age of eighteen years, 
 working during the summer seasons on the 
 farm. He remained at home until 1883, 
 when he began life for himself, renting the 
 Lyons farm in Hampshire for two years. 
 He then worked in a tile factory in Hamp- 
 shire for four years, after which he rented 
 the farm which he now occupies, for sev- 
 eral years. On the I4th day of May, 1896, 
 he purchased the farm, which consists of 
 three hundred acres of well improved land, 
 with good house and barns and fine old 
 trees, forming a grove about the place. The 
 farm is well drained with seven miles of 
 tiling; and is what is known as a stock farm, 
 Mr. Reid giving his attention principally to 
 
 the raising of stock, raising sufficient grain 
 for his own use. 
 
 Mr. Reid was married in De Kalb coun- 
 ty, Illinois, April 27, 1883, to Miss Ella W. 
 Waters, a native of Lycoming county, 
 Pennsylvania, and a daughter of James V. 
 Waters, who was born in the same county, 
 and who married Elizabeth Carson, who 
 died in November, 1894, a t the age of fifty- 
 six years. Mr. Waters was a miller by 
 trade, and came to De Kalb county, Illi- 
 nois, in the spring of 1869. Of his family 
 of eleven children, Ella W. is tenth in order 
 of birth. 
 
 To James F. and Ella W. Reid three 
 children have been born Lizzie, Winnie 
 and Buelah. The first named died at the 
 age of nine years. Fraternally, Mr. Reid 
 is a member of the Modern Woodmen of 
 America, and in politics, he is a Republican. 
 As a farmer he is thoroughly enterprising 
 and up to date in every respect, his farm 
 being well supplied with all kinds of agri- 
 cultural implements, and is kept in the very 
 best order, making of it a model farm. 
 
 PETER KLEIN, editor and proprietor 
 of the "Aurora Volksfreund," of Au- 
 rora, Illinois, was born in Nusbaum, Rheirv- 
 ish Prussia, Germany, September i, 1849. 
 He is the son of Henry and Elizabeth 
 (Kessler) Klein. His father was a native of 
 that section, born November 2, 1811. He 
 served in the Prussian army for a long time, 
 and in 1862 came to the United States, lo- 
 cating in Chicago, and later removing to 
 Aurora, where he died July 3, 1878. In 
 politics he was a Republican. His wife died 
 in the old country August 26, 1860. They 
 were members of the Evangelical Protestant 
 church, and their only child is the subject
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 517 
 
 of this sketch. Mrs. Klein had been previ- 
 ously married, and by her former husband, 
 Fr. Niebergall, had three sons, Fred, John 
 and Henry, all of whom are now living in 
 Chicago. 
 
 The subject of this sketch attended 
 school up to the time of coming to the 
 United States. On arriving here his first 
 employment was in a dry-goods store, where 
 he remained five years, and he then en- 
 gaged in life insurance business for a short 
 time. In 1868 he started the" Volksfreund," 
 at Aurora. It was then a seven-column 
 folio, published weekly, and was Republican 
 in politics. In June, 1895, ne started the 
 " Daily Volksfreund," a four-page paper. 
 The weekly has been increased in size to an 
 eight-page sheet. In connection with the 
 paper Mr. Klein has a large and complete 
 job office, and does all kinds of commercial 
 and job printing. The "Volksfreund" is 
 one of the oldest German papers in the 
 State, and both editions have a large circu- 
 lation. l is a wide-awake sheet and is en- 
 gaged in building up the best interests of 
 Aurora and in advocacy of the principles of 
 the Republican party. 
 
 Mr. Klein was married in February, 
 1876, to Miss Harriet Wilson, daughter of 
 Ulmer and Sarah (Russ) Wilson. She is a 
 native of Belfast, Maine. Her parents 
 were old settlers of Maine, of English and 
 German ancestry. The Russes came from 
 England in 1634. Ulmer Russ, the great- 
 grandfather of Mrs. Kline, took an impor- 
 tant part in the Revolutionary war. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Klein are the parents of two chil- 
 dren, Ulmer and Clio Kessler. Fraternally, 
 Mr. Klein is a member of the Masonic 
 order. He has been a member of the school 
 board for several years and has taken special 
 interest in educational affairs. He has also 
 
 been a member of the board of public 
 works, and has served as city treasurer. For 
 some years he has been a director in the 
 German-American National Bank, and is 
 also a director in the building and loan asso- 
 ciation of Aurora. In every position, pub- 
 lic or private, which he has been called 
 upon to fill he has discharged its duties 
 faithfully and well. 
 
 A LEXANDER P. THOMS is a leading 
 I\ representative of the business interests 
 of Elgin, and as a dealer in sewing machines 
 and bicycles, he now carries on operations 
 at No. 1 66 Chicago street, Of excellent 
 business ability and broad resources, he has 
 attained a prominent place among the sub- 
 stantial citizens, and is a recognized leader 
 in public affairs. He has won success by 
 well-directed, energetic efforts, and the 
 prosperity that has come to him is certainly 
 well deserved. 
 
 Mr. Thorns is a native of Scotland, born 
 near Glasgow, July 9, 1842, and is a son of 
 Robert and Jane (Patrick) Thorns. The 
 name was originally spelled Thorn. The 
 paternal grandfather, George Thorn, spent 
 his entire life in Scotland, where he reared 
 his large family of children, and died at an 
 advanced age. Rev. Alexander Patrick, 
 the maternal grandfather, was a prominent 
 Methodist minister of that country, where 
 he conducted many, large revivals. He was 
 also the founder of the Methodist church at 
 Wallace Stone. He died in Scotland at the 
 age of sixty. 
 
 In 1850 the parents of our subject left 
 their old home in Scotland and came to the 
 United States, first locating on a farm of 
 eighty acres in Cook county, Illinois, east 
 of Elgin. After a short residence there, the
 
 5 i8 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 father sold the place, and bought another 
 farm of one hundred and thirty-five acres 
 three miles west of that city, which he im- 
 proved and cultivated until 1884, when he 
 rented the place. He then made his home 
 in Elgin until called from this life in March, 
 1895, at the age of eighty-seven years. His 
 wife had departed this life one year previous, 
 aged seventy-two. They were faithful mem- 
 bers of the Methodist church, and had the 
 respect and esteem of all who knew them. 
 The father was a very industrious man, and 
 strictly honorable in all his dealings, and 
 his fellow- citizens, appreciating his sterling 
 worth, elected him to various local offices. 
 
 In the family of this worthy couple were 
 twelve children, ten sons and two daugh- 
 ters, and with the exception of one, all are 
 still living. Three of the sons are promi- 
 nent Baptist ministers. They are as fol- 
 lows: George, deceased; Alexander P., of 
 this sketch; Robert E. ; Rev. James P. , of 
 Chicago; Rev. John C. , of Titusville, Penn- 
 sylvania; William A.; Rev. Craigie S., of 
 Des Moines, Iowa; George B. and David 
 D., twins; Charles M., who, in connection 
 with his brother George, is engaged in the 
 real estate and loan business in Rochestei , 
 New York; and Mary C. and Maria J., both 
 of Elgin. 
 
 Mr. Thorns, whose name introduces this 
 sketch, was seven years old when he arrived 
 in Kan* county, and under the parental roof 
 he grew to manhood, acquiring his educa- 
 tion th the district schools and the Elgin 
 Academy, under Prof. Brydges. Feeling 
 that his adopted country needed his services 
 during the dark days of the Rebellion, he 
 joined the army at the age of eighteen, ea- 
 listing in September, 1861, and becoming 
 a member of Company D, Eighth Illinois 
 (Farnsworth's) Cavalry. He enlisted as a 
 
 private and was on detached duty with Gen- 
 erals Keyes, Casey and Peck. With the 
 Army of the Potomac he participated in the 
 battles of Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, the 
 seven-days fight, the engagements at Pools- 
 ville, South Mountain, Antietam, Martins- 
 burg, Fredericksburg, Minoxy, Bevelry Ford 
 and many skirmishes in Virginia and Mary- 
 land. After over three years of faithful 
 service he was mustered out at Chicago. 
 
 After spending a short time in Elgin Mr. 
 Thorns and his brother, James P., embarked 
 in the commission business in Chicago, con- 
 ducting the same for three years. Our 
 subject then traveled for different sewing- 
 machine companies, establishing agencies 
 in thirty-three different states, and on his 
 return to Elgin in 1883 he purchased his 
 brother William A.'s interest in the sewing- 
 machine business here. He now handles 
 machines for five different companies, and 
 for the past fourteen years has done an ex- 
 tensive business as a dealer in sewing-ma- 
 chines, and is now also dealing in bicycles. 
 
 In September, 1869, was celebrated the 
 marriage of Mr. Thorns and Miss Isabella, 
 daughter of Deacon D. L. Jacobus, of Chi- 
 cago, and they have become the parents of 
 eight children, six sons and two daughters, 
 namely: Lawrence D., who assists his fa- 
 ther in the store; William S. , who is em- 
 ployed by an electric light company in Chi- 
 cago; Alexander P., who is attending the 
 Chicago University; and John C. , Florence 
 Belle, Ethel May, who are all at home and 
 attending school; and two who died in in- 
 fancy. 
 
 Socially, Mr. Thpins affiliates with the 
 Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the 
 Modern Woodmen of America, and Veteran 
 post, G. A. R. ; while religiously both he 
 and his wife are active and prominent mem-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 519 
 
 bers of the First Baptist church of Elgin, of 
 which he has been one of the trustees for 
 three years. He is one of the leading and 
 influential members of the Republican party 
 in the city, takes an active part in campaign 
 work, and was elected captain of the largest 
 cavalry company ever raised in Elgin. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Thorns have an elegant 
 home at No. 624 South street, in West 
 Elgin, surrounded by an acre of ground. 
 Being great lovers of flowers and shrubbery 
 they have spent considerable time in beaut- 
 ifying and ornamenting their place and have 
 converted it into one of the prettiest places 
 of the city. Here hospitality reigns su- 
 preme and the many friends of the family 
 are always sure of a hearty welcome. 
 
 DAVID W. SHOLES is one of the lead- 
 ing and enterprising citizens of Hamp- 
 shire. He is of English descent, the first of 
 the name coming to America in colonial 
 times. John Sholes, the grandfather, from 
 one of the New England states, came west 
 in 1846, and took up land in Burlington 
 township, and here resided until his death 
 at the age of ninety-four years. He was a 
 pensioner of the war of 1812. His father 
 was a minister of the gospel and died in the 
 east. John Sholes married a Miss Ham- 
 mond, who died in Burlington township in 
 the early '505. Their son, David Sholes, 
 the father of our subject, was born in Ver- 
 mont about 1820. He left his native state 
 in the '305, and after living a few years in 
 Ohio, came to Illinois, locating first in Ga- 
 lena, where he lived one year, and in 1844 
 settled in Burlington township, Kane coun- 
 ty, where he secured a tract of fifteen hun- 
 dred acres of good land. An energetic, 
 hard worker, and a good manager, he was 
 
 very prosperous. He married Mary J. 
 Young, a native of Chemung county, New 
 York, a daughter of Simon Young, also a 
 native of that state. She died in 1890 at 
 the age of sixty-two years. They were the 
 parents of five children, as follows: Stephen, 
 who died at the age of eighteen years; 
 Ernest C., a brick manufacturer of Hamp- 
 shire; Esther, wife of William Smith, of 
 Elgin; David W., our subject; and Vernon, 
 who died in infancy. 
 
 David W. Sholes was born in Burling- 
 ton township, Kane county, Illinois, April 
 24, 1854, and after attending the district 
 schools completed his education when seven- 
 teen years old at Jennings Seminary, Au- 
 rora, Illinois. In 1871, in company with 
 his brother, Ernest C., he bought a cheese 
 factory in Burlington township, and after 
 one year purchased his brother's interest, 
 and a year later sold out and went to Elgin, 
 where he embarked in the grocery business 
 with A. E. Archibald. In six months he 
 bought his partner's interest and continued 
 the business one year. He then sold and 
 moved to a farm of four hundred and forty 
 acres belonging to his father, and com- 
 menced farming, in which he continued un- 
 til 1882, when he moved to Hampshire and 
 engaged in the coal business, and also in 
 buying and shipping stock. He soon sold 
 the coal business, but continued in stock 
 trading until 1892. He was appointed 
 postmaster of Hampshire, July i, 1893, and 
 served four years, since which time he has 
 been in the commission business in Chicago, 
 going into the city every morning and re- 
 turning on the afternoon train. 
 
 Mr. Sholes was married in Elgin, June 
 17, 1876, to Miss Nancy J. McClellan, born 
 in Burlington, Illinois, and a daughter of 
 John M. and Nancy (Wilson) McClellan,
 
 52O 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the latter born near Pittsburg, Pennsyl- 
 vania, and a daughter of Jacob Wilson, 
 whose wife was a Miss Fitzpatrick, both of 
 whom were natives of Pennsylvania. John 
 M. McClellan, also born in Pennsylvania, 
 was the son of John McClellan. To John 
 M. McClellan and wife five children were 
 born as follows: Mary Jane, wife of E. K. 
 Allen; George, who died in Greene, Iowa; 
 Margaret, who married William Stone, but 
 is now deceased; Nancy J., wife of our sub- 
 ject; and Genevra, who married Joseph C. 
 Wall, of Watertown, South Dakoka. 
 
 To our subject and wife two sons were 
 born. Thomas F. is a fine machinist, and 
 makes his home in Hampshire. He mar- 
 ried Anna Scott, daughter of Walter and 
 Charlotte (Scott) Scott, natives of Eng- 
 land. David J. is the cashier in the Kane 
 County Bank. 
 
 Mr. Sholes lately built a fine cottage in 
 the eastern part of Hampshire in the midst 
 of a beautiful natural grove. Politically, 
 he is a Democrat and has served in various 
 official positions, among them being collec- 
 tor, school director and member of the 
 village board. Fraternally he is a member 
 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, 
 Knights of the Maccabees and Knights of 
 the Globe. Socially he and his wife are 
 members of the Wednesday Club. 
 
 S ARSON L. JUDD, of Sugar Grove town- 
 ship, has been actively engaged in farm- 
 ing for many years, and has been a stock 
 dealer for about twenty years. He is a na- 
 tive of New York, born in Warren county, 
 March 4, 1849. His father, Dexter C. judd, 
 was a native of Connecticut, born in 1825, 
 while his grandfather, Sarson L. Judd, was 
 also a native of Connecticut. The family 
 
 are of English descent, and originally set- 
 tled in Connecticut. Early in the present 
 century Sarson L. Judd removed from his 
 native state to New York. He was a black- 
 smith and axe-maker by trade, which occu- 
 pation he followed for many years. About 
 1834 he came to Kane county, and built the 
 first blacksmith shop in what is now the city 
 of Elgin. He there carried on business for 
 a year or two, sold out and returned to New 
 York, where his last days were spent. 
 
 Dexter C. Judd grew to manhood in New 
 York, and learned the blacksmith trade with 
 his father, and carried on business at Bol- 
 ton, on Lake George, up to 1850, when he 
 came to Kane county, Illinois, and pur- 
 chased a farm of twenty acres in Sugar 
 Grove township. He also built a black- 
 smith shop and w rked at his trade in con- 
 nection with farming for a number of years. 
 As his means increased he purchased more 
 land, until he had a farm of two hundred 
 and seventy-six acres adjoining the present 
 village of Sugar Grove. While residing in 
 New York he married Eliza C. Brown, also 
 a native of that state, where she was reared 
 and educated. They were the parents of 
 five sons, all of whom grew to mature years 
 and all living and heads of families. Asel 
 T. is a farmer of Sugar Grove township; 
 Samuel B. resides in Aurora; Sarson L. , of 
 this review; Charles D., of Aurora; and 
 Smith C., of Chicago, Illinois. Dexter C. 
 Judd was quite a prominent man in Sugar 
 Grove township, and held a number of local 
 offices of honor and trust. Later in life he 
 removed to Aurora, where his death oc- 
 curred in June, 1893. His wife passed 
 away two years previously, dying in 1891, 
 and their bodies were laid to rest in Sugar 
 Grove township. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man-
 
 SARSON L. JUDD.
 
 Of
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 523 
 
 hood on the old home farm, and was edu- 
 cated in the Sugar Grove schools. He re- 
 mained with his parents until after attaining 
 his majority. On the 25th of November, 
 1870, in Sugar Grove township, he was 
 united in marriage with Miss Mary Gillett, 
 a daughter of Lewis H. Gillett, a pioneer 
 of Kane county, and later removed to Iro- 
 quois county, where he purchased a farm 
 and remained six years, then returned to 
 Kane county, bought the old homestead on 
 which he has since resided, and where he 
 has engaged in general farming and also in 
 the stock business. In 1897 he also en- 
 gaged in the farming-implement and coal 
 business at Sugar Grove, where he has just 
 completed a large and substantial residence, 
 one of the best in the township. Mrs. Judd 
 died in 1894, leaving two sons Lewis Dex- 
 ter, married and now running the old home 
 farm, and Clarence, a student in the Sugar 
 Grove Normal Institute. Mr. Judd was 
 again married April 2, 1895, n ' s second 
 union being with Miss Susie Kauth, who 
 was born and reared in Kane county, and a 
 daughter of Michael and Audesia Kauth, of 
 Sugar Grove township. 
 
 Politically Mr. Judd is a life-long Re- 
 publican, the liberty-loving principles of 
 which he inherited from his father, who was 
 a strong anti-slavery man. He cast his first 
 presidential ballot for U. S. Grant in 1868, 
 and has voted for every presidential nomi- 
 nee of the party up to William McKinley, 
 for whom he voted in 1896. He has al- 
 ways taken an active interest in political 
 affairs, and has served as a delegate in many 
 conventions, county, congressional and state, 
 and has given his services to his county as 
 supervisor for nine years. He is a member 
 of the Masonic fraternity, and also of the 
 Modern Woodmen of America. As a citi- 
 
 25 
 
 zen he is enterprising and progressive, and 
 never fails to be found in the front of those 
 advocating any measure that will advance 
 the interest of his town or county. Well 
 known throughout the entire county, as well 
 as in the adjoining counties of Kendall and 
 De Kalb, he is held in the highest esteem 
 by all. 
 
 JF. COLSON. No foreign element has 
 become a more important part in .our 
 American citizenship than that furnished by 
 Sweden. 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 progressiveness and 
 idomitable spirit of the west. Mr. Colson, 
 now one of the leading merchants of St. 
 Charles, is a worthy representative of this 
 class. 
 
 J. F. Colson was born in Sweden, Janu- 
 ary 20, 1853, a son of John P. and Chris- 
 tine S. Colson, who during his infancy came 
 to the United States, and, after a short 
 time spentr.in Chicago, they located in St. 
 Charles in the summer of 1853. The fa- 
 ther was a shoemaker by trade and con- 
 tinued to follow that trade until incapaci- 
 tated by age. He died in St. Charles in 
 1892, but his wife is still living and now 
 finds a pleasant home with our subject. 
 
 The public schools of St. Charles afforded 
 J. F. Colson his early educational advan- 
 tages, but to a large degree he is self-edu- 
 cated, obtaining through his own exertions 
 a good, practical business knowledge. He 
 began his business career as a clerk in the 
 store of L. C. Ward, with whom he re- 
 mained for twelve years, obtaining a thor- 
 ough training in business methods, which
 
 524 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 has been of great benefit to him in later 
 years. In 1885 he formed a business part- 
 nership with Charles A. Anderson, with 
 whom he had clerked for five years, and to- 
 gether they engaged in merchandising until 
 the latter's death in i888._ He was suc- 
 ceeded by Charles H. Haines as silent part- 
 ner, and business has since been conducted 
 under the firm style of Colson & Company. 
 They carry a large and complete stock of 
 dry goods, notions, boots, shoes, clothing, 
 hats, caps, carpets, etc., and have built up 
 a large trade, having early gained a reputa- 
 tion for good goods and fair dealing. When 
 Mr. Colson started out in life for himself he 
 had no capital, but by perseverance, industry 
 and economy he has steadily worked his way 
 upward and has become quite well-to-do. 
 He is an enterprising, progressive business 
 man of sound judgment and excellent abil- 
 ity, and the success that he has achieved is 
 certainly well deserved. He has not only 
 secured a comfortable competence, but has 
 made for himself an honored name in the 
 land of his adoption. 
 
 In Geneva, Illinois, in January, 1882, 
 Mr. Colson was united in marriage with Miss 
 Anna Johnson, a native of Sweden, who 
 was born and reared in Geneva. They now 
 have five children Winfield, Leroy, Ruth, 
 Harold and Robert and the three oldest 
 are attending school in St. Charles. The 
 Republican party finds in Mr. Colson an 
 ardent supporter of its principles, having 
 cast his first vote for General Grant in 1872. 
 Fraternally, he is a master Mason, belong- 
 ing to the blue lodge of St. Charles, and is 
 a member of the Modern Woodmen. He is 
 also a member of the Independent Order of 
 Odd Fellows, of which he is past grand; has 
 filled all the offices in the encampment up to 
 the chief patriarch, and he and his wife be- 
 
 long to Rebekah lodge. Mr. Colson has 
 spent almost his entire life in St. Charles, 
 and since attaining to man's estate he has 
 been identified with its business interests, 
 materially aiding in the advancement and 
 prosperity of the city. 
 
 BAXTER O. SKINNER," a farmer resid- 
 ing on section 22, Plato township, was 
 born five miles from Westport, Essex coun- 
 ty, New York, November 15, 1834. His 
 early life was spent in his native state, and 
 his education was received in the public 
 schools at Brainard's Forge, five miles from 
 Pleasant Valley. He came west with his 
 parents in May, 1853, and assisted his father 
 in opening up and developing a good farm. 
 His father, Oren Skinner, was born in Lang- 
 don, New Hampshire, in 1804, and died in 
 Plato township, Kane county, January 13, 
 1 86 1. He was a clothier and draper by 
 trade, his principal work being in finishing 
 broadcloth. On the 5th of May, 1853, he 
 left his New Hampshire home for the west, 
 going by rail to Buffalo, thence by lake to 
 Toledo, then by rail to Chicago. Severe 
 storms were encountered on the lakes, and 
 about ten or twelve days were spent in mak- 
 ing the trip to Chicago. He had two broth- 
 ers then living in Chicago, and with them 
 he remained a short time before coming to 
 the farm where the family has since resided. 
 At the time they came there was much gov- 
 ernment land open to entry, and there was 
 plenty of wild game in the country. Oren 
 Skinner took up one hundred and sixty-five 
 acres, and later purchased forty acres more. 
 Of the original tract our subject now owns 
 one hundred and twelve acres, where he 
 conducts the stock farm, raising horses prin-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 525 
 
 cipally. He has a good house upon the 
 place, rebuilt in 1897-8, with a beautiful 
 grove surrounding the house and barns. 
 
 The paternal grandfather, Baxter Skin- 
 ner, was born in New Hampshire or Ver- 
 mont. He was descended from one of two 
 brothers, who emigrated from England, set- 
 tling in Connecticut and Massachusetts. By 
 trade he was a blacksmith. Oren Skinner 
 married Charlotte Cady, who was born in 
 Rutland, Vermont, and a daughter of Oliver 
 Cady, a soldier of the war of 1812, born 
 September 20, I78r, and died April 30, 
 1841. He was married October 12, 1805, 
 to Abigail Brainard, born June 10, 1786. 
 He moved to the town of Reading, Vermont, 
 in 1803. As early as 1804 he was a choir 
 leader in the Congregational church. Abi- 
 gail Brainard was a daughter of Deacon 
 Timothy Brainard, a drum major of the war 
 of 1812. The Cadys are a musical family, 
 one of the number being a partner of George 
 F. Root, and they were the largest dealers 
 in musical instruments in Chicago before 
 the great fire of 1871. Our subject has a 
 fine old violin, which came into his posses- 
 sion forty-five years ago, and which is over 
 three hundred years old and has been in the 
 family for many generations. Timothy 
 Brainard was in the battle of Plattsburg, 
 moved to Westport, New York, in 1814, 
 and some years later to Kane county, Illi- 
 nois, and died in Plato township at the age 
 of eighty-three years. Oren Skinner and 
 wife were parents of four children, as fol- 
 lows: John, who preceded the family to 
 Chicago, in the fall of 1852, and died April 
 24, 1888, at the age of fifty-eight years; 
 Martha, wife of A W. Hall, resides on a 
 farm near our subject, and which is part of 
 the old homestead; Baxter Oliver, our sub- 
 ject; and Armenia S. , who married William 
 
 J. Fisher, and lived in Essex county, New 
 York, died in July, 1881. 
 
 For forty-five years Baxter O. Skinner 
 has been living upon his present farm, and 
 is well known throughout Kane county. 
 He is a member of the Independent Order 
 of Odd Fellows, and was a member of the 
 Grange during its existence. Politically he 
 is a Republican, casting his first presidential 
 vote for John C. Fremont, and has voted 
 for none but Republican presidential candi- 
 dates ever since. He is now serving as 
 deputy sheriff, a position which he has filled 
 for some twelve or fourteen years. His 
 interest in the public schools has always 
 been great, and for twenty-one years he has 
 served as school director. He has been 
 township trustee since 1873, and has been 
 president of the board for many years. 
 During the war he was a member of the 
 state militia. Always loyal he has made a 
 good representative citizen of the township. 
 
 M 
 
 ORRIS P. BROWN, of Aurora, Illi- 
 nois, was for many years one of the 
 most active and enterprising farmers of Kane 
 county. He dates his residence in this 
 county from October, 1845. A native of 
 the Empire state, he was born in the center 
 of the town of Watertown, Jefferson coun- 
 ty, July 25, 1827, and is the son of James 
 Brown, who was an early settler of that 
 county, and whose father built a tavern for 
 the entertainment of the traveling public, 
 which they carried on for many years. The 
 paternal grandfather, Aaron Brown, was a 
 native of Massachusetts, from which state 
 he removed to Jefferson county, New York. 
 The mother was of English and Scotch an- 
 cestry. 
 
 James Brown was married in Jefferson
 
 5 26 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 county, New York, to Fannie Scott, a na- 
 tive of Connecticut and a daughter of Abel 
 Scott, who was also a pioneer of Jefferson 
 county, New York, moving from Connecti- 
 cut. After marriage, James Brown and 
 wife commenced their domestic life on a 
 farm in Jefferson county, where they re- 
 mained until 1843, when the father came 
 to Kane county, Illinois, where he remained 
 a short time, and then removed to De Kalb 
 county with Morris P., who came in 1845. 
 The mother came in 1846 and joined the 
 family in De Kalb county. After twenty 
 years spent in De Kalb county, they re- 
 turned to Kane county, and located in 
 Sugar Grove township, where she died Jan- 
 uary 26, 1875. He survived her about two 
 years, dying February 13, 1877. He was a 
 man of good education, studied for the 
 ministry, and was an active member of the 
 Presbyterian church. 
 
 Morris P. Brown is the only survivor of 
 a family of two sons and three daughters, 
 all of whom grew to mature years, but are 
 now deceased. In his native state he spent 
 his boyhood and youth, and a few weeks 
 during the winter months was enabled to 
 attend school, the remainder of his time 
 being given to hard work upon the farm. 
 When nineteen years of age, he came west 
 and settled in De Kalb county, where he 
 entered eighty acres of land, and com- 
 menced its improvement. He later entered 
 two hundred and forty acres, giving him a 
 farm of three hundred and twenty acres. 
 As his means increased he purchased more 
 land, and owned at one time one thousand 
 acres. In 1865, he came to Kane county, 
 and purchased two improved farms, in 
 Sugar Grove township, comprising three 
 hundred and forty acres. While commenc- 
 ing life in this state a poor boy, success 
 
 has crowned his efforts, and he is to-day 
 regarded as one of the substantial men of 
 Kane county. In addition to the three 
 hundred and forty acres he owns in Kane 
 county, he has also a valuable farm in Ne- 
 braska, and residence property in Aurora. 
 He is likewise a stockholder in the First 
 National Bank of Aurora. 
 
 On the 22nd of November, 1855, Mr. 
 Brown was united in marriage in De Kalb 
 county with Miss Sarah E. Hyde, born in 
 Grand Island, Vermont, and a daughter of 
 James W. Hyde, also a native of Vermont. 
 James W. Hyde, in that state, married Ruth 
 Corbin, a Vermont lady, whose father, 
 Warren Corbin, was one of the first settlers 
 of Grand Island. James W. Hyde removed 
 to New York, located first in St. Lawrence 
 county, after which he removed to Frank- 
 lin county, and in 1 846 came to Illinois, 
 settling in Kendall county, where he opened 
 up a farm, and later removed to De Kalb 
 county, but later went to live with a son in 
 Iowa, where he died. Mrs. Brown was 
 reared in New York state, and in Kendall 
 county, Illinois, and here participated in the 
 hardships and privations of pioneer life. To 
 Mr. and Mrs. Brown four children were 
 born: Ella G. grew to womanhood, married 
 P. B. Quinn, settled in Kane county where 
 she died, leaving one daughter, Mary E. , 
 now residing with her grandparents. May 
 H. died at the age of sixteen years. Grace 
 M. S. is the wife of Daniel J. Gordon, a 
 substantial farmer, of Sugar Grove town- 
 ship. Fannie R. is the wife of Leonard 
 Hall, also a substantial farmer of Sugar 
 Grove township. 
 
 In 1 88 1 Mr. Brown built a residence in 
 Aurora, to which he removed with his fam- 
 ily in 1882, and here resided three years. 
 They then returned to the farm, and seven
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 527 
 
 years later came back to Aurora, where he 
 has since lived a retired life. On the or- 
 ganization of the Republican party, Mr. 
 Brown became an adherent, casting his vote 
 for John C. Fremont, since which time he 
 has been a stanch advocate of its princi- 
 ples. Fraternally he is a Mason, a mem- 
 ber of the blue lodge, council, chapter 
 and commandery. As a citizen he is held 
 in high esteem, and in the growth and de- 
 velopment of the county he has borne his 
 part. 
 
 ANNAS HATHAWAY, a well-known and 
 honored citizen of Elgin, whose home 
 is at No. 645 North Spring street, was born 
 on the 1 3th of October, 1827, in Steuben 
 county, New York, a son of Joel and Anna 
 (Babbitt) Hathaway, natives of Massachu- 
 setts. Five children were born to them, 
 four sons and one daughter, but our subject 
 is the only one now living. During his 
 early life the father worked at the stone 
 mason's trade, but later turned his attention 
 to farming. Coming west in 1850, he and 
 his wife made their home with their eldest 
 son, E. T. Hathaway, in Wayne, Du Page 
 county, Illinois, where the father died in 
 1870, aged eighty-six, and the mother, who 
 survived him five years, died at the age of 
 eighty-one. Both were Universalists in re- 
 ligious belief and were held in high regard 
 by all who knew them. During the war of 
 1812 the father was captain of a company, 
 and while living in Steuben county, New 
 York, he served as supervisor and also as 
 county superintendent of the poor for some 
 years. 
 
 The paternal grandfather of our subject 
 was born in Massachusetts, of English par- 
 entage, was a farmer by occupation, and 
 
 was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, tak- 
 ing part in the battle of Bunker Hill. He 
 reared a family of seven sons and three 
 daughters, and died at the advanced age of 
 one hundred years. Edward Babbitt, the 
 maternal grandfather, was also a native of 
 the old Bay state, and died in middle life 
 leaving a family of three sons and three 
 daughters. 
 
 Mr. Hathaway, of this review, obtained 
 his education in an old log school-house 
 near his boyhood home, and at the age of 
 fourteen left the parental roof and entered 
 upon his business career as a clerk in a 
 store, where he was employed for four years. 
 On the 4th of May, 1845, he first set foot in 
 Elgin, where he had stopped to visit friends 
 while on his way to St. Louis, Missouri, and 
 after spending eighteen months here he pro- 
 ceeded to that city, where he made his 
 home for four years. He then returned 
 to Elgin, and in partnership with W. C. 
 Kimball, opened a store in Union, Mc- 
 Henry county. On selling out two years 
 later he removed to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 
 where he engaged in merchandising one 
 year; later he moved to Chicago and gave 
 his attention to bookkeeping. Subse- 
 quently he went to Pike's Peak in 1859 and 
 on to California, where he engaged in min- 
 ing. He returned to Chicago in 1860 and re- 
 mained there till 1861 ; he then went South 
 and engaged in mercantile business until 
 1866. Returning he engaged in the com- 
 mission business in Chicago for one year, 
 and then became interested in railroad- 
 ing, having charge of the freight department 
 of the Chicago & Northwestern road for one 
 year. He was next ticket and freight 
 agent for the Chicago & Pacific railroad, 
 and later had charge of the out-going 
 freight for the Lake Shore & Michigan
 
 5 28 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Southern railroad for six years. The fol- 
 lowing year he was connected with the 
 pool line under George H. Daniels, but at 
 the end of that time the pool line was dis- 
 solved and he came to Elgin, where for 
 seven years he served as freight and ticket 
 agent for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. 
 Paul railroad. Going to Tacoma, Wash- 
 ington he became manager for the Tacoma 
 Trading Company, furnishing coal and 
 building supplies. He then returned to El- 
 gin in 1890, and three years later was ap- 
 pointed chief clerk and secretary of the 
 state board of trustees of the Illinois North- 
 ern Hospital for the Insane, a position he 
 acceptably filled for four years. In the spring 
 and summer of 1892, he built his present 
 beautiful home in that city, where he ex- 
 pects to spend his declining years. 
 
 On the 22d of February, 1853, Mr. 
 Hathaway was united in marriage to Miss 
 Sylvira M. Bartlett, a daughter of Edmund 
 and Naomi (Babcock) Bartlett, who located 
 in Kane county as early as 1834, making 
 their home upon a farm near Wayne for 
 over half a century. Mr. Bartlett died 
 upon that place, but the death of his wife 
 occurred in Elgin. Mr. and Mrs. Hatha- 
 way have two children. Carrie, the older, 
 is now the wife of D. W. George, of Jack- 
 sonville, Illinois, and has three children 
 Sylvira, James and William. Herbert is 
 employed in the watch factory in Elgin. 
 
 Mr. Hathaway is a prominent Mason, 
 having belonged to that order since joining 
 Unity lodge, F. & A. M., in St. Charles, 
 Illinois, September 20, 1852, and he is now 
 a member of Loyal L. Munn chapter, R. A. 
 M. ; Bethel commandery, No. 36, K. T. ; 
 Oriental Consistory and Medinah Temple, 
 both of Chicago. Politically he is identified 
 with the Democratic party. Since 1845 ne 
 
 has made his home almost continuously in 
 Chicago or Elgin, and his wife has been a 
 resident of Kane county for sixty-three 
 years, so that they have witnessed almost 
 the entire development of this section of 
 the state, and deserve to be numbered 
 among its honored pioneers, as well as its 
 highly respected and valued citizens. 
 
 WILLIAM W. NEWMAN, of Aurora, 
 Illinois, is a native of the Empire 
 state, which has contributed to the great 
 state of Illinois many of its best and most 
 enterprising citizens. For many years he 
 was one of the leading farmers of Sugar 
 Grove, township, Kane county, but is now 
 living a retired life. He was born in the 
 town of Butternuts, Otsego county, New 
 York, December 7, 1812. His father, 
 Abraham Newman, was born in Connecti- 
 cut, and was a soldier in the Revolutionary 
 war. When a young man he moved from 
 Connecticut to New York, and at Granville, 
 that -state, he married Lucinda Crippen, a 
 native of New York. By trade he was a 
 tailor. After residing for a time in Gran- 
 ville, he then went to Otsego county, and 
 later he moved to Jefferson county, New 
 York, where he cleared and opened up a 
 farm in the heavy wilderness, and in the 
 town of Alexander spent the last years of 
 his life, dying at the age of eighty-three 
 years. 
 
 William W. Newman is one of a fam- 
 ily of six sons and six daughters, all of 
 whom grew to manhood and womanhood, 
 married and reared families. Of the num- 
 ber, our subject and one brother are all that 
 survive. One brother, J. D. , who resided 
 in Chicago, died at the age of eighty-eight 
 years. The other brother, A. D. , also retired,
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 529 
 
 is living in Wooster, Massachusetts. In Jef- 
 ferson county, New York, our subject grew 
 to manhood, his education being received 
 in its common schools. In his youth he 
 learned the carpenter's trade, which he fol- 
 lowed for some years, after arriving at man- 
 hood's estate. Being always handy with 
 tools, he could work at any mechanical 
 trade. 
 
 On the i Jth of January, 1839, in Lewis 
 county, New York, Mr. Newman was united 
 in marriage with Miss Laura L. McCoy, a 
 native of Vermont, who came to New York 
 when a child, with her father, William Mc- 
 Coy, who was a pioneer of Lewis county. 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Newman, four sons have 
 been born James D., who grew to man- 
 hood, engaged in railroad work, married 
 and resided in Chicago, where his death oc- 
 curred; W. C. is a stock dealer and ship- 
 per, married and resides in Nebraska; L. A., 
 now deceased; and J. B., who resides at 
 home, and assists his father in the business. 
 
 After marriage Mr. Newman bought the 
 old homestead in Jefferson county, New 
 York, where he carried on a general farm- 
 ing and dairy business, continuing there un- 
 til 1853, when he sold out and came to 
 Kane county, Illinois, locating in Sugar 
 Grove township, where he purchased a 
 partially-improved farm of two hundred and 
 twenty-two acres, and at once resumed 
 farming. He brought the farm under a 
 high state of cultivation, made extensive 
 improvements upon it, and there resided 
 until 1868, when he purchased residence 
 property in Aurora, to which he removed, 
 and where he has since continued to reside. 
 Later he sold the farm and invested in city 
 residence property, buying lots and erecting 
 dwelling houses, principally on the west 
 side. He now owns several valuable resi- 
 
 dences in the city. Being a carpenter, he 
 took charge of the erection of the build- 
 ings, thus making a great saving in 
 the expense. In early life Mr. Newman 
 was a Whig, which party he supported un- 
 til after its defeat in 1852, and, on the or- 
 ganization of the Republican party, gave 
 adherence to its peculiar views, and has 
 since been a stanch advocate of its princi- 
 ples. While residing in the country, he 
 served as assessor, school director, and in 
 other positions of honor and trust. Com- 
 mencing life in very limited circumstances, 
 he has, by honest industry, strict integrity, 
 and the practice of economy, secured a 
 competency, which enables him to live at 
 ease and enjoy the fruits of a life well 
 spent. While not numbered among those 
 who profess to be pioneers, he is yet among 
 the early settlers of the county, and has 
 witnessed the greater part of the changes 
 made in transforming this section into the 
 most productive part of the great state of 
 Illinois. In this work he has done his part 
 and is entitled to all honor and credit. 
 
 ORLANDO DAVIDSON is one of the 
 leading and influential citizens of El- 
 gin, who has taken an active part in pro- 
 moting its substantial improvement and 
 material development. For many years he 
 was one of the most active and enterpris- 
 ing business men of the city, identified with 
 its industrial, commercial and banking in- 
 terests, but is living retired at his pleasant 
 home, known as Stone Cottage, No. 157 
 South Chapel street. 
 
 Mr. Davidson was born May 3, 1825, in 
 Windham, New Hampshire, a son of James 
 Nutt and Lucy (Lancaster) Davidson, also 
 natives of that state, the former born in
 
 530 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Windham and the latter in Acworth. The 
 grandfather, who also bore the name of 
 James Davidson, was born in Tewksbury, 
 Massachusetts, January 12, 1752. When 
 the Colonies resolved to throw off the yoke 
 of British oppression, he joined the Conti- 
 nental army at Cambridge and remained in 
 the service until the war ended, witnessing 
 the surrender of General Burgoyne. He 
 gained a comfortable living by his occupa- 
 tion of farming. That he was held in high 
 esteem by his fellow citizens was evidenced 
 by the number of offices he was called upon 
 to fill from time to time, being one of the 
 prominent officials in his town for a period 
 of more than thirty years. Social, genial 
 and very kind in disposition, he made 
 friends easily, and could as easily retain 
 them. He was a man of strong convic- 
 tions, was firm and self reliant, noted for 
 his candor .and exemplary Christian life. 
 He died in Windham, New Hampshire, 
 July 3, 1837. From infancy he had resid- 
 ed in that state. In early manhood he 
 married Miss Hannah Hemphill, and to 
 them were born nine children, namely: 
 Nathaniel, Margaret, Sarah, Anna, Samuel, 
 James Nutt, Mary, James Nutt and John 
 Hemphill. 
 
 Of these James Nutt Davidson (second), 
 the father of our subject, was born July 12, 
 1797, and in early life was a butcher, con- 
 ducting a slaughter house in the east. He 
 was also interested in hotel keeping for a 
 time. In 1835 he removed to Sandusky, 
 Ohio, and ten years later located in Chi- 
 cago, where he was engaged in the commis- 
 sion business for some years. Several 
 years prior to his death he became an in- 
 mate of the home of our subject, in Elgin, 
 where he passed away in August, 1873, at 
 the age of seventy-six years. He was 
 
 known as Deacon Davidson, being for many 
 years a deacon in the Congregational church 
 in the east and in Chicago. Before the 
 war he took considerable interest in the 
 operations of the underground railroad, and 
 assisted many a poor darky on his way to 
 Canada and freedom. His wife, who was 
 a member of the same church, and a most 
 estimable woman, died in Chicago, in 1855, 
 at the age of sixty years. In their family 
 were eleven children, ten of whom reached 
 years of maturity, but only three are now 
 living: Orlando; Cynthia A., wife of J. H. 
 Stead, of Salida, Colorado; and Jennie, 
 widow of Gilbert G. Edgerton, of Fremont, 
 Ohio. Those deceased are Amintor, Na- 
 thaniel, Daniel, Charles, James, Mary and 
 Elizabeth, wife of S. M. Moore, of Chicago. 
 The first ten years of his life Orlando 
 Davidson lived upon a farm in his native 
 state, and then accompanied his parents on 
 their removal to Sandusky, Ohio, making 
 the journey partly by wagon and the re- 
 mainder by way of the lakes. There he 
 acquired a good education in the common 
 schools, and after coming with the family to 
 Chicago, he taught a country school where 
 Evanston now stands. He and an older 
 brother, as well as their father, took an 
 active interest in the underground railroad 
 at that time. Fora time he held a position 
 in a bank in Chicago, and in 1850 came to 
 Elgin to settle up the estate of James T. 
 Gifford, "the father of Elgin," whose 
 sketch is given in connection with that of 
 his daughter, Mrs. Preston, on another 
 page of this work. Having accomplished 
 this task, Mr. Davidson returned to Chi- 
 cago, and resumed his duties in the bank, 
 but in 1854 removed his family to Elgin, 
 where he has continuously resided since, 
 making the "stone cottage" built by his
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 father-in-law, Mr. Gifford, his home. On 
 locating there his yard covered an entire 
 block. 
 
 In Elgin, Mr. Davidson opened a private 
 bank in 1854, which successfully passed 
 through the stringency of money matters in 
 1857, and in 1866 was converted into the 
 Home National Bank, of which he was the 
 first president, serving as such until 1878. 
 Since then he has practically lived retired, 
 though he has been interested in other en- 
 terprises, being secretary of the Elgin Pack- 
 ing company, until the time of his sickness 
 in December, 1895. He was instrumental 
 in bringing the watch factory to Elgin, and 
 was a resident director of the same for sev- 
 eral years; took an active interest in locat- 
 ing the Northern Hospital for the Insane in 
 Elgin, and was its treasurer for six years, 
 during which time the building was erected; 
 and has always taken an active interest in 
 the Elgin Academy, a classical institution of 
 learning, of which he was the leading sup- 
 porter for over thirty years, acting as sec- 
 retary of the board of trustees during that 
 time. Mr. Davidson was also one of the 
 organizers of the Elgin Scientific society, of 
 which he was president and secretary for 
 some time, and was also president of the 
 Elgin Bible Society. 
 
 On the 26th of May, 1848, Mr. Davidson 
 was united in marriage with Miss Caroline 
 Amelia Gifford, a daughter of James T. and 
 Laura (Raymond) Gifford, prominent and 
 honored pioneers of Elgin. Six children 
 were born of this union: (i) Lucy died in 
 infancy. (2) Jay Gifford, born January 19, 
 1851, was an expert accountant of Chicago, 
 who graduated from the Chicago University 
 in 1872, and was an officer and prominent 
 member of the Plymouth Congregational 
 church of that city. He died July 31, 1 885. 
 
 (3) Laura, a graduate of the Elgin Acad- 
 emy, and also studied at Vassar, is the wife 
 of Judge Nathaniel C. Sears, of the Appel- 
 late court, residing at Edgewater, Chicago. 
 
 (4) May C. is a graduate of the Elgin Acad- 
 emy, and for ten years has been one of the 
 most successful and popular teachers in the 
 primary department of the schools of this 
 city. (5) Jennie Elizabeth graduated from 
 both the Elgin Academy and Oberlin Col- 
 lege, Ohio, and is now the wife of Arthur 
 L. Warner, mechanical superintendent of 
 the Illinois Iron & Bolt Works of Carpenters- 
 ville. They have two children: Orlando 
 Davidson and Florence May. (6) Stella 
 Amelia was also educated in the Elgin 
 Academy and Oberlin College, and is now 
 the wife of Harry Ainsworth, of Moline, 
 Illinois, a member of the manufacturing firm 
 of Williams, White & Co., and secretary of 
 the same. He is also a graduate of Oberlin 
 College and the Harvard Law School. 
 Their children are Caroline Davidson, Sarah 
 Andrews and Dorothy Sears. 
 
 Mrs. Davidson, who was born May 26, 
 1827, in Sherburn, New York, died October 
 24, 1890, while visiting her daughter in 
 Moline. At the age of eight years she came 
 with her parents to Elgin, and was married 
 while the family were residing in Wisconsin. 
 She was a life-long and consistent member of 
 the Congregational church, and always took 
 a leading part in all church work. Her 
 death was widely and deeply mourned, for 
 she made many friends, and had the respect 
 of all who knew her. 
 
 Mr. Davidson and his wife were charter 
 members of the Plymouth and New England 
 Congregational churches of Chicago, and 
 assisted in supporting both. For forty 
 years he has served as deacon in the First 
 Congregational church of Elgin, and for
 
 532 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 thirty years was superintendent of the Sun- 
 day-school. A true and earnest Christian 
 gentleman, the world is certainly better for 
 his having lived, and both by precept and 
 example he has led many to become nobler 
 men and women. On attaining his major- 
 ity he voted with the Whig party, but since 
 the organization of the Republican party 
 he has been one of its stanch supporters. 
 For a time he served as secretary of the 
 the Old Settlers Association of the Fox 
 River Valley, and to all enterprises calcu- 
 lated to advance the moral, intellectual or 
 material welfare >of his adopted city he has 
 given a hearty support. 
 
 ARVIN T. HAWLEY, a dealer in agri- 
 cultural implements, residing at No. 
 617 South street, Elgin, is but a recent ac- 
 quisition to the goodly array of progressive 
 business men in that thriving city, but his 
 ability, enterprise and upright methods have 
 already established for him an enviable rep- 
 utation. Although he is still a young man 
 comparatively, his popularity is established 
 on a firm basis that of his own well-tested 
 merit. 
 
 His father, the late Theodore Hawley, 
 was born in Canajoharie, Montgomery coun- 
 ty, New York, July 4, 1815, a son of Aschiel 
 and Lavina (Parde) Hawley, the former a 
 hatter by trade and quite prominent in re- 
 ligious circles, being a deacon of the Pres- 
 byterian church. The family was founded 
 in this country during the seventeenth cen- 
 tury by English emigrants. In the county 
 of his nativity, Theodore Hawley attended 
 the public schools until sixteen years of age 
 when he began learning the watch maker's 
 trade, working at that occupation for eight 
 years. On first coming to Illinois he lo- 
 
 cated in Lake county, where he purchased 
 a farm of two hundred and forty acres, and 
 after living upon that place for several years, 
 sold and removed to Algonquin, McHenry 
 county, but only remained there one year. 
 He next engaged in mercantile pursuits in 
 Rome, Jefferson county, Wisconsin, until 
 1862, when he removed to Batavia, Kane 
 county, Illinois, where he made his home 
 for three years, during which time our sub- 
 ject was born. In 1865 he purchased a 
 good farm of one hundred acres in Burling- 
 ton township, where he resided until com- 
 ing to Elgin, in the spring of 1897. Politic- 
 ally, he was originally a Whig, but on the 
 dissolution of that party became a stanch 
 Republican, and for four years under Presi- 
 dent Johnson's administration he served as 
 postmaster of East Burlington. He was a 
 man of character and sterling worth, and 
 he well merited the high regard in which he 
 was uniformly held. After a long and use- 
 ful life he passed away at the home of our 
 subject in Elgin, February 19, 1898. 
 
 On the 26th of December, 1847, Theo- 
 dore Hawley was united in marriage with 
 Miss Sarah Cramp, who was born in Sus- 
 sex, England, March 20, 1826, and when 
 three years old was brought to America by 
 her parents, William and Sarah (Morton) 
 Cramp, locating first in Oneida county, New 
 York. In 1847 the Cramp family removed 
 to Algonquin, McHenry county, Illinois, 
 where the marriage of the parents of our 
 subject was celebrated. Both lived to wit- 
 ness the fiftieth anniversity of that happy 
 event, and the mother is still living, finding 
 a pleasant home with our subject. To this 
 worthy couple seven children were born, 
 namely: Marcus A., a resident of Kansas; 
 Helen L. , who died in 1896; Annie, wife of 
 S. G. Conners, of Plato township, Kane
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 533 
 
 county; Sarah E , who died in infancy; Em- 
 ily H., wife of Henry Buzzell, now a resi- 
 dent of Iowa; Cora E. , wife of August C. 
 Bird, living near Belvidere, Illinois; and 
 Arvin T., of this sketch. 
 
 In Batavia, Kane county, Arvin T. Haw- 
 ley was born October 5, 1864, but when 
 only six months old his parents removed to 
 the one-hundred-acre farm on section 25, 
 Burlington township. Upon that place and 
 an adjoining section in Plato township he 
 made his home until his removal to Elgin in 
 the spring of 1897. He acquired a good 
 practical education in the public schools, 
 which he attended until eighteen years of 
 age, and then assisted his father in the 
 operation of the home farm, taking entire 
 charge the following year, when his father 
 retired from active labor, though he made 
 his home with our subject until his death. 
 Mr. Hawley still owns the homestead of one 
 hundred acres and also leases fifty-five 
 acres, which are now operated by a tenant, 
 and upon the place keeps thirty-five cows, 
 shipping the milk to Chicago. His country 
 home was destroyed by fire October 23, 
 1896, but the following spring was rebuilt. 
 Mr. Hawley also owns his pleasant residence 
 in Elgin. In the spring of 1898 he embarked 
 in his present business at the corner of 
 Standish and Jewett streets, Elgin, dealing 
 in Champion mowers and binders and a full 
 line of farm implements. He is already 
 meeting with excellent success in this un- 
 dertaking. 
 
 In Belvidere, Illinois, Mr. Hawley was 
 married December 18, 1890, to Miss Elver- 
 etta Morrison, a native of Sycamore, De 
 Kalb county. Her father, Joseph Morrison, 
 was born in Ontario, Canada, and about 
 1868 removed to De Kalb county, Illinois, 
 where he followed the occupation of farm- 
 
 ing. He wedded Mary McCarthy, daughter 
 of George McCarthy, of that county. Mr. 
 Morrison died in June, 1888. To Mr. .and 
 Mrs. Hawley were born two children, name- 
 ly: Edna Pearl, who died at the age of two 
 years, and Erma Ethelyn, who was born in 
 February, 1898. Edna Morrison, the sister 
 of Mrs. Hawley, makes her home with our 
 subject, and attends the Elgin public 
 schools. 
 
 The Republican party has ever found in 
 Mr. Hawley a stanch supporter, and from 
 the time he attained his majority until his 
 removal to Elgin, he was a member of the 
 school board of his district. He also served 
 as township assessor one year and tax col- 
 lector two years. Socially, he formerly be- 
 longed to the Knights of the Maccabees. 
 He is an energetic, wide-awake and enter- 
 prising citizen, and in both business and 
 private life commands the respect and con- 
 fidence of all with whom he comes in con- 
 tact. 
 
 HENRY G. OHLS, M. D. In the last 
 half century it has been rare for a 
 man to win prominence in several lines. 
 It is the tendency of the age to devote one's 
 entire energy to a special line, continually 
 working upward and concentrating every 
 effort towards accomplishing a desired end. 
 Dr. Ohls, although well qualified for general 
 practice, has made a specialty of the dis- 
 eases of the nose, throat and chest, and 
 along these lines has made an enviable rep- 
 utation in the medical world. He resides 
 in Elgin, has an office in the Elgin Bank 
 block, and he is also engaged in practice in 
 the Venetian building, Chicago. 
 
 The Doctor was born in Chicago, Octo- 
 ber 27, 1860, a son of John and Augusta G.
 
 S34 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 (Garnsey) Ohls, natives of Ohio, in whose 
 family were two children, the other being 
 Effie L. For thirty-five years the father 
 was connected with the American Express 
 Company, being assistant superintendent 
 of the Illinois division the greater part of 
 the time. He died at Hinsdale, May 23, 
 1894, aged fifty-eight years. The Doctor's 
 mother passed away in 1880, at the age of 
 forty years. Both were active and promi- 
 nent members of the Episcopal church, Mr. 
 Ohls serving Grace church in Hinsdale both 
 as vestryman and warden for several years. 
 In common with every member of the Ohls 
 family, he was a Republican from the for- 
 mation of the party, but not an office 
 seeker. 
 
 Early in the eighteenth century the 
 Doctor's ancestors removed from Germany 
 to Philadelphia, and many members of the 
 family reside in Pennsylvania and eastern 
 Ohio to-day. During the Revolution the 
 family furnished its quota to the patriot 
 army, and throughout the last war mem- 
 bers of the family served with distinction in 
 the armies of the north. The Doctor's 
 maternal grandfather, Daniel E. Garnsey, 
 lived for many years at Piqua, Ohio. At 
 an early date he invested largely in Chicago 
 realty, but, lacking the confidence of others 
 in the city's prospects, removed to Michigan 
 City, and sold his holdings in Chicago, 
 which later became very valuable. His 
 death occurred at Rives Junction, Michigan, 
 in his sixty-fifth year. His wife bore the 
 maiden name of Mary Phillips, of the well- 
 known New York family. 
 
 Reared in Hinsdale, from the age of six 
 years, Dr. Ohls began his education in the 
 public schools of that place, later attended 
 the Aurora high school, and in 1883 gradu- 
 ated at the University of Michigan with the 
 
 degree of Ph. B. After a business experi- 
 ence of one year in the employment of the 
 American Express Company, he entered 
 Rush Medical College, where he served as 
 assistant in chemistry to Professor Walter 
 S. Haines, graduating at that institution 
 with the class of 1887. For three years 
 thereafter he engaged in practice in Clin- 
 ton, Iowa, but in 1890 returned to Chicago 
 and pursued special studies in the Polyclinic. 
 He [continued to reside in Hinsdale until 
 1896 when he removed to Elgin and has 
 since built up a good practice at this place. 
 For several years he has confined his prac- 
 tice to the diseases of the nose, throat and 
 chest, and has served as 1 professor of laryng- 
 ology and rhinology in Jenner Medical Col- 
 lege in Chicago. He has also been medi- 
 cal director of the Expressman's Mutual 
 Benefit Association for a number of years. 
 For two years past he has been associat- 
 ed with Professor E. Fletcher Ingals as edi- 
 tor of the department of laryngology and 
 rhinology in the American Year Book of 
 medicine and surgery, in which are record- 
 ed all the important discoveries of the year 
 in medicine and the best results in surgery, 
 taken from medical journals, monographs 
 and text books. 
 
 On the aoth of June, 1894, Dr. Ohls 
 married Miss Anna Elizabeth Oden, of 
 Benton Harbor, Michigan. August i, 1895, 
 a daughter, Katharine Augusta, was born to 
 them. The Doctor is a member of the 
 Episcopal church, and his wife is a Method- 
 ist in religious belief. They have made 
 many warm friends since coming to Elgin 
 and occupy a prominent position in social 
 circles. 
 
 Dr. Ohls is a member of Michigan Alpha 
 Chapter of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, 
 the Royal Arcanum and the Knights of the
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 535 
 
 Globe, and is also a member of the Fox 
 River Valley Medical Association. His 
 offices are equipped with the most modern 
 appliances needed in his practice, and he 
 keeps abreast of the latest discoveries and 
 theories. His skill and ability is attested 
 by the liberal patronage accorded him. 
 
 WILLIAM L. MESSENGER, a vet 
 eran of the war for the union, now 
 holding a position with the board of ware- 
 house commissioners, Chicago, resides at 
 No. 457 South Lake street, Aurora, Illinois. 
 He is a native of Massachusetts, born in 
 Norfolk county, March 4, 1839, and is a 
 son of Fisher Messenger, born in 1806, in 
 the same town, county and state. Fisher 
 Messenger married Roanna White, a native 
 of Massachusetts and a daughter of Leonard 
 White, a direct descendant of Perigrine 
 White, one of the pilgrim fathers, and also 
 a descendant of Governor Bradford, of 
 Massachusetts. He was a weaver by trade 
 and followed that occupation until he came 
 west in 1857. He also learned the manu- 
 facture of baskets, and on his removal to 
 Aurora, in 1857, engaged in that business, 
 finding sale in Chicago for his product. He 
 made Aurora his home until his death in 
 1879. He was married three times, his 
 first, wife who was the mother of our sub- 
 ject, dying in Massachusetts in 1843. His 
 third wife survives him; and is yet residing 
 in Aurora. 
 
 Of the five children born to Fisher and 
 Roanna Messenger, Ellen married George 
 W. Barker, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, but 
 is now deceased; Sarah, widow of Rev. 
 James W. Searle, resides in Foxboro, 
 Massachusetts; Mary married William 
 Johnson, and both are now deceased; Ly- 
 
 dia married Albert Pettee, but is now de- 
 ceased; and William L., our subject. By 
 the third marriage of Fisher Messenger, 
 there is one daughter living, Mrs. Emma F. 
 Carnes, of Aurora. 
 
 William L. Messenger was eighteen 
 years of age when he came with the family 
 to Aurora. While yet residing in his na- 
 tive state, he acquired a good common- 
 school education, and also acquired a 
 knowledge of basket manufacturing, in 
 which he assisted his father, after coming 
 to this place. On the ist o( December, 
 1860, he was united in marriage with Maria 
 Wagner, born at Fort Plains,' New York, 
 and a daughter of John J. Wagner, also a 
 native of New York, and a pioneer of Kane 
 county, Illinois, locating here in 1838, on 
 land which now is nearly all comprised 
 within the corporate limits of Aurora. Here 
 he opened up a large farm, reared his family 
 and spent the last years of his life, dying 
 about 1867. To William L. and Maria 
 Messenger four children were born: the 
 oldest, Elnora M., is now the wife of P. G. 
 Lincoln, of Aurora; William F. married 
 and resides in Aurora; Frank C. married 
 and also resides in Aurora; and Earl, resid- 
 ing at home. 
 
 After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Mes- 
 senger commenced their domestic life in 
 Aurora, and he continued to assist his father 
 in business. But the war clouds were gath- 
 ering and soon the proclamation of Presi- 
 dent Lincoln was issued for men to aid in 
 the defense of the union. The first call 
 was for three-months' men, and Mr. Mes- 
 senger was one of the first to respond, and 
 joined the Seventh Regiment, Illinois Vol- 
 unteer Infantry, the first regiment sent from 
 this state. He was, however, assigned to 
 an artillery company, and was first in active
 
 536 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 duty at Cairo. After the expiration of his 
 term of service he returned home, and in 
 July, 1862, again enlisted, and was assigned 
 to the First Arkansas Calvary, and was 
 commissioned adjutant, serving in that posi- 
 tion until, in 1863, when the organization 
 was changed, and he was commissioned 
 second lieutenant of Company D of the 
 same regiment, and served as such until 
 the close of the war, when he was mus- 
 tered out at Fayettville, Arkansas. He 
 participated in many engagements in and 
 around Fayetteville, and also at Prairie 
 Grove, Arkansas. For about a year he was 
 on detach duty, serving as provost marshal 
 of Fayetteville. 
 
 After his discharge Lieutenant Messen- 
 ger returned home, where he engaged in the 
 clothing trade for a short time, and later 
 was in the fruit business. He then moved 
 to Salem, Illinois, where he remained for a 
 few years, going from thence to East St. 
 Louis, where he engaged in railroading. In 
 1877 he returned to Aurora, since which 
 time he has been engaged in various lines 
 of business, including real estate and insur- 
 ance. He now holds a position in the office 
 of the grain and warehouse commissioners 
 at Chicago, a position which he is well qual- 
 ified to fill. 
 
 Lieutenant Messenger has been a stanch 
 Republican during his entire life, his father 
 before him being an Abolitionist of the 
 rankest kind, and was connected with the 
 underground railroad, assisting many a poor 
 colored person to his liberty. For two 
 terms our subject served as alderman from 
 his ward, a part of which time he was 
 chairman of the fire and water committee, 
 of the public buildings and grounds com- 
 mittee, and of the judiciary committee. He 
 cast his first presidential ballot for Abraham 
 
 Lincoln, and has since supported every 
 presidential nominee of the Republican 
 party. Fraternally, he is a member of the 
 Masons, and also the Knights of Pythias. 
 As a citizen, he stands high in the estima- 
 tion of his fellow men, and is ever pro- 
 gressive and enterprising, doing all in his 
 power to advance the material interests of 
 his adopted city, of which he has been an 
 almost continuous resident for forty-one 
 years. 
 
 HON. EDWARD C. LOVELL, ex-coun- 
 ty judge and a well-known attorney of 
 Elgin, occupies a suite of rooms in the Spur- 
 ling block. He was born" in Chicago, Illi- 
 nois, July 1 8, 1842, a son of Vincent S. and 
 Lucy (Smith) Lovell, the former a native of 
 Yorkshire, England, and the latter of Whites- 
 town, Oneida county, New York. 
 
 Vincent Lovell, the paternal grandfather 
 of our subject, was also a native of York- 
 shire, England, and came with his family 
 to the United States after the war of 1812, 
 because of his admiration of American in- 
 stitutions. Unlike many others, he was 
 the possessor of considerable means. By 
 occupation he was a farmer, both in his na- 
 tive land and in this country. In his family 
 were twelve children. His death occurred 
 in Whitestown, New York, when he was 
 about seventy years of age. Several of the 
 children came west, among whom were the 
 late John Lovell and William Lovell, of 
 Elgin. The maternal grandfather of our 
 subject was Daniel Smith, a native of Co- 
 lumbia county, New York, of Welsh ances- 
 try. He was also a farmer. His death oc- 
 curred in Oneida county, New York, when 
 he, too, was about seventy years of age. 
 
 Vincent S. Lovell, our subject's father, 
 was about fourteen years old when he came
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 537 
 
 with his parents to the United States. His 
 youth and early manhood were spent upon 
 a farm in Oneida county, New York, and 
 he there married Miss Lucy Smith. By 
 this union two children were born: Edward 
 C. , our subject; and Vincent S., who died 
 in December, 1892. The latter was a grad- 
 uate of the University of Michigan, and was 
 a journalist for several years after leaving 
 college, being for sometime on the editorial 
 staff of the Albany "Argus," and later on 
 the Chicago "Post" and "Mail." After 
 his marriage, in 1876, to Miss Eliza A. Had- 
 wen, of England, he made his home in El- 
 gin, where he was associated in business 
 with his brother during the remainder of his 
 life. His modest worth and sterling char- 
 acter were universally recognized, not more 
 by his election at different times to the offices 
 of director of the public library and mayor 
 of the city, than by the affectionate regard 
 and respect in which he was held by all with 
 whom he had either social or business rela- 
 tions. 
 
 In 1837 the father came with his young 
 bride to Elgin, where he bought about one 
 hundred and fifty acres of land, the south- 
 ern line of which was some distance north 
 of where Jefferson avenue is now located. 
 This farm he cultivated until about 1841, 
 when he leased the same and removed to 
 Chicago, and there engaged in mercantile 
 trade for three years. He then returned to 
 Elgin and remained here until his death in 
 September, 1852, when in his forty-third 
 year. Reared a Methodist, he later em- 
 braced the Swedenborgan faith, and was 
 one of the organizers of the new church in 
 Chicago. While his business interests com- 
 manded the greater part of his time, he yet 
 served in several local offices, and was one 
 of the first town clerks of Elgin. 
 
 On the death of her husband, Mrs. 
 Lovell took charge of the estate and hand- 
 led it with ability and was enabled, though 
 largely through her own exertions, to keep 
 the family together and provide handsome- 
 ly for her boys. A woman of good educa- 
 tion, she taught for some time a private 
 school in Elgin, and gave her sons their first 
 lessons. Later they attended the public 
 school, then the Elgin Academy, and finally 
 entered the University of Michigan, at Ann 
 Arbor. The mother accompanied them to 
 that place, rented a house and remained 
 with them until graduation. Her death oc- 
 curred in Elgin in June, 1894, at the age of 
 nearly eighty-eight years. Her memory is 
 cherished not alone by the family but all 
 who knew her in this life. Kind-hearted, 
 benevolent and affectionate, her friends 
 were among all classes of society. Among 
 her benefactions was a handsome gift to the 
 Elgin Academy of its manual training build- 
 ing, and a liberal donation to Sherman hos- 
 pital. 
 
 Since early childhood Edward C. Lovell 
 has been a citizen of Elgin. His life has 
 been an open book, read of all men. Dur- 
 ing the dark days of the Civil war he enlist- 
 ed and was commissioned adjutant of the 
 One Hundred and Forty-first Illinois Vol- 
 unteer Infantry and a few months after the 
 expiration of that service was made captain 
 of Company C, One Hundred and Fifty- 
 third Illinois Volunteer Infantry, with which 
 he served until the autumn of 1865, when 
 the regiment was mustered out. The 
 greater part of Captain Lovell's time while 
 in the regiment was spent on detached serv- 
 ice, chiefly as inspector-general on the staff 
 of Gen. N. A. M. Dudley, and later on the 
 staff of Gen. John E. Smith. 
 
 Before entering the service Mr. Lovell
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 taught school for a time, and after his re- 
 turn he again took up school work, and in 
 all gave the greater part of his time to teach- 
 ing for about five years. Re-entering the 
 University of Michigan in 1865, he pursued 
 the prescribed course and in 1868 was grad- 
 uated from the literary department. Years 
 before this he had determined to enter the 
 legal profession, and to that end read law 
 with General John S. Wilcox, and after 
 completing his college course in 1868 en- 
 tered the law department of the University 
 of Michigan, from which he graduated in 
 1870. 
 
 Returning to his home in Elgin imme- 
 diately after his graduation, Mr. Lovell at 
 once opened an office and engaged in prac- 
 tice. From the beginning he has been suc- 
 cessful in securing clients and retaining 
 their patronage. His merits as a lawyer 
 Secured for him the nomination for the 
 office of county judge in 1882, and he was 
 duly elected. Four years afterwards he 
 was renominated and again elected, filling 
 the position in all eight years in a most sat- 
 isfactory manner, Leaving the bench in 
 1890, he resumed the active practice of law, 
 in which he is now busily engaged. 
 
 On the 3Oth of June, 1885, Judge Lovell 
 was united in marriage with Miss Carrie G. 
 Watres, of Scranton, Pennsylvania, daugh- 
 ter of Lewis S. and Harriet Gertrude (Hoi- 
 lister) Watres. Four children were born 
 of this union Gertrude Caroline, Lucy 
 Coultas, Margaret Louise and Vincent 
 Watres. The last named died in infancy, 
 February 2, 1896. Subsequently the wife 
 and mother departed this life, and was laid 
 to rest beside her infant son. She was a 
 woman of fine attainments, and was a mem- 
 ber of the First Congregational church of 
 Elgin. 
 
 Politically, the Judge is a Republican, 
 and with that party has acted since attain- 
 ing his majority. In its principles he firmly 
 believes, and for its success he has given of 
 his time and money. He has served as 
 city attorney of Elgin, also its mayor, and 
 in 1879 was elected and served a term in 
 the legislature of the state. A friend of 
 education, he is at present serving as pres- 
 ident of the school board. As a lawyer his 
 merits are recognized at home and abroad, 
 and he is now local attorney for the Chi- 
 cago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Com- 
 pany. His interest in army life has never 
 been lost, and he is a member of Veteran 
 post, No. 49, G. A. R. , and the Illinois 
 commandery of the Loyal Legion at Chi- 
 cago. As a citizen he stands high in the 
 estimation of the people. 
 
 CAPTAIN ALEXANDER C. LITTLE, 
 \-> one of the leading attorneys of Aurora, 
 was born in January, 1838, in Rome, Oneida 
 county. New York, and is the son of John 
 and Nancy (Rae) Little, both of whom are 
 natives of Dumfriesshire, Scotland, and who 
 are related to Thomas Carlyle and Edward 
 Irving. They were married in Scotland, 
 and came to the United States in the '303, 
 locating in Oneida county, New York, where 
 the father purchased a farm near Rome, 
 and carried on farming. In 1851 he came 
 to Illinois, locating in Kane county, where 
 he was engaged in farming. He died at 
 Big Rock, in July, 1860. In religious belief 
 he was a Presbyterian and in politics a Re- 
 publican. He was the son of John Little, 
 who was the son of John Little, a member of 
 an old Scotch family of substance. Nancy 
 Rae was the daughter of Benjamin and 
 Agnes Rae, and also a member of the Pres-
 
 CAPT. A. C. LITTLE.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 54' 
 
 byterian church. She died at her son's 
 home in 1879. They were the parents of 
 nine children, of whom our subject was the 
 youngest son. 
 
 Alexander C. Little, our subject, at- 
 tended the common schools until he was 
 eighteen years of age and then began study- 
 ing medicine with Dr. W. Danforth, of 
 Joliet, a friend of the family. Later he en- 
 tered the medical department of the Iowa 
 College, at Keokuk, Iowa, from which he 
 was graduated in 1858. For a year before 
 he graduated he was a partner of Dr. Dan- 
 forth. After he left college he spent his 
 time in the seminary in Aurora until 1862, 
 when, the war being on, he enlisted in July 
 of that year. He organized a company, but 
 it was not mustered in and was disbanded. 
 With fifteen of his men he went to Piano 
 and enlisted there, joining Company K, 
 One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Illinois 
 Volunteer Infantry. His first service was 
 at Camp Douglas, and Dr. Little was ap- 
 pointed orderly sergeant. The regiment 
 remained in camp until November 20, when 
 it was ordered to Memphis, Tennessee, and 
 assigned to General Sherman's division, and 
 with it remained until the close of the war. 
 
 From Memphis he went with the Chick- 
 asaw Bay expedition, and was in the fight 
 in December. Later his command went to 
 Arkansas Post, and was in that battle in 
 which about five thousand prisoners were 
 captured. From there they went to Vicks- 
 burg, and were under Grant at Young's 
 Point. He was in that vicinity and in the 
 siege until the surrender. While at Arkan- 
 sas Post the captain of the company was 
 taken sick and resigned, and our subject was 
 appointed to his place. After Vicksburg 
 they were ordered to Chattanooga, and were 
 all through that campaign. After the relief 
 
 3 
 
 of Chattanooga they were sent up to relieve 
 Burnside, at Knoxville, from which place 
 they returned to Larkinsville, and went into 
 camp, while Sherman was organizing his 
 Georgia campaign. At the battle of Kene- 
 saw Mountain he was in command of the 
 regiment; the colonel pleading sickness and 
 the major withdrawing, he was put in com- 
 mand by General Giles A. Smith, and with 
 his command was in the hottest of the fight. 
 After the day was won he received the com- 
 pliments of the general for his gallant serv- 
 ices. From then on he was in the cam- 
 paign until the fall of Atlanta. In the en- 
 gagement of August 3, 1864, at Atlanta, he 
 was wounded while in command of the left 
 wing of the regiment. Colonel Curtis lay 
 back with his regiment and would not come 
 out, so Captain Little, in whose valor and 
 capacity to lead there was no question, was 
 called to take charge, and as the regiment 
 was marching out for battle he was wounded. 
 The colonel of this regiment was finally re- 
 instated through political pressure and joined 
 his regiment at Goldsboro, North Carolina. 
 After he was wounded Captain Little 
 went north, and later returned to Chatta- 
 nooga, where he was ordered to organize, 
 among the detachments of the Fifteenth 
 Army Corps, a command and go to the re- 
 lief of General Ammen at Knoxville. His 
 command consisted of six hundred men. 
 He then returned to Louden and took com- 
 mand there, guarding the bridge. From 
 there he went to Cleveland, Tennessee, and 
 was assigned to the staff of General Baugh- 
 ton, where he remained until he rejoined his 
 regiment at Goldsboro. He was aide-de- 
 camp on General Baughton's staff. On 
 their way they had a fight with General 
 Bragg, at Kingston, North Carolina. After 
 he arrived at Goldsboro the provisional divi-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 sion was disbanded, and he was put into 
 the Second Missouri Engineer Corps, Army 
 of the Tennessee. In this position he 
 served until he arrived in Washington, when, 
 on the 5th of June, 1865, he was mustered 
 out. 
 
 After his discharge Captain Little re- 
 turned to Aurora, and feeling rusty in liter- 
 ary matters, after his long service in the 
 army, he entered Antioch College to review 
 his studies. He entered the senior class, 
 and remained there for about one year, 
 when he returned to Aurora and began the 
 study of law with the Hon. Charles Wheat - 
 on. He was admitted to the bar in 1867, 
 and began at once his practice by opening 
 an office at Aurora, where he has since con- 
 tinued. He soon came to the front, and 
 is one of the successful attorneys of the 
 Kane county bar. His first partner was 
 Hon. B. F. Parks, who remained with him 
 in 1873-4. His next partner was L. Isham 
 White, who was with him about one year, 
 and was succeeded by G. W. Avery, that 
 partnership continuing five years. Then 
 came Ira S. Smith, who is his present part- 
 ner. Captain Little is a close student of 
 law, and is regarded as an able counselor 
 and pleader. 
 
 Captain Little was married January 18, 
 1877, to. Miss Bonnie B. Snow, daughter of 
 Prof. Snow, who was a Massachusetts man 
 by birth. They have an adopted son, Leon- 
 ard Rae. Mrs. Little is a member of the 
 Episcopal church, in which she takes an 
 active part. In politics Captain Little is a 
 Republican, and in 1869 served as alder- 
 man of the Eleventh ward. In 1874 he was 
 elected mayor of the city, serving one term, 
 and during his incumbency he organized the 
 public library, which-has become one of the 
 beneficial institutions of the city. Previous 
 
 to his election as mayor he served as city 
 attorney, and has served one term subse- 
 quently. Fraternally, he is a member of 
 Aurora post, No. 20, G. A. R. As a citi- 
 zen he is progressive, and is ever ready to 
 do his part for the best interests of the com- 
 munity in which he lives. 
 
 THOMAS W. LEAKE, senior member of 
 the well-known firm of Leake & Gulig, 
 of St. Charles, is one of the most active and 
 enterprising business men of that place. He 
 is a native of Illinois, born in DuPage 
 county, September 25, 1851, and is a son 
 of Rawson H. Leake, and grandson of 
 William Leake, who spent his entire life in 
 New York. The father was born October 
 27, 1820, in Dutchess county, New York, 
 where he grew to manhood and married 
 Mary Ann Gorham, a sister of J. R. Gor- 
 ham, of St. Charles, whose sketch appears 
 elsewhere- in this volume. In 1850 they 
 emigrated to Illinois and located in DuPage 
 county, where Mr. Leake first purchased 
 one hundred and sixty acres and later two 
 hundred and fifty-five acres, operating the 
 same until 1875. He soon transformed the 
 wild land into highly cultivated fields, and 
 the fine farm which he developed is still in 
 the possession of the Leake family. Re- 
 moving to St. Charles in 1875, ne bought 
 residence property here and lived retired 
 until his death, which occurred May 30, 
 1893. His estimable wife still survives him 
 and is a resident of St. Charles. In their 
 family are only two children Thomas W. ; 
 and Emogene, wife of F. P. Haviland, a 
 resident of St. Charles and a business man 
 of Chicago. 
 
 On the home farm in DuPage county 
 Thomas W. Leake passed his boyhood and
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 543 
 
 youth, and his education, which was begun 
 in the public schools of the neighborhood, 
 was supplemented by a course in Wheaton 
 College. After his father left the farm he 
 took charge of the place, and was success- 
 fully engaged in agricultural pursuits gen- 
 eral farming, stock raising and dairying 
 for fourteen years. At the end of that peri- 
 od he rented the farm and moved to St. 
 Charles, where he formed a partnership 
 with his brother-in-law, F. P. Haviland, 
 buying out an established hardware busi- 
 ness. Together they conducted the busi- 
 ness for three years, and then Mr. Leake 
 purchased the other's interest, being alone 
 for the same length of time. The present 
 partnership was then formed, and the firm 
 disposed of the hardware business in 1898, 
 and now conducts a general machine shop. 
 They have established an enviable reputa- 
 tion for good goods and fair dealing, and 
 this fact has insured their success. 
 
 On the isth of December, 1875, in Du- 
 Page county, Mr. Leake married Miss Al- 
 mira L. Gorham, who was born, reared and 
 educated in that county, and is a daughter 
 of J. R. Gorham, now living retired in St. 
 Charles. Two children grace this union: 
 Bertie and Myrtle, who are both attending 
 the east side school, of St. Charles. 
 
 Reared a Democrat, Mr. Leake sup- 
 ported the men and measures of that party 
 until the fall of 1896, when he voted for 
 McKinley. He has never aspired to office. 
 Socially, he affiliates with the Independent 
 Order of Odd Fellows, and the Knights of 
 the Globe; and, religiously, he and his wife 
 are consistent members of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, of St. Charles, with 
 which he is officially connected. They 
 have a pleasant home in St. Charles, where 
 they delight to entertain their many friends. 
 
 FRANK H. BERNER is a young and 
 enterprising farmer, residing on section 
 26, Hampshire township. His grandfather, 
 Ludwig Berner, was a native of Germany, 
 a farmer by occupation, a Lutheran in re- 
 ligion, and there lived and died January 12, 
 1853, at the age of sixty years. He 
 served in the German army against the 
 great Napoleon. His wife, was Mary Da- 
 bor, also a native of Germany, who there 
 died in 1888, at the age of seventy-two 
 years. 
 
 John Frederich Christian Berner, the 
 son of Ludwig and Mary Berner, was born 
 in the village of Dorov, near the city of 
 Mueringen, Prussia, January 8, 1837. He 
 attended the public schools until the age of 
 fourteen, when he engaged in farm work 
 until he came to America. Previous to 
 leaving his native country he was united 
 in marriage April 26, 1863, in the church of 
 Nuering, to Minnie Groth, born in the vil- 
 lage of Wonetak, and daughter of Peter 
 and Rachel (Mueller) Groth. The young 
 couple started the next day for America, 
 sailing from Hamburg, May i, 1863, in 
 the good ship, Sonna, Captain Bull, and 
 landed at Quebec, Canada, June 20, fol- 
 lowing. From Quebec, they came directly 
 to Illinois, locating at Huntley, McHenry 
 county, where he secured work on the rail- 
 road, continuing that occupation two and a 
 half years. He then rented a farm in Mc- 
 Henry county, near Huntley, which he 
 operated one year, then rented another 
 farm for the same length of time, after 
 which he moved across the line into Hamp- ' 
 shire township, Kane county, and pur- 
 chased eighty acres of land on section 26, 
 which he at once began to improve. Later 
 he bought forty acres on section 34, and 
 one hundred and forty acres on section
 
 544 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 35. He rebuilt the house, erected a barn 
 and spent five hundred dollars for a good 
 well. He has now two hundred and sixty 
 acres, divided into two farms, both of 
 which are under a high state of cultiva- 
 tion, and which he rents to his two sons. 
 In 1892 he built a neat brick house in the 
 village of Hampshire, planted shade trees 
 and . vines, and has a most comfortable, 
 homelike place. He is a member of the 
 Lutheran church, of which his wife is also 
 a member, and in politics is a Republican. 
 While residing in the old country, he 
 served three years in the German cavalry. 
 To John F. C. Berner and wife seven 
 children were born, as follows: Mary, wife 
 of William Kruse, a prosperous young 
 farmer of Elgin township; Fred, who mar- 
 ried Emma Thies, a daughter of Fred 
 Thies, a prominent farmer of Plato town- 
 ship; Frank, our subject; Emma, who 
 married John Getzelman, a farmer in Hamp- 
 shire; George, who died at the age of eight 
 months; Helen, living at Burlington, Illi- 
 nois; and Christian, employed on the farm 
 with his brother, Frank. Frank H. Berner 
 was born on the farm where he now resides, 
 June 14, 1869. He attended the public 
 schools of Hampshire township, until about 
 sixteen years of age, during which time he 
 assisted in the cultivation of the farm. He 
 continued to reside with his father until the 
 latter retired in 1892. On the 22nd of 
 March, 1892, in Hampshire township, he 
 married Anna M. Getzelrnan, a daughter of 
 Michael J. Getzelman, a sketch of whom 
 appears elsewhere in this work. By this 
 union there is one child, Edna May, born 
 January 25, 1893. 
 
 On his marriage, Mr. Berner took charge 
 of the home farm, which he rents from his 
 father, and which comprises one hundred 
 
 and twenty acres of splendid farming land. 
 He engages in general and dairy farming, 
 and milks thirty cows, the product of 
 which he ships to Chicago. Religiously, he 
 and his wife are members of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, and, politically, he is a 
 Republican. An energetic, progressive and 
 industrious young farmer, he is highly re- 
 garded in the community of which he has 
 been a life-long resident. 
 
 OEUBEN TUCK, a retired coal mer- 
 IV chant of Elgin, is of foreign birth, 
 but Kane county has no more patriotic or 
 loyal citizen. For many years he was prom- 
 inently identified with her business interests, 
 first as a farmer, and later as a coal dealer, 
 and having met with excellent success in his 
 undertakings, he is now enabled to lay aside 
 all business cares, spending his declining 
 years in ease and retirement. 
 
 Mr. Tuck was born in England Decem- 
 ber 13, 1818, a son of Thomas and Eliza- 
 beth (Molton) Tuck, who spent their entire 
 lives in that country, the father, a farmer 
 by occupation, dying when our subject was 
 only two years old. The mother survived 
 him many years, passing away in 1848. 
 Bo!h were devout members of the Method- 
 ist church, and their home was the stopping 
 place of the itinerant preachers. The fa- 
 ther erected the church where they at- 
 tended service, and his wife took an 
 active and prominent part in all church 
 work, regularly attended services, and was 
 a grand, good woman. Our subject is the 
 only survivor in their family of ten children, 
 and, outside of his own family, he has only 
 one nephew and one niece now living. The 
 latter had three children, Nellie, Mollie, and 
 a son, who formerly lived in London, but
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 545 
 
 now live in South Africa. The mother, 
 Mrs. Harriet Crispe, visited her children in 
 that country with the hope of benefiting 
 her health, and there died in the arms of 
 one of her daughters. Her husband, Thomas 
 Crispe, is a jeweler of London. In 1837 
 our subject and his sister Mary came to 
 America, but subsequently she returned with 
 her husband to England, where she died in 
 1877. 
 
 The only opportunity Reuben Tuck had 
 of attending school was when between the 
 ages of five and seven years, after which he 
 worked on a farm in his native land. He 
 is, however, a well-informed man of good 
 business qualifications. At the age of four- 
 teen he began learning the tailor's trade, 
 which he successfully followed in England 
 until nineteen, when he bade good-bye to 
 home and friends and sailed for the New 
 World, which he reached after a long and 
 stormy voyage of forty-one days. He located 
 in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, where he 
 engaged in tailoring and later at farming. 
 In 1841 he returned to England on a visit, 
 making the voyage both ways on the same 
 vessel, being thirty-one days in going and 
 twenty-five days in returning. 
 
 In 1845 Mr. Tuck emigrated to Kane 
 county, Illinois, by wagon, and the journey 
 of eight hundred miles occupied thirty-one 
 and a half days, while the expenses were 
 about a dollar a day for himself, wife and 
 three children. He landed in Kane county 
 October 23, 1845, with seventy-five dollars 
 in silver, and in Plato township pre-empted 
 one hundred and sixty acres of government 
 land, which he later purchased, and to 
 which he subsequently added until he had 
 three hundred and sixty acres of valuable 
 prairie land, and forty acres of timber. 
 This he sold on coming to Elgin, in 1865, 
 
 and the following year embarked in business 
 as a coal dealer, conducting the first coal 
 office in that city. He was thus engaged 
 until 1883, when he retired from active 
 business life and is now enjoying the fruits 
 of his former toil. 
 
 In December, 1838, Mr. Tuck was 
 united in marriage with Ellen Fletcher, who 
 was born in England, November 25, 1816, 
 a daughter of William Fletcher, a weaver, 
 in England, who emigrated from that coun- 
 try to the United States and took up his 
 residence in Pennsylvania, and followed 
 farming. The children born of this union 
 were as follows: Elizabeth, born in 1839, 
 died January 31, 1875; William H., born 
 March 20, 1841, enlisted as a private, dur- 
 ing the Civil war, in Company K, Fifty- 
 second Illinois Volunteer Infantry, in the 
 fall of 1 86 1, and was wounded at the bat- 
 tle of Shiloh. He never recovered, dying 
 in the hospital at St. Louis April 26, 1862. 
 George Elmer, born January 5, 1844, mar- 
 ried Mina Perry and engaged in business 
 until his death, which occurred May 2, 
 1883. He left two children, Bertha N. arid 
 Myrtie B. Sarah Emma, born September 
 
 3, 1847, is the wife of J. G. Tuttle, of 
 Elgin, and has one child living, Amy; Jo- 
 anna, born January 12, 1851, died October 
 
 4, 1854; Charles Reuben, born December 
 29, 1854, died September 11, 1855; Char- 
 lotte, born April 4, 1857, died October 2, 
 1857. The mother of these children, who 
 was a consistent member of the Congrega- 
 tional church, died March 10, 1881. Mr. 
 Tuck was married September 18, 1883, to 
 Miss Ann Gimbert, an English lady, who 
 was a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church of Elgin, and died April 23, 1886. 
 On the 4th of November, 1886, Mr. Tuck 
 married, for his third wife, Mrs. Lucinda
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 B. (Savory) Rose, widow of P. T. Rose, of 
 Lake county, Illinois, by whom she had 
 three children, namely: Mary, now the 
 wife of E. J. Locke, of Hampshire, Kane 
 county, and the mother of two children, 
 Leslie and Inez; Grant E., of Chicago, who 
 married Bessie Mann, and has one son, Le 
 Roy Mann; and Carrie C., a milliner, who 
 lives with her mother and our subject in 
 Elgin. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Tuck are both earnest and 
 faithful members of the First Methodist 
 Episcopal church of Elgin, and take a 
 prominent part in its work. Socially, he 
 at one time affiliated with the Independent 
 Order of Odd Fellows, while politically he 
 was originally a Whig, and is now identi- 
 fied with the Republican party. He is one 
 of Elgin's honored and valued citizens, his 
 upright and honorable career having won 
 for him the confidence and high regard of 
 all with whom he has come in contact either 
 in business or social life. 
 
 JACOB E. SALFISBERG, junior mem- 
 ber of the firm of Spiker & Salfisberg, 
 manufacturers of artificial stone, sidewalks 
 and paving, is a representative of the young- 
 er business men of Aurora. He was born in 
 Naperville, Illinois, January 18, 1872, and 
 is the son of Jacob and Anna (Salfisberg) 
 Salfisberg, both of whom are natives of 
 Switzerland, born near Berne, the capitol. 
 About 1849, when a young man, his father 
 came to this country, in company with 
 what was later his wife's parents. He was 
 a miller by trade, and on coming to this 
 country worked for Mr. Parker, in his mill 
 at Oswego, Illinois. After being thus em- 
 ployed for some years, he came to Aurora, 
 and burned lime for his brother, Christian. 
 
 In 1867, he moved to Naperville, where 
 he remained until 1889, when he sold his in- 
 terest there, and returned to Aurora, where 
 he has since lived a retired life. To Jacob 
 and Anna Salfisberg, ten children were born, 
 of whom eight are living. In order of birth 
 they were as follows: Fred, who died at 
 the age of two years; Emma, wife of John 
 Nicholas, by whom she had two children, 
 John and Frank, died in 1889, at the age of 
 twenty-seven years; Amanda, wife of W. C. 
 Daniels, by whom she has one child, Viola 
 May now resides at South Evanston, Illi- 
 nois; Charles A. married Clara B. Hair, 
 and has three children LeRoy L. , Gracie 
 E. and Nellie M. , and they reside on a 
 farm in Kendall county, Illinois; Edith E., 
 wife of Thomas Harding, by whom she has 
 one living child, Donald J., now resides in 
 Aurora; Annie E., wife of Richard Hair, by 
 whom she has two children, Ralph R. and 
 Flossie F.; Jacob E. , our subject; Edwin 
 A., a fireman on the Chicago, Burlington & 
 Quincy railroad, residing at home; Frank O. 
 and Maude May, at home. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was educated 
 at Naperville, and there took a business 
 course in the college, from which he gradu- 
 ated in the class of '88. After leaving 
 school he worked for a short time in his fa- 
 thef's quarry, and later was employed in the 
 general office of the Chicago, Burlington & 
 Quincy Railroad Company. After passing 
 an examination, he was employed as a mail 
 carrier in Aurora for several years. He was 
 then in the shoe business for a short time 
 and later in the dress goods department of 
 the wholesale house of J. V. Farwell, Chi- 
 cago. In March, 1896, he purchased an in- 
 terest in his present business, in which he 
 has build up a good and substantial trade. 
 His work is of the very best,, and he
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 547 
 
 tries to give satisfaction in every respect. 
 Much of the artificial stone work of 
 Aurora and neighboring towns is made 
 by the firm of Spiker & Salfisberg, whose 
 reputation is of the very best. The fact 
 that the work has been done by this firm is 
 a guarantee of its good 'quality. As a busi- 
 ness man, he is recognized as among the 
 most progressive in the city. Fraternally, 
 he is a member of Ben Hur lodge, No. 
 870, I. O. O. F., Aurora, and is a trustee 
 of the lodge and has held other offices. He 
 is an attendant of the Congregational 
 church. 
 
 HENRY BRIGHAM ADAMS, a repre- 
 sentative of one of the old families of 
 Aurora, and the leading coal dealer in the 
 city, was born at Fort Ann, Washington 
 county, New York, March 21, 1857, and is 
 the son of Charles Henry and Harriet 
 (Coleman) Adams, the former being a na- 
 tive of Washington county, New York, born 
 June 17, 1816. Charles Henry Adams was 
 the son of Wright Adams and Catherine 
 (Rainey) Adams, who were the parents of' 
 Wright, Guerdon, Anna and Margaret. 
 Wright Adams and wife died in Washington 
 county. Henry B. Adams is the tenth de- 
 scendant through the Coleman branch from 
 Elder William Brewster, who came over in 
 the Mayflower. 
 
 Charles Henry Adams, the father of our 
 subject, was at one time a farmer in his 
 native state, and also engaged in merchan- 
 dising and various other pursuits. For a 
 time he was captain of a packet line, was 
 station agent at Fort Ann, and at another 
 time served as deputy sheriff of Washington 
 county. While residing in Troy, New York, 
 to which he removed, he served as consta- 
 
 ble. He was a member of the Baptist 
 church, and was a consistent believer. In 
 the summer of 1867, he came to Aurora, 
 and purchased a home at the corner of New 
 York street and Lincoln avenue, which is 
 still in the family. After locating in Aurora, 
 he was engaged in the real estate business, 
 and was justice of the peace for about twelve 
 years. In early life he was a Whig, and 
 later a Republican. He was one of the 
 leaders of the Park Place Baptist church, 
 and took a great interest in church matters. 
 He superintended the construction of that 
 edifice. A man of firm disposition, social 
 nature, and benevolent, his death, which 
 occurred March 18, 1897, was mourned not 
 alone by his family, but by the community 
 as well. His wife was also a native of Fort 
 Ann, New York. Her father, Noah Cole- 
 man, was a farmer by occupation, and he 
 and his wife, Mary Ann, spent their last 
 days at Fort Ann. They had four children, 
 Edward, Horace, Ruth and Harriet, all liv- 
 ing except Ruth. Edward is living at Fort 
 Ann, and Horace on the old family home- 
 stead, where Ruth died unmarried. Mrs. 
 Harriet Adams is living in Aurora, on the 
 place first purchased by her husband on 
 their removal to that city. She was born 
 February 19, 1826. Religiously she is a 
 member of the Baptist church. Her 
 children are as follows: Eudora, now the 
 wife of Dr. H. G. Gabel, of Aurora; Roma 
 L. , now the wife of J. O. Mason, of Aurora; 
 and Henry B., of this sketch. Fraternally 
 Charles H. Adams was an Odd Fellow, and 
 was a member of that organization for over 
 fifty years. The Rebecca degree was con- 
 ferred upon him by Vice-President Colfax, 
 in Ohio, and he was one of the first who 
 took this degree. 
 
 Our subject was ten years of age when
 
 54 8 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 he accompanied his parents to Aurora. In 
 the public schools of that city, he received 
 his education, and at sixteen began the 
 study of bookkeeping and telegraphy and 
 as soon as he was proficient in these 
 branches, he engaged with the Chicago, 
 Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company, 
 at Hinsdale, where he remained about one 
 year, was then sent to Galesburg, in the 
 supply department, and there remained 
 about three years, when he was transferred 
 to the Iowa division, at Albia and Osceola. 
 He quit the railroad business on account of 
 his health, and went west for a time, but on 
 his return he engaged with the Iowa Cen- 
 tral Railroad Company, with which he was 
 connected about one year at Dillon, Iowa, 
 as station agent. He went then to the 
 Chicago & Alton Railroad Company, for a 
 while at Brighton Park, when he returned 
 to Aurora, and went into the supply depart- 
 ment of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 
 Railroad Company, but only remained with 
 the company about one year. He then en- 
 gaged in the manufacture of brooms for 
 about two years, when he sold out and later 
 went into the office of the Chicago, Wil- 
 mington & Vermillion Coal Company, as 
 bookkeeper. The old agent of that com- 
 pany, Mr. Wood, died about one year later, 
 and Mr. Adams succeeded him as agent. 
 This was in 1889, and he has since contin- 
 ued as such agent. The company carry a 
 full line of hard coal and wood, together 
 with the soft coal, which is the product of 
 their own mines. They sell at wholesale to 
 dealers and manufacturers. By his atten- 
 tion to the business Mr. Adams has increased 
 the sales of the company from year to year, 
 and has a large and increasing trade. The 
 office of the company is at 146 Spring street, 
 near the viaduct. 
 
 On the 23d of November, 1880, at Mt. 
 Pleasant, Iowa, Mr. Adams was united in 
 marriage with Miss Minnie B. Walker, 
 daughter of Harry D. and Belle (Redman) 
 Walker. She is a native of Mt. Pleasant, 
 and was married in the house where she 
 was born. She was one of four children, 
 the others being Charles D., Hattie and 
 William; the latter died when about nine- 
 teen years of age. Charles married and en- 
 gaged in the hardware business at Mt. 
 Pleasant, Iowa. Hattie married H. J. 
 Laubenfels, and is also living in Mt. Pleas- 
 ant, where the parents are also living. The 
 father has been the grand keeper of records 
 and seal of the Knights of Pythias of Iowa 
 for twenty-four years and still holds this im- 
 portant position. Mr. and Mrs. Adams 
 have one child, Roma Hattie, born August 
 26, 1 88 1. The family are all members of 
 the Park Place Baptist church, of which Mr. 
 Adams is treasurer. 
 
 Fraternally, Mr. Adams is an Odd Fel- 
 low, being a member of Waubansie lodge, 
 No. 45, and of Aurora lodge, No. 390, 
 Knights of Pythias. Socially, he is a mem- 
 ber of the Aurora City Club, and in politics 
 is a Republican. Mr. Adams has a com- 
 fortable home at No. 459 New York street, 
 corner of State street, where he prefers to 
 spend hours, not devoted to business in the 
 enjoyment of life. By strict attention to 
 business, and by the conscientious discharge 
 of all duties imposed upon him, he has been 
 successful in life, and has won the respect 
 and esteem of all. 
 
 FRANK B. TAZEWELL is one of the 
 young and enterprising farmers of Plato 
 township, residing on section 25. He is a 
 native of Kane county, born in Rutland
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 549 
 
 township, January 23, 1865, and there 
 grew to manhood, receiving his education 
 at the country schools and Elgin Academy, 
 supplemented by a business course at Drew's 
 Business College in Elgin. He remained at 
 home assisting his father in the cultivation 
 of the farm until twenty-seven years of age, 
 when he married, and later bought his pres- 
 ent farm, the northeast corner of section 25, 
 Plato township. It is a well improved 
 place, with all the modern conveniences 
 for dairy farming, including windmill and 
 large barn sufficient to shelter about forty 
 head of cattle. All the milk produced in 
 the place he ships to Chicago. 
 
 James B. Tazewell, the father of our 
 subject, who is engaged in farming on sec- 
 tion 26, Rutland township, was born in 
 London, England, January 12, 1838, and 
 came to America in 1844, with his parents, 
 James and Rachel (Brewer) Tazewell. He 
 was the eldest of three children. In Rut- 
 land township, he married Mary Jane Moore, 
 born in Chicago, January 28, 1838, and a 
 daughter of William and Margaret (Cochran) 
 Moore. By this union there were six chil- 
 dren as follows: James M., farming on 
 section 26, Plato township; Elizabeth, wife 
 of William R. Fuller, a retired farmer of 
 Elgin; Margaret, wife of Henry P. Kenyon, 
 of Elgin township; Frank B., our subject; 
 David, engaged in farming with his father; 
 and William H., farming on section 7, 
 Elgin township. 
 
 After remaining at home, as already 
 stated, Mr. Tazewell was united in marriage 
 in Hampshire township, April 10, 1895, to 
 Miss Lou E. Doty, born in that township, 
 and a daughter of Edward Doty, born in 
 Chautauqua county, New York, March 8, 
 1838, and who came west about 1853, and 
 later purchased a farm on section 23, Hamp- 
 
 shire township. He was the son of Elijah 
 Doty, who attained the age of seventy 
 years, and who married Polly Hodges, a 
 native of New York, whose mother was 
 Mary French of the same state. Edward 
 Doty married Betsey Pingree, born at Pin- 
 gree Grove, and daughter of Francis Pin- 
 gree, who married Lydia Patchen. Her 
 father settled first in Illinois, afterwards 
 went to Iowa, where he died at an advanced 
 age. The Pingree family are descended 
 from Moses Pingree, a native of England, 
 who married Abigail Clement, and died at 
 Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1641. His son, 
 Moses Pingree, Jr., married Sarah Con- 
 verse, and their son, Aaron, married Ann 
 Pickard, and their son, John, married Faith 
 Jewett, and to them Andrew was born, 
 and to him and Abiah Straw, his wife, 
 Francis Pingree was born. He was the 
 father of Mrs. Doty. Mrs. Tazewell is the 
 eldest of three children born to Edward 
 Doty. To our subject andwife one child 
 has been born, Lynn Edward, born August 
 27, 1896. 
 
 SIDNEY U. SPENCER, now living a re- 
 tired life in the city of Aurora, but who 
 for many years was engaged in farming and 
 dairying, is numbered among the old settlers 
 of 1844. He was born in Wyoming coun- 
 ty, New York, January 5, 1825. His father, 
 Chauncey Spencer, was born and reared in 
 Vermont, and when a young man settled 
 near Genesse Falls, Wyoming county, New 
 York, and there married Milly Smith. Both 
 the Spencer and Smith families were early 
 settlers of Wyoming county, the first of the 
 name to settle there being the paternal 
 grandfather, Stephen Spencer, and the ma- 
 ternal grandfather, Whiting Smith, both of
 
 550 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 whom made their home in the wilderness, 
 where they engaged in farming for many 
 years. Chauncey Spencer improved several 
 places in that county , but in 1 844 moved with 
 his family to Kane county, Illinois, locating 
 in Sugar Grove township, where he engaged 
 in farming for a few years, then moved to 
 Plainfield, Will county, but later returned 
 to Kane county, where his death occurred 
 some years ago. 
 
 Sidney U. Spencer was second in order 
 of birth, and the only survivor of a family 
 of eight children. George married and set- 
 tled in Kane county, later moved to Iowa, 
 where his death occurred; Cornelia married 
 Jonathan Mason, settled in Kane county, 
 and both are now deceased; Dwight died 
 unmarried; Henrietta married Philo Seavey, 
 located in Kane county, and both are now 
 deceased; Edwin also died unmarried; James 
 married and settled in Kane county, but is 
 now deceased; Eunice married Charles 
 Roberts, settled in Du Page county, but 
 both are now deceased. 
 
 The subject of this sketch in his native 
 state received a fair common-school educa- 
 tion, and, a young man of eighteen, came 
 with his parents to Kane county and assisted 
 his father in opening up a new farm. After 
 arriving at his majority he worked by the 
 month for some years, principally on farms. 
 On the third of June, 1854, he married 
 Anna M. Willis, a native of Vermont, and a 
 daughter of John Willis, also a native of 
 that state. She came to Kane county with 
 her uncle, John Thompson, when a mere 
 child and here she was reared and educated. 
 By this union were four children, the oldest, 
 Roscoe M., married and is a farmer of Kane 
 county, but also owns a farm in Nebraska; 
 Ralph, who is married, resides in Albany, 
 Wisconsin, where he is engaged in the mer- 
 
 cantile trade; Luella, who died at the age 
 of eleven years, and Mabel, wife of Wilford 
 Wyatt, a farmer of Clay county, Iowa. 
 
 After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Spencer 
 commenced their domestic life on a farm of 
 eighty acres near Plainfield, which he had 
 purchased. After remaining there some 
 twelve months he sold that place and pur- 
 chased a farm of one hundred and ten acres 
 in Sugar Grove township. He later built a 
 large and substantial residence, barn and 
 other outbuildings, and otherwise improved 
 the place. He remained on that farm a 
 number of years, then rented it to his son, 
 and built a nice residence at Sugar Grove 
 Station, to which the family removed. While 
 yet residing on the farm his wife died, in 
 1877, and he was again married, in Sugar 
 Grove, August 28, 1878, to Miss Julia Wilde, 
 who was born in Sidney, Delaware county, 
 New York, and who came to McHenry 
 county, Illinois, when but three years of 
 age with her parents, Robert and Eleanor 
 M. (Vandervoort) Wilde. Her father was 
 English by birth, and came to America when 
 but eight years of age, and remained in New 
 York, where he was married, until his re- 
 moval to McHenry county, Illinois, in 1855. 
 Mrs. Spencer is a woman of more than or- 
 dinary ability, and since her marriage has 
 taken a course in metaphysics, under the 
 direction of Dr. Charles, Mrs. Grover, Dr. 
 Edward Arns and Mrs. Baker Eddy. After 
 a thorough and complete course Mrs. Spen- 
 cer opened an office in Aurora, and for five 
 years was engaged in the active practice of 
 her profession of scientific healing. She 
 was then compelled to give up her office, 
 and now practices in a quiet way. 
 
 Politically Mr. Spencer is a Republican, 
 and has always taken an interest in political 
 affairs, but not as an office-seeker. Having
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 551 
 
 an interest in the cause of education, for 
 some nine years he was a member of the 
 school board at Sugar Grove, and of the 
 Normal Industrial School at that place. 
 He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church in Aurora, and was one of the most 
 active official members of that church at 
 Sugar Grove. His residence of fifty-four 
 years in Kane county has brought him in 
 contact with his fellow citizens in all parts 
 of the county, and wherever known he is 
 greatly esteemed. 
 
 ORA L. PELTON, M. D., has been a 
 resident of Kane county for more than 
 a quarter of a century, and in that time has 
 built up a practice and reputation second to 
 no other physician. He was born in Sher- 
 man, New York, July 29, 1851, and is a son 
 of Charles and Martha (Sparkes) Pelton, 
 both of whom were natives of New York, 
 and the parents of eight children: Charles 
 J., who resides on the old homestead in 
 Chautauqua county, New York; Amarette, 
 wife of Alvin Seymour, of Chautauqua coun- 
 ty; Ora L. , of this sketch; Lucy, who makes 
 her home with the Doctor; Josephine, who 
 died at the age of ten years; William and 
 Frank, who live in New York; and George, 
 who lives in Chicago. 
 
 Charles Pelton, the father, was a farmer 
 in Chautauqua county, where he died in 
 1890 at the age of seventy-one years. He 
 was a member of the Baptist church, and for 
 many years served as a deacon. His wife 
 still survives him and is living with her son, 
 Charles J. She is also a member of the 
 Baptist church, and a conscientious, Chris- 
 tian woman. 
 
 The paternal grandfather of our subject, 
 Rural Pelton, was a native of Oneida coun- 
 
 ty, New York, and was a blacksmith by 
 trade, which he generally followed in con- 
 nection with farming. He cleared the farm 
 on which our subject's mother yet resides. 
 In his family were fourteen children, nearly 
 all of whom grew to maturity. The Peltpn's 
 were originally from England. The ma- 
 ternal grandfather, Rev. Mr. Sparkes, was 
 a Baptist minister, and was about sixty-five 
 years of age at the time of his death. He 
 also had a large family of children, of whom 
 three sons Nathan, Thomas and Elisha 
 were in the Civil war, the first two dying 
 while in the service, the other after reach- 
 ing home. 
 
 Ora L. Pelton was reared on the home 
 farm in Chautauqua county, New York, and 
 in the schools of the neighborhood his liter- 
 ary education was obtained. Later he en- 
 tered the medical department of the Michi- 
 gan University at Ann Arbor, from which 
 he was graduated in the spring of 1872. In 
 June of that year he came to Kane county 
 and located at Elburn, where he com- 
 menced the practice of his profession. From 
 the beginning he met with good success, and, 
 while such was the case, he was not content 
 to rest with the knowledge acquired. Ac- 
 cordingly, he entered Bellevue Hospital Med- 
 ical College, New York, from which he took 
 the addendum degree in 1874. One year 
 later, in quest of still higher knowledge in 
 his profession, he visited Europe, took a 
 year's course in the University of Edinburg, 
 Scotland, and then visited a number of 
 noted hospitals, including those of London 
 and Paris. 
 
 On the 1 7th of July, 1882, the Doctor 
 removed from Elburn to Elgin, that he 
 might have a wider field for usefulness. His 
 success has been equal to his most sanguine 
 anticipations and his practice has at all
 
 552 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 times been a large and fairly profitable one. 
 As one of the staff of surgeons in Sherman 
 hospital he has performed some very diffi- 
 cult surgical operations with most gratifying 
 success. One of his specialties is abdom- 
 inal surgery, and some of his operations in 
 that line of practice have won for him dis- 
 tinction. He is often called in consultation 
 in important cases of surgery and medicine 
 with other physicians, with whom his skill 
 and judgment are held in high degree. 
 
 On the /th of May, 1879, Dr. Pelton 
 married Miss Anna L. Frary, daughter of 
 Noble D. and Mary (Kendall) Frary, and by 
 this union there are three children, Ora L. , 
 Mary Frary and Lura Adella, all of whom 
 are at home. Noble Danforth Frary vvas a 
 native of Massachusetts, born in 1823, and 
 was the son of Zenas and Keziah (Pomroy) 
 Frary, natives of South Hampton, Mass. 
 In his native state he grew to manhood and 
 there married Mary Kendall, who was born 
 in Connecticut in 1824. Early in the '505 
 they came west, locating in Elburn, Illinois, 
 where Mr. Frary worked at his trade of 
 wheelwright. He was a member of the 
 Christian church, and politically was a Re- 
 publican, a thorough believer in the princi- 
 ples of that party. His death occurred in 
 Elburn, October n, 1878, his wife preced- 
 ing him to their heavenly home some seven 
 years, dying October i, 1871. She was 
 also a member of the Christian church. 
 They were the parents of four children: 
 Adella D., now the wife of J. A. Freeman, 
 of Portland, Oregon; Ossian D., of Chicago; 
 Herbert K., who died in childhood; and 
 Anna Louise, wife of our subject. 
 
 Noble D. Frary was one of the "brave 
 boys in blue" who, at their country's call, 
 offered their services in behalf of the Un- 
 ion. He was a member of Company I, 
 
 Illinois Volunteer Cavalry, and faithfully 
 served until the close of the war. Return- 
 ing to his home at the expiration of his 
 term of service, he settled down to his life 
 work as though the storms of battle had 
 never been heard. The Frarys were among 
 the early settlers of Elburn, where he 
 served for many years as justice of the 
 peace. 
 
 Dr. Pelton was thrown on his own re- 
 sources early in life and has worked his way 
 upward in his profession, aided only by his 
 perseverance, energy and indomitable will 
 power. He is not content with knowledge 
 obtained in the past, but every year makes 
 a tour, visiting the leading hospitals of the 
 country with a view of appropriating what- 
 ever is new in the science of medicine and 
 surgery. He is a member of the Chicago 
 Medical Society. 
 
 Fraternally Dr. Pelton is a member of 
 Monitor lodge, No. 117, F. & A. M., and 
 of Bethel commandery, No. 36, K. T. At 
 present he is surgeon for the Elgin, Car- 
 penterville & Aurora railway, and is also a 
 member of the staff "of Sherman hospital. 
 Politically, he is a Republican, and although 
 his extensive practice will not permit him 
 to give much attention to. political affairs, 
 he takes a great interest in the success of 
 the party, contributing of his means to that 
 end. Socially he is a member of the Cen- 
 tury Club, of Elgin. 
 
 As a citizen the Doctor takes an interest 
 in everything calculated to build up his 
 adopted city and county. As a physician 
 there are none in Kane county having a 
 better reputation and his success in the 
 treatment of disease has been remarkable. 
 Financially he has prospered and to-day he 
 is numbered among the well-to-do citizens 
 of Elgin, and is a stockholder and director
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 553 
 
 in the Home National Bank, a stockholder 
 in the Home Savings Bank, and in the El- 
 gin, Aurora & Carpentersville Electric 
 railway, and has landed interests consisting 
 of a fine farm in Kansas. 
 
 The home of Dr. P.elton is at No v . 214 
 South State street, and is one of the finest 
 and most attractive houses in Elgin, erected 
 after plans made by himself and wife, and 
 there, when he can get away from the ar- 
 duous labors of his profession, he spends 
 the time with his family, and they delight 
 to entertain their many friends. 
 
 JAMES LITTLE. In the history of a 
 country much is said of the warrior 
 that goes forth to battle for his country, and 
 it may be gives his life for its defense. The 
 lawyer, too, is mentioned and praise is given 
 him for the composition of its laws and 
 their interpretation. The minister of the 
 Gospel is praised for the efforts put forth 
 in behalf of public and private morals, and 
 for the salvation of the human race. Due 
 credit is given the physician for his skill in 
 alleviating the physical ills of man. But 
 little, however, is said of the artisan that 
 plans the building and erects the homes of 
 the people. Here is where the historian is 
 at fault and more credit should be given to 
 the one who constructs our homes, giving 
 man a place in which the greater part of his 
 life has to be spent. 
 
 The subject of this sketch is one of the 
 leading contractors and builders of Aurora. 
 He was born in Somerset county, New Jer- 
 sey, April 19, 1855, and is the son of Abra- 
 ham D. and Maria V. N. (Quick) Little, 
 both natives of Somerset county, where the 
 father was engaged in farming until his 
 death, which occurred May 17, 1893. The 
 
 wife and mother survived him two years, 
 dying August 20, 1896. Four generations 
 of the Little family were born and reared 
 on the old homestead farm in New Jersey. 
 The great-grandfather of our subject, Rob- 
 ert Little, lived to the remarkable age of 
 one hundred and one years, and partici- 
 pated in the Revolutionary war. His eldest 
 son, John Little, married Johanna Dumont, 
 by whom he had two children: Abraham 
 D. and Samuel. Abraham D. Little, who 
 was the father of our subject, had seven 
 children Garrett, of Corning, Iowa; Jo- 
 hanna Isabel died September 17, 1859; 
 Sarah Jane, a resident of Jersey City, N. 
 J.; Mary Elizabeth, of Corning, Iowa; John 
 Newton, operating the old homestead at 
 North Branch, New Jersey; James, and Anna 
 Caroline, who died December 17, 1893. 
 
 Gaining an education in the public 
 schools and afterwards learning the trade of 
 a carpenter in his native state, under An- 
 drew Huff, of Plainfield, New Jersey, 
 James Little came to Fairview, Fulton 
 county, Illinois, in 1875, where he entered 
 into partnership with William Stines, and 
 carried on contracting and building, under 
 the name of Little and Stines, which was 
 continued seven years, and the partnership 
 was then dissolved. In 1882, Mr. Little 
 came to Aurora, where he has since carried 
 on his business in a very successful manner, 
 having at times as many as twenty men in 
 his employ. A number of the finest resi- 
 dences in this city were erected by him, 
 among them the residences of Hon. John 
 Murphy, Nick Abens, and Henry Riser. 
 
 Mr. Little was married December 27, 
 1877, to Rebecca Van Nostrand, of Fair 
 View, Illinois, daughter of Wycoff and 
 Phebe (Eldert) Van Nostrand, formerly of 
 Somerset county, New Jersey. By this
 
 554 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 union two children have been born, Rita 
 and Pearl, the last named dying in Novem- 
 ber, 1897, aged eight years. Fraternally, 
 Mr. Little is a Mason, and has passed all 
 the degrees up to and including the thirty- 
 second degree. He is also a member of the 
 Modern Woodmen of America. In politics 
 he is a Republican, and though taking an 
 active interest in political affairs, has not 
 been an office seeker. He has held the 
 office of chairman of the board of trustees 
 in the Park Place Baptist church for the 
 past ten years, of which church himself and 
 wife are members. 
 
 HMcCHESNEY, a resident of Geneva, 
 was for years one of the active, enter- 
 prising business men of Chicago. He was 
 born in Troy, New York, June 23, 1825, and 
 is the son of Joseph S. McChesney, born in 
 the same state. His father, Samuel McChes- 
 ney, was a native of the north of Ireland, 
 who came to the United States a young man, 
 and was one of the pioneers of the Mohawk 
 Valley. He there married Jane Morrison, 
 and opened up a farm in Rensselaer county, 
 where he reared his family. 
 
 Joseph S. McChesney, the father of our 
 subject, grew to manhood in Rensselaer 
 county, and there married Hannah Morri- 
 son, a daughter of Rufus Morrison. They 
 were the parents of four sons and one 
 daughter, as follows: David H. settled in 
 Janesville, Wisconsin, where he engaged in 
 milling, and there died about 1891; James, 
 a resident of Troy, New York; Hiram, of 
 this review; Mrs. Katherine Carrier, a widow 
 residing in Chicago; and Israel, who moved 
 to Colorado in 1889. Joseph McChesney 
 resided on the old homestead until his 
 death, after which his widow made it her 
 
 home until she, too, was called to a better 
 world. 
 
 Hiram McChesney grew to manhood in 
 his native county, and after receiving his 
 primary education in the public schools, 
 attended the Polytechnic at Troy, New 
 York, from which he was graduated. He 
 then went to work on the Erie railroad as 
 civil engineer, and assisted in its construc- 
 tion for more than one year. He then went 
 to Chicago, where he engaged in teaching 
 for six years, and was .then in the wood, 
 coal and lumber business for several years. 
 In 1862 he engaged in the cattle business, 
 buying and selling cattle to the Government 
 for the use of the army during the war. In 
 that business he was quite successful. After 
 the close of the war he engaged in the fur- 
 niture business until 1871, when he experi- 
 enced heavy loss in the great fire, having 
 his store, house and barn burned. He re- 
 built his residence, and later engaged as a 
 detective in the Union Stock Yards at a 
 time when there was more or less stealing 
 of cattle and hogs. He was connected with 
 that position until 1895, a period of more 
 than twenty years. 
 
 Mr. McChesney has been twice married. 
 By the first union was one child, Frances, 
 a well-educated lady, now a successful 
 teacher in the Englewood schools. His 
 second union was with Miss Isabella Mackey, 
 a native of Michigan, by whom he has one 
 son, John Sherman, a student in the Geneva 
 schools. 
 
 In the spring of 1883, Mr. McChesney 
 purchased sixty-four acres of land, lying 
 within the corporate limits of Geneva, re- 
 modeled the house, built two large barns, 
 and otherwise improved the place, making 
 it one of the neatest and most attractive in 
 Geneva township. In early life, Mr. Me-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 555 
 
 Chesney was a Whig, but since 1856 has 
 been an avowed Republican. In 1885, he 
 was appointed by Governor Oglesby, as a 
 member of the board of live stock commis- 
 sioners, and was twice re-appointed, serv- 
 ing eight years, when he was removed by 
 Governor Altgeld. In 1885 he was elected 
 president of the town board of Geneva, and 
 served one term. Office holding has never 
 been to his liking, preferring to give his 
 time and attention to his business interests. 
 For a full half century, he has been a resi- 
 dent of Illinois, the greater part of which 
 time his home has been in Chicago. On 
 locating in that city, its inhabitants num- 
 bered but a few thousands, and he has 
 witnessed its growth, until it has become 
 the second city in population and wealth in 
 the United States, and in its development 
 he has borne his part. Personally he is a 
 man of good business capacity, of upright 
 character, and is well-known in Chicago, 
 and throughout Kane and adjoining coun- 
 ties. 
 
 JOHN FORREST BELL, M. D., is a 
 popular and successful physician of El- 
 gin, whose office is located at the corner of 
 Raymond and National streets. He was 
 born on the 26th of February, 1863, near 
 Claysville, Washington county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, and is a son of Thomas J. and Eliza- 
 beth J. (Dunn) Bell, also natives of the 
 Keystone state. Of their five children, the 
 Doctor is the only one now living. The 
 father engaged in teaching for a number of 
 years, but now follows farming near Clays- 
 ville. Being one of the prominent and in- 
 fluential citizens of his community, he was 
 called upon to serve as county commis- 
 sioner for several years, and during the 
 
 Civil war was a recruiting officer, but was 
 never in active service. Both he and his 
 estimable wife are members of the Cumber- 
 land Presbyterian church. Samuel Bell, 
 the Doctor's paternal grandfather, was born 
 in Ireland, and on coming to America lo- 
 cated in Pennsylvania, where he followed 
 farming and reared his family of seven chil- 
 dren. He died at the ripe old age of eighty- 
 five. The maternal grandfather, Joseph 
 Dunn, always lived in Pennsylvania, where 
 he died in middle life, leaving a large fam- 
 ily. By occupation he, too, was an agri- 
 culturist. 
 
 On the home farm near Claysville Dr. 
 Bell passed the days of his boyhood and 
 youth, while his elementary education was 
 obtained in the district schools of the neigh- 
 borhood. Later he attended the State 
 Normal at California, Pennsylvania, gradu- 
 ating at that institution in 1884. For eight 
 years he successfully engaged in teaching, 
 either in the graded schools or in the State 
 Normal, and for two terms conducted a 
 normal school of his own, preparing teach- 
 ers for their profession. While thus em- 
 ployed the Doctor began the study of medi- 
 cine, and in 1890 graduated at the Jefferson 
 Medical College, Philadelphia. In May of 
 that year he opened an office in Elgin, 
 where he has since successfully engaged in 
 practice. 
 
 Dr. Bell was married May 20, 1891, the 
 lady of his choice being Miss Ethel, daugh- 
 ter of Edward F. and Abigail (Johnson) 
 Gooding, and to them were born two chil- 
 dren: Vincent G. , now deceased, and Doris 
 Elizabeth. The Doctor is a member of the 
 Congregational church, and socially is a 
 member of the Odd Fellows society and the 
 Knights of Pythias. Politically he is an 
 ardent Republican, and he served as city
 
 556 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 physician from 1891 to 1895, and is at pres- 
 ent a member of the school board, his term 
 extending from 1897 until 1900. He is an 
 honored member of Fox River Valley and 
 the American Medical Associations, and is 
 quite prominent among his professional 
 brethren. 
 
 FRANCIS L. YOUNG is one of the most 
 active and enterprising business men of 
 Kane county, of which he has been a resi- 
 dent for fifty-five years. He is a native of 
 Vermont, born at Strafford, Orange county, 
 December i, 1828. The Youngs are of 
 Scotch ancestry, three brothers emigrating 
 from that country to the United States in 
 the early part of the eighteenth century, 
 one of whom located in Rhode Island, from 
 whom descended the family of which our 
 subject is a member. The paternal grand- 
 father, Rev. Jacob Young, was a native of 
 Rhode Island, born in 1758. He was a 
 Universalist minister, the first of that de- 
 nomination to locate in the town of Straf- 
 ford. On locating there he was given a 
 minister's grant of land in the town. He 
 was a man of more than ordinary ability as 
 a minister and theologian. His son, Nathan 
 Young, was born at New Grantham, New 
 Hampshire, in 1792. He there grew to 
 manhood, and married Hannah Smith, a 
 native of Vermont, and a daughter of Fred- 
 erick Smith, a large landholder, and of an 
 old family of the Green Mountain state. 
 Nathan Young followed the mercantile busi- 
 ness for many years, and was a very prom- 
 inent man in Orange county, Vermont, 
 serving his county as a member of the state 
 legislature. During the war of 1812, he 
 entered the service, and was orderly sergeant 
 of his company. Later he was commis- 
 
 sioned brigadier general of the state militia 
 of Vermont, and served a number of years. 
 
 Nathan Young left his native state in 
 1844 and came to Kane county, Illinois, 
 joining his son, Peleg Young, who located 
 here some years previously. The family 
 first located in Blackberry township, on a 
 claim which Peleg had purchased some 
 time previously. He at once commenced 
 the improvement of the claim, and there re- 
 sided some seven years. In 1846, how- 
 ever, in company with our subject, he took 
 up a claim of one hundred and sixty acres 
 in Kaneville township, and in 1849 built a 
 residence and removed to the place where 
 he spent a number of years. Later he re- 
 moved to Batavia, where he lived a retired 
 life, his wife there dying in 1866. After her 
 death he returned to the farm, and there 
 resided with our subject until called from 
 this world, in 1868. Both were laid to rest 
 in the Batavia cemetery. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was sixteen 
 years old when he came to Kane county, 
 and here he has since continued to reside. 
 In March, 1857, he returned tohis old home 
 in Strafford, Vermont, and there married 
 Miss Betty Patterson, also a native of Straf- 
 ford, Vermont, and a daughter of James and 
 Polly Patterson, and a cousin of United 
 States Senator Morrill. After marriage he 
 returned with his young bride to Kane coun- 
 ty, and they began their domestic life on 
 the farm in Kaneville township, where Mr. 
 Young engaged in agricultural pursuits for 
 fourteen years, and then moved to the vil- 
 lage of Kaneville, where Mrs. Young died, 
 in November, 1871. She was the mother 
 of three children, one of whom died in in- 
 fancy. Jenny Mary grew to womanhood, 
 and married Charles L. Gary, of Geneva, 
 Illinois; she is now deceased. Frank P. is
 
 F. L. YOUNG.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 559 
 
 married and is engaged in farming in Kane- 
 ville township. After the death of his first 
 wife, Mr. Young married her sister, Mrs. 
 Ann Annis, nee Patterson, the widow of Eli 
 Annis, by whom she has one daughter, Lou, 
 wife of Charles D. Ames, of Kaneville.town- 
 ship. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Young was a Whig in 
 early life, casting his first presidential ballot 
 for Zachary Taylor. Being a believer in 
 the freedom of all men, and that no man 
 had a right to hold his fellow men in bond- 
 age, he naturally affiliated with the Repub- 
 lican party on its organization, and has 
 since continued to be an advocate of its 
 principles. He has taken quite an active 
 part in local politics, and has held various 
 positions of honor and trust. He was first 
 elected overseer of highways, and, later, 
 township assessor, clerk of the township, 
 and justice of the peace. In 1879 he was 
 elected county treasurer, and was re-elected 
 at the close of his first term, and by change 
 in the constitution he held over, serving 
 seven consecutive years, the longest term 
 of any man in Kane county. On retiring 
 from that office he was again elected town- 
 ship clerk, and has served in that office for 
 twenty-seven years. He also served two 
 years as supervisor of Kaneville township, 
 and was chairman of the county board, of 
 Kane county. 
 
 Mr. Young has always been interested 
 in all enterprises calculated to subserve the 
 interest of his adopted county and state. 
 He was one of the originators of the County 
 Line Creamery, which operates two cream- 
 eries, and was elected manager of the same, 
 serving as such up to the present time. The 
 creamery was incorporated November, 1890. 
 He is a stockholder in the Old Second Na- 
 tional Bank of Aurora, and has served as 
 
 27 
 
 one of its directors for some fifteen years. 
 Fraternally, he is a Mason, and was for- 
 merly quite active in the lodge at Kaneville, 
 continuing his active membership in it until 
 it ceased to exist, after its lodgeroom was 
 destroyed by fire. For more than half a 
 century his face has been a familiar one to 
 the citizens of Kane county. He is well 
 known throughout its length and breadth, 
 and his friends are many in every part of 
 the county. 
 
 OAMUEL H. LEE, one of the leading 
 O and substantial citizens of St. Charles, 
 was born February 2, 1843, near Belfast, 
 county Tyrone, Ireland, a son of William 
 and Anna (Moore) Lee, who spent their en- 
 tire lives in that county, where the father 
 was engaged in agricultural pursuits as a 
 life work. He died at about the age of 
 eighty, and the mother, after surviving him 
 three years, also passed away and now 
 sleeps by his side in a cemetery of their 
 native land. Our subject was the young- 
 est of their eleven children, seven sons and 
 four daughters, the others being as follows: 
 William, who came to the new world and 
 died in a hospital during his service in the 
 Mexican war; Maggie, now the widow of 
 John Warford, and a resident of Sycamore, 
 Illinois; Mrs. Nancy Ann Allen, a widow re- 
 siding in St. Charles; Henry, who owns and 
 occupies the old homestead in county Ty- 
 rone, Ireland; Silas A., a retired farmer of 
 Sycamore, Illinois; David and Isaac, both 
 residents of New Zealand; Jennie, who died 
 when a young lady; Vestina, who died at 
 the age of twelve years; and a son, who 
 died in childhood. 
 
 During his boyhood Samuel H. Lee at- 
 tended the common schools of his native
 
 560 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 land, but is mostly self-educated. In 1859 
 he bade adieu to home and friends and 
 sailed for America. On reaching the shores 
 of this country, he came at once to St. 
 Charles, where he had a brother and two 
 sisters living. He began life here as a farm 
 hand, receiving ten dollars per month, and 
 was thus employed for two years, at the 
 end of which time he obtained a position in 
 a paper mill at St. Charles, remaining there 
 for sixteen years, when the plant was de- 
 stroyed by fire. Going to Chicago, he then 
 learned the blacksmith's trade, and after 
 serving a three-years' apprenticeship, he 
 worked in the shops of the Chicago & 
 Northwestern railroad for five years. 
 On his return to St. Charles he rented a 
 farm which he operated for five years, and 
 then bought eighteen acres near St. Charles, 
 to which he added from time to time as his 
 circumstances would permit until he owned 
 two hundred acres of valuable land. Until 
 he had accumulated the entire amount he 
 rented his property, while he operated other 
 land, but in 1880 he removed to his own 
 farm, which adjoins St. Charles on . the 
 north. 
 
 For a few years he continued to actively 
 engage in farming, while his son carried on 
 the farm, for six years. It is one of the 
 best improved places in Kane county, the 
 land is under a high state of cultivation, and 
 in 1896 he erected thereon a fine residence 
 and excellent barn, both of which cost over 
 two thousand dollars. 
 
 On the 25th of July, i86i,inSt. Charles, 
 Mr. Lee was united in marriage with Miss 
 Jane Kirk, who was born in Scotland, and 
 when a young lady came to the United 
 States. They began their domestic life in 
 the house which is now their home. To 
 them were born two children. W. J. is 
 
 married and now owns and occupies a large 
 farm in Alabama, where he removed in the 
 spring of 1897. He has two sons, Harris 
 S. and Charles Lee. The only daughter, 
 Annie, is now the wife of C. S. Pollard, of 
 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who is an engineer 
 on the Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad. 
 They have one daughter, Dora Lee. 
 
 Mr. Lee cast his first presidental ballot 
 for General U. S, Grant in 1868, and has 
 continued an earnest supporter of the men 
 and measures of the Republican party up to 
 the present time, casting his last vote for Will- 
 iam McKinley, who was born on the same 
 day and year as our subject. In religious 
 belief Mr. and Mrs. Lee are Congregation- 
 alists, and for several years he has served 
 as trustee of the church. As a lad of six- 
 teen years he came to America, and with 
 no capital started out in a strange land to. 
 overcome the difficulties and obstacles in 
 the path to prosperity. His youthful dreams 
 of success have been realized, and in their 
 happy fulfillment he sees the fitting reward 
 of his earnest toil. Success has crowned his 
 efforts and he enjoys a comfortable com- 
 petence. 
 
 LEWIS B. JUDSON, SR. Among those 
 who are justly entitled to the name of 
 pioneer is the one whose name heads this 
 sketch, and who was a pioneer in two states, 
 Michigan and Illinois. He was born in 
 Westfield, Hampden county, Massachusetts, 
 November 13, 1806, and is the son of Lu- 
 cius B. and Sallie B. (Loomis) Judson, both 
 of whom are natives of the same state. 
 The Judson family trace their ancestry back 
 to one of four brothers who settled in Con- 
 necticut, long prior to the Revolutionary 
 war. The paternal grandfather of our sub-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 561 
 
 ject, John J. Judson, was born in Hunting- 
 ton, Connecticut, and after serving as a sol- 
 dier in the Revolutionary war, moved to 
 Southwick, Massachusetts, where Lucius B. 
 Judson was born. Like his father before 
 him, he was a patriot and served in the war 
 of 1812. By occupation he was.a farmer 
 during his early life, but later was for many 
 years a manufacturer of gunpowder. Pre- 
 vious to the war of 1812 he removed to 
 Stratford, New York, where he was residing 
 at the outbreak of the war, from wh'ich 
 place he enlisted. After the war he re- 
 turned to Massachusetts and died in the 
 town of Westfield about 1827. For his 
 services in that war his widow secured a 
 pension from the general government. She 
 survived her husband many years, dying at 
 the age of eighty-four years. Of their 
 family of twelve children all grew to mature 
 years, though but three are now living. 
 Those yet living are Lewis B., our subject; 
 De Lafayette, who resides in Dakota, and 
 Dr. Don Carlos, of Omro, Wisconsin. The 
 deceased are: George W. , Isaac B., Noah 
 Clark, Lucius C., David Wells, and Sallie 
 S. The latter married, reared a family of 
 four children, moved to, Omro, Wisconsin, 
 and there died. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood in his native state, where he received 
 a fair common-school education. When 
 but eleven years of age he hired out to 
 work on a farm, and was employed by dif- 
 ferent farmers until seventeen years of age, 
 in the meantime attending school during 
 the winter months. When seventeen years 
 old he was engaged as a traveling salesman 
 for a manufacturing company, and was on 
 the road for six years. He then came west, 
 locating at White Pigeon Prairie, Michigan, 
 where he took up a tract of three hundred 
 
 and twenty acres, which he at once began 
 to improve, building on the place a fair 
 frame house and making other improve- 
 ments. 
 
 On the 26th of December, 1830, Mr. 
 Judson was united in marriage with Miss 
 Catherine P. Mudgett, a native of New 
 York, born July 8, 1811. By this union 
 there were six children, three of whom are 
 yet living, as follows: Mary J., now the 
 wife of William H. Hills, residing in Fres- 
 no, California; Albert E., married and re- 
 siding in Wellsford, Kansas, and William H. 
 H. , residing in Bessemer, Alabama, where 
 he is engaged in editorial work and in the 
 real-estate business. For some years he 
 was business manager for the "Times 
 Democrat" in New Orleans, and was chief 
 of the printing department during the cot- 
 ton exhibition held in that city. 
 
 Mr. Judson was one of the founders of 
 White Pigeon village, Michigan, and was 
 one of the surveyors who made a plat of 
 the town. While residing there the Black- 
 hawk war commenced in Illinois, and Mr. 
 Judson was commissioned paymaster by 
 Governor Cass, of the regiment commanded 
 by Colonel Stewart. They were ordered to 
 the western part of the state, and for about 
 twenty days were stationed in Chicago. 
 While there he was sent out on a scouti-ng 
 expedition in company with some twelve or 
 fourteen others, and came west as far as 
 the present village of Oswego, Kendall 
 county. Mr. Judson was so pleased with 
 the beautiful country that he determined, if 
 possible, to make this his home. On the ar- 
 rival of General Scott at Chicago with the 
 regular troops Colonel Stewart's regiment 
 was disbanded, and Mr. Judson returned to 
 his home at White Pigeon. Two years later 
 he sold out and moved with his family to
 
 562 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Kendall county, Illinois, where he made 
 claim to about six hundred acres of land, 
 part of which is included in the present vil- 
 lage of Oswego. He built the first house in 
 the village and laid off a portion of his farm 
 in town lots. 
 
 In 1840 Mrs. Catherine P. Judson de- 
 parted this life, and on the I3th of March, 
 1843, Mr. Judson married Miss Diana E. 
 Stafford, a native of Willoughby, Ohio, who 
 came to Oswego, Illinois, with her par- 
 ents, James B. and Roxanna (Mentor) Staf- 
 ford, who were also pioneers of Kendall 
 county. Of the eight children born of this 
 union seven yet survive: James A., a sol- 
 dier of the late war, residing in Aurora, Illi- 
 nois; Julia M., wife of M. V. Bennett, a 
 civil engineer; Ella C. , wife of Martin L. 
 Ashley, of Norwich, Kansas; Charles L. , a 
 farmer of Kane county; Lewis B. , a lawyer 
 of Aurora; George F. , a commercial trav- 
 eler residing in Aurora; Harry C. , who was 
 killed and robbed in Kansas, when but 
 eighteen years of age ; and Fred C. , a ma- 
 chinist in the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 
 railroad shops. Mr. Judson has now some 
 twenty-three grandchildren and ten great- 
 grandchildren. 
 
 In 1873 Mr. Judson sold his farm and 
 moved to Aurora, where he has since con- 
 tinued to reside. Since coming to the place 
 he has been actively engaged in various en- 
 terprises and has erected some of the finest 
 blocks and residences in the city, among 
 which are the Sinsenbaugh building, the 
 Judson block, his own fine residence on Ga- 
 lena street, one store building on Galena 
 and five residences, the Scott & Pease 
 building, and a large business block on the 
 corner of Downer Place and River streets. 
 It is probable that no man in Aurora has 
 done more towards building up and im- 
 
 proving the city than has Mr. Judson. He 
 is a stockholder and assisted in the organi- 
 zation of the Silver Plate Factory, the cot- 
 ton factory and other like institutions in the 
 city. He is also a stockholder in the First 
 National Bank, the Aurora National Bank 
 and the Merchants' National Bonk. 
 
 In early life Mr. Judson was an old-line 
 Whig, the principles of which party he 
 strongly advocated, and the leaders of which 
 he greatly honored. On the organization 
 of the Republican party, he became identi- 
 fied with it, and has since .been one of its 
 stanchest advocates. While residing in 
 Kendall county he served as coroner, asses- 
 sor, school director, justice of the peace and 
 for some years was chairman of the board of 
 supervisors of the county. Since coming 
 to Aurora he has declined all official honors, 
 giving his time exclusively to his extensive 
 business interests. He was a charter mem- 
 ber of the Odd Fellows Lodge at Oswego, 
 in which he filled all the chairs, including 
 that of noble grand. 
 
 For sixty-four long years Mr. Judson 
 has been a resident of Illinois, and is one of 
 the few living pioneers who have witnessed 
 its change from a vast wilderness to the most 
 productive 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. 
 
 MICHAEL BURNS, a practical farmer 
 residing on section 26, Hampshire 
 township, is the only son of John and Eliz- 
 abeth (Lawler) Burns, both of whom were 
 natives of Ireland, born in county Carlow. 
 The paternal grandfather, John Burns, Sr. ,
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 563 
 
 was born in county Wicklow, Ireland, and 
 was a shoemaker by trade. During the 
 Irish rebellion in 1798, he took cold while 
 in the service and contracted rheumatism, 
 from which he never recovered and died at 
 about the age of sixty years. He married 
 Mary Murphy, who was born at Castle 
 Moore, and a daughter of Michael Murphy, 
 all of whom are natives of Ireland. 
 
 John C. Burns was born in the village 
 of Tullough, county Carlow, Ireland, in 
 1813, and there learned the shoemaker's 
 trade with his father. He married Eliza- 
 beth Lawler, and in 1852 moved to Shef- 
 field, England, where he remained seven 
 years, working at his trade. In 1859 he 
 emigrated to America, sailing from Liver- 
 pool in the ship " Clipper," and landing in 
 Boston. Finding no work in the shoe fac- 
 tories near Boston he came to Kane county, 
 Illinois, and settled on the farm of his 
 brother-in-law, John Lawler, on section 
 23. He soon bought forty acres back from 
 the highway, and began farming for himself. 
 He built a small house on the tract and 
 later bought the rest of the Lawler farm, 
 consisting of one hundred acres. Subse- 
 quently he bought sixty acres, which gave 
 him an outlet to the road, and to the new 
 purchase he removed with his family. The 
 location of the farm is an attractive one, 
 and on it is a comfortable house, with barns 
 and other outbuildings, together with a 
 good orchard. The farm is now leased by 
 our subject, who is engaged principally in 
 dyiry farming, milking fifty head of cows, the 
 product of which he ships to Chicago. 
 
 The subject of this sketch began his ed- 
 ucation in the schools of Sheffield, Eng- 
 land, and completed his school life in the 
 public schools of Hampshire township. 
 Since coming to the United States he has 
 
 made his home only on the present farm. 
 He farmed with his father for many years 
 and later took full charge and has now for 
 some years engaged exclusively in its culti- 
 vation. He is an industrious, hardworking 
 man, and he has placed the farm under a 
 high state of cultivation. 
 
 Mr. Burns married Miss Ellen Kelly, a 
 native of Kane county, born on her father's 
 homestead on section fifteen, Hampshire 
 township. She is a daughter of Timothy 
 and Mary (Ryan) Kelly, natives of Ireland, 
 and granddaughter of Timothy and Ellen 
 (Eagan) Ryan. Timothy Kelly, the pater- 
 nal grandfather was born in Tipperary, Ire- 
 land, March 25, 1818, and died on the 
 home farm in Hampshire township, June 6, 
 1889. He came to America in 1840, lived 
 in New York one year and in 1841 came to 
 Hampshire township as blacksmith in the 
 employ of the stage company, running a 
 line of coaches from Chicago to Galena. 
 He was the first .blacksmith in the township 
 and became a prosperous man, accumulat- 
 ing a fine property. To our subject and 
 wife seven children have been born John, 
 Mary, Eliza, Thomas, Ellen, Annie and 
 Michael, Jr. In politics Mr. Burns is a 
 Democrat, with which party he has been 
 identified since attaining his majority. Re- 
 ligiously he and his wife are members of the 
 Catholic church. 
 
 JAMES SKINNER, who has been a citi- 
 zen of Aurora, Kane county, Illinois, 
 since the autumn of 1871, and who resides 
 at No. 342 Spring street, comes of an old 
 and honored family, who settled in the 
 American Colonies in the early part of the 
 seventeenth century. He was born in Win- 
 chester, New Hampshire, November 19,
 
 564 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1824, and is a son of Alanson and Mary 
 (Woodward) Skinner, both natives of New 
 Hampshire. His father followed the trade 
 of a blacksmith, and in connection there-, 
 with owned a small foundry, and carried on 
 a remunerative business in Winchester until 
 our subject was five years old. At this 
 time he moved with his family to Brown- 
 ville, New York, and continued in the same 
 line of business. 
 
 James Skinner assisted his father during 
 his youth and gained a rudimentary educa- 
 tion in the public schools at Brownville. In 
 his father's shop he learned the trade of a 
 tinner, but at the age of eighteen he was 
 sent to Mount Caesar Seminary, West More- 
 land county, New Hampshire, where he 
 completed his education. Returning home 
 he resumed work at his trade. The family 
 of Alanson Skinner consisted of four chil- 
 dren Horace, Mary, James and William 
 T. In 1861 the father retired from active 
 business life, and the business was carried 
 b'n by his three sons' in partnership. The 
 partnership was dissolved in 1867, by the 
 retirement of James. December 15, 18531 
 he was married to Helen Munn, of Cham- 
 pion, New York, and three children were 
 born to them. James, the first born, died 
 in early youth. William F., the second son, 
 married Delia Houston, and at the present 
 time is one of Aurora's efficient mail car- 
 riers, and has two children, Hazel Dell and 
 Ruth. Jenny M. married John Hull, is 
 now a widow, and resides with her parents. 
 The children of our subject were all born in 
 New York state. The mother died Decem- 
 ber 26, 1862. January 22, 1870, he was 
 married to Eliza Brown, of Brownville, 
 New York. 
 
 The first of the Skinner family to appear 
 in the New World was one who brought his 
 
 family from Essex county, England, to the 
 American Colonies, about 1620. Of his 
 seven sons, four settled in the eastern and 
 three in the southern colonies. From this 
 family, it is believed, sprang all or nearly 
 all of that name now inhabiting the 
 United States. 
 
 In "Burk's History of the Commons, " a 
 work still extant in the state library at Al- 
 bany, New York, there is a brief sketch of 
 the Skinner family in England, wherein 
 the ancestry of our subject is traced to Sir 
 Robert Skynner, as the name was originally 
 spelled, a Norman knight who accompanied 
 William, Duke of Normandy, called the 
 Conqueror, and assisted in the conquest of 
 the Saxons at the battle of Hastings, A. D. 
 1066, and the family of Skinners who first 
 landed in America were undoubtedly de- 
 scendants of Sir Robert. An interesting 
 book in manuscript which bears the coat of 
 arms of the Skinner family, is in possession 
 of our subject, and gives a clear genealogical 
 record of the family for many generations. 
 Alanson Skinner, the father, participated in 
 the war of 1812. 
 
 In 1871, James Skinner brought his 
 family from New York state to Illinois, and 
 settled in Aurora, soon afterwards becoming 
 a partner in the city flouring mills, with 
 James Robinson and Ira T. Curtis, under 
 the firm name of Robinson, Curtis & Co. 
 Mr. Skinner eventually bought out his part- 
 ners, then rented the mill, and finally sold 
 it to Jamieson, Sheets & Co., since which 
 time he has lived retired from business cares 
 and enjoys a restful life in his pleasant home 
 at 342 Spring street, but in the heat of sum- 
 mer he and his wife annually seek the woods 
 of Wisconsin, and pass three months on the 
 banks of Kelly's lake, where he owns a 
 cottage and boathouse, and the recreation
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 565 
 
 of bathing, shooting and fishing are indulged 
 in to their hearts' content. Mr. Skinner 
 never sought for office, but was prevailed 
 upon to accept the position of alderman for 
 one term only. 
 
 WILLIAM SCOTT. The state of Illi- 
 nois 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 transformed the wilder- 
 ness into fertile farms, established churches 
 and schools in the savage wilds, laying the 
 foundation for the grand institutions of 
 philanthropy and learning which are the 
 glory of the state at the present day. 
 Among these brave and far-sighted pioneers, 
 the Scott family, of Kane county, deserves 
 prominent mention. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was born Feb- 
 ruary i, 1844, in Virgil township, Kane 
 county, a son of John Scott, a native of 
 Scotland, who was born in 1809, and, in 
 1820, came to the new world with his fa- 
 ther, Hugh Scott, settling in Utica, New 
 York, where John grew to manhood. There 
 he wedded Mary Atkinson, June 15, 1828. 
 She was born in England, where her father 
 died during her early childhood, and when 
 only nine years old she came to the United 
 States. John Scott, an active and enter- 
 prising man, was in early life a contractor 
 on the old New York & Erie canal, and 
 later engaged in the hotel business. In 1836 
 he came to Illinois, and after a few months 
 spent in Chicago, located in St. Charles, 
 
 Kane county. Subsequently he bought a 
 claim and opened up a farm of four hun- 
 dred acres in Virgil township, making it one 
 of the most desirable places in the locality, 
 improved with a good residence, substantial 
 barns and outbuildings. In connection with 
 agricultural pursuits, he embarked in mer- 
 chandising at Elburn in 1856, carrying on 
 that business for three years. He still con- 
 tinued to engage in farming for several 
 years and then sold the place to our sub- 
 ject, living with him in St. Charles until 
 called to his final rest October 17, 1877. 
 His wife died September u, 1882. As one 
 of the leading citizens of his township, he 
 was called upon to serve as justice of the 
 peace for several years, and was at one 
 time a member of the county board. He 
 was also an active and prominent mem- 
 ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, and 
 assisted in organizing the church in Camp- 
 ton township. 
 
 To John and Mary (Atkinson) Scott 
 were born the following children: Sarah is 
 now the widow of Charles Shirtliff, and is a 
 resident of Neodesha, Kansas; John H., a 
 business man of Kaneville, now resides in 
 Aurora; Alexander died in infancy; Eliza- 
 beth died at the age of sixteen years; Rob- 
 ert was a member of Company I, One Hun- 
 dred and Twenty-seventh Illinois Volunteer 
 Infantry, and died in 1863, soon after his 
 return from the war; William is the next of 
 the family; Mary E. died at the home of our 
 subject in 1893; A. J. is a business man of 
 Denver, Colorado; and George F. died in 
 infancy. 
 
 Upon the home farm William Scott was 
 reared in much the usual manner of farmer 
 boys of that day, acquiring his education 
 in the schools of Elburn and Sycamore. 
 After reaching man's estate he bought the
 
 566 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 old homestead and actively engaged in 
 farming for some years, making many val- 
 uable and useful improvements upon the 
 place. In connection with general farming, 
 he was also engaged in buying, feeding and 
 shipping stock, and even after selling the 
 farm and removing to St. Charles, in 1874, 
 he continued the latter occupation, making 
 a specialty of the shipping of horses. He 
 was also interested in baling and dealing in 
 hay. In St. Charles he bought property 
 and erected the fine large residence 
 he still occupies. He has also bought, im- 
 proved and sold other city property and 
 stimulated the industries of the place by 
 loaning money. 
 
 On the nth of November, 1874, Mr. 
 Scott was married in St. Charles to Miss 
 Hattie E. Pike, a native of New York, who, 
 in 1856, during her childhood, was brought 
 to Illinois by her father, Cornelius Pike. 
 He spent his last days in St. Charles, where 
 he was engaged in business for some years. 
 Here Mrs. Scott was reared, and in Whea- 
 ton College she completed her education. 
 For several years prior to her marriage she 
 successfully engaged in teaching. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Scott have one daughter, Jennie 
 Maude, who graduated from the East Side 
 High School of St. Charles, and was also 
 a student for a time in the Elgin High 
 School. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Scott has been an ardent 
 Republican since casting his first presiden- 
 tial ballot for Gen. U. S. Grant, in 1868. 
 Although he has never cared for official 
 honors, he most acceptably served as a 
 member of the school board for some years, 
 rendering effective service in its interest. 
 Both he and his wife are consistent mem- 
 bers of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
 and in the community where they have so 
 
 long made their home their circle of friends 
 is only limited by their circle of acquaint- 
 ances. 
 
 LEWIS H. GILLETT, who for thirty 
 years was prominently identified with 
 the agricultural interests of Kane county, 
 but is now deceased, was born in Sullivan 
 county, New York, October 23, 1820, and 
 there grew to manhood, receiving a good 
 common-school education. He was mar- 
 ried in Sullivan county January 22, 1850, 
 to Rachel Harmes, a daughter of Charles 
 Harmes, also a native of Suljivan county, 
 New York. By trade Mr. Harmes was a 
 blacksmith, and was three times married. 
 His second wife, Mary Smith, was the 
 mother of Mrs. Gillett, and died when her 
 daughter was but three years old. He later 
 married again, and, after the death of his 
 last wife, he came west, and spent his re- 
 maining years in Illinois, dying at the resi- 
 dence of a daughter in Sycamore, De Kalb 
 county. Mrs. Gillett grew to womanhood 
 in Sullivan county, New York, and there 
 gave her hand in marriage to Mr. Gillett. 
 
 Directly after their marriage Mr. and 
 Mrs. Gillett started for the west, coming 
 by railroad to Buffalo, New York, where 
 they took a boat to Detroit, and thence by 
 rail to Chicago and St. Charles, Kane coun- 
 ty, Illinois. From St. Charles they came 
 by ox team to Sugar Grove township. Mr. 
 Gillett had secured three land warrants, for 
 which he secured land in that township. 
 He first purchased two hundred and sixty 
 acres, which he improved, and from time to 
 time added to his original possessions until 
 at the time of his death he was the owner 
 of one thousand acres, all of which was 
 under cultivation. He was a very active
 
 L. H. GILLETT.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 569 
 
 and progressive fanner, and prospered in 
 all that he did. On the farm he erected 
 two good substantial residences, one of 
 which was of brick, and also erected good 
 barns and other outbuildings. On one of 
 his farms in De Kalb county he erected a 
 barn at a cost of fifteen hundred dollars. 
 
 Mr. Gillett was liberal and public-spirit- 
 ed, and gave to all laudable enterprises 
 which were calculated to build up his town- 
 ship and county. He was one of the pro- 
 moters of the Sugar Grove Normal School, 
 and for the erection of its building donated 
 the sum of five hundred dollars. He was 
 originally a Democrat in politics, but on ac- 
 count of the slavery question and the posi- 
 tion his party took with regard to it, he cast 
 his lot with the Republican party on its or- 
 ganization, with which he continued to be 
 identified until his death. He was elected 
 and served as commissioner of highways, 
 and some other local positions, although he 
 never asked for official position. It was 
 his aim to be a good farmer, and that he 
 succeeded is attested by all who knew him. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Gillett seven children 
 were born, as follows: Mary, who grew to 
 womanhood, married S. L. Judd, of Sugar 
 Grove, died in 1895; Franklin died at the 
 age of six months; Eugene died at the age 
 of four months; Eddie Grant, a very bright 
 and intelligent young man, met his death by 
 accident when twenty years old; Arthur L. 
 is a prominent business man of Aurora; and 
 Rachel May is the wife of M. C. Schoop, of 
 Sugar Grove. 
 
 After the death of her husband Mrs. 
 Gillett took charge of the business, and as- 
 sisted in the settlement of the estate. In 
 1884 she built a good, neat and substantial 
 residence in the village of Sugar Grove, 
 where she has since resided. Like her 
 
 husband, she gives liberally in support 
 of various public enterprises. Toward the 
 erection of the Methodist church she gave 
 two hundred dollars. While not a member 
 of any church organization, she attends the 
 different churches, and endeavors to have 
 her life conform to the golden rule. She 
 is well known as a woman of good business 
 ability, and is esteemed and loved by all 
 who know her. 
 
 /CHARLES ALLEN, section 35, Hamp- 
 ^^ shire township, is one of a pioneer 
 family, to whom is given the credit of being 
 the first settler of Hampshire township. 
 Zenath Allen, a native of Rutland county, 
 Vermont, took up a claim on section 24, in 
 September, 1836, and built a log house and 
 at once commenced the improvement of the 
 land. He arrived in Chicago, June 5, of 
 that year, when it was a collection of huts 
 in a quagmire. Seeing nothing of promise 
 in those marshes, he came further west and 
 became a permanent resident of Hampshire 
 township, where he spent the remainder of 
 his life. He was a very prominent man in 
 the early day, one of brains and energy, 
 and made his influence felt in the new. set- 
 tlement. A member of the first board of 
 school trustees of the township, he assisted 
 in organizing the school district. His wife 
 was Lucretia Gibbs, a native of Canada. 
 His death occurred February 5, 1848, at 
 the age of sixty-three. He served in the 
 war of 1812. 
 
 The Allen family comes of fighting stock, 
 being descended from a common ancestor 
 with Ethan Allen of Revolutionary fame, 
 the famous captor of Ticonderoga. Ethan 
 J. Allen, the grandfather of our subject, was 
 born in Rutjand county, Vermont, in 1812,
 
 570 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and came in the regular army to Chicago in 
 1835. During the smallpox epidemic there 
 he wrote for his parents to come and secure 
 his discharge. This done, the family moved 
 to Kane county and remained. Ethan J. 
 secured a farm on section 35, and occupied 
 the land until his death in 1887. He was 
 also a prominent figure in public affairs in 
 the early day, and in 1844 served as deputy 
 sheriff of the county. Later he occupied 
 the office of sheriff, and from 1860 was for 
 many years a member of the board of 
 supervisors. He was also a justice >of the 
 peace for years, his first commission being 
 signed by Governor Madison. During the 
 early days of the war for the union, he 
 served as adjutant of the Fifty-second Regi- 
 ment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, his com- 
 mission being dated September 14, 1861. 
 He resigned November 12, 1862. For 
 several years he was a mail route agent on 
 the railroad between Chicago and Dubuque. 
 He married Miss Harriet Smith, and to 
 them were born four children Henry, de- 
 ceased; David A., father of our subject; 
 Marian married George McClelland, de- 
 ceased, and she now lives in Elgin; and 
 Hiram, who died quite young. 
 
 David A. Allen was born on the family 
 homestead, section 35, Hampshire town- 
 ship, October 15, 1842, and until the age 
 of sixteen attended the subscription schools 
 of the neighborhood. He remained upon 
 the home farm until the outbreak of 
 the war, when he enlisted in Company A, 
 Seventh Regiment, Illinois Volunteer In- 
 fantry, under Captain Joslyn. He enlisted 
 April 22, 1861, his regiment being the first 
 to enter the service from Illinois. From 
 Elgin he went to Springfield, Illinois, where 
 the regiment was mustered into service, and 
 from thence to Alton and Cairo, serving un- 
 
 til discharged at Mound City, Illinois, July 
 25, 1 86 1, at the expiration of their term of 
 service. . Returning home he re-enlisted in 
 Company K, Fifty-second Regiment, Illinois 
 Volunteer Infantry, the date of his enlist- 
 ment being September 6, 1861. He served 
 until September, 1862, when he was dis- 
 charged for disability. During this year's 
 service, with his regiment he was stationed 
 at St. Joseph, Missouri; Bird's Point, Ken- 
 tucky; Smithland, Kentucky; and Fort Don- 
 elson. After the battle of Fort Donelson, 
 he was with the force that was sent with 
 prisoners to Chicago. He returned to his 
 regiment by way of St. Louis, and joined it 
 at Pittsburg Landing. 
 
 After being at home for about a year 
 and fully recovering his strength, on De- 
 cember 30, 1863, he re-enlisted the second 
 time in Company H, Fifteenth Regiment, 
 Illinois Cavalry, known as the Kane County 
 Cavalry, with which he served until its re- 
 organization, at Little Rock, Arkansas, 
 when the company of our subject was 
 merged into Company L, Tenth Illinois 
 Cavalry. This was done January 26, 1865, 
 and the regiment was engaged in service in 
 the west and south until its discharge, Janu- 
 uary 6, 1866, being one of the last regi- 
 ments of the volunteer army to be mus- 
 tered out of the service. 
 
 On receiving his final discharge, David 
 A. Allen returned home and bought the farm 
 on section 35, consisting of one hundred and 
 twenty acres, since which time he has added 
 eighty acres, forty of which lies in section 
 27, and which makes a tract of two hun- 
 dred acres of the verj finest land. At first 
 the farm was used for grain, later, stock- 
 raising, and at present for dairy purposes, 
 there being upon the place about fifty head 
 of milch cows. David A. Allen was mar-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ried in Hampshire township, February 2O, 
 1867, to Miss Caroline Coon, first in a fam- 
 ily of four children born to Hildah and 
 Maria (Parker) Coon, the latter being a 
 daughter of William and Rachel (Retchie) 
 Parker. Hildah Coon was by occupation a 
 farmer, which he followed during his entire 
 life. He was born in the state of New 
 York, and came to Hampshire township in 
 1839, and died at the age of forty-eight 
 years. Mary Ann Coon, their second child, 
 was the second white child born in Hamp- 
 shire township. She married Henry J. 
 Allen, now deceased, who was a brother of 
 David A. Allen, and she became the mother 
 of one daughter, Martha A. The other 
 two children of Hildah and Maria Coon are 
 Calvin M., living in Joliet, and William S., 
 who resides at New Lebanon, De Kalb 
 county, Illinois. To David A. Allen and 
 wife lour children were born, as follows: 
 Chloe, who died at the age of thirteen years; 
 Hattie, who married Leonard Ewing, of 
 Burlington township; Charles, our subject; 
 and Elizabeth, who married Frank Ritz, of 
 McHenry county, Illinois. In politics David 
 A. Allen was a Republican, and for four 
 years was deputy sheriff of Kane county, 
 highway commissioner nine years, and a 
 school director for many years. Fraternally, 
 he is a member of the Grand Army of the 
 Republic. 
 
 Charles Allen, our subject, was born on 
 the farm where he now resides, February 20, 
 1872, and his home has always been under 
 the one roof. He attended the district 
 school until the age of thirteen, and then 
 worked for his father on the farm until 1890, 
 when he went west and spent some time at 
 Sioux City, Iowa, in the employ of a land 
 firm, although he did a little farm work a 
 part of the time, and also engaged in trad- 
 
 ing horses. Returning home, and on his 
 father's retirement, he took charge of the 
 farm and has since been operating the same. 
 
 Charles Allen was married February 6, 
 1895, in the village of Hampshire, to Miss 
 Libbie Haines, born in Madison, Nebraska, 
 and a daughter of J. L. Haines, a native of 
 Ashtabula- county, Ohio, born January 29, 
 1841, and who came west with his parents, 
 David and Emily (Burns) Haines, about 
 1844. J. L. Haines married Mary Garner, 
 born near Albany, New York, and a daugh- 
 ter of Lorenzo and Ellen (Boyce) Garner, 
 the latter being a daughter of Ethan Boyce. 
 Lorenzo Garner went to California in the 
 early days of the gold fever there, and 
 was shortly afterward drowned. Of the 
 nine children born to Mr. and Mrs. Haines, 
 Mrs. Allen is fourth in order of birth. To 
 our subject and wife, one daughter has 
 been born, Hazel. 
 
 In politics, Mr. Allen is a Republican, 
 having inherited the liberty-loving principles 
 of that party. The only office which he 
 has held is that of school director. Frater- 
 nally he is a member of Hampshire camp, 
 Modern Woodmen of America. He is a 
 prosperous and energetic young farmer, one 
 who has doubtless a bright future before 
 him. 
 
 JAMES PEARL PRINDLE, a leading 
 and influential citizen of Batavia, is the 
 son of Abijah Legore and Caroline Miriam 
 (Pearl) Prindle, was born March 9, 1841, 
 at the home of his grandparents, James and 
 Lydia (Tobey) Pearl, who settled not far 
 from 1811, on the Holland Purchase, later 
 called Bennington, in Western New York, 
 where four days chopping was required to 
 clear a space in the heavy timber, large
 
 572 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 enough to build a log house, in which the 
 family lived until 1849, then moved into a 
 frame house on the opposite side of the 
 road where the grandmother died April 18, 
 1855, and the mother, October 17, of the 
 same year, when nearly forty-two years of 
 age. 
 
 The following November, the balance 
 of the family, consisting of James Pearl, 
 grandfather, born May 23, 1786, Abijah L. 
 Prindle, father, born February 25, 1808, 
 and his children, Lucy R. Prindle, born 
 April n, 1838; Jason Richard Prindle, born 
 December 20, 1843; Legore Prindle, born 
 January 8, 1846; and James P. Prindle, 
 moved to Batavia, Illinois, where Jane C. 
 Colton, nee Prindle, born March 2, 1833, 
 and Mary M. Newton, nee Prindle, born 
 June 3, 1835, were then living, and where 
 the father resumed his position as superin- 
 tendent of the Hoyt Barrel Factory. The 
 three brothers attended the public schools 
 in Batavia until the family was broken 
 up by the marriage of Mrs. Colton to Rev. 
 Elijah H. Gammon, and Lucy R. , to Elisha 
 Foote, Jr., May 5, 1856, after which the 
 boys were scattered. 
 
 The life of James P. Prindle, until mov- 
 ing west, having been spent on a farm with 
 his invalid grandfather, with but little time 
 in the winter to attend the district school, 
 which was usually open about three months, 
 he felt, when thrown on his own resources, 
 that he must have an education, and with 
 this determination started for Chicago, 
 July 4, 1856, where he found a situation 
 and worked until the opening of school at 
 the Batavia Institute, where the winter and 
 following spring were spent, as were his 
 accumulated earnings. This round was 
 followed until qualified to teach, where, by 
 teaching winters and working vacations, it 
 
 was an easy matter to get quite a part of 
 the year in school. With the exception of 
 time enough spent in Nebraska to secure 
 two hundred and forty acres of government 
 land near Nebraska City, the above men- 
 tioned plan was followed until the Civil war 
 broke out, when he, with his father, broth- 
 in-law, D. C. Newton, and two brothers, 
 sought service in the army, and September 
 10, 1 86 1, enlisted in Company D, Fifty- 
 Second Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infan- 
 try, camped in Geneva, Illinois. 
 
 As soon as the regiment was organized 
 orders were received to report at St. Louis, 
 and from there the work of guarding the 
 Hannibal & St. Joseph railroad was taken up, 
 with regimental headquarters at St. Joseph, 
 while Companies B and D were stationed at 
 Stewartville, Missouri. Early in 1862 the 
 regiment moved to Cairo, camping in Feb- 
 ruary at Fort Holt, without tents or cover- 
 ing. Colonel I. S. Wilson having resigned, 
 Colonel Sweeney, of the regular army, after- 
 wards brigadier-general, and later a leader 
 in the Fenian movement, was appointed 
 colonel in this regiment, which moved in a 
 day or two up the river to Smithland, Ken- 
 tucky, and from that point the battle of 
 Fort Donelson was the next work, followed 
 by a trip to Chicago with prisoners, and 
 from there going direct to Pittsburg Land- 
 ing, where a large number of the regiment 
 was either killed or wounded. 
 
 Just before the battle of Fort. Donelson 
 Mr. Prindle was taken down with measles, 
 followed by mumps and fever, and, going 
 from the hospital in Paducah, joined the 
 regiment Monday, April 7, at Pittsburg 
 Landing, where he took the position of or- 
 derly sergeant of Company D, under Captain 
 Newton, and was sent back sick from the 
 third breastworks, in front of Corinth, reach-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 573 
 
 Batavia, July 3, an invalid, unable to walk 
 for months, and for years a victim of chronic 
 diarrhoea. 
 
 School work at the Clark Seminary at 
 Aurora was taken up as soon as strength 
 would permit, but poor health prevent earn- 
 ing money to continue, so a position with 
 Easter & Gammon, implement dealers in 
 Chicago, was secured in the summer of 
 1863, which was followed, in 1866, by a 
 partnership with E. H. Gammon, under the 
 firm name of Gammon & Prindle, 46, 48 
 and 50 West Lake street. Contracts were 
 made for handling Pitt's thresher, Dodge's 
 self-raking reapers and mowers, with a gen- 
 eral line of implements, and the manufact- 
 uring of Marsh harvesters for part of the 
 western states. 
 
 In 1869 a change was made by the dis- 
 continuance of the Gammon & Prindle firm, 
 and an interest taken with A. E. Bishop, 
 making the firm of Bishop & Prindle, man- 
 ufacturers of wagons, which relation was 
 continued until 1874, when an interest was 
 purchased in the Newton Wagon Company, 
 of Batavia, where, as superintendent of the 
 works, twenty years were spent. Health 
 failing, active work was given up, and rela- 
 tions changed to that of vice-president. 
 
 In 1891 the position of director in the 
 Piano Manufacturing Company, of Piano, 
 Illinois, later of West Pullman, was accept- 
 ed, and after the death of E. H. Gammon, 
 July 3, 1891, he was elected to fill the posi- 
 tion of vice-president, and still retains that 
 connection with the company, which has for 
 years annually supplied this country with 
 thousands of Piano & Jones' harvesters, 
 headers, mowers, reapers, hay-rakes, etc. , 
 and in late years has opened a large foreign 
 trade, covering quite a portion of Europe 
 and South America. On the 24th of Sep- 
 
 tember, 1867, Mr. Prindle married Mary A. 
 Cornell, in Evanston. She was born Au- 
 gust 18, 1841, in Spring Creek, Pennsyl- 
 vania. The children born to them are: 
 Albro Bishop, April 22, 1869; Martha Caro- 
 line, July 3, 1872; James Pearl, June 27, 
 1876; and Carl, October 10, 1882, who died 
 August 10, the following year. 
 
 The politics adopted by Mr. Prindle at 
 an early age were that of Abolitionist Whig, 
 probably because of living where runaway 
 slaves were helped toward Canada, but his 
 first vote was Republican; although never 
 an aspirant for office, yet an earnest worker 
 for keeping the best men in office, and in 
 the community in which he lives considered 
 no effort too great when made in the inter- 
 est of temperance, morality and necessary 
 improvements. The public schools have 
 always been a subject of vital interest to 
 him. Born at the stopping place and head- 
 quarters of the Methodist circuit riders, in 
 the old log house, it was not strange that, 
 in early life, he should become interested 
 in religious matters. The early records of 
 the Methodist church of Batavia show him 
 on the active list. On reaching Chicago, 
 he joined the Jefferson Street Methodist 
 Episcopal church, and became identified 
 with Sabbath-school work, and on the soci- 
 ety moving to their new centenary church, 
 was a steward and class leader in the church, 
 and as time passed, teacher, librarian and 
 assistant superintendent in the Sunday- 
 school of twelve hundred members, where, 
 under the pastorate of such brilliant preach- 
 ers as Drs. C. H. Fowler, R. M. Hatfield 
 and J. O. Peck, active church work became 
 the rule, and on returning to Batavia, in 
 1874, he fell into line there, and is still an 
 earnest, faithful worker in the beautiful new 
 Methodist Episcopal church.
 
 574 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 WILLIAM W. MERRILL. Wherever 
 there is pioneer work to be done, 
 men of energy and ability are required, and 
 success or failure depends upon the degree 
 of those qualities that is possessed. In 
 wresting the land from its native wilderness, 
 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 Mr. 
 Merrill, who is now living retired in Elgin, 
 and it is mete and proper that for the ardu- 
 ous and important labor he has performed 
 he should receive due reward. 
 
 Born in Oxford county, Maine, March 
 1 6, 1815, he is a son of William and Char- 
 ity (Davis) Merrill, who were of English 
 descent. Both grandfathers were soldiers 
 of the Revolutionary war, Mr. Merrill en- 
 tering the service at the age of eighteen, 
 Mr. Davis at the age of seventeen, and 
 both fought under General Warren at the 
 battle of Bunker Hill, as well as in other 
 engagements. The grandfather Davis was 
 aid de camp to that general. He died 
 when our subject was about sixteen years 
 of age, and the grandfather Merrill when 
 he was fourteen, both passing away upon 
 their farms in Maine. Throughout life they 
 engaged in farming, lumbering and shipping. 
 
 William Merrill, Sr. , father of our sub- 
 ject, was also a farmer by occupation, and 
 was one of the men who assisted in found- 
 ing the town of Brownfield, Oxford county, 
 Maine. He died on the old homestead 
 there, in 1836. He was one of the leading 
 members of the Congregational church at 
 that place, was a Whig in politics, and for 
 the long period of twenty years served as 
 foreman of the grand jury. His wife, who 
 was a consistent member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, died in the spring of 
 
 1860, at the home of her daughter Harriet 
 in New York City. In their family were 
 nine children, namely: Louisa, who mar- 
 ried John Small, and.both are now deceased; 
 Irene, who married John Campbell, of New 
 Orleans, Louisiana, and both are deceased; 
 Harriet, who married John Kelsey, of New 
 York, and both are deceased; William W. , 
 of this sketch; Nicholas, a resident of Maine; 
 Bradbury, deceased; Martha, who married 
 A. S. Carr, and died in Nebraska; Mary, 
 who died when young; and Alvin, who died 
 in New York City. 
 
 The early life of our subject was spent 
 on the home farm at Brownfield, and in 
 private schools he acquired his education. 
 He early became familiar with every de- 
 partment of farming and lumbering, and at 
 the age of seventeen started out in life for 
 himself as his father had lost much of his 
 property. The first season he worked upon 
 a farm, and with the money he earned, he 
 purchased a yoke of oxen. The following 
 winter he was employed at a tavern in 
 Oxford, and the next summer again worked 
 at farming, taking a colt for pay. This he 
 put on the home farm with the oxen and 
 went to Portland, where he was in the em- 
 ploy of a stage company during the winter. 
 For the following two years he was with a 
 lumber company on the Penobscot river, 
 and then, having accumulated some capi- 
 tal, he engaged in lumbering on his own ac- 
 count until the panic of 1835, which was 
 one of the worst ever experienced in this 
 country. 
 
 Having lost everything, Mr. Merrill 
 started westward in the spring of 1837, with 
 the hope of retrieving his fortune. On the 
 ist of June of that year he arrived in Terre 
 Haute, Indiana, and from there proceeded 
 to Paris, Edgar county, Illinois, where he
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 575 
 
 stopped with a Mr. Archer for about two 
 weeks. Alone and on foot he followed the 
 army trail to Springfield, the houses along 
 the way being from fifteen to twenty miles 
 apart. There he found employment with a 
 stage company, but owing to ill health he 
 soon had to abandon his position. On his 
 recovery he went to Tazewell county, and 
 the following spring to Ottawa, where he 
 found employment with the Frink Stage 
 Company, having known John Frink in the 
 east. For several months he was connected 
 with that company, after which he was 
 variously employed for some time. Finally 
 locating in Chicago, he engaged in merchan- 
 dising on the South Side from 1838 until 
 1840, and from there came to Elgin, where 
 he followed both carpentering and farming 
 for some time. In 1843 he bought a claim 
 of one hundred and thirty-two acres of Mr. 
 Kimball, paying him one dollar and a quar- 
 ter per acre. This land extended along the 
 south road to the forks, from there to Lar- 
 kin's corner, north to McClain's farm, and 
 from there to the Hamilton farm, now owned 
 by W. H. Wing. Upon that place Mr. 
 Merrill lived until 1850, giving his attention 
 to agricultural pursuits, and then came to 
 Elgin, where he was engaged in the market 
 business until 1864, and subsequently in the 
 grocery business until 1878. Since that 
 time he has lived retired, enjoying a well- 
 earned rest at his comfortable home in El- 
 gin, surrounded by the care and attention 
 of an affectionate wife and daughter. 
 
 In Chicago, April 27, 1848, Mr. Merrill 
 married Miss Ellen Flin, by whom lie had 
 seven children: Eugene, deceased; Helen, 
 at home; Amelia, wife of Frank Schuller, 
 of Elgin; Irene, who died when young; 
 Martha, who died in infancy; Charles W., 
 a resident of Traverse City, Michigan; and 
 
 Hattie, the wife of William Wood, of Kan- 
 sas City, Missouri. For his second wife 
 Mr. Merrill married, May 16, 1869, Mrs. 
 Jane Earl, a daughter of Andrew and Jane 
 (Hollow) Longstaff, of Ottawa, Canada. 
 She was the widow of Edward Earl, who 
 died at McHenry, Illinois, January 30, 1868. 
 Her father was a native of England, while 
 her mother was born in Scotland. 
 
 Politically Mr. Merrill was first a Whig, 
 and later a Democrat. He was a great 
 friend of Lincoln, and corresponded with 
 him during the exciting campaign of 1860, 
 but told the martyr president that he would 
 not vote for his death warrant, which he 
 believed he would be doing if he assisted in 
 electing him president. In the early de- 
 velopment of Kane county Mr. Merrill bore 
 an important part, and he was especially 
 active in the erection of the first Methodist 
 Episcopal church in Elgin, assisting in get- 
 ting out the timbers for that edifice. His 
 career has ever been such as to warrant the 
 trust and confidence of .the entire communi- 
 ty, and his friends are many throughout 
 Kane and surrounding .counties. 
 
 ROBERT PIERPONT was for many 
 years actively engaged in the grocery 
 business at Aurora, but is now living a re- 
 tired life. He was born in Nottingham- 
 shire, England, November 23, 1822. His 
 parents, George and Mary (Bemont) Pier- 
 pont, were also natives of England, where 
 their entire lives were spent, their deaths 
 occurring many years ago. The father was 
 a boatman on the river and was a hard- 
 working but trusty man. The mother was 
 a member of the Wesleyan Methodist 
 church, one who took an interezt in the 
 Master's work. They were the parents
 
 57 6 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of three children, our subject being the only 
 one to come to America. The others are 
 William, who resides in England at the 
 age of seventy-three years; and Ann, who 
 died many years ago. 
 
 Robert Pierpont grew to manhood in his 
 native country and in early life commenced 
 work on a farm, in which occupation he was 
 employed for some years. He was mar- 
 ried June 27, 1850, to Miss Mary Ashling, 
 daughter of Thomas and Sarah Ashling, 
 also natives of England, the father being a 
 large and prosperous farmer. Both parents 
 died in the '4.05. They were members of the 
 established church. Of their twelve chil- 
 dren, three are still living: Mary, now Mrs. 
 Pierpont; Margaret, widow of George Payne, 
 residing in Aurora; and Sarah, widow of 
 Charles Curtin, residing in England. She 
 has a family of four living children, all resi- 
 dents of England. Mr. and Mrs. Pierpont 
 have two living children: Sarah is the wife 
 of Henry Mohle, chief train dispatcher at 
 Stevens Point, Wisconsin, on the Wiscon- 
 sin Central railroad, and the mother of 
 three children: Charles Earnest, Mary and 
 Robert Pierpont. Their second child was 
 Charles Hay, a grocer in Aurora, who mar- 
 ried Mary A. Clark, by whom he has four 
 children, Mabel, Robert, Harry and Helen. 
 
 In 1854 Mr. Pierpont, with his wife and 
 two children, left their native land in a 
 sailing vessel, and although they were five 
 weeks on the ocean, encountered no storms, 
 and each enjoyed the trip fairly well. They 
 came almost directly to Aurora, by advice 
 of a brother of Mrs. Pierpont, who was a 
 farmer of Du Page county, and who came 
 four years earlier. Our subject commenced 
 work in the mill of Gill, Gifford & Com- 
 pany. He worked for that firm ten years, 
 and when Mr. Gill purchased the interests 
 
 of his partners he continued working for 
 him, ten years altogether, part of the time 
 acting as. manager, buying the grain, pay- 
 ing the bills, and attending to all other 
 duties pertaining to the work. Leaving 
 the mill he went into the grocery business in 
 Aurora, in company with a Mr. Damon. 
 Later Warner Wright purchased the inter- 
 ests of Mr. Damon, and in turn sold to a 
 Mr. Dickens. After continuing a while as 
 the firm of Pierpont & Dickens, Mr. Pier- 
 pont purchased his partner's interest and 
 conducted the business alone for a time. 
 He then admitted to the firm James W. 
 Battle, and under the firm name of Pier- 
 pont & Battle the business was continued. 
 Later Mr. Johnston bought out the interest 
 of Mr. Battle, and his interest was in turn 
 purchased by our subject. Although he re- 
 tained an interest in the store, he has turned 
 its entire management over to his son, and 
 he is practically living a retired life. The 
 store is located on the corner of Denton 
 and La Salle streets, and is one of the best 
 appointed establishments in the city. By 
 strict attention to business, fair and square 
 dealing, Mr. Pierpont made a success of the 
 business, and has secured a competency 
 which enables him to lay aside all business 
 cares. He is a member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, of which his wife is also 
 a member. In politics he is a Republican 
 
 PECK BROTHERS, residing on section 
 7, Geneva township, own and operate 
 farms of two thousand one hundred acres, 
 lying in Geneva and Blackberry townships. 
 They are members of a pioneer family, 
 which located here in the fall of 1843. Eli 
 Peck, their father, was born in the town of 
 Sandgate, Bennington county, Vermont,
 
 ELI PECK.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 579 
 
 June 25, 1816. Thomas Peck, their grand- 
 father, and George Peck, their great-grand- 
 father, were both natives of Connecticut. 
 The family are of English descent and early 
 settlers of Connecticut, two brothers com- 
 ing from England at a very early day. 
 George Peck, the great-grandfather, moved 
 from Connectici t to Vermont when Thomas 
 Peck was a child of two years. He was a 
 pioneer of Bennington county, and there 
 spent the remainder of his life. 
 
 Eli Peck grew to manhood in Benning- 
 ton county, Vermont, and there married 
 Jerusha Sherman, a daughter of Evi Sher- 
 man, of that county. At an early day her 
 father came west to Illinois and located 
 near Belvidere, and later moved to Wiscon- 
 sin, where his death occurred. Soon after 
 his marriage Eli Peck came to Kane coun- 
 ty, Illinois, settling there, as already stated, 
 in the fall of 1843. He started to come 
 west with the team, but losing one horse on 
 the way, he sold the other and came by 
 boat to Chicago. From there he came 
 direct to Kane county and purchased eighty 
 acres of land for a farm and also a small 
 tract of timber land. Erecting a small 
 frame house upon the place, he there re- 
 sided until 1869, when he built the present 
 large and commodious house, which is now 
 occupied by his sons. From time to time 
 he added to his original purchase until he 
 was the owner of thirteen hundred acres, 
 all of which were well improved. In 1866 
 he commenced the sheep industry, purchas- 
 ing a small flock of merino sheep, and in- 
 creasing the number year by year until his 
 flock numbered two thousand head. He 
 was a very active and enterprising man, 
 and, coming to this county with but little 
 means, by his industrious habits and wise 
 executive ability and forethought, he secured 
 
 26 
 
 a large estate and was numbered among the 
 wealthiest farmers of the county. Alter a 
 long and useful life he died on the old 
 homestead February 9, 1892. His wife 
 survives him, and is in the enjoyment of 
 fairly good health at the age of eighty-one 
 years. 
 
 George E. Peck is the oldest of the four 
 sons, which, with four daughters, comprised 
 the family of Eli and Jerusha Peck. He 
 was born in Bennington county, Vermont, 
 January 18, 1842, and came to Kane county 
 with his parents in infancy. The other sons 
 of the family are Albert Sherman, born in 
 Kane county, April 21, 1848; Frank B., 
 born December 6, 1849; Seth E., born Sep- 
 tember 27, 1853. All were born upon the 
 farm in Kane county and here grew to man- 
 hood, being educated in the common 
 schools. The daughters are Sarah C., 
 Julia E., Mary E. and Ettie L. The first 
 named was born in Vermont but reared in 
 Kane county. She married Thomas Fitz- 
 patrick, who passed away in Littleton, Col- 
 orado. They had one daughter, Mary. 
 The second and third daughters, Julia and 
 Mary, yet reside on the old farm, while 
 Ettie L. is housekeeper for her brother Al- 
 bert at Fargo, Kane county. He is the in- 
 ventor and patentee of the first successful 
 corn harvester, which he sold to the Mc- 
 Cormick Harvesting Company. 
 
 The Peck Brothers have carried on the 
 farm since 1875, and have since added sev- 
 eral hundred acres to the tract left by the 
 father. One tract of two hundred and fifty 
 acres, adjoining the city of Geneva, is one 
 of the best improved places in the township. 
 The brothers have been extensively engaged 
 in the breeding of merino sheep, and have 
 built up a large trade, shipping through the 
 states, and to Australia, South Africa and
 
 580 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Mexico. In the spring of 1898 they had on 
 hand a flock of two thousand, three hun- 
 dred sheep. In all their farming operations 
 they have been quite successful, and are 
 noted for their enterprise and business sa- 
 gacity. They were chiefly instrumental in 
 securing the location here of the Appleton 
 Manufacturing Company, which gives em- 
 ployment to several hundred men. No en- 
 terprise calculated for the public good, but 
 finds in them friends. All are stanch Re- 
 publicans in their political views. In 1894, 
 George E. Peck was elected supervisor of 
 his township, and served one term of two 
 years, being chairman of the almshouse com- 
 mittee. He was re-elected in 1896, and in 
 1898, and during the past year was chair- 
 man of the courthouse committee. That he 
 is a valued member of the board is attested 
 by his term of service and by the various 
 committees on which he has served. In po- 
 litical affairs he has taken an active interest 
 and usually serves as a delegate to the va- 
 rious conventions of his party. Few men 
 are better known in Kane county than the 
 Peck brothers, and their reputation is not 
 confined to county or even state lines. 
 
 M. CREGO, now residing in 
 the city of Aurora, has been a resident 
 of Kane county since 1851, since which time 
 he has been one of its truly representative 
 citizens, one who has done much to make 
 the county occupy its present proud position. 
 From the very beginning he has been very 
 active and enterprising and the result is 
 shown in his extensive business interests, he 
 now being the owner of much valuable 
 property in the city, including the Hotel 
 Bishop Block. He is a native of New York, 
 born in Oneida county, July i, 1831. His 
 
 ancestors in this country he traces back to 
 his great-grandfather, who emigrated from 
 Holland and located in Dutchess county, 
 New York. Adam Crego, the grandfather, 
 was born in Dutchess county, and was a 
 soldier in the Revolutionary war. His son, 
 Daniel S. Crego, was born in Herkimer 
 county, New York, April 4, 1801. He re- 
 mained in his native county until after at- 
 taining his majority, and then moved to 
 Oneida county, where he married Ann Kel- 
 ley, a native of Oneida county and a daugh- 
 ter of Michael Kelley, who was a profes- 
 sional educator, and who for fourteen years 
 was engaged in one school. Daniel S. 
 Crego was a substantial farmer in Oneida 
 county, but in 1836 moved to Chenango 
 county, New York, where he engaged in 
 farming until 1852, when he came to Kane 
 county, Illinois, and located in Sugar Grove 
 township. Four years later he moved to 
 De Kalb county, where his death occurred 
 in the fall of 1893 at the age of ninety-two 
 years and six months. His wife died about 
 three years previous, when about eighty- 
 four years of age. 
 
 Of the three sons and four daughters 
 born to Daniel S. and Ann Crego, our sub- 
 ject is second in order of birth. The others 
 are: Sallie Ann, who married Alva Bolster, 
 and located in Sugar Grove township, where 
 her death occurred; Polly J. now makes 
 her home with our subject; O. C. is married 
 and resides in Kane county; Lewis H. re- 
 sides in De Kalb county, Illinois; Nancy 
 married Eli Barnes, and they now reside in 
 Grand Island, Nebraska; Ellen married Her- 
 man Skells, moved to Nebraska and has 
 since died. 
 
 On the farm of his father in Chenango 
 county, New York, George M. Crego re- 
 mained until nineteen years of age. Like
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 581 
 
 the great majority of American youths, his 
 education was obtained in the common 
 schools. In 1851 he came to Aurora, Illi- 
 nois, where he spent the winter of 1851-2, 
 then returned to New York, and later in the 
 spring came back, accompanied by his par- 
 ents, and located in Blackberry township, 
 Kane county, where he purchased a farm 
 of two hundred acres and at once began its 
 improvement. He later added one hundred 
 acres, making a fine farm of three hundred 
 acres, all of which was placed under culti- 
 vation. In 1 882 he purchased another farm, 
 a well-improved place of three hundred and 
 sixty acres, in Sugar Grove township, and 
 carried on both farms for some years. In 
 the spring of 1892 he moved into Aurora, 
 where he bought a residence, which he re- 
 modeled, and where the family yet reside. 
 He also bought or traded for business prop- 
 erty, including the Bishop Hotel Block, 
 which yet remains in his possession. Since 
 coming to Aurora, he has been quite active 
 in the improvement of his property. 
 
 Mr. Crego was married in Kane county, 
 February 21, 1855, to Miss Jane Reynolds, 
 a native of Ulster county, New York, born 
 near Poughkeepsie, and a daughter of Silas 
 Reynolds, who became a resident of Kane 
 county, in 1836, locating in Sugar Grove 
 township. By this union there were nine 
 children, seven of whom are living, as fol- 
 lows: Porter, who is a veterinary surgeon 
 in Aurora; Millie grew to womanhood, 
 married Albert Seavey, of Sugar Grove town- 
 ship, and is now deceased; Celia, now re- 
 siding in Omaha; Silas married and resides 
 on a farm in Blackberry township; Belle 
 married Clarence Humestom, and resides in 
 the town of Kaneville; Joseph, living in Au- 
 rora; Gideon and Irvin, living at home, the 
 latter now attending the State University at 
 
 Madison, Wisconsin, taking a course in the 
 law department. 
 
 Mr. Crego is a lifelong Democrat and 
 cast his first presidential ballot for Franklin 
 Pierce. For twenty years he served as a 
 member of the school board. He is a mem- 
 ber of the Masonic fraternity, of the blue 
 lodge at Kaneville and of the chapter at 
 Aurora. He has ever been a friend of the 
 temperance cause, and while not support- 
 ing the Prohibition party, has been a pro- 
 hibitionist in principle. Mrs. Crego died at 
 their home in Aurora, November 14, 1897. 
 She was a faithful wife and mother, and for 
 forty-two long years with her husband she 
 trod life's journey. Her remains were laid 
 to rest in the beautiful Spring Lake ceme- 
 tery. In the growth and development of 
 the southern part of Kane county, few men 
 have done more than the subject of this 
 sketch. While in limited circumstances on 
 his arrival here, he has by his industry and 
 temperate habits placed himself in comfort- 
 able circumstances for the remainder of his 
 days. 
 
 M 1 
 
 RS. RUTH ANN THIERS, now re- 
 siding at No. 306 West Chicago 
 street, Elgin, is a representative of one of 
 the first families to locate in that city. She 
 was born in Plymouth, New Hampshire, 
 September 28, 1821, and is the daughter of 
 Joseph and Nancy (Currier) Kimball, also 
 natives of the Granite state. 
 
 Joseph Kimball was born in Hopkinton, 
 New Hampshire, September i, 1783, and 
 at Plymouth, that state, he married Nancy 
 Currier, who was born September 26, 
 1787, the marriage ceremony being per- 
 formed November 28, 1804. To them 
 were born nine children: William Currier,
 
 5 82 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 who married Caroline Willard and moved 
 to Elgin in 1837, where his death occurred; 
 Mary Carter, who married Bartlett Adams; 
 Samuel Jewett, who married Clarinda Jane 
 Hill, and in 1835 came to Elgin, where he 
 served as mayor in 1856 and 1857; Susanna 
 Clement, who married Hiram George; 
 Nancy Currier, who married Alden V. Hills; 
 Laura Ann, who married Asa Smith; Eliz- 
 abeth Howe, who married George R. 
 Dyer; Ruth Ann, of this sketch, and Har- 
 riet Tamsen, who died in infancy. 
 
 In the summer of 1834 Joseph Kimball 
 carne to Illinois and spent two months, 
 stopping for a time in Du Page county. 
 Returning east, he made 'the second trip 
 west, starting in February, 1835, an d arriv- 
 ing at Elgin in April, soon after the Giffords, 
 who located on the east side of the Fox 
 river. Mr. Kimball chose the west side. 
 On the Fourth of July, 1835, he wrote to 
 .his son, William C. Kimball, the letter be- 
 ing still preserved. In it he says of his 
 new location: "We have plowed and 
 planted nearly thirty acres with corn and 
 other things. We are well suited with our 
 prairie land, although not so much timber 
 as we would like. Our land is so situated 
 that we will have a first rate chance for a 
 grain farm and the keeping of cattle and 
 sheep, being beautifully situated on the 
 west bank of the Fox river, so that we can 
 drive a team about over it equal to any old 
 cultivated farm in an old country. We 
 have made and reserved a location for you, 
 and very much need your help and influ- 
 ence." He writes about the need of a " store 
 on a small scale," and then adds: " James 
 T. Gifford, from New York, 'near Utica, has 
 a location on the east side of the river. We 
 have agreed to build a datn together, he 
 having the privilege of improving equal 
 
 share of the water. Mr. Gifford is to build 
 a flour mill, and we are to build a sawmill 
 and improve equal to one-half of the water 
 in other machinery, such as timber works, 
 shingle machines and clapboard, etc. We 
 think that Chicago will be one of the most 
 important places in all the western country; 
 also Galena, on the Mississippi river, where 
 the great mining country is situated, is fast 
 increasing and will soon be a great place. 
 We have taken considerable pains to ascer- 
 tain what chance there is for making a road 
 in direct line from Chicago to Galena, and 
 find that we are on the direct line between 
 these two important places. I presume that 
 Samuel has written to you that I expect to 
 return and move out our family the 1st of 
 September, and it would be pleasing to me 
 to have you come with us." 
 
 The letter also gives a description of his 
 journey from New Hampshire to Illinois. 
 At Washington, where, he stopped he viewed 
 the capitol, "the most magnificent build- 
 ing I ever saw. The Hon. Mr. Hill and 
 Hubbard gave me an invitation to ride in a 
 coach with them and call on the president 
 and vice-president of the United States. I 
 accepted the invitation and was much 
 pleased with those good men. " The Galena 
 road seemed to be the most important thing 
 to occupy his mind, and its building was the 
 concern of many. " But the thing must be 
 postponed on account of Mr. J. Gifford be- 
 ing gone to New York after his family. 1 
 think if you mean to come to this country, 
 the sooner the better." 
 
 Soon after writing this letter from which 
 the extracts given were taken, Mr. Kimball 
 started east for his family, accompanied as 
 far as Chicago by his son Samuel. He 
 traveled by water to Cleveland, Ohio, and 
 thence by canal to Perry, Ohio, where he
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 583 
 
 died from cholera rnorbus, after an illness 
 of five days, July 25, 1835. He wasagood 
 man, a member of the Baptist church, and 
 had a very good idea of the future of this 
 middle west. In his native state Mr. Kim- 
 ball served as captain in the state militia, 
 took some interest in politics, and was an 
 ardent admirer of Genera] Jackson. He 
 served as collector of taxes in 1823, and 
 filled other local offices from time to time, 
 serving as a member of the New Hampshire 
 legislature. He was the son of Samuel and 
 Susanna Kimball, whose children were as 
 follows: James, born October 23, 1767; 
 Samuel, January 30, 1771; Rebecca, 1773; 
 Jonathan, 1775; Phineas, 1777; Mehitable, 
 1779; Ruth, 1781; Joseph, 1783; Benjamin 
 and Moses, twins, 1785; and Susanna, 1789. 
 The mother of these children died, and 
 Samuel Kimball married again, and by his 
 second union had one son, Amos Clement, 
 born in 1798. 
 
 Soon after the death of her husband, 
 Mrs. Nancy Kimball came with her family 
 to Elgin, where the remainder of her life 
 was passed. One of the most noted events 
 in Elgin was the celebration of her one 
 hundredth birthday, September 26,1887. On 
 that occasion she was in splendid health 
 and entertained a large number of friends 
 who called to pay their respects. The 
 Baptist church of Elgin, of which she was 
 a charter member, was represented by a 
 large delegation. They brought and pre- 
 sented to her a very handsome bouquet, 
 containing exactly one hundred flowers and 
 the figure "100" worked in immortelles- 
 Flowers were also sent her from friends in 
 New York and Chicago. Within three 
 days of one year after this event, Mrs. 
 Nancy Kimball was called to her heavenly 
 home, her death taking place September 23, 
 
 1888. She was the eldest, the best known, 
 and one of the most highly respected women 
 that ever lived in Elgin. 
 
 Ruth Ann Kimball spent the first four- 
 teen years of her life in New Hampshire, 
 where she received her education. In 1837, 
 in company with her mother and brother 
 William, she came to Elgin, where she has 
 since made her home, a period of sixty-one 
 long years. On the 4th of July, 1840, she 
 was united in marriage with Edward E. 
 Harvey, an attorney at Elgin who was post- 
 master in the early '403 and who was com- 
 missioned captain in the Second Illinois 
 Volunteer Infantry, in the Mexican war, and 
 who died at Pueblo, in 1847, while return- 
 ing from the city of Mexico, being stricken 
 with fever. To Mr. and Mrs. Harvey two 
 children were born, (i) Isabel J. married 
 Sherwood Raymond, of Elgin, but they now 
 reside in Chicago. They are the parents of 
 six children Edward H., George B., Anna 
 B., Ruth A., Benjamin W. and Frank. (2) 
 Florence Annette died at the age of nine- 
 teen months. 
 
 The second union of oursubject was con- 
 summated June 15, 1851, when she married 
 Chauncy C. Thiers, who was born in Tomp- 
 kins county, New York, April 26, 1821. By 
 this union there were two children: (i) 
 Henry K. died May 29, 1878, at the age of 
 nearly twenty-four years, [_ from injuries re- 
 ceived in a railroad accident. (2) William 
 C., a resident of Elgin, married Nellie A. 
 Powers, and has three children Raphael 
 H., Ruth M. and Orrel M. 
 
 Chauncy C. Thiers was a man of marked 
 ability, and for some years was a notary 
 public. He did not, however, believe in 
 litigation, and often advised the settlement 
 of claims and disputes out of court. In 
 the arbitrament of cases he tried to have
 
 5 8 4 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 men act in accordance with the golden rule. 
 He was a man in whom the people confided. 
 His death occurred October 31, 1861, while 
 attending a political convention at Geneva, 
 he being a candidate for county clerk, and 
 his loss was mourned not alone by the fam- 
 ily but by a large circle of friends. A con- 
 sistent Christian man, he served his master 
 faithfully as a member of the Baptist church. 
 Mrs. Thiers, who resides with her son at 
 No. 306 West Chicago street, is now one of 
 the oldest members of the Baptist church in 
 Elgin. She is a woman universally es- 
 teemed, and her friends are legion. A citi- 
 zen of the county for sixty- one years, she 
 has witnessed many important changes. 
 From a vast wilderness she has lived to see 
 the county one of the first in all the one hun- 
 dred and two counties of the state. In all 
 this time she has ever retained the love and 
 respect of all with whom she has been 
 brought in contract. 
 
 WILLIAM ROCHE, who is engaged in 
 dairy farming on section 29, Hamp- 
 shire township, is a native of Ireland, born 
 in the village of Claughhannon, near New- 
 ton Barry, County Wexford, March, 1834, 
 and is the son of Martin and Margaret 
 (Rice) Roche. The father, who was a lease 
 holder in Ireland, died at the age of about 
 fifty years. After the death of the father, 
 the. mother and children left the farm and 
 lived in the village of Claughhannon and 
 remained there for five years before coming 
 to the United States. She died in Chicago, 
 Illinois, in 1881. They were the parents' 
 of four boys and four girls. 
 
 In 1853, when but nineteen years old, 
 our subject came to the United States, tak- 
 ing a boat at Wexford for Liverpool, and 
 
 there a sailing vessel, the Robert Kelly, for 
 the new world. After thirty-two days on 
 the water, he landed at New York and went 
 directly to Augusta, Maine, where he 
 worked one year in a cotton factory, having 
 learned that trade in Ireland. From Au- 
 gusta, Maine, he came to Kane county, Illi- 
 nois, and found employment in a distillery 
 at South Elgin, where he worked for a 
 time. He then engaged at farm work and 
 various other employments for other par- 
 ties until 1878, when he rented a farm in 
 Rutland township, on which, together with 
 another farm, he spent four years. In 1882 
 he came to his present farm, which com- 
 prises one hundred and sixty acres of rich 
 land, which he has placed under a high 
 state of cultivation and on which he has 
 about thirty head of cows. 
 
 Mr. Roche was married in Elgin July 
 10, 1864, to Julia Kelly, fourth in a family 
 of six children born to John and Bridget 
 (Doghoney) Kelly, the latter being a daugh- 
 ter of Dennis and Mary Doghoney. A 
 brother of Mrs. Roche, John Kelly, lives in 
 Aurora, and has served as sheriff of Kane 
 county. John Kelly, Sr. , was born in Tip- 
 perary, Ireland, about 1820, and came to 
 America about 1840. Like his brother, 
 Timothy Kelly, who also settled in Hamp- 
 shire township, he was a thrifty, energetic, 
 and industrious farmer, and acquired a fine 
 tract of land, which is now occupied by our 
 subject. He was always a stanch Demo- 
 crat, and was a member of the Catholic 
 church. 
 
 William Roche and wife have been 
 blessed by fourteen children as follows: 
 Annie L. , who married Patrick Sullivan, by 
 whom she has six children, William, Ar- 
 thur, John, Anabel, Safford and Stanley, 
 the family now residing in Chicago; Mary
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 585 
 
 T., an experienced attendant at the home 
 for incurable insane in Chicago; Michael 
 F. ; Catherine; Martha L. ; Agnes R. ; Julia 
 A. ; John; Elizabeth C. ; Margaret A. ; Will- 
 iam A.; Charles; James; and Ralph De 
 Witt. Of these, Martha L., Agnes R. and 
 Elizabeth C. , are teachers in the public 
 schools, while John is deceased. In nation- 
 al and state politics Mr. Roche is a Demo- 
 crat, but in local affairs he is independent. 
 For six years he served as school director. 
 Religiously he and his family are members 
 of the Catoholic church. 
 
 IS. STEPHENS, who resides in Batavia, 
 Illinois, but who is actively engaged in 
 business in Aurora, Illinois, came to Kane 
 county in 1847, an d has since made it his 
 home. He was born at Stephensburg, Mor- 
 ris county, New Jersey, March 25, 1841. 
 The family are of Welsh descent, two 
 brothers coming from Wales prior to the 
 Revolutionary war, one locating in South 
 Carolina, and the other in New Jersey. 
 From the latter he traces his descent. The 
 great-grandfather of our subject, Samuel 
 Stephens, was a soldier in the Revolution- 
 ary war, holding a captain's commission. 
 His son, Daniel Stephens, was the father of 
 Joseph C. Stephens, born in 1813, in Mor- 
 ris county, New Jersey. The latter married 
 Sarah C. Shipman also a native of New 
 Jersey. The Shipman family had a grant 
 of land from King George, on which they 
 located at a very early day, and the old 
 stone house erected by the first of the name 
 who came to America, is still standing. 
 After his marriage, Joseph C. Stephens en- 
 gaged in farming and in milling at Stephens- 
 burg, where his father, who was a mill- 
 wright by trade, had erected the first mill 
 
 in Morris county. He remained in that 
 business until 1847, when he moved with 
 his family to Illinois. In 1846, in company 
 with three other men, he visited northern 
 Illinois, and spent the whole season in look- 
 ing over the country. He was at Nauvoo 
 when Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet, 
 was killed. On coming to Kane county he 
 located in Geneva, and there, in connection 
 with two brothers, built a paper mill, and en- 
 guged in the manufacture of paper. In 
 1853 he moved to Mill Creek, south of Ba- 
 tavia, and settled on a farm on which he 
 continued to reside until his death, Decem- 
 ber i, 1858. His wife survived him many 
 years, dying March 29, 1891. 
 
 I. S. Stephens is the oldest of three 
 children, the others being Edgar, who has 
 been in business in West Chicago for more 
 than twenty years, and Ella C., wife of Dr. 
 James Bradley, of West Chicago. When 
 the family came to Kane county our subject 
 was but six years old. He here grew to 
 manhood, and received his education in the 
 Batavia schools and in the Beloit High 
 School. On the death of his father he was 
 in his eighteenth year, and with his mother, 
 he took charge of the farm and engaged in 
 its cultivation. Later he purchased the in- 
 terest of the other heirs and succeeded to 
 the whole place, to which he subsequently 
 added more land, making a fine farm of two 
 hundred and seventeen acres, located about 
 a mile and a half from Batavia. In 1869 
 Mr. Stephens formed a partnership with J. 
 W. Randall, who owned a stone quarry on 
 the Fox river, and engaged with him in the 
 business until 1875, when Mr. Randall was 
 killed. He then purchased the interest of 
 the heirs and continued the business. In 
 1870, however, with Mrs. Randall, he com- 
 menced business in Aurora, building some
 
 586 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 kilns and burning lime. Later he engaged 
 in the coal business in connection with the 
 lime, and still later added charcoal, fire- 
 brick and Batavia stone. His business has 
 always been quite an extensive one and fairly 
 profitable. 
 
 As his means increased, Mr. Stephens 
 has made other investments, and to-day 
 owns stock in the cotton mill, ice plant and 
 barrel factory, in Batavia and in Aurora 
 creameries. Has been identified with the 
 dairy interests as director and president of 
 Batavia Creamery. He is also a stock- 
 holder in the bank at Batavia, and in the 
 Merchants' National Bank, of Aurora. At- 
 taining his majority after the war for the 
 Union had commenced, he cast his first 
 presidential ballot for Abraham Lincoln in 
 1864. He has since been an earnest sup- 
 porter of the principles of the Republican 
 party. He has been an active member of 
 the Congregational church of Batavia since 
 1858, and for the greater part of that time 
 one of its official board. For nearly forty 
 years he has served as superintendent of a 
 Sunday-school, and for fifteen years was one 
 of the members of the choir. Always de- 
 voted to the church, he has given of his time 
 and means towards its upbuilding. For 
 fifty-one years he has been a resident of 
 Kane county, and for forty years actively 
 engaged in business. He is well known and 
 highly respected throughout Kane and ad- 
 joining counties. 
 
 JACOB N. HOYT, who resides on sec- 
 tion 11, Kaneville township, is one of 
 the active and enterprising farmers of Kane 
 county, owning and operating a farm of four 
 hundred and twenty acres, which was long 
 
 known as the Livingston farm. He is a 
 native of New Hampshire, born in Concord, 
 December 15, 1831. His father, Hon. 
 Jacob Hoyt, was also born in Concord, his 
 birth occurring March 28, 1772, while his 
 grandfather, John Hoyt, was likewise a na- 
 tive of the Granite state. The family are 
 of English ancestry, and originally settled 
 in New Hampshire prior to the Revolution- 
 ary war. Abner Hoyt, a brother of Jacob, 
 was a soldier in that war. 
 
 Jacob Hoyt, who was a farmer by oc- 
 cupation, grew to manhood in his native 
 state, and there married Fannie Tucker, 
 who was born in Canton, Massachusetts. 
 They became the parents of five sons and 
 five daughters, of whom our subject and 
 one brother, J. T. , are the only survivors. 
 The latter now resides in California. The 
 father was a prominent man in his county 
 and state, and was elected and served sev- 
 eral terms in the legislature, and held other 
 positions of trust and honor, being one of 
 the three selectmen of his town. As an oc- 
 cupation he followed farming his entire life, 
 and was quite prosperous. His death oc- 
 curred on the old farm April 17, 1864, at 
 the ripe old age of ninety-two years. His 
 wife survived him a few years, dying at the 
 age of ninety-five years. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood in Concord, and was educated in the 
 common schools and in Andover and other 
 academies. For several terms, after leav- 
 ing school, he engaged in teaching in his na- 
 tive state. In 1853, when a young man, 
 he moved to Cleveland, Ohio, and there en- 
 gaged in the lumber business for a time, 
 and later was in the Cleveland postoffice 
 ten years, having charge of the registered 
 letter department. Leaving that position, 
 he was engaged with his brother at Castalia,
 
 J. N. HOYT.
 
 Of
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 589 
 
 Ohio, in the manufacture of paper for sev- 
 eral years. 
 
 At Delaware, Ohio, May 2O, 1862, Mr. 
 Hoyt was united in marriage with Mary A. 
 Latimer, who was born and reared at that 
 place, and who was a daughter of Sylvester 
 Latimer. She died at Castalia, December 
 21, 1866, leaving three children, as follows: 
 William L. , who is married and is residing 
 in Nebraska; Robert T., married, and re- 
 siding in Chicago, where he is engaged in 
 business; and Harry M., who is assisting his 
 father in operating the farm. 
 
 In 1868 Mr. Hoyt came west and located 
 in Macon county, Illinois, where he bought 
 and also leased a section of land, and en- 
 gaged in farming. In 1869 he returned to 
 Concord, New Hampshire, and was there 
 married, April 7 of that year, to Mrs. Eu- 
 nice N. Thayer, nee Brown, who had one 
 son by her former marriage, Charles G., 
 who is now married and engaged in business 
 in Chicago. Immediately after their mar- 
 riage, Mr. Hoyt returned with his bride to 
 Macon county, Illinois, where he was suc- 
 cessfully engaged in farming until 1884. 
 He then sold his farm and moved to Kane 
 county, Illinois, having previously purchased 
 the farm on which he now resides, and 
 which he has greatly improved since it came 
 into his possession. He has built several 
 barns and outbuildings", tiled much of the 
 land, and has made of it a model farm. 
 Mrs. Hoyt died on this farm, February 19, 
 1888, leaving two sons, Edward L. and J. 
 Walter, the former married and is residing 
 on the home farm, and an adopted daugh- 
 ter, named Belle, resides at home. 
 
 Politically Mr. Hoyt is a Democrat of 
 the old school, and cast his firs.t presidential 
 ballot for James Buchanan, in 1856. While 
 residing in Macon county, he took quite an 
 
 active part in politics, and served seven con- 
 secutive years as a member of the county 
 board of supervisors. In the spring of 1898 
 he was elected supervisor of Kaneville town- 
 ship, and is now faithfully discharging the 
 duties of that office. For some eight or ten 
 years he was township trustee, and being a 
 friend of education and the public schools, 
 he served some years as a member of the 
 school board. During the war he contrib- 
 uted largely towards its vigorous prosecu- 
 tion. Fraternally he is a Mason, a mem- 
 ber of Blackberry lodge, A. F. & A. M., at 
 Elburn, and of Sycamore commandery, K. 
 T., of Sycamore, De Kalb county, Illinois. 
 He has served as worshipful master of 
 Blackberry lodge, and has represented the 
 lodge in the Grand Lodge of the state. 
 .While pot numbered among the pioneers of 
 the state, Mr. Hoyt has given thirty of the 
 best years of his life to its growth and de- 
 velopment, and in every enterprise which 
 has a tendency for the public good, he is 
 willing to give of his time and means. He 
 is an enterprising and successful farmer, 
 and is worthy of the esteem in which he is 
 held. 
 
 DE WITT CLINTON PRATT, the old- 
 est photographer in Aurora, was born 
 in the town of Homer, Cortland county, 
 New York, August 14, 1823, and is the son 
 of David and Electa (Alexander) Pratt, the 
 former a native of Connecticut, and the lat- 
 ter of Vermont. By occupation he was a 
 farmer, and in the war of 1812 was a fifer 
 in a New York regiment. He served only a 
 short time, and although the regiment was 
 anxious to go into battle it did not have a 
 chance on account of the war being brought 
 to a sudden close. Both he and his wife
 
 590 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 were members of the Presbyterian church. 
 His death occurred at Homer, New York, 
 at the age of sixty-five years. His wife sur- 
 vived him, dying at the age of sixty-seven 
 years. Of their family of ten children, six 
 still survive. One son, Francis M., lives in 
 Lake Forrest, Illinois, while a daughter, 
 Mrs. H. Wood, resides in Aurora. The sub- 
 ject of this sketch remained upon the home 
 farm until thirteen years of age, then went 
 to learn the painting and cabinet maker's 
 trade, finishing all kinds of furniture. Hav- 
 ing no particular taste for cabinet making, 
 but having a strong liking for painting, he 
 discontinued cabinet making, and devoted 
 his attention exclusively to painting. In 
 1845 he came west to Chicago, where he 
 remained one year, working for a firm, do- 
 ing ornamental painting on furniture. From 
 Chicago he went to Waukegan, then called 
 Little Fork, where he remained until 1849, 
 working at his trade. Having painter's 
 colic, by the advice of his physician, he quit 
 working at his trade, although in after years 
 he did a little in that line. At that time 
 the making of daguerreotypes had assumed 
 some importance, and Mr. Pratt determined 
 to learn to make them. From a lady who 
 understood the business he received instruc- 
 tions, giving in exchange work at his trade. 
 After learning the business Mr. Pratt in the 
 fall of 1849 removed to St. Charles, and 
 set up an establishment. He there re- 
 mained until 1853, although he established 
 himself in business in Aurora in 1851, while 
 still making his home in St. Charles. In 
 1853 he moved his family to Aurora, which 
 has since been his home, with the exception 
 of one year spent in Boston. Beginning 
 with the daguerreotypes, he soon learned to 
 make ambrotypes and later photographs, 
 and has been in the business from that time 
 
 to the present, almost fifty years. He is 
 now the oldest photographer in Aurora, and 
 is called the veteran portrait man of the 
 city. His work has always been rated as A 
 No. i, and he has carried off many prizes 
 for the excellency of his work. The gal- 
 lery is now run by his son, Edmund Clinton, 
 who has inherited the artistic taste of his 
 father. 
 
 In July, 1848, Mr. Pratt was united in 
 marriage with Miss Mary Burdick, daughter 
 of Paul Burdick, of Scott, New York. By 
 this union there were six children, as fol- 
 lows: Flora, now the wife of Col. De Witt 
 C. Sprague, who was for eight years minis- 
 ter to Germany, and is now in the auditor's 
 office of the treasury department at Wash- 
 ington; Evlelyn E., who married Frank H. 
 Vick, of Rochester, New York, but is now 
 deceased; Frances, wife of Don D. Miles, a 
 machinist engaged in the manufacture of 
 fine tools in Aurora, and Edmund Clinton, 
 of whom mention has already been made. 
 Two children died in infancy. The mother 
 of these children, who was a member of 
 the Baptist church, dying in 1889, our sub- 
 ject, for his second wife, in 1894, married 
 Mrs. Charlotte A. Newcomb, a widow of 
 Rudolphus Newcomb, and daughter of 
 James White, of Homer, New York. Both 
 Mr. and Mrs. Pratt are members of the 
 Congregational church. In politics he is 
 thoroughly independent, voting for the man 
 and not the party. 
 
 F)ROFESSOR WALTER H. CALLOW, 
 1 principal and proprietor of the Elgin 
 Business College, of Elgin, Illinois, was born 
 April 4, 1866, in Linden, Wisconsin, and is 
 a son of W 7 illiam and Elizabeth (Glasson) 
 Callow, the former a native of the Isle of
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Man, and the latter of Mineral Point, Wis- 
 consin. The paternal grandfather, who was 
 a miner by occupation, spent his entire life 
 on the Isle of Man. He had a large family 
 of children. John Glasson, the maternal 
 grandfather, was also a miner, who was 
 born in England and at an early day came 
 to America. He met his death in middle 
 life, being lost in the gold mines at Grass 
 Valley, California. 
 
 In 1860, William Callow, our subject's 
 father, crossed the Atlantic to the United 
 States, and four years later took up his resi- 
 dence upon his present farm near Linden, 
 Wisconsin. Both he and his wife are ear- 
 nest, consistent Christian people, faithful 
 members of the Methodist church, and he is 
 now serving as trustee. To them have been 
 born nine children, namely: Walter H., 
 Ulysses Grant, Forrest H., William L., 
 Herman R., Clarence L., Gussie P. and 
 Wesley H., all living; and Roxie L. , de- 
 ceased. 
 
 Professor Callow was reared upon the 
 home farm, and after attending the district 
 schools, he was a student for some time in 
 the high school in Dodgeville, Wisconsin. 
 Subsequently he worked for two years in a 
 creamery, and then attended a business 
 college for one year, while for two years he 
 pursued the teacher's course at Valparaiso, 
 Indiana. He then came to Elgin where he 
 taught in Drew's Business College for four 
 years, and in 1893 opened the Elgin Busi- 
 ness College, which he has since success- 
 fully conducted. The course of study in- 
 cludes book-keeping, shorthand, arithmetic, 
 typewriting, commercial law, correspond- 
 ence, penmanship, business forms, spelling 
 and business practice, and it is the object of 
 the school to thoroughly prepare young men 
 and women for business careers. The teach- 
 
 ers are experienced and competent, and the 
 school is meeting with a well-deserved suc- 
 cess, having an average attendance of one 
 hundred and thirty scholars. 
 
 On the 2 ist of August, 1890, Professor 
 Callow was united in marriage to Miss Al- 
 vina Holman, a daughter of Matthew and 
 Elizabeth (Batten) Holman, and to them 
 have been born a son and a daughter Al- 
 vah O., and Cora M. The family have a 
 pleasant home at No. 555 Douglas avenue. 
 The Professor and his wife are both active 
 and prominent members of the Methodist 
 church, in which he is now serving as stew- 
 ard, and politically, he is identified with the 
 Republican party. 
 
 WATERMAN R. SUNDERLAND, now 
 living retired in St. Charles, where he 
 has made his home since September, 1869, 
 was born in Shoreham, Addison county, 
 Vermont, April 21, 1829, and is a worthy 
 representative of an old and honored New 
 England family of English origin. The first 
 to come to the new world were three broth- 
 ers, John, William and Samuel Sunderland, 
 who were among the early settlers of Mass- 
 achusetts. Samuel Sunderland, our sub- 
 ject's grandfather, was a soldier of the Rev- 
 olutionary war, and in recognition of his 
 services he was granted a pension by the 
 government. He was one of the pioneers 
 of Addison county, Vermont, and in the 
 midst of the wilderness developed a farm 
 and reared his family. 
 
 There his son, Waterman Sunderland, 
 Sr. , grew to manhood, and for his services 
 in the war of 1812 he was given a land war- 
 rant. He married Lydia Haynes, who was 
 born and reared in Middletown, Vermont, a 
 daughter of Kiah Haynes, also a represent-
 
 592 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ative of an old family of that state. After 
 his marriage, Mr. Sunderland continued to 
 reside on the old homestead, caring for his 
 father, while he successfully operated the 
 farm, upon which he lived until called to 
 the world beyond. In his family were four 
 sons and four daughters who reached years 
 of maturity, Waterman R. being the young- 
 'est of those to reach maturity. The otheis 
 were as follows: Volney lived for many 
 years in Addison county, Vermont, and then 
 removed to the northern part of the state, 
 where he died at the age of eighty years; 
 Charlotte Sophia married Ezekiel Prescott 
 and first settled in Addison county, whence 
 they later removed to Faribault, Minnesota; 
 Cordelia Maria married Ambrose Hemen- 
 way and is now deceased; Jonathan married 
 and resides on the old homestead, caring 
 for his parents during their declining years, 
 and there his death occurred; Marcia Amelia 
 is the wife of Elijah Grosvenor and a resi- 
 dent of Addison county; Lydia Fidelia is the 
 wife of O. V. Munn, of Freeport, Illinois; 
 and Aaron died at the age of seven years. 
 Rev. Byron Sunderland, a cousin of our 
 subject, was chaplain of the senate during 
 President Lincoln's administration. He is 
 a very able man and has been pastor of one 
 of the Presbyterian churches of Washington, 
 District of Columbia, for half a century. He 
 it was who performed the marriage cere- 
 mony of President Cleveland and Miss 
 Frances Folsom. 
 
 Until nineteen years of age Waterman 
 R. Sunderland, of this sketch, remained on 
 the old homestead, and his early education 
 obtained in the common schools was sup- 
 plemented by three terms' attendance 
 at the Shoreham Academy. On leav- 
 ing the parental roof he began life for 
 himself as a peddler, selling tinware for 
 
 nine years in Addison and adjoining coun- 
 ties, and for four years he sold jewelry in the 
 same way. In the spring of 1861 he re- 
 moved to a farm in Port Henry, Essex 
 county, New York, but two years later we 
 find him en route for Illinois. Locating in 
 Freeport, he entered the employ of a mer- 
 cantile firm in June of 1863, traveling over 
 the country with a wagon and selling notions 
 at wholesale for six years. He then came 
 to St. Charles and successfully engaged in 
 the same business on his own account until 
 1893, when he laid aside business cares. 
 His route extended over several counties 
 and he enjoyed an extensive and profitable 
 trade. Upright and reliable in his dealings, 
 he made many friends and secured the con- 
 fidence and high regard of all with whom 
 he came in contact. 
 
 In Rochester, Vermont, Mr. Sunderland 
 was married in July, 1855, to Miss Laura 
 Rowley, who was born in Addison county 
 and reared in Shoreham, that state. She 
 died in St. Charles in October, 1887, leav- 
 ing one daughter, Ida, now the wife of 
 William Sunderland, of Elgin, Illinois. 
 Our subject was again married in Franklin 
 county, Vermont, March 7, 1889, his sec- 
 ond union being with Miss Mary E. Sun- 
 derland, who was born, reared and educated 
 in that county, and is a daughter of U. M. 
 Sunderland, a native of Vermont and a sec- 
 ond cousin of him whose name introduces 
 this sketch. Our subject owns a com- 
 fortable and pleasant home in St. Charles, 
 where he expects to spend his declining 
 years. In August, 1897, he and his wife 
 returned to Vermont, and after spending 
 six enjoyable weeks in visiting the friends 
 and scenes of their youth they returned by 
 way of Canada, stopping at Montreal, 
 where they also had friends living, and they
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 593 
 
 took in the sights of that great and inter- 
 esting city. 
 
 Mr. Sunderland was reared a Whig, and 
 has been a stanch Republican since casting 
 his first presidential vote for Abraham Lin- 
 coln, in 1864. Public office has never had 
 any attraction for him, but he has ever 
 faithfully performed all duties of citizen- 
 ship. His wife attends the Congregational 
 church of St. Charles, and is one of its 
 most active workers. 
 
 /CHARLES W. WATSON, who is en- 
 *<-J gaged in general farming on section 
 29, Hampshire township, is well known in 
 the northern part of the county. As his 
 father died while yet a young man the 
 facts of his remote ancestry that might have 
 been known are lost. Benjamin F. Wat- 
 son, the father of our subject, was born in 
 the town of Greene, Chenango county, New 
 York, April 4, 1837, and came west when 
 a boy. His father, William Watson, who 
 married Submit Mack, came to northern 
 Illinois seeking a home for his family and 
 died at Naperville before their arrival. 
 With a sister, Benjamin F. Watson came 
 to Illinois, and for a time lived with her at 
 Woodstock, McHenry county, Illinois. 
 Colonel Julian, of that county, took a fancy 
 to the boy and taking him to his home 
 when but ten years of age, learned him the 
 blacksmith trade. In five years and at an 
 age when most boys are just beginning to 
 think of choosing a trade or profession, he 
 was an expert mechanic. After about three 
 years at Elgin, doing the fine iron work on 
 carriages and buggies for a factory at that 
 place, he married and moved to Allen's 
 Grove, Wisconsin, where he conducted a 
 shop until his enlistment in the army. He 
 
 enlisted in the Fourth Wisconsin Battery in 
 September, 1861, serving in all the engage- 
 ments of his command until stricken with 
 typhoid fever, from the effects of the im- 
 pure water, heat and dust incident to sum- 
 mers in the south. For twenty-two months 
 he had been stationed at Fortress Monroe, 
 where he was stricken with the fever. After 
 but two days in the hospital at Yorktown, 
 Virginia, so violent was the fever that he 
 died August 4, 1863. He was married De- 
 cember 9, 1857, to Mis3 Helen Bell, born 
 on the old homestead on section 29, Hamp- 
 shire township, March 16, 1840. 
 
 The Bell family is one of the oldest and 
 most respected in Kane county. Henry G. 
 Bell, the grandfather of our subject, was 
 born at Ogdensburg, New York, September 
 13, 1808. He was the son of Ralph Ru- 
 dolphus Wheelock Bell, a native of Ver- 
 mont, who was the son of Ralph 'Bell. 
 Ralph R. W. Bell married Desire Rey- 
 nolds, a native of Vermont, who lived until 
 about 1876. Henry G. Bell spent his boy- 
 hood in Ogdensburg, New York, and in 1824 
 moved with the family to Detroit, Michi- 
 gan, where he remained until March, 1837, 
 and then came to Kane county, Illinois, tak- 
 ing up a claim in Burlington township. 
 This claim was jumped and he was wrong- 
 fully deprived of his rights. He then came 
 to Hampshire township, secured three hun- 
 dred and twenty acres on section 29, and 
 made a home here for his family, and on 
 which he resided until his death, December 
 26, 1897. Owing to the wrong done him in 
 Burlington, he seldom ever went there on 
 business of any kind, doing his trading else- 
 where. At the time of making his claim in 
 Hampshire township, there was but one 
 house between his place and Sycamore, De 
 Kalb county, that of Mr. Shurtliff.
 
 594 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Henry G. Bell was of a genial, sunny 
 disposition, always happy. His only tribu- 
 lation was getting the boys up in the morn- 
 ing. Sometimes, after repeatedly calling 
 them, he would become provoked and 
 angrily start up the stairs, but after mount- 
 ing a step or two, would stop and reflect 
 that anger was not conducive to longevity, 
 and come down singing, leaving the boys to 
 sleep. He was revered by all who knew 
 him, and sincerely mourned when called to 
 rest at the age of almost four score years 
 and ten. Henry G. Bell married Charlotte 
 R. DeWitt, who was left an orphan at the 
 age of eight years. To them were born ten 
 children, as follows: Martinette, who mar- 
 ried Henry Phelps, of Charles City, Iowa; 
 Helen, the mother of our subject; Prudence, 
 widow of Dennis Remmington, of Kansas; 
 George, who lives in Elgin; Charlotte, who 
 married Melvin Poor, and resides in Ne- 
 braska; John, who lives in Genoa township, 
 DeKalb county; Mary, who died in infancy; 
 Frank, living in Elgin; Charles, living in 
 Genoa township, De Kalb county; and Can- 
 dice, living in Sycamore, and who married a 
 Mr. Gillett. 
 
 Charles W. Watson was the only child 
 of Benjamin F. and Helen Watson. He 
 was born at Allen's Grove, Wisconsin, Feb- 
 ruary 26, 1860, and was reared in Hamp- 
 shire township, Kane county, Illinois. His 
 education was obtained in the schools of 
 that township, and at Madison, Wisconsin, 
 and Sycamore, Illinois. At the age of sev- 
 enteen, he commenced to learn the trade of 
 a machinist and engineer in Chicago, and 
 after working for the City railway two 
 years, he entered the employ of the Illinois 
 Central railroad, remaining thirteen years, 
 becoming one of its most trusted engineers. 
 He resigned that position in 1894, and with 
 
 his mother moved back to the farm in or- 
 der that she might care for her aged father. 
 He is now conducting a general and dairy 
 farm, and being an expert machinist, has a 
 shop on his place, doing his own repairing, 
 which is, in fact, better than it could be 
 done at most regular repair shops. Mr. 
 Watson was married in Chicago, January 
 i, 1896, to Miss Carrie Smith, a native of 
 Galesburg, Illinois, but reared in Chicago, 
 and a daughter of Frederick L. Smith, Jr., 
 a native of Mercersburg, Franklin county, 
 Pennsylvania, born September 25, 1825, 
 and who died August 13, 1893. He was the 
 son of Frederick L. Smith, Sr. , and Re- 
 becca (Shafer) Smith, both of whom were 
 natives of Pennsylvania. Frederick L. 
 Smith, Jr., who was a commercial traveler 
 for a wholesale drug house in Chicago, mar- 
 ried Anna Benton, born at Quincy, Illinois, 
 and a daughter of Erastus and Caroline 
 (Cook) Benton, who were from Hartford, 
 Connecticut. 
 
 To our subject and wife one child has 
 been born, Charles Frederick, born De- 
 cember 19, 1897. While engaged in rail- 
 roading, Mr. Watson was a member of the 
 Fireman's Brotherhood, and also of the 
 Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. In 
 politics he is a Republican, and fraternally 
 is a member of the Knights of Pythias. 
 
 ALFONSO A. SMITH, who resides at 
 119 North Root street, Aurora, Illi- 
 nois, has held a responsible position in the 
 shops of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 
 Railroad Company for more than twenty- 
 five years. He was born in Burlington, 
 Illinois, March 31, 1852. He is an adopted 
 son of U. M. Smith, who was born on Cald- 
 well's Manor, Canada, November 23, 1818,
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 595 
 
 and who died in March, 1897, but who was 
 an early settler of Kane county, emigrating 
 from Pennsylvania. His own father, James 
 Shanks, was of Scotch parentage, and was 
 also an early settler of Illinois. Shortly 
 after the discovery of gold in California he 
 made a trip to that new Eldorado, and died 
 on the homeward voyage. 
 
 Our subject grew to manhood in Kane 
 county, and received his education in the 
 public schools of Aurora. In early life he 
 learned the carpenter's trade and for ten 
 years was a journeyman in the carpenter 
 shops of the Burlington road, and since 
 1 88 1 has been foreman of a gang of work- 
 men, and is now one of the oldest employes 
 here of that road. 
 
 Mr. Smith was married May 17, 1874, 
 in Aurora, to Miss Laura Bradshaw, a na- 
 tive of Canada, born and reared in Prince 
 Edwards county, and a daughter of James 
 Bradshaw, who located in Aurora in 1885, 
 where his death occurred in 1897. His 
 wife survived him, dying March 2, 1898. 
 By this union are four children Pearl, 
 Pansy, Adra and Gladys. The first named 
 is an artist in water colors and oils, and has 
 developed a decided talent for painting and 
 drawing. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Smith is a Republican, 
 and has advocated the principles of that 
 party since attaining his majority, and has 
 at all times voted his party's ticket. Fra- 
 ternally he is an Odd Fellow, and has served 
 in nearly every official capacity in his lodge. 
 He is also a member of the Home Forum. 
 While not members, Mr. and Mrs. Smith 
 are attendants of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church. They reside in a neat and com- 
 fortable home on Root street, which is ever 
 open for the reception of their many friends. 
 A lifelong resident of Kane county, Mr. 
 
 Smith has gone in and out among the peo- 
 ple, doing the work at hand cheerfully and 
 well, and not only enjoys the respect and 
 confidence of the community in which he 
 lives, but the great company in whose em- 
 ployment he has so long been, which is at- 
 tested by his years of faithful service. 
 
 f~>EORGE BYRON REED, engaged in 
 V.J farming on section 32, Plato township, 
 was born near Wayne, Du Page county, 
 Illinois, January 22, 1838. He grew to 
 manhood on his father's farm and attended 
 district schools during the winter terms un- 
 til twenty-one years of age. He remained 
 at home until August, 1862, when he en- 
 listed in Company F, One Hundred and 
 Fifth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infan- 
 try, enlisting at Wheaton, from which place 
 he was sent to Dixon, Illinois, thence, to 
 Chicago, where the regiment remained one 
 week. From there it was sent to Louis- 
 ville, Kentucky, from which place it 
 marched to Tunnel Hill, near Nashville. 
 With the regiment he participated in the 
 battle of Resaca, in the Atlantic campaign, 
 and with Sherman on his march to the sea. 
 While on the way north, at Milledge, North 
 Carolina, he first heard of the surrender of 
 Lee. He was present at the surrender 
 of Johnston, and was in a grand review at 
 Washington. With his regiment he was 
 mustered out at Washington, and was dis- 
 charged at Chicago, June 15, 1865. Re- 
 turning home he rented a farm some eight 
 or ten years, and then purchased some two 
 hundred and fifteen acres, lying in Camp- 
 ton township, which four years later he 
 sold, and then purchased his present farm 
 of two hundred and forty-two acres, which 
 lies partly in Plato and Campion townships.
 
 59 6 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 George W. Reed, the father of our sub- 
 ject, was born in Franklin county, Ver- 
 mont, February 22, 1806, and died in Du 
 Page county, Illinois, February 22, 1888. 
 He lived in Vermont until he was twenty- 
 five or thirty years old, and after marriage 
 emigrated to Ohio, where he lived two 
 years. He then came west to Chicago, 
 and from there to Du Page county, settling 
 near Wayne, where he took up one hun- 
 dred and sixty acres. His father, Nathan- 
 iel Reed, was born in Massachusetts, and 
 was the son of Horace Reed, a soldier of 
 the Revolutionary war. George W. Reed 
 married Miss Julia Ellenwood, a native of 
 Vermont, born in 1816, by whom he had 
 eight children, as follows: Rodney H., de- 
 ceased; George Byron, our subject; William 
 Thomas, who lives in West Chicago; Emily 
 A., wife of Robert Benjamin, residing near 
 West Chicago; Eldon, deceased; Julia, wife 
 of James Campbell, a hardware merchant; 
 Charles, living on the old homestead;- and' 
 Ida May, who married Weldford Wagner, 
 of West Chicago. 
 
 On the ipth of February, 1873, our sub- 
 ject was united in marriage with Miss Eliza 
 A. Kline, born in the township of Wayne, 
 Du Page county, and daughter of John and 
 Clarrissa (Champion) Kline, natives of New 
 York state. By this union three children 
 have been born: Frank W., in charge of 
 the store owned by his father at Lily Lake, 
 Kane county; Mertie M. and Ray Harrison. 
 
 Mr. Reed was for some years a member 
 of the South Chicago post, G. A. R. In 
 politics he is a Republican, and for fifteen 
 years served as school director, always tak- 
 ing a commendable interest in educational 
 matters. His fine farm, which is under a 
 high state of cultivation, is devoted chiefly 
 to grain and dairy purposes. The dwelling 
 
 house is a substantial structure, and there 
 is a beautiful grove of evergreens about the 
 place. Mr. Reed is regarded as one of the 
 most enterprising business men in Plalo 
 township, and his fine property has been 
 accumulated by his own exertions. 
 
 HIRAM LASHER, a retired farmer, liv- 
 ing on section 5, Big Rock township, 
 has been a resident of Kane county since 
 1855. He was born in Columbia county, 
 New York, November 8, 1815. His father, 
 George G. Lasher, was also a native of that 
 county. The family are of German ances- 
 try, and were among the pioneers of Co- 
 lumbia county. In that county George G. 
 Lasher grew to manhood and married Eliza- 
 beth Kiselbergh, also a native of Columbia 
 county. After their marriage he engaged 
 jn farming in Columbia county for some 
 years, and later removed to Rensselaer 
 county, New York, and there spent the re- 
 mainder of his life, dying in 1872, at the 
 age of eighty-two years. His wife preceded 
 him many years, dying in 1848. 
 
 Hiram Lasher grew to manhood in Co- 
 lumbia county, and during his boyhood and 
 youth had the opportunity each winter of 
 attending the public schools. During the 
 remainder of the year he assisted his father 
 in farm work. When a young man he ac- 
 companied his parents to Rensselaer county, 
 and remained with them until thirty years 
 old. He was married in Rensselaer county, 
 July 4, 1846, to Miss Fannie Maria Williams, 
 born in Warren county. New York, and a 
 daughter of W. W. Williams, also a native 
 of New York, but whose parents were from 
 Connecticut. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Lasher worked 
 his father's farm on shares for two years.
 
 HIRAM LASHER.
 
 MRS. HIRAM LASHER.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 60 1 
 
 and after the death of the mother rented 
 the farm for six years. In 1855 he came 
 to Kane county, Illinois, and located in 
 Kaneville township, where he purchased a 
 farm of ninety acres, eighty acres of which 
 had been broken and some improvements 
 made on the place. He there resided for 
 eighteen years, during which time he made 
 many valuable improvements, including the 
 building of a barn and other outbuildings. 
 Selling that farm at an advance over the 
 original purchase price, he bought the farm 
 where he now resides, on section 5, Big 
 Rock township, consisting of one hundred 
 and forty-eight acres, and which lies partly 
 in Kaneville township. The farm was an 
 improved one at the time of his purchase, 
 but he has since made other improvements, 
 tiling the place, erecting a good barn, and 
 building cribs and sheds for the storing of 
 grain and the shelter of stock. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Lasher became the par- 
 ents of two children. Sarah Olivia is now 
 the wife of J. H. Meade, a farmer of Kane- 
 ville township. Melvin grew to manhood, 
 was educated in the common schools of 
 Kaneville and Big Rock townships, and 
 later married Harriet Bailey, a native of 
 Peoria county, Illinois, but who grew to 
 womanhood in Kane county. They have 
 three children: Fannie, Alice and Ida, who 
 are students of the home schools. 
 
 After a happy married life of fifty-two 
 years, Mrs. Lasher died May 2, 1898, and 
 was laid to rest in the Kaneville cemetery. 
 Her death was mourned by a large circle of 
 friends in Big Rock and Kaneville town- 
 ships. Politically Mr. Lasher has been a 
 Republican since the organization of the 
 party, but cast his first presidential ballot 
 for Martin Van Buren, after which he sup- 
 ported the Whig party until it ceased to 
 .9 
 
 exist. A residence of forty-three years in 
 Kaneville and Big Rock townships has made 
 for Mr. Lasher many warm friends, by whom 
 he is held in the highest esteem. He is a 
 man of upright character and exemplary 
 habits, and this sketch of him will be read 
 by many friends. 
 
 WILLIAM W. EVANS, a well-known 
 publisher of maps and directories 
 living at No. 260 'Villa street, Elgin, was 
 born in Quebec, Canada, February 13, 
 1839, a son of James and Mary (Carpenter) 
 Evans. The father, a native of county 
 Galway, Ireland, served for some time as 
 lieutenant in the British army, and as a re- 
 tired officer he received half pay for forty 
 years, from the time Napoleon was sent to 
 St. Helena. After his emigration to Can- 
 ada he married Mary Carpenter, who was 
 born in Pennsylvania, of English and Ger- 
 man descent, but was reared in Canada. 
 There the father died in 1859, when in his 
 sixty-fifth year, and the mother passed 
 away April 8, 1888, aged eighty-seven 
 years. Both were earnest, consistent 
 Christians, members of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal church, and Mr. Evans was a local 
 preacher for that denomination, in which 
 capacity he was known throughout the 
 greater part of the province of Ontario. 
 Of the twelve children born to this 
 worthy couple, seven are still living, name- 
 ly: Frances, wife of Richard Wood, of 
 Toronto, Canada; Louisa, widow of Will- 
 iam G. Stephens, and also a resident of 
 Toronto; Elizabeth, wife of Henry L. Boss, 
 of Caro, Michigan; James C., a resident of 
 East Saginaw, Michigan; Henry T., an ed- 
 itor living in Texas; William W. , of this 
 sketch; and Robert F., who is a clerk in
 
 6O2 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the auditor's office of the Michigan Cen- 
 tral railroad at Detroit, Michigan. 
 
 William W. Evans commenced his edu- 
 cation under the able direction of his father, 
 who was a classical scholar and a teacher 
 for many years. Subsequently he attended 
 the high school at Simcoe, Canada, where 
 he studied the languages and higher math- 
 ematics. During early life he learned the 
 printer's trade, at which he worked in many 
 places until finally locating in the Canadian 
 oil regions, where oil was first discovered 
 during our Civil war. Here he was em- 
 ployed on "The Oil Springs Chronicle," the 
 first paper of the kind published in Canada, 
 and subsequently he purchased the paper, 
 remaining there two years. On selling out 
 he removed to Watertown, New York, in 
 1865, where he worked on a daily paper for 
 a year and a half, and then entered the 
 service of Hamilton Child, a directory pub- 
 lisher at Syracuse, acting as compiler and 
 superintendent for ten years, during which 
 time he assisted in the publication of direct- 
 ories of forty-two counties in New York and 
 three in Pennsylvania. On leaving that 
 firm he returned to the province of Ontario. 
 Canada, where, on his own account, he 
 published directories of many counties and 
 some cities, remaining there for ten years 
 and meeting with good success in the under- 
 taking. In 1888 he came to Elgin and got 
 out the first gazetteer and directory of Kane 
 county, and since then has compiled a sec- 
 ond edition and also two editions of the city 
 directory for the publishers, Lowrie & Black. 
 Our subject has also published a map of 
 Kane county. 
 
 In Watertown, New York, Mr. Evans 
 was married to Miss Nellie Waters, of 
 Loughborough, Canada, a daughter of Bulk- 
 ley Waters, a farmer and tanner of that 
 
 country. Three children bless this union, 
 namely: Hamilton, a machinist, of Elgin; 
 and Eva and Dora, who are both employed 
 in the watch factory at this place. The 
 parents and children are all members of the 
 First Methodist Episcopal church of Elgin, 
 and are the center of a large circle of friends 
 and acquaintances. Politically Mr. Evans 
 is in sympatny with the Republican party. 
 
 DANIEL B. MOORE. This age is not 
 wholly utilitarian. On all sides we 
 see some earnest souls laboring devotedly 
 to bring about a recognition of some higher 
 principle in life than-selfish greed, and stim- 
 ulating in the hearts of others a desire for 
 spiritual progress. The friends of Mr. 
 Moore will see in his years of faithful work 
 in all forms of religious endeavor a source 
 of present good to the community, and long 
 after he has entered into his final rest his 
 influence will continue in everlasting circles. 
 
 Mr. Moore, who is now a highly respect- 
 ed citizen of St. Charles, Illinois, was born 
 January 7, 1829, in the town of Leroy, 
 Genesee county, New York, and belongs to 
 a family that was established in New Jersey 
 at a very early day in the history of this 
 country. His grandfather, John Moore, 
 was a native of that state, and successfully 
 engaged in the occupation of weaving 
 throughout his active business life. He 
 was a well-educated man, and held numer- 
 ous public positions of honor and trust. 
 
 John C. Moore, our subject's father, 
 was born in New Jersey, in 1796, and about 
 1804 removed with his father to Seneca 
 county, New York, becoming a pioneer of 
 that region, where, in the midst of the wil- 
 derness, he grew to manhood. There he 
 was married to Elizabeth Bovee, who was
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 603 
 
 born on the Mohawk river, in Schoharie 
 county, New York. He was also a weaver 
 by -trade, and after following that occupa- 
 tion in Seneca county for some years, he 
 removed to Genesee county, locating on a 
 farm. Subsequently he lived for a time in 
 Monroe, Niagara and Livingston counties, 
 but returned to Genesee county, where he 
 died in January, 1877. His wife, who sur- 
 vived him for some time, passed away at 
 the age of seventy-eight years, and her re- 
 mains were interred by his side. 
 
 All of the children born to this worthy 
 couple reached man and womanhood. 
 Maria is the wife of Edwin Ward, of Bata- 
 via, New York. Rachel Ann married Will- 
 iam Adkins, and died in Michigan. Cath- 
 erine is the widow of Abram Bovee, and re- 
 sides in Monroe county, New York. Daniel 
 B. is next in order of birth. Jane first mar- 
 ried Matthew Spitzer, and after his death 
 wedded Horace Freer, and died in Portage, 
 New York. Sarah married Alexander Cul- 
 verson, and some years later came to St. 
 Charles, Illinois, where her death occurred. 
 Jacob enlisted in the Ninth New York Ar- 
 tillery during the Civil war, but was after- 
 ward transferred to the infantry, and was 
 killed at the battle of Winchester, giving 
 his life in defense of the Union. Matthew, 
 who was also one of the boys in blue during 
 the Rebellion, now resides on the old home 
 farm in Genesee county, New York. Mary 
 E. is the widow of James Cooper, who was 
 killed in a railroad accident at Batavia, New 
 York, in August, 1897. 
 
 On the old homestead in Genesee coun- 
 ty, New York, Daniel B. Moore passed his 
 boyhood and youth, acquiring his elementary 
 education in the common and union schools 
 of that section. In early life he learned the 
 blacksmith's trade, serving four and a half 
 
 years' apprenticeship, and then worked at 
 the trade for a time, saving his wages to 
 pay his expenses while attending Oberlin 
 College of Ohio, where he completed his 
 literary training. 
 
 In 1853 Mr. Moore went to Delavan, 
 Walworth county, Wisconsin, where he 
 taught school, and also worked at his trade 
 for a short time. In Elkhorn, that state, 
 he was married November 29, 1853, to Miss 
 Harriet Jane Culverson, who was born in 
 Vermont, but was principally reared and 
 educated in Delavan, Wisconsin. Her fa- 
 ther, James Culverson, was one of the pio- 
 neers of that state. In 1854 Mr. Moore 
 located on a farm, and though he engaged 
 in agricultural pursuits through the summer 
 season, he taught school during the winter 
 months. Removing to Iowa, in 1855, ne 
 bought a farm in Fayette county, but at the 
 end of a year sold his place and returned to 
 . Wisconsin, living in Walworth county until 
 coming to St. Charles, Illinois, in Novem- 
 ber, 1862. Here he conducted a black- 
 smith shop from 1863 until 1886. His first 
 wife died in -St. Charles in 1872, and of the 
 six children born to them, two died in child- 
 hood. In order of birth they are as follows: 
 Alice passed away at the age of eight years; 
 James is a business man of Elgin; Charles 
 is engaged in business in Aurora; Edwin 
 died in childhood; Carrie J. is engaged in 
 the millinery business in Chicago; and Mary 
 E. is the wife of James H. Furman, who 
 holds a responsible business position in 
 Chicago. 
 
 Mr. Moore was again married in St. 
 Charles, April 4, 1889, his second union be- 
 ing with Mrs. Kate A. Chapman, a native 
 of New York City, and a daughter of James 
 P. Furnald, an honored pioneer of St. 
 Charles, who removed here from Genesee
 
 604 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 county, New York. By occupation he was 
 a merchant tailor. From St. Charles he 
 removed to Chillicothe, Missouri, where he 
 lived some years, after which he returned 
 to St. Charles, and here died at the age of 
 sixty-eight years. He was a stanch Re- 
 publican in politics and was a faithful mem- 
 ber of the Congregational church. 
 
 In 1887 Mr. Moore removed to Chicago, 
 but after a residence there of one year, he 
 returned to St. Charles, buying back his 
 old business. A year later, however, he 
 again sold, and was engaged in business for 
 some time in Chicago, though he continued 
 to reside in St. Charles. He subsequently 
 conducted a grocery store for two or three 
 years in the former city, and on disposing 
 of that he embarked in the tea and coffee 
 business, during all this time continuing to 
 reside in St. Charles. When he sold the 
 latter store he again engaged in black- 
 smithing for two or three years in Chicago, 
 and made his home in that city, but in 
 April, 1896, he returned to St. Charles, 
 where he has since lived. After disposing 
 of his blacksmith shop in Chicago, he en- 
 gaged in the tea and coffee business, in 
 which business he is still engaged. Upright 
 and reliable in all things, he has gained the 
 confidence and respect of all with whom he 
 has come in contact either in business or 
 social life, and through his own industry, 
 enterprise and good management has ac- 
 cumulated a comfortable competence. 
 
 Mr. Moore's father was first an old-line 
 Whig in politics, later was a stanch Aboli- 
 tionist and afterward a Republican. Our 
 subject also supported the Abolition party 
 on attaining his majority, voting for John 
 P. Hale, and in 1856 he cast his ballot for 
 John C. Fremont, since which time he has 
 been a pronounced Republican. Being a 
 
 warm friend of our public school system, he 
 most efficiently served as a member of the 
 school board for a number of years, and for 
 four years he also served as trustee of St. 
 Charles before the incorporation of the city 
 and assisted in changing it from a village, 
 laying out the wards as they stand to-day. 
 He was a candidate on the temperance 
 ticket, and although he never solicited a 
 vote, he received a large majority at each 
 election. 
 
 During his youth Mr. Moore joined the 
 Congregational church in New York, was a 
 member of the old Plymouth church at 
 Oberlin, Ohio, while attending college, and 
 afterward belonged to the church in De- 
 lavan, Wisconsin. In 1863 he became 
 identified with the church in St. Charles, and 
 four years later was chosen deacon, which 
 office he filled continuously until 1887. On 
 his removal to Chicago he united with the 
 Union Park church, and for some time was 
 a teacher in that Sunday-school and in the 
 Oakley Avenue mission. On his return to 
 St. Charles he was again elected deacon of 
 the congregation there, and when he again 
 removed to Chicago he was chosen deacon 
 of the Warren Avenue Congregational 
 church, of which he became a member. 
 He was also a teacher in the Sunday-school 
 and chairman of the relief committee. Since 
 his return to St. Charles in 1896 he has been 
 re-elected deacon, and is still serving in 
 that capacity, being one of the most faith- 
 ful and untiring workers in the church there. 
 Since a child he has taken great interest in 
 the Sabbath-school, was a teacher in Ober- 
 lin, superintendent 01 surrounding schools, 
 and also superintendent of a Sabbath-school 
 in Iowa while living there. For nineteen 
 years, at different times, he has filled the 
 same office in St. Charles. An earnest,
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 605 
 
 conscientious Christian gentleman, char- 
 itable and benevolent, the world is cer- 
 tainly better for his having lived. 
 
 TAMES D. McDONALD is one of the 
 kJ best farmers of Plato township, and re- 
 sides upon section 36, on the farm known 
 as the Otter Creek farm. He was born on 
 a farm in Elgin township February 26, 1851, 
 and is the son of John and Rebecca (Den- 
 mark) McDonald, the former a native of 
 Scotland and the latter of England, of whom 
 further mention is made in the sketch of 
 William Wallace McDonald. Until he was 
 sixteen years of age he attended the district 
 schools a portion of each year, but con- 
 fesses at that time he had no love for the 
 school room, and frequently played truant, 
 much to his present sorrow. At the age of 
 nineteen he began working in the creamery 
 at East Plato, but after the death of his fa- 
 ther he took charge of the home farm for 
 his mother until he attained his majority. 
 She then gave him a team of horses and a 
 wagon. He then worked one year for his 
 mother, for which he received three hundred 
 dollars in money, with which to commence 
 life for himself. 
 
 For several years after leaving the pa- 
 rental roof Mr. McDonald rented land, 
 which he cultivated with some success, but 
 in 1879, in partnership with his brother, 
 William Wallace, he bought fifty acres of 
 land, which was part of his father's first 
 purchase in Kane county, and built a cream- 
 ery. This they operated until 1885, when 
 they sold out. Four years previously, how- 
 ever, our subject purchased his present farm 
 of four hundred and ten acres; lying in sec- 
 tion 36, Plato township, and section i, 
 Campton township. Until 1890 he ran a 
 
 dairy farm, but has now a stock farm, rais- 
 ing principally Holstein cattle. For many 
 years he was engaged in raising horses, con- 
 tinuing in that business until prices got too 
 low to raise at a profit. During a part of 
 the years 1897-8 he lived in Elgin, that his 
 children might have the benefits of its pub- 
 lic schools, but in the spring of 1898 he re- 
 turned to the farm. 
 
 Mr. McDonald was married in Geneva, 
 Kane county, to Miss Frances Sovereign, a 
 daughter of George P. and Agnes (Windsor) 
 Sovereign, the former a native 'of Canada 
 and the latter of England. The latter, who 
 was born May 27, 1820, was a daughter of 
 George Windsor, who came to America in 
 1834. George P. Sovereign, who was a 
 natural general mechanic, and had at vari- 
 ous times followed the occupations of a car- 
 penter, painter and wagon-maker, was a 
 son of Richard and Betsy (Plumber) Sover- 
 eign. His father served in the war of 1812. 
 They were the parents of eight children 
 Mary A., Harriet E. , Frances, Ella E., 
 George, Harriet, Myra and Daniel. Of 
 this number, Harriet E. died in early child- 
 hood, and there was one who died in in- 
 fancy. To our subject and wife four chil- 
 dren have been born Walter Alton, who 
 married Mina Grady, by whom he has one 
 child, Ralph W. , is now living on a farm in 
 Plato township; Lily Luelia, deceased; 
 James Elmer, who is assisting his father in 
 the cultivation of the home farm; and John 
 P., a student in the schools of Elgin. 
 
 Politically Mr. McDonald is a Repub- 
 lican, and has served in various offices, in- 
 cluding those of road overseer, school di- 
 rector and trustee. His farm is one of the 
 finest in the county, well drained and wa- 
 tered, good dwelling, and good barns and 
 other outbuildings. In the yard are many
 
 6o6 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 fine old trees, which also line the roadside 
 in front of his residence. He is a genial, 
 whole-souled man, and a general favorite 
 throughout the community in which he 
 resides. 
 
 HORACE GILBERT was for many years 
 an honored citizen of Aurora, and one 
 of its most active, enterprising business 
 men. He was born in Otsego county, New 
 York, August i, 1819. His parents were 
 natives of Connecticut. His father was by 
 occupation a farmer and blacksmith, and 
 for a time conducted a general store, in 
 connection with his other business. Re- 
 ligiously he was a Congregationalist, and 
 for years was a deacon in that church. He 
 was quite influential in the community in 
 which he resided, and was well and favor- 
 ably known throughout the county. His 
 wife, also a member of the Congregational 
 church, was a most worthy woman, and 
 for many years was an invalid. They never 
 came west except on a visit. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was fourth in 
 a family of nine children, of whom all are 
 deceased save three sisters: Adaline, wife 
 of Clark Smith, residing in New York; Caro- 
 line, an honored resident of Aurora; and 
 Elizabeth, wife of Charles Hyde, residing in 
 New York. Of the sons, William was a 
 clothier. His son Doctor Rufus, was a 
 surgeon in the late war, and was the in- 
 ventor of the elevated railway in New York. 
 Another son of William was a noted physi- 
 cian, an eye and ear specialist. Another of 
 his sons, William, was a tobacconist in New 
 York. His second son, Harry, was a 
 farmer by occupation, and came west, dying 
 at Paw Paw, Lee county, Illinois. Jay also 
 came west and settled in Wayne county, 
 
 Illinois, on a farm. Delos, was a druggist 
 in New York state. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared on 
 a farm, and as soon as able to run around, 
 was usefully employed, his father being an 
 extensive dairyman. His education was 
 obtained in the district schools of his native 
 state. In 1851 he came west, and spent a 
 year on .a farm, and then married Miss 
 Minerva Fitch, daughter of the late Ira 
 Fitch, who built the Evans hotel and other 
 large buildings in Aurora, and was quite a 
 successful business man. Soon after his 
 marriage, Mr. Gilbert came to Aurora, 
 formed a partnership with his father-in-law, 
 and engaged in the harness trade on Broad- 
 way, between Fox and Main streets, con- 
 tinuing there for many years. They were 
 burned out at one time, and also lost much 
 by the sudden rise of Fox river. They did 
 a large business in buying hides, which at 
 one time during a freshet, went down the 
 river incurring great loss. Later Mr. Gil- 
 bert went across the river and engaged in 
 the same business on the site of the present 
 Merchants' Bank. His partner was John 
 Kemp, with whom he continued for perhaps 
 thirty-five years, and doing a very extensive 
 business. Their goods went to many of the 
 states of the union, and were in great de- 
 mand before and during the war. He re- 
 mained in the harness trade, until his health 
 began to fail, when he retired and gave his 
 time and attention to his other property. 
 
 To Horace and Minerva Gilbert, two 
 children were born, both of whom died in 
 infancy. The mother passed away about 
 1857. She was a consistent member of the 
 Congregational church and died in the 
 faith. On the grd of January, 1871, Mr. 
 Gilbert was again married, his second union 
 being with Miss Mary Spalding, daughter
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 607 
 
 of the late Joseph A. and Julia A. (West) 
 Spalding, the former a native of Windsor 
 county, Vermont, and the latter of Straf- 
 ford, Orange county, same state. She was 
 a cousin of Justin Morrill, the oldest senator, 
 and the longest continually in the office, of 
 any person in the United States senate. 
 They were from the same town, Strafford, 
 Orange county, Vermont. 
 
 Joseph A. Spalding came to Kane coun- 
 ty in 1849, and settled on a farm near 
 Elgin. His children were all born in Ver- 
 mont, and came west in their childhood. 
 On the farm near Elgin they grew to mature 
 years. In 1861, he moved with his family 
 to Aurora, and engaged in teaming and 
 farming on land which he had leased just 
 south of the city. In Vermont, Mr. 
 Spalding was an influential man, having 
 served as captain of the militia and justice 
 of the peace. He was a devout member 
 and at times held the office of steward, 
 class leader and trustee, in the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, having a wide and excel- 
 lent influence, which was always effectual 
 in the right direction. His death occurred 
 in 1884, at the age of eighty- four years. 
 His wife, who was also a member of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church, died in 1878, 
 at the age of seventy years. Of their eight 
 children, Charles West, who is a well edu- 
 cated man, with experience as editor of 
 both papers and magazines, now resides in 
 Florida; Jane Amelia, who married Asa 
 Merrill, an early settler of Elgin, and both 
 are now deceased, she dying August 6, 
 1878, at the age of forty-four years; Han- 
 nah A. is the wife of Frank Besse, a soldier 
 of the late war, and they now reside in 
 Osage City, Kansas; Mercy B.., died in 1841, 
 at the age of four years; Mary A., widow of 
 our subject; Joseph Albert, a commercial 
 
 traveler, residing in Lawrence, Kansas; 
 Sarah E., who first married Fred James, of 
 Aurora, and after his death, married Her- 
 man Tetzlaff, of Clinton, Iowa; Henry U., 
 a railroad engineer, at Tacoma, Washing- 
 ton; and Wilber Fisk, connected with the 
 State street railway of Chicago, residing in 
 Englewood, Illinois. 
 
 Three children were born to Horace and 
 Mary A. Gilbert, as follows: Jennie, wife 
 of Hartwell Staples, a native of Boston, 
 now doing business in Chicago, but they 
 reside with Mrs. Gilbert in Aurora. They 
 have one child, a daughter, Jane Gilbert; 
 Mary Elizabeth, wife of William Hills, in 
 the express business at Galesburg, Illinois, 
 and Edna Morrill, who resides at home. 
 Mrs. Gilbert is a member of the Congrega- 
 tional church, is vice president of the Ladies' 
 Foreign Missionary Society of the church, 
 and is in every way a most worthy lady of 
 pleasing presence, good culture and Chris- 
 tian character. 
 
 Mr. Gilbert was a thorough business 
 man, one who was willing to do all in his 
 power to build up the manufacturing and 
 other interests of this city. He did much 
 in securing the Silver Plate Manufactory 
 in Aurora, and for several years gave it his 
 best attention. He was very progressive 
 and modern in his views, his great delight 
 being in seeing all industries of the city in 
 a prosperous condition. When he came to 
 Aurora, in the early "503, he bought the 
 place where his wife's pleasant home is now 
 located, and which was then at the edge of 
 the city limits, a large wheat field covering 
 that part of the city which is now located 
 on the south. The city now extends far 
 beyond the boundaries of the wheat field. 
 Mr. Gilbert was much of a home man, pre- 
 ferring home to any other place. He was
 
 6o8 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 a wonderfully kind man, as is shown by the 
 following incident: A man had borrowed 
 from him a sum of money, for which he 
 gave as security a mortgage on his farm. 
 The time for payment and foreclosure had 
 arrived, and the man, feeling his inability 
 to pay, was. for relinquishing and giving up 
 the farm. Mr. Gilbert would not hear to 
 this, and told him to hold on another year. 
 The next year was no better and he was 
 determined to give up, but through hard 
 persuasion he was induced to try another 
 year, when fortune turned in his favor and 
 he paid off the mortgage, and was ever 
 afterwards thankful to Mr. Gilbert for his 
 kindness and patience. This was but one 
 of many incidents that might be related of 
 how he strove to help others, especially 
 those he considered honest and were trying 
 to help themselves. Although not a mem- 
 ber of any church, he was strict to observe 
 the Sabbath day, and showed a preference 
 for the Congregational church. His death, 
 which occurred July 9, 1894, was mourned 
 alike by family and many friends, who es- 
 teemed him for his true worth and excel- 
 lent character. 
 
 LEWIS C. CLYNE. Success in any 
 line of occupation, in any avenue of 
 business, is not a matter of spontaneity, 
 but is a legitimate offspring of the proper 
 use of the means at hand, the improvement 
 of opportunity, and the exercise of the 
 highest functions made possible in any case. 
 To trace the history of a successful life, be 
 it in the electrical world of business, in which 
 competition is rife; in the intellectual field, 
 where devotees open up the wider realms 
 of knowledge; in a public sphere, where is 
 directed the course of government, and the 
 
 policies formed that sway nations; or in 
 the calm and peaceful pursuits which have 
 to do with the source of all supplies, must 
 ever prove possible and satisfying indul- 
 gence, for the history of an individual is the 
 history of a nation; the history of a nation 
 the history of a world. The subject of this 
 sketch has made a success, although his life 
 has not been under the most favorable cir- 
 cumstances. 
 
 Lewis C. Clyne was born in county 
 Longford, Ireland, March 22, 1862, and is 
 the son of Thomas and Ann (Martin) Clyne, 
 both natives of Ireland, and who were the 
 parents of fourteen children, of whom our 
 subject is the youngest. He remained in 
 his native country until seventeen years of 
 age, and there received his education in the 
 common schools. With that laudable de- 
 sire to better his condition in life, he came 
 to the United States, coming djrect to Ma- 
 ple Park, Illinois, where for four year's, he 
 clerked in the general store of his brother, 
 during which time he had a good business 
 training. In 1884, he engaged in business 
 for himself, in the general mercantile trade, 
 in which he has since continued, and in 
 which he has been very successful. His 
 abilities were soon recognized by his fellow 
 citizens, and in 1885 he was elected a 
 member of the village board, and by re- 
 election has continued until the present 
 time. He has served as township treasurer 
 for eight years, ,and in 1892 was elected 
 supervisor of his township, and in that 
 office has since continued to serve. In 
 1893 he was appointed postmaster of Ma- 
 ple Park, and filled that position for four 
 years, to the satisfaction of all the patrons 
 of the office. 
 
 On the 1 8th of February, 1890, Mr. 
 Clyne was united in marriage with Miss
 
 LEWIS C CLYNE.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Cii 
 
 Hannah Keenan, a native of Kane county, 
 and to them have been born two children, 
 Kathleen and Rose. The parents are mem- 
 bers of the Catholic church, and politics he 
 is an ardent Democrat. Although the town- 
 ship is largely Republican, his popularity 
 has been such as to give him the election 
 whenever nominated for any office. Fra- 
 ternally he is a member of the Modern 
 Woodmen of America. 
 
 FRANKLIN WEBSTER, proprietor of 
 the leading livery stable of Elgin, Illi- 
 nois, is one of the native sons of Kane coun- 
 ty, born in Geneva, September 12, 1849, 
 and is a worthy representative of one of its 
 honored pioneer families. His father, Will- 
 iam Gaylord Webster, was born at West- 
 moreland, Oneida county, New York, April 
 6, i Si i, a son of Gaylord and Lucy (Mc- 
 Moran) Webster, who were natives of Con- 
 necticut, and were farming people. 
 
 William G.Webster was among the first 
 settlers of Kane county, Illinois, coming 
 here in 1840 and locating on a farm of one 
 hundred and sixty acres at Nelson's Grove, 
 near Bald Mound, to the improvement and 
 cultivation of which he devoted his energies 
 for some years. On selling out he removed 
 to Geneva, where he opened the Webster Tav- 
 ern, which he successfully conducted until 
 it was destroyed by fire in 1865. During a 
 part of this time he carried the mail from 
 the depot to the postoffice and also carried 
 on a livery business, being thus engaged at 
 the time of his death, which occurred April 
 6, 1887. Prior to engaging in the livery 
 business he conducted a grocery store for a 
 time, buying his stock at St. Louis, and 
 hauling it across the country from Lyons, 
 Iowa. At one time he served as deputy 
 
 sheriff of Kane county, and as a stalwart 
 Republican, he took quite an active interest 
 in political affairs. He was six feet in 
 height, well built, and was a man who com- 
 manded the respect and esteem of all with 
 whom he came in contact. 
 
 In 1841 William G. Webster was united 
 in marriage with Miss Margaret E. Pierce, 
 who was born January 6, 1811, in Vermont, 
 of which state her parents, Dr. Joseph K. 
 and Hannah (Kenyon) Pierce, were also na- 
 tives. From there they removed to Jeffer- 
 son county, New York, and in 1839, with 
 their family of four children, they emigrated 
 to Kane county, Illinois, each taking up 
 claims and locating at Nelson's Grove and 
 Bald Mound. The children were Eveline, 
 who married Samuel Wood; Margaret E., 
 mother of our subject; George and Kenyon. 
 In early life Mrs. Webster was a successful 
 teacher and taught the first school ever con- 
 ducted in Geneva. She was a lady of cul- 
 ture and refinement and was a member of 
 the Episcopal church. She departed this 
 life at Geneva, April 14, 1887. Her chil- 
 dren were as follows: Henry died at Ge- 
 neva when about thirty-eight years of age. 
 Elizabeth is the widow of T. W. Herring- 
 ton, who died in Aurora in 1868, and she 
 now lives at Geneva on the lot where the 
 first house was built at that place, and where 
 a spring is constantly flowing. Mary E. is 
 also a resident of Geneva. Franklin, of 
 this sketch, completes the family. 
 
 The early life of our subject was spent 
 at Geneva, attending the public schools and 
 assisting his father. On starting out in life 
 for himself he was employed as clerk in a 
 grocery store in Chicago at the corner of 
 Canal and Judd streets for about six months 
 during the year 1864. He then returned 
 home and the following winter attended
 
 6l2 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 school at Batavia. The next two years he 
 again worked for his father, and during the 
 winters of 1867 and 1868 he pursued his 
 studies in the Jennings Seminary of Aurora, 
 where his literary education was completed. 
 Accepting a clerkship in a grocery store at 
 that place, he remained there for three years 
 and a half, or until 1871, when he and his 
 brother Henry purchased his father's livery 
 business, which they- successfully conducted 
 for four years. After selling his interest to 
 his brother, Franklin Webster came to Elgin 
 in April, 1882, and embarked in the same 
 business on Milwaukee street. Two years 
 later he built stables on Grove avenue, where 
 he continued in business until 1893, when 
 he removed to his present location on Chi- 
 cago street. His stables are supplied with 
 good horses and a fine line of vehicles for 
 the accommodation of his large patronage, 
 and he is doing a profitable business, which 
 is certainly well deserved. 
 
 On the 27th of September, 1882, Mr. 
 Webster was united in marriage with Miss 
 Marian E. Conklin, a native of Kane coun- 
 ty, and a daughter of William G. and Sarah 
 A. (Ingersol) Conklin. At an early day her 
 parents came from Buffalo, New York, to 
 Kane county, and the father erected the 
 first mill at St. Charles, operating it for 
 many years. He was a veteran of both the 
 Mexican and Civil wars, and in the latter 
 rose to the rank of major, serving as such 
 in the Eighth Illinois Cavalry. He was one 
 of the most distinguished and honored citi- 
 zens of St. Charles, where he died in 1895. 
 At that place his widow is still living. 
 
 Politically Mr. Webster is a stanch Re- 
 publican, and fraternally is an honored 
 member of Jerusalem Temple lodge, No. 
 90, A. F. & A. M., and Aurora chapter, No. 
 22, R. A. M., both of Aurora; Bethel com- 
 
 mandery, No. 36, K. T. , of Elgin; and Sil- 
 ver Leaf camp, No. 60, M. W. A. Being 
 a public-spirited, enterprising citizen, he 
 most efficiently served as alderman from the 
 Fourth ward of Elgin in 1895-6. With the 
 Methodist Episcopal church his wife holds 
 membership. 
 
 /->EORGE ALEXANDER, who is one 
 V_J of the oldest conductors on the Chi- 
 cago, Burlington & Quincy railroad, has 
 been in the employ of the company for 
 forty-two years. He resides with his family 
 at No. 242 New York street, Aurora, Illinois. 
 He is a native of Massachusetts, born in 
 Franklin county, February 15, 1827, and is 
 the son of Fordyce Alexander, also a native 
 of Massachusetts, born in the town of 
 Sunderland, in 1796. The paternal grand- 
 father, Elisha Alexander, was a native of 
 Massachusetts. He moved to Irving, Frank- 
 lin county, from Sunderland, which was 
 afterwards his home. The Alexanders are 
 of Scotch descent, and were among the very 
 early settlers of New England. 
 
 Fordyce Alexander grew to manhood in 
 his native state, and there married Thankful 
 Whitehead, also a native of Massachusetts, 
 born in Phillipston, Worcester county. Her 
 father, Gadd Whitehead, was likewise a 
 native of the Bay state. Fordyce Alex- 
 ander was for many years engaged in 
 merchandising, in his native state, and was 
 a manufacturer and dealer in lumber, and 
 also engaged in agricultural pursuits. Later 
 he moved to Wrightsville, Warren county, 
 Pennsylvania, and there engaged in lumber- 
 ing during the remainder of his life, dying 
 in 1860, at the age of sixty-four years. His 
 wife survived him many years, dying in 
 in 1882, at the residence of a daughter in
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 613 
 
 Boston, Massachusetts, at the age of eighty- 
 three years. Of their family of nine chil- 
 dren, all grew to mature years, save one 
 daughter who died in early childhood. 
 Three sons yet survive James H., a busi- 
 ness man residing in Los Angeles, Califor- 
 nia; Elisha M., with the Chicago, Burling- 
 ton & Quincy Railroad Company, residing 
 in Aurora; and George our subject. 
 
 George Alexander grew to manhood in 
 his native town and county, where he re- 
 ceived his education in the common schools. 
 He remained with his father until twenty- 
 one years of age, assisting him in the store, 
 and on the farm. He commenced railroad- 
 ing in Massachusetts, when a young man, 
 and in 1851 went to New York, where he 
 engaged with the New York & Erie Railroad 
 Company, and assisted in the construction 
 of the telegraph line of the western division. 
 He remained there about one year, then 
 came west to Detroit, Michigan, where for 
 one year he engaged in the wholesale notion 
 business selling to the trade from a wagon. 
 He then went to St. Louis, where he was 
 engaged in construction work on the Mis- 
 souri Pacific road, for about eight months, 
 assisting in grading and laying the first 
 thirty-five miles of track. In 1854, here- 
 turned to Massachusetts, and there engaged 
 with the Boston & Albany railroad, where 
 he remained about a year, and in 1855 came 
 to Chicago, and commenced work for the 
 Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad 
 Company, at breaking on a freight train. 
 In the fall of the same year, he was pro- 
 moted to conductor on the freight train, 
 and ran a freight and construction train 
 until 1 86 1. He then took a passenger train 
 from Mendota to Chicago, continuing on 
 that run about eight months, and was then 
 given a through train from Chicago to Bur- 
 
 lington. He continued on that run until 
 the summer of 1873, when he was made 
 train master at Chicago, where he resided 
 until the following season. In June, 1874, 
 was transferred to Aurora, where he was 
 trainmaster, in charge of the Chicago divi- 
 sion, until 1878, when he was made master 
 of transportation. Later he was appointed 
 division superintendent, a position that he 
 held until 1888, when he was transferred to 
 the claim department, settling all classes of 
 claims against the road, which position he 
 held for three years. He then returned to 
 the road and took charge of a passenger 
 train from Aurora to Streator. 
 
 Mr. Alexander was married in Aurora in 
 January, 1859, to Miss Mattie Baldwin, a 
 native of Indiana, where she was reared 
 and educated, and a daughter of Pollard 
 Baldwin, who was a native of Windsor, Ver- 
 mont, and who removed from that state to 
 Ohio, where he married, and later moved 
 to Indiana, locating in Warren county, and 
 from thence to Montgomery county, where 
 his death occurred. By this union were 
 three children, all of whom died in infancy. 
 After their marriage, Mr. Alexander built 
 a residence in Aurora, which he sold on 
 his removal to Chicago. On returning to 
 Aurora, he rented for a year, then bought 
 the neat and substantial residence where he 
 now resides on New York street. 
 
 Politically, Mr. -Alexander is a Republic- 
 an, though of late years he has been inde- 
 pendent, supporting the best men regardless 
 of party. Fraternally, he is a member of 
 Jerusalem Temple lodge, No. 90, F. & A. 
 M., with which he united in 1859. He is 
 also a member of the Aurora City Club, a 
 social organization. On coming to Aurora 
 in 1855, he found but few miles of railroad 
 in the state, single track extending from
 
 614 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Chicago to Mendota only was complete. 
 To-day there is a complete network of roads 
 extending through every part of the state, 
 and it requires hundreds of telegraph wires 
 to transact the business of the country. As 
 a railroad man he has done his part in the 
 development of the state. Wherever 
 known he is held in high esteem, and has 
 always been popular on the road. 
 
 JAMES F. BELL resides upon section 
 30, Hampshire township, where he is 
 engaged in dairy farming. He was born in 
 Batavia, New York, January 22, 1830, 
 and is the son of Charles Bell, a native of 
 Vermont, born October 8, 1794, and who 
 well remembered Washington's funeral. 
 After living for a time in Batavia, New 
 York, Charles Bell removed with his family 
 to Java, and later to Aurora, in the same 
 state. In 1838 he moved to Michigan and 
 settled in the town of Redford, Wayne 
 county, where he lived until 1865. For a 
 time he was a sailor on the lakes, and while 
 at a point of bay near Toledo he was 
 stabbed by an Indian. The weather was 
 hot, and before medical aid could be secured 
 at Detroit, gangrene set in and it became 
 necessary to amputate the leg. While yet 
 living in New York he taught school for a 
 time. Before leaving the state he learned 
 the tailor's trade, at which he worked in his 
 native state and in Wayne county, Michi- 
 gan. During the war of 1812, he gave his 
 services to his country. At the commence- 
 ment of the war he and his father were 
 in rafting on the St. Lawrence, and he 
 was pressed by the British to take a raft 
 over the rapids, and he ran it on the Amer- 
 ican side of the river after passing the rap- 
 ids, into the hands of the Americans. After 
 
 being held about twelve days, he escaped 
 and joined the Vermont volunteers. Charles 
 Bell was the son of Ralph Rudolphus 
 Wheelock and Desire (Reynolds) Bell, both 
 of whom were natives of Vermont, and the 
 father of Irish descent. 
 
 At Aurora, New York, our subject began 
 his education in the public schools, and, 
 after his arrival in Michigan, continued to 
 attend school until eighteen years of age, 
 when he secured a position in a rake fac- 
 tory, where wooden hay rakes were manu- 
 factured. After working four years in the 
 factory he worked as a farm hand and at 
 anything his hand found to do until 1854. 
 On the 1 4th of February, of that year, he 
 left home for California, sailing from New 
 York February 20, on the steamer Star of 
 the West, which was afterward made fa- 
 mous in trying to carry provisions to Fort 
 Sumter before hostilities commenced be- 
 tween the states. After crossing Nicarau- 
 gua, from Grey town, he sailed from San 
 Juan to San Francisco, on the steamer 
 Brother Jonathan, arriving about April 10. 
 On the trip a boiler blew out, which neces- 
 sitated slow speed. The vessel was soon 
 afterward condemned for sea duty, and was 
 confined to coast trade. On arriving in 
 California Mr. Bell went into the mines, 
 sometimes making one hundred and fifty 
 dollars a day, and sometimes making no 
 more in one hundred and fifty days. For 
 four years he was at Murphy's Camp and 
 Gaston Hill, near Cave City. Having 
 enough of California, he returned home by 
 way of the Isthmus of Panama, leaving 
 Aspinwall in the steamer Illinois, which was 
 wrecked on the north coast of Cuba, twelve 
 hours' run from Havana. Our subject here 
 lost everything. The vessel, however, was 
 got off the reef, repaired and reached New
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 615 
 
 York September 8, 1858. Onhiswaywest 
 he stopped at Niagara, and a few days later 
 reached his home in Wayne county. He 
 then worked on farms in Wayne county un- 
 til he came to Kane county, Illinois, in 
 April, 1865. On arriving here he worked 
 for his uncle., Henry G. Bell, for a time, and 
 then rented farms for six years. In 1871 
 he bought his present farm of forty acres, 
 and is now engaged in dairy farming, manu- 
 facturing his own butter. 
 
 Mr. Bell has been twice married, his 
 first union being with Mrs. Mary Mclogan, 
 nee Harrne, a native of Sullivan county, 
 New York. By this union there are four 
 children as follows: Jessie and China, the 
 latter living in Elgin, while Jessie is a 
 teacher in the public schools in Oregon; 
 Georgia, a teacher living in California; and 
 Mary, who married Blucher Remmington, 
 by whom she has one child, Merrill Vernon, 
 and they reside in Kansas. The mother of 
 these children died March 16, 1877, and 
 Mr. Bell, April 18, 1880, in Hampshire 
 township, married Lucy D. Babcock, who 
 was born near Warsaw, Greene county, 
 New York, who was but two and a half 
 years old when her parents came west in 
 1854. She is the daughter of William H. 
 Babcock, a son of Abiram and Susanna (Lee) 
 Babcock, the latter being a cousin of Gen- 
 eral Robert E. Lee. William H. Babcock, 
 who was born October 10, 1816, married 
 Cornelia E., widow of Evan Soules, and a 
 daughter of Andrew and Julia (Diston) Hoge- 
 boom, who were among the earliest settlers 
 of De Kalb county, and who also owns 
 land in Hampshire township. William H. 
 Babcock came to Kane county in 1854, and 
 died on his old homestead, September 12, 
 1884. By this second union there is one 
 child, a daughter, Albertine. 
 
 Politically Mr. Bell is a Republican, and 
 while believing in the principles of the 
 party, from the time of its organization, yet 
 cast his first presidential ballot for U. S. 
 Grant, in 1868, having missed his vote at 
 every preceding election, in consequence of 
 being away from home at election time. He 
 served as school director several years. 
 Mrs. Bell has likewise served as school di> 
 rector, discharging the duties of the office 
 in a satisfactory manner. Our subject re- 
 members hearing his parents talk of the fall 
 of stars in 1832. People then thought the 
 world was coming to an end, the falling 
 stars being a fulfillment of prophecy. His 
 mother's sister, " Aunt Gurney," took down 
 her Bible and began reading the account of 
 the falling stars and the moon which should 
 be turned into blood. 
 
 HENRY M. CRAWFORD, M. D., of St. 
 Charles, has rounded the Psalmist's 
 span of three-score years and ten, but is 
 still actively engaged in the practice of his 
 profession, having for forty-nine years de- 
 voted his life and services to the alleviation 
 of human suffering. It is a record probably 
 almost unparalleled in the history of the 
 state. He came to Illinois when the north- 
 ern district was but sparsely settled and rode 
 for miles over the prairies administering to 
 those who needed medical aid, and his kind- 
 ness and generosity, as well as professional 
 skill, endeared him to the hearts of many. 
 His has been a life of peculiar usefulness 
 and its record forms an important chapter in 
 the history of Kane county. 
 
 A native of Ireland, Dr. Crawford was 
 born in the city of Belfast in 1820 and is of 
 Scotch ancestry. He acquired a classical 
 education and then took a course in the
 
 6i6 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Royal College of Belfast, an affiliated col- 
 lege of the London University. He was 
 also a student in educational institutions of 
 Dublin and Edinburg, and after completing 
 his medical studies began the practice of his 
 profession, which he continued for four 
 years in Europe. He had built up a very 
 extensive business when in 1848, he finally 
 yielded to the importunities of some friends 
 who wished him to accept a position as 
 surgeon on an emigrant ship bound for New 
 York. On arriving at New York he was 
 induced by an eminent physician of that 
 city to remain for a few days, which period 
 was ultimately extended until he had re- 
 mained in the eastern metropolis for nearly 
 a year. 
 
 The Doctor then resolved to make a trip 
 through the west to see the country and in 
 the course of his travels arrived at the vil- 
 lage of St. Charles, Illinois, in October, 
 1848. While here he, with other members 
 of the party, was overtaken by a severe snow 
 storm, which compelled him to remain 
 until the roads could be opened. While 
 here he was repeatedly urged to remain and 
 engage in the practice of his profession, and 
 finally yielding to this persuasion, St. Charles 
 became his home. He soon had a large 
 patronage that came from a territory extend- 
 ing one hundred miles westward from Lake 
 Michigan and up into Wisconsin. Fre- 
 quently on making these long trips he would 
 have relays of horses stationed at various 
 points in order to take him with all possible 
 speed to the beside of a sufferer. He was 
 often called long distances to take part in a 
 consultation and such a practice in those 
 early days involved many hardships, occa- 
 sioned by the long drives through the storms 
 of winter, or over almost impassable roads 
 in the rainy season of spring and fall. 
 
 In 1 86 1 Dr. Crawford was induced by 
 Col. William Lynch to accept a surgeon's 
 commission for the Fifty-eighth Illinois In- 
 fantry, and in that capacity served until 
 the close of the war. He was in the active 
 practice of his profession during six pitched 
 battles and a great many lesser engage- 
 ments, serving as regimental and division 
 surgeon of the Sixteenth Army Corps. He 
 was chief of hospitals at LaGrange, and 
 faithfully did his duty toward the sick and 
 wounded until the close of the war and the 
 return of the soldiers to their homes relieved 
 him of all further effort in this direction. 
 On his return he resumed practice in St. 
 Charles, and in a short time opened an of- 
 fice in Chicago, where he remained for 
 about a year, when he was burned out in 
 the great fire which devastated that city in 
 1871. He lost therein a large and valua- 
 ble library and all his surgical instruments 
 to the value of several thousand dollars. 
 Then again he returned to St. Charles and has 
 since actively been engaged in the practice 
 of medicine and surgery. He has been sur- 
 geon for the Great Western or Maple Leaf 
 railroad, and also acted as surgeon for the 
 Northwestern road in years past. He has 
 successfully performed some very difficult 
 surgical operations, and his professional 
 efforts have been attended with a uniform 
 success that is very gratifying and won him 
 an enviable prestige. 
 
 Dr. Crawford was married in St. Charles, 
 in 1855, to Miss Margaret P. McWilliams, a 
 native of Ireland, born and reared in Ulster, 
 near Belfast. They have three children: 
 Henry M., a man of good education, most 
 exemplary habits and excellent business 
 ability, who assists his father in managing 
 the business and estate; Minnie E. and 
 Margaret Hypatia at home.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 617 
 
 The Doctor is independent in his polit- 
 ical convictions, supporting the men and 
 measures in which he believes, regardless of 
 party affiliations. He is a believer in free 
 trade or a retaliatory tariff, and also advo- 
 cates a gold standard monetary system, and 
 on this issue gave his support to President 
 McKinley in 1896. In his religious views 
 he is also liberal. He does not use the 
 term religion in its common acceptation, 
 and would prefer the use of the term con- 
 scientious obligations, to implying an obed- 
 ience to the sense of right as gained from 
 the best experience and practice of those 
 whose lives are most worthy of emulation. 
 He believes in leaving every individual free 
 to form their own opinions and feels that 
 there is an inner consciousness whose 
 promptings will lead in the path of virtue 
 and duty if only followed out. His own life 
 is an exemplification of this belief, and St. 
 Charles has no more worthy, honorable or 
 respected citizen than Dr. Crawford. He 
 has always been active and liberal in sup- 
 purt of the measures which have contrib- 
 uted to the upbuilding, advancement and 
 improvement of St. Charles, and has left 
 the impress of his individuality indelibly on 
 the best interests of the city and of the coun- 
 ty through half a century. 
 
 FW. BLOSS, a leading hardware mer- 
 chant doing business at No. 25 South 
 Broadway, is a native of Aurora, born 
 March 20, 1858, and is the son of Daniel 
 and Telina (Davis) Bloss, who at one time 
 owned the property from Spring Lake 
 cemetery clear to Jackson street. He came 
 from New York to Aurora about 1844, and 
 engaged in carpentering and contracting, 
 which occupation he followed for a few 
 
 years. In company with Russell C. Mix he 
 worked on the Blackhawk mill, and also on 
 many other buildings. Strange to relate, 
 the two were buried on the same day, Feb- 
 ruary 21, 1871, Mr. Bloss dying on the i8th 
 of February, from congestion of the lungs. 
 His marriage with . Miss Telina Davis oc- 
 curred about 1845. He was a member of 
 the Methodist Episcopal church, but took 
 no especially active part. His wife is still 
 living at the age of seventy-three years, and 
 a resident of Emporia, Kansas, is also a 
 member of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
 Of their family of five children, our subject 
 is the youngest. Of the others, Henry, 
 who was first a farmer and later a teleg- 
 rapher, died at the age of forty years; Mary 
 J. is the wife of L. Titsworth, of Aurora; 
 Bertha is the wife of C. B. Sims, of Em- 
 poria, Kansas. 
 
 The subject of this sketch received his 
 education in the schools of Aurora, and 
 spent his boyhood and youth engaged in 
 farm work. In 1878 he became a clerk in 
 a hardware store in Aurora, and with the 
 exception of one year as postal clerk and 
 one year as clerk in the offices of the Chi-, 
 cago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Com- 
 pany, he has been in the hardware business, 
 either as clerk or proprietor. In 1889 he 
 purchased the establishment of his em- 
 ployer, and has since conducted a profitable 
 business. His stock of hardware, stoves, 
 ranges and agricultural implements is always 
 full and complete, and he has his full share 
 of trade of both city and country. 
 
 Mr. Bloss has been twice married, his 
 first union, in 1884, being with Miss Belle 
 Elliott, daughter of W. F. and Sarah Elli- 
 ott, of Oswego, Illinois. Two children 
 were born of this union as follows: Daniel 
 Elliott and Belle. The mother died June
 
 6i8 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 22, 1892, at the age of thirty-two years. 
 She was a member of the Presbyterian 
 church, and for some years was a teacher in 
 the schools of Oswego, Illinois, and in other 
 parts of Kendall county. The second marriage 
 of Mr. Bloss was celebrated September 21, 
 1894, when he was united with Miss Clara 
 Fickensher, a daughter of Henry Ficken- 
 sher, one of the old settlers of Aurora. She 
 is a member of the German Methodist 
 Episcopal church. Politically, Mr. Bloss 
 is a Republican, and although never aspiring 
 to office himself, he has been quite active in 
 the interests of his friends. A lifelong resi- 
 dent of Aurora and a representative of one 
 of its pioneer families, he takes especial in- 
 terest in everything calculated to promote 
 the growth and prosperity of his native city, 
 and is therefore numbered among Aurora's 
 most enterprising citizens. 
 
 ASAHEL T. JUDD is engaged in farm- 
 ing on section 10, Sugar Grove town- 
 ship, and is well known as one of the most 
 enterprising and progressive farmers of the 
 township. He is a native of New York, 
 born in Warren county, on the banks of 
 Lake George, March 21, 1844, and is the 
 son of Dexter C. and Eliza (Brown) Judd, 
 the former a native of Massachusetts, born 
 March 11, 1822, and the latter a native of 
 New York. Sarson L. Judd, the grand- 
 father of our subject, was also born in 
 Massachusetts, from which state he moved 
 to New York about 1830, locating in War- 
 ren county on the banks of Lake George, 
 where he reared his family and spent the 
 remainder of his life. 
 
 In 1850, Dexter C. Judd came to Kane 
 county, Illinois, and joined his uncle, 
 Thomas Judd, who settled here about 1836. 
 
 On coming to Kane county, Dexter C. Judd 
 purchased about twenty acres in Sugar 
 Grove township, on which he built a dwell- 
 ing and also a blacksmith shop, and there 
 resided a few years, engaged in working at 
 his trade of blacksmith, and also in farming. 
 Selling his original purchase, he bought a 
 farm of two hundred and seventy-five acres, 
 on which were some improvements. Re- 
 pairing the house and building a shop, he 
 began work and in due time became a suc- 
 cessful and prosperous farmer. He later 
 sold the farm to his son, Sarson L. , and re- 
 moved to Aurora, where he lived retired and 
 where his death occurred in 1893. His wife 
 passed away one year previous. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was but six 
 years old when he came with his parents to 
 Kane county. He received his education in 
 the common schools of Sugar Grove town- 
 ship, and remained at home assisting his 
 father until eighteen years of age. In the 
 fall of 1862, he enlisted in Company H, 
 One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Regiment, 
 Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and joined 
 Grant's command at Jackson, Tennessee. 
 He participated in the battle of Champion 
 Hills and in the siege and surrender of 
 Vicksburg. Later he did provost duty 
 there for several months, and while there 
 was commissioned second lieutenant, and 
 assigned to the Third United States Heavy 
 Artillery, which was retained on garrison 
 duty at Vicksburg, until the close of the 
 war. He was discharged in August, 1865, 
 although at home on a sick furlough. For 
 nearly two years he was an invalid, due 
 from exposure while in service. 
 
 On the 1 2th of November, 1868, Mr. 
 Judd was united in marriage with Miss 
 Elizabeth Reynolds, daughter of Silas Rey- 
 nolds, whose sketch appears in this work.
 
 ASAHEL T. JUDD.
 
 ^ 
 
 <-^ x
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 621 
 
 She was reared on the farm where she now 
 resides. By this union there is one son, 
 Ira R. , who is married and resides in the 
 village of Sugar Grove, where he is asso- 
 ciated with S. L. Judd in the agricultural 
 implement business. He is a young man of 
 good business ability and is quite popular in 
 the community where he resides. Soon 
 after marriage Mr. and Mrs. Judd located 
 on a farm in Sugar Grove township, of one 
 hundred and eighty acres, which he pur- 
 chased and improved. They there resided 
 two years, and then came to their present 
 farm, which comprises a part of the old 
 Reynolds homestead. Here they remained 
 for six years and then moved to Aurora, 
 where Mr. Judd engaged in the lumber busi- 
 ness, in which he continued five years. In 
 1883 they returned to the farm, Mrs. Judd 
 having inherited a part of the estate. In 
 addition to that inherited by Mrs. Judd, he 
 purchased two hundred and twenty acres of 
 other heirs, and now has five hundred and 
 thirty-six acres of well improved and val- 
 uable land. He ,has remodeled the house 
 and built a good barn, and made other val- 
 uable improvements to the place. In the 
 winter of 1897-8 he fed some fourteen 
 hundred head of. sheep, which he prepared 
 for the market. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Judd is a Republican, 
 and has voted for every presidential nominee 
 of the party since 1868, when he cast his 
 ballot for Gen. U. S. Grant. By his fellow 
 citizens he has been honored with a number 
 of local offices, including township collector, 
 which he held two or three terms, commis- 
 sioner of highways, township trustee, and 
 has served as a delegate to various conven- 
 tions of his party. In 1865 he became a 
 Master Mason, and is now a member of both 
 the blue lodge and chapter of Aurora. He 
 
 30 
 
 is a well known man in Kane county, hav- 
 ing been identified with its interests almost 
 half a century. 
 
 AUGUSTINE H. HUBBARD, ESQ., 
 r\ who is now serving as justice of the 
 peace, with office at No. 19 Chicago street, 
 Elgin, was born on the i/thof March, 1850, 
 in Salem, Michigan, a son of Harvey and 
 Emily (Hamilton) Hubbard, natives of New 
 York state. Four children were born to 
 them: Mary, wife of J. H. Cooley, of 
 Trinidad, Colorado; Martha and Eva, who 
 are also residents of that city; and August- 
 ine H. Throughout the greater part of his 
 active business life the father engaged in the 
 real estate business and in farming. For 
 many years he made his home in Minnesota, 
 locating in Winona, that state, ''at an early 
 day, later lived some time in Elgin, Illinois, 
 and then with his family removed to Trini- 
 dad, Colorado, where he died in 1885, at 
 the age of seventy-two years. His esti- 
 mable wife still makes her home in that 
 city, and is a consistent member of the 
 Congregational church. He belonged to 
 the same church, and served as deacon for 
 many years. While living in Winona, he 
 filled the office of supervisor for one term, 
 and was also school trustee for many years. 
 
 The grandfathers of our subject, Mr. 
 Hubbard and Isaac Hamilton, were born in 
 New York, of English ancestry, and reared 
 large families. The former died in Salem, 
 Michigan, when well advanced in years, and 
 the latter, who was a farmer by occupation, 
 passed away, when living in the same state, 
 at the age of seventy. 
 
 Mr. Hubbard, whose name introduces 
 this sketch, was ten years old when his par- 
 ents left their old home in Michigan and
 
 622 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 removed to Minnesota, where he spent the 
 following quarter of a century in Winona, 
 St. Paul and Lake City. He attended the 
 Normal School in Winona, and at the age 
 of seventeen began clerking in Lake City, 
 where he remained for several years. Dur- 
 ing the Indian wars, he served as special 
 messenger for General Sibley for two years, 
 after which he attended a commercial col- 
 lege in Chicago. After about three years 
 spent in dairy farming in McHenry county, 
 Illinois, Mr. Hubbard came to Elgin in 
 1871, and for some time was employed in 
 the city clerk's office. For twenty years he 
 has now acceptably served as justice of the 
 peace, and has also successfully engaged in 
 the life and fire insurance business. 
 
 On the 2$th of October, 1870, Mr. 
 Hubbard led to the marriage altar Miss 
 Martha L. Hatch, a daughter of Lewis and 
 Mandana (Cole) Hatch, and to them have 
 been born two sons Frederick, who mar- 
 ried Beyrl Burns, and is now a special agent 
 for the Hanover Fire Insurance Company 
 for Illinois and Michigan; and Roy, who is 
 clerking in Elgin. The wife and mother, 
 who was an active worker and faithful mem- 
 ber of the Baptist church, was called to her 
 final rest in February, 1897. Mr. Hubbard 
 is also a prominent member of the same 
 church, and is now serving as trustee. His 
 political support is always given the men 
 and measures of the Republican party, and 
 he is thoroughly interested in whatever 
 tends to promote the moral, intellectual 
 and material welfare of the community. 
 His home is at No. 145 Hill street. 
 
 RURIC A. FRENCH, an energetic farmer 
 and stock trader, residing on section 
 32, Hampshire township, was born in East 
 
 Java, Wyoming county, New York, January 
 13, 1862. His father, Martin French, was 
 born in Pennsylvania, and is a successful 
 mechanic, now living in Wyoming coun- 
 ty, New York. He is the son of Nathaniel 
 French, also a native of Pennsylvania. 
 Martin French married Diana Thornton, a 
 native of East Java, New York, and a 
 daughter of Oben Thornton, who is still 
 living at the age of one hundred and four 
 years, making his home with his daughter, 
 Mrs. French. He married Clarissa Lord, 
 long since deceased. To Martin and Diana 
 French the following named children were 
 born: Jay, a physician of Chautauqua coun- 
 ty, New York; Ruric A., our subject; Myron, 
 who lives on the old farm in Wyoming 
 county; and Fred, deceased. 
 
 The subject of this sketch attended the 
 district school until the age of eighteen, but 
 remained with his father until twenty-two 
 years old. For one year he worked for a 
 stock trader in Wyoming county, and then 
 began business for himself, renting a farm 
 for two years and engaging in agricultural 
 pursuits. He was then in the produce busi- 
 ness for one year, buying through the coun- 
 try and shipping to New York and Phila- 
 delphia. In 1885 he came west on a visit, 
 and September 3, of that year, he married 
 Miss Anna Gage, born on the farm where 
 they now reside, and a daughter of John 
 and Evaline (Rich) Gage. Her father was 
 born in East Java, New York, and was 
 reared on a farm. In 1846 he came west 
 with his parents, driving from Wyoming 
 county to Buffalo, New York, and from 
 thence coming west by lake to Chicago and 
 by teams to Kane county. The family first 
 settled on section 29, with the Guernseys. 
 John Gage later purchased the farm on sec- 
 tion 32, where he resided until his death,
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 623 
 
 which occurred August 20, 1897. During 
 the excitement with reference to gold in 
 California he went to that New Eldorado, 
 and spent the years 1853 and 1854. 
 
 John Gage was the son of Solomon and 
 Mary (Guernsey) Gage, the former a native 
 of New Hampshire, born in 1788, and dying 
 in Hampshire. October 21, 1851. The lat- 
 ter was a daughter of Cyril Guernsey, born 
 in New Hampshire in 1786, and dying in 
 Hampshire township, December 17, 1866. 
 Eveline Rich, wife of John Gage, twin sis- 
 ter of Evelyn E. Rich, was born on the old 
 homestead, in Rutland township, Kane coun- 
 ty, April 26, 1839, and is the daughter of 
 Elijah Rich, who was born in Massachu- 
 setts, June 10, 1795, and who moved to the 
 town of Benson, Rutland county, Vermont, 
 about 1810, and who came to Illinois in the 
 spring of 1836, and settled on sections 30 
 and 31, Rutland township, shortly after his 
 nephew, E. R. Starks, made the first per- 
 manent settlement. He took up a claim 
 south of Starks', and the two kept " bach " 
 one year. The following year he brought 
 out his family, and here resided until his 
 death, November 10, 1871. Thefirsttime 
 he came to the country, he drove through 
 from his eastern home with a horse and 
 buggy. Illustrative of the lack of con- 
 venience in those days, it is said that Mr. 
 Rich on one occasion walked to the resi- 
 dence of Mr. Stone, hear Elgin, to grind his 
 axe, no grindstone being near. Their mail 
 was received at Chicago. Elijah Rich was 
 the son of Elijah Rich, Sr. , who died in 
 Vermont in 1835, before his son came west. 
 The Rich family in America descended from 
 four brothers, who emigrated from Wales. 
 Elijah Rich first married Triphosa Fowler, 
 by whom he had four children. His sec- 
 ond marriage was with Anise Meacham, by 
 
 whom five children were born, of whom 
 Eveline was one. To John and Eveline 
 Gage six children were born, as follows: 
 Frank E., who died in infancy; Frank E., 
 the second, residing at Starks Station; Anna, 
 wife of our subject; John S. living at Starks 
 Station; Perry Hart is an employee of the 
 Chicago & Alton railroad, at Chicago; Clara 
 V., wife of Perry Hart, of Chicago; and 
 Pearl, residing on the old homestead with 
 her sister. 
 
 After marriage, Mr. and Mrs. French 
 went east to the old home of Mr. French, 
 where he engaged in the produce business, 
 but the climate not agreeing with his wife, 
 they returned to Kane county in 1886. 
 From 1886 to 1888 Mr. French was in the 
 stock business in Elgin, and then com- 
 menced farming on two hundred acres of 
 the estate of the father of Mrs. French, in 
 which he has continued to the present time, 
 while also engaging quite extensively as a 
 dealer in stock. Like many other farmers 
 in this region, he is engaged principally in 
 dairy farming, milking from fifty to seventy- 
 five cows, and shipping the product to Chi- 
 cago. Mrs. French received her education 
 in the schools of Burlington and Hampshire 
 townships, and has spent her entire life on 
 the homestead where she now resides, with 
 the exception of the years spent in Wyom- 
 ing county, New York, immediately after 
 her marriage. She is a member of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church of Hampshire, 
 and is a woman who delights in doing good. 
 Mr. and Mrs. French have one child, Earle, 
 born December u, 1887, at 444 South 
 street, Elgin, Illinois, who is attending the 
 Hampshire schools. Politically Mr. French 
 is a Republican, and is an energetic, hustling 
 farmer and stock trader, a good neighbor 
 and excellent citizen.
 
 624 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 EORGE FITCH RUGGLES.deceased, 
 V_J was of English descent, whose lineage 
 can be traced back to William the Con- 
 queror, of England, while his more imme- 
 diate ancestors for several generations were 
 natives of Rutland, Vermont. He was born 
 December 12, 1818, at Rutland, Vermont, 
 and is the son of Major John and Pollie 
 (Gould) Ruggles. His early education was 
 obtained at Castleton Seminary, Vermont, 
 supplemented by a course at Middlebury 
 College, Vermont, where he graduated in 
 1848. On account of his health being deli- 
 cate, he went to Virginia after leaving col- 
 lege, and gave instruction to pupils in a 
 private family, after which he clerked in a 
 furniture store at Boston, Massachusetts, 
 where his brother had an interest in the 
 business. But before proceeding further 
 with the personal history our subject, we 
 give briefly a record of his illustrious pro- 
 genitors: 
 
 (i) William the Conqueror, king of Eng- 
 land, 1066, married Lady Matilda, daugh- 
 ter of Baldwin V. , count of Flanders, and 
 great-granddaughter of Hugh Capet, king of 
 France. (2) Princess Gundred, died 1085, 
 married William Warren, earl of Surrey. 
 (3) Lady Editha de Warren married Gerard 
 de Gournay. (4) Hugh de Gournay, died 
 1 1 80. (5) Hugh de Gournay, lord of Bev- 
 erstan, Gloucestershire. (6) Anselme, Bar- 
 on de Gournay, died 1240. (7) Robert de 
 Gournay, died 1268. (8) Anselme de Gour- 
 nay, died 1285. (9) John de Gournay, lord 
 of Beverstan. (10) Lady Elizabeth de 
 Gournay, married Sir John ap Adam, 1291. 
 (n) Sir John ap Adam. (12) William ap 
 Adam. (13) Sir John ap Adam, knight. 
 (14) Thomas ap Adam, married Lady Jane, 
 daughter of Sir John Ing, knight. (15) Sir 
 John ap Adam, married Lady Millicent, 
 
 daughter of Sir Matthew Besylls. (16) Sir 
 John Adam, married Clara, daughter of 
 Roger Powell. (17) Roger Adams, married 
 Jane Eliot. (18) Thomas Adams, married 
 Marie Upton. (19) John Adams, married 
 Gathering Stebbing. (20) John Adams, 
 married Margary Squier. (21) Richard 
 Adams, married Margaret Armager. (22) 
 William Adams, married Miss Borington. 
 (23) Henry Adams, of Braintree, Massachu- 
 setts, died in 1646. He was also ancestor 
 of Presidents John and John Quincy Adams, 
 and the Revolutionary patriot, Samuel Ad- 
 ams. (24) Edward Adams, of Medfield, 
 Massachusetts, died 1716. (25) Henry 
 Adams, of Medford, Massachusetts, and 
 Plainfield (now Canterbury), Connecticut, 
 born October 29, 1663. (26) Ruth Adams, 
 married Amos Kingsley. (27) Isaiah Kings- 
 ley. (28) Phineas Kingsley. (29) Eunice 
 Kingsley, married Major John Ruggles, who 
 fought in the war of 1812. (30) George 
 Fitch Ruggles, the subject of this sketch. 
 
 George Fitch Ruggles, our subject, was 
 married April 25, 1856, to Louise Gould, 
 whose parents, John and Theodosia (Nich- 
 ols) Gould, was one of the old and honored 
 families of Essex county, New York. She 
 was the youngest of a family of seven, and 
 was educated at the Miss Lees Seminary, 
 Burlington, Vermont. Major John Ruggles 
 was an extensive land owner and was "twice 
 married, the first time in 1800. His second 
 wife, Eunice Kingsley, he married in 1807. 
 This lady was a descendant of John Alden, 
 who came over in the Mayflower. George 
 F. Ruggles is the eighth in direct descent 
 from John Alden. 
 
 In 1860, our subject and wife and his 
 daughter, Theodosia, now Mrs. W. T. 
 Reeves, came to Galesburg, Illinois, by way 
 of Chicago, but soon afterwards went to
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 625 
 
 Milwaukee, where Mr. Ruggles started a 
 linseed oil factory, which soon afterwards 
 was destroyed by tire. The family then 
 moved to Chicago, where Mrs. Ruggles' 
 mother and three brothers were living, her 
 father having died in the east. Mr. Rug- 
 gles then became engaged in the life insur- 
 ance business, at which he continued until 
 1868, when he came to Aurora to act as 
 superintendent of the foundry work of the 
 Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad 
 shops. The company doing the work for 
 the railroad at that time was N. S. Bouston 
 & Co., Chicago. A severe attack of the 
 grip caused retirement from the shops in 
 1^91, and he was an invalid for two and a 
 half years, dying December 4, 1893. His 
 only child, Theodosia, is the wife of Dr. 
 W. T. Reeves, D. D. S. , doing business in 
 Chicago. They have four children Helen, 
 Allen, Marjorie and Louise. During his life 
 Mr. Ruggles was a member of the Congre- 
 gational church, and for many years a dea- 
 con in the same. 
 
 /->RANT GOODRICH, D. D. S., one of 
 V_J the leading and popular dentists of 
 Elgin, was born in Iowa, near Clinton, 
 November 23, 1861, and is a son of Her- 
 man and Emily (Duncklee)- Goodrich, na- 
 tives of Pottsdam, New York, and Du Page 
 county, Illinois, respectively. The mother 
 died July i, 1874, at the age of thirty-six 
 years, leaving six children, namely: Carrie, 
 now the wife of C. P. Dandy, of Los An- 
 geles, California; Grant; Walter, of Elgin; 
 Harry and Herman, of Chadbourn, North 
 Carolina; and Mame, wife of John Way, 
 of Los Angeles. For over twenty years the 
 father was a successful dealer in sewing 
 machines and attachments, but since 1882, 
 
 has engaged in farming in North Carolina. 
 After the death of his first wife he married 
 Miss Frances Brewster, by whom he has 
 two sons Charles and Monroe. The Doc- 
 tor's paternal great-grandmother lived to 
 the extreme old age of one hundred and six 
 years, but his grandfather, Ebenezer Good- 
 rich, died at the age of forty. He was a 
 native of Pottsdam, -New York, and had 
 two sons. The maternal grandfather was 
 a farmer by occupation and died at the age 
 of fifty. 
 
 From the age of two years Dr. Good- 
 rich was reared in Chicago, and acquired 
 his early education in the public schools of 
 that city. Later he attended the Elgin 
 Academy, and for seven years was his fa- 
 ther's bookkeeper in Chicago. He studied 
 dentistry and graduated from the Chicago 
 College of Dental Surgery with the class of 
 1888, and the same year opened an office 
 in Elgin, where he has since successfully 
 engaged in practice. 
 
 On the 4th of June, 1884, Dr. Goodrich 
 led to the marriage altar Miss Kittie Trues- 
 dell, a daughter of Dr. W. H. and Jane 
 (Burritt) Truesdell. They have a pleasant 
 home at No. 565 Park street, which the 
 Doctor built in 1888. He is a member of 
 the Northern Illinois Dental Association, 
 and also belongs to Monitor lodge, F. & 
 A. M., and the Royal Arcanum, while po- 
 litically he is identified with the Republican 
 party. 
 
 FREDERICK J. MARSHALL, section 
 1 10, Plato township, is numbered among 
 the young and progressive farmers of the 
 township. His father George P. Marshall, 
 was born at Ryther, Yorkshire, England, 
 May 9, 1817, and died on his old homestead
 
 626 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 in Elgin township, Kane county, October 
 3, 1881. In his native land he learned the 
 carpenter's trade which occupation he fol- 
 lowed for some years. In 1842, he emi- 
 grated to Canada, and two years later came 
 to Kane county, and for two years rented a 
 farm in Plato township and then purchased 
 seventy-seven acres, in sections 27-8, Elgin 
 township, where he engaged in agricultural 
 pursuits until his death. He was a man 
 highly respected by all who knew him, and 
 left to his descendants a good name, of 
 which they are justly proud. He was the 
 son of James and Ann (Parker) Marshall, 
 whose entire life was spent in Yorkshire, 
 England. While yet residing in Canada, 
 in 1842, George P. Marshall married Mary 
 Burton, born in Sharrington, near Montreal, 
 Canada, August 14, 1825, and a daughter 
 of John Burton and Jane (Stringer) Burton, 
 the former a native of North Burton, York- 
 shire, England, born in 1792, and the latter 
 in Hull, Yorkshire, England, in 1794. 
 
 Frederick J. Marshall was ninth in a 
 family of ten children, and was born Octo- 
 ber 4, 1860. Until sixteen years of age he 
 attended the public schools a portion of 
 each year and assisted his father in the 
 cultivation of the home farm. From six- 
 teen to twenty-one he worked by the month 
 on various farms. On the 7th of March, 
 1883, in Elgin township, he married Miss 
 Mary McKinnell, the fourth in a family of 
 nine children born to Peter and Jesse Mc- 
 Dowell McKinnell. By this union four 
 children have been born Maude M., Roy 
 I., Elma M. and George P. 
 
 Immediately after his marriage Mr. 
 Marshall rented the old homestead one 
 year, then the farm of George Stringer one 
 year, and then spent one year at Udina, 
 engaged in carpentering, after which he oc- 
 
 cupied the old homestead two years. He 
 then moved to Elgin and followed the car- 
 penter's trade for three years, after which 
 he rented a farm near Pingree Grove, Plato 
 township, for two years, and in 1893 leased 
 his present place, known as the Cornell 
 farm, consisting of two hundred and four- 
 teen acres, and is engaged in dairy farming. 
 Politically Mr. Marshall is a Republican, 
 with which party he has been identified 
 since attaining his majority. Fraternally 
 he is a member of Pingree Grove camp, 
 No. 655, M. W. A. In religion he is liberal 
 in his views. 
 
 SAMUEL S. BRILL, dealer in gen- 
 eral merchandise, St. Charles, Illi- 
 nois, is one of the young, active and en- 
 terprising business men of the place. He 
 was born in the city of Milwaukee, Wiscon- 
 sin, June 19, 1869. His father, Israel 
 Brill, is a native of Prussia, where he grew 
 to manhood and married. Emigrating to 
 the United States, he located in Milwaukee, 
 Wisconsin, and a few years later removed 
 to Chicago, and has since been an active 
 business man of that city. 
 
 Samuel S. Brill grew to manhood in 
 Chicago, and was educated in its public 
 schools. He is one of seven children born 
 to his parents, all of whom are living: Lena, 
 wife of M. Davidson, a business man of Mil- 
 waukee; Joseph, a civil engineer, married 
 and residing in New York; Samuel S., 
 of this review; Charles, who is married and 
 in business in Chicago; Isaac, holding a re- 
 sponsible position in Chicago; Simon, who 
 is clerking for our subject at St. Charles; 
 and Anna, at home. 
 
 When quite young, our subject began 
 clerking in a mercantile establishment in
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 627 
 
 Chicago, and for about ten years was thus 
 employed, receiving a thorough and practi- 
 cal business training. In 1891, he came to 
 St. Charles, put in a stock of general mer- 
 chandise and commenced business for him- 
 self. He was soon, however, burned out, 
 meeting with a severe loss, but with true 
 Chicago grit, within ten days he was again 
 selling goods. By fair dealing, he has built 
 up an extensive trade, and carries one of 
 the largest and most complete stocks of gen- 
 eral merchandise in St. Charles. In the 
 seven years that he has been engaged in 
 business, in this place, he has built up a 
 trade second to none, and as a reputable 
 business man, he is respected and honored 
 by all. 
 
 Mr. Brill was united in marriage in Chi- 
 cago, March 18, 1893, to Miss Jennie Wins- 
 berg, a native of Germany, but who was 
 reared and educated in Chicago. They 
 have one son, Leon L , a bright little lad of 
 three years, and a daughter, Blanche. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Brill is independent, 
 taking no active part in political affairs, his 
 taste and inclination running in the direc- 
 tion of business, rather than politics. An 
 almost lifelong resident of Illinois, he is now 
 thoroughly identified with the interest of 
 St. Charles and Kane county and by its 
 people is held in the highest esteem. 
 
 PHILIP SCHICKLER, the leading to- 
 bacconist and cigar manufacturer of 
 Aurora, Illinois, was born in Obendorf, Ba- 
 varia, June 5, 1837, and is the son of John 
 and Anna (Bolei) Schickler. The father 
 was a native of the same country, where he 
 lived and died. By occupation he was a 
 farmer. The mother died since Philip came 
 to the United States. They were the par- 
 
 ents of five children, as follows: Henry, yet 
 residing in the old country; Christopher, 
 now living in Aurora; John, who died in the 
 old country in 1897; Philip, our subject; 
 and Peter, who died in Aurora. 
 
 Philip Schickler left Bavaria for the 
 United States in the spring of 1851, when 
 but sixteen years of age. Landing in New 
 York City, from there he went to Syracuse, 
 New York, where he remained five years, 
 and was engaged in the tobacco and cigar 
 business. He then came to Aurora, arriv- 
 ing here in the fall of 1856 where his broth- 
 er, Christopher, had settled. For a time 
 he worked for the Chicago, Burlington and 
 Quincy Railroad Company, and in 1864 
 started up in the tobacco and cigar trade 
 in company with C. Hoffman. This part- 
 nership was dissolved in 1877, Mr. Schick- 
 ler selling out. However, he soon opened 
 up business again, at 89 Fox street, where 
 he has since remained. 
 
 Mr. Schickler was married at Aurora to 
 Miss Augusta Eitegeorge, a native of Ger- 
 many. By this marriage six children were 
 born Emma, now the wife of Fred Weis- 
 senger, living in Aurora; Louise, at home; 
 Phillip, now in the cigar and tobacco busi- 
 ness at Elgin, and who married Clara Eich- 
 born, of Aurora, by whom he has one 
 child, Paul; Carl, who married Gertrude 
 Trautan, of Aurora, is now assisting his fa- 
 ther; George, who married Maud Moore, of 
 Aurora; and Rosa, a teacher in the public 
 schools, residing at home. Religiously, 
 Mrs. Schickler is a member of the Lutheran 
 church. In politics, Mr. Schickler usually 
 supports the Democratic party, but 1896 
 supported the Republican ticket. 
 
 For his trade, Mr. Schickler carries a 
 full line of tobacco and cigars, manufactur- 
 ing most of the latter. He employs on an
 
 628 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 average about nine men, and has built up a 
 prosperous business. His brand of cigars 
 are widely known and much sought after by 
 those who want a choice and reliable arti- 
 cle. Mr. Schickler has also a house in El- 
 gin, which is managed by his son who is 
 having a good trade. He has a good farm 
 in Banner county, Nebraska, and some real 
 estate in Aurora. By correct business prin- 
 ciples and integrity of purpose he has ac- 
 quired a competency, and by his pleasant 
 manners and genial disposition, he has made 
 hosts of friends, and is a credit to the coun- 
 try of his adoption. 
 
 THOMAS McCORMICK, a representa- 
 tive farmer of Virgil township, Kane 
 county, Illinois, owns and operates a farm 
 of two hundred acres on section 26, where 
 he is engaged in general and dairy farming. 
 He is a native of Du Page county, Illinois, 
 born January 26, 1856, and is the son of 
 Thomas and Ann (Mulvihill) McCormick, 
 both of whom were natives of County Longs- 
 ford, Ireland. They became the parents of 
 six children Bridget, Thomas, Katie, Mary 
 A. , Maggie and Tressie. 
 
 Thomas McCormick, Sr. , spent his boy- 
 hood and youth in his native country, and, 
 when a young man, came with his parents 
 to America. After looking the country over 
 to some extent, his father finally settled in 
 Du Page county, Illinois, where he engaged 
 in farming. Later the father of our subject 
 came to Virgil township, Kane county, where 
 he purchased forty acres of land and com- 
 menced its improvement. From time to time 
 he added to his original purchase until he had 
 two hundred acres, all of which he placed 
 under cultivation, and supplied the farm 
 with a good dwelling house and various out- 
 
 buildings, making it a number one farm. 
 Here he spent the last years of his life, dy- 
 ing December 14, 1893. He was a man 
 well respected in the community where he 
 so long resided. Religiously he was a mem- 
 ber of the Catholic church, of which body 
 his wife and family are also members. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared on 
 the farm, and was early learned the use of 
 farm implements, and was required to do 
 his share of farm work. After attending the 
 public schools he entered the academy at 
 Naperville, Du Page county, Illinois, where 
 he finished his school life. Since the death 
 of his father he has been living with his 
 mother and sisters, Katie and Tressie. The 
 mother is now seventy-six years old. Farm- 
 ing has been his life work, and he has had 
 little desire to make a change. In this 
 work he has been quite successful, and he 
 is a thorough, practical farmer. In poli- 
 tics he has been a life-long supporter of 
 Democratic principles, in all general elec- 
 tions casting his vote for the nominees of 
 that party. 
 
 CHARLES H. FISHER, a member of 
 the firm of Fisher & Mann, is one of 
 the ablest lawyers practicing at the Kane 
 county bar, and is also corporation counsel 
 for the city of Elgin. A man of sound judg- 
 ment, he masters his cases with masterly 
 skill and tact and is regarded as one of the 
 best jury advocates in Elgin. He is a log- 
 ical reasoner and has a ready command of 
 English. 
 
 Mr. Fisher was born in Pittsburg, Penn- 
 sylvania, February 22, 1864, and is a son 
 of Herman and Elizabeth (Blair) Fisher, the 
 former born in Baltimore, Maryland, of Ger- 
 man parentage, and the latter in Pennsyl-
 
 THOMAS McCORMICK.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 631 
 
 vania of Scotch ancestry. In their family 
 are four sons Elmer, a druggist of Port 
 Angeles, Puget Sound, Washington; Charles 
 H., of this sketch; Frank, inspector of the 
 port at Port Townsend, Puget Sound; and 
 Morris, an attorney of Port Angeles. From 
 the age of twelve the father was employed 
 as a canal boatman for many years, and 
 then conducted a boat supply grocery in 
 Newcastle, Pennsylvania, for some time. In 
 1887 he removed to Port Angeles, Wash- 
 ington, where he is now living retired, enjoy- 
 ing a well-earned rest, free from the cares 
 and responsibilities of business life. He has 
 filled various local offices of honor and trust 
 and is now serving as county trustee. The 
 mother is a consistent member of the Bap- 
 tist church. 
 
 George Fisher, the paternal grandfather 
 of our subject, was a native of Saxe Coburg, 
 Germany, where he learned the shoemaker's 
 trade. On coming to America in 1838, he 
 first located in Baltimore, Maryland, where 
 he spent some years, then removed to Pitts- 
 burg, Pennsylvania, and later to Rochester, 
 Pennsylvania, engaging in the boot and shoe 
 business at these places. He died at Wam- 
 pum, Pennsylvania, at the age of seventy- 
 four years. In his family were three sons 
 and three daughters. The maternal grand- 
 father of our subject, Robert Blair, was born 
 near Pittsburg, was a farmer by occupation, 
 and served as a soldier in the war of 1812. 
 During early manhood he was killed by a 
 horse. He had received a farm on Chartier's 
 creek in compensation for his services dur- 
 ing the war. His wife, who was born near 
 Pittsburg in 1800, died at Puget Sound in 
 1891. 
 
 Charles H. Fisher was about four years 
 old at the time of the removal of his parents 
 to Newcastle, Pennsylvania, where he later 
 
 acquired a good common-school education. 
 After working in the machine shops at 
 Titusville, Pennsylvania, for a time, he 
 came to Elgin in the spring of 1883, and 
 lor eighteen months was in the mail service, 
 running between Chicago and Minneapolis. 
 He then studied law in the office of the late 
 Robert M. Ireland and was admitted to the 
 bar in 1 886. He has won an enviable rep- 
 utation as a successful lawyer, and most 
 creditably served as city attorney for two 
 terms, and is the present corporation coun- 
 sel. 
 
 On the 1 5th of August, 1889, Mr. Fisher 
 was united in marriage to Miss Mary, daugh- 
 ter of George and Mary (French) Bayliss, 
 and to theni have been born three children 
 Elizabeth, Marian and Stella. They have 
 a pleasant residence at No. 338 St. Charles 
 street. Mr. Fisher belongs to the Knights 
 of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of 
 America, and his wife holds membership in 
 the Congregational Church. Politically he 
 is independent. The firm of Fisher & Mann 
 owns considerable real estate in Elgin and 
 vicinity, and, as attorneys, they are doing a 
 large and profitable business. Upright, 
 reliable and honorable, their strict adher- 
 ence to principle commands the respect of 
 all. 
 
 ROBERT CHILVERS, a popular con- 
 ductor on the Chicago, Burlington & 
 Quincy railroad, residing in Aurora, has 
 been in the employ of that company for 
 twenty-seven years. He dates his residence 
 in Illinois since 1852. He was born in 
 Lincolnshire, England, April 27, 1850, and 
 is the son of John T. and Alice (Garrod) 
 Chilvers, both of whom were also natives of 
 England. In 1852 the family came to
 
 632 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 America, and made their home in Downer's 
 Grove township, Du Page county, Illinois, 
 where the father bought a farm of one hun- 
 dred and twenty acres, which he at once 
 commenced to improve and which in due 
 time became one of the most valuable 
 farms in that locality. He continued to en- 
 gage in agricultural pursuits until his death, 
 August 29, 1882. His wife survives him, 
 and yet resides on the old homestead with 
 her youngest son. John T. Chilvers came 
 to this country a poor man, but he was en- 
 terprising and industrious, and honest, and 
 his death was a loss to the community. 
 
 Robert Chilvers is the oldest of the fam- 
 ily of seven sons and one daughter who 
 grew to mature years. He was but two 
 years of age when the family came to Du 
 Page county, and on the old farm he grew 
 to manhood, assisting his father when old 
 enough to hold the plow, working in the 
 summer months, and attending the district 
 school during the winter months. He re- 
 mained with his father until he attained his 
 majority, and coming to Aurora, engaged 
 with the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 
 railroad, first as brakeman on a freight 
 train, at which he worked for about three 
 years, and was then promoted conductor 
 on a freight train, and held that position 
 some twelve or thirteen years. In 1887 he 
 was given charge of a passenger train, on 
 which he has been conductor until the 
 present time. In all the time passed he has 
 never had a bad wreck, and no accident 
 worth mentioning since placed in charge of 
 a passenger train. His first run was from 
 Aurora to Streator, and he continued on 
 that run until 1889. 
 
 Mr. Chilvers was married at Naperville, 
 Illinois, in December, 1874, to Miss Susan 
 Ann Mackinder, a native of Illinois, born in 
 
 Fullersburg, and the youngest of a family of 
 five living children born to John and Lydia 
 Mackinder, both natives of England, and 
 who were among the early settlers of Du 
 Page county, Illinois. By this union are 
 four children Alice Lydia, now the wife of 
 George Davey, of Du Page county, Illinois; 
 Cyrus M., now in the employ of the Chi- 
 cago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Com- 
 pany; Charles Robert and Mabel S. V., at 
 home. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Chilvers was formerly a 
 Democrat, casting his first presidential vote 
 for Grover Cleveland, but of late years has 
 supported the men and measures of the Re- 
 publican party. Fraternally he is a Mason, 
 a member of the Blue Lodge, Chapter and 
 Commandery, and also a member of the 
 Order of Railway Conductors. In her re- 
 ligious belief, Mrs. Chilvers is a Christian 
 Scientist. Both are held in the highest 
 esteem. 
 
 VIGO VALDEMAR CHRISTIANSEN, 
 who has for many years been con- 
 nected with the Elgin Watch Factory, was 
 born at Ribe, Jutland, Denmark, February 
 4, 1853, and is a representative of a prom- 
 inent and honored family of that country, 
 his parents being Christian and Josephine 
 ( Veis ) Christiansen. The father was a 
 native of Schleswig-Holstein, but removed 
 to Jutland after the war of 1848. His 
 grandfather, Christian Christiansen, took 
 part in the Napoleonic wars, being a mem- 
 ber of the Danish army under Napoleon. 
 The father of our subject was also an officer 
 in the Danish army, enlisting as drummer 
 boy and rising to the rank of captain by 
 personal merit. He took part in the war 
 of 1848 against Schleswig-Holstein, and
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 633 
 
 also in the war of 1864. He was a man of 
 medium height, well built, of mild temper- 
 ament, good humored and of a gentle dispo- 
 sition. In 1892 he died in Ribe, Denmark, 
 but his widow is still living, residing on the 
 old homestead there, the house being one 
 of historical interest. It once belonged to 
 Anders Sorgensen Wedel, who was the first 
 to establish a printing press in Denmark. 
 This building is quite noted and is often 
 visited by tourists. Ribe was formerly the 
 capital and is a historical town of much in- 
 terest. The maternal grandparents of our 
 subject were Andreas and Jenssine Veis, ex- 
 tensive farming people. 
 
 The children born to Christian and Jose- 
 phine (Veis) Christiansen were as follows: 
 Peter, now a resident of Toledo, Ohio; 
 Maria Christina, wife of a Mr. Sverdrup, 
 a civil engineer in the employ of the British 
 government at Cape Town, Africa; Andreas, 
 a dealer in books and stationery at Copen- 
 hagen, Denmark; Vigo V., of this review, 
 and Ida Wilhelmina, wife of Carl Hoffman, 
 a native of Holland, who was a trader, 
 sailing his own vessel, and is now a farmer 
 in Cape Town. 
 
 Mr. Christiansen, of this sketch, at- 
 tended the public schools of Ribe until his 
 graduation at the age of fourteen years, 
 and then served a five and a half years' ap- 
 prenticeship to the watch-maker's trade. 
 He then went to Hadersleben, Schleswig, 
 where he worked for three years, and from 
 that place went to Copenhagen, where he 
 was in the employ of the successors of Ur- 
 ban, JOrgensen, celebrated watch makers, 
 remaining with them until he came to the 
 United States. He was drafted for service 
 in the Danish army, but avoided the enroll- 
 ment, and succeeded in leaving the country 
 before the officers could muster him, sailing 
 
 in November, 1873, and making the voyage 
 in three weeks on the Gellert-Inman line. 
 
 On reaching the shores of the New 
 World, Mr. Christiansen proceeded to Tol- 
 edo, Ohio, where his brother was living, 
 and there worked at his trade for about six 
 months. Coming to Chicago, he was in 
 the employ of Hamilton & Rowe for one 
 year, and then went to Galesburg, Illinois, 
 to take charge of the watch department 
 of Trask & Gentry, Mr. Trask being a si- 
 lent partner of the firm of Hamilton & 
 Rowe. After three years spent in Gales- 
 burg .he came to Elgin, and has since been 
 employed in the finishing department " A " 
 of the Elgin Watch Factory. He also con- 
 ducts a private school at his home, instruct- 
 ing his pupils in horology. He is an expert 
 watch maker, being thoroughly fitted for 
 his work by long experience with the most 
 skilled workmen in that line in his native 
 land. 
 
 In Chicago, Mr. Christiansen was mar- 
 ried May 25, 1880, to Miss Helen McCuth- 
 en, who was born in Galesburg, January 12, 
 1857, her parents, John P. and Caroline 
 (Miller) McCuthen, being early settlers of 
 Knox county, Illinois. They are now liv- 
 ing in Kansas City, Missouri. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Christiansen have two very bright and 
 pretty daughters Carrie Jane and Helen 
 Marian. The parents hold membership in 
 the Universalist church. 
 
 In political sentiment Mr. Christian is a 
 stalwart Republican. Possessing a splen- 
 did tenor voice, he has become a very pop- 
 ular singer in Elgin, and is much sought 
 after in musical circles. He has ever taken 
 a great interest in musical affairs, has been 
 leader of the Universalist and Congrega- 
 gational church choirs, and is now the 
 leading tenor in the Baptist church. He
 
 634 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 is also a prominent member of the Philhar- 
 monic Society of Elgin, and in social as 
 well as musical circles has gained a host of 
 warm friends. 
 
 JOHN A. HASLER, engineer and electri- 
 cian of the village of Hampshire, occu- 
 pied a position, the responsibility of which 
 is recognized by few people. The safety 
 and comfort of dwellers in cities, and the 
 occupants of skyscraping office and apart- 
 ment buildings, depends on the engineer. 
 Lives of these millions, who are each year 
 safely carried on railroads and steamships, 
 is due to the watchful care of the engineer. 
 Too little thought and credit is given to this 
 vocation, upon which so much depends. 
 
 John A. Hasler was born in Brookfield 
 township, Waukesha county, Wisconsin, 
 May i, 1857, and is the son of John Has- 
 ler, who was born at Ulm, Wurtemberg, 
 Germany, who married Lucy Kreider, also 
 a native of Ulm. They were married in 
 Waukesha county, Wisconsin, and to them 
 were born three children John A., our sub- 
 ject; Lucy, wife of Charles Huber, a farmer 
 of Cortland township, De Kalb county; and 
 George, who is engaged in farming, lives in 
 Genoa, De Kalb county. In 1862, the fam- 
 ily moved to Elgin, and four years later to 
 Sycamore, Illinois. His education, began in 
 the public schools of Elgin, was completed 
 in the schools of Sycamore, when sixteen 
 years of age. At the age of seventeen he 
 began to learn the trade of an engineer, un- 
 der the instruction of an uncle in Sycamore. 
 For three years he was fireman for his uncle, 
 during which time he studied the theory and 
 practice of steam engines, in books on the 
 subject, to fit himself for passing examina- 
 tion. 
 
 In 1883, Mr. Hasler came to Hampshire, 
 and took full charge of the engines of the 
 brick and tile works, and for seven years 
 and seven months filled the position to the 
 satisfaction of employers. Desiring a more 
 active outdoor occupation, he resigned his 
 position with the tile company, and went 
 into the well and windmill business, sinking 
 wells and erecting windmills, over portions 
 of the four counties, commencing near 
 Hampshire. He was in this business from 
 1890 to 1897. On June 8, 1897, he again 
 accepted a position as engineer for the tile 
 works, and electric plant, which they had 
 added to their business. 
 
 Mr. Hasler was married in Genoa, Illi- 
 nois, November 28, 1878, to Eliza Heath, 
 born in Genoa township, a daughter of John 
 Heath, a native of Argyle, Washington 
 county, New York, born February 16, 1817, 
 and who died in September, 1893, at the 
 age of seventy-six years. He was the son 
 of Isaac and Elizabeth (Alger) Heath, na- 
 tives of New York. John Heath was fifth 
 in their family of nine children. At the 
 age of twenty, he became a deck hand on a 
 sloop on the Hudson river, in which occu- 
 pation he was engaged for two years. He 
 then went to New Orleans and there worked 
 for a time, then came to Genoa township, 
 De Kalb county, Illinois, in the fall of 1846, 
 where he bought eighty acres on section 34. 
 He was first married May 24, 1846, to 
 Elizabeth McQuarie, in Chatham, Ontario, 
 who was a native of the state of New York. 
 By that marriage three children were born, 
 Webster, who married Maggie Dano, and 
 lives in Sac county, Iowa; Eliza, wife of 
 our subject; and Diana, deceased. Mrs. 
 Elizabeth Heath died July 24, 1859. Mr. 
 Heath again married, January 24, 1860, in 
 Genoa, De Kalb, Miss Hannah Shurtliff,
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 635 
 
 born in Canada. Bythe second union were 
 five children, as follows: Libbie, who mar- 
 ried Oscar Davis, and resides on the home 
 farm on section 34; Mabel married M. Le- 
 Fevre, and lives in Iowa; Lillian married 
 D. H. Moore, and lives in Hampshire; 
 Emily married Alfred Moore, and lives in 
 Genoa, and John, who died at the age of 
 sixteen. 
 
 In 1893, our subject built an unusually 
 neat cottage, in the village of Hampshire, 
 which is nicely furnished, and is comforta- 
 ble and homelike. Fraternally he is a mem- 
 ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
 lows, Modern Woodmen of America, and 
 Royal Neighbors. Mrs. Hasler is also a 
 member of the latter order. In politics he 
 is a Republican. 
 
 MO. SOUTHWORTH, judge of the 
 county court of Kane county, and a prac- 
 ticing attorney of Aurora since 1 870, was born 
 in. La Salle county, Illinois, April I, 1841, 
 and is the son of George A. and Cornelia B. 
 (Bowen) Southworth, both New England 
 Pilgrim families. They came to Illinois in 
 1835, residing first at Aurora, then Chicago, 
 and in "1837 removed to La Salle county, 
 where the family resided until 1870, when 
 they returned to Aurora, where George A. 
 Southworth died in 1871. His widow is 
 still living and in excellent health, spending 
 her time alternately with her son, and a 
 daughter, Mary, wife of A. D. Southworth, 
 of Northfield, Minnesota, the oldest of their 
 two children. 
 
 M. O. Southworth obtained his educa- 
 tion in the public schools of La Salle coun- 
 ty, at Batavia Institute, and then entered 
 Beloit College, where, after pursuing the 
 regular classical course, he graduated in 
 
 1863. Afterwards he took up the study of 
 law and graduated from the law depart- 
 ment of Michigan University. He came to 
 Aurora in 1870 and has been in active prac- 
 tice since that time. Was city attorney for 
 three terms, and in 1894 was elected judge 
 of the county court, which position he still 
 fills, and has recently been renorninated by 
 the Republican party for a second term. 
 
 Mr. Southworth was married in 1866 to 
 Miss Gabrielle Mills, daughter of Joel Mills, 
 an old settler of Will county, Illinois, and 
 they reside on Fox street, Aurora. The 
 family has been Congregational in religious 
 sentiment from Puritan times, and M. O. 
 Southworth, though not a member, is a 
 trustee of the First Congregational church 
 of Aurora. It is fair to say that he has been 
 a careful and successful attorney, and is re- 
 spected by his neighbors. 
 
 WALTER S. FRAZIER is one of the 
 men who have given name and fame 
 to the city of Aurora. He was born in the 
 village of Tully, Onondaga county, New 
 York, August 31, 1835. His father was 
 William J. Frazier, a native of Saratoga 
 county, New York, who moved at an early 
 day to Tully, then to Fabius, conducting a 
 profitable business in the clothing trade. 
 William J. Frazier was one of the original 
 old time abolitionists, way back in 1840-44, 
 and was active in the organization of the 
 party and in the support of its candidates 
 when there were but little signs of success. 
 He was a strong temperance man, and for a 
 long time was a member of the Baptist 
 church of Fabius, but withdrew from it be- 
 cause the deacon who passed the commun- 
 ion cup was a liquor dealer. The Frazier 
 family dates back to 912, when a Bourbon
 
 636 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 nobleman, Julian de Berry by name, having 
 presented some fine strawberries to King 
 Charles of France, the latter knighted him 
 and substituted the name Fraize, meaning 
 strawberry, for that of de Berry. As the 
 family spread to other countries the name 
 was written in other forms. In Scotland, 
 from which the branch to which the subject 
 of this sketch belongs, the members were 
 known as Fraser, Frasier, Frasare, Frazer, 
 Frisel, Fresel and Frezel, which were used 
 interchangeably according to the fancy of 
 the writers. These varied spellings, some 
 of them very old, are preserved in the pub- 
 lic documents of those times, and there are 
 instances where the same individual, a lord, 
 appears as Simon Fraser and again as Si- 
 mon Frizel. The French dictionaries give 
 "Fraisier" for a strawberry plant. The 
 Frazier family was planted in Scotland 
 about the time ot the invasion by William 
 the Conqueror, and became a numerous and 
 powerful clan in Inverness-shire. At this 
 day, it is said, fully one-eighth of the total 
 population of the town of Inverness, a city 
 seventeen thousand, bear the name of 
 Fraser. There is an authenic record of the 
 family dating from 1165. The clan Fraser 
 took part in many of the bloody wars waged 
 on Scottish soil, and were especially active 
 under the banner of King Charles when he 
 led his army into England against Crom- 
 well. At the battle of Worcester, Sep- 
 tember 3, 1651, the Scottish army was 
 routed, and the following year nearly five 
 hundred of the prisoners taken by Crom- 
 well's troops, doubtless including Frasers, 
 were transported to Boston. At about 
 this time, and perhaps from this event, 
 dates the founding of the family in Amer- 
 ica. The direct ancestor in this country of 
 our subject was James Fraser, who, it is 
 
 thought, eluded capture at the time of the 
 defeat of King Charles and escaped to 
 America, arriving in Boston in 1652, when 
 he was about twenty-six years old, living at 
 what is now called Jamaica Plain until his 
 death. The land he acquired was in the 
 possession of the family for one hundred 
 years. In order to avoid arrest and per- 
 haps execution by the emissaries of Crom- 
 well, he changed his name to Frissell, by 
 which some of the clan had previously been 
 known. He died February 6, 1716, aged 
 ninety years, leaving five sons and three 
 daughters. It is from his second son, Sam- 
 uel Frissell, that the Fraziers descend. 
 The genealogy is as follows: James Frissell 
 settled in Boston in 1652 and died in 1716. 
 Samuel Frissell, his second son, born in 
 1663, died in 1718. Samuel Frissell, the 
 second, born in 1700, of whom there is no 
 record of death. Reuben Frizel, born in 
 1742, died in Leyden, Massachusetts, Octo- 
 ber 31, 1822. Michael Frazier (who was 
 the first to return to the former name), 
 born in 1770, died in 1848. William J. 
 Frazier, born in 1809, now in his eighty- 
 ninth year, is living in Aurora, Illinois. 
 Walter S. Frazier, born in 1835, now 'i y ~ 
 ing in Aurora. The family name was re- 
 stored to its original form of Frazier in 
 1806 by Michael, who had moved from 
 Leyden, Massachusetts, to Fulton county, 
 New York, with his father-in-law, David, 
 Page, Sr. , of Bernardston, Massachusetts, 
 whose wife was Sally Cunnabell. The 
 mother of Walter S. Frazier was Matilda 
 (Winegar) Frazier, daughter of Stephen and 
 Sally (Tuttle) Winegar, among the early 
 residents of Fabius. Stephen Winegar was 
 a son of John Winegar, a mill owner of 
 Lee, Massachusetts, a noted soldier of the 
 Revolutionary war.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 637 
 
 The boyhood of Walter S. Frazier was 
 passed at Fabius, where he attended the 
 district schools, afterward receiving an aca- 
 demical education at the Homer and Pom- 
 pey Hill Academies. When he was eight- 
 een years old, he took a position as clerk 
 in a dry-goods store at Syracuse, New 
 York, and served five years, being then 
 promoted to a bookkeeper's place. In 1857 
 he came to Chicago, light in purse, and se- 
 cured a clerkship in the office of the city 
 comptroller. He was soon made the chief 
 clerk, and retained the position about five 
 years, when he resigned to accept the office 
 of clerk of special assessments, to which he 
 had been appointed by the board of public 
 works. He was the Republican nominee 
 in 1863 for clerk of the recorder's court of 
 that city, but was defeated, all the candi- 
 dates on the Democratic city ticket being 
 elected by small majorities. In 1865 he 
 was elected clerk of the house of represent- 
 atives of the state of Illinois, and was given 
 the credit by members, state officers and 
 the press of being the most efficient clerk 
 that branch of the legislature had ever had. 
 On his retirement he was presented with a 
 handsome gold watch and chain by the 
 members of the house. See House Jour- 
 nal, 1865, page 1 202. 
 
 In 1866, being apprehensive as to his 
 health, Mr. Frazier bought a fine farm on the 
 river road between Batavia and Geneva, in 
 Kane county, Illinois, and, after making ex- 
 tensive improvements in the way of new 
 buildings, etc., moved his family there. His 
 brother, William Page Frazier, had moved 
 to Chicago in 1862, and, in 1869, he also 
 settled near Batavia, where his father had 
 gone in 1864, with the main object of being 
 near his sons. 
 
 Walter S. Frazier sold his farm in 1870 
 
 and located in Aurora, where he soon at- 
 tained deserved prominence as a man of in- 
 tegrity, ability and great executive force. He 
 had no active business, but bred and devel- 
 oped trotting horses, as an aid to health 
 and a means of recreation. In this he was 
 very successful, and one of trie horses of his 
 training, called "Brother Jonathan," was 
 given a fast record and sold for twelve 
 thousand dollars. It was while thus en- 
 gaged with horses, in 1878, that Mr. Frazier 
 invented the road-cart, which has since 
 given him wide-spread reputation as a man- 
 ufacturer. He made the first one for his 
 own use, but its merit was so quickly appre- 
 ciated by the public, that in 1880 he secured 
 letters patent and began to manufacture 
 them for the market. In connection with 
 his sons, he now has a large manufacturing 
 establishment in which two hundred hands 
 are employed in the manufacture of all kinds 
 of road vehicles, and which has become one 
 of the most prominent industries in Aurora. 
 In 1855 Mr. Frazier was married at Syra- 
 cuse, New York, to Miss Mary Stevens, 
 daughter of Jacob Vanderbilt Stevens and 
 Hannah (Tallman) Stevens. Mrs. Frazier 
 died in 1880, leaving a family of four sons 
 Walter S. and Edward S., twin brothers, 
 born in 1863; Lincoln B., born in 1870; and 
 Floyd, born in '1873 and two daughters, 
 Anna and Hattie. Of the sons, Edward S. 
 married Mary Dunbar Holbrook, daughter 
 of Rev. Doctor Holbrook, of Aurora, by 
 whom he has two children:' Walter S., Jr., 
 married Clara Pfrangle, daughter of C. A. 
 Pfrangle, of Aurora, and a son has been 
 born of this union Walter S. Floyd mar- 
 ried Maud Harris, daughter of Hon. A. B. 
 Harris, of Aurora. Lincoln B. married 
 Bertha Plum, daughter of the late Samuel 
 Plumb, of Streator.
 
 638 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Mr. Frazier has done a great deal to 
 beautify and improve Aurora, and his efforts 
 in this line are recognized and appreciated 
 by his fellow townsmen. He has erected 
 some fine business buildings in the city, and 
 has been active in securing many public im- 
 provements. In political matters he is 
 prominent and influential, and has to a 
 large degree directed the shaping of political 
 events, not only in the city of Aurora, but 
 in Kane county and the congressional dis- 
 trict as well. For several years he was 
 chairman of the congressional district Re- 
 publican committee, the district being com- 
 posed of the counties of Kane, De Kalb, 
 Lake, McHenry and Boone. He was chosen 
 a member of the state central committee by 
 the state Republican convention of 1888, 
 being one of the executive board of that 
 body during the presidential campaign of 
 that year, giving to the work the full bene- 
 fit of his ripe experience, pre-eminent sa- 
 gacity and managerial ability. He was re- 
 elected in 1890 and in 1892, serving three 
 terms, six years in all. In the spring of 
 1891 he was asked to become a candidate 
 for mayor of Aurora on the citizens ticket, 
 and was elected by a large majority, serv- 
 ing a two-years' term. His prominence in 
 political affairs has given him a large and 
 pleasant acquaintance with public men 
 throughout the state. On the i6th of 
 March, 1 897, his excellency, Governor Tan- 
 ner, appointed him one of a board of three 
 trustees of the Northern Illinois Hospital 
 for the Insane, at Elgin, containing some 
 twelve hundred patients, and at the Gov- 
 ernor's request he was chosen president of 
 the board. The term expires in 1903. On 
 August 21, 1891, Mr. Frazier became the 
 owner of the ' ' Aurora Daily News, " the 
 oldest established daily newspaper in Au- 
 
 rora, now an influential paper of large cir- 
 culation, a property which he still owns 
 Soon after he purchased the paper he 
 erected the Daily News block, in which 
 it is domiciled. He is also a director in the 
 Merchants' National Bank, of Aurora, and 
 has been since its organization in 1888. 
 
 JONATHAN S. DAUBERMAN, an en- 
 J terprising and successful farmer, own- 
 ing and operating a farm of three hundred 
 acres, south of the village of Kaneville, has 
 been a resident of Kane county since 1856. 
 He was born in Center county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, June 1 6, 1850. He traces his an- 
 cestry back to Phillip Dauberman, a native 
 of Germany, who emigrated to the United 
 States on the ship Edinburgh, commanded 
 by Captain Russell, and landing in Phila- 
 delphia, September 30, 1754. From Phila- 
 delphia he went to Centre county, Penn- 
 sylvania, and was numbered among the 
 pioneers of that county. His son John 
 Dauberman was born in Center county, and 
 George Dauberman, the father of our sub- 
 ject and the son of John Dauberman, was 
 also born in that county. George Dauber- 
 man there married Matilda Spangler, also a 
 native of Centre county, Pennsylvania, and 
 a daughter of Jonathan Spangler. In 1856, 
 they came west, and located in Kaneville 
 township, Kane county, Illinois, where he 
 purchased a partially improved farm of two 
 hundred and forty acres, and to the further 
 development of which he bent his energies, 
 in due time erecting a fine dwelling, barns 
 and other outbuildings, and there his death 
 occurred in March, 1873. His good wife 
 passed away in 1857, leaving three children: 
 Jonathan S., our subject; Ellen, who makes 
 her home with her brother and sister; and
 
 J. S. DAUBERMAN.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 641 
 
 Ira Sterling, who is the present county clerk 
 of Marion county, Kansas, which has been his 
 home for some years. After the death of his 
 first wife, George Dauberman later married 
 Anna Harter, a native of Pennyslvania, who 
 is now deceased. She was the mother of 
 three children John W., a merchant of 
 Kaneville; McClellan,- who grew to man- 
 hood, but is now deceased; and Mary, who 
 died in young womanhood. McClellan 
 Dauberman started a store in Kaneville, 
 which he continued to run until his death, 
 when he was succeeded by his brother, 
 John. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood on the farm, and was educated in the 
 schools of Kaneville. He remained with 
 his father and assisted in carrying on the 
 farm until the latter's death, when he took 
 full charge of the place, and later purchased 
 the interest of the other heirs, since which 
 time he has materially improved the place, 
 remodeled the house, and built three good 
 barns, erected a windmill pump, with feed- 
 mill attachment, on which he is now placing 
 an engine for more power, and has made the 
 farm one of the best in the township. His 
 success as a farmer has been good, and he 
 has not only engaged in general farming, 
 but in dairying and stock raising as well. 
 
 In March, 1873, Mr. Dauberman was 
 united in marriage with Miss Mary Merrill, 
 a native of New Hampshire, who came to 
 Illinois when a child, with her father, 
 Thomas Merrill, who was one of the settlers 
 of 1855. By this union there are three 
 children George, Bertha and Clarence. 
 The first named is assisting his father in 
 management of the home farm. Bertha is 
 a well-educated young lady, who received 
 her education in the Kaneville public school 
 
 and graduated in the class of 1896, review- 
 si 
 
 ing her studies in the Normal School of Val- 
 paraiso, Indiana. 
 
 Mr. Dauberman is a lifelong Democrat, 
 and supports the men and measures of that 
 party in all general elections, but on local 
 issues gives his support to men rather than 
 party. His business interests have always 
 been such as to demand his time and atten- 
 tion, and he has therefore never held office, 
 save that of being a member of the school 
 board. In her religious faith, Mrs. Dauber- 
 man is a Baptist, holding membership in the 
 church of that denomination at Kaneville. 
 
 Coming to Kane county when but six 
 years of age, Mr. Dauberman has here spent 
 almost his entire life, and in the develop- 
 ment .o.f..his tow-nship has done as much as 
 almost any other' man. He is industrious 
 and energetic, and no man* stands higher in 
 the estimation of his fellow men. 
 
 JOHN W. GOODALE, who is engaged in 
 farming on section 30, Aurora town- 
 ship, came to Kane county, Illinois, in 
 1844. He was born in Washington county, 
 New York, June 28, 1822. The family are 
 of English descent and were among the 
 early settlers of Massachusetts, of which 
 state Josiah Goodale, the grandfather of 
 our subject, was born. He was a soldier in 
 the Revolutionary war, and fought for the 
 American independence. From Massa- 
 chusetts he moved to Vermont, and subse- 
 quently to Washington county, New York, 
 where he remained some years engaged in 
 farming and later returned to Vermont, 
 where his- death occurred. His son, David 
 Goodale, was born in Vermont, and from 
 there went to Washington county, New 
 York, where he married Betsy Welsh, a na-
 
 642 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 tive of Washington county, New York, and 
 a daughter of John Welsh, who was born 
 in Ireland, and came to the new world 
 when a child and here married a German 
 lady. David Goodale was by trade a mason, 
 which occupation he followed in New York. 
 After his family were grown, and some of 
 them had come west, he also followed them 
 and located on the farm of his son Josiah, 
 in Sugar Grove township, where his iast 
 days were spent. Of his family of five sons 
 and two daughters, all grew to mature 
 years. Maria married Luke Nichols, one of 
 the first settlers of Aurora, and both are 
 now deceased. Josiah came to Kane coun- 
 ty in 1844, and located a tract of one hun- 
 dred and sixty acres in Sugar Grove town- 
 ship, where he engaged in farming for some 
 years, then returned to New York, and there 
 died. John W. is the subject of this sketch. 
 Lockwood resides at Bristol Station, where 
 he was engaged in the hotel business. Eliza- 
 beth, the widow of William Yeldham, re- 
 sides in Aurora. George is a farmer resid- 
 ing in Oklahoma. 
 
 John W. Goodale was reared upon the 
 farm in Washington county, New York, 
 and received a limited education in its pub- 
 lic schools. He came to Kane county in 
 1844, and here joined Mr. Nichols, his 
 brother-in-law. He soon purchased a small 
 tract of land in Sugar Grove township, 
 which he sold at an advance, and then en- 
 tered eighty acres in Big Rock township. 
 On that tract he located and began its im- 
 provement. From time to time he bought 
 and sold other tracts in Big Rock township 
 and there resided a number of years. Sell- 
 ing his original farm, he boughtone hundred 
 and sixty acres in De Kalb county, and 
 there spent the winter; selling the same 
 at one thousand dollars advance, he re- 
 
 turned to Big Rock township and purchased 
 the old Gardner Mill property, which in- 
 cluded seventy acres of land, and engaged 
 in milling, continuing in that business for 
 eight or ten years. During that time he 
 bought the place where he now resides, 
 comprising one hundred acres, on which 
 some improvements had been made. He 
 has since built a good residence, large barn,- 
 and made other valuable improvements. 
 Mr. Goodale was united in marriage in Big 
 Rock township, March i, 1849, with Miss 
 Elizabeth Brackett, a native of Vermont, 
 and a daughter of Cyrus Brackett, who lo- 
 cated in Big Rock township about 1847. 
 By this union there are ten children, six 
 sons and four daughters, as follows: Frank, 
 married and engaged in business in Aurora; 
 Fred, deceased; Don, married and engaged 
 in farming in Sugar Grove township; Ella, 
 wife of Orin Robbins, a livery man of Piano, 
 Illinois; Lizzie, wife of George F. Hadden, 
 of Aurora; Cyrus, married and residing near 
 Fort Scott, Kansas; Webb, who is assisting 
 in carrying on the home farm; Emma, at 
 home; Katie, residing in Aurora, and Bert, 
 at home. 
 
 Mr. Goodale relates some hard experi- 
 ences of pioneer life. During the first years 
 in Kane county, he suffered very much with 
 the ague, which was very prevalent at that 
 time. He has seen many large herds of 
 deer, and flocks of wild pigeon, and other 
 game. Politically Mr. Goodale is a life- 
 long Republican, and his sons follow in his 
 footsteps. He is well known and respected, 
 having many friends throughout Kane and 
 adjoining counties. Coming to this county 
 a poor man, by his industry and thrifty 
 habits he has acquired a valuable property, 
 and has contributed his full share toward 
 the development of Kane county.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 643 
 
 GAIL BORDEN, whose fame is world- 
 wide, stands pre-eminent as one of the 
 benefactors of mankind. While naturally 
 of a modest and retiring disposition, his in- 
 ventions have been such as to bring him 
 prominently before the people, and those 
 who knew him best in this life hold him in 
 the highest honor and esteem. A native of 
 New York, he was born in Norwich Novem- 
 ber 6, 1 80 1, and was descended from New 
 England ancestry. Being the eldest of 
 seven children, he was at an early age made 
 to realize the nature and necessity of hard 
 work, and assisted his father in the cultiva- 
 tion of the home. farm. His educational 
 advantages were limited, but he profited by 
 those within his reach, and by self-study 
 and the reading of the better class of liter- 
 ature became a well-informed man. 
 
 In December, 1814, the father emigrated 
 with his family from New York to Coving- 
 ton, Kentucky, and upon the site of the 
 present city hall in that place our subject 
 cultivated a field of corn. In the spring of 
 1816 they removed to the territory of Indi- 
 ana, locating on the banks of the Ohio 
 river, ten miles below Madison, where Mr. 
 Borden resided until 1822. On account of 
 impaired health, he then went to Missis- 
 sippi, where he engaged in teaching school, 
 and also filled the position of county sur- 
 veyor and United States deputy surveyor. 
 In 1829 he went to Texas, where he en- 
 gaged in farming and stock raising. His 
 ability was soon recognized by the citizens 
 of that country, and in 1833 he was elected 
 a delegate from the Lavaca district to the 
 convention in San Felipe to define the posi- 
 tion of the colonies and to petition the 
 Mexican government for separation from the 
 state of Coahuila. He was also in charge 
 of the official survey of the colony, com- 
 
 piling the topographical map of Texas, and 
 had charge of the land office at San Felipe 
 up to the time of the Mexican intervention. 
 
 In 1835, with his brother, Thomas H. 
 Borden, he established a newspaper called 
 the "Telegraph and Texas Land Register," 
 at San Felipe, which was later transferred 
 to Houston, and was the first and only 
 newspaper issued in Texas during the war 
 for the independence of that colony. He 
 had its chief management and directed his 
 efforts toward resisting the establishment of 
 the central government by Santa Anna. 
 From this time on Mr. Borden was promi- 
 nently identified with the history of the 
 Lone Star state, and was an important fac- 
 tor in its development and progress. Upon 
 the establishment of the republic of Texas 
 he was appointed by President Houston as 
 the first collector of the port of Galveston. 
 This was in 1837 and the city had not been 
 laid out, and the first surveys were made by 
 Mr. Borden. His first dwelling there was a 
 rough board structure located on the bay 
 shore and erected by two carpenters in half 
 a day, and his office was in a room in what 
 was known as the Mexican custom house. 
 
 During the exciting events attending the 
 establishment of the republic of Texas and 
 its subsequent annexation as one of the 
 states of the American Union, Mr. Borden 
 was quietly making investigations which led 
 to one of the most important and beneficial 
 discoveries of the present century of great 
 discoveries. In 1849 his attention was 
 drawn to the need of a more suitable supply 
 of nourishment for emigrants crossing the 
 plains, which then required several months, 
 and after some experiments produced the 
 pemmican, which Dr. Kane carried with him 
 on his Arctic expedition. The meat biscuit, 
 an efficient form of portable concentrated
 
 644 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 food, was also invented by him. This arti- 
 cle gained for him the "great council 
 medal" at the London fair in 1851, and he 
 was elected an honorary member of the 
 London Society of Arts. 
 
 In the manufacture of this food he was 
 unsuccessful, in consequence of the opposi- 
 tion of army contractors, and therefore dis- 
 continued its production in 1853, having 
 sacrificed in it his entire fortune. He then 
 removed to the north and turned his atten- 
 tion to the study of a method for preserving 
 milk. The result of his investigation and 
 labors is known in the condensed milk so 
 widely used to-day. He applied for a patent 
 for "producing concentrated sweet milk by 
 evaporation of same," but it was three years 
 after his application was first made before it 
 was granted him. His first patent bears 
 date of August 18, 1856, while other pat- 
 ents were granted him May 13, 1862; Feb- 
 ruary 10, 1863; November 14, 1865, and 
 April 17, 1866. 
 
 While Mr. Borden was aware of the fact 
 that numerous attempts had been made to 
 preserve and solidify, milk as well as to find 
 acceptable substitutes for it, he believed 
 that all had proven failures more or less, 
 and he certainly found no products which 
 made a near approach to such excellence as 
 he believed to be attainable. He gave the 
 question much study and at length took out 
 seventy-five per cent, of the water, and 
 with the milk added a sufficient quantity of 
 pure granulated sugar to preserve it. 
 
 The first works for the condensing of 
 milk were established at Wolcottville, Con- 
 necticut, in 1856, and the following year a 
 factory was put in operation at Burrville. 
 The business grew rapidly during the Civil 
 war, when large quantities of the condensed 
 milk, preserved with refined sugar, were re- 
 
 quired by the Union armies. So quickly 
 did it develop that it necessitated the es- 
 tablishment of two other factories, one at 
 Livermore Falls, Maine, and the other at 
 Winsted, Connecticut. The Gail Borden 
 Eagle brand of condensed milk soon be- 
 came widely known, and has continued to 
 grow in public favor with every nation. In 
 1 86 1 the most important plant of the New 
 York Condensed Milk Company was located 
 at Wassaic, Dutchess county, New York, 
 while another factory was established at 
 Brewster, New York, in 1863; one at Wai- 
 kill in 1881; one at Millerton in 1892; one 
 at Deposit in 1894; and one at New Berlin 
 in 1895. 
 
 In 1860, in Connecticut, Mr. Borden 
 was united in marriage with Mrs. Emeline 
 Eunice Church, nee Eno, and widow of 
 Hiram Church, one of the early settlers of 
 Kane county. On the death of her first 
 husband, she returned to her old home in 
 Connecticut, where she formed the acquaint- 
 ance of Mr. Borden, which resulted in their 
 marriage. From his wife he learned of the 
 famous Fox river valley, and was not long 
 in perceiving that this region offered excep- 
 tional facilities for the extension of his won- 
 derful discovery. After making one or two 
 trips of investigation, in 1865, he had 
 erected at Elgin a modest factory, which 
 from time to time has been rebuilt and ex- 
 tensive additions constructed, until it is now 
 one of the largest and most complete plants 
 owned by the New York Condensed Milk 
 Company, known as the Illinois branch of 
 that company. Here is prepared on a most 
 extensive scale the Gale Borden Eagle 
 brand of condensed milk, of which millions 
 of cans are distributed throughout the west- 
 ern and southern sections of the country. 
 
 The growth of the western business of
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 645 
 
 the company was quite rapid, and it was 
 soon demonstrated that the Elgin factory 
 would not be able to supply the demand for 
 the company's product in the west, and a 
 plant was, therefore, established at Carpen- 
 tersville, one of the most complete factories 
 operated by the company. Another was 
 later established at Algonquin and one at 
 Belvidere. The offices which control this 
 immense business are located -at New York 
 City, Jersey City, Newark and Chicago, and 
 each place has one or more branch offices. 
 The extent of his business can scarcely be 
 realized. From a small business in 1856 it 
 has grown to be one of the most important 
 branches of the dairy industry. Nearly five 
 hundred million pounds of milk are annually 
 used by this one company in its various fac- 
 tories, and thousands of persons are inter- 
 ested directly andindirectly in the feeding of 
 cattle, care of milk the process of manufac- 
 ture and the distribution of the product. That 
 factories at Elgin and Carpentersville, in the 
 Kane county, have contributed largely to 
 the growth and prosperity of the county is 
 unquestionable. The stimulus given the 
 milk industry by the establishment of the 
 condensed milk factory at Elgin has been 
 the chief instrument in the development of 
 the butter trade, and to-day Elgin butter is 
 the standard throughout the entire country. 
 The Gail Borden Eagle brand of condensed 
 milk is known in all countries and is the 
 leading brand used in the majority of them, 
 having stood the test of all climates. 
 
 Mr. Borden also experimented with con- 
 densed meat juices, and produced an ex- 
 tract of beef of superior quality, which was 
 first manufactured in Elgin, but later an 
 establishment was erected especially for the 
 purpose in Borden, Texas, where the indus- 
 try was continued after his death. Subse- 
 
 quently he produced an excellent prepara- 
 tion of condensed tea, coffee and cocoa. 
 In 1862 he patented the process by means 
 of which the juice of fruits, such as apples, 
 currants and grapes, could be reduced to 
 one-seventh of its original bulk. His labors 
 were conducted with the utmost care and 
 perseverance, and his success was obtained 
 only through long, tedious and expensive 
 experiments, but his intense energy, un- 
 yielding tenacity and great ingenuity enabled 
 him to perfect his inventions, which have 
 so largely contributed to the good of hu- 
 manity. While Justus Von Liebig, sur- 
 rounded with the elaborate apparatus of his 
 well-appointed laboratory at Giessen, was ex- 
 perirnentingand prosecuting those researches 
 into the nature of flesh and animal juices, 
 which culminated many years later in the 
 production of "Extractum Camis," Gail 
 Borden, in the wilds of Texas, was inde- 
 pendently investigating the same problem 
 without scientific apparatus, and his labors 
 resulted in bringing him the great council 
 medal at the London fair in 1851. 
 
 Up to the time of his death Mr. Borden 
 gave personal supervision to his business, 
 and he is entitled to the entire credit of es- 
 tablishing the great industry of condensed 
 milk, prepared milk and pure fluid milk, so 
 invaluable to mankind. In the fall of 1873 he 
 came Elgin and purchased an elegant home 
 on Division street, with the intention of here 
 passing the remainder of his life. His 
 health being somewhat impaired, he went 
 south to spend the winter, and, at Colorado, 
 Texas, January 11, 1874, was called to the 
 upper and better world. In a brief period 
 he succeeded in amassing an immense for- 
 tune, but it was ever used for the good of 
 humanity, and his charity and liberality were 
 among his most marked traits. He pos-
 
 6 4 6 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 sessed an earnest Christian character and a 
 noble generosity and devotion to the wel- 
 fare of others, which has made his memory 
 cherished and revered by friends and ac- 
 quaintances. A companionable gentleman, 
 broad-minded and sincere, his life abounded 
 in kindness and courtesy to all, and in active 
 philanthropy and hearty co-operation in 
 every good work. 
 
 /">EORGE A. BEITH is a prominent 
 \~I farmer residing on section 28, Camp- 
 ton township. He was born in the town of 
 St. Charles, Kane county, Illinois, January 
 7, 1848. His parents, William and Mary 
 (Allen) Beith, were natives of Scotland, 
 the former born February 13, 1818, in the 
 town of Large, Ayrshire, Scotland, a few 
 miles from Greenock, and in young man- 
 hood learned the trade and business of con- 
 tracting and building, with his father, Rob- 
 ert Beith, who all his life carried on that 
 line of business in Scotland and in Kane 
 county, Illinois. Robert Beith and his wife, 
 Margaret (Fatten) Beith, with their family 
 of ten children, left their native land in 
 1844, settling in St. Charles, Illinois, where 
 they passed the remainder of their lives as 
 highly respected and honored citizens. She 
 died in 1871, while he survived her three 
 years, dying in 1874. Both were buried in 
 the St. Charles cemetery. 
 
 William Beith came to the United States 
 one year previous to the arrival of his fa- 
 ther's family, and his first contract in Amer- 
 ica was for the erection of the Congrega- 
 tional church at St. Charles, Illinois, in 
 1843. He subsequently erected many of 
 the prominent structures at that place and 
 in other parts of the county. His opera- 
 tions also extended to Chicago, and at that 
 
 time and for many years after, he was the 
 most prominent contractor and builder in 
 Kane county. About 1863, he partially re- 
 tired and has since resided on section 28, 
 Campton township, and occupied his time 
 in farming. With his life companion he is 
 now enjoying the rest and quietude so well 
 earned by a long and active business life, 
 he at the age of eighty-one years and she 
 aged seventy-seven years. He was largely 
 interested in introducing and starting the 
 manufacture of tile in Aurora, and has 
 been active in all enterprises of a public na- 
 ture calculated to benefit his vicinity or the 
 county of his adoption. In early life he 
 was a stanch Abolitionist and has always 
 been a firm believer in Christianity. His 
 marriage with Mary Allen was celebrated 
 at Glasgow in 1841. She was born at Dil- 
 ry, near his native place. 
 
 Our subject received his education in 
 the public schools of St. Charles, Illinois, 
 which was supplemented by a term in Bryant 
 & Stratton's Commercial College, Chicago. 
 He assisted his father on the home farm 
 from the age of fourteen until reaching ma- 
 turity, when he took full charge and worked 
 it on shares until 1884, at which time he 
 purchased the entire place, consisting of 
 four hundred acres of arable and pasture 
 land, and has since added an acreage of 
 seventy-two acres. He almost exclusively 
 confines his attention to dairy farming, grow- 
 ing only a sufficiency of oats and corn for the 
 consumption of his cows, which number 
 about one hundred and which he replenishes 
 annually with a car of new stock. The 
 milk he ships direct from Elburn to Chi- 
 cago. He secures bran from the Minneapo- 
 lis mills, which mixed with the home prod- 
 ucts, corn and oats, forms the staple food 
 of his cattle during the year. The barns,
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 647 
 
 sheds and facilities for grinding the food 
 for the cattle are all one might expect to 
 find on one of the finest improved and best 
 managed farms of Kane county. 
 
 Mr. Beith was married September 28, 
 1878, to Miss Lucinda Richmond, daughter 
 of Almond and Hannah (Smith) Richmond, 
 natives of Vermont, who came to Kane 
 county at an early day and settled in Camp- 
 ton township, where they resided until their 
 deaths, the mother dying in March, 1895, 
 the father in November, 1895. Both are 
 buried in the Garfield cemetery, of Camp- 
 ton township. To Mr. and Mrs. Beith have 
 been born a family of six children Robert, 
 Elizabeth, Mary, William A., Rachel and 
 Lucinda, twins. The last named died when 
 an infant, while the others are living and 
 all receiving good educations. 
 
 Our subject has two sisters. Mrs. Ra- 
 chel Day is the wife of Rev. W. F. Day, a 
 minister of the First Congregational church 
 of Los Angeles, California. She has one 
 son, a minister of the same denomination, 
 located at Aurora, Illinois. He is a gradu- 
 ate of Amherst College, Massachusetts, and 
 has traveled extensively in Europe. The 
 other sister, Priscilla, married Daniel Wheat- 
 on, by whom she has two children Mary, 
 wife of Adolphus Moody, of Judsonia, Ar- 
 kansas, and William, who lives with his 
 mother. Daniel Wheaton died in 1896, 
 and Priscilla is now the wife of David An- 
 derson, of St. Charles, where she now re- 
 sides. 
 
 Since the age of twenty-one years Mr. 
 Beith has held the office of school director. 
 In politics he is a Republican. With his 
 wife and three eldest children, he is a mem- 
 ber of the Congregational church of Elburn, 
 in which he has been treasurer and trustee 
 since 1891. As a citizen he has ever shown 
 
 a willingness to do his part in advancing 
 the material interest of township and 
 county. 
 
 WARREN S. LEE, justice of the peace, 
 Kaneville township, is one of the 
 best known men in the township, which has 
 been his home during his entire life. He 
 was born in the town of Kaneville, March 
 24, 1860, and traces his ancestry back to 
 Elijah Lee, of Connecticut, who was a 
 soldier in the Revolutionary war, serving 
 under General Israel Putnam. His son, 
 Asahel Lee, was also a native of Conecticut, 
 as was his grandson, Russell W. Lee, who 
 was born in Middletown, that state, June 20, 
 1822. The last named grew to manhood 
 in Middletown, and there married Sophronia 
 Spencer, also a native of Connecticut. 
 They were the parents of two sons and 
 three daughters, as follows: Isadora, who 
 died a young lady of eighteen; Mary A., 
 who died when about twenty years old; 
 Grace R. , now the wife of T. P. Flanders, 
 of Kaneville township; Warren S. , of this 
 review; and Brainard, who is married, and 
 owns and operates a farm in Kaneville 
 township. 
 
 About the time he attained his majority, 
 Russell W. Lee came to Kane county, Illi- 
 nois, and located in Kaneville township, 
 where he entered a tract of land, which he 
 fenced and at once began its cultivation. 
 After remaining here for about four years, 
 he returned to his old home in Connecticut, 
 where his marriage was solemnized. Com- 
 ing back with his bride, he here made his 
 home until his death in April, 1896. His 
 wife survives him, and makes her home 
 with her son, Brainard. Russell W. Lee 
 was a man of good education and was one 
 of the pioneer teachers of Kane county.
 
 648 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 By teaching in winters, and working on 
 farms by the month the remainder of each 
 year, he secured the means to make his 
 first purchase of land. He was a very 
 active and enterprising farmer, and at the 
 time of his death owned two farms, one of 
 which he himself improved. He was 
 elected and served in various positions of 
 trust and honor, serving as supervisor, as- 
 sessor and commissioner of highways. His 
 death was mourned by a large circle of 
 friends throughout the county. 
 
 Warren S. Lee grew to manhood on the 
 old home farm in Kaneville township, and 
 was educated in the common-schools. He 
 remained with his father, assisting in farm 
 work, until after he had attained his ma- 
 jority. After the death of his father, he 
 succeeded to a part of the estate. For 
 some years he was actively engaged in 
 farming, and later rented the place, since 
 which time he has engaged in various occu- 
 pations. While operating the farm he was 
 also engaged in buying and selling stock 
 and .dealing in farm lands, his operations 
 extending over Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, 
 South Dakota, and Wisconsin. In these 
 operations he was fairly successful, confin- 
 ing himself principally to unimproved lands, 
 which he held for an advance. He has 
 always been a very busy man, and was one 
 of the original stockholders in the County 
 Line Creamery Company. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Lee has been a lifelong 
 Democrat, the principles of which party 
 was instilled in his youth. He has been 
 quite active in local polities, was elected 
 and served two years as assessor, and in 
 1897, was elected justice of the peace, 
 which office he is now filling in a satisfac- 
 tory manner. In the conventions of his 
 party, he usually serves as a delegate, ex- 
 
 erting a good influence in its councils. Fra- 
 ternally, he is a member of the Modern 
 Woodmen of America of Kaneville, and is 
 the present consul. Religiously he is a 
 Baptist, a member of that church in Kane- 
 ville, where he has served in the choir for a 
 number of years. A lifelong resident of 
 the county, he has for years been identified 
 with various enterprises, calculated to ad- 
 vance its material interest, and is widely 
 and favorably known throughout Kane and 
 adjoining counties. 
 
 DAVID ANDERSON, who is now living 
 a retired life on his farm adjoining the 
 corporate limits of St. Charles, Illinois, was 
 for years one of its most enterprising 
 and successful farmers. He dates his resi- 
 dence in Illinois since 1849, and in Kane 
 county since 1860. A native of Scotland, 
 he" was bora.. a\. t Bell's Hill, near Glasgow, 
 May 6, 1823. His father, John Anderson, 
 was also a native of Scotland, and could 
 trace his ancestry back through a long line 
 of men and women prominent in the history 
 of Scotland. John Anderson married Isa- 
 bella Bissett, also a native of Scotland. By 
 occupation he was a farmer, in which line 
 he continued during his entire life. He 
 never left his native country, but there 
 reared his family and passed to his reward. 
 David Anderson grew to manhood in his 
 native land, and there married Elizabeth 
 Ray, also a native of Scotland. In 1849, 
 with his family, he emigrated to the United 
 States, first locating in Chicago, where he 
 found employment as a stationary engineer, 
 running an engine for a planing mill, and 
 later for two years was with a publishing 
 company. He made that city his home un- 
 til 1860. However, in 1854, he came to
 
 \ 
 
 DAVID ANDERSON.
 
 MRS. DAVID ANDERSON.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 653 
 
 Kane county and bought a tract of land, 
 which place comprises a part of his present 
 homestead. Locating on the place in 1860, 
 he at once began its further improvement, 
 making it a pleasant and attractive home. 
 While yet residing in Chicago he purchased 
 a number of city lots, on which he later 
 built several residences, and which he owned 
 for a number of years, finally disposing of 
 the same at a handsome profit. 
 
 After locating in Kane county, Mr. An- 
 derson purchased more land from time to 
 time until he now owns three hundred 
 acres, lying in St. Charles and Geneva 
 townships, but all adjacent to the city of 
 St. Charles. This property is finely im- 
 proved, having on it a substantial stone 
 residence, fronting the river, together with 
 large barns and other outbuildings. In this 
 residence he makes his home, but has an- 
 other fine house on the west part of the 
 farm, which has also good barns and other 
 outbuildings. A part of the place he some 
 years ago sold, and the same was platted 
 as an addition to St. Charles. It is now 
 covered with good residences and comfort- 
 able homes. In the improvement of his 
 adopted city he has done very much, at one 
 time deeding to it eleven acres of land, a 
 strip one hundred feet wide, which has been 
 converted into a boulevard from Geneva to 
 St. Charles. He also gave the Electric 
 Light Company one acre of land, on which 
 to erect its power house and other necessary 
 buildings. He has been connected with va- 
 rious enterprises which were supposed to be 
 of benefit to St. Charles. In the old con- 
 densing factory he took shares to the 
 amount of ten thousand dollars, which later 
 he lost, as the factory was burned and never 
 rebuilt. He was also connected with the 
 West side Creamery. During all the years 
 
 in which he has resided in Kane county, he 
 has been engaged in the dairy business in 
 connection with general farming. He be- 
 gan the dairy business while yet residing in 
 his native country, for two years engaging 
 in it at Glasgow. Mr. Anderson lost his 
 first wife in Chicago, where she died in 
 1858. She was the mother of two children, 
 that are yet living David R., of the firm 
 of Hack & Anderson, publishers of Chicago; 
 and Jennie S., wife of William Hack, senior 
 member of the firm just mentioned. In 
 1 86 1 Mr. Anderson was united in marriage 
 in St. Charles with Miss Mary Beith, a na- 
 tive of Scotland, born at Larges, and a 
 daughter of Robert and Margaret Beith, 
 both natives- of 'Scotland. Robert Beith 
 and his son, William; -were pioneers of Kane 
 county, Illinois, locating in St. Charles. 
 They were stone masons by trade, and many 
 of the stone buildings in and near St. 
 Charles, were constructed by them. Mrs. 
 Mary Anderson died April 13, 1896. She 
 was the mother of five children, four of 
 whom are yet living. Margaret is the wife 
 of Frank Hitchcock, who is engaged in the 
 livery business at Dundee, Illinois. John 
 J. died in infancy. Robert is unmarried, 
 and is carrying on the home farm, together 
 with the dairy business. William M. and 
 George N. are business men residing in 
 Chicago. 
 
 In October, 1897, in Elburn, Kane coun- 
 ty, Illinois, Mr. Anderson was united in 
 marriage with Mrs. Priscilla Wheaton, 
 widow of Daniel Wheaton, and a daughter 
 of William Beith, of Kane county. She 
 was reared and educated in St. Charles, 
 and in Blackberry gave her hand in mar- 
 riage to Daniel Wheaton, January 5, 1869. 
 They settled in White county, Arkansas, 
 where Mr. Wheaton bought several large
 
 654 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 tracts of land, and where he was success- 
 fully engaged in agricultural pursuits and 
 business until his death. He left a large 
 estate to his family. Mr. and Mrs. Wheaton 
 were the parents of five children, two of 
 whom are now living. The eldest, Mary, 
 is now the wife of Alpheus P. Moody, of 
 Judsonia, Arkansas, whose father, Rev. 
 Moody, was a minister of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church at Judsonia for some 
 years, the family being among the most 
 prominent people of White county. They 
 have two sons, Julius Clark and Powell 
 Clayton. William Wheaton, who makes 
 his home with Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, is a 
 student in the schools of St. Charles. 
 
 Politically Mr. Anderson is a stanch 
 Republican, a firm believer in the princi- 
 ples of that party. He has never desired, 
 nor would he ever hold office, giving his 
 time and attention to his extensive business 
 interests. He has been connected with the 
 Congregational church at St. Charles for 
 many years, being one of its most active 
 official members. He has ever contributed 
 liberally for the support of the church and 
 has given much to other benevolent pur- 
 poses. His wife is a devout member of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church. For forty- 
 nine years Mr. Anderson has been a resi- 
 dent of Illinois, thirty-eight years of which 
 time he has resided in Kane county. On 
 locating in Chicago he found a small city, 
 and in the years that have passed has wit- 
 nessed its growth, until it is to-day the sec- 
 ond city of importance on this continent. 
 The changes in Kane county have been no 
 less marvelous. Few men are better known 
 in northern Illinois than the subject of this 
 sketch. He is a man of unblemished char- 
 acter, and he and his estimable wife are 
 held in the highest esteem wherever known. 
 
 JOHN HENRY RICHARDSON, who re- 
 sides on section 26, Dundee township, 
 is recognized as one of the best farmers in 
 the township. His father, James Richard- 
 son, was born at Springtown, County Don- 
 egal, Ireland, in 1828, and died in Dundee 
 in 1873. He was reared in his native coun- 
 try, but lived fora time in Scotland. About 
 1849 he sailed for America, and settled in 
 Pennsylvania, first living fora time in Phila- 
 delphia. He lived in Pennsylvania until 
 1857, when he came to Dundee, where the 
 remainder of his life was spent. An hon- 
 est, industrious laboring man, he secured a 
 little home and a six-acre tract near the 
 village of Dundee, where he reared his fam- 
 ily. He married Katherine Raser, a native 
 of Pennsylvania, born May 6, 1831, by 
 whom he had nine children Mary Ann, 
 wife of John Rose, of Dundee; Robert W.; 
 John Henry, our subject; William James, 
 partner of our subject, residing in Chicago; 
 Isabella, living with her mother in Dundee; 
 Henrietta, wife of Charles Swyner, an em- 
 ployee of the watch factory in Elgin; Ann, 
 wife of Fred Wolaver, of Chicago; Anthony, 
 a milk dealer of Chicago; and Kittie May, 
 with her mother in Dundee. 
 
 James Richardson was a son of Anthony 
 Richardson, who married Isabella Hilliard, 
 and who owned a farm in Ireland, which is 
 still occupied by William Richardson, a half 
 brother of James. The mother of James 
 died when he was three years old, and he 
 was reared by an uncle until fourteen years 
 of age. He then worked at what he could 
 find to do, and for two years prior to com- 
 ing to America worked in the mines near 
 Glasgow, Scotland. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was born in 
 Manayunk, Chester county, Pennsylvania, 
 July 5, 1855, ar >d was two years old when
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 655 
 
 his parents moved to Dundee. Since that 
 time he has moved but once, when he came 
 to his present farm. He attended school 
 in Dundee until fourteen years of age, and 
 was then engaged in farm work for others 
 until 1875, when he rented for three years 
 a farm on shares. He next rented for five 
 years for cash rent. During this time the 
 farm was sold and at the expiration of his 
 lease in December, 1882, in partnership 
 with his brother, he purchased his present 
 farm of one hundred and seventy-eight 
 acres, lying just south of Dundee, and later 
 began the milk business in Chicago, his 
 brother, William J., taking charge of the 
 delivery there while he manages the farm. 
 They retail from six to seven hundred gal- 
 lons of milk in the city each day. 
 
 Mr. Richardson was married in Dundee, 
 August 21, 1882, to Miss Ann Maria Rich- 
 ardson, a native of Omagh, County Tyrone, 
 Ireland, and who came to America in 1880, 
 followed by her parents two years later. 
 She is a daughter of Johnson Richardson, a 
 contractor and builder, who was born in 
 Springtown, County Donegal, Ireland, in 
 1832. He there married Ann Jane Robin- 
 son, daughter of John Alexander Muldoon 
 Robinson, whose wife was Miss Maria Beatty, 
 her mother's maiden name being Earl. 
 John James Robinson, brother of Ann Jane 
 Robinson, served through the Civil war and 
 was for a time in Libby Prison, from 
 which he made his escape. Johnson Rich- 
 ardson and wife were the parents of four 
 children Isabel H., who married Will- 
 iam A. Bingham, a shipping clerk for the 
 Iron and Bolt Works at Carpentersville; 
 Annie M., wife of our subject; John James, 
 deceased; and Jane E., who married Charles 
 Murray, a painter of Chicago. 
 
 To our subject and wife six children 
 
 have been born: Ethel Josephine, William 
 James, Florence Luella, Stella May, Lil- 
 lian Mildred, and John Alexander. The 
 first named died at the age of two months. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Richardson are members of 
 the Episcopal church, and fraternally, 
 he is a member of the Dundee tent, 
 No. 17, K. O. T. M. Politically he 
 is a Democrat and has served as highway 
 commissioner and road supervisor. He is 
 an excellent farmer, thrifty and energetic, 
 and keeps his place under a high state of 
 cultivation. Part of his land lies in the river 
 bottoms while the remainder is on high 
 ground, well watered and well drained. 
 
 DORR BROTHERS, who are well- 
 known citizens of Sugar Grove town- 
 ship, reside on a fine farm comprising about 
 three hundred acres on section 8, which has 
 been in the family for nearly sixty years. 
 Marshall Dorr was born June 10, 1839, and 
 his brother, Haskell Dorr, was born March 
 22, 1844. Sullivan Dorr, the father of 
 Marshall and Haskell Dorr, was a native of 
 West Moreland, New Hampshire, born in 
 1809. His father, Asel Dorr, was a native, 
 of New England and died when Sullivan was 
 a child. The latter grew to manhood in his 
 native town and state, and there mar- 
 ried Elmira Gurler, who was born in Keene, 
 New Hampshire. In 1837, with his family 
 he came to Illinois by the way of the Erie 
 canal and the Great Lakes to Chicago, 
 which was then but a small village, giving 
 little idea of the prominence which it has 
 attained in the years that have passed. He 
 located near Ottawa, in La Salle county, 
 where he remained a short time and then 
 came to Kane county, where he purchased 
 the place in Sugar Grove township, on which
 
 656 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 his sons and one daughter yet reside. He 
 first entered a tract of one hundred and sixty 
 acres, to which he subsequently added other 
 land. Building a log house in which the 
 family could live, he then went to work and 
 fenced the claim and commenced the devel- 
 opment of the farm. For many years he 
 hauled all his produce to Chicago, where he 
 obtained the most of supplies for family use 
 and also purchased lumber for building 
 which in due time were erected. The trip, 
 which was with ox teams, required two or 
 three days going and coming. On this farm 
 Sullivan Dorr passed the remainder of his 
 life, dying May 22, 1888, at the age of 
 seventy-nine years. His wife passed away 
 in January, 1887. They were both highly 
 respected people and he was regarded as 
 one of the most progressive farmers in the 
 township, and few men had more friends in 
 Kane county. 
 
 Marshall Dorr grew to manhood on the 
 farm and was educated in the common 
 schools of the neighborhood, supplemented 
 by one term in the seminary at Aurora. 
 When the war for the Union commenced he 
 had just attained his majority, and one year 
 later, on August 12, 1862, he enlisted as a 
 member of Company E. , One Hundred and 
 Twenty-fourth Regiment Illinois Volunteer 
 Infantry, with which he went south into 
 Kentucky and Tennessee. During his term 
 of enlistment he participated in a number of 
 prominent engagements, among which were 
 Raymond, Mississippi, Jackson, Tennessee, 
 Baker's Creek and the siege and surrender 
 of Vicksburg. In the vicinity of the latter 
 city the regiment remained about one year 
 and then went to New Orleans and Mobile 
 Bay, at which place it participated in the 
 engagement. From Mobile the regiment 
 was sent to Montgomery, Alabama, where 
 
 it remained until the close of the war, being 
 mustered out at Vicksburg, August 16, 1865. 
 From Vicksburg he went to Chicago, was 
 there paid off and received his final dis- 
 charge. 
 
 After receiving his discharge, Mr. Dorr 
 returned to his home in Sugar Grove town- 
 ship, since which time he and his brother 
 have been engaged in the cultivation of the 
 home farm. They are considered good 
 practical farmers and have been fairly suc- 
 cessful in life. The brothers are stanch 
 Republicans and each have supported the 
 men and measures of that party since attain- 
 ing their majority. They have never sought 
 office of any kind and care nothing for offi- 
 cial honors. Marshall, however, was elected 
 and served one term as township collector. 
 They are well known in Aurora and other 
 parts of the county, and are men of exem- 
 plary habits and upright character. Their 
 home is presided over by their sister, Filissa. 
 Another sister, Imogine, is now the wife of 
 William Baker, a farmer of Sugar Grove 
 township. One sister, Ellen, grew to ma- 
 ture years, and died November I, 1877, at 
 the age of twenty-six years. 
 
 REV. GEORGE H. WELLS, pastor of 
 the Methodist Episcopal church at 
 Hampshire, Illinois, was born at Fulton, 
 Missouri, May 18, 1839. His father, Aaron 
 Wells, was born in Nicholas county, Ken- 
 tucky, at Lower Blue Licks, in 1805, and 
 died in 1871, at the age of sixty-six years. 
 Like most Kentuckians, he was tall and 
 muscular. The old farm at Lower Blue 
 Licks comprises eight hundred acres, and is 
 now owned by a cousin of our subject who 
 is six feet, six inches in heighth. The 
 family are long lived, the mother of Aaron
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 657 
 
 Wells living to be one hundred and four 
 years old. By trade Aaron Wells was a 
 blacksmith in early life and for some years 
 was a commission merchant at Mexico, 
 Missouri, and Sterling, Illinois. He mar- 
 ried Elizabeth Young, a daughter of Jacob 
 Young. She was born in Kentucky in 1799, 
 and died at the age of seventy-one years. 
 They were the parents of six children, three 
 of whom are now living. Three of their 
 sons served in the Civil war; one was killed 
 by Quantrell's men. 
 
 The subject of this sketch attended 
 school at Fulton, Missouri, and colleges at 
 Fulton, St. Charles and Fayette, all in 
 Missouri. Later he attended the university 
 at Evanston, Illinois. He began teaching 
 in Missouri and spent some years in the 
 schoolroom as a teacher. He taught in 
 Missouri country schools during the war. 
 For one year he was principal of the school 
 at Praneville, Illinois, at Augusta, two years, 
 El Paso, one year, and one year at Ply- 
 mouth, and two years at Dixon seminary. 
 He began theological studies when he began 
 teaching, and pursued a four-years' course 
 after he entered Rock River conference. 
 He was licensed as a local preacher in 1861, 
 and in the fall of 1873 united with the Rock 
 River conference. His first charge was at 
 La Salle, followed by Savanna, Council Hill, 
 Dakota, Scales Mound, New Milford, Rich- 
 mond, Nunda, Marengo, Rock Falls, Malta, 
 and Hampshire, being appointed to the 
 latter place in October, 1895. 
 
 Mr. Wells was married at Morrison, 
 Illinois, March 30, 1868, to Miss Lou Sea- 
 mon, who was born in River Phillips, Nova 
 Scotia, and was a daughtur of |:iiin-s S. and 
 Cynthia O. (Johnson) Seaman, the former 
 a native of Kings county, Nova Scotia, and 
 the latter of Cumberland county, Nova 
 
 Scotia. Mr. and Mrs. Wells have two sons 
 Rev. George A. , a Methodist Episcopal 
 minister, at Stewart, Illinois, who married 
 Maude Adell Smith, by whom he has one 
 child, Verna Madge; and Harry S. , who is 
 now attending the Northwestern University 
 at Evanston, Illinois. 
 
 In politics Mr. Wells is a Prohibitionist, 
 but was formerly a Republican, but voted 
 for William McKinley and Hopkins. It is 
 as a minister of the Gospel that he takes 
 delight. His heart is in the work and his 
 desire in life is to do good to his fellow men. 
 
 JOEL WAGNER is the owner of two 
 valuable and well-improved farms in 
 Big Rock township, but is now living a re- 
 tired life in the village of Big Rock. He 
 dates his residence in Kane county since 
 1851. A native of New York, he was born 
 in Fort Plains, Montgomery county, Novem- 
 ber 11, 1834, and is the son of Truman 
 Wagner, also a native of the same county 
 and state. The \Vagner family are of Ger- 
 man ancestry, and trace their origin to Jo- 
 seph Wagner, who came with his parents 
 to the new world when a lad of four years. 
 Charles Wagner, the grandfather of our 
 subject, was likewise born in Montgomery 
 county, and served his country in the sec- 
 ond war with Great Britain, in which he 
 held a commission. Some of the members 
 of the family "served in the Revolutionary 
 war. 
 
 Truman Wagner was reared in Mont- 
 gomery county, New York, and there mar- 
 ried Katy Snyder, a native of the same 
 county and a daughter of Lodowic Snyder, 
 of German extraction. In 1837 Captain 
 Charles Wagner came with his family to 
 Kane county, Illinois, and located on a por-
 
 658 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 tion of the present site of Aurora, and took 
 up a claim and later entered the land. He 
 was one of the first settlers of the village, 
 where he died at the age of eighty years. 
 Truman Wagner engaged in fanning in St. 
 Lawrence county, New York, and also in 
 the manufacture of lumber. In 1851 he 
 came to Kane county, Illinois, and bought 
 land in Big Rock township, his first pur- 
 chase being two hundred and forty acres, 
 which was fairly well improved with a log 
 house, a log stable and an orchard of bear- 
 ing trees. He at once commenced the fur- 
 ther improvement of the place, erecting a 
 substantial brick house, with good barns 
 and other outbuildings. He was a success- 
 ful farmer, and here spent his last years, 
 dying in 1871. His wife survived him a 
 number of years. 
 
 Joel Wagner is the oldest of a family of 
 three sons and three daughters born to Tru- 
 man and Katy Wagner. All grew to ma- 
 ture years. The second in order of birth 
 was Hiram D. , who now resides in the vil-' 
 lage of Hinckley, De Kalb county, where 
 he is engaged in banking, and also in the 
 grain and lumber trade, being recognized as 
 one of the most prominent men of the town- 
 ship. Kate M. is now the wife of W. H. 
 Hall, a business man of Springfield, Illinois. 
 Laura is the wife of Archie Miller, now liv- 
 ing a retired life in the village of Hinckley. 
 Lydia is the wife of J. F. Jackson, a farmer 
 residing near Hinckley. Charles, who was 
 a soldier in the war for the Union, a mem- 
 ber of the Fifty-second Regiment, Illinois 
 Volunteer Infantry, was taken sick and re- 
 moved to the St. Louis hospital, and there 
 died. 
 
 Joel Wagner came to Kane county, Illi- 
 nois, when sixteen years of age. In his na- 
 tive state he had good educational advan- 
 
 tages, and on his arrival in Kane county, he 
 attended school at Aurora, and also at the 
 Batavia Institute. He helped his father 
 open up and develop the farm and remained 
 with him until after he attained his major- 
 ity. In August, 1861, he enlisted in Com- 
 pany E, Thirty-sixth Regiment, Illinois Vol- 
 unteer Infantry, with which he went to 
 Rollo, Missouri, and was with General 
 Seigel and Curtis through Missouri. The 
 first battle in which he participated was at 
 Pea Ridge; leaving Missouri, the regiment 
 was sent into Kentucky, and was there in 
 the engagement at Perryville. In the battle 
 of Stony River, he was wounded, being shot 
 through the face. The scar yet remains 
 with him, a reminder of the time in which 
 he went out in defense of the old flag. He 
 was wounded December 31, 1862, and was 
 taken to the hospital at Nashville, and was 
 discharged from the service in March, 1863. 
 Returning home, he suffered from the 
 wound tor nearly a year, and after his recov- 
 ery he resumed farming. He was married 
 in April, 1865, to Miss Anna Leyson, a na- 
 tive of Pennsylvania, born in 1841, and a 
 daughter of Reese Leyson, who came to 
 Kane county in 1852. By this union there 
 were two sons, Willard S. , married and car- 
 rying on the old farm, and Arthur Herbert, 
 who married and died at the age of twenty- 
 six years, leaving a wife and one son, Ira 
 Glenn. He lost one daughter, Anna, who 
 "died at the age of seven months. 
 
 Soon after marriage, Mr. Wagner set- 
 tled on a farm in Big Rock township, where 
 he remained four years, and then removed 
 to Kaneville township, where he purchased 
 a farm of one hundred and seventy ac^s, on 
 which he resided four years. About two 
 years after the death of his father, he pur- 
 chased the interests of the other heirs to the
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 659 
 
 homestead, which comprised three hundred 
 and sixty-two acres, and on that farm he 
 continued for twenty years. While resid- 
 ing there he purchased another farm of two 
 hundred andjorty acres, which is one of the 
 finest farms in Kane county. 
 
 While residing on the old homestead, 
 Mrs. Anna Wagner departed this life, June 
 7, 1879, and Mr. Wagner married in De 
 Kalb county, Illinois, November 15, 1880, 
 Miss Elizabeth Diedrich, who was born and 
 reared in De Kalb county, and a daughter 
 of Peter Diedrich, a native of Germany, 
 and a pioneer of De Kalb county. By this 
 marriage are two sons, Frank Leslie and 
 Clarence F. , both students of the home 
 school. 
 
 In 1895 Mr. Wagner built a fine resi- 
 dence in the village of Big Rock, which is 
 one of the neatest and best furnished resi- 
 dences in the place. There the family now 
 reside. Mr. Wagner had ever been a pub- 
 lic-spirited man, lending aid to various 
 public enterprises, having a tendency to 
 build up his town and county. He was one 
 of the original stockholders, and assisted in 
 the organization of the Big Rock Creamery, 
 of which he was the first president, and 
 manager for five or six years. 
 
 In politics Mr. Wagner is independent, 
 giving his support to the men he considers 
 best qualified for the place. He cast his 
 first presidential ballot for the "little gi- 
 ant," Stephen A. Douglas. He also voted 
 three times for Grover Cleveland. For fif- 
 teen years he served as road commissioner, 
 and twelve years as justice of the peace, the 
 latter office he declining to longer fill. He 
 has been assessor of the township, trustee, 
 and treasurer of the school funds. In his 
 religious views Mr. Wagner is liberal, be- 
 lieving in the teaching of the Golden Rule. 
 
 He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, 
 and for some years was quite active in the 
 lodge at Kaneville. A residence of forty- 
 five years in Kane county has brought him 
 prominently before the people, and he is 
 well and favorably known and universally 
 respected. 
 
 /CHARLES M. CROUSE, of Big Rock, 
 *^f Kane county, Illinois, is now living a 
 retired life. He was born in Dutchess 
 county, New York, August 26, 1841. His 
 grandfather, George Grouse, was also a na- 
 tive of New York, a well-to-do and respect- 
 ed man, who for many years was engaged 
 in the hotel business in Dutchess county, 
 that state. His son, George Grouse, Jr., 
 was born in Dutchess county, in 1808. He 
 there grew to manhood and married Persis 
 Emeline Amnermon, also a native of 
 Dutchess county, New York. He was by 
 trade a tanner, but for some years was en- 
 gaged in the butcher business prior to his 
 coming west. In 1843 he came to Kane 
 county, Illinois, and, after residing here a 
 few months, returned to his native state, 
 driving back with teams. Three times did. 
 he make the trip back and forth in that 
 way. After coming to Kane county and 
 remaining a while, he would become home- 
 sick, return to New York, and would again 
 come to the Prairie state. He finally made 
 a permanent settlement in Big Rock town- 
 ship, first purchasing eighty acres, which he 
 improved, and to which he later added 
 sixty-seven acres, which he converted into 
 a fine farm. After the death of his wife in 
 1857, which was caused by being thrown 
 from a wagon, the team running away, he 
 sold the old place and located in the north- 
 ern part of the township, where he pur-
 
 66o 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 chased one hundred and sixty acres in one 
 farm and forty acres of timber. On the 
 place was an old log house, which, in due 
 time, he replaced with a better one, and, 
 improving the farm, he there resided until 
 1885. His family consisted of four sons 
 and two daughters, of whom our subject 
 and one sister, Ellen, now the wife of Will- 
 iam Knickerbocker, of Aurora, are the only 
 survivors. One daughter, Julia, married 
 Elias Carpenter, and located in Big Rock, 
 but both are now deceased, leaving nine 
 children and a fine estate. Egbert grew to 
 manhood and married Ellen Seavey, and 
 died in 1887. For some years he lived 
 with our subject, the two being in partner- 
 ship in their farming operations, but finally 
 dividing the estate, each taking one hun- 
 dred and twenty acres. 
 
 Charles M. Grouse came to Kane coun- 
 ty when a child, and here grew to mature 
 years, receiving very limited school priv- 
 ileges. From the time he was old enough 
 to hold the handles of a plow, he engaged 
 in farm work, becoming a practical farmer 
 in every respect. In 1868, he married 
 Miss Anna Seavey, a daughter of Mark Sea- 
 vey, and a sister of the wife of his brother 
 Egbert. After living upon the farm until 
 1892, he rented the place, built a large and 
 substantial residence in the village of Big 
 Rock, to which he removed, and is now liv- 
 ing a retired life. Mr. and Mrs. Grouse 
 have no children, their first born, Freddie, 
 dying in 1884, at the age of seven years. 
 They also lost two in infancy. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Grouse is a Democrat, 
 with which party he has been identified 
 since attaining his majority. A believer in 
 free silver, he gave his support to William 
 J. Bryan in 1896. For years he served as 
 school director, the only local office that he 
 
 would ever accept. While not members of 
 any church, Mr. and Mrs. Grouse are be- 
 lievers in Christianity and the golden 
 rule. Both are well known and are highly 
 respected in the community in which they 
 reside, and are hospitable, generous people. 
 
 McCLELLAN DAUBERMAN, deceased, 
 was a well-known citizen of Kaneville. 
 The following sketch was prepared by an 
 intimate friend, Mr. F. L. Young, who 
 knew him well, and is a well-deserved, 
 tribute to one who was cut off in the prime 
 of life: 
 
 " McClellan Dauberman was born in 
 Kaneville, March i, 1862, and died at that 
 place, which had always been his home, 
 October 10, 1896, after an illness of less 
 than five days' duration, of acute appendi- 
 citis. He was not married. He leaves 
 three brothers and one sister as his nearest 
 relatives, who deeply mourn his loss. 
 His parents were George and Matilda 
 (Spangler) Dauberman. [See sketch of J. 
 S. Dauberman on another page of this 
 work. ] 
 
 " His early life was spent on his father's 
 farm, which aided to give him what he 
 possessed in a remarkable degree, a splen- 
 did and vigorous physical development, sup- 
 plemented by fine mental >and intellectual 
 qualities. Since the age of twenty-one 
 years he has been engaged in the mercantile 
 business in Kaneville, leaving at the time 
 of his death a comfortable fortune, largely 
 the result of his business sagacity. 
 
 ' ' He was a man of great business ability, 
 always methodical and accurate, whether 
 doing the same for himself, the public or 
 his neighbors. In his death they all suffer
 
 McCLELLAN DAUBERMAN.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 663 
 
 a personal loss, which is widely felt, and 
 not easily replaced. At the time of his de- 
 cease he was the treasurer of Kaneville 
 township, the duties of which office he al- 
 ways performed with fidelity and accuracy. 
 He was also an honored member of the 
 Waltonian Club, of Elgin, many of whose 
 members attended his funeral at Kaneville. 
 "In politics he was an ardent Repub- 
 lican, whose influence reached and was felt 
 beyond his own town. He was also one of 
 a trio of natives of Kaneville serving on the 
 Kane County Central Committee in 1896, 
 where his counsels were valued and appre- 
 ciated in an eminent degree. Beholding 
 him stricken down as he was in the bright 
 glow of his manhood's prime, the great 
 truth is .again brought home to our hearts 
 that we, too, are 'Passing Away.' 
 
 " It is written on the rose 
 
 In its glory's bright array; 
 Read what those buds disclose 
 ' Passing away.' 
 
 It is written on the brow, 
 
 Where the spirit's ardent ray 
 Lives, burns, and triumphs now 
 ' Passing away.' " 
 
 "His fine mental qualities shone 
 strongly forth every day of his life. He 
 was always neat in person and apparel.. 
 With him order was heaven's first law. His 
 large store was always kept in perfect order, 
 and the neatness of his private bachelor 
 apartments were always the subject of ap- 
 proving comment by .his many visiting 
 friends. His funeral was one of the largest 
 ever held in Kaneville. Nearly every town 
 in the county was represented, showing the 
 high esteem in which he was held outside 
 his own town." 
 
 32 
 
 CHAMBERS D. CALHOUN, M. D., of 
 Elburn, Illinois, is a physician and 
 surgeon of acknowledged ability. He was 
 born in Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, 
 August 17, 1858, and is the son of Samuel 
 S. and Hannah (Sheridan) Calhoun, the 
 former a native of Pennsylvania and the 
 latter of Ohio. By occupation Samuel S. 
 Calhoun was a farmer. His father, John 
 Calhoun, took up several sections of land in 
 Armstrong county, coming in possession of 
 it at an early day. He lived to be ninety- 
 one years of age. The family descended 
 from one of. two brothers who came from 
 Scotland, but who were really North of Ire- 
 land people. 
 
 Samuel S. Calhoun was a very promi- 
 dent Democrat in his native state and was 
 very active in political affairs, taking the 
 stump during each campaign and delivering 
 many speeches. He occupied many official 
 positions in his town and county, and in his 
 capacities of business man, citizen and pub- 
 lic official, his actions were characterized by 
 uprightness and sincere devotion to the best 
 interests of his community, and he enjoyed 
 the universal esteem of his fellow men. 
 
 During the dark days of the Civil war, 
 Samuel S. Calhoun espoused the side of the 
 Union, and organized a company at the be- 
 ginning of the war, but on account of the 
 illness of his wife could not leave home. 
 About the close of the war another company 
 was raised of which he was elected captain, 
 and with which he started for the front, but 
 only got as far as Pittsburg, when he was 
 notified that the services of the company 
 were not needed. The company was fully 
 uniformed and ready for the fray. Later he 
 organized two companies of militia. Few 
 men in Armstrong county were better known. 
 During the Grange movement, he was a
 
 664 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 high official in that order. His death oc- 
 curred the day before Christmas, 1896, at 
 the age of seventy-four years. While pre- 
 paring an address for the Christian Endeavor 
 Society, he was called up higher and never 
 spoke again after receiving a stroke of 
 paralysis. For many years he was an elder 
 in the Presbyterian church, of which he and 
 his wife had been lifelong members. She is 
 yet living, an honored resident of Pittsburg, 
 living with her son, Rev. Joseph P. Cal- 
 houn, a noted divine of the Presbyterian 
 church, whose services as a pastor of the 
 church in Pittsburg is appreciated by all his 
 flock. Of their ten children, nine are yet 
 living:- Rev. Joseph P., at Pittsburg; Rev. 
 John, a Congregational minister at Mande- 
 ville, Wyoming; Doctor Grier O. ; Doctor 
 Chambers D., our subject; Rev. Harry, a 
 Presbyterian minister, residing near Wells- 
 ville, Ohio; Doctor William J., residing in 
 St. Charles, Illinois; Samuel C., an attorney 
 in Pennsylvania; Cyrus Pershing, a farmer 
 of Pennsylvania; and Herbert Bruce, a 
 machinist of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared 
 on a farm and was educated in the district 
 schools and finished a course of about three 
 years at the Glade Run Academy at Day- 
 ton, Pennsylvania. He remained at home 
 and assisted in the cultivation of the farm, 
 also taught school for a number of years in 
 Pennsylvania. He read medicine with his 
 cousin, Dr. Franklin Calhoun, of Dayton, 
 Pennsylvania, then attended the Jefferson 
 Medical College in Philadelphia, from which 
 he was graduated in 1884. Coming west, 
 he located at Earlville, Illinois, and com- 
 menced the practice of his profession with 
 Dr. Vosburg, under the firm name of Vos- 
 burg & Calhoun. This partnership contin- 
 tinued two years and was then dissolved. 
 
 Dr. Calhoun moving to Troy Grove, Illi- 
 nois, where he remained two years, and 
 then came to Elburn, where he has since 
 continued to reside, and where he has built 
 up a large practice in town and country. 
 
 Dr. Calhoun was married June 2, 1887, 
 the same day on which President Cleveland 
 was married. He wedded Miss Sophia Mar- 
 tin, a native of New York. She is a true 
 Christian woman, and is especially inter- 
 ested in the work of the Christian Endeavor, 
 being one of its officers and leaders, in the 
 Congregational church of Elburn, of which 
 she is a member. The Doctor is also a 
 member of that church, and is now serving 
 as deacon and trustee. Fraternally he is a 
 member of the Masonic order, in which he 
 has filled most of the chairs. In politics he 
 is independent, choosing the man rather 
 than favoring the party. 
 
 Dr. Calhoun is a member of the Fox 
 River Valley Medical Association, and for a 
 time was a member of the Central Illinois 
 Medical Association. At present he is 
 health officer of Elburn, and is examining 
 physician for the^Etna Insurance Company, 
 the New York Life, the Union Central, of 
 Cincinnati, Ohio, the Michigan Central, the 
 Western Mutual Life, of Chicago, and sev- 
 eral others. He is a public spirited and pro- 
 gressive citizen, believes in keeping abreast 
 with the times, and takes a deep interest in 
 the welfare of the community in which he 
 resides. 
 
 JJ. WILLIAMS, an enterprising farmer, 
 residing on section 18, Kaneville town- 
 ship, where he operates a farm of two hun- 
 dred and seventy-three acres, first came to 
 Kane county, in 1866. He is a native of 
 Ohio, born in Jackson county, July 15,
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 665 
 
 1840. His father, James Williams, was a 
 native of Wales, where he grew to manhood, 
 and married Hannah Thomas, also a na- 
 tive of Wales. In 1836 they emigrated to 
 the United States, locating first in Jackson 
 county, Ohio, where they remained four 
 years, and then removed to Iowa county, 
 Wisconsin, where he entered land, and en- 
 gaged in agricultural pursuits. He was a 
 prosperous farmer, but was cut off in the 
 prime of life, dying in 1848. His wife 
 survived him but one year, dying in 1849. 
 The subject of this sketch grew to 
 manhood in Iowa county, Wisconsin, where 
 he had very limited educational advantages. 
 His parents dying when he was a mere 
 lad, he had to make his own way in the 
 world. In 1860 he went to Idaho, and 
 there spent four years in silver mining, 
 with indifferent success. In 1864 he re- 
 turned to Wisconsin, where he remained 
 but a very short time, and then to came Big 
 Rock township, Kane county, where for two 
 years he worked on a farm, by the month. 
 In 1867 he was united in marriage with 
 Miss Louisa Whildin, a daughter of Jere- 
 miah Whildin, now deceased, and a sister 
 of John C. Whildin, whose sketch appears 
 in this work. She was a native of New 
 York, and came to Kane county, Illinois, 
 with her parents, when a mere child. By 
 this union there were four children, Gertie 
 Ann, a young lady at home; Eveline, now 
 the wife of William Johnson, a farmer 
 of Kaneville township; Leroy and Otis, at 
 home. The wife and mother died in 1882, 
 mourned by family and a large circle of 
 friends. 
 
 Immediately after marriage, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Williams moved to Champaign coun- 
 ty, Illinois, where he bought a farm in East 
 Bend township, and there resided two 
 
 years. He then sold and located in De- 
 Kalb county, about two miles from Hinck- 
 ley, where he engaged in farming for six 
 years, then sold and returned to Kane coun- 
 ty, and purchased the farm where he now 
 resides. Since locating here, Mr. Williams 
 has made some permanent and substantial 
 improvements on the place, tilling it and 
 making it a most valuable farm. Politically 
 he is a stanch Republican, and while tak- 
 ing a commendable interest in political 
 affairs, has never sought nor desired office. 
 Fraternally he is a Master Mason, a mem- 
 ber of the blue lodge at Elburn. For 
 thirty-two years, with the exception of a 
 short time spent in Champaign and DeKalb 
 counties, Mr. Williams has been a resident 
 of Kane county, and by its people is held 
 in the highest respect. Commencing life 
 with but little means, by his labor and en- 
 terprise, he has become the possessor of 
 a large and valuable farm, and a comfort- 
 able home, where he may spend his declin- 
 ing years. 
 
 JOSEPH INGHAM, who resides on sec- 
 tion 14, Sugar Grove township, is rec- 
 ognized as one of the leading farmers in 
 the township. He is a native of Kane 
 county, born on the farm where he now re- 
 sides, October 18, 1839. His father, Colo- 
 nel Samuel S. Ingham, was a native of 
 Oneida county, New York, born in 1801, 
 while his grandfather, Joseph Ingham, 
 was born on the West India Islands. The 
 latter was a sailor, and was master of a 
 vessel for twenty-five years. Leaving the 
 sea, he settled in the town of Steuben, 
 Oneida county, New York, where his son 
 Samuel, was born and reared. 
 
 Samuel S. Ingham married Nancy
 
 666 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Owens, also a native of Oneida county, 
 New York, and whose father was a soldier 
 in the Revolutionary army. In 1839, with 
 his family he came to Kane county, Illinois, 
 arriving here on the i/th of June, making 
 the entire trip with a team. On arriving 
 here, he purchased a claim from his brother 
 Joseph, who came to the county in 1835. 
 The claim consisted of about one hundred 
 and thirty acres, on which Joseph had built 
 a small shanty, but had made no other im- 
 provements. Colonel Ingham at once 
 began the development of the farm and 
 about 1858 erected a large and substantial 
 brick residence. His barns and other out- 
 buildings were of the best, and all improve- 
 ments were in keeping with the times. As 
 his means increased he bought more land 
 until his farm consisted of over six hundred 
 acres. In the early day he kept a hotel, 
 which was the stopping place for many 
 prospectors and the traveling public for some 
 years. He was an active, enterprising man, 
 and was well known throughout Kane and 
 adjoining counties. While residing in New 
 York he served as colonel of militia, and 
 the title continued with him on his removal 
 to this state. His death occurred on the 
 home farm, March 17, 1864, while his wife 
 survived him some fifteen years, dying in 
 1879, in Aurora, where she was then re- 
 siding. 
 
 Joseph Ingham is the oldest of a family 
 of eight children, of whom three are yet 
 living. John, who owns an interest in the 
 homestead, resides on the home farm, while 
 his sister, Mrs. Adeline Spencer, resides in 
 Aurora. Joseph spent his youth on the old 
 farm, and received his primary education in 
 the common schools and for two years was 
 a student in Lombard University, Gales- 
 burg, Illinois. He enlisted September 20, 
 
 1 86 1, in Company A, Thirty-sixth Illinois 
 Cavalry, and went to the front, participat- 
 ing in the battles of Pea Ridge, luka, Cor- 
 inth, Black River Bridge, the siege of Vicks- 
 burg, and with Banks on the Red River 
 expedition. In February of 1864, he veter- 
 anized, and came home on a furlough, after 
 which he joined his regiment and continued 
 in the service until August of 1864, when 
 he was mustered out and returned home. 
 Enlisting as a private, he was appointed 
 corporal and later quartermaster sergeant. 
 While in the service he lost no time by 
 reason of sickness. 
 
 After his discharge Mr. Ingham returned 
 home and took charge of the farm in 1865. 
 In 1869 he married Elizabeth Sticklane, a 
 native of Kane county, born in the town of 
 Aurora, September 28, 1840, and a daugh- 
 ter of Robert Sticklane, a pioneer settler of 
 the county. After his marriage he contin- 
 ued the cultivation of his farm until 1878, 
 when he moved to Clay county, Illinois, and 
 operated a large farm for two years. He 
 then returned to the old farm, where he has 
 since continued to reside. For about twelve 
 years he engaged in the dairy business in 
 connection with his farming operations and 
 in that line met with success. For about 
 twenty years he and his brother John have 
 been extensively engaged in feeding cattle. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Ingham have three chil- 
 dren living: the oldest, Samuel S. , is a well- 
 educated young man, a graduate of the West 
 Side Aurora High School, and is now en- 
 gaged with his father in the cultivation of 
 the farm. Sarah is a well-educated young 
 lady, and is principal of the Pennsylvania 
 Avenue School, of Aurora. Millie is a grad- 
 uate of. the West Side High School, Aurora, 
 and resides at home. Two of their children 
 died in early childhood.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 667 
 
 Politically Mr. Ingham is a stanch Re- 
 publican, although his first presidential bal- 
 lot was cast for Stephen A. Douglas in 1860. 
 Since that time, however, he has been an 
 advocate of the principles of the Republican 
 party. For nine years he served as assessor 
 of his township, and has also served as col- 
 lector and in other minor official positions. 
 In the fall of 1892 he was elected county re- 
 corder of Kane county, and filled the office in 
 an acceptable manner, the term of four years. 
 Fraternally he is a Master Mason, a mem- 
 ber of the lodge at Aurora. Religiously Mrs. 
 Ingham is a member of the Baptist church 
 of Aurora. For fifty-nine years, with the 
 exception of a short time spent in Clay 
 county, Mr. Ingham has been a resident of 
 Kane county, and is well known throughout 
 its length and breadth as an enterprising man, 
 one willing to do all in his power to advance 
 its best interests. 
 
 JOSIAH A. FINK, who is now living a 
 retired life in the village of Kaneville, 
 but who for many years was engaged in ag- 
 ricultural pursuits, and who is the owner of 
 a well-improved farm of two hundred acres 
 adjoining the village of Kaneville, came to 
 Kane county in 1851. He was born in 
 Madison county, New York, November 16, 
 1814. His father, John I. Fink, was born 
 in Montgomery county, New York, as was 
 also his grandfather, John Fink, while his 
 great-grandfather, William Fink, was a 
 native of New York, but of German parent- 
 age. The latter was in the French and 
 Indian war of 1755, and for many years 
 there was in the family a sword which was 
 carried by him in those wars. John Fink 
 was a minute man of the Revolution, and 
 was in the battle of Oristany, in which one 
 
 of his brothers was also engaged, and where 
 he was wounded, from the effects of which 
 he later died. 
 
 John Fink, the grandfather of our sub- 
 ject, moved with his family to Madison 
 county, New York, in 1806, and was among 
 the pioneers of that county, where he pur- 
 chased land, which was covered by heavy 
 growth of timber, and which he cleared 
 and opened up a farm. His son, John I. 
 Fink, there married Nancy Anguish, a 
 native of Pennsylvania, who was also a 
 pioneer of Madison county, where she 
 removed with her parents. They became 
 the parents of four sons and three daughters, 
 of whom our subject and the three daugh- 
 ters alone survive. After engaging in farm- 
 ing for some years in Madison county, John 
 Fink removed with his family to Onondago 
 county, New York, and located on the Sen- 
 eca river, near Baldwinsville, where he 
 spent the last years of his life, engaged in 
 agriculture. His wife survived him a num- 
 ber of years. 
 
 Josiah A. Fink grew to manhood in 
 Madison county, New York, where he re- 
 ceived a fair common-school education. He 
 remained at home assisting his father in 
 carrying on the home farm until after at- 
 taining his majority. He has been three 
 times married, his first union being Nancy 
 Norris, who died in Onondago county, New 
 York, leaving two children, Marilda, now 
 the wife of Azel Howard, of De Kalb 
 county, Illinois, and Nancy, wife of Captain 
 Wells, of Sabbona, Illinois. After the death 
 of his first wife Mr. Fink returned to Madi- 
 son county and married Mary Ann Norris, 
 who was his first wife's sister. She came 
 west with her husband and died in Kane 
 county. By that union there were two 
 children, one of whom died in childhood.
 
 668 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 The other, Norrjs, married, and resides in 
 Iowa, where he is engaged in farming. In 
 1859 Mr. Fink married Miss Louisa Coy, 
 who was born in Chenango county, New 
 York, where she was reared and educated. 
 She was a successful teacher in New York, 
 and also in Kane county, before her mar- 
 riage. By this union there are two living 
 children Frankie, now the wife of William 
 Frederick, a farmer of Kaneville township, 
 who operates the old Fink homestead, and 
 Julia M., who was educated at Sugar 
 Grove and the Dixon Normal School, grad- 
 uating from the latter institution. She is 
 now a successful teacher in the public 
 schools. One daughter died in childhood. 
 In 1851 Mr. Fink sold his farm in New 
 York and came to Kane county, Illinois, 
 where he joined his wife's father. He here 
 bought a, farm of two hundred acres, the 
 present homestead, of which about one 
 hundred acres was under cultivation, and on 
 which was a small frame house. He at 
 once began the improvement of the place, 
 and has since built a good and substantial 
 residence, good barns and other outbuild- 
 ings. On that farm he continued to reside 
 for thirty-two years, when he rented the 
 place and moved to the village of Kaneville, 
 where he purchased residence property, 
 which he later repaired and remodeled, 
 making a very comfortable home, and where 
 he has since continued to reside. A life of 
 industry and toil has enabled him to spend 
 his declining days in ease and comfort. 
 . Politically, Mr. Fink was originally a 
 Democrat, but on account of his liberty-lov- 
 ing views he united with the Republican 
 party on its organization, voting for its first 
 presidential candidate, John C. Fremont. 
 He was elected and served one term as su- 
 pervisor, and also served four years as one 
 
 of the township trustees. He was once 
 elected justice of the peace, but would not 
 qualify. In the various conventions of his 
 party he has often served as a delegate. 
 For years Mr. Fink has been a member of 
 the Baptist church, while his wife is of the 
 Congregational faith. His residence of for- 
 ty-seven years in Kane county has brought 
 him prominently before the people, and he 
 is well and favorably known throughout the 
 county. 
 
 JOHN F. JANECKE, JR., dealer in hard- 
 ware and tinware, Hampshire, Illinois, 
 was born in Hanover township, Cook coun- 
 ty, Illinois, near the city of Elgin, Septem- 
 ber 4, 1874, and is the youngest of four chil- 
 dren born to John F. Janecke, who was born 
 in the city of Lenzen, province of West 
 Preugnitz, Prussia, November 4, 1830, and 
 who came to America at the age of thirty- 
 one years. He was the son of John G. and 
 Elizabeth Janecke, both of whom were also 
 natives of the same province. 
 
 John F. Janecke, Sr. , sailed from Ham- 
 burg, January i, 1852, on the English sail- 
 ing vessel, Charles Clark, and was eight 
 weeks in making the voyage across the At- 
 lantic. The ship was wrecked on the coast 
 of Newfoundland, and the passengers and 
 crew were three days and nights without 
 food or shelter on a bleak coast. He saw a 
 friend and companion engulfed in the icy 
 waves. The wreck was in daylight or all 
 would have been lost. There was a heavy 
 fog and land was not discovered until the 
 ship was nearly on the rock. Fishermen 
 from St. John came to their rescue, and 
 they were taken to that city where they re- 
 mained three days. From there they were 
 sent to Quebec, and everything having been
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 669 
 
 lost, free transportation was provided to 
 Chicago for those desiring it. On his arri- 
 val Mr. Janecke secured work on the rail- 
 road, at which he was employed for two 
 years. He then engaged with an ice com- 
 pany in Chicago, with whom he remained 
 ten years. In 1864, he went to Hanover 
 township, Cook county, and purchased sixty 
 acres of land, to which he added from time 
 to time until his farm comprised two hun- 
 dred and sixty acres. Success crowned his 
 efforts and to-day, in addition to his farm 
 property, he owns several business buildings 
 in Elgin and also in the town of Hampshire. 
 
 John F. Janecke Jr., was reared on the 
 farm in Hanover township and attended the 
 district school, and also took a short course 
 in Drew's Business College, at Elgin. At 
 the age of seventeen he left home and began 
 life for himself. He first secured a position 
 in the tinshop of W. J. Meachem, in Elgin, 
 where he remained eight months and then 
 went to Hampshire, working for Chapman 
 & Reid eight months. On the ist of Octo- 
 ber, 1891, he purchased the interest of Mr. 
 Reid and in February, 1896, bought Mr. 
 Chapman's interest and is now sole propri- 
 etor of the store. He keeps a large stock 
 of general shelf and heavy hardware, farm- 
 ing implements and machinery, barbed wire 
 and wire fencing of various kinds, and has a 
 large trade in a special pattern of milk cans, 
 disposing of twelve hundred per year. He 
 keeps two tinners busy the greater part of 
 the year. His rapid increase in business 
 has been such as to require additional room, 
 and he now occupies a store building 28 x 125 
 feet, two stories in height. The building is 
 owned by his father. 
 
 Mr. Janecke married Mary Melms, a 
 daughter of Charles and Christina (Richter) 
 Melms, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere 
 
 in this book. One child, Lavoy, has been 
 born to them. Fraternally Mr. Janecke is 
 a member of Hampshire lodge, A. F. & A. 
 M., and of Elgin chapter, R. A. M. He is 
 also a member of the Modern Woodmen of 
 America, and the Knights of the Maccabees. 
 In politics he is a Republican. As a busi- 
 ness man he is energetic and enterprising, 
 and as a citizen is ever willing to do his part 
 in building up and advancing the interest of 
 his adopted city and county. 
 
 RANDALL CASSEM. It is said that 
 the poet is born, not made; but the 
 successful lawyer has to be both born and 
 made made by close application, earnest 
 effort, by perseverance and resolute purpose. 
 The abilities with which nature has endowed 
 him must be strengthened and developed by 
 use. Only by merit can the lawyer gain a 
 pre-eminent position. One of the success- 
 ful lawyers of Kane county, whose name 
 heads this sketch, resides at No. 75 South 
 Fourth street, with an office in the Evans 
 building, Aurora. He was born January 2, 
 1852, on his father's farm, four miles north- 
 west of Newark, in Fox township, Kendall 
 county, Illinois, and is the son of NelsO. and 
 Margaret (Fritz) Cassem, the former a na- 
 tive of Norway, born June 5, 1829, and the 
 latter of Grundy county, Illinois. 
 
 When a youth of seventeen, Nels O. 
 Cassem left his native land for America, ac- 
 companied by some friends, and reached 
 the point of his destination, Kendall coun- 
 ty, Illinois, a few weeks later. He soon 
 found employment, and on reaching ma- 
 turity entered into contracts for grading the 
 bed of the Rock Island railroad, then in 
 course of construction from Morris to Sen- 
 eca. He was entirely self educated, never
 
 670 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 having attended school, but was possessed 
 of strong common sense and natural ability. 
 He had a strong body, possessed great power 
 of physicial endurance and knew how to 
 work. He soon made money, and upon 
 the completion of his contracts was enabled 
 to purchase twelve hundred acres of land 
 in Kendall county, for which he paid the 
 government price of one dollar and twenty- 
 five cents per acre. To this he has added 
 from time to time, and is now the possessor 
 of estates in Kendall, Grundy, LaSalle and 
 Livingston counties, aggregating more than 
 four thousand acres. All these farms are 
 well improved and rank among the best in 
 the state. He has given great attention to 
 stock raising for the markets, and is still 
 residing on the old homestead, where he has 
 lived for more than half a century. Pos- 
 sessed of keen business instincts and in- 
 domitable perseverance, he has accumulated 
 great wealth. 
 
 The mother of the subject of this sketch 
 died August 28, 1872, aged forty-five years, 
 eight months and five days, when Randall 
 Cassem was twenty years of age. As a 
 slight token of the love and affection which 
 he bore to his dearly beloved mother, and 
 of his reverence for all her virtues as a 
 mother and friend, he directs a special men- 
 tion of her here. In remembrance of all 
 the unbounded kindness to him in his younger 
 days by his mother, he thinks of her and 
 requests that space be given for this to be 
 said in her behalf. Mr. Cassem of his 
 mother said: " She left to me the memory 
 of her love. She is the gentlest memory of 
 our family. The memory of our mother is 
 the strongest, tenderest tie that binds our 
 hearts together. " 
 
 The family of Nels and Margaret Cassem 
 consists of five children, as follows: Ran- 
 
 dall, the subject of this sketch; Olive Jane, 
 born September 10, 1853, the wife of O. E. 
 Osmondsen, a stock-raiser and farmer of 
 Seward township, Kendall county, Illinois, 
 by whom she has two children now living 
 Emily, born September 27, 1888, and Enor 
 Nesley, born January 11, 1891; Margaret, 
 born March 16, 1859, the wife of O. M.Olson, 
 a capitalist of Aurora, by whom she has two 
 children Mabel Edith, born October 12, 
 1887, and Hazel, born February 18, 1891; 
 Margaret was named after her mother, and 
 bears her name in token of her. One of the 
 finest houses in Aurora, Illinois, now in the 
 course of construction at 127 South Lake 
 street, at this date, June i, 1898, will be 
 the home of Mr. and Mrs. Olson when com- 
 pleted. 
 
 Oscar Edwin, another son, was born 
 March 18, 1857. He owns an extensive 
 stock ranch of twelve hundred and thirty- 
 three acres on the James river, three miles 
 northeast of Mitchell, South Dakota. He 
 married Dora Krom, of Ossian, Winne- 
 shiek county, Iowa, who was born October 
 23, 1867, and they have three children. 
 The oldest, a boy named Randall Nelson, 
 who was named after and in memory of his 
 uncle and grandfather, was born September 
 3, 1886. The next younger, a boy named 
 Loren Clement, was born July 17, 1891. 
 The youngest, a little girl named Thelma 
 Dorine, was born October 13, 1897. All 
 are living at home with their parents and at- 
 tending the public schools of Mitchell. Anna, 
 another daughter of N. O. Cassem, resides 
 in Chicago, Illinois. 
 
 Randall Cassem spent his childhood and 
 early youth working on the farm from the 
 time he was able to handle an axe or hold 
 the plow, and in the winter gathering what 
 instruction the rude district school of the
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 671 
 
 period could afford, until he was fifteen 
 years of age, then attended Fowler's Insti- 
 tute, an academy at Newark, Illinois, re- 
 maining there two years. Professor A. J. 
 Anderson was principal of the school at first, 
 and later Professor J. R. Burns. He then 
 attended the State Normal School at Nor- 
 mal, Illinois, for one year, to which he was 
 appointed through the influence of W. S. 
 Coy, then county superintendent of schools 
 of Kendall county. He taught school in 
 this county for one year, then entered the 
 law department of Michigan University, at 
 Ann Arbor, Michigan, remaining there over 
 two years, graduating March 25, 1874. 
 Subsequently he passed a rigid examination 
 at Detroit, Michigan, was admitted to the 
 bar March 26, 1874, and was licensed to 
 practice law in that state. He afterward 
 read law in the office of John A. Gilliatn, at 
 Yorkville, Kendall county, Illinois, where 
 he continued until he secured a license from 
 the supreme court of Illinois to practice law 
 in this state. This he obtained September 
 10, 1874. September 22, 1874, he settled 
 down to practice his profession at Yorkville, 
 Illinois, and carried on a general law prac- 
 tice there most successfully until April, 1 887. 
 Removing to Aurora the same month, 
 Mr. Cassem purchased his present elegant 
 home, at No. 75 South Fourth street, and 
 established a law office in the Schoeberlein 
 Block. He afterwards removed to the 
 Mercantile Block and became the law part- 
 ner of Senator George E. Bacon, under the 
 firm name of Bacon & Cassem. This part- 
 nership was continued until failing health 
 caused the retirement of Mr. Bacon, who 
 shortly afterwards died. Mr. Cassem then 
 removed his office to the Evans Building, 
 where he has since continued his practice 
 alone. He practices in all the courts of 
 
 the state circuit, appellate and supreme 
 and during all the years of his practice he 
 has held the governor's commission as a 
 notary public. While a resident of York- 
 ville he was city attorney three years, but 
 apart from this he has neither held nor 
 sought public office, his law and large prop- 
 erty interests, including the legal manage- 
 ment of his father's extensive estates, re- 
 quiring all his attention. 
 
 Mr. Cassem was married April n, 1882, 
 to Miss Maggie Adelia Casler, daughter of 
 Robert and Jeannette Ca?ler, her father 
 then being an extensive farmer near Piano, 
 Kendall county, Illinois. Both parents are 
 now deceased. Our subject and wife are 
 attendants of the People's church, Aurora. 
 In social circles they occupy a high posi- 
 tion, and both are held in the highest es- 
 teem in the community. In all matters 
 calculated to advance the best interests of 
 his adopted city, Mr. Cassem is always 
 found at the front. Politically, he is like 
 all the members of his family, a stanch 
 Republican, but is an independent thinker 
 on all public questions, forming opinions of 
 his own, which, as a rule, coincide with the 
 party to which he has attached himself. 
 
 /CHARLES AMES, Kaneville, Illinois, 
 v_J who, after a long and busy life, is now 
 living in retirement, has been a resident of 
 Kane county since 1855. He was born in 
 West Rutland, Vermont, May n, 1819, 
 and comes of good old Revolutionary stock, 
 his grandfather, Elijah Ames, a native of 
 Connecticut, being a soldier in the war for 
 independence. He removed to Massachu- 
 setts, where Avery Ames, the father of our 
 subject, was born. From Massachusetts 
 the family moved to Vermont when Avery
 
 672 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Ames was a child of eight years. He there 
 grew to manhood, and succeeded to the old 
 homestead, which comprised over four hun- 
 dred acres of land. In due time he married 
 Annie Ames, a daughter of Elijah Ames, 
 who was also a pioneer of Vermont. Of 
 their family of four sons and two daughters, 
 who grew to mature years, Charles and his 
 brother Avery are the only survivors. On 
 the old farm he reared his family, and there 
 remained until his death, at the age of 
 eighty-eight years. His wife survived him 
 about ten years, and passed away about her 
 ninetieth year. 
 
 Charles Ames was fifth in order of birth, 
 and grew to manhood on his father's farm, 
 receiving a good common-school education. 
 He remained under the parental roof until 
 he attained his majority, when he began 
 life for himself. He was married in Castle- 
 ton, Rutland county, Vermont, March 8, 
 1843, to Adelia Ward, a native of Fair- 
 haven, Rutland county, Vermont, and a 
 daughter of Rev. Chauncey Ward, a minis- 
 ter of the Methodist Episcopal church, and 
 also a pioneer of the Green Mountain state. 
 Mrs. Ames was educated at Castleton Sem- 
 inary, and was a teacher before her mar- 
 riage. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Ames commenced their 
 domestic life on the homestead of his 
 father, and there remained for ten years. 
 In 1855 they came to Kane county, Illinois, 
 where some of their Vermont friends had 
 preceded them. Soon after coming he pur- 
 chased a farm of eighty acres, two miles 
 north of the village of Kaneville, on which 
 there was a small house, and about forty 
 acres of the land having been broken. To 
 the improvement of the place he bent his 
 entire energies, and after a short time pur- 
 chased forty acres adjoining. The old 
 
 house in due time was remodeled by addi- 
 tions, and became a modern building, and 
 good barns and other outbuildings were 
 erected. On the place he continued to re- 
 side for twenty-six years, and was reputed 
 one of the most enterprising and successful 
 farmers of the township. In 1882 he rent- 
 ed the farm and moved into the village, 
 where he purchased residence property, and 
 has since continued to reside. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Ames have five children. 
 Annette is the wife of Dr. H. B. Osborn, of 
 Kalamazoo, Michigan. Daniel C. was mar- 
 ried and resides in Homer, Nebraska, where 
 he is engaged in farming. Edward is a 
 practicing physician and surgeon and resides 
 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Charles S. is a 
 successful business man residing in Iowa. 
 Avery M. resides in De Kalb county, Illi- 
 nois, where he is engaged in farming. The 
 mother of these children passed away July 
 12, 1896. She was a noble Christian wo- 
 man, a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church, and died in the full assurance of 
 faith. The family were patriotic during 
 the war for the union. The son, Daniel 
 C. , served as-a soldier in the Fifty-second 
 Regiment, Illinois Volunter Infantry; Dr. 
 Osborne was a surgeon in the army, and 
 served as post surgeon at Vicksburg for one 
 year after the close of the war; Avery Ames, 
 a brother of our subject, served in a New 
 York regiment. 
 
 Politically Mr. Ames was originally a 
 Whig, casting his first presidential ballot in 
 1840 for William Henry Harrison, and con- 
 tinuing to act with that party until its final 
 dissolution, after the campaign of 1852. He 
 then united with the Republican party, vot- 
 ing for Fremont in 1856 and for every pres- 
 idential nominee of the party, up to and 
 including William McKinley. The only
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 673 
 
 offices ever held by him were those of high- 
 way commissioner and a member of the 
 school board. He was formerly a member 
 of the Congregational church and later a 
 member of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
 in which he was an active worker for many 
 years, serving as trustee and steward, and 
 was also active in Sunday-school work. 
 Fraternally he is a Master Mason, and was 
 connected with the lodge at Kaneville until 
 its surrender of its charter, after the de- 
 struction of the lodge-room by fire, when he 
 united with Blackberry lodge at Elburn. 
 A resident of Kane county for forty-three 
 years, Mr. Ames is well and favorably- 
 known throughout its length and breadth. 
 In the many changes that have been made 
 he has given material assistance, and has 
 lived to see the day when Kane county is 
 ranked among the best in the entire state. 
 He is respected by all who know him, and 
 is one of the best citizens of his township 
 and county. 
 
 WILLIAM L. WHITE, a contractor 
 and builder, of Aurora, Illinois, has 
 been a resident of the city for almost half a 
 century, dating his residence here since 
 April 29, 1853. He is a native of New Jer- 
 sey, born near Milford, Hunterdon county, 
 June 14, 1830. His father, Alvin White, 
 was also a native of New Jersey, and there 
 married Ann Sinclair, a native of the same 
 state, and a daughter of William Sinclair. 
 Alvin White was a farmer and mechanic, 
 and spent his entire life in his native state, 
 where he died September 28, 1867. His 
 wife died somt years previous. In their 
 family were six ,;ons and six daughters, all 
 of whom grew to mature years, and of 
 which four sons and two daughters are 
 living. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood in his native state, and in early life 
 learned the mason's trade, serving an appren- 
 ticeship of three years. He then worked at 
 his trade as a journeyman, and also took a 
 few contracts. In 1853, he came to Aurora, 
 then a town of about two thousand inhabit- 
 ants and the end of the railroad. He soon 
 began contracting and building, and actively 
 engaged in the work here for over forty-five 
 years. All over the city are found public 
 and private buildings, the erection of which 
 was superintended by Mr. White. In that 
 time he built a number of residences for 
 himself, which were disposed of from time 
 to time. 
 
 Mr. White was married in Aurora, in 
 1854, to Miss Francis Maria Harwood, born 
 in the city of London, England, and who 
 came to the United States when but fifteen 
 years of age, in company with her father, J. 
 E. Harwood, who settled in Aurora, about 
 1853. In the spring of 1855, Mr. White 
 moved to Davenport, Iowa, where he en- 
 gaged in business for some fifteen months, 
 and then returned to Aurora, where he has 
 since resided. Eight children have been 
 born to Mr. and Mrs. White, of whom one 
 is deceased. The living are Anna, wife of 
 L. L. Rickard, of Kendall county, Illinois; 
 Clara E., wife of C. G. Pearce, of Joliet, 
 Illinois; George W., a business man of 
 Beardstown, Illinois; William H., married 
 and residing in Chicago; L. R. , a traveling 
 salesman; H. S., with the Joliet Steel Wire 
 Works; E. B., bookkeeper for the Standard 
 Oil Company, at Geneva. The deceased 
 was Charles, who died at the age of eleven 
 years. 
 
 Politically Mr. White is independent. 
 Religiously he is a member of the People's 
 church. His forty-five years' residence in
 
 674 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Aurora, has brought him prominently before 
 the people, and he is well known in city 
 and county, and his friends are many. 
 
 JOHN S. MILLER, who is engaged in the 
 general merchandise business at Sugar 
 Grove, Illinois, is an enterprising man of 
 strict integrity, one who is helpful in any 
 community where he may reside. He was 
 born in the town of Beckett, Hamlin county, 
 Massachusetts, March 20, 1849, and is the 
 son of Frank and Frances (Hughes) Miller, 
 both of whom are natives of the same state. 
 The father died when our subject was but 
 two years old and his mother- passed to 
 her reward when he was but six years old. 
 After his mother's death he was taken by 
 Benjamin Bracket, and was reared on his 
 farm in Massachusetts. He was given fair 
 school advantages, attending first the com- 
 mon schools and for two years was a student 
 in the Suffield Connecticut Seminary. . 
 
 After arriving at mature years, Mr. Mil- 
 ler was engaged in market gardening at 
 South Hadley Falls for two years, after 
 which he began the mercantile business at 
 the same place, and later was engaged in 
 the ice business in connection. He contin- 
 ued in business at that place for four years, 
 building up a good trade. Selling out, he 
 engaged in the real estate business, and was 
 also shipping clerk in a paper mill up to 
 1876. He owned a fine business block at 
 South Hadley Falls, which was burned in 
 1891, entailing a loss of six thousand dol- 
 lars. 
 
 In 1876, Mr. Miller came to Kane coun- 
 ty and located at Sugar Grove, where in 
 connection with "Uncle" Thomas Judd, 
 he erected a building for school and mer- 
 tantile purposes. The building, which was 
 
 called "Uncle Tom's Cabin", was a three 
 story structure, costing nearly ten thousand 
 dollars. It was burned down in 1878. On 
 the completion of the building they put 
 in a stock of general merchandise, which 
 was the first in the town. A large trade 
 has been built up by Mr. Miller, who has a 
 reputation for fair dealing. In addition 
 to his mercantile trade he is connected with 
 a creamery company, and yet owns a good 
 share of its stock. For some years he was 
 also engaged in the lumber and coal trade, 
 but in 1897 disposed of this part of his 
 business. In 1894, in partnership with 
 Frank Catlin, he engaged in buying and 
 feeding sheep, usually having in hand about 
 two thousand five hundred head. They 
 rent a large farm, which is used in con- 
 nection with the sheep business. In the 
 fall of 1897, they bought and sold over fif- 
 teen thousand sheep. 
 
 At South Deerfield, Massachusetts, in 
 November, 1875, Mr. Miller was united in 
 marriage with Miss Mary E. Hale, a native 
 of that town and state, and a daughter of 
 Stephen B. Hale, also a native of Massa- 
 chusetts. Previous to her marriage she was 
 engaged as a teacher in the public schools. 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Miller five children have 
 been born as follows: Annie is now the 
 wife of George O. Lye, of Sugar Grove; 
 Hattie, who has been employed as a teach- 
 er in the schools of Jericho, Illinois, for 
 three years; Stephen B. , John E., and 
 Frank, at home. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Miller has been a Re- 
 publican from his youth up. For two terms 
 he served as postmaster of Sugar Grove and 
 for one term was assistant postmaster. For 
 many years he served as school trustee of 
 his township, and has always been interest- 
 ed in the public schools. Fraternally, he is
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 675 
 
 a Master Mason and is also a member of the 
 Modern Woodmen of America and of the 
 Knights of the Maccabees. For twenty-one 
 years he has been a resident of Sugar Grove 
 and has always shown himself a worthy 
 citizen, giving liberally of his time and 
 means in aid of every public enterprise. 
 In the erection of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church he gave a generous donation, and 
 has always assisted in maintaining its serv- 
 ices. While not classed as an old settler, 
 he is yet widely known throughout the coun- 
 ty and is respected for his genuine worth. 
 
 RICHARD C. TAYLOR, M. D., of El- 
 burn, Illinois, was born in Crawford 
 county, Ohio, November 16, 1860, and is 
 the son of James and Mary (Gaut) Taylor, 
 both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania, 
 where they were married, and both are now 
 living in Marshall county, Indiana. For 
 many years the father was an extensive 
 farmer. He was born December 10, 1811, 
 in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, from which 
 place he moved to Crawford county, Ohio, 
 about 1830. His marriage with Mary Gaut 
 was solemnized August 31, 1837, and they 
 celebrated their sixtieth anniversary August, 
 1897, at which time there were present their 
 family of six children, with the exception of 
 one daughter, Margaret. There were nine 
 grandchildren present, and a good time was 
 had by all. In early life Mrs. Taylor was a 
 member of the Presbyterian church, and 
 later of the Baptist church. She is a de- 
 vout Christian and an excellent good woman, 
 widely known and frequently spoken of for 
 her many admirable qualities of head and 
 heart. They were the parents of eleven 
 children, of whom two died in infancy and 
 
 three in early childhood. Of the six living, 
 Margaret is the widow of James Sprout, and 
 resides on a farm in Ashland county, Ohio; 
 Elizabeth is the wife of Peter W. Blue, and 
 they reside at Mentone, Indiana; Sarah J. 
 is the widow of J. T. Bloomer, and resides 
 on a farm in Fayette county, Ohio; Jerome 
 B. is a farmer residing in Kosciusko county, 
 Indiana; Richard C. , our subject; and 
 Amanda K., wife of Jesse Taylor, a farmer 
 of Marshall county, Indiana. James Tay- 
 lor was quite a prominent man in the county 
 of his adoption, well educated, and with 
 many friends throughout the county, .Dur- 
 ing the war for the Union he advocated its 
 vigorous prosecution. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared in 
 Kosciusko county, Indiana, where he was 
 taken by his parents when one year old. 
 He attended the district schools of that 
 county, and remained upon his father's farm 
 until 1879, when he commenced learning 
 the carpenter's trade, at which he worked 
 eleven years. While working at his trade 
 he commenced the study of medicine, and 
 in 1890 commenced reading with Dr. J. W. 
 Heffly, of Mentone, Indiana, and later at- 
 tended the Bennett Medical College, of Chi- 
 cago, Illinois, from which he was graduated 
 in the class of '93. On receiving his diploma 
 he commenced the practice of his profession 
 in Chicago, and there remained until Janu- 
 ary, 1895, when he removed to Elburn, 
 where he has since continued in practice 
 with gratifying success. Dr. Taylor was 
 married August 4, 1886, to Miss Elvina 
 Nellans, daughter of Moses and Lucinda 
 Nellans, of Fulton county, Indiana, of which 
 county she is a native. By this union they 
 have two children Katie E. and Mary E. , 
 both of whom are attending the schools of 
 Elburn. Mrs. Taylor is a member of the
 
 6;6 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Baptist church, in the work of which she is 
 greatly interested. 
 
 In politics Dr. Taylor is a Democrat, 
 but takes little interest in political affairs as 
 such, voting for the men rather than the 
 party. Fraternally he is a member of the 
 Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and has 
 hejd all the offices in both the subordinate 
 lodge and the encampment. He is a mem- 
 ber of the Forresters and an officer in the 
 same, and of the Court of Honor, of which 
 he is examining physician. He is also med- 
 ical examiner for several of the insurance 
 companies. The Doctor, who is yet in the 
 prime of life, is highly esteemed by all who 
 know him, and stands well among the mem- 
 bers of his profession. He is energetic, 
 enterprising and enthusiastic, just such a 
 citizen as gives character to a community. 
 
 EDWARD C. WHILDIN, who resides 
 on section 4, Big Rock township, where 
 he owns and operates a farm of one hun- 
 dred and eighty-five acres, is a native of 
 Kane county, born in Sugar Grove town- 
 ship, December 26, 1844. He is the son 
 of Richard Whildin, a native of Wales, who 
 came to the United States a young man, 
 and first located in New York, and there 
 married Louisa Benjamin, a sister of Leon- 
 ard Benjamin, who came with them to 
 Kane county, Illinois, about 1838. Locating 
 in Sugar Grove township, he entered a tract 
 of one hundred and twenty acres, opened 
 up and developed the farm, there raised his 
 family, and there died in May, 1875, at the 
 at the age of seventy-three years. His wife 
 died some seven years previously, passing 
 away in 1868. Of their family of four chil- 
 dren, Mary is the wife of H. P. Swan, of 
 Livingston county, Illinois; Mrs. Harriet A. 
 
 Taylor resides in Big Rock township; Ed- 
 ward C. is our subject; and George F. 
 owns and operates the old home farm. 
 After spending his boyhood and youth upon 
 the farm in Sugar Grove township, and at- 
 tending its public schools, our subject con- 
 tinued to assist his father in operating the 
 farm, until his marriage, May 28, 1873, to 
 Miss Mary G. Taylor, who was born and 
 reared on the farm where she now resides, 
 and is the daughter of Percy Taylor, a na- 
 tive of Vermont, who in early life moved to 
 New York, and there married Rebecca 
 Lawrence, moving west to Kane county, 
 Illinois, in 1837, where he entered the land 
 now owned and occupied by our subject. 
 
 After marriage, Mr. Whildin rented a 
 farm for several years, and then bought out 
 the heirs to the old Taylor homestead, on 
 which he located, and has resided since 
 March, 1880. He has since built a large 
 residence, two barns, tiled much of the land 
 and otherwise improved the place. He has 
 always been somewhat interested in polit- 
 ical affairs, and since casting his first presi- 
 dential ballot in 1868, for General U. S. 
 Grant, he has advocated the principles of 
 the Republican party. His ability has 
 been recognized by his fellow citizens, and 
 for four years he served as assessor of his 
 township, and for eleven consecutive years 
 has served as a member of the board of 
 supervisors. On the board he has been 
 quite active, serving as chairman of the 
 equalization committee, and of the miscel- 
 laneous committee, and also as a member 
 of various other committees. As a delegate 
 to numerous county, congressional and state 
 conventions, he has exerted a good influ- 
 ence. In every position called upon to fill 
 he has discharged the duties, faithfully and 
 well, and in a most satisfactory manner.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 677 
 
 A lifelong resident of Kane county, he is 
 well known throughout its length and 
 breadth, and where best known, is held in 
 the highest esteem. 
 
 WILLIAM WALLACE FRASER, pro- 
 prietor of the creamery and feed mill 
 at East Plato, was born in Cattaraugus 
 county, New York, August i, 1860, and is 
 the son of Robert and Eliza J. (Dales) Fra- 
 ser, both of whom were born in Livingston 
 county. New York, the former May 15, 
 1816, and the latter in 1824. 
 
 Robert Fraser was the son of Alexander 
 Fraser, a native of Scotland, who came to 
 this country at an early day, and was mur- 
 dered for his money at his home in Living- 
 ston county, New York, in 1864, when eighty 
 years of age. Five men came to his home 
 at midnight, who knew of his habit of aris- 
 ing at that hour to read. His wife climbed 
 out of the window, alarmed the neighbors, 
 who found the villains in a school house 
 dividing the money. They were captured, 
 tried and all given life sentences. When a 
 young man Robert Fraser for a time was 
 engaged in teaching singing school, but after 
 his marriage he engaged in merchandising 
 in Cuba, New York, and also owned a farm. 
 In 1862 he sold out, came west, and bought 
 six hundred and forty acres in Elgin town- 
 ship, and engaged in farming. In 1878 he 
 sold the farm and moved into Elgin, where 
 he lived a retired life until his death in 1888, 
 at the age seventy-two years. His widow 
 yet resides in Elgin. They were the parents 
 of seven children: Donald B., deceased; 
 Maggie, wife of Frank S. Heath, of Elgin; 
 Robert, deceased; Melvin, a missionary in 
 Africa; William Wallace, our subject; John, 
 deceased; and Charles. 
 
 Our subject was but two years of age 
 when his parents moved to Kane" county. 
 On his father's farm was spent his boyhood 
 and youth, and in the public schools of the 
 township and at Elgin and Milwaukee re- 
 ceived his education. When sixteen years 
 of age he began working in the butter fac- 
 tory which he now owns. He remained 
 there two years, and then secured a place 
 at Lily Lake, Campton township, where he 
 also remained two years, going to Holstein 
 for one year and to Gray Willow one year, 
 returning to Lily Lake, where he spent two 
 years. Moving to Elgin, he ran an engine 
 two winters for an ice company, and then 
 spent eight years in the gilding department 
 of the Watch Factory. Leaving that 
 employ he went into a lumber and coal 
 business, but soon sold his lumber interest, 
 continuing in the coal office two and a half 
 years. In June, 1897, he purchased his 
 present place of business at East Plato. 
 
 Mr. Fraser has been twice married, his 
 first union being with Miss May Lathrop, 
 daughter of Alvin Lathrop, who now resides 
 in Dakota. Alvin Lathrop was the son of 
 Elijah and Eunice (Philbrick) Lathrop. By 
 this union there was one son, Donald B., 
 born July 23, 1881. His wife dying, Mr. 
 Fraser, on the 2 5th of May, 1893, married 
 Mabel Bishop, daughter of Henry and Annie 
 (Elmore) Bishop, the latter being a daugh- 
 ter of David Elmore, born in Massachusetts 
 in 1800, and who came to Kane county in 
 1836 and died in 1854. He was the son of 
 William Howard Elmore, a descendant of 
 Elmer Elmore, who came over in the May- 
 flower. David Elmore married Mary Hum- 
 phrey, a daughter of Rev. Humphrey, who 
 married a Miss Curtis. Henry Bishop was 
 the son of Nathaniel Bishop. He was born 
 in St. Mary's parish, Devonshire, England,
 
 6;8 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and, coming to America, first settled on St. 
 John's river, New Brunswick, coming to 
 Kane county, about 1851. He bought a 
 farm on section 28, Elgin township, where 
 his death occurred. By his second marriage 
 Mr. Eraser has one daughter, Hazel Mabel. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Eraser are members of the 
 First Baptist church of Elgin. Fraternally 
 he is a member of Silver Leaf camp, No. 
 60, M. W. A. In politics he is a Republican. 
 
 WILLIAM M. PRICE, of Sugar Grove 
 township, is now living a retired life 
 on his farm on section 5, comprising four 
 hundred and twenty-six acres of well-im-- 
 proved land. He is numbered among the 
 settlers of 1841 and relates many amusing 
 incidents of pioneer life, incidents which 
 were not so amusing at the time, but by the 
 lapse of years show the ludicrous side. Mr. 
 Price was born in the county of West Mathe, 
 Ireland, July 4, 1816, and when but fifteen 
 years of age came to America with an older 
 brother, and for a few weeks lived in Can- 
 ada, then went to Burlington, Vermont, and 
 on July 5, 1831, at Strafford Hollow, hired 
 out to a farmer and butcher, worked for a 
 month, loaned his employer thirty dollars 
 and lost both that and the month's salary. 
 He then hired to Judge Jedediah Harris, and 
 was employed by him on his farm for six 
 years and nine months. The Judge proved 
 a good friend to the poor Irish boy, and he 
 and his wife were like a father and mother 
 to him. For the next two years he was 
 engaged with another party, but in May, 1 84 1 , 
 came west to Illinois, by way of the Erie 
 canal to Buffalo and then across the lakes 
 to Chicago. From that place he came to 
 Sugar Grove township, Kane county, and 
 here joined Mr. Bliss, who had located 
 
 here some three years previously. He 
 bought a claim of Mr. Bliss comprising a 
 tract of one hundred and sixty acres, paying 
 five hundred dollars for the claim. The land 
 was unimproved, although the frame of a 
 house had been built, which Mr. Price 
 enclosed, and taking a family boarded with 
 them while improving the place. On the 
 4th of January, 1843, Mr. Price was united 
 in marriage with Miss Mary Smith, a native 
 of Pennsylvania and a daughter of James 
 Smith, a pioneer settler of 1836. By this 
 union eleven children were born, three of 
 whom died in early childhood. The living 
 are Olive M., at home; Janet, wife of 
 Charles Benton, a substantial farmer of 
 Kaneville township; Hugh, married and re- 
 siding in Hinckley, Illinois; Minnie, at 
 home; George W., at home; Nancy E., 
 wife of Richard Berry, a farmer of Sugar 
 Grove township; William W. and George 
 W. , who carry on the farm; and Jessie, wife 
 of Cornelius Cornell, a farmer of Yorkville, 
 Illinois. 
 
 After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Price com- 
 menced their domestic life on the farm 
 where they now reside, and which has been 
 their home for fifty-nine long years. In 
 the early day, and for about twelve years, 
 he hauled all his grain and produce to Chi- 
 cago, and there purchased all the neces- 
 saries of life and lumber for his house. 
 For about twelve months he suffered with 
 the fever and ague, which was quite preva- 
 lent in early times. But he was always 
 cheerful and it mattered not what trouble 
 came upon him he endured them in a phil- 
 osophical manner. For some years he has 
 been afflicted with rheumatism and requires 
 the use of crutches, but he is the most 
 cheerful and most pleasant companion, with 
 mind clear and memory good. Mrs. Price
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 679 
 
 has also for some years suffered with the 
 rheumatism, but never complains and is 
 ever cheerful and busy with her needle. 
 
 Mr. Price came to the United States 
 with but sixty dollars in his pocket, but he 
 came with a stout heart and willing hands 
 and a determination to succeed. By his 
 own labor and enterprise, assisted by his 
 good wife, he has secured a competency, 
 and in old age is enjoying the fruits of his 
 former toil. During the fifty-seven years 
 of his residence in Kane county, he has 
 scarcely been from the farm more than one 
 night at a time, save on one occasion, when 
 he spent four weeks in visiting with a 
 brother. Politically, " Uncle Billy," as he 
 is familiarly called, has been a life-long 
 Democrat, the principles of the party be- 
 ing dear to his heart. Office holding has 
 had no charms for him and he would accept 
 none, save that of school director, in which 
 he served for some ten or twelve years, and 
 also that of road commissioner, in which 
 he served for some years. He has always 
 been an advocate of good roads, and hauled 
 the first load of gravel used on the roads 
 of Sugar Grove township. Few men are 
 better known in Kane county, and the 
 house of Uncle Billy Price is the abode of 
 true hospitality, and there the ' ' latch string 
 always hangs out." 
 
 HENRY SEAVEY, now living a retired 
 life in the village of Big Rock, was for 
 many years numbered among the most en- 
 terprising of the farmers of Kane county. 
 He was born in Wyoming county, New York, 
 January 5, 1841. His paternal grandfather, 
 Mark Seavey, Sr., was a native of Vermont, 
 who, in young manhood, removed to Wy- 
 oming county, New York, and later coming 
 
 33 
 
 to Illinois, and in Kane county spent the 
 remainder of his life. His son, also named 
 Mark, is the father of our subject. The 
 latter grew to manhood in Wyoming coun- 
 ty, New York, and there married Lucy Ann 
 Campbell, a native of the same county and 
 state. While residing in Wyoming county, 
 Mr. Seavey engaged in the milling business, 
 owning and operating a saw and grist mill. 
 In 1844 he came to Kane county, Illinois, 
 and located in Sugar Grove township, where 
 he bought a claim, on which he re- 
 sided for two years. In 1846 he moved 
 to Big Rock township, purchased a partially 
 improved place, having on it a log house 
 and log stable. He at once began the fur- 
 ther improvement of the place, and there 
 resided until his death, January i, 1852, at 
 about the age of forty-four years. His 
 widow remained on the farm, reared her 
 family, and now resides with her children in 
 Big Rock, a well-preserved woman of sev- 
 enty-seven years. Of their two sons and 
 four daughters, all are yet living. Henry 
 is the subject of this sketch; Aaron M. is a 
 farmer of Sugar Grove township; Wealthy 
 is the wife of W. H. Chapman, of Aurora; 
 Ellen is the wife of D. J. Myers, of the vil- 
 lage of Big Rock; Merselia is the wife of 
 Charles Weed, also of Big Rock; and Anna 
 is the wife of C. A. Grouse, whose sketch 
 appears elsewhere in this work. 
 
 Henry Seavey came to Kane county, 
 Illinois, when but four years of age. In its 
 public schools he received his education, at- 
 tending the same during the winter months, 
 and assisting on the farm in the summer, 
 until fifteen years of age. He then left 
 home and commenced working by the 
 month, on various farms, some seven or 
 eight years, when he purchased a place of 
 one hundred acres, which was partly fenced
 
 68o 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and broken, and on which were some very 
 inferior buildings. With commendable en- 
 ergy, he began the further improvement of 
 the place, and feeling the necessity of a 
 helpmeet, he was married in Kane county, 
 January 5, 1868, to Nancy Chapman, a na- 
 tive of southern Illinois, but who was reared 
 in Kane county, and a daughter of J. H. 
 Chapman. After marriage, he lived on the 
 old family homestead and operated that and 
 his own place adjoining for three years. 
 His wife dying in April, 1871, he sold his 
 farm and commenced dealing in stock at 
 Big Rock and Hinckley, for two years. He 
 then went to Piano, Kendall county, Illi- 
 nois, and worked for Stewart & Hemming 
 Breeding Association, breeders of fine stock, 
 and remained there three years. 
 
 On the 2nd of March, 1880, Mr. Seavey 
 was married in Piano, to Miss Eliza M. 
 Craig, a native of Kendall county, Illinois, 
 and a daughter of George Craig. Her 
 mother dying when she was a child, she 
 was taken to New York, where she grew to 
 womanhood, and then returned to her home 
 in Kendall county. After their marriage, 
 he located on a farm in Kendall county, on 
 the line dividing it from Kane county, where 
 he purchased eighty acres, and later bought 
 eighty acres more, adjoining, and improved 
 and developed both places. Tiling the 
 land, and erecting various buildings, he 
 there resided some thirteen years. In 1890 
 he purchased about seven acres in the vil- 
 lage of Big Rock, and erected one of the 
 neatest residences in the village. Renting 
 his farm he removed to Big Rock, where he 
 has since lived a retired life, enjoying a well- 
 earned rest. Since coming to the village, 
 however, he has engaged more or less in 
 the real estate business, having purchased 
 and sold several well-improved farms. 
 
 Politically Mr. Seavey is a Democrat on 
 national issue, but on local issues he is in- 
 dependent, supporting the men he considers 
 best qualified for the office. His father 
 and grandfather were Republicans in their 
 political faith. Mr. Seavey never sought, 
 nor would he accept, office, until after his 
 removal to the village, when he was elected 
 a member of the school, "board. He united 
 with the Masonic lodge at Kaneville, with 
 which he retained membership >until it 
 ceased to exist in consequence of their lodge 
 building being destroyed by fire. The fifty- 
 four years that he has spent in Kane coun- 
 ty have been eventful ones. In the great 
 changes that have been made he has done 
 his part and is certainly entitled to the rest 
 which he now enjoys.- 
 
 EVELYN L. STARKS, who resides on 
 section 30, Rutland township, is the 
 son of the first settler of that township, 
 and is descended from one of the oldest 
 New England families. His grandfather, 
 Stephen Starks, was a near relative of the 
 famous Revolutionary general. Stephen 
 Starks moved from Williamstown, Massa- 
 chusetts, to Rutland county, Vermont, 
 shortly after the Revolutionary war. He 
 died at the age of about sixty years in San- 
 gamon county, Illinois. He married Abigail 
 Rich, who came west with her son, and 
 died in Sangamon county, Illinois, in 1845, 
 at an advanced age. 
 
 Evelyn R. Starks, the father of our sub- 
 ject, was the son of Stephen and Abigail 
 (Rich) Starks. He was born at Williams- 
 town, Massachusetts, March 19, 1813, and 
 with his parents moved to Rutland county, 
 Vermont, when he was a child, and there he 
 was reared. He worked on the lakes in
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 68 1 
 
 connection with farming until the age of 
 twenty-two, when he came west in the fall 
 of 1835, and entered a tract of wild land, 
 on section 30, Rutland township, Kane 
 county, becoming the first settler of that 
 township. When the township was or- 
 ganized, he was elected its first supervisor 
 and named it for his old county in Vermont. 
 Locating on section 30, he staked his claim 
 of one hundred and sixty acres, and then 
 went to spent the winter with a friend from 
 Vermont, living two miles from where Na- 
 perville now stands. In the spring of 1836, 
 he was joined by his uncle, Elijah Rich, 
 who took up a claim on sections 30 and 31. 
 The two kept "bach" one year, and Mr. 
 Starks being the younger, acted as cook and 
 housekeeper. The year following Mr. Rich 
 returned to Vermont for his family, and, on 
 their arrival Mr. Starks gave over cooking 
 ing and housekeeping. In 1838, he him- 
 self went back to Vermont for a wife, and 
 there married Esther Doty, a native of New 
 York. Their happiness, however, was short 
 lived, Mrs. Starks dying in 1840. On the 
 6th of December, 1845, Mr. Slarks married 
 in Rutland township, Miss Saloma Gage, a 
 native of Arcadia, Wyoming county, New 
 York, born -June 4, 1819, and who died 
 April 24, 1890. She was the daughter of 
 Solomon Gage, Sr. , who located in Hamp- 
 shire township, section 32. For ten years 
 prior to coming west, she had been a teach- 
 er in the schools of New York state, and, 
 after coming here with her brothers in 1844, 
 she taught one year in a log school house, 
 where the village of Hampshire now stands. 
 Her father, Solomon Gage, Sr. , was born in 
 New Hampshire, in 1788, and died on the 
 farm in Hampshire township, Kane county, 
 Illinois, October 21, 1851. He married 
 Miriam Guernsey, born in New Hampshire, 
 
 in 1786, and a daughter of Cyril Guernsey. 
 She died December 17, 1866. To Evelyn 
 R. and Saloma Starks, six children were 
 born as follows: Evelyn L. , our subject; 
 Milton J., who resides on a fine farm in Mc- 
 Henry county, Illinois; Frank A., John W. , 
 and William H., deceased; and Willie H., 
 who resides in the village of Hampshire, 
 and is serving as justice of the peace. 
 
 Evelyn R. Starks was a man of unusual 
 prominence, and was the first supervisor of 
 Rutland township. He participated in all 
 movements for the advancement of public 
 good. A hard worker, he gave too little time 
 to recreation and rest in his early life, and 
 for twenty-five years endured the misery of 
 broken health. By his industry he acquired 
 eight hundred acres of land, to which he 
 gave almost his undivided attention. His 
 death occurred in 1880. Religiously, he 
 was a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church, and in politics he was a stanch Re- 
 publican. An abolitionist in sentiment, 
 prior to the war he was interested in free- 
 ing slaves. When the railroad was built, in 
 1874, which passes through his old farm, 
 Starks Station was named in honor. 
 
 Evelyn L. Starks, our subject, was born 
 February 2, 1847, on tne farm where he 
 has always resided. He attended the dis- 
 trict schools until the age of sixteen, and 
 worked for his father until of legal age, 
 when, on attaining his majority, he worked 
 for him one year for wages, then rented a 
 part of the farm, and began life for himself. 
 After the death of his father, his mother 
 made her home with him until her death. 
 
 Mr. Starks has been twice married, his 
 first marriage being solemnized in Elgin, 
 December 3, 1868, when he wedded Helen 
 M. Weed, daughter of Elijah Weed, of 
 whom a sketch appears elsewhere in this
 
 682 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 book. Two children were born to this 
 union Mabel A. and Eveline E., the latter 
 being deceased. Mr. Starks was again mar- 
 ried September 25, 1889, atEdinburg, John- 
 son county, Indiana, with Miss Magdelene 
 Hartman, a native of that place, and a 
 daughter of Michael and Julia A. (Pickens) 
 Hartman. By this union one child was 
 born which died in infancy. 
 
 Mr. Starks has never had any desire to 
 leave the farm. While others flock to cities 
 and villages when sufficiently well-to-do, to 
 retire, he prefers the wholesome life' of the 
 farm. He has five hundred acres of as fine 
 land as lies in Kane county, and runs a dairy 
 farm, milking about ninety cows and ship- 
 ping to Chicago. Fraternally, he is a Mas- 
 ter Mason and a member of the lodge at 
 Hampshire. In politics he is a Republican. 
 From the time he attained his majority he 
 has served as school director or road com- 
 missioner. Prominent and influential in his 
 township, liberal and public-spirited, he has 
 many friends in Kane county, of which he 
 is a lifelong resident. 
 
 ARCHER B. PHELPS, who resides on 
 section 24, Kaneville township, on a 
 farm of two hundred and thirty acres, has 
 been a resident of the township and county 
 since October, 1861. He was born in 
 Chenango county, New York, February n, 
 1845. His father, Pliny Phelps, and his 
 grandfather, George Phelps, were also na- 
 tives of the same county and state. Both 
 were by occupation farmers. Pliny Phelps, 
 who was born in 1819, married Elmira 
 White, also a native of New York. By this 
 union there were five sons and three daugh- 
 ters, all of whom grew to manhood and 
 womanhood, except one, who died in 
 
 childhood, named Herbert. They were 
 Archer B. , our subject; Lyman, who mar- 
 ried and settled in Kaneville township, and 
 later died in Sterling, Illinois; Agnes, wife 
 of Charles Dadds, of Kaneville, Illinois; 
 George, who is married and resides at Pull- 
 man, Illinois, is engaged as a traveling sales- 
 man; John, of Geneva, who holds a position 
 in Chicago; Estella resides in Geneva; and 
 Ella, wife of Doctor Fred W. Coding, now 
 consul in Australia. In the fall of 1861, 
 Pliny Phelps came to Kane county, Illinois, 
 with his family, and located on the farm 
 where our subject now resides, which he 
 had purchased the previous year, at which 
 time he made a visit to this section. The 
 place was fairly well improved, and to its 
 further improvement he bent his energies, 
 and was actively engaged in farming until 
 his death in March, 1868. His wife sur- 
 vives him, and now resides with a son in 
 Geneva. 
 
 The subject of this sketch came to Kane 
 county when sixteen years of age, and as- 
 sisted his father in the cultivation of the 
 home farm. His education began in the 
 public schools of his native state, was com- 
 pleted in the schools of Kaneville. He re- 
 mained with' his father until the latter's 
 death, when he took charge of the farm and 
 business, and later purchased the interest 
 of the other heirs, being now the owner of 
 the entire estate. He was married in Jan- 
 uary, 1869, to Miss Maria E. Hartwell, a na- 
 tive of Chautauqua county, New York, who 
 came to Kane county when a child with her 
 father, Willard Hartwell. She was here 
 reared and educated and previous to her 
 marriage engaged in teaching in the public 
 schools. By this union are six children, as 
 follows: Lynn, who is married and is en- 
 gaged in farming in Kaneville township; Lee,
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 683 
 
 who died September 16, 1897, at the age of 
 twenty-four years; Jennie, at home; Earl, 
 who is assisting his father in carrying on 
 the farm; Alice and Clinton, students in the 
 Kaneville schools. 
 
 In addition to his own farm of two hun- 
 dred and thirty acres, Mr. Phelps rents an 
 adjoining farm of two hundred acres, and 
 for several years has been operating both 
 farms. In the spring of 1898, he had one 
 hundred and twenty acres in corn, over 
 sixty acres in oats, and the balance in 
 meadow and pasture land. He makes a 
 business of feeding several carloads of hogs 
 and cattle annually, and usually feeds 
 stock enough to consume the crop. Polit- 
 ically Mr. Phelps is a stanch Republican, 
 and cast his first presidential ballot for U. 
 S. Grant in 1868. While always taking an 
 active interest in political affairs, and while 
 giving unswerving allegiance to his party, 
 he has never asked or accepted office. A 
 man well known in his section of the coun- 
 ty, he is held in high esteem by all, and 
 while giving strict attention to his business 
 interest, has yet manifested an interest in 
 public affairs and has ever shown his desire 
 to do all he could for his adopted county 
 and state. 
 
 OAMUEL E. POULEY, dealer in agri- 
 O cultural implements, carriages and har- 
 ness, Elburn, Illinois, is one of the leading 
 and active business men of that city. He 
 is a native of Kane county, born November 
 27, 1851, and is the son of Samuel and Al- 
 mira (Hitchcock) Pouley, the former a na- 
 tive of England, and the latter of Vermont. 
 Samuel Pouley, the father of our sub- 
 ject, isa native of Nottinghamshire, England, 
 born April 17, 1808. He was one of the 
 
 very oldest pioneers in this section of the 
 country, at the time of his settlement there 
 being no roads or bridges, and but two 
 houses between his place and Geneva, 
 which was then a cluster of but a few 
 houses. His parents were Robert and Han- 
 nah (Godfrey) Pouley, the former, who fol- 
 lowed farming, being nearly one hundred 
 years old at the time of his death. In his 
 native land, Samuel Pouley followed gar- 
 dening, and had but limited advantages for 
 an education, and what he afterward ac- 
 quired came by his own efforts while in 
 touch with the world in business. In 1840, 
 he came to America, landing in New York, 
 where he remained one year, then moved to 
 Illinois, settling in Blackberry township, 
 Kane county, where he remained until 
 1892, when he moved to the village of El- 
 burn, where his death occurred December 
 16, 1893. 
 
 While yet residing in England, Samuel 
 Pouley entered the ministry of the Baptist 
 church, and upon coming to Illinois, held 
 meetings in school houses and dwelling 
 houses, being one of the pioneer min- 
 isters of the county. He was a man 
 of chaste life and habits, of irreproach- 
 able character, of gentle and lovable dispo- 
 sition, and efficient in the service of his 
 Master. His life was pure, simple and ca- 
 pable of no double interpretation. He left 
 behind him the character of one who was 
 ardent, honorable, prudent and persevering 
 in the interest of those who entrusted their 
 rights to his keeping. 
 
 Samuel Pouley was married January I, 
 1844, to Almira Hitchcock, who was born 
 in Vermont, November 9, 1810, and a. 
 daughter of Amos and Achsah (Hendee) 
 Hitchcock, who were also natives of Ver- 
 mont, where they lived until their death,
 
 684 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the former at the age of ninety-two years. 
 Of their six children, five are yet living 
 Martha A., (Mrs. Charles A. Baker), 
 Robert F., Eliza J. (Mrs. JohnWinters), Sam- 
 uel E. , Emma L. (Mrs. Martin Withey.) 
 The first born died in infancy. In early 
 life Mr. Pouley was an abolitionist and later 
 a Republican. Mrs. Pouley is yet living at 
 the age of eighty-eight years. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared on 
 a farm and educated in the district schools. 
 He assisted his father in farm work until 
 his marriage, when he moved to Wheaton, 
 DuPage county, Illinois, and there worked 
 as a carpenter for more than three years, 
 then returned to the farm, where he re- 
 mained nine years. He then moved to the 
 village of Elburn, worked one year at his 
 trade, and was then five years as the junior 
 partner of the firm of Matheson & Pouley, 
 druggists. He sold his interest in that es- 
 tablishment March i, 1898, when he com- 
 menced his present business, keeping at all 
 times a large assortment of agricultural im- 
 plements, carriages and harness, and is 
 wo'rking up a good trade. 
 
 Mr. Pouley was married March 28, 1878, 
 to Miss Emma J.Humphrey, daughter of Mil- 
 ton and Minerva (Miller) Humphrey, both of 
 whom are natives of New York, and who 
 were then residing in Blackberry township, 
 Kane county, Illinois. By this union are 
 seven children Edna M., Edwin A., Avis 
 M., Mary J., Verna A., Vida E. and Edith 
 C. Religiously, Mrs. Pouley is a member 
 of the Congregational church, and, frater- 
 nally, Mr. Pouley is a member of the Mod- 
 ern Woodmen of America. In politics he 
 is a Republican, and takes an active inter- 
 est in state and national campaigns. He 
 conducts his business upon methods which 
 commend him to the favor and confidence 
 
 of the people, and he is most justly num- 
 bered among Elburn's prominent and influ- 
 ential citizens. 
 
 DE. LAMSON, who resides on section 
 7, Big Rock township, is one of four 
 brothers who now own and operate a farm 
 of three hundred and eighty-four acres of 
 well improved and valuable land. All are 
 natives of Kane county, Illinois, L. J. being 
 born December 12, 1856; D. E. , July 13, 
 (858; A. W., February 4, 1860; and L. L. , 
 December 4, 1861. The father, L. J. 
 Lamson, was a native of Massachusetts, 
 born in 1817, under the shadows of Bunker 
 Hill; his father, the grandfather of our sub- 
 ject, was also a native of Massachusetts, 
 and there died about 1819. The family are 
 of English descent, and originally settled in 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 L. J. Lamson, the father of our subject, 
 was but two years old when his father died. 
 He was then taken to Maine, where he grew 
 to manhood, and then returned to Massa- 
 chusetts, and later went to New York City, 
 where an elder brother was engaged in mer- 
 chandising, and for whom he clerked a short 
 time. In 1836 he came to Kane county, 
 Illinois, and located in Big Rock township, 
 being one of the first four families to settle 
 in that township. He first entered a tract 
 of land, and bought other land, locating 
 where his sons now reside. He cleared the 
 land, fenced the same, and opened up the 
 farm, in due time erecting a substantial 
 house and good barns, and otherwise devel- 
 oped the place. He was one of the most 
 active and prosperous farmers in the town- 
 ship. By his fellow-citizens he was honored 
 with various official positions, being elected 
 the first township clerk.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 685 
 
 Mr. Lamson was married in Big Rock 
 township, to Jane Dale, a native of England, 
 born at Piddington Hill, Durham county, 
 and a daughter of Thomas, who located in 
 Big Rock township, Kane county, in 1852, 
 when his daughter was in her maidenhood. 
 The four children born of this union have 
 already been mentioned. Politically the 
 father was a Republican, and was quite 
 active in political affairs, but gave the 
 greater part of his time to his farming 
 interests. Upon the old homestead he 
 reared his family, and passed to the un- 
 seen world April u, 1889. His wife sur- 
 vived him some years, dying February 28, 
 1895. 
 
 D. E. Lamson, our subject, grew to 
 manhood on the home farm, and was edu- 
 cated in the public schools of Big Rock 
 township and at Sugar Grove. With his 
 brothers, he remained with the father until 
 his death, when they took charge of the farm 
 and business. On the death of the mother, 
 they succeeded to the farm, and in addition 
 own one hundred and fourteen acres adjoin- 
 ing the old place, where our subject makes 
 his home. 
 
 In 1888, the Lamson Brothers began to 
 breed and deal in Hereford cattle quite ex- 
 tensively, and for some time had a herd of 
 forty head of pure blooded stock. In 1890 
 they began to breed and deal in Poland 
 China hogs, and have also been engaged in 
 breeding Dorset Horn sheep, mostly im- 
 ported stock. They have worked up a large 
 business in fine stock and ship to various 
 localities in several states of the union. In 
 the ten years in which they have engaged 
 in the breeding of blooded stock, they have 
 acquired a splendid reputation. 
 
 Politically the brothers are all Repub- 
 licans, and give earnest support to the men 
 
 and measures of that party. For eight con- 
 secutive years, D. E. Lamson served as as- 
 sessor of the township. Fraternally the 
 brothers are members of the Modern Wood- 
 men of America, D. E. being a. charter mem- 
 ber of the camp at Big Rock, in which he 
 has served two terms as head consul. He 
 has also served as delegate to the state en- 
 campments. L. L. was banker of the 
 camp in 1897, and L. J. has also served 
 officially in the camp. L. J. and L. L. are 
 also members of the Knights of the Macca- 
 bees. Enterprising and progressive, the 
 brothers are doing much to advance the ma- 
 terial interests of the county, especially of 
 Big Rock township. They are well and fa- 
 vorably known as men of exemplary habits 
 and upright character. 
 
 FRANKLIN P. MIGHELL is one of the 
 enterprising and progressive farmers of 
 Kane county, and resides on a farm of one 
 hundred and fifty-seven acres, on section 
 32, Sugar Grove township. He is a native 
 of New York, born in Tompkins county, 
 June 21, 1837, and is a son of Ezekial and 
 Lucinda (Todd) Mighell, of whom special 
 mention is made in the sketch of Silas H. 
 Mighell on another page of this work. He 
 came with his parents to Kane county, an 
 infant, and here his entire life has since 
 been passed. He was educated in the com- 
 mon schools of the county, and as soon as 
 old enough assisted in the cultivation of 
 the home farm. He remained at home until 
 1860, when he was united in marriage with 
 Miss Viola Snell, a native of New York, 
 but who came with her parents to Kane 
 county when a child, and here grew to 
 womanhood. By this union are six children 
 as follows: Estella, wife of Perry Wilder,
 
 686 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of Kendall county, Illinois; Frank E. , mar- 
 ried and residing in Aurora; Maud, wife of 
 Benjamin Spencer, of Aurora; May, wife of 
 Frank Phillips, of Aurora township; Nat- 
 tie, wife of George Stainfield, a farmer of 
 Sugar Grove township; and Ray, a young 
 man who is assisting in carrying on the home 
 farm. In 1862, Mr. Mighell bade farewell 
 to his family and friends and enlisted in the 
 Eighth Illinois Cavalry, which became a 
 part of the Army of the Potomac. With 
 that army he participated in the fight at 
 Sugar Loaf mountain, the battle of Antie- 
 tam, second battle of Fredricksburg, sec- 
 ond battle of Bull Run, Gettysburg and 
 Kelly's Ford, together with many lesser 
 engagements, about sixty in all. He en- 
 listed as a private and was promoted ser- 
 geant in his company. He never lost any 
 time by reason of sickness, while in the 
 service. He served until the final close of 
 the war, and was mustered out in July, 1865, 
 at Jefferson Barracks, near St. Louis, Mis- 
 souri. 
 
 Returning home after receiving his dis- 
 charge, he resumed farming, purchasing 
 forty acres adjoining his present place but 
 locating where he now resides, which is a 
 part of the old homestead. Since that 
 time he has made many improvements in 
 the place, erecting a good and substantial 
 residence, with good barns and other out- 
 buildings. His farm is always kept in the 
 best order and is well supplied with all 
 modern farm implements. He has always 
 engaged in general farming and stockraising 
 and has been fairly successful in everything 
 that he has undertaken. 
 
 Politically Mr. Mighell is a Republican, 
 the liberty-loving principles of that party 
 having been instilled in from his youth, his 
 father being an Abolitionist, and for some 
 
 years a conductor on the underground rail- 
 road. The first presidential campaign in 
 which he participated was that of 1860, 
 when he cast his vote for " Honest Old 
 Abe." He has been honored by his fellow 
 citizens with various local offices, including 
 collector of the township, road commis- 
 sioner and member of the school board. 
 Fraternally he is a member of the G. A. 
 R. post, No. 20, of Aurora. An almost 
 life-long resident of the county, he has 
 seen its changes from a wilderness until it 
 is to-day one of the most productive coun- 
 ties in the state. He has seen towns spring 
 up as if by magic, until to-day between Au- 
 rora and Chicago it is almost one continu- 
 ous city. In the work of its development 
 he has done his part. 
 
 /">HARLES F. SHARP occupies a fine 
 *^s farm of four hundred and eighty-eight 
 acres in Campton township, his residence 
 being on section 32. He is one of the most 
 prominent of the farmers of his township, 
 and his ability and worth is recognized by 
 all. A native of New York, he was born in 
 the town of Ripley, Chautauqua county, 
 May i, 1839, and is the son of Joseph and 
 Sarah A. (Phillips) Sharp, the former a na- 
 tive of England and the latter of Wales, but 
 who was reared in England. In his native 
 land Joseph Sharp was a farmer, while his 
 father, John Sharp, followed the business 
 of truck gardening. 
 
 About the year 1829, the grandfather of 
 our subject, John Sharp, emigrated with his 
 family to the United States, and settled in 
 Chautauqua county, New York, but came 
 west to Kane county, Illinois, about 1843. 
 Purchasing a farm he continued to reside in 
 this section until 1856, at which time he
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 687 
 
 proceeded to Benton county, Iowa, with 
 two sons and one daughter. Subsequently 
 he removed to Floyd county, Iowa, where 
 he died at the age of eighty-nine years. 
 
 Both parents of our subject came to the 
 United States in their youth, some years 
 before the emigration of John Sharp. They 
 were married in New York state and resided 
 there where the father engaged in farming 
 until 1858, at which time they came with 
 their family to Kane county. For several 
 years after his arrival here he worked land 
 on shares, and about 1866 purchased a farm 
 in Virgil township and died there. 
 
 Our subject got his early education in 
 New York state and in Illinois in the district 
 schools, working on his father's farm in the 
 meantime. On the 21 st of February, 1867, 
 he was united in marriage with Mary J. 
 Hitchcock, daughter of a prominent farmer 
 of this county and one of a family of eight 
 children. By this union three children have 
 been born, all yet living. They are Fred 
 S. , Frank H. and Alice E., the latter living 
 with her parents. Fred H. married Hattie 
 Nash, of Michigan, and they have two chil- 
 dren, Carrie and Mary. They reside on one 
 of his father's farms of one hundred and 
 sixty acres in Campton township. Frank 
 resides on the old homestead near his fa- 
 ther's present residence, situated on section 
 34, a fine farm and good buildings and which 
 also comprises one hundred and sixty acres. 
 He married Allie Barlow, whose parents are 
 residents of Kane county. 
 
 Mr. Sharp has held a number of official 
 positions in the county. He was supervisor 
 one term, justice of the peace four years, 
 highway commissioner ten years, and to him 
 is largely due the credit for many of the 
 excellent gravel roads in Campton township. 
 He was also township trustee two terms, 
 
 and was school director for many years. A 
 stanch Republican in politics, he cast his 
 first presidential in 1860 for Abraham 
 Lincoln. He follows general farming and 
 stockraising on his present farm, which is 
 excellent land, thoroughly well drained and 
 equipped with good fences and substantial 
 buildings. A pleasant, genial, honest man, 
 he is held in the highest respect wherever 
 known, and his friends are many throughout 
 Kane county. 
 
 A LEXANDER R. WALKER, a repre- 
 /\ sentative farmer of Hampshire town- 
 ship, resides upon section 17, where he is 
 engaged in general and dairy farming. He 
 was born August 27, 1844, in Hemmings- 
 ford, St. Johns county, province of Quebec, 
 not far from the line dividing Canada from 
 the state of New York. His father, Thomas 
 Walker, born in Port Glasgow, Scotland, in 
 1809, married Isabel Perry, a daughter of 
 John Perry, also a native of Scotland. The 
 paternal grandfather, John Walker, also a 
 native of Scotland, came to America in an 
 early day, settling in Hemmingsford, Cana- 
 da, where his death occurred. Thomas and 
 Isabel Walker were the parents of eight 
 children, as follows: John, deceased; Eliz- 
 abeth, deceased; Mary, wife of James Mc- 
 Guff, of Burlington township; Elizabeth is 
 the wife of David Jackson, of Virgil town- 
 ship; Alexander, our subject; Kate, who 
 married John Barker, of Nebraska; Thomas, 
 living in Virgil township; and Jemima, de- 
 ceased. 
 
 In 1852 Thomas Walker came to Kane 
 county, Illinois, with his family, and located 
 in Virgil township, where his death occurred 
 in 1891, at the age of eighty-two years. 
 His wife lives in Virgil. Our subject lived
 
 688 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 with his father till the age of twenty years, 
 and then worked by the month until his 
 marriage, September 6, 1871, with Miss 
 Martha Reid, daughter of David and Olive 
 (Powley) Reid, the former a native of Scot- 
 land, born near Aiken Claurie, about thirty- 
 five miles northeast of Glasgow, February 
 13, 1813, and the latter born in Frontinac 
 county, Canada, in April, 1813. 
 
 David Reid grew to manhood in Scot- 
 land, and at the age of twenty years emi- 
 grated to Canada, sailing from Campbell- 
 town, and after a three-months' voyage, 
 landing in Quebec, and locating near Kings- 
 ton, in Frontinac county, where he resided 
 until his emigration to Kane county, in 1850. 
 Two years previously he visited Kane coun- 
 ty, and purchased a farm of one hundred 
 and sixty acres in Hampshire township, 
 then returned home, and in the spring of 
 1850 brought his family to their new home. 
 He is yet living on the old homestead, where 
 he has spent nearly half a century, but mak- 
 ing his home with his daughter, the wife of 
 our subject. For some years he has been 
 in ill health from a stroke of paralysis. His 
 wife, the mother of Mrs. Walker, died in 
 1871. She was -the daughter of William 
 and Elizabeth (Hoffman) Powley, natives of 
 Canada, the former dying at the age of 
 ninety years. The parents of William 
 Powley lived in America prior to the Revo- 
 lutionary war, but after hostilities ceased 
 returned to Germany, where they resided 
 some years, and then again emigrated to 
 the United States. About the outbreak of 
 the war of 1812, they removed to Canada, 
 where the father secured a good farm, on 
 which he resided until his death. He often 
 related to his children, how at one time in 
 the forest he ran out of provisions, and 
 killed, cooked and ate a rattlesnake, which 
 
 he always declared was, under the circum- 
 stances, very good. Of the four children 
 born to David and Olive Reid, three are yet 
 living John, a banker of Kansas City, 
 Kansas; Dr. Charles P., of the village of 
 Hampshire; and Martha, wife of our sub- 
 ject. 
 
 To our subject and wife, eleven children 
 have been born Harriet, Florence, David, 
 Thomas, Clarissa, Hugh, Kate, Charles, 
 John, Bessie and James. Fraternally Mr. 
 Walker is a member of Hampshire lodge, 
 Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons, of 
 which he has been a member since 1867. 
 In politics he is a Republican, and has held 
 the office of school director and highway 
 commissioner. He has resided upon his 
 present farm since his marriage, and is re- 
 garded as one of the best farmers in the 
 township, and as a citizen he is held in the 
 highest esteem by all who know him. 
 
 OHILLIP H. HEMRICK, who engaged 
 1 in farming on section 30, Rutland 
 township, was born in Hampshire township, 
 Kane county, Illinois, on section 13, Sep- 
 tember 25, 1848, and is the son of Michael 
 and Dora (Hauslein) Hemrick, both of 
 whom were natives of Bavaria, Germany, 
 where they grew to manhood and woman- 
 hood, and were married, emigrating to 
 America in 1845, an ^ locating on a farm on 
 sections 13 and 24, where they resided until 
 their death, the latter dying when sixty 
 years old, and the former at the age of 
 seventy-six years. They were the parents 
 of eight children, as follows: Michael, liv- 
 ing in Kansas; Charles, also living in Kan- 
 sas; Phillip, our subject; Dinah, wife of- 
 Jacob Miller, of Hampshire township; Will- 
 iam, who died from the effects of sun-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 689 
 
 stroke; Elizabeth, deceased; John, living on 
 the home farm, and Malachi, deceased. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared 
 on the home farm, and attended the district 
 schools during the winter terms, and en- 
 gaged in farm work the rest of the 
 year. He remained under the parental 
 roof until the age of twenty, when he hired 
 out for one year. He was married in Elgin 
 township April 13, 1869, to Caroline M. 
 Maupton, who was born in Hampshire 
 township July 12, 1850, and was the daugh- 
 ter of John and Sophia (Kolb) Maupton. 
 The former died in 1852, and the latter 
 makes her home with our subject. Mrs. 
 Hemrick died January 8, 1898, leaving two 
 children Emma C. and Addie. They lost 
 one, Ida S., who died at the age of six 
 years. Emma C. is now the wife of E. A. 
 Gage, of whom a more extended notice 
 appears elsewhere in this work. 
 
 Mr. Hemrick is a member of the United 
 Evangelical church, of which body his wife 
 was also a member. In politics he is a 
 thorough Republican, and for twenty-five 
 years has served as school director. When 
 the postoffice was established, in 1883, at 
 Starks Station, known as Sunset Postoffice, 
 he was appointed postmaster, which posi- 
 tion he has creditably filled to the present 
 time. Fraternally, he is a member of the 
 Modern Woodmen of America, while his 
 wife was a member of the Ladies of the 
 Maccabees. 
 
 WILLIAM H. TUPPER, who owns and 
 operates a fine farm of three hun- 
 dred and sixty acres in section 14, Kane- 
 ville township, has been a resident of Kane 
 county, since 1854. He was born in On- 
 tario, Canada, March 6, 1830. His father, 
 Elias Tupper, was a native of Nova Scotia, 
 
 and was of English parentage. He grew to 
 manhood in New Brunswick, and there 
 married Ann Beckwith, also of English par- 
 entage. They became the parents of four 
 sons and three daughters, but one son died 
 in childhood, all growing to mature years, 
 but are now deceased with the exception of 
 our subject and his brother, Eliakim, who 
 resides in Canada. In early manhood, 
 Elias Tupper was engaged in mercantile 
 trade, but on his removal to Canada, he 
 first engaged in merchandising and later in 
 farming. He settled near Quebec, where 
 his store was destroyed by fire, during the 
 war of 1812. After being burned out, he 
 located in Ontario, above Hamilton, on a 
 farm and there spent the last years of his 
 life. His death occurred in 1836, when our 
 subject was a child of six years. . His wife 
 survived him and reared the family, doing 
 her duty by them in a most faithful manner. 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood in Canada and received good common- 
 school advantages. On the 9th of April, 
 1848, he was united in marriage, in Canada, 
 with Miss Catherine Edmonds, a native of 
 Canada, and a daughter of Oliver Edmonds, 
 formerly from New York. At the time of 
 his marriage he was but eighteen years of 
 age, and his bride but sixteen. Immediately 
 after marriage he took charge of the Ed- 
 monds farm, which he operated for about 
 six years, the winters of which time he en- 
 gaged in lumbering. In 1854, he came to 
 Kane county, Illinois, and purchased a tract 
 of four hundred and eighty acres, in Kane- 
 ville township, about one hundred acres of 
 which was under cultivation. Upon the 
 place was a fair house and barn, which in 
 due time gave place to a larger residence, 
 while other improvements upon the place 
 were made and the farm became one of the
 
 690 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 best in the township. It is well tiled, and 
 supplied with outbuildings of a most sub- 
 stantial character, and is well equiped with 
 all modern agricultural implements. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Tupper nine children 
 were born as follows: Oliver, married and 
 engaged in farming near Maple Park; Mrs. 
 Anna Watson, of Kaneville, who owns one 
 hundred and twenty acres adjoining her 
 father's place; Jeremiah, married and en- 
 gaged in farming in Pierce county, Nebraska; 
 Sarah Jane Gary, a widow residing in Kane- 
 ville; William H., who was a substantial 
 farmer, married and died leaving a wife and 
 children; Mary, wife of Dr. Elliott, of 
 Peotone, Will county, Illinois; Susie, wife 
 of Henry Herrick, a farmer of Sugar Grove, 
 and George, now a student in the medical 
 department of Michigan University at Ann 
 Arbor. 
 
 Mrs. Tupper died July 21, 1889, at the 
 age of sixty-seven years, and later Mr. 
 Tupper married in Cortland, De Kalb coun- 
 ty, Illinois, Mrs. Philena Joslyn, a native 
 of Vermont, 'who there grew to womanhood, 
 and the daughter of Martin L. Lqwell, and 
 a sister of Judge Lowell, of Sycamore. She 
 is the mother of four children by her first 
 marriage. 
 
 Politically Mr. Tupper is a Republican, 
 but has never been a seeker after office. 
 Always a friend of education, he has served 
 as a member of the school board and given 
 much of his time to advantoge the educa- 
 tional interests of his neighborhood. He 
 has shown his interest in educational mat- 
 ters in other ways, giving five hundred 
 dollars toward the erection of Clark's, now 
 Jennings Seminary, of Aurora. Religiously 
 he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church, of which body his wife is also a 
 member. 
 
 At the time of his marriage Mr. Tupper 
 was possessed of but little means, but he 
 had a determination to succeed, and with 
 that determination in view, he began work, 
 toiled early and late, and as a result, success 
 has crowned his efforts, and he is to-day 
 numbered among the well-to-do and repre- 
 sentative farmers of Kane county. 
 
 SILAS H. MIGHELL, of section 28, 
 Sugar Grove township, is a well-known 
 enterprising farmer one who has spent 
 almost his entire life in Kane county, dat- 
 ing his residence here since the fall of 1837. 
 He was born in Rutland county, Vermont, 
 December 12, 1829. The Mighell family 
 were among the pioneers of Vermont, where 
 James Mighell, the grandfather of our sub- 
 ject, was born. His son, Ezekiel Mighell, 
 was born in Rutland county, Vermont, De- 
 cember 24, 1799, and there grew to man- 
 hood and married Lucinda Todd, also a na- 
 tive of Vermont. Ezekiel Mighell was a 
 carpenter and joiner by trade, and followed 
 that occupation during his residence in Ver- 
 mont, and after his removal to Tompkins 
 county, New York, where he went about 
 1830, locating near the head of Cayuga 
 Lake. He there also engaged in farming; 
 but, believing that he could do better in 
 the west, he came to Illinois in 1837, locat- 
 ing in Sugar Grove township, Kane county, 
 where he bought a claim of two hundred 
 acres, which he entered after it came into 
 the market. On the place was a log house 
 into which he moved, and where he lived 
 for a few years until he could improve the 
 place and secure means for the erection 
 of a more pretentious residence. From 
 time to time he added to his original pur- 
 chase until he had six hundred acres of fine
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 691 
 
 farming land and was recognized as one of 
 the substantial farmers of Kane county. 
 On the old home farm he reared his family, 
 and later moved to Aurora, living a retired 
 life, and where his death occurred June 10, 
 1884, when about eighty-five years of age. 
 His wife passed away March 26, 1877. 
 
 To Ezekiel and Lucinda Mighell eight 
 children were born, two of whom, Silas and 
 Nancy, died in infancy. Those who grew 
 to mature years were Lewis, who married 
 and settled in De Kalb county, where his 
 death occurred May 25, 1883; Mary grew 
 to womanhood, married John Ellis, now of 
 Kewanee, Illinois, and died September 22, 
 1874; Silas H., the subject of this sketch; 
 Albert, who married, moved to Aurora, 
 where his death occurred; Horace R. , mar- 
 ried, settled in Morris, Illinois, and there 
 died August n, 1892; and Frank P., whose 
 sketch appears elsewhere in this work. 
 
 Silas H. Mighell was about eight years 
 of age when he came with his parents to 
 Kane county. He assisted in developing 
 the home farm and as the opportunity was 
 afforded him attended the district school. 
 He remained under the parental roof until 
 after attaining his majority, and on the igth 
 of March, 1854, married Delena Colkins, a 
 daughter of Thomas S. and Fannie (Clark) 
 Colkins, the former born at Corning, New 
 York, December 4, 1800, and the latter at 
 Keene, New Hampshire. They moved to 
 Illinois in 1852, located near Montgomery, 
 Kane county, where Mr. Colkins died No- 
 vember 27, 1862. His wife survives him, 
 and resides on a farm adjoining that of her 
 daughter, Mrs. Mighell, and is now ninety- 
 four years of age. To Mr. and Mrs. Migh- 
 ell three children have been born: The 
 oldest, Emma DeEtta, is now the wife of 
 Franklin Eglington, of Aurora; Fannie L. , 
 
 wife of Arthur Potter, of Aurora; and Ina 
 May, who is a practicing physician in Chi- 
 cago and a graduate of Hahnemann Medical 
 College. 
 
 After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Migh- 
 ell located on the farm where they now 
 reside, and where they remained two years, 
 then moved to De Kalb county, Illinois, 
 where Mr. Mighell purchased a farm of 
 one hundred and sixty acres, which he cul- 
 tivated for seven years. In 1863 he re- 
 turned to the old farm in Sugar Grove, 
 township, on which he has made many 
 substantial improvements. Later he sold 
 the De Kalb county farm and purchased 
 another farm in Sugar Grove township of 
 one hundred and thirty-three acres, which 
 is fairly well improved. 
 
 Politically Mr. Mighell is a Republican, 
 with which party he has been identified 
 since its organization. Religiously Mrs. 
 Mighell is a member of the Baptist church. 
 A residence of fifty-nine years in Kane 
 county has brought him in contact with 
 many of its representative citizens, and 
 wherever best known he is the most highly 
 esteemed. 
 
 A LEXANDER L. HINDS, who resides 
 /~V on section 23, Sugar Grove township, 
 came to Kane county in 1842, and has here 
 since made his home, with the exception of 
 a few years spent in De Kalb county. His 
 father, Alpheus H. Hinds, was a native of 
 Vermont, born at Mount Holly, March 9, 
 1796. His grandfather, Carlis Hinds, was 
 also a native of Vermont, where he married 
 Polly Bents, also a native of the Green 
 Mountain state. In 1803, he removed to 
 Jefferson county, New York, of which he 
 was a pioneer. He attained considerable
 
 692 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 prominence in that county, and in 1809 was 
 elected and served one term in the legisla- 
 ture of the state. He died in 1811. Al- 
 pheus H. Hinds removed with the family to 
 New York, a lad of five years. He there 
 grew to manhood and married Mercy 
 Wilkie, a native of Jefferson county, New 
 York, and a daughter of Rev. Matthew 
 Wilkie, a minister of the Baptist church, 
 who died at Evans Mills, Jefferson county, 
 New York, at the ripe old age of ninety 
 years. He was a relative of Captain Miles 
 Standish, the Puritan captain. 
 
 After his marriage, Alpheus H. Hinds 
 operated the old homestead a few years and 
 then moved to Redwood, New York, which 
 was then a wilderness, which later became 
 a flourishing town. In connection with an 
 uncle of his wife, he built a sawmill, and 
 engaged in the manufacture of lumber. 
 Later he was appointed postmaster and for 
 some years served as justice of the peace. 
 In 1842, with two teams, he started west 
 with his family, coming through Canada and 
 was some four and a half weeks on the road. 
 He arrived in Kane county on his forty- 
 sixth birthday, March 9, 1842. In Sugar 
 Grove township, he purchased a claim and 
 later entered the land. On that farm he 
 remained until 1871, when he sold out and 
 removed to Aurora, .where his death oc- 
 curred December 10, 1874. His wife 
 passed away December 20, 1872, and both 
 were laid to rest in the West Side cemetery. 
 
 Alexander L. Hinds, our subject, was 
 but two and a half years old when he ac- 
 companied his parents to Kane county. He 
 is the youngest of a family of five sons and 
 three daughters, and of that number he has 
 one brother and one sister living. His 
 brother, James Hinds, is a business man 
 residing in Rochester, New York. His 
 
 sister, Mrs. Laura R. Davidson, makes her 
 home with our subject. Our subject re- 
 mained with his father some years after at- 
 taining his majority, and engaged in the 
 cultivation of the home farm. He married 
 in Aurora, February 26, 1868, Miss Nettie 
 Colley, a native of Belleville, Ohio. After 
 his marriage he continued to operate the 
 old homestead for two years, and then 
 bought a farm in De Kalb county, to which 
 he removed and where he remained for 
 some years. While residing there his wife 
 died in April, 1877, leaving one daughter, 
 Alice L. , who makes her home in Aurora. 
 In 1878, Mr. Hinds sold the De Kalb county 
 farm, returned to Kane county, and rented 
 the farm on which he now resides, for some 
 two or three years and then purchased the 
 place, since which time he has given his at- 
 tention to its further improvement and in 
 general farming. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Hinds is a Democrat, 
 with which party he has been identified since 
 attaining his majority. He has never 
 wavered in the support of his party, nor in 
 advocacy of its principles. Fraternally, he 
 is a member of the Modern Woodmen of 
 America and the Knights of Honor. An 
 old settler of the county, he is well and 
 favorably known and held in high esteem. 
 
 Mrs. Laura R. Davidson, a sister of 
 Mr. Hinds, was born in Watertown, Jeffer- 
 son county, New York, January 29, 1822. 
 She was there given good school advantages, 
 and for some years before her marriage en- 
 gaged in teaching in the public schools. 
 She has been twice married, her first union 
 being with William J. Rose, a native of 
 New York, who came to Kane county a 
 young man, and purchased the farm where 
 Mrs. Davidson now resides. Here they be- 
 gan their domestic life, and resided until the
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 693 
 
 death of Mr. Rose, May 16, 1873. He was 
 a successful farmer, a careful business man, 
 and his death was sincerely mourned by 
 many friends. After his death, his widow 
 rented the farm, though still making it her 
 home. On the 24th of December, 1885, 
 she married T. M. Davidson, who met with 
 an accident which caused his death some 
 two years later. He died August 19, 1887, 
 since which time Mrs. Davidson has been 
 making her home with her brother. She is 
 a member of the Baptist church, and is 
 much esteemed and beloved by all, and is 
 one of the few remaining old settlers of 
 Kane county. 
 
 JOHN C. WHILDIN resides on section 
 17, Big Rock township, where he owns 
 and operates a fine farm of two hundred 
 and .fifty-one acres. He was born in the 
 town of Marion, Montgomery county, Penn- 
 sylvania, July 12, 1843. His father, Jeremiah 
 Whildin, was anativeof Wales, born in Mont- 
 gomeryshire, December 25, 1799, and there 
 grew to manhood, and married Mary Reese, 
 also a native of Montgomeryshire, Wales. 
 The marriage ceremony was solemnized in 
 1826. In 1842 they emigrated with their 
 family to the United States, and after spend- 
 ing seven years in Pennsylvania and New 
 York they came west to Chicago, and there 
 leaving his family, with his son, J. M. , he 
 walked from Chicago to Big Rock township, 
 and after selecting a location, sent back 
 three teams for his goods and family. His 
 brother Edward had located here some 
 three years previously, and it was through 
 his solicitation that Mr. Whildin came to 
 Kane county. On his arrival in Big Rock 
 township he purchased one hundred and 
 twenty acres of land, on which was a log 
 
 house, and a few acres in cultivation. To 
 the improvement of this land and to found- 
 ing here a home, in which to rear his family 
 and spend his declining days, was the desire 
 of his heart. He later bought more land 
 until his tract comprised two hundred and 
 twenty-five acres. In the course of time 
 the old log house gave place to a more 
 modern structure, barns and, other outbuild- 
 ings were erected, and the farm placed un- 
 der a high state of cultivation. On this 
 place he died October 21, 1889, at the age 
 of nearly ninety years. His wife passed to 
 her reward, April 13, 1880. Jeremiah 
 Whildin was a true Christian man, a mem- 
 ber of the Baptist church at Big Rock, in 
 which he was elected deacon in 1849, serv- 
 ing as such until his death. Of their family 
 of four sons and eight daughters, three sons 
 and five daughters grew to mature years, 
 and of these, three sons and one daughter 
 now survive. 
 
 The- subject of this sketch was but six 
 years of age when he came with the family 
 to Kane county. On the home farm he re- 
 mained, assisting in its cultivation, until 
 after reaching his majority, in the mean- 
 time receiving his education in the public 
 schools. On the I4th of May, 1868, he 
 was united in marriage with Miss Harriet 
 Potter, who was born in Big Rock township, 
 Kane county, and a daughter of Samuel E. 
 Potter, a native of Franklin county, Massa- 
 chusetts, who came to Kane county a young 
 man about 1845. He here married Olive P. 
 Winslow, also a native of Massachusetts. 
 He was the owner of land in both Kane and 
 De Kalb counties, and here died July 20, 
 1855, when about thirty-five years of age, 
 leaving a widow and several small children. 
 Mrs. Whildin was taken by her aunt Mary 
 Potter, to her grandfather, Potter, in Massa-
 
 694 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 chusetts, where she was reared to woman- 
 hood. After the death of her grandmother 
 Potter, she went to New York state and 
 there lived one year, and then returned to 
 Kane county, where her marriage with Mr. 
 Whildin occurred. By this union are five 
 children, of whom Alice is now the wife of 
 William W. Williams, a farmer of Big Rock 
 township; Mary A. is the wife of B. C. 
 Fountain, also a farmer of Big Rock town- 
 ship; Merritt J. is assistant postmaster, and 
 clerk in a store at Big Rock; Otis F. , who 
 is assisting in carrying on the farm, and 
 Leslie E., a student at the home schools. 
 
 Politically Mr. Whildin is a Republican, 
 having acted with that party since attaining 
 his majority. He has been quite active in 
 local politics and has served in several offi- 
 cial positions. He was on a special com- 
 mittee for the erection of a town hall, and 
 since becoming of age he has served as a 
 school director. Every year he has served 
 as a delegate to various conventions, includ- 
 ing county and congressional, and is one of 
 the commissioners of highways of the town- 
 ship and treasurer of the board. While not 
 members of the church, Mr. and Mrs. Whil- 
 din attend the Baptist church at Big Rock, 
 in which faith they were both reared. A 
 thoroughly practical farmer, one who has 
 engaged in no other line of business, Mr. 
 Whildin has worked early and late, and 
 success has in a measure crowned his ef- 
 forts. 
 
 RENALWIN OUTHOUSE, deceased.- 
 This gentleman was born near Lily 
 Lake, Kane county, April 22, 1852, and was 
 the son of James and Elizabeth (Read) Out- 
 house, both natives of New Brunswick, Nova 
 Scotia. The former was raised on a farm 
 and that pursuit he followed in his younger 
 
 days, but the temptations surrounding his 
 home at Sackville, New Brunswick, near to 
 the stormy bay of Fundy, were too strong 
 for his adventurous spirit, so he left farming 
 and followed the sea. In 1836, with his 
 wife and two children, he came to the 
 United States, and settled near Maple Park, 
 Kane county, Illinois, where he staked off a 
 claim of government land, but soon after 
 removed to another farm, which he pur- 
 chased in the same township, and subse- 
 quently sold to his father-in-law, Joshua 
 Read, who had newly arrived with his wife, 
 Priscilla (Chapel) Read, and their twelve 
 children. James Outhouse then bought a 
 farm near Lily Lake, Campton township, 
 to which he added from time to time, 
 eventually owning three hundred and twenty 
 acres, upon which he built a good residence 
 and other outbuildings, and gradually im- 
 proved the land. At the time of purchase 
 the Black Hawk Indians and their noted 
 leader were extant in this vicinity. 
 
 James Outhouse had a family of seven 
 children, as follows: Priscilla, Edward, 
 William, Mary, George, Renalwin and Ara- 
 thusa. Priscilla is the widow of George 
 Easterbrook and is now living in De Kalb 
 county; William is a resident of Elgin; 
 Mary is the wife of James Leighton and re- 
 sides in Maine; George, a retired farmer, is 
 now living in Elburn, Illinois; Arathusa is 
 the wife of Henry Lord, of Aurora. 
 
 Renalwin Outhouse gained his early edu- 
 cation in the public schools, supplemented 
 by a year in Jennings Seminary and Busi- 
 ness College, in Aurora, after which he set- 
 tled down to farming, his father dividing the 
 old homestead farm between him and his 
 brother George. January 28, 1878, our 
 subject married Addie Leighton, daughter 
 of Alfred C. and Jeannette (Morris) Leigh-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 695 
 
 ton, residing in Perry, Maine, her father be- 
 ing a native of Eastport, Maine, while her 
 mother was born in Ayrshire, Scotland. 
 Mr. Leighton is deceased, while Mrs. Leigh- 
 ton makes her home with her daughter, 
 Mrs. Outhouse. Four children were born 
 to our subject and wife three still surviv- 
 ing: Fred M., Laura E., and Myrtie E. ; 
 Mary J. died in her eighth year. 
 
 The son, Fred M., is taking a scientific 
 course in Dixon College, preparing him- 
 self for the legal profession. Laura gradu- 
 ated from the Elgin High School in 1 898 ; and 
 Myrtie is now attending school at Elburn, 
 Illinois. 
 
 Mr. Outhouse was clerk of the school 
 board three terms, and highway commis- 
 sioner two years, being still in office at the 
 time of his death. He was formerly one of 
 the directors of the Milk Shippers' Associa- 
 tion. Fraternally he was a Mason, belong- 
 ing to the blue lodge at Elburn, the chap- 
 ter, and a Knight Templar, belonging to 
 Sycamore Commandery, No. 15. Mr. Out- 
 house was the owner of about four hundred 
 and twenty acres of valuable land. His 
 widow rents her farms and resides in a 
 pleasant, commodious residence in the vil- 
 lage of Lily Lake. She also owns property 
 in Elburn, Illinois. Mr. Outhouse attended 
 the dedication of the World's Fair at Chi- 
 cago, and was stricken with illness immedi- 
 ately on his return home and died on the 
 4th of November, 1892. His remains lie 
 resting in the beautiful cemetery at Elburn. 
 Mrs. Outhouse is a member of the Congre- 
 gational church. 
 
 MRS. CATHERINE B. SLATER, M. 
 D. , No. 48 Fox street, Aurora, Illi- 
 nois, has practiced medicine in the city since 
 
 34 
 
 1879, and is to-day one of the most success- 
 ful lady physicians in this section of the state. 
 She comes of a family of educators and has 
 herself been a leading teacher in the public 
 schools of Illinois and other states. She 
 was born at Otsego, near Zanesville, Ohio, 
 February 26, 1844. She was the fifth child 
 and fourth daughter in a family of eight chil- 
 dren born to Thomas H. and Jane (Culbert- 
 son) Patrick, the former a native of War- 
 ren, Massachusetts, and the latter of Zanes- 
 ville, Ohio. Her father was one of the most 
 proficient educators of his day and all his 
 family were teachers of merit. He was a 
 resident of Zanesville at the time of his 
 marriage, which event took place in the 
 early '303. He continued to reside there 
 until 1839, teaching in the meantime. In 
 the spring of that year he brought his wife 
 to the prairies of Illinois and purchasing 
 land in Montgomery county, founded the 
 village of Zanesville, naming it after his 
 former home, the journey there being made 
 in a wagon; the country at that early day 
 was wet and malarial, his wife soon tiring 
 of their adopted home, they returned to 
 Ohio, and continued to reside there until 
 called to their final rest. 
 
 The maternal great-grandfather of our 
 subject. Col. Horatio Jamieson, was a grad- 
 uate of Edinburgh University, Scotland, 
 and came to America to assist the colonists 
 in their struggle for liberty. So active and 
 eminent were his services in the cause, that 
 it is stated in the private records of the fam- 
 ily that General Washington tendered him 
 Fort Duquesne, as a reward for his valued 
 services. His declined the reward, how- 
 ever. He was also a surgeon in the French 
 and Indian war. He later returned to Scot- 
 land for a time, but came back to Pennsyl- 
 vania and there married. The only child
 
 696 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of this union was named Cassandra, and 
 who from a small child took considerable 
 interest in her father's medical studies and 
 became quite an adept in the use of the 
 knife and lancet. She became the wife of 
 James Culbertsonand was a woman of great 
 beauty and undaunted courage. In 1805 
 James Culbertson and his wife emigrated 
 from McKeesport, Pennsylvania, and were 
 pioneers in the early settlement of Central 
 Ohio. On leaving Pennsylvania their des- 
 tination was Columbus, Ohio, but stopping 
 at Zanesville on the way, they became very 
 popular in that scattered hamlet, and on re- 
 suming their journey they were escorted for 
 some distance by most of its inhabitants. 
 The fatigues of travel, sickness, together 
 with the warmhearted reception they had 
 met with at Zanesville, caused them to re- 
 turn before reaching Columbus, and they 
 determined to make that place their future 
 home. Securing a valuable piece of land 
 in what is now the center of the city, they 
 erected a dwelling and a business block in 
 which for many years Mr. Culbertson car- 
 ried on the business of a hatter, manufact- 
 uring the then popular beaver hat known 
 to the present generation only by pictures 
 representing " Uncle Sam" and "Grandfa- 
 ther Harrison." 
 
 The family of James Culbertson and 
 wife consisted of five daughters and six 
 sons, of whom three died in infancy. The 
 others established themselves in every 
 branch of life, professional, business and 
 agricultural. Their names were as follows: 
 James, Joseph, Perry, Jamieson, a captain 
 in the Civil war; William, Elizabeth, Emily 
 and Jane, the last named being the mother 
 of our subject. She was born in 1809, 
 died 1852. Of these, William is the only 
 one now living. The children born to 
 
 Thomas H. and Jane Patrick were: Louisa, 
 James, Charlotte, Elizabeth, Catherine B. , 
 Harriet, Thomas and Asa P. The last two 
 died in infancy, while James and Charlotte 
 are also deceased. 
 
 The early education of our subject be- 
 gan in the Mclntyre Academy at Zanesville, 
 Ohio, an endowed institution in which her 
 father was principal. The academy was 
 afterwards absorbed by the public schools. 
 In the public schools her education con- 
 tinued and she was graduated from the high 
 school in 1864. She subsequently taught in 
 the high school at Fremont, Ohio, and on 
 September 3, 1867, she married James G. 
 Slater, a merchant of Fremont, and con- 
 tinued to reside there until the the fall of 
 1868, at which time they removed to Mans- 
 field, Ohio, where they remained until 
 February, 1870, when they came to Au- 
 rora, Illinois. Soon after their arrival, Mr. 
 Slater engaged in the dry goods business, 
 entering into partnership with A. Somer- 
 indyck. Later failing health induced him 
 to dispose of his interest in the business, 
 since which time his services have been with 
 Mr. Sencenbaugh. 
 
 Mrs. Slater began the study of medicine 
 in 1873, at the same time teaching in the 
 west side high school at Aurora, of which 
 she was principal for three years. She then 
 entered the Woman's Medical College, of 
 the Northwestern University, Chicago, 
 where she remained a little over two years, 
 and was graduated in the spring of 1879, 
 with the degree of M. D. She was one in 
 the first class to stand competitive examina- 
 tions for the hospitals of Chicago. Imme- 
 diately after receiving her degree Dr. Slater 
 began the practice of her profession in 
 Aurora, her office being at 48 Fox street, 
 and she has built up an excellent practice
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 697. 
 
 among the very best families in Aurora. 
 Since her graduation she has supplemented 
 her education by a journey to Berlin, Ger- 
 many, going as a delegate from the Amer- 
 ican Medical Association to the interna- 
 tional congress at Berlin, and was the first 
 lady admitted to any clinic in that country. 
 This was in 1890. She remained there six 
 months, and while abroad visited all the 
 medical institutions of any note, receiving 
 invitations from the different medical socie- 
 ties. In 1897, Dr. Slater formed one of a 
 party of about fifty physicians, ladies and 
 gentlemen, who traveled and visited the 
 hospitals on the continent of Europe and 
 Russia, and all were most cordially re- 
 ceived. She was appointed professor of 
 hygeine in the medical department of the 
 Northwestern University at Chicago, and in 
 1895 was elected to the board of education 
 of Aurora, and is still a member. She has 
 been trustee and surgeon of the Aurora City 
 Hospital since its establishment in 1888, 
 and is also surgeon of the Woman's Relief 
 Corps, No. 10, department of Illinois. 
 While reared a Presbyterian, she now at- 
 tends the Episcopal church. A woman of 
 natural and acquired ability, she ranks high 
 in her profession and is greatly esteemed 
 for her womanly virtues. 
 
 Q QUIRE D. HUNT, president of the 
 v_/ County Line Creamery Company, and 
 one of the most enterprising farmers of 
 Kane county, residing on section 32, Kane- 
 ville township, where he has a valuable 
 farm of three hundred acres, dates his res- 
 idence in Kane county, from 1847. He 
 was born in Chenango, county, New York, 
 July 9, 1840, and is the son of Daniel 
 Hunt, born in 1804, in the same county and 
 
 state. Joseph Hunt, his grandfather, was 
 a native of Connecticut, and a pioneer set- 
 tler of Chenango county, New York. Dur- 
 ing the Revolutionary struggle, he served 
 his country and assisted in securing its inde- 
 pendence. He lived to the advanced age 
 of ninety-four years. 
 
 Daniel Hunt spent his boyhood and 
 youth on his father's farm, and later mar- 
 ried Polly Dutcher, a native of Dutchess 
 county, New York. Her father, Gideon 
 Dutcher, was one of a pioneer family of 
 that county, and from his family the county 
 derived its name. After marriage Mr. Hunt 
 engaged in farming in Chenango county, 
 where he remained a number of years. In 
 1845 ne came to Illinois, locating first in 
 Oswego, Kendall county, where he remained 
 two and a half years, and then moved to 
 Kaneville township, Kane county, where he 
 purchased eighty acres, which was a part of 
 the farm now owned by our subject. The 
 land was unimproved, but he at once went 
 to work and in due time had the place un- 
 der cultivation, and, as his means increased, 
 purchased more land, until he was the pos- 
 sessor of one hundred and sixty acres. He 
 was prosperous and successful as a farmer 
 and, after a long and useful life, passed to 
 his reward in 1889, at the age of eighty- 
 five years. His wife died some three years 
 previous. 
 
 Squire D. Hunt is the only survivor of 
 a family of two sons and three daughters. 
 His brother, Edwin, grew to mature years, 
 married, owned and operated a part of the 
 farm, and there died in 1864. His sisters 
 were Jane, who married James H. Chap- 
 man, and died in Pike county, Illinois; 
 Sarah, married W. J. Bates, located in 
 Cortland, DeKalb county, Illinois, and 
 there her death occurred; and Madeline,
 
 698 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 who died in infancy, in Oswego, Kendall 
 county, Illinois. 
 
 The subject of this sketch came to Kane 
 county, when but about eight years old, 
 and here grew to manhood on the home 
 farm, and assisted in its cultivation. He 
 was educated in the Kaneville schools, and 
 on the 26th of February, 1862, married 
 Lydia E. Flanders, a native of Massachu- 
 setts, and a daughter of Parker Flanders, 
 who was born in New Hampshire, there 
 grew to manhood, and married Hannah 
 Freeman, a native of New York. After 
 their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Flanders lo- 
 cated in Vermont, where he engaged in 
 farming, in connection with other business. 
 In 1854 he came to Kane county, Illinois, 
 and located in Kaneville township, on the 
 farm where his son now resides. To Mr. 
 and Mrs. Hunt four children have been 
 born, as follows: Myrtie, now the wife of 
 Henry M. Smith, a farmer of DeKalb coun- 
 ty, Illinois; Carrie, now the wife of W. 
 H. Smith, residing oh the Hunt farm; Alice 
 and Harry B., at home. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Hunt began their domestic 
 life on the old homestead, he taking charge 
 of the business, his father and mother mak- 
 ing their home with him in their declining 
 years. Since coming into possession of the 
 farm he has purchased more land, erected 
 a large and neat farm residence, and made 
 many improvements in the place, putting in 
 some eleven miles of tiling, and setting out 
 two good orchards. He carries on general 
 farming and stock raising, feeding several 
 carloads of stock, which he annually ships 
 to the Chicago market. 
 
 Mr. Hunt was one of the originators and 
 prime movers in establishing the County 
 Line Creamery, in 1890. He was elected 
 its first president, and by re-election has 
 
 served continuously to the present time. 
 The company now controls two creameries, 
 and has a record second to none in the state. 
 At the dairy convention in 1897 it took 
 sweepstakes, scoring highest on butter of 
 any on exhibition. 
 
 Politically Mr. Hunt has been a Repub- 
 lican since attaining his majority, having 
 cast his first presidential ballot, in 1864, for 
 Abraham Lincoln, and his last, in 1896, for 
 William McKinley. For twelve years he 
 served his township as road commissioner, 
 and was township treasurer of road funds 
 for eight years. For twenty-one years he 
 has served as a member of the school board, 
 taking an active interest in educational af- 
 fairs. He has always been active in polit- 
 ical affairs, and has served his party in vari- 
 ous county and congressional conventions. 
 He is a -member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church at Kaneville, and is now serving as 
 steward. His wife and daughters are also 
 members of that church, and all manifest 
 an interest in its work. For half a century 
 Mr. Hunt has been a resident of Kane coun- 
 ty. That he has made his impress upon 
 county affairs cannot be questioned. He is 
 well known as one of its best farmers and 
 business men, and as a citizen he is inter- 
 ested in every movement looking to its ma- 
 terial welfare. No family is held in higher 
 esteem. 
 
 HIRAM D. RUDD, now living a retired 
 life in the village of Kaneville, is a 
 veteran of the war for the union. Since 
 1856, he has been a resident of the village 
 of Kaneville, and is now its oldest living 
 settler. He was born in Rutland county, 
 Vermont, at Middletown, December 8, 
 1820. His father, Samuel Rudd, was born
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 699 
 
 in Westtield, Connecticut, of which state 
 his grandfather, Increase Rudd, was also a 
 native. The latter served in the Revolu- 
 tionary war, and was at the battle of 
 Bunker Hill, where he broke off the butt of 
 his gun over the head of an enemy. From 
 Connecticut, Increase Rudd moved to Ver- 
 mont, when his son Samuel was a small 
 child. The latter was carried by his mother 
 on the back of a horse, the entire distance. 
 He there grew to manhood and married 
 Mary Ames, a daughter of Elijah Ames, 
 who was also a soldier in the Revolutionary 
 war from Connecticut, but who later moved 
 to Vermont, locating in the wilderness, 
 where he hewed out a farm. Samuel Rudd 
 was also a farmer by occupation, and after 
 rearing his family in Vermont, he later re- 
 moved to Jefferson county, New York, lo- 
 cating in the town of Ellisburg, where his 
 death occurred. 
 
 Hiram D. Rudd spent his boyhood and 
 youth in Vermont, under the shadow of the 
 Green Mountains. In early life he had fair 
 common-school advantages, his education 
 being supplemented by reading and study 
 in after life. In September, 1846, he was 
 united in marriage with Miss Emily Jane 
 Lyman, a native of Rutland county, Ver- 
 mont, born in the town of Ira, and a 
 daughter of Isaac and Achsah (Ames) Ly- 
 man, both of whom were natives of Ver- 
 mont, the latter being a second cousin of 
 Charles Ames, whose sketch appears else- 
 where in this work. 
 
 After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Rudd 
 resided one year in Vermont, and in 1848 
 moved to New York, and settled in the 
 town of Ellisburg, Jefferson county, where 
 he engaged in farming for several years, 
 and also in the carpenter's and joiner's 
 trade. From Jefferson county, he moved 
 
 with his family to the town of Gaines, Or- 
 leans county, New York, where they re- 
 mained two years. In 1856, they came to 
 Kane county, Illinois, and located at Kane- 
 ville, where he has since continued to re- 
 side. Here Mr. Rudd worked on a farm 
 until September 18, 1861, when he enlisted 
 in Company I, Eighth Illinois Cavalry, as a 
 private, and with his regiment went east, 
 where it was assigned to the Army of the 
 Potomac; with that army our subject re- 
 mained while in the service. He partici- 
 pated in the fight on the Rappahannock, 
 and also at Fairfax Courthouse, and in var- 
 ious cavalry engagements, at the same 
 time doing a good deal of scouting duty. In 
 1862, he met with an accident caused by 
 the stampede of a number of horses, at 
 which time he got his back and hips badly 
 hurt, and was permanently disabled. He 
 was first sent to the regimental hospital, and 
 later to Douglas hospital in Washington, 
 District of Columbia, where he remained 
 three months, and in 1863 was discharged 
 from the service and returned home. He 
 has since been crippled and unabled to 
 work to any extent. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Rudd was first an old- 
 line Whig, but on the organization of the 
 Republican party, became identified with it. 
 As a Whig he voted for Henry Clay, a man 
 whom he greatly admired and who was 
 without doubt one of the greatest statesmen 
 this country ever produced. As "a Repub- 
 lican he voted first for Abraham Lincoln in 
 1860, a vote for which he has never been 
 ashamed. Mr. and Mrs. Rudd ate mem- 
 bers of the Methodist Episcopal church, in 
 which they both take an active interest. 
 For thirty- four years Mrs. Rudd has had 
 charge of a class in the Sunday-school, and 
 was in attendance nearly every Sunday. As
 
 7oo 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the eldest resident of the village of Kane- 
 ville, Mr. Rudd is well known and his many 
 friends will be pleased to read the record of 
 his life work in the Biographical Record of 
 Kane county. 
 
 HARVEY BRUCE DENSMORE resides 
 on section 14, Sugar Grove township, 
 about four and a half miles west of Aurora, 
 where he is living a retired life. His resi- 
 dence in Kane county dates from 1836. 
 He is a native of Windsor county, Ver- 
 mont, born September 15, 1815. His fa- 
 ther, Job Densinore, was also a native of 
 Vermont. His grandfather Densmore was 
 a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and was 
 in the battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill. 
 He lived to be nearly one hundred years 
 old. Job Densmore was reared in his na- 
 tive state, and there married Mary Jane 
 Sprague, also a native of Vermont. By 
 trade he was a miller, and for some years 
 was engaged in that business. He is an or- 
 dained minister of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church, but later in life withdrew from that 
 church, but still continued his preaching. 
 His death occurred in Vermont many years 
 ago. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood in Vermont, then went to Cortland 
 county, New York, where he worked on a 
 farm and engaged in other employments. 
 Having had a good common-school educa- 
 tion, he engaged in teaching to secure means 
 for a better education in Cortlandville Acad- 
 emy. While residing there he was united 
 in marriage in 1836, and soon after moved 
 to Kane county, Illinois, at a time when 
 there was less than fifty inhabitants in 
 Aurora. He drove through with three teams, 
 in company with his father-in-law, George 
 
 W. Densmore. He spent a part of the first 
 winter after coming west with relatives in 
 Chicago, and then moved to the farm where 
 he now resides, having purchased the claim 
 of two hundred and forty acres. There was 
 a log house on the place, fourteen feet 
 square, with puncheon floor and shake roof, 
 into which he moved and resided for some 
 time. He soon afterward built an addition 
 to the cabin, making the shingles himself. 
 His wife here died, about 1851, leaving one 
 daughter, Sarah, who first married a Mr. 
 Avery, who was killed while in the service 
 of his country, during the war for the 
 Union. She later married James Carter, a 
 substantial farmer of De Kalb county, where 
 they now reside. After the death of his first 
 wife, Mr. Densmore married Miss Mary Jane 
 Mather, a native of New York, who came 
 west a young lady. By this union there is 
 one son and three daughters Charles M., 
 who resides in Eugene, Oregon; Grace, wife 
 of G. R. Lee, of Aurora; Jane, wife of Pratt 
 Benjamin; and Jessie, wife of Charles Paul, 
 of Wichita, Kansas. Pratt Benjamin was 
 born in Kane county, Illinois, in June, 1856, 
 and after his marriage in September, 1878, 
 with Jane Densmore, he took charge of the 
 Densmore homestead, which he has contin- 
 ued to operate until the present time. 
 
 Politically Mr. Densmore was originally 
 an Abolitionist, and kept a station on the 
 underground railway. On the organization 
 of the Republican party he became identi- 
 fied with it, and has since been an advocate 
 of its principles. At twenty-one he was 
 elected township clerk, which position he 
 held for many years. He has also served 
 as justice of the peace and as a member of 
 the school board. He voted at the first 
 election ever held in the township. He as- 
 sisted in the erection of the first school
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 701 
 
 house in Sugar Grove, and taught the first 
 school in Sugar Grove township. Later he 
 taught two other terms, and has assisted in 
 the erection of two other school houses. 
 
 In 1888, Mrs. Densmore died at the 
 residence of her daughter in Aurora, and 
 later Mr. Densmore went to Nebraska 
 and purchased some village property in 
 Stanton, Stanton county, and there resided 
 two or three years, during which time he 
 was employed in the office of the county 
 clerk and recorder. While there he erected 
 a brick house, which has since been con- 
 verted into a bank. Since coming to Kane 
 county, sixty-two long years ago, Mr. Dens- 
 more has witnessed many changes, and in 
 the improvements that have been made he 
 has taken an active part, and is recognized 
 as one of the most progressive of the old 
 settlers of Kane county. 
 
 JAMES C. MINARD, now living retired 
 in the city of Aurora, has been a resi- 
 dent of Illinois since 1856. The family are 
 of French descent, and were originally 
 members of the Society of Friends. The 
 great-great-grandfather of our subject was 
 a native of France, and was among the first 
 settlers of Connecticut. His son, Captain 
 Joel Minard, was a native of Connecticut, 
 as was also Joel Minard, Jr., his son, 
 the father of our subject. The family at 
 quite an early day moved to Ulster county. 
 New York, where Joel Minard, Jr., was 
 reared and where he married Susannah 
 Letts, a native of Schoharie county, New 
 York, and a daughter of William Letts, also 
 a native of New York state, who spent the 
 last years of his life with his daughter, Mrs. 
 Minard, and died in Ulster county. To 
 Joel and Susannah Mjnard were born four 
 
 sons and four daughters; all except one 
 grew to mature years, and three sons and 
 one daughter are now living, as follows: 
 David, who resides in Mississippi; James C., 
 of this review; Elias, residing in Colorado; 
 and Mrs. Jane Moody, who resides just 
 across the Hudson, from Poughkeepsie, in 
 Ulster county, New York. The father died 
 in Ulster county, in 1852. 
 
 James C. Minard grew to manhood in 
 Ulster county, and during the winter months 
 attended the public schools and assisted his 
 father upon the farm at other seasons of the 
 year. He was born near Poughkeepsie, 
 Ulster county, New York, November 13, 
 1825, and remained with his father until 
 March 13, 1851, when he was united in 
 marriage with Miss Sarah Jane Teerpening, 
 a native of Ulster county, reared and edu- 
 cated in the same neighborhood with our 
 subject, and a daughter of William J. Teer- 
 pening, also a native of Ulster county, New 
 York. By this union are four living chil- 
 dren, as follows: William ]., married and 
 engaged in farming near Storm Lake, Iowa; 
 Lenora, wife of John H. Husk, of Aurora; 
 Mary, wife of Theodore R. Davis, a druggist 
 of Hinckley, Illinois; and James Edward,, 
 a farmer of Kane county. They lost three 
 children Joel, who died at the age of four- 
 teen years; Orin, who died at the age of five 
 years; and Eva, who died when nine 
 months old. 
 
 For five years after their marriage, Mr. 
 and Mrs. Minard resided upon a farm in 
 Ulster county, New York. Desiring to 
 better themselves in life, in 1856 they came 
 west to La Salle county, Illinois, locating 
 near Leland, where Mr. Minard purchased 
 a farm of two hundred acres, of partially 
 improved land, and at once commenced the 
 further development of the place. He
 
 702 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 built a large and substantial residence, and 
 otherwise improved the place until he had 
 one of the best farms in that neighborhood. 
 In connection with farming, for three years 
 he engaged in the mercantile business at 
 Leland with fair success. In 1895 he sold 
 the farm and moved to Aurora, since which 
 time he has been living retired. He owns, 
 however, a well improved farm of one hun- 
 dred and forty acres, near Batavia, on which 
 his son, James E. Minard, is now living. 
 He also owns a well-improved farm of one 
 hundred and sixty acres near Storm Lake, 
 Iowa. 
 
 In early life Mr. Minard was an earnest 
 supporter of the Whig party, but since 1856, 
 when he voted for John C. Fremont, he has 
 supported the men and measures of the Re- 
 publican party, save for a short time on 
 account of his strong belief in temperance, 
 he supported the Prohibition party. Of 
 late he has cast his ballot in favor of the 
 Republicans, voting in 1896 for William 
 McKinley. Religiously Mr. and Mrs. Minard 
 are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church. As a friend of education and an 
 advocate of good schools, he served for 
 years as a member of the school board. 
 Since coming to Kane county he has made 
 many friends who esteem him for his up- 
 right character and worth as a man and a 
 citizen. 
 
 /->ORYDON L. DICKSON is a farmer 
 \^* residing on sections 5 and 6, Plato town- 
 ship. He was born in Union township, 
 Broome, county, New York, August 5, 1843, 
 and is the son of James and Lusetta S. 
 (Gardener) Dickson, the former born in 
 Cobleskill, Schoharie county, New York, 
 and the latter in Canada. She was the 
 
 daughter of Isaac and Susan (Butolph) 
 Gardener. James Dickson was the son of 
 Benjamin Dickson, a native of New York, 
 who lived in Canada during the war of 1812, 
 and who married Sarah Parsons. Of the 
 ten children born to James and Lusetta S. 
 Dickson, seven lived to maturity and five 
 still survive. Lovisa E. married Addison 
 Gleason, who is now deceased. She is now 
 living in Hampshire. Lafayette lives in 
 Idaho. Sheridan P. resides in Elgin. Cory- 
 don L. is the subject of this sketch. Edgar 
 W. resides in the village of Hampshire. 
 
 The subject of this sketch came west 
 with his parents in 1850, they locating in 
 Hampshire township, May 9, of that year. 
 His education was begun in the district 
 schools of New York, and after his removal 
 here he attended the district schools of Plato 
 township, and completed his education at 
 Beloit College, which he attended three or 
 four terms after his return from the army. 
 On the first call of President Lincoln he en- 
 listed in Company A, Seventh Regiment 
 Illinois Volunteer Infantry, under Captain 
 Joslin, who was later commissioned colonel. 
 This regiment was the first to enter the 
 service from Illinois during the war of the 
 Rebellion. 
 
 On the completion of his term of service 
 Mr. Dickson returned home and remained 
 with his father until he was twenty-four years 
 of age. His father having purchased the body 
 of land that the west half of the village of 
 Hampshire is now built on, and having it 
 to pay for, our subject, like a dutiful son, 
 remained with him until he had paid for the 
 land and secured a title. His father was 
 also in debt, somewhat, for the farm on 
 which our subject now resides, which, when 
 paid for, was deeded to him for his faith- 
 fulness. The farm consisted of one hundred
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 703 
 
 and forty-two acres, but, from subsequent 
 purchases, it now consists of two hundred 
 and sixty acres of fine rolling land, having 
 a beautiful view to the eastward from his 
 residence, and which is very fertile and is 
 kept under a high state of cultivation. He 
 also owns a fine village residence and five 
 acres in the village of Hampshire. 
 
 Mr. Dickson was married in Udina, Illi- 
 nois, April 12, 1868, to Mary Rowell, daugh- 
 ter of Samuel C. and Elizabeth (Ball) Row- 
 ell, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in 
 this volume. By this union are two chil- 
 dren, Luella Maude and Ethel May. The 
 former married Edwin Walgren, the junior 
 member of the firm of I. B. Counrtyman & 
 Co., general merchants of Dixon, Illinois, 
 where they reside. She took five terms in 
 Dixon College, and was a successful teacher 
 before her marriage. They have one son, 
 Eugene Dickson. Ethel May attended 
 Dixon College and also spent one year at 
 Normal, Illinois, then taught school one 
 year in Elgin and one in Franklin Grove. 
 She is now employed in the office of 
 the Union Wire Fence Company, of De 
 Kalb, Illinois. Fraternally Mr. Dickson is 
 a member of the G. A. R. post at Hamp- 
 shire, and also of the Knights of the Macca- 
 bees of the same place. In politics he is a 
 Republican. 
 
 ROBERT T. JAMES, who is the owner 
 of a well-improved farm on section 28, 
 Big Rock township, is a native of Wales, 
 born at Flintshire, December 2, 1851, and 
 in his native country lived until the age of 
 eighteen years and there received a fair 
 common-school education. With a laud- 
 able desire to better his condition in life, he 
 determined to emigrate to the United 
 
 States, where he learned the opportunities 
 were much greater for the aspiring youth 
 than in his native land. Accordingly, in 
 1869, he crossed the ocean, and went 
 directly to Waukesha county, Wisconsin, 
 and there engaged in farm work at seven- 
 teen dollars per month. During his first 
 winter in this country, however, he worked 
 for his board and attended the public 
 schools that he might acquire a better 
 knowledge of the English language. For 
 ten years he continued to work by the 
 month at farm work; but, in the meantime, 
 in Waukesha county, July 8, 1871, he wtfte 
 united in marriage with Miss Ann Goodwin, 
 also a native of Wales, who came to this 
 country with her parents when but five 
 years of age. Her father and mother, Da- 
 vid and Jane Goodwin, were among the 
 earliest Welsh settlers in Waukesha coun- 
 ty. To Mr. and Mrs. James seven children 
 have been born: Robert T. , Jr., Lizzie 
 Jane, John, William D., Maggie, Phebe 
 (deceased) and Mamie. 
 
 In 1880, Mr. James rented a farm in 
 Waukesha county, Wisconsin, on which he 
 remained five years, and then came to Big 
 Rock township, Kane county, Illinois, and 
 rented a farm on which he remained five 
 years, and then rented the Ben Davis farm 
 for eight years, during which time he was 
 quite successful and accumulated consider- 
 able property. In the spring of 1898 he 
 purchased his present farm of- three hun- 
 dred and five acres, of which two hundred 
 and thirty acres are under the plow, the re- 
 mainder being meadow and pasture land. 
 Commencing life in the New World a pen- 
 niless youth, he has, by industry and econ- 
 omy, acquired a valuable property, and is 
 now regarded as one of the successful and 
 prosperous farmers of Kane county, hon-
 
 704 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ored for his manly worth and strict in- 
 tegrity. 
 
 Politically, Mr. James is a Republican, 
 and has voted the ticket and advocated the 
 principles of the party since acquiring his 
 naturalization papers. He is the present 
 commissioner of highways of Big Rock 
 township. With his wife and two children, 
 he holds membership in the Welsh Congre- 
 gational church of Big Rock, in which he 
 takes an active interest. One daughter, 
 Lizzie Jane Wagner, belongs to the Eng- 
 lish Congregational church. Fraternally, 
 he is a member of the Modern Woodmen 
 of America and the Knights of the Macca- 
 bees. While only residing in Kane county 
 a comparatively short time, he has made 
 many friends by his upright character and 
 sterling worth. 
 
 /^>EORGE VAN VOLKENBURG, an 
 V-I active and enterprising farmer residing 
 on section 30, Kaneville township, where 
 he owns and operates a farm of one hundred 
 and thirty acres, has been a resident of 
 Kane county since 1865. He was born in 
 Yates county, New York, February 20, 1836. 
 His father, Captain Andrew Van Volken- 
 burg, was also a native of New York, born 
 August 11, 1810. He there grew to man- 
 hood, and married Polly Freer, a native of 
 New York, born September 27, 1797. By 
 occupation Andrew Van Volkenburg was a 
 farmer in Yates county, where he occupied 
 a very prominent position, for some years 
 being captain of the militia. He reared his 
 family in that county, where his death oc- 
 curred March 25, 1865. His wife survived 
 him a few years, dying when about seventy 
 years old, at the residence of her son, in 
 Kane county, Illinois. 
 
 In his native county George Van Volk- 
 enburg grew to manhood, and received a 
 fair education in the common schools. He 
 remained on his father's farm, and assisted 
 in its cultivation, until the latter's death. 
 In January, 1854, he was married in Tioga 
 county, Pennsylvania, to Marilla Hammond, 
 a native of that county, where she was 
 reared and educated. After their marriage 
 he engaged in farming for eleven years in 
 Yates county, New York, and then, in the 
 spring of 1865, came to Kane county, Illi- 
 nois, where he rented a farm for one year, 
 and in 1866 purchased the place, where he 
 now resides. The farm was an improved 
 one, but to its further development he gave" 
 his time and attention for many years. In 
 1892 his barn was destroyed by a tornado, 
 and his house badly damaged, while the 
 windmill was torn down and the orchard 
 nearly ruined. He has since repaired the 
 house, rebuilt the barn, and set out more 
 trees in his orchard. The place is now one 
 of the most valuable in the section where 
 located. Mr. Van Volkenburg lost his wife 
 May 19, 1872. She was the mother of 
 three children. Andrew died in childhood. 
 Charles is married, and is helping to carry 
 on the home farm. Herbert is also mar- 
 ried, and has two children. He is also en- 
 gaged in farming, in De Kalb county, 
 Illinois. 
 
 Mr. Van Volkenburg was again married in 
 Kaneville, Illinois, March 22, 1874, to Ma- 
 rietta Hazen, a native of New London coun- 
 ty, Connecticut, a daughter of William and 
 Laura (Ladd) Hazen, also natives of the 
 same state. Her father there died when 
 she was a child, and her mother removed 
 with the family to Oneida county, New 
 York, where she resided some twenty-six 
 years. Mrs. Van Volkenburg was educated
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 705 
 
 in Oneida county,- New York, and there 
 engaged in teaching for some years. She 
 continued in that profession after her re- 
 moval to Illinois, and for two years was en- 
 gaged in teaching in the public schools of 
 Galesburg, Illinois, until her marriage. 
 In 1872, she came to Kane county. Since 
 1886, her mother has made her home with 
 Mrs. Van Volkenburg. 
 
 Politically Mr. Van Volkenburg is a 
 stanch Republican, with which party he 
 has continued to act since attaining his ma- 
 jority. While never desiring office, he 
 served some three years as constable of his 
 township, and was also a member of the 
 school board for some years. Both he and 
 his wife are members of the Kaneville Meth- 
 odist Episcopal church, and for many years, 
 until having a severe illness in November, 
 1894, he was one of its most active workers. 
 For twelve years she taught a class of 
 young ladies in the Sunday-school. Both 
 were members of the choir for some twenty 
 years. For a full third of a century, Mr. 
 Van Volkenburg has been a resident of Kane- 
 ville township, and is well known especially 
 in the northwestern part of the county. 
 He is a man that stands high in the estima- 
 tion of his fellow men, and he has ever 
 been ready to assist in the material and 
 moral welfare of his adopted county and 
 state. 
 
 HON. ARWIN E. PRICE, who is now 
 at the head of the city government of 
 Elgin, and is one of the most prominent 
 factors in her business circles, is a man 
 whose worth and ability have gained him 
 success, honor and public confidence. He 
 enjoys the well-earned distinction of being 
 what the public calls a "self-made man," 
 
 and an analyzation of his character reveals 
 the fact that enterprise, well-directed effort 
 and honorable dealing have been the essen- 
 tial features in his prosperity. 
 
 Mr. Price possesses the true western 
 spirit of progress, and is a western man by 
 birth, training and preference. He was 
 born in Waukesha, Wisconsin, August 29, 
 1850, and is a son of Humphrey and Eliza- 
 beth (Evans) Price, natives of Wales. His 
 paternal grandfather, Jonathan Price, spent 
 his entire life in that county, reared a fam- 
 ily of seven children, and died there at an 
 advanced age. The maternal grandfather, 
 John Evans, also a native of Wales, died in 
 middle life. The father of our subject, hav- 
 ing determined to try his fortune in America, 
 crossed the briny deep and took up his resi- 
 dence in Rochester, New York, whence he 
 removed to Waukesha, Wisconsin, about 
 1844. He there followed the pattern-mak- 
 er's trade, and also engaged in the manu- 
 facture of threshing machines. His death 
 occurred in 1878, when he had reached the 
 age of fifty-nine years, and his wife passed 
 away in 1862. Both were members of the 
 Presbyterian church. Their family num- 
 bered twelve children, five sons and seven 
 daughters, six of whom are now living: 
 Lydia; Jennie, wife of Rev. Mr. Wilson, of 
 Barton, New Jersey; David, who is living 
 near St. Paul, Minnesota; Lucy, widow of 
 Walter Ormsby, of Oakland, California; 
 Arwin E. ; and Carrie, wife of Harry Dailey, 
 of Richland Center, Wisconsin. 
 
 Arwin E. Price in his early youth at- 
 tended the public schools of his native town, 
 and when twelve years of age began learn- 
 ing the marble-cutter's trade, completing 
 his apprenticeship the day before President 
 Lincoln was assassinated. He remained in 
 Waukesha until about fifteen years of age,
 
 706 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and then went to Madison, Wisconsin, 
 whence he removed to Elgin in 1869. Here 
 he worked for George P. Harvey for about 
 two years, and then entered into partner- 
 ship with his employer, they remaining to- 
 gether in the marble business for two years. 
 On the expiration of that period Mr. Price 
 bought out his partner and continued ope- 
 rations alone until 1889, when he removed 
 to Chicago, where for three years he en- 
 gaged in the real-estate business. In 1893 
 he returned to Elgin, and in 1896 purchased 
 the marble and granite works of A. N. Soper 
 & Company, still continuing the business 
 under the name of the Elgin Marble and 
 Granite Works, the plant being opposite 
 the Bluff City cemetery. He turns out work 
 which is both artistic and finely executed, 
 and his honorable dealings have secured to 
 him a liberal patronage, making his enter- 
 prise a profitable one. 
 
 On the 4th of September, 1869, Mr. 
 Price was united in marriage to Miss Mar- 
 tha A. Lewis, daughter of Francis and Clar- 
 issa (Soper) Lewis. Mrs. Price's great-uncle 
 was one of the signers of the Declaration of 
 Independence. They have one daughter, 
 Edith. Theirs is a hospitable home, always 
 open to their many friends, and no one leaves 
 it without feeling glad that he had the priv- 
 ilege of being there. 
 
 Socially Mr. Price is a Master Mason, 
 and in his political predilections he is a Re- 
 publican. In 1885 he was a third time 
 elected alderman from the Third ward, and 
 in 1888 was elected acting mayor. The 
 following year he was elected for a full term, 
 thus serving in that position for three con- 
 secutive years, and in 1897 he was again re- 
 elected, defeating William Grote, who had 
 formerly defeated him. His administration 
 is a progressive one, marked by improve- 
 
 ment and reform, for he has the best inter- 
 ests of the city at heart. For a quarter of 
 a century he has been a resident of Elgin, 
 and no one is more devoted to its welfare 
 than he. 
 
 /^>YRUS CALKINS, who resides on sec- 
 \^ tion 32, Sugar Grove township, is one 
 of the successful farmers of Kane county. 
 He is a native of New York, born in the 
 town of Corning, Steuben county, January 
 14, 1815, and is the son of Enos Calkins, 
 a native of New Hampshire, who came to 
 New York from Vermont when a young 
 man. In Steuben county he married Par- 
 thena Perkins, a native of that county, and 
 a daughter of Squire Perkins, also a native 
 of Steuben county. By occupation Enos 
 Calkins was a farmer and engaged in that 
 calling during his entire life. 
 
 Cyrus Calkins is one of three sons and 
 six daughters born to Enos and Parthena 
 Calkins, and in his native county grew to 
 manhood and received a good common- 
 school education. In 1853 he came to 
 Kane county, Illinois, and purchased a farm 
 of one hundred and fifty-eight acres in 
 Sugar Grove township, on which fair im- 
 provements had been made. He at once 
 began its farther improvement and in due 
 time had erected a good, substantial dwell- 
 ing house, barns and other outbuildings and 
 placed the land under a high state of culti- 
 vation. 
 
 Mr. Calkins was originally an old-line 
 Whig, and in 1836 cast his first presiden- 
 tial vote for William H. Harrison. He 
 again voted for Harrison in 1840, and was 
 well pleased at his election. He has a 
 vivid recollection of that exciting campaign. 
 After coming to Kane county he received
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 707 
 
 the appointment as postmaster of Jericho, 
 and served twelve years. On the organiza- 
 tion of the Republican party Mr. Calkins 
 gave adherence to its principles, and has 
 voted for every presidential nominee from 
 John C. Fremont to William McKinley. 
 For forty-five years he has been a resident 
 of Kane county and has been identified with 
 its agricultural interests. Coming here a 
 comparatively poor man, he has by his in- 
 dustry and the practice of economy become 
 one of the substantial men of the county, 
 of exemplary habits, upright character and 
 worth. 
 
 EORGE E. DAUM is a representative 
 V_J of the younger generation of farmers 
 of Kane county, Illinois He resides on 
 section 30, Rutland township, on the farm 
 where he was born, January 25, 1868. His 
 father, George J. Daum, was born in 1831, 
 in Asbach, Darmstadt, Germany, of which 
 country Martin Daum, the grandfather of 
 our subject, was also a native. The latter 
 emigrated to America and spent the last 
 years of his life in New York. In 1847 
 George A. Daum, the father, came to Illi- 
 nois and located on section 30, Rutland 
 township, on the farm where our subject 
 now resides. He married Mary Hauslein, 
 a native of Bavaria, and a daughter of Mich- 
 ael Hauslein, also a native of that country. 
 By their union were eight children: Martin, 
 Mary and Emma, all of whom died about 
 the same time from diphtheria; William, 
 who married Jennie Reams, resides in 
 Hampshire township; George E. , our sub- 
 ject; Lyda, living with her parents; Luella 
 and John, who died of diphtheria. 
 
 George E. Daum attended the dis- 
 trict schools until the age of fourteen 
 
 years, then gave his whole time to farm 
 work until the age of seventeen years. 
 Going to Elgin, he worked for Mr. Bell, 
 and later for Mr. Gary, at making concrete 
 sidewalks. With the exception of nine 
 months spent in Montana he was engaged 
 in that business until twenty-one years of 
 age. He then returned home and took 
 charge of the home farm, which consists of 
 one hundred and fifteen acres of well- 
 improved land, with good house and barns. 
 The farm is now devoted to dairy purposes, 
 Mr. Daum usually keeping from twenty-five 
 to thirty head of milch cows, the product 
 of which he ships from Starks Station to 
 Chicago. 
 
 Mr. Daum has been twice married, his 
 first marriage, which was solemnized May 
 5, 1891, being with Miss Emma Matthews, 
 born in Milwaukee, and a daughter of Mar- 
 tin Matthews, who served as a spy for the 
 Union forces during the Civil war. She 
 died June 21, 1897, leaving six children 
 George, Oscar, Frederick, Clara, Matilda 
 and Marie. 
 
 Mr. Daum was again married December 
 2, 1897, with Miss Edith Turner, who was 
 born in Galena, Illinois, and a daughter 
 of William and Kate (Blaze) Turner, the 
 former a native of Ontarioville, Illinois, and 
 the latter of Alsace, Germany. Mrs. Daum 
 was second in a family of eight children 
 born to her parents. Religiously, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Daum are members of the United 
 Evangelical church. In politics, he is a 
 Republican. 
 
 JACOB SALFISBERG, who resides at 
 140 Lincoln avenue, Aurora, Illinois, is 
 a native of Canton Berne, Switzerland, was 
 born March 25, 1834, a son of Johann and
 
 708 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Mary Ann (Salfisberg) Salfisberg. There 
 was no previous relationship existing be- 
 tween the two, although of the same name. 
 The father and mother of our subject were 
 both natives of Switzerland, and emigrated 
 to the United States with their family in 
 1854. Sailing from Havre, France, in the 
 month of October, on the ship Confederacy, 
 they reached New York the following 
 month, being thirty-eight days on the 
 ocean. Their destination was Oswego, Illi- 
 nois, at which place they arrived November 
 28, 1854. Christian Salfisberg, the eldest 
 son, had come to America two years before 
 and had already settled on the rich prairie 
 lands of Illinois. The children of Johann 
 and Mary Ann Salfisberg were as follows: 
 Christian, Madeline, Jacob, Fred, Anna, 
 Samuel, Rudolph, Adam and Mary Ann. 
 The husband and father was in poor health, 
 and he failed to find relief, as he had hoped, 
 in the sea voyage, and survived the journey 
 but one year, dying at Oswego in 1855, 
 His wife survived him twenty-five years. 
 
 Jacob Salfisberg was educated in the 
 public schools of his native land and there 
 also learned the trade of a miller. He soon 
 found employment in the mills at Oswego, 
 and worked in the capacity of a miller for 
 six years after his arrival. In 1860 he came 
 to Aurora, and became engaged in the burn- 
 ing and selling of lime in the vicinity of Oak 
 Park, continuing this business eight years. 
 In November, 1868, he removed to Naper- 
 ville, Du Page county, Illinois, where he 
 purchased a quarry of very fine building 
 stone, of the most durable quality and con- 
 sidered the best in the state. He furnished 
 large quantities of the products'of his quarry 
 to the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Rail- 
 road Company to be used in the construc- 
 tion of bridges for their various lines. The 
 
 supply and demand continued for many 
 years. For a time he hauled the stone 
 from his quarries by teams, using five of his 
 own for that purpose and engaged others, 
 and had the services of fifty-five men em- 
 ployed in operating the quarry. He eventu- 
 ally ran a line of railroad to the work, which 
 greatly facilitated matters. 
 
 In 1889 Mr. Salfisberg disposed of the 
 quarry and its surroundings, and a company 
 was organized to carry on the business un- 
 der the title of the Chicago & Naperville 
 Stone Company. On selling the plant, Mr. 
 Salfisberg retired from active business life 
 and once more came to reside in Aurora. 
 Business, the prevailing passion of his life, 
 induced him, however, to purchase a half 
 interest with J. Marshall Spiker in the busi- 
 ness of artificial stone, cement and con- 
 crete, and many of the superb sidewalks of 
 Aurora and other cities in this and adjoin- 
 ing counties have been constructed by this 
 company. In 1895 Mr. Salfisberg pur- 
 chased a farm in Kendall county, consisting 
 of one hundred and seventy-two and a half 
 acres, which is now rented by his son, 
 Charles. Since purchasing he has made 
 great improvements, erecting a fine dwell- 
 ing house, barns and other outbuildings to 
 the extent of six thousand dollars. 
 
 On the 4th of January, 1859, Mr. Salfis- 
 berg was married to Anna Salfisberg, a dis- 
 tant relative, and daughter of Jacob and 
 Anna Salfisberg, and who came to this 
 county with her parents. She was one of 
 fourteen children, ten of whom are living at 
 the present time. The children of our sub- 
 ject and wife are ten in number, of whom 
 eight are living Amanda, Charles A., Ida 
 E., Jacob E., Anna, Edwin A., Frank O., 
 and Maud May. Those deceased are 
 Freddie and Emma. The last named was
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 709 
 
 the wife of John Nicholas, and died leaving 
 two children, John and Fred. 
 
 Mr. Salfisberg's interests in the artificial 
 stone business is now looked after by his 
 son, Jacob E , who is a man of good busi- 
 ness ability. Fraternally Mr. Salfisberg is 
 a member of the Masonic order, of the blue 
 lodge, chapter, council and Knight Templar. 
 A thorough-going business man, he keeps 
 abreast with the times and has contributed 
 his share in the unbuilding of Du Page and 
 Kane counties. As a citizen he is greatly 
 esteemed. 
 
 COIT SPALDING, the present efficient 
 supervisor of Blackberry township, and 
 the junior member of the firm of Cline & 
 Spalding, general merchants, Elburn, Illi- 
 nois, was born in Washtenaw county, Mich- 
 igan, November 12, 1836, and is the son of 
 Colwell and Beulah (Lyon) Spalding, na- 
 tives of New York. In his native state, 
 Colwell Spalding was by occupation a 
 farmer, and followed that vocation after his 
 removal to Kane county, Illinois, in 1844. 
 He located in Blackberry township, where 
 he purchased government land, which is 
 still in possession of the family. A pioneer 
 of the county, he was widely and favorably 
 known for his many excellent traits of char- 
 acter a man often referred to in settling 
 troubles, such as arise between neighbors, 
 and a man universally respected for his 
 many sterling qualities. He died in this 
 county at the age of eighty-seven years. He 
 was a pioneer of Michigan before his re- 
 moval to Illinois. Originally a Democrat, 
 he voted for James K. Polk, but on the or- 
 ganization of the Republican party, gave 
 adherence to it, and voted that ticket during 
 the remainder -of his life. He took great 
 
 interest in political affairs, and was a great 
 reader of periodicals and current literature. 
 For many years he was a justice of the 
 peace, and held other minor official posi- 
 tions. His wife was born in 1804, died in 
 1891. She was for many years a member 
 of the Baptist church, and was very regular 
 in attendance. Her parents were Mathias 
 and Rhoda Lyon. Of their three living 
 children, Gilbert resides in Greenwood 
 county, Kansas, where he is engaged in farm- 
 ing; Coit is the subject of this sketch; and 
 Louisa J. is the wife of Charles Eckley, of 
 Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 
 
 Coit Spalding was reared on the home 
 farm in Blackberry township, and his edu- 
 cation, began in the district school, was 
 completed in an academy, which he at- 
 tended one year. After leaving school, he 
 remained for a time on the farm, then tried 
 railway work one year, then clerked in a 
 store, but mostly engaged in farming, until 
 he commenced business for himself in El- 
 burn, in August, 1891, where he formed a 
 partnership with M. S. Cline, in the general 
 mercantile trade. They now carry a fine 
 stock and have their share of the business 
 of the place. 
 
 Mr. Spalding was married January i, 
 1863, to Miss Helen M. Barker, daughter 
 of Jabez Barker, a native of Massachusetts, 
 and who was a pioneer of Kane county. 
 Three children were born of this union, 
 James J. , who married Miss Nettie Reeves, 
 by whom he has one child, Fenner, is en- 
 gaged in the lumber business in Elburn; 
 Lester, who is in the livery business at 
 Elburn; and Warren, a pupil of the public 
 schools. 
 
 In politics Mr. Spalding is a Republican 
 and a firm believer in protection. He was 
 elected assessor of Blackberry township, in
 
 7io 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1883, and held the office for five successive 
 years. He was then elected supervisor of 
 the township, and has held the office con- 
 tinuously to the present time. His re- 
 election to the same office for so many 
 years, speaks in unmistakable terms of a 
 well-rendered and efficient service, and in 
 this connection, it may be said that he is 
 classed among the leading, enterprising and 
 reliably solid citizens of the county, and a 
 leader in his community in all enterprises, 
 which, in his estimation, promises for the 
 best interest of his township. For fifteen 
 years he has also held the office of township 
 school treasurer. Fraternally he is a Mason, 
 a member of Blackberry lodge, No. 359, of 
 Fox River chapter, No. 14, and of Sycamore 
 commandery. He is also a member of the 
 Modern Woodmen of America. 
 
 ANDREW ANDERSON, residing on sec- 
 tion 14, Big Rock township, is a rep- 
 resentative Swedish-American, one who has 
 the interest of his adopted country at heart. 
 He was born in Sweden, November 20, 
 1842, and there grew to manhood, spend- 
 ing his boyhood and youth upon a farm. 
 His educational advantages were limited, 
 and his knowledge of the English language 
 has been acquired since coming to the Unit- 
 ed States. Glowing accounts had been sent 
 him of the opportunities for wealth in this 
 land and he determined to emigrate with 
 the hope of bettering his fortunes. In 
 company with his brother, Oscar, he crossed 
 the ocean and immediately came west to 
 Batavia, Illinois, where he joined Swedish 
 friends and soon secured work on a farm 
 and in a stone quarry. The next summer 
 he worked on a steamer on the Mississippi 
 river, and then was employed on the North- 
 
 western railroad at Union Grove, White- 
 side county, Illinois. 
 
 In 1871. Mr. Anderson commenced work 
 on the Illinois & Iowa railroad, with which 
 he was engaged for several years. He 
 then bought a small tract of land west of 
 Big Rock, on which he located, but at the 
 same time continued to work for the rail- 
 road company. As his means increased he 
 purchased more land adjoining his little 
 place, and there engaged in farming some 
 thirteen or fourteen years. Disposing of 
 that place, in 1895 he purchased the farm 
 on section 14, where he now resides. The 
 place was very much run down at the time 
 of his purchase, but he has since made vari- 
 ous improvements, and has to-day a good 
 farm of one hundred and sixty-one acres, 
 on which he has built a large barn, put up 
 a wind pump, and underlaid it with many 
 rods of tiling. 
 
 Mr. Anderson was married in Cook 
 county in 1872, to Miss Lena Christiansen, 
 also a native of Sweden, in which country 
 she grew to womanhood. She has been to 
 him a helpmeet indeed, and has co-operated 
 with him in his work to their mutual ad- 
 vantages. Commencing life in the new world 
 in limited circumstances, and among strange 
 people, by his own labor and enterprise, 
 assisted by his good wife, he has secured a 
 large and valuable farm, a good home, and 
 an honored name in the land of his adop- 
 tion. 
 
 Politically Mr. Anderson is a stanch Re- 
 publican, and while interested in political 
 affairs, has preferred to give his time and 
 attention to his business interests, rather 
 than in office seeking. He is a member of 
 the Big Rock Congregational church, of 
 which body his wife is also a member. For 
 more than a quarter of a century he has
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 711 
 
 lived in Kane county, the greater part of 
 which time in Big Rock township, where he 
 is well and favorably known. 
 
 SILAS S. FOOTH, who resides on sec- 
 tion 9, Virgil township, is numbered 
 among the well-to-do farmers of Kane 
 county. He was born May i, 1859, in 
 Kane county, Illinois, and is the son of 
 Simon and Barbara (Fried) Footh, both of 
 whom were natives of Bohemia, Austria. 
 They were the parents of two children, Lola 
 and Silas S. In 1852 Simon Footh left his 
 native land and came to the United States, 
 locating in St. Louis, Missouri, where he 
 engaged in the cigar business, in which he 
 continued about one year. In 1854 he 
 came to Kane county, Illinois, and pur- 
 chased eighty acres of land in Virgil town- 
 ship, and at once began its improvement 
 and as time and his means increased, he 
 purchased more land, until at one time he 
 had a valuable farm of one hundred and 
 eighty acres, all of which was under culti- 
 vation. 
 
 On the home farm the subject of this 
 sketch grew to manhood, and while assist- 
 ing his father in its cultivation, attended 
 the district schools as the opportunity was 
 afforded him, receiving a good common- 
 school education. He has followed farm- 
 ing during his entire life together with stock- 
 raising and has been fairly successful. 
 
 On the loth of January, 1887, Mr. 
 Footh married Miss Emma Sabin, a native 
 of De Kalb county, Illinois, and by this 
 union are three children, one of whom died 
 in infancy. The living are Myrtie A. and 
 Charlie S. 
 
 In 1888, Mr. Footh purchased his pres- 
 ent farm of one hundred and fifty-three 
 
 35 
 
 acres, all of which is under cultivation, and 
 which is a well-improved and valuable farm, 
 the surroundings of which show the thrift 
 and energy of its owner. Politically, he is 
 an enthusiastic Republican, with which 
 party he has been identified since attaining 
 his majority. For three years he served 
 as road commissioner, and was for several 
 years a member of the school board. Fra- 
 ternally he is a member of the Knights of 
 the Globe. 
 
 ERNEST A. GAGE resides on section 
 30, Rutland township, Kane county, 
 Illinois, where he is engaged in general and 
 dairy farming. The Gage family are of old 
 colonial stock, and is scattered over the 
 New England states. Lyman J. Gage, the 
 present Secretary of the Treasury, undoubt- 
 edly sprang from common ancestry with 
 the Gage family in Kane county. The first 
 to come to this county was Cyril Gage, who 
 came in 1844, with his brother-in-law, Caleb 
 Truax. His father, Solomon Gage, Sr. , 
 came in 1846, and also located in Rutland 
 township. He was the youngest of a fam- 
 ily of seven children, and was born in New 
 Hampshire, in 1788, and died in Rutland 
 township, Kane county, October 21, 1851. 
 He married Miriam Guernsey, also a native 
 of New Hampshire, born in 1786, and who 
 died in 1866. She was the daughter of 
 Cyril Guernsey, who never came west. 
 Solomon and Miriam Gage were the parents 
 of eight children, of whom seven reached 
 maturity. Socrates came west with Caleb 
 Truax in 1844. Saloma married Evelyn 
 R. Starks, the first settler of Rutland town- 
 ship, of whom mention is made elsewhere 
 in this work. Esther married Caleb Truax, 
 who was the first of the relatives to move
 
 712 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 west and settle in Kane county. Cyril, who 
 came in 1844, with Caleb Truax, as before 
 stated. John, who came in 1848, with his 
 parents, and who is mentioned more at 
 length elsewhere in this review. Solomon, 
 Jr., father of our subject. Aaron came to 
 Illinois with the family in 1848, and now 
 lives in Missouri. 
 
 Solomon Gage, Jr., was born in Arcade, 
 Wyoming county, New York, June 15, 1827. 
 He was reared in his native county, and 
 came west in 1846, and later bought a farm 
 west of the present village of Burlington, 
 Kane county, but sold the same after a few 
 years. In company with his brother Cyril, 
 he went to California in 1852, and there 
 engaged in trading in cattle, meat, provi- 
 sions, etc. , to immigrants from the states. 
 In 1854 he returned to Kane county, and 
 after purchasing a lot of horses and cattle, 
 went a second time to the coast, where he 
 remained three years, employed as at first. 
 On his first return the vessel on which he 
 had taken passage, was wrecked and he was 
 cast away on a desolate island, from which 
 he was rescued after two weeks' exposure. 
 
 In 1857, having lost his first wife in Cal- 
 ifornia, Solomon Gage, Jr., returned to 
 Kane county, married and bought a farm 
 on section 30, Rutland township, where he 
 lived until his death, March 7, 1886. The 
 farm consists of one hundred and forty-one 
 and a half acres, on which he erected all 
 the buildings, but which has been improved 
 by our subject since the death of the father 
 with over two miles of tiling. In addition 
 to the home farm, in the spring of 1884 he 
 purchased six hundred and forty acres in 
 Jackson county, Iowa, lying in Belmont and 
 Hunter townships, on which his son, Charles, 
 now resides. Solomon Gage, Jr., was first 
 married March 15, 1854, to Susan Hoge- 
 
 boom, of Geneva, Illinois. She died in 
 California, March 15, 1857, and was fol- 
 lowed shortly after by their only child. 
 On the first of July, 1858, he was again 
 married, his second union being with Mary 
 E. King, born in New Haven, Connecticut, 
 October 4, 1840, and who died January 4, 
 1871. She was the daughter of Madison 
 King, of English descent, a sail-maker by 
 trade, who died when about seventy-eight 
 years of age. His wife survived him, and 
 lived to be ninety years of age. By this 
 second union nine children were born, of 
 whom four lived to maturity. Charles H., 
 who married Estella McClelland, by whom 
 he has three children, Ernest T. , Florence 
 and Mary, lives upon a large farm in Min- 
 nesota; Ernest A. lives upon the old home- 
 stead in Rutland township: Susan M., de- 
 ceased, first married Dr. W. Heffelfinger, a 
 resident of Lakefield, Minnesota, and after 
 his death married R. E. Nash, who is now 
 living in Chicago; John G. is the proprietor 
 of a drug store in Hampshire. 
 
 Solomon Gage, Jr., was for the third 
 time married in 1872, his union being with 
 Mrs. Sylvia Brisbin, widow of Fields F. 
 Brisbin, who died in Plato township in 
 1870. She was born in Canada in 1826. 
 Her father, Ephraim C. Staunton, was a 
 native of New Hampshire, and the -son of 
 Eldridge Staunton, a native of England, 
 who bore arms against the mother country 
 in the war of 1812, and who was killed in 
 the battle of Black Rock, December 31, 
 1813. Ephraim C. Staunton married Sarah 
 Samis, a native of New York state, and a 
 daughter of Benjamin Samis, likewise a na- 
 tive of New York. They lived for a time 
 in Canada, but came to Kane county, Illi- 
 nois, in 1845, settling in Burlington town- 
 ship, where he died in 1861.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 713 
 
 Ernest A. Gage, our subject, was born 
 on the farm where he now resides and after 
 attending the district schools completed his 
 education in Beloit College. With the ex- 
 ception of two and a half years, when he 
 resided on a farm in Minnesota, he has 
 spent his entire life on the home farm. In 
 1886, after his father's death, he took 
 charge of the homestead, which has since 
 been under his control. He was married 
 March 31, 1891, to Emma C. Hemrick, a 
 daughter of Philip Hemrick, of Rutland 
 township, whose sketch appears elsewhere 
 in this work. 
 
 In politics Mr. Gage is a Republican, 
 with which party he has been identified 
 since attaining his majority. He has been 
 a member of the school board for several 
 terms. Fraternally he is a member of 
 Hampshire lodge, No. 443, A. F. & A. M., 
 of Hampshire, and Loyal L. Munn chapter, 
 R. A. M. , and of Blackhawk garrison, No. 
 32, Knights of the Globe, Hampshire. He 
 and his wife are members of the Eastern 
 Star lodge of Hampshire. As a farmer he 
 is thoroughly practical and keeps his farm 
 under a high state of cultivation, devoting 
 it principally to dairy purposes. 
 
 TODD BENJAMIN, residing on section 
 19, Sugar Grove township, is in every 
 respect a representative citizen of the coun- 
 ty, and is now operating the home farm of 
 two hundred acres on which he was born 
 January 30, 1853. On his father's side he 
 is of Scotch descent, his grandfather, Elisha, 
 who was an early settler of Oneida county, 
 New York, being of Scotch parentage. 
 Leonard Benjamin, the father, was born 
 in Oneida county, New York, in 1812, and 
 
 there grew to manhood, and after having 
 passed through the common schools entered 
 Hamilton College, and taking the regular 
 course, was graduated therefrom. In 1837, 
 he came to Kane county, Illinois, and made 
 claim to one hundred and sixty acres in 
 Sugar Grove township, on which he built a 
 small residence and began its further im- 
 provement. When the land came into 
 market he secured his deed for the same, 
 together with forty acres additional, which 
 is yet in possession of the family and is the 
 home of our subject. He later bought a 
 farm of forty acres in Big Rock township. 
 A well educated man and a practical farmer, 
 he made of the place one of the best in the 
 township. In 1891, the family residence 
 was destroyed by fire, and he later built the 
 present substantial residence. 
 
 Before coming to Illinois, Mr. Benjamin 
 taught several terms in the public schools 
 and after his arrival here again engaged in 
 teaching in connection with his farm work, 
 teaching in all about twenty terms. He 
 here married Lucretia Emery, a native of 
 Tompkins county, New York, and a daugh- 
 ter of Abner Emery. By this union were 
 two sons and one daughter, Todd our sub-, 
 ject; Ida, wife of Charles Dugan, a farmer 
 of Sugar Grove township; and Pratt, also a 
 farmer of Sugar Grove township and the 
 present township assessor. By a former 
 marriage there are two sons, Charles and 
 James. 
 
 Leonard Benjamin was in his time one 
 of the most prominent men in Sugar Grove 
 township, where he served as supervisor, 
 assessor, justice of the peace, township 
 trustee, collector, and other positions of 
 honor and trust, showing the confidence re- 
 posed in him by his fellow citizens. He 
 died on the old homestead May 21, 1895.
 
 714 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 His widow survives and makes her home 
 with her son, the subject of this sketch. 
 
 Todd Benjamin grew to manhood on 
 the old farm, and in his youth assisted in its 
 cultivation. His primary education was ob- 
 tained in the schools of his neighborhood, 
 after which he attended the Jennings Semi- 
 nary at Aurora, preparatory to a college 
 course. He then entered the State Uni- 
 versity at Ann Arbor, Michigan, from which 
 he graduated in the class of 1878. When 
 but eighteen years of age he taught his first 
 term in the public schools, and taught sev- 
 eral terms before entering the university. 
 After completing his course, he taught some 
 twelve or fifteen terms, and now holds a 
 teacher's certificate. He has, however, 
 abandoned the profession, and now gives 
 his time exclusively to the management of 
 the farm, of which he has had charge since 
 1890. 
 
 Mr. Benjamin was united in marriage in 
 Tekamah, Burt county, Nebraska, Decem- 
 ber 8, 1895, with Miss Alta Breed, a na- 
 tive of De Kalb county, Illinois, and a 
 daughter of Charles Breed, now deceased, 
 who was an early settler of De Kalb 
 county, Illinois, and also of Tekamah, Ne- 
 braska. Politically Mr. Benjamin is a life- 
 long Republican, and cast his first presi- 
 dential ballot for Rutherford B. Hayes, in 
 1876. In local political affairs he has been 
 somewhat active, and for eight years was a 
 member of the county central committee of 
 his party. He has also served as a delegate 
 to various county and state conventions, in 
 which his influence has been felt. For nine 
 consecutive years he served as road commis- 
 sioner, and has always been in favor of good 
 roads. While not members, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Benjamin attend the People's church of 
 Sugar Grove. Fraternally he is a member 
 
 of the Modern Woodmen of America at 
 Sugar Grove. A life-long resident of Kane 
 county, and the township where he resides, 
 he is well and favorably known as a man of 
 superior education, of good business ability, 
 and of exemplary habits. 
 
 O AMUEL HARTER, a retired farmer liv- 
 O ing on section 17, Kaneville township, 
 came to Kane county in 1854, and for three 
 years was actively engaged in agricultural 
 pursuits. He is a native of Pennsylvania, 
 born in Centre county, January 5, 1827. 
 His father, Jacob Harter, was a native of 
 the same county and state, as was also his 
 grandfather, Andrew Harter. The family 
 are of German ancestry, the first of that 
 name who came from Germany being a 
 pioneer settler of Centre county. 
 
 Jacob Harter grew to manhood in Cen- 
 tre county, Pennsylvania, and there married 
 Elizabeth Kern, also a native of the same 
 county. Her father, Stephen Kern, was 
 also a native of Pennsylvania, of German 
 parentage. In his native county Jacob Har- 
 ter. engaged in farming, and there reared his 
 family, spending his entire life there, dying 
 in 1863. His wife survived him about two 
 years, dying in 1865. Of their family of 
 seven sons and three daughters, our subject 
 is fifth in order of birth. All grew to ma- 
 ture years, and five of the seven sons are 
 yet living. 
 
 Samuel Harter was reared in his native 
 state, and in its common schools received 
 hie education, attending during the winter 
 months, while assisting in operating the 
 farm the remainder of the year. He re- 
 mained under the parental roof until attain- 
 ing his majority, and in 1849 was united in
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 7'5 
 
 marriage with Mary Dauberman, a daugh- 
 ter of John Dauberman, of Centre county, 
 Pennsylvania. After their marriage they 
 remained in Pennsylvania until 1854, when 
 they came to Kane county, Illinois, locating 
 in Kaneville township, on land belonging to 
 John Dauberman, a place of one hundred 
 and sixty acres of partially improved land. 
 On that farm he remained for about twenty 
 years, giving his time and attention to the 
 improvement of the place. In 1875 he 
 bought his present farm of a hundred and 
 thirty acres, and since coming into his pos- 
 session he has made many improvements, 
 including the erection of the substantial 
 residence, good barns and other outbuild- 
 ings, together with a good tenement house. 
 
 In 1857, some three years after coming 
 to Kane county, Mr. Harter lost his wife, 
 she dying, leaving one son, Adolphus, a 
 farmer residing in Maple Park, Illinois. 
 They lost one child, a daughter, who died 
 when about one year old. In November, 
 1857, Mr. Harter married Elizabeth Gusler, 
 a native of York county, Pennsylvania, and 
 a daughter of Jacob Gusler, a pioneer of 
 Du Page county, Illinois, who later removed 
 to Kaneville township, Kane county. By 
 this marriage there is one son, Rodell S. , 
 who is married and is engaged in the furni- 
 ture and undertaking business at Maple 
 Park, Illinois. He is also a member of the 
 town council and a justice of the peace. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Harter supported the 
 men and measures of the Democratic party 
 until 1896, when he voted for William Mc- 
 Kinley and sound money. For years he 
 served as commissioner of highways and 
 also a member of the school board. He is 
 now serving as township trustee, which po- 
 sition he has held for six years. Religiously, 
 he and his wife are members of the United 
 
 Evangelical church, and for some years he 
 was a member of its official board. 
 
 Mr. Harter commenced life with but 
 limited means, but by hard work and the 
 practice of economy, he has acquired a 
 competency. For forty-four years he has 
 engaged in agricultural pursuits in Kane 
 county, and that he has made a good farmer 
 is attested by the improvements on his 
 place. As a citizen his friends and neigh- 
 bors all speak of him in the highest terms 
 of praise. 
 
 FRANK DOBSON, a farmer residing on 
 section 13, Virgil township, and who 
 receives his mail at Lily Lake postoffice, is 
 a native of Kane county, born on the farm 
 where he now resides, June 28, 1854, and is 
 the son of Abraham and Mary (Currin) Dob- 
 son, the former a native of New Brunswick, 
 and the latter of Ireland. They were the 
 parents of six children Mary, Julia, Frank, 
 George, Eleanor and Alfred. The paternal 
 grandfather Dobson was a native of Eng- 
 land, who emigrated to New Brunswick at 
 an early day, and there engaged in farming, 
 at which occupation he continued during his 
 entire life. 
 
 In 1838, Abraham Dobson came to Kane 
 county, Illinois, and purchased a tract of 
 three hundred and twenty acres of govern- 
 ment land, in Virgil township, and there en- 
 gaged in farming and stockraising, in which 
 he was quite successful. He died at the 
 age of sixty years. The subject of this 
 sketch grew to manhood on the old farm, 
 which has always been his home. In the 
 common schools, he received a fairly good 
 education, and by reading and observation 
 has since become a well-informed man. He 
 has an interest in over six hundred acres of
 
 716 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 well improved land, and is classed among 
 the most substantial farmers of Virgil town- 
 ship. In politics he is a Democrat, and 
 religiously he is a member of the Catholic 
 church. 
 
 SW. MYERS is engaged in farming and 
 stockraising on section 9, Sugar Grove 
 township, where he owns and operates a 
 farm of about three hundred acres of well- 
 improved and valuable land. He is a 
 native of Illinois, born near Eureka, Wood- 
 ford county, July 26, 1856. His father, 
 Lewis H. Myers, was born in 1835, in 
 Pennsylvania, and removed to Ohio, when 
 a lad of thirteen, with his parents. George 
 Myers, the paternal ancestor, was one 
 of the early settlers of Pickaway county, 
 Ohio. There Lewis H. Myers spent his 
 youth, and when but eighteen years of age, 
 was united in marriage with Miss Christina 
 Helvern, who was but sixteen years old, a 
 native of Ohio, and a daughter of Daniel 
 Helvern, an early settler of Pickaway coun- 
 ty, and also of German parentage. Soon 
 after his marriage he moved to Indiana, and 
 spent one year, and in 1856 moved to Illi- 
 nois, locating in Woodford county, where 
 he bought a partially improved farm 
 of two hundred and forty acres, and there 
 engaged in general farming. He was an 
 active, enterprising and successful agricult- 
 urist, and by his thrifty habits has been 
 enabled to retire from active business and is 
 now residing in Washington, Illinois. He 
 was duly honored by his fellow citizens and 
 served in various official positions with 
 credit to himself and satisfaction of others. 
 S. W. Myers is the second in order of 
 birth in the family of four sons and four 
 daughters, all of whom grew to mature 
 
 years and all married with the exception of 
 two. In his native county, our subject 
 grew to manhood and received his primary 
 education in the common schools, which 
 was supplemented by two years at West- 
 field College. He was one year engaged 
 in teaching during his college course, and 
 after finishing his studies he farmed one 
 year in Woodford county, and was then ap- 
 pointed deputy sheriff of the county, and 
 removed to Metamora, then the county 
 seat. After serving as deputy one term he 
 returned to the farm where he spent four 
 years and then moved to Eureka, where he 
 engaged in the live stock business, in which 
 he was quite successful. While residing on 
 the farm he was elected a member of the 
 board of supervisors of Woodford county, 
 and after his removal to Eureka was again 
 elected a member of the board, and during 
 his service, was on some important commit- 
 tees including public buildings, almshouses, 
 and judiciary. 
 
 In 1891, Mr. Myers disposed of his in- 
 terest in Eureka, and came to Kane county, 
 and bought the farm on which he now re- 
 sides. Since locating here he has built a 
 neat and substantial residence and several 
 outbuildings, cleared and broke about sev- 
 enty acres of new land, and put the place 
 in the very best condition. For years he 
 has been engaged in the fine stock business 
 and is now making a specialty of Poland 
 China hogs and Jersey cattle. He is also 
 engaged to some extent in breeding 
 thoroughbred Percheron horses. There is 
 no better judge of fine stock in Kane county 
 than Mr. Myers. 
 
 Politically Mr. Myers is a Democrat, 
 with which party he has been identified since 
 attaining his majority. In 1893 he was 
 elected justice of the peace of Sugar Grove
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 717 
 
 township, was re-elected and is now serving 
 his fifth year. He has served as delegate to 
 various conventions and is an ardent sup- 
 porter of the free-silver measure. In 1896 
 he was nominated by his party as a candi- 
 date for the office of county recorder, but 
 failed of election, the county being strongly 
 Republican. 
 
 Mr. Myers was married in Woodford 
 county, Illinois, February 7, 1878, to Isa- 
 belle Stumbaugh, a native of Woodford 
 county, where she was reared and educated, 
 and a daughter of Samuel Stumbaugh, one 
 of the early settlers of that county. By this 
 union there are five children, as follows: 
 Gay, a young lady at home, who received 
 her education at Sugar Grove, Illinois, and 
 Knox College, Galesburg; Clark Shull, who 
 is assisting his father in carrying on the 
 farm; Lewis Dean, Mossie and Ruth, who 
 reside at home. Mr. and Mrs. Myers were 
 members of the Presbyterian church in 
 Woodford county, but since locating in 
 Sugar Grove they have not unitedwith any 
 church, though still feeling an interest in 
 moral and church work. Fraternally he is 
 a member of Sugar Grove camp, Modern 
 Woodmen of America. A life-long resident 
 of Illinois, but only residing in Kane county 
 a comparatively few years, Mr. Myers has 
 yet made many friends, who will be pleased 
 to read this sketch of his life. 
 
 RICHARD DALE, who is now living a 
 retired life on his farm in section 23, 
 Big Rock township, is numbered among the 
 settlers of 1852. He was born in Durham, 
 England, July 28, 1824, and is the son of 
 Thomas Dale, who was born .in Yorkshire, 
 England, and who married, in Durham, Miss 
 Ann Stoddard, a native of Durham. In 
 
 1852, he emigrated to the United States 
 with his family, coming direct to Kane 
 county, Illinois, and locating in the western 
 part of Big Rock township, where he pur- 
 chased an improved farm, and engaged in 
 farming, there spending the last years of his 
 life, dying July 28, 1862, at the age of sev- 
 enty-six years. His wife survived him a 
 number of years, dying in March, 1876, at 
 the age of eighty-two years. Of their fam- 
 ily of fifteen children, all grew to mature 
 years, of which number the following named 
 are now living: George S., residing in Chi- 
 cago; Thomas S., of Hinckley, Illinois; 
 Richard, of this review; Mrs. E. F. Long, 
 of Big Rock; and Mrs. Alfred Summers, of 
 Aurora. 
 
 Richard Dale came to Kane county, a 
 young man of twenty-eight years, and as- 
 sisted his lather in the operation of the 
 home farm, until the latter's death. He 
 was married in Aurora, March 6, 1856, to 
 Ann Summers, a native of England, born 
 in Frome, Somerset county, England, and 
 who came to this country with her parents 
 when but eight years of age. Her father, 
 Joseph Summers, was one of the first set- 
 tlers of Kane county, locating here in 1836, 
 and purchasing a tract of four hundred 
 acres, in Big Rock township, and, at his 
 death, left Mrs. Dale that part of the estate 
 on which they now reside. To Mr. and Mrs. 
 Dale five children were born: Joseph H. 
 resides at home and is carrying on the 
 farm; John R. grew to manhood, and died 
 December 21,1 884, at the age of twenty-two 
 years; Martha M. is yet residing at home; 
 Ann S. is the wife of E. K. Frydendall, of 
 Big Rock, and they have one child, Lura; 
 Sidney J., a single man, also resides at 
 home. 
 
 After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Dale
 
 7 rS 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 located on the farm where they now reside, 
 and he at once began its improvement. He 
 has since built a neat and substantial resi- 
 dence, good barns and other outbuildings, 
 and has tiled much of the land. He has 
 now a well-improved and valuable farm of 
 two hundred and eight acres. His good 
 wife passed to her reward on the I7th of 
 September, 1891, when nearly sixty-four 
 years of age. Her death was mourned not 
 alone by the family but by a large circle of 
 friends. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Dale and sons are strong 
 Democrats and give earnest and enthusiastic 
 support to the men and measures of that 
 party. For fifteen years, Mr. Dale served 
 as commissioner of highways, and for 
 twenty-six consecutive years was school 
 director of Eagle school district, and is still 
 serving as a member of the school board. 
 Religiously, he was reared in the Episcopal 
 faith. Identified with the interests of Big 
 Rock township, for forty-six years, he is well 
 known and is universally respected. 
 
 CHRISTOFER FREDERIC GEYER, 
 who resides at No. 70, South Fourth 
 street, Aurora, Illinois, is the well-known 
 superintendent of the locomotive depart- 
 ment of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 
 railroad, a position which he has held for 
 the past twenty years, to the satisfac- 
 tion of all concerned. He is a native of 
 Germany, born in Wurtemberg, near Lake 
 Constance, October 22, 1839. In his na- 
 tive city he remained until fifteen years of 
 age, during which time he received a liberal 
 education, although yet in his youth, he de- 
 termined at once to begin life for himself, 
 with a view of bettering his condition in 
 life, he resolved to emigrate to America. 
 
 Leaving home, he took ship at Havre, 
 France, in a sailing vessel, and was seven 
 weeks in making the voyage across the At- 
 lantic, during which time they experienced 
 some very severe weather, the storms sweep- 
 ing the deck, carrying off one of the masts 
 and a portion of the forward deck. Ar- 
 riving in New York, he proceeded at once 
 to Buffalo, where he joined some friends, 
 and spent the first seven months on a farm. 
 He then went into the machine shops of 
 Henry Hawkins, where he served a five- 
 years apprenticeship, during which time he 
 saved up five hundred dollars. An absence 
 of six years from home and friends, made 
 him desirous of once more returning to 
 his native land. He accordingly recrossed 
 the Atlantic and after spending three and a 
 half months with his parents and friends, 
 he returned to Buffalo, and again went 
 to work in the machine shops. His em- 
 ployer later gave him a letter to a brother 
 in Aurora, when he came here and went 
 into the shops of the Chicago, Burlington 
 & Quincy Railroad Company, where he 
 worked as a journeyman until 1875. He was 
 then promoted to assistant foreman and 
 served in that capacity about two years, and 
 then took charge of the boiler shop for a year. 
 In 1878 he was given charge of the loco- 
 motive departmetu, and has held that re- 
 sponsible position up to the present time, 
 having under his control from two hundred 
 to four hundred men. Mr. Geyer was mar- 
 ried in Aurora, March 29, 1864, to Miss 
 Caroline Scharshug, a native of New York, 
 born in the city of Brooklyn, and a daugh- 
 ter of John Scharshug, who removed with 
 his family to Aurora in 1853, and locating 
 on a farm in the city. He now resides in 
 Aurora, where he is living a retired life. By 
 this union are three children: the oldest,
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 719 
 
 Mary, is the wife of Frank Lincoln, of Au- 
 rora; Clarence, now a student at the North- 
 western Medical College; and Edna I., a 
 student in the East Aurora High School. 
 They lost two children, Frederick O., who 
 died at the age of eleven years, and Cora 
 Josephine, who died at the age of seven 
 years, both dying December 14, 1877, of 
 diphtheria, and both buried in one grave. 
 Since coming to Aurora, Mr. Geyer has 
 been fairly prosperous and has been able to 
 make some investments. On the organiza- 
 tion of the Improvement and Building As- 
 sociation, he subscribed to its stock, and 
 was made one of its directors, and is now 
 its vice-president. For eight years he was 
 a member of the board of public works, 
 the duties of which office he discharged in a 
 faithful manner. Politically he is identified 
 with the Republican party, on national is- 
 sues, but in local affairs he votes regardless 
 of party. He is a member of the Masonic 
 fraternity, of the blue lodge, chapter and 
 Eastern Star. Mrs. Geyer was reared a 
 Lutheran. In his thirty-five years residence 
 in Aurora, Mr. Geyer has not only gained 
 the confidence of the officials of the great 
 road with which he is connected, but has 
 also gained the respect of all the people of 
 Aurora, and is recognized as one of its best 
 representative citizens. 
 
 ASEM A. OAKLEY, a farmer residing 
 on section 31, Hampshire township, is 
 a native of the Prairie state, born in Genoa 
 township, De Kalb county, Illinois, January 
 9, 1853, and is the son of John A. and Mary 
 Ann (Eddy) Oakley, the former a native of 
 Oak Hill, New York, born in 1818, and the 
 latter a native of Yates county, New York, 
 and a daughter of John Eddy. The first 
 
 persons by the name of Eddy to come to 
 America were Samuel and John, who- came 
 in 1630, in the ship Handmaid, landing at 
 Plymouth, Massachusetts. They were the 
 sons of Rev. William Eddye, vicar of the 
 church of St. Dunstan, Cranbrook, County 
 Kent, England, who married Mary Foster. 
 Samuel Eddy was one of the original pur- 
 chasers of the town of Middleboro, Massa- 
 chusetts. His wife's first name was Eliza- 
 beth. Zachariah, son of Samuel, married 
 Alice Paddock, and their son Joshua mar- 
 ried Hannah Stevens. Their son John 
 married Sarah Stevens and lived at Glou- 
 cester. Their son John was a captain in 
 the Revolutionary war. He married Deb- 
 orah Winsor, daughter of John Winsor, a 
 celebrated Baptist minister of Smithfield, 
 Rhode Island. Their son Richard married 
 Susannah Shaw, the mother of Mary A. 
 Eddy, who married John A. Oakley, the fa- 
 ther of our subject. The name Eddye, 
 from the Anglo-Saxon Edda, or Eadig, 
 from root "ead", meaning prosperity. The 
 remote ancestors fought in the holy wars, 
 as is shown in the cross on armoreal bear- 
 ings, which is a shield with the heads of 
 three old men connected at shoulders by. 
 cross, croslet and dagger, salientwise for 
 crest. The motto is ' ' Crux mihi grata 
 quies. " 
 
 In 1841 John A. Oakley came to Illi- 
 nois and located in Genoa township, De 
 Kalb county, where he purchased one hun- 
 dred and twenty-five acres, on section 25, 
 and forty acres adjoining in Hampshire 
 township, Kane county, Illinois. He was a 
 man of some prominence in De Kalb coun- 
 ty, and for a time served as postmaster of 
 New Lebanon. In politics he was a Re- 
 publican. His death occurred in January, 
 1864. He was married about 1843 to Mary
 
 720 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Ann Eddy, and they became the parents of 
 five children, as follows: Erasmus A., de- 
 ceased; Windsor, who lives in Sycamore, 
 De Kalb county, Illinois; Melinda, wife of 
 George Harrington, residing on the old 
 homestead, section 25, Genoa township, 
 De Kalb county; Amelia, wife of George 
 Hallock, of Seattle, Washington; and Asem 
 A., our subject. 
 
 Asem A. Oakley remained upon the 
 home farm in Genoa township, De Kalb 
 county, until fourteen years of age, receiv- 
 ing his primary education in the public 
 schools. He then went to Hillsdale, Mich- 
 igan, where he pursued his studies in the 
 college at that place, for three and a half 
 years. From Hillsdale he went to Yates 
 and Steuben counties, New York, where he 
 spent six months visiting relatives and in 
 working part of the time. Returning home 
 he worked on the farm of his mother, until 
 the age of twenty-three years, when he 
 married Catherine Berry, born in Burling- 
 ton township, Kane county, Illinois, and a 
 daughter of Ebenezer and Matilda (Bennett) 
 Berry, both of whom were natives of New 
 York. Her father is now living retired in 
 Sycamore, De Kalb county, Illinois. By 
 this union are five children: Clifford, Daisy, 
 Jessie, Kittie and Mary A., the latter being 
 better known as "Bonnie. " The four girls 
 are expert musicians, forming an orchestra 
 on the piano, violin, mandolin and guitar. 
 Their services are in demand for entertain- 
 ments. 
 
 After his marriage, Mr. Oakley rented a 
 farm in Genoa township, for three years, 
 and then crossed the line into Burlington 
 township, Kane county,, where he rented a 
 farm for one year, after which he purchased 
 his present farm of one hundred acres, on 
 section 31, Hampshire township, which is a 
 
 well improved place and is devoted to gen- 
 eral and dairy farming. In politics Mr. 
 Oakley is a Republican, and fraternally he 
 is a member of Hampshire Camp, Modern 
 Woodmen of America. He has never de- 
 sired office and has only been prevailed 
 upon to accept that of school director. 
 
 LOUIS A. DEAN, who resides on section 
 35, Big Rock township, has a well- 
 improved farm of one hundred and thirty 
 acres, and is numbered among the settlers 
 of Kane county of 1847. He was born in 
 Westchester county, New York, April 30, 
 1843. His father, Smith A. Dean, was also 
 a native of the same county and state, 
 where he married Delilah Wright, also a 
 native of New York. In 1846 they came to 
 Kane county, Illinois, with their family and 
 located in Big Rock township, on the farm 
 now owned and operated by our subject. 
 On his arrival he purchased the land, a small 
 portion of which had been under the plow, 
 and at once fenced and commenced the 
 cultivation of the place, and here died April 
 28, 1849, at the age of forty-seven years. 
 His wife survived him and died December 
 2, 1882, at the age of seventy-two years. 
 Their children were: Erastus married and 
 residing in Waterman, De Kalb county; 
 Alice, wife of C. W. Reynolds, residing in 
 Morrison, Illinois; John, who accidentally 
 met his death when forty years of age; Ada, 
 wife of Edward Meade, residing in Dunlap, 
 Iowa; Louis A., the subject of this sketch; 
 and Mariam, widow of Alfred King, of 
 Aurora. 
 
 Louis A. Dean came to Kane county 
 when but three years of age and upon the 
 farm in Big Rock township grew to man- 
 hood and attended the public schools of the
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 721 
 
 neighborhood. His school life was during 
 the winter months, the summer months be- 
 ing required for work upon the farm. He 
 was married in Kane county, December 9, 
 1862, to Louisa Mewhirter, a native of 
 Pennsylvania, born in Westmoreland coun- 
 ty, and who came when a child to Kane 
 county with her parents. Her father, Will- 
 iam Mewhirter, was among the earliest set- 
 tlers of the county and here died at the age 
 of eighty-four years. His wife surviving 
 him, died at the age of ninety years. To 
 Mr. and Mrs. Dean two children were born. 
 The eldest, Elmer, now owns and operates 
 a farm of .one hundred acres adjoining the 
 old homestead. He married Anna Loucks, 
 daaghter of Almeron and Henrietta Loucks, 
 and they have a son, Lewis A. Elzora is 
 the wife of Albert Greenacre, a stock dealer 
 of Hinckley, Illinois. They have one 
 daughter, Alice. 
 
 After their marriage, Mr. Dean rented 
 a farm for some years in the neighborhood 
 of the old home place. He then bought 
 out the heirs of the family homestead, which 
 consisted of one hundred and ten acres. He 
 later bought twenty acres adjoining the 
 farm, and has since built a good addition to 
 the house, erected a large barn and various 
 outbuildings, put up a wind pump, and tiled 
 the farm, making of it one of the best in 
 Big Rock township. In addition to his 
 home farm, Mr. Dean has operated one 
 hundred and sixty acres of other land for 
 some years, and is recognized as one of the 
 active and successful farmers of Big Rock 
 township. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Dean is a Democrat, 
 with which party he has acted and given his 
 support since casting his first presidential 
 ballot for General George B. McClellan in 
 1864. Mr. and Mrs. Dean have been resi- 
 
 dents of Kane county since childhood, and 
 attended the same school. They have 
 witnessed the growth and development of 
 the county and have been identified with its 
 interests for more than half a century, and 
 are well known and greatly esteemed in 
 Kane and adjoining counties. 
 
 JAMES McMAHON is a prosperous 
 farmer residing on section 23, Virgil 
 township, where he owns and operates a 
 farm of about four hundred acres of well 
 improved and valuable land. He is a native 
 of County Clare, Ireland, born in March, 
 1825, and is the son of Thomas and Nancy 
 (Noonan) McMahon, both of whom were 
 natives of Ireland, and became the parents 
 of eight children. 
 
 The subject of this sketch spent his boy- 
 hood and youth in his native land, and on 
 attaining his majority joined the great band 
 of emigrants for the new world. Arriving 
 in New York he proceeded to Connecticut, 
 where he remained six years, and in 1862 
 came to Kane county, Illinois. In 1863 
 he returned to Connecticut, and married 
 Mary Comins, a native of Ireland, and by 
 this union were born fourteen children, 
 seven of whom are living. In order of birth 
 they are as follows: Thomas, Margaret, 
 Katie, James, William, Dennis and Vin- 
 cent. 
 
 In 1882 Mr. McMahon purchased the 
 farm where he now resides, which then 
 comprised about one hundred and seventy- 
 one acres, but to which he has since added 
 until he has now three hundred and ninety- 
 five acres of as fine land as can be found 
 in Virgil township, and which is under a 
 high state of cultivation. Here he engages 
 in general and dairy farming, and has been
 
 722 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 very successful. He is a natural born 
 farmer, and has followed that occupation 
 during his entire life. In politics he is a 
 Democrat, and has voted that ticket since 
 obtaining his naturalization papers in 1861. 
 While taking a commendable interest in 
 political affairs, he gives his time and atten- 
 tion to his extensive business interests, leav- 
 ing office seeking and office holding to 
 others. The entire family are members of 
 the Catholic church, in the doctrines of 
 which they have unbounded faith. 
 
 ELAM F. HATCH, who resides on sec- 
 tion 7, Sugar Grove township, traces 
 his ancestry back to Thomas Hatch, who 
 was born in Kent county, England, in 1603, 
 and who came to the new world with Gov- 
 ernor Winthrop in 1630, landing at Cape 
 Cod. Elam F. is in the sixth generation 
 from Thomas Hatch. He was born in 
 Sherburne, Chenango county, New York, 
 February 10, 1839. His father, Elam 
 Hatch, was born in 1787, in the same 
 house in which our subject was born. Tim- 
 othy Hatch, the grandfather, was a soldier 
 in the Revolutionary war, as was also his 
 father, Jethro Hatch, the great-grandfather 
 of our subject. Elam F. Hatch has a cane 
 brought from England by Thomas Hatch 
 in 1630, of which he is justly proud. The 
 cane is of hazel wood with a heavy silver 
 head, and ferrule. Descendants of Thomas 
 Hatch have been well known in the history 
 of the country and in various walks of life. 
 Elam Hatch, the father, was a farmer 
 in New York, where he married Margaret 
 Farrell, also a native of New York, and 
 who is a descendant of an old family. In 
 1850, with his family, Mr. Hatch moved to 
 Kane county, Illinois, and located on the 
 
 farm in Sugar Grove township, now occu- 
 pied by our subject. Purchasing a hundred 
 and thirty acres of partially improved land, 
 he built a good house, fenced the land, and 
 opened up a good farm. Here he reared 
 his family and spent the last days of his 
 life, dying in 1876. His wife died the pre- 
 vious year. Their family consisted of four 
 sons. The oldest, Israel Burdette, married 
 in New York, came to Kane county, locat- 
 ing in Aurora, from which place he moved 
 to Kankakee, and still later to Denver, 
 Colorado, and there died in 1888. T. Yale 
 is married and is a farmer by occupation 
 and now resides in Highmore, Hyde county, 
 South Dakota. Elam F. is next in order 
 of birth. Frank D. is a merchant at Kan- 
 kakee, Illinois. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was eleven 
 years of age when he came with his parents 
 to Kane county, Illinois. He grew to man- 
 hood on his father's farm and assisted in its 
 cultivation and on the death of his parents 
 succeeded to the home place. In Man- 
 chester, Vermont, October i, 1868, he was 
 united in marriage with Miss Augusta Ma- 
 ria Collson, a native of New York, who 
 came to Illinois in childhood, lived in De- 
 Kalb county, where she was reared and 
 educated. By this union are six children 
 as follows: Burdette M., a conductor on 
 the street railway, residing in Aurora; Lor- 
 enzo C., a farmer of Sugar Grove township; 
 Cora G., wife of L. K. Owens, a farmer of 
 Sugar Grove township; Addie M., wife of 
 Eddie Phillips, of Big Rock, and Martha 
 F., a young lady now housekeeper for her 
 father. The children are all well educated 
 and each of the daughters have engaged in 
 teaching in the public schools. The wife 
 and mother passed away December 28, 
 1895. She was an excellent woman, a true
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 723 
 
 Christian, and her death was sincerely 
 mourned by the family and a large circle 
 of friends. 
 
 Politically Mr. Hatch is a life-long Re- 
 publican, and cast his first presidential bal- 
 lot for Abraham Lincoln in 1860, and has 
 voted for every presidential nominee of the 
 party from that time to the present. He 
 never wanted nor would hold office. Re- 
 ligiously he is a member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church and is an official of the 
 church at Kaneville. His parents were 
 also members of that church, although they 
 were reared in the Congregational faith. 
 For forty-eight years Mr. Hatch has been a 
 resident of Kane county, during which time 
 he has contributed his share in its develop- 
 ment and has always been interested in its 
 growth and prosperity. 
 
 DAVID HAMILTON, deceased, who 
 was long a resident of Campton town- 
 ship, was born at Hamilton, Lanarkshire, 
 Scotland, June u, 1815. He was the son 
 of James and Mary (Kilpatrick) Hamilton, 
 natives of Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire, 
 Scotland, respectively. James Hamilton 
 was a merchant tailor and clothier in the 
 town of Hamilton, and carried on quite an 
 extensive business. James and Mary Ham- 
 ilton were the parents of nine children, 
 our subject being the youngest of the family. 
 David Hamilton received his education 
 at private schools in his native town. He 
 learned the trade of a fruiterer and carried 
 on that business very successfully for over 
 twenty years on London street, Glasgow, 
 Scotland. At the close of the war in 1865, 
 he disposed of his business interests in the 
 old country and carne by steamer to the 
 United States, landing at New York. He 
 
 proceeded direct to Kane county, Illinois, 
 and resided for a time with the Muirhead 
 family in Plato township, until he could se- 
 cure a desirable farm. He decided upon 
 one in the northern part of Campton town- 
 ship, and made a purchase of eighty acres 
 on section 8. He subsequently added sixty 
 acres and afterward an additional fifty acres, 
 and to this was added twenty acres of tim- 
 ber, but subsequently sold two and a half 
 acres to the railroad company. He, soon 
 after purchasing, sold the fifty acres to his 
 son-in-law, George Marshall. There was 
 a log house on the eighty acres first pur- 
 chased, and in this he resided. He was 
 first married in Glasgow to Jane Morris, by 
 whom he had five children. The wife and 
 mother and youngest child died in Glasgow 
 in 1863, his remaining four children accom- 
 panying him to America, and made their 
 home with him for a time upon the farm. 
 He married, for a second wife, Miss Mar- 
 garet Bowie, September 20, 1867, the cere- 
 mony being performed in St. Charles, Illi- 
 nois, by Rev. David Metlock. Mrs. Ham- 
 ilton was born at Ardgwon, Inverkip, Ren- 
 frewshire, Scotland, March 20, 1820, her 
 parents being Archibald and Ann (Frazer). 
 Bowie. Her mother, who died when Mrs. 
 Hamilton was a child, was a descend- 
 ant of an old and honored family of Scot- 
 land. Her ancestor, being Simon Frazer, 
 of Lovet, Inverniss, a very conspicuous fam- 
 ily at the time the Stuarts filled the 
 throne of England. Within the present 
 century a protracted lawsuit has been waged 
 over the Lovet estate, but was decided 
 against the Frazer family, by a verdict of 
 not proven. Mrs. Hamilton spent her 
 childhood days on the sea-coast of Renfrew- 
 shire. She was an old friend of the first 
 wife and her husband. She came to Amer-
 
 724 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ica in 1867 and the same year was married 
 to David Hamilton. 
 
 The children by the first marriage were 
 Jesse, who died unmarried at the age of 
 forty-four, being accidentally burned to 
 death; John; Mary, the wife of George 
 Marshall, married March 31, 1879; they 
 have three children David, Jane a-nd 
 Madge; John, who married Vidi West- 
 garth, of Kane county, is now residing on a 
 farm at Benton Harbor, Michigan; he has 
 six children Jesse, Isabella, Donald, Nellie, 
 Margaret and John Van Clair; Margaret 
 married, July 14, 1878, James Clark, a 
 farmer near Manchester, Iowa, and has five 
 children Adelbert, Agnes, Foster, Edna 
 and a girl of three years. 
 
 David Hamilton, of this review, while 
 in this county devoted his entire time to 
 dairy farming, keeping a herd of never less 
 than forty milk cows. For some years 
 prior to his death he was in delicate health, 
 and died of heart disease in the Sherman 
 Hospital, in Elgin, Illinois, December 17, 
 1894, aged eighty years. Soon after her 
 husband's death, Mrs. Hamilton removed 
 to Lily Lake, and erected a neat cottage in 
 which to pass her declining years. She 
 has an interest in her late husband's estate, 
 some land of her own, beside the cozy resi- 
 dence and lot at Lily Lake. In 1885 she 
 made a trip to bonnie Scotland, visiting 
 her old home in Renfrewshire, and making 
 a protracted visit. She again visited Scot- 
 land in 1895, staying four months. The 
 trip was saddened by the absence of many 
 of her old-time friends, who had gone to 
 the land beyond. Although in her seventy- 
 ninth year, Mrs. Hamilton is a very bright 
 woman and an interesting talker, possess- 
 ing all her faculties unimpaired. She is 
 very active, occasionally taking long jour- 
 
 neys on foot in the neighborhood, where 
 she has resided for over thirty years, and 
 where she is so well and favorably known. 
 
 JOHN J. READ, who is engaged in farm- 
 ing on section 12, Virgil township, was 
 born on the farm where he now resides, 
 November 6, 1852. He is the son of Rich- 
 mond and Miranda (Sweet) Read, the 
 former a native of Westmoreland county, 
 New Brunswick, and the latter of Syracuse, 
 New York. Of their family of ten children 
 five are now deceased. Those living are: 
 John J., Wilford A., Emma D., Otho E. , 
 and George R. The paternal grandfather, 
 Eliphalet Read, was also a native of New 
 Brunswick, and a farmer by occupation. 
 He came to Kane county, Illinois, in Sep- 
 tember, 1837, and took up two hundred 
 and forty acres of government land in Vir- 
 gil township, which he improved and which 
 was his home during the remainder of his 
 life. 
 
 Richmond Read, the father of our sub- 
 ject, was one of the government surveyors 
 in Kane county. He also took up two hun- 
 dred and forty acres of government land, 
 and here engaged in farming and stock- 
 raising. He became one of the most prom- 
 inent men in the township, and at one time 
 was the owner of over five hundred acres 
 of splendid land which he had under a high 
 state of cultivation. His death occurred 
 on the old homestead some years ago. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared 
 upon the farm where he now resides, and 
 which has been his home during his entire 
 life. After attending the public schools of 
 his neighborhood for a time he finished his 
 education in the graded schools of Sycamore, 
 De Kalb county, which he attended two
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 725 
 
 years. On the loth of January, 1877, he 
 was united in marriage with Miss Lola 
 Footh, a native of Virgil township, Kane 
 county, Illinois, a daughter of Simon Footh, 
 and a sister of Silas Footh, whose sketch 
 appears elsewhere in this work. By this 
 union three children were born Fred R. , 
 Maude and Edith. Maude is now deceased. 
 Politically, Mr. Read is a Republican, 
 and is a firm believer in the principles of 
 that party. He cast his first presidential 
 vote for Rutherford B. Hayes, in 1876, and 
 his last vote for William McKinley, in 1896. 
 He has been honored by his fellow-citizens 
 with various local offices, including town- 
 ship collector, which position he filled for 
 several years, and a member of the school 
 board, holding the latter office for over 
 twenty-five years. Fraternally, he is a 
 member of the Independent Order of Odd 
 Fellows, and the Modern Woodmen of 
 America, and Knights of the Globe. He 
 and his brother Wilford are the owners of 
 five hundred and eight acres of land, which 
 is a part of the old Read homestead. The 
 improvements upon the place show the 
 thrift of its owners, who are held in the 
 highest esteem by their friends and neighbors. 
 
 CHARLES HOPKINS BARRETT, who 
 is engaged in farming in Blackberry 
 township, was born in Berkshire county, 
 Massachusetts, October 16, 1850, and is 
 the son of Sylvester and Caroline Adelia 
 (Hix) Barrett, the former a native of Mas- 
 sachusetts, and the latter of Renssellaer 
 county, New York. They were married in 
 Brainard, New York, and later removed to 
 New Lenox, Massachusetts, where he en- 
 gaged in his trade of mason and also in 
 operating a quarry. After living in Massa- 
 
 chusetts for a time, they went to Lebanon, 
 New York, where they remained some years, 
 and in the spring of 1857 came to Illinois, 
 locating at Geneva. For some three or four 
 years he worked the quarry at Batavia, then 
 moved back to Geneva, there lived two 
 years, while still working the quarry. He 
 then moved to Sugar Grove township, where 
 he worked at the mason's trade four years, 
 then moved to the vicinity of La Fox, Black- 
 berry township, where he resided until his 
 death, April 24, 1896, at the age of eighty- 
 six years and three months. He was well 
 and favorably known throughout the county, 
 especially during his active life. He was a 
 member of the Congregational church, of 
 which body his wife was also a member. 
 
 The paternal great-grandfather of our 
 subject was a very prominent man in his 
 day, serving as colonel of militia. His son, 
 Nathan, was a man of great will power, but 
 died comparatively young, the effects of a 
 cancer in the neck, which severed the jugu- 
 lar vien. He became the father of three 
 sons and three daughters, as follows: Ruth, 
 who married Samuel C. Evarts, of Geneva 
 township, but is now deceased; Julia, wife 
 of William Fitch, lived and died near Lenox, 
 Massachusetts; Ettie, was the wife of Will- 
 iam Hazzard, but is now deceased; Sylves- 
 ter, father of our subject; James and Jed- 
 ediah, who reside in the vicinity of Lenox, 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 The maternal grandfather of our sub- 
 ject was Thomas Hix. His children were, 
 Eliza, deceased; Solomon, deceased; Hiram, 
 residing in Lebanon, New York; Charlotte, 
 residing in New York; Philander, deceased; 
 Mary Jane, deceased; Henrietta, who es- 
 tablished a school, known as the Transyl- 
 vania School, was a very successful teacher, 
 and a most worthy lady; Sarah, wife of
 
 726 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 John Proper; Caroline Adelia, the mother 
 of our subject; Ann Maria, wife of Edward 
 Hulburt, resides in the state of Washington, 
 Josephine and Albertine, twins, the former 
 residing with Ann Maria, and the latter is 
 deceased ; Frances, residing on the old home- 
 stead in Rensselaer county, New York. 
 
 The children born to Sylvester and Car- 
 oline Adelia Barrett were Charles Hopkins, 
 our subject; Lottie, wife of Willis Richard- 
 son, by whom she has one child, Ralph B., 
 and they reside in La Fox, Illinois; Frank 
 and Anna, twins, the former married to 
 Emma Reid, and with the child, Imo, they 
 reside at Union, Illinois; the latter is a 
 primary teacher in St. Charles, Illinois, a 
 lady of culture and refinement, and well 
 worthy of the high esteem in which she is 
 held by the school board, pupils and all 
 concerned. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was educated 
 in the common schools and has spent almost 
 his entire life on the farm. For some years 
 he was engaged in dairy farming, having 
 about forty cows and shipping the product 
 to Chicago. He sold out February 18, 
 1898. In politics he is an ardent Repub- 
 lican, and has been quite active in political 
 affairs, and keeps well posted on the issues 
 of the day. He is perhaps one of the best 
 posted men in his township, and has many 
 of the elements of good citizenship. He is 
 in accord with the progress of the commu- 
 nity, on every line of advancement. 
 
 ADAM WEAVER, who resides on section 
 20, Batavia township, Kane county, is 
 a representative farmer of Kane county, 
 owning and operating a farm of two hun- 
 dred and forty acres, two miles west of 
 
 Batavia. His residence in Kane county 
 dates from 1849. He is a native of New 
 York, born in the town of Ellsburg, Jef- 
 ferson county, January 31, 1826. His 
 father, John Weaver, was also a native of 
 the same state, born in the Mohawk valley. 
 His grandfather, Adam Weaver, was a sol- 
 dier in both the Revolutionary war and the 
 second war with Great Britain, in 1812. 
 The family are of German ancestry, and 
 were early settlers of the state of New York. 
 John Weaver, the father, grew to manhood 
 in the village of Mohawk, and there married 
 Christine Chrisman, also a native of New 
 York. After his marriage he settled in Jef- 
 ferson county, where he reared his family 
 and spent the remainder of his life, his death 
 occurring in 1837. 
 
 Our subject was but eleven years of age 
 when his father died, after which he was 
 compelled to make his own way in the 
 world. When a young man he went on the 
 lakes as a sailor, and later followed the sea 
 in the same capacity. In all he served 
 some six or eight years on the water. 
 Farming, however, was his main work, and 
 he followed that in his native county for 
 some years. On coming west he com- 
 menced work on a farm in Kane county, 
 and for two years worked by the month on 
 various farms. He then rented a farm for 
 two years, after which he rented the Able 
 farm, where he remained six years, and then 
 purchased a portion of his present farm. 
 To his original purchase he added from time 
 to time until he had two hundred and sev- 
 enty-five acres of valuable land, thirty- 
 five acres of which he has since sold, 
 leaving him a tract of two hundred and forty 
 acres which is under a high state of cultiva- 
 tion, with a good frame dwelling house, 
 large and substantial barn, and good out-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 727 
 
 buildings. When purchased the greater 
 part of the farm was unimproved. 
 
 Mr. Weaver was united in marriage 
 February 9, 1857, to Mrs. Adelia Trimble, 
 a native of Erie county, New York, born 
 in 1825, and a daughter of John Talmage, 
 who drove through from New York to Chi- 
 cago, with a team in 1836, and located in 
 Du Page county. Mrs. Weaver was but 
 eleven years of age, and there she grew to 
 womanhood, and first gave her hand in 
 marriage to Charles H. Trimble, and they 
 settled in Kane county, where he engaged in 
 farming. In 1849, on the discovery of gold 
 in California, he went to that new Eldorado, 
 and there died soon after. By her first 
 marriage, she became the mother of two 
 children Adelbert, who grew to mature 
 years and then died, and Ella, who died at 
 the age of thirteen years. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Weaver six children 
 were born as follows: Ada A., who died 
 when about seven years of age; Frances E., 
 now the wife of James McDermott, of Wis- 
 consin; Imogene, who died in childhood; 
 Fanny, who also died in childhood, Oris- 
 sa, wife of Theodore Brandenburg, of 
 Kane county; and Herbert A., who married 
 Florence Emmett, a native of Kane county, 
 who was educated in Geneva and Batavia, 
 and taught school for some years previous 
 to her marriage, as did also her husband; 
 they have one child, Roy Maxwell. 
 
 Mr. Weaver was originally an old-line 
 Whig, but has been a Republican since the 
 organization of that party. For nearly 
 fifty years he has been a resident of Kane 
 county, and is well and favorably known 
 as a man of exemplary habits and upright 
 and character, he and his estimable wife 
 are held in the highest respect by all who 
 know them. 
 
 36 
 
 MARSHALL LAWRENCE, who is en- 
 gaged in general and dairy farming on 
 section 8, Burlington township, was born 
 on section 32 of the same township, and is 
 the son of Edward and Melissa (Marshall) 
 Lawrence. Edward Lawrence is the son 
 of Robert Lawrence, who for many years 
 ran a boat on the canal in England, and 
 there died at the age of seventy-three years, 
 never coming to this country. Our sub- 
 ject's father was born in Thurnham, Lan- 
 cashire, England, where for eleven years he 
 ran a merchant boat on the canal. Remov- 
 ing from that place, he resided at Liverpool 
 for about one year, and then carne to Amer- 
 ica in company with two brothers, sailing 
 for New York from Liverpool in 1850. 
 The two brothers that accompanied him 
 were both younger. William is deceased 
 and John resides in Sycamore, De Kalb 
 county. Coming direct to Kane county, 
 Illinois, Edward Lawrence settled in St. 
 Charles, where he resided one summer, re- 
 moving from there to Charter Grove, De 
 Kalb county, where he purchased a farm 
 and engaged in agricultural pursuits. After 
 his marriage he bought a farm on section 
 32, Burlington township, and later, about 
 1860, purchased the farm on which our sub- 
 ject now resides on sections 8, 16, and 17, 
 Burlington township. Here Mr. Lawrence 
 made his home until 1881, when he retired 
 from active life and moved to Genoa, De 
 Kalb county, Illinois, residing there up to 
 November, 1896, at which time he removed 
 to Elgin, where he is now living in re- 
 tirement. 
 
 On the 4th of June, 1856, Edward Law- 
 rence was united in marriage with Miss Me- 
 lissa Marshall, born in Nottinghamshire, 
 England, and a daughter of William and 
 Mary (Bingham) Marshall. Mrs. Law-
 
 7 28 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 rence's father served for seven years in the 
 British army. To this union were born 
 four children in order of birth as follows: 
 Marshall, the subject of this review; Jennie, 
 residing in Elgin with her parents; Robert 
 Edward, a merchant of Elgin; and MaryE., 
 wife of Edwin Lawson, also engaged in the 
 mercantile business in Elgin, Illinois. 
 
 Marshall Lawrence was an attendant of 
 the district school No. 10, Burlington town- 
 ship, until his twentieth birthday, after 
 which he rented his father's farm, consisting 
 of one hundred and ninety acres on sections 
 8, 16, and 17, which he conducts as a general 
 and dairy farm, milking from thirty to thirty- 
 five cows, and selling the product to the fac- 
 tory at Burlington. Mr. Lawrence was joined 
 in wedlock February 24, 1886, in Genoa, 
 De Kalb county, Illinois, with Miss Sallie 
 Schairer, a native of Naperville, Illinois, 
 and a daughter of George and Salome 
 (Vogt) Schairer, the former dying when Sal- 
 lie was but five years old. 
 
 George Schairer was born in Baden, Ger- 
 many, January 12, 1813, and died in Feb- 
 ruary, 1868. In 1826, when only a lad of 
 thirteen, he came to America, reaching his 
 destination after passing through a number 
 of exciting adventures, including that of 
 shipwreck. He had sailed for New York, 
 but eventually landed in New Orleans, from 
 which place he started north. Working at 
 various places in the different states on his 
 way up, he finally reached Chicago, two 
 years after his landing in New Orleans. On 
 his arrival in Chicago he took up the trade 
 of a tailor, which he learned thoroughly. 
 Leaving Chicago he went to Naperville, Illi- 
 nois, where he worked at his trade for many 
 years. On the 15th of September, 1865, 
 he removed to Burlington, Illinois, where he 
 purchased a farm consisting of one hundred 
 
 and forty acres. This farm was purchased 
 on the 1 5th of December of the same year, 
 and later was increased to two hundred and 
 thirty-seven and a half acres, which his sons, 
 Charles and Lewis, now operate. Mr. 
 Schairer continued working at his trade up to 
 a short time before his death. He was an 
 earnest worker and an active member of the 
 Lutheran church, and fraternally he was a 
 member of the I. O. O. F. 
 
 George Shairer was united in marriage 
 with Miss Salome Vogt, a native of Gierst- 
 heim, Alsace, Germany, and who came with 
 her parents to America when ten years of 
 age. The family settled in Lisle, Du Page 
 county, Illinois, where the father bought an 
 eighty-acre farm. Both parents of Mrs. 
 Schairer were killed in a cyclone, which oc- 
 curred in 1868, the father meeting his death 
 at the bridge, being struck by flying timbers 
 as he was hastening home to protect his 
 family; the mother being killed in the house 
 with her children, none of whom met injury. 
 The grandfather of Mrs. Schairer, Philip 
 Vogt, and his two sons were killed while 
 serving in the French army in Africa. Of 
 the seven children born to George and 
 Salome Schairer, five yet survive, as follows: 
 George, a resident of Aurora; Charles H., 
 a resident of Elgin; Carrie M., wife of 
 Charles A. Chase; Louis, a merchant of 
 Burlington; and Sallie, wife of our subject. 
 
 To Marshall and Sallie (Schairer) Law- 
 rence have been born two children, Pearl 
 Winifred and Bertha May. In political 
 belief Mr. Lawrence is independent, voting 
 for the man he considers best qualified to 
 fill the office regardless of party. He has 
 served in several official positions, among 
 them that of highway commissioner, which 
 office he filled for some five years, and then 
 refused to be a candidate. He was school
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 729 
 
 director for over thirteen years, always tak- 
 ing a deep interest in all things pertaining 
 to education or plans to advance the ma- 
 terial interests of his county. 
 
 WILLAM GROTE. The city of Elgin 
 has within its borders a number of 
 men who have become prominent in the 
 social, political and financial world, and 
 among them all none stand higher, or are 
 worthy of greater commendation than the 
 one whose name heads this sketch. His 
 parents, Wm. and Sophia (Eberhardt) 
 Grote, were German peasants of thrifty, 
 careful and religious habits, who spent their 
 last days in the new world, locating in Bart- 
 lett, Du Page county, Illinois, in 1867, the 
 mother dying in 1879, at the age of sixty- 
 seven years, and the father May 27, 1895, 
 at the age of eighty-three years. 
 
 William Grote was born in the hamlet 
 of Winzlar, in the province of Hanover, 
 Germany, November 22, 1849, and there 
 secured a limited education in the parodcial 
 schools. Early in life he learned of that 
 country, in which peasant life was unknown, 
 and where even the humblest had the op- 
 portunity of attaining the highest rank the 
 grand United States of America. Obtain- 
 ing the consent of his parents, he crossed 
 the Atlantic in 1866, when but sixteen years 
 of age, landing in New York, but at once 
 coming west, locating in Bartlett, Du Page 
 county, Illinois, where for one year he was 
 employed as a farm hand. He was then 
 joined by his parents, and together they 
 purchased a farm which they cultivated for 
 nearly five years. 
 
 While not not altogether distasteful to 
 him, the life of a farmer was not suited to 
 
 our subject. His energy and his mental 
 make-up were not such as could be satisfied 
 with farm work, however honorable or 
 however profitable it might be. Accordingly 
 in 1871 he left the farm and removed to 
 Elgin, where he embarked in the mercantile 
 business, which he successfully continued 
 for eleven years. Though it yielded a good 
 income and was a paying investment, it did 
 not, however, offer the scope for extended 
 operations which he desired, and he there- 
 fore disposed of his interests. Prior to this 
 he had invested somewhat in real estate in 
 Elgin, and on retiring from the mercantile 
 trade he determined to engage more exten- 
 sively in the real estate business. 
 
 Not having all the capital desired for the 
 prosecution of his new enterprise, Mr. 
 Grote associated with himself in a portion 
 of the business E. D. Waldron, who became 
 the "silent partner" of the firm. His suc- 
 cess was remarkable from the beginning. 
 Mr. Grote carefully watched indications of 
 rise in land values, and when he thought 
 investments could profitably be made, he 
 bought land, and became the owner of ex- 
 tensive tracts in and around Elgin, in addi- 
 tion to much business property. This he 
 divided into city lots, and more than twenty 
 large additions were made by and through 
 him, including the Grote & Waldron, first, 
 second and third, Central Park, Winzlar, 
 Boulevard and Grand View additions. 
 
 Some time later, upon the partial retire- 
 ment from active business of Mr. Waldron, 
 A. B. Church became associated with Mr. 
 Grote, thus strengthening the firm finan- 
 cially and otherwise. Substantial edifices, 
 which add to the beauty and attractiveness 
 of his adopted city, stand as monuments to 
 the thrift and enterprise of Mr. Grote and 
 his associates. While in company with Mr.
 
 730 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Waldron, he erected the Grote & Waldron 
 and the McClure blocks, and in 1880, in 
 connection with Mr. Church, he erected the 
 Merchants Hotel Block, formerly the Jen- 
 nings House, in which is located the princi- 
 pal hotel in the city. 
 
 Time has shown that the highest type 
 of business ability is found in the successful 
 real estate dealer, who must be able to an- 
 ticipate the rise and fall in the value of land, 
 must be able to read character, so as to 
 know the individual with whom he is deal- 
 ing, and must so plan and arrange all mat- 
 ters that the persons who are in search of a 
 location may be induced to settle upon 
 property which he controls. Many cities 
 of the west owe their existence to the enter- 
 prise and perseverance of some capable real 
 estate dealer. They are virtually the 
 founders of a town and are connected with 
 its development from the time of its incep- 
 tion. That Mr. Grote has all the elements 
 of the successful real-estate man is attested 
 by his work in and for Elgin. 
 
 Through the instrumentality of Mr. 
 Grote many industries have been located in 
 Elgin which promote commercial activity 
 and make it one of the thriving cities of the 
 northwest. It was through him that the 
 well-known D. C. Cook Publishing Com- 
 pany established their house here; also the 
 Illinois Watch Case Company, the Ludlow 
 Shoe Company, the Cutter & Crossett 
 Company, manufacturers of gents' furnish- 
 ing goods, the Elgin Silver Plate Company, 
 and the Elgin Sewing Machine & Bicycle 
 Company, all of great importance and value 
 to the city, and representing a donated 
 capital of about one hundred and twenty- 
 five thousand dollars. 
 
 While Mr. Grote has great capacity for 
 work and excellent business ability, his op- 
 
 erations have all been confined to Elgin. 
 He is thoroughly loyal to the city which 
 gave him a home, and all his energies are 
 for its upbuilding. Among the various con- 
 cerns which have added to the material 
 prosperity of the city, with which he is con- 
 nected, are the Elgin City, Carpentersville 
 & Aurora railway, of which he is president; 
 also president of the Elgin Packing Com- 
 pany; secretary of the Elgin Lumber Com- 
 pany; president of the South Elgin Stone 
 Company; director of the Home National 
 Bank; director of the Home Savings Bank; 
 secretary of the Elgin Brick and Tile Com- 
 pany; vice-president of the Elgin Milkine 
 Company; in fact, he is connected with 
 nearly every enterprise of importance in 
 the city. 
 
 In his private life Mr. Grote has been 
 most fortunate. He was married March 
 10, 1872, to Miss Kate Deuchler, a resident 
 of Dundee, Illinois, and to them have been 
 born five children, two sons and three daugh- 
 ters, of whom Augusta, Anna and William 
 are still living. In addition to these they 
 have an adopted son, Frank, whom they 
 are carefully and tenderly rearing. Mrs. 
 Grote has been to her husband a true help- 
 meet, and has seconded him in every effort 
 made to rise in the world. 
 
 Politically Mr. Grote is a stalwart Re- 
 publican, and is deeply interested in the 
 success and growth of his party. Although 
 it would seem that his business enterprises 
 would occupy his entire time and attention, 
 he has served the people as supervisor two 
 years and assistant supervisor four years. 
 For six years he was one of the members of 
 the board of education of Elgin, working 
 earnestly for the advancement of its schools. 
 In 1891 he headed his party's ticket for the 
 position of mayor, was elected and served
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 731 
 
 so acceptably that the business and repre- 
 sentative men of the city, in 1893, elected 
 him for a second term. He is strong in all 
 the essentials that combine to make a val- 
 uable and trustworthy official. Whatever 
 he undertakes to do he does thoroughly and 
 well. He conducted his office as he would 
 manage his own affairs, strictly on business 
 principles, and for this reason he has given 
 general satisfaction. The people delight 
 to honor such men men who accept public 
 office as .a public trust, and who bear its 
 responsibilities and perform its duties fear- 
 lessly and conscientiously, jealously guard- 
 ing the sacred interests of the people whom 
 they have been called to serve. 
 
 During the administration of Mr. Grote 
 as mayor a new city hall was built, and 
 upon its completion he donated the clock 
 which now adorns its tower. Many im- 
 provements in the way of sewerage and 
 paving were made during his incumbency of 
 the office, the light and water plants were 
 largely increased, and other improvements 
 added, which make Elgin one of the most 
 advanced cities in northern Illinois. 
 
 It is as a philanthropist and public ben- 
 efactor that Mr. Grote is entitled to more 
 credit than he has yet received. His char- 
 ities have ever been of the most quiet and 
 unostentatious character, and within a few 
 years he has given thousands of dollars, 
 with scarcely a comment beyond those from 
 the people most directly interested. With 
 the German Evangelical Association he has 
 been identified since childhood, and in the 
 erection of the magnificent house of wor- 
 ship of that body in Elgin, built at a cost of 
 about thirty thousand dollars, and which is 
 the finest in the city, he contributed most 
 liberally, which enabled the church to be 
 dedicated free from debt. He is trustee of 
 
 the association, and for many years has been 
 superintendent of its Sunday-school, a po- 
 sition which he is eminently qualified to fill. 
 He also acted as one of the trustees for the 
 association's board of publication for Amer- 
 ica, Germany and Japan, which has head- 
 quarters at Cleveland, Ohio, and as trustee 
 for Northwestern College, located at Naper- 
 ville, Illinois. 
 
 When the association desired to estab- 
 lish a mission at Lane Park addition to Lake 
 View, Chicago, it was found that no funds 
 were available, and Mr. Grote then set to 
 work. He first secured two lots from the 
 owners, and then personally assisted in 
 building the church and partially supported 
 its minister for a period of five years. This 
 church is now prosperous and self-sustain- 
 ing. When the Sherman hospital was 
 erected in Elgin he contributed one thou- 
 sand dollars, and, in addition, he has given 
 much and often to other worthy charities, 
 of which he keeps no record. He gives 
 from a true Christian spirit, and not from 
 any desire to win the praise of his fellow-men. 
 There is nothing narrow or contracted in 
 his nature, and he has made generous do- 
 nations to various other churches, helping 
 nearly all denominations in Elgin. 
 
 In 1887, accompanied by his wife and 
 children, Mr. Grote crossed the Atlantic to 
 the old world, and visited many parts of 
 Europe, spending many pleasant hours amid 
 the scenes of his boyhood. He has also 
 traveled extensively in the United States, 
 and finds in travel his chief source of rest 
 and recreation. Mr. Grote is a very busy 
 man, yet he is ever ready to pause in the 
 midst of his business duties to listen to the 
 appeals and relieve the needy. He is 
 wholly worthy of the respect which is every- 
 where tendered him, for his very name is
 
 732 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 synonymous with honorable dealing, and 
 with all that is elevating to the individual 
 or beneficial to the city. 
 
 AUGUSTUS H. DETTMER is a repre- 
 sentative of the German-American citi- 
 zens who have done so much in developing 
 the agricultural interests of the northwest. 
 He resides on section 29, Hampshire town- 
 ship, where he has a fine farm of one hun- 
 dred and eighty acres of well-improved 
 land. He was born in the village of Lang- 
 endahl, Hessen Cassel, Germany, Decem- 
 ber 7, 1835. His paternal grandfather, 
 August Dettmer, was the keeper of an inn, 
 near the River Weser, and owned a small 
 farm. The inn was on a road along which 
 drivers of teams which towed vessels up the 
 river had to return, by a short cut, to their 
 starting place. He was a good business 
 man and quite prosperous. His wife was a 
 Miss Albrecht. His son, William Dettmer, 
 the father of our subject, was born in the 
 village of Gretzbuern, Hessen Cassel, in 
 1809. He was reared to manhood in his 
 native country and there married Miss Wil- 
 helmina Alberding, born in Langendahl, in 
 1807, and a daughter of Jacob Alberding, a 
 farmer in the old country. They became 
 the parents of seven children, as follows: 
 Augustus H., our subject; Phillip, deceased; 
 Caroline, living in Sycamore, Illinois; Her- 
 man, deceased; Charles, living in South 
 Grove township, De Kalb county, Illinois; 
 Henry, deceased; Cornelia, who married 
 Joseph Schnee, and resides in South Grove 
 township, De Kalb county. 
 
 In 1849, William Dettmer came with 
 his family to the United States, and, land- 
 ing in New York, there resided one year, 
 and then came west and purchased a farm 
 
 in South Grove township, De Kalb county, 
 Illinois, on which he resided until his death, 
 in 1889, when in his eightieth year. He 
 also followed agricultural pursuits in Ger- 
 many, and, being an only son, he was re- 
 quired to work very hard when a boy, and 
 therefore had but little educational advan- 
 tages. Trained to hard work, he kept it 
 up during his entire life, and became one of 
 the most prosperous farmers in De Kalb 
 county. 
 
 The subject of this sketch attended 
 school in his native village, and also at Nas- 
 sen, Germany. He was fourteen years old 
 when the family emigrated to America, in 
 the spring of 1849. Sailing from Bremen, 
 in April of that year, on the ship " Her- 
 mena ", after a voyage of three weeks, they 
 landed in New York, where he remained un- 
 til 1856. At the age of twenty-one, he 
 came to Illinois, first locating in South 
 Grove township, DeKalb county, and 
 worked for various farmers for about four 
 years. On the i6th of September, 1861, 
 he married, in Hampshire township, Miss 
 Magdelena Munch, who was born in Tona- 
 wanda, Niagara county, New York, about 
 1840, and died March, 1890. She was the 
 daughter of Phillip and Magdelena (Scheur) 
 Munch, the former a native of Alsace, Ger- 
 many. By this union are five children 
 Lydia, who married Harrison Reams, 
 whose sketch appears elsewhere in this 
 work; George, who died at the age of nine 
 months; Emma, who married Mark Devine, 
 by whom she has one child, Dettmer; they 
 reside in Elburn, Illinois; Matilda, who 
 married Henry Rittel, and lives in Hamp- 
 shire, Illinois; and Edward A., who mar- 
 ried Alice Reid, daughter of Alexan- 
 der Reid, whose genealogy is given in 
 full elsewhere in the work. Mrs. Edward
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 733 
 
 A. Dettmer has been one of the successful 
 teachers of Kane and De Kalb counties, 
 having taught one year in the Warner dis- 
 trict, three years in the district where she 
 now resides, in Kane county, and three 
 years in De Kalb county. She graduated 
 from the Hampshire High School in 1890. 
 In 1 86 1, Mr. Dettmer rented a farm for 
 one year in De Kalb county, and then 
 bought eighty-five acres in South Grove, 
 township, Dakota county, which he con- 
 tinued to operate for ten years. In 1872, 
 he sold that farm, and purchased his pres- 
 ent place on section 29, Hampshire town- 
 ship, Kane county, Illinois, rebuilt the house 
 house and barns, and has since continued 
 to reside. For some years he was engaged 
 in general farming and stockraising, but 
 now gives more time to dairy farming, ship- 
 ping the products from Hampshire to Chi- 
 cago. His first presidential vote was cast 
 for John C. Fremont, in 1856, and has 
 since continued to act with the Republican 
 party. He and his wife are members of 
 the Evangelical church. 
 
 QAMUEL R. PLUMMER, who is oper- 
 O ating a farm on section 20, Big Rock 
 township, first came to Kane county in 1855, 
 when a young man of twenty-four years. 
 He is a native of Massachusetts, born in the 
 town of West Newberry, Essex county, May 
 16, 1831. The family are of English de- 
 scent, and of Quaker stock. His father, 
 John L. Plummer, was a native of Maine, 
 and the only son born to his parents. His 
 father dying when he was but a small child, 
 he was taken to Massachusetts and reared 
 by some of his mother's family. He mar- 
 ried, in Massachusetts, Miss Joanna Rogers, 
 a native of Massachusetts, and a daughter 
 
 of Captain Samuel Rogers. John L. Plum- 
 mer was by occupation a farmer, and also a 
 manufacturer of shoes. He spent his life 
 and reared his family at West Newberry, 
 Massachusetts, and there died in 1877, at 
 the age of eighty-two years. His wife died 
 about 1851. Of their three sons and six 
 daughters, seven grew to mature years, our 
 subject and three daughters being the only 
 survivors. 
 
 In his native town, Samuel R. Plummer 
 was reared and educated in its public schools. 
 In his youth he learned the carpenter's and 
 joiner's trade, and followed that occupation 
 prior to his removal west. On coming to 
 Kane county he located at Aurora, where 
 he engaged in contracting and building, 
 following that business at intervals for seven 
 years. In 1862 he accepted a position with 
 a Rochester, New York, nursery company, 
 and for thirteen years was engaged in travel- 
 ing, and selling nursery stock. His travels 
 took him over twenty-one states, and also into 
 New and Old Mexico, during which time he 
 disposed of nearly a half million dollars 
 worth of stock. While on the road he made 
 his home at Aurora, and during which time 
 he put out ten acres of strawberry plants 
 in Aurora, and cultivated and sold the same 
 to the trade. 
 
 On leaving the employ of the nursery 
 company, Mr. Plummer worked for about 
 two years at his trade, and then returned to 
 Massachusetts, and located on the old 
 homestead which he operated until in De- 
 cember, 1883, when he returned to Kane 
 county, and located on the place where he 
 now resides, and on which he has continued 
 to live, engaged in agricultural pursuits. 
 On the farm where he now resides, he was 
 married, September 13, 1864, to Miss Ma- 
 tilda, a daughter of Alexis and Ophelia B.
 
 734 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 (Long) Hall, the latter being a daughter of 
 Dr. Silas Long, who was the first physician 
 in Big Rock township. He came from Mas- 
 sachusetts, but was a native of Vermont. 
 In 1836 he located on the farm now occu- 
 pied by our subject. Alexis Hall was also 
 one of the honored pioneers of Kane coun- 
 ty, who on coming here, purchased a tract 
 of about five hundred acres, which he placed 
 under cultivation. Squire Hall was a very 
 prominent man in the early days, and held 
 various positions of honor and trust. He 
 died here January 15, 1883, at the age of 
 eighty-two years; his wife survived him six 
 years, dying February 26, 1889. Mrs. 
 Plummer was reared on the farm here, and 
 after attending the public schools of the 
 neighborhood, finished her course at Jen- 
 nings Seminary, Aurora. Her father was 
 twice married, and she was one of the chil- 
 dren by the second wife. On the division 
 of the estate, after the death of the parents, 
 she succeeded to the part on which they 
 now reside. To Mr. and Mr. Plummer 
 one daughter was born, Mary O., now the 
 wife of H. Leon Cutting, who resides in 
 Stamford, Connecticut, and is in govern- 
 ment employ as postal clerk on the Ham- 
 burg and American line of steamers, run- 
 ning between New York and Hamburg and 
 Berlin. He passed an examination among 
 six thousand applicants for governmental 
 positions, and is now one of sixteen engaged 
 in that work. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Plummer is a lifelong 
 Republican and a firm believer in the prin- 
 ciples of that party. He was made a Mas- 
 ter Mason in Aurora in 1859, and is now a 
 Knight Templar. For forty-three years he 
 has been identified with the interests of 
 Kane county, and in its growth and pros- 
 perity he takes especial pleasure. 
 
 JOHN G. KIRK, who owns and operates 
 a large farm on section 10, Burlington 
 township, was born in the town of Lanark- 
 shire, Scotland, December 31, 1843. He 
 was fifth in a family of seven children born 
 to Joseph and Charlotte (Schoulds) Kirk. 
 Joseph Kirk and his wife were both natives 
 of " Bonnie Scotland," as was also his fa- 
 ther, Joseph Kirk, Sr. , who for many years 
 was an officer of the British army. He was 
 born near the town of Bigger, in the eastern 
 part of Lanarkshire, where he was engaged 
 in farming until coming to America in 1851. 
 After coming to the United States he again 
 took up the occupation of a farmer, at which 
 he continued until his death in 1858, when 
 he had reached the advanced age of seventy- 
 one years. 
 
 John G. Kirk left the land of his birth 
 when a lad of eight years, and, coming 
 direct to the United States, settled in North- 
 port, near New Haven, Connecticut, in 
 company with his parents. Here he resided 
 for six years, attending school in the mean- 
 while. In 1857 the bright halo of success 
 which surrounded the west at that time 
 attracted him, and determining to succeed 
 in life, he immigrated to Illinois, settling 
 in St. Charles, Kane county, where he re- 
 sided for a number of years, and then went 
 to Chicago. After trying various kinds of 
 employment he engaged in the meat-market 
 business, at which he continued for two 
 years, when he left the mercantile trade to 
 take the position of fireman on the Illinois 
 Central railroad, also later being employed 
 by the Northwestern railway at the same 
 work. Leaving the railroad, at which he 
 had been engaged for over two years, he 
 came back to St. Charles, where he bought 
 a small farm and opened up a meat market 
 in the town, which occupied his attention
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 735 
 
 for the succeeding two years. He kept his 
 farm for three or four years; then selling it, 
 rented a farm in Virgin township for three 
 years. 
 
 In 1 88 1 Mr. Kirk bought the farm on 
 which he now resides, consisting of one hun- 
 dred and forty acres of finely cultivated farm 
 land. This he ran as a dairy farm princi- 
 pally until 1896, when he commenced buy- 
 ing and selling dairy stock and fattening 
 steers for the market in connection with his 
 general farming. On purchasing his farm 
 our subject rebuilt the house and moved 
 the barns and other outbuildings across the 
 road to a later purchase, in order to make 
 the group of buildings one home place. The 
 farm is well improved and is extremely fer- 
 tile, being well tiled throughout. 
 
 To the father and mother of Mr. Kirk 
 seven children were born, their order of 
 birth being as follows: Jane, the wife of 
 Samuel S. Lee, residing in St. Charles; 
 Francis, married and residing with his chil- 
 dren west of Batavia; Elizabeth, deceased; 
 Joseph, residing near St. Charles, Illinois; 
 John G., our subject; Margaret, deceased; 
 and William, who is now living in Chicago. 
 
 On the 3rd of April, 1862, Mr. Kirk was 
 united in marriage with Miss Louisa Pazen, 
 a native of Germany, born at Ems, on 
 River Lahn, in Hessen Nassen, April 20, 
 1839, and came to America in 1853, sailing 
 from Amsterdam and landing in New York, 
 being sixty-three days on the water. She 
 came direct to Chicago, where the marriage 
 ceremony was solemnized. The father of 
 Mrs. Kirk died while they yet resided in 
 their native land, and before leaving the old 
 country Mrs. Pazen took all the children 
 through Amsterdam, showing them the 
 various points of interest, as more than 
 likely they would never have the opportun- 
 
 ity to again view the grand old town. Mrs. 
 Kirk yet remembers well the line of de- 
 markation where the muddy waters of the 
 Lahn mingle with the clean green of the 
 Rhine, as it flows into the latter. 
 
 To Jacob and Helen (Bensz) Pazen were 
 born seven children: Frank C., a former 
 resident of Wisconsin, is now deceased; 
 Gertrude, deceased; Jacob, who now resides 
 in Oskosh, Wisconsin; Sophie, deceased; 
 Louisa, the wife of our subject; Susetta, 
 living in the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; 
 and Joseph, who occupies a very prominent 
 position with the Chicago fire department. 
 He is the second assistant to the chief, and 
 is well and favorably known in political and 
 social circles, where he exerts considerable 
 influence. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Kirk have been blessed by 
 the birth of eight children, seven of whom 
 are yet living. Frank, the eldest born is 
 deceased. The living are: Ella, residing 
 at home with her parents; Walter, who is a 
 milk conductor on the Illinois Central rail- 
 way, running to Chicago, married Laura God- 
 frey, a daughter of Charles B. Godfrey, of 
 Burlington, Illinois, and by whom she has 
 two children Elmer and Verna; Lillie, re- 
 siding at home; Jennette married Ennis 
 Chapman, a blacksmith of Burlington, Illi- 
 nois, and has three children Florence, 
 Ada and Frank; Mary, Gertrude and Adella, 
 all residing with their father and mother in 
 Burlington township. 
 
 In political faith, Mr. Kirk is an ardent 
 Republican, and while not caring for official 
 position, preferring to give his attention to 
 his business interests, has been prevailed 
 upon to accept the office of justice of the 
 peace, which he has held since 1896, prior 
 to which time he served as constable for 
 four years. He was also a school director
 
 736 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 for six years. Fraternally, Mr. Kirk is a 
 member of the Independent Order of Odd 
 Fellows, belonging to the lodge at St. 
 Charles, Illinois. 
 
 While a resident of Chicago, he was se- 
 lected to drive and escort President Lincoln 
 around through the city. He is president 
 of the Annual Picnic Association of Burling- 
 ton township, the meetings of which attract 
 many thousands. 
 
 HAROLD D. HEMMENS, editor and 
 publisher of the " Daily and Weekly 
 Courier," was born in Elgin in 1858. In 
 1882 he, with the late W. S. Doherty, be- 
 gan the publication of the "Courier," and 
 has since continued the work up to the 
 present time. He advocates all measures 
 for the good of the city, and champions its 
 progress along all beneficial lines. Journal- 
 ism has been his life work, and in his chosen 
 field of labor he has won a fair success. 
 
 JOHN W. CRIGHTON, section 4, Ge- 
 neva township, is one of the practical, 
 representative farmers of the township in 
 which he resides. He is what may well be 
 termed " a native son of Illinois," born in 
 Dundee township, Kane county, September 
 15, 1854. The father of our subject, Will- 
 iam Crighton, was born in Scotland, where 
 he attained his majority, and came to the 
 United States a young man of twenty-one. 
 Corning direct to Illinois, he located in Chi- 
 cago, and there engaged in the butcher 
 business for some years. He later re- 
 moved to Kane county, where he pur- 
 chased a farm near Dundee, which he 
 opened up and improved. Mr. Crighton 
 continued in agricultural pursuits for a num- 
 
 ber of years, and having acquired a com- 
 petence, which enables him to live in ease 
 and retirement, he moved to the village of 
 Dundee, where he has since resided. Will- 
 iam Crighton was united in marriage with 
 Miss Grace Todd, whose land of nativity 
 was Scotland, but who came to this coun- 
 try when a lass of seven. Her father, 
 James Todd, was one of the early settlers 
 of Kane county, locating in Dundee town^ 
 ship. 
 
 John W. Crighton, our subject, grew to 
 manhood on the old farm in Dundee town- 
 ship, and received his education in the dis- 
 trict and high school at Dundee. He re- 
 mained at home until he attained his ma- 
 jority, and then went to Chicago, and there 
 worked one year for other parties in the 
 milk business, then started in the same line 
 for himself. For thirteen years he contin- 
 ued in the milk business in Chicago with 
 gratifying success, having worked up a large 
 trade. About 1886 he traded his Chicago 
 property for seventy-eight acres of his pres- 
 ent farm, and in the spring of 1889 moved 
 to the place and has since been engaged in 
 agricultural pursuits. Since locating on the 
 farm he has built a good residence and 
 large barn and made other substantial im- 
 provements. To his original purchase he 
 has added sixty-five acres adjoining, and has 
 now one of the best improved farms in the 
 neighborhood. 
 
 Mr. Crighton was married at Glen 
 Ellyn, Illinois, April 29, 1880, to Miss 
 Mary Cooper, a native of Illinois, born and 
 reared at Glen Ellyn, and a sister of Hon. 
 L. C. Cooper, of that place. By this union 
 there are three living children Harry Les- 
 lie, Edith A. , and John Wilbur. The first 
 born, William, died when five years of age. 
 
 Politically Mr. Crighton is a life-long
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 737 
 
 Republican, having cast his first presiden- 
 tial ballot for Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876. 
 The principles of the party have ever been 
 such that he could readily give his assent 
 to, but he has never been a politician in the 
 common acceptation of the term. Office 
 seeking especially has been distasteful to 
 him, his time and attention being given to 
 his business interests. Religiously his wife 
 is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church, in which she is especially interest- 
 ed. Socially they are both held in the 
 highest esteem, and have many friends in 
 Kane and Cook counties. Success has 
 crowned their efforts, and they are num- 
 bered among the well-to-do citizens of Ge- 
 neva township. 
 
 THOMAS H. SOLOMON, who owns 
 and operates a farm on section 16, 
 Burlington township, was born in the city 
 of Chicago, on State 'street, September 12, 
 1850, and was the second child to bless 
 the union of Thomas and Emma (Pierce) 
 Solomon. Thomas Solomon, the father of 
 our subject, was born in Cornwall, Eng- 
 land, and in early life learned the trade of a 
 shoemaker. This occupation he followed 
 in Cornwall, and also in Chicago after his 
 removal to the United States. In 1854 he, 
 desiring a change, moved to Burlington 
 township, where he purchased one hundred 
 and thirty-seven acres of farming land, and 
 here resided until his death, which occurred 
 in 1896, at the age of seventy-six years. 
 
 Thomas Solomon was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Emma Pierce, a native of 
 Cornwall, England, and a daughter of John 
 Pierce. Mrs. Solomon died in November, 
 1884, at the age of sixty-six. To this 
 union was born five children, all of whom 
 
 are yet living, and whose order of birth is 
 as follows: John, residing in Sycamore, 
 De Kalb county, Illinois; Thomas H., the 
 subject of this review; Joseph, who is en- 
 gaged in farming in Nebraska; William, now 
 operating a grocery in Ottawa, Illinois; 
 Mary Jane, who first married Dr. Morand, 
 and after his death was again united in mar- 
 riage, being wedded to William Keren, who 
 is engaged in farming in Michigan. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was but four 
 years of age when, he came with his parents 
 to Kane county, settling in Burlington town- 
 ship. Here he attended school until the 
 age of fifteen, after which he aided his father 
 in the cultivation of the home farm, but 
 upon reaching his majority he was joined 
 in wedlock with Miss Grace Munn, and 
 rented a farm in Virgil township for one 
 year. Returning to Burlington township, 
 he leased his father's farm for three years, 
 and then moved to St. Charles, Illinois, 
 where he was employed in various capaci- 
 ties for the succeeding two years. Remov- 
 ing back to Burlington township, Mr. Solo- 
 mon bought a small farm of twenty-six 
 acres, where he resided twelve years. Sell- 
 ing this place, he again rented his father's 
 homestead. In June, 1891, he purchased 
 his present place, consisting of forty acres, 
 which he operates as a dairy farm, also 
 being largely interested in bees. In con- 
 nection with his dairy business, he raises 
 hogs and poultry for the market. 
 
 On the 24th of September, 1871, Mr. 
 Solomon was united in marriage with Miss 
 Grace Munn, as before mentioned. Mrs. 
 Solomon was born in Virgil township, Kane 
 county, Illinois, and is the daughter of John 
 Munn, a native of East Kent, England. 
 John Munn emigrated to America in 1845, 
 and lived to the age of seventy-one years,
 
 738 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 dying about 1878. His father, JohnMunn, 
 Sr. , died in England, where he resided all 
 his life. The father of Mrs. Solomon was 
 united in marriage with Miss Thankful 
 Northway, a daughter of Harmon North- 
 way, a native of England. To John and 
 Thankful Munn were born seven children, 
 of whom Mrs. Solomon was third in order 
 of birth. 
 
 The union of Thomas H. Solomon and 
 Grace Munn, was blessed by the birth of 
 six children: Fred, residing at home; 
 Stella, wife of Wm. Van Doosen, a farmer 
 of Burlington, and to whom have been 
 born one child, Edith; Fannie is the wife of 
 Edward Vogle, who is engaged in farming 
 in Riley township, McHenry county, Illi- 
 nois, and to them one child has been born, 
 which -died in infancy; Frank, Edna and 
 Ida, all residing with their parents. 
 
 Mr. Solomon is an ardent supporter of 
 Republican principles, and has been some- 
 what active in local politics. He was an 
 efficient constable of the township for 
 twelve years, and filled that office to the 
 satisfaction of others as well as his parti- 
 sans. He was also school director for a 
 period of six years. Fraternally, he is a 
 member of the Modern Woodmen of Amer- 
 ica, Burlington camp, No. 471. 
 
 CH. WAYNE, who has attained dis- 
 tinction as one of the able members of 
 the Elgin bar, is now practicing as a mem- 
 ber of the firm of Botsford, Wayne & Bots- 
 ford. In this profession probably more 
 than any other success depends upon indi- 
 vidual merit, upon a thorough understand- 
 ing of the principles of jurisprudence, a 
 power for keen analysis, and the ability to 
 present clearly, concisely and forcibly the 
 
 strong points in his cause. Possessing these 
 necessary qualifications, Mr. \Vayne is ac- 
 corded a foremost place in the ranks of the 
 profession in Kane county, and stands to- 
 day as one of the most esteemed members 
 of the Elgin bar. 
 
 A native of Union, McHenry county, 
 Illinois, he was born December 27, 1855, 
 the only child of Harley and Ellen (Dietz) 
 Wayne. His paternal grandfather, An- 
 thony Wayne, a native of the Empire state, 
 came to Illinois in 1842, locating in McHenry 
 county, where he carried on agricultural 
 pursuits. He had a family of three sons 
 and a daughter, and died at an advanced 
 age. The maternal grandfather, William 
 Dietz, was also born in New York, and was 
 of German lineage. He was a farmer by 
 occupation, and died at the age of sixty 
 years. Both the parents of our subject 
 were born in New York. The father, locat- 
 ing in McHenry county about 1842, was a 
 general merchant of Union for a number of 
 years, and was a very prominent and influ- 
 ential citizen, especially active in affairs 
 political. He became one of .the ardent 
 advocates of the Republican party on its 
 organization, and in 1860 served as clerk of 
 the house of representatives of Illinois. At 
 the beginning of the Civil war he loyally re- 
 sponded to the country's call, mustering as 
 a member of Company D, Fifteenth Illinois 
 Infantry. He was elected to the rank of 
 captain, and as such fell fighting at the bat- 
 tle of Shiloh, April 5, 1862, when thirty- 
 eight years of age. Mrs. Wayne still sur- 
 vives her husband, and is a member of the 
 Methodist church, to which he also belonged. 
 
 Charles H. Wayne was reared in the 
 village of Union, and acquired his education 
 in the public schools of that town and Ma- 
 rengo. Later he attended the Chicago
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 739 
 
 University, where he was graduated in the 
 class of 1880. Determining to enter the 
 legal profession and make the practice of 
 law his life work, he became a student in 
 the law office of A. B. Coon, of Marengo, 
 and was admitted to the bar in December, 
 1882. He came to Elgin in March, 1883, 
 and has practiced here continually since 
 with marked success. He was a deep 
 thinker, a logical reasoner, strong in argu- 
 ment and forceful in delivery, and his ad- 
 dresses before court or jury never fail to 
 carry great weight and seldom fail to con- 
 vince, he having won some notable forensic 
 triumphs when opposing some of the strong- 
 est members of the Elgin bar. 
 
 On the I7th of January, 1888, was cele- 
 brated the marriage of Mr. Wayne and Miss 
 Mary C. Smith, a daughter of Leonidas L. 
 and Sarah (Stewart) Smith. She is a mem- 
 ber of the Episcopal church and presides 
 with gracious hospitality over their pleasant 
 home, which is a favorite resort with their 
 many friends. Mr. Wayne belongs to 
 Marengo lodge, A. F. & A. M. ; Lansing 
 chapter, R. A. M.; Bethel commandery, 
 No. 36, K. T., and Medinah temple of the 
 Mystic Shrine of Chicago. He also belongs 
 to the Modern Woodmen of America. In 
 politics is a Republican. He was president 
 of the board of trustees of Elgin for one 
 term and also mayor of the city for one 
 year, and his administration of the munici- 
 pal affairs was progressive and reformatory. 
 He is deeply interested in all that pertains 
 to the public welfare and is accounted one 
 of the most valued citizens of Elgin. 
 
 JEROME B. ELLIS, who is engaged in 
 fanning and stock raising in Geneva 
 township, first came to Kane county in the 
 
 fall of 1856, and has here since continued 
 to reside. He was born in Warrensburg, 
 Tioga county, New York, November 12, 
 1838. His father, Samuel Ellis, was a na- 
 tiee of the same county and state, born in 
 1805. He there grew to manhood and mar- 
 ried Margaret Westbrook, also a native of 
 Tioga county, New York. In 1844 he re- 
 moved with his family to Canada, and 
 there engaged in the lumber business, buy- 
 ing and shipping to various points. For 
 eleven years he engaged in that business 
 and in 1856 came to Kane county, Illinois, 
 and bought the farm where our subject now 
 resides, and which was a fairly well im- 
 proved place. Here he engaged in general 
 farming, and here spent the remainder of 
 his life, dying in May, 1865, at the age of 
 sixty years. His wife survived him for 
 years, passing away in December, 1895, 
 when nearly eighty-nine years old. Of their 
 family of eight children, all grew to mature 
 years. They were Joshua, who settled in 
 Bay City, Michigan, where he engaged in 
 business; Jerome B., of this review; Daniel, 
 a farmer of Kane county; Mrs. Van Wert, 
 of Geneva; Mrs. John Fick, Samuel, Ed- 
 ward and Mrs. Langs. The four last named 
 are now deceased. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was a young 
 man of seventeen when he came with his 
 parents to Kane county. In the common 
 schools of Canada and also in the schools 
 of Geneva he received a good education. 
 He remained with his father, assisting in the 
 cultivation of the home farm until twenty- 
 one years of age, when he left home, and 
 spent two seasons upon the lake, ,and then 
 spent two years roving around, principally 
 through the east. His father being ill he 
 returned home and took charge of the farm, 
 taking care of his parents during the re-
 
 740 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 mainder of their lives. After his father's 
 death he succeeded to the old homestead, 
 on which he has since made some valuable 
 improvements. In addition to general 
 farming, for some years he has been en- 
 gaged in breeding and dealing in pure-blood 
 Jersey cattle, and also in Plymouth Rock 
 poultry, in which he has built up a good 
 business. He has also dealt somewhat ex- 
 tensively in blooded Berkshire hogs. His 
 reputation for the purity of his stock has 
 brought him customers from many of the 
 states of the union. At present he has a 
 herd of twelve pure Jerseys and about 
 twenty-five Berkshires. While he still re- 
 sides upon the old homestead, he sold the 
 farm to James Swan, of Chicago, in 1891. 
 He owns a farm on section 6, Geneva town- 
 ship, a well improved place of eighty-four 
 acres. 
 
 Mr. Ellis was married in Chicago, Feb- 
 ruary 14, 1871, to Miss Laura Powers, of 
 St. Charles, Illinois, a native of Canada, 
 but reared and educated in Kane county, 
 and a daughter of James Powers, also a na- 
 tive of Canada, but who emigrated from 
 that country with teams at a very early day. 
 By this union there are two children: Ern- 
 est J., a young man engaged in railroad- 
 ing with the Northwestern railroad; and 
 Charles, a student of the Geneva High 
 Schools. 
 
 Politically Mr. Ellis is a lifelong Demo- 
 crat, and in 1860 cast his first presidential 
 ballot for the "little giant", Stephen A. 
 Douglas, since which time he has voted for 
 every presidential nominee of that party. 
 He does not consider himself a politician in 
 the ordinary sense, but believes in every 
 man exercising the rights of franchise. Both 
 he and his wife are members of the Method- 
 ist Episcopal church at Geneva. For forty- 
 
 two years he has been a resident of Kane 
 county, and has ever taken an interest in 
 that which would add to its prosperity. He 
 is well known as a man of good business 
 ability and a practical farmer. His friends 
 are many throughout the county. 
 
 /->EORGE MICHAEL SCHNEIDER, 
 v_J deceased, was born near Prospect 
 Park, Du Page county, Illinois, September 
 2 3> '853. He was reared in DuPage coun- 
 ty, and attended the German school at 
 Naperville, Illinois, and the public schools 
 in the Bonapart district in Du Page county. 
 Our subject was the son of Adam Schneider, 
 a native of Bavaria, and who came to 
 America in 1840. He is yet living on a 
 farm in Du Page county at the age of seventy 
 years, a fine, hearty, hale old gentleman, 
 who is getting the best out of life. Adam 
 Schneider married Margaret Schulz, daugh- 
 ter of Peter and Mary A. (Eisenhutt) Schulz, 
 both of whom were natives of Baden. 
 
 At the age of sixteen years, George M. 
 Schneider became his own master, and was 
 employed on farms till twenty years of age. 
 On reaching his twenty-first birthday he 
 started to learn the blacksmith trade at 
 Prospect Park, Illinois, under William Wag- 
 ner, and worked for him five years and ten 
 months. He came to Burlington township 
 in 1880, and purchased a shop and residence 
 and here continued in business until his 
 death, which occurred October 27, 1893. 
 Mr. Schneider was a devout member of the 
 Catholic church and died in the full assur- 
 ance of faith. In politics he was a Demo- 
 crat, and though not desiring official position 
 served as school director for eight years, and 
 as school trustee for four years. Fraternally 
 he was a member of Kane camp, No. 471,
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 74i 
 
 M. W. A., of Burlington, Illinois. He was 
 a man of many lovable traits, genial, whole- 
 souled and friendly to all whom he knew, 
 and a man much missed by his friends and 
 acquaintances, as well as by his neighbors 
 and family. He was always a kind parent 
 and affectionate husband, and no man has 
 been more sincerely mourned. 
 
 The subject of this review was united in 
 marriage with Miss Mary Schlick in Milton 
 township. Du Page county, Illinois. She 
 was born in Prospect Park, and is "the 
 daughter of Casper Schlick and Margaret 
 Wiedneder, the latter a daughter of Michael 
 Weidneder, a native of Bavaria and a 
 cooper by trade. Caspar Schlick was for 
 many years employed on the railroad at 
 Prospect Park, and died at the residence of 
 his son, Joseph Schlick, in Burlington 
 township, August 13, 1895, a ^ the age of 
 seventy-six. His wife died some years pre- 
 vious, passing away March 26, 1887, aged 
 sixty-seven. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Schneider six children 
 were born as follows: Annie E., Frank J., 
 George P., Margaret K., Laura Mary and 
 Carl Michael. Mrs. Schneider is a member 
 of the Catholic church, and is also an active 
 member of the Ladies of the Maccabees, 
 Burlington Hive. Her father made his home 
 with her during the last eight years of his 
 life, up to a few months of his death, when 
 he went to live with his son, Joseph, as be- 
 fore stated. He was a fine, noble-hearted 
 old gentleman and was most highly respected 
 by all who knew him. 
 
 DENISON R. JENCKS, a well-known 
 and prominent citizen of Elgin, is a 
 representative of one of the honored pio- 
 neer families of Kane county. Not only is 
 
 there particular interest attaching to his 
 career as one of the early settlers of this 
 section, but in reviewing his genealogical 
 record we find his lineage tracing back to 
 the colonial history of the nation, and to 
 that period which marked the inception of 
 the grandest republic the world has ever 
 known. 
 
 Mr. Jencks was born October 13, 1837, 
 in North Adams, Berkshire county, Massa- 
 chusetts, and is a son of Henry and Amelia 
 B. (Bowles) Jencks. He is a descendant of . 
 Governor Jencks, of Rhode Island, who was 
 of English ancestry. His grandfather, 
 Thomas Jencks, was a native of that state 
 and a farmer by occupation. A certificate 
 given to him for service in the war of 1812 
 is now in the possession of our subject, it 
 being for twenty-one dollars and drawing 
 interest at seven per cent, until paid. 
 
 Henry Jencks, our subject's father, was 
 born in Smithfield, Rhode Island, and from 
 that state removed to Massachusetts, where 
 at different times he was engaged in busi- 
 ness as a merchant and hotel-keeper. He 
 was also connected for a time with the Fink 
 & Walker stage line. Coming west in April, 
 1841, he located in Dundee, Kane county, 
 Illinois, where he took up a claim fro.m the 
 government and engaged in its cultivation 
 for a few years. In 1 849 he gave up farm- 
 ing and removed to the town of Dundee. 
 Politically he was first an old-line Whig, and 
 later a Republican, taking quite an active 
 and influential part in local politics. He 
 died in Elgin April 7, 1877, his wife in Dun- 
 dee in October, 1871. Both were charter 
 members of the Baptist church at the latter 
 place, and were earnest, consistent Chris- 
 tian people. She was a native of Utica, 
 New York, and a daughter of Frederick and 
 Amelia Bowles, who were also born in that
 
 742 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 state. Our subject is the younger of two 
 children, the other being Elizabeth, now 
 deceased. By a former marriage the father 
 had seven children, all of whom have de- 
 parted this life. 
 
 Amid pioneer scenes Denison R. Jencks 
 was reared, and in the public schools of 
 Dundee acquired his early education, which 
 was supplemented by a three-years' course 
 in Drury Academy, at North Adams, Massa- 
 chusetts. Returning to his home in Dun- 
 dee, he engaged in merchandising, and dur- 
 ing President Lincoln's administration was 
 appointed postmaster at that place, serving 
 as such for six years, when he resigned in 
 favor of a crippled soldier. He also filled 
 the office of township treasurer for three 
 years. In March, 1872, he came to Elgin, 
 where he has since made his home. At first 
 he was engaged in mercantile pursuits, but 
 on account of ill health he gave up that 
 business and accepted the agency of a num- 
 ber of reliable insurance companies. He 
 continued in that business for about twenty 
 years, and then turned it over to his son, 
 while he lives retired. 
 
 On the 25th of October, 1859, Mr. 
 Jencks was united in marriage with Miss 
 Elizabeth A. Hollister, who was born in 
 Danbury, Connecticut, and was a daughter 
 of A. S. and Elizabeth Hollister, natives of 
 Connecticut. Mrs. Jencks, who was a faith- 
 ful member of the Baptist church, died Jan- 
 uary 1 8, 1897. The only child born to them 
 died in infancy. Later they adopted Fred 
 W. Jencks, who has succeeded his father in 
 business. 
 
 Politically Mr. Jencks is identified with 
 the Republican party. For three consecu- 
 tive years he served as assistant supervisor, 
 and in 1878 was elected alderman, holding 
 that office for thirteen years, and uninter- 
 
 ruptedly for eleven years. He was then 
 succeeded by his son. He is a charter 
 member of the Sons of the Revolution. His 
 public and private life are above reproach, 
 for his career has been one characterized by 
 the utmost fidelity to duty. He receives 
 and merits the high regard of the entire 
 community. 
 
 MICHAEL J. GETZELMAN, a retired 
 farmer living in the village of Hamp- 
 shire, comes from the Fatherland, and the 
 strongest and most creditable characteris- 
 tics of the Teutonic race have been marked 
 elements in his life, and have enabled him 
 to win success in the face of opposing cir- 
 cumstances. Possessing the energy and 
 determination which marked the people of 
 Germany, and by the exercise of his powers 
 he has steadily progressed, winning not only 
 a handsome competency but has commanded 
 universal respect by his straight-forward 
 business methods. He was born in Ober- 
 Altenheim, Bavaria, Germany, October 
 22, 1832, and is the son of Malachi and 
 Mary Getzelman, both of whom were natives 
 of the same country, the former born in 
 1801, and the son of Andrew Getzelman, a 
 farmer who died in Germany when eighty- 
 two years of age. Malachi Getzelman was 
 a mason by trade, which occupation he fol- 
 lowed in his native land. On coming to 
 America, in 1848, he settled in Hampshire 
 township, Kane county, Illinois, where he 
 first acquired forty acres of land, and began 
 agricultural pursuits. Before his death, in 
 1862, he had acquired one hundred and 
 seventy acres. 
 
 The subject of this sketch attended 
 the public schools of his native land until 
 fourteen years of age, when he was con-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 743 
 
 firmed and taken into the church. Two 
 years later he came to America with his 
 parents, the family sailing from Havre, 
 France, April 29, 1848, and landing in New 
 York after a voyage of twenty-nine days. 
 Our subject came to Hampshire township 
 and remained with his parents until after 
 attaining his majority. He began life for 
 himself by renting the farm of S. K. Will- 
 iams for one year, and then the farm of 
 Mrs. Smith for one year, after which he 
 bought from the latter eighty acres, which he 
 proceeded to improve. This was the foun- 
 dation of the fortune that has attended 
 him, and he now owns four hundred and 
 ninety acres, divided into three farms, all 
 of which is under the highest state of culti- 
 vation. 
 
 Mr. Getzelman was married in Hamp- 
 shire township to Mary Frederick, a native 
 of Germany and a daughter of Mathias 
 Frederick, who was also a native of the 
 same country, but who emigrated to Amer- 
 ica when his daughter was but two years old. 
 By this union nine children have been born, 
 as follows : William, who married Mary 
 Wreshe and lives in Chicago; Elizabeth, 
 deceased ; Susan, at home ; Cyrus, who 
 married Sophia Schrader, and lives in Hamp- 
 shire township; John, who married Emma 
 Brenner, and also lives in Hampshire town- 
 ship; Annie, the wife of Frank Brenner, living 
 in Hampshire township; Julius, who mar- 
 ried Maggie Hass, and also resides in Hamp- 
 shire township; Andrew and Emma, who 
 yet reside with their parents and are stu- 
 dents in the Hampshire schools. 
 
 The farms of our subject are cultivated 
 by his sons, who have been reared to agri- 
 cultural pursuits and are thorough practical 
 farmers. The entire family are members 
 of the Evangelical church, and in politics 
 
 37 
 
 Mr. Getzelman is a Republican. The only 
 office which he has ever held has been that 
 of school director. 
 
 OYLVESTER SHERMAN MANN, de- 
 O ceased, was for many years one of the 
 most prominent citizens of Kane county. 
 He was of an old New England family, the 
 members of which were all of strong men- 
 tality, of fine education, and above the aver- 
 age in brain and influence in the communi- 
 ties where they lived. His father, James 
 Mann, was born in Massachusetts January 
 I, 1794, and died in Burlington township, 
 Kane county, Illinois, September 22, 1878. 
 He lived in Massachusetts until he attained 
 his majority, when he removed to Wyoming 
 county, New York, where he purchased a 
 farm and erected a hotel at North Java, 
 which he ran for fourteen years. In 1844 
 he came west, by lake from Buffalo to Chi- 
 cago, and thence to Burlington township, 
 Kane county, where he purchased twelve 
 hundred acres of land, built a large frame 
 house and at once commenced its improve- 
 ment. Some years later, while on a visit 
 to his old home in New York, the house 
 was burned. On his return he built a larger 
 and more substantial residence of brick, 
 large enough to serve as a hotel, in which 
 he kept a public house for many years. The 
 building was demolished in 1897 by OUT 
 subject and a fine frame farm house erected 
 in its place. 
 
 James Mann was quite prominent in the 
 early history of Burlington township, and 
 was a man of strong personality, politically 
 a Whig in early life, later a Republican, and 
 religiously a Congregationalist. He was the 
 son of William Mann, a native of Massa- 
 chusetts. James Mann maried Lucy Sher-
 
 744 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 man, a native of Java, New York, born 
 March 18, 1798, and who died September 
 24, 1870. Of their ten children four only 
 survive, as follows: Lucy, wife of Amos 
 Brown, of Lockport, New York; Parmeno, 
 living in Nebraska; Alfred, living in Elgin; 
 and Sherman D. , of Burlington, Illinois. 
 
 Sylvester S. Mann was born May 30, 
 1827, in North Java, New York. His edu- 
 cation was obtained while yet living in New 
 York, and he came west with his parents in 
 1844. While yet in his twentieth year he 
 opened a store in the village of Burlington, 
 and under the firm name of Mann & Brown 
 engaged in a general mercantile trade, and 
 also at the same time engaging in farming. 
 Later the firm name was changed to Mann, 
 Hapgood & Co. , and the business continued, 
 while he was also interested in a store in 
 Hampshire, run under the name of Hatha- 
 way & Co. 
 
 Mr. Mann was married May 18, 1850, 
 in Burlington township, to Caroline Young, 
 born in the town of Plainfield, Monroe 
 county, New York, July 17, 1826, and a 
 daughter of Simon and Betsy (Meyers) 
 Young. Her parents moved from New 
 York to Ohio in 1833, where they resided 
 some five or six years, and then came 
 to Kane county, Illinois. Simon Young 
 was born in America of English parents, 
 and was second of a family of three sons, 
 the others being Nicholas and Emanuel. 
 The latter was a bachelor and died at a very 
 old age. Betsy Meyers was born in Cayuga 
 county, New York. To Simon and Betsy 
 Young nine children were born, of whom 
 Caroline was seventh in order of birth. 
 Nearly all attained old age. The living are: 
 Daniel, who lives at Elgin, at the age of 
 eighty-six years; Stephen, who also resides 
 in Elgin, at the age of eighty-four years; 
 
 John, living in Waukegan, Illinois, at the 
 age of seventy-six years; and Caroline, 
 widow of our subject. To our subject and 
 wife six children were born, the first dying 
 in infancy. The others are: Elvira, who 
 married C. H. Potter, of Elgin; Alice; Irvin, 
 who died at the age of five years; John S., 
 of whom further mention is made in this 
 sketch; and Nellie, wife of Dr. O. A. Chap- 
 pell, of Elgin. 
 
 Sylvester S. Mann, from the time he at- 
 tained his majority, occupied a prominent 
 position in the political affairs of his town- 
 ship and county. He served as supervisor 
 in 1858, and several succeeding years. In 
 1863, he was elected a member of the legis- 
 lature, and in the session of 1 863-4 assisted 
 in bringing about the disagreement between 
 house and senate, which enabled Governor 
 Yates to prorogue the legislature. He was 
 re-elected in 1865, and during this term se- 
 cured the location of the Northern Illinois 
 Hospital for the Insane, at Elgin, and when 
 additions were made necessary, his constit- 
 uents re-elected him in 1872. Others 
 seemed unable to accomplish the results re- 
 quired, but he secured an appropriation 
 sufficient to make the necessary changes. 
 For some years he was an official in the 
 management of the Hospital. In 1866, he 
 was appointed and served as collector of In- 
 ternal Revenue of his district. 
 
 Mr. Mann was largely interested in the 
 improvement of cattle, and in 1883 went 
 to Europe, on the steamer City of Chester, 
 which was later sunk in the Golden Gate, 
 San Francisco. While abroad he purchased 
 one hundred and sixty head of Holstein 
 cattle, and one year later, two hundred and 
 ninety-eight head, which he imported in two 
 shipments. He was one of the first import- 
 ers of this valuable breed in Illinois. For
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 745 
 
 some years he was a member of the Holstein 
 Breeders' Association, in which he rendered 
 valuable service. Fraternally he was a 
 member of the old Masonic lodge at Bur- 
 lington. In 1866, he moved to the city of 
 Elgin, where his death occurred August 14, 
 1885. 
 
 John S.Mann, son of Sylvester S. Mann, 
 grew to manhood in Kane county, and in 
 Elgin, married Mattie L. B. Arnold, a na- 
 tive of that city, and a daughter of Marshall 
 Newton Arnold, who was born in Wellesley 
 Hill, Massachusetts, and who came west in 
 1871, to assume a position as expert watch- 
 maker, in the factory at Elgin. He was 
 the son of Thomas Ambrose Arnold, who 
 died when a young man. His grandfather, 
 Thomas Arnold, was a large property owner 
 in Chicago. The Arnolds are members of 
 an old colonial family, who first settled near 
 Farmington, Maine, and who trace their de- 
 scent from Myir, King of Kent, in the 
 twelfth century. Marshall N. Arnold mar- 
 ried Mary Sharpe, a native of Jackson, Mis- 
 sissippi. His death occurred in 1884. To 
 John S. Mann and wife one child was born, 
 Alice Caroline. 
 
 In 1890, five years after the death of 
 our subject, the family moved back to Bur- 
 lington, occupying the old homestead. The 
 farm being managed by John S. Mann, who 
 is a practical farmer, and a member of the 
 Holstein Breeder's Association of America. 
 Fraternally he is a member of Kane camp, 
 No. 471, M. W. A., of Burlington. 
 
 /CHARLES M. PIERCE, who is en- 
 V_> gaged in farming on section 27, Bur- 
 lington township, was born in Sycamore 
 township, De Kalb county, Illinois, April 
 30, 1 86 1, and came with his parents in the 
 
 fall of that year to the farm which he 
 now occupies. His father, Daniel Wesley 
 Pierce, was second in a family of six chil- 
 dren. He was born in the village of Sha- 
 vertown, Delaware county, New York, on 
 the 2Oth of September, 1834, and came 
 west by boat from Buffalo to Chicago with 
 his parents when about the age of twelve. 
 His father, Martin Pierce, a native of New 
 York, settled three and a half miles north 
 of Genoa, Illinois, dying in 1890 at the age 
 of ninety-eight years, at the residence of 
 his son William, near Genoa, De Kalb 
 county, Illinois. 
 
 Daniel Pierce attended school in his na- 
 tive village until coming west, and for one 
 year in Genoa township. When quite a 
 young man he rented a farm in Sycamore 
 township, De Kalb county, where he resid- 
 ed until his removal, in 1861, to Burlington 
 township. Here he lived until 1885, when 
 he rented his farm to our subject and moved 
 back to the Sycamore township farm, where 
 he lived retired until his death in 1887. He 
 was -united in marriage to Miss Delia Ann 
 Dayton, October 8, 1857, who was born in 
 De Kalb county, June 18, 1836, and the 
 daughter of Alvin Dayton, a native of Ver-. 
 mont. Her father died on a farm three 
 and a half miles east of Sycamore, Illinois, 
 in August, 1887. He married Abagail Wy- 
 man, who resides on the old home place at 
 the advanced age of eighty-five years. They 
 were members of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church, as were their parents. 
 
 Charles M. Pierce is the only son of his 
 parents, and was only one year old when 
 he moved with them from De Kalb county. 
 He attended the district schools of his neigh- 
 borhood until eighteen years of age. He 
 then worked for his father until the age of 
 twenty-one, when he rented his father's
 
 746 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 farm for one year. Mr. Pierce married the 
 girl of his choice and removed to Elgin 
 township, where he resided for one year. 
 Returning, he rented his father's farm for 
 the following five years, after which he 
 again moved to Elgin, and for two years 
 was engaged in the hay and grain business, 
 and also in teaming. Having fallen heir to 
 his father's farm in the spring of 1 889, he 
 rented it during his residence in Elgin, com- 
 ing back in September, 1892, where he has 
 since resided. The farm consists of one 
 hundred and thirty acres of land, which is 
 used principally as a dairy farm. Mr. 
 Pierce keeps from fifteen to twenty-five head 
 of cows, the product of which he sells to 
 the creamery. He also raises stock for sale 
 and large quantities of grain. It is a highly 
 improved farm, most of which were made 
 by his father in his lifetime. He has a large 
 house and barn and good outbuildings on 
 the place and everything is up to date, and 
 shows the work of a practical farmer. 
 
 Our subject was married to Miss Ida 
 Wright, the eldest of four living children 
 born to Solomon and Caroline (Pease) 
 Wright, who are residing in Elgin. The 
 three younger ones are George, Frank and 
 William. They had one other child who 
 died young. Solomon Wright was born in 
 Putnam county, New Yerk, March 10, 1836, 
 and is the son of Baldwin and Elizabeth 
 (Foster) Wright. Baldwin Wright is the 
 son of Solomon Wright. Caroline Wright, 
 the mother of Mrs. Pierce, was born in the 
 state of New York, in 1848, and is a daugh- 
 ter of James Pease, who married Salome 
 Cottrell. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Pierce were born three 
 children, Roy Alvin, Charles Wesley and 
 Fred Solomon. He is a Republican in his 
 political views, and has been a school di- 
 
 rector since 1896. Fraternally Mr. Pierce 
 is a member of K. O. T. M. , of Burlington, 
 while his wife is an active member of the 
 Ladies of the Maccabees of the same town. 
 
 ORSON L. WEAVER, residing on sec- 
 tion 30, Batavia township, Kane coun- 
 ty, owns and operates a farm of two hun- 
 dred and forty-eight acres. It lies four 
 miles southwest of the city of Batavia, and 
 is a well-improved and valuable farm. He 
 is a native of New York, born in the town 
 of Ellisburg, Jefferson county, September 
 22, 1836. His father, George Weaver, was 
 a native of the same county and state, born 
 in 1811. He there married Abigail Colvin, 
 also a native of the same county and state. 
 In 1840, with his wife and children, he 
 drove through with teams to Kane county, 
 Illinois, where he arrived in September of 
 that year. First entering a tract of forty 
 acres, in Blackberry township, he later 
 traded that place and located in Batavia 
 township, where he opened up another farm, 
 on which he resided for some years, after 
 which he purchased the farm on which our 
 subject now resides. When he purchased 
 the land it was entirely uncultivated, but 
 with him it was but a short time before he 
 developed a fine farm, on which he later 
 erected good buildings, and, buying more 
 land, had at the time of his death three 
 hundred and seventy-seven acres. He died 
 there in June, 1891, at the age of eighty 
 years. His first wife died some ten years 
 previously, and he later married again. 
 
 George and Abigail Weaver were the par- 
 ents of three sons and four daughters, who 
 grew to mature years. Electa married Ed- 
 ward Brown, and they located in Vermont,
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 747 
 
 where he engaged in the hotel business. Later 
 they moved to North Dakota, where they 
 now reside. Adelia Ann married H. P. 
 Brown, of Vermont, a brother of Edward 
 Brown, the husband of her sister. Luella 
 A. is the wife of Charles Knox, and they 
 reside in Kansas. Celesta died at the age 
 of fifteen years. Orson L., our subject, 
 and D. R. are both substantial farmers re- 
 siding in Batavia township, the latter being 
 now retired. Alvaro died at the age of 
 nineteen years. George grew to manhood, 
 married and died when only twenty-two 
 years old. 
 
 Orson L. Weaver grew to manhood on 
 his father's farm, and attended the public 
 schools during the winter months, and as- 
 sisted in the cultivation of the farm the re- 
 mainder of the year. He remained under 
 the parental roof until twenty-two years of 
 age. In 1860 he married Augusta Bodine, 
 a native of Seneca county, New York, where 
 her parents lived and died. She was a lady 
 of good education, and was a teacher, both 
 in New York, and after her removal to Kane 
 county. By this union there were four chil- 
 dren: Hattie grew to womanhood, married 
 and resides in Iowa. Charles died at the 
 age of six years. Celesta married and re- 
 sides in Sac county, Iowa. William H. en- 
 gaged in farming in Iowa. 
 
 After marriage, Mr. Weaver located on 
 the home farm, and after raising one crop, 
 on the ist of August, 1862, he enlisted in 
 Company B, One Hundred and Twenty- 
 fourth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infan- 
 try, and at Springfield, Illinois, was mus- 
 tered into the United States service. He 
 participated in the battles of Raymond, 
 Mississippi, Jackson, Mississippi, Champion 
 Hill, and Vicksburg. For some time he 
 was on provost duty in the latter place, after 
 
 which he participated in the battle of Span- 
 ish Fort. He was then taken sick, and sent 
 to the hospital at Fort Gibson, where he 
 remained about one month. On the 4th of 
 August, 1865, he was discharged at Chicago, 
 and returned to his home. Soon after he 
 went to Clinton county, Iowa, where he 
 bought a fatm of one hundred and twenty 
 acres, on which he remained until Novem- 
 ber, 1875. Selling that place he returned 
 to Kane county, to the old home farm, 
 where he remained two years, then went 
 west to Fort Kearney, and there engaged in 
 farming for about two years, when he again 
 returned to Kane county, and resumed his 
 place on the old home farm. After the 
 death of his father, he and his brother 
 bought out the other heirs, and later divided 
 the place, our subject taking one hundred 
 and eighty-seven acres. Here he has since 
 continued to reside, and in addition to dairy 
 farming, has been engaged in breeding and 
 and dealing in full blooded Short-horn cattle, 
 and Poland China hogs. The old house has 
 been remodeled by him and a large barn 
 erected, with a slate roof, being one of the 
 best in the township. 
 
 At Fairbury, Nebraska, in December, 
 1878, Mr. Weaver was united in marriage 
 with Miss Marietta Finch, born in White- 
 side county, Illinois, but reared and educated 
 in Clinton county, Iowa. Her father, 
 Samuel Finch, was a native of Canada, of 
 English descent. He married Lydia Claw- 
 son, and later moved to Whiteside county, 
 Illinois, from which place he moved to Min- 
 nesota, where his wife died, and he later 
 married again and settled in Clinton county, 
 Iowa. By trade he was a cooper, as was 
 his father and three brothers, all of whom 
 engaged in that business in Whiteside coun- 
 ty, Illinois. To Mr. and Mrs. Weaver,
 
 748 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 three children have been born Adam L. , 
 Edith L. and Brayton L. 
 
 Politically Mr. Weaver is a Republican. 
 His firsj presidential ballot was cast in 1860, 
 for Abraham Lincoln, while his last one, in 
 1896, Was cast for William McKinley. For 
 several years he served as highway commis- 
 sioner, and hap also served for some years 
 on the school board. With the exception 
 of the time spent in Iowa and Nebraska, 
 he has been a resident of Illinois for fifty- 
 eight years, and in his adopted county has 
 doije his full share in developing its various 
 interests. 
 
 WILLIAM H. ELLITHORPE. 
 Among the representative farmers of 
 Burlington township none are better known 
 or more widely respected than he whose 
 name heads this sketch. The subject of 
 this review was born on the farm where he 
 now lives, and here he has spent his entire 
 life, coming into this world May 31, 1848. 
 He is third in a family of six children born 
 to Stephen R. and Emily (Smith) Elli- 
 thorpe. 
 
 Stephen R. Ellithorpe is the son of John 
 Ellithorpe, a native of Springfield, Massa- 
 chusetts, who was a captain in the war of 
 1812, being in the engagement at Platts- 
 burg and other battles of the war. He 
 married Eliza Chapman, daughter of a vet- 
 eran captain of the same war. To this 
 union were born six children: John, who 
 settled in Burlington township, dying at about 
 the age of sixty-five years; Oliver died in 
 Elgin, aged seventy years; Timothy died in 
 Burlington, Illinois, at about the same age; 
 Stephen, the father of our subject; Jedde- 
 diah is actively engaged in the mercantile 
 business at Russell, Russell county, Kansas; 
 
 Albert C., who is a wagonmaker by trade, 
 resides in Chicago, and is the inventor of the 
 air cushion elevator. He served in the war 
 for the Union with a regiment from Chica-* 
 go, and among the various battles was en- 
 gaged in the one at Pea Ridge. He was the 
 chief of the commissary. 
 
 Stephen R. Ellithorpe was born in the 
 town of Sheldon, Franklin county, Vermont, 
 April 16, 1819, and in 1841 concluded to 
 come west, driving overland fifteen hundred 
 miles to Illinois. Landing in Chicago, Mr. 
 Ellithorpe found himself with only thirty 
 cents and a strong determination to suc- 
 ceed, in his possession, but with that stead- 
 fast industry which has characterized the 
 "Yankee " ever since the word was known, 
 he set to work at whatever he could find to 
 do. For one year he engaged in cutting 
 and hauling wood to Chicago for market, 
 at that time there being an abundance in 
 the near vicinity. In 1842 he removed to 
 Burlington township and settled on the 
 farm where he now resides with his son, our 
 subject, he being one of the first pioneers in 
 that township. 
 
 The father of our subject was married to 
 Miss Emily Smith, born in Colwell's Manor, 
 Canada, April 15, 1821, and the daughter 
 of Nathan Smith, born February 9, 1786, 
 and a soldier in the war of 1812. Nathan 
 Smith was united in marriage with Miss 
 Phoebe Huxley, born August 28, 1795, and 
 to this marriage were born thirteen chil- 
 dren: Uziel, Emily, William, Mary A., de- 
 ceased, Elizabeth, John G., Malcolm, La- 
 fayette, Henry, Marv, Frank and Lorenzo. 
 The marriage of Stephen R. and Emily 
 (Smith) Ellithorpe was blessed by the birth 
 of six children, as follows: Franklin, who 
 died in 1875; Marion wedded Mary J. Smith 
 and is now residing in Iowa; William H.,
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 749 
 
 the subject of this review; Phoebe, wife of 
 J. B. Reset, lives in Algonguin, McHenry 
 county, Illinois; Antoinette married Alva 
 Ashcraft and is now residing in De Kalb, 
 De Kalb county, Illinois; Nathan S. was 
 united in marriage with Miss Lulu Doty and 
 is living in Iowa. 
 
 Stephen R. Ellithorpe built the first 
 board shanty in the township and was also 
 the first man to erect a frame house and 
 school house. He at one time paid fifty 
 per cent interest for the use of money 
 needed. He takes the Democratic side of 
 the political question and has served in nu- 
 merous positions of honor and trust, among 
 which, that of assessor and town clerk. He 
 is now living with his son, our subject, on 
 the old homestead, and as he comes of an 
 extremely long-lived race, he bids fair to 
 reach the century mark, having already 
 lived to the age of eighty years, with all his 
 faculties, mental and physical, unimpaired. 
 He still has in his possession deeds from 
 the government for the old homestead. His 
 wife is now in her seventy-eighth year, and 
 will no dpubt continue to accompany her 
 husband on life's journey for many more 
 years, as she is enjoying life with good 
 health, and has a zeal that is surprising. 
 
 William H. Ellithorpe attended the dis- 
 trict and common schools of his neighbor- 
 hood, where he received his education, and 
 is a graduate of Bryant & Stratton's Com- 
 mercial College, of Chicago. He, unlike 
 many boys, was content to remain on the 
 farm, and now, as he gets on in years, can 
 realize the wisdom of his course more fully 
 than he could in the past. He has pur- 
 chased eighty acres on section 26, which 
 makes a total of four hundred acres. The 
 latter, however, is leased to tenants. Mr. 
 Ellithorpe operates his farm as a dairy, as 
 
 well as a general farm, and milks from 
 eighteen to twenty head of cows. He is 
 also engaged in breeding full-blooded Dur- 
 ham cattle. 
 
 On the 20th of October, 1875, our sub- 
 ject was united in marriage with Miss Mar- 
 tha Worden, a native of De Kalb county, 
 Illinois, and a daughter of Benjamin and 
 Martha (Ferguson) Worden, the former a 
 native of Chautauqua county, New York, and 
 the latter of Scotland. To our subject and 
 wife were born two children: Benjamin 
 F., born June 23, 1876, and Stephen R. , 
 born August 25, 1879. 
 
 In political issues he has been very 
 prominent, especially in local elections. 
 He is a Democrat, the principles of which 
 party being instilled into his mind from boy- 
 hood up. He has served in various posi- 
 tions, being township treasurer for fourteen 
 years, town clerk for the same length of 
 time, notary public for a period of twelve 
 years, town trustee of schools and held 
 other minor official positions. In his po- 
 litical as well as social and business life, 
 Mr. Ellithorpe made many friends, and no 
 one in the township where he has so long 
 resided is held in higher or more sincere 
 respect. 
 
 TAMES A. RUTLEDGE, M. D., room 
 <J 19 Spurling block, Elgin, is a physician 
 and surgeon of acknowledged skill, one 
 standing high in the medical profession. 
 He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, August 
 21, 1 86 1, and is a son of Thomas and Abi- 
 gail J. (Richardson) Rutledge, the former a 
 native of Canada, the latter of Illinois. 
 They were the parents of four children: 
 William, of Kansas City, Missouri; Emma,
 
 750 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of Rockford, Illinois; James A., of this 
 sketch; and Joseph, of Elwood, Indiana. 
 
 Thomas Rutledge, the father, was by 
 trade a carpenter, an occupation chosen be- 
 fore coming to the States, at which he worked 
 for some years in Canada. In 1860 he 
 located in St. Louis, and during the war 
 was foreman of the St. Louis arsenal, during 
 which time he also superintended the con- 
 struction of a number of gunboats at Cairo, 
 Illinois. About the close of the war, being 
 still in the employ of the government, he 
 was ordered west to superintend the build- 
 ing of some forts on the frontier. While 
 engaged in that work his death occurred at 
 Cheyenne, in 1866, while comparatively a 
 young man. 
 
 On the death of her husband, Mrs. 
 Rutledge moved with her four fatherless 
 children to the city of DeKalb, DeKalb 
 county, Illinois, and three years later to 
 Rockford, Illinois, where she still lives, and 
 where she reared her family, giving them 
 all the advantages possible in securing an 
 education and becoming honored members 
 of society. 
 
 The paternal grandfather of our subject, 
 Joseph Rutledge, was a native of Canada, 
 where his entire life was spent. The ma- 
 ternal grandfather, Benjamin Richardson, 
 was a native of New York, a blacksmith 
 and farmer by occupation. He was one of 
 the first settlers of Winnebago county, Ill- 
 inois, and one of his sons was the first white 
 child born in that county. He had a large 
 family and died in old age. 
 
 The boyhood and youth of our subject 
 were spent in DeKalb and Rockford, and 
 his literary education was completed in the 
 high school of the latter city, from which 
 he graduated in 1879. He then studied 
 pharmacy, and later entered Rush Medical 
 
 College, graduating therefrom in 1886. 
 Soon after graduating he located in Field- 
 ing, Illinois, where he commenced the prac- 
 tice of his profession. His success was 
 gratifying, but wishing a more extended 
 field he came to Elgin in 1895, a d here 
 he has since continued in practice. While 
 a general practitioner he has made a spe- 
 cialty of the diseases of women and chil- 
 dren, in which line he is considered author- 
 ity. Since his graduation the Doctor has 
 taken two courses in the Polyclinic in Chi- 
 cago, and in all ways endeavors to keep 
 posted in the improvements being constantly 
 made in medicine and surgery. His prac- 
 tice is constantly growing, and patients 
 coming from various points are being con- 
 stantly treated by him. 
 
 In Fairdale, Illinois, April 13, 1887, Dr. 
 Rutledge was united in marriage with Miss 
 Mary H. Crill, an adopted daughter of Isaac 
 Crill, of that place. They now reside at 
 No. 370 Chicago street, Elgin, where their 
 many friends are given a cordial welcome. 
 Mrs. Rutledge is a member of the First 
 Congregational church of Elgin, and does 
 considerable church and Sunday-school 
 work. 
 
 The Doctor is a member of the Kish- 
 waukee lodge, No. 402, F. & A. M., of 
 Kingston; Sycamore chapter, No. 49, R. 
 A. M. ; and Sycamore commandery, K. T. 
 He is also a member of the Knights of 
 Pythias, the Modern Woodmen, Court of 
 Honor, and Home Forum, of Elgin, and in 
 the three last named is examining physician. 
 Socially, he is a member of the Century 
 Club, of Elgin. Politically, he is independ- 
 ent in the best sense of the term, voting for 
 such men and measures as at the time he 
 believes will best conserve the interest of 
 the people. Professionally, he is a mem-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 her of the Fox River Medical Society and of 
 the American Medical Association, in both 
 of which he takes an active interest, taking 
 part in the discussion of subjects brought 
 before the societies and contributing to 
 them papers on various subjects. As a citi- 
 zen the Doctor is greatly esteemed, and as 
 such he takes a lively interest in all matters 
 pertaining to the welfare of his adopted city. 
 
 CHARLES E. GREGORY, city editor 
 \J of the "Daily News," of Elgin, was 
 born in that city, in the '505, a son of Sam- 
 uel E. and Mary Ann (Moffatt) Gregory. 
 The father was born in Orange county, 
 New York, in 1812, in which county his 
 parents spent most of their lives. In their 
 family were ten children, namely: Noah, 
 Hiram, James, John, Sylvester, Benjamin, 
 Samuel, Mrs. Hannah Van Duzer, Mrs. 
 Katy Stevens and George, all of whom are 
 now deceased with the exception of John. 
 The mother of our subject was also a na- 
 tive of Orange county, New York, born in 
 Blooming Grove, September 27, 1811, and 
 was a daughter of Thomas and Deborah 
 Moffat, of Orange county, New York. 
 
 During the '403 Samuel E. Gregory em- 
 igrated westward and located in Elgin, Illi- 
 nois, where he engaged in business as a 
 manufacturer of carriages and wagons, and 
 also as a dealer in agricultural implements. 
 On the formation of the Republican party 
 he joined its ranks and became one of its 
 stanch supporters. Beth he and his wife 
 were leading members of the early Presby- 
 terian church of Elgin, and took an active 
 and prominent part in its work. He died 
 September 27, 1872, and she passed away 
 October 19, 1896, honored and respected 
 by all who knew them. In their family 
 
 were six children: William M., Mary H. 
 and Henry S., all now deceased; Emma L. , 
 wife of George E. Hawthorne (see sketch 
 elsewhere in this volume); Kate E., wife of 
 Dr. Daniel H. Whitford; aad Charles E., 
 of this review. 
 
 The early life of our subject was passed 
 in Elgin, obtaining his education in the 
 public schools of the city. Throughout his 
 active business life he has been interested 
 in journalistic and newspaper work, and for 
 the past twelve years has been connected 
 with the " Daily News." Prior to this he 
 was for a time associated with the same pa- 
 per. In politics he is a Republican. 
 
 On the 2Oth of July, 1884, Mr. Gregory 
 was united in marriage with Miss Mary E. 
 Slade, a native of Polo, Illinois, and a 
 daughter of Stephen M. Slade, who is now 
 living retired in Elgin. Her mother died 
 some years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Gregory 
 have two children: Carl E. and Bessie A. 
 
 ERWIN C. CONNER, postmaster and 
 general merchant at Richardson, Kane 
 county, Illinois, although not numbered 
 among the early settlers of Kane county, 
 is a well-known citizen and popular business 
 man. He was born in Holland, New York, 
 June 7, 1848, and is the son of Caleb and 
 Margaret (McCarther) Conner, both of whom 
 were natives of Vermont, and who were the 
 parents of twelve children, of whom our 
 subject is ninth in order of birth. From 
 Vermont, Caleb Conner moved to Holland, 
 New York, in an early day, and there en- 
 gaged in agricultural pursuits. 
 
 On the home farm in Holland, New 
 York, the subject of this sketch spent his 
 boyhood and youth, and received a fairly 
 good education in its' public schools. In
 
 752 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1874 he came west to Elgin, Illinois, re- 
 maining there three months and then re- 
 turned .to Holland, New York, in order to 
 care for his mother. He continued in that 
 filial duty untjj her death, July 16, 1881. 
 In 1883 he returned to Illinois, since which 
 time he has been a resident of Kane county. 
 On the 3rd of October, 1876, Mr. Con- 
 ner was united in marriage with Miss Fan- 
 nie Crystal, a native of Canada, and they 
 have one child, Harry, born February 22, 
 1890. Mr. Conner located at Richardson, 
 in 1886, engaging in the mercantile trade. 
 February 15, 1887, he received the appoint- 
 ment of postmaster, and served in that 
 position until April 15, 1898. In the years 
 that have passed he has succeeded in build- 
 ing up a good, substantial trade. In politics 
 he is thoroughly independent, voting for 
 men rather than party. In his business 
 relations he has been quite successful, and 
 is numbered among the well-to-do men of 
 Kane county. As a citizen he is greatly 
 esteemed and those who know him best 
 trust him the more implicitly. 
 
 PHILIP SCHULZ. deceased, was for 
 years one of the leading citizens of Kane 
 county, and a farmer whose ability was un- 
 questioned. He was born in the village of 
 Obergimper, Baden, Germany, May 25, 
 1838. His father, Peter Schulz, was born 
 in the same place September 21, 1798, and 
 died in DuPage county, Illinois, January i, 
 1867. He was a farmer all his life. He 
 married Mary Eva Eisenhutt, a native of the 
 same village, born in 1797, and who died in 
 1867. They were the parents of four chil- 
 dren, as follows: Julia, who married Jacob 
 Miller, but is now deceased; John, who 
 lives near Glen Ellyn, Du Page county, Illi- 
 
 nois; Margaret, who married Adam Schnei- 
 der, ; and Philip, our subject. 
 
 Philip Schulz came to America with his 
 parents in the fall of 1846. By boat they 
 wnt from Mannheim, Germany, to Havre, 
 France, from which place they sailed, land- 
 ing at New York city, and coming west by 
 way of the Hudson river, Erie canal and 
 the lakes to Chicago, certainly a long dis- 
 tance by water. The family settled between 
 Wheaton and Lisle, Du Page county, where 
 the father engaged in farming and where 
 our subject grew to manhood, in the mean- 
 time assisting in the cultivation of the home 
 farm and receiving his education in the pub- 
 lic school. He was married in the city of 
 Chicago, September 15, 1861, to Miss Caro- 
 line Delles, who was born in the village of 
 Mensdorf, Luxemburg, Germany, January 
 1 8, 1843, and who came to America, with 
 an uncle, in March, 1858, sailing from 
 Havre, France, to New York, beingtwenty- 
 eight days on the water. From that city 
 she came west to Chicago, where she lived 
 until her marriage. She is the daughter of 
 Phillip and Catherine (Koehler) Delles, both 
 natives of Germany, the former being a son 
 of Jacob Delles, who lived and died in Ger- 
 many. Phillip Delles was an inn-keeper 
 and merchant during early life, and later 
 became an official on a state railroad, from 
 which he retired after twenty-five years 
 service, with a small pension from the gov- 
 ernment. His death occurred in his native 
 land, December 20, 1893, at the age of sev- 
 enty-seven years. His wife is yet living 
 in the old home in Germany, and is now 
 seventy-nine years old. They were the 
 parents of eleven children, seven of whom 
 are yet living, as follows: Caroline, widow 
 of our subject; John living in Sycamore, 
 Illinois; Michael, living in Iowa; James and
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 753 
 
 Joseph in Chicago; Pierre, making his home 
 with his mother in the old country; and 
 Margaret, now Mrs. Olivier, living in Paris, 
 France. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Schulz ten children 
 were born, all of whom are living save one, 
 Annie, who died at the age of eight years. 
 The others are Mary, Caroline, Philip, 
 Katherine, Rosa, Elizabeth, Odelia, Frank 
 and Emma. Of these, Katherine married 
 Michael Rineck, and lives in Chicago; Rosa 
 is a teacher in the Hampshire schools, while 
 Elizabeth is engaged in teaching at Lily 
 Lake; Frank is attending the Metropolitan 
 Business College, Chicago; and Emma is 
 in school at Hampshire. 
 
 After marriage, Mr. Schulz lived for two 
 years on his father's farm, then rented a 
 farm near Naperville for three years, and 
 in December, 1866, came to Burlington 
 township, where he purchased one hundred 
 and twenty acres of land, and there for six- 
 teen years was actively engaged in agricult- 
 ural pursuits. From time to time he added 
 to his original tract, until he was the owner 
 of three hundred and thirty acres. In the 
 fall of 1882, he retired from active farming, 
 and in December of that year moved to 
 the village of Hampshire, where he resided 
 until his death, July i, 1896. His death 
 occurred in San Francisco, California, while 
 on a tour through the west. Religiously 
 he was a Catholic, and in politics was a 
 Democrat. About the only offices that he 
 held was that of school director and that of 
 city alderman. The family still make their 
 home in Hampshire. 
 
 Philip Schulz, Jr., son of Phillip and 
 Caroline Schulz, was born near Xaperville, 
 July 10, 1865. He was reared on the farm, 
 on section 8, Burlington township, and re- 
 ceived his education in the district schools, 
 
 He moved with the family to Hampshire, in 
 1 882, and there resided until 1883. He mar- 
 ried Lena Fidler, October 29, 1894, who 
 was born in Garnet, Kansas, and a daughter 
 of Nicholas and Angelina (Hasterd) Fidler. 
 By this union there is one child, Martha 
 Angeline. For a number of years he has 
 rented two hundred and ten acres, a part of 
 the family estate, and has since been en- 
 gaged in dairy farming with gratifying 
 success. 
 
 JOSEPH US DAVENPORT, who resides 
 on section 19, Batavia township, is a 
 native of Du Page county, born in Downer's 
 Grove, March 3, 1845. His father, Theron 
 Davenport, was born in Seneca county, 
 New York, in 1825. He there married Deb- 
 orah Swarthout, who was born in the same 
 year, and in the same county and state, and 
 who was the daughter of James Swarthout. 
 The Swarthouts are of Holland ancestry, 
 and one of that name was of the first four 
 families to locate in Seneca county, New 
 York. The Davenports are of English 
 ancestry, and were also among the early 
 settlers of that county. Stephen Daven- 
 port, the grandfather of our subject, lived to 
 be over one hundred years old. With his 
 son Theron, he came to Illinois, in 1844, 
 and first located in Du Page county, where 
 they took up a half section of land, and 
 opened a farm. The following year Theron 
 Davenport came to Kane county, Illinois, 
 and located near Aurora, where he engaged 
 in farming, and where he resided some 
 years. He later moved to South Dakota, 
 locating at Washington Springs, where he 
 now resides. 
 
 Josephus Davenport grew to manhood 
 in Kane county, near where he now resides,
 
 754 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and had fair school advantages, attending 
 first the common school, then the Aurora 
 High School and Jennings Seminary. He 
 remained with his father for several years 
 after attaining his majority and assisted him 
 in the farm work. He was first married in 
 Aurora in 1868, to Louise Bodine, of Sen- 
 eca county, New York, and who died on the 
 farm in May, 1875, leaving one daughter, 
 Nina L. , now the wife of Elmer Given, a 
 railroad conductor, residing at Huron, South 
 Dakota. They have one son, Harold W. 
 
 In Sugar Grove township, June 22, 1876, 
 Mr. Davenport married Helen Niles, a na- 
 tive of Kane county, born in Sugar Grove 
 township, and a daughter of Williams Niles, 
 one of the first settlers of Kane county. 
 She was educated in the common schools 
 and Aurora Seminary, and was a teacher 
 for twelve years previous to her marriage. 
 
 In 1876 Mr. Davenport bought the farm 
 where he now resides, which was the old 
 homestead of his father, and has here since 
 been actively engaged in farming and dairy- 
 ing. Since residing here he has built a sub- 
 stantial residence, good barn, and various 
 outbuildings, and has now one of the best 
 improved farms in the township. Polit- 
 ically he is a lifelong Republican, his first 
 presidential ballot being cast for U. S. Grant 
 in 1868. While always taking a commend- 
 able interest in political affairs, office seek- 
 ing has not been to his taste. He is a farm- 
 er pure and simple, and is recognized as 
 one of the best in Kane county. Religiously 
 Mrs. Davenport is a member of the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal church of Batavia, and fra- 
 ternally he is a member of the Independent 
 Order of Odd Fellows of that place. A 
 life-long resident of the county, he is well 
 known, especially in the southern part and 
 wherever and by whoever known he is held 
 
 in the highest esteem. He is a man of good 
 business ability, of exemplary habits and 
 upright character. 
 
 DANIEL J. MYERS, of the village of 
 Big Rock, and who is there living a 
 retired life, was for over forty years actively 
 engaged in agricultural pursuits in Kane 
 county. He was born iu Chenango county, 
 New York, April 26, 1823, and is the son of 
 Nathan and Elizabeth (Fowler) Myers, the 
 former a native of Vermont and the latter 
 of New York. Nathan Myers grew to man- 
 hood in his native state and when a young 
 man moved to New York, where his mar- 
 riage was solemnized. For years he en- 
 gaged in the manufacture of boots and 
 shoes, saddles and harness, at Columbus, 
 New York, where his last days were spent. 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood in Chenango county, and was educated 
 in the schools of Columbus, supplemented 
 by two terms in New Berlin Academy. In 
 1845, ne came to Kane county, Illinois, a 
 young man, and first located in Blackberry 
 township, where he entered one hundred 
 and twenty acres, which he partially im- 
 proved, and there resided for three years, 
 going thence to Sugar Grove, where he re- 
 mained two years, and in 1850 moved to 
 Big Rock township. All his lumber for 
 building purposes he hauled from Chicago, 
 where nearly all his necessary supplies were 
 obtained. All the products of his farm he 
 hauled to Chicago, and there disposed of 
 them, either for cash or trade. In Big 
 Rock township, he bought one hundred and 
 sixty acres of raw land, which he fenced and 
 improved and on which he resided and en- 
 gaged in farming until 1886, when he leased 
 the place to his son, but yet made it his
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 755 
 
 home until 1896. To his original tract he 
 added one hundred and thirteen acres ad- 
 joining. The improvements on his place 
 were allot a most substantial character, and 
 in all his undertakings he met with a fair 
 degree of success. In addition to his other 
 landed interests, he purchased two farms in 
 Sugar Grove township, both of which are 
 well improved, and on which his sons 
 reside. 
 
 Mr. Myers was united in marriage in 
 Kane county, November 16, 1846, with 
 Miss Sarah M. West, a native of Chenango 
 county, New York, and a daughter of David 
 West, also a native of the same county, and 
 who was one of the early settlers in Kane 
 county. By this union there are three sons. 
 The oldest, William West, now owns and 
 operates a valuable farm in Sugar Grove 
 township. Lucien P., married, owns and 
 operates a well improved place in Sugar 
 Grove township. The third son, Charles 
 D., is also married, and owns a valuable 
 farm in Sugar Grove township. The moth- 
 er of these children died December 1 1 , 1 884. 
 On the 29th of September, 1896, Mr. Myers 
 was again married, in Big Rock township, 
 his second union being with Mrs. Ellen 
 Grouse, who was born in Big Rock town- 
 ship, Kane county, Illinois, and who is the 
 daughter of Mark Seavey. one of the hon- 
 ored early settlers, who located in Big Rock 
 township, in 1843, coming from Wyoming 
 county, New York, where he grew to man- 
 hood, and married Lucy Ann Campbell, a 
 native of Wyoming county, New York, and 
 a daughter of Roger Campbell, of that coun- 
 ty. Mr. Seavey was one of the prosperous 
 farmers of Kane county, and here spent his 
 last days, dying about 1852. His widow is 
 yet living, at the age of seventy-six years, 
 and makes her home with Mr. Myers. Of 
 
 the two sons and four daughters of Mary 
 and Lucy Ann Seavey, all are yet living and 
 are married. Mrs. Myers grew to woman- 
 hood, and September 16, 1865, married Eg- 
 bert Grouse, a native of Duchess county, 
 New York, who came to Kane county with 
 his parents, and here made his home until 
 his death, October 4, 1881. His widow 
 lived on the farm for a number of years 
 after his death, and then purchased a lot in 
 the village of Big Rock, on which she built 
 a residence, and where she has since con- 
 tinued to reside. 
 
 Politically Mr. Myers is a Republican, 
 and cast his first presidential ballot for John 
 C. Fremont, in 1856. He has never wa- 
 vered in his support of Republican principles 
 from that time to the present. He has held 
 various positions of honor and trust, the du- 
 ties of [which he has fulfilled in a satisfac- 
 tory manner to all concerned. A firm be- 
 liever in the public school system, he has 
 for years cheerfully served as a member of 
 the school board. For fifty-three long 
 years h,e has been a resident of Kane coun- 
 ty, and has contributed his full share to- 
 wards its development. He is honored, 
 trusted and respected by all who know him. 
 
 WILLIAM J. GILBERT, who resides 
 in a beautiful home at No. 330 Divis- 
 ion- street, Elgin, Illinois, was born at Brim- 
 field, Illinois, January 9, 1847, and is the 
 son of James and Lucy (Jaqueth) Gilbert, 
 the former a native of Vermont, and the 
 latter of Indiana. They were the parents 
 of twelve children, nine of whom are liv- 
 ing, as follows: Arnold, of El Paso, Illi- 
 nois; Christopher, of Peoria, Illinois; 
 Charles, of Verona, Mississippi; Frank, of
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Indiana; William J. ; Emma; Mrs. Alice 
 Campbell, of Champaign, Illinois; Eliza- 
 beth, wife of Thomas Radbone, of Elm- 
 wood, Illinois; and Erastus, of Elgin, Illi- 
 nois. . 
 
 James Gilbert was by trade a carpenter 
 and came to Illinois at an early day, locat- 
 ing in Peoria. He now resides in Brim- 
 field, Peoria county. For some years he 
 worked at his trade, then became a farmer, 
 and for the past few years has been living a 
 retired life. In his business operations he 
 has been quite successful, and is now the 
 owner of several farms. His wife, who was 
 a member of the Free Will Baptist church, 
 passed to her reward many years ago. 
 
 The paternal grandfather of our subject 
 was a native of England, who came to 
 America with three other brothers and they 
 separated in New York. On coming west, 
 while on the Mississippi river with his wife, 
 they took the yellow fever and died. He 
 owned land in the south, which he traded 
 for land warrants in the west, but all knowl- 
 edge of this has been lost. They had sev- 
 eral children, but only one son. The ma- 
 ternal grandfather was a native of one of 
 the eastern states. 
 
 William J. Gilbert, our subject, was 
 reared in Peoria county, on his father's 
 farm. In the district schools of that coun- 
 ty he began his education, and later at- 
 tended the public schools of Elgin, to which 
 place he came in the fall of 1866. After 
 leaving school he clerked for Bartlett & 
 Waldron, in a book and stationery store, 
 and remained in that store until Mr. Bart- 
 lett sold out, and then went with him into 
 a grocery store, where he remained until 
 1872. He then started in the book and 
 stationery business for himself, in which he 
 remained until 1893, when he sold out and 
 
 is now engaged in the real-estate and rent- 
 ing business. 
 
 In January, 1894, Mr. Gilbert was uni- 
 ted in marriage with Mrs. Rebecca Burritt, 
 widow of Peter Burritt, and daughter of 
 Thomas and Rebecca McBride. In 1896, 
 they erected one of the handsomest resi- 
 dences in Elgin. Fraternally, he is a Ma- 
 son and a member of Bethel commandery, 
 K. T. , and also of the Knights of Pythias. 
 Politically, he is a Republican. At present 
 he is secretary of the Elgin Packing Com- 
 pany, which is one of the most valuable in- 
 dustries of Elgin. A lifelong resident of 
 Illinois, and a resident of Elgin since 1866, 
 he is well and favorably known. 
 
 F)HILIP RAMER, a veteran of the war 
 1 for the Union, and an enterprising 
 farmer of Virgil township, has been a resi- 
 dent of this state since 1846, and of Kane 
 county since 1866. He is a native of Ohio, 
 born March 13, 1840, and is the son of 
 Henry and Susan (Troupe) Ramer, both of 
 whom were natives of Pennsylvania, and 
 who located in Ohio at an early day. They 
 were the parents of ten children Peter, Levi, 
 John, deceased, Henry, Phillip, Anthony, 
 George, Maria, Catherine, and Lovina, the 
 latter being deceased. From Ohio/ Henry 
 Ramer moved with his family to Illinois in 
 1846, and purchased five hundred and sixty 
 acres of Government land, eighty acres for 
 each of his seven sons. He located in De 
 Kalb county, just across the line from Kane 
 county, and there engaged in farming ex- 
 tensively, becoming quite prosperous, and 
 adding materially to his stock of this world's 
 goods. He gave special attention to stock- 
 raising in connection with general farming. 
 His death occurred on the old homestead
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 757 
 
 when he was eighty-six years old. Well 
 known throughout Kane and De Kalb coun- 
 ties, he was a man universally respected, 
 and enjoyed the reputation of being an hon- 
 est man. 
 
 Phillip Ramer, our subject, was reared 
 on the farm, and received his education in 
 the old log school house in De Kalb county, 
 Illinois. While his school life was limited 
 and the education received therein not of 
 the best, he has yet become a well informed 
 man, gaining knowledge by reading and 
 observation. He has always followed the 
 vocation of a farmer, having a taste for it, 
 and- having no desire to change. 
 
 The war for the union being in progress, 
 Mr. Ramer enlisted November 9, 1861, as 
 a member of Company G, Fifty- eighth Regi- 
 ment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, at Aurora, 
 and with his regiment went to the front. 
 He participated in the battles of Fort Don- 
 elson and Shiloh, and after the latter en- 
 gagement was taken sick and for three 
 months was in the hospital. He was then 
 discharged from the service and returned 
 home. After spending some time in re- 
 gaining his health, he again engaged in 
 farm work. In consequence of ill health, 
 caused by disease contracted while in the 
 army, he now draws a pension from the 
 general government. 
 
 After his return from the front, Mr. Ra- 
 mer located in De Kalb county, where he 
 remained until 1866, when he purchased 
 eighty acres of land in Virgil township, near 
 Maple Park, and at once began its improve- 
 ment, and has there remained until the 
 present time. He also owns three hundred 
 and twenty acres in Ottawa county, Kan- 
 sas. 
 
 On the ist of January, 1866, Mr. Ra- 
 mer was united in marriage with Miss Olivia 
 
 Watson, of Kaneville, Illinois, but a native 
 of New Jersey. By this union were six 
 children, two of whom are deceased. The 
 living are Alvin, Harley, Charlie and Lloyd. 
 Those deceased were Fielding A. and Ger- 
 trude. Fraternally Mr. Ramer is a mem- 
 ber of the Grand Army of the Republic, 
 and religiously he and his wife are members 
 of the Methodist Episcopal church. In 
 politics he is a Republican and a firm be- 
 liever in the principles of the party. As a 
 citizen he is enterprising, and as a farmer 
 his ability is recognized by all. Socially he 
 is greatly esteemed. 
 
 NATHAN PERRY COLLINS, M. D., 
 was for years one of the best known 
 physicians in Kane county. He was the 
 grandson of Solomon Collins, and the son 
 of Dr. Nathan Collins, probably a native of 
 New Hampshire, who came to Kane county 
 in November, 1835, locating at Clintonville, 
 now South Elgin. In company with Dr. 
 Joseph Tefft and P. C. Gilbert, he drove 
 through by wagon from Madison county, 
 New York, the two Doctors bringing with 
 them their families, but sending their furni- 
 ture and household goods by lake. They 
 did not find them in Chicago until June, 
 1836, although they made frequent trips of 
 inquiry. On their arrival they left their 
 families at ''Yankee settlement," on the 
 Des Plaines river, in Cook county, and on 
 horseback rode over the prairies searching 
 a place of settlement. They visited settle- 
 ments at Aurora, Blackberry, Geneva, and 
 that of Ira Minard, where the insane asy- 
 lum now stands. Descending the river a 
 few miles to the present site of South Elgin, 
 Dr. Collins took up a claim on the west 
 side, and Dr. Tefft on the east side of the
 
 758 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 river. The next spring, however, Dr. Col- 
 lins removed to St. Charles, and the first brick 
 building erected in that place was for his 
 use as an office. It was erected in 1837, 
 and is still standing, but now used as a sta- 
 ble. The Doctor died in 1841, a few 
 months prior to the birth of our subject. 
 He was one of the most prominent of the 
 early settlers, very influential, and of a 
 genial disposition. 
 
 Dr. Nathan Collins married Miss Fannie 
 Gilbert, whose birth occurred in De Ruyter, 
 New York. She was a member of one of 
 the three families so intimately connected 
 in the early settlement of Kane county 
 the Teffts, the Gilberts and the Collinses. 
 Of their family of five children, four reached 
 years of maturity, as follows: Adeline, who 
 married Thomas Orcutt; Marian, who mar- 
 ried Manley Morgan; Lydia, who married 
 Adolphus Brown, and Nathan Perry. Dr. 
 Nathan Collins was a cousin of Commodore 
 Perry, from whom our subject received his 
 middle name. 
 
 Nathan Perry Collins was born in St. 
 Charles, Illinois, July 9, 1841. After the 
 death of his father, his mother resided for 
 a time at Elgin, at Clintonville and St. 
 Charles, where our subject attended school, 
 as well as at Aurora. The mother died 
 when he was about twelve years old, and he 
 then lived in the family of P. C. Gilbert, a 
 relative for whom he worked for his board. 
 He early evinced the desire to make the 
 medical profession his life work, and to that 
 end read medicine with Dr. Whitford, in El- 
 gin, some two or three years, after which 
 he began practice in a small town in Illi- 
 nois. Later he took a course in the Cincin- 
 nati Eclectic Medical College, from which 
 he was graduated February 1 1, 1868. He 
 then began practice in Earlville, Illinois, 
 
 and in a short time secured a patronage that 
 kept him so constantly employed that his 
 health broke down. For rest and recrea- 
 tion he took a trip to Minnesota, and there 
 met the woman who was later to become 
 his wife. 
 
 Dr. Collins was married near Lyle, 
 Mower county, Minnesota, May 5, 1870, to 
 Miss Mary A. Whitford, a native of Erie 
 county, Pennsylvania. Her father, Asahel 
 Whitford, was born in Otsego county, New 
 York, and was by occupation a farmer. 
 From Otsego county he moved to Erie coun- 
 ty, Pennsylvania, and later returned to New 
 York, locating in Madison county, where he 
 married Eliza Mitchell, born in De Ruyter, 
 Madison county, and a daughter of Joseph 
 and Mary (Mosher) Mitchell, both of whom 
 were natives of New York. Joseph Mitch- 
 ell followed the occupation of a farmer dur- 
 ing his entire life. When a boy he lived on 
 Nantucket Island, and many were the stories 
 told around the fireside of his early life 
 among the fisher folks and seafaring men. 
 His father was a native of the Isle of Wight. 
 After the death of Joseph Mitchell, his 
 widow made her home with Mrs. Collins, 
 passing to her rest November 30, 1896. 
 She was the mother of five children, Mrs. 
 Collins being the only survivor. Religiously 
 she was a member of the Methodist Episco- 
 pal church. In the spring of 1866 Asahel 
 Whitford, who was the son of Ezekiel and 
 Aurilla (Ruggles) Whitford, removed from 
 Madison county and settled near Lyle, 
 Mower county, Minnesota, where he lived 
 until a short time before his death, when, 
 believing a change of climate would be 
 beneficial, he came to South Elgin, and 
 made his home with our subject until his 
 death, May 9, 1887, at the age of sixty- 
 nine years.
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 759 
 
 Returning to Earlville, our subject re- 
 sumed practice, but again broke down, 
 when he closed his office and left with his 
 wife for Minnesota. Joining a surveying 
 corps, he remained with the party during 
 the summer and fall, but spent the winter 
 with his wife at the home of her parents. In 
 the spring following he came to Clintonville, 
 now South Elgin, and built a house on part 
 of his father's old claim, with the intention 
 of locating here but temporarily. His prac- 
 tice grew so rapidly that he decided to re- 
 main and so rebuilt the house, which is now 
 the home of the family. It is a large, com- 
 modious dwelling on Main street. 
 
 To Dr. Collins and wife three children 
 were born. Fannie died in infancy. Cor- 
 nelia W. married Rev. Thomas Ream, the 
 present pastor of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church at Barrington, Illinois, and they 
 have two children, Dorothy H. and Mary 
 A. William P. is a student in a Chicago 
 medical college, but makes his home with 
 his mother. During his vacations he finds 
 employment in the Malleable Iron Works in 
 St. Charles. In politics he is a Republican. 
 
 Dr. Collins was a martyr to his profes- 
 sion. His practice was very large in the 
 country, and calls came to him day and 
 night. On the 22nd of December, 1895, 
 he had a hard drive all day, during which 
 time he was suffering great pain in his heart, 
 but made no complaint at home, not even 
 mentioning it. That night, however, the 
 pain grew so severe a physician had to be 
 called. He grew rapidly worse and expired 
 during the early hours of the morning of De- 
 cember 24. Dr. Collins was a man of de- 
 cisive character facts were quickly consid- 
 ered and decision quickly rendered. He was 
 unerring in his judgment of cases coming 
 under his care; kind, but firm in his direc- 
 
 38 
 
 tions and management of a case. He was 
 a man whose place in the community can 
 scarcely be filled. While not a church mem- 
 ber, he was a religious man. In politics he 
 was a Republican, but his professional duties 
 kept him from accepting an official position 
 but that of school director, which was forced 
 upon him for many years. Fraternally, he 
 was a member of the old Clintonville lodge, 
 A. F. & A. M., which was afterwards 
 merged into one of the Elgin lodges. He 
 was also a member of the Modern Wood- 
 men of America, of South Elgin, for which 
 he was medical examiner. 
 
 DJ. HOGAN, member of the Demo- 
 cratic state central committee, now 
 residing in the beautiful city of Geneva, is a 
 native of the Prairie state, born in Chicago, 
 December 7, 1856. He is a son of John 
 Hogan and wife, both of whom were natives 
 of Ireland, but who emigrated to this coun- 
 try at an early date, locating in Chicago 
 about 1837, where he successfully engaged 
 in mercantile pursuits until the great fire in 
 in October, 1871. His death occurred in 
 that city in 1873, while his wife survived 
 him some ten years, dying in 1883. They 
 were the parents of two sons, our subject 
 and his brother, Dr. Hogan, who for seven 
 years was engaged in the practice of his 
 profession in Paris, France. He is now 
 deceased. Both parents were earnest and 
 devout members of the Roman Catholic 
 church and died in that faith. 
 
 Our subject grew to manhood in his na- 
 tive city, and after receiving his education 
 in the primary and parochial schools, en- 
 tered the University of Notre Dame, near 
 South Bend, Indiana, from which institution 
 he graduated. Later he entered the .Union
 
 760 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 College of Law, at Chicago, and after pur- 
 suing the prescribed course received his 
 degree and was admitted to the bar in 1875. 
 For some seven years he engaged in active 
 practice, securing a good and valuable cli- 
 entage, but other interests demanded his 
 attention and he therefore abandoned the 
 law. 
 
 While on a visit to Ireland, Mr. Hogan 
 was united in marriage May 20, 1879, with 
 Mary Agnes Duhig, who was born, reared 
 and educated in that country. Returning 
 home he brought with him his bride and 
 they began their domestic life .in Chicago, 
 which was their home until 1887, when 
 they removed to the more quiet city of 
 Geneva, where they have since continued 
 to reside. Two children have come to bless 
 their union Mary E., a young lady now at- 
 tending Mrs. Rice's Girl's Collegiate School 
 of Chicago, in the class of 1899, and John 
 P. , a student in the University of Chicago, 
 
 Mr. Hogan is very fond of travel and 
 has visited the various European countries 
 eleven times, taking in most every place of 
 interest in England, Ireland, Wales, Scot- 
 land, France, Spain, Italy and Germany. 
 While visiting the old world so many times, 
 he has not neglected his own country, but 
 has been in almost every state and territory 
 of the union. , As might be expected, his 
 knowledge of various countries is extensive, 
 and it is a rare .treat to .listen to his descrip- 
 tion of places and men that he has seen. 
 
 A life-long Democrat, Mr. Hogan has 
 taken a lively, interest in political affairs 
 and has given much of his time and means 
 in advocacy of the principles of his party. 
 His reputation as a party worker, thorough 
 and systematic organizer, is well known 
 throughout the length and breadth of the 
 land and has brought him into prominence 
 
 and deserved recognition. Few men are 
 better posted in regard to the relative 
 strength and weak and strong points of the 
 various parties. That knowledge he util- 
 izes in strengthening his own party and 
 weakening the opposing one. While work- 
 ing for his party, giving to it his best efforts, 
 he has never himself sought or cared for 
 official position. He has served as alder- 
 man and mayor of his adopted city, and for 
 some years has been a member of the board 
 of trustees of the Northern Illinois Hospital 
 for the Insane at Elgin. He is one of the 
 oldest members of the Democratic state 
 central committee, and the services of no 
 man are more highly appreciated. 
 
 Fraternally Mr. Hogan is a member of 
 the Elks, and religiously he and his wife 
 are members of the Catholic church. / 
 
 ROBERT GEDDES EARLEY, junior 
 member of the firm of Lovell & Earl- 
 ey, with offices in the Spurling block, El- 
 gin, is a young man whose record appears 
 to be creditable. He is one of Illinois' na- 
 tive sons, having been born in Rock Island, 
 August 26, 1866, his parents being John 
 Hertmann and Laura (Grover) Earley. 
 His father was also a native of Illinois, and 
 the grandfather, Robert Early, was a native 
 of Virginia, whence he came to this state at 
 an early day; he was a " Henry Clay Whig" 
 in politics, and his memory is revered by all 
 who live to remember him at that time. 
 John H. Earley, father of our subject, was 
 the only son of Robert Earley, and now 
 lives in Woodstock, Illinois, where he is en- 
 gaged in the hardware business. He mar- 
 ried Laura Grover, daughter of G. L. 
 Grover, who comes from Pennsylvania and
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 761 
 
 is now living with his daughter, Mrs. John 
 H. Earley, in Woodstock, Illinois, at the 
 advanced age of ninety-two years. Mrs. 
 John H. Earley was a native of Pennsyl- 
 vania, where her parents resided for many 
 years and thence removed to Rock Island, 
 Illinois, where her father was elected to and 
 filled the office of sheriff for a number of 
 terms. Both the Earleys and Grovers are 
 of Revolutionary stock, the great-grandfa- 
 ther, Joseph Grover, having come from 
 England in colonial days, and joined the 
 American army when the colonists renounced 
 any and all allegiance to the British crown, 
 and served with credit to himself during 
 nearly two years of that terrible campaign 
 and fight for liberty of the American peo- 
 ple. Mr. and Mrs. John H. Earley are the 
 parents of two children, Hattie, who died 
 in infancy, and Robert G., the subject of 
 this sketch. 
 
 It was in the common schools of Wood- 
 stock, Illinois, that Robert G. Earley ac- 
 quired his primary education, supplemented 
 by a course in the Woodstock High School, 
 from which he graduated at the age of six- 
 teen years, being one of the youngest 
 students who at that time had completed 
 the course. 
 
 A short time after laying aside his text- 
 books he obtained a position in the abstract 
 office of Richards & Arnold, at Woodstock, 
 Illinois, where he remained for upwards of 
 three years, acquiring a splendid post-grad- 
 uate course under the able tutorship of one 
 of the best, if not the best, abstracter in 
 the state of Illinois, Hon. Emery E. Rich- 
 ards. From Woodstock Mr. Earley was 
 called to Geneva, Kane county, Illinois, and 
 there took a position in the office of the 
 county and probate clerk; in these positions 
 he gained considerable knowledge of law 
 
 and acquired an ambition and desire to en- 
 ter the legal profession. 
 
 In 1891 Mr. Earley came to Elgin and 
 entered the office of Judge Edward C. Lov- 
 ell, who directed his law studies until his 
 admission to the bar, in May, 1896, and 
 thus well equipped, began his chosen work. 
 
 Mr. Earley was married July 9, 1892, to 
 Miss Elsie A. Forrest, a daughter of James 
 E. and Adelaide (Morse) Forrest, early res- 
 idents of Kane county, Illinois, in the vicin- 
 ity of LaFox. Mr. and Mrs. Earley have 
 only one surviving child, Caroline, an inter- 
 esting little sunbeam of twenty-one months. 
 Mrs. Earley is a memberof the First Church 
 of Christ, Scientist; is an officer of the Key 
 Note Club, a musical society of Elgin, and 
 shares with her husband in the warm regard 
 of many friends. 
 
 In politics Mr. Robert G. Earley is a stal- 
 wart Republican, and is, and has been since 
 its organization, chairman of the executive 
 committee of the Lincoln Republican Club, 
 an organization which now numbers over 
 eight hundred members, and has also been 
 an executive committeeman for his county 
 for several years in the National League of 
 Republican clubs, and to the national con- 
 ventions, of which he has been three times 
 elected a delegate. 
 
 Mr. Early also belongs to, and is a com- 
 mitteeman, in the Society of the Sons of 
 the Revolution, and is also a memberof the 
 Knights of Pythias. He is also a member 
 of the Hamilton Club, of Chicago. 
 
 EVELYN E. RICH, Hampshire, Illinois. 
 One of the oldest, as well as most hon- 
 orable, families in Kane county, is that 
 from which the subject of this sketch has
 
 762 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 sprung. The family in America is descended 
 from four brothers who came together from 
 Wales in early colonial days, the ancestor 
 of this branch of the family settling in one 
 of the New England states. The grand- 
 father of our subject, Elijah Rich, Sr. , was 
 born in Wiliamstown, Massachusetts, and 
 after serving through the Revolutionary war 
 settled in Vermont, where he died at the 
 age of seventy-seven years. 
 
 Elijah Rich, Jr., an only son, was born 
 in Massachusetts, June 10, 1795, and when 
 a child removed with his parents to Ver- 
 mont, where he was reared. Here he mar- 
 ried and some of his children were born. 
 Early in 1834 he started west on horseback, 
 and after traversing four or five states ar- 
 rived in Naperville, Illinois, at the house of 
 his friend, Hiram Goodrich, whom he had 
 known in his native state. From here he 
 rode over much of the northern part of Illi- 
 nois, through several counties, finally 
 selecting a tract on section 31, Deerfield 
 precinct, now Rutland township, and re- 
 turned to Naperville. Leaving his horse 
 here, he returned to Vermont by way of 
 the lakes in the summer, and sent his 
 nephew, E. R. Starks, who was living with 
 him, to come west to hold the claims he 
 had made for them, which Mr. Starks did 
 that fall. 
 
 Xn the spring of 1836, Mr. Rich again 
 turned his face westward bringing his family 
 with him, coming as he had returned, by 
 water. From White Hall, New York, they 
 came by the Erie canal to Buffalo, coming 
 thence by lake to Chicago, and by wagon 
 to Naperville, where the family was left 
 while Mr. Rich and his nephew built a 
 house to shelter them. Coming to their 
 claims as early as the season would permit, 
 the two first built a cabin on Mr. Starks' 
 
 claim which they occupied, until some 
 ground could be broken and a crop planted. 
 Later a larger and more commodious dwell- 
 ing was erected on Mr. Rich's claim, prob- 
 ably the largest log house in the county, 
 and as soon as completed the family came 
 out from Naperville and here the venerable 
 pioneer made his home until his death No- 
 vember 10, 1871. 
 
 On this homestead he reared a family 
 of sons and daughters, who have lived as he 
 lived, honored and respected by all who 
 knew them. His passing carried, from 
 among us one of the grand old men who 
 fearlessly faced the hardships of the wilder- 
 ness to provide for their families a greater 
 heritage than the flinty hills of New Eng- 
 land could afford, and leave them sufficient 
 of this world's goods to save them from the 
 many privations which he endured. 
 
 Mr. Rich was twice married, first to 
 Triphosa Fowler, daughter of Thomas and 
 Betsey Fowler, natives of Vermont. She 
 bore him four children, two of whom sur- 
 vive: Thomas F. , of Hampshire, Illinois; 
 and Melissa, widow of Charles Bradford, 
 living in South Dakota. His second mar- 
 riage was to Anise Meacham, to whom six 
 children were born: Anise, deceased, mar- 
 ried N. R. Sanford; Clarissa, wife of Albert 
 Shurtleff, lives in South Dakota; Venelia, 
 who married E. B. Arnold, and also lives in 
 South Dakota; Delia died at the age of 
 fourteen years; Evelyn E., our subject, a 
 twin brother of Eveline, deceased, who 
 married John Gage, also deceased, of whom 
 more is said elsewhere in this work. 
 
 Evelyn E. Rich, the subject of this 
 sketch, was born on the old home farm in 
 Rutland township, April 26, 1839. He was 
 reared on the homestead, attending the dis- 
 trict schools until the age of sixteen, at
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 763 
 
 which time he began life for himself. Rent- 
 ing a farm for two years, he discontinued 
 farming, at the end of that time and for an 
 equal period was engaged at carpentering, 
 when he again took up his regular calling, 
 and was employed on the farm until going 
 into the Union army to help suppress the 
 Rebellion, enlisting May 2, 1864, in Com- 
 pany K, One Hundred and Forty-first Reg- 
 iment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, for the 
 one-hundred-day service. He remained 
 nearly twice his enlisted time, being mus- 
 tered out October loth, of the same year. 
 The regiment to which Mr. Rich was at- 
 tached was assigned to garrison duty and 
 stationed most of the time along the Missis- 
 sippi river. 
 
 On his return from the war Mr. Rich re- 
 sumed farming, and after the death of his 
 father, in 1871, purchased the old home- 
 stead. Here he resided until 1888, when 
 he retired from active farming, purchased a 
 fine property in the village of Hampshire, 
 where he takes the world easy, while still 
 in the prime of life. 
 
 The old homestead, consisting of two 
 hundred and fifty acres of unusually fertile 
 land, is not excelled by any farm in Rutland 
 township. The wide lawn stretching down 
 to the highway, with its magnificent old 
 trees, patriarchs of the original forest, with 
 the woodland across the way, makes a pict- 
 ure of rural beauty pleasing to every eye 
 that beholds it, be he artist or ploughboy. 
 The residence, an unusually large and com- 
 modious building, one of the most substan- 
 tial in the country, was erected by the first 
 proprietor of the estate, while the present 
 owner built the large barn, 112x44, an d 
 many of the minor buildings on the farm. 
 Dairy farming is the present industry, a 
 fine herd of some sixty head of cattle being 
 
 kept thereat all times, and frequently many 
 more find shelter there. 
 
 Mr. Rich has been by no means idle 
 since leaving the farm, but has been an ex- 
 tensive dealer in live stock of all kinds. 
 He buys and ships milch cows, having at 
 all times a large number on hand for sale. 
 He is an excellent judge of the horse, and 
 no one in Kane county drives a finer pair of 
 high-spirited, handsome roadsters than Mr. 
 Rich. 
 
 For a companion in life Mr. Rich chose 
 the daughter of one of the most honored of 
 Kane county's pioneers, Miss Helen Doty, 
 a native of Ohio, where the family was re- 
 siding a few years prior to continuing their 
 migration westward in the early days when 
 Illinois was emerging from the wilderness. 
 Henry Doty, father of Mrs. Rich, was born 
 in Delaware county, New York, October 
 1 6, 1813. In early life he removed to 
 Ohio, where he lived a few years, and then 
 came further west, spending one year at 
 Kenosha, Wisconsin. On his advent to 
 Illinois his whole capital was two and one- 
 half dollars a small beginning from which 
 he made a success in life that is a credit to 
 any man, and one of which his descendants 
 may well be proud. 
 
 October 10, 1843, he settled upon the 
 farm now owned by his son, William E. , 
 and for fifty years lived upon and cultivated 
 it. His deed, direct from the government, 
 signed by President James K. Polk, is in 
 possession of the family still. Mr. Doty 
 died October 28, 1893, having lived on the 
 farm fifty years and eight days. 
 
 The grandfather, Elijah Doty, was a 
 native of New York state. He died in Ohio 
 aged sixty-seven years. His wife, who was 
 Polly Hodges, attained the age of ninety- 
 seven, passing away on the home farm in
 
 764 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Kane county. Her marriage occurred at the 
 age of sixteen, and she became the mother 
 of fourteen children, five of whom survive. 
 
 Henry Doty first married Persis F. Bur- 
 rington, a native of New Hampshire, daugh- 
 ter of Chauncey and Roxina (Folkner) Bur- 
 rington, who lived to be ninety-five and 
 ninety respectively. Of Mr. Doty's first 
 marriage four children were born, the 
 mother dying when they were very young. 
 The three surviving are Henry S. Doty, of 
 Sauk county, Minnesota; Mrs. Rich and 
 Mrs. C. T. Campbell, living in Crowley 
 county, Kansas. Of Mr. Doty's second 
 marriage to Maria Page, three children were 
 born, only one of whom survives, William 
 E. Doty, occupying and owning the old 
 home farm. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Rich seven children 
 have been born: Addie E. , who married 
 Frank Ball and is living on the home farm 
 in Rutland township. To them eight chil- 
 dren have been born. May E., who mar- 
 ried A. D. Brown, of Forks, Wyoming Ter- 
 ritory, is the mother of one child. Milton, 
 died in 1890, aged twenty-three years. 
 Henry E. lives in Wyoming on a large 
 ranch, and with him is Ralph, who employs 
 part of his time teaching. Arthur died at 
 the age of eighteen months; Ethel, the 
 youngest, is a successful teacher of Hamp- 
 shire township. 
 
 In politics Mr. Rich is a stanch Repub- 
 lican, having supported that party and its 
 principles since attaining his majority. He 
 is a member of the Grand Army of the Re- 
 public, Hampshire post. 
 
 /CHARLES H. STRINGER. The world 
 \* instinctively pays deference to the man 
 whose success is worthily achieved, over- 
 
 coming the obstacles and difficulties in his 
 path until he has reached a high position in 
 the business world. This is a progressive 
 age, and he who does not advance is soon 
 left far behind. Mr. Stringer, by the im- 
 provement of opportunities by which all 
 are surrounded, has steadily and honorably 
 worked his way upward until, at the time 
 of his death, he was one of the large landed 
 proprietors of Elgin township, Kane county. 
 
 Mr. Stringer was born near Montreal, 
 Lower Canada, October 31, 1834, a son of 
 George Stringer, a native of Yorkshire, 
 England, who was in the Canadian militia 
 during the rebellion, and suffered captivity. 
 The father came to the United States in 
 1835, which was during the infancy of our 
 subject, who never saw him until nearly 
 grown. The mother died when he was 
 about six or seven years of age. As his 
 school privileges were limited, he was most- 
 ly self-educated, but acquired a good prac- 
 tical knowledge of men and affairs. In his 
 native land he learned the trade of a har- 
 ness and trunk maker, but never followed 
 those occupations after coming to Kane 
 county, Illinois, in 1855, at the age of 
 twenty-one years. 
 
 Joining his father in Kane county, where 
 he settled at a very early day, Mr. Stringer 
 remained with him until his marriage with 
 Miss Fannie Bishop, daughter of John 
 Bishop, a native of England. They have 
 become the parents of five children, name- 
 ly: Kate, now the wife of Robert Canada, 
 a farmer of Big Stone, Minnesota; George, 
 deceased; Carl, who married Cora Griffin, 
 of Mitchell county, Iowa, and now lives on 
 his father's farm in that state; Daisy, the 
 wife of John McGary, of Elgin; and Harry, 
 a resident of New Mexico. 
 
 After his marriage, Mr. Stringer pur-
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 765 
 
 chased one hundred and fifty acres at 
 Youngsdale, Elgin township, where he lived 
 for twenty years, and then removed to 
 Mitchell county, Iowa, purchasing three 
 hundred twenty acres there. He continued 
 the cultivation and improvement of that 
 place until 1888, when he leased it to his 
 son and returned to Illinois. He owned his 
 father's old homestead on the western 
 boundary of the corporation of Elgin, it be- 
 ing a valuable tract of four hundred twenty 
 acres, formerly a stock farm and now a 
 dairy farm supplied with one hundred milch 
 cows. Mr. Stringer was always a lover of 
 good horses, was an excellent judge of the 
 noble steed, and since 1895 was inter- 
 ested in fine trotting stock. Being pleased 
 with the famous " Loafer," the fastest horse 
 in Chicago he bought, trained and devel- 
 oped him, and then sold to the present 
 owner. As a business man Mr. Stringer 
 was always prompt, reliable and ener- 
 getic, and as a citizen commanded the re- 
 spect and confidence of all with whom he 
 came in contact. In his political affilia- 
 tions he is an ardent Republican, but has 
 never cared for the honors or emoluments 
 of public office. 
 
 HERBERT Z. BERRY, who for more 
 than a quarter of a century was con- 
 nected with the "Aurora Beacon," has 
 been a resident of the city since the age of 
 two years. He was born in Medina, Ohio, 
 November 7, 1855, and is the son of Thomas 
 E. and Ann (Pierce) Berry, the former a 
 native of Ireland, born in 1821, and who 
 came to America when about nineteen years 
 of age, and the latter a native of England, 
 born in 1829, and who was fifteen years of 
 age when with her parents she emigrated to 
 
 the United States. In 1857 Thomas E. 
 Berry, with his family, located in Aurora, 
 which was his home during the remainder 
 of his life. He died July 22, 1896, his wife 
 preceding him to their heavenly home some 
 fifteen years, dying April 5, 1881. Of their 
 eleven children, five are yet living, three of 
 whom make their homes in Aurora, one in 
 Beardstown, Illinois, and one in Chicago. 
 The living are O. Adelbert, Herbert Z. , 
 A. Doc, William H. and Bertram. The 
 first four named are married. 
 
 Herbert Z. Berry grew to manhood in 
 Aurora and was educated in its public 
 schools. In 1868, when but thirteen years 
 of age, he commenced work in the " Her- 
 ald " printing office in that city, and was 
 connected with that establishment for three 
 years and two months. He then engaged 
 with Dudley Randall, who commenced the 
 publication of the " Illustrated City Life," 
 and was Mr. Randall's principal assistant. 
 The paper survived but ten months, the 
 material of the office being sold to the pro- 
 prietors of the "Aurora Beacon." Mr. 
 Berry was tendered and accepted a situation 
 in the latter establishment, where he re- 
 mained until March, 1897, over a quarter 
 of a century, a faithful workman with pro- 
 gressive ideas. For fifteen years he held 
 the responsible position of superintendent 
 and manager for the "Beacon." While 
 connected with that establishment he won 
 an enviable reputation for being prompt 
 and reliable in all matters pertaining to his 
 business, and the well-deserved popularity 
 of the " Beacon " as a newspaper publish- 
 ing office and as a job printing office in a 
 large measure was- due to him. 
 
 Politically Mr. Berry is an ardent Repub- 
 lican, and for the promulgation of the prin- 
 ciples of the party has contributed of his
 
 766 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 time and means. He has held several posi- 
 tions of honor and trust, non-remunerative, 
 and has at all times been a public-spirited 
 and loyal citizen. He has been on the 
 board of public works, and is at present 
 secretary and treasurer of the West Aurora 
 Cemetery Board of Managers. 
 
 On his retirement from the "Beacon," 
 March 3, 1897, Mr. Berry spent eleven 
 months in travel, in an attempt to'regain 
 his worn-out condition, and so admirably 
 did he succeed that on February i, 1898, he 
 formed a partnership with A. G. Worm- 
 wood, to do general book and job printing, 
 and February 20, 1898, they left the place 
 of business which Mr. Wormwood had oc- 
 
 cupied in a like capacity for several years, 
 and moved to their present elegant new 
 quarters at Nos. 79, 81 and 83 Main street, 
 where they have one of the finest general 
 printing offices in the state of Illinois. For 
 thirty years Mr. Berry has been identified 
 with the printing and publishing interests of 
 Aurora, and is well and favorably known 
 throughout Kane and adjoining counties. 
 
 On the loth of November, 1880, Mr. 
 Berry was united in marriage with Miss 
 Martha W. Hoyt, of Aurora, daughter of 
 A. J. and Caroline Hoyt, for many years 
 residents of the city. Both Mr. and Mrs. 
 Berry are held in the highest esteem by all 
 who know them. 
 
 '
 
 INDEX, 
 
 Abbott, Dr. Edward H 146 
 
 Adams, DeWitt C 25 
 
 Adams, Henry B 547 
 
 Adams. John Manly 85 
 
 Adams, Samuel L 27!) 
 
 Aldrich, Nathan J 430 
 
 Alexander, George 612 
 
 Allen. Charles 569 
 
 Allen, John 406 
 
 Ames, Charles 671 
 
 Anderson, Andrew 710 
 
 Anderson. Charles J . . . 368 
 
 Anderson, David 648 
 
 Archibald, Robert 67 
 
 Atchison. Rev. W. D 332 
 
 Backus. Charles II 440 
 
 Baker, Edward 291 
 
 Baker, George 150 
 
 Baker, Theron .. 877 
 
 Baldwin, Uuane B 388 
 
 Baldwin, Silas 49 
 
 Baldwin. William W 13 
 
 Barrett, Charles H 725 
 
 Barrows, M. T 358 
 
 Battle, James W 478 
 
 Beebe, D. R 195 
 
 Heitli. George A 646 
 
 Bell, James F 614 
 
 Bell, l)r. John F 555 
 
 Benjamin, Todd 713 
 
 Bennett, Arthur A 348 
 
 Berner, Frank H 543 
 
 Berry, Herbert Z '. . . . 765 
 
 Bevier, Isaac T 287 
 
 Hishop, Thomas 33 
 
 Black, William H 127 
 
 Black, Willis L 196 
 
 I'.hirkniiin, Erastus W 256 
 
 Blazier, Henry 187 
 
 Bloss, F. W 617 
 
 Boldt.E.J 365 
 
 Borden. Gail 543 
 
 Bosworth, Franklin S 42 
 
 Botsford, K. N ... 16 
 
 Bowman. Francis H 467 
 
 Brill. Samuel S 626 
 
 Brill, Fred R 226 
 
 Brown, J ames C 380 
 
 Brown, John A 416 
 
 Brown, George W r . L 260 
 
 Brown, Morris P 525 
 
 Brown, Dr. Simon P 288 
 
 Bucklin, Anson C 131 
 
 Burlingame, Uwight E 68 
 
 Murns, Michael 562 
 
 Burroughs, Dr. L. M 397 
 
 Burton, Francis 152 
 
 Burton, William 276 
 
 Calhoun, Dr. C. D 663 
 
 Calkins, Cyrus 706 
 
 Callow, Walter H 590 
 
 Cassem, Randall IMS'.} 
 
 Chapman, Samuel W 11 
 
 Chamberlin, Dwight A 475 
 
 Chilvcrs, Robert 631 
 
 Chisholm, George S 243 
 
 Christiansen, Vigo V 632 
 
 Clark, JohnJ 426 
 
 Clark.Joseph :i4 
 
 Clyue, Lewis C. 60S 
 
 Collins, Dr. Nathan P 757 
 
 Colson.J.F 523 
 
 Conner, Erwin C' 751 
 
 Constant, Dr. William E 269 
 
 Constantino. Louis A 390 
 
 Cook, George W 104 
 
 Cornell, E. W. K 107 
 
 Cox, Benjamin . . 173 
 
 Crawford, Dr. H. M 615 
 
 Crego, George M 580 
 
 Crighton. John W 736 
 
 Crouse, Charles M 659 
 
 Cummings, Charles O 280 
 
 Dale, Richard 717 
 
 Dauberman, Jonathan S 638 
 
 Dauberiuan, McClellan 660 
 
 Daum , George E . . 707 
 
 Davenport, Josephus 75.'! 
 
 Davidson, Orlando 529 
 
 Deane, Charles P 198 
 
 Dean, Louis A 720 
 
 Demmer, Herman F 258 
 
 Denney, Kbenezer 404 
 
 Densmore, Harvey B 700 
 
 Dettmer. Augustus H 732 
 
 Dickson, Corydon L 702 
 
 Dickinson, William F 351 
 
 Dobson, Frank 715 
 
 Doty, Isaac V 126 
 
 Douglass, Elon G 178 
 
 Dorr Brothers 655 
 
 Drake, Nathan A .. 447 
 
 Duncan, Thomas W 41 
 
 Duraut, Bryant 394 
 
 Earley. Robert. G ..... 760 
 
 Eaton, Ebenezer P 367 
 
 Egan, Robert S 105 
 
 Elliott, John F 301 
 
 Ellis, Jerome B 739 
 
 Ellithorpe, William H 748 
 
 Eno, EdwardS 185 
 
 Erikson, Charles E 454 
 
 Evans, William W 601 
 
 Fellows, Daniel J 494 
 
 Kerry, Joseph Sanford 407 
 
 Fickensher, Henry 418 
 
 Fish. Joseph M 484 
 
 Fisher, Charles H 628 
 
 Fink, Josiah A 667 
 
 Footh, Silas S 711 
 
 Forbes, Duncan 51 
 
 Foss, Eben 60 
 
 Foster. Rev. Caleb.; 386 
 
 Fraser, William W 677 
 
 Frazier, Walter S 635 
 
 Frear, George 389 
 
 Freiler. Phillip 250 
 
 French, Ruric A 622 
 
 Gage, Ernest A 711 
 
 Gahagan, Dr. Henry J 218 
 
 (amble, Winfield S 92 
 
 Gardner, John 464 
 
 Gardner. Joseph W 465 
 
 Getzelman, Malachi C 144 
 
 Getzelman, Michael J 742 
 
 Geyer, Christofer F 718 
 
 Gifford, Abel D 52 
 
 Gift. Samuel J 310 
 
 Gilbert, Horace 606 
 
 Gilbert, Persons C 230 
 
 Gilbert, William J 755 
 
 Gillett, Arthur L 4:>5 
 
 Gillett, Lewis H 566 
 
 Goetting, William H 205
 
 ;68 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 (. laic. John W ... 641 
 
 Goodrirh, Dr. Grant il->.". 
 
 Goodell, Joel SKI 
 
 Gorham, Jacob U 32!t 
 
 Graves, A. C 253 
 
 Gray, Mrs. D. P ::'.m 
 
 Gregory. Charles E 751 
 
 Gronberg, Charles A 325 
 
 Grote. William 729 
 
 Hagen, George P 98 
 
 Haley, George S 293 
 
 Hamilton, David 723 
 
 Hanson, Ezra 116 
 
 Hardy, Dr. Hiram T 490 
 
 Harger. Merritt 200 
 
 Barter. Samuel 714 
 
 Hartman, Thomas 443 
 
 Harvey, George P 31 
 
 Hasler, John A 634 
 
 Hatch, Elam F 722 
 
 Hathaway, Annas 527 
 
 Hawes, Moses W 380 
 
 Hawley, Arvin T 532 
 
 Hawley. Dr. Sidney B 437 
 
 Hawthorne, George E 84 
 
 Hayward. Laban 388 
 
 Healy, John L 66 
 
 Heath, Sidney , 110 
 
 Hemmens, Harold D 736 
 
 Hemrick. Philip H 688 
 
 Hill, David 199 
 
 Hinds, Alexander L 691 
 
 Hippie, James W 375 
 
 Hodder, John H 420 
 
 Hogan.D.J 759 
 
 Holden. Timothy N 600 
 
 Holmes, Joseph R 91 
 
 Holt, Jonathan M 423 
 
 Hoover. S. N 373 
 
 Hoxie. Edgar B 207 
 
 Hoyt. Jacob N 586 
 
 Hubbard. A. H 621 
 
 Hunt. Major B. T 38 
 
 Hunt.EdwardL 419 
 
 Hunt, Squire D 697 
 
 Hurd. John N 473 
 
 Huth, Rev. Casper J 27 
 
 Ingham. Joseph 665 
 
 Irwin, Clinton F 176 
 
 James, Robert T 703 
 
 Janecke, Jr.. John F 668 
 
 Japp, August 265 
 
 Jencks, D. R 741 
 
 Jencks. Fred W 153 
 
 Johnson. Hans 154 
 
 Joslyn. Frank W 336 
 
 Judd, Asahel T 618 
 
 Judd. Sarson L 520 
 
 Judson, Lewis B 560 
 
 Karl, John Henry 370 
 
 Kelly. A rf red W 436 
 
 Kelly. John 489 
 
 Kemp. John 470 
 
 Kiinball, William C 334 
 
 Kirclihoff. Gustavo K C7 
 
 Kirc-lilioff. Herman H 117 
 
 Kirk, John G 7:il 
 
 Klein, Peter MB 
 
 Kliek. William 399 
 
 Knotl. George H lln 
 
 Kramer. Frank 183 
 
 Krumro, Henry C 448 
 
 Lamson. D. E 684 
 
 Larkin. Cyrus H 267 
 
 Lasher, Hiram 596 
 
 Laue, Dietrich 353 
 
 Lawrence. Marshall 727 
 
 Leake, Thomas W 542 
 
 Leatherman, Abraham 159 
 
 Lee. Samuel H 559 
 
 Lee, Warren S 1147 
 
 Leet, William 410 
 
 Levey. Charles 4!) 
 
 Lewis, Charles E 175 
 
 Lilibridge, W. P 429 
 
 Linden, John 'W 4T!I 
 
 Lindgren, John G 247 
 
 Little. Alexander C 538 
 
 Little, James ' 553 
 
 Logan, John A 209 
 
 Long, Jacob Phillip 206 
 
 Longacre, Or. H. Y 331 
 
 Loomis, Amasa W 224 
 
 Lovell, Edward C 536 
 
 Lovell, Vincents 188 
 
 Lowrie, A. H 503 
 
 McChesney, II 554 
 
 McCormick, Thomas 628 
 
 McCredie, William 272 
 
 McDonald, James D 605 
 
 McDonald, William Wallace 417 
 
 McDonough, John 82 
 
 McElroy, Dr. James 168 
 
 McGlincy, Col. R. P 190 
 
 McKellar, John 299 
 
 McKindley, Daniel M 239 
 
 McKinnell, Peter 312 
 
 McMahon, James 721 
 
 McQueen, John A 355 
 
 Mann, Adin 56 
 
 Mann, Dr. A. L 311 
 
 Mann, Sylvester S 743 
 
 Marshall, Frederick J 625 
 
 Marshall, George P 282 
 
 Marshall, Richard S 287 
 
 Marshall, Romeo W 271 
 
 Marshall, William 156 
 
 Marshall, William E 240 
 
 Melms, Charles 270 
 
 Merrefleld, Walter A 425 
 
 Merrill, William W 574 
 
 Messenger, William L 535 
 
 Mighell, Franklin P. 685 
 
 Mighell. Silas H 690 
 
 Miller, John S 674 
 
 Minard, James C 701 
 
 Mink, James V 466 
 
 Monroe. C. Dallas 345 
 
 Moore. Daniel B 1102 
 
 Moore, John B 210 
 
 Morgan, I.yman D '. .. 378 
 
 Muirhead, George 428 
 
 Myers, Daniel J ?.' t 
 
 Myers, S. W 7111 
 
 Newman, John 122 
 
 Newman. Joseph 433 
 
 Newman. William W 528 
 
 Oakley, A>>em A 719 
 
 Uhls, Dr. Honry (i 533 
 
 Outhouse, Renalwiu r,:u 
 
 Pearce, Ezekiel 486 
 
 Peck Brothers 576 
 
 Pelton, Dr. O. L 551 
 
 Perkins. Francis B 114 
 
 Pfrangle, William 292 
 
 Phelps, Archer B 682 
 
 Pierce, Charles M 745 
 
 I'ierpont, Kobert 575 
 
 Pingree. Hev. Andrew 455 
 
 Plummer. Samuel R 733 
 
 Pouley, Samuel E 883 
 
 Potter, Theron J 309 
 
 Powers, John R 21 
 
 Pratt, DeWitt C 689 
 
 Pratt, Dr. H. L 203 
 
 Pratt, Dr. William A 393 
 
 Preston, Mrs. Sarah F 409 
 
 Price, Arwin E 705 
 
 Price, William M 678 
 
 Prindle, James P 571 
 
 Quackenbush, Charles C 453 
 
 Quackenbush, Marvin 36 
 
 Radloff, John 161 
 
 Ramer, Philip 756 
 
 Randall, John D. 506 
 
 Kang, Henry 346 
 
 Ranstead, John W 219 
 
 Read, John J 724 
 
 Reams, Harrison H 236 
 
 Reed, George B 595 
 
 Reid, Alexander 515 
 
 Reid, Dr. Charles P 28 
 
 Reid, James F 616 
 
 Rich, Evelyn K 761 
 
 Rich, Thomas F 294 
 
 Richardson, John H . 654 
 
 Rickert, Jacob D 496 
 
 Riddle, Adoniram 463 
 
 Rockwell, James 344 
 
 Roehl, Fred 155 
 
 Robertson, Edward P 510 
 
 Roche, William 584 
 
 Root, Anson W 137 
 
 Rosencrans, Asa 304 
 
 Rosencrans. Dr. Halsey 132 
 
 Rowell, Samuel C 189 
 
 Rudd, Hiram D 698 
 
 Ruggles, George F . . 624 
 
 Russell, John A 204 
 
 Rutledge, Dr. James A 749 
 
 Sallisberg, Jacob 707 
 
 Salflsberg, Jacob E 546
 
 INDEX. 
 
 769 
 
 Sawyer, Henry (i 214 
 
 Schader, Anton K 220 
 
 Schiokler, Philip 627 
 
 Schneider, George M 740 
 
 Schoeberlein, John Adam 405 
 
 Schulz. Philip 752 
 
 Scott, John H 4'.lT 
 
 Scott, William 565 
 
 Seavey, Henry in'J 
 
 Seymour, Horace J <Wt> 
 
 Seymour, John W 44 
 
 Seymour, Josephs B 459 
 
 Sharp, Charles F 686 
 
 Shaw, James 278' 
 
 Shedd, Otis N 266 
 
 Sherwin, William W 308 
 
 Sherwood, Abraham P 255 
 
 Sholes, David W. ... 519 
 
 Skinner. Baxter O 524 
 
 Skinner, James 563 
 
 Slater, Dr. Catharine B 695 
 
 Smailes, Col. William 72 
 
 Smith, Alfonso A 594 
 
 Smith, Edward S 336 
 
 Solomon, Thomas H 737 
 
 Southworth, M. O 635 
 
 Spalding, Coit 709 
 
 Spencer, Sidney U 549 
 
 Starks, Evelyn L 680 
 
 Starr, Ezra M L 216 
 
 Stenger, Michael 457 
 
 Sternberg, Charles 109 
 
 Stone, Charles A 303 
 
 Stoughton, Rev. J. C 480 
 
 Stowe, Levi S 217 
 
 Stowell, Lysander 180 
 
 Stephens, I. S 585 
 
 Stringer, Charles H ; 764 
 
 Stringer, Robert 100 
 
 Suhr, Charles W 300 
 
 Sundcrland, Waterman It 591 
 
 Swit/.er, Jabez 325 
 
 Switzer, Samuel 229 
 
 Taylor, Dr. Richard C 675 
 
 Tazewell, Frank B 548 
 
 Tefft, Jonathan 62 
 
 Tefft, Dr. Joseph 476 
 
 Tefft. Thomas W 138 
 
 Thiers, Mrs. Ruth Ann 581 
 
 Thomas, Nathanael J 400 
 
 Thompson, Edwin W 458 
 
 Thompson, Moses H 22 
 
 Thorns, Alexander P 517 
 
 Thon, Louis 444 
 
 Thornton, Milton 12 
 
 Thorwarth, John F 450 
 
 Torrey, Willard C 507 
 
 Town, Morris C , 288 
 
 Treadwell, Manley P 259 
 
 Tuck, Reuben 544 
 
 Tupper, William H 689 
 
 Tuttle, Daniel 843 
 
 Tyers, John 499 
 
 Tyrrell, Dr. Pierce 509 
 
 VanDeusen, Peter 487 
 
 VanGorder, Daniel 15 
 
 VanPattan, J. S 248 
 
 Van Volkenburg, George 704 
 
 Vollor, Joseph 319 
 
 Voltz, JohnD 99 
 
 Wagner. Joel 657 
 
 Waldron, Elisha D 120 
 
 Walker, Alexander R 687 
 
 Walker, James 234 
 
 Warford, Henry 86 
 
 Warren, Isaac H 14 
 
 Waterhouse, II. B..... 513 
 
 Waterman, Daniel B 237 
 
 Watson, Charles W 593 
 
 Wayne, C. H 738 
 
 Weaver, Adam 726 
 
 Weaver, Orson L 746 
 
 Webster, Franklin (ill 
 
 Weed, Elisha 20 
 
 Weld, Owen B 80 
 
 Weld, Russell 90 
 
 Weld, Dr. Salem E 106 
 
 Wells, Rev. George H 656 
 
 Wheaton, Charles 9 
 
 Whildin, Edward C 676 
 
 Whildin, John C 693 
 
 White, William L 673 
 
 Wilber, Charles T 449 
 
 Wilcox, Gen. John S 162 
 
 Wilcox, Silvanus 245 
 
 Wilder, Mrs. Clark 439 
 
 Williams, J. J 664 
 
 Willis, HenryB 235 
 
 Windett, Robert A 505 
 
 Wing, William H 74 
 
 Woodruff, Cyras H 297 
 
 Wright, Alden K 136 
 
 Wright. James 488 
 
 Yarwood, Louis H 130 
 
 Young, Francis L 556 
 
 Young, George A 446 
 
 Younges, Smith 314 
 
 Zack, N. R. 
 
 460
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBAN* 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF KANE COUNTY