UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 ILLINOIS LIBRARY 
 
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 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
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 LIBRARY 
 
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 portrait? aqd Biographical jsSptehe? of 
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 TOGETHER WITH 
 
 PORTKAITS AND BIOGRAPHIES OF ALL, THE GOVERNORS OF ILLINOIS, 
 AND OF THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 
 
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 ALSO CONTAINING A HISTORY OF THE COUNTY, FROM ITS EARLIEST SETTLEMENT 
 TO THE PRESENT TIME. 
 
 CHICAGO: 
 CHAPMAN BROTHERS. 
 
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 E HAVE completed our labors in writing and compiling the PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPH- 
 ICAL ALBUM OF DE KALB COUNTY, and wish, in presenting it to our patrons, to speak 
 briefly of the importance of local works of this nature. It is certainly the duty 
 of the present to commemorate the past, to perpetuate the names of the pioneers, 
 to furnish a record of their early settlement, and to relate the story of their progress. 
 ; The civilization of our day, the enlightenment of the age, and this solemn duty which 
 men of the present time owe to their ancestors, to themselves and to their posterity, 
 demand that a record of their lives and deeds should be made. In local history is found a power 
 to instruct man by precedent, to enliven the mental faculties, and to waft down the river of time a safe 
 vessel in which the names and actions of the people who contributed to raise this region from its 
 primitive state may be preserved. Surely and vapidly the noble men, who in their vigor and prime 
 came to DE KALB County and claimed the virgin soil as their heritage, are passing to 
 their graves. The number remaining who can relate the history of the first days of settlement is 
 becoming small indeed, so that an actual necessity exists for the collection and preservation of his- 
 torical matter without delay, before the settlers of the wilderness are cut down by time. Not only 
 is it of the greatest importance to render history of pioneer times full and accurate, but it is also essen- 
 tial that the history of the county, from its settlement to the present day, should be treated through its various 
 phases, so that a record, complete and impartial, may be handed down to the future. The present the age 
 of progress, is reviewed, standing out in bold relief over the quiet, unostentatious olden times; it is abrilliant 
 record, which is destined to live in the future; the good works of men, their magnificent enterprises, their 
 lives, whether commercial or military, do not sink into oblivion, but, on the contrary, grow brighter with age, 
 / and contribute to build up a record which carries with it precedents and principles that will be advanced and 
 a observed when the acts of soulless men will be forgotten, and their very names hidden in obscurity. 
 
 In the preparation of the personal sketches contained in this volume, unusual care and pains were 
 taken to have them accurate, even in the smallest detail. Indeed, nothing was passed lightly over or treated 
 indifferently, and we flatter ourselves that it is one of the most accurate works of its nature ever published. 
 As one of the most interesting features of this work, we present the portraits of numerous representa- 
 tive citizens. It has been our aim to have the prominent men of to-day, as well as the pioneers, represented 
 in this department; and we congratulate ourselves on the uniformly high character of the gentlemen whose 
 ^ portraits we present. They are in the strictest sense representative men, and are selected from all the call- 
 ings and professions worthy to be represented. There are others, it is true, who claim equal prominence with 
 those presented, but of course it was impossible for us to give portraits of all the leading men and pioneers 
 of the county. We are under great obligation to many of the noble and generous people of DE KALB 
 County for kindly and material assistance in the preparation of this ALBUM. 
 
 CHAPMAN BROTHERS. 
 CHICAGO, May, 1885. 

 
 
 
 
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 HE Father of our Country was 
 born in Westmorland Co., Va., 
 Feb. 22, 1732. His parents 
 were Augustine and Mary 
 (Ball) Washington. The family 
 to which he belonged has not 
 been satisfactorily traced in 
 England. His great-grand- 
 father, John Washington, em- 
 igrated to Virginia about 1657, 
 and became a prosperous 
 * planter. He had two sons, 
 Lawrence and John. The 
 former married Mildred Warner 
 and had three children, John. 
 Augustine and Mildred. Augus- 
 tine, the father of George, first 
 married Jane Butler, who bore 
 him four children, two of whom, 
 Lawrence and Augustine, reached 
 maturity. Of six children by his 
 second marriage, George was the 
 eldest, the others being Betty, 
 Samuel, John Augustine, Charles 
 and Mildred. 
 
 Augustine Washington, the father of George, died 
 in 1743, leaving a large landed property. To his 
 eldest son, Lawrence, he bequeathed an estate on 
 the Patomac, afterwards known as Mount Vernon, 
 and to George he left the parental residence. George 
 received only such education as the neighborhood 
 schools afforded, save for a short time after he left 
 school, when he received private instruction in 
 . mathematics. His spelling was rather defective. 
 
 Remarkable stories are told of his great physical 
 strength and development at an early age. He was 
 an acknowledged leader among his companions, and 
 was early noted for that nobleness of character, fair- 
 ness and veracity which characterized his whole life. 
 
 When George was 14 years old he had a desire to go to 
 sea, and a midshipman's warrant was secured for him, 
 but through the opposition of his mother the idea was 
 abandoned. Two years later he was appointed 
 surveyor to the immense estate of Lord Fairfax. In 
 this business he spent three years in a rough frontier 
 life, gaining experience which afterwards proved very 
 essential to him. In 1751, though only 19 years of 
 age, he was appointed adjutant with the rank of 
 major in the Virginia militia, then being trained for 
 active service against the French and Indians. Soon 
 after this he sailed to the West Indies with his brother 
 Lawrence, who went there to restore his health. They 
 soon returned, and in the summer of 1752 Lawrence 
 died, leaving a large fortune to an infant daughter 
 who did not long survive him. On her demise the 
 estate of Mount Vernon was given to George. 
 
 Upon the arrival of Robert Dinwiddie, as Lieuten- 
 ant-Governor of Virginia, in 1752, the militia was 
 reorganized, and the province divided into four mili- 
 tary districts, of which the northern was assigned to 
 Washington as adjutant general. Shortly after this 
 a very perilous mission was assigned him and ac- 
 cepted, which others had refused. This was to pro- 
 ceed to the French post near Lake Erie in North- 
 western Pennsylvania. The distance to be traversed 
 was between 500 and 600 miles. Winter was at hand, 
 and the journey was to be made without military 
 escort, through a territory occupied by Indians. The 
 
 ^3^ -4*S*d> 
 
 ii
 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 trip was a perilous one, and several times he came near 
 losing his life, yet he returned in safety and furnished 
 a full and useful report of his expedition. A regiment 
 of 300 men was raised in Virginia and put in com- 
 mand of Col. Joshua Fry, and Major Washington was 
 commissioned lieutenant-colonel. Active war was 
 then begun against the French and Indians, in which 
 Washington took a most important part. In the 
 memorable event of July 9, 1755, known as Brad- 
 dock's defeat, Washington was almost the only officer 
 of distinction who escaped from the calamities of the 
 day with life and honor. The other aids of Braddock 
 were disabled early in the action, and Washington 
 alone was left in that capacity on the field. In a letter 
 to his brother he says : " I had four bullets through 
 my coat, and two horses shot under me, yet I escaped 
 unhurt, though death was leveling my companions 
 on every side." An Indian sharpshooter said he was 
 not born to be killed by a bullet, for he had taken 
 direct aim at him seventeen times, and failed to hit 
 
 After having been five years in the military service, 
 and vainly sought promotion in the royal army, he 
 took advantage of the fall of Fort Duquesne and the 
 expulsion of the French from the valley of the Ohio, 
 to resign his commission. Soon after he entered the 
 Legislature, where, although not a leader, he took an 
 active and important part. January 17, 1759, he 
 married Mrs. Martha (Dandridge) Custis, the wealthy 
 widow of John Parke Custis. 
 
 When the British Parliament had closed the port 
 of Boston, the cry went up throughout the provinces 
 that "The cause of Boston is the cause of us all." 
 It was then, at the suggestion of Virginia, that a Con- 
 gress of all the colonies was called to meet at Phila- 
 delphia,Sept. 5, 1774, to secure their common liberties, 
 peaceably if possible. To this Congress Col. Wash- 
 ington was sent as a delegate. On May 10, 1775, the 
 Congress re-assembled, when the hostile intentions of 
 England were plainly apparent. The battles of Con- 
 cord and Lexington had been fought. Among the 
 first acts of this Congress was the election of a com- 
 mander-in-chief of the colonial forces. This high and 
 responsible office was conferred upon Washington, 
 who was still a member of the Congress. He accepted 
 it on June 19, but upon the express condition that he 
 receive no salary. He would keep an exact account 
 of expenses and expect Congress to pay them and 
 nothing more. It is not the object of this sketch to 
 trace the military acts of Washington, to whom the 
 fortunes and liberties of the people of this country 
 were so long confided. The war was conducted by 
 him under ever)- possible disadvantage, and while his 
 forces often met with reverses, yet he overcame every 
 obstacle, and after seven years of heroic devotion 
 and matchless skill he gained liberty for the greatest 
 nation of earth. On Dec. 23, T783, Washington, in 
 a parting address of surpassing beauty, resigned his 
 
 commission as commander-in-chief of the army to 
 to the Continental Congress sitting at Annapolis. He 
 retired immediately to Mount Vernon and resumed 
 his occupation as a farmer and planter, shunning all 
 connection with public life. 
 
 In February, 1 7 89, Washington was unanimously 
 elected President. In his presidential career he was 
 subject to the peculiar trials incidental to a new 
 government ; trials from lack of confidence on the pan 
 of other governments; trials from want of harmony 
 between the different sections of our own country; 
 trials from the impoverished condition of the country, 
 owing to the war and want of credit; trials from the 
 beginnings of party strife. He was no partisan. His 
 clear judgment could discern the golden mean ; and 
 while perhaps this alone kept our government from 
 sinking at the very outset, it left him exposed to 
 attacks from both sides, which were often bitter and 
 very annoying. 
 
 At the expiration of his first term he was unani- 
 mously re-elected. At the end of this term many 
 were anxious that he be re-elected, but he absolutely 
 refused a third nomination. On the fourth of March, 
 1797, at the expiraton of his second term as Presi- 
 dent, he returned to his home, hoping to pass there 
 his few remaining years free from the annoyances of 
 public life. Later in the year, however, his repose 
 seemed likely to be interrupted by war with France. 
 At the prospect of such a war he was again urged to 
 take command of the armies. He chose his sub- 
 ordinate officers and left to them the charge of mat- 
 ters in the field, which he superintended from his 
 home. In accepting the command he made the 
 reservation that he was not to be in the field until 
 it was necessary. In the midst of these preparations 
 his life was suddenly cut off. December 12, he took 
 a. severe cold from a ride in the rain, which, settling 
 in his throat, produced inflammation, and terminated 
 fatally on the night of the fourteenth. On the eigh- 
 teenth his body was borne with military honors to its 
 final resting place, and interred in the family vault at 
 Mount Vernon. 
 
 Of the character of Washington it is impossible to 
 speak but in terms of the highest respect and ad- 
 miration. The more we see of the operations of 
 our government, and the more deeply we feel the 
 difficulty of uniting all opinions in a common interest, 
 the more highly we must estimate the force of his tal- 
 ent and character, which have been able to challenge 
 the reverence of all parties, and principles, and na- 
 tions, and to win a fame as extended as the limits 
 of the globe, atid which we cannot but believe will 
 be as lasting as the existence of man. 
 
 The person of Washington was unusally tall, erect 
 and well proportioned. His muscular strength was 
 great. His features were of a beautiful symmetry. 
 He commanded respect without any appearance of 
 haughtiness, and ever serious without being dull.
 
 TffLJMARr 
 
 m 
 UMVEIIIOT
 
 DB- JOMM ADAMS, 
 
 OHN ADAMS, the second 
 President and the first Vice- 
 President of the United States, 
 was born in Braintree ( now 
 Quincy ),Mass., and about ten 
 W^ niiles from Boston, Oct. 19, 
 ^ 1735. His great-grandfather, Henry 
 I Adams, emigrated from England 
 ,1 about 1640, with a family of eight 
 \ sons, and settled at Braintree. The 
 parents of John were John and 
 Susannah (Boylston) Adams. His 
 father was a farmer of limited 
 means, to which he added the bus- 
 iness of shoemaking. He gave his 
 eldest son, John, a classical educa- 
 tion at Harvard College. John 
 graduated in 1755, and at once took charge of the 
 school in Worcester, Mass. This he found but a 
 "school of affliction," from which he endeavored to 
 gain relief by devoting himself, in addition, to the 
 study of law. For this purpose he placed himself 
 under the tuition of the only lawyer in the town. He 
 had thought seriously of the clerical profession 
 but seems to have been turned from this by what he 
 termed " the frightful engines of ecclesiastical coun- 
 cils, of diabolical malice, and Calvanistic good nature,"' 
 of the operations of which he had been a witness in 
 his native town. He was well fitted for the legal 
 profession, possessing a clear, sonorous voice, being 
 ready and fluent of speech, and having quick percep- 
 tive powers. He gradually gained practice, and in 
 1764 married Abigail Smith, a daughter of a minister, 
 and a lady of superior intelligence. Shortly after his 
 marriage, (1765), the attempt of Parliamentary taxa- 
 tion turned him from law to politics. He took initial 
 steps toward holding a town meeting, and the resolu- 
 
 tions he offered on the subject became very popular 
 throughout the Province, and were adopted word for 
 word by over forty different towns. He moved to Bos- 
 ton in 1768, and became one of the most courageous 
 and prominent advocatesof the popular cause, and 
 was chosen a member of the General Court (the Leg- 
 lislature) in 1770. 
 
 Mr. Adams was chosen one of the first delegates 
 from Massachusetts to the first Continental Congress, 
 which met in 1774. Here he distinguished himself 
 by his capacity for business and for debate, and ad- 
 vocated the movement for independence against the 
 majority of the members. In May, 1776, he moved 
 and carried a resolution in Congress that the Colonies 
 should assume the duties of self-government. He 
 was a prominent member of the committee of five 
 appointed June n, to prepare a declaration of inde- 
 pendence. This article was drawn by Jefferson, but 
 on Adams devolved the task of battling it through 
 Congress in a three days debate. 
 
 On the day after the Declaration of Independence 
 was passed, while his soul was yet warm with the 
 glow of excited feeling, he wrote a letter to his wife, 
 which, as we read it now, seems to have been dictated 
 by the spirit of prophecy. "Yesterday," he says,"the 
 greatest question was decided that ever was debated 
 in America; and greater, perhaps, never was or will 
 be decided among men. A resolution was passed 
 without one dissenting colony, ' that these United 
 States are, and of right ought to be, free and inde- 
 pendent states.' The day is passed. The fourth of 
 July, 1776, will be a memorable epoch in the history 
 of America. I am apt to believe it will be celebrated 
 by succeeding generations, as the great anniversary 
 festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of 
 deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to Almighty 
 God. It ought to be solemnized with pomp, shows,
 
 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations 
 from one end of the continent to the other, from this 
 time forward for ever. You will think me transported 
 with enthusiasm, but I am not. I am well aware of 
 the toil, and blood and treasure, that it will cost to 
 maintain this declaration, and support and defend 
 these States; yet, through all the gloom, I can see the 
 rays of light and glory. I can see that the end is 
 worth more than all the means; and that posterity 
 will triumph, although you and I may rue, which I 
 hope we shall not." 
 
 In November, 1777, Mr. Adams was appointed a 
 delegate to France^ and to co-operate with Bemjamin 
 Franklin and Arthur Lee, who were then in Paris, in 
 the endeavor to obtain assistance in arms and money 
 from the French Government. This was a severe trial 
 to his patriotism, as it separated him from his home, 
 compelled him to cross the ocean in winter, and ex- 
 posed him to great peril of capture by the British cruis- 
 ers, who were seeking him. He left France June 17, 
 1779. In September of the same year he was again 
 chosen to go to Paris, and there hold himself in readi- 
 ness to negotiate a treaty of peace and of commerce 
 with Great Britian, as soon as the British Cabinet 
 might be found willing to listen to such proposels. He 
 sailed for France in November, from there he went to 
 Holland, where he negotiated important loans and 
 formed important commercial treaties. 
 
 Finally a treaty of peace with England was signed 
 Jan. 21, 1783. The re-action from the excitement, 
 toil and anxiety through which Mr. Adams had passed 
 threw him into a fever. After suffering from a con- 
 tinued fever and becoming feeble and emaciated he 
 was advised to go to England to drink the waters of 
 Bath. While in England, still drooping anddespond- 
 ing, he received dispatches from his own government 
 urging the necessity of his going to Amsterdam to 
 negotiate another loan. It was winter, his health was 
 delicate, yet he immediately set out, and through 
 storm, on sea, on horseback and foot.he made the trip. 
 
 February 24, 1785, Congress appointed Mr. Adams 
 envoy to the Court of St. James. Here he met face 
 to face the King of England, who had so long re- 
 garded him as a traitor. As England did not 
 condescend to appoint a minister to the United 
 States, and as Mr. Adams felt that he was accom- 
 plishing but little, he sought permission to return to 
 his own country, where he arrived in June, 1788. 
 
 When Washington was first chosen President, John 
 Adams, rendered illustiious by his signal services at 
 home and abroad, was chosen Vice President. Again 
 at the second election of Washington as President, 
 Adams was chosen Vice President. In 1796, Wash- 
 ington retired from public life, and Mr. Adams was 
 elected President,though not without much opposition. 
 Serving in this office four years,he was succeeded by 
 Mr. Jefferson, his opponent in politics. 
 
 While Mr. Adams was Vice President the great 
 
 French Revolution shook the continent of Europe, 
 and it was upon this point which he was at issue with 
 the majority of his countrymen led by Mr. Jefferson. 
 Mr. Adams felt no sympathy with the French people 
 in their struggle, for he had no confidence in their 
 power of self-government, and he utterly abhored the 
 class of atheist philosophers who he claimed caused it. 
 On the other hand Jefferson's sympathies were strongly 
 enlisted in behaif of the French people. Hence or- 
 iginated the alienation between these distinguished 
 men, and two powerful parties were thus soon organ- 
 ized, Adams at the head of the one whose sympathies 
 were with England and Jefferson led the other in 
 sympathy with France. 
 
 The world has seldom seen a spectacle of more 
 moral beauty and grandeur, than was presented by the 
 old age of Mr. Adams. The violence of party feeling 
 had died away, and he had begun to receive that just 
 appreciation which, to most men, is not accorded till 
 after death. No one could look upon his venerable 
 form, and think of what he had done and suffered, 
 and how he had given up all the prime and strength 
 of his life to the public good, without the deepest 
 emotion of gratitude and respect. It was his peculiar 
 good fortune to witness the complete success of the 
 institution which he had been so active in creating and 
 supporting. In 1824, his cup of happiness was filled 
 to the brim, by seeing his son elevated to the highest 
 station in the gift of the people. 
 
 The fourth of July, 1826, which completed the half 
 century since the signing of the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence, arrived, and there were but three of the 
 signers of that immortal instrument left upon the 
 earth to hail its morning light. And, as it is 
 well known, on that day two of these finished their 
 earthly pilgrimage, a coincidence so remarkable as 
 to seem miraculous. For a few days before Mr. 
 Adams had been rapidly failing, and on the morning 
 of the fourth he found himself too weak to rise from 
 his bed. On being requested to name a toast for the 
 customary celebration of the day, he exclaimed " IN- 
 DEPENDENCE FOREVER. " When the day was ushered 
 in, by the ringing of bells and the firing of cannons, 
 he was asked by one of his attendants if he knew 
 what day it was? He replied, "O yes; it is the glor- 
 ious fourth of July God bless it God bless you all." 
 In the course of the day he said, " It is a great and 
 glorious day." The last words he uttered were, 
 "Jefferson survives." But he had, at one o'clock, re- 
 signed his spirit into the hands of his God. 
 
 The personal appearance and manners of Mr. 
 Adams were not particularly prepossessing. His face, 
 as his portrait manifests,was intellectual ard expres- 
 sive, but his figure was low and ungraceful, and his 
 manners were frequently abrupt and uncourteous. 
 He had neither the lofty dignity of Washington, nor 
 the engaging elegance and gracefulness which marked 
 the manners and address of Jefferson.
 
 i 

 
 HOMAS JEFFERSON was 
 born April 2, 1743, at Shad- 
 well, Albermarle county, Va. 
 His parents were Peter and 
 Jane (Randolph) Jefferson, 
 the former a native of Wales, 
 and the latter born in Lon- 
 don. To them were born six 
 daughters and two sons, of 
 whom Thomas was the elder. 
 When 14 years of age his 
 father died. He received a 
 most liberal education, hav- 
 ing been kept diligently at school 
 from the time he was five years of 
 age. In 1760 he entered William 
 and Mary College. Williamsburg was then the seat 
 of the Colonial Court, and it was the obode of fashion 
 and splendor. Voting Jefferson, who was then 17 
 years old, lived somewhat expensively, keeping fine 
 horses, and much caressed by gay society, yet he 
 was earnestly devoted to his studies, and irreproacha- 
 able in his morals. It is strange, however, under 
 such influences,that he was not ruined. In the sec- 
 ond year of his college course, moved by some un- 
 explained inward impulse, he discarded his horses, 
 society, and even his favorite violin, to which he had 
 previously given much time. He often devoted fifteen 
 hours a day to hard study, allowing himself for ex- 
 ercise only a run in the evening twilight of a mile out 
 of the city and back again. He thus attained very 
 high intellectual culture, alike excellence in philoso- 
 phy and the languages. The most difficult Latin and 
 Greek authors he read with facility. A more finished 
 scholar has seldom gone forth from college halls; and 
 
 there was not to be found, perhaps, in all Virginia, a 
 more pureminded, upright, gentlemanly young man. 
 
 Immediately upon leaving college he began the 
 study of law. For the short time he continued in the 
 practice of his profession he rose rapidly and distin- 
 guished himself by his energy and accuteness as a 
 lawyer. But the times called for greater action. 
 The policy of England had awakened the spirit of 
 resistance of the American Colonies, and the enlarged 
 views which Jefferson had ever entertained, soon led 
 him into active political life. In 1769 he was chosen 
 a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses. In 
 1772 he married Mrs. Martha Skelton, a very beauti- 
 ful, wealthy and highly accomplished young widow. 
 
 Upon Mr. Jefferson's large estate at Shadwell, there 
 was a majestic swell of land, called Monticello, which 
 commanded a prospect of wonderful extent and 
 beauty. This spot Mr. Jefferson selected for his new 
 home; and here he reared a mansion of modest yet 
 elegant architecture, which, next to Mount Vernon, 
 became the most distinguished resort in our land. 
 
 In 1775 he was sent to the Colonial Congress, 
 where, though a silent member, his abilities as a 
 writer and a reasoner soon become known, and he 
 was placed upon a number of important committees, 
 and was chairman of the one appointed for the draw- 
 ing up of a declaration of independence. This com- 
 mittee consisted of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, 
 Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert R. 
 Livingston. Jefferson, as chairman, was appointed 
 to draw up the paper. Franklin and Adams suggested 
 a few verbal changes before it was submitted to Con- 
 gress. On June 28, a few slight changes were made 
 in it by Congress, and it was passed and signed July 
 4, 1776. What must have been the feelings of thai 
 
 f
 
 man what the emotions that swelled his breast 
 who was charged with the preparation of that Dec- 
 laration, which, while it made known the wrongs of 
 America, was also to publish her to the world, free, 
 soverign and independent. It is one of the most re- 
 markable papers ever written ; and did no other effort 
 of the mind of its author exist, that alone would be 
 sufficient to stamp his name with immortality. 
 
 In 1779 Mr. Jefferson was elected successor to 
 Patrick Henry, as Governor of Virginia. At one time 
 the British officer, Tarleton, sent a secret expedition to 
 Monticello, to capture the Governor. Scarcely five 
 minutes elapsed after the hurried escape of Mr. Jef- 
 ferson and his family, ere his mansion was in posses- 
 sion of the British troops. His wife's health, never 
 very good, was much injured by this excitement, and 
 in the summer of 1782 she died. 
 
 Mr. Jefferson was elected to Congress in 1783. 
 Two years later he was appointed Minister Plenipo- 
 tentiary to France. Returning to the United States 
 in September, ^89, he became Secretary of State 
 in Washington's cabinet. This position he resigned 
 Jan. i, 1794. In 1797, he was chosen Vice Presi- 
 dent, and four years later was elected President over 
 Mr. Adams, with Aaron Burr as Vice President. In 
 r8o4 he was re-elected with wonderful unanimity, 
 and George Clinton, Vice President. 
 
 The early part of Mr. Jefferson's second adminstra- 
 tion was disturbed by an event which threatened the 
 tranquilily and peace of the Union ; this was the con- 
 spiracy of Aaron Burr. Defeated in the late election 
 to the Vice Presidency, and led on by an unprincipled 
 ambition, this extraordinary man formed the plan of a 
 military expedition into the Spanish territories on our 
 southwestern frontier, for the purpose of forming there 
 a new republic. This has been generally supposed 
 was a mere pretext ; and although it has not been 
 generally known what his real plans were, there is no 
 doubt that they were of a far more dangerous 
 character. 
 
 In 1809, at the expiration of the second term for 
 which Mr. Jefferson had been elected, he determined 
 to retire from political life. For a period of nearly 
 forty years, he had been continually before the pub- 
 lic, and all that time had been employed in offices of 
 the greatest trust and responsibility. Having thus de- 
 voted the best part of his life to the service of his 
 country, he now felt desirous of that rest which his 
 declining years required, and upon the organization of 
 the new administration, in March, rSog, he bid fare- 
 well forever to public life, and retired to Monticello. 
 
 Mr. Jefferson was profuse in his hospitality. Whole 
 families came in their coaches with their horses, 
 fathers and mothers, boys and girls, babies and 
 nurses, and remained three and even six months. 
 Life at Monticello, for years, resembled that at a 
 fashionable watering-place. 
 
 The fourth of July, 1826, being the fiftieth anniver- 
 
 g^Vg^ff-3, >m ^f^' ^ A 
 
 -_ A*V - . 
 
 sary of the Declaration of American Independence, 
 great preparations were made in every part of the 
 Union for its celebration, as the nation's jubilee, and 
 the citizens of Washington, to add to the solemnity 
 of the occasion, invited Mr. Jefferson, as the framer, 
 and one of the few surviving signers of the Declara- 
 tion, to participate in their festivities. But an ill- 
 ness, which had been of several weeks duration, and 
 had been continually increasing, compelled him to 
 decline the invitation. 
 
 On the second of July, the disease under which 
 he was laboring left him, but in such a reduced 
 state that his medical attendants, entertained no 
 hope of his recovery. From this time he was perfectly 
 sensible that his last hour was at hand. On the next 
 day, which was Monday, he asked of those around 
 him, the day of the month, and on being told it was 
 the third of July, he expres3ed the earnest wish that 
 he might be permitted to breathe the air of the fiftieth 
 anniversary. His prayer was heard that day, whose 
 dawn was hailed with such rapture through our land, 
 burst upon his eyes, and then they were closed for- 
 ever. And what a noble consummation of a noble 
 life! To die on that day, the birthday of a nation,- - 
 the day which his own name and his own act had 
 rendered glorious; to die amidst the rejoicings and 
 festivities of a whole nation, who looked up to him, 
 as the author, under God, of their greatest blessings, 
 was all that was wanting to fill up the record his life. 
 
 Almost at the same hour of his death, the kin- 
 dred spirit of the venerable Adams, as if to bear 
 him company, left the scene of his earthly honors. 
 Hand in hand they had stood forth, the champions of 
 freedom; hand in hand, during the dark and desper- 
 ate struggle of the Revolution, they had cheered and 
 animated their desponding countrymen; for half a 
 century they had labored together for the good of 
 the country; and now hand in hand they depart. 
 In their lives they had been united in the same great 
 cause of liberty, and in their deaths they were not 
 divided. 
 
 In person Mr. Jefferson was tall and thin, rather 
 above six feet in height, but well formed; his eyes 
 were light, his hair originally red, in after life became 
 white and silvery; his complexion was fair, his fore- 
 head broad, and his whole countenance intelligent and 
 thoughtful. He possessed great fortitude of mind as 
 well as personal courage ; and his command of tem- 
 per was such that his oldest and most intimate friends 
 never recollected to have seen him in a passion. 
 His manners, though dignified, were simple and un- 
 affected, and his hospitality was so unbounded that 
 all found at his house a ready welcome. In conver- 
 sation he was fluent, eloquent and enthusiastic ; and 
 his language was remarkably pure and correct. He 
 was a finished classical scholar, and in his writings is 
 discernable the care with which he formed his style 
 upon the best models of antiquity.

 
 AMES MADISON, "Father 
 of the Constitution," and fourth 
 President of the United States, 
 was born March 16, 1757, and 
 died at his home in Virginia, 
 ^ June 28, 1836. The name of 
 James Madison is inseparably con- 
 nected with most of the important 
 events in that heroic period of our 
 country during which the founda- 
 tions of this great republic were 
 d. He was the last of the founders 
 
 of the Constitution of the United 
 States to be called to his eternal 
 reward. 
 
 The Madison family were among 
 the early emigrants to the New World, 
 landing upon the shores of the Chesa- 
 peake but 15 years after the settle- 
 ment of Jamestown. The father of 
 James Madison was an opulent 
 planter, residing upon a very fine es- 
 tate called "Montpelier," Orange Co., 
 Va. The mansion was situated in 
 the midst of scenery highly pictur- 
 esque and romantic, on the west side 
 of South-west Mountain, at the foot of 
 Blue Ridge. It was but 25 miles from the home of 
 Jefferson at Monticello. The closest personal and 
 political attachment existed between these illustrious 
 men, from their early youth until death. 
 
 The early education of Mr. Madison was conducted 
 mostly at home under a private tutor. At the age of 
 1 8 he was sent to Princeton College, in New Jersey. 
 Here he applied himself to study with the most im- 
 
 prudent zeal; allowing himself, for months, but three 
 hours' sleep out of the 24. His health thus became so 
 seriously impaired that he never recovered any vigor 
 of constitution. He graduated in 1771, with a feeble 
 body, with a character of utmost purity, and with a 
 mind highly disciplined and richly stored with learning 
 which embellished and gave proficiency to his subse- 
 quent career. 
 
 Returning to Virginia, he commenced the study of 
 law and a course of extensive and systematic reading. 
 This educational course, the spirit of the times in 
 which he lived, and the society with which he asso- 
 ciated, all combined to inspire him with a strong 
 love of liberty, and to train him for his life-work of 
 a statesman. Being naturally of a religious turn of 
 mind, and his frail health leading him to think that 
 his life was not to be long, he directed especial atten- 
 tion to theological studies. Endowed with a mind 
 singularly free from passion and prejudice, and with 
 almost unequalled powers of reasoning, he weighed 
 all the arguments for and against revealed religion, 
 until his faith became so established as never to 
 be shaken. 
 
 In the spring of 1776, when 26 years of age, he 
 was elected a member of the Virginia Convention, to 
 frame the constitution of the State. The next year 
 (1777), he was a candidate for the General Assembly. 
 He refused to treat the whisky-loving voters, and 
 consequently lost his election ; but those who had 
 witnessed the talent, energy and public spirit of the 
 modest young man, enlisted themselves in his behalf, 
 and he was appointed to the Executive Council. 
 
 Both Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson were 
 Governors of Virginia while Mr. Madison remained 
 member of the Council ; and their appreciation of his 
 
 . >/ 
 
 .r - - -_
 
 intellectual, social and moral worth, contributed not 
 a little to his subsequent eminence. In the year 
 1780, he was elected a member of the Continental 
 Congress. Here he met the most illustrious men in 
 our land, and he was immediately assigned to one of 
 the most conspicuous positions among them. 
 
 For three years Mr. Madison continued in Con- 
 gress, one of its most active and influential members. 
 In the year 1784, his term having expired, he was 
 elected a member of the Virginia Legislature. 
 
 No man felt more deeply than Mr. Madison the 
 utter inefficiency of the old confederacy, with no na- 
 tional government, with no power to form treaties 
 which would be binding, or to enforce law. There 
 was not any State more prominent than Virginia in 
 the declaration, that an efficient national government 
 must be formed. In January, 1786, Mr. Madison 
 carried a resolution through the General Assembly of 
 Virginia, inviting the other States to appoint commis- 
 sioners to meet in convention at Annapolis to discuss 
 this subject. Five States only were represented. The 
 convention, however, issued another call, drawn up 
 by Mr. Madison, urging all the States to send their 
 delegates to Philadelphia, in May, 1787, to draft 
 a Constitution for the United States, to take the place 
 of that Confederate League. The delegates met at 
 the time appointed. Every State but Rhode Island 
 was represented. George Washington was chosen 
 president of the convention ; and the present Consti- 
 tution of the United States was then and there formed. 
 There was, perhaps, no mind and no pen more ac- 
 tive in framing this immortal document than the mind 
 and the pen of James Madison. 
 
 The Constitution, adopted by a vote 81 to 79, was 
 to be presented to the several States for acceptance. 
 But grave solicitude was felt. Should it be rejected 
 we should be left but a conglomeration of independent 
 States, with but little power at home and little respect 
 abroad. Mr. Madison was selected by the conven- 
 tion to draw up an address to the people of the United 
 States, expounding the principles of the Constitution, 
 and urging its adoption. There was great opposition 
 to it at first, but it at length triumphed over all, and 
 went into effect in 1789. 
 
 Mr. Madison was elected to the House of Repre- 
 sentatives in the first Congress, and soon became the 
 avowed leader of the Republican party. While in 
 New York attending Congress, he met Mrs. Todd, a 
 young widow of remarkable power of fascination, 
 whom he married. She was in person and character 
 queenly, and probably no lady has thus far occupied 
 so prominent a position in the very peculiar society 
 which has constituted our republican court as Mrs. 
 Madison. 
 
 Mr. Madison served as Secretary of State under 
 Jefferson, and at the close of his administration 
 
 as chosen President. At this time the encroach- 
 ments of England had brought us to the verge of war. 
 
 British orders in council destroyed our commerce, and 
 our flag was exposed to constant insult. Mr. Madison 
 was a man of peace. Scholarly in his taste, retiring 
 in his disposition, war had no charms for him. But the 
 meekest spirit can be roused. It makes one's blood 
 boil, even now, to think of an American ship brought 
 to, upon the ocean, by the guns of an English cruiser. 
 A young lieutenant steps on board and orders the 
 crew to be paraded before him. With great nonchal- 
 ance he selects any number whom he may please to 
 designate as British subjects ; orders them down the 
 ship's side into his boat ; and places them on the gun- 
 deck of his man-of-war, to fight, by compulsion, the 
 battles of England. This right of search and im- 
 pressment, no efforts of our Government could induce 
 the British cabinet to relinquish. 
 
 On the i8th of June, i8r2, President Madison gave 
 his approval to an act of Congress declaring war 
 against Great Britain. Notwithstanding the bitter 
 hostility of the Federal party to the war, the country 
 in general approved; and Mr. Madison, on the 4th 
 of March, i8i3> was re-elected by a large majority, 
 and entered upon his second term of office. This is 
 not the place to describe the various adventures of 
 this war on the land and on the water. Our infant 
 navy then laid the foundations of its renown in grap- 
 pling with the most formidable power which ever 
 swept the seas. The contest commenced in earnest 
 by the appearance of a British fleet, early in February, 
 1813, in Chesapeake Bay, declaring nearly the whole 
 coast of the United States under blockade. 
 
 The Emperor of Russia offered his services as me 
 ditator. America accepted ; England refused. A Brit- 
 ish force of five thousand men landed on the banks 
 of the Patuxet River, near its entrance into Chesa- 
 peake Bay, and marched rapidly, by way of Bladens- 
 burg, upon Washington. 
 
 The straggling little city of Washington was thrown 
 into consternation. The cannon of the brief conflict 
 at Bladensburg echoed through the streets of the 
 metropolis. The whole population fled from the city. 
 The President, leaving Mrs. Madison in the White 
 House, with her carriage drawn up at the door to 
 await his speedy return, hurried to meet the officers 
 in a council of war. He met our troops utterly routed, 
 and he could not go back without danger of being 
 captured. But few hours elapsed ere the Presidential 
 Mansion, the Capitol, and all the public buildings in 
 Washington were in flames. 
 
 The war closed after two years of fighting, and on 
 Feb. 13, 1 8 15, the treaty of peace was signed atGhent. 
 
 On the 4th of March, 1817, his second term of 
 office expired, and he resigned the Presidential chair 
 to his friend, James Monroe. He retired to his beau- 
 tiful home at Montpelier, and there passed the re- 
 mainder of his days. On June 28, 1836, then at the 
 age of 85 years, he fell asleep in death. Mrs. Madi- 
 son died July 12, 1849. 
 
 r 
 
 j -X -:>
 
 TWUBBAW 
 OHK 
 
 nwvEisnv OF LUWBI

 
 AMES MONROE, the fifth 
 Presidentof- The United States, 
 was born in Westmoreland Co., 
 Va., April 28, 1758. His early 
 life was passed at the place of 
 nativity. His ancestors had for 
 many years resided in the prov- 
 ince in which he was born. When, 
 at 17 years of age, in the process 
 of completing his education at 
 William and Mary College, the Co- 
 lonial Congress assembled at Phila- 
 delphia to deliberate upon the un- 
 just .and manifold oppressions of 
 Great Britian, declared the separa- 
 tion of the Colonies, and promul- 
 gated the Declaration of Indepen- 
 dence. Had he been born ten years before it is highly 
 probable that he would have been one of the signers 
 of that celebrated instrument. At this time he left 
 school and enlisted among the patriots. 
 
 He joined the army when everything looked hope- 
 less and gloomy. The number of deserters increased 
 from day to day. The invading armies came pouring 
 in ; and the tones not only favored the cause of the 
 mother country, but disheartened the new recruits, 
 who were sufficiently terrified at the prospect of con- 
 tending with an enemy whom they had been taught 
 to deem invincible. To such brave spirits as James 
 Monroe, who went right onward, undismayed through 
 difficulty and danger, the United States owe their 
 political emancipation. The young cadet joined the 
 ranks, and espoused the cause of his injured country, 
 with a firm determination to live or die with her strife 
 
 for liberty. Firmly yet sadly he shared in the mel- 
 ancholy retreat from Harleam Heights and White 
 Plains, and accompanied the dispirited army as it fled 
 before its foes through New Jersey. In four months 
 after the Declaration of Independence, the patriots 
 had been beaten in seven battles. At the battle of 
 Trenton he led the vanguard, and, in the act of charg- 
 ing upon the enemy he received a wound in the left 
 shoulder. ' 
 
 As a reward for his bravery, Mr. Monroe was pro- 
 moted a captain of infantry ; and, having recovered 
 from his wound, he rejoined the army. He, however, 
 receded from the line of promotion, by becoming an 
 officer in' the staff of Lord Sterling. During the cam- 
 paigns of 1777 and 1*778, in the actions of Brandy- 
 wine, Germantown and Monmouth, he continued 
 aid-de-camp; but becoming desirous to regain his 
 position in the army, he exerted himself to collect a 
 regiment for the Virginia line. This scheme failed 
 owing to the exhausted condition of the State. Upon 
 this failure he entered the office of Mr. Jefferson, at 
 that period Governor, and pursued, with considerable 
 ardor, the study of common law. He did not, however, 
 entirely lay aside the knapsack for the green bag; 
 but on the invasions of the enemy, served as a volun- 
 teer, during the two years of his legal pursuits. 
 
 In 1782, he was elected from King George county, 
 a member of the Leglislature of Virginia, and by that 
 body he was elevated to a seat in the Executive 
 Council. He was thus honored with the confidence 
 of his fellow citizens at 23 years of age ; and having 
 at this early period displayed some of that ability 
 and aptitude for legislation, which were afterward 
 employed with unremitting energy for the public good, 
 
 -*& 
 
 ^
 
 
 JAMES MONROE. 
 
 @l 
 
 j 
 
 \\ 
 
 (S> 
 
 * r 
 
 he was in the succeeding year chosen a member of 
 the Congress of the U.nited' States. 
 Deeply as Mr. Monroe felt the imperfections of the old 
 Confederacy, he was opposed to the new Constitution, 
 thinking, with many others of the Republican party, 
 that it gave too much power to the Central Government, 
 and not enough to the individual States. Still he re- 
 tained the esteem of his friends who were its warm 
 supporters, and who, notwithstanding his opposition 
 secured its adoption. In 1789, he became a member 
 of the United States Senate; which office he held for 
 four years. Every month the line of distinction be- 
 tween the two great parties which divided the nation, 
 the Federal and the Republican, was growing more 
 distinct. The two prominent ideas which now sep- 
 arated them were, that the Republican party was in 
 sympathy with France, and also in favor of such a 
 strict construction of the Constitution as to give the 
 Central Government as little power, and the State 
 Governments as much power, as the Constitution would 
 warrant. The Federalists sympathized with England, 
 and were in favor of a liberal construction of the Con- 
 stitution, which would give as much power to the 
 Central Government as that document could possibly 
 authorize. 
 
 The leading Federalists and Republicans were 
 alike noble men, consecrating all their energies to the 
 good of the nation. Two more honest men or more 
 pure patriots than John Adams the Federalist, and 
 James Monroe the Republican, never breathed. In 
 building up this majestic nation, which is destined 
 to eclipse all Grecian and Assyrian greatness, the com- 
 bination of their antagonism was needed to create the 
 right equilibrium. And yet each in his day was de- 
 nounced as almost a demon. 
 
 Washington was then President. England had es- 
 poused the cause of the Bourbons against the princi- 
 ples of the French Revolution. All Europe was drawn 
 into the conflict. We were feeble and far away. 
 Washington issued a proclamation of neutrality be- 
 tween these contending powers. France had helped 
 us in the struggle for our liberties. All the despotisms 
 of Europe were now combined to prevent the French 
 from escaping from a tyranny a thousand-fold worse 
 than that which we had endured. Col. Monroe, more 
 magnanimous than prudent, was anxious that, at 
 whatever hazard, we should help our old allies in 
 their extremity. It was the impulse of a generous 
 and noble nature. He violently opposed the Pres- 
 ident's proclamation as ungrateful and wanting in 
 magnanimity. 
 
 Washington, who could appreciate such a character, 
 developed his calm, serene, almost divine greatness, 
 by appointing that very James Monroe, who was de- 
 nouncing the policy of the Government, as the minister 
 of that Government to the Republic of France. Mr. 
 Monroe was welcomed by the National Convention 
 in France with the most enthusiastic demonstrations. 
 
 
 
 Shortly after his return to this country, Mr. Mon 
 roe was elected Governor of Virginia, and held the 
 office for three years. He was again sent to France to 
 co-operate with Chancellor Livingston in obtaining 
 the vast territory then known as the Province of 
 Louisiana, which France had but shortly before ob- 
 tained from Spain. Their united efforts were suc- 
 cessful. For the comparatively small sum of fifteen 
 millions of dollars, the entire territory of Orleans and 
 district of Louisiana were added to the United States. 
 This was probably the largest transfer of real estate 
 which was ever made in all the history of the world. 
 
 From France Mr. Monroe went to England to ob- 
 tain from that country some recognition of our 
 rights as neutrals, and to remonstrate against those 
 odious impressments of our seamen. But Eng- 
 land was unrelenting. He again returned to Eng- 
 land on the same mission, but could receive no 
 redress. He returned to his home and was again 
 chosen Governor of Virginia. This he soon resigned 
 to accept the position of Secretary of State under 
 Madison. While in this office war with England was 
 declared, the Secretary of War resigned, and during 
 these trying times, the duties of the War Department 
 were also put upon him. He was truly the armor- 
 bearer of President Madison, and the most efficient 
 business man in his cabinet. Upon the return of 
 peace he resigned the Department of War, but con- 
 tinued in the office of Secretary of State until the ex- 
 piration of Mr. Madison's adminstration'. At the elec- 
 tion held the previous autumn Mr. Monroe himself had 
 been chosen President with but little opposition, and 
 upon March 4, 1817, was inaugurated. Four years 
 later he was elected for a second term. 
 
 Among the important measures of his Presidency 
 were the cession of Florida to the United States; the 
 Missouri Compromise, and the " Monroe doctrine."' 
 
 This famous doctrine, since known as the "Monroe 
 doctrine," was enunciated by him in 1823. At that 
 time the United States had recognized the independ- 
 ence of the South American states, and did not wish 
 to have European powers longer attempting to sub- 
 due portions of the American Continent. The doctrine 
 is as follows: "That we should consider any attempt 
 on the part of European powers to extend their sys- 
 tem to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous 
 to our peace and safety," and "that we could not 
 view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing 
 or controlling American governments or provinces in 
 any other light than as a manifestation by European 
 powers of an unfriendly disposition toward the United 
 States." This doctrine immediately affected the course 
 of foreign governments, and has become the approved 
 sentiment of the United States. 
 
 At the end of his second term Mr. Monroe retired 
 to his home in Virginia, where he lived until 1830, 
 when he went to New York to live with his son-in- 
 law, In that city he died,on the 4th of July, 1831, 
 
 ^ ^^^ ^^
 
 THFUIBW 
 
 wm 
 
 iuQn
 
 J, SL.
 
 OHN QUINCY ADAMS, the 
 sixth President of the United 
 States, was born in the rural 
 home of his honored father, 
 John Adams, in Quincy, Mass., 
 on the 1 1 th cf July, 1767. His 
 mother, a woman of exalted 
 orth, watched over his childhood 
 during the almost constant ab- 
 sence of his father. When but 
 eight years of age, he stood with 
 his mother on an eminence, listen- 
 ing to the booming of the great bat- 
 tle on Bunker's Hill, and gazing on 
 upon the smoke and flames billow- 
 ing up from the conflagration of 
 Charlestown. 
 
 When but eleven years old he 
 took a tearful adieu of his mother, 
 to sail with his father for Europe, 
 through a fleet of hostile British cruisers. The bright, 
 animated boy spent a year and a half in Paris, where 
 his father was associated with Franklin and Lee as 
 minister plenipotentiary. His intelligence attracted 
 the notice of these distinguished men, and he received 
 from them flattering marks of attention. 
 
 Mr. John Adams had scarcely returned to this 
 country, in 1779, ere he was again sent abroad. Again 
 John Quincy accompanied his father. At Paris he 
 applied himself with great diligence, for six months, 
 to study; then accom pained his father to Holland, 
 where he entered, first a school in Amsterdam, then 
 the University at Leyden. A'bout a year from this 
 time, in 1781, when the manly boy was but fourteen 
 years of age, he was selected by Mr. Dana, our min- 
 ister to the Russian court, as his private secretary. 
 
 In this school of incessant labor and of enobling 
 culture he spent fourteen months, and then returned 
 to Holland through Sweden, Denmark, Hamburg and 
 Bremen. This long journey he took alone, in the 
 winter, when in his sixteenth year. Again he resumed 
 his studies, under a private tutor, at Hague. Thence, 
 
 in the spring of 1782, he accompanied his father to 
 Paris, traveling leisurely, and forming acquaintance 
 with the most distinguished men on the Continent; 
 examining architectural remains, galleries of paintings, 
 and all renowned works of art. At Paris he again 
 became associated with the most illustrious men of 
 all lands in the contemplations of the loftiest temporal 
 themes which can engross the human mind. After 
 a short visit to England he returned to Paris, and 
 consecrated all his energies to study until May, 1785, 
 when he returned to America. To a brilliant young 
 man of eighteen, who had seen much of the world, 
 and who was familiar with the etiquette of courts, a 
 residence with his father in London, under such cir- 
 cumstances, must have been extremely attractive; 
 but with judgment very rare in one of his age, he pre- 
 ferred to return to America to complete his education 
 in an American college. He wished then to study 
 law, that with an honorable profession, he might be 
 able to obtain an independent support. 
 
 Upon leaving Harvard College, at the age of twenty, 
 he studied law for three years. In June, ^94, be- 
 ing then but twenty-seven years of age, he was ap- 
 pointed by Washington, resident minister at the 
 Netherlands. Sailing from Boston in July, he reached 
 London in October, where he was immediately admit- 
 ted to the deliberations of Messrs. Jay and Pinckney, 
 assisting them in negotiating a commercial treaty with 
 Great Britian. After thus spending a fortnight in 
 London, he proceeded to the Hague. 
 
 In July, 1797, he left the Hague to go to Portugal as 
 minister plenipotentiary. On his way to Portugal, 
 upon arriving in London, he met with despatches 
 directing him to the court of Berlin, but requesting 
 him to remain in London until he should receive, his 
 instructions. While waiting he was married to an 
 American lady to whom he had been previously en- 
 gaged, Miss Louisa Catherine Johnson, daughter 
 of Mr. Joshua Johnson, American consul in London ; 
 a lady endownd with that beauty and those accom- 
 plishment which eminently fitted her to move in the 
 elevated sphere for which she was destined. 
 
 S-;
 
 
 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 
 
 He reached Berlin with his wife in November, 1797 ; 
 where he remained until July, 1799, when, having ful- 
 filled all the purposes of his mission, he solicited his 
 recall. 
 
 Soon after his return, in 1802, he was chosen to 
 the Senate of Massachusetts, from Boston, and then 
 was elected Senator of the United States for six years, 
 from the 4th of March, 1804. His reputation, his 
 ability and his experience, placed him immediately 
 among the most prominent and influential members 
 of that body. Especially did he sustain the Govern- 
 ment in its measures of resistance to the encroach- 
 ments of England, destroying our commerce and in- 
 sulting our flag. There was no man in America more 
 familiar with the arrogance of the British court upon 
 these points, and no one more resolved to present 
 a firm resistance. 
 
 In 1809, Madison succeeded Jefferson in the Pres- 
 idential chair, and he immediately nominated John 
 Quincy Adams minister to St. Petersburg. Resign- 
 ing his professorship in Harvard College, he embarked 
 at Boston, in August, 1809. 
 
 While in Russia, Mr. Adams was an intense stu- 
 dent. He devoted his attention to the language and 
 history of Russia; to the Chinese trade; to the 
 European system of weights, measures, and coins ; to 
 the climate and astronomical observations ; while he 
 kept up a familiar acquaintance with the Greek and 
 Latin classics. In all the universities of Europe, a 
 more accomplished scholar could scarcely be found. 
 All through life the Bible constituted an important 
 part of his studies. It was his rule to read five 
 chapters every day. 
 
 On the 4th of March, 1817, Mr. Monroe took the 
 Presidential chair, and immediately appointed Mr. 
 Adams Secretary of State. Taking leave of his num- 
 erous friends in public and private life in Europe, he 
 sailed in June, 1819, for the United States. On the 
 1 8th of August, he again crossed the threshold of his 
 home in Quincy. During the eight years of Mr. Mon- 
 roe's administration, Mr. Adams continued Secretary 
 of State. 
 
 Some time before the close of Mr. Monroe's second 
 term of office, new candidates began to be presented 
 for the Presidency. The friends of Mr. Adams brought 
 forward his name. It was an exciting campaign. 
 Party spirit was never more bitter. Two hundred and 
 sixty electoral votes were cast. Andrew Jackson re- 
 ceived ninety-nine; John Quincy Adams, eighty-four; 
 William H. Crawford, forty -one ; Henry Clay, thirty- 
 seven. As there was no choice by the people, the 
 question went to the House of Representatives. Mr. 
 Clay gave the vote of Kentucky to Mr. Adams, and 
 he was elected. 
 
 The friends of all the disappointed candidates now 
 combined in a venomous and persistent assault upon 
 Mr. Adams. There is nothing more disgraceful in 
 the past history of our country than the abuse which 
 
 was poured in one uninterrupted stream, upon this 
 high-minded, upright, patriotic man. There never was 
 an administration more pure in principles, more con- 
 scientiously devoted to the best interests of the coun- , 
 try, than that of John Quincy Adams ; and never, per- 
 haps, was there an administration more unscrupu- if 
 lously and outrageously assailed. 
 
 Mr. Adams was, to a very remarkable degree, ab- 
 stemious and temperate in his habits; always rising 
 early, and taking much exercise. When at his home in 
 Quincy, he has been known to walk, before breakfast, 
 seven miles to Boston. In Washington, it was said 
 that he was the first man up in the city, lighting his 
 own fire and applying himself to work in his library 
 often long before dawn. 
 
 On the 4th of March, 1829, Mr. Adams retired 
 from the Presidency, and was succeeded by Andrew 
 Jackson. John C. Calhoun was elected Vice Presi- 
 dent. The slavery question now began to assume 
 portentous magnitude. Mr. Adams returned to 
 Quincy and to his studies, which he pursued with un- 
 abated zeal. But he was not long permitted to re- 
 main in retirement. In November, 1830, he was 
 elected representative to Congress. For seventeen 
 years, until his death, he occupied the post as repre- 
 sentative, towering above all his peers, ever ready to 
 do brave battle' for freedom, and winning the title of 
 "the old man eloquent." Upon taking his seat in 
 the House, he announced that he should hold him- 
 self bound to no party. Probably there never was a 
 member more devoted to his duties. He was usually 
 the first in his place in the morning, and the last to 
 leave his seat in the evening. Not a measure could 
 be brought forward and escape his scrutiny. The 
 battle which Mr. Adams fought, almost singly, against 
 the proslavery party in the Government, was sublime 
 in its moral daring and heroism. For persisting in 
 presenting petitions for the abolition of slavery, he 
 was threatened with indictment by the grand .jury, 
 with expulsion from the House, with assassination ; 
 but no threats could intimidate him, and his final 
 triumph was complete. 
 
 It has been said of President Adams, that when his- 
 body was bent and his hair silvered by the lapse of 
 fourscore years, yielding to the simple faith of a little 
 child, he was accustomed to repeat every night, before 
 he slept, the prayer which his mother taught him in 
 his infant years. 
 
 On the 2ist of February, 1848, he rose on the floor 
 of Congress, with a paper in his hand, to address the 
 speaker. Suddenly he fell, again stricken by paraly- 
 sis, and was caught in the arms of those around him. 
 For a time he was senseless, as he was conveyed to 
 the sofa in the rotunda. With reviving conscious- 
 ness, he opened his eyes, looked calmly around and & 
 said " This is the end of earth /'then after a moment's * 
 pause he added, "7 am content'' These were the } 
 last words of the grand "Old Man Eloquent." ^
 
 OF IKE 
 
 IMrVEftSITY OF (LIMNS

 
 v) 
 
 NDREW JACKSON, the 
 seventh President of the 
 'United States, was born in 
 Waxhaw settlement, N. 0., 
 March 15, 1767, a. few days 
 after his father's death. His 
 parents were poor emigrants 
 from Ireland, and took up 
 their abode in Waxhaw set- 
 tlement, where they lived in 
 deepest poverty. 
 Andrew, or Andy, as he was 
 universally called, grew up a very 
 rough, rude, turbulent boy. His 
 features were coarse, his form un- 
 gainly; and there was but very 
 little in his character, made visible, which was at- 
 tractive. 
 
 When only thirteen years old he joined the volun- 
 teers of Carolina against the British invasion. In 
 1781, he and his brother Robert were captured and 
 imprisoned for a time at Camden. A British officer 
 ordered him to brush his mud-spattered boots. " I am 
 a prisoner of war, not your servant," was the reply of 
 the dauntless boy. 
 
 The brute drew his sword, and aimed a desperate 
 blow at the head of the helpless young prisoner. 
 Andrew raised his hand, and thus received two fear- 
 ful gashes, one on the hand and the other upon the 
 head. The officer then turned to his brother Robert 
 with the same demand. He also refused, and re- 
 ceived a blow from the keen-edged sabre, which quite 
 disabled him, and which probably soon after caused 
 his death. They suffered much other ill-treatment, and 
 were finally stricken with the small-pox. Their 
 mother was successful in obtaining their exchange, 
 
 
 and took her sick boys home. After a long illness 
 Andrew recovered, and the death of his mother soon 
 left him entirely friendless. 
 
 Andrew supported himself in various ways, such as 
 working at the saddler's trade, teaching school and 
 clerking in a general store, until 1784, when he 
 entered a law office at Salisbury, N. C. He, however, 
 gave more attention to the wild amusements of the 
 times than to his studies. In 1788, he was appointed 
 solicitor for the western district of North Carolina, of 
 which Tennessee was then a part. This involved 
 many long and tedious journeys amid dangers of 
 every kind, but Andrew Jackson never knew fear, 
 and the Indians had no desire to repeat a skirmish 
 with the Sharp Knife. 
 
 In 1791,- Mr. Jackson was married to a woman who 
 supposed herself divorced from her former husband. 
 Great was the surprise of both parties, two years later, 
 to find that the conditions of the divorce had just been 
 definitely settled by the first husband. The marriage 
 ceremony was performed a second time, but the occur- 
 rence was often used by his enemies to bring Mr. 
 Jackson into disfavor. 
 
 During these years he worked hard at his profes- 
 sion, and frequently had one or more duels on hand, 
 one of which, when he killed Dickenson, was espec- 
 ially disgraceful. 
 
 In January, 1796, the Territory of Tennessee then 
 containing nearly eighty thousand inhabitants, the 
 people met in convention at Knoxville to frame a con- 
 stitution. Five were sent from each of the eleven 
 counties. Andrew Jackson was one of the delegates. 
 The new State was entitled to but one member in 
 the National House of Representatives. Andrew Jack- 
 son was chosen that member. Mounting his horse he 
 rode to Philedelphia, where Congress then held its 
 
 ^ ^^^ -&e@.
 
 -v. - 
 
 
 ANDRE W JA CKSON. 
 
 ferred upon him. Just at that time Gen. Jacks 
 offered his services and those of twenty-five hund: 
 
 Xf sessions, a distance of about eight hundred miles. 
 f, j? Jackson was an earnest advocate of the Demo- 
 i cratic party. Jefferson was his idol. He admired 
 anaparte, loved France and hated England. As Mr. 
 Jackson took his seat, Gen. Washington, whose 
 (Second term of office was then expiring, delivered his 
 last speech to Congress. A committee drew up a 
 complimentary address in reply. Andrew Jackson 
 did not approve of the address, and was one of the 
 twelve who voted against it. He was not willing to 
 say that Gen. Washington's adminstration had been 
 " wise, firm and patriotic." 
 
 - Mr. Jackson was elected to the United States 
 /K Senate in 1797, but soon resigned and returned home. 
 <^ Soon after he was chosen Judge of the Supreme Court 
 \ of his State, which position he held for six years. 
 
 When the war of 1812 with Great Britian com- 
 menced, Madison occupied the Presidential chair. 
 Aaron Burr sent word to the President that there was 
 an unknown man in the West, Andrew Jackson, who 
 vould do credit to a commission if one were con- 
 
 kson 
 
 ty-nve hundred 
 
 volunteers. His offer was accepted, and the troops 
 were assembled at Nashville. 
 ! As the British were hourly expected to make an at- 
 Q tack upon New Orleans, where Gen. Wilkinson was 
 Vft in command, he was ordered to descend the river 
 ^4- with fifteen hundred troops to aid Wilkinson. The 
 ^? expedition reached Natchez ; and after a delay of sev- 
 " ' eral weeks there, without accomplishing anything, 
 the men were ordered back to their homes. But the 
 energy Gen. Jackson had displayed, and his entire 
 devotion to the comrfort of his soldiers, won him 
 golden opinions; and he became the most popular 
 man in the State. It was in this expedition that his 
 toughness gave him the nickname of " Old Hickory." 
 Soon after this, while attempting to horsewhip Col. 
 Thomas H. Benton, for a remark that gentleman 
 I made about his taking a part as second in a duel, in 
 /f which a younger brother of Benton's was engaged, 
 3|5 he received two severe pistol wounds. While he was 
 ^ lingering upon a bed of suffering news came that the 
 Indians, who had combined under Tecumseh from 
 Florida to the Lakes, to exterminate the white set- 
 tlers, were committing the most awful ravages. De- 
 cisive action became necessary. Gen. Jackson, with 
 his fractured bone just beginning to heal, his arm in 
 a sling, and unable to mount his horse without assis- 
 tance, gave his amazing energies to the raising of an 
 army to rendezvous at Fayettesville, Alabama. 
 
 The Creek Indians had established a strong fort on 
 one of the bends of the Tallapoosa River, near the cen- 
 ter of Alabama, about fifty miles below Fort Strother. 
 With an army of two thousand men, Gen. Jackson 
 ' traversed the pathless wilderness in a march of eleven 
 days. He reached their fort, called Tohopeka or 
 Horse-shoe, on the 27th of March. 1814, The bend 
 
 of the river enclosed nearly one hundred acres of 
 tangled forest and wild ravine. Across the narrow 
 neck the Indians had constructed a formidable breast- 
 work of logs and brush. Here nine hundred warriors, 
 with an ample suply of arms were assembled. 
 
 The fort was stormed. The fight was utterly des- 
 perate. Not an Indian would accept of quarter. When 
 bleeding and dying, they would fight those who en- 
 deavored to spare their lives. From ten in the morn- 
 ing until dark, the battle raged. The carnage was 
 awful and revolting. Some threw themselves into the 
 river; but the unerring bullet struck their heads as 
 they swam. Nearly everyone of the nine hundred war- 
 rios were killed A few probably, in the night, swam 
 the river and escaped. This ended the war. The 
 power of the Creeks was broken forever. This bold 
 plunge into the wilderness, with its terrifric slaughter, 
 so appalled the savages, that the haggard remnants 
 of the bands came to the camp, begging for peace. 
 
 This closing of the Creek war enabled us to con- 
 centrate all our militia upon the British, who were the 
 allies of the Indians No man of less resolute will 
 than Gen. Jackson could have conducted this Indian 
 campaign to so successful an issue Immediately he 
 was appointed major-genCral. 
 
 Late in August, with an army of two thousand 
 men, on a rushing march, Gen. Jackson came to 
 Mobile. A British fleet came from Pensacola, landed 
 a force upon the beach, anchored near the little fort, 
 and from both ship and shore commenced a furious 
 assault. The battle was long and doubtful. At length 
 one of the ships was blown up and the rest retired. 
 
 Garrisoning Mobile, where he had taken his little 
 army, he moved his troops to New Orleans, 
 And the battle of New Orleans which soon ensued, 
 was in reality a very arduous campaign. This won 
 for Gen. Jackson an imperishable name. Here his 
 troops, which numbered about four thousand men, 
 won a signal victory over the British army of about 
 nine thousand. His loss was but thirteen, while the 
 loss of the British was two thousand six hundred. 
 
 The name of Gen. Jackson soon began to be men- 
 tioned in connection with the Presidency, but, in 1824, 
 he was defeated by Mr. Adams^ He was, however, 
 successful in the election of r828, and was re-elected 
 for a second term in 1832. In 1829, just before he 
 assumed the reins of the government, he met with 
 the most terrible affliction of his life in the death of 
 his wife, whom he had loved with a devotion which has 
 perhaps never been surpassed. From the shock of 
 her death he never recovered. 
 
 His administration was one of the most memorable 
 in the annals of our country; applauded by one party, 
 condemned by the other. No man had more bitter 
 enemies or warmer friends. At the expiration of his 
 two terms of office he retired to the Hermitage, where 
 he died June 8, 1845. The last years of Mr. Jack- 
 son's life were that of a devoted Christian man.
 
 Hu*
 

 
 ^ 
 
 ARTIN VAN BUREN, the 
 eighth President of the 
 United States, was born at 
 Kinderhook, N. Y., Dec. 5, 
 1782. _ He died at the same 
 place, July 24, 1862. His 
 body rests in the cemetery 
 at Kinderhook. Above it is 
 a plain granite shaft fifteen feet 
 high, bearing a simple inscription 
 about half way up on one face. 
 The lot is unfenced, unbordered 
 or unbounded by shrub or flower. 
 
 There is but little in the life of Martin Van Buren 
 of romantic interest. He fought no battles, engaged 
 in no wild adventures. Though his life was stormy in 
 political and intellectual conflicts, and he gained many 
 signal victories, his days passed uneventful in those 
 incidents which give zest to biography. His an- 
 cestors, as his name indicates, were of Dutch origin, 
 and were among the earliest emigrants from Holland 
 to the banks of the Hudson. His father was a fanner, 
 residing in the old town of Kinderhook. His mother, 
 also of Dutch lineage, was a woman of superior intel- 
 ligence and exemplary piety. 
 
 He was decidedly a precocious boy, developing un- 
 usual activity, vigor and strength of mind. At the 
 age of fourteen, he had'finished his academic studies 
 in his native village, and commenced the study of 
 law. As he had not a collegiate education, seven 
 years of study in a law-office were required of him 
 before he could be admitted to the bar. Inspired with 
 a lofty ambition, and conscious of his powers, he pur- 
 sued his studies with indefatigable industry. After 
 spending six years in an office in his native village, 
 
 > 
 
 he went to the city of New York, and prosecuted his 
 studies for the seventh year. 
 
 In 1803, Mr. Van Buren, then twenty-one years of 
 age, commenced the practice of law in his native vil- 
 lage. The great conflict between the Federal and 
 Republican party was then at its height. Mr. Van 
 Buren was from the beginning a politician. He had, . 
 perhaps, imbibed that spirit while listening to the * 
 many discussions which had been carried on in his * 
 father's hotel. He was in cordial sympathy with * 
 Jefferson, and earnestly and eloquently espoused the * 
 cause of State Rights ; though at that time the Fed- 
 eral party held the supremacy both in his town 
 and State. 
 
 His success and increasing ruputation led him, 
 after six years of practice, to remove to Hudson, the 
 county seat of his county. Here he spent seven years, 
 constantly gaining strength by contending in the 
 c6urts with some of the ablest men who have adorned 
 the bar of his State. 
 
 Just before leaving Kinderhook for Hudson, Mr. jf 
 Van Buren married a lady alike distinguished for 
 beauty and accomplishments. After twelve short 
 years she sank into the grave, the victim of consump- 
 tion, leaving her husband and four sons to weep over 
 her loss. For twenty-five years, Mr. Van Buren was 
 an earnest, successful, assiduous lawyer. The record 
 of those years is barren in items of public interest. 
 In r8i 2, when thirty years of age, he was chosen to 
 the State Senate, and gave his strenuous support to 
 Mr. Madison's adminstration. In 1815, he was ap- 
 pointed Attorney-General, and the next year moved 
 to Albany, the capital of the State. <*1V 
 
 While he was acknowledged as one of the most 
 prominent leaders of the Democratic party, he had
 
 VSUU.& 
 
 
 MARTIN VAN BUREN. 
 
 the moral courage to avow that true democracy did 
 not require that " universal suffrage " which admits 
 the vile, the degraded, the ignorant, to the right of 
 governing the State. In true consistency with his 
 democratic principles, he contended that, while the 
 path leading to the privilege of voting should be open 
 to every man without distinction, no one should be 
 invested with that sacred prerogative, unless he were 
 in some degree qualified for it by intelligence, virtue 
 and some property interests in the welfare of the 
 State. 
 
 In 1821 he was elected a member of the United 
 States Senate; and in the same year, he took a seat 
 in the convention to revise the constitution of his 
 native State. His course in this convention secured 
 the approval of men of all parties. No one could 
 doubt the singleness of his endeavors to promote the 
 interests of all classes in the community. In the 
 Senate of the United States, he rose at once to a 
 conspicuous position as an active and useful legislator. 
 
 In 1827, John Quincy Adams being then in the 
 Presidential chair, Mr. Van Buren was re-elected to 
 the Senate. He had been from the beginning a de- 
 termined opposer of the Administration, adopting the 
 "State Rights" view in opposition to what was 
 deemed the Federal proclivities of Mr. Adams. 
 
 Soon after this, in 1828, he was chosen Governorof 
 the State of New York, and accordingly resigned his 
 seat in the Senate. Probably no one in the United 
 States contributed so much towards ejecting John Q. 
 Adams from the Presidential chair, and placing in it 
 Andrew Jackson, as did Martin Van Buren. Whether 
 entitled to the reputation or not, he certainly was re- 
 garded throughout the United States as one of the 
 most skillful, sagacious and cunning of politicians. 
 It was supposed that no one knew so well as he how 
 to touch the secret springs of action; how to pull all 
 the wires to put his machinery in motion ; and how to 
 organize a political army which would, secretly and 
 stealthily accomplish the most gigantic results. By 
 these powers it is said that he outwitted Mr. Adams, 
 Mr. Clay, Mr. Webster, and secured results which 
 few thought then could be accomplished. 
 
 When Andrew Jackson was elected President he 
 appointed Mr. Van Buren Secretary of State. This 
 position he resigned in 1831, and was immediately 
 .ppointed Minister to England, where he went the 
 same autumn. The Senate, however, when it met, 
 refused to ratify the nomination, and he returnee} 
 
 home, apparently untroubled ; was nominated Vice 
 President in the place of Calhoun, at the re-election 
 of President Jackson ; and with smiles for all and 
 frowns for none, he took his place at the head of that 
 Senate which had refused to confirm his nomination 
 as ambassador. 
 
 His rejection by the Senate roused all the zeal of 
 President Jackson in behalf of his repudiated favor- 
 ite ; and this, probably more than any other cause, 
 secured his elevation to the chair of the Chief Execu- 
 tive. On the 2oth of May, 1836, Mr. Van Buren re- 
 ceived the Democratic nomination to succeed Gen. 
 Jackson as President of the United States. He was 
 elected by a handsome majority, to the delight of the 
 retiring President. " Leaving New York out of the 
 canvass," says Mr. Parton, "the election of Mr. Van 
 Buren to the Presidency was as much the act of Gen. 
 Jackson as though the Constitution had conferred 
 upon him the power to appoint a successor." 
 
 His administration was filled .with exciting events. 
 The insurrection in Canada, which threatened to in- 
 volve this country in war with England, the agitation 
 of the slavery question, and finally the great commer- 
 cial panic which spread over the country, all were 
 trials to his wisdom. The financial distress was at- 
 tributed to the management of the Democratic party, 
 and brought the President into such disfavor that he 
 failed of re-election. 
 
 With the exception of being nominated for the 
 Presidency by the "-Free Soil" Democrats, in 1848, 
 Mr. Van Buren lived quietly upon his estate until 
 his death. 
 
 He had ever been a prudent man, of frugal habits, 
 and living within his income, had now fortunately a 
 competence for his declining years. His unblemished 
 character, his commanding abilities, his unquestioned 
 patriotism, and the distinguished positions which he 
 had occupied in the government of our country, se- 
 cured to him not only the homage of his party, but 
 the respect ot the whole community. It was on the 
 4th of March, 1841, that Mr. Van Buren retired from 
 the presidency. From his fine estate at Lindenwald, 
 he still exerted a powerful influence upon the politics 
 of the country. From this time until his death, on 
 the 24th of July, 1862, at the age of eighty years, he 
 resided at Lindenwald, a gentleman of leisure, of 
 culture and of wealth; enjoying in a healthy old 
 age, probably far more happiness than he had before 
 experienced amitf the stormy scenes of his active life.
 

 
 WILLIAM, HBXKT flAKKISOX 
 
 ILLIAM HENRY HARRI- 
 SON, the ninth President of 
 the United States, was born 
 at Berkeley, Va.., Feb. 9, 1773. 
 His father, Benjamin Harri- 
 son, was in comparatively op- 
 ulent circumstances, and was 
 one of the most distinguished 
 men of his day. He was an 
 intimate friend of George 
 Washington, vs as early elected 
 a member of the Continental 
 Congress, and was conspicuous 
 among the patriots of Virginia in 
 resisting the encroachments of the 
 British crown. In the celebrated 
 Congress of 1775, Benjamin Har- 
 rison and John Hancock were 
 both candidates for the office of 
 speaker. 
 
 Mr Harrison was subsequently 
 chosen Governor of Virginia, and 
 was twice re-elected. His son, 
 I William Henry, of course enjoyed 
 in childhood all the advantages which wealth and 
 intellectual and cultivated society could gire. Hav- 
 ing received a thorough common-school education, he 
 entered Hampden Sidney College, where he graduated 
 with honor soon after the death of his father. He 
 then repaired to Philadelphia to study medicine under 
 the instructions of Dr. Rush and the guardianship of 
 Robert Morris, both of whom were, with his father, 
 signers of the Declaration of Independence. 
 
 Upon the outbreak of the Indian troubles, and not- 
 withstanding the remonstrances of his friends, he 
 abandoned his medical studies and entered the army, 
 having obtained a commission of Ensign from Presi- 
 
 dent Washington. He was then but 19 years old. 
 From that time he passed gradually upward in rank 
 until he became aid to General Wayne, after whose 
 death he resigned his commission. He was then ap- 
 pointed Secretary of the North-western Territory. This 
 Territory was then entitled to but one member in 
 Congress and Capt. Harrison was chosen to fill that 
 position. 
 
 In the spring of r8oo the North-western Territory 
 was divided by Congress into two portions. The 
 eastern portion, comprising the region now embraced 
 in the State of Ohio, was called " The Territory 
 north-west of the Ohio." The western portion, which 
 included what is now called Indiana, Illinois and 
 Wisconsin, was called the "Indiana Territory." Wil- 
 liam Henry Harrison, then 27 years of age, was ap- 
 pointed by John Adams, Governor of the Indiana 
 Territory, and immediately after, also Governor of 
 Upper Louisiana. He was thus ruler over almost as 
 extensive a realm as any sovereign upon the globe. He 
 was Superintendent of Indian Affairs, and was in- 
 vested with powers nearly dictatorial over the now 
 rapidly increasing white population. The ability and 
 fidelity with which he discharged these responsible 
 duties may be inferred from the fact that he was four 
 times appointed to this office first by John Adams, 
 twice by Thomas Jefferson and afterwards by Presi- 
 dent Madison. 
 
 When he began his adminstration there were but 
 three white settlements in that almost boundless region, 
 now crowded with cities and resounding with all the 
 tumult of wealth and traffic. One of these settlements 
 was on the Ohio, nearly opposite Louisville ; one at 
 Vincennes, on the Wabash, and the third a French 
 settlement. 
 
 The vast wilderness over which Gov. Harrison 
 reigned was filled with many tribes of Indians. About 
 
 o
 
 WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 
 
 i 
 
 Q 
 I 
 V 
 
 the year 1806, two extraordinary men, twin brothers, 
 of the Shawnese tribe, rose among them. One of 
 these was called Tecumseh, or " The Crouching 
 Panther;" the other, Olliwacheca, or " The Prophet." 
 Tecumseh was not only an Indian warrior, but a man 
 of great sagacity, far-reaching foresight and indomit- 
 able perseverance in any enterprise in which he might 
 engage. He was inspired with the highest enthusiasm, 
 and had long regarded with dread and with hatred 
 the encroachment of the whites upon the hunting- 
 grounds of his fathers. His brother, the Prophet, was 
 anorator, who could sway the feelings of the untutored 
 Indian as the gale tossed the tree-tops beneath which 
 they dwelt. 
 
 But the Prophet was not merely an orator : he was, 
 in the superstitious minds of the Indians, invested 
 with the superhuman dignity of a medicine-man or a 
 magician. With an enthusiasm unsurpassed by Peter 
 the Hermit rousing Europe to the crusades, he went 
 from tribe to tribe, assuming that he was specially sent 
 by the Great Spirit. 
 
 Gov. Harrison made.many attempts to conciliate 
 the Indians, but at last the war came, and at Tippe- 
 canoe the Indians were routed with great slaughter. 
 October 28, 1812, his army began its inarch. When 
 near the Prophet's town three Indians of rank made 
 their appearance and inquired why Gov. Harrison was 
 approaching them in so hostile an attitude. After a 
 short conference, arrangements were made for a meet- 
 ing the next day, to agree upon terms of peace. 
 
 But Gov. Harrison was too well acquainted with 
 the Indian character to be deceived by such protes- 
 tations. Selecting a favorable spot for his night's en- 
 campment, he took every precaution against surprise. 
 His troops were posted in a hollow square, and slept 
 upon their arms. 
 
 The troops threw themselves upon the ground for 
 rest; but every man had his accourtrements on, his 
 loaded musket by his side, and his bayonet fixed. The 
 wakeful Governor, between three and four o'clock in 
 the morning, had risen, and was sitting in conversa- 
 tion with his aids by the embers of a waning fire. It 
 was a chill, cloudy morning with a drizzling rain. In 
 the darkness, the Indians had crept as near as possi- 
 ble, and just then, with a savage yell, rushed, with all 
 the desperation which superstition and passion most 
 highly inflamed could give, upon the left flank of the 
 little army. The savages had been amply provided 
 with gun- nd ammunition by the English. Their 
 war-whoo^ .vas accompainM by a shower of bullets. 
 
 The camp-fires were instantly extinguished, as the 
 light aided the Indians in their aim. With hide- 
 ous yells, the Indian bands rushed on, not doubting a 
 speedy and an entire victory. But Gen. Harrison's 
 troops stood as immovable as the rocks around them 
 until day dawned : they then made a simultaneous 
 charge with the bayonet, and swept every thing be- 
 fore them, and completely routing the foe. 
 
 ^0* & 
 
 Gov. Harrison now had all his energies tasked 
 to the utmost. The British descending from the Can. 
 adas, were of themselves a very formidable force ; but 
 with their savage allies, rushing like wolves from the 
 forest, searching out every remote farm-house, burn- 
 ing, plundering, scalping, torturing, the wide frontier 
 was plunged into a state of consternation which even 
 the most vivid imagination can but faintly conceive. 
 The war-whoop was resounding everywhere in the 
 forest. The horizon was illuminated with the conflagra- 
 tion of the cabins of the settlers. Gen Hull had made 
 the ignominious surrender of his forces at Detroit. 
 Under these despairing circumstances, Gov. Harrison 
 was appointed by President Madison commander-in- 
 chief of the North-western army, with orders to retake 
 Detroit, and to protect the frontiers. 
 
 It would be difficult to place a man in a situation 
 demanding more energy, sagacity and courage; but 
 General Harrison was found equal to the position, 
 and nobly and triumphantly did he meet all the re- 
 sponsibilities. 
 
 He won the love of his soldiers by always sharing 
 with them their fatigue. His whole baggage, while 
 pursuing the foe up the Thames, was carried in a 
 valise; and his bedding consisted of a single blanket 
 lashed over his saddle. Thirty-five British officers, 
 his prisoners of war, supped with him after the battle. 
 The only fare he could give them was beef roasted 
 before the fire, without bread or salt. 
 
 In 1816, Gen. Harrison was chosen a member of 
 the National House of Representatives, to represent 
 the District of Ohio. In Congress he proved an 
 active member; and whenever he spoke, it was with 
 force of reason and power of eloquence, which arrested 
 the attention of all the members. 
 
 In 1819, Harrison was elected to the Senate of 
 Ohio; and in 1824, as one of the presidential electors 
 of that State, he gave' his vote for Henry Clay. The 
 same year he was chosen to the United States Senate. 
 
 In 1836, the friends of Gen. Harrison brought him 
 forward as a candidate for the Presidency against 
 Van Buren, but he was defeated. At the close of 
 Mr. Van Buren's term, he was re-nominated by his 
 party, and Mr. Harrison was unanimously nominated 
 by the Whigs, with John Tyler for the Vice Presidency. 
 The contest was very animated. Gen. Jackson gave 
 all his influence to prevent Harrison's election ; but 
 his triumph was signal. 
 
 The cabinet which he formed, with Daniel Webster 
 at its head as Secretary of State, was one of the most 
 brilliant with which any President had ever been 
 surrounded. Never were the prospects of an admin- 
 istration more flattering, or the hopes of the country 
 more sanguine. In the midst of these bright and 
 joyous prospects, Gen. Harrison was seized by a 
 pleurisy-fever and after a few days of violent sick- 
 ness, died on the 4th of April ; just one month after 
 his inauguration as President of the United States.
 
 Wf tawny
 
 OHN TYLER, the tenth 
 j Presidentof the United States. 
 He was born in Charles-city 
 Co., Va., March 29, 1790. He 
 was the favored child of af- 
 fluence and high social po- 
 sition. At the early age of 
 twelve, John entered William 
 and Mary College and grad- 
 uated with much honor when 
 but seventeen years old. After 
 graduating, he devoted him- 
 self with great assiduity to the 
 study of law, partly with his 
 father and partly with Edmund 
 Randolph, one of the most distin- 
 guished lawyers of Virginia. 
 
 At nineteen years of age, ne 
 commenced the practice of law. 
 His success was rapid and aston- 
 ishing: It is said that three 
 months .had not elapsed ere there 
 was scarcely a case on the dock- 
 et of the court in which he was 
 not retained. When but twenty-one years of age, he 
 was almost unanimously elected to a seat in the State 
 Legislature. He connected himself with the Demo- 
 cratic party, and warmly advocated the measures of 
 Jefferson and Madison. For five successive years he 
 was elected to the Legislature, receiving nearly the 
 unanimous vote or his county. 
 
 When but twenty-six years of age, he was elected 
 a member of Congress. Here he acted earnestly and 
 ably with the Democratic party, opposing a national 
 bank, internal improvements by the General Govern- 
 
 &&&$ 
 
 ment, a protective tariff, and advocating a strict con-' 
 struction of the Constitution, and the most careful 
 vigilance over State rights. His labors in Congress 
 were so arduous that before the close of his second 
 term he found it necessary to resign and retire to his 
 estate in Charles-city Co., to recruit his health. He, 
 however, soon after consented to take his seat in the 
 State Legislature, where his influence was powerful 
 in promoting public works of great utility. With a 
 reputation thus canstantly increasing, he was chosen 
 by a very large majority of votes, Governor of his 
 native State. His administration was signally a suc- 
 cessful one. His popularity secured his re-election. 
 
 John Randolph, a brilliant, erratic, half-crazed 
 man, then represented Virginia in the Senate of the 
 United States. A portion of the Democratic party 
 was displeased with Mr. Randolph's wayward course, 
 and brought forward John Tyler as his opponent, 
 considering him the only man in Virginia of sufficient 
 popularity to succeed against the renowned orator of 
 Roanoke. Mr. Tyler was the victor. 
 
 In accordance with his 'professions, upon taking his 
 seat in the Senate, he joined the ranks of the opposi- 
 tion. He opposed the tariff; he spoke against and 
 voted against the bank as unconstitutional ; he stren- 
 uously opposed all restrictions upon slavery, resist- 
 ing all projects of internal improvements by the Gen- 
 eral Government, and avowed his sympathy with Mr. 
 Calhoun's view of nullification ; he declared that Gen. 
 Jackson, by his opposition to the nullifiers, had 
 abandoned the principles of the Democratic party. 
 Such was Mr. Tyler's record in Congress, a record 
 in perfect accordance with the principles which he 
 had always avowed. 
 
 Returning to Virginia, he resumed the practice of 
 his profession. There was a split in the Democratic 
 
 \ 
 
 r
 
 JOHN TYLER. 
 
 ., 
 
 
 
 / 
 
 party. His friends still regarded him as a true Jef- 
 fersonian, gave him a dinner, and showered compli- 
 ments upon him. He had now attained the age of 
 forty-six. His career had been very brilliant. In con- 
 sequence of his devotion to public business, his pri- 
 vate affairs had fallen into some disorder ; and it was 
 not without satisfaction that he resumed the practice 
 of law, and devoted himself to the culture of his plan- 
 tation. Soon after this he removed to Williamsburg, 
 for the better education of his children ; and he again 
 took his seat in the Legislature of Virginia. 
 
 By the Southern Whigs, he was sent to the national 
 convention at Harrisburg to nominate a President in 
 1839. The majority of votes were given to Gen. Har- 
 rison, a genuine Whig, much to the disappointment of 
 the South, who wished for Henry Clay. To concili- 
 ate the Southern Whigs and to secure their vote, the 
 convention then nominated John Tyler for Vice Pres- 
 ident. It was well known that he was not in sympa- 
 thy with the Whig party in the Noith : but the Vice 
 President has but very little power in the Govern- 
 ment, his main and almost only duty being to pre- 
 side over the meetings of the Senate. Thus it hap- 
 pened that a Whig President, and, in reality, a 
 Democratic Vice President were chosen. 
 
 In 1841, Mr. Tyler was inaugurated Vice Presi- 
 dent of the United States. In one short month from 
 that time, President Harrison died, and Mr. Tyler 
 thus found himself, to his own surprise and that of 
 the whole Nation, an occupant of the Presidential 
 chair. This was a new test of the stability of our 
 institutions, as it was the first time in the history of our 
 country that such an event had occured. Mr. Tyler 
 was at home in Williamsburg when he received the 
 unexpected tidings of the death of President Harri- 
 son. He hastened to Washington, and on the 6th of 
 r'l was inaugurated to the high and responsible 
 e. He was placed in a position of exceeding 
 delicacy and difficulty. All his long life he had been 
 opposed to the main principles of the party which had 
 brought him into power. He had ever been a con- 
 sistent, honest man, with an unblemished record. 
 Gen. Harrison had selected a Whig cabinet. Should 
 he retain them, and thus surround himself with coun- 
 sellors whose views were antagonistic to his own ? or, 
 on the other hand, should he turn against the party 
 which had elected him and select a cabinet in har-' 
 mony with himself, and which would oppose all those 
 views which the Whigs deemed essential to the pub- 
 lic welfare ? This was his fearful dilemma. He in- 
 vited the cabinet which President Harrison had 
 selected to retain their seats. He reccommended a 
 day of fasting and prayer, that God would guide and 
 bless us. 
 
 The Whigs carried through Congress a bill for the 
 incorporation of a fiscal bank of the United States. 
 The President, after ten days' delay, returned it with 
 his veto. He suggested, however, that he would 
 
 approve of a bill drawn up upon such a plan as he 
 proposed. Such a bill was accordingly prepared, and 
 privately submitted to him. He gave it his approval. 
 It was passed without alteration, and he sent it back 
 with his veto. Here commenced the open rupture. 
 It is said that Mr. Tyler was provoked to this meas- 
 ure by a published letter from the Hon. John M. 
 Botts, a distinguished Virginia Whig, who severely 
 touched the pride of the President. 
 
 The opposition now exultingly received the Presi- 
 dent into their arms. The party which elected him 
 denounced him bitterly. All the members of his 
 cabinet, excepting Mr. Webster, resigned. The Whigs 
 of Congress, both the Senate and the House, held a 
 meeting and issued an address to the people of the 
 United States, proclaiming that all political alliance 
 between the Whigs and President Tyler were at 
 an end. 
 
 Still the President attempted to conciliate. He 
 appointed a new cabinet of distinguished Whigs and 
 Conservatives, carefully leaving out all strong party 
 men. Mr. Webster soon found it necessary to resign, 
 forced out by the pressure of his Whig friends. Thus 
 the four years of Mr. Tyler's unfortunate administra- 
 tion passed sadly away. No one was satisfied. The 
 land was filled with murmurs and vituperation. Whigs 
 and Democrats alike assailed him. More and more, 
 however, he brought himself into sympathy with his 
 old friends, the Democrats, until atth'e close of his term, 
 he gave his whole influence to the support of Mr. 
 Polk, the Democratic candidate for his successor. 
 
 On the 4th of March, 1845, he retired from the 
 harassments of office, to the regret of neither party, and 
 probably to his own unspeakable relief. His first wife, 
 Miss Letitia Christian, died in Washington, in 1,842 ; 
 and in June, 1844, President Tyler was again married, 
 at New York, to Miss Julia Gardiner, a young lady of 
 many personal and intellectual accomplishments.' 
 
 The remainder of his days Mr. Tyler passed mainly 
 in retirement at his beautiful home, Sherwood For- 
 est, Charles-city Co., Va. A polished gentleman in 
 his manners, richly furnished with information from 
 books and experience in the world, and possessing 
 brilliant powers of conversation, his family circle was 
 the scene of unusual attractions. With sufficient 
 moans for the exercise of a generous hospitality, he 
 might have enjoyed a serene old age with the few 
 friends who gathered around him, were it not for the 
 storms of civil war which his own principles and 
 policy had helped to introduce. 
 
 When the great Rebellion rose, which the State- 
 rights and nullifying doctrines of Mr. John C. Cal- 
 houn had inaugurated, President Tyler renounced his 
 allegiance to the United States, and joined the Confed- 
 erates. He was chosen a member of their Congress; 
 and while engaged in active measures to destroy, by 
 force of arms, the Government over which he had 
 once presided, he was taken sick and soon died. 
 
 _ -X-O- 
 
 ,,:T'V\. 

 
 AMES K. POLK, the eleventh 
 ^President of the United States, 
 was born in Mecklenburg Co., 
 N. C.,Nov. 2, 1795. His par- 
 ents were Samuel and Jane 
 (Knox) Polk, the former a son 
 of Col. Thomas Polk, who located 
 at the above place, as one of the 
 first pioneers, in 1735. 
 
 In the year 1 806, with his wife 
 and children, and soon after fol- 
 lowed by most of the members of 
 the Polk farnly, Samuel Polk emi- 
 grated some two or three hundred 
 miles farther west, to the rich valley 
 of the Duck River. Here in the 
 midst of the wilderness, in a region 
 which was subsequently called Mau- 
 ry Co., they reared their log huts, 
 and established their homes. In the 
 hard toil of a new farm in the wil- 
 derness, James K. Polk spent the 
 early years of his childhood and 
 youth. His father, adding the pur- 
 suit of a surveyor to that of a farmer, 
 gradually increased in wealth until 
 he became one of the leading men of the region. His 
 mother was a superior woman, of strong common 
 sense and earnest piety. 
 
 Very early in life, James developed a taste for 
 reading and expressed the strongest desire to obtain 
 a liberal education. His mother's training had made 
 him methodical in his habits, had taught him punct- 
 uality and industry, and had inspired him with lofty 
 principles of morality. His health was frail ; and his 
 father, fearing that he might not be able to endure a 
 
 
 
 sedentary life, got a situation for him behind the 
 counter, hoping to fit him for commercial pursuits. 
 
 This was to James a bitter disappointment. He 
 had no taste for these duties, and his daily tasks 
 were irksome in the extreme. He remained in this 
 uncongenial occupation but a few weeks, when at his 
 earnest solicitation his father removed him, and made 
 arrangements for him to prosecute his studies. Soon 
 after he sent him to Murfreesboro Academy. With 
 ardor which could scarcely be surpassed, he pressed 
 forward in his studies, and in less than two and a half 
 years, in the autumn of 1815, entered the sophomore 
 class in the University of North Carolina, at Chapel 
 Hill. Here he was one of the most exemplary of 
 scholars, punctual in every exercise, never allowing 
 himself to be absent from a recitation or a religious 
 service. 
 
 He graduated in 1818, with the highest honors, be- 
 ing deemed the best scholar of his class, both in 
 mathematics and the classics. He was then twenty- 
 three years of age. Mr. Folk's health was at this 
 time much impaired by the assiduity with which he 
 had prosecuted his studies. After a short season of 
 relaxation he went to Nashville, and entered the 
 office of Felix Grundy, to study law. Here Mr. Polk 
 renewed his acquaintance with Andrew Jackson, who 
 resided on his plantation, the Hermitage, but a few 
 miles from Nashville. They had probably been 
 slightly acquainted before. 
 
 Mr. Folk's father was a Jeffersonian Republican, 
 and James K. Polk ever adhered to the same politi- 
 cal faith. He was a popular public speaker, and was 
 constantly called upon to address the meetings of his 
 party friends. His skill as a speaker was such that 
 he was popularly called the Napoleon of the stump, 
 He was a man of unblemished morals, genial and
 
 60 
 
 JAMES K. POLK. 
 
 I 
 
 courteous in his bearing, and with that sympathetic 
 nature in the joys and griefs of others which ever gave 
 him troops of friends. In 1823, Mr. Polk was elected 
 to the Legislature of Tennessee. Here he gave his 
 strong influence towards the election of his friend, 
 Mr. Jackson, to the Presidency of the United States. 
 
 In January, 1824, Mr. Polk married Miss Sarah 
 Childress, of Rutherford Co., Tenn. 'His bride was 
 altogether worthy of him, a lady of beauty and cul- 
 ture. In the fall of 1825, Mr. Polk was chosen a 
 member of Congress. The satisfaction which he gave 
 to his constituents may be inferred from the fact, that 
 for fourteen successive years, until 1 839, he was con- 
 tinued in that office. He then voluntarily withdrew, 
 only that he might accept the Gubernatorial chair 
 of Tennessee. In Congress he was a laborious 
 member, a frequent and a popular speaker. He was 
 always in his seat, always courteous ; and whenever 
 he spoke it was always to the point, and without any 
 ambitious rhetorical display. 
 
 During five sessions of Congress, Mr. Polk was 
 Speaker of the House. Strong passions were roused, 
 and stormy scenes were witnessed ; but Mr. Polk per- 
 formed his arduous duties to a very general satisfac- 
 tion, and a unanimous vote of thanks to him was 
 passed by the House as he withdrew on the 4th of 
 March, 1839. 
 
 In accordance with Southern usage, Mr. Polk, as a 
 candidate for Governor, canvassed the State. He was 
 elected by a large majority, and on the i4th of Octo- 
 ber, 1839, took the oath of office at Nashville. In 1841, 
 his term of office expired, and he was again the can- 
 didate of the Democratic party, but was defeated. 
 
 On the 4th of March, 1845, Mr. Polk was inaugur- 
 ated President of the United States. The verdict of 
 the country in favor of the annexation of Texas, exerted 
 its influence upon Congress ; and the last act of the 
 administration of President Tyler was to affix his sig- 
 nature to a joint resolution of Congress, passed on the 
 3d of March, approving of the annexation of Texas to 
 the American Union. As Mexico still claimed Texas 
 as one of her provinces, the Mexican minister, 
 Almonte, immediately demanded his passports and 
 left the country, declaring the act of the annexation 
 to be an act hostile to Mexico. 
 
 In his first message, President Polk urged that 
 Texas should immediately, by act of Congress, be re- 
 ceived into the Union on the same footing with the 
 other States. In the meantime, Gen. Taylor was sent 
 
 with an army into Texas to hold the country. He was 
 sent first to Nueces, which the Mexicans said was the 
 western boundary of Texas. Then he was sent nearly 
 two hundred miles further west, to the Rio Grande, 
 where he erected batteries which commanded the 
 Mexican city of Matamoras, which was situated on 
 the western banks. 
 
 The anticipated collision soon took place, and war 
 was declared against Mexico by President Polk. The 
 war was pushed forward by Mr. Folk's administration 
 with great vigor. Gen. Taylor, whose army was first 
 called one of " observation," then of " occupation," 
 then of " invasion," was sent forward to Monterey. The 
 feeble Mexicans, in every encounter, were hopelessly 
 and awfully slaughtered. The day of judgement 
 alone can reveal the misery which this war caused. 
 It was by the ingenuity of Mr. Polk's administration 
 that the war was brought on. 
 
 'To the victors belong the spoils." Mexico was 
 prostrate before us. Her capital was in our hands. 
 We now consented to peace upon the condition that 
 Mexico should surrender to us, in addition to Texas, 
 all of New Mexico, and all of Upper and Lower Cal- 
 ifornia. This new demand embraced, exclusive of 
 Texas, eight hundred thousand square miles. This 
 was an extent of territory equal to nine States of the 
 size of New York. Thus slavery was securing eighteen 
 majestic States to be added to the Union. There were 
 some Americans who thought it all right : there were 
 others who thought it all wrong. In the prosecution 
 of this war, we expended twenty thousand lives and 
 more than a hundred million of dollars. Of this 
 money fifteen millions were paid to Mexico. 
 
 On the 3d of March, 1849, Mr. Polk retired from 
 office, having served one term. The next day was 
 Sunday. On the 5th, Gen. Taylor was inaugurated 
 as his successor. Mr. Polk rode to the Capitol in the 
 same carriage with Gen. Taylor; and the same even- 
 ing, with Mrs. Polk, he commenced his return to 
 Tennessee. He was then but fifty-four years of age. 
 He had ever been strictly temperate in all his habits, 
 and his health was good. With an ample fortune, 
 a choice library, a cultivated mind, and domestic ties 
 of the dearest nature, it seemed as though long years 
 of tranquility and happiness were before him. But the 
 cholera that fearful scourge was then sweeping up 
 the Valley of the Mississippi. This he contracted, 
 and died on the isth of June, 1849, in the fifty-fourth 
 year of his age, greatly mourned by his countrymen.
 
 TRELIBHAHf 
 
 OF IKE 
 WJYERSITY OF ILUifflS
 
 ^ 
 

 
 ACHARY TAYLOR, twelfth 
 President of the United States, 
 vas born on the 24th of Nov., 
 1784, in Orange Co., Va. His 
 father, Colonel Taylor, was 
 a Virginian of note, and a dis- 
 tinguished patriot arid soldier of 
 the Revolution. When Zachary 
 was an infant, his father with his 
 wife and two children, emigrated 
 to Kentucky, where he settled in 
 ^ the pathless wilderness, a few 
 miles from Louisville. In this front- 
 ier home, away from civilization and 
 all its refinements, young Zachary 
 could enjoy but few social and educational advan- 
 tages. When six years of age he attended a common 
 school, and was then regarded as a bright, active boy, 
 rather remarkable for bluntness and decision of char- 
 acter He was strong, fearless and self-reliant, and 
 manifested a strong desire to enter the army to fight 
 the Indians who were ravaging the frontiers. There 
 is little to be recorded of the uneventful years of his 
 childhood on his father's large but lonely plantation. 
 In 1808, his father succeeded in obtaining for him 
 the commission of lieutenant in the United States 
 army ; and he joined the troops which were stationed 
 at New Orleans under Gen. Wilkinson. Soon after 
 this he married Miss Margaret Smith, a young lady 
 from one of the first families of Maryland. 
 
 Immediately after the declaration of war with Eng- 
 land, in 1812, Capt. Taylor (for he had then been 
 promoted to that rank) was put in command of Fort 
 Harrison, on the Wabash, about fifty miles above 
 Vincennes. This fort had been built in the wilder- 
 ness by Gen. Harrison, on his march to Tippecanoe. 
 It was one of the first points of attack by the Indians, 
 led by Tecumseh. Its garrison consisted of a broken 
 
 company of infantry numbering fifty men, many of 
 whom were sick. 
 
 Early in the autumn of i8r2, the Indians, stealthily, 
 and in large numbers, moved upon the fort. Their 
 approach was first indicated by the murder of two 
 soldiers just outside of the stockade. Capt. Taylor 
 made every possible preparation to meet the antici- 
 pated assault. On the 4th of September, a band of 
 forty painted and plumed savages came to the fort, 
 waving a white flag, and informed Capt. Taylor that 
 in the morning their chief would come to have a talk 
 with him. It was evident that their object was merely 
 to ascertain the state of things at the fort, and Capt. 
 Taylor, well versed in the wiles of the savages, kept 
 them at a distance. 
 
 The sun went down ; the savages disappeared, the 
 garrison slept upon their arms. One hour before 
 midnight the war whoop burst from a thousand lips 
 in the forest around, followed by the discharge of 
 musketry, and the rush of the foe. Every man, 'sick 
 and well, sprang to his post. Every man knew that 
 defeat was not merely death, but in the case of cap- 
 ture, death by the most agonizing and prolonged tor- 
 ture. No pen can describe, no immagination can 
 conceive the scenes which ensued. The savages suc- 
 ceeded in setting fire to one of the block-houses- 
 Until six o'clock in the morning, this awful conflict 
 continued. The savages then, baffled at every point, 
 and gnashing their teeth with rage, retired. Capt. 
 Taylor, for this gallant defence, was promoted to the 
 rank of major by brevet. 
 
 Until the close of the war, MajorTaylor was placed 
 in such situations that he saw but little more of active 
 service. He was sent far away into the depths of the 
 wilderness, to Fort Crawford, on Fox River, which 
 empties into Green Bay. Here there was but little 
 to be done but to wear away the tedious hours as one 
 best could. There were no books, no society, no in- 
 
 V 
 
 S 
 

 
 ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 J 
 
 I 
 
 tellectual stimulus. Thus with him the uneventful 
 years rolled on Gradually he rose to the rank of 
 colonel. In the Black-Hawk war, which resulted in 
 the capture of that renowned chieftain, Col Taylor 
 took a subordinate but a brave and efficient part. 
 
 For twenty-four years Col. Taylor was engaged in 
 the defence of the frontiers, in scenes so remote, and in 
 employments so obscure, that his name was unknown 
 beyond the limits of his own immediate acquaintance. 
 In the year r836, he was sent to Florida to compel 
 the Seminole Indians to vacate that region and re- 
 tire beyond the Mississippi, as their chiefs by treaty, 
 had promised they should do. The services rendered 
 here secured for Col. Taylor the high appreciation of 
 the Government; and as a reward, he was elevated 
 to the rank of brigadier-general by brevet ; and soon 
 after, in May, 1838, was appointed to the chief com- 
 mand of the United States troops in Florida. 
 
 After two years of such wearisome employment 
 amidst the everglades of the peninsula, Gen. Taylor 
 obtained, at his own request, a change of command, 
 and was stationed over the Department of the South- 
 west. This field embraced Louisiana, Mississippi, 
 Alabama and Georgia. Establishing his headquarters 
 at Fort Jessup, in Louisiana, he removed his family 
 to a plantation which he purchased, near Baton Rogue. 
 Here he remained for five years, buried, as it were, 
 from the world, but faithfully discharging every duty 
 imposed upon him. 
 
 In r846, Gen. Taylor was sent to guard the land 
 between the Nueces and Rio Grande, the latter river 
 being the boundary of Texas, which was then claimed 
 by the United States. Soon the war with Mexico 
 was brought on, and at Palo Alto and Resaca de la 
 Palma, Gen. Taylor won brilliant victories over the 
 Mexicans. The rank of major-general by brevet 
 was then conferred upon Gen. Taylor, and his name 
 was received with enthusiasm almost everywhere in 
 the Nation. Then came the battles of Monterey and 
 Buena Vista in which he won signal victories over 
 forces much larger than he commanded. 
 
 His careless habits of dress and his unaffected 
 simplicity, secured for Gen. Taylor among his troops, 
 the sobriquet of "Old Rough and Ready.' 
 
 The tidings of the brilliant victory of Buena Vista 
 spread the wildest enthusiasm over the country. The 
 name of Gen. Taylor was on every one's lips. The 
 Whig party decided to take advantage of this wonder- 
 ful popularity in bringing forward the unpolished, un- 
 lettered, honest soldier as their candidate for the 
 Presidency. Gen. Taylor was astonished at the an- 
 nouncement, and for a time would not listen to it; de- 
 claring that he was not at all qualified for such an 
 office. So little interest had he taken in politics that, 
 for forty years, he had not cast a vote. It was not 
 without chagrin that several distinguished statesmen 
 who had been long years in the public service found 
 their claims ge t aside in behalf of one whose name 
 
 (^VV^S^gui >3 V? 6 JV 1 ^ / ~ N 
 
 had never been heard of, save in connection with Palo 
 Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Monterey and Buena 
 Vista. It is said that Daniel Webster, in his haste re- 
 marked, " It is a nomination not fit to be made." . 
 
 Gen. Taylor was not an eloquent speaker nor a fine 
 wnter. His friends took possession of him, and pre- 
 pared such few communications as it was needful 
 should be presented to the public. The popularity of 
 the successful warrior swept the land. He was tri- 
 umphantly elected over two opposing candidates, 
 "Gen. Cass and Ex-President Martin Van Buren. 
 Though he selected an excellent cabinet, the good 
 old man found himself in a very uncongenial position, 
 and was, at times, sorely perplexed and harassed. 
 His mental sufferings were very severe, and probably 
 tended to hasten his death. The pro-slavery party 
 was pushing its claims with tireless energy , expedi- 
 tions were fitting out to capture Cuba ; California was 
 pleading for admission to the Union, while slavery 
 stood at the door to bar her out. Gen. Taylor found 
 the political conflicts in Washington to be far more 
 trying to the nerves than battles with Mexicans or 
 Indians. 
 
 In the midst of all these troubles, Gen. Taylor, 
 after he had occupied the Presidential chair but little 
 over a year, took cold, and after a brief sickness of 
 but little over five days, died on the 9th of July, 1850. 
 His last words were, " I am not afraid to die. I am 
 ready. I have endeavored to do my duty." He died 
 universally respected and beloved. An honest, un- 
 pretending man, he had been steadily growing in the 
 affections of the people ; and the Nation bitterly la- 
 mented his death. 
 
 Gen. Scott, who was thoroughly acquainted with 
 Gen. Taylor, gave the following graphic and truthful 
 description of his character: " With a good store of 
 common sense, Gen. Taylor's mind had not been en- 
 larged and refreshed by reading, or much converse 
 with the world. Rigidity of ideas was the conse- 
 quence. The frontiers and small military posts had 
 been his home. Hence he was quite ignorant for his 
 rank, and quite bigoted in his ignorance. His sim- 
 plicity was child-like, and with innumerable preju- 
 dices, amusing and incorrigible, well suited to the 
 tender age. Thus, if a man, however respectable, 
 chanced to wear a coat of an unusual color, or his hat 
 a little on one side of his head; or an officer to leave 
 a corner of his handkerchief dangling from an out- 
 side pocket, in any such case, this critic held the 
 offender to be a coxcomb (perhaps something worse), 
 whom he would not, to use his oft repeated phrase, 
 'touch with a pair of tongs.' 
 
 "Any allusion to literature beyond good old Dil- 
 worth's spelling-book, on the part of one wearing a 
 sword, was evidence, with the same judge, of utter 
 unfitness for heavy marchings and combats. In short, 
 few men have ever had a more comfortable, labor- 
 saving contempt for learning of every kind."
 
 THFUBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 OUVEftSOT Of ILUiatS
 
 ILLARD FILLVORE,' thir- 
 teenth President of the United 
 States, was born at Summer 
 Hill, Cayuga Co., N. Y ., on 
 the yth of January, 1800. His 
 father was a farmer, and ow- 
 ing to misfortune, in humble cir- 
 cumstances. Of his mother, the 
 daughter of Dr. AbiatharMillard, 
 of Pittsfield, Mass., it has been 
 said that she possessed an intellect 
 of very high order, united with much 
 personal loveliness, sweetness of dis- 
 position, graceful manners and ex- 
 quisite sensibilities. She died in 
 1831 ; having lived to see her son a 
 ' young man of distinguished prom- 
 ise, though she was not permitted to witness the high 
 dignity which he finally attained. 
 
 In consequence of the secluded home and limited 
 means of his father, Millard enjoyed but slender ad- 
 vantages for education in his early years. The com- 
 mon schools, which he occasionally attended were 
 very imperfect institutions; and books were scarce 
 and expensive. There was nothing then in his char- 
 acter to indicate the brilliant career upon which he 
 was about to enter. He was a plain fanner's boy; 
 intelligent, good-looking, kind-hearted. The sacred 
 influences of home had taught him to revere the Bible, 
 and had laid the foundations of an upright character. 
 When fourteen years of age, his father sent him 
 some hundred miles from home, to the then wilds of 
 Livingston County, to learn the trade of a clothier. 
 Near the mill there was a small villiage, where some 
 
 enterprising man had commenced the collection of a 
 village library. This proved an inestimable blessing 
 to young Fillmore. His evenings were spent in read- 
 ing. Soon every leisure moment was occupied with 
 books. His thirst for knowledge became insatiate ; 
 and the selections which he made were continually 
 more elevating and instructive. He read history, 
 biography, oratory, and thus gradually there was en- 
 kindled in his heart a desire to be something more 
 than a mere worker with his hands; and he was be- 
 coming, almost unknown to himself, a well-informed, 
 educated man. 
 
 The young clothier had now attained the age of 
 nineteen years, and was of fine personal appearance 
 and of gentlemanly demeanor. It so happened that 
 there was a gentleman in the neighborhood of ample 
 pecuniary means and of benevolence, Judge Walter 
 Wood, who was struck with the prepossessing ap- 
 pearance of young Fillmore. He made his acquaint- 
 ance, and was so much impressed with his ability and 
 attainments that he advised him to abandon his 
 trade and devote himself to the study of the law. The 
 young man replied, that he had no means of his own, 
 no friends to help him and that his previous educa- 
 tion had been very imperfect. But Judge Wood had 
 so much confidence in him that he kindly offered to 
 take him into his own office, and to loan him such 
 money as he needed. Most gratefully the generous 
 offer was accepted. 
 
 There is in many minds a strange delusion about 
 a collegiate education. A young man is supposed to 
 be liberally educated if he has graduated at some col- 
 lege. But many a boy loiters through university halls 
 and then enters a law office, who is by no means as 
 A ^ ^mJ&^mr' ~&va^>s@
 
 
 MILLARD FILLMORE. 
 
 J 
 
 I 
 
 * 
 
 well prepared to prosecute his legal studies as was 
 Millard Fillmore when he graduated at the clothing- 
 mill at the end of four years of manual labor, during 
 which every leisure moment had been devoted to in- 
 tense mental culture. 
 
 In 1823, when twenty-three years of age, he was 
 admitted to the Court of Common Pleas. He then 
 went to the village of Aurora, and commenced the 
 practice of law. In this secluded, peaceful region, 
 his practice of course was limited, and there was no 
 opportunity for a sudden rise in fortune or in fame. 
 Here, in the year 1826, he married a lady of great 
 moral worth, and one capable of adorning any station 
 she might be called to fill, Miss Abigail Powers. 
 
 His elevation of character, his untiring industry, 
 his legal acquirements, and his skill as an advocate, 
 gradually attracted attention ; and he was invited to 
 enter into partnership under highly advantageous 
 circumstances, with an elder member of the bar in 
 Buffalo. Just before removing to Buffalo, in 1829, 
 he took his seat in the House of Assembly, of the 
 State of New York, as a representative from Erie 
 County. Though he had never taken a very active 
 part in politics, his vote and his sympathies were with 
 the Whig party. The State was then Democratic, 
 and he found himself in a helpless minority in the 
 Legislature , still the testimony comes from all parties, 
 that his courtesy, ability and integrity, won, to a very 
 unusual degree the respect of his associates. 
 
 In the autumn of 1832, he was elected to a seat in 
 the United States Congress. He entered that troubled 
 arena in some of the most tumultuous hours of our 
 national history. The great conflict respecting the 
 national bank and the removal of the deposits, was 
 then raging. 
 
 His term of two years closed ; and he returned to 
 his profession, which he pursued with increasing rep- 
 utation and success. After a lapse of two years 
 he again became a candidate for Congress ; was re- 
 elected, and took his seat in 1837. His past expe- 
 rience as a representative gave him strength and 
 confidence. The first term of service in Congress to 
 any man can be but little more than an introduction. 
 He was now prepared for active duty. All his ener- 
 gies were brought to bear upon the public good. Every 
 measure received his impress. 
 
 Mr. Fillmore was now a man of wide repute, and 
 his popularity filled the State, and in the year 1847, 
 he was elected Comptroller of the State. 
 
 * >\v ' . 
 
 Mr. Fillmore had attained the age of forty-seven 
 years. His labors at the bar, in the Legislature, in 
 Congress and as Comptroller, had given him very con- 
 siderable fame. The Whigs were casting about to 
 find suitable candidates for President and Vice-Presi- 
 dent at the approaching election. Far away, on the 
 waters of the Rio Grande, there was a rough old 
 soldier, who had fought one or two successful battles 
 with the Mexicans, which had caused his name to be 
 proclaimed in trumpet-tones all over the land. But 
 it was necessary to associate with him on the same 
 ticket some man of reputation as a statesman. 
 
 Under the influence of these considerations, the 
 names of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore became 
 the rallying-cry of the Whigs, as their candidates for 
 President and Vice-Peesident. The Whig ticket was 
 signally triumphant. On the 4th of March, 1849, 
 Gen. Taylor was inaugurated President, and Millard 
 Fillmore Vice-President, of the United States. 
 
 On the gth of July, 1850, President Taylor, but 
 about one year and four months after his inaugura- 
 tion, was suddenly taken sick and died. By the Con- 
 stitution, Vice-President Fillmore thus became Presi- 
 dent. He appointed a very able cabinet, of which 
 the illustrious Daniel Webster was Secretary of State. 
 
 Mr. Fillmore had very serious difficulties to contend 
 with, since the opposition had a majority in both 
 Houses. He did everything in his power to conciliate 
 the South ; but the pro-slavery party in the South felt 
 theinadequacyof all measuresof transient conciliation. 
 The population of the free States was so rapidly in- 
 creasing over that of the slave States that it was in- 
 evitable that the power of the Government should 
 soon pass into the hands of the free States. The 
 famous compromise measures were adopted under Mr. 
 Fillmcre's adminstration, and the Japan Expedition 
 was sent out. On the 4th of March, 1853, Mr. Fill- 
 more, having served one term, retired. 
 
 In 1856, Mr. Fillmore was nominated for the Pres- 
 idency by the " Know Nothing " party, but was beaten 
 by Mr. Buchanan. After that Mr. Fillmore lived in 
 retirement. During the terrible conflict of civil war, 
 he was mostly silent. It was generally supposed that 
 his sympathies were rather with those who were en- 
 deavoring to overthrow our institutions. President 
 Fillmore kept aloof from the conflict, without any 
 cordial words of cheer to the one party or the other. 
 He was thus forgotten by both. He lived to a ripe 
 old age, and died in Buffalo. N. Y., March 8, 1874.
 
 Of THE 
 
 mmssm or U.LMQIS
 
 RANKLIN PIERCE, the 
 fourteenth President of the 
 United States, was born in 
 Hillsborough, N. H., Nov. 
 23, 1804. His father was a 
 Revolutionary soldier, who, 
 with his own strong arm, 
 hewed out a home in the 
 wilderness. He was a man 
 of inflexible integrity; of 
 strong, though uncultivated 
 mind, and an uncompromis- 
 ing Democrat. The mother of 
 Franklin Pierce was all that a son 
 could desire, an intelligent, pru- 
 dent, affectionate, Christian wom- 
 an. Franklin was the sixth of eight children. 
 
 Franklin was a very bright and handsome boy, gen- 
 erous, warm-hearted and brave. He won alike the 
 love of old and young. The boys on the play-ground 
 loved him. His teachers loved him. The neighbors 
 looked upon him with pride and affection. He was 
 by instinct a gentleman; always speaking kind words, 
 doing kind deeds, with a peculiar unstudied tact 
 which taught him what was agreeable. Without de- 
 veloping any precocity of genius, or any unnatural 
 devotion to books, he was a good scholar ; in body, 
 in mind, in affections, a finely-developed boy. 
 
 When sixteen years of age, in the year 1820, he 
 entered Bowdoin College, at Brunswick, Me. He was 
 one of,the most popular young men in the college. 
 The purity of his moral character, the unvarying 
 courtesy of his demeanor, his rank as a scholar, and 
 
 genial nature, rendered him a universal favorite. 
 There was something very peculiarly winning in his 
 address, and it was evidently not in the slightest de- 
 gree studied : it was the simple outgushing of his 
 own magnanimous and loving nature. 
 
 Upon graduating, in the year 1824, Franklin Pierce 
 commenced the study of law in the office of Judge 
 Woodbury, one of the most distinguished lawyers of 
 the State, and a man of great private worth. The 
 eminent social qualities of the young lawyer, his 
 father's prominence as a public man, and the brilliant 
 political career into which Judge Woodbury was en- 
 tering, all tended to entice Mr. Pierce into the faci- 
 nating yet perilous path of political life. With all 
 the ardor of his nature he espoused the cause of Gen. 
 Jackson for the Presidency. He commenced the- 
 practice of law in Hillsborough, and was soon elected 
 to represent the town in the State Legislature. Here 
 he served for four yeais. The last two years he was 
 chosen speaker of the house by a very large vote. 
 
 In 1833, at the age of twenty-nine, he was elected 
 a member of Congress. Without taking an active 
 part in debates, he was faithful and laborious in duty, 
 and ever rising in the estimation of those with whom 
 he was associatad. 
 
 In 1837, being then but thirty-three years of age, 
 he was elected to the Senate of the United States ; 
 taking his seat just as Mr. Van Buren commenced 
 his administration. He was the youngest member in 
 the Senate. In the year 1834, he married Miss Jane 
 Means Appleton, a lady of rare beauty and accom- 
 plishments, and one admirably fitted to adorn every 
 station with which her husband was honoied. Of the 
 

 
 FRANKLIN PIERCE. 
 
 who were born to them, all now sleep with 
 ts in the grave. 
 
 In the year 1838, Mr.' Pierce, with growing fame 
 and increasing business as a lawyer, took up his 
 residence in Concord, the capital of New Hampshire. 
 President Polk, upon his accession to office, appointed 
 Mr. Pierce attorney-general of the United States; but 
 the offer was declined, in consequence of numerous 
 professional engagements at home, and the precariuos 
 state of Mrs. Pierce 's health. He also, about the 
 same time declined the nomination for governor by the 
 Democratic party. The war with Mexico called Mr. 
 Pierce in the army. Receiving the appointment of 
 brigadier-general, he embarked, with a portion of his 
 troops, at Newport, R. I., on the ayth of May, 1847. 
 He took an important part in this war, proving him- 
 self a brave and true soldier. 
 
 When Gen. Pierce reached his home in his native 
 State, he was received enthusiastically by the advo- 
 cates of the Mexican war, and coldly by his oppo- 
 nents. He resumed the practice of his profession, 
 very frequently taking an active part in political ques- 
 tions, giving his cordial support to the pro-slavery 
 wing of the Democratic party. The compromise 
 measures met cordially with his approval; and he 
 strenuously advocated the enforcement of the infa- 
 mous fugitive-slave law, which so shocked the religious 
 sensibilities of the North. He thus became distin- 
 guished as a " Northern man with Southern principles.'' 
 The strong partisans of slavery in the South conse- 
 quently regarded him as a man whom they could 
 safely trust in office to carry out their plans. 
 
 On the 1 2th of June, 1852, the Democratic conven- 
 tion met in Baltimore to nominate a candidate for the 
 Presidency. For four days they continued in session, 
 and in thirty-five ballotings no one had obtained a 
 two-thirds vote. Not a vote thus far had been thrown 
 for Gen. Pierce. Then the Virginia delegation 
 brought forward his name. There were fourteen 
 more ballotings, during which Gen. Pierce constantly 
 gained strength, until, at the forty-ninth ballot, he 
 received two hundred and eighty-two votes, and all 
 other candidates eleven. Gen. Winfield Scott was 
 the Whig candidate. Gen. Pierce was chosen with 
 great unanimity. Only four States Vermont, Mas- 
 sachusetts, Kentucky and Tennessee cast their 
 electoral votes against him. Gen. Franklin Pierce 
 was therefore inaugurated President of the United 
 States on the 4th of March, 1853. 
 
 
 His administration proved one of the most stormy our 
 country had ever experienced. The controversy be- 
 tween slavery and freedom was then approaching its 
 culminating point. It became evident that there was 
 an " irrepressible conflict " between them, and that 
 this Nation could not long exist " half slave and half 
 free." President Pierce, during the whole of his ad- 
 ministration, did every thing he could to conciliate 
 the South ; but it was all in vain. The conflict every 
 year grew more violent, and threats of the dissolution 
 of the Union were borne to the North on every South- 
 ern breeze. 
 
 Such was the condition of affairs when President 
 Pierce approached the close of his four-years' term 
 of office. The North had become thoroughly alien- 
 ated from him. The anti-slavery sentiment, goaded 
 by great outrages, had .been rapidly increasing; all 
 the intellectual ability and social worth of President 
 Pierce were forgotten in deep reprehension of his ad- 
 ministrative acts. The slaveholders of the South, also, 
 unmindful of the fidelity with which he had advo- 
 cated those measures of Government which they ap- 
 proved, and perhaps, also, feeling that he had 
 rendered himself so unpopular as no longer to be 
 able acceptably to serve them, ungratefully dropped 
 him, and nominated James Buchanan to succeed him. 
 
 On the 4th of March, 1857, President Pierce re- 
 tired to his home in Concord. Of three children, two 
 had died, and his only surviving child had been 
 killed before his eyes by a railroad accident ; and his 
 wife, one of the most estimable and accomplished of 
 ladies, was rapidly sinking in consumption. The 
 hour of dreadful gloom soon came, and he was left 
 alone in the world, without wife or child. 
 
 When the terrible Rebellion burst forth, which di- 
 vided our country into two parties, and two only, Mr. 
 Pierce remained steadfast in the principles which he 
 had always cherished, and gave his sympathies to 
 that pro-slavery party with which he had ever been 
 allied. He declined to do anything, either by voice 
 or pen, to strengthen the hand of the National Gov- 
 ernment. He continued to reside in Concord until 
 the time of his death, which occurred in October, 
 1869. He was 'one of the most genial and social of 
 men, an honored communicant of the Episcopal 
 Church, and one of the kindest of neighbors. Gen- 
 erous to a fault, he contributed liberally for the al- 
 leviation of suffering and want, and many of his towns- 
 people were often gladened by his material bounty.
 
 THEunumr 
 
 OF THE

 
 
 
 FIFTEENTH PRESIDENT. 
 
 i . 'i . < '. 'i '. 'i '. <i '. '. '. 'i '. 'i ', S '. T i . 'i . 'i , 'i . '.;.' . i 1 . i 1 . i' . i' , i 1 .1' . V , i 1 . i 1 .1' .' i 1 
 
 ACl^ViM 
 
 AMES BUCHANAN, the fif- 
 tee'nth President of the United 
 States, was born in a small 
 frontier town, at the foot of the 
 eastern ridge of the Allegha- 
 nies, in Franklin Co., Penn., on 
 the 23d of April, 1791. The place 
 where the humble cabin of his 
 father stood was called Stony 
 Batter. It was a wild and ro- 
 mantic spot in a gorge of the moun- 
 tains, with towering summits rising 
 grandly all around. His father 
 was a native of the north of Ireland ; 
 a poor man, who had emigrated in 
 1783, with little property save his 
 own strong arms. Five years afterwards he married 
 Elizabeth Spear, the daughter of a respectable farmer, 
 and, with his young bride, plunged into the wilder- 
 ness, staked his claim, reared his log-hut, opened a 
 clearing with his axe, and settled down there to per- 
 form his obscure part in the drama of life. In this se- 
 cluded home, where James was born, he remained 
 for eight years, enjoying but few social or intellectual 
 advantages. When James was eight years of age, his 
 father removed to the village of Mercersburg, where 
 his son was placed at school, and commenced a 
 course of study in English, Latin and Greek. His 
 progress was rapid, and at the age of fourteen, he 
 entered Dickinson College, at Carlisle. Here he de- 
 veloped remarkable talent, and took his stand among 
 the first scholars in the institution. His application 
 to study was intense, and yet his native powers en- 
 
 abled him to master the most abstruse subjects with 
 facility. 
 
 In the year 1809, he graduated with the highest 
 honors of his class. He was then eighteen years of 
 age; tall and graceful, vigorous in health, fond of 
 athletic sport, an unerring shot, and enlivened with 
 an exuberant flow of animal spirits. He immediately 
 commenced the study of law in the city of Lancaster, 
 and was admitted to the bar in 1812, when he was 
 but twenty-one years of age. Very rapidly he rose 
 in his profession, and at once took undisputed stand 
 with the ablest lawyers of the State. When but 
 twenty-six years of age, unaided by counsel, he suc- 
 cessfully defended before the State Senate one of the 
 judges of the State, who was tried upon articles of 
 impeachment. At the age of thirty it was generally 
 admitted that he stood at the head of the bar; and 
 there was no lawyer in the State who had a more lu- 
 crative practice. 
 
 In 1820, he reluctantly consented to run as a 
 candidate for Congress. He was elected, and for 
 ten years he remained a member of the Lower House, 
 During the vacations of Congress, he occasionally 
 tried some important case. In 1831, he retired 
 altogether from the toils of his profession, having ac- 
 quired an ample fortune. 
 
 Gen. Jackson, upon his elevation to the Presidency, 
 appointed Mr. Buchanan minister to Russia. The 
 duties of his mission he performed with ability, which 
 gave satisfaction to all parties. Upon his return, in 
 1833, he was elected to a seat in the United States 
 Senate. He there met, as his associates, Webster, 
 Clay, Wright and Calhoun. He advocated the me; 
 ures proposed by President Jackson, of making repri 

 
 JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 sals against France, to enforce the payment of our 
 claims against that country ; and defended the course 
 of the President in his unprecedented and wholesale 
 removal from office of those who were not the sup- 
 porters of his administration. Upon this question he 
 was brought into direct collision with Henry Clay. 
 He also, with voice and vote, advocated expunging 
 from the journal of the Senate the vote of censure 
 against Gen. Jackson for removing the deposits. 
 Earnestly he opposed the abolition of slavery in the 
 District of Columbia, and urged the prohibition of the 
 circulation of anti-slavery documents by the United 
 States mails. 
 
 As to petitions on the subject of slavery, he advo- 
 cated that they should be respectfully received; and 
 that the reply should be returned, that Congress had 
 no power to legislate upon the subject. " Congress," 
 said he, " might as well undertake to interfere with 
 slavery under a foreign government as in any of the 
 States where it now exists." 
 
 Upon Mr. Folk's accession to the Presidency, Mr. 
 Buchanan became Secretary of State, and as such, 
 took his share of the responsibility in the conduct of 
 the Mexican War. Mr. Polk assumed that crossing 
 the Nueces by the American troops into the disputed 
 territory was not wrong, but for the Mexicans to cross 
 the Rio Grande into that territory was a declaration 
 of war. No candid man can read with pleasure the 
 account of the course our Government pursued in that 
 movement. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan identified himself thoroughly with 
 the party devoted to the perpetuation and extension 
 of slavery, and brought all the energies of his mind 
 to bear against the Wilmot Proviso. He gave his 
 cordial approval to the compromise measures of 1850, 
 which included the fugitive-slave law. Mr. Pierce, 
 upon his election to the Presidency, honored Mr. 
 Buchanan with the mission to England. 
 
 In the year 1856, a national Democratic conven- 
 tion nominated Mr. Buchanan for the Presidency. The 
 political conflict was one of the most severe in which 
 our country has ever engaged. All the friends of 
 slavery were on one side; all the advocates of its re- 
 striction and final abolition, on the other. Mr. Fre- 
 mont, the candidate of the enemies of slavery, re- 
 ceived 114 electoral votes. Mr. Buchanan received 
 174, and was elected. The popular vote stood 
 1,340,618, for Fremont, r, 224,750 for Buchanan. On 
 March 4th, 1857, Mr. Buchanan was inaugurated. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan was far advanced in life. Only four 
 years were wanting to fill up his threescore years and 
 ten. His own friends, those with whom he had been 
 allied in political principles and action for years, were 
 seeking the destruction of the Government, that they 
 might rear upon the ruins of our free institutions a 
 nation whose corner-stone should be human slavery. 
 In this emergency, Mr. Buchanan was hopelessly be- 
 wildered. He could not, with his long-avowed prin- 
 
 ciples, consistently oppose the State-rights party in 
 their assumptions. As President of the United States, 
 bound by his oath faithfully to administer the laws, 
 he could not, without perjury of the grossest kind, 
 unite with those endeavoring to overthrow the repub- 
 lic. He therefore did nothing. 
 
 The opponents of Mr. Buchanan's administration 
 nominaled Abraham Lincoln as their standard bearer 
 in the next Presidential canvass. The pro-slavery 
 party declared, that if he were elected, and the con- 
 trol of the Government were thus taken from their 
 hands, they would secede from the Union, taking 
 with them, as they retired, the National Capitol at 
 Washington, and the lion's share of the territory of 
 the United States. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan's sympathy with the pro-slavery 
 party was such, that he had been willing to offer them 
 far more than they had ventured to- claim. All the 
 South had professed to ask of the North was non- 
 intervention upon the subject of slavery. Mr. Bu- 
 chanan had been ready to offer them the active co- 
 operation of the Government to defend and extend 
 the institution. 
 
 As the storm increased in violence, the slaveholders 
 claiming' the right to secede, and Mr. Buchanan avow- 
 ing that Congress had no power to prevent it, one of 
 the most pitiable exhibitions of governmental im- 
 becility was exhibited the world has ever seen. He 
 declared that Congress had no power to enforce its 
 laws in any State which had withdrawn, or which 
 was attempting to withdraw from the Union. This 
 was not the doctrine of Andrew Jackson, when, with 
 his hand upon his sword-hilt, he exclaimed, " The 
 Union must and shall be preserved ! " 
 
 South Carolina seceded in December, 1860; nearly 
 three months before the inauguration of President 
 Lincoln. Mr. Buchanan looked on in listless despair. 
 The rebel flag was raised in Charleston; Fort Sumpter 
 was besieged ; our forts, navy-yards and arsenals 
 were seized; our depots of military -stores were plun- 
 dered ; and our custom-houses and post-offices were 
 appropriated by the rebels. 
 
 The energy of the rebels, and the imbecility of our 
 Executive, were alike marvelous. The Nation looked 
 on in agony, waiting for the slow weeks to glide away, 
 and close the administration, so terrible in its weak- 
 ness At length the long-looked-for hour of deliver- 
 ance came, when Abraham Lincoln was to receive the 
 scepter. 
 
 The administration of President Buchanan was 
 certainly the most calamitous our country has ex- 
 perienced. His best friends cannot recall it with 
 pleasure. And still more deplorable it is for his fame, 
 that in that dreadful conflict which rolled its billows 
 of flame and blood over our whole land, no word came 
 from his lips to indicate his wish that our country's 
 banner should triumph over the flag of the rebellion. 
 He died at his Wheatland retreat, June i,
 
 OF THE
 
 BRAHAM LINCOLN, the 
 sixteenth President of the 
 United States, was bom in 
 Hardin Co., Ky., Feb. 12, 
 1 809. About the year 1 7 80, a 
 man by the name of Abraham 
 Lincoln left Virginia with his 
 family and moved into the then 
 wilds of Kentucky. Only two years 
 after this emigration, still a young 
 man, while working one day in a 
 field, was stealthily approached by 
 an Indian and shot dead. His widow 
 was left in extreme poverty with five 
 little children, three boys and two 
 girls. Thomas, the youngest of the 
 boys, was four years of age at his 
 father's death. This Thomas was 
 the father of Abraham Lincoln, the 
 President of the United States 
 whose name must henceforth forever be enrolled 
 with the most prominent in the annals of our world. 
 Of course no record has been kept of the life 
 of one so lowly as Thomas Lincoln. He was among 
 the poorest of the poor. His home was a wretched 
 log-cabin ; his food the coarsest and the meanest. 
 Education he had none; he could never either read 
 or write. As soon as he was able to do anything for 
 himself, he was compelled to leave the cabin of his 
 starving mother, and push out into the world, a friend- 
 less, wandering boy, seeking work. He hired him- 
 self out, and thus spent the whole of his youth as a 
 laborer in the fields of others. 
 
 When twenty-eight years of age he built a log- 
 cabin of his own, and married Nancy Hanks, the 
 daughter of another family of poor Kentucky emi- 
 grants, who had also come from Virginia. Their 
 second child was Abraham Lincoln, the subject of 
 this sketch. The mother of Abraham was a noble 
 woman, gentle, loving, pensive, created to adorn 
 a palace, doomed to toil and pine, and die in a hovel. 
 "All that I am, or hope to be," exclaims the grate- 
 ful son " I owe to my angel-mother. 
 
 When he was eight years of age, his father sold his 
 
 cabin and small farm, and moved to Indiana. Where 
 two years later his mother died. 
 
 Abraham soon became the scribe of the uneducated 
 community around him. He could not have had a 
 better school than this to teach him to put thoughts 
 into words. He also became an eager reader. The 
 books he could obtain were few ; but these he read 
 and re-read until they were almost committed to 
 memory. 
 
 As the years rolled on, the lot of this lowly family 
 was the usual lot of humanity. There were joys and 
 griefs, weddings and funerals. Abraham's sister 
 Sarah, to whom he was tenderly attached, was mar- 
 ried when a child of but fourteen years of age, and 
 soon died. The family was gradually scattered. Mr. 
 Thomas Lincoln sold out his squatter's claim in 1830, 
 and emigrated to Macon Co., 111. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln was then twenty-one years of age. 
 With vigorous hands he aided his father in rearing 
 another log-cabin. Abraham worked diligently at this 
 until he saw the family com/ortably settled, and their 
 small lot of enclosed prairie planted with corn, when 
 he announced to his father his intention to leave 
 home, and to go out into the world and seek his for- 
 tune. Little did he or his friends imagine how bril- 
 liant that fortune was to be. He saw the value of 
 education, and was intensely earnest to improve his 
 mind to the utmost of his power. . He saw the ruin 
 which ardent spirits were causing, and became 
 strictly temperate ; refusing to allow a drop of intoxi- 
 cating liquor to pass his lips. And he had read in 
 God's word, "Thou shalt not take the name of the 
 Lord thy God in vain ;" and a profane expression he 
 was never heard to utter. Religion he revered. His 
 morals were pure, and he was uncontaminated by a 
 single vice. 
 
 Young Abraham worked for a time as a hired laborer 
 among the farmers. Then he went to Springfield, 
 where he was employed in building a large flat-boat. 
 In this he took a herd of swine, floated them down 
 the Sangamon to the Illinois, and thence by the Mis- 
 sissippi to New Orleans. Whatever Abraham Lin- 
 coln undertook, he performed so faithfully as to gn 
 great satisfaction to his employers. In this adven- 
 
 *, 
 
 f
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 ^ 
 
 ture his employers were so well pleased, that upon 
 his return they placed a store and mill under his care. 
 
 In 1832, at the outbreak of the Black Hawk war, he 
 enlisted and was chosen captain of a company. He 
 returned to Sangamon County, and although only 23 
 years of age, was a candidate for the Legislature, but 
 was defeated. He soon after received from Andrew 
 Jackson the appointment of Postmaster of New Salem, 
 His only post-office was his hat. All the letters he 
 received he carried there ready to deliver to those 
 he chanced to meet. He studied surveying, and soon 
 made this his business. In 1834 he again became a 
 candidate for the Legislature, and was elected. . Mr. 
 Stuart, of Springfield, advised him to study law. He 
 walked from New Salem to Springfield, borrowed of 
 Mr. Stuart a load of books, carried them back, and 
 began his legal studies. When the Legislature as- 
 sembled he trudged on foot with his pack on his back 
 one hundred miles to Vandalia, then the capital. In 
 1836 he was re-elected to the Legislature. Here it 
 was he first met Stephen A. Douglas. In 1839 he re- 
 moved to Springfield and began the practice of law. 
 His success with the jury was so great that he was 
 soon engaged in almost every noted case in the circuit. 
 
 In 1854 the great discussion began between Mr. 
 Lincoln and Mr. Douglas, on the slavery question. 
 In the organization of the Republican party in Illinois, 
 in 1856, he took an active part, and at once became 
 one of the leaders in that party. Mr. Lincoln's 
 speeches in opposition to Senator Douglas in the con- 
 test in 1858 for a' seat in the Senate, form a most 
 notable part of his history. The issue was on the 
 slavery question, and he took the broad ground of 
 the Declaration of Independence, that all men are 
 created equal. Mr. Lincaln was defeated in this con- 
 test, but won a far higher prize. 
 
 The great Republican Convention met at Chicago 
 on the i6th of June, 1860. The delegates and 
 strangers who crowded the city amounted to twenty- 
 five thousand. An immense building called " The 
 Wigwam," was reared to accommodate the Conven- 
 tion. There were eleven candidates for whom votes 
 were thrown'. William H. Seward, a man whose fame 
 as a statesman had long filled the land, was the most 
 prominent. It was generally supposed he would be 
 the nominee. Abraham Lincoln, however, received 
 the nomination on the third ballot. Little did he then 
 dream of the weary years of toil and care, and the 
 bloody death, to which that nomination doomed him : 
 and as little did he dream that he was to render services 
 to his country, which would fix upon him the eyes of 
 the whole civilized world, and which would give him 
 a place in the affections of his countrymen, second 
 only, if second, to that of Washington. 
 
 Election day came and Mr. Lincoln received 180 
 electoral votes out of 203 cast, and was, therefore, 
 constitutionally elected President of the United States. 
 The tirade of.abuse that was poured upon this good 
 
 and merciful man, especially by the slaveholders, was 
 greater than upon any other man ever elected to this 
 high position. In February, 1861, Mr. Lincoln started 
 for Washington, stopping in all the large cities on his 
 way making speeches. The whole journey was frought 
 with much danger. Many of the Southern States had 
 already seceded, and several attempts at assassination 
 were afterwards brought to light. A gang in Balti- 
 more had arranged, upon his arrival to " get up' a row," 
 and in the confusion to make sure of his death with 
 revolvers and hand-grenades. A detective unravelled 
 the plot. A secret and special train was provided to 
 take him from Harrisburg, through Baltimore, at an 
 unexpected hour of the night. The train started at 
 half-past ten ; and to prevent any possible communi- 
 cation on the part ol the Secessionists with their Con- 
 federate gang in Baltimore, as soon as the train had 
 started the telegraph-wires were cut. Mr. Lincoln 
 reached Washington in safety and was inaugurated, 
 although great anxiety was felt by all loyal people. 
 
 In the selection of his cabinet Mr. Lincoln gave 
 to Mr. Seward the Department of State, and to other 
 prominent opponents before the convention he gave 
 important positions. 
 
 During no other administration have the duties 
 devolving upon the President been so manifold, and 
 the responsibilities so great, as those which fell to 
 the lot of President Lincoln. Knowing this, and 
 feeling his own weakness and inability to meet, and in 
 his own strength to cope, with, the difficulties, he 
 learned early to seek Divine wisdom and guidance in 
 determining his plans, and Divine comfort in all his 
 trials, both personal and national. Contrary to his 
 own estimate of himself, Mr. Lincoln was one of the 
 most courageous of men. He went directly into the 
 rebel capital just as the retreating foe was leaving, 
 with no guard but a few sailors. From the time he 
 had left Springfield, in 1861, however, plans had been 
 made for his assassination, and he at last fell a victim 
 to one of them. April 14, 1865, he, with Gen. Grant, 
 was urgently invited to attend Fords' Theater. It 
 was announced that they would Le present. Gen. 
 Grant, however, left the city. President Lincoln, feel- 
 ing, witn his characteristic kindliness of heart, that 
 it would be a disappointment if he should fail them, 
 very reluctantly consented to go. While listening to 
 the play an actor by the name of John Wilkes Booth 
 entered the box where the President and family were 
 seated, and fired a bullet into his brains. He died the 
 next morning at seven o'clock. 
 
 Never before, in the history of the world was a nation 
 plunged into such deep grief by the death of its ruler. 
 Strong men met in the streets and wept in speechless 
 anguish. It is not too much to say that a nation was 
 in tears. His was a life which will fitly become a 
 model. His name as the savior of his country will 
 live with that of Washington's, its father; his country- 
 men being unable to decide which is the greater. 
 

 
 THFLBM8Y 
 OFTK
 
 SEVENTEENTH PRESIDENT. 
 
 
 NDREW JOHNSON, seven- 
 teenth President of the United 
 States. ' The early life of 
 Andrew Johnson contains but 
 the record of poverty, destitu- 
 tion and friendlessness. He 
 was born December 29, 1808, 
 in Raleigh, N. C. His parents, 
 belonging to the class of the 
 "poor whites " of the South, were 
 in such circumstances, that they 
 could not confer even the slight- 
 est advantages of education upon 
 their child. When Andrew was five 
 years of age, his father accidentally 
 lost his life while herorically endeavoring to save a 
 friend from drowning. Until ten years of age, Andrew 
 was a ragged boy about the streets, supported by the 
 labor of his mother, who obtained her living with 
 her own hands. 
 
 He then, having never attended a school one day, 
 and being unable either to read or write, was ap- 
 prenticed to a tailor in his native town. A gentleman 
 was in the habit of going to the tailor's shop occasion- 
 ally, and reading to the boys at work there. He often 
 read from the speeches of distinguished British states- 
 men. Andrew, who was endowed with a mind of more 
 than ordinary native ability, became much interested 
 in these speeches ; his ambition was roused, and he 
 was inspired with a strong desire to learn to read. 
 
 He accordingly applied himself to the alphabet, and 
 with the assistance of some of his fellow-workmen, 
 learned his letters. He then called upon the gentle- 
 man to borrow the book of speeches. The owner, 
 
 pleased with his zeal, not only gave him the book, 
 but assisted him in learning to combine the letters 
 into words. Under such difficulties he pressed on- 
 ward laboriously, spending usually ten or twelve hours 
 at work in the shop, and then robbing himself of rest 
 and recreation to devote such time as he could to 
 reading. 
 
 He went to Tennessee in 1826, and located at 
 Greenville, where he married a young lady who pos- 
 sessed some education. Under her instructions he 
 learned to write and cipher. He became prominent 
 in the village debating society, and a favorite with 
 the students of Greenville College. In 1828, he or- 
 ganized a working man's party, which elected him 
 alderman, and in 1830 elected him mayor, which 
 position he held three years. 
 
 He now began to take a lively interest in political 
 affairs ; identifying himself with the working-classes, 
 to which he belonged. In 1835, he was elected a 
 member of the House of Representatives of Tennes- 
 see. He was then just twenty-seven years of age. 
 He became a very active member of the legislature, 
 gave his adhesion to the Democratic party, and in 
 1840 "stumped the State," advocating Martin Van 
 Buren's claims to the Presidency, in opposition to those 
 of Gen. Harrison. In this campaign he acquired much 
 readiness as a speaker, and extended and increased 
 his reputation. 
 
 In 1841, he was elected State Senator; in 1843, he 
 was elected a member of Congress, and by successive 
 elections, held that important post for ten years. In 
 1853, he was elected Governor of Tennessee, and 
 was re-elected in 1855. In all these responsible posi- 
 tions, he discharged his duties with distinguished abil- 
 
 *<<&
 
 ty, and proved himself the warm friend of the work- 
 ing classes. In 1857, Mr. Johnson was elected 
 United States Senator. 
 
 Years before, in 1845, he had warmly advocated 
 the annexation of Texas, stating however, as his 
 reason, that he thought this annexation would prob- 
 ably prove " to be the gateway out of which the sable 
 sons of Africa are to pass from bondage to freedom, 
 and become merged in a population congenial to 
 themselves." In 1850, he also supported the com- 
 promise measures, the two essential features of which 
 were, that the white people of the Territories should 
 be permitted to decide for themselves whether they 
 would enslave the colored people or not, and that 
 the free States of the North should return to the 
 South persons who attempted to escape from slavery. 
 
 Mr. Johnson was never ashamed of his lowly origin: 
 on the contrary, he often took pride in avowing that 
 he owed his distinction to his own exertions. " Sir," 
 said he on the floor of the Senate, " I do not forget 
 that I am a mechanic ; neither do I forget that Adam 
 was a tailor and sewed fig-leaves, and that our Sav- 
 ior was the son of a carpenter." 
 
 In the Charleston-Baltimore convention of 1860, he 
 was the choice of the Tennessee Democrats for the 
 Presidency. In 1861, when the purpose of the South- 
 ern Democracy became apparent, he took a decided 
 stand in favor of the Union, and held that " slavery 
 must be held subordinate to the Union at whatever 
 cost." He returned to Tennessee, and repeatedly 
 imperiled his own life to protect the Unionists of 
 Tennesee. Tennessee having seceded from the 
 Union, President Lincoln, on March 4th, 1862, ap- 
 pointed him Military Governor of the State, and he 
 established the most stringent military rule. His 
 numerous proclamations attracted wide attention. In 
 
 1864, he was elected Vice-President of the United 
 States, and upon the death of Mr. Lincoln, April r5, 
 
 1865, became President. In a speech two days later 
 he said, " The American people must be taught, if 
 they do not already feel, that treason is a crime and 
 must be punished ; that the Government will not 
 always bear with its enemies ; that it is strong not 
 only to protect, but to punish. * * The people 
 must understand that it (treason) is the blackest of 
 crimes, and will surely be punished." Yet his whole 
 administration, the history of which is so well known, 
 was in utter inconsistency with, and the most violent 
 
 
 opposition to, the principles laid down in that speech. 
 
 In his loose policy of reconstruction and general 
 amnesty, he was opposed by Congress ; and he char- 
 acterized Congress as a new rebellion, and lawlessly 
 defied it, in everything possible, to the utmost. In 
 the beginning of 1868, on account of "high crimes 
 and misdemeanors," the principal of which was the 
 removal of Secretary Stanton, in violation of the Ten- 
 ure of Office Act, articles of impeachment were pre- 
 ferred against him, and the trial began March 23. 
 
 It was very tedious, continuing for nearly three 
 months. A test article of the impeachment was at 
 length submitted to the court for its action. It was 
 certain that as the court voted upon that article so 
 would it vote upon all. Thirty-four voices pronounced 
 the President guilty. As a two-thirds vote was neces- 
 sary to his condemnation, he was pronounced ac- 
 quitted, notwithstanding the great majority against 
 him. The change of one vote from the not guilty 
 side would have sustained the impeachment. 
 
 The President, for the remainder of his term, was 
 but little regarded. He continued, though impotently, 
 his conflict with Congress. His own party did not 
 think it expedient to renominate him for the Presi- 
 dency. The Nation rallied, with enthusiasm unpar- 
 alleled since the days of Washington, around the name 
 of Gen. Grant. Andrew Johnson was forgotten. 
 The bullet of the assassin introduced him to the 
 President's chair. Notwithstanding this, never was 
 there presented to a man a better opportunity to im- 
 mortalize his name, and to win the gratitude of a 
 nation. He failed utterly. He retired to his home 
 in Greenville, Tenn., taking no very active part in 
 politics until 1875. On Jan. 26, after an exciting 
 struggle, he was chosen by the Legislature of Ten- 
 nessee, United States Senator in the forty-fourth Con- 
 gress, and took his seat in that body, at the special 
 session convened by President Grant, on the sth of 
 March. On the 27th of July, 1875, the ex-President 
 made a visit to his daughter's home, near Carter 
 Station, Tenn. When he started on his journey, he was 
 apparently in his usual vigorous health, but on reach- 
 ing the residence of his child the following day, was 
 stricken with paralysis, rendering him unconscious. 
 He rallied occasionally, but finally passed away at 
 2 A.M., July 3 1, aged sixty-seven years. His fun- 
 eral was attended at Geenville, on the 3d of August, 
 with every demonstration of respect.
 
 THELlWWRir 
 
 OF THE 
 UOTERSiTYOFILLNKMS
 
 LYSSES S. GRANT, the 
 eighteenth President of the 
 United States, was born on 
 the agth of April, 1822, of 
 Christian parents, in a humble 
 home, at Point Pleasant, on the 
 banks of the Ohio. Shortly after 
 his father moved to George- 
 town, Brown Co., O. In this re- 
 mote frontier hamlet, Ulysses 
 received a common-school edu- 
 cation. At the age of seven- 
 teen, in the year 1839, he entered 
 the Military Academy at West 
 Point. Here he was regarded as a 
 solid, sensible young man of fair abilities, and of 
 sturdy, honest character. He took respectable rank 
 as a scholar. In June, 1843, he graduated, about the 
 middle in his class, and was sent as lieutenant of in- 
 fantry to one of the distant military posts in the Mis- 
 souri Territory. Two years he past in these dreary 
 solitudes, watching the vagabond and exasperating 
 Indians. 
 
 The war with Mexico came. Lieut. Grant was 
 sent with his regiment to Corpus Christi. His first 
 battle was at Palo Alto. There was no chance here 
 for the exhibition of either skill or heroism, nor at 
 Resaca de la Palma, his second battle. At the battle 
 of Monterey, his third engagement, it is said that 
 he performed a signal service of daring and skillful 
 horsemanship. His brigade had exhausted its am- 
 munition. A messenger must be sent for more, along 
 a route exposed to the bullets of the foe. Lieut. 
 Grant, adopting an expedient learned of the Indians, 
 grasped the mane of his horse, and hanging upon one 
 side of the animal, ran the gauntlet in entire safety. 
 
 From Monterey he was sent, with the fourth infantry, 
 to aid Gen. Scott, at the siege of Vera Cruz. In 
 preparation for the march to the city of Mexico, he 
 was appointed quartermaster of his regiment. At the 
 battle of Molino del Rey, he was promoted to a 
 first lieutenancy, and was brevetted captain at Cha- 
 pultepec. 
 
 At the close of the Mexican War, Capt. Grant re- 
 turned with his regiment to New York, and was again 
 sent to one of the military posts on the frontier. The 
 discovery of gold in California causing an immense 
 tide of emigration to flow to the Pacific shores, Capt. 
 Grant was sent with a battalion to Fort Dallas, in 
 Oregon, for the protection of the interests of the im- 
 migrants. Life was wearisome in those wilds. Capt. 
 Grant resigned his commission and returned to the 
 States ; and having married, entered upon the cultiva- 
 tion of a small farm near St. Louis, Mo. He had but 
 little skill as a farmer. Finding his toil not re- 
 munerative, he turned to mercantile life, entering into 
 the leather business, with a younger brother, at Ga- 
 lena, 111. This was in the year 1860. As the tidings 
 of the rebels firing on Fort Sumpter reached the ears 
 of Capt. Grant in his counting-room, he said, 
 "Uncle Sam has educated me for the army; though 
 I have served him through one war, I do not feel that 
 I have yet repaid the debt. I am still ready to discharge 
 my obligations. I shall therefore buckle on my sword 
 and see Uncle Sam through this war too." 
 
 He went into the streets, raised a company of vol- 
 unteers, and led them as their captain to Springfield, 
 the capital of the State, where their services were 
 offered to Gov. Yates. The Governor, impressed by 
 the zeal and straightforward executive ability of Capt. 
 Grant, gave him a desk in his office, to assist in the 
 volunteer organization that was being formed in the 
 State in behalf of the Government. On the isth of 
 
 ^
 
 ULYSSES S. GRANT. 
 
 June, 1 86 1, Capt. Grant received a commission as 
 Colonel of the Twenty-first Regiment of Illinois Vol- 
 unteers. His merits as a West Point graduate, who 
 had served for 15 years in 'the regular army, were such 
 that he was soon promoted to the rank of Brigadier- 
 General and was placed in command at Cairo. The 
 rebels raised their banner at Paducah, near the mouth 
 of the Tennessee River. Scarcely had its folds ap- 
 peared in the breeze ere Gen. Grant was there. The 
 rebels fled. Their banner fell, and the star and 
 stripes were unfurled in its stead. 
 
 He entered the service with great determination 
 and immediately began active duty. This was the be- 
 ginning, and until the surrender of Lee at Richmond 
 he was ever pushing the enemy with great vigor and 
 effectiveness. At Belmont, a few days later, he sur- 
 prised and routed the rebels, then at Fort Henry 
 won another victory. Then came the brilliant fight 
 at Fort Donelson. The nation was electrified by the 
 victory, and the brave leader of the boys in blue was, 
 immediately made a Major-General, and the military 
 district of Tennessee was assigned to him. 
 
 Like all great captains, Gen. Grant knew well how 
 to secure the results of victory. He immediately 
 pushed on to the enemies' lines. Then came the 
 terrible battles of Pittsburg Landing, Corinth, and the 
 siege of Vicksburg, where Gen. Pemberton made an 
 unconditional surrender of the city with over thirty 
 thousand men and one-hundred and seventy-two can- 
 non. The fall of Vicksburg was by far the most 
 severe blow which the rebels had thus far encountered, 
 and opened up the Mississippi from Cairo to the Gulf. 
 
 Gen. Grant was next ordered to co-operate with 
 Gen. Banks in a movement upon Texas, and pro- 
 ceeded to New Orleans, where he was thrown from 
 his horse, and received severe injuries, from which he 
 was laid up for months. He then rushed to the aid 
 of Gens. Rosecrans and Thomas at Chattanooga, and 
 by a wonderful series of strategic and tactical meas- 
 ures put the Union army in fighting condition. Then 
 followed the bloody battles at Chattanooga, Lookout 
 Mountain and Missionary Ridge, in which the rebels 
 were routed with great loss. This won for him un- 
 bounded praise in the North. On the 4th of Febru- 
 ary, 1864, Congress revived the grade of lieutenant- 
 general, and the rank was conferred on Gen. Grant. 
 He repaired to Washington to receive his credentials 
 and enter upon the duties of his new office. 
 
 Gen. Grant decided as soon as he took charge of 
 the army to concentrate the widely-dispersed National 
 troops for an attack upon Richmond, the nominal 
 capital of the Rebellion, and endeavor there to de- 
 stroy the rebel armies which would be promptly as- 
 sembled from all quarters for its defence. The whole 
 continent seemed to tremble under the tramp of these 
 majestic armies, rushing to the decisive battle field. 
 Steamers were crowded with troops. Railway trains 
 were burdened with closely packed thousands. His 
 plans were comprehensive and involved a series of 
 campaigns, which were executed with remarkable en- 
 ergy and ability, and were consummated at the sur- 
 render of Lee, April 9, 1865. 
 
 The war was ended. The Union was saved. The 
 almost unanimous voice of the Nation declared Gen. 
 Grant to be the most prominent instrument in its sal- 
 vation. The eminent services he had thus rendered 
 the country brought him conspicuously forward as the 
 Republican candidate for the Presidential chair. 
 
 At the Republican Convention held at Chicago, 
 May 21, 1868, he was unanimously nominated for the 
 Presidency, and at the autumn election received a 
 majority of the popular vote, and 214 out of 294 
 electoral votes. 
 
 The National Convention of the Republican party 
 which met at Philadelphia on the 5th of June, 1872, 
 placed Gen. Grant in nomination for a second term 
 by a unanimous vote. The selection was emphati- 
 cally indorsed by the people five months later, 292 
 electoral votes being cast for him. 
 
 Soon after the close of his second term, Gen. Grant 
 started upon his famous trip around the world. He 
 visited almost every country of the civilized world, 
 and was everywhere received with such ovations 
 and demonstrations of respect and honor, private 
 as well as public and official, as were never before 
 bestowed upon any citizen of the United States. It 
 is not too much to say that his modest, courteous, and 
 dignified demeanor in the presence of the most dis- 
 tinguished men in the different nations in the world, 
 reflected honor upon the Republic which he so long 
 and so faithfully served. The country felt a great 
 pride in his reception. Upon his arrival in San Fran- 
 cisco, Sept. 20, r879, the city authorities gave him a 
 fine reception. After lingering in the Golden State 
 for a while, he began his tour through the States, 
 which extended North and South, everywhere mark- 
 ed by great acclamation and splendid ovations. 
 


 
 NINETEENTH PRESIDENT. 
 
 1'-.'"i r ; i'Tv ; ''1*7777'' ' i r 3T'<; 7 ; >' ; << : 7 >< : .' : .. .. . '. . '. '. '. . '. '. '>:<>:',: >, \~<, '..'i '. vrv'.v. '1 
 
 I 
 
 UTHERFORD B. HAYES, 
 the nineteenth President of 
 the United States, was born in 
 Delaware, O., Oct. 4, 1822, al- 
 most three months after the 
 death of his father, Rutherford 
 Hayes. His ancestry on both 
 the paternal and maternal sides, 
 was of the most honorable char- 
 acter. It can be traced, it is said, 
 as far back as 1280, when Hayes and 
 Rutherford were two Scottish chief- 
 tains, fighting side by side with 
 Baliol, William Wallace and Robert 
 Bruce. Both families belonged to the 
 nobility, owned extensive estates, 
 and had a large following. Misfor- 
 tune overtaking the family, George Hayes left Scot- 
 land in 1680, and settled in Windsor, Conn. His son 
 George was born in Windsor, and remained there 
 during his life. Daniel Hayes, son of the latter, mar- 
 ried Sarah Lee, and lived from the time of his mar- 
 riage until his death in Simsbury, Conn. Ezekiel, 
 son of Daniel, was born in 1724, and was a manufac- 
 turer of scythes at Bradford, Conn. Rutherford Hayes, 
 son of Ezekiel and grandfather of President Hayes, was 
 born inNew Haven, in August, 1756. He was a fanner, 
 blacksmith and tavern-keeper. He emigrated to 
 Vermont at an unknown date, settling in Brattleboro, 
 where he established a hotel. Here his son Ruth- 
 erford Hayes, the father of President Hayes, was 
 
 born. He was married, in September, 1813, to Sophia 
 Birchard, of Wilmington, Vt., whose ancestors emi- 
 grated thither from Connecticut, they having been 
 among the wealthiest and best famlies of Norwich. 
 Her ancestry on the male side are traced back to 
 1635, to John Birchard, one of the principal founders 
 of Norwich. Both of her grandfathers were soldiers 
 in the Revolutionary War. 
 
 The father of President Hayes was an industrious, 
 frugal and opened-hearted man. He was of a me- 
 chanical turn, and could mend a plow, knit a stock~ 
 ing, or do almost anything else that he choose to 
 undertake. He was a member of the Church, active 
 in all the benevolent enterprises of the town, and con- 
 ducted his business on Christian principles. After 
 the close of the war of 1812, for reasons inexplicable 
 to his neighbors, he resolved to emigrate to Ohio. 
 
 The journey from Verm6nt to Ohio in that day, 
 when there were no canals, steamers, nor railways, 
 was a very serious affair. A tour of inspection was 
 first made, occupying four months. Mr. Hayes deter- 
 mined to move to Delaware, where the family arrived 
 in 1817. He died July 22, 1822, a victim of malarial 
 fever, less than three months before the birth of the 
 son, of whom we now write. Mrs. Hayes, in her sore be- 
 reavement, found the support she so much needed in 
 her brother Sardis, who had been a member of the 
 household from the day of its departure from Ver- 
 mont, and in an orphan girl whom she had adopted 
 some time before as an act of charity. 
 
 Mrs. Hayes at this period was very weak, and the 
 
 ft 
 
 r
 
 
 
 RUTHERFORD . HAYES. 
 
 subject of this sketch was so feeble at birth that he 
 was not expected to live beyond a month or two at 
 most. As the months went by he grew weaker and 
 weaker, so that the neighbors were in the habit of in- 
 quiring from time to time " if Mrs. Hayes' baby died 
 last night." On one occasion a neighbor, who was on 
 familiar terms with the family, after alluding to the 
 boy's big head, and the mother's assiduous care of 
 him, said in a bantering way, " That's right ! Stick to 
 him. You have got him along so far, and I shouldn't 
 wonder if he would really come to something yet." 
 
 " You need not laugh," said Mrs. Hayes. " You 
 wait and see. You can't tell but I shall make him 
 President of the United States yet." The boy lived, 
 in spite of the universal predictions of his speedy 
 death; and when, in 1825, his older brother was 
 drowned, he became, if possible, still dearer to his 
 mother. 
 
 The boy was seven years old before he went to 
 school. His education, however, was not neglected. 
 He probably learned as much from his mother and 
 sister as he would have done at school. His sports 
 were almost wholly within doors, his playmates being 
 his sister and her associates. These circumstances 
 tended, no doubt, to foster that gentleness of dispo- 
 sition, and that delicate consideration for the feelings 
 of others, which are marked traits of his character. 
 
 His uncle Sardis Birchard took the deepest interest 
 in his education ; and as the boy's health had im- 
 proved, and he was making good progress in his 
 studies, he proposed to send him to college. His pre- 
 paration commenced with a tutor at home; but he 
 was afterwards sent for one year to a professor in the 
 Wesleyan University, in Middletown, Conn. He en- 
 tered Kenyon College in 1838,3! the age of sixteen, 
 and was graduated at the head of his class in 1842. 
 
 Immediately after his graduation he began the 
 study of law in the office of Thomas Sparrow, Esq., 
 in Columbus. Finding his opportunities for study in 
 Columbus somewhat limited, he determined to enter 
 the Law School at Cambridge, Mass., where he re- 
 mained two years. 
 
 In 1845, after graduating at the Law School, he was 
 admitted to the bar at Marietta, Ohio, and shortly 
 afterward went into practice as an attorney-at-law 
 with Ralph P. Buckland, of Fremont. Here he re- 
 mained three years, acquiring but a limited practice, 
 and apparently unambitious of distinction in his pro- 
 fession. 
 
 In 1849 he moved to Cincinnati, where his ambi- 
 tion found a new stimulus. For several years, how- 
 ever, his progress was slow. Two events, occurring at 
 this period, had a powerful influence upon his subse- 
 quent life. One of these was his marrage with Miss 
 Lucy Ware Webb, daughter of Dr. James Webb, of 
 Chilicothe; the other was his introduction to the Cin- 
 cinnati Literary Club, a body embracing among its 
 members such men as Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase, 
 
 Gen. John Pope, Gov. Edward F. Noyes, and many 
 others hardly less distinguished in after life. The 
 marriage was a fortunate one in every respect, as 
 everybody knows. Not one of all the wives of our 
 Presidents was more universally admired, reverenced 
 and beloved than was Mrs! Hayes, and no one did 
 more than she to reflect honor upon American woman- 
 hood. The Literary Club brought Mr. Hayes into 
 constant association with young men of high char- 
 acter and noble aims, and lured him to display the 
 qualities so long hidden by his bashfulness and 
 modesty. 
 
 In 1856 he was nominated to the office of Judge of 
 the Court of Common Pleas; but he declined to ac- 
 cept the nomination. Two years later, the office of 
 city solicitor becoming vacant, the City Council 
 elected him for the unexpired term. 
 
 In 1861, when the Rebellion broke out, he was at 
 the zenith of his professional life. His rank at the 
 bar was among the the first. But the news of the 
 attack on Fort Sumpter found him eager to take up 
 arms for the defense of his country. 
 
 His military record was bright and illustrious. In 
 October, 1861, he was made Lieutenant-Colonel, and 
 in August, 1862, promoted Colonel of the 7gth Ohio 
 regiment, but he refused to leave his old comrades 
 and go among strangers. Subsequently, however, he 
 was made Colonel of his old regiment. At the battle 
 of South Mountain he received a wound, and while 
 faint and bleeding displayed courage and fortitude 
 that won admiration from all. 
 
 Col. Hayes was detached from his regiment, after 
 his recovery, to act as Brigadier-General, and placed 
 in command of the celebrated Kanawha division, 
 and for gallant and meritorious services in the battles 
 of Winchester, Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek, he was 
 promoted Brigadier-General. He was also brevetted 
 Major-General, "forgallant and distinguished services 
 during the campaigns of 1864, in West Virginia." In 
 the course of his arduous services, four horses were 
 shot from under hihi, and he was wounded four times. 
 
 In 1864, Gen. Hayes was elected to Congress, from 
 the Second Ohio District, which had long been Dem- 
 ocratic. He was not present during the campaign, 
 and after his election was importuned to resign his 
 commission in the army ; but he finally declared, " I 
 shall never come to Washington until I can come by 
 the way of Richmond." He was re-elected in 1866. 
 
 In 1867, Gen Hayes was elected Governor of Ohio, 
 over Hon. Allen G. Thurman, a popular Democrat. 
 In 1869 was re-elected over George H. Pendleton. 
 He was elected Govenwr for the third term in 1875. 
 
 In 1876 he was the standard bearer of the Repub- 
 lican Party in the Presidential contest, and after a 
 hard long contest was chosen President, and was in 
 augurated Monday, March 5, 1875. He served his' 
 full term, not, hcwever, with satisfaction to his party, 
 but his administration was an average one.
 
 THEUBRW 
 OF THE 
 
 mrvERsirr OF ILLINOIS

 
 TWENTIETH PRESIDENT. 
 
 AMES A. GARFIELD, twen- 
 tieth President of the United 
 States, was born Nov. 19, 
 i83r, in the woods of Orange, 
 Cuyahoga Co., O His par- 
 ents were Abram and Eliza 
 (Ballou) Garfield, both of New 
 England ancestry and from fami- 
 well known in the early his- 
 tory of that section of our coun- 
 try, but had moved to the Western 
 Reserve, in Ohio, early in its settle- 
 ment. 
 
 The house in which James A. was 
 bom was not unlike the houses of 
 poor Ohio farmers of that day. It 
 was about 20 130 feet, built of logs, with the spaces be- 
 tween the logs filled with clay. His father was a 
 hard working farmer, and he soon had his fields 
 cleared, an orchard planted, and a log barn built. 
 The household comprised the father and mother and 
 their four children Mehetabel, Thomas, Mary and 
 James. In May, 1823, the father, from a cold con- 
 tracted in helping to put out a forest fire, died. At 
 this time James was about eighteen months old, and 
 Thomas about ten years old. No one, perhaps, can 
 tell how much James was indebted to his brother's 
 toil and self-sacrifice during the twenty years suc- 
 ceeding his father's death, but undoubtedly very 
 much. He now lives in Michigan, and the two sis- 
 ters live in Solon, O., near their birthplace. 
 
 The early educational advantages young Garfield 
 enjoyed were very limited, yet he made the most of 
 them. He labored at farm work for others, did car- 
 penter work, chopped wood, or did anything that 
 would bring in a few dollars to aid his widowed 
 mother in her struggles to keep the little family to- 
 
 gether. Nor was Gen. Garfield ever ashamed of his 
 origin, and he never forgot the friends of his strug- 
 gling childhood, youth and manhood, neither did they 
 ever forget him. When in the highest seats of honor, 
 the humblest fiiend of his boyhood was as kindly 
 greeted as ever. The poorest laborer was sure of the 
 sympathy of one who had known all the bitterness 
 of want and the sweetness of bread earned by the 
 sweat of the brow. He was ever the simple, plain, 
 modest gentleman. 
 
 The highest ambition of young Garfield until he 
 was about sixteen years old was to be a captain of 
 a vessel on Lake Erie. He was anxious to go aboard 
 a vessel, which his mother strongly opposed. She 
 finally consented to his going to Cleveland, with the 
 understanding, however, that he should try to obtain 
 some other kind of employment. He walked all the 
 way to Cleveland. This was his first visit to the city. 
 After making many applications for work, and trying 
 to get aboard a lake vessel, and not meeting with 
 success, he engaged as a driver for his cousin, Amos 
 Letcher, on the Ohio & Pennsylvania Canal. He re- 
 mained at this work but a short time when he went 
 horrie, and attended the seminary at Chester for 
 about three years, when he entered Hiram and the 
 Eclectic Institute, teaching a few terms of school in 
 the meantime, and doing other work. This school 
 was started by the Disciples of Christ in 1850, of 
 which church he was then a member. He became 
 janitor and bell-ringer in order to help pay his way. 
 He then became both teacher and pupil. He soon 
 " exhausted Hiram " and needed more ; hence, in the 
 fall of 1854, he entered Williams College, from which 
 he graduated in 1856, taking one of the highest hon- 
 ors of his class. He afterwards returned to Hiram 
 College as its President. As above stated, he early 
 united with the Christian or Diciples Church at 
 Hiram, and was ever after a devoted, zealous mem- 
 ber, often preaching in its pulpit and places where 
 he happened to be. Dr. Noah Porter, President of 
 Yale College, says of him in reference to his religion ; 
 
 v) 
 
 I 
 
 c 
 
 i
 
 
 JAMES A. GARFIELD. 
 
 Christianity. Presdent Gar 
 church of his mother, the ch 
 
 President Garfield was more than a man of 
 strong moral and religious convictions. His whole 
 history, from boyhood to the last, shows that duty to 
 man and to God, and devotion to Christ and life and 
 faith and spiritual commission were controlling springs 
 of his being, and to a more than usual degree. In 
 my judgment there is no more interesting feature of 
 his character than his loyal allegiance to the body of 
 Christians in which he was trained, and the fervent 
 sympathy which he ever showed in their Christian 
 communion. Not many of the few 'wise and mighty 
 and noble who are called ' show a similar loyalty to 
 the less stately and cultured Christian communions 
 in which they, have been reared. Too often it is true 
 that as they step upward in social and political sig- 
 nificance they step upward from one degree to 
 another in some of the many types of fashionable 
 Christianity. President Garfield adhered to the 
 liurch in which he was 
 
 a pi 
 
 evangelist, and yet with the largest and most unsec- 
 tarian charity for all 'who loveour Lord in sincerity.'" 
 
 Mr. Garfield was united in marriage with Miss 
 Lucretia Rudolph, Nov. n, 1858, who proved herself 
 worthy as the wife of one whom all the world loved and 
 mourned. To them were born seven children, five of 
 whom are still living, four boys and one girl. 
 
 Mr. Garfield made his first political speeches in 1856, 
 in Hiram and the neighboring villages, and three 
 years later he began to speak at county mass-meet- 
 ings, and became the favorite speaker wherever he 
 was. During this year he was elected to the Ohio 
 Senate. He also began to study law at Cleveland, 
 and in 1 86 r was admitted to the bar. The great 
 Rebellion broke out in the early part of this year, 
 and Mr. Garfield at once resolved to fight as he had 
 talked, and enlisted to defend the old flag. He re- 
 ceived his commission as Lieut.-Colonel of the Forty- 
 second Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Aug. 
 14, 1861. He was immediately put into active ser- 
 vice, and before he had ever seen a gun fired in action, 
 was placed in command of four regiments of infantry 
 and eight companies of cavalry, charged with the 
 work of driving out of his native State the officer 
 (Humphrey Marshall) reputed to be the ablest of 
 those, not educated to war whom Kentucky had given 
 to the Rebellion. This work was bravely and speed- 
 ily accomplished, although against great odds. Pres- 
 ident Lincoln, on his success commissioned him 
 Brigadier-General, Jan. 10, 1862; and as "he had 
 been the youngest man in the Ohio Senate two years 
 before, so now he was the youngest General in the 
 army." He was with Gen. Buell's army at Shiloli, 
 in its operations around Corinth and its march through 
 Alabama. He was then detailed as a member of the 
 General Court-Martial for the trial of Gen. Fitz-John 
 Porter. He was then ordered to report to Gen. Rose- 
 crans, and was assigned to the "Chief of Staff." 
 
 The military history of Gen. Garfield closed with 
 . 
 
 his brilliant services at Chickamauga, where he won 
 the stars of the Major-General. 
 
 Without an effort on his part Gen. Garfield was 
 elected to Congress in the fall of 1862 from the 
 Nineteenth District of Ohio. This section of Ohio 
 had been represented in Congress for sixty years 
 mainly by two men Elisha Whittlesey and Joshua 
 R. Giddings. It was not without a struggle that he 
 resigned his place in the army. At the time he en- 
 tered Congress he was the youngest member in that 
 body. There he remained by successive re- 
 elections until he was elected President in 1880. 
 Of his labors in Congress Senator Hoar says : " Since 
 the year 1864 you cannot think of a question which 
 has been debated in Congress, or discussed before a 
 tribunel of the American people, in regard to which 
 you will not find, if you wish instruction, the argu- 
 ment on one side stated, in almost every instance 
 better than by anybody else, in some speech made in 
 the House of Representatives or on the hustings by 
 Mr. Garfield." 
 
 Upon Jan. 14, 1880, Gen. Garfield was elected to 
 the U. S. Senate, and on the eighth of June, of the 
 
 same year, was nominated as the candidate of his 
 party for President at the great Chicago Convention. 
 He was elected in the following November, and on 
 
 March 4, 1881, was inaugurated. Probably no ad- 
 ministration ever opened its existence under brighter 
 auspices than that of President Garfield, and every 
 day it grew in favor with the people, and by the first 
 of July he had completed all the initiatory and pre- 
 liminary work of his administration and was prepar- 
 ing to leave the city to meet his friends at Williams 
 College. While on his way and at the depot, in com- 
 pany with Secretary Elaine, a man stepped behind 
 him, drew a revolver, and fired directly at his back. 
 The President tottered and fell, and as he did so the 
 assassin fired a second shot, the bullet cutting the 
 left coat sleeve of his victim, but inflicting no further 
 injury. It has been very truthfully said that this was 
 " the shot that was heard round the world " Never 
 before in the history of the Nation had anything oc- 
 curred which so nearly froze the blood of the people 
 for the moment, as this awful deed. He was smit- 
 ten on the brightest, gladdest day of all his life, and 
 was at the summit of his power and hope. For eighty 
 days, all during the hot months of July and August, 
 he lingered and suffered. He, however, remained 
 master of himself till the last, and by his magnificent 
 bearing was teaching the country and the world the 
 noblest of human lessons how to live grandly in the 
 very clutch of death. Great in life, he was surpass- 
 ingly great in death. He passed serenely away Sept. 
 19, 1883, at Elberon, N. J. a on the very bank "of the 
 ocean, where he had been taken shortly previous. The 
 world wept at his death, as it never had done on the 
 death of any other man who had ever lived upon it. 
 The murderer was duly tried, found guilty and exe- 
 cuted, in one year after he committed the foul deed.
 
 OF THE 
 MHVEBSITC OF ILLMQiS
 
 TWEMTY-FIRST PRESIDENT. 
 
 &* ? 
 
 HESTER A. ARTHUR, 
 twenty-first President of the 
 United States, was born in 
 f Franklin County, Vermont, on 
 thefifthof October, 1830, andis 
 the oldest of a family of two 
 v sons and five daughters. His 
 father was the Rev. Dr. William 
 Arthur, a Baptist clergyman, who 
 emigrated to this country from 
 the county Antrim, Ireland, in 
 his 1 8th year, and died in 1875, in 
 Newtonville, near Albany, after a 
 long and successful ministry. 
 
 Young Arthur was educated at 
 Union College, Schenectady, where 
 he excelled in all his studies. Af- 
 ter his graduation he taught school 
 in Vermont for two years, and at 
 the expiration of that time came to 
 New York, with $500 in his pocket, 
 and entered the office of ex- Judge 
 E. D. Culver as student. After 
 being admitted to the bar he formed 
 a partnership with his intimate friend and room-mate, 
 Henry D. Gardiner, with the intention of practicing 
 in the West, and for three months they roamed about 
 in the Western States in search of an eligible site, 
 but in the end returned to New York, where they 
 hung out their shingle, and entered upon a success- 
 ful career almost from the start. General Arthur 
 soon afterward married the daughter of Lieutenant 
 
 
 .,,,, 
 
 Herndon, of the United States Navy, who was lost at 
 sea. Congress voted a gold medal to his widow in 
 recognition of the bravery he displayed on that occa- 
 sion. Mrs. Arthur died shortly before Mr. Arthur's 
 nomination to the Vice Presidency, leaving two 
 children. 
 
 Gen. Arthur obtained considerable legal celebrity 
 in his first great case, the famous Lemmon suit, 
 brought to recover possession of eight slaves who had 
 been declared free by Judge Paine, of the Superior 
 Court of New York City. It was in 1852 that Jon- 
 athan Lemmon, of Virginia, went to New York with 
 his slaves, intending to ship them to Texas, when 
 they were discovered and freed. The Judge decided 
 that they could not be held by the owner under the 
 Fugitive Slave Law. A howl of rage went up from 
 the South, and the Virginia Legislature authorized the 
 Attorney General of that State to assist in an appeal. 
 Wm. M. Evarts and Chester A. Arthur were employed 
 to represent the People, and they won their case, 
 which then went to the Supreme Court of the United 
 States. Charles O'Conor here espoused the cause 
 of the slave-holders, but he too was beaten by Messrs. 
 Evarts and Arthur, and a long step was taken toward 
 the emancipation of the black race. 
 
 Another great service was rendered by General 
 Arthur in the same cause in 1856. Lizzie Jennings, 
 a respectable colored woman, was put off a Fourth 
 Avenue car with violence after she had paid her fare. 
 General Arthur sued on her behalf, and secured a 
 verdict of $500 damages. The next day the compa- 
 ny issued an order to admit colored persons to ride 
 on their cars, and the other car companies quickly 
 
 \ r^ NvSx^<^' _&V5,X^ 

 
 
 mm 
 
 CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 
 
 t J 
 
 E=X 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 followed their example. Before that the Sixth Ave- 
 nue Company ran a few special cars for colored per- 
 sons and the other lines refused to let them ride at all. 
 
 General Arthur was a delegate to the Convention 
 at Saratoga that founded the Republican party. 
 Previous to the war he was Judge-Advocate of the 
 Second Brigade of the State of New York, and Gov- 
 ernor Morgan, of that State, appointed him Engineer- 
 in-Chief of his staff. In 1861, he was made Inspec- 
 tor General, and soon afterward became Quartermas- 
 ter-General. In each of these offices he rendered 
 great service to the Government during the war. At 
 the end of Governor Morgan's term he resumed the 
 practice of the law, forming a partnership with Mr. 
 Ransom, and then Mr. Phelps, the District Attorney 
 of New York, was added to the firm. The legal prac- 
 tice of this well-known firm was very large and lucra- 
 tive, each of the gentlemen composing it were able 
 lawyers, and possessed a splendid local reputation, if 
 not indeed one of national extent. 
 
 He always took a leading part in State and city 
 politics. He was appointed Collector of the Port of 
 New York by President Grant, Nov. 21 1872, to suc- 
 ceed Thomas Murphy, and held the office until July, 
 20, 1878, when he was succeeded by Collector Merritt. 
 
 Mr. Arthur was nominated on the Presidential 
 ticket, with Gen. James A. Garfield, at the famous 
 National Republican Convention held at Chicago in 
 June, 1880. This was perhaps the greatest political 
 convention that ever assembled on the continent. It 
 was composed of the leading politicians of the Re- 
 publican party, all able men, and each stood firm and 
 fought vigorously and with signal tenacity for their 
 respective candidates that were before the conven- 
 tion for the nomination. Finally Gen. Garfield re- 
 ceived the nomination for President and Gen. Arthur 
 for Vice-President. The campaign which followed 
 was one of the most animated known in the history of 
 our country. Gen. Hancock, the standard-bearer of 
 the Democratic party,' was a popular man, and his 
 party made a valiant fight for his election. 
 
 Finally the election came and the country's choice 
 was Garfield and Arthur. They were inaugurated 
 March 4, 1881, as President and Vice-President. 
 A few months only had passed ere the newly chosen 
 President was the victim of the assassin's bullet. Then 
 came terrible weeks of suffering, those moments of 
 anxious suspense, when the hearts of all civilized na- 
 
 
 tions were throbbing in unison, longing for the re- x t 
 covery of the noble, the good President. The remark- / ' 
 able patience that he manifested during those hours \ * 
 and weeks, and even months, of the most terrible suf- 
 fering man has often been called upon to endure, was 
 seemingly more than human. It was certainly God- 
 like. During all this period of deepest anxiety Mr. 
 Arthur's every move was watched, and be it said to his 
 credit that his every action displayed only an earnest 
 desire that the suffering Garfield might recover, to 
 serve the remainder of the term he had so auspi- 
 ciously begun. Not a selfish feeling was manifested 
 in deed or look of this man, even though the most 
 honored position in the world was at any moment / 
 likely to fall to him. 
 
 At last God in his mercy relieved President Gar- 
 field from further suffering, and the world, as never 
 before in its history over the death of any other 
 man, wept at his bier. Then it became the duty of 
 the Vice President to assume the responsibilities of ' \ 
 the high office, and he took the oath in New York, 
 Sept. 20, 1881. The position was an embarrassing $ 
 one to him, made doubly so from the facts that all ^ 
 eyes were on him, anxious to know what he would do, $>* 
 what policy he would pursue, and who he would se- ^ 
 lect as advisers. The duties of the office had been & 
 greatly neglected during the President's long illness, 
 and many important measures were to be immediately | 
 decided by him ; and still farther to embarrass him he 
 did not fail to realize under what circumstances he 
 became President, and knew the feelings of many on 
 this point. Under these trying circumstances President 
 Arthur took the reins of the Government in his own 
 hands ; and, as embarrassing as were the condition of V 
 affairs, he has happily surprised the Nation, acting so C \ 
 justly, so wisely, so well, that but few have criticised , ^ 
 his administration. Should he continue during the 
 remainder of his term to pursue the wise policy he 
 has followed thus far, we believe President Arthurs 
 administration will go down in history as one of the 
 wisest and most satisfactory our country has ever 
 enjoyed. His highest ambition seems to be to do his 
 duty to the whole Nation, even to the sacrifice of his 
 warmest personal friends. With the good of the 
 people at heart, and guided by the wisdom already 
 displayed, he will surprise his opponents, gratify his J ? 
 friends, and bless the American Republic, during 
 the years he occupies the Presidential chair. 
 
 ^ ^.JMVar' _i^>v?
 
 OF THE 
 WflfERSJTr OF ILUMflB
 
 
 TWENTY-SECOND PRESIDENT. 
 
 TEPHEN GROVER CLEVE- 
 LAND, the twenty- second Pres- 
 ident of the United States, was 
 born in 1837, in the obscure 
 town of Caldwell, Essex Co., 
 N. J., and in a little two-and-a- 
 -story white house which is still 
 standing, characteristically to mark 
 the humble birth-place of one of 
 America's great men in striking con- 
 trast with the Old World, where all 
 men high in office must be high in 
 origin and born in the cradle of 
 wealth. When the subject of this 
 sketch was three years of age, his 
 father, who was a Presbyterian min- 
 ister, with a large family and a small salary, moved, 
 by way of the Hudson River and Erie Canal, to 
 Fayetteville, in search of an increased income and a 
 larger field of work. Fayetteville was then the most 
 straggling of country villages, about five miles from 
 Pompey Hill, where Governor Seymour was born. 
 
 At the last mentioned place young Grover com- 
 menced going to school in the " good, old-fashioned 
 way," and presumably distinguished himself after the 
 manner of all village boys, in doing the things he 
 ought not to do. Such is the distinguishing trait of 
 all geniuses and independent thinkers. When he 
 arrived at the age of 14 years, he had outgrown the 
 capacity of the village school and expressed a most 
 
 emphatic desire to be sent to an academy. To this 
 his father decidedly objected. Academies in those 
 days cost money; besides, his father wanted him to 
 become self-supporting by the quickest possible 
 means, and this at that time in Fayetteville seemed 
 to be a position in a country store, where his father 
 and the large family on his hands had considerable 
 influence. Grover was to be paid $50 for his services 
 the first year, and if he proved trustworthy he was to 
 receive $100 the second year. Here the lad com- 
 menced his career as salesman, and in two years he 
 had earned so good a reputation for trustworthiness 
 that his employers desired to retain him for an in- 
 definite length of time. Otherwise he did not ex- 
 hibit as yet any particular " flashes of genius " or 
 eccentricities of talent. He was simply a good boy. 
 But instead of remaining with this firm in Fayette- 
 ville, he went with the family in their removal to 
 Clinton, where he had an opportunity of attending a 
 high school. Here he industriously pursued his 
 studies until the family removed with him to a point 
 on Black River known as the " Holland Patent," a 
 village of 500 or 600 people, 15 miles north of Utica, 
 N. Y. At this place his father died, after preaching 
 but three Sundays. This event broke up the family, 
 and Grover set out for New York City to accept, at a 
 small salary, the position of " under-teacher " in an 
 asylum for the blind. He taught faithfully for two 
 years, and although he obtained a good reputation in 
 this capacity, he concluded that teaching was not his 
 
 V 
 
 ( 

 
 S. GROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 ' 
 
 z-a\\\\-\% for life, and, reversing the traditional order, 
 he left the city to seek his fortune, instead of going 
 to a city. He first thought of Cleveland, Ohio, as 
 there was some charm in that name for him; but 
 before proceeding to that place he went to Buffalo to 
 ask the advice of his uncle, Lewis F. Allan, a noted 
 stock-breeder of that place. The latter did not 
 speak enthusiastically. " What is it you want to do, 
 my boy?" he asked. "Well, sir, I want to study 
 law," was the reply. " Good gracious ! " remarked 
 the old gentleman ; " do you, indeed ? What ever put 
 that into your head? How much money have you 
 got?" "Well, sir, to tell the truth, I haven't got 
 any." 
 
 After a long consultation, his uncle offered him a 
 place temporarily as assistant herd-keeper, at $50 a 
 year, while he could "look around." One day soon 
 afterward he boldly walked into the office of Rogers, 
 Bowen & Rogers, of Buffalo, and told them what he 
 wanted. A number of young men were already en- 
 gaged in the office, but Graver's persistency won, and 
 he was finally permitted to come as an office boy and 
 have the use of the law library, for the nominal sum 
 of $3 or $4 a week. Out of this he had to pay for 
 his board and washing. The walk to and from his 
 uncle's was a long and rugged one; and, although 
 the first winter was a memorably severe one, his 
 shoes were out of repair and his overcoat he had 
 none yet he was nevertheless prompt and regular. 
 On the first day of his service here, his senior em- 
 ployer threw down a copy of Blackstone before him 
 with a bang that made the dust fly, saying "That's 
 where they all begin." A titter ran around the little 
 circle of clerks and students, as they thought that 
 was enough to scare young Graver out of his plans ; 
 but in due time he mastered that cumbersome volume. 
 Then, as ever afterward, however, Mr. Cleveland 
 exhibited a talent for executiveness rather than for 
 chasing principles through all their metaphysical 
 possibilities. " Let us quit talking and go and do 
 it," was practically his motto. 
 
 The first public office to which Mr. Cleveland was 
 elected was that of Sheriff of Erie Co., N. Y., in 
 which Buffalo is situated ; and in such capacity it fell 
 to his duty to inflict capital punishment upon two 
 criminals. In 1881 he was elected Mayor of the 
 City of Buffalo, on the Democratic ticket, with es- 
 pecial reference to the bringing about certain reforms 
 
 in the administration of the municipal affairs of that 
 city. In this office, as well as that of Sheriff, his 
 performance of duty has generally been considered 
 fair, with possibly a few exceptions which were fer- 
 reted out and magnified during the last Presidential 
 campaign. As a specimen of his plain language in 
 a veto message, we quote from one vetoing an iniqui- 
 tous street-cleaning contract: "This is a time for 
 plain speech,' and my objection to your action shall 
 be plainly stated. I regard it as the culmination of 
 a most bare-faced, impudent and shameless scheme 
 to betray the interests of the people and to worse 
 than squander the people's money." The New York 
 Sun afterward very highly commended Mr. Cleve- 
 land's administration as Mayor of Buffalo, and there- 
 upon recommended him for Governor of the Empire 
 State. To the latter office he was elected in 1882, 
 and his administration of the affairs of State was 
 generally satisfactory. The mistakes he made, if 
 any, were made very public throughout the nation 
 after he was nominated for President of the United 
 States. For this high office he was nominated July 
 n, 1884, by the National Democratic Convention at 
 Chicago, when other competitors were Thomas F. 
 Bayard, Roswell P. Flower, Thomas A. Hendricks, 
 Benjamin F. Butler, Allen G. Thurman, etc.; and he 
 was elected by the people, by a majority of about a 
 thousand, over the brilliant and long-tried Repub- 
 lican statesman, James G. Blaine. President Cleve- 
 land resigned his office as Governor of New York in 
 January, 1885, in order to prepare for his duties as 
 the Chief Executive of the United States, in which 
 capacity his term commenced at noon on the 4th of 
 March, 1885. For his Cabinet officers he selected 
 the following gentlemen: For Secretary of State, 
 Thomas F. Bayard, of Delaware ; Secretary of the 
 Treasury, Daniel Manning, of New York ; Secretary 
 of War, William C. Endicott, of Massachusetts ; 
 Secretary of the Navy, William C. Whitney, of New 
 York ; Secretary of the Interior, L. Q. C. Lamar, of 
 Mississippi; Postmaster-General, William F. Vilas, 
 of Wisconsin ; Attorney-General, A. H. Garland, of 
 Arkansas. 
 
 The silver question precipitated a controversy be- 
 tween those who were in favor of the continuance of 
 silver coinage and those who were opposed, Mr. 
 Cleveland answering for the latter, even before his 
 inauguration. 

 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 .
 
 
 I
 
 i l 
 
 I
 
 I 
 
 |- 
 
 i
 
 TM UBHAHY 
 
 DFTK 
 UNIVERSITY OF LUNIK
 
 HADRACH BOND, the first 
 Governor of Illinois after its 
 organization as a State, serving 
 from 1818 to 1822, was born in 
 Frederick County, Maryland, 
 in the year 1773, and was 
 raised a farmer on his father's 
 intation, receiving only a plain 
 English education. He emigrated 
 to this State in 1794, when it was a 
 part of the "Northwest Territory," 
 continuing in the vocation in which 
 he had been brought up in his native 
 State, in the "New Design," near 
 Eagle Creek, in what is now Monroe 
 County. He served several terms as 
 a member of the General Assembly 
 of Indiana Territory, after it was organized as such, 
 and in 1812-14 he was a Delegate to the Twelfth 
 and Thirteenth Congresses, taking his seat Dec. 3, 
 1812, and serving until Oct. 3, (814. These were 
 the times, the reader will recollect, when this Gov- 
 ernment had its last struggle with Great Britain. 
 The year 1812 is also noted in the history of this 
 State as that in which the first Territorial Legislature 
 was held. It convened at Kaskaskia, Nov. 25, and 
 adjourned Dec. 26, following. 
 
 While serving as Delegate to Congress, Mr. Bond 
 was instrumental in procuring the right of pre-emp- 
 tion on the public domain. On the expiration of his 
 term at Washington he was appointed Receiver of 
 Public Moneys at Kaskaskia, then the capital of the 
 Territory. In company with John G. Comyges, 
 
 Thomas H. Harris, Charles Slade, Michael Jones, 
 Warren Brown, Edward Humphries and Charles W. 
 Hunter, he became a proprietor of the site of the 
 initial city of Cairo, which they hoped, from its favor- 
 able location at the junction of the two great 
 rivers near the center of the Great West, would 
 rapidly develop into a metropolis. To aid the enter- 
 prise, they obtained a special charter from the Legis- 
 lature, incorporating both the City and the Bank of 
 Cairo. 
 
 In 1818 Mr. Bond was elected the first Governor 
 of the State of Illinois, being inaugurated Oct. 6, 
 that year, which was several weeks before Illinois 
 was actually admitted. The facts, are these: In 
 January, 1818, the Territorial Legislature sent a peti- 
 tion to Congress for the admission of Illinois as a 
 State, Nathaniel Pope being then Delegate. The 
 petition was granted, fixing the northern line of the 
 State on the latitude of the southern extremity of 
 Lake Michigan; but the bill was afterward so amend- 
 ed, as to extend this line to its present latitude. In 
 July a convention was called at Kaskaskia to draft a 
 constitution, which, however, was not submitted to 
 the people. By its provisions, supreme judges, pros- 
 ecuting attorneys, county and circuit judges, record- 
 ers and justices of the peace were all to be appointed 
 by the Governor or elected by the Legislature. This 
 constitution was accepted by Congress Dec. 30. At 
 that time Illinois comprised but eleven counties, 
 namely, Randolph, Madison, Gallatin, Johnson, 
 Pope, Jackson, Crawford, Bond, Union, Washington 
 and Franklin, the northern portion of the State be- 
 ing mainly in Madison County. Thus it appears 
 that Mr. Bond was honored by the naming of
 
 ^fgKt 
 
 SHADRACH BOND. 
 
 
 county before he was elected Governor. The present 
 county of Bond is of small limitations, about 60 to 80 
 miles south of Springfield. For Lieutenant Governor 
 the people chose Pierre Menard, a prominent and 
 worthy Frenchman, after whom a county in this State 
 is named. In this election there were no opposition 
 candidates, as the popularity of these men had made 
 their promotion to the chief offices of the State, even 
 before the constitution was drafted, a foregone con- 
 clusion. 
 
 The principal points that excited the people in 
 reference to political issues at this period were local 
 or "internal improvements," as they were called, 
 State banks, location of the capital, slavery and the 
 personal characteristics of the proposed candidates. 
 Mr. Bond represented the " Convention party," for 
 introducing slavery into the State, supported by Elias 
 Ke:it Kane, his Secretary of State, and John Mc- 
 Lean, while Nathaniel Pope and John P. Cook led 
 the anti-slavery element. The people, however, did 
 not become very much excited over this issue until 
 1820, when the famous Missouri Compromise was 
 adopted by Congress, limiting slavery to the south 
 of the parallel of 36 30' except in Missouri. While 
 this measure settled the great slavery controversy, 
 so far as the average public sentiment was tempor- 
 arily concerned, until 1854, when it was repealed 
 under the leadership of Stephen A. Douglas, the issue 
 as considered locally in this State was not decided 
 until 1824, after a most furious campaign. (See 
 sketch of Gov. Coles.) The ticket of 1818 was a 
 compromise one, Bond representing (moderately) the 
 pro-slavery sentiment and Menard the anti-slavery. 
 
 An awkward element in the State government 
 under Gov. Bond's administration, was the imperfec- 
 tion of the State constitution. The Convention 
 wished to have Elijah C. Berry for the first Auditor 
 of Public Accounts, but, as it was believed that the 
 new Governor would not appoint him to the office, 
 the Convention declared in a schedule that " an 
 auditor of public accounts, an attorney general and 
 such other officers of the State as may be necessary, 
 may be appointed by the General Assembly." The 
 Constitution, as it stood, vested a very large appoint- 
 ing power in the Governor ; but for the purpose of 
 getting one man into office, a total change was made, 
 and the power vested in the Legislature. Of this 
 provision the Legislature took advantage, and de- 
 
 clared that State's attorneys, canal commissioners, 
 bank directors, etc., were all " officers of the State " 
 and must therefore be appointed by itself independ- 
 ently of the Governor. 
 
 During Gov. Bond's administration a general law 
 was passed for the incorporation of academies and 
 towns, and one authorizing lotteries. The session of 
 1822 authorized the Governor to appoint commis- 
 sioners, to act in conjunction with like commissioners 
 appointed by the State of Indiana, to report on the 
 practicability and expediency of improving the navi- 
 gation of the Wabash River ; also inland navigation 
 generally. Many improvements were recommended, 
 some of which have been feebly worked at even till 
 the present day, those along the Wabash being of no 
 value. Also, during Gov. Bond's term of office, the 
 capital of the State was removed from Kaskaskia to 
 Vandalia. In 1820 a law was passed by Congress 
 authorizing this State to open a canal through the 
 public lands. The State appointed commissioners 
 lo explore the route and prepare the necessary sur- 
 veys and estimates, preparatory to its execution ; 
 but, being unable out of its own resources to defray 
 the expenses of the undertaking, it was abandoned 
 until some time after Congress made the grant of 
 land for the purpose of its construction. 
 
 On the whole, Gov. Bond's administration was 
 fairly good, not being open to severe criticism from 
 any party. In 1824, two years after the expiration 
 of his term of office, he was brought out as a candi- 
 date for Congress against the formidable John P. 
 Cook, but received only 4,374 votes to 7,460 for the 
 latter. Gov. Bond was no orator, but had made 
 many fast friends by a judicious bestowment of his 
 gubernatorial patronage, and these worked zealously 
 for him in the campaign. 
 
 In 1827 ex-Gov. Bond was appointed by the Leg- 
 islature, with Wm. P. McKee and Dr. Gershom 
 Jayne, as Commissioners to locate a site for a peni- 
 tentiary on the Mississippi at or near Alton. 
 
 Mr. Bond was of a benevolent and convivial dis- 
 position, a man of shrewd observation and clear ap- 
 preciation of events. His person was erect, stand- 
 ing six feet in height, and after middle life became 
 portly, weighing 200 pounds. His features were 
 strongly masculine, complexion dark, hair jet and 
 eyes hazel ; was a favorite with the ladies. He died 
 April i r, 1830, in peace and contentment. 

 
 BBBB
 
 
 GO VERNORS OF ILLINOIS. 
 
 
 DWARD COLES, second 
 Governor of Illinois, 1823- 
 6, was born Dec. 15, 1786, 
 in Albemarle Co., Va., on 
 the old family estate called 
 "Enniscorthy," on the 
 "^ Green Mountain. His fath- 
 er, John Coles, was a Colonel in the 
 Revolutionary War. Having been fit- 
 ted for college by private tutors, he 
 was sent to Hampden Sidney, where 
 he remained until the autumn of 1805, 
 when he was removed to William and 
 Mary College, at Williamsburg, Va. 
 This college he left in the summer of 
 1807, a short time before the final and graduating 
 examination. Among his classmates were Lieut. 
 Gen. Scott, President John Tyler, Wm. S. Archer, 
 United States Senator from Virginia, and Justice 
 Baldwin, of the United States Supreme Court. The 
 President of the latter college, Bishop Madison, was 
 a cousin of President James Madison, and that cir- 
 cumstance was the occasion of Mr. Coles becoming 
 personally acquainted with the President and re- 
 ceiving a position as his private secretary, 1809-15. 
 The family of Coles was a prominent one in Vir- 
 ginia, and their mansion was the seat of the old- 
 fashioned Virginian hospitality. It was visited by 
 such notables as Patrick Henry, Jefferson, Madison, 
 Monroe, the Randolphs, Tazewell, Wirt, etc. At the 
 age of 23, young Coles found himself heir to a plant- 
 ation and a considerable number of slaves. Ever 
 since his earlier college days his attention had been 
 drawn to the question of slavery. He read every- 
 
 
 thing on the subject that came in his way, and 
 listened to lectures on the rights of man. The more 
 he reflected upon the subject, the more impossible 
 was it for him to reconcile the immortal declaration 
 "that all men are born free and equal" with the 
 practice of slave-holding. He resolved, therefore, to 
 free his slaves the first opportunity, and even remove 
 his residence to a free State. One reason which de- 
 termined him to accept the appointment as private 
 secretary to Mr. Madison was because he believed 
 that through the acquaintances he could make at 
 Washington he could better determine in what part 
 of the non-slaveholding portion of the Union he would 
 prefer to settle. 
 
 The relations between Mr. Coles and President 
 Madison, as well as Jefferson and other distinguished 
 men, were of a very friendly character, arising from 
 the similarity of their views on the question of slavery 
 and their sympathy for each other in holding doc- 
 trines so much at variance with the prevailing senti- 
 ment in their own State. 
 
 In 1857, he resigned his secretaryship and spent a 
 portion of the following autumn in exploring the 
 Northwest Territory, for the purpose of finding a lo- 
 cation and purchasing lands on which to settle his 
 negroes. He traveled with a horse and buggy, with 
 an extra man and horse for emergencies, through 
 many parts of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, 
 determining finally to settle in Illinois. At this time, 
 however, a misunderstanding arose between our 
 Government and Russia, and Mr. Coles was selected 
 to repair to St. Petersburg on a .special mission, bear- 
 ing important papers concerning the matter at issue. 
 The result was a conviction of the Emperor (Alex- 
 
 -*&&
 
 EDWARD COLES. 
 
 ) 
 
 ander) of the error committed by his minister at 
 Washington, and the consequent withdrawal of the 
 the latter from the post. On his return, Mr. Coles 
 visited other parts of Europe, especially Paris, where 
 he was introduced to Gen. Lafayette. 
 
 In the spring of 1819, he removed with all his 
 negroes from Virginia to Edwardsville, 111., with the 
 intention of giving them their liberty. He did not 
 make known to them his intention until one beautiful 
 morning in April, as they were descending the Ohio 
 River. He lashed all the boats together and called 
 all the negroes on deck and made them a short ad- 
 dress, concluding his remarks by so expressing him- 
 self that by a turn of a sentence he proclaimed in 
 the shortest and fullest manner that they were no 
 longer slaves, but free as he was and were at liberty 
 to proceed with him or go ashore at their pleas- 
 ure. A description of the effect upon the negroes is 
 best desciibed in his own language : 
 
 " The effect upon them was electrical. They stared 
 at me and then at each other, as if doubting the ac- 
 curacy or reality of what they heard. In breathless 
 silence they stood before me, unable to utter a word, 
 but with countenances beaming with expression which 
 no words could convey, and which no language 
 can describe. As they began to see the truth of 
 what they had heard, and realize their situation, there 
 came'On a kind of hysterical, giggling laugh.- After 
 a pause of intense and unutterable emotion, bathed 
 in tears, and with tremulous voices, they gave vent to 
 their gratitude and implored the blessing of God 
 on me." 
 
 Before landing he gave them a general certificate 
 of freedom, and afterward conformed more particu- 
 larly with the law of this State requiring that each 
 individual should have a certificate. This act of 
 Mr. Coles, all the more noble and heroic considering 
 the overwhelming pro-slavery influences surrounding 
 him, has challenged the admiration of every philan- 
 thropist of modern times. 
 
 March 5, 1819, President Monroe appointed Mr. 
 Coles Registrar of the Land Office at Edwardsville, 
 at that time one of the principal land offices in the 
 State. While acting in this capacity and gaining 
 many friends by his politeness and general intelli- 
 gence, the greatest struggle that ever occurred in 
 Illinois on the slavery question culminated in the 
 furious contest characterizing the campaigns and 
 elections of 1822-4. In the summer of 1823, when a 
 new Governor was to be elected to succeed Mr. 
 Bond, the pro-slavery element divided into factions, 
 putting forward for the executive office Joseph 
 Phillips, Chief Justice of the State, Thomas C. 
 Browne and Gen. James B. Moore, of the State Mil- 
 itia. The anti-slavery element united upon Mr. 
 Coles, and, after one of the most bitter campaigns, 
 succeeded in electing him as Governor. His plural- 
 ity over Judge Phillips was only 59 in a total vote of 
 
 over 8,000. The Lieutenant Governor was elected 
 by the slavery men. Mr. Coles' inauguration speech 
 was marked by calmness, deliberation and such a 
 wise expression' of appropriate suggestions as to 
 elicit the sanction of all judicious 'politicians. But 
 he compromised not with evil. In his message to 
 the Legislature, the seat of Government being then 
 at Vandalia, he strongly urged the abrogation of the 
 modified form of slavery which then existed in this 
 State, contrary to the Ordinance of 1787. His posi- 
 tion on this subject seems the more remarkable, when 
 it is considered that he was a minority Governor, the 
 population of Illinois being at that time almost ex- 
 clusively from slave-holding States and by a large 
 majority in favor of the perpetuation of that old relic 
 of barbarism. The Legislature itself was, of course, 
 a reflex of the popular sentiment, and a majority of 
 them were led on by fiery men in denunciations of 
 the conscientious Governor, and in curses loud and 
 deep upon him and all his friends. Some of the 
 public men, indeed, went so far as to head a sort of 
 mob, or " shiveree " party, who visited the residence 
 of the Governor and others at Vandalia and yelled 
 and groaned and spat fire. 
 
 The Constitution, not establishing or permitting 
 slavery in this State, was thought therefore to be 
 defective by the slavery politicians, and they desired 
 a State Convention to be elected, to devise and sub- 
 mit a new Constitution ; and the dominant politics 
 of the day was "Convention" and "anti-Conven- 
 tion." Both parties issued addresses to the people, 
 Gov. Coles himself being the author of the address 
 published by the latter party. This address revealed 
 the schemes of the conspirators in a masterly man- 
 ner. It is difficult for us at this distant day to esti- 
 mate the critical and extremely delicate situation in 
 which the Governor was placed at that time. 
 
 Our hero maintained himself honorably and with 
 supreme dignity throughout his administration, and 
 in his honor a county in this State is named. He 
 was truly a great man, and those who lived in 
 this State during his sojourn here, like those who 
 live at the basof the mountain, were too near to see 
 and recognize the greatness that overshadowed them. 
 
 Mr. Coles was married Nov. 28, 1833, by Bishop 
 De Lancey, to Miss Sally Logan Roberts, a daughter 
 of Hugh Roberts, a descendant of Welsh ancestry, 
 who caini to this country with Wm. Penn in 1682. 
 
 After the expiration of his term of service, Gov. 
 Coles continued his residence in Edwardsville, sup- 
 erintending his farm in the vicinity. He was fond 
 of agriculture, and was the founder of the first agri- 
 cultural society in the State. On account of ill 
 health, however, and having no family to tie him 
 down, he spent much of his time in Eastern cities. 
 About 1833) he changed his residence to Philadel- 
 phia, where he died July ^ 1868, and is buried at 
 Woodland, near that city. 

 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILUHOIS
 
 GO VERNORS OF ILLINOIS. 
 
 , INIAN EDWARDS, Governor 
 from 1827 to 1830, was a son 
 of Benjamin Edwards, and 
 born in Montgomery 
 _ County, Maryland, in March, 
 1775. His domestic train- 
 ing was well fitted to give 
 his mind strength, firmness and 
 honorable principles, and a good 
 foundation was laid for the elevated 
 character to which he afterwards 
 attained. His parents were Bap- 
 tists, and very strict in their moral 
 principles. His education in early 
 youth was in company with and 
 partly under the tuition of Hon. Wm. 
 Wirt, whom his father patronized, 
 and who was more than two years 
 older. An intimacy was thus 
 formed between them which was lasting for life. He 
 was further educated at Dickinson College, at Car- 
 lisle, Pa. He next commenced the study of law, but 
 before completing his course he moved to Nelson 
 County, Ky., to open a farm for his father and to 
 purchase homes and locate lands for his brothers and 
 sisters. Here he fell in the company of dissolute 
 companions, and for several years led the life of a 
 spendthrift. He was, however, elected to the Legis- 
 lature of Kentucky as the Representative of Nelson 
 County before he was 2 1 years of age, and was re- 
 elected by an almost unanimous vote. 
 
 In 1798 he was licensed to practice law, and the 
 following year was admitted to the Courts of Tennes- 
 see. About this time he left Nelson County for 
 Russellville, in Logan County, broke away from his 
 dissolute companions, commenced a reformation and 
 devoted himself to severe and laborious study. He 
 then began to rise rapidly in his profession, and soon 
 became an eminent lawyer, and inside of four years 
 he filled in succession the offices of Presiding Judge 
 of the General Court, Circuit Judge, fourth Judge of 
 the Court of Appeals and Chief Justice of the State, 
 all before he was 32 years of age! In addition, in 
 1802, he received a commission as Major of a battal- 
 ion of Kentucky militia, and in 1804 was chosen a 
 Presidential Elector, on the Jefferson and Clinton 
 ticket. In 1806 he was a candidate for Congress, 
 but withdrew on being promoted to the Court of 
 Appeals. 
 
 Illinois was organized as a separate Territory in 
 the spring of 1809, when Mr. Edwards, then Chief 
 Justice of the Court of Appeals in Kentuck^ received 
 from President Madison the appointment as Gover- 
 nor of the new Territory, his commission bearing date 
 April 24, 1809. Edwards arrived at Kaskaskia in 
 June, and on the i ith of that month took the oath of 
 office. At the same time lie was appointed Superin- 
 tendent of the United States Saline, this Government 
 interest then developing into considerable proportions 
 in Southern Illinois. Although during the first three 
 years of his administration he had the power to make 
 new counties and appoint all the officers, yet he always 
 allowed the people of each county, by an informal
 
 
 NINIAN EDWARDS. 
 
 vote, to select their own officers, both civil and mili- 
 tary. The noted John J. Crittenden, afterward 
 United States Senator from Kentucky, was appointed 
 by Gev. Edwards to the office of Attorney General of 
 the Territory, which office was accepted for a short 
 time only. 
 
 The Indians in 1810 committing sundry depreda- 
 tions in the Territory, crossing the Mississippi from 
 the Territory of Louisiana, a long correspondence fol- 
 lowed between the respective Governors concerning 
 the remedies, which ended in a council with the sav- 
 ages at Peoria in 1812, and a fresh interpretation -of 
 the treaties. Peoria was depopulated by these de- 
 predations, and was not re-settled for many years 
 afterward. 
 
 As Gov. Edwards' term of office expired by law in 
 1812, he was re-appointed for another term of three 
 years, and again in 1815 for a third term, serving 
 until the organization of the State in the fall of 1818 
 and the inauguration of Gov. Bond. At this time 
 ex-Gov. Edwards was sent to the United States 
 Senate, his colleague being Jesse B. Thomas. As 
 Senator, Mr. Edwards took a conspicuous part, and 
 acquitted himself honorably in all the measures that 
 came up in that body, being well posted, an able de- 
 bater and a conscientious statesman. He thought 
 seriously of resigning this situation in 1821, but was 
 persuaded by his old friend, Wm. Wirt, and others to 
 continue in office, which he did to the end of the 
 term. 
 
 He was then appointed Minister to Mexico by 
 President Monroe. About this time, it appears that 
 Mr. Edwards saw suspicious signs in the conduct of 
 Wm. H. Crawford, Secretary of the United States 
 Treasury, and an ambitious candidate for the Presi- 
 dency, and being implicated by the latter in some of 
 his statements, he resigned his Mexican mission in 
 order fully to investigate the charges. The result 
 was the exculpation of Mr. Edwards. 
 
 Pro-slavery regulations, often termed "Black Laws," 
 disgraced the statute books of both the Territory and 
 the State of Illinois during the whole of his career in 
 this commonwealth, and Mr. Edwards always main- 
 tained the doctrines of freedom, and was an important 
 actor in the great struggle which ended in a victory 
 for his party in 1824. 
 
 In 1826-7 tne Winnebago and other Indians com- 
 mitted some depredations in the northern part of the 
 
 
 State, and the white settlers, who desired the lands 
 and wished to exasperate the savages into an evacu- 
 ation of the country, magnified the misdemeanors of 
 the aborigines and thereby produced a hostility be- 
 tween the races so great as to precipitate a little war, 
 known in history as the "Winnebago War." A few 
 chases and skirmishes were had, when Gen. Atkinson 
 succeeded in capturing Red Bird, the Indian chief, 
 and putting him to death, thus ending the contest, at 
 least until the troubles commenced which ended in 
 the " Black Hawk War " of 1832. In the interpre- 
 tation of treaties and execution of their provisions 
 Gov. Edwards had much vexatious work to do. The 
 Indians kept themselves generally within the juris- 
 diction of Michigan Territory, and its Governor, 
 Lewis Cass, was at a point so remote that ready cor- 
 respondence with him was difficult or impossible. 
 Gov. Edwards' administration, however, in regard to 
 the protection of the Illinois frontier, seems to have 
 been very efficient and satisfactory. 
 
 For a considerable portion of his time after his re- 
 moval to Illinois, Gov. Edwards resided upon his 
 farm near Kaskaskia, which he had well stocked with 
 horses, cattle and sheep from Kentucky, also with 
 fruit-trees, grape-vines and shrubbery. He estab- 
 lished saw and grist-mills, and engaged extensively 
 in mercantile business, having no less than eight or tep 
 stores in this State and Missouri. Notwithstanding 
 the arduous duties of his office, he nearly always pur- 
 chased the goods himself with which to supply the 
 stores. Although not a regular practitioner of medi- 
 cine, he studied the healing art to a considerable ex- 
 tent, and took great pleasure in prescribing for, and 
 taking care of, the sick, generally without charge. 
 He was also liberal to the poor, several widows and 
 ministers of the gospel becoming indebted to him 
 even for their homes. 
 
 He married Miss Elvira Lane, of Maryland, in 
 1803, and they became the affectionate parents of 
 several children, one of whom, especially, is well 
 known to the people of the " Prairie State," namely, 
 Ninian Wirt Edwards, once the Superintendent of 
 Public Instruction and still a resident of Springfield. 
 Gov. Edwards resided at and in the vicinity of Kas- 
 kaskia from 1809 to 1818; in Edwardsville (named 
 after him) from that time to 1824; and from the lat- 
 ter date at Belleville, St. Clair County, until his 
 death, July 20, 1833, of Asiatic cholera. Edwards 
 County is also named in his honor. 
 
 e. aM^ 
 
 & 
 
 e 
 
 <&
 
 THF UBfttRY 
 OF THE
 
 GO VERNORS OF ILLINOIS. 
 
 j:OHN REYNOLDS, Governor 1831- 
 4, was born in Montgomery Coun- 
 ty, Pennsylvania, Feb. 26, 1788. 
 His father, Robert Reynolds and 
 his mother, nee Margaret Moore, 
 were both natives of Ireland, from 
 which country they emigrated to j 
 the United States in 1785, land- 
 ing at Philadelphia. The senior 
 Reynolds entertained an undying 
 hostility to the British Govern- 
 ment. When the subject of this 
 sketch was about six months old, 
 his parents emigrated with him to 
 Tennessee, where many of their 
 relatives had already located, at the base of the 
 Copper Ridge Mountain, about 14 miles northeast of 
 the present city of Knoxville. There they were ex- 
 posed to Indian depredations, and were much molest- 
 ed by them. In 1794 they moved into the interior 
 of the State. They were poor, and brought up their 
 children to habits of manual industry. 
 
 In 1800 the family removed to Kaskaskia, 111., with 
 eight horses and two wagons, encountering many 
 hardships on the way. Here young Reynolds passed 
 the most of his childhood, while his character began 
 to develop, the most prominent traits of which were 
 ambition and energy. He also adopted the principle 
 and practice of total abstinence from intoxicating 
 liquors. In 1807 the family made another removal, 
 
 
 this time to the " Goshen Settlement," at the foot of 
 the Mississippi bluffs three or four miles southwest 
 of Edwardsville. 
 
 On arriving at his zoth year, Mr. Reynolds, seeing 
 that he must look about for his own livelihood and 
 not yet having determined what calling to pursue, 
 concluded first to attend college, and he accordingly 
 went to such an institution of learning, near Knox- 
 ville, Tenn., where he had relatives. Imagine his 
 diffidence, when, after passing the first 20 years of 
 his life without ever having seen a carpet, a papered 
 wall or a Windsor chair, and never having lived in a 
 shingle-roofed house, he suddenly ushered himself 
 into the society of the wealthy in the vicinity of 
 Knoxville! He attended college nearly two years, 
 going through the principal Latin authors; but it 
 seems that he, like the rest of the world in modern 
 times, had but very little use for his Latin in after 
 life. He always failed, indeed, to exhibit any good 
 degree of literary discipline. He commenced the 
 study of law in Knoxville, but a pulmonary trouble 
 came on and compelled him to change his mode 
 of life. Accordingly he returned home and re- 
 cuperated, and in 1812 resumed his college and 
 law studies at Knoxville. In the fall of 1812 he was 
 admitted to the Bar at Kaskaskia. About this time 
 he also learned the French language, which he 
 practiced with pleasure in conversation with his 
 family for many years. He regarded this language 
 as being superior to all others for social intercourse.
 
 (&%&*& 
 
 124 
 
 JOHN REYNOLDS. 
 
 From his services in the West, in the war of 181 2, 
 he obtained the sobriquet of the " Old Ranger." He 
 was Orderly Sergeant, then Judge Advocate. 
 
 Mr. Reynolds opened his first law office in the 
 winter and spring of 1814, in the French village of 
 Cahokia, then the capital of St. Clair County. 
 
 In the fall of 1818 he was elected an Associate 
 Justice upon the Supreme Bench by the General 
 Assembly. In 1825 he entered more earnestly than 
 ever into the practice of law, and the very next year 
 was elected a member of the Legislature, where he 
 acted independently of all cliques and private inter- 
 ests. In 1828 the Whigs and Democrats were for 
 the first time distinctively organized as such in Illi- 
 nois, and the usual party bitterness grew up and 
 raged on all sides, while Mr. Reynolds preserved a 
 judicial calmness and moderation. The real animus 
 of the campaign was " Jackson " and " anti- Jackson," 
 the former party carrying the State. 
 
 In August, 1830, Mr. Reynolds was elected Gov- 
 ernor, amid great excitement. Installed in office, he 
 did all within his power to advance the cause of edu- 
 cation, internal improvements, the Illinois & Mich- 
 igan Canal, the harbor at Chicago, settling the coun- 
 try, etc.; also recommended the winding up of the 
 State Bank, as its affairs had become dangerously 
 complicated. In his national politics, he was a 
 moderate supporter of General Jackson. But the 
 most celebrated event of his gubernatorial admin- 
 istration was the Black Hawk War, which occurred 
 in 1832. He called out the militia and prosecuted 
 the contest with commendable diligence, appearing 
 in person on the battle-grounds during the most 
 critical periods. He was recognized by the President 
 as Major-General, and authorized by him to make 
 treaties with the Indians. By the assistance of the 
 general Government the war was terminated without 
 much bloodshed, but after many serious fights. This 
 war, as well as everything else, was materially re- 
 tarded by the occurrence of Asiatic cholera in the 
 West. This was its first appearance here, and was 
 the next event in prominence during Gov. Reynolds' 
 term. 
 
 South Carolina nullification coming up at this time, 
 it was heartily condemned by both President Jackson 
 and Gov. Reynolds, who took precisely the same 
 grounds as the Unionists in the last war. 
 
 On the termination of his gubernatorial term in 
 1834, Gov. Reynolds was elected a Member of Con- 
 gress, still considering himself a backwoodsman, as 
 he had scarcely been outside of the State since he 
 became of age, and had spent nearly all his youthful 
 days in the wildest region of the frontier. His first 
 move in Congress was to adopt a resolution that in 
 all elections made by the House for officers the votes 
 should be given viva voce, each member in his place 
 naming aloud the person for whom he votes. This 
 created considerable heated discussion, but was es- 
 
 
 sentially adopted, and remained the controlling prin- 
 ciple for many years. The ex-Governor was scarcely 
 absent from his seat a single day, during eight ses- 
 sions of Congress, covering a period of seven years, 
 and he never vacillated in a party vote; but he failed 
 to get the Democratic party to foster his " National 
 Road" scheme. He says, in " My Own Times " (a 
 large autobiography he published), that it was only 
 by rigid economy that he avoided insolvency while in 
 Washington. During his sojourn in that city he was 
 married, to a lady of the place. 
 
 In 1837, while out of Congress, and in company 
 with a few others, he built the first railroad in the 
 Mississippi Valley, namely, one about six miles long, 
 leading from his coal mine in the Mississippi bluff to 
 .the bank of the river opposite St. Louis. Having not 
 the means to purchase a locomotive, they operated it 
 by horse-power. The next spring, however, the com- 
 pany sold out, at great sacrifice. 
 
 In 1839 the ex-Governor was appointed one of the 
 Canal Commissioners, and authorized to borrow 
 money to prosecute the enterprise. Accord'ngly, he 
 repaired to Philadelphia and succeeding in obtaining 
 a million dollars, which, however, was only a fourth 
 of what was wanted. The same year he and his 
 wife made at our of Europe. This year, also, Mr. 
 Reynolds had the rather awkward little responsibility 
 of introducing to President Van Buren the noted 
 Mormon Prophet, Joseph Smith, as a " Latter-Day 
 
 Saint! 
 
 In 1846 Gov. Reynolds was elected a member of 
 the Legislature from St. Clair County, more particu- 
 larly for the purpose of obtaining a feasible charter 
 for a macadamized road from Belleville to St. Louis, 
 a distance of nearly 14 miles. This was immediately 
 built; and jvas the first road of the kind in the State. 
 He was again elected to the Legislature in 1852, when 
 he was chosen Speaker of the House. In 1860, aged 
 and infirm, he attended the National Democratic 
 Convention at Charleston, S. C , as an anti-Douglas 
 Delegate, where he received more attention from the 
 Southern Delegates than any other member. He 
 supported Breckenridge for the Presidency. After 
 the October elections foreshadowed the success of 
 Lincoln, he published an address urging the Demo- 
 crats to rally to the support of Douglas. Immedi- 
 ately preceding and during the late war, his corre- 
 spondence evinced a clear sympathy for the Southern 
 secession, and about the first of March, 1861, he 
 urged upon the Buchanan officials the seizure of the 
 treasure and arms in the custom-house and arsenal 
 at St. Louis. Mr. Reynolds was a rather talkative 
 man, and apt in all the Western phrases and catch- 
 words that ever gained currency, besides many cun- 
 ning and odd ones of his own manufacture. 
 
 He was married twice, but had no children. He 
 died in Belleville, in May, 1865, just after the close 
 of the war. 

 
 THFUBBART 
 
 OF THE 
 UHIVEflSITY Of
 
 GO VERMORS OF ILLINOIS. 
 
 ILLIAM LEE D. EWING, 
 Governor of Illinois Nov. 3 
 to 17, 1834, was a native 
 of Kentucky, and probably 
 of Scotch ancestry. He had 
 *; a fine education, was a gentle- 
 man of polished manners and 
 refined sentiment. In 1830 John Rey- 
 nolds was elected Governor of the State, 
 and Zadok Casey Lieutenant Governor, 
 and for the principal events that followed, 
 and the characteristics of the times, see 
 sketch of Gov. Reynolds. The first we 
 see in history concerning Mr. Ewing, in- 
 forms us that he was a Receiver of Public 
 Moneys at Vandalia soon after the organization of 
 this State, and that the public moneys in his hands 
 were deposited in various banks, as they are usually 
 at the present day. In 1823 the State Bank was 
 robbed, by which disaster Mr. Ewing lost a thousand- 
 dollar deposit. 
 
 The subject of this sketch had a commission as 
 Colonel in the Black Hawk War, and in emergencies 
 he acted also as Major. In the summer of 1832, 
 when it was rumored among the whites that Black 
 Hawk and his men had encamped somewhere on 
 Rock River, Gen. Henry was sent on a tour of 
 reconnoisance, and with orders to drive the Indians 
 from the State. After some opposition from his 
 subordinate officers, Henry resolved to proceed up 
 Rock River in search of the enemy. On the' igth of 
 July, early in the morning, five baggage wagons, 
 
 ,@X38$ s^ @ 
 
 camp equipage and all heavy and cumbersome arti- 
 cles were piled up and left, so that the army might 
 make speedy and forced marches. For some miles 
 the travel was exceedingly bad, crossing swamps 
 and the worst thickets ; but the large, fresh trail 
 gave life and animation to the Americans. Gen. 
 Dodge and Col. Ewing were both acting as Majors, 
 and composed the " spy corps " or vanguard of the 
 army. It is supposed the army marched nearly 50 
 miles this day, and the Indian trail they followed 
 became fresher, and was strewed with much property 
 and trinkets of the red-skins that they had lost or 
 thrown away to hasten their march. During the 
 following night there was a terrific thunder-storm, and 
 the soldiery, with all their appurtenances, were thor- 
 oughly drenched. 
 
 On approaching nearer the Indians the next day. 
 Gen. Dodge and Major Ewing, each commanding a 
 battalion of men, were placed in front to bring on the 
 battle, but the savages were not overtaken this day 
 Forced marches were continued until they reached. 
 Wisconsin River, where a veritable battle ensued, 
 resulting in the death of about 68 of Black Hawk's 
 men. The next day they continued the chase, and 
 as soon as he discovered the trail of the Indians 
 leading toward the Mississippi, Maj. Ewing formed 
 his battalion in order of battle and awaited the order 
 of Gen. Henry. The latter soon appeared on the 
 ground and ordered a charge, which directly resulted 
 in chasing the red warriors across the great river. 
 Maj. Ewing and his command proved particularly 
 efficient in war, as it seems they were the chief actors 
 in driving the main body of the Sacs and Foxes, 
 
 a-e S^MK &@5&g@.
 
 WILLIAM L. D. SWING. 
 
 eluding Black Hawk himself, across the Mississippi, 
 while Gen. Atkinson, commander-in-chief of the ex- 
 pedition, with a body of the army, was hunting for 
 them in another direction. 
 
 In the above affair Maj. Ewing is often referred to 
 as a " General," which title he had derived from his 
 connection with the militia. 
 
 It was in the latter part of the same year (1832) 
 that Lieutenant Governor Casey was elected to Con- 
 gress and Gen. Ewing, who had been elected to the 
 Senate, was chosen to preside over that body. At 
 the August election of 1834, Gov. Reynolds was also 
 elected to Congress, more than a year ahead of the 
 time at which he could actually take his seat, as was 
 then the law. His predecessor, Charles Slade, had 
 just died of Asiatic cholera, soon after the elec- 
 tion, and Gov. Reynolds was chosen to serve out his 
 unexpired term. Accordingly he set out for Wash- 
 ington in November of that year to take his seat in 
 Congress, and Gen. Ewing, by virtue of his office as 
 President of the Senate, became Governor of the 
 State of Illinois, his term covering only a period of 
 15 days, namely, from the 3d to the ryth days, in- 
 clusive, of November. On the iyth the Legislature 
 met, and Gov. Ewing transmitted to that body his 
 message, giving a statement of the condition of the 
 affairs of the State at that time, and urging a contin- 
 uance of the policy adopted by his predecessor ; and 
 on the same day Governor elect Joseph Duncan 
 was sworn into office, thus relieving Mr. Ewing from 
 
 the responsible situation. This is the only time tha 
 such a juncture has happened in the history of Illi- 
 nois. 
 
 On the 29th- of December, 1835, Gen. Ewing was 
 elected a United States Senator to serve out the 
 unexpired term of Elias Kent Kane, deceased. The 
 latter gentleman was a very prominent figure in the 
 early politics of Illinois, and a county in this State is 
 named in his honor. The election of Gen. Ewing to 
 the Senate was a protracted struggle. His competi- 
 tors were James Semple, who afterwards held several 
 important offices in this State, and Richard M. 
 Young, afterward a United States Senator and a 
 Supreme Judge and a man of vast influence. On 
 the first ballot Mr. Semple had 25 votes, Young 19 
 and Ewing 18. On the eighth ballot Young was 
 dropped ; the ninth and tenth stood a tie ; but on 
 the 1 2th Ewing received 40, to Semple 37, and was 
 accordingly declared elected. In 1837 Mr. Ewing 
 received some votes for a continuance of his term in 
 Congress, when Mr. Young, just referred to, was 
 elected. In 1842 Mr. Ewing was elected State 
 Auditor on the ticket with Gov. Ford. 
 
 Gen. Ewing was a gentleman of culture, a lawyer 
 by profession, and was much in public life. In person 
 he was above medium height and of heavy build, 
 with auburn hair, blue eyes, large-sized head and 
 short face. He was genial, social, friendly and 
 affable, with fair talent, though of no high degree of 
 originality. He died March 25, 1846.
 
 Tiff LIBRARY 
 
 OF IK 
 IWIYERMTY OF ILUHOJS
 
 OSEPH DUNCAN, Governor 
 1834-8, was born at Paris, 
 Ky., Feb. 23, 1794. At the 
 tender age of 1 9 years he en- 
 listed in the war against Great 
 Britain, and as a soldier he 
 acquitted himself with credit. He 
 was an Ensign under the daunt- 
 less Croghan at Lower Sandusky, 
 or Fort Stephenson. In Illinois 
 he first appeared in a public capa- 
 city as Major-General of the Militia, 
 a position which his military fame 
 had procured him. Subsequently 
 he became a State Senator from 
 Jackson County, and is honorably 
 mentioned for introducing the first bill providing for 
 a free-school system. In 1826, when the redoubt- 
 able John P. Cook, who had previously beaten such 
 men as John McLean, Elias Kent Kane and ex- 
 Gov. Bond, came up for the fourth time for Congress, 
 Mr. Duncan was brought forward against him by his 
 friends, greatly to the surprise of all the politicians. 
 As yet he was but little known in the State. He was 
 an original Jackson man at that time, being attached 
 to his political fortune in admiration of the glory of 
 his military achievements. His chances of success 
 against Cook were generally regarded as hopeless, 
 but he entered upon the campaign undaunted. His 
 speeches, though short and devoid of ornament, were 
 full of good sense. He made a diligent canvass of 
 the State, Mr. Cook being hindered by the condition of 
 his health. The most that was expected of Mr. 
 Duncan, under the circumstances, was that he would 
 
 obtain a respectable vote, but without defeating Mr. 
 Cook. The result of the campaign, however, was a 
 source of surprise and amazement to both friends 
 and foes, as Mr. Duncan came out 64 r votes ahead! 
 He received 6,32 r votes, and Mr. Cook 5,680. Un- 
 til this denouement, the violence of party feeling 
 smoldering in the breasts of the people on account 
 of the defeat of Jackson, was not duly appreciated. 
 Aside from the great convention struggle of 1824, no 
 other than mere local and personal considerations 
 had ever before controlled an election in Illinois. 
 
 From the above date Mr. Duncan retained his 
 seat in Congress until his election as Governor in 
 August, 1834. The first and bloodless year of the 
 Black Hawk War he was appointed by Gov. Rey- 
 nolds to the position of Brigadier-General of the / 1 
 volunteers, and he conducted his brigade to Rock 
 Island. But he was absent from the State, in Wash- 
 ington, during the gubernatorial campaign, and did 
 not personally participate in it, but addressed circu- 
 lars to his constituents. His election was, indeed, 
 attributed to the circumstance of his absence, be- / 
 cause his estrangement from Jackson, formerly his 
 political idol, and also from the Democracy, largely 
 in ascendency in the State, was complete ; but while 
 his defection was well known to his Whig friends, 
 and even to the leading Jackson men of this State, 
 the latter were unable to carry conviction of that fact 
 to the masses, as mail and newspaper facilities at 
 that day were far inferior to those of the present *: ' 
 time. Of course the Governor was much abused 
 afterward by the fossilized Jackson men who re- 
 garded party ties and affiliations as above all 
 other issues that could arise; but he was doubtless 
 

 
 
 
 JOSEPH DUNCAN. 
 
 f 
 
 sincere in his opposition to the old hero, as the latter 
 had vetoed several .important western measures 
 which were dear to Mr. Duncan. In his inaugural 
 message he threw off the mask and took a bold stand 
 against the course of the President. The measures 
 he recommended in his message, however, were so 
 desirable that the Legislature, although by a large 
 majority consisting of Jackson men, could not refrain 
 from endorsing them. These measures related 
 mainly to banks and internal improvements. 
 
 It was while Mr. Duncan was Governor that the 
 people of Illinois went whirling on with bank and in- 
 ternal improvement schemes that well nigh bank- 
 rupted the State. The hard times of 1837 came on, 
 and the disasters that attended the inauguration of 
 these plans and the operation of the banks were mu- 
 tually charged upon the two political parties. Had 
 any one man autocratic power to introduce and 
 carry on any one of these measures, he would proba- 
 bly have succeeded to the satisfaction of the public ; 
 but as many jealous men had hold of the same plow 
 handle, no success followed and each blamed the other 
 for the failure. In this great vortex Gov. Duncan 
 was carried along, suffering the like derogation of 
 character with his fellow citizens. 
 
 At the height of the excitement the Legislature 
 " provided for " railroads from Galena to Cairo, Alton 
 to Shawneetown, Alton to Mount Carmel, Alton to the 
 eastern boundary of the State in the direction of 
 Terre Haute, Quincy via Springfield to the wlbash, 
 Bloomington to Pekin, and Peoria to Warsaw, in all 
 about 1,300 miles of road. It also provided for the 
 improvement of the navigation of the Kaskaskia, 
 Illinois, Great and Little Wabash and Rock Rivers ; 
 also as a placebo, $200,000 in money were to be dis- 
 tributed to the various counties wherein no improve- 
 ments were ordered to be made as above. The 
 estimate for the expenses for all these projects was 
 placed at a little over $10,000,000, which was not 
 more than half enough ! That would now be equal to 
 saddling upon the State a debt of $225,000,000! It 
 was sufficient to bankrupt the State several times 
 over, even counting all the possible benefits. 
 
 One of the most exciting events that ever occurred 
 in this fair State was the murder of Elijah P. Love- 
 joy in the fall of 1837, at Alton, during Mr. Duncan's 
 term as Governor. Lovejoy was an " Abolitionist," 
 editing the Observer at that place, and the pro- 
 slavery slums there formed themselves into a mob, 
 
 and after destroying successively three presses be- 
 longing to Mr. Lovejoy, surrounded the warehouse 
 where the fourth press was stored away, endeavoring 
 to destroy it, and where Lovejoy and his friends 
 were entrenching themselves, and shot and killed the 
 brave reformer ! 
 
 About this time, also, the question of removing the 
 State capital again came up, as the 20 years' limit for 
 its existence at Vandalia was drawing to a close. 
 There was, of course, considerable excitement over 
 the matter, the two main points competing for it be- 
 ing Springfield and Peoria. The jealousy of the lat- 
 ter place is not even yet, 45 years afterward, fully 
 allayed. 
 
 Gov. Duncan's term expired in 1838. In 1842 
 he was again proposed as a candidate for the Execu- 
 tive chair, this time by the Whig party, against Adam 
 W. Snyder, of St. Clair County, the nominee of the 
 Democrats. Charles W. Hunter was a third candi- 
 date for the same,position. Mr. Snyder, however, died 
 before the campaign had advanced very far, and his 
 party substituted Thomas Ford, who was elected, 
 receiving 46,901 votes, to 38,584 for Duncan, and 
 909 for Hunter. The cause of Democratic success 
 at this time is mainly attributed to the temporary 
 support of the Mormons which they enjoyed, and the 
 want of any knowledge, on the part of the masses, 
 that Mr. Ford was opposed to any given policy en- 
 tertained in the respective localities. 
 
 Gov. Duncan was a man of rather limited educa- 
 tion, but with naturally fine abilities he profited 
 greatly by his various public services, and gathered 
 a store of knowledge regarding public affairs which 
 served him a ready purpose. He possessed a clear 
 judgment, decision, confidence in himself and moral 
 courage to carry out his convictions of right. In his 
 deportment he was well adapted to gain the admira- 
 tion of the people. His intercourse with them was 
 both affable and dignified. His portrait at the Gov- 
 ernor's mansion, from which the accompanying was 
 made, represents him as having a swarthy complex- 
 ion, high cheek bones, broad forehead, piercing black 
 eyes and straight black hair. 
 
 He was a liberal patron of the .Illinois College at 
 Jacksonville, a member of its Board of Trustees, and 
 died, after a short illness, Jan. 15, 1844, a devoted 
 member of the Presbyterian Church, leaving a wife 
 but no children. Two children, born to them, had 
 died in infancy.
 
 THF LIBRARY 
 OF THE 
 
 wiYERsmr OF HUNOB
 
 ^;| 
 
 IHOMAS CARLIN, the sixth 
 
 Governor of the State of 
 Illinois, serving from 1838 
 to 1842, was also a Ken- 
 tuckian, being born near 
 Frankfort, that State, July 
 18, 1789, of Irish paternity. 
 The opportunities for an education 
 being very meager in his native 
 place, he, on approaching years of 
 judgment and maturity, applied 
 himself to those branches of learn- 
 ing that seemed most important, 
 and thus became a self-made man ; 
 and his taste for reading and 
 study remained with him through 
 life. In 1803 his father removed 
 to Missouri, then a part of " New Spain," where he 
 died in 1810. 
 
 In 1812 young Carlin came to Illinois and partici- 
 pated in all the "ranging" service incident to the 
 war of that period, proving himself a soldier of un- 
 daunted bravery. In 1814 he married Rebecca 
 Huitt, and lived for four years on the bank of the 
 Mississippi River, opposite the mouth of the Mis- 
 souri, where he followed farming, and then removed 
 to Greene County. He located the town site of Car- 
 rollton, in that county, and in 1825 made a liberal 
 donation of land for county building purposes. He 
 was the first Sheriff of that county after its separate 
 organization, and afterward was twice elected, as a 
 Jackson Democrat, to the Illinois Senate. In the 
 Black Hawk War he commanded a spy battalion, a 
 post of considerable danger. In 1834 he was ap- 
 pointed by President Jackson to the position of 
 Receiver of Public Moneys, and to fulfill the office 
 -,/*_ '^mJf^^. /~\ /i 
 
 more conveniently he removed to the city of Quincy. 
 
 While, in 1838, the unwieldy internal improvement 
 system of the State was in full operation, with all its 
 expensive machinery, amidst bank suspensions 
 throughout the United States, a great stringency in 
 the money market everywhere, and Illinois bonds 
 forced to sale at a heavy discount, and the " hardest 
 times " existing that the people of the Prairie State 
 ever saw, the general election of State officers w'as 
 approaching. Discreet men who had cherished the 
 hope of a speedy subsidence of the public infatua- 
 tion, met with disappointment. A Governor and 
 Legislature were to be elected, and these were now 
 looked forward to for a repeal of the ruinous State 
 policy. But the grand scheme had not yet lost its 
 dazzling influence upon the minds of the people. 
 Time and experience had not yet fully demonstrated 
 its utter absurdity. Hence the question of arresting 
 its career of profligate expenditures did not become 
 a leading one with the dominant party during the 
 campaign, and most of the old members of the Leg- 
 islature were returned at this election. 
 
 Under these circumstances the Democrats, in State 
 Convention assembled, nominated Mr. Carlin for the 
 office of Governor, and S. H. Anderson for Lieuten- 
 ant Governor, while the Whigs nominated Cyrus Ed- 
 wards, brother of Ninian Edwards, formerly Governor, 
 and W. H. Davidson. Edwards came out strongly 
 for a continuance of the State policy, while Carlin 
 remained non-committal. This was the first time 
 that the two main political parties in this State were 
 unembarrassed by any third party in the field. The 
 result of the election was: Carlin, 35,573; Ander- 
 son, 30,335 ; Edwards, 29,629 ; and Davidson, 28,- 
 7!.S- 
 
 Upon the meeting of the subsequent Legislature 
 (1839), the retiring Governor (Duncan) in his mes- 

 
 c 
 
 THOMAS CARLIN. 
 
 sage spoke in emphatic terms of the impolicy of the 
 internal improvement system, presaging the evils 
 threatened, and uiged that body to do their utmost 
 to correct the great error; yet, on the. contrary, the 
 Legislature not only decided to continue the policy 
 but also added to its burden by voting more appro- 
 priations and ordering more improvements. Although 
 the money market was still stringent, a further loan 
 of $4,000,000 was ordered for the Illinois & Mich- 
 igan Canal alone. Chicago at that time began to 
 loom up and promise to be an important city, even 
 the great emporium of the West, as it has since in- 
 deed came to be. Ex-Gov. Reynolds, an incompe- 
 tent financier, was commissioned to effect the loan, 
 and accordingly hastened to the East on this respons- 
 ible errand, and negotiated the loans, at considera- 
 ble sacrifice to the State. Besides this embarrassment 
 to Carlin's administration, the Legislature also de- 
 clared that he had no authority to appoint a Secretary 
 of State until a vacancy existed, and A. P. Field, a 
 Whig, who had already held the post by appointment 
 through three administrations, was determined to 
 keep the place a while longer, in spite of Gov. Car- 
 lin's preferences. The course of the Legislature in 
 this regard, however, was finally sustained by the 
 Supreme Court, in a quo warranto case brought up 
 before it by John A. McClernand, whom the Gov- 
 ernor had nominated for the office. Thereupon that 
 dignified body was denounced as a "Whig Court!" 
 endeavoring to establish the principle of life-tenure 
 of office. 
 
 A new law was adopted re-organizing the Judici- 
 ary, and under it five additional Supreme Judges 
 were elected by the Legislature, namely, Thomas 
 Ford (afterward Governor), Sidney Breese, Walter B. 
 Scales, Samuel H. Treat and Stephen A. Douglas 
 all Democrats. 
 
 It was during Cov. Carlin's administration that the 
 noisy campaign of " Tippecanoe and Tyler too " oc- 
 curred, resulting in a Whig victory. This, however, 
 did not affect Illinois politics very seriously. 
 
 Another prominent event in the West during Gov. 
 Carlin's term of office was the excitement caused by 
 the Mormons and their removal from Independence, 
 Mo., to Nauvoo, 111., in 1840. At the same time 
 they began to figure somewhat in State politics. On 
 account of their believing as they thought, accord- 
 to the New Testament that they should have 
 
 "all things common," and that consequently "all 
 the earth " and all that is upon it were the" Lord's 
 and therefore the property of his " saints," they 
 were suspected, and correctly, too, of committing 
 many of the deeds of larceny, robbery, etc., that 
 were so rife throughout this country in those days. 
 Hence a feeling of violence grew up between the 
 Mormons and "anti-Mormons." In the State of 
 Missouri the Mormons always supported the Dem- 
 ocracy until they were driven out by the Democratic 
 government, when they turned their support to the 
 Whigs. They were becoming numerous, and in the 
 Legislature of 1840-1, therefore, it became a matter 
 of great interest with both parties to conciliate these 
 people. Through the agency of one John C. Ben- 
 nett, a scamp, the Mormons succeeded in rushing 
 through the Legislature (both parties not daring to 
 oppose) a charter for the city of Nauvoo which vir- 
 tually erected a hierarchy co-ordinate with the Fed- 
 eral Government itself. In the fall of 1841 the 
 Governor of Missouri made a demand upon Gov. 
 Carlin for the body of Joe Smith, the Mormon leader, 
 as a fugitive from justice. Gov. Carlin issued the 
 writ, but for some reason it was returned unserved. 
 It was again issued in 1842, and Smith was arrested, 
 but was either rescued by his followers or discharged 
 by the municipal court on a writ of habeas corpus. 
 
 In December, 1841, the Democratic Convention 
 nominated Adam W. Snyder, of Belleville, for Gov- 
 ernor. As he had been, as a member of the Legisla- 
 ture, rather friendly to the Mormons, the latter 
 naturally turned their support to the Democratic 
 party. The next spring the Whigs nominated Ex- 
 Gov. Duncan for the same office. In the meantime 
 the Mormons began to grow more odious to the 
 masses of the people, and the comparative prospects 
 of the respective parties for success became very 
 problematical. Mr. Snyder died in May, and 
 Thomas Ford, a Supreme Judge, was substituted as 
 a candidate, and was elected. 
 
 At the close of his gubernatorial term, Mr. Carlin 
 removed back to his old home at Carrollton, where 
 he spent the remainder of his life, as before his ele- 
 vation to office, in agricultural pursuits. In 1849 
 he served out the unexpired term of J. D. Fry in the 
 Illinois House of Representatives, and died Feb. 
 1852, at his residence at Carrollton, leaving a wife 
 and seven children.
 
 THEUWMY 
 OF THE
 
 
 GOVERNORS OF ILLINOIS. 
 
 .-: '. -.--. .-.-. 
 
 vg) 
 
 JHOMAS FORD, Governor 
 from 1842 to 1846, and au- 
 thor of a very interesting 
 history of Illinois, was' born 
 at Uniontown, Pa., in the 
 year 1 800. His mother, after 
 the death of her first hus- 
 band (Mr. Forquer), married Rob- 
 ert Ford, who was killed in 1802, 
 by the Indians in the mountains 
 of Pennsylvania. She was conse- 
 quently left in indigent circum- 
 stances, with a large family, mostly 
 girls. With a view to better her 
 condition, she, in 1804, removed to 
 Missouri, where it had been cus- 
 tomary by the Spanish Govern- 
 ment to give land to actual settlers ; but upon her 
 arrival at St. Louis she found the country ceded to 
 the United States, and the liberal policy toward set- 
 tlers changed by the new ownership. After some 
 sickness to herself and family, she finally removed to 
 Illinois, and settled some three miles south of Water- 
 loo, but the following year moved nearer the Missis- 
 sippi bluffs. Here young Ford received his first 
 
 schooling, under the instructions of a Mr. Humphrey, 
 for which he had to walk three miles. His mother, 
 though lacking a thorough education, was a woman 
 of superior mental endowments, joined to energy 
 and determination of character. She inculcated in 
 her children those high-toned principles which dis- 
 tinguished her sons in public life. She exercised a 
 rigid economy to provide her children an education ; 
 but George Forquer, her oldest son (six years older 
 than Thomas Ford), at an early age had to quit 
 school to aid by his labor in the support of the family. 
 He afterward became an eminent man in Illinois 
 affairs, and but for his early death would probably 
 have been elected to the United States Senate. 
 
 Young Ford, with somewhat better opportunities, 
 received a better education, though limited to the 
 curriculum of the common school of those pioneer 
 times. His mind gave early promise of superior en- 
 dowments, with an inclination for mathematics. His 
 proficiency attracted the attention of Hon. Daniel P. 
 Cook, who became his efficient patron and friend. 
 The latter gentleman was an eminent Illinois states- 
 man who, as a Member of Congress, obtained a grant 
 of 300,000 acres of land to aid in completing the 
 Illinois & Michigan Canal, and after whom the 
 county of Cook was named. Through the advice 
 
 4x 

 
 THOMAS FORD. 
 
 
 this gentleman, Mr. Ford turned his attention to the 
 study of law; but Forquer, then merchandising, re- 
 garding his education defective, sent him to Transyl- 
 vania University, where, however, he remained but 
 one term, owing to Forquer's failure in business. On 
 his return he alternated his law reading with teach- 
 ing school for support. 
 
 In 1829 Gov. Edwards appointed him Prosecuting 
 Attorney, and in 1831 he was re-appointed by Gov. 
 Reynolds, and after that he was four times elected a 
 Judge by the Legislature, without opposition, twice a 
 Circuit Judge, once a Judge of Chicago, and as As- 
 sociate Judge of the Supreme Court, when, in 1841, 
 the latter tribunal was re-organized by the addition 
 of five Judges, all Democrats. Ford was assigned to 
 the Ninth Judicial Circuit, and while in this capacity 
 he was holding Court in Ogle County he received a 
 notice of his nomination by the Democratic Conven- 
 tion for the office of Governor. He immediately re- 
 signed his place and entered upon the canvass. In 
 August, 1842, he was elected, and on the 8th of De- 
 cember following he was inaugurated. 
 
 All the offices which he had held were unsolicited 
 by him. He received them upon the true Jefferson- 
 ian principle, Never to ask and never to refuse 
 office. Both as a lawyer and as a Judge he stood 
 deservedly high, but his cast of intellect fitted him 
 rather for a writer upon law than a practicing advo- 
 cate in the courts. In the latter capacity he was void 
 of the moving power of eloquence, so necessary to 
 success with juries. As a Judge his opinions were 
 sound, lucid and able expositions of the law. In 
 practice, he was a stranger to the tact, skill and in- 
 sinuating address of the politician, but he saw through 
 the arts of demagogues as well as any man. He was 
 plain in his demeanor, so much so, indeed, that at 
 one time after the expiration of his term of office, 
 during a session of the Legislature, he was taken by 
 a stranger to be a seeker for the position of door- 
 keeper, and was waited upon at his hotel near mid- 
 night by a knot of small office-seekers with the view 
 of effecting a " combination ! " 
 
 Mr. Ford had not the " brass " of the ordinary 
 politician, nor that impetuosity which characterizes a 
 political leader. He cared little for money, and 
 hardly enough for a decent support. In person he 
 was of small stature, slender, of dark complexion, 
 with black hair, sharp features, deep-set eyes, a 
 pointed, aquiline nose having a decided twist to one 
 side, and a small mouth. 
 
 The three most important events in Gov. Ford's 
 administration were the establishment of the high 
 financial credit of the State, the " Mormon War "and 
 the Mexican War. 
 
 In the first of these the Governor proved himself 
 to be eminently wise. On coming into office he found 
 the State badly paralyzed by the ruinous effects of 
 the notorious "internal improvement" schemes of 
 
 the preceding decade, with scarcely anything 
 show by way of "improvement." The enterprise 
 that seemed to be getting ahead more than all the 
 rest was the Illinois & Michigan Canal. As this 
 promised to be the most important thoroughfare, 
 feasible to the people, it was well under headway in 
 its construction. Therefore the State policy was 
 almost concentrated upon it, in order to rush it on to 
 completion. The bonded indebtedness of the State 
 was growing so large as to frighten the people, and 
 they were about ready to entertain a proposition for 
 repudiation. But the Governor had the foresight to 
 recommend such measures as would maintain the 
 public credit, for which every citizen to-day feels 
 thankful. 
 
 But perhaps the Governor is remembered more for 
 his connection with the Mormon troubles than for 
 anything else; for it was during his term of office 
 that the " Latter-Day Saints " became so strong at 
 Nauvoo, built their temple there, increased their num- 
 bers throughout the country, committed misdemean- 
 ors, taught dangerous doctrines, suffered the loss of 
 theirleader, Jo Smith, by a violent death, were driven 
 out of Nauvoo to the far West, etc. Having been a 
 Judge for so many years previously, Mr. Ford of 
 course was non-committal concerning Mormon affairs, 
 and was therefore claimed by both parties and also 
 accused by each of sympathizing too greatly with the 
 other side. Mormonism claiming to be a system of 
 religion, the Governor no doubt was " between two 
 fires," and felt compelled to touch the matter rather 
 " gingerly," and doubtless felt greatly relieved when 
 that pestilential people left the State. Such compli- 
 cated matters, especially when religion is mixed up 
 with them, expose every person participating in 
 them to criticism from all parties. 
 
 The Mexican War was begun in the spring of 
 1845, and was continued into the gubernatorial term 
 of Mr. Ford's successor. The Governor's connection 
 with this war, however, was not conspicuous, as it 
 was only administrative, commissioning officers, etc. 
 
 Ford's " History of Illinois " is a very readable and 
 entertaining work, of 450 small octavo pages, and is 
 destined to increase in value with the lapse of time. 
 It exhibits a natural flow of compact and forcible 
 thought, never failing to convey the nicest sense. In 
 tracing with his trenchant pen the devious operations 
 of the professional politician, in which he is inimit- 
 able, his account is open, perhaps, to the objection 
 that all his contemporaries are treated as mere place- 
 seekers, while many of them have since been judged 
 by the people to be worthy statesmen. His writings 
 seem slightly open to the criticism that they exhibit 
 a little splenetic partiality against those of his con- 
 temporaries who were prominent during his term of 
 office as Governor. 
 
 The death of Gov. Ford took place at Peoria, 111., 
 Nov. 2, 1850. 
 
 & 
 
 w 
 
 &
 
 OF TIE
 
 
 I
 
 AUGUSTUS C. FRENCH, 
 Governor of Illinois from 
 1846 to 1852, was born in 
 the town of Hill, in the 
 State of New Hampshire, 
 Aug. 2, 1808. He was a 
 descendant in the fourth 
 generation ot Nathaniel 
 French, who emigrated from England 
 in 1687 and settled in Saybury, Mass. 
 In early life young French lost his 
 father, but continued to receive in- 
 struction from an exemplary and 
 Christian mother until he was 19 years 
 old, when she also died, confiding to 
 his care and trust four younger broth- 
 ers and one sister. He discharged his trust with 
 parental devotion. His education, in early life was 
 such mainly as a common school afforded. For a 
 brief period he attended Dartmouth College, but 
 from pecuniary causes and the care of his brothers 
 and sister, he did not graduate. He subsequently 
 read law, and was admitted to the Bar in 1831, and 
 shortly afterward removed to Illinois, settling first at 
 Albion, Edwards County, where he established him- 
 self in the practice of law. The following year he 
 removed to Paris, Edgar County. Here he attained 
 eminence in his profession, and entered public life 
 by representing that county in the Legislature. A 
 strong attachment sprang up between him and Ste- 
 phen A. Douglas. 
 
 In 1839, Mr. French was appointed Receiver of 
 the United States Land Office at Palestine, Craw- 
 ford County, at which place he was a resident when 
 
 elevated to the gubernatorial chair. In 1844 he was 
 a Presidential Elector, and as such he voted for 
 James K. Polk. 
 
 The Democratic State Convention of 1846, meet- 
 ing at Springfield Feb. 10, nominated Mr. French 
 for Governor. Other Democratic candidates were 
 Lyman Trumbull, John Calhoun (subsequently of 
 Lecompton Constitution notoriety), Walter B. Scales, 
 Richard M. Young and A. W. Cavarly, an array of 
 very able and prominent names. Trumbull was per- 
 haps defeated in the Convention by the rumor that 
 he was opposed to the Illinois and Michigan Canal, 
 as he had been a year previously. For Lieutenant 
 Governor J. B. Wells was chosen, while other candi- 
 dates were Lewis Ross, Wm. McMurtry, Newton 
 Cloud, J. B. Hamilton and W. W. Thompson. The 
 resolutions declared strongly against the resuscita- 
 tion of the old State Banks. 
 
 The Whigs, who were in a hopeless minority, held 
 their convention June 8, at Peoria, and selected 
 Thomas M. Kilpatrick, of Scott County, for Governor, 
 and Gen. Nathaniel G. Wilcox, of Schuyler, for 
 Lieutenant Governor. 
 
 In the campaign the latter exposed Mr. French's 
 record and connection with the passage of the in- 
 ternal improvement system, urging it against his 
 election ; but in the meantime the war with Mexico 
 broke out, regarding which the Whig record was un- 
 popular in this State. The war was the absorbing 
 and dominating question of the period, sweeping 
 every other political issue in its course. The elec- 
 tion in August gave Mr. French 58,700 votes, and 
 Kilpatrick only 36,775. Richard Eells, Abolitionist 
 candidate for the same office, received 5,152 votes. 

 
 By the new Constitution of 1848, a new election for 
 State officers was ordered in November of that year, 
 before Gov. French's term was half out, and he was 
 re-elected for the term of four years. He was there- 
 fore the incumbent for six consecutive years, the 
 only Governor of this State who has ever served in 
 that capacity so long at one time. As there was no 
 organized opposition to his election, he received 67,- 
 453 votes, to 5,639 for Pierre Menard (son of the 
 first Lieutenant Governor), 4,748 for Charles V. 
 Dyer, 3,834 for W. L. D. Morrison, and 1,361 for 
 James L. D. Morrison. But Wm. McMurtry, of 
 Knox County, was elected Lieutenant Governor, in 
 place of Joseph B. Wells, who was before elected 
 and did not run again. 
 
 Governor French was inaugurated into office dur- 
 ing the progress of the Mexican War, which closed 
 during the summer of 1847, although the treaty of 
 Guadalupe Hidalgo was not made until Feb. 2, 
 1848. The policy of Gov. French's party was com- 
 mitted to that war, but in connection with that affair 
 he was, of course, only an administrative officer. 
 During his term of office, Feb. 19, 1847, the Legisla- 
 ture, by special permission of Congress, declared that 
 all Government lands sold to settlers should be im- 
 mediately subject to State taxation ; before this they 
 were exempt for five years after sale. By this ar- 
 rangement the revenue was materially increased. 
 About the same time, the distribution of Government 
 land warrants among the Mexican soldiers as bounty 
 threw upon the market a great quantity of good 
 lands, and this enhanced the settlement of the State. 
 The same Legislature authorized, with the recom- 
 mendation of the Governor, the sale of the Northern 
 Cross Railroad (from Springfield to Meredosia, the 
 first in the State and now a section of the Wabash, 
 St. Louis & Pacific) It sold for $100,000 in bonds, 
 although it had cost the State not less than a million. 
 The salt wells and canal lands in the Saline reserve 
 in Gallatin County, granted by the general Govern- 
 ment to the State, were also authorized by the 
 Governor to be sold, to apply on the State debt. In 
 1850, for the first time since 1839, the accruing State 
 revenue, exclusive of specific appropriations, was 
 sufficient to meet the current demands upon the 
 treasury. The aggregate taxable property of the 
 State at this time was over $100,000,000, and the 
 population 851,470. 
 
 g)Xi@(S" 
 
 I. 
 
 In 1849 the Legislature adopted the township or- v 
 ganization law, which, however, proved defective, oj? 
 and was properly amended in 1851. At its session 
 in the latter year, the General Assembly also passed 
 a law to exempt homesteads from sale on executions. 
 This beneficent measure had been repeatedly urged 
 upon that body by Gov. French. 
 
 In 1850 some business men in St. Louis com- 
 menced to build a dike opposite the lower part of 
 their city on the Illinois side, to keep the Mississippi 
 in its channel near St. Louis, instead of breaking 
 away from them as it sometimes threatened to do. 
 This they undertook without permission from the 
 Legislature or Executive authority of this State ; and 
 as many of the inhabitants there complained that 
 the scheme would inundate and ruin much valuable 
 land, there was a slight conflict of jurisdictions, re- 
 sulting in favor of" the St. Louis project ; and since 
 then a good site has existed there for a city (East St. 
 Louis), and now a score of railroads center there. 
 
 It was in September, 1850, that Congress granted 
 to this State nearly 3,000,000 acres of land in aid of 
 the completion of the Illinois Central Railroad, 
 which constituted the most important epoch in the 
 railroad we might say internal improvement his- 
 tory of the State. The road was rushed on to com- 
 pletion, which accelerated the settlement of the in- 
 terior of the State by a good class of industrious citi- 
 zens, and by the charter a good income to the State 
 Treasury is paid in from the earnings of the road. 
 
 In 1851 the Legislature passed a law authorizing 
 free stock banks, which was the source of much leg- 
 islative discussion for a number of years. 
 
 But we have not space further to particularize 
 concerning legislation. Gov. French's administra- 
 tion was not marked by any feature to be criticised, 
 while the country was settling up as never before. 
 
 In stature, Gov. French was of medium height, 
 squarely built, light complexioned, with ruddy face 
 and pleasant countenance. In manners he was 
 plain and agreeable. By nature he was somewhat 
 diffident, but he was often very outspoken in his con- 
 victions of duty. In public speech he was not an 
 orator, but was chaste, earnest and persuasive. In $ 
 business Jie was accurate and methodical, and in his 
 administration he kept up the credit of the State. 
 
 He died in 1865, at his home in Lebanon, St. 
 Clair Co., 111.
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF UHKB
 
 GO VERNORS OF ILLINOIS. 
 
 OEL A. MATTESON, Governor 
 1853-6, was born Aug. 8, 1808, 
 Jefferson County, New York, 
 which place his father had re- 
 moved from Vermont three years 
 before. His father was a farmer 
 in fair circumstances, but a com- 
 mon English education was all 
 that his only son received. Young 
 
 Joel first tempted fortune as a, L" removed to J oliet " . In l8 3 8 he became a heav y 
 small tradesman in p rescott) fo^ctor on the Ilhno.s & M.ch.gan Canal. Upon 
 the completion of his job in 1841, when hard times 
 
 Canada, before he was of age. 
 He returned from that place to 
 his home, entered an academy, 
 taught school, visited the prin- 
 cipal Eastern cities, improved a farm his father had 
 given him, made a tour in the South, worked there 
 in building railroads, experienced a storm on the 
 Gulf of Mexico, visited the gold diggings of Northern 
 Georgia, and returned via Nashville to St. Louis and 
 through Illinois to his father's home, when he mar- 
 ried. In r833, having sold his farm, he removed, 
 with his wife and one child, to Illinois, and entered 
 a claim on Government land near the head of Au 
 Sable River, in what is now Kendall County. At 
 that time there were not more than two neighbors 
 within a range of ten miles of his place, and only 
 three or four houses between him and Chicago. He 
 opened a large farm. His family was boarded 12 
 
 &&&&> 
 
 prevailed, business at a stand, contracts paid in State 
 scrip; when all the public works except the canal 
 were abandoned, the State offered for sale 700 tons 
 of railroad iron, which was purchased by Mr. Mat- 
 teson at a bargain. This he accepted, shipped and 
 sold at Detroit, realizing a very handsome profit, 
 enough to pay off all his canal debts and leave him a 
 surplus of several thousand dollars. His enterprise 
 next prompted him to start a woolen mill at Joliet, 
 in which he prospered, and which, after successive 
 enlargements, became an enormous establishment. 
 
 In 1842 he was first elected a State Senator, but, 
 by a bungling apportionment, John Pearson, a Senator 
 holding over, was found to be in the same district, 
 and decided to be entitled to represent it. Mat- 
 teson's seat was declared vacant. Pearson, however, 
 with a nobleness difficult to appreciate in this day of 
 
 \ 
 
 I ! 
 
 miles away while he erected a house on his claim, 
 sleeping, during this time, under a rude pole shed.. 
 Here his life was once placed in imminent peril by 
 a huge prairie rattlesnake sharing his bed. 
 
 In 1835 he bought largely at the Government land 
 sales. During the speculative real-estate mania which 
 broke out in Chicago in 1836 and spread over the State, 
 he sold his lands under the inflation of that period
 
 ' % 
 
 greed for office, unwilling to represent his district 
 under the circumstances, immediately resigned his 
 unexpired term of two years. A bill was passed in a 
 few hours ordering a new election, and in ten days' 
 time Mr. Matteson was returned re-elected and took 
 his seat as Senator. From his well-known capacity 
 as a business man, he was made Chairman of the 
 Committee on Finance, a position he held during 
 this half and two full succeeding Senatorial terms, 
 discharging its important duties with ability and faith- 
 fulness. Besides his extensive woolen-mill interest, 
 when work was resumed on the canal under the new 
 loan of $1,600,000 he again became a heavy con- 
 tractor, and also subsequently operated largely in 
 building railroads. Thus he showed himself a most 
 energetic and thorough business man. 
 
 He was nominated for Governor by the Demo- 
 cratic State Convention which met at Springfield 
 April 20, 1852. Other candidates before the Con- 
 vention were D. L. Gregg and F. C. Sherman, of 
 Cook ; John Dement, of Lee ; Thomas L. Harris, of 
 ' Menard ; Lewis W. Ross, of Fulton ; and D. P. Bush, 
 of Pike. Gustavus Koerner, of St. Clair, was nom- 
 inated for Lieutenant Governor. For the same offices 
 the Whigs nominated Edwin B. Webb and Dexter A. 
 Knowlton. Mr. Matteson received 80,645 votes at 
 the election, while Mr. Webb received 64,408. Mat- 
 teson's forte was not on the stump; he had not cul- 
 tivated the art of oily flattery, or the faculty of being 
 all things to all men. His intellectual qualities took 
 rather the direction of efficient executive ability. His 
 turn consisted not so much in the adroit manage- 
 ment of party, or the powerful advocacy of great gov- 
 ernmental principles, as in those more solid and 
 enduring operations which cause the physical devel- 
 opment and advancement of a State, of commerce 
 and business enterprise, into which he labored with 
 success to lead the people. As a politician he was 
 just and liberal in his views, and both in official and 
 private life he then stood untainted and free from 
 blemish. As a man, in active benevolence, socia 
 virtues and all the amiable qualities of neighbor o 
 citizen, he had few superiors. His messages presen 
 a perspicuous array of facts as to the condition of th 
 State, and are often couched in forcible and elegan 
 diction. 
 
 The greatest excitement during his term of office 
 was the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, by Con- 
 
 &g&$' 
 
 -iri / X>V 5 5T% 
 
 gress, under the leadership of Stephen A. Douglas in 
 1854, when the bill was passed organizing the Terri- 
 tory of Kansas and Nebraska. A large portion of 
 the Whig party of the North, through their bitter op- 
 position to the Democratic party, naturally drifted 
 into the doctrine of anti-slavery, and thus led to what 
 was temporarily called the " And- Nebraska " party, 
 while the followers of Douglas were known as " Ne- 
 braska or Douglas Democrats." It was during this 
 embryo stage of the Republican party that Abraham 
 Lincoln was brought forward as the "Anti-Nebraska" 
 candidate for the United States Senatorship, while 
 Gen. James Shields, the incumbent, was re-nom- 
 inated by the Democrats. But after a few ballotings 
 in the Legislature (1855), these men were dropped, 
 and Lyman Trumbull, an Anti-Nebraska Democrat, 
 was brought up by the former, and Mr. Matteson, 
 then Governor, by the latter. On the nth ballot 
 Mr. Trumbull obtained one majority, and was ac- 
 cordingly declared elected. Before Goy. Matteson 's 
 term expired, the Republicans were fully organized 
 as a national party, and in 1856 put into the field a 
 full national and State ticket, carrying the State, but 
 not the nation. 
 
 The Legislature of 1855 passed two very import- 
 ant measures, the present free-school system and a 
 submission of the Maine liquor law to a vote of the 
 people. The latter was defeated by a. small majority 
 of the popular vote. 
 
 During the four years of Gov. Matteson 's admin- 
 istration the taxable wealth of the State was about 
 trebled, from $137,818,079 to $349,951,272; the pub- 
 lic debt was reduced from $17,398,985 to $12,843,- 
 144; taxation was at the same time reduced, and the 
 State resumed paying interest on its debt in New 
 York as fast as it fell due ; railroads were increased 
 in their mileage from something less than 4015 to 
 about 3,000 ; and the population of Chicago was 
 nearly doubled, and its commerce more than quad- 
 rupled. 
 
 Before closing this account, we regret that we have 
 to say that Mr. Matteson, in all other respects an 
 upright man and a good Governor, was implicated 
 in a false re-issue of redeemed canal scrip, amount- 
 ing to $224,182.66. By a suit in the Sangamon Cir- 
 cuit Court the State recovered the principal and all 
 the interest excepting $27,500. 
 
 He died in the winter of 1872-3, at Chicago. 
 
 ^ ^^ |*i^( 
 
 c
 
 THF UBRARY 
 
 3FTHE 
 UWERSITY OF ILUNOK
 
 

 
 
 GOVERNORS OF ILLINOIS. 
 
 .,',". ', . ', . 'X 1 ; ,' : ,' : ,' : ,> :v : .' : . : .' .' ' .' <' .' i 1 .' << .' ' 
 
 ILLIAM H. BISSELL, Gov- 
 ernpr 1857-60, was born 
 April 25, 1811, in the 
 State of New York, near 
 Painted Post, Yates County. 
 His parents were obscure, 
 honest, God-fearing people, 
 who reared their children under the daily 
 example of industry and frugality, accord- 
 ing to the custom of that class of Eastern 
 society. Mr. Bissell received a respecta- 
 ble but not thorough academical education. 
 By assiduous application he acquired a 
 knowledge of medicine, and in his early 
 manhood came West and located in Mon- 
 roe County, this State, where he engaged in the 
 practice of that profession. But he was not enam- 
 ored of his calling: he was swayed by a broader 
 ambition, to such an extent that the mysteries of the 
 healing art and its arduous duties failed to yield him 
 further any charms. In a few years he discovered 
 his choice of a profession to be a mistake, and when 
 he approached the age of 30 he sought to begin 
 anew. Dr. Bissell, no doubt unexpectedly to him- 
 self, discovered a singular facility and charm of 
 speech, the exercise of which acquired for him a 
 ready local notoriety. It soon came to be under- 
 
 stood that he desired to abandon his profession and 
 take up that of the law. During terms of Court he 
 would spend his time at the county seat among the 
 members of the Bar, who extended to him a ready 
 welcome. 
 
 It was not strange, therefore, that he should drift 
 into public life. In 1840 he was elected as a Dem- 
 ocrat to the Legislature from Monroe County, and 
 was an efficient member of that body. On his re- 
 turn home he qualified himself for admission to the 
 Bar and speedily rose to the front rank as an advo- 
 cate. His powers of oratory were captivating. With a 
 pure diction, charming and inimitable gestures, | 
 clearness of statement, and a remarkable vein of sly 5 > 
 humor, his efforts before a jury told with irresistible t 
 effect. He was chosen by the Legislature Prosecut- 
 ing Attorney for the Circuit in which he lived, and 
 in that position he fully discharged his duty to the 
 State, gained the esteem of the Bar, and seldom 
 failed to convict the offender of the law. 
 
 In stature he was somewhat tall and slender, and /*" 
 with a straight, military bearing, he presented a dis 
 tinguished appearance. His complexion was dark, gj. 
 his head well poised, though not large, his address 
 pleasant and manner winning. He was exemplary 
 in his habits, a devoted husband and kind parent. 
 He was twice married, the first time to Miss James,
 
 WILLIAM H. BISSELL. 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 of Monroe County, by whom he had two children, 
 both daughters. She died soon after the year 1840, 
 and Mr. B. married for his second wife a daughter 
 of Elias K. Kane, previously a United States Senator 
 from this State. She survived him but a short time, 
 and died without issue. 
 
 When the war with Mexico was declared in 1846, 
 Mr. Bissell enlisted and was elected Colonel of his 
 regiment, over Hon. Don Morrison, by an almost 
 unanimous vote, 807 to 6. Considering the limited 
 opportunities he had had, he evinced a high order of 
 military talent. On the bloody field of Buena Vista 
 he acquitted himself with intrepid and distinguished 
 ability, contributing with his regiment, the Second 
 Illinois, in no small degree toward saving the waver- 
 ing fortunes of our arms during that long and fiercely 
 contested battle. 
 
 After his return home, at the close of the war, he 
 was elected to Congress, his opponents being the 
 Hons. P. B. Fouke and Joseph Gillespie. He served 
 two terms in Congress. He was an ardent politician. 
 During the great contest of 1850 he voted in favor 
 of the adjustment measures; but in 1854 he opposed 
 the repeal of the Missouri Compromise act and 
 therefore the Kansas-Nebraska bill of Douglas, and 
 thus became identified with the nascent Republican 
 party. 
 
 During his first Congressional term, while the 
 Southern members were following their old practice 
 of intimidating the North by bullying language, 
 and claiming most of the credit for victories in the 
 Mexican War, and Jefferson Davis claiming for the 
 Mississippi troops all the credit for success at Buena 
 Vista, Mr. Bissell bravely defended the Northern 
 troops ; whereupon Davis challenged Bissell to a duel, 
 which was accepted. This matter was brought up 
 against Bissell when he was candidate for Governor 
 and during his term of office, as the Constitution of 
 this State forbade any duelist from olding a State 
 
 In 1856, when the Republican party first put forth 
 a candidate, John C. Fremont, for President of the 
 United States, the same party nominated Mr. Bissell 
 for Governor of Illinois, and John Wood, of Quincy, 
 for Lieutenant Governor, while the Democrats nomi- 
 nated Hon. W. A. Richardson, of Adams County, 
 for Governor, and Col. R. J. Hamilton, of Cook 
 County, for Lieutenant Governor. The result of the 
 
 election was a plurality of 4,729 votes over Richard- 
 son. The American, or Know-Nothing, party had a 
 ticket in the field. The Legislature was nearly bal- 
 anced, but was politically opposed to the Governor. 
 His message to the Legislature was short and rather 
 ordinary, and was criticised for expressing the sup- 
 posed obligations of the people to the incorporators 
 of the Illinois Central Railroad Company and for re- 
 opening the slavery question by allusions to the 
 Kansas troubles. Late in the session an apportion- 
 ment bill, based upon the State census of 1855, was 
 passed, amid much partisan strife. The Governor 
 at first signed the bill and then vetoed it. A furious 
 debate followed, and the question whether the Gov- 
 ernor had the authority to recall a signature was 
 referred to the Courts, that of last resort deciding in 
 favor of the Governor. Two years afterward another 
 outrageous attempt was made for a re-apportionment 
 and to gerrymander the State, but the Legislature 
 failed to pass the bill over the veto of the Governor. 
 
 It was during Gov. Bissell's administration that 
 the notorious canal scrip fraud was brought to light, 
 implicating ex-Gov. Matteson and other prominent 
 State officials. The principal and interest, aggregat- 
 ing $255,500, was all recovered by the State except- 
 ing $27,500. (See sketch of Gov. Matteson.) 
 
 In 1859 an attempt was discovered to fraudu- 
 lently refund the. Macalister and Stebbins bonds and 
 thus rob the State Treasury of nearly a quarter of a 
 million dollars. The State Government was impli- 
 cated in this affair, and to this day remains unex- 
 plained or unatoned for. For the above, and other 
 matters previously mentioned, Gov. Bissell has been 
 severely criticised, and he has also been most shame- 
 fully libelled and slandered. 
 
 On account of exposure in the army, the remote 
 cause of a nervous form of disease gained entrance 
 into his system and eventually developed paraplegia, 
 affecting his lower extremities, which, while it left 
 his body in comparative health, deprived him of loco- 
 motion except by the aid of crutches. While he was 
 generally hopeful of ultimate recovery, this myste- 
 rious disease pursued him, without once relaxing its 
 stealthy hold, to the close of his life, March 18, 
 1860, over nine months before the expiration of his 
 gubernatorial term, at the early age of 48 years. He 
 died in the faith of the Roman Catholic Church, of 
 which he had been a member since 1854.
 
 Jf INE
 
 

 
 
 j:OHN WOOD, Governor 1860-1, and 
 the first settler of Quincy, 111., 
 was born in the town of Sempro- 
 nius (now Moravia), Cayuga Co., 
 N. Y., Dec. 20, 1798. He was 
 the second child and only son of 
 Dr. Daniel Wood. His mother, 
 nee Catherine Crause, was of 
 German parentage, and died 
 while he was an infant. Dr. 
 Wood was a learned and skillful 
 physician, of classical attain- 
 ments and proficient in several 
 modern languages, who, after 
 serving throughout the Revolu- 
 tionary War as a Surgeon, settled on the land granted 
 him by the Government, and resided there a re- 
 spected and leading influence in his section until his 
 death, at the ripe age of 92 years. 
 
 The subject of this sketch, impelled by the spirit 
 of Western adventure then pervading everywhere, 
 left his home, Nov. 2, 1818, and passed the succeed- 
 ing winter in Cincinnati, Ohio. The following sum- 
 mer he pushed on to Illinois, landing at Shawneetown. 
 and spent the fall and following winter in Calhoun 
 County. In 1820, in company with Willard Keyes, 
 he settled in Pike County, about 30 miles southeast [ 
 of Quincy, where for the next two years he pursued 
 farming. In 1821 he visited "the Bluffs" (as the 
 present site of Quincy was called, then uninhabited) 
 and, pleased with its prospects, soon after purchased 
 a quarter-section of land near by, and in the follow- 
 ing fall (1822) erected near the river a small cabin, 
 ^^1*, >*UP^__ ^ 
 
 18. x 20 feet, the first building in Quincy, of which 
 he then became the first and for some months the 
 only occupant. 
 
 About this time he visited his old friends in Pike 
 County, chief of whom was William Ross, the lead- 
 ing man in building up the village of Atlas, of that 
 county, which was thought then to be the possible ^ 
 commencement of a city. One day they and others jr? 
 were traveling together over the country between the *^ 
 two points named, making observations on the com- == 
 parative merits of the respective localities. On ap- 
 proaching the Mississippi near Mr. Wood's place, 
 the latter told his companions to follow him and he 
 would show them where he was going to build a city. 
 They went about a mile off the main trail, to a high 
 point, from which the view in every direction was 
 most magnificent, as it had been for ages and as yet 
 untouched by the hand of man. Before them swept 
 by the majestic Father of Waters, yet unburdened by 
 navigation. After Mr. Wood had expatiated at {f 
 length on the advantages of the situation, Mr. Ross f 
 replied, " But it's too near Atlas ever to amount to 
 anything!" 
 
 Atlas is still a cultivated farm, and Quincy is a 
 city of over 30,000 population. 
 
 In 1824 Mr. Wood gave a newspaper notice, 
 as the law then prescribed, of his intention to apply ' 
 to the General Assembly for the formation of a new 
 county. This was done the following winter, result- 
 ing in the establishment of the present Adams fi 
 County. During the next summer Quincy was se- ^ 
 lected as the county seat, it and the vicinity then 
 containing but four adult male residents and halt
 
 that number of females. Sinoe that period Mr. 
 Wood resided at the place of his early adoption un- 
 til his death, and far more than any other man was 
 he identified with every measure of its progress and 
 history, and almost continuously kept in public posi- 
 tions. 
 
 He was one of the early town Trustees, and after 
 the place became a city he was often a member of 
 the City Council, many times elected Mayor, in the 
 face of a constant large opposition political majority. 
 In 1850 he was elected to the State Senate. In 1856, 
 3% on the organization of the Republican party, he was 
 ^ chosen Lieutenant Governor of the State, on the 
 ticket with Wm. H. Bissell for Governor, and on the 
 death of the latter, March 18, 1860, he succeeded to 
 the Chief Executive chair, which he occupied until 
 Gov. Yates was inaugurated nearly ten months after- 
 ward. 
 
 Nothing very marked characterized the adminis- 
 tration of Gov. Wood. The great anti-slavery Cam- 
 paign of 1860, resulting in the election of the honest 
 Illinoisan, Abraham Lincoln, to the Presidency of the 
 United States, occurred during the short period 
 while Mr. Wood was Governor, and the excitement 
 and issues of that struggle dominated over every 
 other consideration, indeed, supplanted them in a 
 great measure. The people of Illinois, during all 
 that time, were passing the comparatively petty strifes 
 under Bissell's administration to the overwhelming 
 issue of preserving the whole nation from destruction. 
 In 186 r ex-Gov. Wood was one of the five Dele- 
 gates from Illinois to the " Peace Convention " at 
 Washington, and in April of the same year, on the 
 breaking out of the Rebellion, he was appointed 
 
 Quartermaster-General of the State, which position 
 he held throughout the war. In 1864 he took com- 
 mand as Colonel of the 13710 111. Vol. Inf., with 
 whom he served until the period of enlistment ex- 
 pired. 
 
 Politically, Gov. Wood was always actively identi- 
 fied with the Whig and Republican parties. Few 
 men have in personal experience comprehended so 
 many surprising and advancing local changes as 
 vested in the more than half century recollections of 
 Gov. Wood. Sixty-four years ago a solitary settler 
 on the "Bluffs," with no family, and no neighbor 
 within a score of miles, the world of civilization away 
 behind him, and the strolling red-man almost his 
 only visitant, he lived to see growing around him, 
 and under his auspices and aid, overspreading the 
 wild hills and scraggy forest a teaming city, second 
 only in size in the State, and surpassed nowhere in 
 beauty, prosperity and promise; whose people recog- 
 nize as with a single voice the proverbial honor and 
 liberality that attach to the name and lengthened 
 life of their pioneer settler, "the old Governor." 
 
 Gov. Wood was twice married, first in January, 
 1826, to Ann M. Streeter, daughter of Joshua Streeter, 
 formerly of Salem, Washington Co., N. Y. They had 
 eight children. Mrs. W. died Oct. 8, 1863, and in 
 June, 1865, Gov. Wood married Mrs. Mary A., widow 
 of Rev. Joseph T. Holmes. Gov. Wood died June 4, 
 1880, at his residence in Quincy. Four of his eight 
 children are now living, namely: Ann E., wife of 
 Gen. John Tillson; Daniel C., who married Mary J. 
 Abernethy ; John, Jr., who married Josephine Skinner, 
 and Joshua S., who married Annie Bradley. The 
 last mentioned now resides at Atchison, Kansas, and 
 all the rest are still at Quincy. 

 
 ICHARD YATES, the "War 
 Governor," 1861-4, was born 
 Jan. 18, 1818, on the banks of 
 the Ohio River, at Warsaw, 
 Gallatin Co., Ky. His father 
 moved in 1831 to Illinois, and ) 
 after stopping for a time in 
 Springfield, settled at Island 
 Grove, Sangamon County. "Here, 
 after attending school, Richard joined 
 the family. Subsequently he entered 
 Illinois College at Jacksonville, 
 where, in 1837, he graduated with 
 first honors. He chose for his pro- 
 fession the law, the Hon. J. J. Har- 
 din being his instructor. After ad- 
 mission to the Bar he soon rose to distinction as an 
 advocate. 
 
 Gifted with a fluent and ready oratory, he soon 
 appeared in the political hustings, and, being a 
 passionate admirer of the great Whig leader of the 
 West, Henry Clay, he joined his political fortunes to 
 the party of his idol. In 1840 he engaged with great 
 ardor in the exciting " hard cider " campaign for 
 Harrison. Two years later he was elected to the 
 Legislature from Morgan County, a Democratic 
 stronghold. He served three or four terms in the 
 Legislature, and such was the fascination of his ora- 
 tory that by 1850 his large Congressional District, 
 extending from Morgan and Sangamon Counties 
 north to include LaSalle, unanimously tendered him 
 the Whig nomination for Congress. His Democratic 
 opponent was Maj. Thomas L. Harris, a very pop- 
 ular man who had won distinction at the battle of 
 Cerro Gordo, in the Mexican War, and who had 
 beaten Hon. Stephen T. Logan for the same position, 
 *gs*&. '-^st&frZ e^ 
 
 two years before, by a large majority. Yates was 
 elected. Two years later he was re-elected, over 
 John Calhoun. 
 
 It was during Yates' second term in Congress that 
 the great question of the repeal of the Missouri Com- 
 promise was agitated, and the bars laid down for re- 
 opening the dreaded anti-slavery question. He took 
 strong grounds against the repeal, and thus became 
 identified with the rising Republican party. Conse- 
 quently he fell into the minority in his district, which 
 was pro-slavery. Even then, in a third contest, he 
 fell behind Major Harris only 200 votes, after the 
 district had two years before given Pie"rce 2,000 
 majority for President. 
 
 The Republican State Convention of 1860 met at 
 Decatur May 9, and nominated for the office of Gov- 
 ernor Mr. Yates, in preference to Hon. Norman B. 
 Judd, of Chicago, and Leonard Swett, of Blooming- 
 ton, two of the ablest men of the State, who were 
 also candidates before the Convention. Francis A. 
 Hoffman, of DuPage County, was nominated for 
 Lieutenant Governor. This was the year when Mr. 
 Lincoln was a candidate for President, a period re- 
 membered as characterized by the great whirlpool 
 which precipitated the bloody War of the Rebellion. 
 The Douglas Democrats nominated J. C. Allen of 
 Crawford County, for Governor, and Lewis W. Ross, 
 of Fulton County, for Lieutenant Governor. The 
 Breckenridge Democrats and the Bell-Everett party 
 had also full tickets in the field. After a most fear- 
 ful campaign, the result of the election gave Mr. 
 Yates 172,196 votes, and Mr. Allen 159,253. Mr. 
 Yates received over a thousand more votes than did 
 Mr. Lincoln himself. 
 
 Gov. Yates occupied the chair of State during th 
 
 <7
 
 
 RICHARD YATES. 
 
 
 & 
 
 most critical period of our country's history. In the 
 fate of the nation was involved that of each State. 
 The life struggle of the former derived its sustenance 
 from the loyalty of the latter; and Gov. Yates 
 seemed to realize the situation, and proved himself 
 both loyal and wise in upholding the Government. 
 He had a deep hold upon the affections of the 
 people, won by his moving eloquence and genial 
 manners. Erect and symmetrical in person, of pre- 
 possessing appearance, with a winning address and a 
 magnetic power, few men possessed more of the ele- 
 ments of popularity. His oratory was scholarly and 
 captivating, his hearers hardly knowing why they 
 were transported. He was social and convivial. In 
 the latter respect he was ultimately carried too far. 
 
 The very creditable military efforts of this State 
 during the War of the Rebellion, in putting into the 
 field the enormous number of about 200,000 soldiers, 
 were ever promptly an,d ably seconded by his excel- 
 lency ; and the was ambitious to deserve the title of 
 "the soldier's friend." Immediately after the battle of 
 Shiloh he repaired to the field of carnage to look 
 after the wounded, and his appeals for aid were 
 promptly responded to by the people. His procla- 
 mations calling for volunteers were impassionate 
 appeals, urging upon the people the duties and re- 
 quirements of patriotism ; and his special message 
 in 1863 to the Democratic Legislature of this State 
 pleading for material aid for the sick and wounded 
 soldiers of Illinois regiments, breathes a deep fervor 
 of noble, sentiment and feeling rarely equaled in 
 beauty or felicity of expression. Generally his mes- 
 sages on political and civil affairs were able and com- 
 prehensive. During his administration, however, 
 there were no civil events of an engrossing character, 
 although two years of his time were replete with 
 partisan quarrels of great bitterness. Military ar- 
 rests, Knights of the Golden Circle, riot in Fulton 
 County, attempted suppression of the Chicago Times 
 and the usurping State Constitutional Convention of 
 1862, were the chief local topics that were exciting 
 during the Governor's term. This Convention assem- 
 bled Jan. 7, and at once took the high position that 
 the law calling it was no longer binding, and that it 
 had supreme power; that it represented a virtual 
 assemblage of the whole people of the State, and was 
 sovereign in the exercise of all power necessary to 
 ffect a peaceable revolution of the State Government 
 
 and to the re-establishment of one for the "happiness, 
 prosperity and freedom of the citizens," limited only 
 by the Federal Constitution. Notwithstanding the 
 law calling the Convention required its members to 
 take an oath to support the Constitution of the State 
 as well as that of the general Government, they 
 utterly refused to take such oath. They also as- 
 sumed legislative powers and passed several import- 
 ant "laws!" Interfering with the (then) present 
 executive duties, Gov. Yates was provoked to tell 
 them plainly that " he did not acknowledge the right 
 of the Convention to instruct him in the performance 
 of his duty." 
 
 In 1863 the Governor astonished the Democrats 
 by " proroguing " their Legislature. This body, after 
 a recess, met June 2, that year, and soon began to 
 waste time upon various partisan resolutions ; and, 
 while the two houses were disagreeing upon the 
 question of adjourning sine die, the Governor, having 
 the authority in such cases, surprised them all by 
 adjourning them " to the Saturday next preceding the 
 first Monday in January, 1865 ! " This led to great 
 excitement and confusion, and to a reference of the 
 Governor's act to the Supreme Court, who decided in 
 his favor. Then it was the Court's turn to receive 
 abuse for weeks and months afterward. 
 
 During the autumn of 1864 a conspiracy was de- 
 tected at Chicago which had for its object the liber- 
 ation of the prisoners of war at Camp Douglas, the 
 burning of the city and the inauguration of rebellion 
 in the North. Gen. Sweet, who had charge of -the 
 camp at the time, first had his suspicions of danger 
 aroused by a number of enigmatically worded letters 
 which passed through the Camp postoffice. A de- 
 tective afterward discovered that the rebel Gen. 
 Marmaduke was in the city, under an assumed 
 name, and he, with other rebel officers Grenfell, 
 Morgan, Cantrell, Buckner Morris, and Charles 
 Walsh was arrested, most of whom were convicted 
 by a court-martial at Cincinnati and sentenced to 
 imprisonment, Grenfell to be hung. The sentence 
 of the latter was afterward commuted to imprison- 
 ment for life, and all the others, after nine months' 
 imprisonment, were pardoned. 
 
 In March, 1873, Gov. Yates was appointed a Gov- 
 ernment Director of the Union Pacific Railroad, in 
 which office he continued until his decease, at St. 
 Louis, Mo., on the 27th of November following. 
 ^ *****_ f^<


 
 ICHARD J. OGLESBY, Gov- 
 ernor 1865-8, and re-elected 
 in 1872 and 1884, was born 
 July 25, 1824, in Oldham Co., 
 Ky., the State which might 
 be considered the " mother of 
 Illinois Governors." Bereft of 
 his parents at the tender age 
 of eight years, his early education 
 was neglected. When 12 years of 
 age, and after he had worked a year 
 and a half at the carpenter's trade, 
 he removed with an uncle, Willis 
 Oglesby, into whose care he had 
 been committed, to Decatur, this 
 State, where he continued his ap- 
 prenticeship as a mechanic, working six months for 
 Hon. E. O. Smith. 
 
 In 1844 he commenced studying law at Spring- 
 field, with Judge Silas Robbins, and read with him 
 one year. He was admitted to the Bar in 1845, and 
 commenced the practice of his chosen profession at 
 Sullivan, the county seat of Moultrie County. 
 
 The next year the war with Mexico was com- 
 menced, and in June, 1846, Mr. Oglesby volunteered, 
 was elected First Lieutenant of Co. C, Fourth Illinois 
 Regiment of Volunteers, and participated in the bat- 
 tles of Vera Cruz and Cerro Gordo. 
 
 On his return he sought to perfect his law studies 
 by attending a course of lectures at Louisville, but 
 on the breaking out of the California "gold fever " in 
 1849, he crossed the plains and mountains to the 
 new Eldorado, driving a six-mule team, with a com- 
 
 pany of eight men, Henry Prather being the leader. 
 
 In 1852 he returned home to Macon County, and 
 x was placed that year by the Whig party on the ticket 
 of Presidential Electors. In 1856 he visited Europe, 
 Asia and Africa, being absent 20 months. On his 
 return home he resumed the practice of law, as a 
 member of the firm of Gallagher, Wait & Oglesby. 
 In 1858 he was the Republican nominee for the 
 Lower House of Congress, but was defeated by the 
 Hon. James C. Robinson, Democrat. In 1860 he 
 was elected to the Illinois State Senate ; and on the 
 evening the returns of this election were coming in, 
 Mr. Oglesby had a fisticuff encounter with " Cerro 
 Gordo Williams," in which he came out victorious, 
 and which was .regarded as " the first fight of the 
 Rebellion." The following spring, when the war 
 had commenced in earnest, his ardent nature 
 quickly responded to the demands of patriotism and 
 he enlisted. The extra session of the Legislature 
 elected him Colonel of the Eighth Illinois Infantry, 
 the second one in the State raised to suppress the 
 great Rebellion. 
 
 He was shortly entrusted with important com- 
 mands. For a time he was stationed at Bird's Point 
 and Cairo ; in April he was promoted Brigadier Gen- 
 eral ; at Fort Donelson his brigade was in the van, 
 being stationed on the right of General Grant's army 
 and the first brigade to be attacked. He lost 500 
 men before re-inforcements arrived. Many of these 
 men were from Macon County. He was engaged in 
 the battle of Corinth, and, in a brave charge at this 
 place, was shot in the left lung with an ounce ball, 
 and was carried from the field in expectation of im- 

 
 mediate death. That rebel ball he carries to this 
 day. On his partial recovery he was promoted as 
 Major General, for g.illantry, his commission to rank 
 from November, 1862. In the spring of 1863 he 
 was assigned to the command of the i6th Army 
 Corps, but, owing to inability froai the effects of his 
 wound, lie relinquished this command in July, that 
 year. Gen. Grant, however, refused to accept his 
 resignation, and he was detailed, in December follow- 
 ing, to court-martial and try the Surgeon General of 
 the Army at Washington, where he remained until 
 May, 1864, when he returned home. 
 
 The Republican, or Union, State Convention of 
 
 1864 was held at Springfield, May 25, when Mr. 
 Oglesby was nominated for the office of Governor, 
 while other candidates before the Convention were 
 Allen C. Fuller, of Boone, Jesse K. Dubois.of Sanga- 
 mon, and John M. Palmer, of Macoupin. Wm. 
 Bross, of Chicago, was nominated for Lieutenant 
 Governor. On the Democratic State ticket were 
 James C. Robinson, of Clark, for Governor, and S. 
 Corning Judd, of Fulton, for Lieutenant Governor. 
 The general election gave Gen. Oglesby a majority 
 of about 31,000 votes. The Republicans had also a 
 majority in both the Legislature and in the repre- 
 sentation in Congress. 
 
 Gov. Oglesby was duly inaugurated Jan. 17, 1865. 
 The day before the first time set for his installation 
 death visited his home at Decatur, and took from it 
 his only son, an intelligent and sprightly lad of six 
 years, a great favorite of the bereaved parents. This 
 caused the inauguration to be postponed a week. 
 
 The political events of the Legislative session of 
 
 1865 were the election of ex-Gov. Yates to the 
 United States Senate, and the ratification of the 131)1 
 amendment to the Constitution of thfe United States, 
 abolishing slavery. This session also signalized 
 itself by repealing the notorious "black laws," part 
 of which, although a dead letter, had held their place 
 upon the statute books since 1819. Also, laws re- 
 quiring the registration of voters, and establishing a 
 State Board of Equalization, were passed by this Leg- 
 islature. But the same body evinced that it was cor- 
 ruptly influenced by a mercenary lobby, as it adopted 
 some bad legislation, over the Governor's veto, nota- 
 bly an amendment to a charter for a Chicago horse 
 railway, granted in 1859 for 25 years, and now 
 sought to be extended 99 years. As this measure 
 was promptly passed over his veto by both branches 
 of the Legislature, he deemed it useless further to 
 attempt to check their headlong career. At this 
 session no law of a general useful character or public 
 interest was perfected, unless we count such the 
 turning over of the canal to Chicago to be deepened. 
 The session of 1867 was still more productive of 
 private and special acts. Many omnibus bills were 
 proposed, and some passed. The contests over the 
 location of the Industrial College, the Capital, the 
 
 Southern Penitentiary, and the canal enlargement 
 and Illinois River improvement, dominated every 
 thing else. 
 
 During the year 1872, it became evident that if 
 the Republicans could re-elect Mr. Oglesby to the 
 office of Governor, they could also elect him to the 
 United States Senate, which they desired to do. 
 Accordingly they re-nominated him for the Execu- 
 tive chair, and placed upon the ticket with him for 
 Lieutenant Governor, John L. Beveridge, of Cook 
 County. On the other side the Democrats put into 
 the field Gustavus Koerner for Governor and John 
 C. Black for Lieutenant Governor. The election 
 gave the Republican ticket majorities ranging from 
 35>334 to 56,174, the Democratic defection being 
 caused mainly by their having an old-time Whig and 
 Abolitionist, Horace Greeley, on the national ticket 
 for President. According to the general understand- 
 ing had beforehand, as soon as the Legislature met 
 it elected Gov. Oglesby to the United States Senate, 
 whereupon Mr. Beveridge became Governor. Sena- 
 tor Oglesby 's term expired March 4, 1879, having 
 served his party faithfully and exhibited an order of 
 statesmanship beyond criticism. 
 
 During the campaign of 1884 Mr. Oglesby was 
 nominated for a "third term" as Executive of the 
 State of Illinois, against Carter H. Harrison, Mayor 
 of Chicago, nominated by the Democrats. Both 
 gentlemen "stumped " the State, and while the peo- 
 ple elected a Legislature which was a tie on a joint 
 ballot, as between the two parties, they gave the 
 jovial " Dick" Oglesby a majority of 15,018 for Gov- 
 ernor, and he was inaugurated Jan. 30, 1885. The 
 Legislature did not fully organize until this date, on 
 account of its equal division between the two main 
 parties and the consequent desperate tactics of each 
 party to checkmate the latter in the organization of 
 the House. 
 
 Gov. Oglesby is a fine-appearing, affable man, with 
 _regular, well defined features and rotund face. In 
 stature he is a little above medium height, of a large 
 frame and somewhat fleshy. His physical appear- 
 ance is striking and prepossessing, while his straight- 
 out, not to say bluff, manner and speech are well 
 calculated favorably to impress the average masses. 
 Ardent in feeling and strongly committed to the pol- 
 icies of his party, he intensifies Republicanism ' 
 among Republicans, while at the same time his jovial 
 and liberal manner prevents those of the opposite 
 party from hating him. 
 
 He is quite an effective stump orator. With vehe- 
 ment, passionate and scornful tone and gestures, 
 tremendous physical power, which in speaking he 
 exercises to the utmost ; with frequent descents to 
 the grotesque; and with abundant homely compari- 
 sons or frontier figures, expressed in the broadesi 
 vernacular and enforced with stentorian emphasis, 
 he delights a promiscuous audience beyond measure. 
 
 ;:
 
 TKUBKW 
 QFTBE 
 
 UIVERSITY OF ILUMB
 
 . 'i , 'i . 'i . 'i ._', . >, . ', . ', . ', .,'r.i'i . '. . '.;' .Y . }' . Y .i 1 .-I 1 . Y . i 1 . i 1 ; i 1 . i 1 . i 1 . i 1 . j 1 ., P 
 
 j:OHN Me AULEY PALMER, Gov- 
 ernor 1869-72, was born on 
 Eagle Creek, Scott Co., Ky., 
 Sept. 13, 1817. During his in- 
 fancy, his father, who had been 
 a soldier in the war of 1812, re- 
 moved to Christian Co., Ky., 
 where lands were cheap. Here 
 the future Governor of the great 
 Prairie State spent his childhood 
 and received such meager school- 
 ing as the new and sparsely set- 
 tled country afforded. To this 
 he added materially by diligent 
 reading, for which he evinced an 
 eatly aptitude. His father, an ardent Jackson man, 
 was also noted for his anti-slavery sentiments, which 
 he thoroughly impressed upon his children. In 1831 
 he emigrated to Illinois, settling in Madison County. 
 Here the labor of improving a farm was pursued for 
 about two years, when the death of Mr. Palmer's 
 mother broke up the family. About this time Alton 
 College was opened, on the "manual labor " system, 
 and in the ^spring of 1834 young Palmer, with his 
 elder brotherf Elihujfentered this school and remained 
 1 8 months. Nexryfor over three years, he tried 
 variously coopering, peddling and school-teaching. 
 
 During the summer of 1838 he formed the ac- 
 quaintance of Stephen A. Douglas, then making his 
 gyVjy^/ft. 
 
 first canvass for Congress. Young, eloquent and in 
 political accord with Mr. Palmer, he won his confi- 
 dence, fired his ambition and fixed his purpose. The 
 following winter, while teaching near Canton, he be- 
 gan to devote his spare time to a desultory reading 
 of law, and in the spring entered a law office at Car- 
 linville, making his home with his elder brother, 
 Elihu. (The latter was a learned clergyman, of con- 
 siderable orginality of thought and doctrine.) On 
 the next meeting of the Supreme Court he was ad- 
 mitted to the Bar, Douglas being one of his examiners. 
 He was not immediately successful in his profession, 
 and would have located elsewhere than Carlinville 
 had he the requisite means. Thus his early poverty 
 was a blessing in disguise, for to it he now attributes 
 the success of his life. 
 
 From 1839 on, while he diligently pursued his 
 profession, he participated more or less in local 
 politics. In 1843 he became Probate Judge. In 
 1847 he was elected to the State Constitutional Con- 
 vention, where he took a leading part. In 1852 he 
 was elected to the State Senate, and at the special 
 session of February, 1854, true to the anti-slavery 
 sentiments bred in him, he took a firm stand in op- 
 position to the repeal of the Missouri Compromise; 
 and when the Nebraska question became a party 
 issue he refused to receive a re-nomination for the 
 Senatorship at the hands of the Democracy, issuing 
 a circular to that effect. A few weeks afterward,
 
 168 
 
 JOHN MC AULEY PALMER. 
 
 however, hesitating to break with his party, he par- 
 ticipated in a Congressional Convention which nomi- 
 T. L. Harris against Richard Yates, and which 
 unqualifiedly approved the principles of the Kansas- 
 x Nebraska act. But later in the campaign he made 
 ^ the plunge, ran for the Senate as an Anti-Nebraska 
 Democrat, and was elected. The following winter 
 he put in nomination for the ^United States Senate 
 Mr. Trumbull, and was one of the five steadfast men 
 who voted for him until all the Whigs came to their 
 support and elected their man. 
 
 In 1856 he was Chairman of the Republican State 
 Convention at Bloomington. He ran for Congress in 
 1859, but was defeated. In 1860 he was Republican 
 Presidential Elector for the State at large. In 1861 
 he was appointed one of the five Delegates (all Re- 
 publicans) sent by Illinois to the peace congress at 
 Washington. 
 
 When the civil conflict broke out, he offered his 
 services to his country, and was elected Colonel of the 
 I4th 111. Vol. Inf., and participated in the engagements 
 at Island No. 10 ; at Farmington, where he skillfully 
 extricated his command from a dangerous position ; 
 at Stone River, where his division for several hours, 
 Dec. 31, 1862, held the advance and stood like a 
 rock, and for his gallantry there he was made Major 
 General; at Chickamauga, where his and Van Cleve's 
 divisions for two hours maintained their position 
 when they were cut off by overpowering numbers. 
 Under Gen. Sherman, he was assigned to the i4lh 
 Army Corps and participated in the Atlanta campaign. 
 At Peach-Tree Creek his prudence did much to avert 
 disaster. In February, 1865, Gen. Palmer was as- 
 4 signed to the military administration of Kentucky, 
 which was a delicate post. That State was about 
 ^ half rebel and half Union, and those of the latter 
 -element were daily fretted by the loss of their slaves. 
 He, who had been bred to the rules of common law, 
 trembled at the contemplation of his extraordinary 
 power over the persons and property of his fellow 
 men, with which* he was vested in his capacity -as 
 military Governor ; and he exhibited great caution in 
 the execution of the duties of his post. 
 
 Gen. Palmer was nominated for Governor of Illi- 
 nois by the Republican State Convention which met 
 at Peoria May 6, 1868, and his nomination would 
 probably have been made by acclamation had he not 
 persistently declared that he could not accept a can- 
 
 didature for the office. The result of the ensuing 
 election gave Mr. Palmer a majority of 44,707 over 
 John R. Eden, the Democratic nominee. 
 
 On the meeting of the Legislature in January, 
 1869, the first thing to arrest public attention was 
 that portion of the Governor's message which took 
 broad Slate's rights ground. This and some minor 
 points, which were more in keeping with the Demo- 
 cratic sentiment, constituted the entering wedge f jr 
 the criticisms and reproofs he afterward received 
 from the Republican party, and ultimately resulted 
 in his entire aleniation from the latter element. The 
 Legislature just referred to was noted for the intro- 
 duction of numerous bills in the interest of private 
 parties, which were embarrassing to the Governor. 
 Among the public acts passed was that which limited 
 railroad charges for passenger travel to a maximum 
 of three cents per mile ; and it was passed over the 
 Governor's veto. Also, they passed, over his veto, 
 the "tax-grabbing law" to pay railroad subscriptions, 
 the Chicago Lake Front bill, etc. The new State 
 Constitution of 1870, far superior to the old, was a 
 peaceful " revolution" which took place during Gov. 
 Palmer's term of office. The suffering caused by the 
 great Chicago Fire of October, 1871, was greatly 
 alleviated by the prompt responses of his excellency. 
 
 Since the expiration of Gov. Palmers 's term, he has 
 been somewhat prominent in Illinois politics, and 
 has been talked of by many, especially in the Dem- 
 ocratic party, as the best man in the State for a 
 United States Senator. His business during life has 
 been that of the law. Few excel him in an accurate 
 appreciation of the depth and scope of its principles- 
 The great number of his able veto messages abun- 
 dantly testify not only this but also a rare capacity to 
 point them out. He is a logical and cogent reasoner 
 and an interesting?, forcible and convincing speaker, 
 though not fluent or ornate. Without brilliancy, his 
 dealings are rather with facts and ideas than with 
 appeals to passions and prejudices. He is a patriot 
 and a statesman of very high order. Physically he is 
 above the medium height, of robust frame, ruddy 
 complexion and sanguine-nervous temperament. He 
 has a large cranial development, is vivacious, social 
 in disposition, easy of approach, unostentatious in his 
 habits of life, democratic in his habits and manners 
 and is a true American in his fundamental principles 
 of statesmanship. 

 
 beinj 
 ciate 
 
 OHN LOWRIE BEVER- 
 IDGE, Governor 1 87 3-6, was 
 born in the town of Green- 
 wich, Washington Co., N. Y., 
 July 6, 1824. His parents 
 were George and Ann Bever- 
 idge. His father's parents, An- 
 drew and Isabel Beveridge, be- 
 fore their marriage emigrated 
 from Scotland just before the 
 Revolutionary War, settling in 
 ^* Washington County. His father 
 was the eldest of eight brothers, the 
 youngest of whom was 60 years of 
 age when the first one of the num- 
 | ber died. His mother's parents, 
 James and Agnes Hoy, emigrated 
 from Scotland at the close of the 
 Revolutionary War, settling also in 
 Washington Co., N. Y., with their 
 first-born, whose " native land "was 
 the wild ocean. His parents and 
 grandparents lived beyond the time 
 allotted to man, their average age 
 over 80 years. They belonged to the " Asso- 
 Church," a seceding Presbyterian body of 
 
 America from the old Scotch school ; and so rigid 
 was the training of young Beveridge that he never 
 heard a sermon from any other minister except that 
 of his own denomination until he was in his igth 
 year. Later in life he became a member of the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, which relation he still 
 holds. 
 
 Mr. Beveridge received a good common-school ed- 
 ucation, but his parents, who could obtain a livelihood 
 only by rigid economy and industry, could not send 
 him away to college. He was raised upon a farm, 
 and was in his i8th year when the family removed 
 to De Kalb County, this State, when that section was 
 very sparsely settled. Chicago had less than 7,000 
 inhabitants. In this wild West he continued as a 
 farm laborer, teaching school during the winter 
 months to supply the means of an education. In the 
 fall of 1842 he attended one term at the academy at 
 Granville, Putnam Co., 111., and subsequently several 
 terms at the Rock River Seminary at Mount Morris, 
 Ogle Co., 111., completing the academic course. At 
 this time, the fall of 1845, his parents and brothers 
 were anxious to have him go to college, even though 
 he had not money sufficient; but, njt willing to bur- 
 den the family, he packed his trunk and with onl 
 $40 in money started South to seek his fortune. 
 
 r 
 
 *mm
 
 JOHN L. BEVERIDGE. 
 
 Poor, alone, without friends and influence, he thus 
 entered upon the battle of life. 
 
 First, he taught school in Wilson, Overton and 
 Jackson Cos., Tenn., in which experience he under- 
 went considerable mental drill, both in book studies 
 and in the ways of the world. He read law and was 
 admitted to the Bar, in the South, but did not learn 
 to love the institution of slavery, although he ad- 
 mired many features of Southern character. In De- 
 cember, 1847, he returned North, and Jan. 20, 1848, 
 he married Miss Helen M. Judson, in the old Clark- 
 Street M. E. church in Chicago, her father at that 
 time being Pastor of the society there. In the spring 
 of 1848 he returned with his wife to Tennessee, 
 where his two children, Alia May and Philo Judson, 
 were born. 
 
 In the fall of 1849, through the mismanagement 
 of an associate, he lost what little he had accumu- 
 lated and was left in debt. He soon managed to 
 earn means to pay his debts, returned to De Kalb 
 Co., 111., and entered upon the practice of his pro- 
 fession at Sycamore, the county seat. On arrival 
 from the South he had but one-quarter of a dollar in 
 money, and scanty clothing and bedding for himself 
 and family. He borrowed a little money, practiced 
 law, worked in public offices, kept books for some of 
 the business men of the town, and some railroad en- 
 gineering, till the spring of 1854, when he removed 
 to Evanston, 12 miles north of Chicago, a place then 
 but recently laid out, under the supervision of the 
 Northwestern . University, a Methodist institution. 
 Of the latter his father-in-law was then financial 
 agent and business manager. Here Mr. Beveridge 
 prospered, and the next year (1855) opened a law 
 office in Chicago, where he found the battle some- 
 what hard; but he persevered with encouragement 
 and increasing success. 
 
 Aug. 12, 1861, his law partner, Gen. John F. 
 Farnsworth, secured authority to raise a regiment of 
 cavalry, and authorized Mr. Beveridge to raise a 
 company forit. He succeeded in a few days in rais- 
 ing the company, of course enlisting himself along 
 with it. The regiment rendezvoused at St. Charles, 
 111., was mustered in Sept. 18, and on its organiza- 
 tion Mr. B. was elected Second Major. It was at- 
 tached, Oct. n, to the Eighth Cavalry and to the 
 Army of the Potomac. He served with the regiment 
 until November, 1863, participating in some 40 bat- 
 
 tles and skirmishes : was at Fair Oaks, the seven days' 
 fight around Richmond, Fredericksburg, Chancellors- 
 ville and Gettysburg. He commanded the regiment 
 the greater part of the summer of 1863, and it was while 
 lying in camp this year that he originated the policy 
 of encouraging recruits as well as the fighting capac- 
 ity of the soldiery, by the wholesale furlough system. 
 It worked so well that many other officers adopted 
 it. In the fall of this year he recruited anothercom- 
 pany, against heavy odds, in January, 1864, was 
 commissioned Colonel of the i7th 111. Cav., and 
 skirmished around in Missouri, concluding with the 
 reception of the surrender of Gen. Kirby Smith's 
 army in Arkansas. In 1865 he commanded various 
 sub-districts in the Southwest. He was mustered 
 out Feb. 6, 1866, safe from the casualties of war and 
 a stouter man than when he first enlisted. His men 
 idolized him. 
 
 He then returned to Chicago, to practice law, with 
 no library and no clientage, and no political experi- 
 ence except to help others into office. In the fall of 
 1866 he was elected Sheriff of Cook County, serving 
 one term; next, until November, 1870, he practiced 
 law and closed up the unfinished business of his 
 office. He was then elected State Senator ; in No- 
 vember, 1871, he was elected Congressman at large ; 
 in November, 1872, he was elected Lieutenant Gov- 
 ernor on the ticket with Gov. Oglesby ; the latter be- 
 ing elected to the U. S. Senate, Mr. Beveridge became 
 Governor, Jan. 21, 1873. Thus, inside of a few 
 weeks, he was Congressman at large, Lieutenant 
 Governor and Governor. The principal events oc- 
 curring during Gov. Beveridge 's administration were: 
 The completion of the revision of the statutes, begun 
 in 1869; the partial success of the "farmers' move- 
 ment;" " Haines' Legislature " and Illinois' exhibit at 
 the Centennial. 
 
 Since the close of his gubernatorial term ex-Gov. 
 Beveridge has been a member of the firm of Bever- 
 idge & Dewey, bankers and dealers in commercial 
 paper at 7 1 Dearborn Street (McCormick Block), 
 Chicago, and since November, 1881, he has also been 
 Assistant United States Treasurer : office in the 
 Government Building. His residence is still at Ev- 
 anston. 
 
 He has a brother and two sisters yet residing in 
 De Kalb County James H. Beveridge, Mrs. Jennet 
 Henry and Mrs. Isabel French.
 
 Uii UBHARY 
 
 df THE 
 UMiVERSITY OF U.UU8S
 
 HELBY M. CULLOM, Gover- 
 nor 1877-83,15 the sixth child 
 of the late Richard N. Cullom, 
 and was bom Nov. 22, 1829,111 
 Wayne Co., Ky., where his fa- 
 ther then resided, and whence 
 both the Illinois and Tennessee 
 branches of the family originated. In 
 the following year the family emi- 
 grated to the vicinity of Washington, 
 Tazewell Co., 111., when that section 
 was very sparsely settled. They lo- 
 cated on Deer Creek, in a grove at 
 the time occupied by a party of In- 
 dians, attracted there by the superior 
 hunting and fishing afforded in that 
 vicinity. The following winter was 
 known as the " hard winter," the snow [being very 
 deep and lasting and the weather severely cold ; and 
 the family had to subsist mainly on boiled 'corn or 
 hominy, and some wild game, for several weeks. In 
 the course of time Mr. R. N. Cullom became a prom- 
 inent citizen and was several times elected to the 
 Legislature, both before and after the removal of the 
 capital from Vandalia to Springfield. He died about 
 1873- 
 
 Until about 19 years of age young Cullom grew up 
 to agricultural pursuits, attending school as he had 
 opportunity during the winter. Within this time, 
 however, he spent several months teaching school, 
 
 and in the following summer he "broke prairie "with 
 an ox team for the neighbors. With the money ob- 
 tained by these various ventures, he undertook a 
 course of study at the Rock River Seminary, a 
 Methodist institution at Mt. Morris, Ogle County; 
 but the sudden change to the in-door life of a stu- 
 dent told severely upon his health, and he was taken 
 home, being considered in a hopeless condition. While 
 at Mt. Morris lie heard Hon. E. B. Washburne make 
 his first speech. 
 
 On recovering health, Mr. Cullom concluded to 
 study law, under the instruction of Abraham Lincoln, 
 at Springfield, who had by this time attained some 
 notoriety as an able lawyer; but the latter, being ab- 
 sent from his. office most of the time, advised Mr. 
 Cullom to enter the office of Stuart & Edwards. 
 After about a year of study there, however, his health 
 failed again, and he was obliged to return once more 
 to out-door life. Accordingly he bought hogs for 
 packing, for A. G. Tyng, in 1'eoria, and while he re- 
 gained his health he gained in purse, netting $400 in 
 a few weeks. Having been admitted to the Bar, he 
 went to Springfield, where he was soon elected City 
 Attorney, on the Anti-Nebraska ticket. 
 
 In 1856 he ran on the Fillmore ticket as a Presi- 
 dential Elector, and, although failing to be elected as 
 such, he was at the same time elected a Representa- 
 tive in the Legislature from Sangamon County, by 
 local coalition of the American and Republican par- 
 ties. On the organization of the House, he received 
 the vote of the Fillmore men for Speaker. Practicing 
 
 

 
 SHELB Y M. CULLOM. 
 
 \ 
 
 J 
 
 ' 
 
 law until 1860, he was again elected to the Legisla- 
 ture, as a Republican, while the county went Demo- 
 cratic on the Presidential ticket. In January follow- 
 ing he was elected Speaker, probably the youngest 
 man who had ever presided over an Illinois Legis- 
 lature. After the session of 1 86 1, he was a candidate 
 for the State Constitutional Convention called for 
 that year, but was defeated, and thus escaped the 
 disgrace of being connected with that abortive party 
 scheme to revolutionize the State Government. In 
 1862 he was a candidate for the State Senate, but 
 was defeated. The same year, however, he was ap- 
 pointed by President Lincoln on a Government 
 Commission, in company with Gov. Boutwell of 
 Massachusetts and Charles A. Dana, since of the 
 New York Sun, to investigate the affairs of the 
 Quartermaster's and Commissary Departments at 
 Cairo. He devoted several months to this duty. 
 
 In 1864 he entered upon a larger political field, 
 being nominated as the Republican candidate for 
 Congress from the Eighth (Springfield) District, in 
 opposition to the incumbent, JohnT. Stuart, who had 
 been elected in 1862 by about 1,500 majority over 
 Leonard Swett, then of Bloomington, now of Chicago. 
 The result was the election of Mr. Cullom in Novem- 
 ber following by a majority of 1,785. In 1866 he 
 was re-elected to Congress, over Dr. E. S. Fowler, by 
 the magnificent majority of 4,103! In 1868 he was 
 again a candidate, defeating the Hon. B. S. Edwards, 
 another of his old preceptors, by 2,884 votes. 
 
 During his first term in Congress he served on the 
 Committee on Foreign Affairs and Expenditures in 
 the Treasury Department; in his second term, on 
 the Committees on Foreign Affairs and on Territories ; 
 and in his third term he succeeded Mr. Ashley, of 
 Ohio, to the Chairmanship of the latter. He intro- 
 duced a bill in the House, to aid in the execution of 
 law in Utah, which caused more consternation among 
 the Mormons than any measure had previously, but 
 which, though it passed the House, failed to pass the 
 Senate. 
 
 The Republican Convention which met May 25, 
 1876, nominated Mr. Cullom for Governor, while the 
 other contestant was Gov. Beveridge. For Lieuten- 
 ant-Governor they nominated Andrew Shuman, editor 
 of the Chica'go Journal. For the same offices the 
 Democrats, combining with the Anti-Monopolists, 
 placed in nomination Lewis Steward, a wealthy 
 
 farmer and manufacturer, and A. A. Glenn. The 
 result of the election was rather close, Mr. Cullom 
 obtaining only 6,800 majority. He was inaugurated 
 Jan. 8, 1877. 
 
 Great depression prevailed in financial circles at 
 this time, as a consequence of the heavy failures of 
 1873 and afterward, the effect of which had seemed 
 to gather force from that time to the end of Gov. 
 Cullom 's first administration. This unspeculative 
 period was not calculated to call forth any new 
 issues, but the Governor's energies were at one time 
 put to task to quell a spirit of insubordination that 
 had been begun in Pittsburg, Pa., among the laboring 
 classes, and transferred to Illinois at Chicago, East 
 St. Louis and Braidwood, at which places laboring 
 men for a short time refused to work or allow others 
 to work. These disturbances were soon quelled and 
 the wheels of industry again set in motion. 
 
 In May, 1880, Gov. Cullom was re-nominated by 
 the Republicans, against Lyman Trumbull, by the 
 Democrats; and although the former party was some- 
 what handicapped in the campaign by a zealous 
 faction opposed to Grant for President and to Grant 
 men for office generally, Mr. Cullom was re-elected 
 by about 314,565, to 277,532 for the Democratic State 
 ticket. The Greenback vote at the same time was 
 about 27,000. Both Houses of the Legislature again 
 became Republican, and no representative of the 
 Greenback or Socialist parties were elected. Gov. 
 Cullom was inaugurated Jan. 10, 1881. In his mes- 
 sage he announced that the last dollar of the State 
 debt had been provided for. 
 
 March 4, 1883, the term of David Davis as United 
 States Senator from Illinois expired, and Gov. Cul- 
 lom was chosen to succeed him. This promoted 
 Lieutenant-Governor John M. Hamilton to the Gov- 
 ernorship. Senator Cullom 's term in the United 
 States Senate will expire March 4, 1889. 
 
 As a practitioner oflaw Mr. C. has been a member 
 of the firm of Cullom, Scholes & Mather, at Spring- 
 field ; and he has also been President of the State 
 National Bank. 
 
 He has been married twice, the first time Dec. 
 12, 1855, to Miss Hannah Fisher, by whom he had 
 two daughters ; and the second time May 5, 1863, 
 to Julia Fisher. Mrs. C is a member of the Method- 
 ist Episcopal Church, with which religious body Mr. 
 C. is also in sympathy. 
 

 
 1W UBHABY 
 THE
 
 GO VERNORS OF ILLINOIS. 
 
 OHN MARSHALL HAMIL- 
 TON, Governor 1883-5, was 
 born May 28, 1847, in a log 
 house upon a farm about two 
 miles from Richwood, Union 
 County, Ohio. His father was 
 Samuel Hamilton, the eldest son 
 of Rev. Wm. Hamilton, who, to- 
 gether with his brother, the Rev. 
 Samuel Hamilton, was among the 
 early pioneer Methodist preachers in 
 Ohio. The mother of the subject of 
 this ^ketch was, before her marriage, 
 M^t^Nancy McMorris, who was 
 born and raised in Fauquier or Lou- 
 doun County, Va., and related to the 
 two large families of Youngs and Marshalls, well 
 known in that commonwealth ; and from the latter 
 family name was derived the middle name of Gov. 
 Hamilton. 
 
 In March, 1854, Mr. Hamilton's father sold out 
 his little pioneer forest home in Union County, O., 
 and, loading his few household effects and family 
 (of six children) into two emigrant covered wagons, 
 moved to Roberts Township, Marshall Co., 111., being 
 2 1 days on the route. Swamps, unbridged streams 
 and innumerable hardships and privations met them ! 
 on their way. Their new home had been previously | 
 selected by the father. Here, after many long years j 
 of toil, they succeeded in paying for the land and j 
 making a comfortable home. John was, of course, I 
 
 A (g^ag^L, 
 
 brought up to hard manual labor, with no schooling 
 except three or four months in the year at a common 
 country school. However, he evinced a capacity 
 and taste for a high order of self-education, by 
 studying or reading what books he could borrow, as 
 the family had but very few in the house. Much of 
 his study he prosecuted by the light of a log fire in 
 the old-fashioned chimney place. The financial 
 panic of 1857 caused the family to come near losing 
 their home, to pay debts ; but the father and two 
 sons, William and John, "buckled to" and perse- 
 vered in hard labor and economy until they redeemed 
 their place from the mortgage. 
 
 When the tremendous excitement of the political 
 campaign of 1860 reached the neighborhood of Rob- 
 erts Township, young Hamilton, who had been 
 brought up in the doctrine of anti-slavery, took a zeal- 
 ous part in favor of Lincoln's election. Making special 
 efforts to procure a little money to buy a uniform, he 
 joined a company of Lincoln Wide-Awakes at Mag- 
 nolia, a village not far away. Directly after the 
 ensuing election it became evident that trouble 
 would ensue with the South, and this Wide-Awake 
 company, like many others throughout 1 the country, 
 kept up its organization and transformed itself into a 
 military company. During the ensuing summer they 
 met often for drill and became proficient ; but when 
 they offered themselves for the war, young Hamilton 
 was rejected on account of his youth, he being then 
 but 14 years of age. During the winter of 1863-4 he 
 attended an academy at Henry, Marshall County, 
 
 c 
 
 s 
 
 < 
 
 I 
 r: 

 
 JOHN MARSHALL HAMILTON. 
 
 
 and in the following May he again enlisted, for the 
 fourth time, when he was placed in trfe 141 st 111. 
 Vol. Inf., a regiment then being raised at Elgin, 111., 
 for the too-day service. He took with him 13 other 
 lads from his neighborhood, for enlistment in the 
 service. This regiment operated in Southwestern 
 Kentucky, for about five months, under Gen. Paine. 
 
 The following winter, 1864-5, Mr. Hamilton taught 
 school, and during the two college years 1865-7, he 
 went through three years of the curriculum of the 
 Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio. The 
 third year he graduated, the fourth in a class of 46, 
 in the classical department. In due time he received 
 the degree of M. A. For a few months he was the 
 Principal of Marshall " College " at Henry, an acad- 
 emy under the auspices of the M. E. Church. By 
 this time he had commenced the study of law, and 
 after earning some money as a temporary Professor 
 of Latin at the Illinois Wesleyan University at 
 Bloomington, he entered the law office of Weldon, 
 Tipton & Benjamin, of that city. Each member of 
 this firm has since been distinguished as a Judge. 
 Admitted to the Bar in May, 1870, Mr. Hamilton 
 was given an interest in the same firm, Tipton hav- 
 ing been elected Judge. In October following he 
 formed a partnership with J. H. Rowell, at that time 
 Prosecuting Attorney. Their business was then 
 small, but they increased it to very large proportions, 
 practicing in all grades of courts, including even the 
 U. S. Supreme Court, and this partnership continued 
 unbroken until Feb. 6, 1883, when Mr. Hamilton 
 was sworn in as Executive of Illinois. On the 4th 
 of March following Mr. Rowell took his seat in Con- 
 gress. 
 
 In July, 1871, Mr. Hamilton married Miss Helen 
 M. Williams, the daughter of Prof. Win. G. Williams, 
 Professor of Greek in the Ohio Wesleyan University. 
 Mr. and Mrs. H. have two daughters and one son. 
 
 In 1876 Mr. Hamilton was nominated by the Re- 
 publicans for the State Senate, over other and older 
 competitors. He took an active part " on the stump " 
 in the campaign, for the success of his party, and was 
 elected by a majority of 1,640 over his Democratic- 
 Greenback opponent. In the Senate he served on 
 the Committees on Judiciary, Revenue, State Insti- 
 tutions, Appropriations, Education, and on Miscel- 
 lany ; and during the contest for the election of a 
 U. S. Senator, the Republicans endeavoring to re- 
 
 
 elect John A. Logan, he voted for the war chief on 
 every ballot, even alone when all the other Republi- 
 cans had gone over to the Hon. E. B. Lawrence and 
 the Democrats and Independents elected Judge 
 David Davis. At this session, also, was passed the 
 first Board of Health and Medical Practice act, of 
 which Mr. Hamilton was a champion, against so 
 much opposition that the bill was several times 
 " laid on the table." Also, this session authorized 
 the location and establishment of a southern peni- 
 tentiary, which was fixed at Chester. In the session 
 of 1879 Mr. Hamilton was elected President pro tern. 
 of the Senate, and was a zealous supporter of John 
 A. Logan for the U. S. Senate, who was this time 
 elected without any trouble. 
 
 In May, 1880, Mr. Hamilton was nominated on 
 the Republican ticket for Lieutenant Governor, his 
 principal competitors before the Convention being 
 Hon. Wm. A. James, ex-Speaker of the House of 
 Representatives, Judge Robert Bell, of Wabash 
 County, Hon. T. T. Fountain, of Perry County, and 
 Hon. M. M. Saddler, of Marion County. He engaged 
 actively in the campaign, and his ticket was elected 
 by a majority of 41,200. As Lieutenant Governor, 
 he presided almost continuously over the Senate in 
 the 32d General Assembly and during the early days 
 of the 33d, until he succeeded to the Governorship. 
 When the Legislature of 1883 elected Gov. Cullom 
 to the United States Senate, Lieut. Gov. Hamilton 
 succeeded him, under the Constitution, taking the 
 oath of office Feb. 6, 1883. He bravely met all the 
 annoyances and embarrassments incidental upon 
 taking up another's administration. The principal 
 events with which Gov. Hamilton was connected as 
 the Chief Executive of the State were, the mine dis- 
 aster at Braidwood, the riots in St. Clair and Madison 
 Counties in May, 1883, the appropriations for the 
 State militia, the adoption of the Harper high-license 
 liquor law, the veto of a dangerous railroad bill, etc. 
 
 The Governor was a Delegate at large to the 
 National Republican Convention at Chicago in June, 
 
 1884, where his first choice for President was John 
 A. Logan, and second choice Chester A. Arthur; but 
 he afterward zealously worked for the election of Mr. 
 Blaine, true to his party. 
 
 Mr. Hamilton's term as Governor expired Jan. 30, 
 
 1885, when the great favorite "Dick " Oglesby was 
 inaugurated.
 
 
 
 i 
 
 ' 


 
 ILLINOIS. 
 
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 H 
 
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 ^>56e^
 
 
 v) 
 
 
 
 :-'
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 E value of history lies, in a 
 great degree, in the biogra- 
 phy of the personages con- 
 cerned therein. The annals 
 of the settlers delineate the 
 pioneer period, while those 
 of the later residents exhibit 
 the progress of the country and the 
 status" of the present generation. 
 De Kalb County gives a vivid illus- 
 tion of these statements ; but its 
 wonderful pioneer era laps upon 
 its present period in a manner so 
 gradual that there is really no dis- 
 tinctive line of demarcation. Many 
 of those whose efforts gave the 
 country its earliest impetus may 
 be seen upon its thorjugh fares ; many of the 
 haracters in the day of its first things are still on 
 ie stage, and watch with keen-eyed alertness the 
 anipulations. successes and reverses of the present 
 ly, still jealous for the reputation of the county and 
 agerly solicitous for her substantial and permanent 
 progress. 
 
 The compilers of these records strive to establish 
 eir claim for biographical integrity, preparing the 
 flatter from the stand-point of no man's prejudice, 
 e full scope of the personal record here is to 
 
 >X5S- ^^ & 
 
 demonstrate the exact relation of every individual 
 represented to the generations of the past and of the 
 present. 
 
 Succeeding ages sweep away the debris of human 
 errors and perpetuate the real greatness of a com- 
 munity. Character stands out statuesque, and events 
 cluster about individuals, forming the grandest and 
 truest historical structure of which any age is capa- 
 ble. Only biography can fitly represent the founda- 
 tion, progress and ultimatum of local history, and 
 portray with perfect justice the precise attitude and 
 relation of men to events and conditions. 
 
 This County is justly proud of her pioneer record, 
 and, so far as possible, the publishers have endeav- 
 ored to honor the representatives of that period as 
 well as those of to-day. Labor and suffering, under- 
 gone in the light of hope and the earnestness of 
 honest effort and toil, established this county in per- 
 manent prosperity, and is rounding up a period of 
 glorious completeness. Her villages are creditable, 
 her agricultural community is composed of the best 
 class, and her professional men are of marked in- 
 tegrity. 
 
 In collecting the following sketches the purpose 
 has been to collect the main points of personal 
 record, through which the enterprise of decades to 
 follow may complete a perfect and continuous his- 
 torical outline from the earliest settlement of the 
 county to the present time.
 

 
 OF THE
 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 REUBEN ELLWOOD, 
 Member of Congress from 
 the Fifth District of Illi- 
 nois, resident at Sycamore, 
 was born Feb. 17, 1821, 
 in Minden, Montgomery 
 Co., N. Y., and is the son 
 of Abraham and Sarah (Delong) Ell- 
 wood. He was a boy of robust phy- 
 sique, active, vigorous and energetic, 
 and possessing ambitions and aspir- 
 ations which were the direct out- 
 growth of his temperament and were 
 fostered by the circumstances which 
 surrounded him and the period in 
 which his consciousness awoke to 
 the possibilities before him. His primary education 
 was obtained in a desultory manner, the result, 
 partly of a boy's restlessness and impatience with 
 deterring conditions, and partly arising from uncon- 
 trollable causes. 
 
 At 1 6 years of age he was fully imbued with 
 a determination to get on in the world, and in the 
 summer jf 1837 lie came to De Kalb County, in 
 the belief that he should find the requisite opportu- 
 nity, and willing to confront any necessity and make 
 any effort to secure the desired end. ' He entered a 
 claim of 160 acres of land in the vicinity of Sycamore 
 and continued to find employment among the farmers 
 of that township about four years, when he was com- 
 
 pelled to return to his father's home in the State ot 
 New York, his health having become materially im- 
 paired. His experience had impressed him with the 
 necessity of a broader mental culture, and after a rest 
 of six months he became a student of Cherry Valley 
 Academy, an institution which was even then famous 
 and exerting a sensible influence throughout adjoin- 
 ing districts. Mr. Ell wood studied under its excel- 
 lent regulations with resolution and purpose. 
 
 He was a youth with convictions. Public affairs 
 in his native State and national conditions shaped 
 his sentiments and guided his ideas of business and 
 politics into channels in which he has moved un- 
 swervingly. In those good old days, which trained 
 and developed the element upon which the peerless 
 West planted her feet with audacious courage and 
 rose to her matchless supremacy, the necessity of 
 achievement incumbent on every human soul was 
 instilled into every youth who was moving away 
 from boyish things and toward the good of man- 
 hood. 
 
 Mr. Ell wood early resolved on a career of business 
 activity, and accordingly embraced the first oppor- 
 tunity which offered, to set himself about doing some- 
 thing. He went to Glenville, Schenectady County, 
 which adjoined chat of his nativity, and engaged in 
 raising broom-corn and in the manufacture of brooms, 
 operating in that line of business about eight years. 
 
 In 1857 he came to Illinois, again tempted by the 
 example of others who had come hither earlier and 
 made satisfactory tests of the promise of the State so 
 
 ii
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 f 
 
 d 
 
 rich and full that they bore with them the impress of 
 fable, and also impelled by the craving for broader 
 and less crowded fields for action and advancement. 
 He became associated in the hardware business with 
 his brother, Alonzo Ellwood, at Sycamore, and at the 
 same time operated in real estate. 
 
 A fundamental principle upon which Mr. Ellwood 
 has always based any scheme of business is, that 
 general progress affords substantial foundation for the 
 upbuilding of individual interests, and, in view of 
 this opinion, about the year 1870 he embarked in the 
 manufacture of agricultural implements at Sycamore. 
 In 1875 he entered upon the construction of the 
 buildings now constituting the factory of the R. Ell- 
 wood Manufacturing Company, in which he invested 
 $50,000, and which were completed'in October of the 
 same year. The result has demonstrated the wisdom 
 of the project, as the enterprise has proved most 
 valuable for the growth and prosperity of Sycamore. 
 The excellent quality of the products and the judi- 
 cious administration of the business relations of the 
 incorporated company, have established its repute in 
 point of importance and value to De Kalb County> 
 and as second to none of similar scope in Northern 
 Illinois. The machinery produced acquired speedy 
 popularity from its adaptability to the needs of the 
 farmers and the period in which it was introduced, 
 agricultural industries being at the acme of their suc- 
 cess. The substantial condition of the business and 
 its importance to the section in which it is located is 
 primarily due to its inceptor, founder and promoter. 
 The mental organism peculiar to Mr. Ellwood gave 
 him an early impetus toward politics. He became 
 "eager for the fray," into which the nation was hur- 
 ried by the rapid march of events, precipitated by the 
 agitations which took on alarming proportions during 
 the administration of Van Buren and expanded the 
 innate principles of the Whig party to a completeness 
 of development in which they have since stood forth 
 with statuesque perspicuity. The manifest candor of 
 Mr. Ellwood's attitude in political affairs gave him 
 prominence from the outset, and his activity in local 
 matters while a resident of Glenville, where he was a 
 member of the Board of Supervisors, brought him be- 
 fore the people of his district as a candidate for the 
 State Assembly, whither he was sent as a Legislator 
 n 1851. He identified himself with the issues of 
 the Republican party in the same energetic spirit 
 hich had hitherto characterized his actions, and he 
 
 
 
 ididato 
 
 Dnimak 
 
 entien 
 
 was made a Delegate to the Convention at Phi 
 phia which nominated Fremont in 1856. 
 
 Coming to Illinois, he developed the same ac 
 in political as in business possibilities, and the R 
 publican element of De Kalb County 
 recognized his fitness for official advancement. 
 1868 he was the unanimous choice of the Repub 
 licans of De Kalb County for Representative t 
 the 42d Congress of the United States from th 
 Fourth District of Illinois. He was elected to tha 
 position in 1872, scoring a success over the Candida 
 of the opposition by 7,800 majority. His reno 
 tion in 1884 was a signal triumph, not a disse 
 vote in either town caucus, County or Congressionl 
 Conventions being cast against him, and he wa 
 elected by 11,076 majority. The facts pertaining t 
 his second election to Congress are sufficient ev 
 dence of the quality of the services he rendered h 
 constituency in the Legislative halls of the nation. 
 
 Mr. Ellwood has been active and efficient in loca 
 politics and was the first Mayor of Sycamore af5 
 the incorporative act was passed which made th& 
 municipality a city. In 1866 he was appointaS! 
 United States Assessor of Internal Revenue, and o 
 cupied the position until it was abolished. In tE5 
 various public projects for the advancement of tl^ / 
 .city, Mr. Ellwood has been among the foremost, an 
 in all his movements is controlled by consideraticf 
 for the permanent progress and prosperity of h 
 town, county and State. He is the heaviest stock 
 holder in the manufacturing company which 
 designated by .his name, and is also its presidin 
 official. He was one of the organization whic 
 built and established the Sycamore Preserving W 
 and is still one of the stock-holders. He also hols 
 the same relations in the Marsh Binder Company 
 Sycamore. On the occasion of the building of 
 Sycamore & Cortland Railroad, he was a prim 
 actor in securing its construction, was one of il 
 chief stock-holders and expended a. vast deal of tim 
 in the accomplishment of the project. 
 
 Mr. Ellwood is the proprietor of the busing 
 building at Sycamore known as the Georges Block 
 one of the most valuable of the edifices of that citj ^ 
 three stories high and built of brick. His residence 
 located on State Street opposite Ward's Hotel, ari 
 the grounds attached, cost $28,000. The structu* \ 
 is tasteful and elegant, and is fitted with steam heafe 
 ing apparatus and with gas for lighting purposes.! 
 
 >~\ ^jm^-t^ ttAvgvX^/??) 
 
 -^ v ^ > ^ - ^ynsgr^z 
 
 y j 
 
 th
 
 KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Mrs. Ellwood, formerly Miss Eleanor Vedder, was 
 born in Schenectady Co., N. Y., and became the 
 wife of Reuben Ellwood Aug. 8, 1849. Six children 
 constitute the issue of their union, and were born in 
 the following order: Abram, Albert, Frank, Katie, 
 Jennie and Alida. The second and third sons are 
 deceased. The oldest is interested in the R. Ell- 
 wood Manufacturing Company and is the sole pro- 
 prietor of the department for the manufacture of 
 Barbed Wire Stretchers. Katie married Frank All- 
 port, M. D., of Minneapolis.' 
 
 Biography, pure and simple, is an exact portrayal 
 of the relations a man bears to his generation. The 
 definitive traits which characterize Mr. Ellwood, the 
 spirit of enterprise by which he is actuated, his 
 probity and rectitude, his tolerant estimate of his 
 fellow men and his capacity to recognize, seize and 
 mold opportunity to the accomplishment of a pur- 
 pose, distinguish him in all his associations, public 
 and private. His thorough identification with the 
 people of whom he is oire, and his devotion to their 
 paramount interests is the animating cause of his 
 oopularity as a man and citizen of Sycamore, in which 
 he is second to none. 
 
 The PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM OF DE 
 KALB COUNTY presents the unique feature of por- 
 traying the lineaments of the six members of the 
 Ellwood brothers who are among its citizens. That 
 of the Hon. Reuben Ellwood, M. C., appears on a 
 preceding page, and will be warmly received, for 
 obvious reasons. Like the others of the Ellwood 
 fraternity, he is a fine sample of physical develop- 
 ment, and the value of his portrait as an addition to 
 the collection in this volume is commensurate with 
 his public and private character. 
 
 pharles H. Chamberlain, farmer and stock- 
 man, located on sections 22 and 8, Frank- 
 lin Township, was born March 18, 1849, near 
 Belvidere, Boone Co., 111. William H. Cham- 
 berlain, his father, was a native of Massachu- 
 setts and of Yankee lineage. He married 
 Sarah Hart, a lady of the same nativity and similar 
 descent. They located in Boone County, about 1840, 
 the father becoming an extensive landholder and a 
 prominent citizen. His death occurred in Septem- 
 
 
 
 ber, 1873, when he was 55 years of age. He was a T 
 Democrat in political preferences. The mother is 
 67 years of age (1885) and still remains at Belvidere. 
 Mr. Chamberlan obtained a district-school educa- 
 tion, and was a pupil in that variety of institution 
 until he was 16 years of age, when he began his ca- 
 reer as an independent farmer, taking possession of a 
 farm owned by his father in Franklin Township, in 
 whose interest he conducted his operations until his 
 father died. He received 280 acres from the division 
 of the estate and has since engaged without intermis- v 
 sion in the prosecution of his agricultural interests. 
 He rents an additional 120 acres, and makes a spe- 
 cialty of raising sheep, breeding the Merinos. He is 
 the eldest of six children, and inherits his father's 
 political views. 
 
 ames Warner, merchant at Sandwich, 
 wa born Aug. 7, 1833, in Jackson, 
 Washington Co., N. Y. His parents, Will- 
 iam S. and Sarah (Coulter) Warner, were born 
 in the State of New York and died in Wash- 
 ington County. Mr. Warner is the second of 
 eight children, six of whom are living. Mary is the 
 wife of A. Williams, a wholesale grocer of Troy, 
 N. Y. Elizabeth is a widow, and is a resident of 
 Cambridge, N. Y. Sylvester is a farmer, and Sarah 
 is now Mrs. William J. Stevenson. Both live in their 
 native State. Henry and Fannie are deceased ; Lilly 
 is the wife of Henry Billings. 
 
 The early years of the life of Mr. Warner were 
 spent on the farm and as a clerk in his father's store 
 at Cambridge. He. had just passed liis majority, 
 when, in 1855, he came to Sandwich. During the 
 four years ensuing he taught four terms of winter 
 school and alternated his labors as a pedagogue by 
 clerking. When the Illinois & Mississippi Telegraph 
 Company opened an office at Sandwhich, Mr. War- 
 ner became an operator, and officiated at intervals 
 in that capacity several years. 
 
 In 1859 he embarked in a mercantile enterprise 
 with an associate under the firm style, of J. Warner 
 & Co., and engaged in the sale of clothing about 
 five years. In 1865, in partnership with Robert 
 Stewart, he established a local trade in clothing, 
 boots, shoes and also managing a tailor shop, and
 
 
 KALB COUNTY. 
 
 shop for the manufacture of boots and shoes. A few 
 years later Mr. Stewart sold his interest to George W. 
 Davis, and the new firm continued operative about 
 four years. Since that time Mr. Warner has prose- 
 cuted his business interests singly. In April, 1868, 
 he located at his present stand, where he exhibits a 
 fine line of goods common to his branch of trade 
 and is doing a properous business. 
 
 He was united in marriage at Sandwich, July 4, 
 1861, to Charlotte B. Townsend. Their five children 
 were born in Sandwich in the following order: 
 Frankie, James Leroy, Estella, Bessie and Henry S. 
 
 Mr. Warner belongs to the Masonic fraternity. 
 
 i Ilia in L. Pierce, farmer, section 16, Ge- 
 noa Township, has been a resident of De 
 Kalb County since he was 21 years of age, 
 He was born Oct. 1 1, 1832, in Delaware Co., 
 N. Y., and is the eldest of seven children. 
 His parents, Martin and Mary (Carpenter) 
 Pierce, were born in the State of New York, 
 married and settled there continuing to reside in the 
 Empire State until their migration to Genoa Town- 
 ship, in De Kalb County in 1854. In 1873 they 
 transferred their residence and interests into Belvi- 
 dere. The mother is no longer living, and the 
 father has since been twice married. The brothers 
 and sisters of Mr. Pierce were named, William L., 
 Daniel W., Emmeline, Orrin, Charles, James and 
 Oliver. James is deceased. (See sketch of Orrin 
 Pierce.) 
 
 Mr. Pierce spent the years of his boyhood and 
 youth in obtaining his education in the common 
 schools and in farm labor under his father's instruc- 
 tions. Soon after he came to De Kalb County he 
 bought 40 acres in Genoa Township. He has in- 
 creased his estate by the further purchase of 50 acres 
 of land, and of the whole, 60 acres are improved 
 and cultivated. In political faith Mr. Pierce is a 
 Republican, and he has held several township offices. 
 His marriage to Sarah Smith occurred Oct. 16, 
 1857, at Sycamore, and they have been the parents 
 of three children, Maryetta, Robert J. and Arthur E. 
 The first-born son was killed by the kick of a horse 
 when he was five years of age, while leading the 
 &&>& *^ ^ 
 
 animal to water. Mrs. Pierce is the eldest of three 
 children, and was bom Dec. 24, 1839, in New Jersey. 
 
 Her parents, Robert and Smith were natives 
 
 of New Jersey. 
 
 acob Seibert, farmer, in Franklin Town- 
 ship, was born Sept. 12, 1825, in Hesse 
 Darmstadt, Germany. His parents were 
 
 born, lived and died in that country. Mr. 
 
 Seibert was educated in accordance with the 
 ' laws of his native land and remained there 
 until 1854. In the summer of that year he emigrated 
 to the New World, and on landing in this continent 
 made his way to Belvidere, Boone Co., 111., where 
 he passed some time as a general laborer. 
 
 He was married Jan. 4, 1861, at Belvidere, to 
 Christina Stenner. She was born Nov. 17, 1844, in 
 Hesse Darmstadt, and is the daughter of Valentine 
 and Macalina (Click) Stenner. The family look a 
 final leave of the old country in 1854, coming to 
 Illinois and locating in Boone County. The children 
 of Mr. and Mrs. Seibert were born as follows : Ade- 
 lia, Nov. 8. 1861 (married Dec. 25, 1878, to William 
 Adams, a farmer of Franklin Township); Fred, born 
 Jan. 23, 1866; and Reuben, born Feb. 26, 1873. 
 After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Seibert settled on 
 a farm in Boone County, where they resided two years, 
 and at the end of that time the former entered the 
 United States Army, enlisting Aug. 12, 1862, in Co. 
 G, 95th Reg. Vol. Inf., which was commanded by 
 Captain Bush, of Belvidere. The regiment wa.s at- 
 tached successively to the corps of Generals Logan 
 and Grant, and Mr. Seibert was a participant in 1 1 
 battles, the most important of which were : Vicks:- 
 burg, Memphis, Corinth and Mobile. He was slight- 
 ly wounded at Vicksburg, and sustained serious in- 
 jury to his hearing, from an explosion on the field at 
 that place. At Mobile his left arm was shot away 
 by a mortar shell from a mortar boat, and he was re- 
 moved to the marine hospital at New Orleans. On 
 sufficiently recovering to enable him to travel, he was 
 honorably discharged, obtaining his papers June 23, 
 1865. On returning to his family Mr. Seibert pur- 
 chased 40 acres of land in Franklin Township, 
 which he has added a similar quantity by later pur- 
 chase, and his entire farm is under excellent 
 
 ^^
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 193 
 
 & 
 
 provements. He is a Republican in political con- 
 nection and is a Steward and Trustee in the Metho- 
 dist Episcopal Church, of which Mrs. Seibert is also 
 a member. 
 
 a 
 
 eorge W. Kirk, marketman at Kirkland, 
 was born May 8, 1850, in Franklin Town- 
 ship, De Kalb County. He is the son of 
 William T. and Louisa (Riddle) Kirk, whose 
 biographical narrative may be found elsewhere. 
 ' Mr. Kirk was brought up on his father's farm 
 and obtained his elementary education at the com- 
 mon schools, after which he entered the excellent 
 schools at Rockford, where he fitted for matriculation 
 at Beloit College, Wis., and completed a course of 
 study there in 1870. He returned to De Kalb County 
 and located as a practical agriculturist on a farm of 
 1 60 acres, of which he became proprietor by an 
 arrangement with his father. He devoted his attention 
 wholly to farming and raising stock, and spent some 
 years in that avenue of business, finally relinquish- 
 ing farming and becoming interested in shipping 
 stock for the Chicago market. After operating ex- 
 clusively in that branch for some years, he added a 
 meat market to supply local trade at Kirkland, and 
 is now doing an extensive business. He is a Repub- 
 lican in political faith and action and has held the 
 offices of Village Treasurer and Road Commissioner. 
 He was married March n, 1880, in Kingston 
 Township, to Betsey Foster, daughter of Thomas 
 Foster. Her father is deceased and her mother is 
 the wife of H. P. Grout. She was born June 18, 
 '857. 
 
 herman A. Hall, farmer, on section r3, 
 De Kalb Township, was born Oct. 17, 
 1829, in Watertown, Jefferson Co., N. Y. 
 He was reared to the age of 16 in the county 
 where he was born, and in 1845 h e came to 
 Kane County, where he was a resident two 
 years previous to his removal to De Kalb County. 
 He bought 160 acres in the township of Clinton, De 
 Kalb Co., wherein he was engaged in farming until 
 , and in that year sold out and removed to De 
 
 Kalb Township, where he is now the owner of 1 60 
 acres of finely cultivated land, situated as above 
 stated. Mr. Hall is a Democrat. His father, Sher- 
 man Hall, was born in Connecticut, and married 
 Betsey (Hutchins) Hall, who was born in New York. 
 They came in 1845 to Illinois and lived two years in 
 Kane County, removing thence to De Kalb County, 
 where they resided during the remainder of their 
 lives. The mother died Nov. 19; 185 6, and the death 
 of the father transpired Oct. 3, 1863. 
 
 The marriage of Mr. Hall to Percis Lyon took 
 place May 25, 1859, and they have had three chil- 
 dren, Harold E., Asahel S. and another child who 
 died in infancy. The second son died when nearly 
 five years of age. Mrs. Hall was born May 5, 1839, 
 in Essex Co., N. Y., and is the daughter of Asahel 
 and Adaline D. (Woodruff) Lyon. The latter was a 
 native of Essex Co., N. Y.; the former of the State 
 of Connecticut. In the fall of 18154 they settled in 
 De Kalb, where Mr. Lyon died, March 9, 1874; the 
 mother is still living. 
 
 bhn McDowell, farmer, resident on section 
 i, Franklin Township, is a pioneer of De 
 Kalb County and the oldest living settler 
 of the township where he made his claim Sept. 
 16, 1833. On that day, in company with 
 Robert Stewart, Reuben Penwell and Leisier 
 Carver, Mr. McDowell came to Franklin Township 
 from La Porte, Ind. The country was in a wholly 
 wild and unbroken condition, and the Indians still 
 loitered about the grove. Mr. McDowell remained 
 through the winter; his companions returned to 
 their homes. He was then 23 years of age and un- 
 married. 
 
 He was born in York Co., Pa. His father, William 
 McDowell, descended from Scotch parents and was 
 .a farmer, in moderate circumstances. The mother 
 of the subject of this sketch, Sarah (McLean) Mc- 
 Dowell, was of Irish birth. Both parents are de- 
 ceased. The son was " bound out " by his father 
 when quite young, and when he was 18 he was ap- 
 prenticed to learn the trade of shoemaking. During 
 this time he went to Bartholomew Co., Ind., and set- 
 tled there with the man to whom he was indentured. 
 
 

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Later they went to La Porte Co., Ind. In the year 
 named above he came, as stated, to De Kalb County, 
 and has been a resident on the claim he then made. 
 It consisted of 155 acres, to which he added by later 
 purchase, increasing his estate to 213 acres of valua- 
 ble land, 75 acres of which is still covered with an 
 original growth of timber. The exact point of the 
 location is designated Forest Grove. 
 
 Mr. McDowell is a Democrat of a decided and in- 
 flexible type. 
 
 He was married Jan. 31, 1839, to Martha Riddle, 
 at the farm house of her parents situated on the 
 Kishwaukee River. They had eight children, five of 
 whom are deceased. The parents of Mrs. McDowell, 
 John and Susan (Anderson) Riddle, were respectively 
 of English and Irish descent, the father being a na- 
 tive of Tennessee and the mother of North Carolina. 
 Both are deceased. They belonged while in the 
 South to the better class of society, and while there 
 were adherents of the Christian Church. Later they 
 adopted the tenets of the Seventh-Day Adventists. 
 The daughter was born April 2, 1822, in Jefferson 
 Co., Tenn., and came with her parents to Illinois, 
 the family locating on a farm in Franklin Township. 
 
 homas Dodge, farmer, section 27, De Kalb 
 Township, was born Feb. 2, 1809, in Dur- 
 ham, Lower Canada. His father, Abraham 
 Dodge, and his mother, Elcy (Cook) Dodge, 
 were born respectively in New York and Ver- 
 mont. After their marriage they resided a few 
 years in Canada, going thence to Vermont, where 
 they passed the remaining years of their lives. 
 
 Mr. Dodge was about the age of two years, when 
 his parents transferred their family and interests to 
 Vermont, and he was occupied in farming there until 
 the spring of 1863, the date of his removal to De 
 Kalb Co., 111. Previous to that event, he had in- 
 vested to a considerable extent in land, and on re- 
 moval hither he added to his proprietorship, and has 
 continued in that line of operation until he is now the 
 owner of 1,400 acres of improved land in the county, 
 chiefly under the management of renters. His herds 
 .include 100 cattle, 84 swine and 15 horses. 
 
 Mr. Dodge was married Feb. 6, 1836, in Mt. Holly, 
 Rutland Co , Vt. to Eliza Conant. She was born 
 
 ^n.jOXfrjr' S~\ 
 
 
 Sept. 12, 1807, in Townsend, Mass., also the birth- 
 place of her parents, Levi and Eunice Conant. 
 Three children were born of this union, Thomas W., 
 Rollin and Lucien. The mother died March 23, 
 1875, in De Kalb Township. 
 
 In political views and connections Mr. Dodge is a 
 Republican. He has officiated four years as Justice 
 of the Peace. He was a member of the Vermont 
 Legislature in 1860-1 ; and is a member of the Me- 
 thodist Church. 
 
 Mr. Dodge is a true son of New England in char- 
 acter and achievements, bringing hither the thrift, 
 economy and industry which typify the best elements 
 of the eastern section of the United States. 
 
 rrin Pierce, farmer, section 16, Genoa Town- 
 ship, was born July 4, 1839, ' n Otsego Co., 
 N. Y. His parents, Martin and Mary 
 (Carpenter) Pierce, were natives of the Empire 
 State, where they married and settled, remain- 
 ig until 1854, when they located in Genoa 
 Township. In the fall of 1873 they removed to Bel- 
 videre, Boone Co., 111., where the mother died a few 
 days later. Their family consisted of seven children, 
 William L., Daniel W., Emmeline, Orrin, Charles, 
 James and Oliver. James died from an injury re- 
 ceived while leading a horse to water, he having in 
 some way become entangled in the halter. 
 
 Mr. Pierce was 13 years of age when he accom- 
 panied his parents, to Genoa Township, and he has 
 continued a resident of that section of De Kalb 
 County since, with the exception of five years, dur- 
 ing which he was a resident of the Territory of Mon- 
 tana, engaged in mining and farming. His efforts 
 there met with only moderate success, and he re- 
 turned to the land of promise, Genoa Township. He 
 is the proprietor of 130 acres of land, which is all 
 under tillage with the exception of about 10 acres. 
 He has been a Republican since reaching man's 
 estate, and has served in several local official posi- 
 tions. 
 
 He was married Jan. 2, 1871, in Madison Co., N. 
 Y., to Mary Pyne, and they have four children, 
 Mary L., John M., Harvey G. and Ruth H. Mrs. 
 Pierce was born Nov. 29, 1846, in Oneida Co., N. 
 ^^%f^ ^(a)

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Y., and is the daughter of John and Sarah Pyne. 
 She is the second in order of birth and has three sis- 
 ters, Hannah, Lucy and Sarah. 
 
 t on. Charles Kellum, Judge of the Twelfth 
 Judicial O'rcuit of Illinois, resident at Syca- 
 more, was born in the (now) township of 
 Dimock, Susquehanna Co., Pa., March 16, 
 1821. Samuel Kellum, Jr., his father, was born 
 in New London Co., Conn., which was for many 
 years the home of his paternal grandsire, Samuel 
 Kellum, Sr. The latter was prominent in the affairs 
 of the Nutmeg State, and held a Captain's commis- 
 sion in the State militia after the close of the Revolu- 
 tionary War. Samuel Kellum, Jr., followed in the 
 traces of his forefathers; he was a farmer by in- 
 heritance and adopted the principles which were 
 promulgated in the community where he was bred to 
 man's estate by voice and deed ; he was a Whig in 
 politics, and when the issues of that element merged 
 into those of the Republican party he fell into line 
 and remained the stanch adherent of the organization 
 while he lived. 
 
 About the year 1832 he became interested in lum- 
 bering in the forests of the Keystone State, and 
 operated vigorously in that line of business for a 
 number of years. Later, he became a Justice of the 
 Peace. His death occurred Jan. 2, 1869, at Syca- 
 more, at the residence of the subject of this sketch. 
 Lucretia (Eldridge) Kellum, his wife, mother of 
 Judge Kellum, was a native of New London Co., 
 Conn., and died at Prophetstown, 111., Jan. 2, 1879, 
 her demise occurring on the same day of the same 
 month, ten years subsequent to that of her husband, 
 beside whom she lies buried at Sycamore. 
 
 His ancestry, the period of his birth, and the occu- 
 pations of his father, were all instrumental in forming 
 the character and shaping the career of Judge Kel- 
 lum. He early developed the positive traits of his 
 maternal progenitors, who were of Scotch-Irish line- 
 age. It is an established fact that many of the most 
 prominent characters in the history of the United 
 States, and who exercised a molding influence upon 
 its leading institutions in law, politics and religion, 
 
 
 had their origin in the class who inherited traits so 
 distinctive as to virtually constitute a race. In men- 
 tal organism their predominating traits partake al- 
 most invariably of the same characteristics. They 
 are, as a rule, industrious, cautious, persistent, in- 
 flexible in morals and probity, and possess inherently 
 the quality which leads them to great opportunities. 
 Hardihood in effort invariably marks every step of 
 their progress ; and young Kellum exemplified this 
 latter trait in early boyhood. Previous to his twelfth 
 year he assisted on the farm. In his father's venture 
 as a lumberman he found opportunity for effort, and 
 he began as a teamster, later becoming a saw-mill 
 hand, going to school meanwhile and completing his 
 educational course at the academies of Montrose and 
 Mannington in his native county. 
 
 When he was about 18 years of age he was con- 
 nected with an engineering corps, employed in the 
 construction of the North Branch of the Pennsylvania 
 Canal, in which he was occupied nearly two years. 
 The year 1841 he passed as a clerk at Towanda and 
 at Troy in his native State, and in the year following 
 he began to read for the profession of law in the office 
 of Lusk & Little, of Montrose, where he passed the 
 time to good advantage, meanwhile devoting two 
 winters to teaching. In August, 1844, he was ad- 
 mitted to the Bar, and obtained employment in the 
 office where he had been a student, at $10 a month, 
 remaining there between one and two years. His 
 health became impaired and he passed about three 
 years in a desultory manner, praticing law occasion- 
 ally, and rafting on the Susquehanna, the latter 
 employment affording the opportunity he needed for 
 relaxation from office confinement and the exercise 
 required to prevent a condition of confirmed dyspep- 
 sia, with which he was menaced. The practice of 
 law being his natural element, he went to Towanda 
 and formed a partnership with Hon. Henry Booth, 
 now of Chicago, a relation which existed about 18 
 months. In 1854 he went to La Porte, Ind., and 
 passed nine months as assistant cashier of the In- 
 diana (stock) Bank, with his brother, Isaac S. Kellum. 
 
 In February, 1855, he came to Sycamore and en- 
 tered into a partnership with William Fordham. 
 Their connection remained operative about a year 
 and was dissolved by mutual consent. Since that 
 date Judge Kellum has been temporarily associated 
 with others, but has operated chiefly alone, and has 
 
 VQ ^^ ^^C<.
 
 won a widely merited distinction as a practitioner 
 and jurist. 
 
 In the pursuit of his profession he has proceeded 
 in the even, equable method which is one of his 
 characteristic traits, and has earned a wider influence 
 than any other local attorney, never failing to secure 
 the same quality of respect from associates and 
 opponents while practicing as an attorney. The 
 strongest evidence of this is that during the course of 
 his legal practice he was retained on nearly every 
 case of importance tried in the courts of De Kalb 
 County, and his local popularity obtained for him a 
 large amount of business in other counties. His 
 arguments were logical, set forth in clear-cut, incisive 
 terms and bearing an irresistible influence, to which 
 his prestige is largely due. But above all is the dis- 
 criminating sense of honor which imbues his every 
 word and act concerning his fellow men, and which 
 commands the respect and esteem of his friends and 
 also of his antagonists in business, for he has no 
 adversaries in the exact significance of the term. 
 
 The records of the Courts in which he practiced 
 afford abundant proof of the superior forensic quali- 
 ties of Judge Kellum, as he has been connected with 
 some of the most notable cases in the Judicial his- 
 tory of Northern Illinois. His executive abilities 
 have been recognized in Sycamore from the outset, 
 and his appreciative townsmen have availed them- 
 selves of his eminent powers in local positions- 
 He was early made President of the Board of Trus- 
 tees, when that city was a village, and he afterwards 
 became City Attorney. He also served four years 
 as State's Attorney of his Judicial District. 
 
 In June, 1879, he was elected Circuit Judge, a 
 position he has since occupied, and whose obligations 
 and responsibilities he has discharged in the efficient 
 manner which has characterized his entire public and 
 private career. 
 
 The mental caliber of Judge Kellum is of the 
 quality that constitutes leaders in the profession to 
 which he belongs. We quote from the United States 
 Biographical Dictionary for Illinois, r883 : 
 
 "Judge Kellum was endowed by nature with a 
 judicial mind ; he was not only made for a lawyer, 
 but for a Judge, and his natural endowments have 
 been enlarged by a liberal education and long prac- 
 tice at the Bar. His mind readily grasps the most 
 difficult legal problems, and his decisions are not 
 
 s))@f| aa zmxj^ Q 
 
 only generally correct, but are marked universally by 
 the utmost fairness and impartiality. Seldom is it 
 that any error creeps into the record of a cause heard 
 before Judge Kellum, and consequently his decisions 
 are not often reversed by the higher Courts. On the 
 bench he is urbane and gentlemanly, and is universally 
 esteemed by the members of the Bar who practice in 
 his Court ; he is especially the friend of the young 
 attorney and, whenever possible, smoothes over the 
 rough path which that class are compelled to travel 
 before reaching eminence at the Bar. These quali- 
 ties make him one of the most popular Judges in the 
 State, and his friends confidently predict that he will 
 yet be called to sit on the bench of the Supreme 
 Court." 
 
 Politically, he was a Whig in the days of his early 
 manhood. The portentous events from the date of 
 his citizenship could have but one significance to a 
 mentality like his, and, true to his unerring instincts, 
 he became a Republican on the inception of the 
 party. Previous to his accession to his position as 
 Judge, he was a zealous worker in ils ranks and 
 served as Delegate in the District and State Conven- 
 tions. Locally, he wielded a powerful influence, 
 and for a succession of years officiated as Chairman 
 of the Republican County Committee. In his own 
 county he was second to none in ability, and in 1872 
 was its unanimous choice for Congress, but failed in 
 the Convention. When candidate for Circuit Judge 
 the next year, the Judicial Convention was ex- 
 actly divided between him and his competitor, and 
 the conflict between the opposing elements was 
 maintained through one entire day, through the suc- 
 ceeding night and far into the day following. There 
 being no indications of yielding from any quarter, 
 the assembly broke up without definite action, leav- 
 ing the people to settle the point. He experienced 
 defeat by a small majority. In 1878 a nomination to 
 Congress was tendered him, and the District urged 
 his preferment for the position ; but in view of his 
 judicial prospects he was inflexible in his adverse 
 decision, his wisdom and judgment in the matter be- 
 ing fully sustained by succeeding events. 
 
 Judge Kellum has recognized and discharged his 
 obligations as a citizen of Sycamore in the most fit- 
 ting manner, and has lent his aid and influence to 
 the furtherance of the public interests of the place 
 and assisted 'personally in placing them on a sub-
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 stantial basis. He has been a prominent factor in 
 the maintenance of her manufacturing enterprises, 
 and was a stock-holder in the Sycamore & Cortland 
 Railroad, in the Marsh Harvester Manufacturing 
 Company and, later, in the Marsh Binder Manufact- 
 uring Company. He also aided materially in the 
 earlier enterprises. He is a member of the Masonic 
 fraternity and of the Order of Knights Templar. 
 
 His marriage to Chloe Clement occurred March 
 1 5< T ^55' at La Porte, Ind., and two children were 
 born of their union. William C. Kellum was born at 
 Sycamore, Dec. 14, 1855, and is an attorney in the 
 place of his nativity, promising, by his application to 
 business, to wear worthily the mantle of his sire. He 
 married Laura A. McKinnon, and they have one 
 child Charles S. Samuel Kellum was born Dec. 22, 
 1857, is a salesman in the clothing house of VVill- 
 oughby, Hill & Co., at Chicago, and is one of the 
 most exemplary and popular young men that Syca- 
 more ever produced. Mrs,. Kellum was born at La 
 Porte, Dec. 31, 1833, and is the daughter of Wm. and 
 Caroline Clement. She is a lady of more than ordin- 
 ary strength of character, and in her domestic circle 
 her fine womanly traits shine pre-eminent. To her 
 the words, " Her children arise up and call her bless- 
 ed ; her husband also, and he praiseth her," apply 
 with peculiar force and truth. 
 
 Judge Kellum 's portrait appears on a previous 
 page. The reprint of his features in this work will 
 afford a general satisfaction. His mobile face has 
 been for many years one of the most welcome on the 
 streets of Sycamore. It bears the impression of a can- 
 did, manly, generous character, and a spirit wholly 
 untainted by selfishness. The photograph from which 
 the portrait was engraved was taken in 1885. 
 
 1 illiam H. Rowen, farmer and stockman on 
 section 26, Franklin Township, was born 
 on the farm on which he is a resident 
 Sept. 25, 1858. He is the son of Wm. H. 
 and Mercy (Caswell)' Rowen. The ,for- 
 ...er was born December 3, 1799, in Hebron, 
 Washington Co., N. Y., and came to De Kalb County 
 in June, 1843, and entered the farm where he died 
 April 4, 1880. The family was among the earliest 
 settlers of the township. The senior Rowen was 
 
 twice married. Of the first marriage, to Betsey Gor- 
 ham (see sketch of S. G. Rowen), nine children 
 were born, and after the death of the first wife he 
 was married Dec. 25, 1856, to Mrs. Mercy Caswell. 
 She was born Jan. 7, 1822, in Union, Broome Co., 
 N. Y., and came to Illinois with her grandparents 
 when she was 13 years old. ' She was married Aug. 
 
 2, 1840, to Marcus Caswell, a native of the State of 
 New York, born March 15, 1820. He was killed in 
 California in July, 1855, by the accidental bursting 
 of a gun. Mr. Caswell is survived by two children, 
 Charles H., born Nov. 2, 1841, a resident of Bre- 
 mer Co., Iowa, and Josephine L.,born Nov. 30, 1849. 
 She married Edward Gorham March 15, 1866, and 
 is a resident of Franklin Township. Of her marriage 
 to Mr. Rowen two children were born, W. H. and 
 Samuel P. G. The birth of the latter occurred Dec. 
 
 3, 1863. Mrs. Rowen, with her two sons, occupies 
 the family homestead. 
 
 id D. Brown, Mayor of De Kalb, and |{| 
 member of the lumber and real-estate firm =t 
 of Brown & Young, was born Aug. 26, f 
 845, in Belvidere, N. J. His parents, C. M. 
 and Catherine A. (De Pue) Brown, were natives ,- \ 
 of New Jersey, and were respectively of English 
 and French origin. The family came to Illinois and 
 settled in Sycamore, where the father established 
 mercantile interests and became prominent in official 
 positions, among which were those of Circuit Clerk 
 and Recorder of De Kalb County. The family in- * 
 eluded three sons, of whom the two younger were ^^ 
 Fred C. and Marshall L., and were the issue of the *& 
 second marriage of the senior Brown, in 1850, to 
 Louisa Jackman, of Sycamore. She was born in 
 Vermont and is still living in Sycamore. The mother 
 of Mr Brown died at Sycamore in 1849. His father 
 died there March 14, 1872. . 
 
 Until the age of 16 years Mr. Brown was a pupil 
 at school, and in i86r obtained a position as captain 
 of a steamboat plying on the Tennessee River. He 
 was employed at a later period as clerk in a store at 
 Sycamore, and was occupied in that capacity until 
 1874. In the spring of that year he entered into 
 partnership with C. A. Tyndall, of De Kalb, under 
 the style of Tyndall & Brown, and established a mer- 
 
 -^k^r ~**^3y?/Vv?i
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 candle enterprise. In September, 1876, Mr. Brown 
 became sole proprietor of the business by purchase 
 and continued its management until April, 1883, 
 when he sold to C. A. Reed & Co. In the same 
 month his present business relation was founded for 
 the purpose of engaging in the lumber trade. 
 
 Mr. Brown is a decided Republican and has been 
 actively interested in the administration of the mu- 
 nicipal affairs in De Kalb. He served three terms as 
 Councilman, and in the spring of 1883 was elected 
 Mayor for a biennial term. He is prominent in the 
 Masonic fraternity, and has risen to the 32d degree 
 in the order. 
 
 He was married Feb. 8, 1872,10 Alice J., daughter 
 of Hiram and Sarah (Dygart) Ell wood, and they 
 have two children. Zaida E. was born July 29, 1878. 
 Sarah L. was born Nov. 27, 1881. 
 
 rley B. Bowen, grocer and Deputy Post- 
 master at Kirkland, was born on section 26, 
 Franklin Township, May 29, 1861, and is 
 the son of Stephen G. and Emmeline (Baker) 
 Rowen. The record of the parents appear on 
 another page. 
 Mr. Rowen grew to man's estate on the family 
 homestead, and passed the winters at school in Kirk- 
 land. When he was 20 years of age he entered up- 
 on the duties of clerk of the Rowen House at Kirk- 
 land, which, was under the management of his 
 brother, Frank S. Rowen, and occupied that position 
 until his marriage. Soon after that event he estab- 
 lished the business in which he is at present engaged, 
 commencing with limited means in an unassuming 
 way. His energy and popularity, coupled with ex- 
 cellent management, has greatly increased his busi- 
 ness relations, and he is fast rising to a position of 
 equality with older firms in the same line of business. 
 Mr. Rowen is a young Republican of ardent type 
 and has been the deputy of his father several years. 
 He represents several insurance companies. 
 
 His marriage to Georgia A. Bell occurred Jan. i , 
 1883. Mrs. Rowen was born Sept. 7, 1862, on the 
 farm of her father in Kingston Township. She is 
 the daughter of George M. and Sarah M. (Little) 
 
 Bell. Her father is a native of Pennsylvania, and was 
 an architect and builder by profession. He was of 
 mixed German and Irish descent. The mother was 
 born in the State of New York, of English and 
 French parentage. They came to Illinois before 
 marriage and settled on a farm in Kingston after that 
 event. In 1867 they removed to Belvidere, Boone 
 County, and thence one year later to Sycamore. Mrs. 
 Rowen was educated at the latter place and in Chi- 
 cago, where she attended school about 18 months. 
 She began teaching when she was 17 years of age, 
 and continued her vocation in De Kalb County until 
 her marriage. With her husband, she attends the 
 Congregational Church, and is a member of the choir. 
 Both are actively interested in Sunday-school work, 
 and are valued and esteemed members of society. 
 
 TUS B. Hopkins, farmer, sections 34 and 
 27, Cortland Township, and owning in all 
 165 acres, was bom in Erie Co., N. Y., 
 in the town of Clarence, Aug. 7, 1812, and is 
 the son of Cyrus and Charlotte (Bissell) Hop- 
 kins. His mother, who was born Oct. 30, 
 Rutland, Vt., of Puritan stock, is still living, 
 near Beloit, Wis. His father, also of Puritan ances- 
 try, was born in June, 1784, in Great Barrington, 
 Berkshire Co., Mass., and died at Beloit, Wis., at the 
 age of 82 years. 
 
 The subject of this sketch, whose portrait ap- 
 pears on the opposite page, lived in his native 
 county until he was 26 iyears of.age, on the farm with 
 his father, in the meantime obtaining a common- 
 school education. He then came to Squaw Grove 
 Township, this county, and worked as a common 
 laborer by the day and month the first season. The 
 next year he took a farm, and rented farms for five 
 years, when he went out upon the " raw " prairie, 
 which he has improved and since made his home. 
 He first built a log house upon the place and moved 
 into it in 1844. Fifteen years afterward he built a 
 frame house, east of where he is now living. 
 
 Mr. H. has held the office of Constable in Squaw, 
 Grove, Road Commissioner for several terms and 


 
 School Director a number of years. In politics he is 
 a Republican, and in religious matters he was for- 
 merly a Methodist. 
 
 He was married Dec. 6, 1836, to Fannie Larkin, 
 who was born May r, 1815, in Green Co., N. Y., and 
 died May 7, 1873, on the old homestead in this 
 county. She was a Baptist. The second marriage 
 of Mr. Hopkins occurred July 3, 1877, in Blackberry, 
 Kane Co., 111., to Mary J. Gandy, daughter of George 
 W. and Mary (Meacham) Gandy. Her mother was 
 born Aug. 13, 1800, in Woodstock, Ct., and died 
 April 4, 1876, in this township; and her father was 
 born Feb. 3, 1804, in New Jersey, and is deceased. 
 By his first wife Mr. Hopkins had eight children, as 
 follows: Cyrus E., born Oct. n, 1837, and | was 
 married Feb. 22,1863 ; Charles H. was born Aug. 6, 
 1839, and married Dec. 7, 1871; William J., born 
 Nov. 29, 1840, died Dec. 27 following; John E., 
 born June n, 1842, married June 14, 1870, and died 
 'Aug. i, 1884; Sarah J., born Aug. 6, 1844, was mar- 
 ried July 4, 1869; Albert J., born Aug. 15, 1846, was 
 married Sept. 3, 1873; Phebe A., born Aug. 14, 
 1848, was married Dec. 6, 1870; Fanny A., born 
 Dec. 27, 1850, was married Oct. n, 1870; and Mel- 
 vin M., born Oct. 3, 1853, was married Feb. 25, 
 1879. By his second marriage Mr. H. has had three 
 children, as follows: Pearl, born July 20, 1880, 
 died Aug. 14 following; Ross, born July 9, 1882, 
 died Nov. 3 following; and Daisy I., born Jan. 3, 
 1884. 
 
 ptain Henry C. Whittemore, senior 
 member of the firm of Whittemore, Cham- 
 berlain & Co., dealers in hardware, stoves, 
 agricultural implements, wagons and carriages 
 at Sycamore, was born Oct. 31, 1841, at Au- 
 burn, N. Y. He was seven years of age when 
 ^ his parents, Lorenzo and Hannah (Kelsey) Whitte- 
 more, removed their family to Sycamore. His father 
 was born March n, 1807, in Leicester, Mass., and is 
 still a resident of Sycamore, where he operated as a 
 mechanic nearly a quarter of a century. The Cap- 
 tain's mother was born Dec. 25, 1805, in Ulster Co., 
 N. Y., and died in March, 1879. They had two 
 
 
 
 children. Floyd K., the younger, is a banker in 
 Springfield, 111. 
 
 Captain Whittemore passed his boyhood and youth 
 in the acquisrtion of his education, and about the age 
 of 1 8 years secured the position of Deputy Circuit 
 Clerk, in which he was occupied until the era of 
 1861, which tried the mettle of every man and boy 
 within the Federal Union. The stuff of which Cap- 
 tain Whittemore is made was proven early in that 
 memorable year by his enlistment as a private soldier 
 in Company G, Second Illinois Light Artillery. He 
 was transferred, a few weeks later, to Company H, 
 which was detailed for service in the Ordnance De- 
 partment of the Army of the Tennessee, the office 
 being established at Cairo, during the winter of 
 1861-2, and also at Columbus, Ky. 
 
 In the spring of 1863 the command was transferred 
 to the Army of the Cumberland. In December, 
 1861, young Whittemore was made Lieutenant, and 
 he held that rank until July, 1863, when -he was 
 commissioned Captain of Battery H. He performed 
 the duties of the position until February, 1865, when 
 he was detailed as Assistant Adjutant General on 
 the staff of Gen. L. H. Rousseau, and served until 
 the termination of the war. 
 
 Captain Whittemore was mustered out of the 
 military service of the United Stales July 29, 1865, 
 and entered the postal service of the Government, 
 operating in South Carolina. In the spring of 1867 
 he returned to Sycamore, and embarked in the busi- 
 ness of tanning, in which he was interested about 
 two years ; at the expiration of that time turning his 
 attention to insurance, and later, entering the office 
 of the County Clerk as a Deputy. In 1873 he formed 
 a partnership with John B. Harkness and his brother 
 F. K. Whittemore, and founded the business in 
 which he^has since operated. The members of the 
 present firm are Captain Whittemore, W. G. Cham- 
 berlain and A. W. Brower. Their trade and business 
 relations in their line of traffic is the leading one in 
 the county, their invested capital being about $15,000. 
 
 Captain Whittemore is a member of the Masonic 
 fraternity and belongs to Lodge No. 1 34, at Syca- 
 more. He is a Republican in political convictions, 
 and has served his township several years as Super- 
 visor. In the fall of 1884 he was elected to the 
 State Legislature, receiving a gratifying majority of 
 2,400 votes. 
 
 His marriage to Amelia E. Martin occurred at
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Sycamore, March 14, 1864. Mrs. Whittemore was 
 born April 19, 1841, in the place where she has 
 always lived, and she is the daughter of Harry and 
 Jane Martin. Four of five children botn to Captain 
 and Mrs. Whittemore are living. They were born as 
 follows: Charles F., Aug. 24, 1865, died Oct. 20, 
 1871; Mary, Sept. 20, 1867; Harry, Sept. 25, 1869; 
 Cora, Jan. 19, 1872; Floyd, Dec. 8, 1874. 
 
 "ames M. Elliott, farmer, having 132 acres 
 on sections i and 2, Cortland Township, 
 was born in Springfield, Clark Co., Ohio, 
 March 27, 1820. His father moved to Union 
 Co., that State, whence he, when 1 6 years of 
 ag'e, in company with a half brother, John, 
 came with a four-horse team to this county, arriving 
 Oct. 8, 1835. John entered a claim east of Mr. E.'s 
 present place, but the climate aggravating his 
 rheumatism, he returned to Union Co., Ohio, where 
 he now lives. 
 
 The subject of this sketch made his home with 
 his half brother and worked around by the month 
 until his marriage, Jan. 4, 1839, to Miss Dilla Perry, 
 who was born Sept. 21, 1822, in Yates Co., N. Y., 
 in Potter Township, and was 13 years old when her 
 parents emigrated to Illinois, coming all the way by 
 team and being six weeks on the road. Her father, 
 Matthew H. Perry, was born in Berkshire Co., Mass., 
 in August, r796, of American ancestry, and is now 
 residing temporarily in Iowa, while his home is in 
 Burlington Township, Kane Co., 111. Her mother, 
 Pamelia, nee Briggs, was born in Providence, R. I., 
 in April, 1 80 1, of American parentage. Her grand- 
 father on her mother's side, Caleb Briggs, was a 
 Revolutionary soldier. Mr. and Mrs. Perry moved 
 to Ottawa, 111., in the fall of 1835, and the next 
 spring to Big Rock Township, whence, in the fall of 
 1837, the^ removed to Burlington Township, Kane 
 County, where they have since lived, although Mr. P. 
 resided a short time in this (Cortland) township, 
 while he was building a house on his farm. 
 
 Mr. Elliott's father, Alexander Elliott, was born in 
 Chenango Co., Pa., and died in r829, in Union Co., 
 
 Ohio, of milk-sickness, while he was building a house 
 upon a tract of land he had purchased there, and 
 while his residence was in Clark Co., that State. He 
 had been married three times. He first married 
 Jane Chatfield, and she died, leaving four children. 
 His second wife was the mother of the subject of this 
 sketch, who left three children, all sons, James being 
 the youngest. His third wife was Sarah Moore, nee 
 Custer. Two years after his father's death the re- 
 mainder of the family moved to their new home in 
 Union County. The mother of the subject of this 
 sketch, Polly, nee Sweet, was a native of Tennessee 
 and died in Clark Co., Ohio, in 1821, when he was 
 but a year old. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Elliott have three children, viz.: 
 Henry M., born Sept. 18, 1840; Morris M., Aug. 12, 
 1842; and Clarence, Jan. 4, 1850, the first two in 
 Kane County and the last in this township. 
 
 Mr. Elliott is a Republican in his political views, 
 and has held the office of School Director. Mr. E. 
 had five brothers in the army during the last war. 
 Two, Hale and Samuel, died of disease in the hospi- 
 tal, and one Oliver H. Perry lost an arm at Savan- 
 nah, Ga., when Sherman captured the city. 
 
 lexander H. Durham, farmer, section 10, 
 Genoa Township, has been a resident of 
 that municipality most of the time since 
 his birth within its borders, which event oc- 
 curred Aug. 26, i84r. Henry and Jane 
 (Wager) Durham, his parents, were natives of 
 the State of New York. They were pioneers in 
 Genoa Township and residents of the village of that 
 name, where they died. Their deaths occurred 
 respectively in 1854 and in 1855. They were the 
 parents of 10 children, five of whom are still living: 
 Sarah, Sabrina, Ursula, Ethan A. and Alexander H. 
 Mr. Durham received a common-school education, 
 and when he was 14 years of age his mother died. 
 Being then wholly orphaned, he became an inmate of 
 the family of his brother-in-law, Julius Chipman, ot 
 Kingston Township. Eighteen months later he re- 
 turned to the place of his nativity and lived about 
 year and a half with one of his brothers. On the 

 
 TRUMftff 
 OF IK 
 
 UIIVERSin OF H.LHKBS
 
 
 COUNTY. 
 
 death of the latter he engaged as a farm assistant 
 with his brother-in-law, James Merriman, for whom 
 he worked two years. During that time he married 
 and located on a farm nearly half a mile east of the 
 village of Genoa, to whose ownership he succeeded 
 by the provisions of his father's will. He occupied 
 the place seven successive years, when he sold it 
 and bought 80 acres, where he established his per- 
 manent homestead. He already having 160 acres on 
 section 15, adjoining that which was left him by the 
 death of his father, he now owns 260 acres in all, 
 170 acres under tillage, and 20 acres of timber on 
 section 31. Mr. Durham is in sympathy with the 
 Democrat element in political sentiment. 
 
 His marriage to Jennie Farr took place in Spring 
 Township, Boone Co., 111., Jan. i, 1862, and they 
 are now the parents of four children, Elmer E., 
 born Oct. 2, 1863; Leonard P., born May 18, 1868; 
 Amber S., born March 2, 1870; and Roy H., born 
 Dec. 30, 1883. Mrs. Durham is the fourth daughter 
 and child of Oliver and Roxana Farr, and was born 
 Jan. 27, 1843, in Pennsylvania. Her brothers and 
 sisters were named Nancy, Mary, Armina, William, 
 Millard, Martha and Maynard. 
 
 Joseph F. Glidden, patentee of the Glidden 
 barb-wire fence, residing at De Kalb, was 
 born Jan. 18, 1813, in Charleston, Sullivan 
 Co., N. H. He is the son of David and Polly 
 (Hurd) Glidden, both of whom were natives of 
 the Granite State and were there married. 
 About the year 1814 they removed their family and 
 interests to Orleans Co., N. Y., and were there resi- 
 dent until 1844, when they came to Illinois. They 
 made a brief stay in Ogle County, removing thence 
 to the home of their eldest son, then a farmer in 
 De Kalb Township, and were inmates of his house- 
 hold through the closing years of their lives. They 
 had six children, Joseph F., Betsey, Eunice, Wil- 
 lard J., Abigail and Stephen H. 
 
 Mr. Glidden was in the second year of his life 
 
 L 
 
 when his parents settled in Clarendon, Orleans Co., 
 N. Y., and entered upon agricultural pursuits. He 
 was brought up on the farm, acquired a thorough and 
 practical knowledge of its details, and interspersed 
 the seasons of labor by attendance at school. Pri- 
 marily, he was a pupil in the ordinary educational 
 institutions of the township, and later became a stu- 
 dent at the Middlebury Academy in Genesee County 
 he afterwards attended a seminary at Lima, Living- 
 ston County, in the same State. He formed educa- 
 tional plans with reference to a collegiate course, and 
 taught some months ; but, being of a practical turn of 
 mind, the field for immediate action, to which he was 
 accustomed by training, possessed an almost irre- 
 sistible attraction, and he engaged as a renter of 
 farms for some years, that being the common mode 
 of operation adopted by those who had their way to 
 make from the beginning. The figure at which the 
 acres of the Empire State were held precluded almost 
 the slightest promise of the advancement of a laborer 
 to a proprietorship, and Mr. Glidden began to con- 
 sider the feasibility of making his way westward. 
 
 In the fall of 1842 he proceeded to Detroit, with 
 two threshing-machines, of the primitive construction, 
 then in use, and spent 30 days in Michigan on the 
 wheat farms of that State, operating his threshers, 
 assisted by his brother Willard and two other men. 
 Finally reaching St. Joseph, on the east side of Lake 
 Michigan, he shipped the machines to Chicago and 
 proceeded to De Kalb County, where he passed two 
 years in the same avenue of business. During the 
 winter of 1842-3 he bought 600 acres of land located 
 on section 22, De Kalb Township, of his cousin, 
 Russell Huntley, and which he still owns. He resi- 
 ded two years in Ogle County, not taking possession 
 of his property until 1845. 
 
 Mr. Glidden's first marriage took place in Claren- 
 don, Orleans Co., N. Y., in 1837, when he formed a 
 matrimonial union with Clarissa Foster. He left his 
 wife and two children behind him when he started 
 for the West with his machines, and before his wife 
 joined him in Illinois the children had passed to the 
 spirit world. She came to Ogle County in June, 
 1843, and died the next year in childbirth. The lit- 
 tle daughter, for whom her own life was given, died 
 in early infancy. The children of this marriage were 
 named Virgil, Homer and Clarissa. 
 
 The second marriage of Mr. Glidden, to Lucinda
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Warne, took place in Kane County, in October, 1851, 
 and they have one child Elva F. now the wife of 
 W. H. Bush, a merchant of Chicago. 
 
 In 1845 Mr. Glidden took possession of his farm, 
 (j' remaining its resident proprietor until 1877, adding 
 to its extent and increasing it to more than 800 acres. 
 It is a fine sample of the perfection of attractions and 
 value to which a prairie farm may be brought. In 
 the year named Mr. Glidden relinquished the per- 
 sonal management of his farm and removed to the 
 city of De Kalb, where he became an inmate of the 
 Glidden House, which he had built a few years 
 before. 
 
 The summary of the triumphs of American inven- 
 tive genius present a splendid array. Their relative 
 importance has developed a saying, which, perhaps, 
 in general significance, cannot be gainsaid, that 
 " those who add to the material wealth of nations are 
 greater than those that contribute to the comfort or 
 convenience of mankind." But analysis and time 
 must weaken the force of the statement. The man 
 who " made two blades of grass grow where one grew 
 before " may be a benefactor, but the beneficence of 
 his achievement becomes a question if the extra blade 
 is superfluous. It has become trite that the " inven- 
 tion of the cotton-gin advanced the South 50 years," 
 and the progress of the North consequent upon the 
 invention of the reaping-machine is similarly estima- 
 ted. But for 40 years the question of fencing the 
 broad, beautiful acres of the prairie section of the 
 United States remained unanswered, and hampered 
 the farmers in all their projects; and there seemed 
 for years no remedy for the existent condition but in 
 legislation, a forlorn hope in view of the fate com- 
 mon to legal provisions in the hands of sagacious and 
 interested interpreters of the statutes. Stone walls 
 were utterly impracticable; the raids of the agents 
 selling Osage orange and willow cuttings, which 
 should produce self-perpetuating fences with the 
 celerity of Aladdin's lamp, were profitable to none 
 but their companies. With every tree that fell be- 
 neath the woodman's devastating ax, receded farther 
 and farther the hopes for fencing material. 
 
 Mr. Glidden solved the problem which had been 
 a standing perplexity of increasing proportions for 
 almost half a century, and by his invention of the 
 barb-wire fence placed his name on the list of en- 
 during fame with those of Whitney, Arkwright, Howe 
 
 and McCormick and a long catalogue of others, who 
 will move through the records and traditions of the 
 future as the benefactors of the world. The history 
 of the invention is interesting and belongs to the per- 
 sonal biography of Mr. Glidden and to the lasting ( ' 
 records of De Kalb County. The earliest patents 
 for barb-wire fencing were issued in 1867, but the 
 material lacked practical merit and attracted com- 
 paratively little notice. Mr. Glidden interested him- 
 self in it, and, recognizing the utility and profit of a 
 saccessful method of constructing wire fence, pushed 
 a course of experiments as he found opportunity. 
 He cut barbs by hand and extemporized a process 
 by which they could be twisted about the wire. A 
 piece 30 feet long |was armed with the spiteful ap- 
 pearing prongs and twisted with a piece of smooth 
 wire by attaching the two to the axle of a grindstone, 
 the twist being obtained by turning the crank. The 
 fence was stretched in the barn-yard of Mr. Glidden 
 and proved a success. The result of the experiment 
 is still a fixture and feature of the barn-yard where it 
 was originally placed, and is demonstrating the prac- 
 tical utility of the device as thoroughly as at first. 
 The gratified inventor applied in October, 1873, for 
 letters patent, which he received in the spring of 
 1874. 
 
 Meanwhile, Isaac L. Ellwood, a hardware mer- 
 chant of De Kalb, had expended considerable time ' 
 and money in experimenting with various kinds of 
 fencing, and Mr. Glidden laid before him the results 
 of his experiments, and they formed an association 
 for the purposes of manufacture. They rented a 
 small building and employed a corps of laborers, 
 consisting chiefly of boys ; but the speedy increase 
 of their business necessitated their removal to more 
 extensive and centrally located quarters, and in the f 
 winter of 1874-5 they took possession of their factory 
 at De Kalb. In the spring they opened business 
 with a working force of 30 men. Changes were 
 made from time to time, which were protected by ad- 
 ditional patents, and the manufacture of barb-wire 
 fence was continued by Messrs. Glidden & Ellwood f( 
 until March, 1876. At that date, the Washburn & 
 Moen Manufacturing Company, of Worcester, Mass., , 
 purchased the half interest of Mr. Glidden and the rt 
 present firm of I. L. Ellwood & Co. was established. 
 
 Mr. Glidden received $60,000 and a guarantee of (*) 
 25 cents on every 100 pounds of fencing material
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 constructed. The latter rate has been reduced to 
 five cents per hundred weight, the enormous produc- 
 tion of the barb-wire fence yielding even at the roy- 
 alty of one-fifth the original stipulation a generous 
 income to the inventor. 
 
 Since 1876 Mr. Glidden has devoted his attention 
 to his first love farming and superintends the 
 management of his extensive tracts of farming land 
 in De Kalb County, comprising an extent of 1,500 
 acres. He is also engaged to a considerable extent 
 in stock-raising, and, associated with H. B. Sanborn, 
 is the owner of a cattle ranch in the portion of coun- 
 try known as the Panhandle of Texas, where they 
 are herding about 16,000 head of cattle. They own 
 280 sections of land, constituting 280 square miles 
 of territory, and requiring 150 miles of fencing, which 
 was erected at a cost of $40,000. Mr. Glidden owns 
 also a half-interest in a flour-mill at De Kalb. 
 
 He has also been active in the duties of his citi- 
 zenship in De Kalb County and Township, and in 
 1852 was elected Sheriff. He possesses the distinc- 
 tion of being the last Democratic official of the 
 county. He has served his townsmen as Supervisor 
 several terms, and performed the duties of other local 
 offices of minor importance. Mr. Glidden is a mem- 
 ber of the Masonic fraternity. 
 
 Of his character and prominence a reliable esti- 
 mate may be formed by the sketch given. He is 
 essentially a member of the class descended from 
 the " grand old gardener," and he has remained true 
 to his lineage, which may be regarded as closely 
 akin to dignity itself. The farmer comes of a descent 
 whose antitype was molded in the freshness of God's 
 plan of man, and found fitting to inhabit Paradise. 
 The man who spends his life in tilling the ground 
 proves his birthright in the inheritance of a redeemed 
 world. Mr. Glidden has found no allurement in the 
 career of a capitalist, nor availed himself of the op- 
 portunity afforded by his sudden accession to wealth, 
 which has since flowed with a lavish tide into his 
 coffers, to grasp by the throat men of less fortunate 
 hap and turn their disasters to his own profit. He 
 remembers his days of toil and struggle, and takes 
 justifiable pride in the spreading beneficence of his 
 invention and in the well earned title of a farmer of 
 De Kalb County, pure and simple. 
 The portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Glidden are pre- 
 
 . 
 
 sented on other pages. Their value to the biograph- 
 ical records of De Kalb County is manifest without 
 
 elaboration of statement. 
 
 ames P. Seaman, farmer on section 15, 
 Cortland Township, has land also on sec- 
 tions 14 and 1 6, 120 acres in all. He 
 was born in the town of Bovina, Delaware Co., 
 N. Y., Aug. 21, 1830. His parents were 
 Ephraim and Naomi (Carman) Seaman, both 
 of whom have long since deceased. His father, who 
 was born in 1805. was killed Dec. 21, 1847, in 
 the township of Preston, Chenango Co., N. Y. 
 While cutting down a tree for a sick neighbor, it 
 broke in two about 16 feet up, and in chopping it 
 down from this awkward position it fell upon his 
 neck and broke it! He was thus found by James P., 
 the subject of this sketch, and by a man who after- 
 ward became his brother-in-law. The senior Seaman 
 was also a native of Bovina Township. 
 
 When the subject of this sketch was n years old, 
 his parents emigrated with him to Chenango Co., N. 
 Y., where he lived until 1854. He then came to 
 Cortland Township, this county, and worked in 
 company with Amos Rogers three years, when his 
 mother purchased the present homestead. At her 
 death it was divided among the three children of her 
 first marriage, James being the administrator. Her 
 second marriage was to Robert Clark, a sea captain. 
 She was born Feb. 19, 1810, in the town of Bovina, 
 N. Y. Both her parents were of Yankee ancestry. 
 A great-great-grandfather was a seaman in the Rev- 
 olutionary War, a Major, and on that account re- 
 ceived a large tract of land, which he sold at six cents 
 per acre, it being in the Southern States. 
 
 Mr. Seaman was married Nov. 15, 1857, in Oxford, 
 Chenango Co., N. Y., to Miss Mary A., daughter of 
 Levi B. and Caroline E. (Olds) Jackson. Her father 
 was born Feb. 24, 1808, was a shoemakerby vocation, 
 and died Sept. 2, 1876, in Oxford, N. Y. Her mother 
 was born Feb. 24, 1 8 10, in Oxford N. Y. Mrs. S., 
 the second child in the above family, was born Dec. 
 28, 1837, in Erie Co., N. Y.,and was a year old when 
 her parents moved to Oxford. Of the six children^ 
 ^yag^ )@\ 
 
 i
 
 i 
 
 DE KALE COUNTY. 
 
 in the family of Mr. and Mrs. Seaman, three are de- 
 ceased. The record stands: Carrie L., born July 10, 
 1860, in this (Cortland) Township; Arthur C., July 
 8, 1865, in this township, and died March 16, 1876, 
 and is buried in Ohio Grove Cemetery ; Nonie C., 
 born Feb. n, 1868, and died in Cortland, Jan. 16, 
 i88r; Frankie, born July 12, 1870, died Aug. 25, 
 following, and is also buried in Ohio Grove Cem- 
 etery; May L., Aug. 4, 1871; and Lizzie H., 
 Aug. 28, 1875, the last two born also in Cortland. 
 Mr. Seaman is a Republican in his political views, 
 and both himself and wife are members of the Free- 
 will-Baptist Church. 
 
 a 
 
 enry N. Olmstead, farmer, section 16, 
 Genoa Township, is a native of the place 
 where he has passed his entire life to the 
 present date. He was born March 4, 1851, 
 and is the son of Caleb and Samantha (Wager) 
 Olmstead, natives of the State of New York. 
 (See sketch of Caleb Olmstead.) 
 
 Mr. Olmstead obtained a fair common-school edu- 
 cation, which he completed by attendance at the 
 High School at Sycamore. When he was 22 years of 
 age he embarked in his career of independent man- 
 hood, and in 1884 purchased the family homestead, 
 which included 160 acres of valuable land, nearly all 
 being under cultivation. 
 
 Mr. Olmstead has been identified throughout his 
 career in political matters with the Republican party, 
 and has officiated in the discharge of the duties per- 
 taining to several local offices. 
 
 His marriage to Jane Wright took place at Genoa, 
 March 4, 1877. They have had four children, viz.: 
 Caleb, born Oct. 23, 1878; Olin H., June 22, 1879; 
 Nellie and Jay G. The two youngest are not living. 
 Mrs. Olmstead was born Aug. 9, 1857, in Sycamore, 
 and is the daughter of Royal and Mary (Siglin) 
 Wright, the former a native of New York, the latter 
 born in Pennsylvania. Her parents located at Syca- 
 more soon after marriage, and her father there en- 
 aged in farming. He died March i, 1872. Her 
 
 ^^ff. ^^ 
 
 mother lives in Iowa. Mrs. Olmstead is the eldest 
 of eight children. Her brothers and sisters were 
 named Frank, Asa, Charles, Amos, Jacob, Flora and 
 Hiram. 
 
 arles D. Carter, M. D., physician and 
 surgeon at De Kalb, is a native of De 
 Kalb County, having been born within its 
 limits Nov. 19, 1858. He is the son of Or- 
 lando and Huldah (White) Carter. (See 
 sketch of O. Carter.) Mr. Carter passed his 
 early life in the manner common in the training and 
 rearing of farmers' sons, and he obtained a fair edu- 
 cation in the common schools which he attended as 
 opportunity served, until he was 19 years of age, after 
 which he began the study of medicine with the 
 purpose of making it the vocation of his life. He 
 alternated his periods of study with farm labor, and 
 studied three years at Rush Medical College in 
 Chicago, receiving the authority of that institution to 
 enter upon the practice of medicine in 1882. He 
 established his business at De Kalb, and is steadily 
 gaining a substantial repute as a practitioner and 
 founding a successful career in his profession. 
 
 Dr. Carter is a Democrat in his political convic- 
 tion, and is one of the foremost in character and 
 promise of the young men of De Kalb County on 
 whom is the dependence of the future generation. 
 
 rederick S. Crane, farmer and stock-raiser, 
 sections 15, 14, 22 and 23, Cortland 
 Township, was born in the town of Mar- 
 vin, Wayne Co., N. Y., June 6, 1833, and was 
 only two years old when the family moved to 
 Du Page Co., 111., in 1835, coming in a two- 
 horse wagon, and settling on a tract of land before it 
 was surveyed. When it came into market his father 
 purchased it, and it is now owned by his brother.
 
 5* ,. I .- 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 He was brought up on the farm. When 16 years 
 old his father died, and when of age he commenced 
 to establish himself near his father's homestead, 
 where he lived until the spring of 1869, when he 
 purchased 225 acres of land where he has since re- 
 sided. To this purchase he has since added, until 
 he now has a total of 400 acres. He received a 
 common-school education at Naperville; has been 
 School Trustee and Director; and in politics he is a 
 Republican. Both himself and wife are members of 
 the Baptist Church. 
 
 He was married Dec. 20, 1855, at Naperville, 111., 
 to Miss Mary A. Bristol, who was born Feb. 18, 1834, 
 in Wethersfield, N. Y., and was brought by emigration 
 of her parents to Naperville in 1843, where they have 
 ever since lived, excepting the last few years. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Crane have five children, as follows : 
 Hiram D., born Nov. 3, 1856; Frank H., May 13, 
 1858; Myron F., March 7, 1860; S. Jennette, April 
 5, 1865; and Carrie M., Feb. 5, 1869, all at Naper- 
 ville. 
 
 Mr. Crane's father, David Crane, was a farmer, 
 and died in Naperville in 1849, at tne a S e of 4 2 
 years. His mother, Catherine W., nee Stolp, was 
 born Jan. 21, 1814, in Pultneyville, Wayne Co., N. Y., 
 and is now living in Merriain, that county. Mrs. 
 Crane's father, Hiram Bristol, was born March 22, 
 1800, in Fairhaven, Vt, and is now living in Aurora, 
 111. Her mother, Sarah, nee Spink, was born June 
 17, 1804, in Whitehall, Washington Co., N. Y., and 
 died May 9, 1869, at Aurora, 111. 
 
 /.enry H. Wagner, merchant at De Kalb, 
 was born July 6, 1847, in La Salle Co., 111. 
 He passed the years of his early life on the 
 homestead of his grandparents in De Kalb 
 County, coming to De Kalb in 1863. After 
 operating a few months as a clerk, he entered 
 the- army of the United States, enlisting in Co. K, 
 i32d Regiment of Illinois Infantry. After a service 
 of five months, he received his discharge and re- 
 sumed his former occupation of salesman for Win- 
 ship Brothers, of De Kalb, operating in their interests 
 but a short time, the business of the firm being inter- 
 
 /^NV^TY-^s.ft ' '^ B lllfl P ^1 B ^' / "V- T^ 
 
 rupted by the death of the senior partner. Mr. 
 Wagner entered the employment of R. K. Chandler, 
 whose death in 1875 terminated the business, and 
 Mr. Wagner embarked in a mercantile enterprise in 
 his own behalf. He began on a limited scale, pro- 
 ceeded safely and secured a permanent foundation 
 for his present extensive relations. He is the lead- 
 ing dealer in general merchandise at De Kalb. 
 Politically Mr. Wagner is a decided Republican and 
 is a member of Merritt Simonds Post, No. 283 j 
 G. A. R. 
 
 His marriage occurred March 24, 1871, to Nancy 
 E. Waite, a lady who was born in the State of New 
 York, April 14, 1847. Of six children born of their * 
 union, four survive, namely, Eva L., Cora F., Elvin 
 H. and Nina L. Those deceased died in infancy. 
 
 dolph Elten, of the firm of Deily & Elten, 
 builders and dealers in coal at Sycamore, 
 was born Dec. 15, i84r, in Germany. His 
 parents, August and Bertha Elten, were born 
 in Germany and died there. They had three 
 children, Adolph, August and Gustave. The 
 latter is a builder in Chicago. The second son is 
 deceased. 
 
 Mr. Elten was instructed in his business by his 
 father, who pursued the trade of builder through his 
 life. He came to the United States in March, 1865, 
 and embarked in his business in Chicago. He was 
 occupied three years in that city as foreman in the 
 .sash and door factory of Frederick Schroeder, who 
 tranferred his business from the Garden City to 
 Sycamore, whither Mr. Elten accompanied and offi- 
 ciated three years in the same capacity. In the 
 spring of 1878 the latter formed an association with 
 Jacob Deily for the prosecution of a joint relation as 
 builders, and a year later began to deal in coal. 
 They employ about half a dozen men commonly and 
 have erected a number of prominent buildings at 
 Sycamore and vicinity. 
 
 Mr. Elten was married June 27, 1869, in Chicago, 
 to Caroline Evers, and they have had four children : 
 Hermann was born May 2, 1870, and died Sept. 19, 
 1871; Julia was born Feb. 9, 1872; Charles, April 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 .r 

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 19, 1875; George, Aug. 31, 1877. The latter was 
 born in Sycamore and died Nov. 14, 1880. The 
 others were born in Chicago. Mrs. Elten was born 
 in Baltimore, Md., and is the daughter of John and 
 Hermine (Buttner) Evers. The family attend the 
 Congregational Church. 
 
 > 
 ^ 
 
 hubal T. Armstrong, Deputy Clerk of 
 De Kalb County, resident at Sycamore, 
 was born Dec. 14, 1834, in Chautauqua 
 Co., N. Y. His parents, Dr. Thomas and 
 Joanna (Terry) Armstrong, were natives of 
 Washington Co., N. Y., and in 1831 removed 
 thence to Chautauqua County. When the son, who 
 is the subject of this sketch, was nine months old, 
 the family transferred their residence to Erie Co., 
 N. Y., settling in Evans Township. In 1840 they 
 went to Wisconsin and settled in Union, Rock 
 County, where they were pioneer settlers. The 
 lather practiced his profession there 12 years, re- 
 moving with his family thence to Sandwich, De Kalb 
 County, where 'he established his business and has 
 since continued its prosecution. 
 
 Mr. Armstrong accompanied his parents in their 
 varied migrations, and was an inmate of the parental 
 household until 1861. When he was 16 years of age 
 he became interested in civil engineering and began 
 the practical pursuit of the business of operating as 
 flagman. While in Wisconsin in 1852-5, he was 
 employed at intervals in the Government survey. 
 In the year named he set out for an overland journey 
 to California. He prospected on the route and 
 arrived in the Golden State in February, 1862. He 
 had acquired a thorough knowledge of civil engineer- 
 ing and entered into the prosecution of that business, 
 in which he operated until 1865. In that year he 
 returned to Wisconsin and engaged in farming in 
 Rock County, in which he was engaged three years, 
 coming to De Kalb County in 1868. He interested 
 himself in agricultural operations in Milan Township, 
 in whieh pursuit he passed three years, removing at 
 the expiration of that period to Sycamore. 
 
 In 1871 Mr. Armstrong was elected County Sur- 
 eyor and continued to discharge the duties of the 
 
 incumbency until 1884. During four years of the 
 included period he operated in the interests of the 
 Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, surveying lands in 
 Iowa and Dakota. In 1884 he was appointed to 
 the position whose duties he is discharging with 
 entire satisfaction to all concerned. 
 
 His marriage to Eunice Richardson took place in 
 1855. She is a native of Chautauqua Co., N. Y., 
 Seven children have been born of their union 
 Hattie, May, Annie, Elizabeth, Carlotta, Nevada and 
 Arthur. 
 
 avid Wood, deceased, formerly a farmer 
 on the south half of section i, Cortland 
 Township, was born April 21, 1808, prob- 
 ably in Connecticut. His parents were John 
 and Phebe (Bradford) Wood, both of whom 
 died in Union Co., Ohio. His father was a 
 farmer. 
 
 The subject of this sketch spent his early, life in 
 Union Co., Ohio, and emigrated thence to the place 
 in this county where his widow now lives, and whsre 
 he died, March 24, 1861; he was buried in Ohio 
 Grove Cemetery. Having been brought up on a 
 farm and received a common-school education, he 
 continued working his father's farm on shares for a 
 time, and in September, 1835, in company with 
 George Gandy and four or five others, came to this 
 county. He made a claim on section i , township 
 40 north, of range 5 east, now known as Cortland ; he 
 erected a log house and lived here until i84T, when 
 he returned to Ohio, where he was married. He re- 
 turned to this county in the fall of 1843, at which 
 time the land came into market, and he entered it. 
 In 1855 he built a frame residence, which his family 
 is still occupying. 
 
 Once in early day, he went to St. Charles with an 
 ox team to get provisions, and on his return his team 
 gave out. He remained over night under an oak 
 tree, but could get no sleep, as he had to stir around 
 continually to keep from freezing. He had some 
 beef with him in the wagon, and the wolves were near 
 by, howling around, all night. The next morning he 
 had to break the ice to get his team over. 
 
 *C 
 
 -x > 
 
 '"' ' 

 
 OF THE 
 MHVERSfff OF HLHIfflS
 
 He was married Oct. 27, 1842, in Union Co., 
 Ohio, to Miss Ruth Cary, daughter of Ephraim and 
 Matilda (Gandy) Cary, both of whom died in that 
 county, the former Dec. 12, 1878, and the latter July 
 21, 1855. Mr. Cary, a farmer, was born April 9, 
 1790, in Pennsylvania, and Mrs. C. Dec. 15, 1801. 
 Mrs. Wood was born Sept. 24, 1825, in Madison Co., 
 Ohio, and was two years old when her parents 
 moved with her to Marvin Township, Union County, 
 where she lived until her marriage. In her younger 
 days she attained great skill in the art of spinning, 
 flax in winter and wool in summer. Would often do 
 two day's work in one, without becoming veiy tired. 
 Indeed, she followed this[business more than ordinary 
 house-work. 
 
 Of her seven children, only one is deceased. The 
 names of all and dates of birth are as follows : John, 
 Jan. 9, 1844; Matilda J., Dec. 5, (845; Phebe, 
 April 21, 1848; Mary A., March 25, 1850, and died 
 Dec. 23, 1880; Elizabeth, May 14, 1852; Rhoda, 
 Nov. 3, 1854; and Malinda E., May i, 1859. 
 
 Mrs. W. is a member of the Church of the United 
 Brethren, as was also her husband, and in his 
 political views he was a Republican. The landed 
 estate now comprises 134 acres. 
 
 . orman Preston, farmer, section 29, Genoa 
 Township, is a native citizen of the place 
 of which he is a resident, and was born 
 Oct. 12, 1840. His parents, Justus and Sina 
 (Hall) Preston, were natives of Connecticut and 
 became pioneer citizens of De Kalb County in 
 1836, settling in Genoa Township. The father died 
 there June 2, 1847, aged 53 years, 5 months and 4 
 days; and the mother's demise took place Feb. 25, 
 1869, in that township. She was aged 67 years and 
 and 26 days. Their children were named Henry. 
 Augustus, Charles, George, Norman and Julia E. 
 
 Mr. Preston acquired a common-school education 
 and remained a member of the parental household 
 until he was 25 years of age, when he was married 
 and became the head of a family, settling in inde- 
 pendent life in Genoa Township. Mrs. Preston, 
 formerly Mary A. Hathaway, was born in the State 
 
 of New York, March 4, 1846, and is the daughter of 
 Edwin and Millicent (Rowley) Hathaway, who had / 
 seven children, viz.: Alonzo, Lydia J., Nathan R., $ 
 Mary A., Alonzo E. and Joel B. One child died in *f ' 
 extreme infancy, and also Alonzo, the eldest child, is . 
 deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Preston were married at W- 
 Sycamore, Jan. i, 1866. They have one child, Sina 
 M., born Aug. 3r, 1872, in Genoa Township. Mr. 
 Preston is identified with the Republican party in 
 political views and connections. 
 
 t 
 
 & 
 
 nry H. Gandy, farmer, section 10, Cort- 
 and Township, occupying 115 acres on the 
 southwest quarter, was born in Trumbull 
 Co., Ohio, April 16, 1810. Both his parents 
 were natives of New Jersey. His father, H. H., 
 was born Feb. 24, 1768, and died March 27, 
 1849, in Union Co., Ohio; and his mother, Sally, nee 
 Harris, was born Feb. 7, 1785, and died Sept. i, 
 1846, in Union Co., Ohio. Mr. G.'s paternal grand- 
 father died in the service of his country during the 
 Revolutionary War, in a hospital at Valley Forge, 
 and his maternal grandfather was also in the Revolu- 
 tionary Army. 
 
 When the subject of this sketch was only two years 
 of age his parents removed with him to Madison Co^ 
 Ohio, where they lived 18 or 19 years, when his father 
 bought land in Union County, same State, moved his 
 family there and lived five or six years. Mr. Gandy, 
 of this sketch, moved to this township when he was 
 27 years of age, arriving on the very anniversary of 
 his birth-day, in the spring of 1837, and has lived 
 here ever since. To this place his brother George 
 W. had preceded him in the fall of 1835, and also 
 his brother-in-law, Henry Smith. Isaac Gandy, a 
 nephew, was also here : he has since died. Only 
 one man is now living who was a member of this first 
 settlement on this side of the Grove. All the other 
 settlements at that time were in the timber. 
 
 Mr. Gandy was married Sept. 12, 1833, to Lucinda 
 Meacham, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Snow) 
 Meacham. Her mother was born in 1808, and died 
 in Windham Co., Conn. Mrs. G.'s father was born 
 about 1772, and died in April, 1857, also in Windham
 
 
 J 
 
 County. Mrs. G. was born Sept. 5, 1806, in the 
 above county, probably of Puritan English descent. 
 Of the seven children of Mr. and Mrs. Gandy, all are 
 living, namely: Joseph, born Nov. i, 1834, in Union 
 Co., Ohio; Julia A., Oct. 7, 1836, same county; 
 Marcus, March 8, 1839; Jerusha, Feb. 15, 1841; 
 Matilda, June 4, 1843; Francis M., June 27, 1845 ; 
 and Andrew J., March 15, 1848. The last five were 
 born in this county. 
 
 Mr. G. has been Assessor tor many years, and has 
 been School Director. In politics he is a Democrat. 
 
 The portrait of Mr. Gandy, accompanying this 
 sketch, will doubtless be welcomed in this ALBUM by 
 the people of De Kalb County, and accordingly it is 
 with great pleasure that the publishers insert it in 
 this connection. 
 
 <,enry Lamson Boies, editor of the True 
 Republican, published at Sycamore, was 
 born July 5, 1830, at South Hadley, Mass , 
 and is the son of Artemas and Susan (Lamson) 
 Boies. In the paternal line of descent he comes 
 of Huguenot ancestry. His patronymic also 
 unmistakably proclaims his French origin and refers 
 to the estates which his earliest progenitors received 
 from the sovereigns of France. By the persecution 
 of the Huguenots under Cardinal Richelieu they 
 were driven to Scotland, and, enlisting under Crom- 
 well, were sent to Northern Ireland, from which as 
 Scotch-Irish they emigrated to Massachusetts about 
 \ 1680. 
 
 \ Artemas Boies, the father, was born in 1792, in 
 Blandford, Mass. His natural abilities and educa- 
 tion fitted him for a high sphere of usefulness and 
 activity and he became a clergyman of the Congre- 
 gational Church, attaining distinction in his profes- 
 sion and, dying, left his sons the heritage of the name 
 he bore, ennobled by a life of stainless integrity and 
 eminent devotion to the trusts imposed by the obli- 
 gations of his ministry. In 1835 he moved his 
 family and interests to Boston, and five years later 
 made another transfer to New London, Conn., where 
 he died Sept. 20, 1845. The mother was born in 
 the year 1800, in Keene, N. H. In her widowhood 
 
 
 she returned to the place of her nativity and there 
 passed a score and a half of years, dying in Septem- 
 ber, 1876. Mr. Boies was the parent of seven chil- 
 dren, four of whom have passed to the mystic realms 
 of the life beyond. The oldest surviving son, Will- 
 iam E. Boies, is his father's mantle-bearer, and has 
 been a clergyman of the Congregational Church for 
 a period of years extending nearly to the time of his 
 father's demise. He resides at Long Meadow, Mass. 
 Lauretta M. is the youngest living child, and resides 
 at Rye, N. Y. 
 
 Mr. Boies of this sketch inherited the consumptive 
 tendencies of his family. He had been trained in- 
 tellectually with much care in his boyhood and 
 youth, and at 20 was seized with pulmonary hemor- 
 rhage. Change from the severe climate of New En- 
 gland was necessary, and he passed the winter of 
 1850 in the Azores, receiving benefit in more than 
 one respect, and returning to America by the way of 
 Liverpool and London. He went to Charleston, S. 
 C., to pass the winter following and taught school a 
 year in the Palmetto State. His health had improved 
 so much that he returned North with renewed cour- 
 age to engage in business. In 1852 he bought an 
 interest in a gunpowder factory at Catskill, N. Y. 
 Three months later he was again in the toils of his 
 former disease, and he -decided on a change of cli- 
 mate and a career which would give him the benefit 
 of open air. With this view he came to De Kalb 
 Co., 111., in 1854, and became the proprietor of a 
 farm situated in the town of South Grove. In 1858 
 he located at Sycamore. He now owns 20 acres of 
 land within the corporation of Sycamore, and also a 
 farm of 320 acres in Hand Co., Dak. He platted 
 Boies' First Addition to Sycamore in 1865. In 1871 
 he laid out a second addition, and a third in 1876. 
 In 1858, associated with John R. Hamlin, he initi- 
 ated the project which resulted in the construction of 
 the Sycamore & Cortland Railroad, connecting with 
 one of the main routes of the Chicago & North- 
 western Railway and now the property of that cor- 
 poration. In 1863 Mr. Boies became connected with 
 the True Republican, and in 1865 became its editor. 
 It is one of the leading journals of the county. He 
 is also the author of "Boies' History of De Kalb 
 County," a valuable compilation for purposes of sta- 
 tistical reference, which was published in r 
 
 Mr. Boies has been a valuable and important fac- 
 
 k
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 tor in the development of Sycamore. His enterprise 
 and public spirit have added greatly to the rate of 
 progress of this section, and he is widely known and 
 justly esteemed in all his private and public rela- 
 tions. He obtained the appointment of Postmaster 
 at Sycamore and officiated four years. His latest 
 public service was in 1870, when he was appointed 
 Secretary of the Illinois State Senate. 
 
 The marriage of Mr. Boies to Harriet S. Holmes 
 took place Feb. 9, 1858, at Springfield, Mass. Mrs. 
 Boies is the daughter of Alexander and Margaret 
 (Rumrill) Holmes, and is a native of Sherburne, N. 
 Y. Edward Irving, oldest son, was born Feb. 20, 
 1860, and is assistant editor of the True Republican. 
 Charles Artemas was born Jan. 3, 1863, and is a 
 farmer in Hand Co., Dak. Lucy M. was born Feb. 
 3, 1865. 
 
 ^rasmus D. Walrod, a pioneer of De Kalb 
 County, was born June 16, 1816, at Oak 
 Hill, Montgomery Co., N. Y. His parents, 
 Peter W. and Mary (Wayt) Walrod, as well as 
 his grandparents, were born in the State of 
 New York, but the stock from which they de- 
 scended originated in Germany. 
 
 The parents of Mr. Walrod removed to Wyoming 
 Co., N. Y., when he was seven years of age, his 
 father buying a farm in Eagle Township. (The 
 municipality was then Allegany County, which was 
 afterward divided and Wyoming County formed.) In 
 1835 the family set out for Illinois, bringing with 
 them all their household effects in two wagons drawn 
 by horses. Mr. Walrod was then 19 years of age 
 and drove three horses attached to a heavy wagon. 
 In crossing the Black Swamp in Ohio, they were 
 obliged to double teams with other -immigrants in 
 order to ford the mud into which the wagon wheels 
 sunk to their hflbs. The transit consumed six weeks. 
 On arrival in De Kalb County the father and older 
 brother located at Union Grove in De Kalb Town- 
 ship, or what is now thus designated, the date of 
 their location preceding the Government survey. 
 The father and two oldest sons each secured a 
 claim on which log cabins had been erected, which 
 
 they occupied, and made puncheon for doors, floors 
 and tables. The senior Walrod retained ownership 
 of his claim about three years, when he sold and ob- 
 tained one in what is now the township of Sycamore. 
 He built a log house, entered vigorously upon the 
 improvement of the property, and died upon his 
 homestead, in 1844. The mother died in 1856. 
 They were the parents of nine children. 
 
 Mr. Walrod is next to the youngest in order of 
 birth. As soon as he arrived in De Kalb County he 
 made a claim in Mayfield Township, which was 
 "jumped" from him, and he secured another by 
 purchase from his brother in the same township, 
 built a log house and took possession. In 1839 he 
 sold the property for $1,050 and bought a claim of 
 L. D. Walrod situated on section 32 in Sycamore 
 Township, a part of which is now included within the 
 limits of the city. This was previous to its coming 
 into market, and when the opportunity for securing 
 his patent arrived he borrowed money and made the 
 entry according to the regulations made and pro- 
 vided. With the exception of a period of seven years 
 this estate has since been his residence. In 1850 
 Mr. Walrod made an overland journey to California, 
 which occupied four months and three days. The 
 party were well provisioned and spent their nights in 
 camp. The route would have been made in entire 
 comfort but for having overtaken three men without 
 provisions, with whom they divided, which necessi- 
 tated rationing the entire party. Mr. Walrod re- 
 mained two years in the Golden State and returned 
 by the isthmus route to New York, coming again to 
 Sycamore, where his family had remained during his 
 absence. 
 
 Mr. Walrod was married Aug. i, 1839, to Melintha 
 Powell, a daughter of Rachel and Ruth (Pierce) 
 Powell. Her father was born in England and was 
 married after his emigration to America, her mother 
 being of Massachusetts origin. Mrs. Walrod was 
 born in the township of Perinton, Monroe Co., N. Y., 
 Nov. 9, 1817. Her father died while she was an 
 infant, and her mother afterwards became the wife of 
 James Cartwright. The family migrated in 1837 to 
 Illinois and located at Union Grove in De Kalb 
 County. The land included in the claim which Mr. 
 Cartwright entered is now the county poor farm and 
 under the finest class of improvements. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Walrod have but one surviving child, Walter
 
 D., born March 13, 1843. He was educated in the 
 public schools of Sycamore, and has been twice mar- 
 ried. Mary (Wntkins) Walrod died three years after 
 marriage, leaving one child, Willie E. W. D. Wal- 
 rod married Amanda Denmark for his second wife, 
 and they have four children, Malintha, George, 
 Lewis and Walter. Ransom G., the eldest child of 
 E. D. Walrod, was born Oct. 30, 1840. He was ed- 
 ucated at Princeton, Bureau Co., 111., his health fail- 
 ing while at school, and he died Aug. 15, 1857. 
 Edward died in infancy. George C. was born Aug. 
 23, 1849. He attained to a fine degree of scholarly 
 advancement and was graduated at a commercial 
 college in Chicago, and'afterward engaged in teach- 
 ing. He died Feb. 9, 1875. James R. died in infancy. 
 
 'lea C. Pond, member of the firm of 
 Warren & Pond, dealers in watches, clocks, 
 jewelry, plated ware and musical instru- 
 ments, at Sycamore, was born Dec. 24, 1856, 
 in the towi.ship of Sycamore. His father, 
 Americus H. Pond, was born in Pennsylvania, 
 and came to Sycamore abo.it 1850, where he married 
 Amy Hollenbeck. They have five children : Emily 
 E. is the wife of D. S. Brown, a banker at Genoa ; C. 
 C. was born next in order; William L. is -an attorney 
 at De Kalb; Harry A. is a farmer on the family 
 homestead!; and Lizzie is the youngest. 
 
 Mr. Pond became a teacher at the age of 20 years, 
 and continued in the pursuit of that vocation until 
 the spring of 1882, operating in this county continu- 
 ously, with the exception of one term, when he 
 taught at Laddonia, Audrain Co., Mo. In April of 
 the year named, he entered into the partnership 
 known as Pond & Bacon, in the sale of jewelry, the 
 business of that firm continuing until March 3, when 
 he purchased Mr. Bacon's interest, and on the 2oth 
 of March, 1884, Mr. Pond consolidated his business 
 relations with those of George O. Warren. They are 
 managing a prosperous enterprise, one of the largest 
 in the line in the county. Mr. Pond belongs to the 
 order known as the Modern Woodmen of America. 
 
 He was married Sept. 30, 1880, at Sycamore, to 
 Etta, daughter of Edmond B. and Susan Sivwright 
 
 
 Harned, and they have one child, Ethel C., born 2? 
 Jan. 30, 1883. Mrs. Pond was born Dec. 7, 1858, <f 
 in the township of Mayfield. 
 
 ndrew H. Olmstead, farmer, section 17 > 
 Genoa Township, is the son of Caleb and 
 imantha (Wager) Olmstead, whose biograph- I 
 ical notice appears on another page. He was (5 
 born Jan. 12, 1836, in Delaware Co , N. Y. / 
 His parents came to De Kalb County in 1846, 
 and he has been a resident of Genoa Township 
 since he was 10 years of age, with the exception of 
 several months in 1874, which he spent in travel in 
 Colorado and California for the benefit of his health. 
 He is one of the leading agriculturists of his town- ( 
 ship, where he owns nearly 1,000 acres of land, all ^ 
 under improvements. His stock includes an average ^ 
 of 150 head of cattle, 10 horses, and he fattens for r= 
 market about 75 hogs yearly. 
 
 He was married Dec. 29, 1859, in Genoa Town- e= 
 ship to Rebecca J. Eiklor, and they have been the 5 
 parents of three children, Cora M., born June 6, < 
 1866; Ada M., Sept. 13, 1869; and Effie R., Jan. 
 15, 1879. The latter died when two years and four 
 months old. Mrs. Olmstead was born Aug. 30, 1844, 
 in Erie Co., Ohio. She is the daughter of Frederick 
 and Jeannette Eiklor, both of whom were natives of 
 Ohio. Mr. Olmstead is a Republican by principle 
 and inheritance and has held several local offices. 
 
 ells G. Chamberlain, of the firm of Whit- 
 temore, Chamberlain & Co , at Sycamore, 
 was born July 27, 1837, in Williamstown, 
 Mass. Emery Chamberlain, his father, was 
 fanner and was born in Connecticut, Dec. 
 791. His death occurred Feb. u, 1876. 
 The mother of the subject of this sketch, Mary 
 (Brownell) Chamberlain, was born in May, 1794, in 
 Vermont, and died Feb. T3, 1871. Their marriage 
 took place in 1810, and the period of their lives 
 gether embraced 60 years and 10 months. Eight of^ 
 their 13 children are now living (r884). Mary, tli
 
 
 ..-' i V><. / 
 
 COUNTY. 
 
 wife of R. Starkus Buckley, died in Little Rock, Ark. 
 Betsey died in youth. Laura married Charles Gard- 
 ner, and they went to the Indian Territory, where 
 Mr. Gardner was a teacher among the Choctaw In- 
 dians, in the employment of the United States Gov- 
 ernment. William Gardner, their son, was the first 
 white child born in the Territory. Mr. Gardner is now 
 teacher in the city of New York, where his wife died. 
 Porter E. is a retired farmer, resident at Rockford, 
 111. Emmeline is the widow of Dr. Sherwood, of 
 Chicago. Thomas M. is a retired farmer living at 
 Belvidere, 111. Lucy is the wife of F. Sanderson, a 
 merchant tailor of Beloit, Wis. Henry M. entered 
 the Union army and returned thence to Madison, 
 Wis., where he died. Warner E. is a farmer in Ash- 
 land, Minn. Jane S. married L. M. Van Buren, M. 
 D., of Spirit Lake, Iowa. Kate died at Williams- 
 town, Mass., when she was 19 years old. 
 
 Mr. Chamberlain is the next in order of birth. 
 When he was 16 years of age his father's family re- 
 moved to Beloit, Wis., and he was placed at the 
 Mills Boarding School for boys at South Williams- 
 town, where he was a student two years. He went 
 to Beloit and became a clerk in the hardware store of 
 A. P. Waterman and continued in that employment 
 two years, after which he was occupied as an as- 
 sistant on his father's farm until he reached his 
 majority. 
 
 Mr. Chamberlain celebrated his attaining to man's 
 estate by his marriage Aug. 19, 1858, to Emily A., 
 daughter of Clark and Sally Giles. She was born 
 Nov. 1 6, 1841, in Farmersville, CattaraugusCo.,N. Y. 
 Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Cham- 
 berlain, five of whom are still living. Mark was born 
 Oct. 29, 1861, and is a carpenter and machinist, 
 resident at Sycamore. Clark was born Aug. 30, 
 1864, and died April 5, 1865. Myrtie was born Dec. 
 25, 1865; Mary, Aug. 23, 1870; Grace, Nov. 17, 
 1874; Fenton, Dec. 7, 1877. 
 
 In the fall of 1866 Mr. Chamberlain bought a farm 
 in the township of South Grove, De Kalb County, 
 consisting of 80 acres situated on section 16, where 
 the family resided six years, the proprietor being oc- 
 cupied in the improvement and cultivation of his 
 property. In 1872 he rented the farm and removed 
 to Sycamore. In 1875 he sold the place and entered 
 the hardware store of Warren & Ellwood as a sales- 
 man. A year later the proprietors sold their inter- 
 ests to Harkness & Whittemore, who conducted the 
 
 establishment until 1878, when Mr. Chamberlain 
 became a partner by the purchase of an interest, 
 and the firm style became Whittemore, Chamberlain 
 & Co. Their establishment is one of the largest in 
 the line of hardware, and all branches commonly 
 connected therewith, in the county, and they also 
 have a jobbing department. Their business requires 
 one general assistant and two tinners. 
 
 obert Holland, farmer on the southeast 
 
 quarter of section 32, and north half of the 
 northeast quarter of section 33, Cortland 
 Township, was born in Fermanagh, Ireland, 
 March 26, 1815. His parents, Thomas and 
 Ellen (Graham) Holland, passed all their life 
 in their native land, Ireland. At the age of 23 or 24 
 Mr. Robert Holland left his native land, where he 
 was brought up on a farm and obtained a limited 
 education in a boys' school, and came to the "land *^- 
 of opportunity," in a sail vessel, landing at New York 5? 
 in May, 1839. He first labored for three months in & 
 a brick-yard at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., then a year for = 
 a hotel-keeper in the country near by (Dutchess^' 
 County) ; next, he followed manual labor for five 
 years, farming and gardening, in the town of Rich- 
 field, Fairfield Co., Conn.; then for nine years more 
 he worked by the day and followed ox-teaming, in 
 the same town; and finally, in 1854, he came to 
 Kaneville, this State, purchased 80 acres of land, 
 and began to make a home. Finding a few tempor- 
 ary improvements on the place, he extended theml 
 and rendered the place more valuable for ten years, | X 
 when he sold it and bought his present farm of 240! 
 acres. It also was partly improved when he took 
 possession of it, and he has raised its value from $30 
 to $65 per acre. He lias enlarged the dwelling, and 
 now has a good frame house ; also a good grain and 
 stock barn and all the necessary out-buildings. 
 
 Mr. Holland was married June 28, 1843, in Ridge-i 
 field, Conn., to Miss Grace, daughter of Thomas S. 
 and Emily (Gilbert) Keeler. Mrs. H.'s parents died. 8 
 in Connecticut, her father a little over 40 years of/j 
 age and her mother at the age of 62. One of her* 
 grandfathers was a Revolutionary soldier, 
 dren have been born in the family of Mr. Holland 
 viz.: Thomas, April 28, 1846; George, May 31, 184 
 
 s^^r: *|)@S^
 
 2^ 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 X Nathan G., Aug. 8, 1852; Elizabeth J., April 22, 1859; 
 
 'A and Ellen, July 28, 1844, who died Oct. 24, 1867,011 
 
 $ ' 9 the homestead. Elizabeth was born in Kaneville, 
 1 111., the rest in Ridgefield, Conn. 
 
 A. Mr. H. is a Republican and has been Road Over- 
 seer, and Mrs. H. is a member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church. 
 
 eorge O. Warren, of the firm of Warren & 
 Pond, jewelers, at Sycamore, was born July 
 2, 1853, in Allegany Co., N. Y., and is the 
 son of Luke A. and Ursula (Foster) Warren. 
 He is one of a family of eight children, seven 
 of whom are living. William H. is a gauger 
 by profession, and resides in Dakota. Mary L. is 
 the wife of J. E. Southworth and lives at Santa 
 Clara, Cal. Sarah E. married Arthur E. Wilbur, 
 of Clinton, Iowa. Alta R. is the wife of William 
 Campbell, a farmer near Mason, Michigan. Michael 
 F. is a jeweler in De Kalb. John F. is a dealer in 
 fruits and vegetables at Galveston, Texas. George 
 O. was born next in order. Abi died Feb. 2, 1858, 
 aged 21 months. In 1864 the family settled in Ful- 
 ton, Whiteside Co., 111., and resided there about two 
 years, going thence to Ogle Co., 111., where they 
 lived until the spring of 1871. At that date the 
 father bought 50 acres of land in Cortland Township, 
 De Kalb County, of which he retained possession 10 
 years. In 1882 he sold the farm and the parents 
 removed to Sycamore. 
 
 Mr. Warren began the acquisition of the details of 
 his profession when he was 18 years of age, at Buda, 
 111., continuing there about a year, when he came to 
 Sycamore and entered the jewelry establishment of 
 his brother, Michael F., and operated under his su- 
 pervision until the fall of 1874, when, associated with 
 his brother-in-law, J. E. Southworth, he opened a 
 jewelry store in a part of the building now occupied 
 by Ellwood & Sivwright. Mr. Southworth became 
 sole proprietor of the business nearly two years later, 
 and Mr. Warren purchased another stock of goods 
 and founded a business in the same line, which he 
 conducted about eight years. March 20, 1884, he 
 and his present partner, C. C. Pond, consolidated 
 their stocks and have since conducted a joint busi-' 
 
 a 
 
 ness, which they are rriai. aging with success and sat- 
 isfaction to the public. They trade in watches, clocks 
 jewelry, table and pocket cutlery, optical goods and 
 musical instruments. Mr. Warren is a member of 
 the order of Modern Woodmen of America. 
 
 Hrs wife was formerly Jennie C. Smith, to whom 
 he was married Jan. 13, 1875. She was born March 
 6, 1854, near Detroit, and is the adopted daughter of 
 Spafford and Eliza Smith, of Sycamore. One son, 
 SpafFord S., has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Warren. 
 They are members of the Baptist Church. 
 
 emuel C. Harris, farmer, section 27, Genoa 
 Township, was born May 26, 1832, in 
 Genesee Co., N. Y. His father, John 
 Harris, was also born in the same State, Jan. 
 13, 1784, and married Irena Curtis, a native of 
 Vermont. After their marriage they settled in 
 the Empire State, coming West later in life and set- 
 tling in Oakland Co., Mich. The father died there 
 Dec. 29, 1839. The mother died in Genoa Town- 
 ship in the fall of 1865. They had four children, 
 Paulina, Philo, Sina and Lemuel C. 
 
 Mr. Harris came to Michigan with his parents 
 when he was but two years of age. In 1844 he came 
 to Boone Co., 111., and lived with his uncle, Philo 
 Curtis, under whose charge he remained four years. 
 He then opened an independent career for himself, 
 engaging as a farm assistant and working by the 
 month seven years. He came to De Kalb County 
 in 1851 and bought a farm in Genoa Township, 
 where he settled and resided two years. He then 
 exchanged his estate for a farm of 120 acres in the 
 same Township, where he established his homestead. 
 The place is wholly under improvements. Mr. 
 Harris is a Republican in political bias and supports 
 the issues of the party. He is a member of the 
 Order of Odd Fellows. 
 
 The first marriage of Mr. Harris occurred at Syca- 
 more, Jan. i, 1855, when Caroline C. Durham be- 
 came his wife, and of their union three children were 
 born: Edgar D., May 14, 1857; Edna C., Dec. 31, 
 1860; and Caroline, Oct. 28, 1864. The latter died 
 when six weeks old. The decease of the mother 

 
 DE KALE COUNTY. 
 
 occurred Nov. 21, 1864. Nov. 24, 1868, Mr. Harris 
 was a second time married, to Mary E. Stark, at 
 Belviderc. She was born in the township of Syca- 
 more, Jan. i, 1845. Her parents, Marshall and 
 Louisa (Tyler) Stark, were natives of Pennsylvania 
 and in 1835 settled in the township of Sycamore, 
 where her father died Dec. 26, 1882. Their ten chil- 
 dren were named Herman, Martha, Mary, Jefferson, 
 Henry, Theron, Ada, Ella, Emma and Hattie. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Harris have one child, Jefferson S., born 
 March 3, 1870. 
 
 liel T. Lane, farmer on the southwest 
 quarter of section 21, Cortland Township, 
 where he has 40 acres, was born in San- 
 bornton, Belknap Co., N. H., June 6, 1825. 
 His father, Simeon Lane, was a farmer, and died 
 in New Hampshire, aged 75 years. His mother, 
 Huldah, nee Robinson, died also in that State, at the 
 age of 59 years. 
 
 The latter lived in his native State until 25 years 
 of age, on a farm, working by the month the several 
 years of this period. In 1850 he came West and lo- 
 cated in St. Charles, Kane Co., 111., where he en- 
 gaged in manual labor by the day for seven years or 
 more. He then went to Warrenville, Du Page Co., 
 111., and rented a farm two or three years; then 
 rented a farm near St. Charles for a year. By this 
 time the need of the nation for soldiers became so 
 great that Mr. Lane concluded to risk his life in the 
 Union cause.' In August, r862, therefore, he en- 
 listed, in Co. E, 1 27th 111. Vol. Inf., Captain Gillett, 
 Colonel Van Arman, in the I5th Army Corps, under 
 Gen. John A. Logan. He took part in five battles, 
 two at Vicksburg, and one each at Little Rock, 
 Resaca and Dallas (Ga.), in which last he was 
 wounded, May 7, 1864, by a minie ball that grazed 
 the top of his "head. He then went into the conva- 
 lescent camp at Nashville, Tenn., where he did duty 
 until he was discharged. 
 
 Returning to Warrenville, he was on a farm for 
 three years, when he sold the place and took posses- 
 sion of his present farm. Here he first had 80 acres, 
 but has since sold half the place. He is a Republi- 
 can in his political views, but neither he nor Mrs. L. 
 is a member of any Church. 
 
 He was first married June i, 1853, to Sarah Per- 
 vere. Her parents, George and Hannah Pervere, 
 both died in the Old Granite State. She was born 
 Sept. 24, 1830, and died April 12, 1856, leaving one 
 child, Luella, who was born July 31, 1854, in St. 
 Charles, 111. Mr. Lane was married a second time 
 Sept. 19, 1858, in Warrenville, 111., to Miss Helen 
 Pelham, daughter of George and Louisa (Hovenden) 
 Pelham, natives of England. Her father was born 
 March 19, 1809, and died Jan. 27, 1884; her mother, 
 born Dec. 28, 1809, is still living, in Warrenville, 
 with a son. They, with a family of six children, 
 emigrated to Huron Co., Ohio, in the winter of 1841, 
 just after the death of one of their children. After 
 residing in the latter place three years they came to 
 Warrenville, locating upon a farm he purchased in 
 the vicinity. Mrs. Lane was born July 29, 1833, in 
 England, and was eight years old when the family 
 emigrated to this country. Her parents came here 
 poor, but by frugality they in time accumulated a 
 handsome amount of property. Mr. Pelham, by his 
 death, left a large circle of mourning friends. He 
 had led a noble Christian life. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Lane's children are the following : 
 George S., born Jan. 7, 1860; Albert M., Aug. 26, 
 1861 ; Huldah L., Feb. 14, 1863, died March 21, 
 following, and was buried in her grandfather's door- 
 yard in Warrenville; Lillian B., Sept. 4, 1866; and 
 Henry I., Aug. 28, 1870. The first two and the 
 fourth were born in Warrenville; Huldah L. was 
 born in Wheaton, 111., and the last in Cortland Town- 
 ship, at the present place of residence. 
 
 
 
 arry Ewing, photographer at Sycamore, was 
 born Jan. 31, 1858, in New Brighton, Beaver 
 Co., Pa., and is the son of Ebenezer and Sarah 
 C. (Bechtel) Ewing. His parents were natives 
 of Pennsylvania, and later in life removed to 
 Galesburg, 111., where his father died, in 1880. 
 His (Harry's) mother is still living there. Their four 
 children are living: Ella married Leon Simon, a 
 druggist of Chicago ; Frances and Mattie are the two 
 youngest. 
 
 Mr. Ewing is the eldest. He passed his youth in 
 the common schools, and in 1876 began to fit himself_ 
 A r^, >m^M>.<ii!^
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 ffor his business at Galesburg, with Z. P. McMillen. 
 under whose instructions he operated two years, and 
 ^ afterward was connected two years with C. A. Winsor 
 of the same place. Going thence to Marshalltown, 
 he operated two years and' came thence to Sycamore 
 in May, 1881. He became an employee of G. W. 
 Taylor, photographer, and after six months purchased 
 the establishment where he had been employed and 
 is still engaged in its management. Many of the 
 portraits in this ALBUM are reproduced from photo- 
 graphs taken by him. 
 
 He was married at Sycamore, March 15, 1883, to 
 Nellie, daughter of Azel and Mary (Shurtleff) Stone. 
 
 l\ 
 
 I She was born June 22, 1859, at Kenosha, Wis. They 
 have one child, Arthur Stone, born Dec. 18, 1884, 
 at Sycamore. 
 
 h 
 
 ilium King, farmer, section 34, Genoa 
 Township, was born June 5, 1817, in 
 Essex Co., N. Y., and is the son of Reuben 
 and Roxana (De Wolf) King. His parents 
 were natives of Massachusetts, where they 
 resided some years after their marriage, and 
 subsequently removed to the State of New York. 
 On their emigration to De Kalb County they located 
 in Genoa Township, going later to pass the last 
 years of their lives with a daughter in Kane Co., 111., 
 and there died. 
 
 Mr. King is next the youngest in order of birth of 
 ii children born to his parents. He lived in his 
 native county until he was 19 years of age, when he 
 went to Trumbull Co., Ohio, and there he maintained 
 a residence until 1849, the date of his removal to 
 the State of Illinois. He settled in Genoa Township, 
 where he has been a citizen since, with the exception 
 of two years which he passed in Nebraska. He is a 
 Republican in political connection and accepts the 
 tenets of the party. He has held several of the 
 minor local official positions. 
 
 He was first married to Hannah (Dowd) Miller, 
 widow of William Miller, in Trumbull Co., Ohio. 
 She bore him five children, Nelson, Alva D., Alfred, 
 Melvin and Emma. The mother was a native of 
 New York, and died in the township of Sycamore, 
 2, 1877. Mr. King was married the second 
 
 time June 3, 1877, in Genoa Township, to Harriet L., 
 daughter of Joseph and Julia A. (Haskins) Dano. 
 Herbert, Keuben and Justin are the names of the 
 children born of the second marriage. Mrs. King 
 was born Jan. 3, 1856, in Leeds Co., Ont. Her par- 
 ents were born in the State of New York, and after 
 their marriage settled in the Dominion of Canada, 
 where her father died. Her mother lives at Syca- 
 more. 
 
 eorge M. Sivwright, of the firm of Ell- 
 wood & Sivwright, grocers, etc., at Syca- 
 more, was born Dec. 2, 1837, in Cornwallis, 
 Kings Co., N. S., and is the son of James M. 
 and Prudence (Eaton) Sivwright. His father 
 was born in Windsor, N. S., Feb. 20, 1804, and 
 began his business life as a tanner and boot and shoe 
 manufacturer at Cornwallis, where he operated until 
 he removed his family to Sycamore in 1844. He 
 became a landholder in the township of Mayfield, 
 De Kalb County, and died on the homestead, Dec. 
 24, 1878. George's mother was born in 1807, in 
 Cornwallis, N. S., and died at the home of her 
 youngest son in Sycamore, Nov. 25, 1881. Five of 
 their seven children are living. David L. resides in 
 Hutchinson, Me Leod Co., Minn., is a farmer and 
 farrier and ex-Sheriff of the county where he resides, 
 is a man of wealth and position and a decided Re- 
 publican. Susan H. married E. B. Harned, a farmer 
 in the township of Sycamore and owning an extensive 
 tract of land. Eunice died in the i7th year of her 
 life. George M. is the next in order of birth. Alex- 
 ander is a traveling salesman in the interests of the 
 Marsh-Whitney Binder Company. Wentworth E. 
 is a clerk 'in a hardware store at Sycamore. James 
 L. resides on the homestead in Mayfield Township. 
 William Wells is deceased. 
 
 Mr. Sivwright was seven years of age when his 
 parents located in De Kalb County, and he was 
 brought up on the farm. On arriving at man's estate 
 he became the proprietor of 120 acres of land in the 
 township of Mayfield, and was actively engaged in 
 agricultural pursuits until 1872. In that year he 
 accepted a position as conductor on the Sycamore & 
 Cortland Railroad and officiated six years. On the 
 termination of that engagement he traveled some 
 
 -^g^
 
 

 
 DE KALJ3 COUNTY. 
 
 months as collector of the R. Ellwood Manufacturing 
 Company. He acceded to a half interest in the 
 business in which he is engaged in March, 1881, 
 purchasing his claim of the senior member of the 
 firm. The business is extensive and popular, and 
 represents an estimated investment of $to,ooo. Their 
 stock includes full lines of groceries, drugs, oils, paints, 
 crockery, etc., and they utilize nearly the entire space 
 of the three-story building which they occupy. 
 
 Mr. Sivwright is a prominent member of the Order 
 of Odd Fellows, and has filled successively all the 
 chairs of the Subordinate Lodge and Encampment. 
 
 He was married Dec. 26, 1860, in Kingston, De 
 Kalb County, to Maria L., daughter of Thomas and 
 Temperance Fairclo. Mrs. Sivwright was born Dec. 
 22, 1840, at Morristown, N. J. 
 
 Guy T. Sivwright, only child, was boui Aug. 30, 
 1861, in Mayfield Township. He grew to manhood 
 the idol of his parents, his succeeding years develop- 
 ing the fulfillment of the promises of his childhood 
 and youth. He was carefully educated, and finished 
 his studies at Valparaiso, Ind., College, where he 
 was graduated and afterwards was an assistant in his 
 father's business about one year. He possessed an 
 admirable character and won the esteem of young 
 and old. He was fitted for a life of usefulness, but 
 all he might have been on earth and the hopes of 
 those who loved him were blotted out by the dark- 
 winged destroyer. In the fall of 1883, he sustained 
 an injury from a fall in the skating-rink, which re- 
 sulted in spinal abscess, and from which he died June 
 15, 1884. 
 
 orace Haskins, farmer, section 34, Genoa 
 Township, is the son of John and Mary 
 (Talman) Haskins, both of whom were natives 
 of the State of New York, where the father was 
 born Feb. 13, 1781, and died March 17, 1856. 
 The mother of Horace was born Aug. 28, 1783, 
 and died March 22, 1825. Her ancestors came over 
 in the Mayflower. Mr. Haskins was again married 
 Nov. 3, 1825, to Mrs. Mary Winters. She had five 
 children by her first husband. 
 
 The subject of this sketch is the tenth in order of 
 birth of a family of 13 children, and was born Nov. 
 17, 1820, in Jefferson Co., N. Y. When he was 23 
 
 ^x^g" . "^y^ o^ 
 
 years of age, he came to Illinois by the lake route, 
 making his way to Chicago on board a sail-boat, 
 which he assisted in building. He came from the 
 Garden City directly to St. Charles, in Kane County, 
 where he made a brief stay, and later proceeded to 
 Genoa Township and engaged in the cultivation and 
 improvement of 80 acres of land, of which he became 
 the proprietor by purchase. To this he has added 
 until he now owns 262 acres in De Kalb County, 
 besides valuable farming tracts in the States of Ne- 
 braska, Michigan and Iowa. His stock on his home 
 farm comprises about 50 head of cattle, seven horses 
 and a quantity of stock of other varieties. 
 
 Mr. Haskins is one of the solid and influential 
 citizens of De Kalb County. He was the possessor 
 of $5-37 V* wr en he arrived in Chicago, and is now 
 the proprietor of an estate worth $50,000. He 
 brought the first scouring plow into De Kalb County. 
 In character he is justly rated as a generous, liberal 
 and public-spirited man, enlisting warmly in all en- 
 terprises which promise general benefit to the com- 
 munity. 
 
 The marriage of Mr. Haskins to Mariah Bebee 
 occurred March n, 1841, in Lorraine, Jefferson Co., 
 N. Y. She was born in that place June 19, 1820, 
 and is the daughter of John and Sarah (Clark) Bebee,- 
 who had a family of 10 children. The family of 
 Mr. and Mrs. Haskins has included seven children, 
 two of whom are living: M*ary E., born May 19, 1846, 
 is the- wife of John Haines and resides in Syca- 
 more Township; Martha M., born Nov. 22, 1852, 
 and married to a farmer of Cortland Township, of 
 the name of Daniel Beebe (not Bebee). Four chil- 
 dren died in infancy, and one, the oldest, died on the 
 lakes while the family were en route for Illinois, and 
 was buried at Milwaukee. The adopted son of Mr. 
 and Mrs. Haskins was received into the family July 
 27, 1870, and named Horace Clarence Haskins. 
 
 The portrait of Mr. Haskins, accompanying this 
 sketch, presents the features of a physiognomy indi- 
 cating a solid man, a substantial citizen and a reliable 
 support of all enterprises and principles that com- 
 mend themselves to his intuition of right. He has 
 ever distinguished himself for his energy in pushing 
 forward every enterprise inaugurated for the good of 
 his community. None are more generous in aiding 
 every such undertaking, and none more unselfi 
 in their devotion to the general welfare and progres 
 
 o ^^r' &i@^tei 
 
 \><r : A 
 
 *
 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 %* of his people than is Mr. Haskins. While he has de- 
 (^ voted much time and money for the good of others, 
 he has by rare good business sagacity been able to 
 accumulate a goodly fortune since he came to this 
 county. The portrait of Mr. Haskins is engraved 
 from a photograph taken in 1 884. 
 
 J 
 
 I 
 
 ames S. Russell, Police Magistrate^esident 
 at De Kalb, was born Sept. 25, 1834, in 
 Warren Co., Ind. His parents, John and 
 Mary A. (Fleming) Russell, were natives of 
 Ohio and settled in De Kalb County in the 
 spring of 1848. They located on a farm in 
 Kingston Township, where the mother died Dec. 28, 
 1879. Their seven children were named James S., 
 Westly D., Robert W., Sylvester S., David F., Milton 
 D., Reuben A. and Sarah J. 
 
 At the date of the removal of the family to De 
 Kalb County, Mr. Russell was 14 years old. The 
 first 19 years of his life were devoted to labor on his 
 father's farm and in securing his education at the 
 common schools. From that period until he was 22 
 he attended Mount Morris Seminary, in Ogle County. 
 On completing his studies he went to Wyoming, 
 Iowa, and was occupied through the following year as 
 a book-keeper. Returning to Kingston, he engaged 
 in the management of a part of the homestead farm, 
 which he worked on shares for nine years. 
 
 In August, 1867, he came to De Kalb and pur- 
 chased a half interest in the livery establishment of 
 S. Duffy, succeeding to the sole proprietorship in the 
 spring of 1868. In 1881 he sold the livery with its 
 equipments to Orlando Carter. He next engaged as 
 traveling salesman in the interests of the Superior 
 Barb Wire Company and occupied that position six 
 months. In the fall of 1881 he became an owner by 
 purchase of an interest in a hardware house, the 
 property of a body of stockholders, of whom Mr. 
 Russell was President. At the end of four months 
 he terminated his connection with the company. In 
 the spring of 1884 he was elected to the office of 
 Police Magistrate of De Kalb, which position has 
 since monopolized his time and attention. 
 
 Mr. Russell is prominent as an agriculturist and 
 owns 160 acres of improved land in Afton Township. 
 He has officiated as President, Secretary and Treas- 
 
 ^^ &~ 
 
 urer of De Kalb County Agricultural Society, and has 
 discharged the duties of several local official posi- 
 tions. He has been a member of the Board of Edu- 
 cation through several terms, and occupied the 
 position of President of that body. He has been 
 active and influential in educational matters since he 
 has resided in the county. He officiated one year as 
 President of the City Council and was by virtue of 
 that office Supervisor of his township. He was Clerk 
 of Kingston Township during his residence there. 
 Politically Mr. Russell is a Republican. He has 
 been a sufferer from the results of a severe attack of 
 rheumatism since 1860. He was violently ill during 
 35 days, and has been seriously disabled since. 
 
 He was married June 14, 1858, to Margaret, 
 daughter of William and Ellison Cooper. The 
 family of Mcs. Russell were at that date residents of 
 De Kalb County, but in 1880 sold the homestead in 
 Kingston Township and removed to their present 
 location in Belvidere, Boone County. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Russell have three children. J. Alva was born Dec. 
 28, 1862; R. Arthur, April 24, 1870; Mabel C.,Sept. 
 14, 1872. 
 
 Four brothers of Mr. Russell entered the military 
 service of the United States during the war of the 
 Rebellion, three of whom lost their lives. Westly 
 D. enlisted in the I3th 111. Vol. Inf., and died in 
 Kingston Township, from the consequences of 
 disease contracted in the army. Robert W. became 
 a soldier in the 4 2d Regt. 111. Vol. Inf. He was 
 killed in a charge on a rebel' battery in the battle of 
 Stone River. David F. belonged to the 951)1 III. 
 Inf., and died in the hospital at Vicksbury;. 
 
 eander P. Kellogg, farmer, section 3, Genoa 
 Township, was born Aug. 4, 1826, in Es- 
 sex, Vt. His parents, Orlando and Mary 
 A. (Place) Kellogg were natives of Massachu- 
 setts and had 10 children. Mr. Kellogg is the 
 eldest child of his father and mother, and was 
 a resident of his native State until he was 18 years 
 of age, when, in 1844, he removed to McHenry Co., 
 111. He passed a winter there, and in the spring of 
 the year following came to De Kalb County, locating 
 in Genoa Township. He operated the greater por- 
 tion of the time for 20 years as a teamster between
 
 Chicago and De Kalb County and other portions of 
 the State of Illinois. 
 
 In 1 846 he pre-empted 80 acres of land on section 
 3, where he has since maintained his homestead, and 
 has doubled his acreage. His entire landed pro- 
 perty is under cultivation. He is a Republican in 
 political conviction and principle. Though often 
 urged to accept local official positions he has per- 
 sistently declined. In 1852 he was appointed Post- 
 master of Ney, in which position he served continu- 
 ously eight years. He has since officiated as Assistant 
 Postmaster. 
 
 He was married Jan. 20, 1847, in Sycamore, to 
 Harriet M. Hutchason, and they have seven children, 
 Clarke O., Harriet J., Leslie VV., Hutchason A., 
 Harlow O., Edward E. and L. D. The parents of 
 Mrs. Kellogg, Clarke and Elizabeth (Bradley) Hutch- 
 ason, were natives of New York. The father died 
 there and the mother married Ira Manning. They 
 came to De Kalb County in 1846, and later in life 
 settled in Michigan, where they died. Mrs. Kellogg 
 is the third of a family of six children, and was born 
 Sept. 21, 1827, in Niagara Co., N. Y. She is a mem- 
 ber of the Free Methodist Church, and Mr. Kellogg 
 is a true Christian man. 
 
 eorge E. Stafford, of the firm of Dayton & 
 Stafford, stock dealers at Sycamore, was 
 born Sept. 22, 1831, in Preston, Chenango 
 Co., N. Y. Isaac Stafford, his father, was 
 born in Vermont and married Lucy Seymour, 
 f a native of the State of New York, after his re- 
 moval there. Later they came to Cortland Town- 
 ship, De Kalb County, where the mother died Feb. 
 16, 1876. The father died there July 21, 1883. 
 Three of their five children are now living: Saxa 
 is a farmer in Cortland Township ; and Isaac is a 
 physician in Harrison, Madison Co., Montana. 
 
 Mr. Stafford was reared to the pursuit of agricul- 
 ture, and came to De Kalb County in 1857. He was 
 about 24 years of age when he became the proprietor 
 of 27 acres of land in Cortland Township, situated on 
 sections 15 and 22. From this beginning he has in- 
 creased his possessions until he is the sole owner of 
 205 acres of land in that township, a half interest in 
 444 acres, and a third interest in 160 acres, all lying 
 
 within the same township. He^remained there resi- 
 dent until the spring of 1884, the date of his removal 
 to Sycamore. In November of the same year he 
 formed his present business relation with James 
 Dayton and entered upon the purchase and shipment 
 of stock to Chicago. 
 
 Mr. Stafford was married Nov. 17, 1858, in the 
 township of Cortland, to Christina, daughter of Peter 
 and Isabel Youngs. Two children resulted from this 
 union, namely, Emily, who is the wife of Charles 
 A. Lattin, and Frank G., who is a dealer in live stock 
 in Sycamore. 
 
 ohn Gould, farmer, section 22, Cortland 
 f Township, having 34 acres in the southern 
 part of the section and 120 acres in all, 
 was born in town of Harmon, Kennebec Co., 
 Maine, Oct. 8, 1814. His parents, Abel and 
 Mary (Kelly) Gould, are deceased and buried 
 at Ohio Grove Church. They were probably natives 
 of Maine, and moved to the State of New York when 
 John was a babe, and soon to Meigs Co., Ohio, 
 where a farm had been purchased and where they 
 lived seven years or more; they then sold out and 
 removed to Jefferson Co., Ind., rented a farm for a 
 number of years, then lived in Dearborn County, in 
 the southeastern corner of that State, until 1840, 
 when they came to this county, with horse teams, ar- 
 riving Nov. 15, not more than three miles from Mr. 
 G.'s present residence. He died Dec. 7, 1858, aged 
 about 77 years. John's mother was an orphan, 
 brought up by Judge North in her native State 
 (Maine), and died in September, 1865, at the age of 
 83 years. 
 
 Mr. John Gould, whose name heads this sketch, 
 was first married Feb. 4, 1838, in Dearborn Co., Ind., 
 to Mary Ann Johnson, who was born in that State in 
 
 1818, the daughter of and Elizabeth (Hinds) 
 
 Johnson. She died in this (Cortland) township, in 
 the spring of 1845, and is buried in the Ohio Grove 
 (or Baptist Church) Cemetery. Her three children 
 are: George H., born April 25, 1839, and died Nov. 
 4, 1863, at Nashville, Tenn., and was a member of 
 Co. C, io S th 111. Vol. Inf., and died in the service; 
 Mary E., born May 15, 1841, married Wm. Black- 
 man, Dec. 23, 1866, and lives in Dakota; and SB-
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 brina A., born July 5, 1843, married Luther Wheeler, 
 March 5, 1860, and is residing in this township. 
 Oct. i, 1848, Mr. Gould married Miss Caroline, 
 daughter of James and Hannah (Merrow) Wheeler. 
 Her father was a native of Massachusetts and died 
 in February, 186 1 (or thereabout), in Maine; and 
 her mother, born in Winthrop, Me., died in the same 
 State, in 1867, at the age of about 7 8 years. Mrs. 
 G. was also born in Winthrop, Jan. 29, 181 r, and she 
 has two daughters, namely : Elvira R., born April 
 18. 1850, and married Joseph Snyder, Dec. 24, 1868; 
 and Clotilda Jane, born Aug. 5, 1852, married John 
 I. Simons, Nov. 20, 1873, and lives in Dakota. 
 
 Mr. Gould had a very limited school education in 
 his youth, especially in mathematics, as that seemed 
 peculiarly difficult to him; but he has nevertheless 
 battled successfully with the world. He is a vener- 
 ble old settler here, having occupied his present 
 farm ever since the year 1847. In his political prin- 
 ciples he votes with the Republican party, and he, 
 as well as Mrs. G., is a member of the Free-will 
 Baptist Church at Ohio Grove, having been one of 
 the first members of that congregation and has been 
 an officer in the Church. 
 
 eorge H. Kesler, farmer, section 1 6, Genoa 
 Township, has been a resident of De Kalb 
 County since 1859, with the exception of 
 two years, which he passed in Burlington, Kane 
 Co., 111., the date of his parents' removal hither. 
 He was born Aug. 7, 1839, in Orleans Co., 
 N. Y., and is next the youngest in birth of 10 chil- 
 dren. His brothers and sisters were Abraham, 
 Phebe, Mary, Eliza, Andrew, James, Lyman, Horace 
 and John. His parents, Philip and Betsey (House) 
 Kesler, were natives respectively of Germany and 
 the State of New York. The father died in the 
 township of Genoa Oct. 22, 1880; the mother's de- 
 mise occurred July 3, 1864. 
 
 Mr. Kesler is one of the substantial farmers of his 
 township and county, and is the owner of 325 acres 
 of valuable farming land, which is nearly all under 
 cultivation. He is a Republican in political faith 
 and relations, and has held various local offices. 
 
 His marriage to Mary A. Smith occurred at Kings- 
 ton July 4, 1861, and they have been the parents of 
 
 =)-& 
 
 eight children, four of whom are still living, namely: 
 Lillie M., who married F. B. Fieste, Sept. 4, 1884; 
 George G., Luella and Elinor S. Those deceased 
 were named Ira J., Adaline, Robert S. and Em.nett. 
 The parents of Mrs. Kesler, Robert and Susanna' 
 (Rutti) Smith, were natives respectively of New Jer- 
 sey and Pennsylvania. She is the second of four 
 children, and was born Oct. 12, 1841, in New Jersey. 
 
 dolphus W. Brower, resident at Sycamore, 
 was born Aug. 13, 1845, ijj Kenosha Co., 
 Wis. In paternal descent he is a repre- 
 sentative of the Hollanders who settled the 
 State of New York in 1620. His paternal 
 great-grandfather came from the Netherlands, 
 in a vessel commanded by Hendrick Hudson and 
 called " Die Guten Fraii " (the good woman), and, 
 with his wife, Jemima (Quackenboss) Brower, settled 
 at Nyack on the Jersey shore. Later he went to the 
 State of New York, where he was a pioneer settler, 
 and was identified with the class distinguished as 
 " Knickerbockers." 
 
 Adolphus Brower, son of the above, was born July 
 31, 1777, and married Elizabeth Baker. She was 
 born Feb. 25, 1775, and became the mother of three 
 sons and four daughters. The husband was fife- 
 major in the war of 1812. The threatened invasion 
 of the British aroused the latent indignation of the 
 people, and men and women alike devoted them- 
 selves to the labor of erecting intrenchments. The 
 chorus of a song which was then popular and mani- 
 fested the quality of the prevailing spirit, ran as fol-* 
 lows : 
 
 ' Pickaxe, shovel, spade; 
 
 Crowbar, lioo and barrow; 
 You'd better not invade; 
 Yankees got the marrow.'' 
 
 Adolphus Brower and his wife died at the age of 
 78 years. 
 
 William B. Brower, their youngest son, was born 
 Oct. 6, 1803, in Brooklyn, N. Y. He was married 
 March 20, 1825, to Paulina Broadway. Her father, 
 Frasier Broadway, was born April 16, 1778, and in 
 1800 was married to Hannah Weed. She was born 
 Sept. i, 1777, and died aged 84 years. Their family 
 comprised four daughters and four sons. All the 
 latter, in later life, pursued the calling of their father, 
 who was a butcher. T. E. and Alfred' Broadway,
 
 COUJVTY. 
 
 became prominent in their business and were located 
 at 844 Broadway, New York, for many years. W. B. 
 Brower went to Wisconsin in 1837, and was among 
 the earliest pioneers of Salem, afterwards called 
 Wheatland, and now known as Randall, the original 
 township being now divided into three distinct towns. 
 He left New York Aug. 7, of the year named, and 
 arrived at what is now Kenosha on the first day of 
 September following. At the date of his location the 
 Menomonee or Black Hawk Indians were numerous 
 in the vicinity. On the admission of Wisconsin as a 
 Slate, in 1848, he was one of the first appointees to 
 the position of Justice of the Peace by the Governor. 
 Paulina (Broadway) Brower was born June 30, 1805, 
 in Vermont, and became the mother of eight chil- 
 dren. Elizabeth was born May 12, 1828, and is the 
 wife of Henry Parrnelee, of Geneva, Wis. John H. 
 was born May 8, 1832, and is engaged in speculat- 
 ing at Kenosha, Wis. William B., born May 20, 
 1834, is the manager of the homestead. Hannah- 
 born May 5, 1839, is the wife of V. C. Reynolds, 
 and resides on the home farm. Anna, born May i, 
 1843, is the wife of M. L. Hoffman, a stock dealer 
 in Kenosha County. A. W. is the next in order of 
 birth. Emmeline, born Aug. 27, 1849, married Will- 
 iam Wilcox, of Geneva, Wis. One child died in in- 
 fancy. 
 
 Mr. Brower was brought up at home in the Badger 
 State until he was 15 years of age, when he was 
 placed at a business college in St. Louis, Mo. He 
 made a special study of penmanship, and devoted 
 six months to the acquisition of a complete knowl- 
 edge of telegraphy. Soon after returning home he 
 went to the city of New York, and a few months 
 later became interested in travel. He came to Syca- 
 more in 1872, and, associated with Marshall Stark 
 (deceased), engaged in the sale of lumber, pursuing 
 that enterprise about two years. He formed his 
 present business connection May i, 1877, by the 
 purchase of an interest in the firm relations of 
 Whittemore & Chamberlain, the copartnership now 
 comprising three members. They carry an average 
 stock of $[3,500, including all the lines of goods 
 common to such establishments and suited to their 
 patronage. Their business embraces, besides the 
 ordinary trade in hardware, a large amount of re- 
 pairing. 
 
 Mr. Brower was married May 20, 1874, to Ella 
 
 53f&. **$$* ft. 
 
 Stark. She is the daughter of Marshall and Louisa ^f 
 Stark, and was born at Sycamore, Feb. 10, 1857. Mr. *jj 
 and Mrs. Brower have two children : Anna was 
 was born Feb. 24, 1878; and Floyd E. was born 
 Aug. 4, 1880. Their first child, Marshall William, 
 was born Aug. 25, 1876, and died when about 10 
 weeks old. 
 
 ester P. Wood, Sheriff of De Kalb County, 
 resident at Sycamore, was born March 27, 
 1839, in Erie, Pa. His parents, George L. 
 and Margaret (Conrad) Wood, belonged to the 
 agricultural class. The former was born in the 
 city of Hartford, Conn., and died on his farm 
 in the township of Kingston, De Kalb County, Jan. 
 23, 1864. The mother of Lester P. was born in Erie, 
 Pa., and died on the homestead Aug. 2, 1880. Of 
 their children,! Elizabeth and Roxy, the oldest in date 
 of birth, are deceased ; Abigail E. married John D. 
 Dyer, marketman at Sycamore ; George E. is a resi- 
 dent of Laporte, Ind., and is in the Unked States 
 mail service ; and Jane M. is deceased. 
 
 Mr. Wood is the oldest son and third child. He 
 was reared on his father's farm, where he was in- 
 structed in agricultural labor during the farming 
 seasons and attended school winters. He passed 
 his boyhood and youth in this manner until he was 
 19 years of age, when he went to the seminary at 
 Wheaton, DuPage Co., 111., and completed his edu- 
 cation. On coming of age he became proprietary 
 owner of 360 acres of valuable land in the township 
 of Spring, Boone Co., 111., twelve miles nortn of Syca- 
 more, of which he took possession in 1860 and con- 
 tinued its management until 1874. In that year he 
 sold the property and returned to Erie, where he 
 maintained his residence two years, and was occu- 
 pied in the purchase and shipment of stock from 
 Chicago to Eastern markets. He pursued the same 
 line of business until the fall of 1879, coming at that 
 time to Sycamore. 
 
 After a residence of a single year he secured, in 
 the autumn of 1880, the election of Sheriff of De Kalb 
 County on the Republican ticket, and in 1882 was 
 re-elected without opposition to the same incum- 
 bency. The quality of the services rendered to the 
 interests of De Kalb County by Mr. Wood are 
 
 ^fflgLar' .S.v^-N^//??) 
 
 -*^^ "ftfgig?^. 
 
 r
 
 j 
 
 fi 
 
 attested by his re-election, a procedure which reflects 
 much credit on his supporters, and proves that the 
 voting community of De Kalb County are not delin- 
 quent in the matter of recognizing and rewarding 
 efficiency and merit. Mr. Wood belongs to the 
 Order of Knights Templars and other Masonic 
 bodies. 
 
 His marriage to Ellen C. Zimmerman occurred 
 Aug. 28, 1858, at Erie, Pa. Mrs. Wood is the 
 daughter of Frederick Zimmerman, and was born 
 Oct. 6, 1842, at Erie. The three children born of 
 this union are as follows: Jane M. was born Aug. 18, 
 iS6o, and is the wife of W. F. Sell, marketman of 
 Sycamore. Addie Z. is the second child; George 
 F., only son and youngest child, is Deputy Sheriff 
 under his father. The children were born in Spring 
 Township, Boone County. 
 
 ohn B. Whalen, real-estate, abstract and 
 insurance agent, at Sycamore, was born 
 Aug. 5, 1850, in Penfield, Monroe Co., N. 
 Y. Harvey Whalen, his father, was born Dec. 
 22, 1809, in Milton, Saratoga Co., N. Y.; and 
 has been a farmer throughout the course of his 
 long life, being now }$ years of age. He was also a 
 local politician of prominence and influence, and is 
 still living in Penfield, N. Y. John B.'s mother, 
 Lucinda (Watson) Whalen, was born in Monroe Co., 
 N. Y., and died in 1854. Their five children are liv- 
 ing. Mr. Whalen is the second in order of birth. 
 The oldest, Henry V., is an engineer and lives in 
 Michigan. Charles H., Wilson and Howard live in 
 Penfield with their father. 
 
 Mr. Whalen was reared in the varied occupations 
 incident to the life of a farmer's son, and when about 
 1 8 years of age became a traveler in the Eastern 
 States, engaging in that occupation one year. In 
 iS-jo he came to Braidwood, 111., and remained there 
 eight months, acting as accountant in the mercantile 
 establishment of L. H. Goodrich. He went sub- 
 sequently to Gardner, 111., where he operated a year 
 in the same capacity. In 1872 he became a resident 
 of De Kalb County, his first engagement in business 
 being as book-keeper for J. H. Rogers at Sycamore, 
 where he was occupied nine months. He relin- 
 
 quished the position to accept an appointment as 
 Deputy Circuit Clerk under E. F. Dutton. He filled 
 the position three years and in iSj6 bought the ab- 
 stract office of De Kalb County, which he has since 
 conducted and is the owner of the only complete set 
 of abstracts in the county. He does a considerable 
 business in real estate and represents eight fire in- 
 surance companies and one life insurance, viz.: Royal, 
 London, Liverpool & Globe, also the Lancashire of 
 England. Hartford, Continental, National of Hartford, 
 Westchester & Northwestern National and the Con- 
 necticut Mutual Life Association. 
 
 Mr. Whalen officiated as Alderman of Sycamore 
 from 1879 to 1883. He is President of the Sycamore 
 Athenaeum, and is President and General Manager 
 of the Russell Manufacturing Company, at that place, 
 an association engaged in the manufacture of paints 
 and varnishes. He is the owner of his place of resi- 
 dence and of a considerable amount of real estate 
 variously located. 
 
 Mr. Whalen was married April 25, 1876, in Syca- 
 more, to Nellie Farndon. Wallace W., only child of 
 this union, was born May 5, 1877. Mrs. Whalen 
 was born Nov. 10, 1852, in Troy, N. Y. She has 
 been a resident of Sycamore since four years of age, 
 and was brought up in the family of the late James 
 S. Waterman. 
 
 eter N. Corson, a retired farmer, resident at 
 Genoa, was born Oct. 6, 1819, in Pennsyl- 
 vania, of which State his mother, Elizabeth 
 (Buck) Corson, was a native, his father, John a 
 Corson, having been born in New Jersey. The <y> 
 family of n children were born as follows: 
 Hannah, Catherine A., Peter N., Sarah, Susan, Henry, 
 Lavina, Daniel, Alfred, Harriet and Lucretia. 
 
 Mr. Corson was a farmer in his native State until 
 1869. In the spring of that year he bought 160 acres 
 of land in Genoa Township in De Kalb County, of 
 which he took possession and occupied it about eight 
 years, selling a portion of his acreage in 1877, and re- 
 moving in that year to the village of which he has * * 
 since been a resident. In political faith he is a 
 Republican. 
 
 His first marriage occurred in Pennsylvania, Jan. 
 29, 1843, to Sarah Newman, and of their union eight
 
 It
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 ' children were born, Teresa, Lloyd V., Henry M., 
 
 | Emily, Ursaline and Amanda. Two children of that 
 
 i marriage are deceased : Teresa died when three years 
 
 old and one child died in extreme infancy. The 
 
 mother died Dec. 27; 1875,111 Genoa Township. Mr. 
 
 Corson was again married March 7, 1878, to Amelia 
 
 (Godding), widow of William Rochester Durham, who 
 
 died Oct. 7, 1873, in Genoa Township, and by whom 
 
 she had eight children, Rochester H., Sarah J. and 
 
 Emily J. (twins), Francis M., Caroline A., Lillie Y., 
 
 f Fannie M. and Olive M. Three children Rochester 
 
 > H., Emily J. and Francis M. are deceased. Mrs. 
 
 Corson was born July 17, 1827, in England. 
 
 enry Pooler, farmer, having 325 acres on 
 section i$, Cortland Township, was born 
 July 24, 1804, in Dutchess Co., N. Y. 
 When a year old his parents, Jacob and Betsy 
 (Price) Pooler, moved to the town of Schuyle^ 
 Herkimer County, that State, and a year later to 
 Warren Township, same county, then back to Schuy- 
 ler, then to Warren a second time, and finally bought 
 a farm in German Flats. The mother died in that 
 county ; the father died in Montgomery Co., N. Y., 
 and was buried in his son Joseph's burying-ground 
 at Warren. 
 
 Henry remained in Herkimer County most of the 
 time until he was of age, then worked out by the 
 year or month for about three years ; next, for three 
 years he labored upon his father-in-law's farm for a 
 consideration of 50 acres of land; then he bought a 
 farm of 65 acres, to which he subsequently added 
 until he had an aggregate of 151 acres, in German 
 Flats. In 1 86 1 he came to this county on a visit to 
 his daughter, when he made a purchase of 150 acres, 
 to which he has since added by further purchases 
 until he has a total of 325 acres. He now has a fine 
 farm and a splendid home, all earned by his own 
 industry and wise economy, and without speculation. 
 On the sth of March, 1828, he married Miss 
 Margaret, a daughter of Nicholas and Lana (Passage) 
 Shoemaker, and of German ancestry. She was born 
 June 7, 1802, in German Flats, N. Y. Of the five 
 children born in the family of Mr. and Mrs. Pooler, 
 three are living: Almira, born March 22, 1829, and 
 married John Christman Sept. 10, 1852, in German 
 
 Flats, N. Y., and died December 16, following, in 
 De Kalb County; Henry, born April 22, 1833, in 
 Herkimer Co., N. Y., died in the same county Oct. 
 28, 1834; Philany, bom July 19, 1835, married John 
 Christman in October, 1857; he died Oct. 9, 1863, 
 from injuries received from a threshing-machine; 
 Louisa, born Feb. 6, 1837, married Henry Christ- 
 man, Dec. 28, 1854, who died Jan. 4, 1883; William 
 F. was born April 26, 1840, and is now living near 
 Lake City, Iowa. The foregoing births all took 
 place in Herkimer Co., N. Y. Mr. Pooler's grand- 
 mother was of Low Dutch ancestry, and died in 
 Schuyler Township, Herkimer Co., N. Y. His grand- 
 father was of New England ancestry, and was killed 
 in Schuyler Township by being thrown from a wagon. 
 Mrs. Pooler's mother died at the age of 59, and 
 her father, a farmer, died at the age of 87. 
 
 Mr. Pooler has a good, large frame residence, a 
 large frame barn, and his farm is estimated at $65 
 per acre. He is a Republican in his political sen- 
 timents. 
 
 A portrait is given of Mr. Pooler on the opposite 
 page, which is a valuable addition to the portrait 
 gallery of this ALBUM. 
 
 \[ 
 
 ineca H. Willis, farmer, section 36, Genoa 
 Township, has been a resident of De Kalb 
 County since 1852, and has belonged to its 
 agricultural element since 1860, when he be- 
 gan his independent operations by working his 
 father's farm on shares one year. He engaged 
 with his father as an assistant and continued to 
 operate in that capacity seven years. In 1868 he 
 bought a farm in Genoa Township, containing 117 
 acres. He now owns 120 acres additional, and of 
 the entire tract has placed 150 acres under improve- 
 ment. In political faith he is a Republican. 
 
 Mr. Willis was born Aug. 5, 1841, in Warren Co., 
 N. Y. He was 10 years of .age when his parents, 
 David W. and Laura M. (Halladay) Willis, removed 
 to De Kalb County. They are natives of Vermont, 
 and after marriage settled in the State of New York, 
 whence they removed to Illinois, settling in the town- 
 ship of Sycamore, where they have since resided. 
 Their children were named Seneca H., Morgan, 
 A r^ -^g^uir- lj@^f( 
 
 f
 
 234 
 
 .> .Ar.4Z.tf COUNT*. 
 
 Harry B. and Angelia. The second and fourth in 
 order of birth are deceased. 
 
 The marriage of Mr. Willis took place in Genoa 
 Township, Dec. 24, 1865, to Mary M., daughter of 
 Alonzo and Rhoda (Rogers) Hedger. The parents 
 of Mrs. Willis are natives of New York, and had 
 three children, namely, Ann E., Mary M. and Enoch 
 O. The daughter was born Nov. 30, 1844, in Hamp- 
 shire, Kane Co., 111. Of her marriage to Mr. Willis 
 three children have been born Lizzie A., Laura R. 
 and Stella B. The latter died in infancy. 
 
 1'ohn Waterbury, farmer on the northwest 
 quarter of section 8, Cortland Township, 
 was born in North Castle, Westchester Co., 
 N. Y., May 12, 1830; was brought up on a 
 farm in his native place, living there until Sep- 
 tember, 1858, and learned the shoemaker's 
 trade before he was 21. Commencing this trade at 
 the age of 19, he followed it for six years, then went, 
 at the above date, to the city of New York, where he 
 spent three years in draying. He then came to this 
 county and for ten years resided in the township of 
 Pierce, and in 1868 came to his present place of resi- 
 dence. It was then but partially improved, but Mr. 
 W. has since made it one of the best farms in the 
 township, having upon it a. first-class frame residence, 
 barns, etc. In his political views Mr. W. is a Re- 
 publican, and he stands high in the estimation of his 
 fellow citizens. 
 
 He was married Dec. 25, 1855, to Miss Rebecca 
 A. Brundage, and they have 'had five children, all of 
 whom are living, viz.: George I., born Nov. 6, 1857, 
 in New York city, in December, r88i, married Flor- 
 ence Rathbun and is living in Iowa; Charles, born 
 Oct. 27, 1861, in Pierce Township, this county, is 
 living at home; Harvey C., born June T7, 1865, in 
 same township; Mary F., Nov. 5, 1867, in same 
 township; and John A., Oct. 23, 1880, in Cortland 
 Township. 
 
 Mr. W.'s father, John Waterbury, was a carpenter 
 by occupation, and died in March, 1878, at the age 
 of8i years, on the old homestead; and his mother, 
 Sarah H., nee Palmer, died in June, 1880, at the age 
 of 79 years, also on the old homestead. Mr. Water- 
 bury 's paternal grandfather was a guard in the 
 
 Revolutionary War, but was never in action on the 
 battle-field. Mrs. W. was born Jan. 20, 1838, in 
 North Castle, Westchester Co., N. Y., of which county 
 her parents were also natives. Her father, Allen 
 Brundage, was a farmer, and her mother's maiden 
 name was Fanny Smith. Mr. and Mrs. W. are 
 members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 
 enjamin Nilson, Clerk of the City of Syca- 
 more, and member of the grocery and pro- 
 vision house of Nilson Bros., was born 
 July 31, 1850, in Sweden. Pehr Nilson, his 
 father, was a farmer and prominent in politics 
 and public life. He was a member of the 
 Legislature of Sweden in 1865-6 and held the posi- 
 tion of State Juryman 14 years by election, eventually 
 resigning. 
 
 Mr. Nilson was a pupil at school until he was 14 
 years of age and passed three years subsequently on 
 the farm where he was born. At 17 he entered the 
 High School to complete his education, remaining a 
 student there until 19 years old. He came to 
 America in 1871, and on landing proceeded at once 
 to Sycamore, where he had friends. He obtained 
 employment as a farm assistant, in which he was 
 occupied three months. At the end of that time he 
 went to Chicago and was employed in the Rock 
 Island car-shops until Jan. i, 1872. At that date 
 he returned to Sycamore and attended school to learn 
 the English lanuguage. In the fall following he 
 entered the grocery of Rowe & Shurtliff, where he 
 was a clerk four years. In 1876 he became an as- 
 sistant of C. Brown & Son, druggists and grocers. 
 July 12, 1880, associated with his brother, Knut P.. 
 Nilson, he founded the business which they have 
 since conducted. Their stock comprises lines of 
 goods suited to their patronage and represents a cash 
 value of about $6,000. The proprietors are enter- 
 prising men and citizens of the best type, who have 
 secured the confidence of the community. Mr. Nil- 
 son of this sketch is a stock-holder in the Cornwall 
 Silver Mining Company of Colorado, a corporation of 
 seven members who own several mining claims. In 
 the spring of 1879 he was elected Clerk of Sycamore,
 
 and has been twice re-elected. He is a member of 
 the Order of Odd Fellows. 
 
 The marriage of Mr. Nilson to Betsey Swanson 
 occurred at Sycamore, Oct. 3, 1873. Their family 
 now (1884) includes three children, Bertha Edusa, 
 born Jan. 14, 1875; Elsa Urania, July 24, 1881; 
 Edward Pehr, Nov. 17, 1883. Mrs. Nilson was born 
 in Sweden in 1846, and is the daughter of Swen and 
 Elsa Paulson, who are well-to-do farmers and own a 
 large flouring-mill near the city of Sawesborg in 
 Blikings Lan. 
 
 3nry Martin, general merchant at Cortland, 
 was born in Chelsea, Orange Co., Vt, Oct. 
 10, 1840. His father, John Martin, was 
 born Dec. 20, 1804, in Chelsea, was afarmerin 
 his native State until 1855, then real-estate 
 dealer here in Cortland until his death, in 
 March, 1880. His mother, Sarah, nee Percival, was 
 born Dec. 15, 1803, and died Feb. 19, 1875, in Syca- 
 more, this county. 
 
 Henry passed the first 15 years of his life in his 
 native county, and came with the family in 1865 to 
 Sycamore, was educated in common and graded 
 schools and at an academy; and in 1862 he enlisted 
 in the army for the cause of the Government. He 
 was first employed for about eight months as chief 
 clerk in the ordnance department at Columbus, Ky., 
 furnishing ordnance to Grant's army at Corinth ; was 
 then transferred to Memphis, Tenn., in the same de- 
 partment ; next to Huntsville, Ala. ; then into Mc- 
 Pherson's army, the Army of the Tennessee; followed 
 Sherman's army from Chattanooga to Atlanta ; or- 
 dered back to Nashville, Tenn., where he awaited 
 orders from November to February; then was at 
 Chattanooga until 1865; next, at the Macon (Ga.) 
 Arsenal until the fall of 1866, when he was appointed 
 Clerk for the Sub-Commissioner of the Freedmen's 
 Bureau. He was thus stationed still at Macon until 
 1868, and finally at Augusta, Ga., until the Bureau 
 was abolished. Then, in 1869, he was appointed 
 Deputy Marshal for the District of Georgia, in which 
 relation he served until 1876, when he returned to 
 Sycamore. 
 
 Here he engaged in the produce business for a 
 year, and then established a general merchandise 
 
 JL 
 
 store in partnership with Mr. Matteson, under the 
 firm name of Martin & Matteson ; but soon they dis- 
 solved and then he started alone. Was in Mr. 
 Jordan's store for a time, then removed back to the 
 old store, which he occupied until he built the new 
 store, in the fall of 1883. This is the best building 
 in the town, where Mr. Martin carries the largest 
 stock in the place. 
 
 In politics Mr. M. is a Republican. 
 
 He was married March 3, 1870, to Miss Florence 
 J. , daughter of George and Martha Flewellyn; she 
 was born in Georgia, and is now 37 years of- age. 
 The two living children of Mr. and Mrs. M. are 
 Sadie B., born Dec. 6, 1870, in Atlanta, Ga., and 
 Bessie, May, 6, 1880; three were lost in infancy. 
 " Johnnie " was born in 1875 and died when a month 
 old, and Florence was born in 1877, and died in 
 1879; the remaining one died at birth. 
 
 Mrs. M. is a member of the Congregational 
 Church. 
 
 .vin Shurtleff, druggist at De Kalb, is a * 
 native of the Province of Quebec, where s 
 he was born March 22, 1830. His parents 
 md grandparents are natives of Massachu- ( 
 setts. He was reared in the Dominion with 
 the exception of a period of four years spent 
 at Derby Academy in that town, just across the Can- 
 adian border in Vermont. After the completion of 
 his educational course he engaged in teaching in 
 Canada, and was occupied three years in that voca- v 
 tion in his native province. In 1851 he decided on 
 a change of base and came to Illinois, teaching two 
 years at Rock Island. In 1853 he went to Ottawa, 
 111., and passed about the same length of time simi- 
 larly occupied. At the end of that time (about 1855) 
 he bought a farm in Kane Co., 111., on which he set- 
 tled and held his residence about eight years, en- 
 gaging meanwhile in teaching. In 1863 he sold his f 
 farm, and, going to Sycamore, passed three years in 
 the business of a lumber dealer, and afterwards de- 
 voted his time and attention for several years to .* 
 traffic in stock and produce. Making another ven- & 
 ture, he engaged in a mercantile enterprise at Syca- 
 more, in which he was interested three years. 
 
 In 1875 Mr. Shurtleff came to De Kalb and estab- 
 
 \Q ^^^ ^^^
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 ) 
 
 \\ 
 
 lished his present business, which includes the sale 
 of drugs, groceries and crockery. His place of 
 business is of extensive proportions, beiftg 120 feet 
 deep. 
 
 In politics Mr. Shurtleff is a Republican. He has 
 officiated as Township Assessor and taken an active 
 interest in all matters pertaining to education within 
 his sphere. He has been connected with the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal Church for 30 years ; is present Dis- 
 trict Steward and President of the Board of Trustees. 
 His family are also members of the same religious 
 body. 
 
 Mr. Shurtleff was married in Kane County to 
 Sarah J. Arnold, their union taking place Oct. 22, 
 1857. Their children were born as follows : Willis, 
 who died when nine months old, Wilfred C., Jessie 
 B., Elmer K. and Alice F. 
 
 arnum V. Viner, farmer in Cortland Town- 
 ship, having 55 acres on sections 15 and 16, 
 was born in the town of Parishville, St. 
 Lawrence Co., N. Y., May 23, 1824. His father, 
 Charles Viner, was born May 6, 1797, in Bris- 
 tol, England, and was killed by a cyclone in 
 Mazon, Grundy Co., 111., April 18, 1861. Mr. V.'s 
 mother, Sarah, nee Banister, was born in Rutland, 
 Vt., May 4, 1797, and died in January, 1868, in 
 Grundy 'County. Mr. Charles Viner was a farmer, 
 and came to America in 1812 as a British soldier. 
 He afterward left the army, when Corporal of the 
 Guard, and with six others crossed the St. Lawrence 
 into the States. He married in 1815, and had four 
 sons and four daughters. 
 
 The subject of this sketch is the third child in the 
 order of birth in the above family. His parents 
 moved, with him, when he was four or five years of 
 age, to Madrid, then to Pierpont, then to Canton, 
 and when he was 20 years old they emigrated West, 
 locating in the town of Seneca, McHenry Co., 111. 
 After living there eight years with his father, he was 
 married, Jan. i, 1847, to Miss Mary T., daughter of 
 David S. and Catherine (Marshall) Wickes. Dr. 
 Wickes was born in Troy, N. Y-, Nov. 29, 1800, and 
 died Oct. 15, 1844, in Meed's Creek, Steuben Co., 
 N. Y. ; and Mrs. W. was born May 21, 1800, in 
 Hyde Park, Dutchess Co., N. Y., and died Sept. 15, 
 
 1876, in Elliottville, Fillmore Co., Minn. Mrs, V. 
 was born in Dundee, Yates Co., N. Y., July 30, 
 1829. She suffered a paralytic stroke in 1876, losing 
 the use of her left hand. Dr. W. was a successful 
 physician of the old school, and died from the effects ii 
 of overwork. 
 
 Mr. Viner lived nine years at Seneca, McHenry 
 County, and then moved to the township of Mazon, 
 Grundy Co., 111., purchasing a farm of 80 acres, then 
 a wild place, where he first attempted to make a 
 home ; but he soon afterward sold it to his brother ) 
 and returned to McHenry County and bought 122 % 
 acres of improved land. After living there three or I 
 four years he sold out and moved again to Grundy 
 County and purchased an improved farm of 80 acres, 
 but a year afterward he sold this and removed to 
 Portage Co., Wis., where he bought new land, built 
 upon it and improved it some, and in four months 
 went back to Grundy County again, purchased 80 / 
 acres, built a house upon it and dwelt there a little 
 more than a year. He sold again and moved to > 
 this (Cortland) township, bought a farm of 86 acres i 
 and lived upon it for 20 years. He then rented this * 
 farm and moved to Morris, Grundy County, lived ^ 
 there a year, relumed here and sold his farm on sec- * 
 tions 26 and 27, and finally purchased his present 
 place, in 1882. 
 
 In his political views Mr. Viner is a Democrat, 
 and in an official capacity he has been for several 
 years a School Director. 
 
 The children of Mr. and Mrs. Viner are : Sarah 
 C., born May 10, 1849, in Mazon, Grundy Co., 111., 
 and married March 5, 1868, Emery Willmarth, and 
 lives in Cortland village ; Charles D., born in Seneca 
 Township, McHenry Co., 111., Feb. 4, 1853, and 
 March 2, 1876, married Ada Brown, and now living 
 in this (Cortland) township; Thomas D., born also 
 in Seneca Township, Sept. i, 1855, married March 
 28, 1883, Alice Smith, and is now living in Nebraska; 
 Alva V., born in Mazon, III"., Dec. 21, 1857, married 
 Maggie Ellis Jan. 31, 1883, and is now a merchant 
 in Waverly, Iowa; William E., born in Cortland 
 Township, this county, Aug. 16, 1860, is now a clerk 
 in Morris, Grundy County; Frank L., born in this -, 
 township, Feb. 26, 1867, lives in Nebraska; Joseph 
 C., born May 25, 1869, also in this township, died 
 Aug. 6 following; and Ellis F., born Dec. 23, 1871, 
 in Cortland Township, is living at home.
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Win. L. Viner, oldest brother of Varnum V., while 
 on a visit, by permission of his father, to an uncle in 
 Pennsylvania, Jonathan Banister by name, taught 
 school there during the winter of 1841-2, worked on 
 a farm the next spring near his uncle's, then went 
 down the Ohio River on a raft of lumber, and thence 
 up the Mississippi River to Galena, from which point 
 his family received a letter from him, and since that 
 time he has never been heard from. His father went 
 to Galena and spent three weeks in search of him. 
 
 obert D. Lord, resident at Genoa, has been 
 a citizen of the township since 1845. He 
 was born Sept. 9, 1817, in Saratoga Co., 
 N. Y., and is the son of Ebenezer and Mary 
 (Morris) Lord. His parents were natives re- 
 1 spectively of Connecticut and New Jersey, and 
 settled in Saratoga County, where they resided many 
 years, removing thence to Yates County, in the Em- 
 pire State, and there died. Of ten children born to 
 them nine grew to mature years. 
 
 Mr. Lord accompanied his parents at the age of 
 eight years' to Yates County, and he was a member 
 of the parental household until his marriage. After 
 that event he managed his father's farm three years, 
 when he came to Illinois and bought 80 acres of land 
 in Genoa Township, became resident thereon and 
 continued its management until the summer of 1862- 
 He enlisted at Sycamore in the losth 111. Vol. Inf., 
 and was elected and commissioned Second Lieuten- 
 ant. After three months' service he resigned on 
 account of ill health. On returning to De Kalb 
 County, his medical adviser recommended change of 
 climate and he went to California, returning nine 
 months later for his family, and set out with them in 
 the spring following, crossing the plains in wagons. 
 They remained in Calirornia six years, Mr. Lord en- 
 gaging in various occupations. He returned in 1869 
 to De Kalb County and resumed the calling of a 
 farmer on his farm in Genoa Township. At the end 
 of five years he removed with his family to the vil- 
 lage of Genoa, where he interested himself in butcher- 
 ing and in dealing in butter, cheese and other farm 
 produce. After a period of three years he closed his 
 business in those avenues and returned to his farm. 
 In 1883 he determined to retire and erected a fine resi- 
 
 dence in the village of Genoa, to which he removed 
 in the winter of 1884. Mr. Lord retains the owner- 
 ship of 80 acres of valuable land in Genoa Township 
 and also of 160 acres in Iowa. He is a Republican 
 in politics. While a resident of Genoa Township he 
 was Postmaster at New Lebanon one year, resigning 
 the position at the expiration of that time. He was 
 Justice of the Peace for a long term of years. 
 
 He was married March 17, 1840, in Yates Co., 
 N. Y., to Olive Hogeboom, and they have been the 
 parents of nine children, but three of whom survive 
 Julia, Joseph and David. Mrs. Lord was born 
 April 24, 1820, in the State of New York, and is the 
 daughter of Andrew and Julia Hogeboom. Her 
 father was of Dutch descent and was born in the 
 Empire State. The mother was a native of Connect- 
 icut. The family located in Genoa Township in 
 1845. The fatherdied there about 1855; the mother 
 is living and is 88 years of age. 
 
 enjamin P. Whipple, farmer on the north- 
 east quarter of section 9, Cortland Town- 
 ship, was born in Muncie, Lycoming Co., 
 Pa., Oct. 25, 1857. Both his parents were 
 also born in that county, and are now living 
 three miles north of Sycamore, this county. 
 His father, James Whipple, was born March 4, 1831, 
 of American ancestry, and his mother, Mary, nee 
 Warner, was born 1833. They came to this county 
 in 1870, arriving March 18, locating upon a farm 
 which he had purchased the year before of Arnold 
 Brown, and which is now occupied by a brother of 
 Benjamin. 
 
 The subject of this sketch lived with his father 
 until he was 23 years of age, when he bought a 
 threshing-machine, in company with his brother, 
 which they ran for seven seasons, ending with that 
 of 1883. At that business they were very successful. 
 He purchased his present farm in 1879, of Mr. 
 Meeker, who had the use of it for a year afterward. 
 In March, 1880, Mr. Whipple moved upon the place. 
 In 1883 he bought 80 acres of Joseph Gandy, ad- 
 joining on the south. 
 
 Mr. Whipple was married Dec. r6, 1879, to Miss 
 Mary A., daughter of Moses and Rachel (Evans) 
 Dean. Mr. Dean was born in Hasbrouck, Sullivan 
 
 \\
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 ^Co., N. Y., Jan. 26, 1815, engaged in a grist or saw 
 T) mill or other enterprises, and since he came West in 
 > 1857 he has followed banking in Sycamore and 
 farming. Mrs. Dean was born in Fallsburg, Sullivan 
 5 1 Co., N. Y., Jan. 26, 1816, was married June 13, 1840, 
 and had seven children, of whom Mrs. Whipple is 
 the fourth in order of birth. Mrs. D. died April 26, 
 1884, in Sycamore, greatly respected by the com- 
 munity, as indeed are the whole family yet living. 
 Mrs. Whipple was born Sept. 19, 1854, in Hasbrouck, 
 ^ N. Y., and was carefully educated and disciplined in 
 ^ ) an affectionate family. Mr. and Mrs. Whipple have 
 had two children, namely : Warner D., born Dec. 23, 
 ' 1880, in Sycamore, 111., and Le Roy J., Dec. ir, 
 1882, in Cortland Township. 
 In politics Mr. W. is a Republican. 
 
 
 .Ithorn Rogers, of the firm of Hoyt & 
 Rogers, general merchants at Sycamore, 
 was born Sept. 13, 1848, at Ballston 
 Springs, Saratoga Co., N. Y. His father, Elam 
 Rogers, was born in 1800 and commenced life 
 as a farmer, afterwards in the employment of 
 the Scythe Manufacturing Company at Ballston, 
 where he is now living in retirement. The mother, 
 Caroline M. (Prentiss) Rogers, was born in Worcester, 
 Mass., and is still living. The family circle is yet 
 intact. Their nine children were born in the follow- 
 ing order: Rachel P. married W. H. Dodge, a lum- 
 ber, dealer at Rochester, Minn. Caroline M. is the 
 widow of John C. Waterman, formerly a prominent 
 capitalist of Sycamore. Elvira is the wife of C. R. 
 Bassett, a wholesale notion dealer in Brooklyn, N. Y. 
 Amelia married T. W. Stebbins, a hardware merchant 
 at Rochester, Minn. Emily is an invalid, and is a 
 member of her sister's family at Rochester. Melissa 
 married M. Pinner, real-estate broker in the city of 
 New York. Ethan, twin brother oi Mr. Rogers of 
 this sketch, is an ax manufacturer at Cohoes, N. Y. 
 Jennie is the widow of H. H. Hurst, a former drug- 
 gist of Ballston, N. Y. 
 
 Mr. Rogers obtained a good education at the ex- 
 cellent schools of the several grades in his native 
 county, completed by an academic course of study. 
 About the age of 18 years he entered the factory with 
 his father, where he remained a few months and 
 
 afterwards became a clerk in a dry-goods store at 
 Ballston, where he was employed until 1871, the year 
 of his removal to the West. He continued his former 
 occupation at Rochester, Minn., until his health, be- 
 came affected through confinement, and in 1875 he 
 went to the Atlantic coast. In the year following he 
 came to Sycamore to take a position as salesman in 
 the mercantile establishment in which he is now a 
 proprietor, then owned and managed by Waterman 
 & Hoyt. In 1878 the firm became Hoyt, Rogers & 
 Co., by the admission of the latter as a member, and 
 its affairs were conducted under that style until t88o, 
 when the business and its relations became the 
 property of the present proprietors by the purchase 
 of the interest of Mr. Waterman. The invested 
 capital of Messrs. Hoyt & Rogers is estimated at 
 $18,000, and they are doing a satisfactory business 
 in the sale of general merchandise. They are also 
 interested in the Marsh Harvester Company as stock- 
 holders. 
 
 Mr. Rogers was married May 6, 1880, in Sycamore, 
 to Jennie L. Byran, and they have two children : 
 Martin L., born Oct. 7, 1881, and Urania B., born 
 Nov. 8, 1883. Mrs! Rogers was born Feb. 24, 1857, 
 in Sycamore, and is the daughter of Dr. O. M. and 
 Jane L. Byran, of Sycamore. She is a graduate of 
 Wellesey College. 
 
 Ibert A. Olmstead, farmer, section 16, 
 Genoa Township, was born Jan. 19, 1838, 
 in Delaware Co., N. Y. He is the son of 
 Caleb andSamantha (Wager) Olmstead, whose 
 biography is given on another page. He was 
 still in childhood when his parents removed to ' 
 De Kalb County, and he remained at home until 
 about 22 years of age, having been engaged for nearly 
 three years previous in farming on shares. He pros- 
 pected some time for a satisfactory location, and event- 
 ually located on r2o acres in the township where he 
 has since been a citizen. His estate now comprises 
 440 acres of land, nearly all under improvement. 
 His farm stock includes about 100 head of cattle and 
 20 horses, and he sends to market annually an aver- 
 age of 50 hogs. Mr. Olmstead has been identified 
 with the interests and issues of the Republican party 
 since he became eligible to the privileges of citizen-
 
 
 Z>JS KALB COUNTY. 
 
 f ship, and he has officiated in several local positions. 
 
 5 His marriage to Susan E. Siglin took place Jan. 
 
 i 15, 1868, in Elgin, Kane Co., 111. She was born 
 Feb. 7, 1843, in Pennsylvania, and is .the fourth in 
 
 \f order of birth of 10 children born to her parents, 
 Jacob and Hannah J. (Setzer) Siglin. Her brothers 
 and sisters were named Rachel, Mary, Jacob, John, 
 Josiah, Tayler, Michael, Jennie and Ella. Her par- 
 ents were pioneers of De Kalb County and still re- 
 side at Sycamore. 
 
 .on. Chauncey Ellwood, Mayor of Sycamore 
 (1885). The portrait of this gentleman, 
 which appears on the opposite page, is a 
 most fitting accompaniment to the PORTRAIT 
 AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM OF DE KALB COUN- 
 TY, from the relations he sustains to its citizens 
 and from the fact that he has been a resident within 
 its borders for more than a quarter of a century. He 
 has been a landholder at Sycamore since 1837, when 
 he entered a claim to 80 acres of Government land, 
 receiving his patent for the same dated the loth 
 day of July, 1844, and signed by the President, John 
 Tyler. His residence is located on a portion 
 . of this land now included within the incorporated 
 limits of Sycamore. The comparative condition of 
 the now beautiful city with those primitive days may 
 'be estimated from the fact that, when Mr. Ellwood 
 removed hither in 1858, a broad field of wheat 
 fronted on what is now one of the main thoroughfares 
 of Sycamore. 
 
 Mr. Ellwood was born Dec. 24, 1816, in Minden, 
 Montgomery Co., N. Y., and is the son of Abraham 
 and Sarah (Delong) Ellwood. The former was born 
 Nov. 7, 1792, in Montgomery County, and was a 
 farmer in the early years of his life ; a respected citi- 
 zen, having filled various town offices in the town 
 where he resided in New York State ; an active busi- 
 ness man, having constructed several sections upon 
 the New York Central Railroad and also upon the 
 enlargement of the Erie Canal, and in the latter 
 years of his life carried on the cooperage busi- 
 ness. He died at Sycamore, whither he and wife re- 
 moved in 1856, his demise occurring August 24, 
 1872. The mother died at Sycamore Jan. 18, 
 She was born in Montgomery Co., N. Y., Feb. 
 
 23, 1795. Both parents belonged to hardy races, 
 tenacious of life and of robust physical development, 
 all of which characteristics are perpetuated in the 
 present generation. The mediate ancestral stock 
 had its origin in the sturdy, stalwart inhabitants that 
 settled the valley of the Mohawk in the State of New 
 York. Of eleven children born to Abraham Ellwood 
 and his wife ten survive. Nancy, the oldest child, 
 was married in Montgomery County, her native State, 
 to Livingston D. Walrod, and removed to Sycamore 
 after the birth of her first child, Joseph, in the fall 
 of 1836. Her second son, James W. Walrod, now de- 
 ceased, was the first white boy born at Sycamore 
 in 1838. Malinda is the widow of Joseph Sixbury, 
 and resides at the home of Mr. Ellwood, of this 
 sketch, who is her immediate successor in the order 
 of birth. A sketch of herself and husband will ap- 
 pear upon another page in this volume. Eliza mar- 
 ried Aaron Barringer, and, after his death, became 
 the wife of O. Bowman. She is now a widow and a 
 resident of Cherry Valley, Otsego County, N. Y. 
 Chauncey, Reuben, Alonzo, Livingston, Hiram, 
 James E. and Isaac L. were born in the order 
 named. Chauncey, Reuben, Alonzo, James E., all re- 
 side at Sycamore, and are represented in this work. 
 Livingston is a physician in Schenectady, N. Y. 
 Hiram and Isaac L.,both prominent business men at 
 the city of De Kalb, are the subjects of biographical 
 sketches in the ALBUM of this county. Alida, young- 
 est child, married E. P. Young (deceased), the record 
 of whose life may be found on another page. 
 
 Mr. Ellwood acquired an academic education at 
 Amsterdam, N. Y., carving out his educational course 
 by his own exertions. While pursuing his studies, 
 he conducted classes in mathematics, philosophy and 
 the rudiments of Latin in the same institution, there- 
 by paying his board and tuition. He went to the village 
 of Frankfort, where his active temperament brought 
 him into prominence through his interest in general 
 and local political affairs. He was an ardent Whig, and 
 in 1849 he secured the appointment of Postmaster at 
 Frankfort under President Taylor, and remained in 
 the position through the administration of Millard 
 Fillmore. He was elected Superintendent of Com- 
 mon Schools at Frankfort for a number of years. He 
 entered the law office of Judd & Cleland in the same 
 village and read under their instructions until his ad- 
 mission to the Bar of the Empire State, when he 
 formed a business association with his junior pre- 
 
 ft 
 
 \\
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 ceptor, and they established a legal practice at 
 Frankfort, under the style of Cleland & Ellwood, 
 their connection existing three years. Mr. Ellwood's 
 wide-awake, alert, mental organization kept him 
 always, so to speak, " on deck," and his readiness for 
 any amount or quality of hard work pushed him into 
 places of responsibility and effort, and during the 
 years 1854-6 officiated as Superintendent of section 
 No. 5 on the Erie Canal, including a distance of 25 
 miles, and extending from Little Falls to Whitesboro, 
 one of importance on the line of the canal, extend- 
 ing through the city of Utica; and its gradual de- 
 scent along the hanks of the Mohawk to Little Falls 
 necessitated numerous locks and created an enor- 
 mous amount of labor every year. 
 
 Mr. Ellwood's connection with the political his- 
 tory of his native State was during, the period in 
 which the Republican Party was organized. Mr. 
 Ellwood frequently represented his district in the 
 Congressional Conventions during the existence of 
 the old Whig party as well as since the organi- 
 zation of the Republican party. On the isth of 
 September, 1855, the last Whig District Conven- 
 tion of Herkimer County convened in the village 
 of Mohawk, which was attended by Mr. Ellwood in 
 the capacity of Delegate from Frankfort, and he was 
 unanimously chosen Delegate to the Whig State 
 Convention to be held at Syracuse on the 26th day 
 of the same month. 
 
 Sept. 13, two days before the meeting above re- 
 ferred to, the Republican element of Herkimer 
 County issued a call for a cpunty convention to be 
 held at Herkimer, Sept. 22, to appoint delegates to a 
 Republican Convention to be held at Syracuse on 
 the same day, which had been fixed for the conven- 
 ing of the Whigs in that city. The Whig Convention 
 of Sept. 26, 1855, which met at Syracuse pursuant to 
 the call, was the last assembly under the banners of 
 the old regime in the Empire State. The party in 
 New York practically expired in 1854, and the deler- 
 gates who went up to Syracuse in September, 1855, 
 went there to pay a last melancholy tribute to a de- 
 funct organization. A feeble attempt to re-galvanize 
 the Whig party took place, but the delegates, fair- 
 minded, conscientious, reflective men, revolved in 
 their thoughts the principles set forth in the pream- 
 ble to the call, pursuant to which call another body 
 was in session in another quarter of the same city. 
 
 The friends of Freedom without distinction of 
 
 party, and such as are opposed to the repeal of the 
 Missouri Compromise, and hostile to the further ex- 
 tention of slavery in sentiment, and determined to 
 exercise their rights of suffrage in such a man- 
 ner as to carry out their views in future political 
 action," were words which rang in their ears and re- 
 echoed in their consciousness, while the old-liners 
 affirmed that Whiggery and Republicanism were es- 
 sentially identical, and that the latter, being a tem- 
 porary offshoot, would die early, unless safely gath- 
 ered into the sheltering bosom of the former. Before 
 the day closed the Whigs marched from their cham- 
 ber of assembly to that of the Republican convention. 
 
 Oct. 1 8 following, 22 days later, Chauncey Ell- 
 wood was a Delegate from Frankfort to a Republican 
 Convention called for the purpose of nominating 
 county officers. One of the distinctive actions of the 
 Convention was an endorsement of the resolutions 
 and nominations of the Republican State Convention 
 at Syracuse. To the sentiments and principles, 
 which he adopted without qualification or reservation, 
 Mr. Ellwood has since consistently and inflexibly 
 adhered. 
 
 He came to Sycamore in the spring of 1858, and 
 on the 7th of May following he was admitted to 
 practice in the State Courts of Illinois. He formed a 
 business relation with a law association already es- 
 tablished at Sycamore, which conducted a successful 
 enterprise covering a period of two years, under the 
 style of James, Lowell & Ellwood. On its termina-. 
 tion the relation of Owen & Ellwood was formed, 
 which existed two years and was ended by the with- 
 drawal of the junior partner. 
 
 In April, 1861, Mr. Ellwood was appointed Post- 
 master at Sycamore by President Lincoln, and 
 retained the position until November, 1866. Mean- 
 while he figured in local and State politics, having 
 represented his county several times in State Con- 
 ventions, his career being a continuation of the 
 line of action he had pursued in the State of 
 New York, and the records attest the vigor and 
 persistency of his public attitude. In the 25111 
 General Assembly of Illinois, from 1866 to 1868, 
 he was elected First Assistant Secretary of the 
 Senate under Gen. Chas. E. Lippincott, and on the 
 resignation of his chief became his successor. In 
 the next sessions (1868-1870) he was elected Secre- 
 tary of the Senate. In the fall of 1869 he was 
 nominated for State Senator from his District, but 
 
 ,,T7X,
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 failed of election on account of dissension in the Con- 
 vention. In the fall of 1877, without solicitation, he 
 was made the candidate of the National Greenback 
 Labor element for State Senator and made a gratify- 
 ing run in his District, which is strongly Republican. 
 His own town, which was Republican by a majority 
 of more than 300, gave him 235 majority and he 
 came very near an election. In 1879 he was elected 
 a member of the Board of Education. He served as 
 its Secretary in 1880 and 1881, and was re-elected in 
 
 1882, became its President, and is still the incum- 
 bent of that position (1885). 
 
 Mr. Ellwood has operated in the general business 
 interests of Sycamore with the same alertness, energy, 
 persistency and industry that have characterized his 
 entire career. In 1866 the Sycamore Bank sus- 
 pended, with heavy liabilities, and Mr. Ellwood 
 closed its affairs with the creditors. In 1867, asso- 
 ciated with Dr. O. M. Bryan and Alonzo Ellwood, 
 he started a flax-mill, which is still in existence and 
 operated under the ownership and management of 
 Messrs. Loomis & Luther. In 1874 he engaged in 
 the boot and shoe business at Sycamore, which he 
 conducted until his promotion to the place of chief 
 executive of the city. He is a Director in the R. 
 Ellwood Manufacturing Company, and one of the 
 managers and President of Elm wood Cemetery. On 
 the organization of the Marsh Binder Manufacturing 
 Company, he became a stock-holder, and was elected a 
 Director. In the year following he declined a re-elec- 
 tion from press of other business. From 1875 to July, 
 
 1883, when the road passed into the ownership of 
 the Chicago & Northwestern corporation, he was 
 Vice- President and General Manager of the Syca- 
 more & Cortland Railroad. One of the achieve- 
 ments of his administration was the erection of the 
 fine brick depot at Sycamore. The kindly nature of 
 Mr. Ellwood is as clearly shown by his consideration 
 for the residents of Sycamore during the period of 
 his management, as in any other phase of his career, 
 many being granted the favors of magic slips signed 
 " C. Ellwood," which secured to them the privileges 
 of the road. Many a boy will bear in lasting re- 
 membrance the man who sent him to the conductor 
 with a chalk mark on his back, bearing a significance 
 most gratifying to the wearer of the brand which 
 passed him over the road. 
 
 In 1883 he was elected Vice-President of the De 
 
 Kalb County Agricultural Association and re-elected ^' 
 to the same position in 1884 and 1885. ' 
 
 Though not a subscriber to the tenets of any ec- 
 clesiastical denomination, Mr. Ellwood lends counte- 
 nance and substantial aid to the maintenance and V~) 
 furtherance of religious influence. He attends the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, and is characteristically 
 liberal and generous in its support. His interest in its 
 welfare was most appropriately recognized by his selec- 
 tion as an eminently proper person to pronounce the 
 address of welcome in behalf of the local society on 
 the occasion of the convening of the 42d Session of jj 
 the Rock River Annual Conference held at Syca- I 
 more, in October, '88r. His remarks were published 
 in full in the City Weekly and were made in the 
 genial vein and liberal spirit of their author. A reso- 
 lution was presented and adopted by the Conference 
 expressing the thanks of the organization for the ad- 
 dress, and also for the courtesy extended by Mr. r 
 Ellwood to its members in passing them on the 
 Sycamore & Cortland Railroad, of which he was >->, 
 Manager. The appreciation of his efforts was em- ^ 
 phasized by additional mention in the general reso- + 
 lutions adopted at the close of the Conference. 
 
 Mr. Ellwood has been twice married. He formed -jv 
 a matrimonial alliance with Jane E. Budlong in 1846, . 
 in Frankfort, N. Y. She was the daughter of Dr. 
 Caleb and Susan Budlong. Murray, only child of 
 this union, was born in 1847, and died before he was 
 six months old, after a brief illness of less than 24 
 hours' duration. The young mother, in the weariness 
 of broken health and hopes baffled by the sudden 
 death of her blooming, beautiful babe, did not rally . 
 from her depression, and on the i4th of April, 1848, ] 
 she sank away to eternal rest. She belonged to 
 prominent family, and her untimely death was the ' 
 subject of much comment in the local press. The 
 order of Odd Fellows, to which her husband and 
 father belonged, passed resolutions of condolence 
 and attended her funeral in a body, wearing the 
 badge of mourning. She has been in the realm of 
 the blessed nearly 37 years, but on earth her memory *Q) 
 is still fresh and green, and is perpetuated by the 
 copy of the action of Oneontha Lodge, bearing under * 
 its official seal the expressions of sympathy passed 
 at a special meeting April 15, 1848. 
 
 Mr. Ellwood was again married in November, 
 1857, in Ionia, Mich., to Helen E., daughter of Sam- 
 
 .Q Stf^C i&$& 
 
 , . .. -. / . >^ _
 
 244 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 uel and Anna Dexter. Three children were born of 
 this marriage: Florence was born Nov. 14, 1858, 
 and died Sept. 30, 1859; John D. was born Feb. 9, 
 1860, and is now a resident of De Kalb. He mar- 
 ried Emma, daughter of Thomas and Eleanor Combs, 
 of the city of De Kalb. Anna was born Sept. n, 1864. 
 Their mother died March 5, 1866, at Sycamore. She 
 was a lady of finely disciplined mind and possessed 
 unusual earnestness and decision of character. Her 
 married life was passed in the conscientious discharge 
 of every duty as wife and mother The qualities 
 she exercised as a friend and neighbor built for her 
 a memorial more enduring than marble, and she is 
 still mentioned with admiration and appreciation by 
 those who were the objects of her consideration and 
 esteem. 
 
 The residence of Mr. Ellwood at Sycamore is lo- 
 cated on a plat of ground containing 12 acres, be- 
 longing to his original claim, of which he became the 
 possessor in 1837. The spot where the house stands 
 is in the same state in which it was when its owner 
 first selected it, its soil having never been broken by 
 the plow. In the rear of the residence is a small 
 artificial lake, of a half-acre in extent, and stocked 
 with fish. 
 
 Mr. Ellwood was a charter member of Oneontha 
 Lodge, I. O. O. F., No. 215, at Frankfort, in which he 
 was prominent and passed all the chairs. He was 
 also made a Mason in Olive Branch Lodge there, 
 and passed the various offices, including that of 
 Master of the Lodge ; and on removal to Sycamore 
 he transferred his membership by demit to Blue 
 Lodge No. 134. He is now a Royal Arch Mason at 
 Sycamore. 
 
 Oae of the most notable occasions in the history 
 of Mr. Ellwood's connection with the home of his 
 adoption was the event of the presentation of an 
 elegant gold-headed cane by his friends at Sycamore. 
 The cane cost $100. The engraving embraces an 
 appropriate inscription, and the design of a locomo- 
 tive with tender and passenger coach attached. But 
 over and above the value and beauty of the gift was 
 the abounding enthusiasm which characterized the 
 arrangement and consummation of the presentation 
 ceremonies. It was a perfect ovation and the assem- 
 blage was gratifying in point of numbers and en- 
 thusiasm. The militia and the fire companies, 
 embracing the members of four organizations and 
 
 led by the Band, made a most imposing parade, after 
 which the concourse gathered m Wilkins Hall and 
 were called to order by the President of the occasion, 
 Judge Charles Kellum. The leading addresses are 
 presented intact. Mayor Nathan Lattin spoke as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 " Mr . President : We have met on this occasion 
 and in this hall in a different capacity and for a 
 different purpose than we have been wont to meet 
 here. Sometimes we have met here for pleasure, 
 sometimes as political factions, and sometimes we 
 have met when excitement and passion have largely 
 predominated in our deliberations ; but on this occa- 
 sion we meet much differently. The war-club and 
 the tomahawk are, for the time being, buried deep 
 out of sight, and all meet to x show respect to and 
 good will toward one of our active, enterprising and 
 public-spirited fellow townsmen, one whose interests 
 have been largely identified with the interests and 
 prosperity of Sycamore for the past 20 years not 
 only have been but still are. We have also met to 
 present him a slight token of our appreciation. I 
 need hardly say that the citizen referred to is HON. 
 CHAUNCEY ELLWOOD. 
 
 " He came to Sycamore about 20 years ago, when 
 the place was but a village of a few hundred /Inhabi- 
 tants, no buildings of very large pretensions, either 
 for business, residences, hotels or places for religious 
 worship; no large manufacturing establishments, or 
 machine shops ;. no flax or grist mill ; no railroad ; 
 Mill's stage coach was the only public conveyance 
 by which to communicate with the outer world ; the 
 steam whistle had scarcely broken upon the primeval 
 stillness. He identified himself with the interests of 
 the place of his adoption and has been identified 
 with them up to the present time, and, I may say, 
 is more closely identified with them now than at any 
 time in the past. He has seen the village of 20 
 years ago grow to be one of the most beautiful cities 
 of the present and still in the height of her ambition ; 
 the unpretentious buildings disappear and in their 
 place's appear substantial business blocks, handsome 
 residences, beautiful churches, mills, machine shops 
 and manufacturing establishments; in place of the 
 stage coach, the railroad; the shrill whistle of engines 
 is heard morning, noon and evening. The surround- 
 ing country has had to contribute new territory f< 
 its growth. He has not only witnessed these changes 
 f~\ ^m^j^ef geJkVS^-^^Vf?) 
 
 ""^cxT^"" "'-.,'. /v __
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 I 
 
 ./ 
 
 but has been largely identified with the efforts that 
 have brought them about. 
 
 " But more particularly has his efficiency been 
 demonstrated in the capacity of General Manager of 
 the Sycamore & Cortland Railroad. To-day our lit- 
 tle railroad commands the respect of not only in- 
 dividuals, but also of other railroad corporations, and 
 by it Sycamore is made one of the principal railroad 
 points of Illinois, and its importance is appreciated 
 by all the commercial centers east and west. It is 
 but justice to say that to Chauncey Ellwood belongs 
 the credit largely of our enviable position, and also a 
 fair share of the credit of other improvements of the 
 past years. And when years have passed away, and 
 with them he and ourselves, then his name will shine 
 bright on the roll of honor among those who stood 
 faithful and true to the interests, welfare, growth and 
 prosperity of this, the most beautiful little city in the 
 world, with this sentiment ever before him : ' Syca- 
 more : may she ever be right ; but, right or wrong, 
 nevertheless, Sycamore ! ' 
 
 " For his fidelity to the interests of the city, his 
 friends have met on this occasion to present to him, 
 in the name of the citizens of Sycamore, a token of 
 their appreciation, and I may say, all join in approv- 
 ing. 
 
 " Mr. Ellwood, in the name of your friends, in the 
 name of the citizens of Sycamore, I have the honor 
 of presenting to you this cane as a token of their ap- 
 preciation of your fidelity to the interests of this city. 
 Take it and use it, and by its use may you be able to 
 lengthen out the span of life a little at least ; and 
 when you are through with it, and your work done, 
 may your posterity preserve it as an heirloom to your 
 remembrance ; and may it be an incentive to them 
 to serve their town, county, State and country well 
 and faithfully." 
 
 In response, Mr. Ellwood said : 
 
 " Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen : I have often 
 been called upon to express my views upon the vari- 
 ous matters pertaining to the general welfare of our 
 city's prosperity ; but never with the same emotions 
 as at the present time, as I see before me so many of 
 the professional and business men, the militia com- 
 panies, the elements of our city's prosperity, the 
 laboring men, also the elements of its preservation, 
 the fire companies, to respond to the kind sentiment 
 you have expressed to be the recipient of a testi- 
 
 /-s \ 
 
 monial so beautiful and valuable as this cane. I 
 frankly admit that I do not know how to express my 
 feelings and thanks. 
 
 " You have so kindly referred to my long residence 
 in this place that I may be pardoned in saying that I 
 have witnessed its prosperity and growth, that I have 
 seen it gathering strength year by year, by the united 
 and energetic efforts of her business men, until it has 
 grown from a mere hamlet to a beautiful and pros- 
 perous city of some four or five thousand inhabitants, 
 unsurpassed by any city in the State for the high 
 moral standing of her business men, whose energetic 
 aid has never been wanting to further any enterprise 
 that would tend to the advancement of the city's 
 prosperity. 
 
 " As to the management of the railroad, it is due 
 from me to say that I have ever received th'e hearty 
 co-operation of the president, officers and directors 
 for all the changes and improvements that have been 
 made upon it. It is also due from me to say that 
 our business relations with the general officers of the 
 Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company have 
 been and are of the most friendly character, and to 
 them is due much of the success which our road has 
 obtained, never having asked them for a reasonable 
 favor in behalf of our road, or for the business men, 
 which has not been readily and cheerfully granted. 
 
 " I accept this beautiful cane, not so much on ac- 
 count of its intrinsic value, nor for its beauty, but as 
 coming from my old friends and neighbors, as a 
 memento of their friendship and esteem. I shall 
 keep and prize it as long as I live ; and, as the ever 
 changing years roll round, the sweet memories and 
 recollections of this hour will ever grow brighter and 
 brighter, dearer and dearer to me. Again I thank 
 you, my friends, with the assurance that this occasion 
 will ever be treasured and remembered by me as one 
 of the happiest events of my life." 
 
 Judge Kellum responded to repeated calls as 
 follows : 
 
 "Ladies and Gentlemen : It is gratifying to me. as 
 doubtless it is to all of the citizens of Sycamore, to 
 participate in an assemblage of this character. We 
 have met to show our appreciation of the business 
 ability, zeal and fidelity of one of Sycamore's oldest 
 citizens, Hon. Chauncey Ellwood. He has witnessed 
 and been a part of the city's growth, and has been 
 largely identified with its prosperity and success as a 
 
 II
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 T5 
 
 business center, but has more particularly dis- 
 tinguished himself in his management of the Syca- 
 more & Cortland Railroad. Amid the manifold 
 perplexities incident to the railroad business, his 
 uniform courtesy and obliging manners, his civility 
 and complaisance, have reflected honor upon his 
 management. This occasion is worthy of Sycamore, 
 whose citizens are always willing to do honor to the 
 men who do most to promote her material interests. 
 All asperities, bickerings and heart-burnings, growing 
 out of political or other interests, are forgotten and 
 
 ' made subordinate to the spirit of the occasion. 
 
 ' " Mr. Ellwood, when with enfeebled frame and 
 
 * tottering step you walk the down hill of life, you will 
 find more support and comfort in the cheering 
 memories of this scene than in leaning on this staff, 
 carrying with you, as you will, to your life's end the 
 assurance of the esteem and approbation of your fel- 
 low-citizens." 
 
 R. L. Devine, Esq., made the following speech: 
 "I am much pleased and gratified over this de- 
 
 monstration of respect towards one of the oldest 
 
 * residents of Sycamore. Mr. Ellwood has claims to 
 
 be considered one of the pioneers of the place. 
 J More than a third of a century ago he purchased of 
 
 the United States the land where his homestead is 
 now located, in the limits of Sycamore. He has been 
 identified with many and perhaps most of the lead- 
 ing business enterprises of the town for years. He 
 has given a good word and a helping hand to many a 
 man who stood in need of them. It is quite impos- 
 sible for a man to lead an active public or business 
 life without often meeting with harsh criticism and 
 unjust opposition. Our friend here has had his full 
 ^ \ share of that kind of experience ; but it is better to 
 
 [ appreciate and to commend and reward the good 
 deeds of those with whom we associate than to 
 magnify the errors such as all men are liable to com- 
 mit. I am all the more pleased with this demonstra- 
 tion, as it shows a disposition on the part of the 
 people to stand by one another and by the town. 
 
 ^ Our city is prosperous and we are all proud of it; but 
 its prosperity can only be maintained in the future, 
 as it has been in the past, by harmony and unison 
 among its business men and citizens generally. Let 
 
 f us always bear in mind that old motto, 'United we 
 
 j\ stand, divided we fall.' 
 
 Messrs. ]. S. Waterman, Hon. VV. M. Byers, David 
 
 Syme, W. M. Loomis, R. Ellwood and G. M. Siv- 
 wright made brief and appropriate speeches, and after 
 the closing ceremonies the assemblage dispersed, 
 bearing away with them the remembrance and in- 
 spiration of one of the most enjoyable occasions in 
 the history of Sycamore. It reflects quite as much, 
 however, on the hearts that instigated such an 
 affair as on the man who was its distinguished 
 object. In January, 1883, Mr. Ellwood set out fora 
 Southern tour and traveled leisurely via Louisville, 
 Nashville and Montgomery, visiting prominent places 
 in Florida and shipping from Cedar Keys for Havana, 
 Cuba. All along the route he wrote his impressions 
 and observations in the form of keen, breezy, de- 
 scriptive letters, which he sent for publication to the 
 City Weekly at Sycamore. They were characterized 
 by the vein that runs through all his acts, earnest 
 devotion to and solicitude for the people and interests 
 of Sycamore. 
 
 It has been the lot of Chauncey Ellwood to live in 
 the most important period of the history of the Re- 
 public, and to share in its chances. His early life 
 was filled with the struggles that were his only in- 
 heritance. By diligence and the display of his good 
 judgment and business ability he has accumulated a 
 competency, although beginning active life with no 
 advantages. 
 
 ,enry H. Slater, merchant at Genoa, was 
 born Oct. 31, 1838, in New Jersey. He 
 was reared to the age of 17 years on his 
 father's farm, attending the common school in 
 boyhood, and at the age named accompanied 
 his parents to Genoa Township, where they 
 joined the community of farmers. On reaching the 
 period of his majority, he returned to the East for a 
 visit and remained one year. He came back to De 
 Kalb County, and in August following his return he 
 enlisted in the iosth 111. Vol. Inf., enrolling in Co. 
 A, and shared the fortunes of the regiment until the 
 close of the war. He advanced to the grade of Ser- 
 geant, and was afterwards promoted as First Lieu- 
 tenant. He received his discharge at Washington, 
 D. C. 
 
 On his return to De Kalb County he entered into 
 the prosecution of a mercantile enterprise at Genoa,
 
 OFTKE
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 forming a partnership with Henry Perkins, and they 
 prosecuted their joint interests in that direction three 
 years. Mr. Slater sold his claim and bought a farm 
 in the township of Genoa, and conducted an agricul- 
 tural enterprise two years. Again selling out, he 
 went to Grundy County, where he engaged in busi- 
 ness with A. K. Stiles. Eighteen months later he 
 disposed of his interest to Mr. Stiles and returned to 
 Genoa, embarking in a, mercantile enterprise. In 
 1876 he erected the fine brick building where he has 
 managed his business since. His yearly traffic 
 amounts to about $30,000. 
 
 Mr. Slater is a Republican in political connection 
 and has discharged the duties of several local offices. 
 He is a member of Lodge No. 288, F. & A. M., at 
 Genoa. 
 
 He was married to Anna B. Stiles, and they have 
 two children Samuel A., born April 16, 1868, and 
 Margaret A., born Sept. 2, 1870. Mrs. Slater 'is the 
 daughter of A. K. and Fanny (Smith) Stiles, the 
 former a native of Vermont, the latter of Canada. 
 They came to Genoa Township, where they lived 
 during the remainder of their lives. Their family in- 
 cluded four daughters and two sons. 
 
 Joseph Gandy, farmer, section 10, Cortland 
 Township, was born in Leesburg, Union Co., 
 Ohio, Nov. i, 1834, and when he was 
 three years of age his parents moved with their 
 family to this county, where they have since 
 lived. Mr. G. never learned a trade, but, being 
 naturally a good mechanic, he can build any com- 
 mon farmer's house or barn as well as anybody. He 
 has been a school officer in his township, and in his 
 political views is a Democrat. 
 
 He was married Oct. 9, 1859, to Mary Jane Parker, 
 who was born Dec. 10, 1839, in Camden Township, 
 Hillsdale Co., Mich. They have five children, 
 namely: S. Douglas, born July 18, 1860; Sarah E., 
 July 24,1862, was married Nov. 16, 1882, to Fred 
 W. Snow, and is a resident of Cortland village ; Ada, 
 born Jan. 29, 1864; Vida,Sept. 10, 1865; and Henry 
 Harris, April 9, 1874, all on section 9, this town- 
 ship. Mr. G.'s father was Henry H. Gandy. (See 
 sketch of H. H. Gandy.) Mrs. G.'s father, Abel 
 Parker, was torn in the State of New York, Dec. 14, 
 
 ^&&*& **^ %* 
 
 i8oo, and died in 1851, in Camden, Hillsdale Co., f\ 
 Mich. Her mother, Climena, nee Pease, was also 4P 
 born in New York State, July 4, 1813, and died Dec. 
 1 3> I 879, in California Township, Branch Co., Mich. 
 Her maternal grandfather was a Revolutionary sol- V& 
 dier. 
 
 ramont N. Hollembeak, retired farmer, re- 
 siding at Genoa, was born Feb. 5, 1816, in 
 Genesee Co., N. Y. Ruluff Hollembeak, 
 his father, was a native of New York, and 
 married Electa Ames, who was born in Ver- 
 I mont. After their marriage they became resi- 
 dents of Genasee County, afterwards removing to 
 Pennsylvania, where the father died. The mother 
 came to De Kalb County, and after a residence of 
 nearly 30 years returned to Pennsylvania, where she 
 died. Their children were named Electa, Betsey, 
 Aramont N., Alfred A., Abram, William and Amy. 
 
 Mr. Hollembeak is the oldest son of the children 
 born to his parents, and accompanied them while 
 yet in extreme youth to Crawford Co., Pa. He was 
 13 when his father died, and he continued to .reside 
 with his mother three years after that event, aiding 
 her in the support of the family. In 1832 he began 
 an apprenticeship to learn the business of a wagon- 
 maker, remaining until the year preceding his ma- 
 jority, after which he pursued his trade as a vocation 
 at different points until the date of his removal to 
 De Kalb County, and afterwards for a season. Among 
 other places where he carried on his business may 
 be named Conneaut, Ohio, where he operated three 
 years. 
 
 In 1839 he became a citizen of De Kalb County 
 and entered a claim of 160 acres of land in the 
 township of Genoa, of which he afterwards obtained 
 the patent from the Government. On this he lo- 
 cated and was an occupant until Nov., 1877, when he 
 built his present residence, and of which he took pos- 
 session on its completion. His fine and valuable farm 
 is managed by a tenant. , 
 
 Politically, Mr. Hollembeak is an out-and-out Re- 
 publican, and he has been an important factor in the 
 general interests of his township. He has been Su- 
 pervisor two terms, has served several terms 
 Assessor, School Trustee and Road Commissioner, 
 
 ^^ -*m 
 

 
 Iff 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 and has discharged the duties of a Police Magistrate 
 six years. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity. 
 
 Jan. 12, 1838, he was married, in Crawford Co., 
 Pa., to Pamelia, daughter of Frederick and Amy 
 Decker. Her parents were residents of Genesee Co., 
 N. Y., where her father died. The mother went to 
 Pennsylvania and later to Michigan, to live with her 
 children, and died at Cassopolis in that State. Their 
 daughters were Betsey, Catherine, Hannah, Amy, 
 Jane and Pamelia, and sons, Barney, Grant and 
 ( Stacey. Mrs. Hollembeak was born May 7, 1817, in 
 Cj Genesee Co., N. Y. The children born to her and 
 her husband are Adelia A., Alfred, Henry, Emily, 
 Ruluff and Ralph. 
 
 A fine lithographic portrait of Mr. H. accompanies 
 this sketch. 
 
 \\ 
 
 ohn E. Atwood, merchant at De Kalb, and 
 senior member of the firm of Atwood & 
 Burnside, was born Aug. 26, 1828, in the 
 town of Washington, Berkshire Co., Mass. He 
 remained in the Bay State until 1 1 years old 
 and spent the succeeding four years in Jeffer- 
 son and Lewis Counties, N. Y. In 1844 he came to 
 Illinois and settled in Rockford, finding employment 
 as a farm laborer. When he reached the age of 22 
 years he entered a dry-goods store in that city, where 
 he acted in the capacity of salesman. He ceased his 
 connection with his employers at the end of four 
 years, during which he had spent about one year in 
 his native State. 
 
 He came thence to De Kalb County and engaged 
 in business in the township of Malta, operating there 
 three years and coming to De Kalb in 1862. He 
 formed his present business relation with A. W. 
 Burnside in 1877, previous to which date he was 
 connected with his brother. The annual aggregate 
 of the business transactions of the firm are estimated 
 at $40,000, and they rank among the leading com- 
 mercial houses of this section of Illinois. Mr. At- 
 wood adopts the principles of the prohibition element 
 in politics. He is also a member of the Masonic 
 fraternity. 
 
 He was first married in Belvidere, 111., to Angelita 
 Harrington, a native of Buffalo, N. Y. They had 
 
 two children: Clara A. resides at Colorado Springs, 
 and J. Harie is in the employment of John V. Far- 
 .well & Co., of Chicago. Their mother died in Malta 
 and Mr. Atwood was again married in that place 
 March n, 1861, to Annie E. Fuller. One child 
 Walter B. has been born to them. Mrs. Atwood is 
 a native of Pennsylvania. 
 
 ififerson O. Stark, of the firm of Stark Bros., 
 dealers in stock and pressed hay, at Syca- 
 more, was born April 4, 1847, in the town- 
 ship of the same name, in this county. His 
 father, Marshal Stark, was born Aug. 12, 1813, 
 in Luzerne Co., Pa., and became a resident of 
 De Kalb County Sept. 14, 1835. Louisa (Tyler) 
 Stark was born in Susquehanna Co., Pa. The senior 
 Stark located a large tract of land on section 31, 
 Sycamore Township, which was deeded to him on 
 its coming into market, and is still in the family. At 
 one time he was the proprietor of a place of public 
 entertainment at Sycamore, known as the Stark 
 House, a part of which is still standing contiguous 
 to the Ward House. He was Sheriff of De Kalb 
 County one term and officiated in other positions of 
 trust and importance. His death occurred Dec. 26, 
 1882, and his widow is still a resident of the home- 
 stead. Their ten children are all living. Harmon 
 M. resides on 360 acres in Kingston Township in 
 this county, which is a portion of the unsettled es- 
 tate. Martha is the wife of Hosea Atwood, a farmer 
 in Jasper Co., Iowa. Mary married Curtis Harris, 
 of the township of Genoa. Jefferson O. is the fourth 
 in order of birth, and is in company with Henry, his 
 junior brother. Theron resides in Sycamore and is 
 administrator of his father's estate. Ada married 
 James Maitland, and resides on the homestead. Ella 
 is the wife of A. W. Brower, a hardware merchant of 
 Sycamore. Emma married Charles Wiggins, a farmer 
 in Storey Co., Iowa. Hattie is the wife of Burt Lee, 
 a resident of Sycamore. 
 
 Mr. Stark was reared to the legal age of manhood 
 on the paternal estate, and on reaching a period of 
 independence he engaged in buying and shipping 
 stock. Three years after he established his business 
 he admitted his brother to an interest, and they have 
 since been heavily engaged in transactions in the 
 
 ^\.A /-s ^nJSxrL.i^' vsx>
 
 
 DE KALB 
 ) 
 
 ' avenues named. They buy and ship stock to Chicago 
 nd press hay for mark-it, having the requisite facili- 
 *. ties at Sycamore and also at Kirkland. 
 
 Mr. Stark is the owner of his residence and a 
 i second dwelling, which is rented. He was married 
 Nov. 13, 1875, to Lydia Carver, a native of Luzerne 
 Co., Pa., and is the daughter of Jabez and Ellen 
 (Jackson) Carver. She was born in Lemon Town- 
 ship, Luzerne Co., Pa., Aug. i, 1850. 
 
 ayne Holdridge, farmer on the northwest 
 quarter of section 28, Cortland Township, 
 was born in Smithville, Chenango Co., 
 N. Y., Nov. 22, 1825, and is a son of Ira 
 and Anna (Howell) Holdridge. His father 
 was born in 1786, in Pownell, Vt, and died Jan. 
 13, 1869; and his mother was born on Long Island, 
 N. Y., Sept. 26, 1792, and died Dec. 28, 1869, in 
 Chenango Co., N. Y. They had a family of ten 
 children. 
 
 Mr. Holdridge, the eighth in the above family, 
 was brought up on a farm and received a practical 
 school education. At the age of 28 he came to this 
 county, arriving in June, 1853, and locating on his 
 present farm of 67 acres, lying just north of the rail- 
 road. For 1 1 years he lived in the village of Cort- 
 land, where he owned a house and lot and followed 
 painting, and bought his farm in 1864, since which 
 time he has occupied it. In 1864 it had only an old 
 house, but he has placed upon it a good residence, 
 barn, outbuildings, etc. In politics Mr. Holdridge is 
 a Republican. 
 
 He was married Sept. 27, 1857, to Miss Clara L., 
 daughter and youngest child of Job and Anna 
 (Sprague) Densmore, of Puritan English stock. She 
 was born Oct. 24, 1834, in McDonough, Chenango 
 Co., N. Y. Her father, a Methodist minister, was 
 born March 25, 1790, in Reading, Vt, and died Sept. 
 9, 1845 ; and her mother was born May 24, 1791, in 
 Vermont, and died March 23, 1880. Her grand- 
 father Densmore was a soldier in the Revolutionary 
 War. Mrs. Holdridge has a Continental eight- 
 dollar bill which he received in pay. Her grand- 
 father Sprague was a Captain of a stationary com- 
 pany at Castleton, in the Revolutionary War. Her 
 oldest brother, H. B. Densmore, came to Kane Co., 
 
 COUNTY. 
 
 
 111., in 1837, and located at Sugar Grove, where he 
 still resides. 
 
 Mrs. H. came to this county with her mother in 
 1845, they leaving New York State the day after Mr. 
 Densmore was buried. There were 21 in the party, 
 and they came West by team. Among them were 
 Mrs. D., two children, and a sister named Cornelia N 
 Breed, who has married and is now living in New 
 Bedford, Bureau Co., 111. A brother, Joseph, is now 
 living in Shell Rock, Butler Co., Iowa. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Holdridge have had one child, 
 Ethelbert by name, who was born July 25, 1861, in 
 Cortland Township, and is now living in Cortland 
 village. 
 
 Mr. H. is a Republican in his political views. 
 
 illiam Wallace Bryant, M. D., practicing 
 physician and surgeon at Sycamore, was 
 born Oct. 31, 1832, at Chesterfield, Hamp- 
 shire Co., Mass. His father, Martin M. 
 Bryant, was born in the same place, and 
 JJ married Nancy A. Skiff, a native of Williams- 
 burg, Mass. He was a physician of the " new 
 school," and in 1838 settled at North Adams, where 
 he pursued his profession until his death in 1844. 
 
 Dr. Bryant was a child of six years when his par- 
 ents went to the town of Adams, and was 12 years old 
 when his father died. He remained with his mother 
 and attended Drury Academy in Adams, and subse- 
 quently became a student at Marlow, Cheshire Co., 
 N. H. He began to read medicine under the in- 
 structions of Dr. W. W. Gardner, at Pittsfield, Mass., 
 and supplemented the knowledge there obtained by 
 attending lectures at the Medical College at Worces- 
 ter in his native State, where he was graduated in 
 June, 1856. 
 
 In October of the same year, Dr. Bryant came to 
 Sycamore, then in its days of incipiency, and has 
 since been engaged as a practitioner at this point. 
 He has built a substantial and popular business, and 
 has discharged the duties of his profession with little 
 intermission. 
 
 Dr. Bryant was married in September, 1856, to 
 Cordelia Sheldon. She was born in Monroe, Frank- 
 lin Co., Mass., and is the daughter of Hiram G. and 
 Lydia (Ballou) Sheldon. Their children are Charle 
 
 *4a
 
 
 DE KALE COUNTY. 
 
 J 
 
 H., Austin B., William M. and Nellie. The oldest 
 son was born in Sycamore, April 24, 1857, and was 
 primarily educated in the schools of his native city. 
 He studied medicine under his father's instructions, 
 and at the age of 18 years commenced to attend 
 lectures at the Chicago Medical College, where he 
 was graduated in March, 1879, after a thorough 
 preparatory course covering a peiiod of four terms. 
 He was married in March, 1877, to Lottie V. Har- 
 rington, who was born in Iowa. They have one 
 child. 
 
 Dr. W. W. Bryant has been a Universalist in 
 religious principles for a quarter of a century. He 
 is a Democrat of the Douglas school. 
 
 enry Patterson, carpenter and joiner at 
 Genoa, was born Dec. 20, 1829, in Mead- 
 ville, Pa., and is the son of Joseph and 
 Eleanor (Compton) Patterson. He came from 
 his native State to McHenry Co., 111., in 1845, 
 when he was 16 years of age, and was a mem- 
 ber of his father's family four years after their loca- 
 tion in Illinois. 
 
 In 1850 he went to Chicago for the purpose of ac- 
 quiring a knowledge of the business of a carpenter 
 and joiner, in which he was occupied three years. 
 He came to Genoa in 1854 and established himself 
 in the business in which he has since operated. 
 
 He was the owner of 45 acres of land in the cor- 
 poration of Genoa, ten acres of which was laid out 
 in lots, now known as Patterson's Addition to Genoa. 
 
 Mr. Patterson is a Republican in political faith, 
 and has officiated as School Director and Village 
 Trustee. 
 
 He was married Feb. 16, 1854, in Genoa Town- 
 ship, to Adelia Crocker, and they are the parents of 
 six children, Charles F., Edward J. A., Hermon H., 
 Mary E. and Clayton A. One child died in infancy, 
 and Edward died Feb. 2, 1862, in Genoa, when four 
 and a half years of age. 
 
 Mrs. Patterson is the daughter of Elder Allen and 
 Sophronia (Tackles) Crocker. Her father was a na- 
 tive of Massachusetts and a soldier in the war of 
 1812. Commenced preaching when 22 years of age, 
 and continued in the ministry 56 years, preaching in 
 the States of New York, Ohio and Illinois. He died 
 
 in Genoa, Feb. 7, 187 r. Her mother was a native of 
 New York. She received her education at Wyoming 
 Academy in the same State, and died in Genoa, 
 Nov. 30, 1874. They came from New York in 1846, 
 and located in Genoa Township. Their children ^ 
 were born in the following order: Alvaro, Mary A., 
 Philenia, Elvira, Adelia and Angeline. Mrs. Patter- 
 son was born Jan. 16, 1836, in South Leroy, Genesee 
 Co, N. Y. 
 
 obert H. Roberts, merchant at De Kalb, 
 senior member of the firm of Roberts & 
 Tyler, was born July 28, 1836, in Oneida 
 Co, N. Y. His father died when he was 12 
 years of age, and during the year following he 
 was wholly orphaned by the death of his 
 mother. Thrown entirely upon his own efforts for 
 maintenance, he availed himself of the first oppor- 
 tunity that presented for honorable, remunerative la- 
 bor, and engaged in farm work by the month, also 
 operating as a salesman in a store, being occupied in 
 these two callings for a period of seven years. 
 
 In 1855 he cafae to De Kalb County, where he 
 rented a farm for a time, which he worked on shares. 
 He proceeded next to Kansas, bat the State being in 
 a disturbed condition from the strife engendered by 
 the slave element, he remained there but a year. 
 However, he entered a claim of 160 acres of land, 
 espoused the Free-Soil cause and enlisted under the 
 banner and principles of " Jim Lane," serving as 
 need required. He afterwards sold his daim. Re- 
 turning to De Kalb County, "he obtained a situation 
 as a clerk at Sycamore, where he was occupied three 
 years. In 1861 he started a grocery business at De 
 Kalb, associated with his brother Richard. After a 
 connection of four years the latter sold his interest to 
 S. A. Tyler, the firm assuming its present style. 
 They are engaged in the provision trade, and also do 
 an extensive business in live stock. 
 
 Mr. Roberts is a stanch Republican and enjoys 
 the confidence of his townsmen. He held the posi- 
 tion of County Treasurer from 1875 to 1882, and has 
 discharged the duties of Village Trustee. 
 
 He was married Oct. 20, 1863, in Herkimer Co, 
 N. Y, to S. Emma, daughter of R. H. and M. L. 
 Smith, and they have had two children. Wallace A.
 
 as born Oct. 24, 1868. The other child died in in- 
 | fancy. 
 
 William T. and Mary (Williams) Roberts, the 
 
 parents of Mr. Roberts of this sketch, were natives 
 
 of North Wales. They emigrated to the State of 
 
 t New York and were married in Oneida County, 
 
 vhere they remained until their death. 
 
 eorge M. Kinyon, farmer on the northeast 
 quarter of section 8, Cortland Township, 
 was born in Onondaga Co., N. Y., Aug. $, 
 1827. His father, John Kinyon, was born 
 Nov. 13, 1796, and is still living, with a son in 
 the town of Ridgeway, Orleans Co., N. Y. 
 George's mother, Lydia, nee Post, was born Nov. 28, 
 1800, and died in March, 1883, in Hartland Town- 
 ship, Niagara Co., N. Y. 
 
 The subject of this sketch moved with his parents 
 from his native place to Ridgeway when a lad, where 
 his father bought a farm, which he still owns. At the 
 age of 19 young George arrived in this county, May 
 15, 1847, and purchased the farm which he still owns 
 and occupies. It consisted of 130 acres of prairie 
 and 17 acres of timber. He and Mr. H. H. Gandy 
 are the only men in this settlement who still own the 
 land they bought in pioneer times when they first 
 arrived here. On his place, when he purchased it, 
 was a double log house, the farm was fenced and a 
 large portion of it " broken " by the plow. Since then 
 he has erected a fine frame residence, barn, outbuild- 
 ings, etc., and kept the farm in a good agricultural 
 condition. 
 
 By his first marriage, Nov. 12, 1848, Mr. Kinyon 
 wedded Miss Marilla Churchill, in Sycamore Town- 
 ship, this county. She was a daughter of David and 
 Maria (Parker) Churchill, and died March 26 follow- 
 ing, and now lies buried near the Baptist church in 
 Ohio Grove Cemetery. She was not taken up and 
 buried " under her mother's window," as Boies' his- 
 tory says, but was taken to St. Charles and brought 
 back. There was a second funeral, when she was 
 buried in the same coffin, with the exception of a new 
 lid, in the same grave. Her father was drowned in 
 1854, in Virgin Bay,on his way home from California, 
 and her mother is still living in Iowa, the wife of Mr. 
 Armstrong. For his second wife Mr. K. was wedded, 
 
 Oct. 22, 1849, to Mrs. Nancy P., widow of John Ad- 
 kinson, who died Feb. 19, 1847, in Dearborn Co., 
 Ind. He was born in Switzerland County, that State, 
 in 1823. His daughter, Vesta A., who was born three 
 weeks after his death, was his only child, and now 
 lives in Washington Co., Kan. Mrs. Kinyon was 
 born April 14, 1827, in the town of Philips, Franklin 
 Co., Maine, the daughter of William Peace Whitney, 
 her father having been so named because he was 
 born on the day peace was declared at the close of 
 the Revolutionary War. He was born in Cumber- 
 land Co., Mass , and died Dec. 29, 1863, at Cort- 
 land. Her mother, Nancy J., nee Carlton, is living in 
 Washington Co., Kan., with her son George, a farmer. 
 She was born Nov. 30, 1806, in Cumberland Co., 
 Mass. 
 
 By the second marriage of Mr. Kinyon there have 
 been three children, as follows : John William, born 
 Aug. 31, 1850; Dexter D., Oct. 8, 1854; and Lydia 
 G., May 18, 1857. 
 
 Mr. K. is a Republican, and both himself and wife 
 are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 
 W. Morris, editor and proprietor of the 
 Malta Mail, was born at Danbury, Conn., 
 in the year 1822, and there resided for 40 
 years. He learned the woolen business, serv- 
 ing his time with Dick & Sanford, at Sandy 
 Hook, about ten miles from his native place. 
 He was married in 1844, and at that time was carry- 
 ing on the manufacture of cloths in his native town, 
 and continued to do so until 1848, when he sold out 
 and was appointed Deputy Sheriff under Phil. F. 
 Barnum, a brother of P. T. Barnum, which office he 
 held for three years. In 1851 he was again made 
 Sheriff and held that office until 1862, when he re- 
 signed and came West and settled at La Crosse, Wis., 
 and went into the insurance business. 
 
 In 1864 he came with his family to Rockford, this 
 State, and there remained until 1874, when he moved 
 to Chicago, where he continued in the insurance bus- 
 iness, traveling in the Western and Southern States. 
 In 1877 he bought the Malta Mail, a paper that had 
 just been started, also the Creston Times, in Ogle 
 County, and with his sons, Howard A. and Charles 
 H., they continued until the death of Charles H., in 
 
 r 
 
 \\
 
 
 DE KALB COUNT}. 
 
 1 882. In August, 1882, in company with his son 
 Howard, they started the Rochelle Herald, at 
 
 ^ Rochelle, Ogle County, and now father and son are 
 conducting the Malta Mail, Creston Times and 
 
 A Rochelle Herald, and all are in a healthy and grow- 
 ing condition. 
 
 Barnes S. Waterman, one of the founders of 
 Sycamore, now deceased, was born May 
 29, 1820, in the township of Salisbury, 
 Herkimer Co., N. Y., and was the son of John 
 D. and Mary Waterman. In 1822 his parents 
 removed to the village of Fairfield in the same 
 county, where his father engaged in commercial pur- 
 suits, and where the son became a student at the 
 academy. The father dying before the latter had 
 reached the threshold of manhood, he was early 
 brought to a realization of the effort necessary to a 
 successful stiuggle with the world, to which he was 
 made heir by the loss of his natural protector. 
 
 His mother was a woman of sterling character and 
 more than ordinary intellectual capacity, and her 
 sons entered upon their careers with the double in- 
 heritance of brains and business tact. James 
 studied civil engineering, and in 1838 joined his 
 brother Charles in the State of Illinois, making his 
 first location at Newburg, Boone County, and after- 
 wards at Sayersville in Winnebago County. North- 
 ern Illinois presented an excellent field for the 
 exercise of the calling for which his educational course 
 had fitted him, and he passed five years as an as- 
 sistant in the survey and adjustment of the townships 
 and minor divisions. This work developed his 
 natural traits of activity, energy and perseverance, 
 and proved the foundation of a substantial fortune. 
 The intervals of service in the employ of the Gov- 
 ernment were passed in the mercantile business with 
 his brother at Sycamore, the site of the place being 
 then located on the Kishwaukee River, on the plat 
 made by the New York Company in 1836. He ob- 
 tained the position of Deputy Surveyor of De Kalb 
 County, and in 1839 made the survey and plat of 
 the site of the present city of Sycamore. His abili- 
 ties in his profession, and his capacity for unremit- 
 ting effort, gained for him a substantial reputation as 
 
 a business man, and an influence which he excited 
 for the general welfare, and in 1842 he brought his 
 prestige to bear materially on the extinction of the 
 State debt of Illinois by aiding in securing the meas- 
 ure designated the "two-mill tax," whose results 
 demonstrated the value of its provisions. 
 
 In 1844 Mr. Waterman established a mercantile 
 enterprise at the village of Genoa, situated on the 
 northern border of De Kalb County. In the spring 
 of 1845 he became a permanent citizen of Sycamore, 
 founding the first enduring mercantile business at 
 that place, opening his transactions in that avenue 
 in a room of the old Mansion House, now the City 
 Hotel and situated on the corner of State and Main 
 Streets. He admitted his brother, John C. Water- 
 man, to an interest in his business, and this relation 
 existed until 1852, when he became again sole pro- 
 prietor by purchase of a circuit of branch stores lo- 
 cated in adjoining settlements, and of the main 
 enterprise at Sycamore. He continued their man- 
 agement until 1857, when he sold them to be able 
 to give his undivided attention to banking, in which 
 he had embarked in 1855. 
 
 As an evidence of the care, wisdom, judgment and 
 forethought he exercised in his business relations, it 
 may be remarked in this connection, that he passed 
 securely through the financial crisis of 1857, with no 
 other embarrassment than the perplexity unavoidably 
 incident to business of any character in a period of 
 general panic and shrinkage of values. In 1864 
 Mr. Waterman closed active operations as a banker 
 and devoted the remainder of his life practically to 
 the promotion of agriculture in De Kalb County. 
 His familiarity with the localities of the county and 
 his comprehension of their comparative values had 
 enabled him to make judicious purchases of real es- 
 tate. He became the owner of farms variously situ- 
 ated in De Kalb County, prominent among which 
 was a tract of 1,000 acres on the southern border of 
 Sycamore township, which constituted a claim and 
 which he secured by purchase when it came into 
 market, and of which he retained possession as long 
 as he lived. His landed estate extended into other 
 States, including extensive tracts of pine land in 
 Wisconsin; and he also owned a considerable amount 
 of real estate in Chicago, which he improved exten- 
 sively after the great fire. About the year 1 88 1 he 
 made an investment in a mine in Southern California, 
 
 vv
 

 
 which yields a large income and promises enormous 
 increase in value. 
 
 Mr. Waterman identified himself with every enter- 
 prise in which he could discern a promise of perma- 
 nent advantage to Sycamore. In 1871 he founded 
 the Sycamore National Bank, and continued its chief 
 official up to his death. He was the primal factor in 
 the construction of the Sycamore & Cortland Rail- 
 road, and was President of the corporation until the 
 road became the property of the stock-holders of the 
 Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. He was the 
 leader in the establishment of the Marsh Harvester 
 Manufactory at Sycamore, and was its heaviest stock- 
 holder in the beginning of the enterprise. When the 
 company was re-organized he retained his interest, 
 and was its Vice- President while he lived. On the 
 organization of the Ellwood Manufacturing Company, 
 he became a heavy stock-holder and was its presiding 
 officer until 1881. 
 
 The chief memorial of James S. Waterman is the 
 church edifice of the Episcopal parish of St. Peter's 
 at Sycamore, whose superstructure was erected wholly 
 at his expense. It is built of the beautiful Batavia 
 stone, and is tastefully modeled, resembling the 
 private chapels of the English nobility in form. Mr. 
 Waterman was one of the parish founders, which was 
 established in 1855, and one of the closing acts of his 
 life was to provide in part for the perpetuation of its 
 support. The adorning of the inner walls was 
 planned by him after he was stricken by fatal dis- 
 ease, and completed as he had designed, after he had 
 passed from earth, and for which purpose he had 
 appropriated the necessary means. In the nave of 
 the church on the right of the chancel, a beautiful 
 brass mural tablet, suitably inscribed, has been 
 placed to his memory. 
 
 He had been in the habit, during the winter sea- 
 sons of the latter years of his life, of traveling in the 
 Southern States and in New Mexico and California. 
 In the winter of 1882-3, while in the Golden State, 
 he decided on a trip to view some mining property 
 in New Mexico, whither he went, accompanied by 
 his brother Robert, remaining at Riverside, Cal., until 
 May following, when he returned to his home. His 
 disease baffled the best medical skill to be obtained, 
 and he finally went to Chicago for treatment. All 
 efforts proved futile, and Thursday, July 19, 1883, 
 the electric messenger conveyed to Sycamore the 
 
 <^vV3ra\/_a~ ^m.-gxB.ny 
 
 .iSyAv-EXg 13 * ~ ^iry r 
 
 tidings that the weary struggle with the " guest that 
 goes not forth alone " was ended. On the day fol- 
 lowing he came back to his beloved people and 
 home, voiceless and coffined for everlasting rest and 
 peace. It was the first sorrow he had brought to the 
 portals of the home which had been his pride and 
 joy, and where his living presence had been a com- 
 fort and blessing which words are powerless to char- 
 acterize. In his journeyings he had made many 
 friends, and on the Pacific slope, as in the State of 
 his adoption, a cry of mourning went forth when the 
 intelligence was borne back that James S. Waterman 
 had gone forever from the scenes of earth, which had 
 known him so well. 
 
 Mr. Waterman was first married in 1847, on the 
 5th of January, to Mary A. Person. She died in De- 
 cember, 1850, having borne a son Douglass Water- 
 man who died in 1855, aged seven years. Mr. 
 Waterman was again married Jan. 30, 1854,10 Abbie 
 L., daughter of Isaac Cushman, M. D., of Sherburne, 
 N. Y. Mrs. Waterman is a representative of one of 
 the leading families, in point of culture and refine- 
 ment, in the East. In the years of her wedded life 
 she exemplified, in the truest sense, the highest and 
 best domestic graces. Her home was ever the arena 
 for the exercise of the noblest womanly traits, and in 
 it she wields the sway of an exalted nature under 
 the guidance of a well trained and disciplined spirit. 
 
 on. Westel W. Sedgwick, attorney, senior 
 member of the law firm of Sedgwick & Son 
 at Sandwich, was born June 7, 1827, in 
 Westmoreland, Oneida Co., N. Y., at a point 
 four miles from the city of Rome. His father, 
 Samuel Sedgwick, was a physician, and was 
 born in 1803, in Herkimer Co. N. Y., and married 
 Ruhamah P. Knights. In May, 1844, he removed his 
 family to Little Rock, Kendall Co., 111., and entered 
 a claim of 80 acres of land, subsequently increasing 
 his estate to 163 acres. His death occurred at Little 
 Rock, March i, 1847. His wife was born in Oswego 
 Co., N. Y., in 1807, and she is living with her daugh- 
 ter Elizabeth, Mrs. Oliver S. Hendee, at Sandwich, 
 who is the eldest daughter. Sarah A. is the wife of 
 William Brewer, a farmer of Chariton Co., Mo. James 
 
 ^^^
 
 J 
 
 H. is an attorney and is practicing his profession at 
 Peoria, 111. Three children are deceased. 
 
 Mr. Sedgwick obtained an available education in 
 youth and utilized his time and abilities in teaching. 
 He began to prepare for the profession of medicine 
 under the direction of his uncle, Parker Sedgwick, of 
 Du Page Co., 111., and subsequently studied in his 
 father's office, acquiring a substantial preparation for 
 matriculation at Rush Medical College in Chicago, 
 where he was graduated in 1848, after studying one 
 term. The death of his father in the previous year 
 opened an opportunity for him to enter upon and es- 
 tablish his profession, and he succeeded to his father's 
 practice at Little Rock, continuing to operate as a 
 physician until the autumn of 1857. He also con- 
 ducted a mercantile enterprise three years. 
 
 At the date named he came to Sandwich and be- 
 came by purchase the possessor of 10 acres of land, 
 which he platted, and it is now comprised within the 
 city limits. He bought 80 acres additional soon after, 
 associated with Hon. S. B. Stinson, and later a por- 
 tion of the tract was platted and is designated "Sedg- 
 wick's Addition to Sandwich." On the latter purchase 
 he erected his residence, the grounds accompanying 
 now containing one acre, of which he is yet the 
 owner. On locating at Sandwich, in partnership 
 with O. S. Hendee, he established a drug trade 
 which was in operation nearly three years. His 
 change of locality and business was necessitated by 
 an attack of inflammatory rheumatism, which com- 
 pelled him to relinquish the practice of his profes- 
 sion, the disease incapacitating him for the severe 
 labors of a widely distributed business An medical 
 avenues, and he engaged in the sale of drugs, for ob- 
 vious reasons. In 1860 he was elected Justice of 
 the Peace and opened an office for the accommoda- 
 tion of the business pertaining to his official position, 
 in which he has continued mostly without intermis- 
 sion. The relations of his office secured for him a 
 practical knowledge of common and statutory law, 
 and incidentally he entered upon the study of the 
 code, which course eventuated in his systematic ap- 
 plication to the acquirement of a comprehensive 
 knowledge; and in the spring of 1862 he passed the 
 prescribed course of examination at Ottawa, and was 
 admitted to practice in the State Courts. 
 
 In the fall of the same year he was elected Repre- 
 sentative in the Legislature, serving in that capacity 
 
 through the sessions of 1862-3 and 1863-4. On be- 
 ing relieved of the duties incumbent upon his official 
 position, he opened an office for the practice of law, 
 and conducted its affairs singly until 1882, when he 
 admitted his son, S. Park Sedgwick, to a partnership. 
 The house is managing with success a large and im- 
 portant practice, and they represent, in addition, 12 
 prominent fire insurance companies, comprising some 
 of the most reliable in the United States. They are 
 also transacting a considerable business as real-estate 
 and loan agents. 
 
 Since the date of his location at Sandwich, now 
 (1885) covering a period of nearly 30 years, Mr. 
 Sedgwick has been unremitting in his interest and 
 zeal for the material well-being of the place and peo- 
 ple. On the organization of the Sandwich Manufac- 
 turing Company in 1867 he was one of the earliest 
 to enter heartily into the enterprise ; he was one of 
 the Directors from the outset, and was elected Vice- 
 President, in which capacity he officiated several 
 years and which was terminated by a sale of his in- 
 terest. He took an active part in the organization 
 and' establishment of the Sandwich Enterprise Com- 
 pany, in which he became a Director and of which 
 he was subsequently made President. He held the 
 position three years, and still remains one of the 
 heaviest stockholders. He identified himself with 
 the Sandwich Cheese Factory Company, was a stock- 
 holder therein and became President, holding the 
 chief position in the organization three years. 
 
 He has been interested and prominent in local 
 political circles, and is at present serving a second 
 term as City Attorney. He has been Supervisor of 
 Somonauk Township several years, and was Presi- 
 dent of the Board of Trustees of Sandwich before it 
 became a city. When it assumed corporate dignity 
 Mr. Sedgwick was made its first Mayor, and was re- 
 elected to that incumbency. He was a member of 
 the Constitutional Convention of Illinois in the fall 
 of 1869, and was an important and influential actor 
 in framing the present Constitution of the State. In 
 1874 Mr. Sedgwick was appointed by Governor 
 Beveridge to fill a vacancy on the Board of Trustees 
 of the Insane Asylum at Jacksonville, and discharged 
 the duties of the position nearly two years. He went 
 abroad in 1881 and traveled through the most inter- 
 esting portions of Europe, Asia and Africa, visiting 
 Palestine, and making a trip on the river Nile. Dur- 
 ing his absence he contributed a series of entert 
 
 ' * ^ >m^MXar- -S.^"^*^ 
 
 Vi~) ffiOjF ^SfTiEl-^WVSJ
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 ing and instructive letters to the Sandwich Free 
 Press. 
 
 His marriage to Sarah A. Toombs occurred June 
 7, 1848, at Little Rock, Kendall Co., 111. Sire was 
 born Nov. 22, 1827, near Buffalo, N. Y., and is the 
 daughter of William and Alta Toombs. To Mr. and 
 Mrs. Sedgwick 10 children have been born, five only 
 now surviving, who were born in the following order : 
 Agnes E.; Caroline Gertrude, wife of Webster Dyas, 
 a druggist at Arlington Heights, Cook Co., 111.; S. 
 Park, of Sedgwick & Son ; Charles F., Deputy Post- 
 master at Sandwich ; and Jennie May. 
 
 Mr. Sedgwick is prominent in influence and posi- 
 tion at Sandwich, from causes which have been 
 foreshadowed in the record of his career. He pos- 
 sesses great versatility in point of ability, and has 
 been equally successful in medicine and law. In 
 the latter he has won a position second to no other 
 attorney in De Kalb County and has distinguished 
 himself in his connection with some of the most 
 noted cases that have come before the Courts of 
 Northern Illinois. In probity and integrity and 
 soundness of opinion and judgment he is second to 
 none, and is estimated accordingly in the community 
 where he resides. He is a member of the Presby- 
 terian Church, and has been largely instrumental in 
 establishing the permanent interests of the Society. 
 Sandwich is greatly indebted to him for its rapid and 
 substantial advancement in all its leading relations. 
 
 The portrait of Mr. Sedgwick, which appears on 
 another page, is a signal addition to the collated 
 biographical and historical records of De Kalb 
 County, from his character as a man and citizen and 
 his position in the community of > which he is a 
 member. 
 
 
 
 orm White, farmer, section 9, Genoa Town- 
 ship, is the son of John and Barbara 
 (Bamar) White. His parents were natives 
 J t of Germany, and had a family of eight chil- 
 ^" dren. Mr. White was the fifth in order of birth 
 and was born in Germany, March 5, 1815. In 
 846 he emigrated to America from the Kingdom of 
 varia, and on arrival in the United States first set- 
 tled in Pennsylvania. He remained there between 
 two and three years, and in 1849 came to De Kalb 
 
 Sdcgaft- s^r: %4 
 
 County and bought 80 acres of land in Genoa Town- 
 ship. He has brought his old-country thrift, energy 
 and persistency of purpose to bear in his efforts to 
 secure for himself the privileges of the land of his 
 adoption, and is now the proprietor of 350 acres of 
 land in De Kalb County, with 250 acres under cul- 
 tivation. He is a member of the Republican party 
 in political connection. 
 
 Mr. White was married in the fall of 1846, in 
 Pennsylvania, to Anna M. Hoffman, a native of 
 Bavaria, and they have had seven children, Charles, 
 George, Margaret, Caroline, John, Henry and Mary. 
 Mrs. White was born Feb. 10, 1820, in Germany. 
 
 lorge W. Dunton, City Attorney of Syca- 
 more, was born Aug. 6, 1854, in Belvidere, 
 Boone Co., 111. His parents, William S. 
 and Almira (Baldwin) Dunton, are natives of 
 Bennington Co., Vt. The bir,th of the former 
 occurred Aug. 31, 1813. He settled in the 
 village of Belvidere in 1846, where he is now resid- 
 ing. The mother of George W. also survives. They 
 had four children. The first-born died in infancy. 
 Mary is the wife of Samuel Kerr, an attorney of Chi- 
 cago. Nellie was born next in order. 
 
 Mr. Dunton is the youngest child of his parents, 
 and passed the years of his boyhood and youth al- 
 ternately on the farm and at the schools of Belvidere, 
 until he was 17 years of age, when he matriculated 
 at the University of the State of Iowa, at Iowa City. 
 He was a student four years in the Literary Depart- 
 ment of that institution, and was graduated in June, 
 1875, with the degree of A. B. In the same year he 
 entered the Union College of Law in Chicago, where 
 he was graduated in 1877, after two years of close 
 application to the study of law. 
 
 Coming to Sycamore he formed a business relation 
 with the late R. L. Divine, which continued to exist 
 till the fall of 1880. Since that date Mr. Dunton 
 has conducted the connections of his office singly, 
 and has built up a fine and popular practice. 
 
 Mr. Dunton is a representative of a New England 
 family of the best type; one that has occupied a 
 front rank in the circles of culture and refinement for 
 generations, and whose genuine claims have given it 
 a prominence second to none. He brings to his life
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 ~\ 
 
 work his inheritance of self-respect and the capacity 
 for earnest effort, which is conspicuously the dowry 
 descending to him from his ancestral stock. To young 
 and rising men of his calibre the profession looks 
 hopefully for its redemption from the evils which are 
 upon it in these latter days. 
 
 Mr. Dunton was elected City Attorney of Syca- 
 more in the spring of 1883. 
 
 .ohn P. Smith, farmer on the southwest 
 quarter of section 36, Cortland Township, 
 was bom in West Somers, Westchester Co., 
 N. Y., Feb. 28, 1809. His father, Samuel 
 Smith, was born in Westchester Co., N. Y., of 
 English descent, was a cooper by vocation all 
 his life, and died in his native county, about 32 years 
 of age. The mother of John P., Elizabeth, nee 
 Nichols, also a native of that county and of English 
 ancestry, died in the same county, aged about 7 9 
 years. His grandfather first settled on Long Island, 
 N. Y. 
 
 The subject of this biographical sketch lived, after 
 his father's decease, with a man in Putnam Co., N.Y., 
 working for his board and clothing, from the age of 
 nine until he was 16 years of age. He then served 
 an apprenticeship of five years at the wagon-maker's 
 trade, and then never followed it a single day after- 
 ward. His next career was as a violinist for a travel- 
 ing circus most of the time for 12 years, and part of 
 the time as manager, when he made about $14,000. 
 He then bought a farm of 120 acres in Putnam Co., 
 N. Y., and managed it for four years, going then into 
 the milk business in New York city, four years. Next, 
 he returned and purchased another farm in Putnam 
 County, of 1 30 acres, and followed the daily business 
 Tor six years, making a specialty also of fat cattle 
 and sheep; sold this place, bought his father-in-law's 
 farm, and resided upon it two years; sold that to 
 Daniel Drew, came West, to Pike Co., 111., looked 
 around a month, and then throughout the State for 
 a year, when he finally, in 1852, bought the quarter 
 section where he now resides. To his original pur- 
 chase he subsequently added until atone time he had 
 as much as 700 acres. His present place was clean 
 prairie when he came here, with only a small house 
 ipon it. Although Mr. Smith had no school educa- 
 
 tion with which to begin life, nor even a cent of 
 money, he has taught himself reading, writing and 
 arithmetic, as well as those business principles which 
 have enabled him to accumulate property by the 
 habits of honest industry ; and he has accordingly 
 made his home a substantial one, and earned a high 
 reputation among his fellow citizens. He has been 
 Supervisor, Highway Commissioner, and School 
 Director, and in his political principles he acts with 
 the Republican party. 
 
 He was first married Jan. 20, 1836, to Zillah 
 Haines, who was born Oct. 14, 1814, in Westchester 
 Co., N. Y., died July 31, 1871, and is buried in the 
 Maple Park burying ground. Her father, Horace 
 Haines, died in Putnam Co., N. Y., about 63 years 
 of age, and her mother, Jane, nee Youmans, also 
 died in that county, at the age of about 88 years. 
 Mr. Smith was married a second time Oct. 12, r873, 
 to Mrs. Eliza Denton, widow of Solomon Denton 
 and daughter of Harry and Rebecca (Smith) Crosby. 
 Mr. Smith's children are all by his first wife, namely : 
 Lemore M., Leonard Y., Eliza J. and Horace ; and his 
 wife's children by her first husband are, Mary, Re- 
 becca, Julia, Lavinia, Elizabeth, Gilbert, and one 
 deceased. 
 
 avid W. Hartman, editor and proprietor of 
 the Genoa Issue, was born Feb. 9, 1854, 
 in Ccrtland, De Kalb County. His par- 
 ents, Elias and Almira (Churchill) Hartman. 
 are natives respectively of Pennsylvania and 
 the State of New York. In 1837 they came 
 to De Kalb County and " took up " a homestead 
 claim in what is now the township of Cortland, set- 
 tling thereon previous to the Government survey. 
 They sold the place later and removed to Sycamore, 
 the father engaging in a mercantile enterprise, in 
 which he was interested nine years. At the expira- 
 tion of that period he disposed of his commercial 
 business by sale and became again a farmer in the 
 the township of Cortland, prosecuting that business 
 about four years. His next enterprise was in the 
 capacity of hotel-keeper in the village of Cortland, 
 and he conducted affairs in that line seven years. 
 He again sold out and removed to Rochelle, 111., re- 
 maining three years, and returning thence to Syca- 
 
 JV^' 

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 J 
 
 more, where he has since resided. The other 
 children belonging to the family are Delos, Philo, 
 Mary, Rosetta, Wallace and Carrie D. 
 
 Mr. Hartman passed the early part of his life in 
 attendance at school, and at 18 years of age was 
 apprenticed to learn the trade of a printer in the 
 office of the True Republican at Sycamore, under the 
 direction of the editor, H. L. Boies. In 1880 he be- 
 came associated with the latter in the proprietorship 
 of the paper, the connection existing until September, 
 1884, when Mr. Hartman severed his connection 
 with the journal and established the Issue at Genoa. 
 His enterprise had a gratifying inception, met with 
 favor and support, and is rapidly gaining ground and 
 securing a permanent foothold. Mr. Hartman is a 
 Republican in political preference, but is conducting 
 his newspaper on the neutral principle. 
 
 His marriage to Mary Robinson took place at 
 Sycamore, Aug. 7, 187 9, and they have had two chil- 
 dren, Ethel C., born Jan. 2, 1881, and died Aug. 8 
 following; and Floyd B., born March 16, 1884. Mrs. 
 Hartman is the daughter of Horace and Ann E. 
 Robinson, both natives of Massachusetts, whence 
 they removed to Illinois. The former died at Saxon, 
 Henry Co., 111., and the latter resides at Genoa. 
 
 bram Ellwood, manufacturer of barbed 
 wire fence stretchers at Sycamore, is the 
 son of Hon. Reuben Ellwood, M. C., whose 
 sketch may be found elsewhere. He is con- 
 nected with the business interests of the firm 
 lately known as the R. Ellwood Manufactur- 
 ing Company, whose affairs have recently been as- 
 sumed by the senior stock-holder. 
 
 Mr. Ellwood was born March 26, 1850, in Scotia, 
 Schenectady Co., N. Y. He was a pupil at school 
 until he was 16 years of age, when he engaged as a 
 railroad contractor, operating at various points in the 
 management of construction corps of different lines, 
 among which were the New Orleans, Mobile & Texas 
 Railroad and a line formerly known as the Milwau- 
 kee & Northern. On the termination of his transac- 
 tions in that capacity, he engaged in the duties of a 
 freight and passenger conductor, following that line 
 of business on various railroads. He was an attache 
 of the United States Mail service on the Missouri, 
 
 Kansas & Texas, on the Chicago & Northwestern 
 and on the Chicago, Lafayette & Cincinnati Rail- 
 roads. 
 
 In the fall of 1877 he entered upon the responsi- 
 bilities of the position of Superintendent of the R. 
 Ellwood Manufacturing Company, in which he was 
 engaged until the fall of 1880. At that date he en- 
 gaged in the manufacture of wire-fence stretchers 
 and novelties, in December, 1884, consolidating his 
 interests -with his former business and becoming 
 manager. 
 
 Mr. Ellwood was married Jan. 3, 1876, to Emma 
 L. Garvin, and they have four children : Mildred 
 G. was born Feb. 3, 1878; Sallie E., July 18, 1879; 
 Reuben, Jr., Sept. 25, 1881; Emma E., Aug. 7, 
 1883. Mrs. Ellwood was born Dec. 6, r848, in 
 Chichester, N. H. 
 
 Mr. Ellwood has officiated one term as Alderman 
 of Sycamore. 
 
 
 W. C. Joslyn, farmer on the south- 
 west quarter of the southeast quarter of 
 section 29,Cortland Township, was born in 
 Darien, Genesee Co., N. Y., Nov. 22, 1824, 
 and when ten years of age moved with his par- 
 ents to Erie Co., N. Y. In July, 1844, he came 
 by steamboat to Chicago, that place having then only 
 5,000 inhabitants. He came on to Sycamore with 
 Andrew Lovell and Homer Roberts, and in October 
 following he went to Wisconsin and spent the n 
 ensuing winters in the pineries; the summers he 
 spent on the Mississippi River, sawing and rafting 
 lumber to St. Louis, Mo., or was at Sycamore. While 
 in the pineries he learned the Chippewa language of 
 the Indians. He walked i r times to the pineries, 
 a distance of 300 miles, and walked from La Salle 
 and Peru to Sycamore when he saw no other human 
 being on the whole route except at Paw Paw and Shab- 
 bona Grove. Once he drove an ox team to the 
 pineries, and his only stopping places were the hotels 
 along the way, which were generally 40 miles apart ! 
 In 1856 he quit lumbering and bought 400 acres 
 of land, of Mr. West, the banker at Geneva; the 
 next year he sold to his partner, L. F. Dow, but in 
 1858 he bought back 60 acres, on which he has since 
 resided and prospered. He has borne a share of the 
 /. r\ ^j&^.er ro fj@^(a) 
 
 ft 
 
 r
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 public burden by serving as Overseer of the Poor and 
 
 Path Master. 
 
 Mr. Joslyn was married June 18, 1856, to Mrs. 
 Philura L. White, widow of George H. White, who 
 (0)1 died in Calfornia in 1852. They had one child, George 
 M., born May -8, 1849, who is now a resident of Kan- 
 sas. Her father, Martin L. Lowel, was born in Lam- 
 ster, N. H., Dec. 14, 1792, and was in the War of 
 1812, and was a pensioner. Her mother, Melinda 
 C. La Porte, was born in New Jersey, June 6, 1798. 
 ^ Both of them died in Sycamore. Her parents came 
 to this country in 1870, but she herself had come in 
 1855. Mrs. J. was born in 1825, in Brookfield, 
 Washington Co., Vt. Mr. Joslyn's father, Orsamus 
 R., v/as born in 1800 and died in 1864, in Alden, 
 Erie Co., N. Y.; and his mother, Osia, nee Sprague, 
 was born in 1806, and died in the above county, in 
 1844. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Joslyn are: 
 Colin C., born Dec. 9, 1857, now an attorney at 
 law in Minneapolis, Minn.; Carlin D., born May i, 
 1859, now at Deer Lodge, Montana, 600 miles north- 
 west of Salt Lake City; Dan R., born Oct. 7, 1863, 
 and died in 1870 ; Minnie O. and Linnie R., twins, 
 were born April 8, 1870. 
 
 Tames M. Dayton, of the firm of Dayton & 
 Stafford, dealers in live stock at Sycamore, 
 was born Jan. 16, 1839, in the township of 
 Cortland, and has been a resident of De Kalb 
 County all his life. His father, Alvin Dayton, 
 was born in 1809 in Vermont, and removed 
 with his family to De Kalb County in its earliest days. 
 He is the oldest living pioneer settler of Cortland 
 Township. The mother of James M., Abigail, nee 
 Wyman, is a native of Massachusetts. 
 
 Mr. Dayton is the second in order of birth of six 
 children born to his parents, four of whom are still 
 living. He began his struggle with fate on attaining 
 his majority, and soon found himself the possessor of 
 90 acres of land, the result of persistent energy and 
 perseverance in laudable effort. The property was 
 located in his native township and he continued its 
 proprietor six years. At the end of that time he 
 bought a farm in the town of Virgil, in Kane County. 
 His possessions there now embrace 320 acres, the 
 property being in charge of a tenant. 
 
 In 1871 he came to Sycamore and embarked in 
 
 the enterprise in which he is now occupied, and also 
 engaged in the management of a restaurant in part- 
 nership with his brother. Four years later he re- 
 turned to his farm, and after a stay of nearly three 
 years became again a factor in the business element 
 of Sycamore. The shipments during the busy season 
 of Messrs. Dayton & Stafford average about 100 car- 
 loads. In summer Mr. D. operates a large road- 
 grader, and among other merchandise they deal in 
 drain tile and sewer pipe. 
 
 The wife of Mr. Dayton was formerly Ann A. 
 Ewings, and their marriage took place Oct. 7, 1861. 
 Mrs. Dayton was born in Ohio, and is the daughter 
 of George and Deborah Ewings. The children born 
 of their union are five in number. Mary, born Jan. 
 5, 1863, is the wife of Herbert E. Harmon, agent for 
 a nursery house, and resident at Morenci, Mich.; 
 Grant A. was born Dec. 5, 1865, in Cortland Town- 
 ship; Nora A. was born Sept. 25, 1867 ; Lottie, Oct. 
 21, 1869, in Virgil Township; Josie, Sept. 17, 1873, 
 in Sycamore Township. 
 
 lexander Crawford, merchant at Genoa, 
 was born Dec. 22, 1822, in the State of 
 Pennsylvania, where his parents, Alexan- 
 der and Rachel (Kidd) Crawford, were also 
 born. They removed thence with their chil- 
 dren in the fall of 1839, and settled in the 
 township of Sycamore, where their mother died, in 
 185 r. Later, the father went to Iowa and died 
 there. 
 
 Mr. Crawford is the second son of his parents, 
 who became the parents of eight children. He 
 passed the earlier years of his life obtaining his edu- 
 cation and assisting on his father's farm. His first 
 independent venture in business was on a rented 
 farm, on which he operated two years, and at the end 
 of that time pre-empted 160 acres of land in Genoa 
 Township. On this he prosecuted the interests of a 
 farmer until 1873, when he bought another farm, of 
 which he took possession and was engaged in culti- 
 vating two years. In 1875 he removed to Genoa 
 village and began to operate in butter and eggs, 
 gradually extending his relations until he converted 
 them into those of a general merchant. He is con- 
 ducting a very extensive business, one of the lea 
 
 >"'


 
 enterprises at Genoa, and manages his affairs in a 
 brick building, which he erected in the summer of 
 1 88 1. His aggregate of annual sales amounts to 
 about $18,000. His farm in the township of Genoa 
 comprises 376 acres of valuable, well-improved land. 
 Mr. Crawford is in sympathy with the Republican 
 element in politics, and has held the offices of Justice 
 of the Peace and Highway Commissioner. He is 
 also a member of the Masonic fraternity. 
 
 His marriage to Laura Shurtliff took place Dec. 
 25, 1845, in Genoa Township, and they have five 
 children, Theresa, William H., Milton H., Clark E. 
 and Carl B. The oldest daughter is the wife of 
 Charles Smith and resides in Genoa Township. 
 
 sratio H. Mason, capitalist, resident at 
 Sycamore, was born Feb. 19, 1829, in the 
 township of Warren, Herkimer Co., N. Y. 
 The family genealogy has been preserved, the 
 record showing that Sampson Mason, the earliest 
 ancestor who became a citizen of the New 
 World, was a soldier and officer o/ the army of Crom- 
 well and probably belonged to the celebrated Iron- 
 sides Regiment. In 1650, after the Restoration, he 
 came to America and located at Rehoboth, Mass. 
 He was a member of the Free-Will Baptist Church 
 in England and was active in establishing the Second 
 Baptist Church Society at Swansea, in the Bay State. 
 He married a lady named Russell, and they became 
 the parents of 12 children. Their son, Pelatiah 
 Mason, was born in 1669 and was married May 22, 
 1694, to Hepzibah Brooks. Eleven children were 
 born to them, of whom Russell was the tenth in order 
 of birth. He was born April 21, 1714, and married 
 Rhoda Kingsley June 5, 1736. The children of 
 whom they became the parents were 12 in number. 
 Philip was born Jan. 29, 1745, and married Mercy 
 Scott. They became the parents of 12 children. 
 Their son, Russell Mason (2d), was born Feb. 25, 
 1769, and was married on Sunday, Dec. 30, 1792, to 
 Ruth Lapham. Hiram Mason was the fifth of their 
 nine children. His birth occurred Sept. 17, 1805, in 
 Warren* Herkimer Co., N. Y., and he married Fanny 
 Brown, a native of German Flats, born Aug. 9, 1808. 
 They were the parents of Mr. Mason of this sketch. 
 The Mason family continued residents of Massachu- 
 
 ^^Jts^ff- ^^ < 
 
 setts until r794, when Russell Mason (2d) removed 
 from South Adams to the State of New York. He 
 was a pioneer settler of Fairfield, Herkimer County, 
 where he became owner of a large tract of timber 
 land, which he cleared and converted into a fine and 
 valuable farm. Later, he removed with his family to 
 Warren Township in the same county. 
 
 Hiram Mason and his wife died when their son 
 was in his childhood. The latter, thrown on his own 
 resources at an unusually early period in life, devoted 
 every energy to the amelioration of the circumstances \ 
 in which he found himself and in establishing his gjx 
 prosperity on a firm basis. The first important event f 
 of his life was his marriage, and two years later he 
 came to Illinois and engaged in agricultural pursuits 
 at Sycamore, combining therewith extensive traffic in 
 real estate. He purchased tracts of unimproved 
 land, which he redeemed from "its original state and 
 afterwards sold. He became the owner of 200 acres 
 of land in the western part of Sycamore (including 
 the Joseph Sixbury farm), which he laid out in lots, 
 and portions of which he sold. He also platted one 
 division, now known as Mason's Addition. The 
 grounds connected with his residence on State Street, 
 including four acres, five dwellings variously located 
 and several lots lying in different sections of the cor- 
 poration, are still in his possession. He owns about 
 2,500 acres of land in Iowa, still lying uncultivated, 
 and he is also the proprietor of 1,000 acres of fine 
 farming land in De Kalb and Ogle Counties, which 
 is rented. In addition to his transactions in real 
 estate, Mr. Mason operates in loans. He is a Douglas 
 Democrat. 
 
 In 1871, associated with James S. Waterman, he 
 formed a stock company and organized the First 
 National Bank of Sycamore, of which he was elected 
 Vice-President. His connection with the institution 
 ceased in 1875, since which he has conducted finan- 
 ciering in a private capacity. When the Sycamore 
 & Cortland Railroad was built he became one of its 
 stock-holders, and has also conducted an abstract 
 business, the firm style in that avenue being Baily & 
 Mason. 
 
 The marriage of Mr. Mason to Mary E. Tredway > - 
 occurred Feb. 28, 1850, in the village of Little Lakes & jj 
 in Warren Township. Mrs. Mason was born in that 
 township April 18, 1832, and was the daughter of 
 Belia and Philotheta (Marshall) Tredway. Her
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 father was an attorney-at-law. Of this union four 
 daughters were born, two of whom are deceased. 
 Eliza V. was born in Mohawk, Herkimer Co., N. Y.i 
 May 29, 1851, and died May [2, 1853, at Sycamore; 
 Fanny F. was born at Sycamore Jan. 7, 1856, and 
 was married Oct. 30, 1878, to Walter H. Loomis; 
 Libbie F., born March 12, 1865, at Sycamore, died 
 March 7, 1869; Mary Maud was born at Sycamore 
 Aug. 17, i87r. Their mother died Aug. 25, 1882. 
 
 The portraits of Mr. Mason and his deceased wife 
 may be found on preceding pages. 
 
 >hn Patterson, farmer, resident at Genoa, 
 was born April 5, 1821, in Meadville, Pa. 
 He is the oldest son of Joseph and Eleanor 
 (Compton) Patterson. His parents were born 
 in Pennsylvania and came to McHenry Co., 
 111., in 1846. They retained their residence 
 there until 1864, when they removed to De Kalb 
 County, settling in the township of Genoa, where the 
 death of the father occurred, March 1 8, 1865. The 
 mother died July 3, 1875. Their children were born 
 in the following order: Rebecca, John, Joseph, 
 David, William, Henry, Margaret E., James, George 
 and Robert. 
 
 Mr. Patterson is the oldest son and came to Mc- 
 Henry County when he was 24 years of age, in 1845. 
 He resided there until the fall of 1862, the date of 
 his removal to De Kalb County, and purchased 40 
 acres of land in the township of Genoa. He has in- 
 creased his landed estate until he is now the pro- 
 prietor of 200 acres of land in the county of De Kalb. 
 He located in the village of Genoa on his removal 
 hither. Mr. Patterson is a Republican in political 
 sentiment and has held various positions of official 
 trust in the community to which he belongs. 
 
 He was married in Genoa, Nov. 20, 1851, to Mary 
 J. Gregory. She was born Dec. 24, 1832, and they 
 have had a family of eight children : Eleanor J., born 
 Junes, 1853; John R., Sept. 18, 1854; James C., 
 Aprils, 1856; Lyman L., Sept. 24, 1857; Caroline, 
 Dec. 215, 1859; Joseph, Aug. 8, 1862; Fred G., Dec. 
 17,1872; and Lew E., June 24,. 1878. Lyman L. 
 died April 2, 1874, when he was 16 years of age. 
 
 The parents of Mrs. Patterson, Ezra S. and Jane 
 (Brown) Gregory, were natives respectively of Con- 
 
 necticut and Maine. After their marriage they set- 
 tled in the State of New York, and were there 
 resident until 1837, when they settled in Genoa 
 Township. They have had seven children, three of 
 whom grew to maturity, Mary J., Starr C. and Wil- 
 liam G. 
 
 rthur J. Thompson, dentist at Sycamore, 
 was born April 24, 1848, in Utica, Oneida 
 Co., N. Y. His father, John J. Thompson, 
 as born April 6, 1813, in Albany, N. Y., and 
 was by vocation a shoemaker. The latter be- 
 came a soldier of the Civil War and was 
 wounded at Chickamauga, the injury being the primal 
 cause of his death, which occurred April 21, 1883, at 
 Polo, 111. Barbara B. (Brand) Thompson, the mother, 
 was born Jan. 6, 1813, at Eichelfechen, Scotland, 
 and resides with her daughter at Polo, 111. Two of 
 their six children are living. Mary E. is the widow 
 of Cornelius Wadsworth, a former harness dealer at 
 Polo. Charles W. , was killed April 7, 1862, at the 
 battle of.Shiloh, when he was 20 years of age. Jenitt 
 C. is deceased. She died at the age of 20 and was a 
 young lady of superior musical education, being a 
 fine pianist and vocalist. Arthur and Florence were 
 twins. The latter died at the age of six years. 
 James is deceased. 
 
 The enlistment of his father in the war for the 
 Union necessitated the removal of Mr. Thompson 
 from school when he was 14 years old, and he 
 learned the trade of a harness-maker. He was after- 
 wards employed in various mercantile houses until 
 1871. He had been frugal and managed his affairs 
 with the purpose of preparing for his profession, and 
 in that year he became a student in dentistry in the 
 office of Charles H. Carnaga at Polo, 111. At the 
 end of four years he established his office indepen- 
 dently and operated about 18 months. In the fall 
 of 1874 he founded his business at Sycamore, in 
 which he has won the reward due to the substantial 
 merits of his work and has a popular and increasing 
 business. Dr. Thompson is an active and influential 
 member of the Odd Fellows Order and belongs to 
 the Patriarchal Circle. 
 
 He was married March 25, 1875, in Polo, to Elsie 
 *<*X&
 
 
 COUNTY. 
 
 269 
 
 M., daughter of Alfred and Mariah Hunter. Their 
 children were born as follows: Florence J., Dec. 19, 
 1875; Clara B., Feb. 8, 1879; John A., May 20, 
 1881. Mrs. Thompson was born April 19, 1847, in 
 Colchester, N. Y. 
 
 Barnes P. Brown, farmer, section 29, Genoa 
 fc Township, was born Jan. 3r, 1833, in Ben- 
 son, Hamilton Co., N. Y. He is the son 
 of Jeremiah L. and Judith (Richardson) Brown, 
 of whom a more extended account is given in 
 the sketches of D. S., J. W. and C. A. Brown, 
 to be found elsewhere in this volume. At the age of 
 four'years he accompanied his parents to De Kalb 
 County, and has been since that age a resident of 
 the township of Genoa, and is a farmer of promi- 
 nence and a citizen of influence. He owns 429 
 acres of land, lying principally in Genoa Township, 
 and is also the proprietor of 504 acres in Storey Co., 
 Iowa. In political sentiment and connection he is a 
 Republican. 
 
 His marriage to Susan M., daughter of Peter S. 
 and Barbara A. Pratt, occurred April 8, 1854, in 
 Elgin, 111. They have been the parents of 15 chil- 
 dren, three of whom are not living. The survivors 
 are James L., Esther E., Annie R., Elva L., Ar- 
 thur B.,. William J., Lora and Lena (twins), Franklin 
 B., Susie A., Alta B. and Ethel A. Ida and two 
 children unnamed are deceased. 
 
 dward Hoxsey, a business man of Som- 
 onauk, was born Jan. u, 1834, in Berk- 
 shire Co., Mass., and is a son of Alanson 
 and Nancy (Jones) Hoxsey. The family re- 
 moved in 1836 to Serena, La Salle Co., 111., 
 where the father became an extensive land- 
 holder, owning at one time 800 acres of land. The 
 latter was a native of Berkshire County and was a 
 farmer in the Bay State previous to his removal to 
 La Salle County. 
 
 Mr. Hoxsey is the only child of his parents and 
 s but two years of age when his parents became 
 residents of the State of Illinois. He remained on 
 
 @) 
 his father's farm until he was 23 years of age, coming *>j> 
 
 in 1856 to Somonauk, where he engaged in buying 
 grain and stock. Later he became interested in a 
 steam flouring mill (since burned), which he con- 
 ducted about eight years. He has also been engaged 
 in dry-goods business about five years, and afterward 
 in the sale of hardware sundries, operating in 'those 
 avenues of business in connection with his grain and 
 stock interests. His transactions represent about 
 $200,000 annually. In the fall of 1884 he built the 
 Somonauk skating-rink, a structure 28x96 feet in 
 dimensions. 
 
 Mr. Hoxsey was married March 3, 1854, in Serena, 
 La Salle Co., 111., to Sarah Mclnturf, and they have ^ 
 had four children : Isabella, first-born child, is de- 
 ceased ; Ella, Frank and Florence are the names of 
 the survivors. Mrs. Hoxsey is the daughter of 
 Samuel and Sarah (Debolt) Mclnturf, and is a native 
 of the township of Rutland, La Salle County. 
 
 i 
 
 V. Joslyn, farmer, section 33, * Cortland 
 Township, \vas born in Darien, Genesee 
 Co., N. Y., June 3, 1825, and was the son 
 of Phineas and Lorinda (Woodworth) Joslyn, 
 natives of New York State, the former of whom 
 was born April 4, 1792, and died in August, 
 it Sycamore, this county, and the latter was 
 born April 3, 1797, and died Nov. i, 1881, also in 
 this county. 
 
 Mr. Joslyn was brought up on a farm in his na- 
 tive county, and in his i4th year came with his par- 
 ents to this county, where he has ever since resided. 
 He received a common-school education, and was 
 married May 21, 1851, to Miss Sabrina, daughter of 
 Rudolphus and Polly (McKay) Burr. Her father 
 was born Jan. 20, 1796, in Onondaga Co., N. Y., and 
 died July n, 1865, of apoplexy, in this county; and 
 her mother was born Feb. 28, 1796, in Wilkesbarre, 
 Wyoming Co., Pa'., and died March 6, 1866, also in 
 this county. Her father was liberally educated and 
 spent many years of his life as a teacher, keeping 
 school some 14 months in Canada after the War of 
 1812. Her grandfather, who was a native of Con- 
 necticut, cut his way through the woods most of the 
 distance to Onondaga Co., N. Y., where hewaj after- 
 ward County Judge for several years. Her parents
 
 were married April 2, r82o. In 1847, with a family 
 of three children, they emigrated from Erie Co, N. 
 Y., to this county, arriving March 3, and settling in 
 Cortland Township. Her father and youngest brother, 
 however, came here the previous year. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Joslyn have had four children, all of 
 whom are living, namely; Ida M., born in Sycamore, 
 111., May 29, 1856; Mary L., in Pampas, now Cort- 
 land, Dec. 7, 1863; Phineas H., in Cortland, April 
 12, 1868; and Rudolphus, V., Feb. 3, 1870, in Cort- 
 land Township, on the old farm. 
 
 Mr. Joslyn has been School Director, but has de- 
 clined the numerous other offices tendered him. He 
 votes the Republican ticket. He has 260 acres of 
 land in his home farm, and owns land also on sec- 
 tions 34 and 28. 
 
 acob Spansail, a farmer situated on section 
 24, Genoa Township, was born Dec. 16, 
 1833, in Germany. His parents, Jacob 
 and Elizabeth D. Spansail, were natives of 
 Germany and in 1850 emigrated to America, 
 locating in Ohio. They had a family of seven 
 children, Jacob, Sebastian, Rosa, George, Dora, 
 Catherine and Fred. The father died in Michigan 
 while en route to Illinois to visit his son : the mother 
 survives. 
 
 Mr. Spansail was about 17 years of age when he 
 accompanied his parents to America, and he lived in 
 the Buckeye State three years, coming thence to 
 Kane Co., 111. Two years later, in 1855, he removed 
 to De Kalb County and became the owner by pur- 
 chase of 40 acres in the township of Genoa, and has 
 since maintained his residence thereon. His home 
 estate now includes 320 acres and nearly the entire 
 acreage is under improvement. His herd of cattle 
 includes 50 head on an average and he fattens about 
 65 hogs yearly. 
 
 Mr. Spansail was married March 29, 7857, to 
 Elizabeth Vote, and they have seven children, Mary 
 E., George H., John M., Rosa (died when three 
 months old), Dora J., Katie M. and Frederick W. 
 Mrs. Spansail was born March 30, 1837, in Craw- 
 ford Co., Ohio, and is one of ten children born to her 
 parents, Elizabeth, Mary A., John M., Anna W., 
 Susan, William H., Jacob G., Margaret, Charles F. 
 
 and Franklin P. The parents, John and Anna M. 
 (Karn) Vote, are natives of Pennsylvania and Ger- 
 many. 
 
 Mr. Spansail is a Republican in politics and has 
 been a prominent man in the k-cal offices in his 
 township, having held the position of Road Com- 
 missioner rs years and also that of School Director. 
 He is a man of acknowledged business abilities and 
 acted as salesman for the patrons of the New Lebanon 
 cheese factory for three years. In 1882 he was ap- 
 pointed Postmaster of New Lebanon. 
 
 eorge W. Dubrock, retired merchant, res- 
 ident at Somouauk, was born Feb. i, 1830, 
 at Rehna, Mechlenberg, in the northern 
 part of Germany, also, the native place of his 
 parents, John and Maria Dubrock, who had 10 
 children. Mr. Dubrock is one of four surviv- 
 ing children. He was rs years of age when he left 
 school and began to operate as a salesman in a mer- 
 cantile establishment in the city of Hamburg, Ger- 
 many, where he was employed until he emigrated to 
 New York, arriving in that city in 1852. He spent 
 a year in the great metropolis engaged as a cigar 
 packer. At the end of that time he came to Danby, 
 Du Page Co., 111. In company with his brother, 
 Charles J. Dubrock, he opened a general store, in 
 which relation he operated nearly seven years. In 
 the fall of 1860 he opened his mercantile enterprise 
 at Somonauk, which he prosecuted with satisfactory 
 results, until his retirement in January, 1879. Mr. 
 Dubrock is the owner of his fine residence and 
 grounds, the latter including one and a half acres ; 
 also the same quantity south of his residence, which 
 is situated on the La Salle County line, and the land 
 in its rear is in that county. He has another town 
 lot in another part of Somonauk village, and owns 
 113 acres of farming land one mile east of that 
 place. 
 
 He was married Oct. 20, 1859, in Du Page Co., 
 111., to Amelia Anderson, and they have 10 children, 
 as follows : George E. is a clerk in a wholesale boot 
 and shoe store ; Helen L. and Zillah are next in order 
 of birth ; John W. is a clerk in the same establish- 
 ment in Chicago where his brother is employed. 
 Jennie, Clara, Frederick F., Mary, Elizabeth and Loe 
 

 
 f 1 are the names of the others. Mrs. Dubrock was 
 born July 29, 1838, in Rochester, N. Y., and is the 
 fo daughter of William and Mary (Headley) Anderson. 
 The former died in Aurora, 111., Sept. 4, 1865. The 
 latter is living^in Aurora. The father of Mr. Du- 
 brock died about 1870. His mother is 85 years of 
 age, and is still living in Germany. His wife is a 
 member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 
 ?3l Jli^^rederick B. Townsend, cashier of the 
 ^4 fllllK private banking establishment of Daniel 
 "" Pierce & Co. at Sycamore, was born July 
 30, 1858, in Malta Township, De Kalb County. 
 Amos W. Townsend, his father, is one of the 
 firm, and is in active business life. Eleanor 
 (Pierce) Townsend, his mother, is still living, and the 
 family are residents of Sycamore. 
 
 Mr. Townsend was a student in the schools of 
 ^^ Sycamore until he was 17 years of age, when he en- 
 v? tered the Lombard University at Galesburg, 111., 
 ~ and spent three and a half years pursuing the studies 
 of the scientific course in that institution. On com- 
 pleting his education, he went to Chicago and was 
 O* employed as a clerk in the wholesale and retail drug 
 establishment of Gale & Blocki, where he was occu- 
 ) pied one year; after which he entered Eastman's 
 National Business College at Poughkeepsie, and after 
 pursuing a full and thorough course of commercial 
 study, was graduated, in May, 1881. He returned 
 to Sycamore and assumed the duties of the position 
 he has since fulfilled with ability and fidelity. 
 | 
 
 I 
 
 Barnes T. Powell, retired merchant, residing 
 at Somonauk, was born Oct. 17, 1823, in 
 Boston, Mass. Howell Powell, his father, 
 was a native of Wales, and was a gardener by 
 vocation. He emigrated to the United States 
 in boyhood, and in 1837 he came to Illinois. 
 He bought 256 acres of land in North ville, La Salle 
 Co., 111., where he died in 1858. His wife, Mary A. 
 (Pritchard) Powell, was a native of England, and 
 died in April, 1862, in La Salle County. Only two 
 of five children born to them are no>v living. Wil- 
 
 -Jl 
 
 liam H., only brother of Mr. Powell of this sketch, 
 is a farmer of Northville. 
 
 Mr. Powell was brought up on the homestead of 
 which he became half owner when he came into pos- 
 session of his inheritance from his father's estate. 
 He was one of the first of the California adventurers, 
 whither he went in 1849. He returned to Northville 
 in 1851. His share of the homestead was 156 acres, 
 and he purchased 200 acres additional, the whole 
 constituting a valuable farm. He came to Somonauk 
 in 1 86 1, and, associated with E. W. Lewis, engaged 
 in buying and shipping grain and stock. This rela- 
 tion continued about 10 years, when it terminated, 
 and Mr. Powell engaged in the sale of drugs in com- 
 pany with C. E. Wright. Their joint business was in 
 existence one year, when Mr. Powell retired, and has 
 since engaged in nothing of an active nature. He 
 is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and belongs 
 to the Aurora Commande^y. 
 
 He was married in Northville, La Salle Co, III, 
 March 16, 1852, to Ann Stafford. Their three chil- 
 dren were born in Northville, as follows : Ida, Feb. 
 3, 1853; Ella, Jan. 16, 1855; and Carrie, Jan. 6, 
 1857. Mrs. Powell was born Feb. 26, 1827, in 
 Fabius, N. Y., and is the daughter of Jacob and 
 Sarah (Doubleday) Stafford. 
 
 alter G. Adams, manufacturer and dealer 
 in elevator supplies at Sandwich, is the 
 son of Hon. Augustus Adams, of the 
 Sandwich Manufacturing Company, and was 
 born July 12, 1848, in Elgin, 111. (See 
 sketch of Augustus Adams.) He was nine 
 years of age when his parents removed their resi- 
 dence to Sandwich, where his father established the 
 manufacture of the Adams corn-sheller, under the 
 firm style of A. Adams & Sons. The business 
 became merged in the Sandwich Manufacturing 
 Company in 1869, and Mr. Adams, of this sketch, 
 entered the shops to acquire a knowledge of the 
 details of the business. Afterward he went to Mar- 
 seilles in the interest of A. Adams & Sons, continu- 
 ing his relations therewith after that branch was 
 converted into the Marseilles Manufacturing Com- 
 pany. He was placed in charge of the foundry 
 department, which he conducted about five years. 
 _^ gsAvg.^sX/5) 
 
 ^^^^^^r ^7 , W , --' ,
 
 COUNTY. 
 
 Subsequently he returned to the works at Sandwich, 
 and for a time was variously employed, finally becom- 
 ing Assistant Superintendent. In January, 1884, he 
 became proprietor of the elevator supply department, 
 which he still controls, the Sandwich Manufacturing 
 Company manufacturing the wares in which he 
 deals. He employs one or two traveling salesmen, 
 and ships his goods chiefly to the Western States. 
 Mr. Adams is a Republican in political connection 
 and principles, and is a member of the Mutual Aid 
 
 f Society. 
 
 He was married June 8, 1869, in Sandwich, to 
 Emma Cox. Their children are Lydia, born Aug. 7, 
 1870; Walter Vincent, Oct. 20, 1873; and Albert 
 Henry, Aug. 6, 1876. The oldest child was born in 
 Marseilles; the births of the sons occurred at Sand- 
 wich. Mrs. Adams was born Aug. 15, 1850, in Nor- 
 folk, Va., and is the daughter of Major A. M. and 
 
 , Emmeline (Daniels) Cox. Her parents reside at 
 Sandwich. 
 
 |;,apt. William Davis, a retired farmer and 
 former sea Captain, resident at Sand- 
 wich, was born Jan. i, 1802, in Westport, 
 Mass. His father, Joseph Davis, was born in 
 the same place, in Bristol Co., Mass., Jan. 15, 
 1782; he was a farmer and died in Dart- 
 mouth, Bristol County, in 1864. The mother of 
 Capt. Davis, Judith, nee Brightman, was born Jan. z, 
 1780, in Westport and died in the same place about 
 the year 1816. 
 
 Captain Davis is the oldest of his parents' seven 
 children, five of whom are still living. He was 
 reared on a farm to the age of 17 years, when he 
 entered upon an apprenticeship to learn the business 
 of a cooper, serving two years and five months. He 
 obtained a situation as cooper on a whaler, and went 
 on a cruise which consumed 1 1 months and 25 
 days. During seven months of that period the ves- 
 sel was out of sight of land. The experience of this 
 whaling voyage was pleasing, and Captain Davis de- 
 cided to pursue a seafaring life, and spent three years 
 before the mast. After that time he became chief 
 mate of a merchant brig, serving in that rank three 
 
 years, when he was made Captain and continued his 
 life on the sea eight years, commanding different ves- 
 sels. During the first two years he made five voyages 
 to Pernambuco, South America, whither he carried 
 cargoes of supplies and returning thence laden with 
 hides and sugar. He also visited the West Indies, 
 Amsterdam, Liverpool and most other European 
 ports. He suffered shipwreck three times, on every 
 occasion the vessel but no lives being lost. 
 
 Captain Davis abandoned his career as a naviga- 
 tor in 1835, and came to where Sandwich now is, 
 where he is one of the earliest of the first settlers. 
 He is of the opinion that there were but three pio- 
 neer settlers before him who are now living. Others 
 now living who were here at that time were then- in 
 childhood. He was accompanied hither by his 
 brother-in-law, Major Dennis, and they together 
 bought 100 acres of timber land. They afterwards 
 divided their joint property and each took up prairie 
 land. The Captain's estate at one time included 
 400 acres, a part of which is still in his possession 
 and forms the location of his residence. He has 
 platted two additions to Sandwich on the western 
 side known as Davis' Second and Third Additions. 
 In company with others, he bought a piece of land 
 on the north side of the town, which is designated 
 Davis' First Addition. The time and place was so 
 primitive when Messrs. Davis and Dennis came 
 hither that their milling was done at Dayton, La 
 Salle County. His postoffice was at Holderman's 
 Grove, 13 miles distant. 
 
 Captain Davis sold parts of his farm from time to 
 time until he had only a residue of no acres, which 
 he sold to his son, its present owner. His first abode 
 was a log house which had been erected on the tim- 
 ber tract previous to his purchase, and in 1837 he 
 built a small frame house which still stands in its 
 original position on Church Street, west of his fine 
 brick residence, which he built about 1869. Captain 
 Davis has been a stock-holder in the Sandwich En- 
 terprise Manufacturing Company since its organiza- 
 tion. 
 
 His marriage to Eliza Dennis occurred April 13, 
 1826, in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. She was born 
 Oct. 4, 1801, in Tiverton, R. I., and is the daughter 
 of Major and Eunice Dennis. The record of the 
 five children born to Captain and Mrs. Davis is as 
 follows: William, Jr., was born May 29, 1829, and 
 
 A f~% ^hj/PQ^jn^ <s^>V^^>C*) 
 
 G

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 ' died Sept. 27, 1831; Eliza was born March 8, 1834, 
 ] and died Aug. 27, 1881 ; Mary A. was bom June 2, 
 1836; George W., born July 30, 1838, is a farmer in 
 Sandwich; Amy, born Dec. 25, 1842, is the wife of 
 John Armstrong, of Marseilles, La Salle Co., 111. 
 
 ,li B. Gilbert, attorney, Notary Public and 
 Justice of the Peace at De Kalb, was born 
 in Laurens, Otsego Co., N. Y., April 12, 
 1822, and is the son of Abner and Betsey 
 (Balcom) Gilbert. The former was born in 
 Massachusetts, the latter in New York. They 
 had four children, George M., Eli B., Elizabeth E. 
 and Martin M. 
 
 Mr. Gilbert was about eight years old when his 
 parents removed to Norwich, Chenango County, in 
 his native State, and he was a resident there until 
 his removal in 1847 to the county of which he has 
 since been a citizen. He was an attendant at the 
 common schools of his native State until he v was 16 
 years of age, when he became a student at Norwich 
 Academy, which was then under the management of 
 Benjamin F. Taylor, who has since won a distin- 
 guished reputation as a poet. After studying there 
 about two years he engaged in teaching, which con- 
 stituted his vocation for six years, pursuing it three 
 years at Sycamore, where he located on coming to 
 Illinois. In early life he had acquired a practical 
 knowledge of the trade of builder. In 1850 he began 
 its pursuit as a vocation and was occupied as a car- 
 penter until 1856. Meanwhile he had devoted his 
 leisure to the study of law. In the year named he 
 first entered upon the career of an attorney and two 
 years later secured admission to the Bar of Illinois by 
 application to the Supreme Court. He has since 
 prosecuted the practice of his profession in De Kalb 
 and adjoining counties without intermission. 
 
 In April, 1854, he established his business at De 
 Kalb. Two years afterward he was elected Justice 
 of the Peace and has officiated continuously in that 
 position since. In 1866 he was elected President of 
 the Village Board and became ex-officio Supervisor of 
 De Kalb Township. He is a Republican in politics, 
 and is the owner of considerable city property. 
 
 A most commendable feature of Mr. Gilbert's labors 
 as Justice of the Peace is his desire to amicably set- 
 
 tie all differences between litigants. He ever lends 
 his influence to make peace, which he has often done, 
 and many are the differences he has thus caused to 
 be settled without suit and sent the parties home 
 happy. 
 
 What a blessing it is to a community to have such 
 men as public officials and guardians of the public 
 peace and promoters of good will and harmony be- 
 tween neighbors ! Thus, when the true character of 
 Mr. Gilbert 's official life is made known it is easily 
 understood why he has been continuously elected to 
 fill the office for almost 30 years. 
 
 In the summer and fall of 1860, Mr. Gilbert was 
 editor of the De Kalb Leader, and advocated the 
 election of the celebrated Mr. Lincoln to the Presi- 
 dency. 
 
 Mr. Gilbert was married Dec. 25, 1851, to Lois A., 
 daughter of Benjamin C. Needham. She was born 
 in Vermont, which was the native State of her par- 
 ents. Of three children born to Mr. and Mrs. Gil- 
 bert, only one survives. In 1853 the family resided 
 about six months in the village of Huntley's Station, 
 McHenry County, heowning a house and lot there. 
 During that time Josephine L., eldest child, was born. 
 Her birth occurred Dec. 29, 1853. She grew to 
 womanhood and married John S. Orr, a resident of 
 De Kalb. B. Viola M. was born Sept. 23, 1858, and 
 married Edward E. Spooner, of Steward, Lee Co., 
 111., where she died July 10, 1875. Jessie Luella E. 
 was born July 9, 1863, and died Sept. 6, 1865, of 
 diphtheria. | 
 
 As Mr. Gilbert, the subject of the foregoing sketch, 
 is a representative citizen in the legal profession of 
 De Kalb County, the publishers place a lithographic 
 likeness of the gentleman in this work, which may 
 be found in close proximity. 
 
 Jijah Stiles, retired farmer at Genoa, was 
 born Nov. 8, 1829, in Sudbury, Rutland 
 Co., Vt. His parents, Asahel and Fanny 
 (Smith) Stiles, were natives of Vermont and 
 removed to Canada, leaving the Dominion sev- 
 eral years later to come to De Kali^ County, 
 where they settled in the fall of 1850, locating in the 
 township of Genoa. The mother died there Jan. 9, 
 1881 ; the demise of the father occurred Feb. 7,
 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Their children were named Elijah, Mary, Aaron, 
 Margaret, Martha and Araminta. 
 
 Mr. Stiles was about two years of age when his 
 parents removed to Canada, and came with them to 
 De Kalb County. His education was obtained pre- 
 vious to the age of 16 years in the public schools of 
 the Dominion, where he was also engaged on the 
 farm of his father. His parents were members of his 
 family through the last year of their lives, as he 
 owned half the home farm and finally became pro- 
 prietor of the entire estate, which included 160 acres 
 located in Genoa Township. He remained there 
 resident until the fall of 1880, at which time he 
 rented his farm and became a resident of Genoa. In 
 politics he is identified with the Republican party 
 and has been active in local official matters for a long 
 period of years. From 1863 to 1865 he was resident 
 of De Kalb and associated in business with his 
 brother, Aaron K. Stiles, now a resident of Chicago. 
 
 His marriage to Mary A. White took place at De 
 Kalb, March 25, 1865, and they have three children : 
 Mary D. was born Jan. 15, 1866, Asahel A., March 
 26, 1868, and Nettie, June 25, 1870. Mrs. Stiles was 
 born June 8, 1846, in Tioga Co., N. Y., and is the 
 daughter of Alfred and Ruth (Gould) White! The 
 former was born in Dutchess County, the latter in 
 Tioga County, in the State of New York. About the 
 year 1862 they came to Illinois, locating primarily in 
 Kane County, and came thence a year later to De 
 Kalb County, settling in the city of the same name. 
 In 1877 they removed to Kansas, wher<jj the father 
 died, Jan. i, 1881. The mother is still resident there. 
 Their children, seven in number, were named as fol- 
 lows: Edward D., Mary A., Benjamin S., Perry G., 
 Mahala, Melissa and Sarah. 
 
 eorge P. Wild, of the firm of G. P. Wild & 
 Co., merchants at Sycamore, was born at 
 Valatie, Columbia Co., N. Y. His father, 
 Nathan Wild, was a native of Manchester, 
 Eng., and was by vocation a print manufact- 
 urer, following that calling at Valatie after his 
 ren.oval to this country. The mother, Sarah (Henry) 
 Wild, was born in Providence, R. I. They became 
 the parents of nine children, five of whom are living 
 (.885). 
 
 Mr. Wild was a pupil at school until he was 17 
 
 years old, when he became a salesman in the mer- 
 cantile house of Freeland, Squiers & Co., of New 
 York, where he continued until the spring of 1857, 
 the date of his removal to Sycamore. Soon after, the 
 firm of Rogers, Wild & Smith was formed, which 
 afterwards became Rogers & Wild, and later was 
 constituted as at present. The house is prominent 
 in mercantile circles of De Kalb County, and their 
 stock represents an average of about $15,000. 
 
 Mr. Wild is and has been a leading business man 
 of Sycamore. He is a member of the banking firm of 
 Daniel Pierce & Co. In political connection and 
 movements he is a Republican, and has officiated in 
 several of the local city offices. 
 
 He was married at Sycamore, in December, 1862, 
 to Sarah, daughter of Daniel and Phebe Pierce, a. 
 native of Sullivan Co., N. Y. Three children are 
 now (1885) included in the family, Daniel, Eleaflor 
 and Elizabeth. 
 
 phraim Depue, farmer, section 1 3, Genoa 
 Township, is the son of Samuel and Eliza- 
 beth (Ogden) Depue, and is one of a family 
 
 " of 10 children. Ose, Sarah, Benjamin, Jesse, 
 Phebe and Theo C. are the nam3s of his broth- 
 ers and sisters who reached mature life. Three 
 children died in infancy. 
 
 Mr. Depue was born Oct. IT, 1816, in Sussex Co., 
 N. J. At the age of 18 years he was apprenticed to 
 acquire a knowledge of the wagon-making trade, and 
 served an indentureship of three years. He em- 
 barked independently in the business, in which he 
 operated about 20 years. In 1848 he became a 
 citizen of Illinois, taking up his residence at Elgin, 
 Kane County. He passed three years there in the 
 pursuit of his trade, and about 1851 entered the em- 
 ployment of the old Galena, Chicago & Illinois Cen- 
 tral Railroad Company, his route extending from 
 Chicago to Freeport and from Dubuque to Centralia. 
 
 He came to De Ka'.b County in 1861 and bought 
 90 acres of land in Genoa Township, moving his 
 family hither in the autumn of the same year. His 
 homestead farm now comprises 360 acres, with 230 
 acres under improvement, supplied with suitable and 
 creditable farm buildings and well stocked. In 
 political faith and connections Mr. Depue is identi- 

 
 
 COUNTY. 
 
 fied with the Republican party ; he has officiated as 
 School Director and other local offices. 
 
 He was married April 21, 1838, in New Jersey, to 
 Catherine M. Dennis, and they have five surviving 
 children, Lucy, Elizabeth, Henry C., Allen and 
 Emma. Anna M., Catherine M., and Caroline A. 
 and a child unnamed died in infancy. Mrs. Depue 
 was born Sept. 26, 1813, in New Jersey, and is the 
 daughter of John and Lucy Dennis. She had two 
 brothers and two sisters, born in the following order : 
 Elizabeth, Henry C., Allen and Emma. She is the 
 oldest of her parents' children, and is a member of 
 the Congregational Church. 
 
 '"ustus Preston, one of the pioneers of De 
 Kalb County, now deceased, was born Dec. 
 28, 1793. He married Sina Hall, who was 
 born Jan. 30, 1802, in Wallingford, Conn. 
 They settled in Ohio, whence they came in 
 1836 to De Kalb County, and settled on a 
 claim on section 29, Genoa Township, where he was 
 the first permanent resident. His land was part 
 timber and part prairie. He built a log house on the 
 border line between the two, and the primitive char- 
 acter of the locality may be inferred from the fact 
 that during the first year from the front door the 
 deer and wolves might be seen wandering at will 
 over the prairie. After the Government survey, when 
 in 1843 the land came into market, Mr. Preston went 
 to the land office in Chicago, where he proved his 
 claim and received his title. He improved the entire 
 acreage, built suitable and necessary farm buildings, 
 and a comfortable frame house, where he resided, 
 and where his death occurred. 
 
 His widow died there Feb. 25, 1869. Their chil- 
 dren were named Henry, Augustus, Charles, George 
 L., Norman and Julia E. The homestead is now 
 owned and occupied by the youngest son. 
 
 George L. Preston, son of the above, was born 
 April 23, 1835, in Ohio, and was a little more than 
 a year old when his parents removed to the home of 
 their adoption. He received an elementary educa- 
 tion in the district schools of Genoa Township, and 
 he afterward studied at Mt. Morris Seminary, and 
 spent six months at Bryant & Stratton's Commercial 
 College at Chicago. After cumpletii g his studies at 
 
 the latter place he engaged in farming. In 1854, 
 associated with a brother, he purchased 200 acres of 
 land located on sections 17 and 20, in Genoa Town- 
 ship, for which they paid $4 per acre. After 
 improving the land considerably they sold it a few 
 years later. Its present market value is $65 an 
 acre. 
 
 Mr. Preston was married Sept. 19, 1864,10 Lucinda 
 May Wadley, and they have one child, Effie lona. 
 She was born near Toronto, Out., and is the daugh- 
 ter of Samuel B. and Hannah (Caswell) Wadley. 
 Her father was a native of Vermont, and was a pen- 
 sioner of the war of 1812. During the latter part 
 of his life he removed to Lower Canada, where he 
 was married, and later went to Ontario. After a 
 short residence there the family removed to Canada 
 Corners, Kane Co., 111., where the parents died. 
 
 After marriage Mr. Preston located on section 32, 
 Genoa Township, on an improved farm which he had 
 previously purchased. He erected an excellent class 
 of frame buildings, where he lived until 1869. In 
 that year he fixed his abode at Sycamore, where he 
 owned the fine residence his family now occupy. On 
 removal hither he engaged in the lumber trade, in 
 which he operated four years. In 1874 he embarked 
 in the sale of groceries and provisions, prosecuting 
 that avenue of business eight years, when he retired. 
 He still owns and rents his farm in Genoa Township, 
 also his store at Sycamore. 
 
 In his character as farmer, merchant and citizen, 
 Mr. Preston commands the respect and good will of 
 the generation of which he is a member. He is 
 unobtrusive, considerate and hospitable, and in his 
 retirement from the turmoil of active business life, is 
 passing the years in the simplicity and quiet that 
 befits his character. 
 
 ^=T-L^^^^,^^, =^ 
 
 assius M. Conrad, County Clerk of De 
 Kalb County, was born in the town of 
 North East, Erie Co., Pa., March 27, 
 1845, and is the son of John M. and Mary 
 E. (Smedley) Conrad. The former is a native 
 of Pennsylvania, and the latter was born in 
 Connecticut. They are living in Erie Co., Pa. 
 
 Mr. Conrad passed his youthful days in his na 
 place, and obtained his elementary education at the
 
 @>*^ 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 ) 
 
 academy at North East, and subsequently attended 
 the Erie City Academy, in the State of his nativity. 
 In 1863 he made his way to De Kalb County, reach- 
 ing the township of Kingston April 7 of that year. 
 Six days later he came to Sycamore, and immediately 
 entered upon the duties of Deputy County Clerk. 
 He fulfilled the duties of the appointment continu- 
 ously until Jan. 26, 1872, with the exception of a 
 few months in 1869. At the former date he was 
 appointed to fill the vacancy created by the death of 
 Wallace M. More. In April following he was elected 
 County Clerk, and has since been his own successor. 
 H-i has also officiated as City Clerk from July, 1870, 
 to April, 1872. The quality of the service rendered 
 by Mr. Conrad is fully attested by the length of time 
 he has retained his relations to the position of deputy 
 and chief official, at this writing (1885) covering a 
 period of nearly a fourth of a century ; and the fact 
 stands as a testimonial to the discretion and wisdom 
 of the people of De Kalb County as it does to his 
 integrity and efficiency. Politically, Mr. Conrad is a 
 Republican of inflexible type. 
 
 He was married Dec. 27, 1870, in Chester, N. J., 
 to Anna H. Beauers, and they have had two children, 
 both of whom died in early infancy. Mrs. Conrad 
 was born at Chester, Morris Co., N. J. Mr. Conrad 
 and his wife are members of the Congregational 
 Church, and he is a Trustee of the society 
 
 [ athaniel A. Haile, miller, at Lodi, Cortland 
 4 c!lir/f|i Township, was born March 8, 1840, in 
 "5 Brooklyn, Vt, and is the son of Charles 
 ^ ~ J ^' and Drexie (Balch) Haile, both of whom are 
 Jfc natives of the Green Mountain State. His 
 '[ parents came to Illinois when he was an infant 
 of six months, making the route hither by way of the 
 railroad and lakes to Detroit, coming from the latter 
 place to Kane County with a team. His father pur- 
 chased a tract of unimproved land in the township 
 of St. Charles, paying therefor $2.50 an acre. The 
 family are resident of St. Charles. 
 
 Mr. Haile grew to manhood, engaged, as is the 
 custom with sons of farmers, in farm labor and 
 attending school. He entered the military service 
 of the United States when he was 22 years of age, 
 
 enlisting in August, 1862, in Co. E, 127111 111. Vol. 
 Inf. His regiment was assigned to the Army of the 
 West, and was a portion of the command under 
 Sherman in the campaign through Georgia and the 
 Carolinas, marched under the triumphant banners to 
 the sea, and took part in the final review at Wash- 
 ington, D. C. Mr. Haile was under fire at Arkansas 
 Post and at Vicksburg, and in the numerous engage- 
 ments of the arduous campaign in which his regi- 
 ment was involved. He obtained his discharge in 
 July, 1865, and returned to his father's farm, where 
 he was occupied with its duties until 1882, the date 
 of his removal to Maple Park. He is pleasantly sit- <i 
 uated, and lias an elegant residence. / 
 
 He was married March 8, 1870, to Jane Morgan, 
 a native of Indiana. 
 
 ohn Betz, dealer in lumber, agricultural 
 implements and builders' supplies, at 
 Somonauk, was born Feb. 23, 1831, in the 
 Duchy of Nassau, Germany. His parents, 
 Jost Henry and Margaret Betz, died previous to 
 his removal to the American Continent. Four 
 of their children are now living. Two sons reside in 
 Germany. Margaret, only daughter, came to the 
 United States with her brother and is now the wife 
 William Heun, a farmer in Clinton Township, De 
 Kalb County. 
 
 They came to the city of New York in 1854 and 
 two months later proceeded thence to Chicago, 
 where they remained a like length of time. In Jan- 
 uary, 1855, Mr. Betz came to De Kalb County and 
 was occupied one year in farming, after which he 
 went back to Chicago and passed a year in the dry- 
 goods house of Bowen Brothers. He went next to 
 Burlington, Iowa, and was there employed six months 
 in a lumber yard. He came subsequently to Somon- 
 auk, where he spent several years in various avenues 
 of employment. In February, 1876, in company 
 with P. H. Thomas, he opened a lumber yard, their 
 joint relation existing one year, and at the end of that 
 time he bought the interest of his partner and has 
 since operated alone. In the spring of 1883 he added 
 a stock of agricultural implements, wagons, plows, 
 etc., his investment in stock averaging about $i 1,000.
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 J 
 
 f His trade is in a satisfactory condition and requires 
 usually several assistants. 
 
 Mr. Betz was married July 23, 1857, in Burlington, 
 Iowa, to Barbara Koetha, a native of Bavaria. They 
 have one child, Ida, born Nov. 20, 1867. Mr. Betz 
 is a member of the fraternity of Odd Fellows. With 
 his wife, he is a member of the Evangelical Luther- 
 an Church. 
 
 Q 
 
 i 
 s/ 
 
 ^ 
 
 ) 
 
 ohn Ward, a farmer of Cortland Township, 
 occupying the east half of the northwest 
 quarter of section 34, and owning 72 acres 
 on the east half of the east quarter of section 
 27, and 16% acres on section 14, of Ohio Grove 
 Township, in all i68*4 acres, was born in 
 Newark, Licking Co., Ohio, Oct. 16, 1816. His 
 father, William Ward, was born in Fayette Co., Pa., 
 emigrated to Ohio when he was 13 years old, where 
 his father soon died, and he died in Squaw Grove 
 Township, this county, Feb. 3, 1870. He was born 
 Feb. 24, 1790, and participated in the War of 1812. 
 The mother of the subject of this sketch, Mrs. Phebe 
 Ward, nee Beem, was born near Hagerstown, Md., 
 Dec. 14, 1795, and died Aug. 27, 1883; her father 
 was of English descent and her mother of Dutch. 
 Both the latter lived to a great age, father 96 years 
 and mother 87. 
 
 At the age of 20 years Mr. John Ward, the subject 
 of this sketch, came with "his parents, first locating 
 in Squaw Grove, in 1837; eight years afterward he 
 bought 80 acres of land, which he subsequently sold 
 to his father, and he moved to his present farm of 
 120 acres in October, 1845, where he has since re- 
 sided. He has added to his original acreage. Since 
 his location here, however, he has spent 20 years go- 
 ing to, operating in and returning from California. 
 He went over the plains, with a single-horse team, as 
 far as Salt Lake, where he joined a company from 
 La Salle Co., 111. After traveling 700 miles with 
 them, he and 1 1 others separated from them and 
 co nploted their journey on foot, crossing the Great 
 Desert and arriving in the gold-mining region Aug. 
 28. The company whom they had abandoned did 
 not reach the mines until the isth of September. 
 They were 12 in number, having a wagon and three 
 horses, the extra horse to be used in case of emer- 
 
 ^^- 
 
 gency. Mr. Ward operated on Old Soldier's Gulch 
 and part of the Poor Man and Nelson Creek, and his 
 success was much better than farmrng. Three of 
 Mr. W.'s brothers went with him to the land of gold, 
 and returned with him ; but in four months afterward 
 went back to California, selling their farms here and 
 taking their families with them. They have since 
 lived there and prospered. 
 
 Mr. Ward was first married March 25, 1835, to 
 Parmelia A., daughter of Jacob and Susan (Ayers) 
 Rolison ; her parents died in Licking Co., Ohio, many 
 years ago. Mrs. W. was born in that county, Nov. 
 22, 1816, near Newark, and died, of a spasmodic at- 
 tack, Dec. 3, 1871, at a neighbor's where she was 
 visiting. By this marriage there were seven children, 
 as follows : Elmira, born July 22, 1837 ; William B., 
 Dec. 21, 1838; Susan, April 10, 1840; Louisa, Nov. 
 7,1843; Phebe A., Aug. 27, 1850; Delila J., June 
 14, 1853; and Elmer C., Sept. 6, 1856. Phebe A. is 
 not now living. Mr. Ward was married a second 
 time June 8, 187-, to Mrs. Laura N. Palmer, widow 
 of Isaac H. Palmer, who died March 25, 1865. By 
 her first husband she had five children, namely : 
 Galen E., born Aug. 12, 1849; Alice E., Aug. i, 
 1850; Clara A., June i, 1853; Frank H., Nov. 4, 
 1862; and Etta E., Nov. 28, 1864. Mr. Palmer was 
 born Nov. 3, 1825, in Ripley, Chautauqua Co., N. Y. 
 Mrs. W. was born at German Flats, Herkimer Co., 
 N. Y., Aug. 6, 1828, a daughter of Henry R. and 
 Clarissa (Tennant) Gay. Her father was born April 
 4. 1805, in Herkimer Co., N. Y., and is now living in 
 retirement, in the town of Ripley. Mrs. G., who was 
 born June 5, 1804, in the town of Warren, Columbia 
 Co., N. Y., is also still living. Mrs. Ward's maternal 
 grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. 
 
 Mr. Ward is a Republican in his political views, 
 has been Justice of the Peace, School Director, and 
 for six years Constable. 
 
 eorge M. D. Wright, hardware merchant 
 at Somonauk, was born July 23, 1845, in 
 the township of Northville, La Salle Co , 
 111., two miles east of the village where he is 
 now a resident. He is a son of Levi and Es- 
 i ther (Whitmore) Wright, and his father was 
 native of New Hampshire. The latter came to LaSalle 
 
 :
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 ! 
 
 ., about 1843, and bought 160 acres of land, 
 ] which he converted into an excellent and valuable 
 farm. He died on the homestead in 1865. The 
 mother and ten children yet survive. 
 . Mr. Wright is the ninth in order of birth of 12 
 children in his parents' family, and was a member of 
 the household until he was several years past his 
 majority. His first independent business venture 
 was in the drug business, associated with C. E. 
 Wright, in which he engaged in Somonauk two years. 
 i On the termination of their relation he entered into a 
 copartnership in the hardware trade with C. R. 
 Frank. Two years later the latter sold his moiety to 
 the brother of Mr. Wright, the new relation existing 
 two years. Afterward the latter became sole propri- 
 etor, and has since transacted his business singly. 
 Mr. Wright is conducting a prosperous trade, in 
 which he has one wagon running on the road in the 
 country. He is a member of the Masonic Order, and 
 belongs to the Royal Arch Chapter at Sandwich. 
 He was united in marriage Jan. 8, 1876, in Som- 
 
 onauk, to Hattie H. Bloom, and they have had three 
 
 * children: George R. was born Oct. 13, 1876; Helen 
 y M., Feb. 28, 1878; and Clifton, Sept. 23, 1883. Mrs. 
 i Wright is the daughter of Charles and Nancy Bloom, 
 ^ and was born in the State of New York Aug. 4, 1854. 
 
 rank W. Lott, jeweler, at Sycamore, was 
 born Aug. 4, 1843, in Sycamore Township. 
 His parents, Zephaniah and Amanda 
 (Roberts) Lott, were pioneer residents of -De 
 Kalb County, and he was reared under the 
 parental authority until he was 17 years of age, 
 when he entered upon the prosecution of his career 
 of independence. He was first employed as a farm- 
 er, and followed that calling until 1873. Having 
 decided on the calling of a jeweler as a vocation in 
 life, he bought a half interest in the jewelry estab- 
 lishment of M. F. Warren, at Sycamore, where he 
 acquired a knowledge of the business. This relation 
 was in existence three years, and in 1876 he suc- 
 ceeded to the sole proprietorship of the affairs of 
 their joint business by the purchase of his partner's 
 interest. He has since been engaged in the prose- 
 cution of his business, and carries a full stock of 
 common to similar establishments, includin 
 
 watches, clocks, jewelry, plated ware, cutlery, optical 
 goods, etc. He also combines a repair business with 
 his other relations. 
 
 Mr. Lott was married in February, 1871, to Jennie 
 Woodworth, a native of Auburn, N. Y., and a daugh- 
 ter of John and Mary Woodworth. Their two chil- 
 dren are named L. Warren and Frank W. 
 
 
 rles F. Greenwood, Treasurer of De 
 Kalb County, and a citizen of Sycamore, 
 ras born April 6, 1835, in New Berlin, Che- 
 nango Co., N. Y. His parents, Thomas J. 
 and Sally (Fairchild) Greenwood, were natives 
 respectively of Connecticut and New York. In 
 1844 the family came from the Empire State to Sugar 
 Grove, Kane Co., 111., removing thence in August, 
 1847, to the township of Clinton, De Kalb County. 
 Land was then in comparatively small demand, and 
 the father secured at first a small claim of 80 acres, 
 estimating that he could always find pasture land in 
 close proximity, settlers being exceptions. He 
 passed his life in the pursuit of agriculture, and died 
 on his farm May 22, 1852. At the date of his 
 demise he was the owner of 330 acres of land in 
 Clinton Township, 80 acres in Kane County, and 20 
 acres of timbered land in the township of Sugar 
 Grove. The mother died on the homestead Feb. 23^ 
 1859. They had three sons: Nathan S., since de- 
 ceased ; George, a retired farmer, resident at Water- 
 man, in Clinton Township ; and Mr. Greenwood, of 
 this sketch. 
 
 On the division of his father's estate the latter 
 became the possessor of an amount of personal 
 property, and the title to real estate in Iowa, which 
 latter he applied as part payment for 120 acres of 
 land lying on sections 32 and 33, in Clinton Town- 
 ship, whereon he resided from 1860 until 1876, when 
 he removed to the east half of the northeast quarter 
 of section 33, where his homestead is still main- 
 tained. 
 
 He entered the army of the United States a few 
 months after the commencement of the struggle 
 instituted by the South for the dismemberment of 
 the Union, enlisting Oct. 5, 1861, in Co. G, Second 
 111. Light Artillery, under Captain Stolbrand. He 
 
 -xt
 
 THELBRAHf 
 tfIKE
 
 
 < 
 
 
 COUNTY. 
 
 was in action at the siege of Vicksburg and at Union 
 City, Tenn., and was involved in much skirmish 
 warfare. He became disabled through hardship, 
 exposure and illness, and was honorably discharged 
 Oct. 16, 1863, at Vicksburg. In the township of 
 Clinton Mr. Greenwood earned the reward of good 
 citizenship and public spirit, receiving repeated elec- 
 tions to places of prominence and trust. He served 
 three years as Supervisor, as Commissioner of High- 
 ways, and in the various school offices. In the fall 
 of 1882 he was elected to the position of which he 
 is now the incumbent, on the Republican ticket. 
 Mr. Greenwood is a member of the Masonic frater- 
 nity, and belongs to Potter Post, No. 12, G. A. R. 
 
 His marriage to Catherine I. Darland took place 
 July 4, 1855, in Clinton Township. Mrs. Greenwood 
 was born Sept. 28, 1838, in Fairview, 111., and is the 
 daughter of Benjamin and Catherine Darland. Five 
 children were born of this Union in Clinton Town- 
 ship. Byron P. was born Sept. 26, 1856, and is resi- 
 dent manager of a mercantile enterprise at Marble 
 Rock, Iowa, of which his father is the proprietor. 
 Alice was born May 16, 1859 ; Jennie J. and Charles, 
 twins, were born Sept. i, 1870. The latter died 
 Aug. 21, 1872. 
 
 arles Wesley Marsh, whose portrait is 
 presented on the opposite page, resides on 
 country place, on section 14, of De Kalb 
 Township. He was born March 22, 1834, 
 near Cobourg, Ont., and is the oldest son of 
 Samuel and Tamar (Richardson) Marsh. 
 His earliest recorded ancestor was a " Cavalier " and 
 was killed at Edgehill in the course of the conflicts 
 that preceded the Protectorate in England, and 
 whose two sons fled to the American Continent dur- 
 ing the first half of the i7th century to escape the 
 vengeance of the Roundheads. The two branches, 
 designated respectively as the Vermont and Con- 
 necticut lines of descent of the Marshes, trace their 
 origin to these brothers. 
 
 Samuel Marsh was borti Feb. 7, 1804, in Canada, 
 i> and died in De Kalb Township, in April, 1884. He 
 belonged to the Vermont line, his immediate ances- 
 
 tors having originated in the Green Mountain State. 
 With all the male members of his family, including 
 his father, uncles and brothers, he was an active par- 
 ticipant in the rebellion in the Dominion in 1837, 
 known to history as the Patriots' or McKenzie's War, 
 and with the others narrowly escaping the fruits of 
 the vengeance of the English Government. All who 
 were not arrested and placed in confinement escaped 
 only by precipitate flight. Samuel Marsh was among 
 the former, and was captured at Kingston, where he 
 was held in jail five months. His trial was long and 
 severe, and he barely escaped conviction and execu- 
 tion. His wife was born March 22, 1807, in Canada, 
 and is a descendant of the Mohawk Dutch, belonging 
 in the maternal line to the Schermerhorn family. Her 
 marriage occurred in Consecon, Can., and she became 
 the mother of three children, two sons and a daugh- 
 ter. The latter was born March 10, 1838, while her 
 father was a state prisoner in the jail at Kingston. 
 She died at Chicago March 13, 1881. The mother 
 of Mr. Marsh is still living. 
 
 The father was a farmer, and, after his release, re- 
 sumed that occupation. In 1844 he sold his prop- 
 erty in Canada and started for the part of the United 
 States then known as the " West," to locate a home. 
 He encountered a Millerite camp-meeting at the 
 head of the Bay of Quinte, known as the " Carrying 
 Place," which he attended and became a convert to 
 the tenets of that sect. Firmly convinced that the 
 coming of the Lord was at hand, he returned to his 
 family to await the crisis. The mother, trained and 
 disciplined by the trials she had already experienced, 
 exercised the practical view of Abraham Davenport, 
 and wisely judging that, in any event, the prospects 
 of her sons would be likely to be improved by 
 mental cultivation, while her husband waited, placed 
 them at St. Andrews School at Cobourg. At 1 2 
 years of age the older son entered Victoria College 
 at Cobourg, having become exceptionally well fitted 
 under the inflexible regime of the school, in which he 
 entered at 10 years of age upon a classical course of 
 study. In 1847, the practical, provident mother col- 
 lected a sum of money and, by proxy, purchased a 
 quarter of section 18, situated near Shabbona Grove, 
 Clinton Township, in De Kalb County, whither the 
 family removed in 1849. Mr. Marsh of this sketch 
 was then 15 years old and within one year of receiv- 
 ing his degree at Victoria College, having accom- 
 
 & ^%f^ -4*l&>. 
 
 sv
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 plished the curriculum of three of the four years' 
 course prescribed at his Alma Mater. The failure of 
 the Millerite prognostics had wrought sad havoc 
 with the little fortune of the family ; and upon the 
 5>i sons, after their removal to the farm in Illinois, rested 
 the responsibility of its management, and they de- 
 voted themselves to the labor of reducing the un- 
 broken prairie to a condition of improvement and 
 cultivation. Mr. Marsh taught two winter terms of 
 school, and in 1858, in accordance with his strong 
 ^ predilection for a life devoted to mental endeavor, 
 entered the law office of Hon. Charles Kellum as a 
 student. He was obliged by failing health to relin- 
 quish the project and returned to agricultural em- 
 ploy. The details of his efforts in subsequent years 
 are presented in the sketch of his business career 
 which appears in full on another page. 
 
 Mr. Marsh is an adherent to the principles of the 
 \ Republican party and a supporter of its issues, which 
 he adopted on entering upon the privileges of Amer- 
 ican citizenship. In 1868 he was elected to the 
 Jsi House of the Illinois Legislature, where he did ex- 
 1S cellent service on several committees, as he did in a 
 ^-3 succeeding term in the Senate, to which he was 
 ?7^ elected on the expiration of his period as Representa- 
 ^ live. His labors in those positions won a subsequent 
 recognition at the hands of Governor Beveridge, who 
 ) in 1873 appointed him to a Trusteeship of the Insane 
 Asylum at Elgin, which he has since held continu- 
 ously and of which body he has been for many years 
 President. The existing condition of the institution 
 is the best possible testimonial to the efforts and 
 abilities of Mr. Marsh, it being acknowledged as 
 among the best managed of the long catalogue of 
 ,5_J> similar institutions in this country. 
 
 The character of Mr. Marsh from the celebrity he 
 has achieved in his connection with the machine 
 which revolutionized the system of harvestingthrough- 
 out the civilized world, deserves something more 
 than a passing notice. His predominating trait, and 
 one which renders him conspicuous, is versatility, 
 and has been manifested in every enterprise to which 
 he has lent his attention. The scholarship to which 
 he attained in childhood was phenomenal, and he 
 has retained in all their freshness and strength the 
 ^ tastes and proclivities which are his nature. Had he 
 *) devoted himself to a literary life he would with- 
 out doubt have attained distinction. Still another 
 
 leading characteristic of his mind is the simplicity 
 of his predilections. Although in his prosperous 
 days he was the possessor of a generous fortune, he 
 had no aspirations beyond those of a country gentle- 
 man. His residence displays no ostentation either 
 in style or equipment, although planned and con- 
 structed in his palmy days. But its apartments con- 
 tain the evidences of a cultivated taste in rare and 
 valuable books and pictures. Among the former are 
 two ponderous and magnificent volumes of Hogarth's 
 and Gillray's engravings from the original plates. The 
 oldest and most curious volume is a copy of the 
 Decretals of the Catholic Church, written by a monk. 
 The work occupied 15 years and was finished in 
 1409. It was done wholly with a pen, and is from 
 first to last a wonderful and beautiful sample of the 
 perfection attained by the scribes before the days of 
 printing. The work is concluded by the copyist's 
 fervent " Laus Deo." A detached papal bull issued 
 by Gregory XI to a Minorite order in Spain, exhibits 
 six varieties of penmanship. These are but samples 
 of a most valuable collection. Mr. Marsh is the 
 possessor of an interesting collection of pictures and 
 photographs, gathered during a four months' tour on 
 the continent, whither he went for the purpose of 
 recreation and in response to an invitation from the 
 Government to make trial of the Marsh Harvester in 
 Hungary, where he spent six weeks. 
 
 Mr. Marsh is an ardent admirer of nature, and his 
 home and its belongings bear the evidences of the 
 direction of his predilections. The park adjacent to 
 the house is stocked with deer and wild fowl, and his 
 library contains an assortment of hunting equipments 
 and trophies of sport, both valuable and curious. 
 
 The general estimate of the character of Mr. 
 Marsh is manifest from the fact that when disaster 
 overwhelmed the splendid business in which he was 
 the prime fac.tor, he was the unanimous choice of the 
 creditors for the position of assignee, this tribute of 
 confidence being the outgrowth of the disinterested- 
 ness, integrity and solicitude for the general welfare 
 which he has displayed unfalteringly throughout his 
 entire business career., He can receive no better 
 testimonial than the unquestioning trust of the peo- 
 ple among whom he has lived from boyhood, in his 
 inflexible probity and unselfishness. 
 
 He was married Jan. i, 1860, to Frances Wait, of 
 North Adams, Mass., and they became the pare
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 of three children, George C., Mary F. and Fanny 
 S. The mother died May 12, 1869. The second 
 marriage of Mr. Marsh, to Sue Rogers, occurred Jan. 
 10, 1 88 1. Mrs. Marsh was born in November, 1841, 
 i at Mariposa, near Lindsay, Ont., and is the daughter 
 of Joel and Mary Rogers. 
 
 itames Harrington, M. D., retired physi- 
 cian, resident at Sycamore, has been a citi- 
 zen of De Kalb County since 1844, when 
 he came here and settled about four miles 
 north of the present city of Sycamore. He 
 was born Sept. 20, 1806, in the Province of 
 Ontario, and is the son of Lot and Sarah (Sage) Har- 
 rington. His paternal grandsire was a native of 
 Rhode Island, whence he removed to Vermont. He 
 was a surveyor by profession and pursued that busi- 
 ness in the vicinity of Rutland. Lot Harrington 
 was born in Vermont, and in the days of his early 
 _ manhood went to the State of New York, where he 
 *} was married. His wife's parents were from Connecti- 
 cut. Not long after marriage they went to Canada, 
 $} where the mother died, in 1809, leaving five children. 
 Of these, Dr. Harrington is the youngest of the 
 ) sons. 
 
 After his mother's death he was taken to the State 
 of New York, and was taken care of by her relatives 
 in New Berlin, in Chenango County. He was edu- 
 cated primarily in the public schools, and at the age 
 of 17 years commmenced teaching, continuing in 
 that vocation, and at the same time studied medi- 
 cine, until 1829, when he opened the practice of his 
 profession at Eagle, Allegany Co., N. Y. Two years 
 later he returned to New Berlin, and was a practi- 
 tioner there until 1844, when he decided to come to 
 Illinois, and test the value of the promises that 
 offered unparalleled inducements to such as desired 
 to advance their fortunes. He made the trip via the 
 Erie Canal from Utica to Buffalo, and came thence 
 to Chicago by the lake route. He obtained private 
 conveyance from Chicago to De Kalb County. He 
 bought a claim of 120 acres of land, situated on sec- 
 tions 8 and 9 of town 41, range 5, now Sycamore. 
 The log house which had been erected on the place, 
 served for a tenement until 1846. when Dr. Harring- 
 ton built a frame house. In the same year in which 
 
 he took possession he erected a commodious frame 
 barn. In 1864 he sold the place and removed to 
 Ann Arbor, Mich., for the purpose of educating his 
 children. He returned at the end of a year to Syca- 
 more, where he bought a block of land with a brick 
 house. 
 
 He was married in January, 1831, in Allegany Co., 
 N. Y., to Charlotte, daughter of Peter and Mary 
 (Wait) Walrod. Six of their nine children are living: 
 Diana was born Oct. 27, 1832, and died Sept. 10, 
 1856; Joseph was born April 27, 1837, and died 
 Dec. 23, 1874; Susan was born Sept. 4, 1841, and 
 died in May, 1883; William S. resides in Oregon, 
 and is the Presiding Elder of the M. E. Church in 
 the Portland District ; George L. resides at Sycamore ; 
 Nelson R. is City Marshal of Sycamore ; James F. is 
 a farmer in Jewell Co., Kan.; Mark W. is Professor 
 of Astronomy in the University of Michigan at Ann 
 Arbor; Mary married P. K. Jones, druggist at Syca- 
 more. The mother died in April, 1871. 
 
 Dr. Harrington was elected School Commissioner 
 in 1845, and was re-elected School Commissioner for 
 1856-7. In the Legislative sessions of Illinois of 
 1846-7 he was a member of the House of Repre- 
 sentatives. He was one of the Supervisors of Syca- 
 more during nine years, and served the entire period 
 as President of that Board. 
 
 iram Palmer, farmer on the east half of 
 the northwest quarter of section 35, Cort- 
 land Township, was born in Charlotte 
 Township, Chittenden Co., Vt, May 16, 1809, 
 and in 1819 was taken by his parents in emi- 
 gration to Chautauqua" Co., N. Y., into the wild 
 woods,' moving with a horse team and taking the first 
 wagon that was ever driven into the town of Ripley. 
 In 1835 Mr. Palmer went to Ashtabula Co., Ohio, 
 where he rented a farm, remaining there until 1836. 
 In September of that year, he located in this county, 
 when the prairies here were still unoccupied. He 
 rented a farm near Sycamore a year and then pur- 
 chased the quarter-section where he now resides. 
 At that time his nearest neighbor was three or four 
 miles distant and there was no house where Syca- 
 more now stands. The contrast between that time 
 and the present, in the appearance and enhanced 
 value of the land, as well as the experiences of life, 
 sets the imagination almost wild.
 
 
 COUNTY. 
 
 
 J 
 
 Mr. Palmer was married May i, 1831, to Julia 
 Hill, daughter of Wyman and Elizabeth (McFarland) 
 Hill, of Scotch ancestry. Her father, a native of 
 Vermont, died in Ashtabula Co., Ohio, about 1859, 
 aged about 70 years, and her mother, a native of 
 Connecticut, died in Chautauqua Co., N. Y., in 1832, 
 about 54 years of age. Mrs. P. was born April 17, 
 1807. The immediate descendants of Mr. and Mrs. 
 Palmer are : Chauncey S., born March 3, 1832, in 
 Chautauqua Co., N. Y.; J. Sidney, Feb. 20, 1836, in 
 
 ^ Ashtabula Co., Ohio ; Harriet L., July 12, 1842, in 
 this county; and Emeline M., Nov. 9, 1844, also in 
 
 this county. His father, Israel Palmer, of English 
 descent, came from the old country to Rhode Island 
 before the Revolutionary War, and thence to Vermont, 
 and finally died in the town of Ripley, Chautauqua 
 Co., N. Y., about 77 years of age ; and Hiram's mother, 
 Sally, nee Champlain, was born in Charlotte Town- 
 ship, Chittenden Co., Vt, and died in 1813, in 
 her native State. 
 
 Mr. Palmer is a Republican in his political prin- 
 ciples, and has held the offices of School Director 
 and Road Commissioner. 
 
 On his first settlement in this county, Mr. Palmer 
 built a log house at the confluence of De Kalb Creek 
 with the Kishwaukee River, and lived there two years, 
 during which time he suffered a great deal from the 
 usual ague, bilious fever, etc. He built his second 
 log house at Coltonville, lived there one year; then a 
 year on Phineas Stevens' farm; and finally a third 
 log cabin, on his present place of residence, where 
 he has now lived for 40 years. After a few years in 
 the first cabin here, he moved to the place a frame 
 
 house from a distance of seven miles, and occupied 
 that as a dwelling until he erected his present fine 
 
 [ residence. 
 
 I eorge W. Nesbitt, M. D., practicing phy- 
 sician and surgeon at Sycamore, was born 
 Aug. 20, 1837, in Attica, N. Y. He is a 
 representative of the sturdy and vigorous race 
 known as the Scotch-Irish, his paternal grand- 
 parents having belonged originally to the 
 former nationality, which they left at the time of the 
 Irish rebellion and settled in County Cavan, Ulster, 
 Ireland. Henry Nesbitt, his father, was born in that 
 
 -^C^ 
 
 county, in 1803, and became a resident of the United 
 States in 1819. George W.'s mother, Eleanor 
 (Smyth) Nesbitt, was born in 1802, in Argyle, Wash- 
 ington Co., N. Y. Her father was of Scottish birth ; 
 her mother was born in Connecticut and represented 
 a family of ancient origin and of probable German 
 lineage. Henry Nesbitt settled in Attica after his 
 marriage, pursued agriculture as a vocation, and died 
 there in June, 1883. His wife died in Wyoming Co., 
 N. Y., in 1862. Their eight children survive them. 
 The oldest, Susannah, is the wife of A. Prentice, a 
 farmer. David is a farmer in the township of Attica, 
 N. Y. Henry is a farmer in Saratoga Co., N. Y. Dr. 
 Nesbitt is the fourth in order of birth. Samuel S. is 
 a physician by profession and is passing his life in 
 retirement on a large farm in Adams Co., 111. Jane 
 resides in Attica, N. Y. James O. and John W. 
 (twins) are farmers on the homestead in Orangeville, 
 Wyoming Co., N. Y. 
 
 Dr. Nesbitt received the training and primary edu- 
 cation of a farmer's son, obtaining the latter by 
 attendance at winter terms of school, afterwards 
 completing the curriculum of study at the Genesee 
 and Wyoming Seminary at Alexander, Genesee Co., 
 N. Y., then a popular institution of learning and one 
 which has maintained its prestige. He studied ad- 
 vanced mathematics, classical and modern languages, 
 and was graduated with honors. Imbued with the 
 sentiment in which the youth of his generation was 
 reared, the obligation to engage actively in the 
 world's work, he came to Genoa, De Kalb Co., 111., 
 and spent a winter here, engaged in teaching. He 
 turned his face westward in the following spring and 
 passed some weeks in travel and prospecting. Dur- 
 ing the summer ensuing he was an attache of the 
 Government surveying party on the Red River of the 
 North, operating principally in Minnesota. In the 
 winter following, he taught school in Boone Co., 111., 
 and on the expiration of his engagement he went to 
 Arkansas, and to other States, and pursued the same 
 vocation. Meanwhile he had devoted his leisure 
 and opportunities to the study of medicine and of 
 law. He commenced his legal reading ander the 
 instructions of the Hon. Charles Kellum, of Syca- 
 more, and during the years of 1860-1 he devoted 
 nearly a twelvemonth to the study of medicine in 
 the office of Dr. H. H. Rice, of Randolph Co., 111. His 
 labors as a pedagogue terminated in 1861, when he 
 returned to his native State, and read medicine under
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 sv 
 
 the supervision of Dr. H. B. Miller, of Alexander. 
 Later, he attended lectures at the Buffalo Medical 
 College, and was graduated there Feb. 21, 1865. 
 
 He entered into an association with Dr. G. W. 
 McCray, of Buffalo, in the wholesale and retail sale 
 of drugs, and also engaged in the practice of medi- 
 cine. He sold his interest in the fall of 1866, and 
 after an extended tour of prospective observation 
 through the States of the South he located, in the 
 winter of the same year, at Sycamore, where he at 
 once established himself as a physician and surgeon 
 and entered upon a career in his profession second 
 to none in popularity in this section of Northern 
 Illinois. 
 
 Dr. Nesbitt has not limited his efforts and energies 
 to the scope of his medical practice, nor confined his 
 interests to the section where he is resident. He is 
 an agriculturist of no mean proportions, and is exten- 
 sively engaged as a breeder of valuable stock. He is 
 the proprietor of 1,200 acres of farming land in 
 Mitchell and Ottawa Counties, Kan., devoted to the 
 rearing of horses, cattle and swine. He has bred 
 some fine trotting animals, and is at present the 
 owner of four horses of acknowledged speed. He 
 also raises the English draft horses. 
 
 The intellectual attainments and proclivities of Dr. 
 Nesbitt are far beyond the common order. He is 
 thoroughly read in medical literature, and has a well 
 earned reputation as a lecturer and contributor to the 
 medical press. He has, on occasion, presented valu- 
 able papers before the Illinois State Medical Society, 
 and before the American Medical Association, and 
 has made discoveries in the application of drugs that 
 are of acknowledged benefit to the fraternity. In 
 1 88 1 he officiated as Vice-President of the Illinois 
 State Medical Society, and in 1883 was elected to the 
 same position. He has not been able to apply his 
 abilities to the administration of local affairs, the 
 duties and responsibilities of his extensive practice 
 monopolizing his time and energies. He is promi- 
 nent in the Order of Masonry, and is a member of 
 the Royal Arch Chapter. 
 
 Dr. Nesbitt was married June 23, 1864, at Buffalo, 
 N. V., to Mrs. Mary H. Davis, a native of Chippewa, 
 Can. She had two children by her former marriage. 
 The youngest, Lydia, is deceased. Cora married 
 Frank Whitney, and they are residents on the farm 
 of Dr. Nesbitt, in Ottawa Co., Kan. One child born 
 
 
 to Dr. and Mrs. Nesbitt died in infancy. George W. 
 was born March T3, 1869; John B. was born Jan. 
 31, 1873. The marriage of Dr. Nesbitt is made 
 memorable by the fact that the ceremony was per- 
 formed by the Rev. George H. Ball, made a char- 
 acter of history through his intrepid denunciation of 
 the immoral element in the Presidential campaign 
 of 1884. 
 
 illiam Raymond, farmer, section 21, 
 Cortland Township, came to De Kalb 
 County in the spring of 1855. He spent 
 the summer ensuing in Genoa, and in the 
 fall of the same year located in the village 
 of Cortland. In company with his brother, he 
 afterward bought a farm on section 16, in Cortland 
 Township, on which he settled in the spring of 1856. 
 On this property he spent some years. In 1883 he 
 bought a farm on section 21, where he established his 
 residence permanently, enlarging and improving his 
 house and building a large barn. The place is under 
 excellent improvements, and is increased in value 
 by the improvements he has made. 
 
 Mr. Raymond was born in Otsego, N. Y., Aug 19, 
 1834, and is the son of Oliver P. and Sarah (Wilbur) 
 Raymond. The former was born in Pawling, 
 Dutchess Co., N. Y., and the latter was a native of 
 Taunton, Mass. When Mr. Raymond was six years 
 of age his father died, while engaged in the manage- 
 ment of a hotel at Ashland, Greene Co., N. Y. Soon 
 after that event the family removed to Davenport, 
 Delaware County, in the same State, where the son 
 obtained a common-school education and was reared 
 on a farm, remaining with his mother until his re- 
 moval to Illinois. 
 
 He was first married in 1856, to Minerva Burr. 
 She was born in 1832, in Erie Co., N. Y., and died 
 July 7, 1880, having become the mother of eight 
 children, Frank B., Fred W., Nathan, Rodolphus 
 J., Henry O., Wilbur P., Minnie and Charles. Frank 
 died Sept. 12, 1879; the youngest son died July 17, 
 1880. Mr. Raymond was again married July n, 
 1883,10 Mrs. W. R. Patrick, daughter of J. C. and 
 Hannah (Judd) Hoag. She was born in South Do- 
 ver, Dutchess Co., N. Y., and was married Oct. 29, 
 1867, to W. R. Patrick, by whom she had five chil- 
 dren Jennie C., George W. (died 14 months, old), 
 

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 
 ' Walton R. (died when two years and ten months 
 old), Flora B. and Willimina. One child has been 
 born of her second marriage, Leonard Light. Mr. 
 Patrick died Sept. 13, 1881. 
 
 illiam Wallace Marsh, Superintendent of 
 the Turk Motor Works at Sycamore and 
 member of the firm of C. W. & W. W. 
 Marsh, was born April 15, 1836, near Co- 
 bourg, Ont. He is the second son of Samuel 
 and Tamar (Richardson) Marsh, and passed 
 the years of his early boyhood on the farm of his 
 father in the Dominion of Canada. He was an infant 
 in his mother's arms when his father became inter- 
 ested and involved in the rebellion in Canada which 
 opened in 1837, and in which the members of the 
 families to which his father and mother belonged 
 were participants. (See sketch of C. W. Marsh.) In 
 1844, the parents resolved to seek the advantages of 
 the (then) western portion of the United States ; and 
 the homestead in Canada was sold, the father setting 
 out for a prospecting tour, but was suddenly arrested 
 in his purpose by his acceptance of the tenets of the 
 Millerites, who had fixed upon that year as the date 
 of the termination of all earthly things ; and, aban- 
 doning all projects dependent upon the future, the 
 father settled with his family at Cobourg, where the 
 sons had the advantages of the excellent Canadian 
 schools. 
 
 Mr. Marsh was but eight years old when he was 
 placed at St. Andrews School, and two years later 
 entered Victoria College, where he was a student 
 three years. In 1849 the family circumstances ne- 
 cessitated immediate activity ; and its members, con- 
 sisting of the father, mother, two sons and a daughter, 
 born in 1838, came to De Kalb County and settled 
 on no acres of land, which had been purchased for 
 them in 1847 by an uncle. It was situated on sec- 
 tion 18, and soon after taking possession of the place 
 another tract of similar acreage was purchased on 
 another section. The entire quantity of land in both 
 purchases consisted of unbroken prarie, and was the 
 scene of unremitting labors of the father and sons for 
 nearly eight years. 
 
 In 1857 began the experiments from which resulted 
 the machine which will be the medium of transmit- 
 
 ting the name of Marsh to posterity as it merits, and 
 in his connection with that invention Mr. Marsh at- 
 tained all the distinction he craved, and found in its 
 ultimate success the satisfaction of achieving a pur- 
 pose worth the devotion of a life-time of effort. The 
 idea upon which the Marsh Harvester was founded 
 grew from the observation that a man could bind a 
 bundle of grain while another was being cut; and 
 the idea that followed was the necessity of moving 
 with the cutting apparatus in order to receive the 
 sundered grain at the opportune moment. The years 
 of experiment and struggle that followed and their 
 results are given elsewhere, and form one of the most 
 interesting reminiscences possible. 
 
 One incident, which was a memorable one to Mr. 
 Marsh of this sketch, is worthy of special note, as it 
 was a momentous occasion for De Kalb County, as 
 well as to the central figure therein. The test of the 
 Marsh Harvester took place on the farm of Clark 
 Barber, north of the village of De Kalb, in the pres- 
 ence of hundreds of spectators. Numberless reaping 
 machines were in the contest, among which were the 
 pioneer wire and cord binders, both of which proved 
 failures. But the Marsh machine asserted the value 
 of the principles upon which it is based and achieved 
 a complete triumph. Mr. Marsh of this sketch occu- 
 pied the platform, and in 50 minutes bound the grain 
 cut on an acre, accomplishing the work with the 
 utmost ease. 
 
 The Marsh Harvester was thenceforward a recog- 
 nized fact. On the establishment of their business 
 as manufacturers, the financial interests and all re- 
 lations specially pertaining to that branch of the busi- 
 ness naturally fell under the supervision of C. W. 
 Marsh, the mechanical portion becoming the charge 
 of W. W. Marsh. The latter has been deeply in- 
 terested for a long term of years in the invention 
 of farm machinery, .and with his brother and others 
 has been the patentee of numberless principles and 
 applications pertaining to agricultural implements. 
 He has invented about a score of harvester appli- 
 ances, and nearly as many more in other directions, 
 including binders, windmills, plows, cultivators, wire- 
 stretchers, paint-mill, corn-cutters, corn-huskers, etc. 
 He has also constructed several mechanical ap- 
 purtenances which have remained unpatented and 
 are now in common use, among which is the bal 
 loon harvester wheel. 
 
 On the establishment of the Marsh Harvester
 
 rauwun 
 
 OF TEE
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 f shops at Syr a more, Mn Marsh fixed his residence 
 
 j in the city. In 1873 he purchased the grounds 
 where he built his residence, which include about 
 12 acres and constitute an attractive and valuable 
 homestead. With the spacious and beautiful family 
 mansion, they are valued at 15,000. His marriage 
 to Mrs. M. J. Smith occurred Jan. 8, 1871, in Chi- 
 cago, and of their union two children have been 
 born William W. and Sarah Alma. Mrs. Marsh is 
 the daughter of Rufus and Sarah D. Brown. They 
 
 i are among the pioneer settlers of Chicago. 
 
 Mr. Marsh is a Republican in political opinions 
 and connections. In 1873 he was elected Alderman 
 
 * of Sycamore and continued to serve in that capacity 
 five years. He did much effective business in ob- 
 taining high license, which was afterward adopted 
 and is at present (1885) operative in Sycamore. 
 
 f 
 
 eorge F. Schoonmaker, farmer and dairy- 
 man, section 32, Franklin Township, was 
 born on the same section, in the same 
 township, Feb. 3, 1856. An account of his 
 parents is included in the sketch of his father, 
 1 J. M. Schoonmaker, which may be found on 
 another page of this work. He was brought up as a 
 farmer's son under the direction of his father, acquir- 
 ing a practical knowledge of the details of agriculture, 
 and obtaining a common-school education. At the 
 age of 16 years he entered the High School at Syca- 
 more, where he completed full course of study and 
 was graduated in June, 1875, being one of the first to 
 pursue and finish the prescribed course in that insti- 
 tution. 'He was thenceforward engaged in teaching 
 winters and farming summers for some years. 
 
 He finally determined on a permanent settlement 
 in life and was married March 4, 1878, to Florence 
 Amelia Ellis, at Fielding. Her parents, Gilbert and 
 Caroline (Cbilds) Ellis, were of Eastern origin and 
 her mother is yet living. Her father died at Field- 
 ing, Dec. 26, 1883. He was a cabinet-maker by 
 trade. The daughter was born Nov. 6, 1853, in 
 Virgfl.Townsbip, Kane Co., 111. She was a resident 
 in her native county until she was ii years old, when 
 lier parents removed to Sycamore, where she entered 
 school and completed her education when 16 years 
 of age. She then became a membtr of the family of 
 
 a sister at Fielding, whare she continued to reside 
 chiefly until her marriage. The family of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Schoonmaker includes two children : Flora B., 
 boru Dec. 23, 1878; and Blanche M., bom Oct. 5, 
 1880. They are residents on the paternal home- 
 stead, and Mr. Schoonmaker is the owner of no 
 acres situated in" South Grove Township. He is, a 
 Steward in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is 
 also Assistant Superintendent of the Sunday-school. 
 He is a decided Republican in political faith and 
 action. ' - ' - 
 
 ohn Heath, farmer, section 34, Genoa Town- 
 ship, has been a resident of De Kalb 
 County since 1846, and a landholder in the, 
 township of which he is now a citizen since 
 1848. He first secured a claim of 80 acres, 
 and has 'since increased his estate by the later 
 purchase of 92 acres additional. Of the entire tract, 
 160 acres have been placed under an excellent type 
 of culture. 
 
 In political creed and action he'adopts the princi- 
 ples and issues of the Republican party. He has 
 discharged the duties of Supervisor, of Genoa Town- 
 ship five years and acted as the incumbent of several 
 other official positions. 
 
 He was born Feb. 19, 1817, in Argyle, Washington 
 Co., N. Y. His parents, Isaac and Elizabeth (Alger) 
 Heath, were natives respectively of New Jersey and 
 Vermont They had nine children, of whom Mr. 
 Heath is fifth in order of birth. At the age of 20 < 
 years he engaged as a deck-hand on a sloop plying , 
 on the North, or Hudson River, and was occupied in ( 
 that vocation two years. His next venture took him ' 
 to New Orleans, where he passed two years tending 
 bar, returning thence to his native State, where he 
 remained two years and came thence in June, 1846, 
 to De Kalb County. 
 
 The first marriage of Mr. Heath, to Elizabeth 
 McQuarie, took place in Chatham, Ont., May 24, 
 1846. She was a native of New York, and became 
 the mother of three children, Webster, Eliza and 
 Diana. The youngest child died when two months 
 old. The mother died July 24, 1859. Mr. Heath 
 was a second time married Jan. 24, 1860, in Genoa 
 Township, to Hannah ShurtliflT, a native of Canada. ' 
 -er: vs.>
 
 The five children born of this union are named 
 Libby, Mabel, Lillian, Emily and John. The latter 
 died when he was 16 years of age. 
 
 A fine lithographic portrait of Mr. Heath is given 
 
 on a preceding page. He is one of the old residents 
 
 of his township, and justly entitled to be classed 
 
 among his representative citizens. The picture from 
 
 "which the portrait is engraved was taken in 1883. 
 
 Tames C. Wright, farmer on the southwest 
 quarter of section 30, Cortland Township, 
 was born near Manchester, Lincolnshire, 
 England, July 2, 1826. Two years afterward 
 his parents, William and Elizabeth (Credland) 
 Wright, emigrated with their three children to 
 America and located in Vernon Township, Oneida 
 Co., N. Y., on a farm of 50 acres, land once owned 
 by the Oneida Indians. Mr. W. failed to pay for this 
 farm, and leaving his family there for a time, he came 
 to St. Charles, Kane Co., 111., in 1834. Being a first- 
 class mechanic, he worked as a wheelwright and in 
 other capacities of a similar nature, and in a year 
 and a half he brought his family to St. Charles, the 
 whole distance from New York State in a one-horse 
 wagon! On this were stowed a wife, three children, 
 two beds, cooking utensils, etc. They were nine 
 weeks on the road. Father and two eldest sons 
 walked the entire distance! Only two nights did the 
 family sleep in a house, and all their meals were 
 cooked by the roadside. They landed at St Charles 
 about the first of November. 
 
 The following fall the father died, and James C. 
 and his brother, who had gone out to work for their 
 living, returned to aid in sustaining the family ; but, 
 their mother marrying again, the subject of this sketch 
 started out into the world to take care of himself, 
 being then only 13 years of age. First he was a farm 
 laborer for two years, receiving $6 a month and board, 
 then for two years $9 a month, by which time he had 
 saved from his earnings $50; then for a year $12 a 
 month, three years 11 a month, working for Henry 
 Wager, then for Jerry Brown two years at $11 a 
 month, when he purchased 52 acres of land, going 
 $600 in debt. Subsequently he bought 40 acres 
 more of I. R. Hamlin, running again in debt $600, 
 then 40 acres of Mr. Royce, incurrring another debt 
 
 of $600, then 23 acres of E. S. Root, incurring a debt 
 of $1,400, and finally, in 1867, sold out and went 
 with the family to California, by the water route, 
 where he resided four years. He bought 1,450 acres 
 of land there of the Government, and raised grain 
 and live stock, having of the latter 107 head -of cat- 
 tle, 400 hogs and a few horses ; but he finally ex- 
 changed that farm for his old -one here in Illinois. 
 In his travels he has crossed the. Atlantic Ocean 
 twice, and the Pacific Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Central 
 America and the Isthmus of Panama each once, 
 the latter requiring eight days. 
 
 Mr. Wright, Feb. 26, 1854, married Miss Elizabeth, 
 daughter of Nicholas and Diana (Wager) Wilbur, 
 the latter of whom are deceased. Mrs. W. died in 
 California, March 20, 187 r, leaving one child, Albert, 
 who was bora June 18,1869, in the Golden State, 
 in Sutler County, on the banks of the Sacramento 
 River. Sept 3, 1873, Mr. W. married Harriet L., 
 daughter of Silas and Clarissa (Converse) Whitmore, 
 neither of whom is now living. She was born June 
 22, i842,in the State of New York. 
 
 Mr. Wright s father died in St. Charles, 111., about 
 Sept. i, 1837, and his mother in January, 1852, on 
 the county poor farm, her second husband, James 
 Cortwright taking possession of the farm in 1840: 
 be died about 1857. Both of Mr. Wright's parents 
 were of English descent. 
 
 The subject of this sketch is a .Republican in his 
 political principles. While in California he was a 
 Justice of the Peace. Both himself and wife are; 
 members of the Methodist Church. Although Mr. 
 W. has always been a farmer, in his younger days,' 
 before he became settled, he studied some for the 
 ministry, then began to learn the blacksmith's trade, 
 and then the wagon-maker's, when he finally deter- 
 mined upon farming. 
 
 Isey P. Young, a former resident and 
 prominent citizen of De Kalb, now de- ^ 
 ceased, was born July 21, 1819, at Mans- j 
 jj field, Ohio. He was the son of John and 
 Elizabeth (Logan) Your.g, members of the agri- ( 
 cultural class, and Mr. Young obtained a prac- % 
 tical knowledge of that calling in early life. He (r 
 found the duties and burdens of an agricultural life ^
 
 
 
 distasteful, and essayed teaching; but feeling that 
 eminence in that profession could be attained only 
 through the medium of a liberal education, he de- 
 termined on testing the gist of Bishop Berkeley's 
 famous words, "Westward the course of empire 
 takes its way," and seek advancement in the fields of 
 promise situated in the direction of the setting sun. 
 
 He left his early home and associations, and 
 arrived in Sycamore in 1839, where he soon after be- 
 came associated in a mercantile enterprise with 
 James 5. Waterman. He married Caroline Water- 
 man, the sister of his partner, in 1846. The house 
 which Mr. Young built about that date, at Sycamore, 
 is still in existence, on the premises of Hon. Reuben 
 Ellwood. His wife died in 1852, after becoming the 
 mother of two children, a daughter and a son. The 
 latter died in infancy; the former, when in the 
 bloom of early womanhood, aged 20 years. 
 
 In 1847 Mr. Young officiated as Sheriff of De Kalb 
 County. In 1854 he was a merchant at Albion, Ind., 
 associated with Mr. H. Day, his brother-in-law. 
 Early in 1856 he transferred his stock of goods and 
 his business to De Kalb Center., and in the same 
 year he married Alida L. Ellwood. Two daughters 
 formed the issue of the second marriage, the elder of 
 whom died at four years of age, the younger when 
 nine months old. 
 
 In 1860, in partnership with Dr. Rufus Hopkins, 
 he established a banking enterprise at De Kalb, in 
 which he was interested to the time of his death. 
 That event transpired at Hot Springs, Ark., March 
 14, 1874, 
 
 The life and character of Mr. Young were such as 
 command general respect, and he left to the citizens 
 of the county where he was a resident over 40 years 
 the record of an honorable and upright career and a 
 stainless name. 
 
 Nicholas Lanan, farmer on section 22, May- 
 field Township, is a son of John and Mar- 
 garet Lanan, who were natives of Belgium. 
 In their family were Nicholas, John, Henry 
 Joseph and Catherine. The first mentioned 
 <|> was born in that country, Dec. 21, 1817, and came to 
 ^ America in the fall of 1833; after a perilous voyage 
 of three months and three days, he landed in New 
 
 York, and remained in that State four years and a 
 half; he then came to Illinois, in a sailing vessel 
 from Buffalo to Chicago. The lakes were very rough' 
 during the entire v.oyage. He then came by wagon 
 to De Kalb County, and purchased a quarter of sec- 
 tion 22, Mayfield Township, where he still resides. 
 He is therefore one of the first pioneers now living." 
 At present he owns 190 acres, most of which is in a 
 state of good cultivation. He raises cattle, horses 
 and hogs. 
 
 He was married in Chicago, 111., Nov. 13, 1851, to 
 Phifllpine Becker, who was born in Germany, in 
 October, 1818, and came to America with her mother, 
 Mary Ann (Hoffman) Becker, her father Nicholas 
 Becker having died when she was a child. Her 
 mother was a second time married, in Germany. 
 After coming to America she settled in Chicago, 
 where she died, Nov. 28, 1878. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Lanan are the parents of seven chil- 
 dren: Mary was born June 29, 1852, and was mar- 
 ried in April, 1872, to John Delles; Elizabeth was 
 born Nov. 7, 1854, and married William Gregory in 
 November, 1882; Margaret was born Feb. 18, 1856, 
 and married John Witte, in May, 1877 ; Catherine 
 was born July 15, 1857, and was married in May, 
 1876, to August Ullrich; John was born Jan. 24, 
 1858. 
 
 -i| < oC>S * I 
 
 athan Lattin, senior member of the firm of 
 N. & D. B. Lattin, dealers in coal, Batavia 
 stone, etc., at Sycamore, was born May 2, 
 1834, in the township of Veteran, Chemung 
 Co., N. Y. His father, Ransom Lattin, was 
 born March 19, 1797, in Fairfield Co., Conn., 
 and was married in 1828, to Almy C. Crawford. She 
 was a native of Saratoga Co., N. Y., and died in 
 Veteran, at the age of 82 years. The senior Lattin 
 died in the same township Feb. 14, 1883. They be- 
 came the parents of eight children. Daniel B. is a 
 farmer in Afton Township. Mary W. is the wife of 
 M. L. Egbert, of Horseheads, N. Y. Parthenia died 
 n infancy. Melissa E. married Peter A. Miller and 
 died in 1859. Clarissa died in 1867. Canni held 
 the homestead and was the custodian of the comfort 
 of his parent's closing years. Sydney is a farmer of 
 Shabbona Grove. 
 
 Mr. Lattin is the fourth child of his parents, and 
 -*^_
 
 was reared at home on the far.m. His elder brother 
 had come to De Kalb County about 1854, and he 
 came to Sycamore in April, 1857. He engaged in 
 the purchase and sale of stock and grain, in which 
 he has passed the intervening years of his life to this 
 date (1885). In the fall of i88a he admitted his 
 brother, D. B. Lattin, to a partnership. The coal 
 trade of the firm is about 3,000 tons annually, and 
 their traffic in grain is proportionally heavy. Their 
 warehouses are situated on De Kalb Avenue, opposite 
 the depot, and are conveniently located on each 
 side of the railroad track. 
 
 Mr. Lattin has been prominent and efficient in 
 local positions of trust and responsibility in the 
 municipal affairs of Sycamore. He officiated as 
 Alderman several years, and held the office of Mayor 
 of the city four years, from 1877 to 1881. From 
 1874 to 1878 he was Supervisor of Sycamore Town- 
 ship. 
 
 The marriage of Mr. Lattin to Mary H., daughter 
 of Stephen and Miriam T. Bemis, took place in De 
 Kalb Township, Dec. 24, 1857. Of this union three 
 children have been born: Judson, now a student in 
 the mechanical and military departments of the In- 
 dustrial University at Champaign; Clara L., a teacher 
 in the graded school at Sycamore; and Fred, acting 
 as assistant in the business of N. & D. B. Lattin. 
 
 ?* 
 
 'hilip King, a farmer on section 9, Mayfield 
 Township, is- a son of William and Mary 
 (Fy) King, natives of Germany, who emi- 
 grated to America in an early day and settled 
 Crawford Co., Ohio, where they died. They 
 had ten children, Lana, Abraham, Philip, 
 Jacob, Margaret, Susan, Barbara, William, Mary and 
 Henry. 
 
 Mr. King was born in Germany April 26. 1826, 
 and was six years Old when his parents came with 
 him to America. He served an apprenticeship of 
 three years to learn the trade of shoemaking, which 
 he followed till 1848, when he came to this county 
 and pre-empted 80 acres in Mayfield Township, on 
 the section where he still resides. At present he 
 owns 208 acres, with about 190 in a fine state of cul- 
 tivation. He has held the offices of Overseer of 
 
 Highways and School Director, and in his political 
 principles he is a Democrat. 
 
 . He was first married in Kingston Township, this 
 county, Feb. 2, 1853, to Miss Elizabeth, daughter of 
 Daniel and Elizabeth (Dawalt) Coonfair, who were 
 natives of Pennsylvania. She had two children 
 William and Mary E. and died Sept. 15, 1856, in 
 Mayfield Township; 2nd Mr. King was again mar- 
 ried, Oct. 15, 1858, in Crawford Co., Ohio, to Miss 
 Maria, daughter of Solomon and Rosa A. (Lutz) 
 Scott, who also were natives of the Keystone State. 
 The latter had 1 1 children, Maria, Jane, Amelia, 
 William, Laura, Ellen, Harriet, John, Ann, Chris- 
 topher and Amanda. Mrs. King was bom in Craw- 
 ford Co., Ohio, Sept. 15, 1841, and the children of 
 Mr. and Mrs. K. are Rosa A., Henry D., Margaret 
 J., Frank P., Orilla L., Laura D. and Amelia, seven 
 in number. 
 
 Brown removed his familv to Illinois and settled in 
 
 Dillon S. Brown, member of the banking 
 house of Brown & Brown at Genoa, was born 
 May 12, 1852, in the township of Genoa. 
 Jeremiah L. Brown, his father, was a native 
 of Scarborough! Maine, and was twice mar- 
 ried. His first wife, Judith (Richardson) 
 Brown, bore seven children, two of whom are de- 
 ceased. The survivors are James P., Jeremiah W. 
 (see sketch), Judith. Esther E. and Abigail J. The 
 mother died in Genoa Township, and the father 
 married Eliza A. Jackman. Four children were bom 
 of the second marriage, Emma R., Dillon S., 1 
 Charles A. (see sketch) and Lizzie M. The senior t 
 
 Genoa Township in the fall of 1837, engaging in 
 farming. He died Tan. 5. 1882. 
 
 D. S. Brown attended school until the age of 25 
 years, residing on :he home farm during his vaca- 
 tions: graduated a: the Illinois Industrial University 
 in the spring of 1875 and from the Montreal Veter- ^ 
 inary College at Montreal, Canada, in 1877, from ' 
 which time he practiced his profession at Sycamore ; 
 until the spring of iSSo. when he became interested p 
 in a mercantile enterprise at Genoa, associated with f/ 
 H. H. Slater. The relation was terminated^ the '." 
 end of a year by t'.ie withdrawal of Mr. Brown. In ^. 
 May, 1882, he inaugurated his present business en- V
 
 terprise, forming a partnership with his brother, 
 Charles A. Brown. The venture has proved satisfac- 
 tory, and the firm have gained a substantial reputa- 
 tion in the management of financial matters. 
 
 Mr. Brown was married May 16, 1878, to Emily 
 E. Pond. Their children were born as follows: 
 Claude, Earl and a child who died in infancy. Mrs. 
 Brown is the daughter of A. H. and Amy N. 
 (Hollembeak) Pond, who were natives of Pennsylva- 
 nia, where she also was born. 
 
 Mr. Brown is a Republican in political faith and 
 action. He has served as Village Trustee and as 
 President of the Board. 
 
 eorge Klernsmid, hardware merchant at 
 Sandwich, was born June 26, 1831, in the 
 Prussian province of Westphalia. .Bern- 
 hard Kleinsmid, his father, died when he was 
 a child of three years, leaving the family to 
 the care of the mother, Mary Kleinsmid, who 
 brought her children to the American continent in 
 1848, when her son George was 17 years of age. 
 They located in Cincinnati, where he learned the 
 business of a shoemaker, and was occupied in the 
 prosecution of the trade at that point until 1851, in 
 which year he removed to Chicago. He was simi- 
 larly employed in that city for some time, but, find- 
 ing Kis health affected by confinement, he engaged 
 as a salesman in a hardware store, and acquired a 
 thorough knowledge of the details and specialties of 
 that vocation. He came to Sandwich in 1856 and 
 established a hardware enterprise, associated with 
 George L. Ismon. Their relations were suddenly 
 and disastrously terminated a little less than three 
 years later by the simultaneous disappearance of Mr. 
 Ismon and all available resources in the way of 
 cash. Mr. Kleinsmid collected his courage and suf- 
 ficient means to again establish his business, which 
 he opened in 1859, and has since conducted with 
 satisfactory results. His stock represents an average 
 estimate of $12,000, and he transacts annually a large 
 amount of business in all the branches connected 
 with his establishment. He employs several tinners 
 and one general assistant. Two sons act as sales- 
 
 men when occasion demands. The business block 
 in which he operates was built by him in 1864, and 
 is 24 x 105 feet in dimensions. It is constructed of 
 brick and is three stories in height above the base- 
 ment. Mf. Kleinsmid is a pioneer in his business, 
 which is of nearly 30 years' standing, and was one of 
 the earliest established in De Kalb County. He is 
 the owner of a handsome brick residence, two stories 
 in height, having a tin mansard roof and containing 
 20 rooms. The adjoining grounds contain nearly 
 three acres of land, and the place is among the most 
 attractive at Sandwich. Mr. Kleinsmid owns also 
 two acres in the north part of the city devoted to 
 nursery purposes, and a tenement house and lot. 
 
 He was united in marriage in Chicago, Oct. 18, 
 1855, to Louisa, daughter of Gotleib Simon, of 
 Waldo, Wis. (Her father is still living and is a nona- 
 genarian.) Of their union 13 children have been 
 born. Louisa and Frank, the two oldest, are de- 
 ceased. The survivors are George, Bertha, Raymond, 
 Lucretia, Lilly, Walter, Austin, Rufus, James, Maud 
 and Mabel. 
 
 imuel Stephens, retired farmer, residing 
 at Genoa, is the son of Benjamin and Eliz- 
 abeth Stephens, and was born Sept 6, 
 1809, in Pennsylvania, his father being a na-. 
 live of the same State. His mother was born 
 in Ireland. Mr. Stephens is one of a family of 
 seven children, and when he was three years of age 
 his parents removed to Ohio, where they resided 
 about five years, going thence to Indiana. They 
 came to DeKalb County in 1837 and located in the 
 township of Kingston. He has been a resident in 
 various parts of De Kalb County and has owned 
 land in different localities, which he has disposed of 
 with the exception of 80 acres, which he still holds. 
 In 1882 rie retired from active farming life, his resi- 
 dence being in Genoa village, where he has lived 
 since 1837. 
 
 His first marriage occurred in Woodstock, Me- 
 Henry Co., 111., where he formed a matrimonial
 
 alliance with Rebecca Patterson, a native of Penn- 
 sylvania. Of their union one son was born, Joseph 
 B. Stephens, who is a resident of Sycamore and 
 officiating in the capacity of State's Attorney of De 
 Kalb County. The mother died at Genoa. Mr. 
 Stephens was a second time married, in Genoa Town- 
 ship, Dec. 14, 1852, to Philena, daughter of Allen 
 and Sophronia Crocker. The latter was born in the 
 State of New York, the former in Massachusetts. 
 They were among the pioneer settlers of Genoa 
 Township, and died at the home of Mr. Stephens in 
 the village of Genoa. Mrs. Stephens is second in 
 order of birth of six children born to her parents, and 
 her birth occurred April i, 1830, in Genesee Co., N. 
 Y. She has been the mother of two children. Her- 
 bert, the oldest, died when he was nearly four years 
 of age. The second child died in infancy. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Stephens are members of the Advent Church. 
 He is a Prohibitionist in political principle. He has 
 acted eight years as Justice of the Peace, and has 
 been a member of the Village Board of Trustees of 
 Genoa. 
 
 ? 
 
 md W. Stark, farmer, section 3, Mayfield 
 Township, is the son of William and Ruth 
 (McClara) Stark, natives of Pennsylvania, 
 who had five children, Lewis G., Peter F., 
 David W., John K., Calista and Amelia. The 
 subject of this sketch was born in Wyoming Co., 
 Pa., April 15, 1826, lived in his native county until 
 s i years of age arid then sought a home in the West. 
 Coming to Illinois in 1847, he lived most of the 
 time until 1852 in Sycamore, engaged in different oc- 
 cupations. In the spring of that year he went to 
 California for the purpose of mining, and was thus 
 engaged for six months. After that he worked out 
 by the month, until May, 1857, when he returned to 
 De Kalb County and settled on 40 acres of section 
 3, Mayfield Township, which he had bought when he 
 first came to Illinois and where he now resides. He 
 has added to his estate until he now has almost 300 
 acres. Mr. Stark has served as Deputy Sheriff two 
 years (1849-50). In political matters he votes with 
 the Republicans. 
 
 . He was married in Mayfield Township, Oct. 28, 
 1859, to Amanda Judd, daughter of Ariel and Eliz- 
 abeth (Headly) Judd, the former of whom was a 
 
 native of the State of New York and the latter of In- 
 diana. They came to De Kalb County in 1837 and 
 settled in Kmgston Township, where Mrs. J. died, in 
 May, 1847; Mr. J. afterward came to Mayfield Town- 
 ship, and died Feb. 23, 1869. They had a family of ^ 
 nine children, Mrs. S. being the only one who lived 
 to grow up. Mr. and Mrs. S. are th; parents of five 
 children, William A., Lizzie J., Frank W., Clara C. 
 and Perry J. 
 
 eorge E. and Irving W. Miller, general 
 merchants and dealers in hardware .and 
 agricultural machinery at Fielding, Frank- 
 lin Township, started their business in Feb- 
 ruary, 1884. The building where they manage 
 their affairs is a brick structure, 50 X5o feet in 
 dimensions, and they have a finely assorted stock 
 suited to the local trade. 
 
 Their parents, Daniel and Catherine M. (Bouk) 
 Miller, were natives of New York and farmers in 
 Herkimer County. They removed thence to Frai.k- 
 lin Township in 1846, and were among the early set- 
 tlers. They purchased 280 acres of land, and later 
 became the proprietors of additional tracts until, at the 
 date of the father's decease, Oct. 4, 1874, the estate 
 included 560 acres, to which there were five heirs, 
 William O., George E., Emma J., Irving W. and Frank. 
 Frank died Oct. 21, 1874, soon after the death of his 
 father. William O. moved to Kansas, where he and 
 his wife both died after being in that State about a 
 year; he died Dec. 23, 1879, and his wife about two 
 weeks afterward. One daughter of the senior Miller, 
 Emma J., resides on the homestead with her mother. 
 George E. Miller was born in Franklin Township, 
 Aug. 12, 1854. He was educated in the district 
 school of his native township, and was married June 
 4, 1876, at Rockford, 111., to Mary A. McClellan. 
 She was bom in De Kalb County, Jan. 26, 1852, and 
 was educated in the common schools, later going to 
 Rockford to complete a more extended course of 
 study. Her mother died soon after her birth, and 
 her father went not long afterward to California, 
 where all traces of him were lost. She was brought 
 up and educated by her aunt. She is the mother of 
 two children, Frank D. and Lee W. 
 
 Irving E. Miller was born Jan. 28, 1857. The

 
 ..; ..
 
 brothers both lived at home until the opening of their 
 present business enterprise. They retain their claims 
 lo which they succeeded through inheritance, the 
 elder brother holding 190 acres; the tract received 
 by the younger includes 160 acres. In political be- 
 lief and connections they are Republicans. 
 
 E-'rson W. Hice, engineer in charge of the 
 stationary pump of the Chicago, Milwaukee 
 ftjSSr & St Paul Railroad Company at Kirkland, 
 QF was born Jan. n, 1837, in Lorain Co., Ohio. 
 
 He is the son of Nahum and Betsey E. 
 
 (Elaine) Rice, who were natives of Ohio. 
 They came from the Buckeye State to Boone Co., 
 111., in the spring of 1837, when the son was but a 
 few months old, and located on a tract of Govern- 
 ment land. In 1845 tncv returned to Lorain Co., 
 Ohio. In 1848 the father died, and later the mother 
 remarried and removed with her husband to Van 
 Buren Co., Mich., where she is still living, at the age 
 of 7 2 years. 
 
 Mr. Rice accompanied his parents in their several 
 removals, and obtained his education in the town- 
 ship of Eaton. Lorain Co., Ohio. He was the fourth 
 of seven children, and after the death of his father 
 was dependent on his own exertions for self-main- 
 tenance. He engaged in farm labor in his native 
 State, and was occupied in that avenue of labor un- 
 til he entered the Army of the United States as a 
 defender of the National integrity. He enrolled as 
 a soldier April 16, 1861, at Cleveland, in the Eighth 
 Ohio VoL Inf., in Co. H, under Captain Starr, enlist- 
 ing under the first call for troops. The regiment was 
 attached to the Army of the Cumberland, and was 
 in the service three months. On his discharge he 
 immediately re-enlisted for three years' service in the 
 I5oth Battalion, under Captain Spears, and was 
 assigned to the Army of the Tennessee. Mr. Rice 
 was in action at Corinth, Coldwater and Vicksburg, 
 at which last place he was under fire through the 
 entire siege. The regiment went thence to Jackson, 
 Miss., and there encountered Johnson's army, going 
 next to Lookout Mountain, where they fought under 
 Sherman. After repulsing the enemy they crossed 
 the Tallahassee and pushed on to Atlanta, Ga., 
 where the command was transferred to the corps of 
 
 J 
 
 c 
 
 General McPherson After the loss of the command- 
 er at Decatur, Ala., July 22, 1863, he served under 
 Logan until after the siege of Atlanta, when he was 
 transferred to the command of' Gen. Francis P. 
 Blair, under' whom he fought at Jonesville. After 
 this action he was made Orderly at headquarters, 
 and continued in that rank until the close of the war, 
 and under it was detailed frequently for special ser- 
 vice. On one occasion he was sent with a special 
 dispatch to General Thomas, directing him to make 
 a certain movement. This was a duty that required 
 speed and sagacity, and he executed its obligations 
 in a manner that won for him much commendation. 
 Mr. Rice was mustered out of the United States ser- 
 vice at Washington, D. C., June 2, 1865, after the 
 close of the war. He was in the army of the North 
 during the entire period of the war, his service last- 
 ing four years, four months and ten days. 
 
 Mr. Rice came to Illinois, to the township of Frank- 
 lin, while on a furlough.and was married Sept. 19, 1862, 
 to Ruth Penwell. She was born Aug. 13, 1843, in 
 Boone Co., 111., and is the daughter of Luke and 
 Elizabeth (Middleton) Penwell. Mr. P. was born in 
 Fayelte Co., Ind., in 1817, and Mrs. P. in Ohio, in 
 1818, and went to Indiana when she was very young. 
 They moved to Boone Co., 111., in 1836, and to De 
 Kalb County in 1883, where they now live.. - ' 
 
 On receiving his discharge from the army he joined 
 his wife in Franklin Township and engaged in farm- 
 ing, following that vocation until 1870. In that year 
 he went to Belvidere, and there established a boot 
 and shoe store. He disposed of his business rela- 
 tions in'i879, and came to Kirkland, where he pur- 
 chased a house and lot, and has since resided. 
 In 1882 he entered upon his present employment. 
 He is a Republican in political connection, and is 
 serving as a member of the Village Council, to which 
 he was re-elected in 1884. 
 
 ohn Cristman, deceased, formerly a farmer f t 
 and blacksmith, on the southeast quarter I 
 of section iS.Cortland Township, was born s> 
 in Jordan ville, N. Y., May 28, 1825. His Jt 
 father, John J. Cristman, was born April 15, ^ 
 1799, a descendant of the Mohawk Dutch, and (" 
 died about 1874, in South Grove Township, this ^ 
 
 -e^<?iini!H$>
 
 county. His mother, Rachel, nee Eggbroad, was 
 born July 20, 1803, and died about 1833. 
 
 Mr. Cristman, the subject of this sketch, learned 
 the trade of blacksmith when a young man, and fol- 
 lowed that occupation more or less during life, having 
 a shop on his farm. He worked several years at his 
 trade at Jordanville, N. Y. On coming to this county 
 in 1 8,4, he worked about a year at the business at 
 Sycamore; the meanwhile purchasing a farm of H. 
 H. Mason, on which he lived and labored until his 
 death, which occurred on October 9, 1863. He was 
 injured by a threshing-machine, and died from the 
 effects three days afterward. When he bought his 
 farm it comprised 240 acres, and had some small 
 improvements. These he supplanted with better, 
 and subsequently sold about 53 acres to Mr. Bing- 
 ham. At his death he left 180 acres as his real 
 estate.' He was a Republican, and served for a time 
 as Highway Commissioner.' 
 
 Mr. Cristman was married Sept. 10, 1852, to 
 Almira Pooler, daughter of Henry Pooler. She was 
 born March 22, 1829, and died Sept. 16, following 
 her marriage. He was again married Oct. 4, 1857, 
 to Miss Philany Pooler, at German Flats, Heikimer 
 Co., N. Y. She was born July 9, 1835, at that place, 
 and was a daughter of Henry Pooler, whose biogra- 
 phy appears in this book. His portrait is also given 
 'in this ALBUM, on page 232. Mrs. Cristman is the 
 mother of two children, namely: Lorena A., born 
 May 22, 1859, and John M., Aug. 25, 1863. 
 
 As one of De Kalb County's representative self- 
 made men, we place the portrait of Mr. Cristman in 
 this ALBUM. He was well known, highly respected, 
 and a most worthy citizen. He left a large and 
 esteemed family connection in this county. 
 
 illiam W. Wylde, farmer, section 18, 
 Genoa Township, has been a resident of 
 the State of Illinois since the age of two 
 years, when his parents, William and Maria 
 (Webb) Wylde, emigrated with their family 
 m England to America and settled in Boone 
 Co., HI. The father died in 1854, in Belvidere. 
 
 Mr. Wylde was born Feb. 28, 1840, in England. 
 He went from home when he was 13 years of age, to 
 become a .farm laborer, and he operated in that 
 
 capacity until he was 21 years old, remaining la the 
 employment of Daniel Ball, of Genoa. On coming 
 of age he bought 94 acres of land in the township 
 where he had labored eight years and where he has 
 been a resident most of the time since 1853. Polit- 
 ically he is a Republican. 
 
 His marriage to Mary Leonard took place in Octo- 
 ber, 1862, in Belvidere, and they had three children, 
 Jennie, Ida and another who died in early infancy. 
 Ida died at the age of two years. The mother is a 
 native of Illinois. Mr. Wylde was a second time 
 married Oct. i, 1879, to Mrs. Martha J. Olinstead, 
 daughter of Clark C. and Mary (Everson) Thomp- 
 son and widow of Chester H. Olmstead. Her 
 first husband died in 1876, leaving a daughter, 
 Mabel G. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson were born re- 
 spectively in Vermont and New York. Mrs. Wylde 
 was born in Coral, McHenry Co., Ill, Nov. 23, 1846. 
 Her father was a Union soldier, enlisting in the 95th 
 III. Vol. Inf., Co. E, in 1860, and died at Baton. 
 Rouge, La., April 13, 1861, from over-exertion caused 
 by a forced march through Tennessee. 
 
 obert Craig, merchant at Fielding, Frank- 
 lin Township, was born Aug. 1 6, 1853, in 
 the city of Philadelphia. His father, George 
 Craig, came in 1855 to Flora Township, 
 Boone Co., 111., and located on a farm, where 
 the son was reared to manhood, attending 
 school and working on the farm until he was 22 
 years of age For some months previous to that age 
 he was at school at Cherry Valley, Winnebago Co., 
 111., and on leaving there entered the general mer- I 
 candle establishment of Keith & Blake at that place. / 
 He remained in that employment but a short time, 
 entering the service of the Chicago & Northwestern 
 Railroad Company as baggage agent at Dixon, III. 
 After nine months he accepted a similar position at 
 Fielding, in which he officiated but a short time, and 
 engaged in a mercantile enterprise with his former 
 employer, Mr. Keith. Later he attended school at 
 Cherry Valley, going thence to Chicago, where he * 
 spent two years as a street-car conductor. In 1879 
 he came to Fielding and, associated with Frank 
 Romney, established a general mercantile establish- 
 ment, beginning trade with' a stock of less than
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 30, 
 
 $r,ooo value. From that small beginning the rela- 
 tions of the firm have steadily and uniformly in- 
 creased and grown in popularity until they carry 
 stock averaging $10,000 in value, and transact a 
 yearly business aggregating $25,000. Mr. Craig is 
 the possessor of a valuable and attractive home in 
 Fielding. 
 
 He was married Sept. 30, 1879, at Cherry Valley, 
 Winnebago Co., 111., to Libbie Reid, and they have 
 two children, Edna M., born Sept. 29, 1880, and 
 Arthur, born Nov. 13, 1883. Mrs. Craig was born in 
 July, 1856, in the State of New York. She came to 
 Illinois in childhood, and at the age of 1 1 years be- 
 came a member of the family of a merchant named 
 John McKee, with whom she made her home until 
 her marriage. 
 
 Mr. Craig is a Republican and is at present a 
 School Director of the village of Fielding. 
 
 Toseph Sixbury, deceased, farmer, was a 
 native of Amsterdam, Montgomery Co., N. 
 Y., born Nov. 17, 1810. Malinda (Ell- 
 wood) Sixbury, his widow, is a native of Min- 
 den, Montgomery Co., N. Y., born March 2, 
 1815. Joseph Sixbury and Malinda Ellwood 
 were united in marriage in their native county Jan. 
 15, 1834, and in July, 1837, removed to Sycamore, 
 De Kalb Co., 111., where they continued to reside. 
 The fruits of their union were two children, Chaun- 
 cey E. and Mary Eliza. The former was born in 
 Sycamore, May 30, 1838 ; the latter, May 28, 1845. 
 
 Chauncey E. Sixbury was married to Jennie 
 Ainley, also of Sycamore, April n, 1866, and now 
 resides in Boone Co., Iowa. Mary E. Sixbury was 
 united in marriage to James H. Schuyler, a resident 
 of Sycamore, May 9, 1866, and settled in Nunica, 
 Mich. Two children were born to them, and are 
 named Colfax Schuyler and James C. Schuyler. Col- 
 fax was born in Nunica, Mich., Feb. 23, 1868. James 
 C. was born in the same town, March i, 1874. Mary 
 E. Schuyler died in Nunica, Feb. 17, 1876. Her re- 
 mains were brought to Sycamore and repose in Elm- 
 wood Cemetery. The two children thus early left 
 motherless have since continued under the watchful 
 and affectionate oversight and care of their grand- 
 
 >,&&& ^^ &*"' 
 
 mother, Malinda (Ellwood) Sixbury. Joseph Sixbury 
 departed this life Dec. 28, 1879. 
 
 It has already been remarked that Joseph Sixbury 
 and his wife came to De Kalb County as early as 
 July, 1837, the pioneer days of this section. Those 
 who removed here from the midst of the older civili- 
 zation of the East, were obliged to encounter more 
 or less in the way of deprivation so far as the com- 
 forts of life were concerned, both socially and other- 
 wise ; and Mr. and Mrs. Sixbury were called upon to 
 bear their share of the privations and^trials of pioneer 
 life. Outside of the discomforts tha" naturally and 
 inevitably beset the white people, were the disagree- 
 able, not to say dangerous, proclivities of the Indians, 
 who at that period occupied in part this particular 
 section. The surrounding groves were their rendez- 
 vous, from which they made frequent incursions into 
 the settlements to beg for food and other favors. Al- 
 though not particularly hostile, they sometimes were 
 troublesome. In relating to the writer some of the 
 ways of the aborigines, Mrs. Sixbury said sometimes 
 they would appear at the cabin door of the settlers 
 and cast their blankets inside. If the occupants of 
 the cabin allowed the blankets to remain, the Indians 
 considered it an invitation to come in and take their 
 repose, but if the blankets were taken up and placed 
 outside, the Indians accepted the act as a refusal to 
 allow them to tarry, and, picking them up, passed 
 along. Soon after the period indicated, the Indians 
 were removed by the Government to Council Bluffs, 
 Iowa. 
 
 Joseph Sixbury, besides taking an active part in 
 helping to improve the Western wilderness, to which v 
 he had removed previous to the Government land 
 sale, was public-spirited as well, and was one of the 
 few men who assisted in the location of the county 
 seat of De Kalb County at Sycamore. His land 
 patent covered a portion of the site of what is now 
 the beautiful and thriving city of Sycamore. Him- 
 self and wife were devoted members of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church, in the upbuilding of which in 
 those primitive days they both bore an important 
 part. Each abounded in works of benevolence and 
 chanty. Those were the days in which the grand 
 and rugged eloquence of Father Cartwright and other 
 able and eloquent pioneer Methodist preachers were 
 heard in the cabins of the settlers and in the groves 
 and forests. It almost seems strange, but those early 
 
 ^ *Q*
 
 
 
 302 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 comers often speak of the days of old, and associate 
 with them some of the pleasantest and most enjoya- 
 ble episodes of their lives. Their necessary depend- 
 ence one upon another made closer and stronger the 
 bond of friendship and sympathy between them, and 
 though few in numbers and deprived of much that 
 happily surrounds them in these later days, they yet 
 were happy and contented. All honor to the cour- 
 ageous and hardy pioneer of the West. 
 
 Mr. Sixbury was a Steward and Class-leader in his 
 Church up to the time of his death. He also occu- 
 pied positions of responsibility and trust in the civil 
 affairs of the town and county, having been chosen 
 assessor of his town many years, and was also elected 
 to the important office of County Treasurer two suc- 
 cessive terms. 
 
 ,,enry P. Grout, dealer in agricultural in- 
 struments at Kirkland, was born July 16, 
 1836, in Windsor Co., Vt. He is a de- 
 scendant from a prominent family in that part 
 of. the Green Mountain State, his grandfather 
 Grout being an early settler there, and was one 
 of the Government surveyors of New Hampshire 
 and Vermont. His grandmother figures in the his- 
 tory of Vermont as an Indian captive, but her early 
 release was secured. John Grout, father of Mr. 
 Grout of this sketch, was born in Windsor County, 
 where he maintained his home all his life. He was 
 a soldier of the War of 1812, and after the close of 
 that conflict lived on a land, grant conferred in con- 
 sequence of his services. He became prominent in 
 general affairs and occupied high position in the pub- 
 lic esteem. He died in 1857, aged about 60 years. 
 His wife Polly, (McAllister) Grout, was born in Wind- 
 sor County, and there lived all her life. She died in 
 1855, and was the mother of nine children. Her 
 father was a. pioneer isettler of Windsor County. 
 
 Mr. Grout was the youngest child and attended 
 district school until he was 17 years old, when he 
 came West and located at Sycamore. Within a year 
 both his parents died and he determined upon a per- 
 manent residence in Illinois. He accordingly en- 
 gaged in labor to sustain himself among strangers, and 
 continued to operate in De Kalb County until 1860, 
 when he joined a party of gold hunters and went to 
 
 
 Pike's Peak, where he remained 18 months. He re- 
 turned to this county without accumulated possessions, 
 and determined on entering the Army of the United 
 States, the Civil War being then in progress. He en- 
 listed in September, 1861, in Co. C, S2dlll. Vol. Inf., 
 and went to the front under Capt. J. S. Brown, of 
 Sycamore. The regiment was attached to the West- 
 ern Army, and he continued to experience the vari- 
 eties of military conflict until the battle of Shiloh, 
 Tenn., where he received a gunshot wound, the bul- 
 let entering the stomach two inches above the 
 periphery of the diaphragm. Twenty-one days after- 
 ward the leaden missile was dislodged and passed 
 through the intestines. This is one of the most remark- 
 able incidents in the surgical history of the war, and 
 is the only one on record of its kind. Mr. Grout was 
 discharged July 21, 1862, at Chicago, for disability. 
 He returned to Sycamore and was married March 19, 
 1863, in Franklin Township, to Mrs. Mary A. Foster, 
 daughter of William H. and Betsy (Gorham) Rowen. 
 She was born Jan. 12, 1835, in Genesee Co., N. Y. 
 When she was nine years of age her parents settled 
 in the township where she was married to Thomas 
 Foster, a native of Indiana, who died in the town- 
 ship of Kingston, in 1860. She became the mother 
 of three children by her first marriage, Wallace T., 
 Betsy A. and Joseph W., all of whom are married. 
 Hattie is the name of the only child born of her 
 second marriage. 
 
 A year after his marriage, Mr. Grout purchased 80 
 acres of land in Kingston Township, whereon the 
 family resided until 1880, the date of their removal 
 to Kirkland. Mr. Grout is the owner of an addition 
 to Kirkland, which contains ten acres. Since his res- 
 idence there, he has been engaged in the sale of 
 agricultural implements. He is a zealous Republi- 
 can, and is the present Township Treasurer. 
 
 oses Dean, farmer and dealer in real 
 estate, resident at Sycamore, has been 
 identified with the history and develop- 
 ment of De Kalb County since 1856. He = 
 was born Jan. 27, 1815, in the town of Never- tf 
 sink, Sullivan Co., N. Y., and is the son of Reu- 
 ben and Elizabeth (Divine) Dean. Moses Dean, his 
 great-grandfather, is his earliest known ancestor, who 
 
 4^^
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 j 
 
 
 emigrated from England when a young man, and 
 settled near Hartford, Conn. He was a preacher and 
 spent his life at Hartford, where he died at the age 
 of 1 04 years. Solomon Dean, his son, grandfather of 
 Mr. Dean of this sketch, was born at Hartford, and 
 was a soldier of the Revolution. He was a member 
 of an engineer corps known in those days as " Sap- 
 pers and Miners," and was with the command of 
 Washington at Newbufg, Valley Forge and Brandy- 
 wine, and was a witness of the surrender of Lord 
 Cornwallis at Yorktown, in 1781. He settled at New- 
 burg after the termination of the Colonial struggle, 
 and died there in 1786. His remains were buried in 
 the cemetery near Washington's headquarters. His 
 widow became the wife of a Revolutionary soldier, 
 named Samuel Johnson, and in 1804 the family 
 settled in Sullivan County. 
 
 Reuben Dean, son of Solomon Dean and father 
 of the subject of this sketch, was born near Newburg, 
 Orange Co., N. Y., and settled with his stepfather's 
 family in Sullivan County. 
 
 He married Elizabeth Divine, who was born near 
 Newburg. He was a soldier in the second struggle 
 with Great Britain, and was stationed at Brooklyn 
 Heights. He died in January, 1846. The grandparents 
 of Mr. Dean on the mother's side, Eleazer and 
 Lydia Divine, were early pioneers of Sullivan County, 
 and remained residents there until their decease, that 
 of the grandmother occurring when she was 98 years 
 old. 
 
 Mr. De.an was reared on his father's farm and ob- 
 tained a good and available education in the public 
 schools. Previous to his marriage he passed the 
 summer seasons in farming, and engaged in teach- 
 ing winters. He was married June 16, 1840, to 
 Rachel Evans. She was born Jan. 26, 1816, at 
 Fallsburg, Sullivan Co., N. Y., and was the daughter 
 of George and Mary (Eller) Evans. In 1841 Mr. 
 Dean became proprietor of a farm and a hotel at 
 Grahamville, in his native county, and managed them 
 jointly two years, then selling his property, and buy- 
 ing a grist and saw mill and a farm at Hasbrouck, 
 Sullivan County, N. Y. In 1845 he sold out again 
 and engaged in mercantile business, combining 
 therewith farming and trade in lumber at Hasbrouck. 
 He continued his operations there until 1854, when 
 he again sold out and bought an interest in a tan- 
 ery at Liberty in Sullivan County, where he car- 
 
 
 ried on that business connected with farming until 
 1856, the year of his removal to Sycamore, whither 
 he came in May. He first embarked as a landholder 
 at Charter Grove in Sycamore Township, where he 
 located and engaged in farming and rearing stock 
 until 1869. In the latter he took great pride and in- 
 terest and made great exertions with the purpose of 
 improving the stock in the county, engaging in rais- 
 ing thoroughbred cattle and sheep, the latter in- 
 cluding Leicesters and Southdowns, and making a 
 specialty of Devonshire cattle. During his agricul- 
 tural operations he owned and improved about 1,400 " 
 acres of land in De Kalb County, and was instru- 
 mental in the construction of ten barns and six ' 
 dwellings. 
 
 In 1867, associated with Daniel Pierce and R. L. 
 Divine, he established a private banking house at 
 Sycamore. Mr. Divine withdrew in 187 r, and the 
 business was prosecuted by the remaining partners 
 until March 1883. Since that date Mr. Dean has 
 engaged in the improvement of land in De Kalb * 
 County and in Iowa, owning 500 acres in the latter, .vj'. 
 all under improvement, fenced, stocked and managed J 
 by tenants. 
 
 The early political opinions of Mr. Dean were in * 
 consonance with the Jeffersonian school, and he cast 
 his first Presidential vote in 1836 for Martin Van " 
 Buren. He is a conservative Democrat, and has ( 
 been a counselor in the ranks of his party, but never 
 an aggressive politician. During the war he aided 
 materially in the vigorous prosecution of the struggle 
 to preserve the Union. While engaged in his farm- 
 ing operations he was a member of the Agricultural 
 Society of the county and officiated several years as 1 
 its President. He has been a member of the State \ ]\ 
 Board of Agriculture, and while officiating in that j 
 capacity deVoted much time and attention to the 
 necessary preparations for the expositions at Quincy 
 and elsewhere, where he was active in personal 
 superintendence during the exhibitions. Since his 
 residence at Sycamore he has been its Mayor, and a 
 member of the Council. In 1871 he was in charge {") 
 of the erection of the county buildings, and of placin 
 them in complete order for occupation. He has also ^ 
 been a member of the Board of Education. 
 
 In December, 1874, he went with his wife and two 
 youngest children to California, where he spent a 
 year and visited most of the noted places of interest.
 
 304 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 He wrote from there a series of descriptive letters, 
 which were published in the Sycamore papers. 
 
 In 1876 Mr. Dean purchased about 20 acres, 
 formerly a portion of the estate of Dr. Page, and in- 
 cluded within the city limits. This tract he sub- 
 divided and platted, and it is now known as " Dean's 
 Addition." His present residence is included in it, 
 and comprises a square containing nearly two and a 
 half acres of land. It is an attractive and valuable 
 location. 
 
 Mr. Dean is liberal and tolerant in religious opin- 
 ion. He attends the services of the Upiversalist 
 Church, but contributes generously to the mainten- 
 ance of other denominational bodies. 
 
 Mr. Dean and his wife became the parents of five 
 children, four of whom are now living: Delia mar- 
 ried Joshua Siglin ; Ann B. is the wife of A. R. Court ; 
 Mary A. married B. F. Whipple; Arthur married 
 Fannie Beckler, Feb. 3, 1879. To each child Mr. 
 Dean gave a fine farm, on which he built handsome, 
 spacious houses ; and they are settled near him. 
 There are six grandchildren, the son and two 
 daughters having each two sons. Ira Dean, the old- 
 est son of Mr. Dean, was born in August, 1844. He 
 enlisted Feb. i, 1864, in Co. L, i7th 111. Cav. He 
 was stationed for a time at Fort Riley, Kansas, dur- 
 ing the Indian disturbances. His last communica- 
 tion to his friends was dated in August, 1865, and he 
 was heard from through his comrades about the date 
 of the expiration of the period of his enlistment in 
 November, 1865, since which his parents have no def- 
 inite information concerning him, and it is supposed 
 that he is dead. Mrs. Dean died April 26, 1883, 
 after an illlness of nearly a year's duration of cancer- 
 ous tumor of the stomach. 
 
 y 
 
 mrles Miner, hardware merchant at Kirk- 
 land, was born Feb. 8, 1854, in the town- 
 ship of Franklin, and is the son of Daniel and 
 Eliza J. (Ives) Miner, for an extended ac- 
 count of whom see sketch of I. N. Miner. 
 Previous to the age of 1 8 years he remained 
 at home, attending the district school and working on 
 the farm. In 1872 he began his career of independ- 
 ent manhood and became a farm laborer, spending 
 two winters in school, securing a good business edu- 
 
 
 cation. In 1880 he established his mercantile enter- 
 prise at Kirkland and obtained a stock of hardware 
 sundries worth $2,500. His relations in his trade are 
 increasing, and he is gradually placing his business 
 on a par with similar establishments in De Kalb 
 County. 
 
 He was married Oct. 20, 1877, to Mary E. Allison, 
 and they are the parents of one child, Eva. Mrs. 
 Miner is the daughter of James and Margaret (Wood) 
 Allison. Her parents are resident on a farm in 
 Franklin Township, where they were among the 
 earliest of the pioneer settlers of that portion of De 
 Kalb County. She was reared at home until she was 
 14 years of age, and previous to that time was a pupil 
 in the district school. She was then sent to the col- 
 lege at Belvidere. 
 
 Mr. Miner is a Republican in political opinion and 
 has served as a member of the Village Council. 
 
 ,,on. Hiram Loucks, retired farmer and ex- 
 Representative of the Seventeenth District 
 of Illinois, was born April 26, 1823, in 
 Sharon Township, Schoharie Co., N. Y., and is 
 the son of Abram and Elizabeth (Ten Eyck) 
 Loucks. He was reared on a farm and com- 
 pleted his education in the Oneida Academy. He 
 was married in May, 1848, to Amanda Vosburg, a 
 native of the State of New York. Of their union 
 seven children were born. Abram is deceased. Imo- 
 gene is the wife of William Ray, editor of the Shab- 
 bona (De Kalb County) Express. Nelson is a farmer 
 in Champagne Co., 111. Ann is the wife of Henry A. 
 Severy, a farmer and stockman of Somonauk Town- 
 ship. James is a farmer of Victor Township in De 
 Kalb County. Henry is a hardware merchant in 
 Erie, Whiteside Co., 111. Josephine is deceased. 
 Their mother died Jan. 15, 1868, in Victor Township. 
 Mr. Loucks was a second time married June 29, 
 1876, in Geneseo, Henry Co., 111., to Mrs. Anna M. 
 (Shailer) Smith. She was born June 28, 1835, in 
 Richfield, Ohio. 
 
 In the fall of 1857 the family settled in Victor 
 Township, De Kalb County, where Mr. Loucks 
 bought a farm comprising 200 acres of land. The 
 proprietor continued the personal management of the 
 property until the fall of 1879, when he placed the 
 
 -.avg^yxva) 
 B f*5337Vv>
 

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 farm under the management of his son James, who 
 is making a specialty of dairying thereon and has a 
 fine herd of thoroughbred and graded Holstein cat- 
 tle. The place also maintains and fattens for market 
 about 80 hogs yearly. Mr. Loucks and his sons own 
 also 320 acres of land in O'Brien Co., Iowa, and 200 
 acres in Champagne Co., 111., and under excellent 
 improvement. While a resident of Victor Township 
 he was prominent in local affairs, and officiated in 
 all the local positions of trust and responsibility. 
 
 Mr. Loucks was nominated at the Republican 
 Convention held in the fall of 1879, at Yorkville, 
 Kendall County, to represent the Seventeenth Dis- 
 trict in the Legislature of Illinois. He received the 
 election and soon after removed to the village of 
 Somonauk, where he resided until the spring of 1884, 
 the date of his removal to Sandwich. He was an 
 able and efficient member of the State Assembly and 
 served on the following Committees : Public Char- 
 ities, Highways, County Organizations, and Fish and 
 Game. Since the expiration of his term as Repre- 
 sentative he has devoted his attention to the im- 
 provement of his lands in Iowa. 
 
 rofessor David M. Gibbs, resident at Ge- 
 noa, was born May 8, 1839, in Otsego Co., 
 N. Y. His father, Alanson Gibbs, was a 
 native of Massachusetts and married Sophronia 
 Main, a lady born in the State of New York. 
 They remained in Otsego County until 1845, 
 when they settled in Franklin Township in De Kalb 
 County, and are still residing there. Their children 
 are named, Eustacia V., Alanson D., Benjamin S., 
 David M., Parker T., Mercy M. and Ammi. 
 
 Professor Gibbs is the third son of his parents and 
 was a lad of six years when they transferred their 
 family and interests to De Kalb County. In boy- 
 hood and youth he was a pupil in the common 
 schools, and in 1867 entered the State Normal 
 School at Normal, 111., and was a student at that in- 
 stitution more than two years. On completing his 
 course of preparation, he entered upon the business 
 which he has made the vocation of his life, having 
 charge of the schools at Rosamond, Christian Co., 111., 
 retaining the position seven years. In 1877 he came 
 to Genoa, and assumed the management of the 
 
 " 
 
 Genoa graded school and has since conducted its 
 affairs. It comprises four departments and 120 
 pupils constitute the average attendance. 
 
 Professor Gibbs is an avowed prohibitionist, though 
 he is otherwise a Republican. In the fall of 1864 
 he was drafted into the Union Army and was 
 assigned to the 3oth 111. Vol. Inf., serving until the 
 termination of hostilities,. His command was in the 
 March to the Sea, through Georgia and the Carolinas, 
 and Professor Gibbs encountered all the varied ex- 
 periences of that famous campaign. After obtaining 
 his discharge at Springfield, 111., he returned to Boone 
 Co., 111., and resumed his former occupation. 
 
 His marriage to Julia A. Slatar occurred Jan. i, 
 1 86 r, at Belvidere, Boone County. She was born 
 June 5, 1842, in Chenango County, N. Y., and is the 
 daughter of Joseph and Sally (Silvius) Slatar, the 
 former of whom was a native of Chenango County, 
 and the latter of Northampton Co., Pa. The father 
 died in Chenango County, when the daughter was a 
 child of five years, and the mother afterwards married 
 U. S. Hollenbeck, and settled in the township of 
 Spring, in Boone County. She died Oct. 13, 1880, at 
 Genoa, having resided with her daughter, Mrs. 
 Gibbs, for three years. Mr. Hollenbeck died April 
 8, 1877. Mrs. Gibbs is the youngest (living) of six 
 children, the other five being Lydia, Almon, Louisa 
 and Oscar J.; one child died in infancy. Mrs. Gibbs 
 was carefully educated in the common schools of 
 Boone County, and became a student in the Normal 
 School at the same time as her husband, with whom 
 she has been associated 15 years as teacher. 
 
 Among the truly typical men of the county, one 
 who is worthy to appear among the list of prominent 
 and representative men, is Prof. Gibbs; and we take 
 pleasure in presenting his portrait in this ALBUM as 
 a companion to the portraits of the leading citizens 
 represented in this manner. The portrait is engraved 
 from a photograph taken in 1877. 
 
 \\ 
 
 ^idney P. Harrington, resident at Kirkland, *y 
 was formerly a farmer of prominence in 
 the township of Franklin, of which he has 
 been a citizen since 1840. In that year he 
 purchased 40 acres of land on section 20, and ^^ 
 immediately interested himself with vigorous 
 energy in its improvement, with the ultimate purpose
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY 
 
 of constructing a home and establishing a perma- 
 nent citizenship. He was one of the first settlers in 
 the township, and steadily but surely advanced in 
 prosperity, and. added to his possessions until he was 
 the owner of 310 acres of valuable land, which he 
 redeemed from its natural condition. He realized 
 all the hardships and perplexities to which the set- 
 tlers of that period were subjected, hauling his grain 
 to Chicago, the nearest market, and selling it at three 
 shillings a bushel, and encountering (and overcom- 
 ing) other obstacles thrown in his way by existing 
 circumstances. 
 
 Politically he was a Whig in the days of his early 
 manhood, and since the inception and organization of 
 the Republican party he has been a steady adherent 
 to its principles and issues. He passed many years 
 of his active life in local official positions, servirjg in 
 minor offices, three terms as Justice of the Peace, 
 and three terms each as Township Trustee and 
 Treasurer. He also served 14 years as Postmaster. 
 Mr. Harrington is living in retirement at Kirkland, in 
 the enjoyment of the comfort earned by a life of 
 effort and usefulness. 
 
 He was born July 20, 1809, in Shaftsbury, Ben- 
 nington Co., Vt. His father, Phineas Harrington, 
 was a native of Connecticut, and went in early life 
 to Vermont, where he married. His wife was born 
 in Rhode Island. She was the mother of three chil- 
 dren at the time of her death, and 10 children were 
 born of his second marriage, while the family resided 
 in Vermont. Four of his children still survive. 
 Mrs. Phebe Green lives in Iowa, and is 7 1 years 
 old. Whipple Harrington is a bachelor, aged 73 
 years,* and lives in Erie Co., N. Y. Mrs. Aurilla 
 Wait is also a resident of that county, and is 79 years 
 old. Five children, who are now deceased, died in 
 infancy, besides one who attained to advanced age. 
 The father died in February, 1844, in Erie Co., N. Y., 
 whither he removed from Vermont in 1827, and was 
 84 years old. The mother died in 1848, at the resi- 
 dence of her son in Franklin Township, at the age 
 of 71 years. 
 
 Mr. Harrington was ig years of age when he 
 accompanied his parents to Erie Co., N. Y., where he 
 was a resident 13 years, and came thence to the 
 township of which he has since been a citizen. He 
 was married in the State of New York, June 28, 
 1833, to Polly Hicks. She was born April 6, 1806, 
 
 in Chautauqua Co., N. Y., and was brought up and ^ f 
 educated principally in Massachusetts. She became ' 
 
 the mother of eight children. Hiram, the oldest, i 
 died from disease contracted in the army while a 
 soldier in the civil war. Henry H. and Mary I. died 
 in Franklin Township. Mercy L., Mary, Whipple 
 A. (see sketch), Sidney P., Jr., and Samuel H. are 
 the names of the survivors. The mother died Dec. 
 20, 1880, universally lamented in the community of 
 which she had been so lo'ng a leading and honored 
 member. 
 
 eorge W. L. Brown, farmer, section 26, 
 Genoa Township, is a native of Cook Co., 
 111., where he was born April 19, 1848. 
 His father, Schuyler Brown, was a native of 
 New York, and married Mary A. Youngs, a 
 native of Canada. The family settled in Cook 
 County about 1830, where the parents resided until 
 the fall of 1868, the date of their removal to Iowa, 
 where the father is still living. The mother died in 
 Iowa in March, 1869. They had nine children, all 
 of whom survived infancy with one exception. Wil- 
 liam, Horace, Lewis and Peter are dead. They 
 were named Charles, William S., George W. L., 
 Horace, Lewis, Peter W. and Alexander. 
 
 Mr. Brown obtained a good common-school edu- 
 cation, and at 16 years of age entered the Army of 
 the United States, enrolling in the 391)1 111. Vol. Inf., 
 and was in the service until July 29, 1865. In the 
 siege of Petersburg, Va., April 2, 1865, he sustained 
 a gunshot wound in the left thigh, which kept him 
 from active military life during the remainder of the 
 war. 
 
 In 1866 he came to De Kalb County, and in 1876 
 became the owner by purchase of 1 2 1 acres of land 
 in Genoa Township/which has all been placed under 
 improvement. Mr. Brown has been continuously a 
 resident of this township, with the exception of three 
 years, when he was a resident of Iowa. 
 
 He was married in the township of Genoa, Oct. 
 14, 1869, to Margaret J. Vote, and they have been 
 the parents of five children, Charles E., Clara P., 
 Maggie M., George W. L., Jr., and Charles F. The 
 oldest born child died when four months old. Mrs. 
 Brown was born Feb. 7, 1849, in Seneca Co., Ohio, 
 
 *^-
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 TJjf and is the daughter of John and Mary A. (Karn) 
 Vote. The children born to her parents were 10 in 
 number, Elizabeth, Mary A., John, Anna M., Susan, 
 William, Jacob, Margaret J., Charles and Franklin. 
 The parents were of German nationality. 
 
 Mr. Brown is a believer in and an adherent of the 
 principles of the Republican party. He is interested 
 in school matters, and has officiated as School Di- 
 rector. 
 
 elson Delavergne, farmer, section 20, 
 Franklin Township, is the son of William 
 and Catherine (Overacker) Delavergne, 
 and was born in Brownville Township, Jeffer- 
 son Co., N. Y., Dec. 23, 1836. His parents 
 were natives of Herkimer Co., N. Y., and were 
 respectively of French and German parentage. They 
 belonged to the agricultural class in their native 
 State, and resumed that occupation after their re- 
 moval to Illinois in 1868. They located in the town- 
 ship of Flora, in Boone County, where the father still 
 resides, aged 88 years. The mother died on the 
 homestead in 1869, when 63 years of age. Their 
 family included four sons and four daughters, all yet 
 surviving save two of the latter. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was a pupil in the com- 
 mon schools of his native county until he was 19 
 years of age, when he embarked in his struggle with 
 the world, becoming a farm laborer. In 1855 he 
 came to Franklin Township, where his skill and 
 energy obtained for him plenty of employment, and 
 where he operated in the same capacity until he 
 entered the army of the United States. He enlisted 
 Sept. 9, 1861, from Belvidere, Boone Co., 111., in Co. 
 I, 37th 111. Vol. Inf., which was under the command 
 of Ranson Kennicutt, of Chicago. After some ser- 
 vice in Missouri the regiment was ordered to Arkan- 
 sas, where it took part in the battle of Pea Ridge. It 
 was next involved in the siege of Vicksburg, where it 
 was in daily action for four weeks. In the summer 
 of 1863, while the regiment was stationed at New 
 Orleans, Mr. Delavergne had a long and severe 
 attack of intermittent fever, after which he obtained 
 a furlough of 60 days. On rejoining his regiment he 
 was sent to New Orleans and went thence to Browns-' 
 ville, Texas, where he was assigned to duty in heavy 
 
 artillery, and while there his period of enlistment ex- 
 pired. He obtained honorable discharge at Chicago, 
 Oct. 6, 1864. He returned to Franklin Township, 
 where he resumed his former work as a farm assistant. 
 He was married March 4, 1869, to Hannah E. 
 Losee. She was born in the township of Wilton, 
 Niagara Co., N. Y., and is the daughter of Morgan 
 and Hannah M. (Forbes) Losee. (See sketch of M. 
 Losee.) Her mother died at her birth Dec. 22, 1837, 
 and the daughter was brought up by her grandpar- 
 ents- until the second marriage of her father. She 
 came to Franklin Township in 1842, with her par- 
 ents. For three years after their marriage Mr. and 
 Mrs. Delavergne resided on section 28, of Franklin 
 Township, but in 1872 they removed to the home- 
 stead of Mr. Losee, which they have since managed. 
 Mr. D. is a Republican in political sentiment and has 
 held the minor local offices of his township. 
 
 larles D. Patch, of the grocery and pro- 
 vision house of Rowe, Norris & Patch, at 
 Sycamore, was born Dec. 25, 1855, in 
 Northumberland Co., Pa. He is the son of Sa- 
 lathiel C. and Margaret A. (Watson) Patch. 
 The former was born Aug. 17, 1812, in New- 
 ark, N. J. The latter is a native of Pennsylvania, 
 and was born March 7, 1831. Both are still living 
 at Sycamore. 
 
 Mr. Patch is the only child of his parents. He 
 passed the years of his minority on the homestead 
 farm. After he was 21 years old he taught school 
 during two winters in his native State, and in the 
 spring of 1877 came to Sycamore. He entered the 
 store of which he is now one of the proprietors and 
 acted two years in the capacity of clerk. 
 
 In September, 1879, he entered the Law Depart- 
 ment of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, 
 where he studied one term. Returning to Sycamore, 
 he assumed editorial charge of the Daily Free Press 
 during the Presidential campaign of 1880, continu- 
 ing in that avenue of business until November. In 
 April, 1881, he again entered employment in the 
 provision house of which he is a member, as a sales- 
 man, and operated in that capacity until April, 1883, 
 when he bought a third interest in the stock. It is 
 valued at an average of $6,000. 
 Mr. Patch was married June i, i88i,in McGregor, 
 
 -^yy HMMt 
 
 \< 
 
 i 
 
 r
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Iowa, to Rosa B., daughter of Seymour and Laurinda 
 Chilson. She was born east of Cortland, in De Kalb 
 County, and died Dec. 23, 1881, six months after 
 marriage. 
 
 Mr. Patch has been for some time the regular cor- 
 respondent of the Chicago Inter-Ocean, and has a 
 decided taste and ability for newspaper work. 
 
 ^ 
 
 dward H. Wilcox, farmer, resident at Ge- 
 noa, was born May n, 1860, in Dade Co., 
 Mo. He is the son of E. S. and Sarah 
 (Clark) Wilcox, and his parents were natives 
 respectively of New York and Vermont. After 
 j their marriage they settled in Geneva, 111., and 
 subsequently removed to the State of Missouri. On 
 the advent of the rebellion they were obliged to re- 
 turn North, and they settled at Elgin, Kane Co., 111., 
 where the mother died in 1861. Mr. Wilcox, senior, 
 afterwards located at Genoa, where he remained 
 until 1 88 1, the date of his removal to his present 
 residence at Springfield, Mo. They had three chil- 
 dren, Eva, Sarah and Edward H. 
 
 The death of the mother occurred when the latter 
 was about a year old, and he was adopted by his 
 aunt, Mrs, Cornelia A. Hill, who filled a mother's 
 place until her death, when he was nine years of 
 age, and he became again an inmate of his father's 
 home. His earlier education was obtained at the 
 common school, and at the age of 13 years he was 
 sent to the academy at Sugar Grove, Kane Co., 111., 
 where he was a student during the terms of one year. 
 He passed the next two years in travel, and entered 
 Lombard University at Galesburg. After nearly 
 three years of study at that institution, he was 
 obliged to suspend his intellectual labors because of 
 failing health. Change of scene and employment 
 were imperative, and he went to Colorado and passed 
 two years on the plains herding cattle, receiving from 
 the rude mode of life necessarily entailed the benefit 
 he sought. Returning to Genoa, he was married 
 Aug. 10, 1881, to Virginia M. Crocker. She was 
 born March 24, 1860, in the township of Genoa, and 
 is the daughter of Alvero A. and Susannah Crocker. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Wilcox have one child, Ellery V., born 
 Dec. 16, 1883. 
 
 Immediately after their marriage they went to 
 
 t&*^- 
 
 Waco, Texas, where Mr. Wilcox became interested 
 in a machine shop and foundry, in which he operated 
 about 1 8 months. In 1883 he was compelled to sus- 
 pend his relations in that direction on account of his 
 health. He owned there a sheep ranch, with a herd 
 numbering about 1,000 head, which he sold. He 
 still retains his ownership in the machine shop. He 
 owns 172 acres of well improved land in Genoa and 
 Kingston Townships. In political opinions and ac- 
 tion Mr. Wilcox is fully committed to the interests of 
 the Republican party. He is still a very young man, 
 but unusually well qualified to conduct his relations 
 with the world in the most creditable manner, pos- 
 sessing fine powers of perception and observation, 
 and a knowledge of the world at large, which he has 
 obtained in his extensive travels, including nearly 
 every State and Territory of the Union. 
 
 ames B. Kirk, dealer in stock and general 
 farmer, resident on section 25, Franklin 
 Township, was born Dec. 8, 1853, on sec- 
 tion 22 of the township of which he has been 
 a resident all his life. He is the son of Wil- 
 liam T. and Louisa (Riddle) Kirk, whose sketch 
 is on other pages of this volume. Until he was 17 
 years of age he was engaged in alternate labor on 
 the home farm and in acquiring an elementary edu- 
 cation, and at that age he entered the college at Be- 
 loit, Wis., where he studied two years, and went 
 thence to the academy at Evanston, where, in 1874, 
 he completed a course of collegiate study. On his 
 return to his native township he became an inde- 
 pendent farmer on 240 acres of land, living one year 
 with a tenant on the place. He was married Feb. 
 28, 1877, to Mary E. Chamberlain. She was born 
 Dec. 19, 1854, and is the daughter of Henry and 
 Sarah (Hart) Chamberlain. Her parents belonged 
 to the farming class in the State of New York, and 
 were of New England origin. They settled in Boone 
 Co., 111., where the father died, in 1875. The mother 
 is still living, at Belvidere. Mrs. Kirk obtained a 
 good common-school education, and afterwards be- 
 came a student in the schools of higher grade in 
 Selvidere. Later she entered the college at Mt. 
 Carroll, where she was graduated in 1875. She was
 
 .engaged a short time previous to her marriage in 
 teaching. 
 
 Mr. Kirk is a most decided Republican, and is a 
 prominent farmer and trader in stock in his native 
 township. He is rated as one of the substantial citi- 
 zens of the county, and is prominent and popular. 
 
 Rector H. Coleman, a farmer on section i, 
 May field Township, was born in Orange 
 Co., N. Y., March n, 1837. His parents, 
 John and Phebe (Ketcham) Coleman, were na- 
 tives of the same county; the former_was born 
 Nov. 8, 1791, and the latter Aug. 25, 1805. 
 His father was a soldier in the War of 1812, and died 
 in Orange County, Nov. 9, 1859. Mrs. Coleman re- 
 sides with her son Hector. There were 15 children 
 in his father's family, 13 of whom grew up, namely: 
 Sarah A., Abigail, Mary, Nathan, Horton, George, 
 John, Martha, Harrison, Hiram, Charles, Hector H. 
 and Eugene. Antoinette and Josephine died in 
 infancy. 
 
 Mr. H. H. Coleman, of this sketch, lived in Orange 
 County till 1875, engaged in agricultural pursuits. 
 In October of that year he emigrated West and set- 
 tled in Mayfield Township, where he is now a 
 resident. He has held the offices of Overseer of 
 Highways and School Director. In politics he is 
 independent. 
 
 He was married in Mayfield Township, Nqv. 30, 
 1861, to Miss Mary R., daughter of Harrison and 
 Mary (Hall) Mackey. (See sketch of H. Mackey.) 
 She was born in Orange Co., N. Y., May 19, 1836 
 and is the mother of one child, H. Mackey, born 
 Feb. 19, 1863. 
 
 ileb Olmstead, a retired farmer, residing 
 at Genua, is a pioneer settler in De Kalb 
 County, whither he came in 1846, and 
 bought 80 acres of land on section 16, in the 
 township of Genoa. He was born Oct. 3, 
 3, in Davenport, Delaware Co., N. Y., his 
 parents, Anson and Charity (Wilbur) Olmstead, being 
 also natives of the same State, in which they mar- 
 ried and settled. John, Hiram, Caleb, William, 
 ^Jf^tr- r*, 
 
 Drias, Walter, Catherine, Thene, Melinda, Lydia A. 
 and Electa are the names of their children. 
 
 Mr. Olmstead was a resident of his native county 
 until his removal to Genoa Township, where he has 
 been the proprietor of various tracts of land variously 
 located. He removed to the village of Genoa in 
 February, 1877, and has since participated very little 
 in the cares of active business life. Politically he is 
 a Republican. 
 
 His marriage to Samantha Wager occurred Oct. 9, 
 1831, in Delaware Co., N. Y., and they have been 
 the parents of n children, Andrew H., Albert A., 
 Sophronia, Chester, Lester S., Caroline, Mary H., 
 Henry N., Emmeline, Ella and Emmer. Chester 
 and Ella are deceased. Mrs. Olmstead was born 
 May 2, 1 8 14, in Delaware Co., N. Y.,and is a daugh- 
 ter of Cornelius and Mehitable (Bates) Wager. The 
 biographical notes of Andrew H., Albert A. and 
 Henry N. Olmstead may be found elsewhere in this 
 volume. 
 
 I ; 
 
 arry Martin, a pioneer of De Kalb County, 
 resident at Sycamore, was born Aug. 17, 
 1807, in Chelsea, Orange Co., Vt. His par- 
 ents, John and Rachel (Bliss) Martin, were born 
 in Lebanon, N. H. They became pioneers in 
 Chelsea in early life, removing there during the 
 closing years of the i8th century. The father bought 
 a farm which was still in its primeval condition and 
 covered with timber. He made a clearing, erected a 
 log house and underwent the privations and privileges 
 of the life of a first settler in an uninhabited region, 
 dying there in 1823. The homestead was under the 
 personal management of Mr. Martin and his brother 
 John during the three years subsequent to their 
 father's demise. In 1826 the former went to Dans- 
 ville, N. Y., and was there occupied about twelve 
 months in a tannery. Returning to his native town, 
 he found employment in the same line of business, 
 and acquired a thorough knowledge of the trade. In 
 1833 ne formed a partnership with his former employ- 
 er at Dansville, which proved a disastrous venture, as 
 the latter was heavily involved in debt. Their joint 
 operations continued until 1838, when Mr. Martin 
 decided to abandon a manifestly hopeless struggle, 
 
 } &it5*z -4^@>
 
 
 COUNTY. 
 
 and came West. His net capital amounted to $20, 
 and he made his way by stage to the city of Albany, 
 where he took the cars, a memorable incident, as he 
 had never before seen the modus operandi of railroad 
 transit. From Schenectady he traveled to Buffalo by 
 the Erie Canal, and came thence to Detroit by the 
 lake. He arrived in the City of the Straits and set 
 out for Ypsilanti on foot, and took passage from that 
 place to St. Joseph, Mich. From there he made his 
 way to Chicago on a steamboat. The remainder of 
 his journey was made on foot, and he arrived in De 
 Kalb County wholly without means. He went to 
 Union Grove, where he found a friend in Captain 
 Eli Barnes, through whose instrumentality he readily 
 obtained employment. 
 
 In September, 1839, Mr. Martin's wife joined him 
 and they took up their abode in the building now 
 known as the City Hotel, which was their residence 
 until February, 1840, when they moved into the house 
 of Captain Barnes at Union Grove. In 1841 he 
 moved to his brother's claim in that township, where 
 he started the first tannery established in the county 
 of De Kalb. The preliminary operations were, for 
 obvious reasons, on a limited scale. He moved into 
 the village of Sycamore in the following year, and 
 continued the prosecution of his business a few years 
 singly, when, in company with C. M. Brown, he em- 
 barked in a nursery enterprise, in which he was inter- 
 ested until the attempt by the South to destroy the 
 National Government. Since 1861 he has been 
 variously engaged. He is occupying his original 
 house at Sycamore, a brick house that he built on a 
 tract of five acres, which he bought in 1843, paying 
 $20 for the claim and $1.25 per acre to the Govern- 
 ment on receiving his deed. This is now included 
 within the limits of Sycamore. He is one of the 
 original members of the Congregational Church at 
 Sycamore and has been a Deacon many years. 
 
 Mr. Martin was married Jan. u, 1836,10 Jane 
 Ann Slack. She was born Oct. 4, i8io,in Plainfield, 
 N. H. She died Sept. 12, 1879, and of five children 
 of which she became the mother two still survive, 
 Amelia, wife of Capt. H. C. Whittemore, and Charles 
 F., present Postmaster at Sycamore. 
 
 The latter was born at Sycamore, on his father's 
 homestead, where he grew to man's estate and ob- 
 tained a good education in the public schools. He 
 was a clerk in the employment of the late John 
 
 Waterman, and afterwards operated in the same 
 capacity in the interests of M. Relyea. In 1864 he 
 was appointed Assistant Postmaster by Chauncey $ 
 Ellwood, and remained in the position of Deputy until 
 his appointment as chief. In 1878 he was re-appointed ^ 
 Postmaster of Sycamore. The affairs of the office 
 are conducted systematically and in a way that gives 
 general satisfaction, and wins for the chief official 
 universal commendation. 
 
 
 illiam H. Garland, farmer, section 14, 
 Franklin Township, is engaged in gen- 
 eral agriculture and dairying. He was 
 born Feb. 8, 1840, in the township of Ma- 
 lone, Franklin Co., N. Y. His parents, 
 Gilman and Emmeline (Lewis) Garland, were 
 natives of Vermont and New York respectively, and 
 descended from Welsh and English ancestry, of New 
 England birth. The father was a farmer in the 
 State of New York, and in 1855 came to Illinois, 
 where he was similarly occupied for some years. In 
 April, 1867, he removed to Seward Co., Neb., where 
 the mother died, April 22, 1884, at the age of 68 
 years. The father is 78 years old. 
 
 Mr. Garland is the fourth child in order of birth of 
 14 born to his parents. He was a pupil in the com- 
 mon schools of his native county, whence he came 
 with his parents to Illinois when 15 years of age; 
 and he completed his education in the public schools 
 of De Kalb County. Afterward he was occupied as 
 a farm assistant in various places until he enlisted 
 in the army of the United States to aid in the sup- 
 pression of the Rebellion. He enrolled at Belvidere, 
 Aug. 8, 1862, in Co. G, gsth 111. Vol. Inf. His com- 
 pany went to the field under the management of 
 Capt. E. M. Bush, of Belvidere. The command was 
 attached to the Army of the West. Mr. Garland 
 was detailed by special order from General Blair, 
 corps cammander, for services as Orderly on duty at 
 headquarters, and he continued to act in that ca- 
 pacity until the termination of hostilities between the 
 Government and the insurgents. He received an 
 honorable discharge May 25, 1865, and at once re- 
 turned home and resumed farming. 
 
 He was married July 2, 1865, in Franklin Town- 
 ship, to Emily Penwell. She was born Nov. 10, 
 
 < A_>_^ .&VS,
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 > 
 
 & 
 
 1846, in Flora Township, Boone Co., 111., and is the 
 daughter of Luke and Elizabeth (Middleton) Pen- 
 well. (For a satisfactory and more extended account 
 of her parents, see sketch of O. W. Rice.) Mrs. Gar- 
 land vvas but five years of age when she came to De 
 Kalb County, and has since resided in the townships 
 of Kingston and Franklin. Of her marriage to Mr. 
 Garland three children have been born. Alice died 
 Jan. 30, 1 88 1, at the age of 15 years. Lizzie was 
 born Oct. 9, 1868; Walter, Nov. 25, 1871; and 
 Loa Lu Ella, born Feb. 8, 1885. 
 
 After marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Garland fixed their 
 residence on a farm in Kingston Township, and a 
 year later came thence to the township of Franklin. 
 Later they went to Flora Township in Boone County, 
 where they were engaged in farming three years. 
 Subsequently they returned to Franklin Township 
 and bought 70 acres of land situated in a grove on 
 section 14. The entire acreage is practically under 
 cultivation, and is supplied with good farm buildings 
 constructed by the proprietor. 
 
 He is a Republican and is present School Trustee. 
 He has officiated in other local township offices. 
 
 '"ohn C. Waterman, deceased, was a busi- 
 ness man of prominence at Sycamore for a 
 period of nearly 40 years. He was born in 
 Salisbury, Herkimer Co., N. Y., Sept. 9, 1814, 
 and is the son of John D. and Mary Water- 
 man. (See sketch of J. S. Waterman.) He 
 went to Geneva, N. Y., when he was 16 years old, to 
 avail himself of a proffered opportunity to occupy a 
 clerkship in the mercantile establishment of Abel 
 Whitney. On the removal of the latter with his busi- 
 ness interests to Northampton, Mass., Mr. Waterman 
 accompanied him and remained in his service until 
 he came to man's estate. In 1835 he came West, 
 and, stopping at Cleveland, Ohio, he obtained a situ- 
 ation in the jewlery store known as " Crittenden's." 
 In 1839 he came thence to Newburg, Winnebago Co., 
 111., and embarked in a mercantile enterprise with his 
 brother, Charles Waterman. This relation continued 
 operative until November, 1845, when he came to 
 Sycamore, and, associated with his brother James, 
 established the sale of dry goods. The brothers 
 Waterman conducted their commercial enterprise 
 
 g)Vp*3)(g:io ^iy oy 
 
 jointly a few years, and afterward operated singly, 
 becoming leaders in mercantile affairs at Sycamore. 
 
 John C. Waterman died at Sycamore Oct. 19, 1883. 
 In the early days of his political bias he was an ar- 
 dent Whig, and on the re-establishment of the prin- 
 ciples on which that party was founded he became a 
 zealous Republican. While in business at Newburg, 
 he officiated as Postmaster a number of years, and 
 after his removal to Sycamore filled the same posi- 
 tion. He was popular among his fellow citizens and 
 identified himself with the public spirit that prevailed 
 in the most active business period of the place, aid- 
 ing substantially in the formation and permanency of 
 its general interests. In his domestic relations he 
 sustained the character of true and innate manliness, 
 and ever preserved the tenderest and most consid- 
 erate attitude toward his household. 
 
 He was twice married. Caroline E. Hoyt, daugh- 
 ter of B. F. and Arna Hoyt, became his wife Sept. 
 20, 1841, at Newburg, 111. She was born in Stamford, 
 Conn., and the five children of this union are all liv- 
 ing. Kate D. is the wife of William Moulton, of Cal- 
 ifornia, a dealer in real estate. Sarah J. Moulton re- 
 sides at Sycamore. Albert H. lives at the same place. 
 Caroline W. became the wife of John Syme, of Syca- 
 more. James D. is a commercial traveler in Chicago. 
 Their mother died Feb. 9, 1 866, in Sycamore, and 
 Mr. Waterman married Caroline M. Rogers, at Ball- 
 ston Springs, N. Y. She was born March 20, 1834, in 
 Auburn, N. Y. Her parents, Elam and Caroline 
 Rogers, were natives of Worcester, Mass. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Waterman became the parents of three children, 
 all of whom were born at Sycamore, as follows : 
 Mary W., Dec. 26, 1869; Emily A., Dec. n, 1870; 
 John C., Jan. 7, 1874. 
 
 Mr. Waterman was a member of the Order of 
 Masonry at Sycamore and belonged to Blue Lodge, 
 No. 315. He was one of a family of six sons and 
 three daughters. Two of the former and one of the 
 latter are now living. Charlotte J. Waterman, re- 
 siding with the widow of John C. Waterman, came to 
 De Kalb County in October, 1840. Charles is a 
 retired merchant and resides at Freeport, 111. Robert 
 W., of the firm of Waterman & Porter, proprietors of 
 silver mines in California, is a resident of San Ber- 
 nardino, in the Golden State. 
 
 One of the unique events of the life of John C. Wa- 
 terman was his attendance at the funeral services of 
 
 -$@J*@. 
 
 i
 
 316 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 f' President Lincoln, when he was an attache of the staff 
 of Gov. Oglesby. The sash and rosette which he 
 ij^f wore on the occasion are still preserved by his family. 
 The portrait of Mr. Waterman on another page 
 will be appreciated by the generation to which he 
 belonged, and by those of future years, as a pioneer 
 in the development of De Kalb County, and as a 
 substantial citizen of Sycamore. 
 
 ev. David N. Kinne, farmer, sec. 35, Som- 
 onauk Tp., also minister of the Baptist 
 'Church, in whose service he was ordained at 
 Lisbon, Kendall Co., 111., is the son of ^Esop 
 and Lydia (Beebe) Kinne. His father was 
 born July 12, 1806, in Onondaga Co., N. Y., 
 where he was a pioneer settler on a farm, a portion 
 of which is now within the incorporated limits of the 
 city of Syracuse. He died Nov. 5, 1871, in the city 
 which had grown within his knowledge until it had 
 absorbed a part of the land which he had reclaimed 
 from a wild state. The mother of Rev. Mr. Kinne, 
 was born in the State of New York March 13, 1809, 
 and died in Syracuse, March 22, 1864. Six of their 
 ten children are now living. 
 
 Mr. Kinne is the second in order of birth, born 
 May 19, 1831, in Syracuse, N. Y. He was brought 
 up on the homestead and received a good elementary 
 education, which he rendered more complete by two 
 years' study at Madison University, after which he 
 taught school and also worked as a farm assistant. 
 He entered upon a licentiate in the interests of the 
 Baptist Church in r853, and in March, 1855, he 
 came West, settling, with only $8.50 as his cash capi- 
 tal, near Morris, Grundy Co., 111., where he engaged 
 in farming. After his ordination at Lisbon in 1858, 
 he assumed the charge of the Baptist societies at 
 Piano and Big Rock, where he officiated nearly three 
 years. In 1861 he bought 160 acres of land in sec- 
 tion 1 8, Somonauk Township, where he spent more 
 than three years, and during a portion of the time 
 was Pastor of the Somonauk Baptist Church. In 
 1867 he was called to take charge of the Baptist 
 Society, at Kaneville, Kane Co., 111., and discharged 
 the duties of that position nearly three years. In 
 1869 he came to Sandwich, where he bought a part 
 of the farm he now owns, and, in connection with its 
 
 
 
 management occasionally supplied the pulpits of the 
 Baptist churches in Sandwich and Somonauk. His 
 farm now includes 110 acres, with 90 acres under 
 excellent cultivation and improvements. He owns 
 20 acres of timber land. He has a fine herd of 
 Alderney cattle, which comprises nine thoroughbreds, 
 and a number of excellent grades. 
 
 Mr. Kinne was first married March 15, 1855, near 
 Syracuse, N. V., to Huldah Pierce, and after the 
 birth of one child Mary E., deceased in infancy 
 the mother died, in Grundy Co., 111., Sept. 8, 1857. 
 Mr. Kinne was united in marriage July 22, 1858, to 
 Sarah P. Kirkland, a daughter of Andrew Kirkland, 
 a pioneer settler of Big Grove Township, Kendall 
 Co., 111. Mrs. Kinne was 13 years old when she 
 came with her parents to Illinois. The entire route 
 from Rome, N. Y., was made with a two-horse team, 
 and the journey consumed six weeks. They had 
 four children, of whom there is but one survivor, 
 Belle E. Two children died in infancy. One son, 
 Arthur, died in his i5th year. The mother died on 
 the farm where the family now reside, Sept. 17, 1881. 
 Mr. Kinne formed a third matrimonial alliance, with 
 Caroline Wokersine, Aug. 27, 1882, at Somonauk. 
 Mrs. Kinne was born in Germany, and is the mother 
 of two children, Earl Kinne, born June 17, 1883, on 
 the farm; also an unnamed daughter, born March 7, 
 1885. 
 
 In addition to the pastoral duty performed by Mr. 
 Kinne in the fields named, he operated in his minis- 
 terial capacity six months in Linn Co., Iowa, whither 
 he went in September, 1855. In the spring of 1856, 
 he went with an emigrant party to the western part 
 of Iowa, and preached in Sac County until Novem- 
 ber, 1856, when he returned to Grundy Co., 111. 
 
 H. Hinds, of the firm of Hinds & Holmes, 
 liverymen at De Kalb, was born in the 
 town of Stanstead, Canada, June 18, 1826, 
 and since 1856 he has lived here, except the 
 three years he was in the hotel business at 
 Watertown, N. Y. Before coming West he fol- 
 lowed agricultural pursuits. He returned from New 
 York to Clinton Township, this county, where he fol- 
 lowed farming, excepting the eight years (1875-83) 
 he was engaged in the livery business at Waterman, 
 ^^^. -fj@gj^
 
 this county. While there he was Collector. On 
 coming to De Kalb in October, 1883, he formed his 
 present partnership with Mr. Holmes. In politics 
 he is a Republican. He has never been married. 
 
 His father, Jonas Hinds, was born Feb. 25, 1785, 
 in the town of Barre, Worcester Co., Mass., of Eng- 
 lish and Irish descent, and died June 26, 1864, in 
 Clinton Township, this county. The mother of the 
 subject of this sketch, Trypheha, nee Holden, was 
 born in Charlestown, N. H., Jan. 19, 1791, and died 
 April 7, 1868, also in Clinton Township. They had 
 six. children, of whom T. H. was the fourth. The 
 latter was four years old when the family emigrated 
 from Canada to the township of Derby, Orleans Co., 
 N.Y., in 1830. In 1839 they removed to Jefferson Co., 
 N. Y., and lived there until 1854, when they emi- 
 grated West, settling in Clinton Township, this 
 county. 
 
 : saac N. Miner, of Kirkland, is Township 
 Clerk, a Justice of the Peace, and by calling 
 a harness-maker. He was born March 29, 
 1842, in Oswego Co., N. Y. His parents, 
 Daniel and Eliza (Ives) Miner, were respect- 
 ively of Yankee and German extraction. They 
 were married in the State of New York, where they 
 remained a few years and were occupied in farming. 
 They came in 1844 to Lake County, 111., where they 
 were residents until 1859, the date of their removal 
 to De Kalb County, when they purchased a farm in 
 Franklin Township. 
 
 Mr. Miner was two years of age when he came to 
 the State where he has since lived. He was 19 
 years of age when civil war startled the nation, and 
 he enlisted in Co. A, 39th 111. Inf., and went to the 
 front under the captaincy of G. D. Sherman, of 
 Elgin. The regiment was assigned to the Army of 
 the Cumberland. Mr. Miner was in the actions at 
 Pea Ridge, where he fought "mit Sigel," at Pittsburg 
 Landing, Corinth, Chaplain Hills, Stone River and 
 all the principal battles of the campaign, including 
 that at Mission Ridge. Starting with his command 
 for Knoxville, Tenn.,the regiment veteranized Jan. i, 
 1864, and hastened on to take part in the siege of 
 Atlanta, moving on to Jonesboro. After the division 
 ^of the army and movement of Sherman toward the 
 
 sea, the "Old Fourth Army Corps " returned to Fort 
 Pulaski under General Thomas. The Division 
 pushed on to Nashville in pursuit of General Hood, 
 and thence to New Orleans, where Mr. Miner ob- 
 tained his discharge, Nov. 25, 1865, the war being at 
 an end. He suffered the fate of war in being 
 wounded in the elbow and hand, in the fight at Stone 
 River, and a few moments later he was in the hands 
 of the Rebels, who sent him into the horrible cap- 
 tivity of Libby prison at Richmond, where he was in 
 bondage six months, and was then sent to City Point 
 for exchange. 
 
 After obtaining his discharge he returned to Rich- 
 mond Township in McHenry County, where he en- 
 gaged in farming, combining therewith a traffic in 
 Texan ponies, in which he was interested about one 
 year. He went thence to Fulton, Whiteside Co., 111.,, 
 and, associated with his father-in-law, was engaged 
 more than two years in the management of a hotel. 
 He was subsequently interested several years in a 
 billiard hall, and suffered heavy loss from fire. 
 
 In the spring of i88~i he came to Kirkland and 
 embarked in the business of a harness-maker, and 
 has since operated successfully in that line. 
 
 His marriage to Sarah Gilgore took place March 
 14, 1866, in the township of Richmond. She was 
 born at London, Ont., in 1846. She was reared as a 
 farmer's daughter, and in girlhood accompanied her 
 parents to Illinois and was educated in McHenry 
 County. One child Arthur D. L. was born of this 
 union, and died when he was eight years of age. 
 
 Mr. Miner is a zealous and ardent Republican. 
 
 Eddy, retired farmer, resident at De 
 Kalb, was born Oct. 17, 1825, in a portion 
 of Genesee Co., N. Y., which was formerly 
 included within the municipality of the county 
 of Wyoming. His father, Harry Eddy, was born 
 in Otsego Co., N. Y.; his mother, Anna (Whit- 
 ney) Eddy, was a native of Massachusetts. In 1837 
 the family removed to Kane Co., 111., and were among 
 its early pioneer settlers. TRe mother died July 26, 
 1854. The demise of the father -occurred Jan. 26, 
 1883. Eight children were included within their 
 family, named as follows : Maria, Henry, Hiram, 
 Asenath, Phebe, Edmund P., Asahel and Henry (2d). 
 
 f
 
 318 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 The two oldest and the youngest are not living. 
 
 Mr. Eddy obtained such education as the unde- 
 veloped condition of the country permitted, and as- 
 sisted his father on the farm until the period of his 
 legal freedom arrived ; and he continued in the same 
 avenue of operation until he was 26 years of age. In 
 1851 he joined the army of agriculturists in Illinois 
 by the purchase of a farm in McHenry County, on 
 which he settled. He there pursued the vocation to 
 which he had been bred until 1866, when he sold his 
 farm and purchased a small tract cf land in the town- 
 ship of De Kalb, fixing his residence in the village of 
 the same name. He is identified with the Dem- 
 ocratic element in politics. In 1875 he was elected 
 Assessor of the township, and has since officiated in 
 that position. 
 
 He was married March 9, 1852, in Kane Co., 111., 
 to Mary H.. daughter of Joseph and Olive Lindsay. 
 The latter died in Kane County ; the former died at 
 the residence of his son in Sycamore. Mrs. Eddy 
 was born June 20, 1826, in Canada. Olive A., only 
 child, was born Aug. rz, 1853. 
 
 arles L. Misick, physician and surgeon, 
 at Sandwich, was born Nov. 2, 1823, at 
 East Troy, Rensselaer Co., N. Y. Henry 
 Misick, his father, was born Jan. 7, 1789, in 
 Claverack, Columbia Co., N. Y., and was a 
 tanner and currier by profession in Howard Town- 
 ( ship, Steuben Co., N. Y., where he died Sept. 10, 
 j> 1851. The mother, Louisa (Rose) Misick, was born 
 Jan. 14, 1796, at Rome, Oneida Co., N. Y., and died 
 at Howard, Steuben Co., N. Y., Aug. 8, 1864. Fol- 
 lowing is the record of their nine children: Nellie 
 E., born July 27, i8r5,died Jan. 8, 1840. Emily 
 M. was born Jan. 10, 1817, and died Oct. 20, 1834. 
 William H., born Nov. 25, 1819, is a medical practi- 
 tioner at Marengo, 111.; Abraham W., born -Nov. 3, 
 1821, is a dentist at Donovan, Ripley County, in 
 Southern Missouri. Dr. Misick of this sketch is fifth 
 in order. Sidney S. was born Jan. 14, 1826, and is 
 engaged in farming in Steuben Co., N. Y. Rachel 
 C., born March 16, 1829, married R. Collier, a me- 
 chanic at Hornellsville, N. Y. George W., born 
 arch 24, i83T, died in Nora, 111., Nov. 19, 1878. 
 
 Ann M., born Nov. 3r, 1833, died in November, 
 1858. 
 
 Dr. Misick attended the common school during 
 the years of his early youth, and completed his pre- 
 paratory studies at the Howard Academy. He ob- 
 tained a good education, which he made available in 
 teaching several terms of school, and interspersed 
 that method of employment by working as a carpen- 
 ter and joiner. Meanwhile he read for his profes- 
 sion, and in 1856 entered the Eclectic Medical Col- 
 lege at Cincinnati, attending the chief part of two 
 terms of lectures at that institution, and going thence 
 to the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati, where he 
 was graduated in 1857. He had become a resident 
 of McHenry County, in Illinois, in 1855, and after 
 he obtained his credentials he opened the career of 
 a medical practitioner at Marengo, pursuing his pro- 
 fession there and at Byron about 12 years. In the 
 winter of r 868-9 ne attended the Hahnemann Med- 
 ical College at Chicago, and took his degree from 
 that body in 1869. He established his business at 
 Rockford, 111., where he practiced nearly a year; and 
 in the fall of 1870 he opened an office at Sandwich, 
 and has since conducted a prosperous business. He 
 is a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the 
 State Medical Society. 
 
 Dr. Misick's marriage to Susan Collier took place 
 at Howard, Steuben Co., N. Y., Sept. 3, 1848. She 
 was born Feb. 20, i83r, and is the daughter of John 
 D. and Tabitha Collier. Of her marriage four chil- 
 dren have been born. Louisa, born June 20, 1849', is 
 the wife of Ernst Mix. Viola and lona, twins, were 
 born Sept. 20, 1852. The former, now Mrs. W. H. 
 Palmer, resides in Florida. The latter is Mrs. E. W. 
 Trout, and resides at Grand Rapids, Mich. Addie 
 Mae was born Jan. 15, 1865. 
 
 ^olaski Hix, editor, and senior member of the 
 firm of Hix & Van Galder, proprietors of 
 the Sycamore City Weekly, was born April 
 2 5> |8 37> in Clarendon, Orleans Co., N. Y., and 
 is the son of Ephraim and Laura W. (Williams) 
 Hix. He is one of nine children, eight of whom, 
 seven sons and one daughter, lived to maturity. The 
 father was a native of Steuben County, N. Y., born 
 December 9, 1803, and was the son of Ephraim
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 and Lucy Hix. Ephraim Hix, Sr., was born Novem- 
 ber 6, 1768, and died July 22, 1834. His wife, 
 Lucy, was born February 9, 1772, and her death 
 transpired Nov. 12, 1824. The mother was a native 
 of Colchester, Conn., born Sept. 2, 1804. She was a 
 daughter of Barnabas and Amy (Perkins) Williams. 
 Barnabas Williams was born in Groton, Conn., Dec. 
 25, 1772. His wife was born in the same town and 
 State, June 5, 1775. 
 
 The Hix (or Hicks) family came originally from 
 England, and the generations of to-day are the de- 
 scendants of three brothers, two of whom settled in 
 the North, the other taking up his abode in the South. 
 Ephraim Hix, Jr., married Laura W. Williams, May 
 i, 1825, in Barre, Orleans Co., N. Y., removing from 
 there to the adjoining town of Clarendon, and from 
 thence to Alabama, Genesee County, that State. In 
 September, 1848, they, with their seven sons, came 
 to Kingston, De Kalb Co., 111., and there located 130 
 acres of land, which by later purchase was increased 
 to 337 acres. Mr. Hix also located 80 acres of land 
 in McHenry Co., 111. Upon becoming a citizen of 
 Kingston he identified himself with the general in- 
 terest and welfare of the community. His intelligence 
 and integrity received due recognition, and for years 
 he held the office of Highway Commissioner and 
 Justice of the Peace. He died in Kingston, Jan. 13, 
 1863, while the death of his widow occurred June 14, 
 1875, in the city of Sycamore, the place of her later 
 residence. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was brought up on his 
 father's farm and obtained a fair common-school 
 education, afterwards attending school one year at 
 Mount Morris Seminary and Wheaton College. He 
 taught two terms of district school and passed sev- 
 eral succeeding years in the occupation of a farmer. 
 In 1871 he carried out a long cherished desire to 
 establish a newspaper. His first venture was in Sep- 
 tember of that year, when he issued the first number 
 of the De Kalb County Farmer, published at Syca- 
 more, a small monthly agricultural journal, which in 
 September, 1872, was succeeded by the Sycamore 
 City Weekly. The latter was conducted on an inde- 
 pendent basis, politically, until the Presidential elec- 
 tion of 1876, when it supported the Republican 
 National and State tickets, and has since continued 
 a Republican paper. Never much of a partisan, Mr. 
 Hix was originally a Democrat, and cast his first 
 
 Presidential ballot in 1860 for the 'Hon. Stephen A. 
 Douglas, a strong Union man and before his death 
 a strong war Democrat. It was his first and last 
 ballot for a Democratic candidate for President. 
 When a young man just attaining his majority an 
 opportunity was offered him of seeing a portion of the 
 South, as it was in the days of slavery. His obser- 
 vations during a somewhat protracted stay in Ten- 
 nessee, the trip leading him into Kentucky, Alabama 
 and Georgia, as well as Tennessee, supplemented by 
 the events of the War of the Rebellion, and by the 
 attitude of the two chief political parties following the 
 war, both in relation to measures of reconstruction 
 and other matters of national import, caused him to 
 identify himself with the Republican party, when, at 
 the time indicated, he made his paper an exponent 
 of party principles and party policy. The success 
 and popularity which signalized the journalistic en- 
 terprise of Mr. Hix was the result of his own energy, 
 ability and perseverance under the weight of ob- 
 stacles which would have prevented like effort on the 
 part of most men. He had the disadvantages of small 
 capital, obscurity, and influence which at best was 
 but nominal. He had, moreover, to encounter the 
 active and determined opposition of a rival paper 
 long established. The first number of the City 
 Weekly was received with manifest favor, and it has 
 attained to an enviable position in the ranks of 
 country journals. In September, 1878, F. O. Van 
 Galder acquired a half-interest in the paper, and has 
 since continued to be associated with its management. 
 
 On Nov. 17, 1864, Mr. Hix was united in marriage 
 to Louisa Parker, of Kingston, where her parents 
 removed in 1854 and still reside. She is a native of 
 Hammond, Spencer Co., Ind., born May 9, 1843, an d 
 is the daughter of Henry N. and Mary A. (Stillwell) 
 Parker. Her father is a native of Ontario Co., N. Y., 
 while her mother is a native of Campbell Co., Ky. 
 The father of the latter was a member of a slave- 
 holding family of position and influence, but refused 
 to own property in his fellow man, being opposed 
 theoretically and practically to the institution. The 
 children of Mr. and Mrs. Hix are five in number, 
 named May, Lewis P., Eva L., Floyd and Arthur W. 
 
 Naturally unpretending in his ways and unambitious 
 politically, Mr. Hix has never put himself forward as 
 a seeker after political preferment, but has been con- 
 tent to devote his whole time and energies to the 
 
 I
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 upbuilding of the paper which he successfully 
 founded. He was made the last Secretary of the 
 De Kalb County Farmer's Association in 1873-4, 
 and is now Secretary of the Farmers' Picnic Asso- 
 ciation. In 1875 he was chosen to fill a vacancy in 
 the office of City Clerk of the city of Sycamore. 
 
 red S. Mosher, banker at Sandwich, was 
 born July 18, 1841, in Ballston Spa, Sara- 
 toga Co., N. Y. His father, Silas B. 
 Mosher, was a native of the same county and 
 passed his whole life within its borders, follow- 
 ing his business as a builder and dying at 
 Ballston Springs. The mother, Caroline E. (Castle) 
 Mosher, was born in the city of Albany and died at 
 Ballston. Their six children are all living. Sarah 
 is the wife of a capitalist at Alexandria, Minn. ; Eliz- 
 abeth married William Garrett, foreman of the Axe 
 Works at Ballston Springs ; Cynthia C. is the wife of 
 Samuel Gould, Jr., a merchant at the same place; 
 Caroline S. is Mrs. John W. Allison (the latter is a 
 stockman near Denver, Col.); Mary J. is unmarried. 
 Mr. Mosher is the only son and is third in birth 
 of his parents' children. He was a pupil at the ex- 
 cellent schools of his native place, and completed 
 his preparatory education at the well known Gilmore's 
 Academy at Ballston, where he closed his studies in 
 1861, and he read law thenceforward until the ad- 
 vent of civil war with its terrors and disasters. Pre- 
 ceptor and pupil alike rose to the emergency and a 
 recognition of the responsibilities inherited from- the 
 founders of the nation. Associated with Hon. Geo. 
 S. Batchelor, with whom he was studying for a pro- 
 fession, Mr. Mosher raised a company of volunteers, 
 which was attached to the iisth N. Y. Vol. Inf., and 
 of which he was made First Lieutenant on its organ- 
 ization. Among the first engagements in which he 
 took part was that at Harper's Ferry, where 1 1 ,000 
 men were captured. Mr. Mosher was among the 
 number, and was, with the rest, paroled. The com- 
 mand was soon in the field again and participated in 
 the siege at Sumter, and in the actions at Olustee, 
 Fla., the battle of the Mine, Cold Harbor, the siege 
 and capture of Fort Fisher, at Fort Gilmore and 
 throughout the Potomac campaign. Early in 1864 
 he was promoted to a Captaincy, and when he re- 
 
 ceived his discharge and was mustered out of the 
 army at Raleigh N. C., he was operating as Judge 
 Advocate of the Second Division, loth Army Corps, 
 under Gen. A. Ames, Division Commander, and Gen. 
 A. H. Terry, Corps Commander. 
 
 On being relieved from army service, Mr. Mosher 
 came to Sandwich and entered upon the duties 
 of cashier of the Sandwich Bank, and also be- 
 came interested financially in the lumber and coal 
 trade at Sandwich in company with his uncle, Hon. 
 M. B. Castle. He is now one of the banking firm 
 and continues to act in the capacity of business 
 manager. Mr. Mosher has served one term as 
 Mayor of Sandwich, and has performed efficient ser- 
 vice in school affairs, having officiated several terms 
 as member of the Board of Education. He is one of 
 the Grand Trustees of the I. O. M. A. of Illinois, 
 and belongs to the Congregational Church at Sand- 
 wich. 
 
 He was united in marriage at Litchfield, Mich., 
 Jan. 12, 1869, to Libbie V. N. Smith, and they have 
 four children, Caroline P., Edward Castle, Nellie 
 Wing and Mary Louise. Mrs. Mosher is the daugh- 
 ter of William and Pamelia Smith, and was born in 
 Hillsdale Co., Mich. She is a graduate of Hillsdale 
 College. 
 
 "w *,;' 
 
 'ohn N. Culver, Supervisor of Somonauk 
 Township and dealer in general merchan- 
 dise at Sandwich, was born Feb. 18, 1840, 
 in Cambridge, Washington Co., N. Y., and is 
 the son of Nathan and Eliza (Gilmore) Culver. 
 He was reared on a farm until he reached his 
 majority, attending school winters. He finished his 
 educational course in the academy at Cambridge, the 
 place of his nativity. He came to Sandwich in the 
 fall of 1860 and entered the employment of his 
 brothers James and George, who were then mer- 
 chants and located at the stand where his own busi- 
 ness is now situated. 
 
 Mr. Culver became a soldier in the military service 
 of the United States during the War for the Union, 
 enlisting at Sandwich in Co. H, Tenth 111. Vol. Inf., 
 and went to the field under Captain Carr. His 
 period of service terminated with the end of the 
 war, lasting three years and three months ; and he 
 was under fire at Shiloh, Corinth, Kenesaw Moun- 
 
 A^ SH^K: $)&$<.
 
 I 
 
 V 
 
 tain, siege of Atlanta and in numberless engage- 
 ments of minor importance during the several cam- 
 paigns in which his regiment was involved. On 
 obtaining his discharge he returned to Sandwich and 
 passed four months in his former employment. In 
 1870 he embarked in the sale of general merchan- 
 dise, in which he met with satisfactory results from 
 the outset. In 1875 he became the owner of the 
 stock and business relations of his brothers, since 
 which date he has prosecuted a substantial and pop- 
 ular business. Mr. Culver is a member of the Ma- 
 sonic fraternity. He is serving his second term as 
 Supervisor of Somonauk Township, in which he has 
 proved the wisdom of his selection for the position 
 and his integrity and ability in official relations. 
 
 He was united in marriage Sept. 21, 1866, in Go- 
 shen, Ind., to Imogene Miller, and they have four 
 children: Harvey M. and Maud M. (twins) were 
 born March 22, 1868; George W. was born June i, 
 1870; Bessie L. was born March 16, 1872. Mrs. 
 Culver is a native of New York, and is the daughter 
 of George and Margaret Miller. 
 
 3ter H. Helmer, farmer, section 12, De 
 Kalb Township, was born April 15, 1810, 
 in Warren, Herkimer Co., N. Y. He was a 
 farmer in his native State until 1862, the year 
 in which he removed to the township where he 
 has since been a resident. He first made a 
 purchase of 125 acres of land, to which he added 10 
 acres by a later purchase, and the entire tract is un- 
 der a good quality of cultivation. His stock com- 
 monly includes 20 head of cattle and several head of 
 horses, besides other varieties. 
 
 In political views and actions he is a Republican, 
 and has held the office of Path Master. Mr. Helmer 
 was married March 25, 1841, in his native county, 
 in the township of Columbia, to Rosanna House, and 
 they have had five children, Celinda, Elizabeth, 
 Frances, Clarissa A. and Florence L. Mrs. Helmer 
 was born Sept. 3, 1822, and is the daughter of John 
 and Fanny (Welch) House, and were natives of Con- 
 necticut. The parents of Mr. Helmer, Adam F. and 
 Margaret (Harter) Helmer, were of German descent 
 and passed their entire lives in the Empire State, 
 
 where they were born. Mr. and Mrs. Helmer are 
 members of the Congregational Church, of which 'j 
 Church Mr. H. has been a Deacon for 20 years. 
 
 ra Douglass, farmer, section 12, Mayfield 
 Township, is from New York State. His 
 parents, Joseph and Hannah (Symonds) 
 Douglass, natives of Vermont, settled in Gene- 
 see Co., N. Y., and afterward in Cayuga Coun- 
 ty, that State. The senior Douglass died in 
 Canada, Dec. 6, 1839, and his widow came to Illi- 
 nois and finally died in Winnebago County, July 23, 
 1839. They had ro children, Mary, Joseph, Sarah, 
 Joel, Abigail, Hannah, Patience, Warner, Lucy and 
 Ira. 
 
 The youngest in the above family, the subject of 
 this biographical outline, was born in Caledonia, 
 Genesee Co., N. Y., Nov. 22, 1814, and made his 
 home with his parents until the fall of 1835, when he 
 came to Ottawa, 111., and in the fall of 1836 to this 
 county, settling in the township of Mayfield, where 
 he built a log house, near where his present fine 
 residence is located. Here the venerable pioneer 
 has lived ever since his first location on the place, 
 excepting four years which he spent in Rockford, 111. 
 He now owns about 450 acres in this county, keeping 
 .about 50 head of cattle, 20 horses and fattening 50 
 to 100 hogs and 50 to 100 sheep annually. He has 
 held the office of Overseer of Highways and School 
 Director. In his political views he is a Republican, 
 and in religion he belongs to the Methodist Church. 
 He was first married in the township of Sycamore, 
 in May, 1845, to Miss Cyrena, daughter of David and 
 Robey (Campbell) Goodrich, who were natives of the 
 State of New York. By that marriage there were 
 four children, Sarah, Ariadna C., Dilana L. and 
 Carrie. Sarah died in infancy ; Ariadna is now the 
 wife of Henry Townsend, and resides in Cortland 
 Township; Dilana is now Mrs. Charles Nichols and 
 resides in the township of Kingston, this county; and 
 Carrie, the wife of O. S. Young, resides in Bureau 
 Co., 111. Mrs. Douglass died in Rockford, 111., Oct. 
 30, 1856, and Mr. Douglass was again married, in 
 Pecatonica, Winnebago Co., 111., Feb. 27, 1857, to 
 Hannah J. Powell, daughter of David and Joanna 
 (Parry) Powell, natives of Wales who emigrated
 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 J 
 
 America in an early day, settling in Pennsylvania, 
 where they passed the remainder of their life. They 
 had a family of six children, Llewellyn, David, Wil- 
 liam, Samuel, Mary A. and Hannah J. The last 
 mentioned (Mrs. D.) was born in Clearfield Co., Pa., 
 March 13, 1825, and has had by her present mar- 
 riage, four children, namely: Cyrus A., who was 
 born March 18, 1860; Ella V., Jan. 30, 1862; Wil- 
 liam H., Nov. 27, 1863; and Ira W., Jan. 16, 1866. 
 Ella V. died at the age of two and a half years. 
 
 Among the portraits of pioneers of De Kalb Coun- 
 ty presented in this volume may be found that of Mr. 
 Douglass. None are more worthy a place in this 
 record of the county's representative men than he. 
 He has not only witnessed the transformation of the 
 wilderness into a fruitful and prosperous country, but 
 took an active part in the arduous and self-sacrificing 
 work necessary to achieve such great results. Pos- 
 terity will long to see likenesses of the faces of these 
 grand old pioneers, who did so much for it, and we 
 are glad to be able to present so many of them as 
 we do. 
 
 'rlando Carter, liveryman at De Kalb, was 
 born Jan. 29, 1830, in Chenango Co., N. Y. 
 When he was 1 1 years of age his parents, 
 Jared and Lydia (Ames) Carter, removed to 
 Ohio, where they continued to reside two years, 
 at the end of that time making another trans- 
 fer to Iowa. In 1848 they came thence to Illinois 
 and settled in what is now the township of De Kalb, 
 engaging in farming. The father died in July, 1855; 
 the demise of the mother took place in November, 
 1872. Their children were, Evaline, Ellen, Orlando, 
 Clark, David, Lydia, Jared and Joseph. 
 
 Mr. Carter accompanied his parents to De Kalb 
 County, which has been his home and field of busi- 
 ness operation for nearly 40 years. He has led a life 
 of activity and is one of the solid men of the town- 
 ship, owning a fine farm of 320 acres, all under ex- 
 cellent improvements. Besides, he is proprietor of 
 valuable property in the city where he is a resident. 
 In 1881 he became the owner of the livery property 
 and its relations, and has continued its management 
 since. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Carter is a Democrat. He is a 
 
 ^^fr. ^^ Q/^iiii3 
 
 leader in the local branch of the Odd Fellows at De 
 Kalb, of which he was a charter member. He was 
 first married July 4, 1852, to Elizabeth Campbell, a 
 native of the State of New York. She was the 
 daughter of William and Sally Campbell, formerly 
 residents of Afton Township, De Kalb County. In 
 1879 they removed to Nebraska. Mrs. Carter died 
 April 6, 1853, and her husband was again married in 
 De Kalb, Dec. 25, 1855, to Huldah White. Their 
 children were born as follows : William, Charles D., 
 Jessie, Ernest, Eva, Mabel and Cleo. 
 
 Augustus Adams, Mechanical Super- 
 intendent of the Sandwich Manufacturing 
 Company, was born in Pine Valley, N. Y., 
 Jan. 21, 1837, and is the third son of Hon. 
 Augustus and Lydia A. (Phelps) Adams. An 
 extended account of the career of his father 
 may be found on other pages of this volume. He 
 obtained such education as the schools of Elgin af- 
 forded at the time his father was engaged in busi- 
 ness at that place, whither the family had removed 
 in 1840, and he obtained a practical knowledge of 
 the details of the machine shop under the direction 
 of his father in the foundry at Elgin, becoming a 
 competent iron-molder. On the establishment of the 
 business of A. Adams & Sons at Sandwich in 1857, 
 he accompanied the family hither and engaged in 
 the manufacture of the corn-sheller of which his 
 father is the inventor, taking charge of the foundry 
 department, which he conducted about ten years. 
 At the expiration of that time he assumed control of 
 the entire mechanical department as Superintendent, 
 and has since continued to discharge the duties of 
 the position. The working force includes from 100 
 to 250 men, and the products comprise the Adams 
 Corn-Sheller and the Reliance Harvester and Binder. 
 Every variety and capacity of sheller is constructed, 
 from 60 to 3,000 bushels per day (capacity), also 
 power machines ; and they are in demand for hand, 
 mill and warehouse work. 
 
 Mr. Adams is a Republican in political faith and 
 relations, and has served several terms as an Alder- 
 man of the city. He is a member of the Mutual Aid 
 Society, and, with his wife, is connected with the 
 Congregational Church. 
 
 He was married Sept. 29, 1859, in Sandwich, 
 
 ^
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 a 
 
 Augusta Carpenter; and they have four children, all 
 of whom were born in Sandwich, as follows: Min- 
 nie G.. Dec. 31, 1862; H. 'May, March 19, 1867; 
 Charles, July 28, 1869; and Jessie, July 13, 1872. 
 
 The residence of Mr. Adams is on Main Street, 
 and the grounds include two lots. He also owns 
 two acres in the north part of Sandwich. 
 
 Charles A. Brown, banker, member of the 
 firm of Brown & Brown at Genoa, was 
 born Jan. 12, 1858, in Genoa Township, 
 where he obtained his elementary education 
 in the common schools, and at 19 years of 
 age entered the High School at Genoa, where 
 he was a student four years, and was graduated in 
 1881. He went thence to Bryant's Business College 
 at Chicago, where he studied one term. Returning 
 to Genoa, he spent several months in farming. On 
 the first of May, 1882, he formed a partnership with 
 his brother, D. S. Brown, and they established the 
 banking enterprise in which they have since operated. 
 (See sketch of D. S. Brown.) 
 
 In political connection Mr. Brown is identified 
 with the Republican party, and is Treasurer of Genoa 
 Township, to which position he was elected in the 
 winter of 1883-4. He is the proprietor of an im- 
 proved farm in Genoa Township, containing 240 
 acres. 
 
 >mes H. Beveridge, ex-Treasurer of the 
 State of Illinois, is a farmer on section 4, 
 Somonauk Township. His father, George 
 ieveridge, was born March 16, 1785, in Hebron 
 Township, Washington Co., N. Y., and married 
 Ann Hoy, by whom he became the father of 
 nine children. She was born in Jackson Township, 
 Washington Co., N. Y., June 17, 1788, and died in 
 Somonauk, May 18, 1865. The senior Beveridge 
 removed to Illinois in 1838, and in 1839 settled in 
 Somonauk Township. He bought a large tract of 
 land, including both prairie and timber, the latter 
 comprising over 100 acres. He brought his family 
 here in 1842 and fixed his location on section 4, 
 irhere he died, May 10, 1870. He was a man of 
 
 radical views and an active Abolitionist. His 85 
 years of life covered the most momentous and inter- 
 esting period of the history of the American people, 
 and he lived to note the splendid development of this 
 country. He fixed his abode in De Kalb County in 
 its pioneer period, and was a prominent member of 
 his generation. His home was the first white man's 
 house in De Kalb County, and was located on the 
 east bank of Somonauk Creek. It was on the claim 
 when it became his property, and it was for many 
 years a haven of rest and refreshment, both physical 
 and spiritual. All new-comers found a hospitable 
 welcome at the " Five-room Tavern." It was the 
 scene of the first meeting of the local branch of the 
 United Presbyterian Church, of which Mr. Beveridge 
 and his wife were the first members and aided in its 
 organization. A small church was built in 1849, on 
 the site of the present elegant jedifice, one of the 
 finest country churches in the State. While Mr. 
 Beveridge was yet alive, he was gratified by being a 
 personal observer of the increase of the society from 
 a membership of about a score to one of the largest 
 and wealthiest and most useful and influential relig- 
 ious organizations in the ecclesiastical body of which 
 it forms a part. The character of George Beveridge, 
 as a man, pioneer, philanthropist and Christian, 
 merits perpetual remembrance. Six of his children 
 are living. Jeannette is the wife of James Henry, a 
 prominent citizen and agriculturist of Somonauk 
 Township. Isabella is the widow of William French, 
 formerly a wealthy and influential citizen of Somo- 
 nauk Township. James H. is next in order of birth. 
 Andrew M. is a clergyman of the Presbyterian 
 Church and resides in Lansingburg, near the city of 
 Troy, N. Y. Thomas G. is deceased. He was a 
 farmer, and his widow is still a resident of Somonauk 
 Township. John L., ex-Governor of Illinois, is a 
 resident at Evanston, 111., and is a general broker and 
 real-estate dealer, having his office in Chicago. Agnes 
 is the widow of Alexander Patten, and resides in 
 Chicago. The youngest child died in infancy. 
 
 Mr. Beveridge was reared on his father's farm, and 
 received a liberal education, attending school in 
 Cambridge, N. Y., in Grandville, and at Mt. Morris, 
 111. In the institution at the latter place he studied 
 two years preparatory to entering college, but he was 
 needed on the farm at home. He came to Somonauk 
 in 184* and took part of the claim of his father and
 
 
 
 \ 
 
 brother Thomas, where he pushed forward his agri 
 cultural interests until 1852. 
 
 Mr. Beveridge was, from the beginning of hi 
 political career, outspoken in his preference in favo 
 of the Liberty party, and he was an influential facto 
 in achieving for De Kalb County its proud prerogativ 
 as one of the foremost Republican counties of th 
 State of Illinois, a distinction approached only by its 
 splendid resources and development. In 1849 Mr. 
 Beveridge was elected one of the Associate Justices 
 of the county, and in 1852 was elected Assessor. In 
 1854 he was instrumental in calling the Anti-Ne- 
 braska Convention which was held at Sycamore and 
 which developed the true sentiments in the hearts of 
 the majority of the voters, and the movement resulted 
 in giving strength to the Republican party. Mr. 
 Beveridge was made, a Delegate to the first Repub- 
 lican State Convention of Illinois, which was held at 
 Bloomington in 1856. 
 
 In the fall of 1852 he was elected Circuit Clerk 
 and Recorder of De Kalb County, and in January 
 following removed to Sycamore to enter upon the 
 transaction of the duties of the position at the county 
 seat. In 1856 he was re-elected and served another 
 term of four years, and he resided at Sycamore until 
 his selection to fill a State office. 
 
 In the fall of 1864 he was elected Treasurer of 
 Illinois, and removed in the spring following, for ob- 
 vious reasons, to Springfield. He officiated as custo- 
 dian of the finances of Illinois two years. In 1867 
 he was made State House Commissioner and acted 
 in that position until the office was abolished in 1878, 
 when he returned to his farm in Somonauk. During 
 the period of his last appointment the present United 
 Presbyterian house of worship was erected near his 
 father's early home, and he supplied the plans and 
 specifications for the structure. He has been promi- 
 nent in the county from the outset of his career as 
 one of its citizens. He took a decided position in 
 religion and morality, and has continued in the pros- 
 ecution of a consistent and upright course of life. 
 He has been known as an inflexible temperance man 
 and has been connected with several organizations 
 devoted to the cause. He is a member of the Pres- 
 byterian Church at Sandwich. 
 
 He was united in marriage, in Somonauk Town- 
 ship, Dec. 24, 1849, to Elizabeth A. Disbrow, and 
 they became the parents of five children, only two of 
 
 whom survive. Gertrude, born Aug. 18, 1850, r, the 
 wife of Rufus E. Thompson, a mining speculator in 
 the Black Hills. The second child died in infancy. 
 James H., born July 6, 1852, died Sept. 16 following. 
 Lois A., born Feb. 10, 1854, died March 5, 1864. 
 Merritt Hoy, born June 16, 1869, resides with his 
 parents. Mrs. Beveridge was born Aug. 26, 1826, in 
 Fairfield Co., Conn., and is the daughter of Levi and 
 Lois Disbrow. 
 
 The farm of Mr. Beveridge contains 376 acres, is 
 in admirable condition and the family residence and 
 farm buildings are of an excellent and creditable 
 class. The proprietor is giving intelligent attention 
 to raising Jersey cattle, and owns a herd comprising 
 1 1 thoroughbreds and a considerable number of ex- 
 cellent grades. The dairy products of the farm are 
 in demand, and are shipped to Chicago. 
 
 dwin Townsend, a farmer on section 14 
 of Mayfield Township, was born Nov. n, 
 1838, in the same township, and is there- 
 fore probably the oldest native-born resident in 
 the county. His parents, Charles and Phebe 
 (Nichols) Townsend, were natives of the State 
 of New York, who settled in this township in 1837, 
 where they both finally died, he May n, 1879, and 
 she April 26, 1880. They had n children, Mary 
 A., Edwin, Francis, Marinda, Orrissa, Erastus, Clar- 
 issa, Caroline, Harrison, Charles. N. and one who 
 died in infancy. 
 
 Mr. Townsend, whose name heads this sketch, has 
 resided here all his life, but was nine months in the 
 army. He enlisted in March, 1865, in the Ninth 111. 
 Vol. Cav. In his politics he is a Republican, and in 
 his township he has been honored with the offices 
 of Overseer of Highways, Highway Commissioner, 
 School Trustee, etc. He is at present the owner of 
 222 acres of land in this township, with about 200 
 acres in cultivation. 
 
 He was married at Cedar Falls, Iowa, Jan. 20, 
 1869, to Miss Lorinda M., daughter of Sumner and 
 Sarah (Kelsey) French, the former of whom was a 
 native of New Hampshire and the latter of New 
 Jersey. They came to De Kalb County about 1840, 
 settling in Genoa Township, but removed to Iowa in 
 1869, where he died Oct. 20, 1873; she is still liv- 
 -|J@5DC@/
 
 
 ) 
 
 ing. They had seven children, Simmer, Lorinda 
 M., Whitcomb, J.erusha, Stillman, Rolla and Mary. 
 Mrs. Townsend was born in Genoa Township, June 
 16, 1850. The children of Mr. and Mrs. T. are 
 Charles S., Orrissa S., Leona C. and Olive A., four 
 in number. 
 
 eorge S. Treat, farmer, section 5, Somo- 
 nauk Township, is the son of Thomas R. 
 and Nancy (Seymour) Treat, and was born 
 June 23, 1823, in Mayville, the county seat of 
 Chautauqua Co.,N. Y. His father was born 
 in that State Aug. 26, 1795. In early life the 
 latter was a hatter by trade, and later a miller. In 
 1838 the family came to Illinois, and not long after 
 settled near Piano, where the father bought a large 
 farm and was resident there until 1872, when he 
 went to Oakland, Cal. He is still living and is 90 
 years of age. His wife was a native of New York 
 State, and of their five children four survive. Royal 
 C. is a merchant at Meadow Valley, Wis. Henry 
 B. is a farmer and nurseryman at Atchison, Kansas. 
 Julia is deceased. Emily W. is the wife of Edwin 
 Brayton, a ranchman of California. 
 
 Mr. Treat is the second child of his parents, and 
 has lived in Illinois since he was 15 years old. He 
 became his "own man" when he was 19 years of 
 age, and until his marriage was occupied as a farm 
 assistant. He was united in marriage to Cordelia S. 
 Culver, Oct. 13, 1846, at Westfield, N. Y., and they 
 have had four children : George M. was born Dec. 
 6, 1847, in the township of Little Rock, Kendall Co., 
 111.; Julius J. was born in Westfield, Dec. 13, 1851, 
 and is engaged in fruit culture at Sunny Side, Spauld- 
 ing Co., Ga. ; Milton A., born Aug. 29, 1853, is a 
 farmer near Spencer, Clay Co., Iowa ; Nora L. was 
 born Dec. 2, 1872, and died the same day. 
 
 The farm on which Mr. Treat is at present resi- 
 dent has been his property since July, 1860, when 
 he made his first purchase of 120 acres. He now owns 
 140 acres on sections 5 and 8, and ten acres of tim- 
 ber land in Squaw Grove Township ; also 40 acres 
 in Emmett Co., Mich., and 160 acres in Clay Co., 
 Iowa. He is extensively interested in bee culture, 
 and has an apiary of about 50 colonies. He obtains 
 
 and also conducts a small dairy business. During 
 six years his farm was rented, and he was for that 
 period chiefly a resident of Sandwich. He has 
 officiated 12 consecutive years as Commissioner of 
 Highways. 
 
 His first wife died on the farm in Somonauk, May 
 19, 1878, and Mr. Treat was again married Dec. 25, 
 1879, to Eliza D. Olds, who was born May 6, 1837, 
 in the State of New York. The paternal grandpar- 
 ents of Mr. Treat, Charles and Hope Treat, were of 
 pure Yankee extraction. The grandfather was a sol- 
 dier in the Revolutionary struggle. 
 
 Iva Clark, farmer and stockman on section 
 32, Franklin Township, is the son of Gilbert 
 and Miranda (Stevens) Clark, who were 
 natives of Ontario, Can. They were farmers 
 in the Dominion, where the mother died when 
 45 years of age. The father died in Michigan 
 at the age of 60 years. Mr. Clark was thrown upon 
 his own resources when he was 13 years of age. He 
 supported himself by work as a farm laborer, and at 
 17 years of age he went to Jefferson Co., N. Y., re- 
 maining there three years, and going thence to Os- 
 wego County in the same State, where he passed 
 some time engaged in teaming. From that time 
 until 1866 he was variously employed in different 
 places, and in that year came to Illinois. He first 
 made a permanent location in the township of Mon- 
 roe in Ogle County, where he continued to live until 
 1879, the date of his becoming a land-holder in De 
 Kalb County, where he purchased 120 acres on sec- 
 tion 32 of Franklin Township. Of this he took pos- 
 session in the same year. In his political preferences 
 Mr. Clark is a Republican. 
 
 His marriage to Electa Van Voorhis took place 
 Feb. 25, 1880, at Fielding. She is the daughter of 
 George and Amy (Ferguson) Van Voorhis, natives of 
 the State of New York. The daughter was born 
 Dec. 10, 1854, in Booneville, Oneida Co., N. Y. Her 
 father was a farmer, and both her parents were of 
 German origin and ancestors, who were born in 
 Dutchess Co., N. Y. Her mother died in Oneida 
 County May 9, 1863, where her father still lives and 
 where the daughter was a resident until she was 15 
 irs of age. She was a good scholar, and at that 
 
 <! 
 V 
 
 */
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 age began teaching, which she pursued in her native 
 county until 1877, when she came to Fielding. She 
 was a teacher there and in Ogle County two years 
 previous to her marriage. Gilbert V., the only child 
 of Mr. and Mrs. Clark, was born June 16, 1883. 
 
 ft 
 
 9 
 
 |; hilip G. Young, a coal and lumber mer- 
 chant at De Kalb, was born in the town of 
 Stark, Herkimer Co., N. Y., May 19, 1828. 
 The first 30 years of his life were passed in 
 his native county, and he came to Illinois 
 about 1858, first settling on a farm in Ogle 
 County, which he conducted three years. In 1861 
 he bought 80 acres of land in the township of De 
 Kalb, which he managed with shrewdness and in- 
 dustry, adding to its extent until he was the proprie- 
 tor of 320 acres, and of which he held the ownership 
 until the spring of 1884, the date of his removal to 
 his present place of abode, when he sold his estate. 
 In April, 1883, Mr. Young formed his present busi- 
 ness relation with David D. Brown, for the purpose 
 of trade in coal and lumber, the firm taking the style 
 of Brown & Young. 
 
 Mr. Young is a Democrat in political faith and ac- 
 tion. He has been active in local school matters 
 and has officiated as Alderman of De Kalb four 
 years, he having been a resident of the city from 
 r873 to 1878; he then returned to the farm. 
 
 He was married Oct. 20, 1856, in Herkimer Co., 
 N. Y., to Elmira Chrissman, a native of the Empire 
 State. They have two children, Wolstine D., born 
 March 21, 1860, and Phila E., born Dec. 13, 1862. 
 
 i illiam G. Beveridge, fanner on section 5, 
 Somonauk Township, was born in the 
 place where he is a resident, July 30, 
 1853. His father, Thomas G. Beveridge, 
 was born April 9, 1822, in Greenwich, Wash- 
 ington Co., N. Y., and was the son of George 
 and Ann (Hoy) Beveridge, who were pioneer settlers 
 of Somonauk. (See sketch of Hon. J. H. Beveridge.) 
 Thomas G. Beveridge married Elizabeth Irwin, who 
 _was born Dec. 1 8, 1827, in Washington ,Co., N. Y., 
 
 %&*& ^g^ & 
 
 and they became the parents of three children. 
 James H. was born May 2, 1856, and died April 2, 
 1857. Anna M. is the wife of R. R. Brown, of Clin- 
 ton Township, De Kalb County. She was born May 
 27, 1858. The father received 160 acres of land 
 originally included in the vast tract that was pur- 
 chased by George Beveridge. He died April 24, 
 1859, and his widow is an inmate of the family of 
 the son who inherited the estate of his father. 
 
 Mr. Beveridge is the oldest child. He was mar- 
 ried in Pana, Christian Co., 111.. Dec. 15, 1880, to 
 Ella M. Finley. Their children were bom as fol- 
 lows: Maggie, Dec. 18, i88r ; and Thomas, March 
 20, 1884. The latter died six days after birth. Mrs. 
 Beveridge was born May 3r, 1855, in New Athens, 
 Harrison Co., Ohio, and ; s the daughter of Thomas 
 and Ellen Finley. 
 
 Mr. Beveridge has added by later purchase to his 
 ancestral estate and is now the proprietor of 295 
 acres of excellent land. He has a valuable herd of 
 graded Short-Horn cattle, which comprises 40 head. 
 
 evi P. Welty, a farmer on section 30, South 
 Grove Township, was born in Oswego, 
 Kendall Co., 111., Nov. 30, 1848. His par- 
 ents, Daniel and Diana (Ernest) Welty, were 
 natives of Parry Co., Pa , and were of German 
 lineage. Soon after their marriage, they came 
 to Illinois and located primarily in Kendall County, 
 removing thence to De Kalb County. Their stay in 
 the latter was temporary, and they proceeded to 
 Winnebago County. In r868 they took up their per- 
 manent abode in De Kalb County, where they 
 bought a half section of land, established their 
 homestead and passed the remainder of their lives 
 there. The father died in March, 1882; the latter 
 in October, 1881. They were aged 65 and 56 years 
 respectively. The parents of Mr. and Mrs. Welty 
 belonged to a representative class in De Kalb County 
 who constitute its best type of citizenship, and they 
 have left to their children the heritage of lives of 
 worthy effort and a stainless, honorable name. They 
 had nine children, born in the following order : Wil- 
 liam H., Lev! F., George W., Emma J., Lauretta, 
 Charles D. and Samuel A. Those deceased were 
 named Jeremiah E. and Alice.
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 In 1878 Mr. Welty formed a partnership with his 
 brother George W. in the pursuit of agriculture, and 
 they have operated successfully since that date in 
 general farming and raising stock. They own 160 
 acres, all of which is under the best order of culti- 
 vation, and forms a valuable piece of property. They 
 are Republicans in political opinions. 
 
 Mr. Welty was married Dec. 27, 1883, at Hinckley, 
 De Kalb County, to Mary A., daughter of J. K. and 
 Rebecca (Eberly) Kuter. Her father is an insur- 
 ance agent, and officiated six years as County Coro- 
 ner. Mrs. Welty was born Dec. 28, 1859, in Pierce 
 Township, and was reared and educated in the place 
 of her birth. 
 
 jlonzo Ellwood, merchant at Sycamore, is 
 one of the pioneer business men of De 
 Kalb County. He was born June 17, 1823, in 
 the town of Canajoharie, Montgomery Co., N. 
 Y., and is the son of Abraham and Sarah (De- 
 long) Ellwood. (See sketch of Hon. Chaun- 
 cey Ellwood, page 241, for further notice of parents.) 
 At the age of 15 years Mr. Ellwood went to Mo- 
 hawk, Herkimer Co., N. Y., and served three years 
 acquiring a knowledge of the manufacture of car- 
 riages and sleighs, remaining several years as an 
 employee in the establishment, where he was after- 
 ward foreman for a number of years. 
 
 Mr. Ellwood went to California in the spring of 
 1852 and prosecuted placer-mining on the Middle 
 Fork of the American River until 1854, when he re- 
 turned home. In the spring of 1855 he came to 
 Sycamore and commenced his business career by 
 engaging as a clerk in the establishment of George 
 Walrod. Six months later, associated with Willis 
 Lott, he founded a hardware business. They con- 
 ducted its affairs jointly about three years. In 1858 
 he purchased his partner's interest, and not long after 
 admitted his brother Reuben to a partnership. In 
 1867 he sold his interest to the latter, and, in com- 
 pany with Chauncey Ellwood and O. M. Bryan, he 
 built a flax-mill, which is still in existence at Syca- 
 more. Previous to the establishment of this enter- 
 prise he had been appointed Assessor of United 
 States Revenue ; and, the duties of the position be- 
 coming pressing, he sold his interest in the flax- 
 
 mill to Mr. Leonard Orendorf. In 1870, asso- 
 ciated with Mr. N. C. Warren and Mr. James S. 
 Waterman, he opened a hardware store at Syca- | 
 more, which was in existence four years. The estab- 
 lishment with stock and fixtures was consumed by 
 fire, involving a loss of $ir,ooo, partly covered by an 
 insurance of $8,000. Messrs. Ellwood and Warren 
 became sole proprietors by purchase of the business 
 relations and re-established the trade. A year later 
 they sold out. Meanwhile, Mr. Ellwood had relieved 
 himself of the burdens of the position of Assessor, 
 which he had held eight years, and in company with 
 his brothers, Chauncey and James E., erected two j 
 stores of the Central Block at Sycamore, which is 
 two stories high above the basement, is 46 x 90 feet 
 in size. The basement is utilized for business pur- 
 poses and the upper story as offices. 
 
 Messrs. A. and J. E. Ellwood in 1857 embarked 
 in the sale of drugs and groceries, which relation 
 existed until 1881, when J. E. EUwood sold his in- 
 terest to George M. Sivwright, since which date the 
 business and its connections have been conducted as 
 at present. The stock is estimated at a cash value 
 of $10,000, and includes staple and fancy groceries, 
 drugs, crockery, paints, oils and other articles com- 
 mon to similar establishments. 
 
 The local business relations of Mr. Ellwood have 
 been commensurate with, and in the same public 
 spirit which has pushed the general enterprises con- 
 nected with Sycamore into prominence and success. 
 He was one of the projectors and original stock- 
 holders of the Sycamore & Cortland Railroad, and 
 was Director of its affairs until it was transferred by 
 sale to the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Com- 
 pany. He was a stock-holder in the Marsh Har- jj 
 vester Company and is now a stock-holder in the I 
 Marsh Binder Company. At the time of the 
 organization of the R. Ellwood Manufacturing Com- 
 pany, he became a stock-holder, and still remains 
 one of its Directors. He is the owner of a consider- 
 able interest in the Wisconsin & San Juan Min- 
 ing Company, whose claims are situated on Henson f 
 Creek, Colorado, and is President of the corporation. 
 The mines are advancing in development with flat- 
 tering prospects of substantial results. 
 
 Mr. Ellwood is Vice-President of the Covenant 
 Mutual Benefit Association of Illinois, which position 
 he has occupied since 1879. The organization was 
 established in 1877, and has more than 18,000 mem- 
 
 A O ^^^f ...avs^V/V:^ 
 
 ^^- ml ^^\<^.
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 i\ 
 
 *' " 
 
 <; 
 
 
 bers at this date (1885). He is a heavy land-holder 
 at various points, owning 360 acres in Hancock Co., 
 Iowa, a valuable improved farm in Dallas Co., Iowa, 
 and five acres of platted land in South Lawn, in the 
 suburbs of Chicago. 
 
 He has been active and prominent in local polit- 
 ical and official positions in the several places where 
 he has resided. He served three years as Postmaster 
 of Columbia, Herkimer Co., N. Y., and was Chairman 
 of the Board of Village Trustees of Sycamore three 
 years. By virtue of that office he became a Super- 
 visor of his town. After the latter place was incor- 
 porated as a city he was elected Alderman of the 
 First Ward, and now occupies the position. 
 
 He became a member of the Odd Fellows Order 
 on attaining his majority, and has reached unusual 
 prominence. In 1880 he was elected Deputy Grand 
 Master of the State of Illinois, and was a candidate 
 for Grand Master in the year following. His defeat 
 was nominal, James S. Ticknor, of Rockford, receiv- 
 ing the election by a majority of 45 votes. He was 
 a candidate again in 1882, and was elected at the 
 annual session in Springfield by a majority of 1,100. 
 The order included at that date about 32,000 mem- 
 bers, and during the year of Mr. Ell wood's incum- 
 bency its membership increased nearly 3,000. He 
 declined a proffered nomination in 1884 as Grand 
 Representative to the Sovereign Grand Lodge, a body 
 whose scope includes the organizations of the world. 
 Mr. Ellwood is also an active member of the Masonic 
 fraternity and belongs to the Knights Templar. 
 While a resident of Herkimer County he was Captain 
 of a company of Light Guards, which were ordered 
 to report for duty in the war with Mexico, but the 
 declaration of peace precluded the necessity of taking 
 up arms, and the organization did not leave the State. 
 
 Mr. Ellwood's present wife was Mary M. Baker, to 
 whom he was married Dec. 27, 1865. Three chil- 
 dren were born to them, Leana Maud, Glenn Baker 
 and Ella Baker, of whom only the first named sur- 
 vives: she was born March 17, 1868. Mrs. Ellwood 
 was born in Plato, Kane Co., 111., and is the daugh- 
 ter of L. M. and Sarah A. Baker. Her father was a 
 pioneer farmer of that county. 
 
 The active business career of Mr. Ellwood is 
 marked by the same industry, enterprise and persist- 
 ent energy which characterize the brotherhood of 
 which he is a member, and he is regarded as one of 
 
 nd principal allies of the substantial ^ 
 :sts of Sycamore. The quality of his 'i 
 
 the founders an 
 
 business interes.- __ __, ^ _, _. . 
 
 public spirit is unquestioned, and the advantage of ^ 
 his judgment and efforts in furthering and sustaining ! 
 the permanent welfare of the city is generally recog- ( 
 nized and acknowledged. His portrait appears in 
 this volume, with those of his five brothers, and is no 
 less important in value to the community with whose 
 general interest and well being he is identified. 
 
 saac Crill, farmer, resident at Fielding, 
 Franklin Township, was born in Stark 
 Township, Herkimer Co., N. Y., April 26, 
 1820. James Crill, his father, was a farmer of 
 Herkimer Co., N. Y., and came West in 1844 
 settling in the township of Monroe, Ogle Co., 
 111. Mr. Crill of this sketch accompanied his parents 
 to Ogle County, being then 24 years of age, and he 
 was married there March 20, 1856, to Eleanor Cole. 
 They had two sons, James E. and Joseph, both 
 of whom died in infancy. The household includes 
 a foster child, Mary Houdeshell, born Dec. 25, 1860, 
 in Perry Co., Pa. Mrs. Crill is the daughter of Joseph 
 and Mary (Davis) Cole. Her parents were natives 
 of Pennsylvania, of Welsh and German ancestry. 
 The daughter was born Aug. 10, r822, in the Key- 
 stone State, where her mother died, in 1831. She 
 lived with her father until 1854, when she came to 
 Lee Co., 111., with two married cousins. She went 
 later to Ogle County, where she resided two years 
 previous to her marriage. After that event, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Crill settled on a farm and entered into a part- 
 nership with his brother, John I. Crill, in agricultural 
 operations. Mr. Crill is owner of 440 acres of land, 
 situated principally in Monroe Township, Ogle 
 County. 
 
 Mr. Crill of this sketch is the owner of a hand- 
 some residence in the village of Fielding, where he is 
 also the proprietor of an elevator having a capacity 
 of 13,000 bushels of grain. Mr. Crill is an active 
 Republican, and exerts his influence in the interests 
 of that element in politics. With his wife, he is a 
 member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 
 The grandparents of Mr. Crill were natives of 
 
 
 
 :<
 
 & 
 
 Germany, and his parents settled primarily among 
 the class of people in Herkimer County known to 
 tradition and history as " Mohawk Dutch." 
 
 illiam C. Tuttle, an extensive dealer in 
 lumber and all builders' materials, at Kirk- 
 land, was born Dec. 6, 1818, in Berkshire 
 Co., Mass. David Tuttle, his father, was 
 born in Massachusetts, and in 1822 emi- 
 grated to Genesee Co., N. Y., where he died in 
 1831, aged about 65 years. He was of New England 
 lineage arid became the owner of considerable prop- 
 erty. The mother, Sally A. (Bowen) Tuttle, was also 
 a native of /the Bay State and died in Genesee Co., 
 N. Y., in r853. They had nine children. 
 
 Mr. Tuttle was the seventh child and was four 
 years old when his parents removed with their family 
 to Genesee County in the Empire State, and there he 
 attended school until he was 15 years old. At that 
 age he began to learn the trade of a carpenter, which 
 he followed until 1852. In the spring of 1843 he 
 came to the township and county where he is now 
 resident, and where he was occupied at his business 
 as a builder. In 1852 he went to Belvidere and es- 
 tablished a mercantile enterprise, in which he was 
 interested two years. At the end of that time he be- 
 came engaged in a planing mill, terminating his rela- 
 tions therewith in 1858. In 185^ he was elected 
 County Treasurer on the Republican ticket, holding 
 the incumbency two years. On the expiration of his 
 term of office he followed his trade until 1868, 
 operating as a contractor and builder, and in that 
 year he went to Chicago and established himself in 
 the same business, operating successfully until 1879. 
 He returned thence to Kirkland, and there followed 
 his trade two years. In 1882 he founded his present 
 line of business interests. He owns a house and two 
 lots in the village, and his transactions annually 
 amount to $12,000. 
 
 Mr. Tuttle was married Jan. i, 1840, in Genesee 
 Co., N. Y , to Margaret De Mott. She was born Nov. 
 25, 1825, in that county, and there grew to woman- 
 hood, when she came West with her husband. She 
 died in Belvidere, Dec. 31, 1865, and was the mother 
 of six children, two of whom are deceased. Rufus 
 
 was drowned Dec. 24, 1864, in the river at Belvidere 
 while skating on the ice, by falling through an air- 
 hole. Sarah married Mr. Chamberlain, a locomotive 
 engineer residing at Memphis, Tenn., where she died. 
 Those who are living are Daniel L., Harriet A., Addie 
 and Huldah. Mr. Tuttle was married a second time 
 Jan. 14, 1868, to Hattie Washburn, of Dixon, Lee 
 Co., 111. Mrs. Tuttle is a descendant of the cele- 
 brated family named Washburn from Maine. She 
 was born Oct. 16, 1837, in Paris, Oxford Co., Maine, 
 and is the daughter of Luther and Abigail Washburn. 
 Her parents came to De Kalb County before her 
 arrival, and she lived with them until her marriage. 
 Lena, first issue of the second marriage, died when a 
 little more than 15 months old. Another child died 
 in early infancy. 
 
 arren Gilchrist, farmer, resident on sec- 
 tion 20, Franklin Township, was born 
 Dec. 19, r839, at Hicks' Mills in the same 
 township where he now lives. David M., 
 his father, was born in Washington Co., N. 
 Y., of Scotch parentage, and married Elizabeth 
 Schoonmaker,.a native of Long Island. The family 
 carne West in 1837, after spending ten years of mar- 
 ried life in the State of New York and Canada. 
 Franklin Township was in its earliest days of pioneer 
 life and history, and they were among its element of 
 development and progress. The former died at his 
 home in 1873, aged 73 years. The motTier died in 
 March, 1882, while visitingason at Strawberry Point, 
 Clayton Co., Iowa, at 77 years of age. Their chil- 
 dren included five sons and a daughter. 
 
 Mr. Gilchrist is the third son and fourth child of 
 his parents. He passed the years of his youth and 
 early manhood on the farm of his father, which he 
 helped to develop, meanwhile obtaining an education 
 at the common schools. He was married May 30, 
 1877, to Henrietta, daughter of Silas B. and Elizabeth 
 (Taylor) Roach. Her parents were born in Noble 
 Co., Ohio, where also her birth occurred Oct. 20, 1853, 
 and they settled on a farm on section 4 in Franklin 
 Township, whither they removed in 1862. They are 
 now members of the family of Mr. Gilchrist, and are 
 aged respectively 54 and 56 years. Mrs. Gilchrist is 
 the only surviving child of her parents. (An older 

 
 child died in infancy.) She is the mother of two 
 children, Leafie, born Dec. 18, 1878, and Charles 
 E., born May, 23, 1881. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Gilchrist, associated with 
 his brother, Charles H. Gilchrist, assumed the man- 
 agement of his father's homestead, and is a partial 
 owner of 445 acres of land connected therewith. He 
 is a consistent and straightforward Republican and 
 has held several prominent local offices. He has 
 been Supervisor two years and is present Justice of 
 the Peace. 
 
 i illiain Decker, farmer, section 1 6, South 
 Grove Township, was born Nov. 30, 1835, 
 in Crawford Co., Ohio. James Decker, 
 his father, was born in New Jersey, in 1810, 
 of New England parentage, and early in life 
 went to Ohio, where he engaged in farming. 
 In 185 2 he removed to Ogle Co., 111., whence he came 
 after a stay of two years, to De Kalb County, and 
 settled on section nine of South Grove Township. 
 He died in September, 1859, aged 49 years. He be- 
 came prominent in his township as a citizen and a 
 farmer and lived an honored and useful life. The 
 mother, Margaret Vanderhoff, was of similar birth 
 and parentage, and resides still on the homestead, 
 retaining at the age of 73, Nov. 28, 1884, her activity 
 of mind and body to an uncommon degree. 
 
 Mr. Decker is next to the oldest of nine children 
 in order of birth, and he passed the years of his 
 minority in the acquisition of an education and in 
 farm labor. At the age of 23 years he began to 
 operate as an independent farmer on 40 acres of 
 land deeded to him by his father, belonging originally 
 to the family homestead. He pursued the duties of 
 an agriculturist thereon until the second year of the 
 Civil War. Aug. 14, 1862, he enlisted in Co. C. 
 losth 111. Vol. Inf. The regiment was assigned to 
 the Army of the Cumberland, and was in the mili- 
 tary service of the United States until the close of 
 the war, experiencing all the varieties, vicissitudes 
 and triumphs of Sherman's campaign through Geor- 
 gia and the Carolinas. Soon after taking the field, 
 Mr. Decker was detailed for service in the quarter- 
 master's department, and passed the entire period of 
 
 his enlistment there, receiving an honorable dis- 
 charge June, 7, 1865. 
 
 On his return to civil life Mr. Decker resumed his 
 agricultural relations, and has added 80 acres to his 
 original ownership, making an aggregate of 120 acres. 
 He is a prosperous farmer, engaged in the success- 
 ful culture of the crops common to this section and in 
 raising cattle of valuable grades. Mr. Decker is a 
 Republican of decided type and has officiated in 
 various township offices. 
 
 He was married Feb. 21, 1861, in South Grove 
 Township, to Lizzie Shorey, and they have had five 
 children, two of whom are deceased. Win. Henry 
 was born Sept. 2, 1864; Elnora, Oct 27, 1866; and 
 Harvey E., Aug. 5, 1869. They have also raised one 
 other child, Ursula Decker, who was the daughter of 
 William and Margaret Decker, a cousin of Mr. 
 Decker of this sketch. Her father died in New 
 Jersey when she was two years old, and her mother 
 was a second time married, and she was taken by 
 Mr. Decker to bring up. She was born March 22, 
 1863, in New Jersey, and died Jan. 30, 1885, in Iowa, 
 where she had gone six weeks before her death. 
 Her remains were brought to South Grove for burial. 
 
 Mis. Decker was born Sept. 7, i844,inOneidaCo., 
 N. Y., and is the daughter of Washington and Maria 
 (Vanderwalker) Shorey. The former was born in 
 Vermont and was by calling a farmer until his death, 
 May 30, 1880. Her mother resides in Guthrie Co., 
 Iowa. 
 
 
 ichard B. Spiers, M. D., physician and 
 surgeon, resident at Kirkland, was born 
 May 26, 1845, in Halton Co., Ont. He is 
 the son of George A. and Isabella (Spiers) 
 Spiers, both of whom were born in Ireland, 
 \ and who came soon after their marriage to 
 the Dominion of Canada. The former died not long 
 after he settled in Halton County, where he was a 
 pioneer. The mother is still living in that county. 
 
 Dr. Spiers, after the death of his father, became 
 the charge of his uncle, Alexander Brown, whose 
 wife was his maternal aunt. Mr. Brown was a 
 Scotchman and lived in Halton County, engaged in 
 farming. His foster-parents discharged their duty 
 creditably and well, sending him to the grammar 
 school, where he acquired an excellent fundamental 
 
 ^^^ *f*t^
 
 
 KALB COUNTY. 
 
 *f education of the type which underlies the training of 
 every man who pursues a course of professional 
 
 i study in Canada, and where he was a pupil until 21 
 years old. In 1866, Dr. Spiers matriculated at the 
 
 ^Toronto University, where he completed the pre- 
 scribed curriculum of study under the stringent regu- 
 lations of that celebrated institution, noted for the 
 inflexible regimen exercised in preparing its students 
 for their profession. The course of medical reading 
 is extended over a period of four years, and Dr. 
 ( Spiers devoted the vacational interims to office study 
 and desultory practice. 
 
 His marriage to Sarah E. Tremain took place Oct. 
 5, 1870, in Halton County. She was born April 20, 
 1852, in the Province of Ontario, and is the daughter 
 of James and Jane (Biggar) Tremain. Her father 
 was a merchant and died in February, 1865. Her 
 mother's death occurred about 1858. Mrs. Spiers 
 was a child of tender years when her mother died, 
 and lived with her father until his demise, then enter- 
 ing the household of her maternal aunt, the wife of 
 
 Vj? George Marlatt, a farmer and a native of Ontario. 
 
 = She was carefully educated in the grammar schools 
 
 <$o{ her native province. Of her union with Dr. Spiers 
 
 a she has become the mother of four children. One 
 child died in infancy. Susan M. died when she was 
 ^two years and nine months old. Rebecca M. and 
 ) Bessie G., twins, were born Aug. 12, 1879. 
 
 After marriage, Dr. Spiers removed to Watervliet ( 
 Berrien Co., Mich., and there established his business 
 as a medical practioner, in which he was engaged at 
 that point three years. He came thence to Wheaton, 
 Du Page Co., 111., and after practicing there two 
 (years came, in June, 1875,10 Kirkland, and at once 
 began his practice, in which he has met with un- 
 qualified success and popularity. He is the owner 
 of an elegant home at Kirkland. In political pref- 
 erences he is a Republican and has officiated one 
 term as Village Trustee. 
 
 Miles Beach Castle, a leading and 
 prominent citizen of Sandwich, was born 
 Aug. 13, 1826, in Albany, N. Y. He is a 
 member of the third generation from Xiideon 
 Castle, one of three brothers who came from 
 England about the year 1700. The two elder 
 1 settled respectively in Geneva, N. Y., and in Pennsyl- 
 
 
 vania, while the third located in Amenia, Dutchess 
 Co., N. Y., where he became an extensive landholder, 
 owning at one time vast tracts of land, including 
 10,000 acres in New York State. His son Gideon 
 became prominent in the colonial history of the 
 United States, and was a staff officer with General 
 Washington, filling the position of Commissary with 
 the rank of Captain, when the Commander-in-chief 
 was in New York and vicinity, during the progress of 
 the struggle for independence. He died at 98 years 
 of age, after becoming the father of five sons. Elijah, 
 the third in order of birth, was the father of Mr. 
 Castle of this sketch. He inherited from the estate 
 of his father a farm valued at $10,000, located in 
 Dutchess County, N. Y., which he afterward sold, 
 removing to the city of Albany, N. Y., investing his 
 capital in a general business. He married Deborah 
 Beach, of Dutchess County, and to them five chil- 
 dren were born, three of whom, with the parents, in- 
 habit the mystic realms of the land of the hereafter. 
 One daughter, Cynthia, widow of James W. Bishop, 
 resides at Little Falls, Herkimer Co., N. Y. 
 
 Mr. Castle passed the years of his minority in 
 attendance at school, in the varied duties of the farm 
 and in other avenues of labor, finally entering the 
 excellent educational institution at Jonesville, in 
 Northern New York, then an academy of celebrity, 
 where he was graduated about the time of attaining 
 his majority. He soon became a salesman in a dry- 
 goods store at Glens Falls, N. Y., where he remained 
 in the capacity of clerk and afterwards as general 
 manager, until the autumn of 1855, except a brief 
 term when he was at Warrensburg, N. Y. He then 
 fulfilled a determination to come West and proceeded 
 to Chicago. He passed the ensuing winter in that 
 city, and in the spring of 1856 opened a lumber yard 
 at Sandwich, 111. During the same year he organized 
 the Sandwich Bank, and he has retained his interest 
 in and connection with both enterprises without in- 
 termission. In the latter he is associated with his 
 nephew, Capt. F.'S. Mosher. About 1870 Mr. Castle 
 founded the Kendall County Bank, at Yorkville, 
 Kendall County, and is still its chief official, his as- 
 sociate and the cashier of the institution being Mr. 
 M. E. Cornell. In r878, in connection with his son, 
 J. B. Castle, he established the Sandwich Argus, a. 
 journalistic enterprise which has met with unquali- 
 fied success. In the various business ventu 
 which Mr. Castle has e.nbarked, he has met with 
 
 
 
 I
 
 J 
 
 unvarying prosperity, and his success in his under- 
 takings has come to be considered phenomenal in 
 results, a condition which has arisen from the exer- 
 cise of judgment and forethought, and the effort at 
 the outset to embark only in such undertakings as 
 promised to meet universal need. As a banker Mr. 
 Castle has operated nearly 30 years, and is one of 
 the oldest in the State in length of service in that 
 business. During the financial crises of 1855, '57, 
 "60, "6 1, '73 and later his bank has in no instance -re- 
 fused a check or closed its doors. 
 
 He is a Republican of decided type, and his sa- 
 gacity, intelligence and discrimination have received 
 due recognition at the hands of the local political 
 element which he has served long and well. In 1872 
 he was elected to the Senate of Illinois and served 
 through the short term, and in 1874 was re-elected 
 to the long term, serving a period of six consecutive 
 years. In 1878 he declined a proffered re-election to 
 give his private business the attention demanded by 
 his interests. While a member of the Legislature' 
 he was conspicuous in his exertions for and advocacy 
 of what is designated " radical legislation," and the 
 passage of " the Married Woman's Bill," which pro- 
 vided for the protection of the property rights of 
 women, was mainly due to his instrumentality. He 
 officiated as Chairman of the Committee on Public 
 Buildings and Grounds, having charge, on the part of 
 the Senate, of the Executive Mansion and the new 
 State House at Springfield. Among many other 
 measures for the public interests, Mr. Castle intro- 
 duced and effected the passage of the first bill for 
 protecting fish interests in the State of Illinois. He 
 has been a member of the Republican State Central 
 Committee, and a member of the two last Republican 
 State Conventions, in each of which he acted on the 
 Platform Committees and proved an efficient factor 
 in the specific business of those bodies. He has 
 been for several years and still is Chairman of the 
 Executive Committee of the Illinois State Equal 
 Suffrage Association. He belongs to the State Press 
 Association and the Press Club of Chicago. Mr. 
 Castle is a Royal Arch Mason, belonging to the 
 Chapter at Sandwich. His literary abilities are of a 
 versatile and acceptable character, and he gained 
 wide-spread and appreciative commendation through 
 the merits of a poem he delivered at Springfield on 
 the occasion of the laying of the corner-stone of the 
 new State House in 1868. The private library of 
 
 J^x^t* 8 ^jgf O 
 
 Mr. Castle comprises a large and valuable selection 
 of publications of the best quality. 
 
 Mr. Castle was united in marriage to Freelove 
 Kinney Hubbard, at Sandwich, 111., by Rev. L. P. 
 Crawford, in January, 1859. She was a daughter of ii 
 Hon. Asa Kinney, formerly State Senator in Califor- 
 nia, and an adopted daughter of her uncle, John 
 Hubbard. Mrs. Castle was a descendant of the 
 branch of the same family of Grinells as those of 
 New York city, her ancestors being English Knights. 
 She was educated at Knox College, Galesburg, 111., v 
 and is a woman of rare mental powers, one of those 
 whose judgments is rarely at fault upon any question. 
 Three children have been born to them, as follows : 
 John B., Aug. 13, 1859; Louisa R., Jan. 21, 1861; 
 Grace Frederika, July, 1868. John B. is assistant 
 cashier in the bank and owns one-half of the busi- 
 ness of the Argus, of which he is local editor. 
 
 illiam B. McDowell, attorney-at-law, res- 
 ident at Kirkland, Franklin Township, was 
 born Oct. 15, 1842, on section i in the 
 township where he has since lived. He is 
 the son of John and Martha (Riddle) Mc- 
 Dowell, of whom a detailed account is given on 
 another page. Mr. McDowell was brought up on the 
 farm of his father and attended the common school 
 in the vicinity of his parents' home. When he was 
 15 years of age he entered the college at Wheaton, 
 Du Page Co., 111.,' where he pursued a course of study 
 three years. He has all his life possessed extraordi- 
 nary skill in penmanship and drawing, and while at 
 Wheaton was engaged in teaching both branches. 
 At 19 years of age he -became the arbitrator of his 
 own fortunes, and after leaving school worked on a 
 farm summers and taught penmanship winters. He 
 met with much success in the latter occupation, and 
 passed several years in alternate teaching and farm 
 labor. Afterward he devoted his time wholly to farm 
 labor for a few years, and finally became general 
 agent for the sale of the machines manufactured by 
 McCormick & Co. He operated in their interests 
 one year and then entered the law office of J. L. 
 Pratt, of Sycamore. In 1879 he was admitted to the 
 Bar of Illinois, and practiced in company with Mr. 
 Pratt for a short time. Subsequently he went to 

 
 ***,,,
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 (I 
 
 Leadville, Col., where he entered into an association 
 with Hon. Mr. Hemmingway, and continued the 
 practice of his profession nearly two years. The 
 death of his brother caused his return to his native 
 State, and he located for a brief season at Sycamore, 
 but eventually fixed his residence and business at 
 Kirkland. One of the earliest pieces of work which 
 he was called on to perform was the drafting of the 
 ordinances of Kirkland, which was a superb speci- 
 men of chirography and elicited much admiration. 
 The law business of Mr. McDowell has continued 
 to increase until he is now in the enjoyment of a 
 solid reputation as an attorney in the various Courts 
 in which he is called to practice. 
 
 On the admission of the ordinances of Kirkland 
 in 1883 he was made President of the village. He 
 has always been interested in fine and valuable 
 horses, and has made exhibits of fine animals at the 
 county fairs. He is the owner of an interest in four 
 mining claims at Leadville, Col. 
 
 Mr. McDowell is a decided Democrat in political 
 opinion, and has officiated as Township Clerk. He 
 is present Village Attorney (1885). In addition to 
 his extensive legal business he represents several 
 home and foreign insurance companies. In 1872 he 
 was made a member of the Masonic Order, and be- 
 longs to Dement Lodge, No. 515, at Kirkland. 
 
 Dn. Stephen B. Stinson, attorney at Sand- 
 wich, was born Oct. 3, 1825, in Boston, 
 'Mass., and he is the youngest of four children 
 of his parents, Maj. Andrew H. and Mary Stin- 
 son. The death of the father when he was but 
 four years old, followed by that of his mother 
 seven years later, brought into activity the traits of 
 character which have distinguished his progenitors, 
 the Scotch-Irish, from whom he descended in both 
 lines. 
 
 In the lapse of years and in the conversions of 
 terms which arise in succeeding generations, there is 
 danger of the race style of " Scotch-Irish " losing its 
 distinctive signification, and it is not even now 
 clearly understood that the combination only indi- 
 cates the fact that the people referred to were es- 
 sentially Scotch, and Ireland had been but a 
 VVJN_ ^.axa.^ n f 
 
 temporary abiding place, as the assimilation was so 
 slight as to be but nominal. In 1619 an emigration 
 of people from Scotland to the North of Ireland took 
 place for the purpose of escape from the persecution 
 of the Scottish " kirk " under King James, only to 
 find themselves subjected to regulations more bur- 
 densome, which they endured with growing discon- 
 tent for an exact century. In 1719, a colony of 16 
 families emigrated to New Hampshire and formed 
 the nucleus of Londonderry, who were followed by 
 others of the same ancestral origin. To the intoler- 
 ance of the ruling religious element of Scotland and Sjcj 
 the North of Ireland in the I7th and i8th centuries, I 
 is our own nationality indebted for one of its most 
 inflexible and unswerving elements of probity and 
 uprightness, enhanced beyond estimate in value to a 
 composite nationality like ours, by sturdy, physical 
 strength and hardihood, and inborn and inbred fru- 
 gality, thrift and industry ; and though the natural 
 limitation of family continuance is a trait of the 
 Scotch-Irish, in their characteristics they are still the 
 types of their indomitable ancestors. The men pre- 
 serve their splendid physique, their courage and per- 
 severance, and the women their piety, native wit and ^ 
 strength of character, which, transmitted to their 5,. 
 sons, has re-appeared in radiant luster, polished and 
 refined under the influences artd privileges afforded 
 by our form of government. To the colonization of ( 
 Londonderry the United States is indebted for the in- 
 troduction of the cultivation of flax and the use of 
 the linen spinning wheel, and also the cultivation of 
 the Irish potato, which Sir Walter Raleigh had taken 
 from South America to Europe 150 years before. 
 Archibald Stark, from whom Starkstown was named 1 
 and the father of " Molly Stark V husband, General \ 
 John Stark, the hero of Bennington, and the grand- 
 parents of Horace Greeley, were members of the same 
 company. General Stark was the cousin of Mary 
 Stinson, the mother of Judge Stinson. 
 
 Ten years after the first settlement at London- 
 derry, John Stinson and his wife Mary, and a consid- 
 erable number of his friends and relatives, emigrated O 
 to that place from Londonderry, Ireland. From two 
 of their sons William and Samuel descended the 
 line represented by Judge Stinson, the latter being ( 
 his great-grandfather in the paternal line of descent. 
 William Stinson was his grandfather in his mother's t 
 line. The brothers removed, on attaining independ 
 ent manhood, to a point farther north know 
 
 f*^*<
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 " Masonian Grant of the Province of New Hamp- 
 shire." To fulfill the .provisions of the " grant," it was 
 necessary to occupy the allotments of land, and Will- 
 iam Stinson was, in 1751-2, one of the three found- 
 (c^ers of Starkstown, now Dunbarton, N. H., where he 
 lived for a time alone in a log cabin while making 
 his "clearing." While living thus he had a clergyman 
 for a guest, and in lieu of a table set forth the hospi- 
 talities of his house on an inverted basket. The cler- 
 ical visitor solicited the divine interposition in behalf 
 (of the " basket " and store of his host. The petition 
 Xijwas amply fulfilled, as Mr. S. reached competency. 
 > He was born in Ireland March 15, 1725, and died 
 Aug. 21, 1803. His wife, Agnes, nee Caldwell, was 
 born in June, 1734, and their marriage took place 
 .March 26, 1754. Mary, wife of Andrew H. Stinson, 
 was the youngest of their 12 children, and was born 
 Jan. 25, 1782. Captain William Stinson was a de- 
 )cided character. He became an extensive land- 
 holder and the annual productions of his estate 
 Xcomprised large crops of corn, wheat and rye. His 
 ^observation had led him to a discovery of the fact 
 Jthat the average prices of these grains were about 50 
 nts for corn, 75 cents for rye and a dollar for wheat, 
 n accordance with his idea of equity, which he 
 accorded with the same rigidity with which he en- 
 forced his own claims, he held h 
 
 -'ruling rates fell below his average, building addi- 
 tional storehouses if necessary. When the prices 
 went above his standard he would accept no more 
 than the rate he himself fixed, and he would only 
 sell to the poor for their own use. He came to be 
 styled in all the region where he lived as the " poor 
 man's friend."* Samuel Stinson, son of Samuel Stin- 
 son above mentioned, removed in early manhood to 
 Nova Scotia, where he was married, and where his 
 son Andrew H. was born, Dec. 25, 1789. During the 
 boyhood of the latter the family removed to' Dun- 
 barton, where Samuel Stinson died. . After his mar- 
 riage, Maj. A. H. Stinson resided for a time at Hop- 
 kinton, N. H., and than went to Boston, Mass.,' 
 he was extensively engaged in the manufac- 
 ture of carriages for several years, and later he be- 
 came interested in the manufacture of lumber in the 
 State of Maine. He died March 22, 1829, at Hop- 
 
 fkinton, N. H. Mary Stinson, his wife, died May 21, 
 
 Stephen B. Stinson inherited from his parents only 
 opportunity and a disposition to struggle to place 
 himself at least above mediocrity. The necessities 
 which he found upon him were twofold. His appe- 
 tite for knowledge was as insatiate and impelling as 
 the needs of his physical nature. Between the ages 
 of ii and 16 years he had only the advantages of 
 the public schools of the winter seasons, and he 
 passed the remainders of those years in farm labor. 
 But he mastered the entire curriculum of English 
 study in those studious winter terms of common 
 school, and was fitted for teaching. He entered 
 upon the duties of a pedagogue as a stepping stone 
 to a collegiate course, and his earnings, coupled with 
 temporary assistance (afterward fully repaid), enabled 
 him to pursue a classical course of two years at the 
 academy at Hopkinton, N. H. In 1844 he matricu- 
 lated at Dartmouth College, Hanover, N. H., where 
 several members of his family of the generation which 
 preceded him had been educated, and was graduated 
 with honor in July, 1848, in a class of 50 members, 
 among whom were Hon. J. W. Patterson, afterward 
 United States Senator from New Hampshire, and 
 Rev. James C. Beecher, the youngest son of Dr. 
 Lyman Beecher. 
 
 Judge Stinson was hardly 22 years of age when he 
 finished his educational career, and he availed him- 
 self of the first- opportunity which presented for 
 activity and became a teacher in an academy at 
 Thetford, Vt., whence he went after a brief time to 
 the office of Hon. J. D. Willard, of Troy, N. Y., with 
 whom as a preceptor and in whose office relations he 
 enjoyed exceptional advantages. He was admitted 
 to the Bar at Albany, N. Y., in December, 1850. 
 
 In 1851 he came to Kendall Co., 111., where he 
 operated about five years as a farmer, removing in 
 1856 to Sandwich, in De Kalb County, where he has 
 since practiced his profession. 
 
 His marriage to Mary C. Bull took place June 7, 
 1 85 2, in the city of New York, and they are the par- 
 ents of one son and three daughters. Mary A., born 
 July 26, 1855, is the wife of Charles H. Adams, M. 
 D., of Marseilles, 111.; Hester B., born April 14, 1857, 
 and Frances J., born Oct. 8, 1860, are next in order 
 of birth. Charles L., born Aug. 22, 1862, married 
 Mary E. Jones and is in business at Marseilles 
 Lizzie, born March 2r, 1853, died April 19, 1858 
 Mrs. Stinson was born at Easton, Washington Co.,
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 N. Y., Feb. 17, 1833, and is the daughter of Isaac 
 and Hester (Kittell) Bull. She is of mixed descent, 
 being of English lineage on the father's side, and 
 Holland Dutch in the maternal line. 
 
 In his profession Judge Stinson is a judicious and 
 safe counselor, is thoroughly read in jurisprudence, 
 and since his establishment of his business in De 
 Kalb County his prosperous practice is sufficient 
 evidence of the general estimate in which he is held. 
 As a citizen he is favorably known in the interest and 
 consideration he never fails to bestow on matters per- 
 taining to the well-being of the people of whom he is 
 one, and he has discharged all his obligations in local 
 official, educational and religious matters in the 
 method which has characterized his career. He has 
 officiated several years as President of the Board of 
 Education, and as City Attorney of Sandwich, and in 
 1861 represented Kane and De Kalb Counties in the 
 State Constitutional Convention at Springfield, in 
 which capacity he performed efficient service. He 
 served about three years as Assistant United States 
 Revenue^Assessor for the same counties. In July, 
 1882, he was appointed by the Governor to fill the 
 residue of an unexpired term as County Judge of 
 De Kalb County, a vacancy having occurred by the 
 resignation of Hon. G. S. Robinson. In November 
 following he was elected to the same office for a full 
 term of four years. He was compelled by ill health 
 to resign the Judge'ship in February, 1883, to the 
 great regret of the people who had an abiding belief 
 in his fitness and competency for the position. He 
 has acted undeviatingly with the Republican party 
 from the outset of his political career, and is an 
 earnest adherent of the principles and issues of that 
 party. Judge Stinson is one of the original mem- 
 bers of the Congregational Church at Sandwich, and 
 has been for many years a Deacon and Trustee in 
 the Society. Pie has cherished his interest in edu- 
 cational matters from the days of his early strug- 
 gles to obtain what he considered a degree of 
 knowledge sufficient to enable him to undertake his 
 share of the world's work understandingly. The 
 cost and effort necessary to the accomplishment of 
 his collegiate course, with the gratification conse- 
 quent upon a comprehensive, classical and scientific 
 education, has kept alive his tastes in those direc- 
 tions, and he has maintained his reading of Greek 
 and Latin far beyond the custom of busy profes- 
 sional men who have not passed their lives in 
 
 teaching. He has also acquired a considerable ac-^i 1 
 quaintance with several modern languages. In 
 addition, he has kept pace with the world of lit- 
 erature, and, from his powers of criticism and as- 
 similation, has a fund of useful and profitable 
 information, which renders him a valuable accessory 
 to social circles. 
 
 The portrait of Judge Stinson is given on a pre- 
 ceding page. His inflexibility in the conduct of his 
 professional business, his spotless private life, the 
 character of the services he has rendered in his 
 several official capacities, will secure for the picture 
 a hearty welcome from the entire patronage of the , 
 DE KALB COUNTY ALBUM, which would be signally * 
 incomplete without it. The photograph from which 
 it was copied was taken in 1882. 
 
 ohn M. Schoonmaker, resident at Field- 
 ng, is a farmer by vocation and an extens- 
 ve buyer and shipper of stock. He was i=i 
 born in Hannibal Township, Oswego Co., N. 5x 
 Y., Aug. 16, 1827. John Schoonmaker, his En 
 father, was born in Flatbush, Kings Co., on -jv 
 Long Island. He went thence to Oswego County, 
 where he was married to Julia Farnham, and was a 
 resident of-that county until his removal to De Kalb 
 County in 1845. He then located at Hicks Mills in 
 the township of Franklin, where he resided principally 
 until his death, which took place in October, 1874, 
 when he was 77 years of age. He was a blacksmith 
 by occupation. The mother was a native of Shafts- 
 bury, Bennington Co., Vt., and was of pure English 
 extraction, tracing her lineage to the earliest settle- 
 ment of the colonies. She was born about 1797 and ' 
 died about 1849, in Franklin Township. The chil- 
 dren were four in number and included three daugh- 
 ters and a son. 
 
 Mr. Schoonmaker came to Illinois with his parents 
 when he was 18 years of age. He was married 
 Sept. 6, 1848, in Monroe Township, Ogle Co., 111., to 
 Nancy, daughter of John and Mary (Grill) Miller. 
 They became the parents of five children. Alice is 
 the wife of C. F. Meyer, a farmer of Franklin Town- 
 ship. Elnora married B. A. Patten' and resides at 
 Silver Lake, Kan. George married Florence Ellis 
 and lives on the Schoonmaker homestead, section 32, 
 
 ^^ -I
 
 ind is completing a course of study at Aurora, 111. 
 J^ Sylvester was born Sept. 27, 1859, and died March 
 10, 1862. Mrs. Schoonmaker was born Jan. 23, 
 1828, in Steuben Township, Oneida Co., N. Y., and 
 when 1 8 years of age came with her parents to Ogle 
 Co., 111. She is the ninth of twelve children. 
 
 After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Schoonmaker 
 settled on a farm of 160 acres located on section 32, 
 which they purchased from the Government. They 
 wrere remote from the other settlers of the township, 
 ind the broad acres of their farm had never known 
 the plow. The homestead now contains 250 acres, 
 * is in the best possible condition for successful farm- 
 ing and is increased in value and appearance by 
 most excellent farm buildings and a splendid resi- 
 dence. 
 
 In 1879, Mr. Schoonmaker purchased a pleasant 
 home in Fielding, whither he removed and has since 
 engaged in the business stated. 
 
 He entered the army of the United States during 
 ^ the Rebellion, enlisting Aug. 7, 1862, in the io5th 
 = Reg. 111. Vol. Inf., and went to the field under the 
 ;y| command of Col. Dustin, of Sycamore. He was in 
 i=* action in the engagements at Resaca, Ringgold, 
 '^ Kenesaw Mountain, Marietta and in many others of 
 ^greater or less importance. Thirty days after his 
 enrollment he was made Sergeant of his Company, 
 and acted in that capacity until his transfer at Ma- 
 rietta, Ga., to an official position in the logth U. S. 
 Regiment of colored troops. He brought the organ- 
 ization to Louisville, Ky., where he was commis- 
 sioned First Lieutenant, and the command was con- 
 f nected with the Army of the James. In October, 
 864, Lieutenant Schoonmaker received orders from 
 I General Sheridan to put his men in line of battle, as 
 the rebel General Early was threatening to occupy 
 Martinsburg, which movement was succeeded Oct. 
 19 by " Sheridan's Ride " from Westchester to Cedar 
 Creek, resulting in the destruction of the army of 
 General Early. He was also in the engagements at 
 1 Petersburg, which terminated in the surrender of 
 General Lee, his troops doing effective service in the 
 the skirmish line. After the collapse of the Rebellion 
 his regiment was sent to Texas in the corps of Gen- 
 eral Sheridan, where it was in service until the year 
 following/ Mr. Schoonmaker was discharged March 
 12, 1866, at Louisville, Ky. During his absence 
 
 from home his efficient wife conducted the affairs of 
 the farm, to which she gave her personal oversight 
 and aid. They are zealous and effective members 
 of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which Mr. S. 
 has been Steward and Class-leader eight years. 
 
 He is a Republican and has been Trustee of his 
 township several years and Assessor two terms. 
 
 arrison Mackey, farmer, section n, May- 
 field Township, is a native of the Empire 
 State. His parents, Levi and Rebecca 
 (Scott) Mackey, natives also of that State, 
 passed their entire lives there. He was of 
 German ancestry, and died about 1858, and 
 she, of American parentage, died in June, 1838. 
 They had eight children, John, Julia A., Griffin, 
 Gilman, Harriet, Harrison, Thorn M. and Mary J. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was born in Ulster Co., 
 N. Y., April 22, 1813, and when 15 years of age he 
 left home and proceeded to Orange Co., N. Y., for 
 the purpose of learning the blacksmith trade, in 
 which he was apprenticed for nearly four years. 
 Next he followed his trade nearly a year in New 
 Jersey, then, in succession, he spent several months 
 in his native county, in business for himself in 
 Orange County again for six years, and in the spring 
 of 1839 he emigrated to this county and settled in 
 Mayfield Township, where he has ever since resided, 
 spending portions of three years, however, in Orange 
 County. He is now the possessor of more than 500 
 acres of land in Mayfield and Sycamore Townships. 
 He is now occupying part of his land, keeping 30 to 
 40 head of cattle, 12 head of horses, and fattens 
 yearly 25 to 50 head of hogs. 
 
 Mr. Mackey has held many local offices and is one 
 of the leading pioneers of De Kalb County, coming 
 here before the land was surveyed. About the year 
 1855 an effort was made to establish in Mayfield 
 Township a postoffice to be known as " Mayfield," 
 with Mr. M. as Postmaster ; but within a year the 
 office was discontinued, as the circumstances were 
 found not to justify its establishment. Politically, 
 Mr. Mackey is identified with the Democratic party. 
 He was first married in Orange Co., N. Y., about 
 1834, to Mary Hall, a native of Sullivan Co., N. Y. 
 By this marriage there were three children, Mary 

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 343 
 
 R., Eliza J. and Julia A. The last mentioned died 
 April 8, 1869. Mrs. M. died in Mayfield Township, 
 Jan. 22, 1856, and Mr. Mackey was again married, 
 in York State, June 18, 1857, to Mrs. Eliza (Bond) 
 Westlake, widow of Benjamin Westlake, who died 
 in Orange Co., N. Y., Nov. 18, 1853. By her former 
 marriage there have b.een seven children, David B., 
 Milton G., Hannah E., Mary A., Charlotte W., John 
 O. and Morris H. Milton G. died when nearly 21 
 years of age. Mrs. Mackey was born in Orange Co., 
 N. Y., Dec. i, 1811. By the present marriage there 
 are no children. 
 
 organ Losee, retired farmer, resident on 
 section 20, Franklin Township, was born 
 Dec. 14, 1811, in the township of Ghent, 
 Columbia Co., N. Y. His father, David 
 Losee, was born in Dutchess Co., N. Y., was a 
 farmer in Columbia Co., N. Y., for a time, and 
 married Mariam Griffin, who was born in Dutchess 
 County. They settled in Saratoga County in 1820,. 
 locating about seven miles from the celebrated min- 
 eral springs. There the mother died when she was 
 80 years of age. David Losee came later in life to 
 reside with his son, but returned to Saratoga County 
 and died there at 88 years of age. 
 
 Morgan was about eight years of age when he ac- 
 companied his parents to Saratoga County, and he was 
 there educated in the elementary English branches. 
 He was also married there to Hannah E. Forbes, 
 who was born Oct. 15, t8ii, and died in Niagara 
 County Dec. 22, 1837, leaving an infant daughter, 
 Hannah E., who is now the wife of Nelson Dela- 
 vergne. (See sketch.) Mr. Losee was a second time 
 married in Warsaw, Wyoming Co., N. Y., July 4, 
 1841, to Phebe A. Buck. She was born Oct. 10, 
 1820, and is the daughter of Ransom D. and Betsey 
 (Baker) Buck, who were natives of Vermont. The 
 former was born May 15, 1795, and died Jan. 16, 
 1830. The latter was born Nov. 22, 1800, and died 
 Nov. 22,1845. They settled in Oxford, Ont., after 
 their marriage. Later they went to Allegany Co., 
 N. Y., where the father died when the daughter was 
 10 years old, and on that event transpiring she went 
 to Vermont and was cared for by her maternal grand- 
 parents until the second marriage of her mother to 
 
 J. B. Noble, with whom she resided until her own 
 marriage. The mother died in Wyoming Co., N. Y., 
 in 1845. Mr. and Mrs. Losee came West in 1842, 
 and first located in Rockford, remaining there but a 
 few months and removing thence to sections 19 and 
 20 in the township of Franklin, De Kalb County. 
 They secured 160 acres of land, half of , which was 
 located on each of the sections named, and the fam- 
 ily residence was erected on section 20. At the time 
 Mr. Losee made the claim the land was all in an 
 unimproved condition. It has all been placed under ^ 
 
 
 the best improvements, and is a valuable and desira- 
 ble place. Mr. Losee and his wife have retired from 
 active life, and are enjoying the fruits of years of ex- 
 ertion and frugality in the society of their daughter 
 and her family. Mr. L. is a Republican, and holds 
 to decided religious sentiments, although not a mem- 
 ber of any denominational body. He and his wife 
 are the parents of three children. Ransom B., born 
 June 14, 1842, is an engineer on the Illinois Central 
 Railroad and resides in Amboy, Lee County. Lyons 
 E. was born July i, 1845. He is a farmer in Doug- 
 lass Township, Bremer Co., Iowa. Ophelia E. mar- 
 ried Frank Sharp, a farmer in Gove Co., Kan. She 
 was born Nov. 18, 1849. 
 
 ohn Lloyd, farmer, section 27, South Grove 
 Township, was born May 9, 1827, in Pem- 
 broke'shire, South Wales, and is the son of 
 John Lloyd. His father was superintendent 
 in a colliery, and died in his native country, 
 about 1868. His mother, Theodocia (Davis) 
 Lloyd, died in Wales, leaving two children. Thomas, 
 the elder son, was a farmer and died in his native 
 land in 1876. 
 
 Mr. Lloyd is the only living representative of his 
 family, and remained in Wales until 1852. He ob- 
 tained a good education, and at the age of 17 years 
 he began to work as a carpenter under a manager, 
 spending three years in his apprenticeship, and work- 
 ing as a builder at home until his emigration to the 
 United States. He landed at the port of New York, 
 and soon after came West, making his first stop in 
 Kane Co., 111., where he followed his trade six yes 
 In 1858 he came to De Kalb County and purchased 
 80 acres of land on section 22, in the same township, 
 ^^^. D^^@. 
 
 & ,
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 .2) 
 
 where he has since been a resident. He sold his 
 first purchase, and bought 330 acres on which he has 
 since resided. His farm is of great value, supplied 
 with buildings of superior character, and well stocked. 
 Mr. Lloyd is a Republican in political opinion, and 
 has held the minor offices of the township. 
 
 He was married July 24, 1850, in Wales, to Cath- 
 erine Jones, a native of that country. Her father 
 was a man of ability and integrity, and held a re- 
 sponsible position as cashier in a colliery. Of the 
 union of Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd, ten children have been 
 born, six of whom are living. Anna was married 
 Sept. 20, 1872, to Stephen Worden, a farmer of South 
 Grove. Henrietta was married in 1881, to William 
 Adee, also a farmer in South Grove Township. 
 Bertha is the wife of Benjamin Worden. Edith 
 Phina and Myrta are the names of the younger chil- 
 dren. Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd are communicants in the 
 Established Church of England. 
 
 i|f^ffi|iipple A. Harrington, member of the mer- 
 Jlpyi^lL cantile firm of Gardner & Harrington, 
 ? Ijij^ir) doing business at Kirkland, was born 
 O* *E&&. Noy ^ 1844, in Franklin Township, and is 
 the son of Sidney P. and Polly (Hicks) Har- 
 rington, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this 
 volume. Mr. Harrington obtained his primary edu- 
 cation in the district schools and studied afterwards 
 at Beloit College, Wis. Later on he went to Rock- 
 ford, where he was graduated in the commercial de- 
 j partment of the schools of that city. 
 
 On completing his education, associated with his 
 brother-in-law, E. Gardner, now of Rochelle, III., he 
 established a trade in agricultural implements at 
 Cherry Valley, Boone Co., 111. After operating one 
 year they exchanged their relations in that enterprise 
 for wild land in Chickasaw Co., Iowa. 
 
 Mr. Harrington was married Jan 20, 1871, in Bel- 
 videre, Boone Co., 111., to Lucy L. Griggs. She was 
 born March 22, 1852, in the township of Flora, Boone 
 County, and is the daughter of Calvin and Hannah 
 Griggs. Her parents were farmers in New England 
 and removed thence to Boone County, where they 
 were among the earliest of the pioneer settlers, lo- 
 cating there in 1836. The father died in Flora 
 Township, Dec. 21, 1883, aged 68 years. The 
 
 (c!\ 
 
 
 mother resides with her daughter in Floyd Co., Iowa. -* 
 Mr. and Mrs. Harrington have had four children, v ? 
 Emery E., May W., Clarence E. and George. The i. ', 
 latter died in infancy. 
 
 Soon after the event of his marriage, Mr. Harring- 
 ton removed to his farm in Iowa and devoted him- 
 self to its improvement, placing 240 acres under 
 cultivation, and remaining thereon resident until 
 1881. In the fall of that year he returned to Illinois 
 and again embarked in business at Kirkland, with E. 
 H. Gardner. In 1883 he sold one-half his farm in 
 Iowa, and purchased property in the village of Kirk- 
 land. With his wife, he belongs to the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church, of which he is Steward. Politic- 
 ally he is a Republican. 
 
 illiam T. Adee, general farmer, section 15, 
 South Grove Township, was born July 27, 
 1824, in Delaware Co., N. Y. His par- 
 ents, Jonathan and Jane (Thompson) Adee, 
 were farmers all their lives and trained their 
 children to the same calling. Their son was 
 reared at home until he was 18 years of age, and ac- 
 quired a good education at the common schools. His 
 parents removed to the State of Illinois in the fall of 
 1843, and his father bought a claim of 160 acres of 
 land on section 1 4 of the township of De Kalb. The 
 death of the father occurred on the homestead in the 
 fall of 1873, when he was 75 years of age. The 
 mother's demise took place seven weeks later. She 
 was 7 1 years old. Mr. Adee, senior, was one of the 
 most respected and honorable citizens of the county 
 where he was a pioneer citizen and resided more 
 than 30 years. Of their 12 children, eight are now 
 living. All were residents of De Kalb County until 
 recently, when one of them removed to Winnebago 
 County, same State. 
 
 Mr. Adee of this sketch is the oldest child, and 
 when he was 22 years of age purchased 40 acres in 
 an unbroken portion of the township, with the inten- 
 tion of carving out an independent career. He soon 
 increased his possessions on section 15 to 184 acres, 
 and also owns 160 acres on section 1 6, besides 10 
 acres of timber land belonging originally to the 
 homestead place. His entire acreage is under the 
 best type of modern improvements, his buildings are 
 ^ ^Si^^ 
 
 ^5<X^ :. '\ *
 
 ^ 
 
 of excellent and suitable character and the proprietor 
 is justly ranked among the leading and solid farmers 
 of this section of the State. He conducts general 
 farming and ships a considerable number of fatted 
 stock annually. 
 
 He was married Jan. 5, 1854, to Margaret, daugh- 
 ter of Richard and Hannah (Cronk) Becker. Their 
 children were born in the following order : William 
 R. (a farmer in South Grove Township), John, George 
 and Frank. They are well educated and promising 
 young men. 'Mrs. Adee was born Aug. 7, 1835, in 
 Delaware Co., N. Y., and was for a time a teacher in 
 her native State. She came with her parents, who 
 were pioneers of Illinois, when she was 17 years of 
 age, to De Kalb County, where she again engaged in 
 teaching until her marriage. Her father died in 1881, 
 leaving a good record as an upright citizen and hon-. 
 orable man. The mother resides with her son, John 
 T. Becker. 
 
 Mr. Adee is a Republican of the most decided and 
 reliable character. He has been and still is Town- 
 ship Treasurer, and has also been Supervisor and 
 Collector, and officiated. in other local official posi- 
 tions. Mr. and Mrs. Adee are both professors of 
 religion. 
 
 ^amuel H. Stiles, retired farmer, resident at 
 Genoa, was born Jan. 5, 1829, in Ontario 
 Co., N. Y., and is the son of Epaphroditus 
 and Roxanna (Lincoln) Stiles. After their 
 marriage his parents settled in Onondaga Co., 
 N. Y., removing thence to Ontario County in 
 the same State, where the father died about 1834. 
 The mother became a resident of De Kalb County, 
 and died in Michigan while on a visit to her daugh- 
 ter in that State. They had seven children, Har- 
 riet, John W., Maria, Eliza, Mary J., Emmeline and 
 Samuel H. 
 
 Mr. Stiles obtained a common-school education, 
 and continued under the authority of his parents 
 until he was of age. On arriving at the period of 
 his independent manhood he went to California, via 
 Cuba, New Orleans and Texas, through New Mexi- 
 co, and across the Rocky Mountains, reaching San 
 Francisco after ten months and five days' travel. He 
 
 arrived in the "City of the Golden Gate" Feb. 14, 
 1 85 1 , and had spent 40 days on the ocean on board 
 an old Italian brig. His first meal in California 
 consisted of a loaf of bread, for which he gave one 
 dollar, and it was the most acceptable food he ever 
 ate. He returned to the State of New York after an 
 experience of six months' duration in the mines of 
 California, making his journey back via the isthmus 
 of Panama. On finding himself once more on his 
 native soil, he engaged in farming in Ontario County, 
 and continued in that occupation there until his re- 
 moval to Illinois, when he located in Kingston, De 
 Kalb County. In the spring following he obtained 
 possession of four yoke of oxen and went to Iowa 
 for the purpose of taking up land and establishing a 
 permanent home. He and his wife made their 
 journey all the way in a " prairie schooner," camping 
 out nights and sleeping in their wagon. Mr. Stiles 
 located a claim of about 300 acres of land in Wright 
 Co., Iowa. In the summer following he returned to 
 the State of New York, and while passing through 
 Grundy Co., Iowa, on his return eastward, he bought 
 another tract of choice land, containing 300 acres. 
 In the next autumn he went back to Iowa, traveling 
 to Chicago on the lakes. He exchanged the prop- 
 erty he had purchased in Grundy County for a farm 
 in Ontario Co., N. Y., and through the succeeding 
 winter resided in Delaware County in the Hawk-Eye 
 State, passing the time in hunting, and making there- 
 by five dollars a day. During the spring ensuing he 
 decided to return to the State of his birth, but was 
 there only a few months when he was summoned to 
 Belvidere, Boone Co., 111., by the death of his brother. 
 He determined to settle in De Kalb Co., and became 
 by purchase the proprietor of 275 acres of land in 
 the township of Kingston. He was its occupant 15 
 years, when he sold the property and bought another 
 in the same township, comprising half a section of 
 land. On this he settled and resided until Decem- 
 ber, 1 884, at which time he removed to the village of 
 Genoa, where he had erected a fine house for a resi- 
 dence for his years of retirement from active life. 
 He is the proprietor of 340 acres of finely improved 
 land. 
 
 The marriage of Mr. Stiles to Charlotte Sherratt 
 occurred Nov. 19, 1849, in Ontario Co., N. Y. Mrs. 
 Stiles is the daughter of James and Elizabeth (Scant- 
 ling) Sherratt, and was born Dec. 2, 1822, in Yates 
 Co., N. Y. Her parents were natives respectively of 
 r~^ Xn.-dMXfflr' ^ia,;
 
 England and America, and died in Yates County. 
 They had five children, Mary A., Sarah E., Joel F., 
 
 1" Charlotte and William R. Mr. and Mrs. Stiles have 
 no children. 
 
 (SJ Mr. Stiles is a Republican in political views and 
 connections, and he has held numerous official posi- 
 tions, and enjoys largely the esteem and respect of 
 the generation and community of which he has been 
 a part. He and his estimable wife are very appro- 
 priately selected as representatives of the highest 
 9 class of citizens whose portraits should appear in this 
 volume ; and they are accordingly given, accompany- 
 ^ ing the above sketch. 
 
 ^Ltephen G. Rowen, retired farmer, resident 
 at Kirkland, Franklin Township, was born 
 Sept. 24, 1820, in Batavia, Genesee Co., 
 N. Y. He is the son of William H. and Betsy 
 (Gorham) Rowen, and the biographical notice 
 of their lives appears elsewhere in this volume. 
 He was the oldest of their children, nine in number, 
 comprising eight sons and a daughter. He was 
 brought up at home to the age of 17 years, attending 
 school and working on his father's farm. At that age 
 he was apprenticed to his uncle, James Rowen, to 
 learn the trade of blacksmith. He remained under 
 his charge a year, and during the year following 
 worked with another uncle, John Rowen, after which 
 he spent a year in receiving instructions from a third 
 uncle, Robert Rowen, all three being in the same 
 ^ line of business. After acquiring a thorough knowl- 
 A edge of the trade he purchased a stand in his native 
 township and did an extensive business for some time. 
 In 1842 he came West with his father, the family 
 coming through the entire distance with teams. His 
 father located at Janesville, while he settled at Ra- 
 cine, Wis., where he worked a year at his trade and 
 came then to De Kalb Co., 111., whither his father 
 had preceded him a few months earlier, and had 
 made a purchase of land in Franklin Township. 
 
 Mr. Rowen found employment as a blacksmith and 
 also became a farmer. He continued his joint oper- 
 ations until 1857, when he exchanged his property 
 for his father's homestead, which he still retains. He 
 has engaged to a considerable extent in traffic in real 
 .estate, and now owns 310 acres of land, all under 
 
 svVgai&B zstoff 1 ^ ^k 
 
 C^X^V^vg^ 
 
 
 good improvement, which is managed by his son. 
 About the date of the transfer of his property, he re- 
 linquished his business as a blacksmith and devoted 
 his attention to farming exclusively. 
 
 Mr. Rowen has taken a sincere interest in political 
 affairs, local as well as general. He cast his first 
 Presidential vote for Harrison, and except in 1844, 
 when he voted for Polk, he has supported a straight 
 Republican ticket. He has officiated two years as 
 Supervisor, two as Road Commissioner, and the ex- 
 tent of his services as Assessor covers a period of 20 ^ 
 years, the longest term served by any man in that 
 position in De Kalb County. He has discharged the } 
 obligations of other minor offices, and has been Post- 
 master at Kirkland 10 years. 
 
 Mr. Rowen was married July n, 1847, in Alabama 
 Township, Genesee Co., N. Y., to Emmeline Baker. 
 She was born Jan. 21, 1821, in Pompey Township, 
 Onondaga Co., N. Y., and was the daughter of 
 Nathan and Mahala (Shattuck) Baker. The mother 
 died a few years after her marriage, and the father, 
 after this second matrimonial alliance, came to Mich- 
 igan and settled near Battle Creek, where he died in 
 advanced age. Mrs. Rowen was brought up and edu- 
 cated in the State of which she was a native and 
 she was a teacher for some time previous to her mar- 
 riage. She died June 1 1, 1883, leaving five children. 
 Frank S. is a resident of Van Horn, Iowa, where he 
 is conducting a hotel in the interests of the St. Paul 
 Railroad Company. Fred B. is a resident on section 
 36, of Franklin Township. Fremont resides on his 
 father's homestead. Harley is a general merchant 
 in Kirkland. Emma is officiating as her father's 
 housekeeper. 
 
 .lisha A. Kirk, Supervisor of Franklin Town- 
 ship (1885), is a resident at Kirkland and 
 engaged in the sale of drugs. He is the 
 son of W. T. and Loisa (Riddle) Kirk (see ^ 
 sketch), and was born in Franklin Township, 
 Feb. 3, 1845. He passed the years of his 
 minority on his father's farm, and obtained a fair 
 common-school education, completing his course of 
 study at Wheaton College in Du Page County, in 
 1866. Returning from school, he engaged in farm- 
 ing in Franklin Township, in which he was occupied 
 A
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 until the fall of 1876, the date of his removal to 
 Kirkland, and of his embarking in his present busi- 
 ness enterprise. He retains the ownership of his 
 farm in Franklin Township, which is under excellent 
 improvements and supplied with a fair type of farm 
 buildings. 
 
 He was married Dec. 22, 1873, in Wheaton, Du 
 Page County, to Lovina M. Howard, and three chil- 
 dren have been born to them, Gracie M., Alien H. 
 and William C. Mrs. Kirk was born March 5, 1849, 
 in Du Page Co., 111., and is the daughter of C. K. 
 W. and Mary (Stowe) Howard. Her father was born 
 in the State of Vermont and came thence to Du Page 
 County, where he is yet a resident. The mother 
 died some years ago in Wheaton. Mrs. Kirk was 
 educated at the collegiate institute in her native 
 place. Mr. Kirk is a radical Republican, and is a 
 member of the Board of Trustees of Kirkland. 
 
 f 
 
 eorge H. Hill, farmer, section 21, Kingston 
 Township, was born May 20, 1810, in 
 Rensselaer Co , N. Y. He received a fair 
 English education in the place of his nativity 
 and obtained a thorough knowledge of saddlery 
 and harness-making. He worked with his 
 father until he was 21 years old, and subsequently 
 was employed in various places in the same business 
 until 1835, passing the last two years in Oneida Co., 
 N. Y. In the early spring of the year named he 
 came to Illinois and located a claim in what is now 
 Kingston Township, De Kalb County, which included 
 1 60 acres of land. Mr. Hill is one of the earliest 
 settlers of the county, coming prior to the survey, 
 completed in 1837. Mr. Hill came from Chicago to 
 Du Page County with a team, and, leaving his horses 
 and family there, he walked to the point where he 
 located his claim, and erected a shanty for shelter 
 for his family and household appurtenances. Hav- 
 ing made ready*, he went with an ox team to Chicago, 
 where he had left his effects, and on his return 
 through Du Page County stopped for his family. In- 
 dians were abundant but seldom troublesome, al- 
 though they were addicted to petty thieving, and on 
 one occasion stole Mrs. Hill's thimble. 
 
 Mr. Hill's land included both prairie and timber, 
 and Mr. Hill, whose pioneer life was brightened by 
 
 the society of his wife and one child, began the task 
 of constructing a home, placing his house on the 
 edge of the timber tract. Within the first year the 
 little house was destroyed by fire, and the inmates 
 lost everything but the clothing they wore at the 
 time. The cabin was rebuilt upon the former site, 
 and the family resided there three years. The home 
 was removed at the end of that period to the site 
 now occupied by the modern residence, which re- 
 placed the pioneer log cabin in 1848. The latter 
 house is entirely the work of his own hands, as his 
 means and opportunities precluded his hiring assist- 
 ance at that time. 
 
 He has been one of the foremost in the official 
 affairs of De Kalb County since he has been one of 
 its citizens. He was appointed in 1835 one of a 
 committee of five to settle disputed titles to claims, 
 De Kalb County being at that date a part of La Salle 
 County. He was made Justice of the Peace at an 
 early date and held the office many years. He was 
 first Treasurer and Assessor of De Kalb County after 
 its separation from Kane County, and he held the 
 position of County Commissioner four years. In 
 1848 he was a member of the Second Constitutional 
 Convention, which assembled at Springfield that 
 year. At that time the office of County Commissioner 
 was abolished and a township organization adopted. 
 Mr. Hill was appointed one of the Associate County 
 Judges and discharged the responsibilities of the 
 office four years. In 1854 he was elected County 
 Judge to succeed Hon. E. L. Mayo, of Sycamore, and 
 was the incumbent of the position eight years, being 
 succeeded therein by Daniel B. James, of Sycamore. 
 He has officiated five years as Supervisor of Kings- 
 ton and as Treasurer of that municipality exactly 30 
 years. He has been and still is one of the promi- 
 nent and leading citizens of the county, and has 
 always been an important factor in its general devel- 
 opment and well-being. 
 
 Joseph and Mercy (Mortimer) Hill, the parents of 
 Mr. Hill, were natives of Connecticut and were pio- 
 neer settlers of Rensselaer Co., N. Y., where they 
 passed most of their lives, and where the mother 
 died. The father came late in life to Kingston, and 
 died at the home of his son. 
 
 Mr. Hill was married Sept 15, 1833, in Columbia 
 Co., N. Y., to Sarah B. Wallace. The record of the 
 children born of this union is as follows : Ophelia 
 was bom Oct. 18, 1834, in Oneida Co., N. Y., and
 
 
 
 KALB COUNTY. 
 
 J f the wife of W. P. L. Russell, of Lee Co., 111. Will- 
 iam W. was born Oct. 23, 1836, in De Kalb County, 
 and lives on the homestead where he was born. 
 Anna E., wife of L. J. Bliss, of Kansas, was born 
 
 (&j Aug. 22, 1838. Mary A., born Nov. 18, 1840, mar- 
 ried John Heckman, of Kansas. Sarah J., born Aug. 
 22, 1842, is the wife of A. H. Clark, of Kingston 
 Township. James J. was born March 14, 1844, and 
 died June r, 1861. Geo. H., Jr., was born Dec. 25, 
 1846, and died March 12, 1853. Mrs. Hill is the 
 fifth child of James and Betsey B. (Stacey) Wallace, 
 and was born April 13, 1812, in New Lebanon, Co- 
 lumbia Co., N. Y. Her parents were natives of Con- 
 necticut and located after marriage in the last 
 mentioned place, where the death of her father oc- 
 curred in 1834. Several years subsequent to that 
 event his widow came to De Kalb County with her 
 children and died in Genoa. 
 
 ;braham D. Graves, farmer and stockman, 
 section 30, Franklin Township, was born in 
 the town of Guilford, Piscataquis Co., Maine, 
 April 25, 1826! His father, Nathaniel Graves, 
 was born in i8or, near Scituate, Mass., and is 
 still living, in Green Co., Iowa. He is of 
 mixed Scotch and English extraction, and of New 
 England parentage. He was a farmer and came 
 West in 1845, making a location in De Kalb County, 
 before its township organization. About 1874 he be- 
 came a resident of Iowa. Anna J. (Young) Graves, 
 the mother, was born Dec. i, 1803, in Lewiston, 
 Maine. She was the child of a clergyman, who fol- 
 lowed that calling during the last 20 years of his life 
 in his native State. The mother of Mr. Graves died 
 at Wall Lake, Iowa, Aug. 10, 1882, being nearly 79 
 years of age. She was the mother of four sons and 
 five daughters. One of the former and two of the 
 latter are deceased (1885). Mr. Graves is the oldest 
 child; Andrew died at Guilford, Me.; Julia- L. lives 
 in Green Co., Iowa; J. H. resides at Wall Lake, 
 Iowa.; Augusta A. is a resident at Marysville, Kan.; 
 Elvira J. died in infancy, at Parkman, Me.; Vesta 
 A. lives at Creston, Ogle Co,, 111.; Hannah died at 
 Wall Lake, Iowa; N. Frank is a resident at West- 
 moreland, Kan. 
 
 Mr. Graves was under the supervision of his par- 
 ^g^ Q. 
 
 ents in his native State, where he attended the public 
 schools until 18 years of age, when he entered the 
 village academy at Foxcroft, Me. The next year his 
 father came West and settled in a section now in- 
 cluded in Ogle County, and situated contiguous to 
 De Kalb County, before the organization of the latter 
 into townships. He became a teacher during the 
 winter seasons, having charge of schools in De Kalb 
 and Boone Counties 13 successive winters. During 
 the summers intervening he engaged vigorously in 
 breaking up prairie, several hundred acres lying 
 within Ogle and De Kalb Counties being first placed 
 in tillable condition by him. 
 
 Mr. Graves was married April 13, 1850, in Frank- 
 lin Township to Salina L. Churchill. The parents 
 of Mrs. Graves, Oliver and Pantha L. (Andrews) 
 Churchill, were natives of Vermont and of New 
 England ancestry. They removed to Cattaraugus 
 County in the State of New York, where the daughter 
 was born, May 3, r83r. She was 12 years of age 
 when, in 1844, she accompanied her parents to De 
 Kalb County, where they were among the earliest of 
 the pioneer settlers in Franklin Township. Her 
 father became an extensive land-holder, and re- 
 mained a resident of the township during the re- 
 mainder pf his life, a period of nearly 40 years, and 
 died in September, 1882. Her mother was killed 
 July 4, 1850, by a stroke of lightning. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Graves have been the parents of eight children. Eva 
 S. was born Jan. 7, 1852, and was married April 6, 
 1870, to Milton D. Patten, a farmer of South Grove 
 Township. Pantha L. was born Oct. T2, 1854, and 
 died Sept. 6, 1855. Fred was born July 7, 1856, and 
 was married Feb. 21, 1883, to Jennie Wallace. He 
 is a practicing physician at Rockford, 111. He was 
 graduated at Bennett Medical College in Chicago, in 
 1881. Charles S. was born Jan. 18, 1862, and is a 
 student at Evanston College, where he is pursuing a 
 course of classical study preparatory to the study of 
 law. He was a graduate of ihe High School at 
 Sycamore in 1882. Nathaniel A., born July 5, 1864, 
 is a student at Bennett Medical College. Amos 
 C. was born Feb. 10, 1867 ; Bertie E. was born Aug. 
 27, 1872; John, born Jan. 12, 1875, died March 13, 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Graves have been residents of 
 Franklin Township during their entire married lives 
 with the exception of a single year. The homestead 
 includes 160 acres of excellent land in a high state] 
 
 ~ "^ -4m@/
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 of cultivation. Mr. Graves is a Republican of a de- 
 cided type, and has officiated in the several local 
 positions of importance in his township. He has 
 been Assessor, and has served seven years as Town- 
 ship Clerk, and has discharged the duties of Treas- 
 urer 15 years. He is a Steward of the Methodist 
 Church society, of which he and his wife have long 
 been members. 
 
 ["ames R. Graham, farmer, residing on sec- 
 tion 1 1 , Mayfield Township, is a son of 
 Robert and Louisa (Parker) Graham, the 
 former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter 
 of New York. They were married and settled 
 in Kentucky, whence they moved to this State 
 in 1835. They remained at Ottawa, La Salle Coun- 
 ty, this State, during the winter of that year, and in 
 the spring of 1836 came to this county and settled 
 in Mayfield Township. His father followed farming 
 as a vocation in the township mentioned until his 
 death, which event occurred March 7, 1860. Two 
 children were born of their union, namely, Sarah 
 Elizabeth and James R. The former died in 1860, 
 aged 30 years. 
 
 James R. Graham is the only surviving child of 
 his father's family, and was born in Campbell Co., 
 Ky., Dec. i, 1832. He was but three years of age 
 when his parents came to this county, and resided 
 with them in Mayfield Township until his father's 
 death. His years of minority were passed on the 
 farm and attending the common schools. On the 
 death of his father he became owner of the old 
 homestead by inheritance. It consists of 200 acres 
 of land on sections n and 14, Mayfield Township, 
 most of which is in a good tillable condition. Mr. 
 Graham is considered one of the progressive fanners 
 of his township. He keeps about 45 head of cattle 
 and six horses, and fattens from 30 to 50 head of 
 hogs yearly. 
 
 Politically he is a Republican, and has held the 
 office of Highway Commissioner and School Di- 
 rector. 
 
 Mr. Graham has been twice married. His first 
 wife was a Miss Mary E. Loossey, and their union 
 occurred in Campbell Co., Ky., Jan. 24, 1856. She 
 was a daughter of Stephen and Sarah (Richardson) 
 
 Loossey, parents of six children, namely : Mary E., 
 Lucinda, Nancy, William, James and Lydia. Mary 
 E.', wife of Mr. Graham, was born in Kentucky in 
 1839, and was the mother of one child, Mary E., 
 only issue of their union. She is now the wife of 
 Winfield Divine, resident of Sycamore. Mrs. Gra- 
 ham died in Mayfield Township, Feb. 28, 1857, and 
 Mr. Graham was again married, in Kingston Town- 
 ship, Jan. 12, 1858, to Miss Nancy Stilwell. She 
 was a daughter of Joseph and Martha (Barrackman) 
 Stilwell, natives of Kentucky, in which State they 
 r.esided until their death. They were the parents of 
 eight children, namely : Mary A., John W., William, 
 Eliza, Catherine J., Nancy, Robert and James. 
 
 Nancy Graham was born in Campbell Co., Ky., 
 Nov. 23, 1830, and is the mother of six children by 
 Mr. G. They were born as follows : Lorenzo, Rob- 
 ert, Charles W., Carrie B., Jennie A. and William H., 
 and are all living except Lorenzo, who died in in- 
 fancy. 
 
 .ugh McQueen, farmer, section 29, South (@> 
 Grove Township, was born July 29, 1829, =rt 
 in the Scottish Lowlands, at a place about ^ 
 12 miles from Ayr, where Robert Burns was 
 born. His father died when he was between 
 
 I three and four years old, and when 10 years old 
 he was thrown upon his own resources for self-main- 
 tenance. He received a fair education through the 
 aid of his friends and the energetic application of his 
 own energies, and he operated as a farm laborer in 
 his own country, being thus engaged until his mar- 
 riage. 
 
 He was married June 7, 1847, in Ayrshire, to Jane 
 McKenzie. She was born June 25, 1827, and is the 
 daughter of John and Ellen (Key) McKenzie. Mr. 
 and Mrs. McQueen have had 10 children, three of 
 whom are deceased. Those who are living are John, 
 Hugh, Jr., Mary, Ellen (2d), Frank, Jane and Will- 
 iam A. Ellen is the wife of Fred Vodden, a farmer 
 of South Grove Township. Jane, Elizabeth and 
 Ellen are the names of those who are not living. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. McQueen engaged in the 
 brick and tile trade in his native country, and was 
 interested in that business about 20 years. In 
 August, 1867, he came to America with his family 
 and landed at the port of New York. After a very 
 
 \--\.A
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 brief delay they proceeded to De Kalb County, where 
 r^ the parents of Mrs. McQueen had settled some years 
 
 JH bef re - 
 
 In 1871 Mr. McQueen purchased 160 acres of 
 land, and he has increased his estate by later addi- 
 tions until he is now the proprietor of 480 acres of 
 land, situated at three different points. He is specially 
 engaged in raising Short-Horn and Durham cattle, 
 and is ranked among the leading operators in that 
 line in the county. Formerly he, bred the Berkshire 
 
 . swine to a considerable extent, but is now giving his' 
 -ttention to. raising swine of the Poland variety. 
 Mr. McQueen is an ardent Republican in politics, 
 
 \ and with his wife is a member of the Scotch Presby- 
 terian Church. The parents of Mrs. McQueen are 
 deceased. 
 
 'ohn N. McDowell, farmer, section 25, 
 Franklin Township, was born in the same 
 township in De Kalb County, on section 
 12, Oct. 1 8, 1840. His parents, John and 
 Martha (Biddle) McDowell, were born respect- 
 ively in Pennsylvania and Tennessee. Both 
 came to De Kalb County in early life and were mar- 
 ried here. They have since resided on a farm in 
 Franklin Township, where the son was born. Both 
 are still living, at the ages of 72 and 66 years. 
 
 Mr.. McDowell was brought up at home, attended 
 the common schools in boyhood and in youth went 
 to the seminary at Wheaton, Du Page Co., 111. At 
 the age of 21 years he began his independent ex- 
 istence as a farmer on a piece of land deeded to him 
 by his father. This he afterwards sold, and in 1864 
 purchased 90 acres in another part of the same 
 township, on which he had a brief residence, and 
 went thence to South Grove Township, settling on 
 160 acres of land on section n, on which he resided 
 eight years. He returned afterward to his native 
 township, and later proceeded to Missouri, whence he 
 came back two years afterward to his former home. 
 He has since resided on 180 acres of land situated 
 near Kirkland village, owned by his mother and aunt. 
 He is a Democrat in political principles. 
 
 He was married in Flora Township, Boone Co., 
 111., to Evaline Newton, who became his wife Marcli 
 28, 1861. She was born June 20, 1844, in the State 
 
 of New York, and is the daughter of William and 
 Margaret (Tuttle) Newton. Her parents were farm- 
 ers and natives of New York. She came with her 
 parents to Boone Co., 111., when a child of four years, 
 and there acquired a district-school education. Mr. 
 and Mrs. McDowell have had nine children, Adel- 
 bert, William, Clayton, Fred, Porter, Paul, Edgar 
 and Ivan (twins) and John. 
 
 heodore D. Driscoll, farmer, section n, 
 South Grove Township, was born April 5, 
 1 838, on the farm on which he now resides. 
 His parents, William and Margaret (Losier) 
 Driscoll, were the first settlers in South Grove 
 Township. They were born respectively in 
 Ohio and Pennsylvania. They made a homestead 
 claim of 150 acres of land in 1836, previous to the 
 Government survey, and it was the first claim made 
 in the township by permanent settlers. Their expe- 
 riences were the same as those so often repeated, 
 no neighbors, supplies obtainable only from remote 
 points, the nearest mill being at Ottawa, 50 miles 
 distant, where they were obliged to make their way 
 with an ox team. The family included eight chil- 
 dren. 
 
 Mr. Driscoll was the seventh child, and was only 
 three years of age when the death of his father oc- 
 curred. He continued to live with his mother until 
 he was of age, and obtained a practical common- 
 school education. In 1859 he became the proprietor 
 of the homestead, and has had charge of the com- 
 fort and welfare of his mother since he was qualified 
 by age and circumstances foi> the duty. ' He is the 
 owner at present of 430 acres, all under cultivation, 
 supplied with a good residence and one of the larg- 
 est and most convenient barns in De Kalb County. 
 Mr. Driscoll is skilled in the rearing of stock and 
 annually fattens a large number of cattle and hogs 
 for market. He is a loyal and zealous Republican, 
 any has held various local township offices. 
 
 He was married Jan. 6, 1876, to Harriet A. Tin- 
 dall, and they have four children, Jesse, Elizabeth 
 J., Harriet L. and Arthur. Jesse and Mary (Barber) 
 Tindall, the parents of Mrs. Driscoll, were natives of 
 New Jersey and New York, and came to this county 
 about 1842. She was born in South Grove Town-
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 ship Jan. 21, 1843. She was reared in this county 
 and was well educated, becoming a teacher and fol- 
 lowing that profession until her marriage. 
 
 Mr. Driscoll was the first white child born in the 
 township ; his wife was born at an early period in its 
 history. 
 
 \ ilham Carpenter, farmer, section 16, May- 
 field Township, is a son of John and 
 Joanna Carpenter, natives of New York 
 and Massachusetts. They were the parents 
 of 1 1 children, namely: John, Elizabeth, 
 
 f ' Delinda, Harriet, Ira, Mary, William, Elias, 
 Charles, Joanna and Alexander. 
 
 William Carpenter, subject of this biographical 
 notice, was born in Schoharie Co., N. Y., March 26, 
 1813. His father was a blacksmith, which trade 
 William learned and followed, contributing his earn- 
 ings toward the support of the family until 23 years 
 of age. On account of his father's limited means and 
 large family to support, William was unable to take 
 advantage of the opportunities afforded by the com- 
 mon schools, and received only such education as a 
 determined mind could acquire from home study and 
 parental assistance. 
 
 He worked at his trade, after leaving home, for 
 about a year and a half in his native State, and then 
 went to Portage Co., Ohio, where he continued to 
 follow his trade until 1848. 
 
 In the fall of the latter year, Mr. C. came to this 
 county, traveling the entire distance with a team of 
 horses and occupying 17 days. He was accom- 
 panied by his wife and two children, and on his ar- 
 rival here purchased 80 acres of school lands on 
 section 16, Mayffeld Township, on which he settled 
 and at present resides. He now has 86 acres, all of 
 which is in a good tillable condition. 
 
 Mr. Carpenter was united in marriage, Feb. 12, 
 1835, in Delaware Co., N. Y., to Miss Clarissa C. 
 Whitely. Four years later, in 1839, his wife died, 
 and Jan. 12, 1840, in Portage Co., Ohio, he was a 
 second time married to Miss Mary S. Frost. She is 
 a daughter of Levi and Elizabeth (Slocum) Frost, 
 natives of Massachusetts and Connecticut respect- 
 ively. They came to this county in 1851, and after 
 residing here about three years removed to Iowa, 
 irhere, in Floyd County, July 21, 1865, her fa 
 
 \&fc **^ @ 
 
 died. Her mother then returned to this county and 
 died in Mayfield Township, Feb. 23, 1870. They 
 were the parents of 10 children, namely, John S., 
 Eliza W., Mary S., Levi, Jr., Laura G., Amos B., Delia 
 P., Oliver D., James M. and Edmond E. 
 
 Mrs. Carpenter was born in St. Lawrence Co., N. 
 Y., March 26, 1814. She was the mother of two 
 children by Mr. Carpenter, namely, Mary C., born 
 Nov. 2, 1840, and William D., born Nov. 3, 1843. 
 Mrs. C. died in Portage Co., Ohio, Nov. 3, 1843, and 
 Mr. Carpenter was a third time married Jan. i, 1844, 
 in Portage County. The lady of his choice was Miss 
 Laura G. Frost, a sister of his former wife. She was 
 born in St. Lawrence Co., N. Y., April 12, 1818. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Carpenter is a Republican. He 
 has held the office of School Director and Commis- 
 sioner of Highways. 
 
 "ohn Hatch, farmer, section 21, De Kalb 
 Township, was born May 15, 1817, in Ot- 
 sego Co., N. Y., and is the son of Sylvanus 
 id Edith (Gardner) Hatch, who were also 
 born in the Empire State. They removed to 
 Jefferson County when their son was two years 
 of age, and he passed his life in that county, chiefly 
 engaged in teaming, until his removal to Aurora, 111., 
 in 1855. He continued to reside in Aurora and in 
 that vicinity until 1862, where he was engaged in 
 farming, when he purchased 90 acres of land in De 
 Kalb County, where he has since resided and con- 
 ducted his agricultural projects. He keeps 20 milch 
 cows and raises a very fine grade of horses. His 
 entire acreage is under advanced cultivation. 
 
 Mr. Hatch is a Republican in political preference 
 and has held several local official positions. His 
 marriage to Irena Willey took place in Jefferson Co., 
 N. Y., Dec. 17, 1838; and-one child, Mary P., was 
 born to them Sept. 17, 1850. He has also raised five 
 children, which he has taken from various poor farms. 
 Mrs. Hatch was born Aug. 24, 1815, in Jefferson 
 County, and she is the daughter of Eleazer and 
 Wealthy (Marsh) Willey, who were both natives of 
 Oneida Co., N. Y. 
 
 Among the numerous portraits given in this ALBUM 
 way be found that of Mr. Hatch. This portrait was 
 defrpm a photQgrajjh taken in i! 
 
 I ,
 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 } 
 
 eneral Everell Fletcher Dutton, Presi- 
 dent of the Sycamore National Bank, was 
 born Jan. 4, 1838, in Charlestown, N. H., 
 and is the second child of William P. and 
 Lucinda J. (Blood) Dutton. The former was 
 born Oct. i, 1817, and was reared under the 
 New England regime for the training of farmers' 
 sons, common-school education and agricultural 
 labor. He was married in 1835 and was a farmer in 
 the Granite State until 1844, the date of his removal 
 with his family to St. Charles, Kane Co., 111., whence 
 he went to Dupage County, and subsequently, in 
 1846, to Sycamore, De Kalb County, where he was 
 a resident until the spring of 1857. He conducted 
 the affairs of the Sycamore House several years, after 
 which he was appointed Deputy Sheriff under Morris 
 Walrod, and succeeded to the same incumbency 
 under E. P. Young and Joseph F. Glidden, during 
 which periods he was practically chief official. In 
 1854 he established a commercial business at Syca- 
 more, and later admitted E. H. Barnes as a partner. 
 Political events and national affairs generally at 
 the time when he reached manhood were of a charac- 
 ter which tended to awaken every latent principle of 
 patriotism and sense of justice and right that might 
 be slumbering within a man's consciousness. He was 
 a born and bred Democrat of the Jackson school, 
 and, true to the element with which he had drifted 
 up to 1856, he had accepted the issues of the party 
 without question. Always fearless in the expression 
 of his sentiments, his ardor was rewarded by his 
 appointment as Postmaster at Sycamore. Early in 
 1856 he went to Kansas, rooted and grounded in the 
 belief that the free-State element was the very head 
 and front of anarchy and treason, and confidently 
 anticipating that the results of his investigation of 
 existing conditions would redound materially to the 
 prestige of the Democratic party. To a man of his 
 temperament, the outrages he witnessed could bear 
 but one significance, and he returned to Sycamore a 
 declared free-State man. His intrepid denunciations 
 of the operations of the border ruffians cost him his 
 political head, and in consonance with his instincts he 
 removed his interests to Kansas, in February, 1857. 
 He located at Stanton (then Lykins) County, and 
 engaged in farming. Within a year he was elected 
 
 JL. 2a%0 o/- 
 
 the first Treasurer of his county, and served two 
 years. In 1859 he was a member of the Constitu- 
 tional Convention at Wyandotte, and was a factor in 
 framing the Constitution of the State. In 1861 he 
 was elected Sheriff of the county, the name of which 
 had been changed to Miami, and he removed to 
 Paola, where he resided until 1873. He was re- 
 elected Sheriff in 1863. He was conspicuous in 
 Kansas history during the war, was the leader of 
 the citizens whose determined attitude averted the 
 fate of Lawrence from Paola in 1863, and he acted 
 as aid to the Governor. 
 
 In 1873 he returned to Illinois and again engaged 
 in farming. He moved again to Paola in 1876, 
 where he operated for a time as a business man and 
 is now retired from active life. The mother of Gen. 
 Dutton was born Jan. 18, 1818, and died at Syca- 
 more June 15, 1875. Emma, the oldest child of 
 William P. Dutton and his wife, married Aaron K. 
 Stiles, now of Chicago, President of the Van De- 
 poele Electric Light Company, and who is extensively 
 interested in the manufacture of barbed wire. Charles 
 E. is a printer in San Franciscp, Cal. Joel W. died 
 at Sycamore Feb. 3, 1855, when he was n years old. 
 
 General Dutton was a lad of eight years when his 
 parents located at Sycamore, and during the 1 1 years 
 that intervened before their removal to Kansas, he 
 passed the time as an assistant in his father's store 
 and in the postoffice, meanwhile attending the com- 
 mon school, finishing his education by a year of study 
 at Mt. Morris Seminary and a similar period at Beloit 
 College, Wis. He went with his parents in Febru- 
 ary, 1857, to Kansas, where he passed nearly two 
 years in unremitting toil on an unbroken prairie farm, 
 varying his days of labor in driving four yoke of oxen 
 breaking the soil, by splitting rails and other work 
 requiring proportionate outlay of physical effort. In 
 the fall of 1858 he returned to Sycamore to enter 
 upon the duties of Deputy County Clerk, under A. 
 K. Stiles, and held that incumbency until April, 
 1861. 
 
 The seed sown in De Kalb County during the 
 portentious period that preceded the tangible expres- 
 sion of the culmination of Southern hate and fury in 
 Charleston Harbor, yielded spontaneous harvest 
 when the reverberations from the attacking guns at 
 Sumter swept over the prairies, freshening under the 
 vernal sun, and imparting hope to those who gloried 
 in their possibilities, and to whom the beautiful acres 
 
 K y^y^
 
 ^ - 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 9 
 
 
 & 
 
 within their ken typified their country, their whole 
 country. Its threatened dismemberment roused a 
 desire for immediate action in the breasts of hun- 
 dreds, and in less than a week the streets of Syca- 
 more were patroled by crowds of volunteers with 
 but a single thought, the Nation's danger, and the 
 necessity of intelligent preparation for duty in the 
 exigency that seemed imminent. It is ludicrous, but 
 no less true, that these self-constituted recruits for 
 the military service of the United States, organized 
 for preparation, and, in the lack of regulation arma- 
 ment, pressed broom-sticks and hoe-handles into ser- 
 vice as auxiliary to their purpose, and with these 
 harmless representatives of legitimate weapons they 
 engaged in the practice of mimic warfare. Presi- 
 dent Lincoln made his first call for troops April 16, 
 and two days later young Dutton enrolled his name, 
 constituting himself a member of one of the two 
 companies of volunteers from De Kalb County, who 
 anticipated the action of the Governor and held 
 themselves in readiness to answer a possible sum- 
 mons. While red tape was adjusting its kinks, the 
 volunteers proceeded with their preparations. One 
 of the chiefest honors which rests upon the members 
 of the two organizations that moved heaven and 
 earth to obtain an opportunity to lay their lives on 
 the shrine of a united government, is the singleness 
 of purpose that constituted their motive. The or- 
 organization to which private Dutton belonged was 
 designated " Company F," and was assigned to the 
 1 3th Illinois Regiment, going to Dixon, 111., under 
 the leadership of Capt. Z. B. Mayo. The comple- 
 tion of the organization of the company resulted in 
 the election of Mr. Dutton as First Lieutenant, and 
 he was mustered into the service of the State as the 
 incumbent of that position May 10, 1861. The reg- 
 iment was mustered into the United States service 
 May 24 of the same year. June 16 it was sent to 
 Caseyville, 111., a town near St. Louis, Mo., where it 
 was detailed for the surveillance of the rebel ele- 
 ment of that city, moving forward to Rolla, Mo., 
 July 6, following. 
 
 The " 1 3th Illinois" was the first Union regiment 
 that crossed the Mississippi River into Missouri, 
 where their presence accomplished much good in 
 many directions. At Rolla, Aug. 13, Captain Mayo 
 resigned his position, and was succeeded by Lieuten- 
 ant Dutton. The regiment remained at Rolla until 
 
 Oct. 2g, and, in addition to the routine of military 
 duty, performed cavalry service, chasing guerrillas 
 and bushwhackers. On the day named above the 
 command joined the army of General Fremont at 
 Springfield, having marched 120 miles in four days 
 and doing heavy skirmish work on the way. Gen- 
 eral Fremont, noting the valor and discipline dis- 
 played, assigned the regiment to an honorable posi- 
 tion ; but, being removed, his command was scattered 
 to various points, the i3th returning to Rolla. The 
 influence through which Fremont was subjected to 
 such humiliation, or the purposes served thereby, 
 will ever remain an unsatisfactory mystery to the 
 members of his command. March 6, 1862, the reg- 
 iment was ordered from Rolla to support General 
 Curtis, and marched again to Springfield almost at 
 the speed of " double quick," and thence to North- 
 western Arkansas, joining the army of Curtis at Pea 
 Ridge, averaging more than 25 miles' march daily. 
 The command moved through Northern Arkansas, 
 made a feint of attacking Little Rock, and accom- 
 plished some lively skirmishing. It encountered the 
 severer hardships of war in supplies being cut off, 
 the men being compelled to live on parched corn 
 and green whortleberries for several days. The 
 forced march previous to and down the White River 
 was one of the most terrible in the history of the 
 the regiment. At first cold, insufficient food, inces- 
 sant rain and dangers from the marauders who 
 infested that region, made it a most dismal experi- 
 ence, which became misery during the close of the 
 march, the cold having changed to intense heat, and 
 there being no water save in the cypress swamps, 
 abounding in reptiles and filth, the wells being poi- 
 soned or otherwise rendered unfit for use by the 
 citizens as the troops approached. This expe- 
 rience lasted more than three months ; the regi- 
 ment reached Helena, Ark., July 14, with half its 
 numbers sick from the effects of hardship and 
 privation. Captain Dutton was sent home on sick 
 leave in August, and on the second of September, 
 1862, was made Major of the 105111 111. Vol. 'Inf., 
 which was raised in De Kalb and Du Page Counties, 
 under the call " for 300,000 more." He was trans- 
 ferred by special order of the Secretafy of War to the 
 latter command Sept. 22, and, eight days after, pro- 
 ceeded to Louisville, Ky. Thenceforward, until the 
 regiment joined the army of General Rosecrans near 

 
 s! ) Bowling Green, the raw troops encountered the reali- 
 5^ ties of soldier life. Forced marches, guard and 
 (? V picket duty, skirmishes of greater or less importance, 
 '" * disease and privations made up the catalogue of pain- 
 ful variety. Nov. n, the brigade was ordered to 
 Q Scottsville, Ky., and on the 25th of of the same 
 month proceeded to Gallatin, Tenn., where it went 
 into winter quarters, Dec. 10, all but the " rosth," 
 which moved on the nth to South Tunnel, where 
 the main body remained until Feb. i, 1863, and 
 suffered greatly from sickness. At that date it rejoined 
 i the brigade, which remained at Gallatin until the 
 close of spring. The services of Major Button dur- 
 ing the six months of arduous labors performed by 
 his regiment are specially mentioned. He had 
 charge of the scouts from the brigade, 250 in num- 
 ber, and spent days and nights in the saddle for 
 weeks, capturing prisoners, cotton bales, horses and 
 mules. June i, 1863, the regiment proceeded to 
 ) Lavergne, and a month later to Murfreesboro, whence 
 > it returned to Lavergne, and on the igth of August 
 J\ entered -Fort Negley at Nashville, where it remained 
 j=i until February, 1864. Many of its officers and men 
 5* were detailed for special duty. Major Button was 
 a made a member of the Board of Examination, consti- 
 tuted by the Bepartment at Washington for the pur- 
 [ pose of assigning officers to the colored regiments, 
 and he discharged the duties of the position until 
 May, 1864. On the first day of that month the regi- 
 ment received marching orders for the immediate 
 front, and on the day following the command moved 
 forward to become ah actor in one of the most splen- 
 did movements recorded in the history of modern 
 warfare, and which resulted in a decisive triumph of 
 ( the Union forces. The first time the io5th was in 
 active service as a regiment, was at the battle of 
 Resaca, when -the conduct of its members won 
 special mention from its superior officer, one of the 
 most intrepid and competent in the history of the 
 war ; and throughout the campaign through Georgia 
 and the Carolinas, their achievements were the sub- 
 ject of general comment. In the subsequent history 
 of his regiment, the several special mentions of Gen- 
 eral Button particularize his " gallantry and dash." 
 *| July 13, 1864, Colonel Bustin returned to Sycamore 
 on a furlough, and Major Button succeeded to the 
 j vacancy, remaining in command till Aug. 4. Buring 
 this time occurred the battle of Peach-Tree Creek 
 (July 20), in which the rosth was heavily engaged, 
 
 
 capturing the flag of the i2th Louisana regiment. 
 On return of the Colonel, the Major was mustered 
 in as Lieutenant Colonel. Soon afterward Colonel 
 Bustin acceded to the command of the Bivision, 
 and that of the io5th devolved upon his junior 
 officer, who discharged the duties of the position 
 until the close of the war. 
 
 From Atlanta the regiment marched " to the sea," 
 to Savannah, thence through South Carolina and 
 North Carolina to Goldsboro and Raleigh, and 
 thence through Richmond to Washington, partici- 
 pating in the battles of Lawtonville, Feb. 2, 1865; 
 Smith's Farm, March 15, and Bentonville the igth. 
 At Smith's Farm, or Averysboro, the 105 th drove 
 the enemy from his works, capturing two 1 2-pounder 
 guns, which Col. Button and some of his men turned 
 and fired on the retreating enemy; and in token of 
 the regiment's gallantry at this point and in the At- 
 lanta campaign, Col. Button, its commander, received 
 from the President the appointment of Brigadier 
 General by brevet, his promotion dating from March 
 15, 1865, for "gallantry and meritorious service in 
 the campaign in Georgia and the Carolinas, and for 
 distinguished services at the battle of Smith's Farm, 
 N. C." 
 
 At Raleigh the army was made sad by hearing of 
 President Lincoln's assassination, and later joyous 
 by Lee's and Johnston's surrender, and then the 
 homeward march to Washington, where the regiment 
 took part in the Grand Review. General Button 
 was mustered out at the Capital, June 7, 1865, after 
 a continuous period of service of over four years and 
 two months. 
 
 On leaving the army, General Button returned to 
 Sycamore. In 1868 he was elected Clerk of the 
 Circuit Court, in which capacity he officiated eight 
 years. 
 
 In the winter of 1877, during the 3oth General 
 Assembly of Illinois, he served as Clerk of the House 
 of Representatives. He was elected Clerk of the 
 Supreme Court of the Northern Grand Bivision of 
 Illinois in 1878, and held the position until Bee. i, 
 1884. 
 
 In June, 1883, Gen. Button secured a large pro- 
 portion of the stock of the Sycamore National Bank, 
 and on the death of J. S. Waterman became its 
 President. He is also President of the Beadle 
 County (Bak.) National Bank. He is an extensive 

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 operator in real estate in Iowa and Illinois, and he 
 owns 400 acres of improved land near Genoa, de- 
 voted to dairy purposes. With his father-in-law; 
 Harmon Paine, he owns 250 acres near Cortland, 
 which is also a dairy farm. In Iowa and Minnesota 
 he is the proprietor of about 4,000 acres of chiefly 
 wild land. 
 
 General Dutton was married Dec. 31, 1863, at 
 Sycamore, to Rosa A. Paine. She was born in 
 Herkimer Co., N. Y., and is the daughter of Harmon 
 and Clarinda (Van Horn) Paine. The children of 
 this marriage are George E., born May 8, 1866, and 
 William P., born April 25. 1872. Harmon Paine 
 was born July 25, 1822, at German Flats, Herkimer 
 Co., N. Y. His wife was born in Springfield, N. Y., 
 Feb. 26, 1824. Their marriage occurred Jan. 13, 
 1842, and they have three children living, Rosa A. 
 Button, Ida D. Boynton and W. Burt Paine. The 
 family removed to Sycamore in 1853, where the 
 father became proprietor of the hotel property now 
 known as " Ward's Hotel." It passed from Mr. 
 Paine's ownership in 1869, since which date he has 
 engaged in farming, associated with his son. 
 
 fames H. Woods, a farmer of Franklin 
 Township, located on section 29, was born 
 in Frederick Township, Washington Co., 
 Pa., May 19, 1847. William Woods, his father, 
 was a farmer and a native of Pennsylvania, 
 and was of English descent. His mother, 
 Amelia C. Gapen, was a native of the same State and 
 of English lineage. They had five children, of 
 whom James is the third in order of birth. He was 
 eight years of age when his parents became residents 
 of Franklin Township. His father died there, on 
 the home farm, Jan. 15, 1859. The death of his 
 mother occurred Aug. i, 1863. The home estate was 
 divided among the children after the deaths of the 
 parents, and James finally purchased the whole es- 
 tate, which included 160 acres. He had lived at 
 home without intermission until the demise of both 
 father and mother. The farm is now in an advanced 
 condition of improvement, with good farm buildings. 
 Mr. Woods was married Jan. i, 1868, in Belvidere, 
 Boone Co., 111., to Marilla Shannon. She was born 
 Dec. 4, 1847, > n tne township of Spring in Boone Co., 
 111., and is the daughter of Robert and Jane A. 
 
 (Main) Shannon. Her parents were natives of the 
 State of New York and were of New England an- 
 cestry. Her father was a farmer by birth and in- 
 heritance, and came to Boone Co., 111., in 1845, where 
 he was a pioneer settler in the township of Spring. 
 They are now living in Flora Township in the same 
 county. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Woods have two children Clarence 
 H., born Aug. 26, 1876, and Bertha A., born June 
 23, 1884. 
 
 Mr. Woods is a supporter of the principles of the 
 Republican element in politics. 
 
 arcus W. Cole, of the hardware firm of 
 Heckman & Cole, Kingston, was born 
 Feb. 8, 1836, in Lockport, Niagara Co., 
 N. Y. His parents, Washington and Har- 
 riet (Stiles) Cole, were natives of the State of 
 New York, and located in 1858 in Kingston 
 Township, on section 4, where they have since lived. 
 Alma B., Maria M., John A. and Walter L. are the 
 names of the brothers and sisters of Mr. Cole, who 
 are all younger than he. His father came with his 
 family to Clark Co., 111., in 1837, and he continued 
 a resident at home until he was 20 years old, when 
 he came to Kingston Township and became a farm 
 laborer, and worked two years by the month. He 
 next took a farm to work on shares, and operated in 
 that method one year. He came to Kingston Town- 
 ship in 1858 and engaged in farming, in which he 
 continued until January, 1882. In that month he 
 bought the hardware interest of W. Shaub, and be- 
 came an associate in business with Philip Heckman. 
 The firm have since operated with success and 
 profit. Mr. Cole is the owner of 180 acres of land in 
 Kingston Township, of which 160 is under improve- 
 ments. 
 
 He was united in marriage Sept. 12, 1858, at the 
 residence of H. H. Little, in Kingston Township, to 
 Anna Eliza Little. She was born in Erie Co., N. Y., 
 July 24, 1840, and is the daughter of Henry and Eva 
 (Bingham) Little. (See sketch of H. Little.) Alice 
 E., born April 21, 1861, is the only child of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Cole. She was graduated at the High School 
 at Genoa, June TO, 1881. 
 
 Mr. Cole has been Constable five years. He has 
 officiated seven years as Tax Collector and eight 

 
 } 
 
 years as Treasurer, of which latter position he is the 
 present incumbent (1885). In his political faith and 
 connections he is a Republican. He is a member of 
 the Free-Will Baptist Church, and has been Clerk of 
 the society to which he belongs for 20 years. He 
 has acted six years in the capacity of Clerk of the 
 Fox River Quarterly Meeting. He has been an in- 
 fluential member of the Masonic Lodge, No. 288, at 
 Genoa, for 19 years. Mr. Cole is a practical printer 
 by trade, having obtained a complete and thorough 
 knowledge of the details of that business while a 
 residenfc of Marshall, Clark Co., 111., but has never 
 pursued it as a vocation. He is the local corre- 
 spondent of the Genoa Issue. 
 
 oyd D. Bowan, banker and real-estate 
 broker, resident at Kirkland, was born 
 March 9, 1824, in Genesee Co., N. Y., 
 and is the third son of W. H. and Betsy 
 (Gorham) Rowan. His great- grand parents 
 on his father's side came from Ireland to 
 America, and settled in the eastern part of the State 
 of New York, where they reared their family and 
 passed their lives among the farming community, to 
 which they belonged. The father of Mr. Rowan left 
 his native State and went to Racine, Wis., where his 
 residence was brief, and he came to De Kalb County, 
 where he pre-empted a farm, and was among the 
 earliest of the pioneer settlers of Franklin Township. 
 Mr. Rowan, senior, died April 4, 1880, aged 80 years 
 and four months. The mother was a native of Ver- 
 mont, of English ancestry, and died in Franklin 
 Township, in 1860, aged 54 years. After her death, 
 her husband contracted a second marriage. She was 
 survived by her nine children, all of whom are still 
 living excepting Perry, the youngest, who was killed 
 at the battle of Murfreesboro, in 1862. 
 
 Mr. Rowan was 18 years -old when his parents 
 came with their nine children to Illinois. They were 
 in straitened circumstances, and the children were 
 early made familiar with the labors of a farm in a 
 new county. Mr. Rowan assisted his father in bear- 
 ing the burdens of his large family and reduced 
 means until he was 22 years of age, meanwhile pre- 
 empting 1 60 acres of land in Franklin Township. 
 He borrowed money at 20 per cent to secure his 
 claim, and at the end of five years, by his energies, 
 
 thrift and untiring industry, he was cleared from 
 debt. The difficulties in the case may be understood 
 from the fact that Chicago was 65 miles distant, and 
 was their nearest market for produce, a fact made 
 interesting and memorable by the lack of railroad 
 facilities as well as by the beauties and attraction's of 
 a prairie highway, which are not yet by any means 
 traditional. Mr. Rowan pressed his plans in agri- 
 cultural venture and engaged extensively in traffic in 
 stock, adding to his estate until he is the proprietor 
 of 240 acres of land, all but 40 of which lies in De 
 Kalb County. The remainder is situated in Ogle 
 County, and the entire acreage is under cultivation. 
 Mr. Rowan owns, besides, 480 acres in Iowa and 
 1 60 acres in Nebraska, also several town lots in 
 Kirkland. In 1882 he erected a building for the 
 transaction of his business as a banker, which is 
 characterized as the best for the purpose in De Kalb 
 County, being entirely fire-proof. In August, 1883, 
 he established the enterprise in which he became 
 associated with B. N. Deane, and has been conduct- 
 ing operations in that line with gratifying results. 
 He has been connected with the Republican . party 
 since its organization. In his religious belief he is, 
 in the Bible sense, an " infidel." Mr. Rowan's mar- 
 riage to Mary L. Thomas took place March 4, 1847. 
 She was born May i, 1826, in Genesee Co., N. Y., 
 and is the daughter of R. B. and Eliza Thomas. 
 Her parents came to Illinois when she was 12 years 
 of age, first settling in Winnebago County. She was 
 20 years old when they removed to De Kalb County, 
 where, soon after, she was married. The father died 
 in Boone Co., 111. A brother of Mrs. Rowan died in 
 Kingston Township, of consumption. Henry, an- 
 other brother, is married and a resident on the family 
 homestead. Mrs. Rowan is the second child of her 
 parents. Mr. Rowan and wife have made nine trips 
 to California to spend the winter, and his wife is there 
 this (the tenth) winter. 
 
 
 eorge J. Dettmer, farmer, section 1 9, South 
 Grove Township, was born Feb. 26, 1847, 
 in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, and is the 
 i of William and Willmina (Alberding) Dett- 
 mer. When he was between three and four 
 years old his parents emigrated to America 
 d settled for a time in the State of New York, 
 
 ^3^
 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 coming thence to De Kalb County in 1858 and set- 
 tled on section 20, South Grove Township. The 
 mother died in 1872, aged about 62 years. The 
 father resides with his son and is 77 years of age. 
 They became the parents of six children, five of 
 whom are now living, and are residents of South 
 Grove Township. 
 
 Mr. Dettmer is the fourth child in order of birth, 
 and in 1870 became a land-holder by the purchase 
 of 240 acres of land. He is an agriculturist of some- 
 what extensive relations, all his own tract of land 
 being under improvement, and being also the man- 
 ager of the homestead property, still owned by his 
 father. He is also dealing largely in stock. Mr. 
 Dettmer is a Republican of the true ring, and has 
 been active in several local offices. 
 
 He was married March 8, 1880, in Fielding, Ogle 
 Co., 111., to Amanda Koch. She was born Sept. 4. 
 1855, in Ogle County, of German parentage, descen- 
 dants from some of the early settlers of Pennsylvania, 
 and now living in Ogle County. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Dettmer have one child, William E., born March 
 
 arvey A. Jones, attorney, senior member of 
 the law firm of Jones & Bishop, at Syca- 
 more, was born on Grand Prairie, near La- 
 fayette, Ind., Oct. 17, 1837, where his parents 
 had settled among the first of the early pioneers 
 of the Wabash Valley. His father, David Jones, 
 who was an energetic man and prominent farmer, 
 was born near Morganstown, Monongahela County, 
 West Virginia, Feb. 18, 1798. His mother, Mary 
 (Owens) Jones, of Welsh and Scotch-Irish extraction, 
 was born July 19, 1802, near the city of Savannah, Ga. 
 Amanda (Mrs. Morehouse), their first-born child, is 
 now deceased. John M. C. went to California in 
 1848 during the first days of the mining excitement 
 in the Golden State, arriving at Yreka, where he 
 made a permanent location, became Sheriff of Siski- 
 you County, and died Aug. 12, 1882, aged 52 years. 
 Abel is a mine operator in Oregon. James O. was 
 graduated in the Law Department of the University 
 of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and is a farmer of Grand 
 Prairie, Ind., engaging semi-occasionally in the prac- 
 tice of his profession. Deborah (Mrs. Hill) is de- 
 ceased. Lewis is a farmer in the vicinity of Chilli- 
 
 cothe, Mo. Levi M. is a prominent citizen and at- 
 torney of Fort Wayne, Ind., and is also engaged in real- 
 estate brokerage, and has platted and built a valuable 
 addition to the city. David C., deceased, was a 
 graduate in the Law Department of the University 
 of Michigan, and figured prominently in local poli- 
 tics in Tippecanoe Co., Ind.; Asa F. is a popular 
 physician and a resident on the family homestead on 
 Grand Prairie, Ind. 
 
 Mr. Jones of this sketch is the seventh child of 
 his parents. He followed the labors of the farm dur- 
 ing the summer and attended school winters until he 
 was 17 years of age, when he became a student at 
 Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Ind., and pursued 
 his studies at that institution in 1854-5. He was 
 then lame from necrosis affecting the knee. He was 
 often compelled to climb to the fifth floor on one leg 
 and cane. He went thence to Lombard University, 
 Galesburg, 111., continuing his educational course 
 there until February 1861. In the .spring following 
 he went to Missouri and engaged in teaching, in 
 which he was occupied through the summer and fall, 
 when the contingencies of civil war necessitated a 
 change of base. 
 
 Coming North to Illinois, he became a student of 
 law in the office of Hon. A. M. Harrington, of Ge- 
 neva, under whose supervision he read for his pro- 
 fession two years. In 1863 he entered the Law De- 
 partment of the University of Michigan, where he was 
 graduated in the spring of 1865. 
 
 Coming to Sycamore soon after, he formed a part- 
 nership with Hon. Daniel B. James, County Judge. 
 Their business relations terminated in 1869. Mr. 
 Jones conducted the affairs of his office singly until 
 1880, when he entered into his present connection 
 with Charles A. Bishop, who had prepared for his 
 profession as attorney under his senior's instructions. 
 They are conducting a business which places them 
 in the foremost rank in the legal fraternity of De 
 Kalb County, a condition which is largely the out- 
 growth of the repute earned by Mr. Jones in his un- 
 remitting attention to the responsibilities and func- 
 tions of his profession for nearly a score of years, 
 during which he has maintained his office at the 
 same location in Sycamore, No. i, George's Block, on 
 State Street. Mr. Jones is a practitioner in the 
 State and Federal Courts and has been and is con- 
 nected with some of the most important cases asso- 
 ciated with the history of the section of which De 
 
 \\
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 \\ 
 
 Kalb County forms a part, and it can be truly said 
 that he is equally at home in the office and as an 
 advocate at the Bar. In political affiliation he has 
 been an ardent and active Republican, and aided 
 materially in the formation and organization of the 
 party in Indiana and Iowa, where he operated as a 
 stump speaker, and did valiant service, although 
 laboring under the disadvantage of youth, being but 
 1 8 years of age. He has been prominent in the 
 ranks of temperance and has striven to accomplish 
 all possible things in that direction by connecting 
 himself with and laboring in the furtherance of the 
 Order of Good Templars, and latterly has favored 
 the advancement of the prohibition element. He 
 has also aided as he might by occasional contribu- 
 tions to the press. He is a student as well as a law- 
 yer, and his studies have by no means been confined 
 to the narrow limits of the law, but have taken a 
 comparatively wide range in theology and general 
 literature, in which last he has been greatly assisted 
 and encouraged by his wife, whose natural love for 
 literature has made her home a place of study. 
 
 The family patronymic is of Welsh origin, and the 
 lineage is distinct from three brothers, James, David 
 and Enoch Jones, who came to this country just pre- 
 vious to the War of the Revolution. James was a phy- 
 sician and surgeon in the Colonial Army during the 
 struggle for independence. The second was a Cal- 
 vinistic Methodist clergyman, a graduate of theTra- 
 vena College, founded by Lady Huntingdon. It 
 is supposed that the third was a farmer. They 
 located on the Welsh tract near Wilmington, 
 Del. Daniel Jones, the grandfather of Mr. Jones of 
 this sketch, was born on that tract April 10, 1754, 
 and married Mary Alston, who was born Nov. n, 
 1770, in Philadelphia. Her parents were Joseph and 
 Mary (Berry) Alston, and her father was a merchant 
 in Philadelphia. He conducted extensive com- 
 mercial interests and was the owner of several mer- 
 chantmen in the trade between the Continental 
 ports and those of this country. He was English 
 by birth, and had brothers in the British Army; yet, 
 sympathizing with the colonies and still being loyal to 
 his native land, he determined to take no part in the 
 then impending conflict, and accordingly 'sought a 
 residence in the West Indies, where he died. Daniel 
 and Mary Jones became the parents of 13 children, 
 Enoch, Susan, James A., John, Lewis, David, James 
 jd), Abel, Levi, Mary, Alston, Margaret and Isaiah 
 
 David Jones died Nov. u, 1849, near Lafayette, 
 Ind. His wife, a most estimable wife and mother, 
 died June 28, 1865. 
 
 Harvey A. Jones was married Feb. 28, 1861, to 
 Sarah Dudley Perkins, who was born Oct. 14, 1838, in 
 Charleston, now St. Charles, Kane Co., 111., and is 
 the daughter of Otho W. and Nancy K. Perkins. Her 
 father was born June 16, 1807, in Grafton Co., N. 
 H., and died in Kane Co., 111., Sept. 13, 1870. He 
 was a settler in that county in 1835, in its early 
 period of development, and became prominently 
 identified with its progress. His wife, Nancy (Kelley) 
 Perkins, was born July 3, 1808, in Belknap Co., N. 
 H., and died June 30, 1863. Two sons were born to 
 them, Jonathan D., May 21, 1840, and Otho W., 
 Jr., April 21, 1842: both are deceased. Mrs. Jones 
 is the oldest and only surviving child. She was edu- 
 cated at the convent of St. Agatha of the Lake, in 
 Chicago, and completed her studies at Lombard 
 University at Galesburg, 111., where she was a student 
 four years. She is a lady of superior attainments, is 
 well versed in current and classical literature, and 
 has written considerably for the press. 
 
 Of seven children born to Mr. and Mrs. Jones, but 
 two survive. Dudley Kelley, born May 5, 1862, died 
 on the day of birth. Mary Fuller was born May 10, 
 1863; Owen Dudley, born .Nov. 21, 1865, died Jan. 
 22, 1867 ; Anna K. was born Feb. 10, 1869 ; Harvey 
 Alston, Jr., born October 28, 1871, died April n, 
 1880. Sarah Dudley, born June 24, 1873, died July 
 15 following. David Dudley, born July 24, 1874, died 
 April 5, 1880. The deaths of two promising and 
 beautiful sons occurred within the same week, of 
 malignant diphtheria. The oldest surviving daugh- 
 ter, Mary Fuller, was married on Thanksgiving Day, 
 Nov. 28, 1884, to Elmer Jerome Baker, of the pub- 
 lishing house of Baker, Collings & Co., Chicago, and 
 editor and publisher of the Farm Implement. She 
 is a graduate of the High School at Sycamore, was 
 a pupil one year at the Musical Conservatory at Fort 
 Wayne, Ind., and was a student two years at Vassar 
 College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. 
 
 Since Mr. Jones came to Sycamore and identified 
 himself with its Bar and with its society, he has been 
 a prominent factor in both. When some of the traits 
 of his mind are studied, and notice is taken of the 
 persistence, energy and care with which he prose- 
 cutes his profession, coupled with the added power 
 :-x^_Ti^ ^Ai/syXj
 
 >E KALB COUNTY. 
 
 given by his well-stored mind, both of legal and 
 general knowledge, and his ability to present his 
 arguments in a forcible manner, we have the solution 
 of his unusual success at the Bar. Unlike most col- 
 lege graduates, he -has continued his studies, with 
 even a growing interest, since he left the college hall. 
 The hour of midnight often finds him poring over 
 some valuable book, more with the desire to inform 
 his mind than for entertainment. As a gentleman, 
 worthy as a representative of his profession, as well 
 as a citizen of De Kalb County, we place Mr. Jones 
 portrait in this volume. It is engraved from a pho- 
 tograph taken in 1884. 
 
 illiam H. Townsend, a farmer on section 
 n, of May field Township, is a native of 
 the same township. His father, Stephen 
 Townsend, was born in Sullivan Co., N. Y., 
 June 30, 1807, and his mother, Ann (Den- 
 man) Townsend, was born in the same county 
 15, 1809. They came to this county in 1840, 
 settling in Mayfield Township, where he died March 
 25, 1883. She is still living on the old homestead. 
 They had six children, Amos W., Nancy D., Ellen, 
 Kate A., William H. and Hattie E. 
 
 Mr. Townsend, of this sketch, was born March 16, 
 1847, and was married in Mayfield Township Oct. 
 12, 1871, to Lorena Sherwood. Her father, C. W. 
 Sherwood, was born Feb. 9, 1830, in the State of 
 New York, whence he moved to Whiteside Co., 111., 
 when he was 15 years of age. He was married to 
 Mary Landis, Nov. n, 1849, who was a native of 
 Union Co., Ind., and was born Jan. 9, 1828. They 
 moved to De Kalb County from Carroll County, 
 where they had been residents for about two years. 
 He was a minister of the Christian Church, which 
 calling he followed for 22 years. He died in Cerro 
 GordoCo., Iowa, July 7, 1878, where he had been 
 living about one week. They were the parents of 
 seven children. Lorena, Henry M., Fanny E., Sarah 
 J., William F., Emma and Edward. Mrs. Townsend 
 was born in Whiteside Co., 111., Aug. 10, 1850. The 
 children in her family now are Hattie B., born July 
 17, 1872; R. Clyde, born Aug. 10, 1873, and died 
 vhen three months old; Winnifred, born March 12, 
 1875 ; Floyd S., born July 28, 1882, and an infant. 
 
 Mr. Townsend has held the office of Township 
 Treasurer ten years, and is the present incumbent of 
 that office. He has also been Township Clerk eight 
 years, Road Commissioner, School Director, etc. He 
 is a Republican in political matters, and in religion \t. 
 both himself and wife belong to the Christian Church. 
 
 
 S. Joiner is a farmer on section 26, 
 Mayfield Township. His parents, Syl- 
 vanus and Beulah (Smith) Joiner, natives 
 of Vermont, first settled in Wolcott, Wayne 
 Co., N. Y., then in Pike, Allegany Co., same 
 State. In 1842 they came and settled in 
 Mayfield Township, this county, where they spent 
 the remainder of their days. She died Sept. 16, 
 1863, and he Dec. 30, 1866. They had nine chil- 
 dren, Alta, Andrew, Cyrus S., Osgood C., Corinna, 
 Henry J., Daniel P., Floretta and Hudson H. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was born in Wolcott, 
 Wayne Co., N. Y., Oct. 5, 1813, and when 16 
 years old he went to Pike, Allegany Co., N. Y. In 
 1837 he came to De Kalb Co., 111., with his wife, 
 and settled where he still lives, one of the oldest 
 pioneers in the county. His landed estate he has 
 increased from 107 to 147 acres, 130 of which is in 
 good cultivation. In politics he is a Republican, 
 and has held the office of Road Commissioner. 
 
 Mr. Joiner was married in Chautauqua Co., N. Y., 
 April 24, 1836, to Miss Eltnina, daughter of Jonathan 
 and Lois (Battles) Lyon, who were natives of Ver- 
 mont and came to De Kalb County in 1837, settling 
 in De Kalb Township, where they resided until their 
 death; she died in February, 1839, and he in April, 
 1860. Their children were Elmina, George W. and 
 Alta. Mrs. J. was born in Naples, Ontario Co., N. 
 Y., Oct. 3, 1814. Mr. and Mrs. Joiner are the par- 
 ents of six children, Oscar F., Francisco H., Helen 
 L., Orlando A., Flora M. and Alta E. Oscar F. was 
 born in De Kalb Township, April 2, 1838, and mar- 
 ried Sylvia Patridge. She was born in Allegany Co., 
 N. Y. They are the parents of two children,^Carrie 
 E. and Burt, who now reside at Independence, Kan. 
 Francisco H. was born Jan. 23, 1840, and died Sept. 
 1 6, 1847. Helen L. was born Oct. 27, 1843, and 
 died Feb. 8, 1848. Orlando A. was born July 27, 
 1849, in Mayfield Township. He married Miss 
 Laura Esther Camp. She is the daughter of Frank- 
 
 m t JSIS\jy A; 
 
 r 
 
 \,
 
 COUNTY. 
 
 
 lin and Eliza B. (Dow) Camp, natives of New Hamp- 
 shire. She was bom June 4, 1851, in Mayfield 
 Township. They are the parents of three children, 
 Arthur D., born Oct. 22, 1873 ; Leon A., born 
 June 24, 1876; and Elmer F., born June 29, 1881. 
 They are residing on the homestead with the parents 
 of Mr. J. Flora M. was born Feb. 27, 1849, and is 
 the wife of E. P. Smith. She. was married Jan. 6, 
 1870. They have one child, Albert P., and re- 
 side in Mayfield Township. Alta E. was born 
 March 19, 1852, and died May 30, 1858. 
 
 dward Barringer, farmer, section 25, 
 Franklin Township, was born March 30, 
 1828, six miles from the city of Troy, N. 
 Y., in Rensselaer County, and is the son of 
 Martin and Mary A. (Ives) Barringer, born and 
 J bred farmers in the Empire State. When the 
 son was six years old his parents removed to Genesee 
 County, in the State of New York, coming thence in 
 1844 to Franklin Township, where they resumed 
 their accustomed vocation, becoming landholders. 
 The mother died at Belvidere June 27, 1877; th-i 
 father died in Florida, in November, 1880. 
 
 Mr. Barringer was married at Belvidere, June 5, 
 1856, to Maryette Rote. She was born Jan. 12, 
 1831, in Lycoming Co., Pa. Her father, Rev. Daniel 
 Rote (see sketch of Francis Rote on another page of 
 this work), descended from Holland ancestry, was a 
 minister in the Keystone State for many yea'rs and 
 followed the same calling after his removal to De 
 Kalb County in 1846. He died in Franklin Town- 
 ship in 1864. The mother, Mary (Kitchen) Rote, 
 was born in Vermont and died in 1865, aged 77 
 years. The father was 73 years old when his de- 
 mise occurred. Mrs. Barringer was 15 years of age 
 when she accompanied her parents to the State of 
 Illinois. Her children are three in number. Carrie 
 is a medical practitioner at Alden, McHenry Co., 
 III.; Emma is the wife of S. P. Crosby, who is manag- 
 ing the Barringer homestead ; and Carrie A., who 
 died when 18 years old. 
 
 After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Barringer set- 
 tled on 80 acres located on section 25 of Franklin 
 Township. The homestead property includes 240 
 acres, all under good cultivation, with fine farm 
 
 buildings. The place is a good sample of the rapid 
 development possible in a prairie State under the 
 impetus of energy and judgment. 
 
 Mr. Barringer is a staunch and active Republican. 
 He is a member of the Baptist Church, and his wife 
 belongs to the denomination known as "Christians." 
 
 enry M. Thomas, farmer, section 30, Kings- 
 ton Township, was born Sept. 8, 1830, in 
 Chautauqua Co., N. Y., and is the son of 
 R. B. and Eliza C. (Tuttle) Thomas, the former 
 a native of New York, the latter of Massachu- 
 setts. They had three children, of whom Mr. 
 Thomas is the youngest. He was about nine years 
 of age when his parents removed their family to 
 Ogle Co., 111., and they removed thence to De Kalb 
 County six years later, settling in Kingston Town- 
 ship. Mr. Thomas engaged in farming, which he 
 has since pursued, and he is the owner of 200 acres 
 of land, nearly all of which is, improved. During 
 the course of the Civil War he was drafted, but sup- 
 plied a substitute, to whom he paid $808. 
 
 Mr. Thomas was married Dec. 23, 1855, in Chi- 
 sago Co., Minn., to Mary Ring, and their four chil- 
 dren were born as follows: R. B., Aug. 7, 1864; 
 Eliza B., Aug. 23, 1866; Cornelius T., born May 2, 
 1858, died Sept. 5 of the same year; and Minnie L., 
 born April 21, 1863, died May 26, 1879. Mrs. 
 Thomas is the daughter of Cornelius and Ellen 
 Ring, and was born March 22, 1837, in Erie Co., 
 Pa. Her parents were born in Ireland. They re- 
 moved in her childhood to Peru, 111., where her 
 father died, and later her widowed mother went to 
 Minnesota. Mr. Thomas is an uncompromising Re- 
 publican. 
 
 artin L. Ives, resident of Kirkland, was 
 born -n Troy, N. Y., Nov. 18, 1834. His 
 parents, Jacob and Louisa (Quacken- 
 bush) Ives, belonged to the farming com- 
 munity in the State of New York, and were 1 f 
 residents of Genesee County, where the mother ^ 
 died in 1838. In 1848, the father came to Franklin ) 
 Township with two young children, Martin and 
 daughter. They settled on 40 acres of land pur- 

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 chased by the father. His death in March, 1849, 
 deprived the little ones of a father's care and left 
 them wholly orphaned. They were therefore placed 
 in charge of a sister, who had removed to the same 
 township two years previous. Mr. Ives remained 
 with her some time and obtained a fair degree of 
 schooling. When he was old enough he became a 
 farm laborer, and was employed at various points 
 until his marriage, Dec. i, 1861, to Eliza C., daugh- 
 ter of Leonard and Margaret W. (Dibble) Aurner. 
 
 { Her parents were natives respectively of Pennsylva- 
 nia and New York, and were of German and Scotch 
 
 descent. Their marriage took place in Michigan, 
 and they settled in Illinois in 1837. Mrs. Ives was 
 born July 12, 1839, on her father's homestead, and 
 was reared and educated in the same township. 
 When she was 17 years of age she became a teach- 
 er, and pursued that calling as a vocation until her 
 
 \ marriage. She is the mother of two childreh. Ada 
 M. was married Feb. 7, 1882, to John G. McKee, a 
 
 . native of Pennsylvania. They have one child, 
 
 i Roy I. The second child of Mr. and Mrs. Ives is 
 
 J named William G. 
 
 * Mr. Ives purchased 120 acres of land in Kingston 
 
 ? Township, situated on section 30, on which the fam- 
 ily lived and were engaged in the pursuits common 
 /I to agriculture until 1884. In that year they removed 
 to Kirkland and purchased village property, on 
 which they established their home for their declining 
 years. Mr. Ives is the proprietor of a valuable farm, 
 comprising 280 acres in Kingston Township. In his 
 political faith he is an uncompromising Republican, 
 and has held the position of School Director 21 
 JF years, besides occupying the incumbency of nearly 
 & \ every other township office. Mrs. Ives has been an 
 active and useful member of the Methodist Episco- 
 pal Church since she was 14 years of age, and has 
 officiated as Superintendent of the .Sunday-school in 
 the village of Kirkland for the last three years. 
 
 *-- 
 
 -S 5-< 
 
 fames L. Clark, clergyman and farmer, sec- 
 tion 10, Mayfield Township, is a son of 
 Nathaniel and Mary A. (Flemming) Clark, 
 natives of the North of Ireland. They were 
 married and resided in that country until the 
 spring of 1838, when they emigrated to the 
 United States, locating at Pittsburg, Pa. In the fall 
 
 " 
 
 of 1842 they came to this State and for 21 years, 
 until 1863, they were residents of La Salle County. 
 In the spring of the latter year they removed to 
 Somonauk, this county, and after a residence there 
 of 14 years, until 1877, they removed to Mayfield 
 Township, where they are at present residing. Their 
 family comprised seven children, three of whom are 
 yet living, namely: James I., William and John D.; 
 Margaret and Eva died at the age of 10 years each; 
 two died in infancy. 
 
 James L., the eldest son, and subject of this no- 
 tice, was born in Ireland, Jan. i, 1837. The follow- 
 ing spring his parents emigrated to the United 
 States, and James remained under the parental roof- 
 tree, assisting his father and attending the com- 
 mon schools until he had attained the age of 16 
 years. On arriving at that age he entered Wheaton 
 College, at Wheaton, Du Page County, this State, 
 and was there engaged in prosecuting his studies, 
 a portion of five years, assisting his father during 
 the summer seasons on the farm. 
 
 After leaving Wheaton College, Mr. Clark engaged 
 in teaching, which profession he followed for a period 
 of nine years, meeting with unqualified success. 
 
 Abandoning the profession of a teacher, he assist- 
 ed an Elder of the Wesleyan Methodist Church 
 on his circuit, and in the fall of 1867 came to May- 
 field Township, this county, and engaged in preach- 
 ing the faith of that Church, being ordained in 
 the fall of 1868. He was attached to the Rock 
 River Circuit, of the Illinois Conference, and for 
 three years followed his profession on that circuit. 
 He was President of the Conference six years, and 
 Secretary three years. From there he went to Boone 
 County, this State, at which place he was engaged 
 in the ministry for anothen three years, converting 
 many to the faith he preached. 
 
 From Boone County he returned to Sycamore, 
 this county, and was in charge of the Wesleyan 
 Methodist Church of that city for three years. He 
 then moved on his farm of 160 acres, on section 10, 
 Mayfield Township, where he is at present residing. 
 Rev. Clark has not abandoned the ministry, although 
 he follows the vocation of a farmer, and preaches in 
 the Wesleyan Methodist Church at Mayfield and 
 also ^t Sycamore. His farm of 160 acres has about 
 100 acres under cultivation. 
 
 Rev. Clark was united in marriage to Miss Martha 
 
 I* 
 / 
 
 j i 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 4 
 
 c)
 
 ~yv ^17 >iw 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 
 Henderson, in Harding, La Salle Co., this State, April 
 5, 1860. She is a daughter of John H. and Elizabeth 
 E. (Powell) Henderson, natives of Kentucky and 
 North Carolina respectively. They were married 
 and settled in Brownsville, Haywood Co., Tenn. 
 Her father was so strongly an advocate and lecturer 
 on anti-slavery that he concluded the climate of 
 Tennessee was "unhealthy" for one entertaining those 
 views, and especially one who had the courage to 
 proclaim them, and concluded to move North. He 
 accordingly came to La Salle County, this State, with 
 his family and located on Indian Creek, that county, 
 in June, 1829. They were driven from that county 
 on account of Indian troubles, and for three years 
 Mr. Henderson taught school in Sangamon County, 
 this State, whence he had moved his family. He 
 then returned to his home in La Salle County, where 
 he resided until his death, which event occurred in 
 1848. They were the parents of seven children, 
 namely : Mary, George W., Francis, Erastus F.> 
 Martha, Sarah and Annetta. . .. 
 
 Mrs. Clark was born in Freedom, La Salle Co., 
 this State, Sept. 17, 1841. .She is the mother of 
 seven children by Mr. Clark. Five of them are 
 living, namely: Victor I., born March 22, 1862 > 
 James M., born Dec. 20, 1866; John, born July 16' 
 1869; Mary E., born Dec. 28, 1871 ; and Arthur J. 
 F., born June 30, 1880. Evangeline, born Dec. 28 ; 
 1864, died March 4, r875 ; and one died in infancy. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Clark affiliates with the Republican 
 party ,but is a strong temperance man, and last Novem- 
 ber voted with the Prohibition party. He has held 
 the office of Town Trustee for about two terms, and 
 is a respected and esteemed citizen of the county. 
 
 ^amuel H. Harrington, farmer, section 32, 
 Franklin Township, is the son of S. P. and 
 Polly (Hicks) Harrington, and was born on 
 section 20, April 24, 1849. He passed the 
 years of his minority in alternate labor on his 
 father's farm and in attendance at the public 
 school. When he became of age he assumed the 
 management of the homestead estate. He was mar- 
 ried Jan. i, 1873, in Belvidere, Boone Co., IH., to 
 Sarah B. Blanchard. She was born in Flora Town- 
 ship, Boone Co., 111., and is the oldest of four chil- 
 
 dren. Her parents, Roswell and Elizabeth (Whiting) 
 Blanchard, were natives respectively of New York 
 and Maine, and came in early life to Boone County, 
 where they met and were married. They became 
 farmers in that county, and a few years later sold 
 their property in Flora Township, removing thence to 
 Genoa Township in De Kalb County, purchasing a 
 large farm, which they continued to conduct until 
 1880, the date of their settlement in the village of 
 Genoa. They are still resident there and aged 63 
 and 58 years. Mr. and Mrs. Harrington have three 
 children Ina E., Ralph E. and Oldis I. 
 
 Mr. Harrington became proprietor of his father's 
 farm by purchase after his marriage. The homestead 
 included 160 acres, which he has increased by later 
 purchase to 200 acres, and the entire acreage is under 
 improvement. He has recently become interested in 
 raising Durham cattle. Politically he is a Repub- 
 lican, and is active and influential in the local ranks 
 of that element. 
 
 .iram G. Vandeburgh, farmer, section 32, 
 Kingston Township, has been a resident of 
 De Kalb County since 1847. His parents, 
 Cornelius and Nancy (Swartwood) Vandeburgh, 
 were born respectively in New Jersey and New 
 York. After their marriage they located in the 
 latter State and subsequently removed to Pennsylva- 
 nia, going thence to Ohio. The mother died in that 
 State, and the senior Vandeburgh came with his 
 family to De Kalb County, dying in Kingston Town- 
 ship, Jan. 15, 1870. 
 
 Mr. Vandeburgh is the youngest of 10 children, 
 and was born Aug. 4 , 1827. He obtained the limited 
 common-school education possible at the time when 
 his parents resided in Ohio, whither they removed 
 when he was two years of age, and he lived with 
 them in the Buckeye State during their residence 
 there, and came in 1847 with the father to De Kalb 
 County. He has lived since continuously in Kings- 
 ton Township, with the exception of four years which 
 he spent at Kalamazoo, Mich., engaged in carpen- 
 tering. In 1849 he became the proprietor of 80 
 acres, and now owns 180^ acres of land, which in- 
 cludes 20 y 2 acres in timber. 
 
 Mr. Vandeburgh was married Oct. i, 1854, in the 
 
 1 
 
 ^\Vpr^zJ5 
 
 J* ><^ : '>.--
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 3FT8E
 
 i 
 
 

 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 township of Mayfield, to Caroline E. Fairclo, a native 
 of Illinois. She died in Kingston, Mays, 1 86 Cleav- 
 ing two children : Isaiah, born Aug. 28,1855; an< ^ 
 Orilla, Sept. 14, 1860. The daughter is the wife of 
 C. W. Parker, of Kingston Township. Mr. V. was 
 again married March 4, 1865, in Mayfield Town- 
 ship, to Mary E., daughter of Samuel and Mary 
 (Tower) Knight. Her parents were born respect- 
 ively in the States of Maryland and Vermont. After 
 their marriage they settled in Illinois, and in 1845 
 located in De Kalb County, where they are among 
 the useful and substantial citizens, and among the 
 first settlers. They have had 10 children, and Mrs. 
 V. is the second in order of birth. She was born in 
 Columbus, Adams Co., 111., May 24, 1842. She is 
 the mother of one child, Lydia A., born in Kings- 
 ton, July 6, 1868. 
 
 Mr. V. is a Republican in political belief and con- 
 nections. 
 
 -* **&'*--! 
 
 form M. Severy, stockman and farmer, sec- 
 tion 27, Somonauk Township, was born 
 Nov. 4, 1829, in Oxford Co., Maine, in the 
 town of Dixfield. His father, Jacob Sever}', 
 was born Feb. 3, 1795, in Sutton, Mass., which 
 was also the birthplace of John's mother, Re- 
 becca (Stevens) Severy. She was born Feb. 1 1, 1787, 
 and died in Dixfield, on her birthday in 1832. Jacob 
 Severy was born Feb. 3, 1795, and died in Jay, 
 Maine, Aug. 15, 1877. They were members of the 
 agricultural class and had four children. One is de- 
 ceased. Dexter is a breeder of and dealer in Hol- 
 stein stock in Victor Township. Satira is not living. 
 Hiram is a Holstein stock-raiser in Adams Town- 
 ship, La Salle Co., 111. 
 
 Mr. Severy is the youngest child and is a farmer 
 by training and inheritance, having been brought up 
 to that calling. He also learned the details and art 
 of house and sign painting, which he pursued seven 
 years. In 1853 he bought 80 acres of land in Som- 
 onauk Township, on which he has since resided and 
 prosecuted his business. He has 132 acres in his 
 present estate. For more than a score of years he 
 was extensively interested in raising fine Poland- 
 China swine, and in 1882 he inaugurated his busi- 
 ness in Holstein cattle by the purchase of six thor- 
 oughbreds. His herd includes 14 thoroughbreds 
 /f>2,/ft >nU?xXi^' /"> A. 
 
 (fifteen-sixteenths) and 1 8 high grades (seven-eighths). 
 He has one fine registered animal, Prince of Keno- 
 sha, numbered 1,728 in the H. H. B. His drove ot 
 swine contains commonly about 125 head, and his 
 place has all the modern facilities for cattle breeding. 
 Mr. Severy was united in marriage Jan. 17, 1855, 
 in Lowell, Mass., by Rev. A. Brewster, to Sarah 
 Hubbard, and they have two children, Francis E., 
 born Feb. 9, 1859, wife of Edward Martin, and resi- 
 dent on her father's farm; John M. was born Oct. I, 
 1867; two children Sarah J. and John M. (ist) 
 are deceased. Mrs. Severy is the daughter of Jeremiah 
 and Jemima (Stewart) Hubbard, and was born Oct. 
 23, 1829, in Wells, Maine. 
 
 ames Richards, farmer, section 19, South 
 Grove Township, was born Sept. 3, 1818, 
 at Saratoga Springs, N. Y. Jacob Rich- 
 ards, his father, was of Welsh lineage and 
 New England parentage, his ancestors having 
 removed from that section of the United States 
 to the neighboring State of New York, in its pioneer 
 period. He married Nancy wood, who was born in 
 Greenfield, Saratoga County, and was a resident of 
 that county throughout her entire life. Her death 
 occurred in 1859, when she was 73 years old. The 
 father died in May, 1842. Their family included 10 
 children, of whom two are deceased. 
 
 Mr. Richards was the seventh child of his parents, 
 and continued under the parental roof until of age. 
 He was educated at the academy at Stillwater, N. Y., 
 and in the year following that in which he attained 
 his majority he began teaching in Saratoga County, 
 which he made his vocation until his marriage, Sept. 
 20, 1849, to Lucretia Ward. The ancestral stock 
 from which Mrs. Richards descended was originally 
 Scotch. Six generations of Wards who preceded her 
 father were descended from three families bearing 
 the family name who came to this country from 
 Scotland, and from them the name is diffused through- 
 out the New World. William and Harriet (Ross) 
 Ward, the parents of Mrs. Richards, trace their im- 
 mediate descent from New England branches, some 
 of whose members were soldiers of the war for inde- 
 pendence. The father died in Worcester Co., Mass.; 
 the mother died in Saratoga County, in 1884, at the 
 age of 86 years. Mrs. Richards was born April 10, 
 
 *<& ^^^ 
 
 &
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 20, in Petersham, Worcester Co., Mass. Her 
 father died when she was five years of age, and she 
 remained under the control of her mother until she 
 was 13 years old; when she began to fit herself for a 
 (c>; teacher. She commenced her labors in that line 
 when 1 6 years old, passing alternate seasons between 
 school and teaching, and afterwards in study at the 
 State Normal School at Albany, where she was 
 graduated in 1845, in the first class that graduated 
 at that school. Of her marriage, four children have 
 ( been born, and three are living. Harriet W. mar- 
 j> ried Harry Wadey, a farmer of Lynnville Township, 
 i Ogle Co., 111. Their marriage occurred in 1870. 
 Martha A. is the wife of George Tindall, of South 
 Grove Township. Jessie L. married Solomon M. 
 Hollis, of Kane County, who is engaged in the wind- 
 mill business. The deceased child was a daughter 
 and was named Carrie C. 
 
 Immediately after their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Richards settled in Winnebago Co., 111., and soon 
 -. afterward bought a farm in Creston, which he sold 
 jSj later and became, in 1868, by purchase, the pro- 
 Jr? prietor of 93 acres, on which he has since resided, in 
 *2- De Kalb County. The tract is all under cultivation, 
 = and has excellent farm buildings. 
 Vr Mr. Richards is an enthusiast in politics and has 
 ^ contributed for a number of years to the local press, 
 ) being a candid and forcible writer. He has been 
 Postmaster of Deerfield Prairie since 1868, and has 
 other important local positions, among which are 
 those of Assessor and Trustee. 
 
 Among the prominent and representative citizens 
 of the county whose portraits we present in this book, 
 i we take pleasure in giving that of Mr. Richards, 
 x* J which was engraved from a photograph taken in 1884. 
 
 .enry T. Merrill, farmer, section 25, Frank- 
 lin Township, is an apiarist and manufac- 
 turer of cider and butter. He was born 
 Sept. 26, 1814, in Delaware Co., N. Y. His 
 father, William Merrill, was born in Connecti- 
 cut, and was a shoemaker by trade, and also a 
 tanner and currier. His marriage to Catherine Wil- 
 ber took place in Delaware County, where she was 
 born and passed her entire life, dying July 8, 1850, 
 it the age of 62 years. She became the mother of 
 S^ g- 
 
 it children. In 1838 the father came West and 
 died Oct. 7, of the same year, at the residence of his 
 daughter, Mrs. Mary Olmstead. He was 53 years 
 of age. 
 
 Mr. Merrill was the sixth child of his parents, and 
 was one of the four who survived their earliest 
 youth. He was brought up and educated in his native 
 county, obtaining a good common-school education, 
 which he supplemented by a course of commercial 
 study at the business college at Albany, N. Y. 
 
 He was married Feb. n, 1839, in Oswego Co., N. 
 Y., to Mrs. Catherine Merrill, daughter of John I. 
 and Sarah (Lucky) Burst. Her parents were mem- 
 bers of the agricultural class of the State of New 
 York, and in the maternal line were descendants 
 from the French Huguenots. They passed the clos- 
 ing years of their lives with their children at Frank- 
 linville, McHenry Co., 111. Mrs. Merrill was born 
 Oct. 9, 1815, in Schoharie Co., N. Y. She was a 
 pupil at school in her native county, where she lived 
 until her marriage to her first husband, John W. 
 Merrill, by whom she had two children. Sarah is 
 the wife of David Johnson, of Marengo, McHenry 
 Co., 111. She died April 6, 1867. Lewis is a farmer 
 and resides in Kingston Township. Of her second 
 marriage, five children have been born : John, Jan. 
 29, 1849; Sanford, Jan. 13, 1852; Maria E., March 
 4, 1855 ; Mary was born Dec. 6, 1842, and married 
 March 4, 1874, to Hiram Burchfield, and resides in 
 Kingston Township; Clara was born Aug. 14, 1856, 
 and was married Nov. 26, 1881, to Byron G. Bur- 
 bank, an attorney and now a professional teacher, 
 which is also the vocation of his wife. They are 
 perfecting their knowledge of the German language 
 at Hamburg. 
 
 In 1851 Mr. and Mrs. Merrill located in Franklin 
 Township, where the former established himself in 
 the business of a merchant, in which he had been 
 engaged in the State of his nativity. He erected the 
 first building for the exclusive purpose of mercantile 
 business in the township, and he was the means of 
 the establishment of one of the first postoffices in 
 the county, which was designated Lacy. He con- 
 tinued its official for a period of nearly 20 years, and 
 is the senior Postmaster in the county, as well as the 
 longest in office. He is the owner of 101 acres of 
 land, and attends to the several varieties of business 
 specified at the beginning of this sketch. In politi- 
 5? ^Sgsjsr -^f^S^v^
 
 KALB COUNTY. 
 
 cal faith and connections he is a Republican, and 
 has discharged the duties of nearly every local posi- 
 tion in his township. The family attend -the Method- 
 ist Episcopal Church, of which the mother is an 
 earnest and active member. 
 
 hilander Murdock Alden, cashier of the 
 Sycamore National Bank, was born Jan. 27, 
 1835, in Lyme, Grafton Co., N. H. He is a 
 lineal descendant of the historic pair at Plym- 
 outh, John Alden and Priscilla Molines or 
 Mullens, who discussed the claims of Miles 
 Standish to the lady's favor, which resulted in her 
 question, "Why don't you speak for yourself, John?" 
 Joseph Alden, the second son of John and Priscilla, 
 was born in 1624 and became the father of six chil- 
 dren. His son John was born about 1669. David, 
 oldest son of the latter, was born in 1702, and by his 
 marriage eight children were born. David, second 
 son, was born in 1730, and became the father 
 of four sons and two daughters. Andrew, young- 
 est son, was born about 1765, and his second 
 son, Philander, was born in 1799, on the loth 
 day of November. Of the marriage of the latter 
 to Polly L. Murdock, six sons and a daughter were 
 born. P. M. Alden, of this sketch, who is the young- 
 est of the sons, represents the present generation, and 
 is the sixth in direct line of descent from his illustri- 
 ous ancestor, who was the last male survivor of the 
 Mayflower emigrants, and who signed the compact 
 in her cabin before landing at Plymouth Rock. We 
 have no record of his ancestry in England previous to 
 the emigration. Philander Alden died March 8, 
 1835, at Lyme. His wife was born Aug. 20, 1801, 
 and is still living at Sycamore, at the advanced age 
 of 83 years. Calvin Murdock, maternal grandsire of 
 P. M. Alden, was born Oct. 10, 1775, and died Oct. 
 9, 1807. His wife, Polly (nee Leonard) Murdock, 
 was born in 1780 and died in 1859. They were 
 Scotch by descent. Of the family of Philander and 
 Polly Alden, four children survive; George L., mer- 
 chant at Middleboro, Mass.; Thomas J., freight agent 
 at Campello, Mass.; Mary L., wife of Hon. Samuel 
 Alden, of Sycamore ; and Philander M., the subject 
 of this sketch. Martha Jane, wife of A. W. Sawyer, 
 of Sycamore, is a half sister. 
 
 Mr. Alden obtained a good common-school educa- 
 
 tion, and completed his studies at the High School in 
 his native place, coming West at the age of 20 years. 
 During the first year of his stay in De Kalb County, 
 he was occupied as a farm assistant in the township 
 of Mayfield. He taught school the following winter, 
 and in 1856 came to Sycamore, where he followed 
 the bent of inclination and acquired a complete 
 knowledge of the art of making daguerreotypes and 
 ambrotypes. He made a success of that line of busi- 
 ness until the crisis of 1857, when the stringencies of 
 the times wrought such a change in the faces of his 
 patrons as precluded their reproduction on plates or 
 in ordinary cameras (unless in sections) from in- 
 ordinate length (!), and Mr. Alden disposed of his 
 business. Within the sarne year he obtained the 
 position of Clerk in the Recorder's office at Sycamore, 
 under James H. Beveridge, where he officiated until 
 1859. In that year he entered the banking house of 
 the late J. -S. Waterman. He discharged the duties 
 of cashier and confidential clerk in that institution 
 until 1864, with no intermission save a period of 
 three months in 1861, which he passed m the mili- 
 tary service of the United States, as leader of the 
 1 3th Illinois regimental band (recruited and organized 
 by his efforts), with the rank of Lieutenant. In 1864 
 he accepted an appointment in the State Savings 
 Bank of Chicago, where he was employed two years. 
 In 1866 he became a traveling agent in the interests 
 of various fire insurance companies, as a general ad- 
 juster of losses and supervisor of agencies. In 1870 he 
 became assistant and acting secretary of the Lamar 
 Insurance Company of Chicago, a corporation of 
 which the Hon. Leonard Swett was President. His 
 connection with that body was terminated by the 
 great fire of October, 1871. At the earnest solicita- 
 tion of J. S. Waterman and others, he returned to 
 Sycamore and was elected to the responsible position 
 which he has since held in the National Bank, and 
 in which he is now a heavy stock-holder. Since 
 the death of James S. Waterman in July, 1883, Mr. 
 Alden, having been named in the will as one of the 
 executors of the estate, has borne the chief responsi- 
 bility in the settlement of the extensive connections 
 of the property, which is estimated at a value of more 
 than half a million dollars. He is also executor and 
 administrator of the estates of John S. Hunt and 
 John C. Waterman, deceased. The manner in which 
 Mr. Alden has executed the responsibilities of the 
 trusts devolving upon him, proves the genuineness of 
 
 '
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 
 
 his integrity and the justice of the reputation he has 
 earned for energy and executive ability, as well as 
 probity and unswerving rectitude. 
 
 Mr. Alden's general relations with the interests of 
 Sycamore are as extensive as those of any of its citi- 
 zens, and he gives considerate attention and substan- 
 tial aid to all schemes, religious, educational, or in 
 any sense conducive to the general welfare. He has 
 been identified with many of the manufacturing en- 
 terprises established at various periods at Sycamore. 
 
 On the organization of the Board of Education he 
 was elected a member thereof and made its Secre- 
 tary. He officiated in that office six years, taking a 
 special interest in and giving much personal attention 
 to matters pertaining to educational affairs. He is at 
 present (1885) Township Treasurer of Sycamore, 
 having be^n appointed his own successor in that re- 
 sponsible office. As a member of the Board of Mana- 
 gers, and as Secretary and Treasurer of the Elmwood 
 Cemetery Company, in which positions he has offici- 
 ated a number of years, he has accomplished much in 
 the way of improving and beautifying the grounds 
 connected according to the purpose for which they 
 are set apart. Together with other business interests 
 at Sycamore, he established an insurance agency, 
 and has since conducted extensive and successful 
 relations in that avenue, being at the date of this 
 writing assisted by his son, Fred H. Alden. He rep- 
 resents 14 leading home and foreign fire insurance 
 companies, with an aggregate capital of nearly 
 $100,000,000. 
 
 Mr. Alden is a member of the Congregational 
 Church, an officerof the society, and an active worker 
 in the Sunday-school. He has been Superintendent 
 for several years, also a prominent member of the choir, 
 and characteristically interested and alert in discern- 
 ing and promoting the welfare of the Church. The 
 entire family of Mr. Alden are members of the same 
 Church; a fact worthy of note. 
 
 The marriage of Mr. Alden to Laura J. Sawyer, of 
 Sycamore, took place Feb. 29, 1860. SJie is the 
 daughter of Alfred and Margaret Sawyer, and was 
 born in Massachusetts, March 13, 1843. The union 
 of Mr. and Mrs. Alden has been blessed by the birth 
 of four children. The first Henry L. died in in- 
 fancy. The others Susie E., Abbie W. and Frjd 
 H. are still joyous members of a model household, 
 md bless and brighten the home circle. The family 
 residence is on Somonauk Street. It is known as the 
 
 highest of earth's treasures, a happy home enshrin- 
 ing happy parents and happy children. 
 
 Mr. Alden, in his character and daily walk, is a fine 
 representative of the stock from which he springs. 
 He inherits all the traits of the best elements of 
 New England, which has supplied the material for 
 men who ha-ve constructed the West. Like his an- 
 cestors, he is a self-made man. He is not only tem- 
 perate in his habits, but he also is and has always 
 been a total abstainer from the use of tobacco or 
 liquor in any form. 
 
 orton McKeague, farmer, section 32, King- 
 ston Township, was born July 15, 1830, in 
 the county of Durham, Ont., and is the 
 son of William and Charlotte (McDonald) 
 McKeague, both of whom were born in Canada, 
 of Scotch ancestry. They continued to reside 
 in Canada after their marriage, and there passed 
 their entire lives, where they reared their six chil- 
 dren, named Norton, Diana, William, George, Helen 
 and Mary. 
 
 Mr. McKeague was educated in the excellent 
 schools of the Dominion, remaining until he was 18 
 years of age, receiving a thorough course of instruc- 
 tion in agricultural pursuits. At the age mentioned 
 he went to the State of New York and passed three 
 years in Livingston County, and subsequently re- 
 turned to Canada. He remained there about 18 
 months, and in October, 1853, he came to Kane Co., 
 111. He operated there four years, and in 1857 re- 
 moved to De Kalb County. He purchased 85 acres 
 in Kingston Township, which has since been his 
 homestead. Five acres of his estate are in timber. 
 He has spent six years in Grand Traverse Co., 
 Mich., where he was employed between two and 
 three years in a saw-mill, and at the end of that time- 
 he built a grist-mill, and he continued its manage- 
 ment more than two years. 
 
 In political faith and principles Mr. McKeague is 
 a Republican. He has officiated two terms as 
 School Director, and the same length of time as 
 Overseer of Highways. 
 
 He was married March 5, 1854, in Kane Co., 111., 
 to Mary A., daughter of Samuel and Catherine Ault. 
 Her parents were born in Pennsylvania, and came 

 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 fi 
 
 to Kane County in 1 85 1 . Two years after, they set- 
 tled in the township of Kingston. The mother died 
 March 28, 1866; the father's death occurred Nov. 
 17, 1868. Mrs. McKeague was born March 9, 1826, 
 in Lycoming Co., Pa. Of her marriage six children 
 have been born: William B., Dec. 27, 1854; Sam- 
 uel F., Aug. 24, 1856; Catherine, May 16, 1858; 
 Addison A., March 19, 1860; Clara, Aug. 23, 1861 ; 
 Myron, Dec. 23, 1864. 
 
 eorge W. Gurley, of Sandwich, is the 
 fifth lineal descendant from William Gur- 
 ley, a younger son of a Scotch earl who 
 ras born in Scotland in 1665, and surrepti- 
 :iously brought thence to America when he was 
 4 years of age. He was reared at Northamp- 
 ton, Mass., was married there and lost his life by 
 drowning when 22 years old. He left a son, Samuel 
 Gurley, who was born May 17, 1687, and died Feb. 
 23, 1760. He became the father of two sons and 
 eight daughters. Samuel (2d), the third child and 
 youngest son, was born June 30, 1717, married Sarah 
 Ward, and after her death became the husband of 
 Hannah Walker. Five children were born to him, 
 Nahum, Hannah, Lois, Zenas and Margaret. Zenas, 
 the youngest son, was married to L. Dimock and 
 afterward to E. Hovey, becoming by the second mar- 
 riage the father of four children, Henry, Eunice, 
 Lovinia and Zenas H. The last named was born in 
 1 80 1 and married Margaret Hickey, Sept. 18, 1825. 
 He died Aug. 28, 1872. To him and his wife u 
 children were born, four dying in infancy. Of those 
 who attained mature age, Samuel, Louisa and Julia 
 M. were married and are now deceased ; the two latter 
 left families. Col. John E. Gurley is also deceased. 
 Zenas is a resident at Pleasanton, Decatur Co., 
 Iowa, and has a wife and five children. Mr. Gurley 
 is next in order. Edwin H., a resident of Lamoni, 
 Decatur Co., Iowa, has a wife and two sons, 
 Zenas and Edwin. The two brothers last named are 
 ministers. John E. was a practicing attorney at 
 Shullsburg, Lafayette Co., Wis., and became a 
 soldier for the Union. He raised and organized a 
 company of volunteers and was made its Captain. It 
 rent to the field as Co. E, 33d Wis. Vol. Inf., and 
 ras in active military service throughout the entire 
 
 war. He was a brave soldier and a competent 
 officer, and returned to Wisconsin after the termina- 
 tion of the conflict, with the rank of Colonel. His 
 long and arduous service was the cause of his death, 
 in April, 1868. Zenas H. Gurley, the father, was 
 for a number of years a clergyman, and at the 
 time of his death was a minister in the denomination 
 known as the Latter-Day Saints. He died on Buffalo 
 Prairie, 111. 
 
 Mr. Gurley of this- sketch was born Dec. i, 1847, 
 at Elizabeth, Jo Daviess Co., 111. His parents re- 
 moved soon after to Lafayette Co., Wis., remaining 
 there about ten years and locating next on a farm 
 near Galesburg, 111. In 1864 they settled in Ken- 
 dall County, two miles east of Sandwich. When he 
 was 15 years old, Mr. Gurley entered the High 
 School at Mount Carroll, 111., where he was a stu- 
 dent through four successive winters, passing his 
 spare time in working for his board and tuition and 
 he also sawed wood to pay for his books. When he 
 was 17 years of age he bought his time and engaged 
 in teaching, two miles east of Sandwich, in what was 
 then Tollman's district, where he engaged in that 
 profession winters, at $40 dollars per month. In the 
 summer of 1866 he finished his course of study at 
 the High School at Mount Carroll. 
 
 In the spring of 1867 he engaged as a salesman in 
 the store of A. B. Crofoot at Sandwich, receving for 
 his services $15 per month. He continued in the 
 position nearly two years, when he took charge of a 
 branch store at Piano, in the interest of the same 
 employer, being there six months. He went to Mex- 
 ico, Mo., where he was employed two years, at a 
 yearly salary of $800, and expenses. On the ter- 
 mination of that engagement he went to Wisconsin 
 and entered the employment of his brother in a 
 general mercantile establishment. The business asso- 
 ciate of his brother died, and Mr. Gurley settled the 
 estate, after which he returned to Sandwich (1873). 
 He engaged as a salesman in a store, and two years 
 later formed a co-partnership in the sale of general 
 merchandise, under the firm style of Pratt, Good- 
 man & Gurley. After operating three years the house 
 became Pratt & Gurley, the new firm prosecuting 
 their affairs jointly about four years. Mr. Gurley 
 sold out in 1882 and entered the employment of the 
 Sandwich Manufacturing Company, operating at first 
 as an expert in the machine department and 
 
 /-> ^^Myr- cc&V->J&a) 
 
 1 ' ) ^p s >4flp K - ^ ^^^^" **^rTiiJcj/V\S-' 
 
 r
 
 COUNTY. 
 
 Llf 
 
 salesman, also acting as collector and in the transac- 
 tion of general business. On the first day of Sep- 
 tember, 1884, he was placed in the office and the 
 department of collection entrusted to his charge, 
 which he has since conducted, its duties requiring 
 the aid of two assistants. Mr. Gurley officiated as 
 City Clerk nearly two years. He is a member of the 
 fraternity of Odd Fellows and belongs to Sandwich 
 Lodge, No. 212. He- is also a member of Meteor 
 Lodge, No. 283, F. & A. M., of Sandwich Chapter, 
 No. 107, and of No. 22, Aurora Commandery. 
 
 He was united in marriage in Sheridan, La Salle 
 Co., 111., June 10, 1875, to Jennie Griswold. Their 
 two children were born in Sandwich, as follows : 
 Mabel, Feb. 28, 1876, and died Feb. 6, 1877 ; Edna 
 May, March 27, 1879. Mrs. Gurley is the daughter 
 of Norman R. and Dora A. (David) Griswold, and 
 was born Aug. 28, 1856, in Honesdale, Pa. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Gurley are members of the Congregational 
 Church. 
 
 Mr. Gurley has a photograph of the coat-of-arms 
 which constituted the insignia of rank of his noble 
 ancestors, an original being in the possession of 
 other members of the family. 
 
 [. White, farmer, section 29, 
 Dnauk Township, was born on the 
 farm where he now resides, July 2, 1859. 
 His father, Thomas White, was a shoemaker 
 in early life and was a native of Washington 
 Co., N. Y., where he was born Feb. 15, 1815. 
 The mother, Ann E. (Tucker) White, was born in 
 Washington Co., N. Y., June 2, 1815. The family 
 removed to Somonauk Township in the spring of 
 1856, and took up their residence on section 9 on 
 a rented farm 160 acres in extent. Later they re- 
 moved to a rented farm in Squaw Grove Township, 
 where the parents lived until 1859. In that year 
 the farm on section 29 was purchased, and there the 
 father died, Feb. 18, 1882. The demise of the 
 mother occurred on the homestead, Sept. 4, 1883. 
 The family included 10 children, of whom but three 
 are living. Emily A. is the wife of William J. 
 Randies, a farmer of Clinton Township. 
 
 Mr. White is the only surviving son, and his birth 
 was the event that marked the year in which the 
 
 ^^^ ^H> 
 
 farm was purchased, where he has always lived, 
 and where he is engaged in the successful prosecu- 
 tion of the business in which his father passed the 
 the greater part of his life. He has a fine herd of 
 15 Short-Horn Durham cows, and conducts a profit- 
 able dairy business. He is a Democrat. 
 
 Mr. White was married Jan. 3, 1883, to Cornelia 
 M., daughter of James and Jeannette (Rickey) Mar- 
 shall, of Henderson Co., 111., where she was born, 
 Aug. 17, 1861. With her husband, she belongs to 
 the United Presbyterian Church. 
 
 tacy P. Kenyon, Justice of the Peace, No- 
 tary Public and real-estate agent, at Syca- 
 more, was born Nov. 7, 1826, in Washing- 
 ton Co., N. Y. His father, John Kenyon, was 
 born July 14, 1800, in the State of New York, 
 and married Betsey Potter, who was born May 
 7, 1803, in Washington Co., N. Y. The family re- 
 moved in 1840 to Elgin Township, Kane Co., 111., 
 where the father purchased 220 acres of land and 
 made additions to his possessions until he was the 
 owner of nearly 400 acres of land, all under fine im- 
 provement. In 1846 he bought 240 acres of land in 
 the township of Virgil, Kane Co., 111., and became a 
 resident there, remaining until the fall of 1875, the 
 date of his removal to Sycamore. " In the spring of 
 the following year he was elected to the position of 
 Justice of the Peace and has been re-elected suc- 
 cessively since. In 1880 he became a Notary Public. 
 He is also agent for the fire insurance companies 
 known as the German of Freeport, the Agricultural 
 of Boston, the Watertown of New York, and the 
 Mutual Life of New York City ; he also deals in real 
 estate. Mr. Kenyon is a member of the Order of 
 Odd Fellows, subordinate Lodge and Encampment. 
 He was married Feb. 14, 1850, in New York, to 
 Betsey Lee, and they had four children. David L. 
 is a practicing physician in Worthington, Noble Co., 
 Minn. ; John C. is an attorney at Sycamore ; Mary 
 H. married John Janes, a farmer of Dakota ; Charles 
 W. is a barber at Sycamore. Their mother died May 
 7, 1860, and Mr. Kenyon was again married, Feb. 
 24, 1 86 1, in Kane County, to Clara Walker. The 
 issue of this union was three children. Nettie is 
 teacher in Mayfield Township. William C. 
 
 ^3^
 
 <y 
 

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 farmer in Dakota. Morris is a printer in Sycamore. 
 Mr. Kenyon's second wife died in Virgil Township, 
 March 26, 1868, and he contracted a third matri- 
 monial alliance, in Sycamore , Nov. 18, 1868, with 
 Elmira White, a native of Sycamore. They have 
 four children, Parries F., Nellie, Glenn and Lewis. 
 
 Ivor Montgomery, attorney at Sandwich, 
 whose portrait appears on the preceding 
 page, was born March 13, 1847, in the 
 township of Dayton, La Salle County, 111. 
 John N. Montgomery, his father, was the fourth 
 in the line of descent from the generation to 
 which Gen. Richard Montgomery, the hero of Que- 
 bec, belonged, and to whom he bore the relation of 
 nephew in the third remove, his great-grandfather 
 having been the brother of him who fell in the siege 
 of Quebec. 
 
 The lineage runs in this wise : Thomas, brother of 
 General Montgomery, was born in 1739, in Ireland, 
 and emigrated in 1768 to the northern; part of the 
 State of New York, and during the Revolutionary 
 contest was an officer in the Colonial army. Wil- 
 liam Montgomery, son of Thomas, was born in 1770, 
 in the State of New York, where he died, in 1825. 
 John Harper Montgomery, son of William, was born 
 in New York, in 1793, and in early life removed to 
 the western part of Pennsylvania. He inherited the 
 loyalty of his progenitors, became a soldier of 1812, 
 and participated in that war throughout its entire 
 course. He was a Captain in Kimball's Ohio Militia 
 Volunteers, and was one of 33 refugees from the mas- 
 sacre of the river Raisin. He was a personal friend and 
 counselor of General Harrison. After the war he mar- 
 ried Melinda Platt, in Northeastern Ohio, where her 
 relatives still reside. He located at Dayton, La 
 Salle Co., III., in 1847, where he became prominent 
 in local affairs and officiated in several positions of 
 trust and importance. His death occurred in 1864, 
 and his widow survived him seven years. John N. 
 Montgomery, son of the latter, was born May 30, 
 1825, in Crawford Co., Pa., and married Luceva 
 Ward. They came in 1846 to La Salle Co., 111., set- 
 tling at Dayton, where their only child was born. 
 The mother was born in Crawford Co., Pa., May 30, 
 1824, and died June 7, 1850. She was thedaughter 
 Aga^JL. ^^ff < 
 
 ^yx^v^^s 
 
 of William Ward, whose wife was a direct descendant 
 from a French Huguenot family. Their children 
 were Jacob and Abram, Hannah Lewis, Eleanor 
 Tracy, Eliza Phillips, and Polly Goldfinch, of Craw- 
 ford Co., Pa. After the death of his wife, J. N. 
 Montgomery married Amanda Springstead, and they 
 have the following children : Luceva, Florilla, 
 Minnie, William, Lee and Annie E. The entire 
 family reside at or near Iowa Falls, Iowa, whither 
 the parents moved in 1867. 
 
 Mr. Montgomery of this sketch was occupied in 
 the duties incumbent on a farmer's son in his native 
 county until he was 16 years of age, and in obtaining 
 his preliminary education. He engaged at that age 
 in teaching in La Salle County, and spent about nine 
 years in that capacity. During the time he filled the 
 position of Deputy School Superintendent of La 
 Salle County four years, meanwhile, also, reading 
 law. He was admitted to the Bar on examination 
 at Ottawa, in October, 1869. On receiving his cre- 
 dentials he opened an office at Leland, in his native 
 county, where he practiced until 1875. In the year 
 last named he located his business at Sandwich, 
 where he has since prosecuted its relations. He is 
 at present in the enjoyment of a popular and exten- 
 sive legal practice in the State and Federal Courts, 
 and is a prominent and competent member of his 
 profession. He has officiated two years as City At- 
 torney of Sandwich, and four years as Justice of the 
 Peace. 
 
 Mr: Montgomery is one of the most industrious, 
 thoroughgoing lawyers of De Kalb County, and has 
 attained a position as an attorney second to none 
 in point of reliability. He is a member of the Ma- 
 sonic fraternity and the Order of Odd Fellows. 
 
 He was united in marriage, in Northville Town- 
 ship, La Salle Co., 111., May 2r, i87r,to Mary A. 
 Lett. Three children are now members of the 
 household, Jessie, born March 30,1872; Florian, 
 Sept. 3, 1877; and Ward, Oct. 24, 1879. Mrs. 
 Montgomery was born in Northville Township, Dec. 
 1,1853, and is the daughter of Thomas Lett and 
 Merrilla (Pease) Lett. The family to which Mrs. 
 Montgomery belongs has been made prominent 
 through circumstances which render it essentially the 
 property of the historian. The Lett family were 
 originally Hollanders who went to England with Wil- 
 liam III, whence they emigrated to Wexford, Ire- 
 land. Elizabeth Jacobus, great-grandmother of 
 
 \
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Mrs. Montgomery in the paternal line, was born in 
 Holland. Her father's mother, Elizabeth Warren ; 
 was a member of an English family named Warren, 
 and a French family named Pileaux. Elizabeth 
 Warren was n years of age when, in 1798, the Irish 
 Rebellion broke out, and she was imprisoned twice 
 to be burned. She was saved both times by the 
 British soldiery, but her only brother was murdered. 
 In June, 1819, Samuel Lett and his wife, Elizabeth 
 Warren, came from Ireland to Chatham, Montreal 
 District, with their sons Robert, Thomas and Benja- 
 min, and daughters, Elizabeth and Ann. At that 
 time there was but one abode of civilization between 
 the Lett homestead and the North Pole. Samuel 
 Lett died by accident, in September, 1824. The 
 widow and her children removed nine years later to 
 Darlington, Ont. In 1837 the Patriot's Rebellion 
 agitated Canada and convulsed all Britannia. The 
 brothers Thomas and Benjamin Lett were among 
 the rebellious element, the latter being perhaps the 
 most- dangerous of all the individuals concerned in 
 the attempt to overthrow the British authority in 
 Canada. He was made the object of a persecution 
 which terminated only when his death had been ac- 
 complished. A price was set on his head and he 
 was tracked by Canadian spies, arrested, tried, con- 
 victed, sentenced and imprisoned, for a crime which, 
 it was proven, had never been committed by any 
 one. He was confined in the State prison at Auburn, 
 N. Y., from 1840 to 1845, when he was pardoned 
 through the certificate of his physician. He was 
 the destroyer of Brock's monument and the instiga- 
 tor of the scheme for the destruction of the locks in 
 Welland Canal, and was the main reliance of the 
 rebels in the accomplishment of any special purpose 
 requiring an unusual degree of courage and daring. 
 His exploits were never forgotten nor forgiven ; and 
 although McKenzie, the chief element in the move- 
 ment was pardoned, Benjamin Lett was considered 
 and dealt with as an outlaw. 
 
 The Lett family, with the exception of Benjamin, 
 went from Canada to Texas, in order to put as great 
 a distance as possible between themselves and the 
 scenes of their difficulties. The mother died in 
 Texas and the remaining members of the family 
 came in 1840 to Northville, La Salle Co., 111., and 
 Benjamin Lett repaired there on being released from 
 prison, and engaged in agricultural pursuits. In 
 October, 1858, he went to Chicago to aid in the 
 
 (yyV^g^sa ^t5&l Q 
 
 ^jy^sr^^ 
 
 prosecution of a scheme for trading between the lake 
 ports, and failed to return at the appointed time to 
 his home. Preparations were making for a search 
 for him, when a telegram announced his impending 
 death. The message was withheld until after his 
 death, which took place at Milwaukee Dec. 9, 1858. 
 The post-mortem examination showed that he had 
 been poisoned with strychnine, the result of the per- 
 secutions which -pursued him relentlessly for 21 
 years. Thomas Lett has erected two monuments to 
 his memory in the family burial lot in Northville, La 
 Salle County. The foot-stone is nine feet in height 
 from its base, and the main column is 1 1 feet above 
 the pedestal, which is four feet square. They are of 
 marble and are covered with inscriptions commemor- 
 ating the progress of the operations which at last ter- 
 minated in his cowardly murder. The entire affair 
 outstrips the vagaries of romance. 
 
 Thomas Lett entered Government land .in La Salle 
 County in 1840, and is still its owner. In 1842 he 
 broke the prairie sod of 20 acres where Sandwich 
 now stands, and he is now (1885) a resident of the 
 place. He is a man of superior intellectual attain- 
 ments, and is surpassed by none in his knowledge of 
 ancient and modern history. 
 
 illiam Converse Phelps, Assistant Secre- 
 tary of the Sandwich Manufacturing Com- 
 pany, was born June 16, 1849, in Kirkland, 
 Oneida Co., N. Y. His father, Alonzo E. 
 Phelps, was born Jan. 17, 1804, in Caze- 
 novia, N. Y., and married Juliet Bradley, who 
 was born in Cayuga Co., N. Y. Dr. Phelps removed 
 to Sandwich in October, 1 869, and after practicing 
 his profession a short time, he retired. He died at 
 Sandwich, Nov. 14, 1882. The mother of Wm. C. 
 died at Sandwich, only a short time subsequent to 
 removal hither, her demise occurring Dec. 25, 1869. 
 They had seven children : Mary B. and Juliet B. 
 were twins. The former is the wife of J. P. Adams, 
 of Sandwich, and the latter married William Barnes, 
 a farmer in Kirkland, Oneida Co., N. Y. Francis B. 
 is a machinist in the employment of the Sandwich 
 manufacturing Company. 
 
 The subject of this sketch is the youngest of th 
 four surviving children. When he was 15 years of 
 
 
 (\ 

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 age he entered a variety store in Clinton, N. Y., 
 where he was employed two years, after which he 
 became assistant book-keeper in Clark's cotton mills 
 in New York State, and operated in that capacity two 
 years. He next obtained a situation in the office of 
 a wholesale hardware manufacturing company in the 
 city of New York, where he remained four years, dis- 
 charging the duties of order clerk and managing the 
 entire routine of affairs pertaining to that department. 
 He entered upon the work of book-keeper of the 
 corporation in whose interests he is now engaged, in 
 February, 1871. Two years subsequently he was 
 elected to the position he now fills and operated in 
 the local office until the fall of 1880. At that date 
 he went to Lincoln, Neb., in order to conduct a 
 branch house of the company and continued in that 
 avenue of business until November, 1881, and dur- 
 ing that time opened up a large business for his 
 company in that particular field. On his return to 
 Sandwich he was again elected to his former position, 
 in which he has since officiated. Mr. Phelps is the 
 present City Treasurer of Sandwnch. He is a mem- 
 ber of the Masonic fraternity, and also belongs to the 
 order of Mutual Aid of Illinois. 
 
 His marriage to Frances J. Root occurred Nov. 8, 
 1871, at Sandwich. Three children have been bom 
 to them as follows; Clara A., Aug. 19, 1872; Mary 
 B., Aug. 26, 1875 ; Ethel J., Oct. 18, 1877. Mrs. 
 Phelps was born Sept. 26, 1850, in Utica, N. Y., and 
 is the daughter of George W. and Salina A. Root. 
 
 i illiam Patten, farmer, section 13, Somo- 
 nauk Township, was borri Jan. 21, 1817, 
 in -Greenwich, Washington Co., N. Y. 
 His father, James Patten, was a native of 
 Ireland and was brought to the United States 
 by his parents when an infant 1 1 months old, 
 in June, 1794. He learned the trade and busi- 
 ness of harness-making, and later in life engaged in 
 farming. He died at Salem, N. Y., Dec. 21, 1827. 
 The mother, Mary (Robertson) Patten, was born in 
 Argyle, N. Y., and is still living, in her g2d year. 
 
 Mr. Patten is the only survivor of five children. 
 He received the training of a farmer and a common- 
 school education. When he reached the age of 14 
 years, he entered the store of his uncle, Moses 
 
 Robertson," where he operated as a salesman four 
 years, resuming his occupation of farmer at the end 
 of that time in his native place. May 17, 1843, he 
 came to De Kalb County and entered the employ- 
 ment of George Beveridge, of Somonauk Township, 
 as a farm assistant and continued in that situation 
 through one summer. In the fall he went back to 
 the county where he was born, and was married Oct. 
 1 1, to Elizabeth Pratt. Immediately after that event 
 he returned to De Kalb County and entered a claim 
 of 80 acres of land, which has since been his home- 
 stead, a period of more than 40 years. He con- 
 ducted his farming operations with success and 
 profit, and added to his estate until he owned 440 
 acres of land. He managed his agricultural affairs 
 with judgment and wisdom, and greatly added to the 
 value and appearance of the place by his method of 
 conducting his farm and by the excellent class of 
 buildings which he erected. In March, 1884, he 
 sold his place to his son Charles, who, in addition to 
 his general farming operations, is making a specialty 
 of raising fine grades of Durham cattle, of which he 
 owns a herd numbering 165 head. He also exhibits 
 some fine Norman Percheron and English draft 
 horses. 
 
 In usefulness to his generation and as a factor in 
 the permanent welfare of the general public, Mr. 
 Patten is a prominent and trusted citizen, and his 
 disinterested devotion to the interests of the com- 
 munity to which he belongs, as well as his abilities 
 and qualifications for responsible positions, have won 
 a recognition creditable to himself and his suppor- 
 ters. He has been an adherent of the Republican 
 element in political affairs, and in the fall of 1854 
 he was elected Representative to the Legislature of 
 Illinois from De Kalb County, and received a re- 
 election in 1858. In 1866 he was elected to the 
 State Senate for the long term and served four years. 
 He has discharged the duties of Supervisor of Somo- 
 nauk Township six years, and been appointed a Del- 
 egate numberless times to the Republican State and 
 County Conventions. 
 
 During the war of the Rebellion he was indefatig- 
 able in his efforts to aid the Government in its sup- 
 pression of the colossal mischief, and was one of the 
 earliest to comprehend the extent of the danger that 
 menaced the Union. In April, 1861, he was instru- 
 mental in raising Co. H, roth 111. Vol. Inf., which he 
 accompanied on its way to the front as far as Cairo. 
 
 VX
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 In 1864 he raised Co. H, i S 6th 111. Vol. Inf., and 
 went to the field as its Captain, but was never in ac- 
 tual military service. In religious matters he is 
 equally zealous and efficient, and is a prominent 
 member of the United Presbyterian Church. He 
 was one of the first Elders after the organization of 
 the society to which he belongs, and interested him- 
 self actively in the construction of the church edifice. 
 He has represented the society twice as a Delegate 
 to the General Assembly held at Philadelphia. Mr. 
 Patten is the owner of 500 acres of farming land in 
 Story Co., Iowa, situated on the line of the Milwau- 
 i kee Railroad, which is managed by his son and 
 where he spent the greater part of several summers. 
 He has been twice married, and had five children 
 by his first wife, three of whom are living. Edward 
 is a farmer in Collins, Story Co., Iowa; Simon N. 
 and Jennie are at home. James and Simon (ist) 
 are deceased. The mother died in Somonauk, Jan. 
 8, 1856, and Mr. Patten was again married in August, 
 1856, to Jane Somes, a native of Greenwich, Wash- 
 ington Co., N. Y. They became the parents of five 
 Fj? children, Charles, Anna, Alexander, William and 
 |g Fred. 
 
 & 
 
 3nry Miller, general farmer, located on 
 section 31, Franklin Township, was born 
 March 9, 1830, in Oneida Co., N. Y. John 
 Miller, his father, was a farmer in the State of 
 New York and married Mary Grill. Their 
 | children included six sons and six daughters. 
 In 1845 they located in Monroe Township, in Ogle 
 Co., 111. 
 
 Mr. Miller is of mixed German and Yankee (so- 
 called) descent and is the third child of his parents. 
 He was a member of the paternal household until 
 he was 26 years of age, when he took steps to enter 
 upon an independent career. He was married Feb. 
 14, 1836, in Franklin Township, to Matilda Patten, 
 and they have had three children. Julia C. is the 
 wife of Peter Hyser, a native of Schenectady, N. Y., 
 and a farmer on section i, South Grove Township. 
 Holt D. married Edna Taylor, Dec. 1 9, 1 884, who is 
 the daughter of C. S. and Hannah (Reder) Taylor, 
 natives of Genesee Co., N. Y. Lillie M. is a pupil 
 at Aurora, 111., where she is preparing for the profes- 
 3n of a teacher. The mother was born in Herki- 
 
 mer Co., N. Y., and came in youth with her parents 
 to Ogle Co., 111. She acquired a good education, 
 which she made available in teaching, previous to 
 her marriage. After that event she and her hup- 
 band located on a farm in Lynnville Township, in 
 Ogle County, where they were residents until 1870, 
 the date of their removal to the farm in Franklin 
 Township. The place comprises 160 acres of land, 
 all under excellent improvement, on which the propri- 
 etor has erected farm buildings of modern style and 
 a fine residence. The estate of Mr. Miller in Ogle 
 and De Kalb Counties contains 565 acres of land. 
 He is a Republican of unwavering principles, and 
 with Mrs. Miller attend the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, in whose interest both are actively occupied. 
 
 red. S. Douglas, of the firm of Barnes & 
 Douglas, editors and proprietors of the 
 Sandwich Free Press, was born May 26, 
 1859, in East Chazy, Clinton Co., N. Y., and 
 is the son of John F. and Elizabeth E. (Per- 
 rigo) Douglas. His parents are residents of 
 Sandwich, his father having retired from business. 
 
 Mr. Douglas is an only child, and accompanied his 
 parents from his native place to Sandwich in 1871. 
 He attended school until 1873, when he entered the 
 office of the Gazette to learn the printer's craft, and 
 while serving a period of apprenticeship he published 
 two juvenile papers, Sandwich Boys and Rising 
 Generation. In 1877 he went to Marseilles, 111., and, 
 associated with Charles E. Baldwin, became inter- 
 ested in the publication of the Herald, under the 
 firm style of Baldwin & Douglas. Eight months later 
 he returned to Sandwich and started the Evening 
 Herald. This enterprise existed about eight months, 
 when Mr. Douglas accepted a position on the Gazette, 
 and assisted its proprietor to some extent in the 
 duties of the postofnce. In the spring of 1883 he 
 went to Huron, Dakota, and became city editor of the 
 Huron Daily Leader, operating in that capacity until 
 the fall of the same year, when he returned to Sand- 
 wich, and, in company with W. B. Barnes, bought 
 the Free Press printing establishment, and has since 
 prosecuted all its business relations, journalistic and 
 jobbing, with satisfactory results. The literary abil- 
 ities of Mr. Douglas beyond the enterprise in which 

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 O 
 
 9 
 
 he is engaged, are recognized by the Chicago Times, 
 Inter-Ocean, News, and the St. Louis Globe-Dem- 
 ocrat. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity, and is 
 Secretary of Meteor Lodge, No. 283, at Sandwich, 
 and is a member of the Illinois Press Association 
 and of the Presbyterian Church. 
 
 He was united in marriage Jan. 2, 1884, in Sand- 
 wich, to Ella J., daughter of Thomas E. and Sarah 
 (Green) Culver. Mrs. Douglas was born June 9, 
 1859, in Washington Co., N. Y. 
 
 w 
 
 tephen D. Wright, farmer, section 27, 
 Somonauk Township, was born May 12, 
 1823, in Genesee Co., N. Y. His father, 
 Levi Wright, was born in New Hampshire 
 and was a farmer there and in Northville 
 Township, Lasalle Co., 111., whither he removed 
 in 1843, and where he died Nov. 2, 1865. The 
 mother, Arathusa (Brigham) Wright, was born in 
 Worcester, Mass., and died when her son was a child 
 of tender years. 
 
 Mr. Wright is the second of six children born to 
 ' his parents, and he was reared to the calling of a 
 farmer. He was 20 years of age when his father 
 transferred his family and interests to the State of 
 Illinois, and he was employed for a time on the home 
 estate, which at first consisted of 80 acres, and was 
 extended by later purchase until it included about 
 230 acres, a part of which lay in Somonauk Town- 
 ship, on section 33. 
 
 In 1850 Mr. Wright went to California, where he 
 spent a year prospecting for gold. On his return to 
 Illinois in 1854 he bought a farm of 98 acres, on 
 which he has since resided. He now owns 240 
 acres, all under the best cultivation and devoted 
 largely to dairy purposes. His cattle are fine graded 
 Holsteins, and his herd includes about 30 head. 
 
 Mr. Wright was married in Webster, Monroe Co., 
 N. Y., Dec. 23, 1855, to Ruby M. Johnston, and they 
 have one son Edgar O. who was born Sept. 7, 
 1856. Mrs. Wright was born May n, 1833, in Au- 
 burn, Cayuga Co., N. Y., and is the daughter of 
 James and Mehitable (Olcott) Johnston. 
 
 rastus B. Little, farmer, section n, Kings- 
 ton Township, was born Jan. 20, 1845, in 
 Erie Co., N. Y., and is the son of Henry 
 and Amy (Bingham) Little. (A biographical 
 account of his parents may be found in con- 
 nection with that of Henry H. Little.) He was 
 still in early childhood when his parents located in 
 De Kalb County, and his home has since been in the 
 township of Kingston. He entered the army of the 
 United States in the last part of the Civil War, en- 
 listing Jan. 5, 1864, in the Ninth 111. Vol. Cav. He 
 was in the service during the remainder of the 
 struggle, participating in the battles of Nashville, 
 Franklin Pike, Hurricane Creek, Guntown, Miss., and 
 Grenada, Miss. On obtaining his discharge he re- 
 turned to his home. 
 
 He is the proprietor of 370 acres of land, in a fine 
 and valuable condition and favorably located in the 
 townships of Kingston and Genoa, 240 acres of 
 which is tillable. In his political faith and relations 
 Mr. Little is a Republican and has discharged the 
 obligations of several official positions. 
 
 He was married Jan. i, 1875, in Belvidere, 111., to 
 Laura Strong. Their two children were born as fol- 
 lows : William H., Sept. 2, 1882, and Frank A., Dec. 
 1 3, 1 883. Their mother was born in Genoa Township, 
 Aug. 27, 1851, and is the daughter of William and 
 Sabrina Strong. 
 
 illiam A. Dennis, farmer, section 28, 
 Somonauk Township, was born on the 
 farm where he now resides, Sept. 26, 1852. 
 His father, Major Dennis, was born June 
 to, 1813, in New Bedford, Mass., and was 
 married Feb. 10, 1842, to Mary A. Harmon, a ^) 
 native of North Carolina. She was born March 25, 
 1817, and is still living, as are three of four children 
 of whom she became the mother : Waitstill O., 
 born Jan. 27, 1843, is the wife of J. E. Baker, ad- 
 juster for the Mutual Life Insurance Company of 
 New York, resident at St. Louis, Mo.; Rebecca,
 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY 
 
 J 
 
 & 
 
 born June 22, 1849, married C. S. Lewis, dealer in 
 agricultural implements at Aurora, 111. ; Shepherd, 
 born Oct. 7, 1847, was the second child in order of 
 birth and was a business mau of Somonauk, where 
 he died June i, 1870. 
 
 Mr. Dennis is the youngest child of his parents 
 and was brought up on the home farm. His father 
 was one of the pioneer settlers in Somonauk, whither 
 he came in company with Capt. William Davis in 
 1834. (See sketch of Captain Davis.) He became 
 a heavy land-holder, and died on his farm in Somo- 
 nauk Jan. 16, 1856. Mrs. Dennis came to Somo- 
 nauk in 1833, and was married there. 
 
 In 1879 Mr. Dennis became the owner of the 
 homestead by purchase from the other heirs. His 
 estate includes 121 acres of valuable farm land, and 
 he raises for market purposes a great number of 
 swine every year, his drove sometimes numbering be- 
 tween one and two hundred. He is also conducting 
 a small dairy. 
 
 Mr. Dennis was married at the Grand Pacific Ho- 
 tel in Chicago, 111., March 29, 1882, to Maggie M. 
 Wallace. She was born in St. Lawrence, Jefferson 
 Co., N. Y., and is the daughter of Hamilton and 
 Mary Ann Wallace. Two children are now included 
 in the family of Mr. Dennis: Millie Mabel, born 
 Dec. 25, 1882; and Carrie H., born Dec. 25, 1884. 
 This is a rare coincidence, and is certainly without a 
 parallel in De Kalb County. 
 
 The farm on which Mr. Dennis resides is situated 
 on sections 27, 28, 33, and 34, and he is one of the 
 few who yet hold the original land patents. 
 
 ft 
 
 1'eremiah W. Brown, farmer, section 32, 
 Genoa Township, was born Aug. 7, 1845, 
 in the same township. His parents, Jere- 
 miah L. and Judith (Richardson) Brown, came 
 to De Kalb County, and settled in 1837, in Gen- 
 oa Township, where the former died, Jan. 5, 
 1882. The mother died in the same township. 
 Their family included seven children, five of whom 
 are yet living. The senior Brown was one of those 
 worthy, determined pioneers who camg here among 
 the first settlers and did so much toward developing 
 this now beautiful, prosperous and populous coun- 
 ty. To these men the present generation is greatly 
 
 indebted for the many comforts and luxuries it now 
 enjoys. 
 
 Mr. J. W. Brown was a pupil at school until he 
 was 1 8 years old, and he has since been exclusively 
 interested in farming. His estate includes 180 acres 
 of land, of which 160 acres are in advanced cultiva- 
 tion. His stock comprises about 30 head of cattle, 
 80 hogs and 12 horses. Mr. B. is a Republican and 
 has officiated in several local township offices. 
 
 His marriage took place in Whiteside Co., 111. 
 May 14, 1866, when he formed a matrimonial con- 
 nection with Mary M., daughter of Ebenezer and 
 Electa (Peevy) Wright, and they have had eight 
 children : Millie, born Nov. 18, 1867; J. Harvey, Dec. 
 28, 1868; J. Depue, Feb. 25, 1869; Clayton L., July 
 3, 1871; Dell, April 25, 1873; Edna R., May 24, 
 1875; Estella A., March 22, 1878; Mary L, Sept. 
 8, 1879. Millie died Dec. 29, 1868, in Genoa. 
 
 The parents of Mrs. Brown came to De Kalb Coun- 
 ty and settled at Sycamore, where the father is still 
 living. Her mother died at that place, Feb. 19 
 18^6. 
 
 mos H. Rote, farmer, resident on section 
 36, Franklin Township, was born June 20, 
 1829, in Lycoming Co., Pa. His father, 
 Daniel Rote, was a native of the same State 
 and of direct German descent, his parents 
 having been born in the old country. He 
 was a farmer in early life, and at 40 years of age en- 
 tered the ministry, becoming a clergyman of the 
 Christian denomination. He labored in that capac- 
 ity in Pennsylvania until 1847, when he settled in 
 Kane Co., 111., and there followed his vocation as a 
 minister two years. In 1849 he became a resident 
 of De Kalb County. He died May 24, 1864, in 
 Franklin Township, aged 7 2 years, and was an ar- 
 dent and enthusiastic worker in his sacred calling 
 until a short time before his demise. The mother of 
 Mr. Rote, Mrs. Mary (Kitchen) Rote, was of Ger- 
 man lineage. She was born in New Jersey, of 
 parents of New England origin. She was in her 
 girlhood when she became a resident of Pennsyl- 
 vania, and she was married in Columbia County in 
 that State about 1816. She came West and died in 
 } S%C
 
 \\ 
 
 Franklin Township, Feb. 13, 1865, at 81 years of 
 age. 
 
 Mr. Rote is the second youngest of nine children : 
 six daughters and three sons. His brothers were 
 older than he, and he was brought up at home and 
 was fairly educated in the common schools of his 
 native county. He was 18 years of age when his 
 parents removed West, and he was under the paren- 
 tal roof until he was married, April 17, 1856, in 
 Franklin Township,, to Anna W. Ault. She was 
 born in Muncie Township, Lycoming Co., Pa., Nov. 
 14, 1832, where she was a resident until 18 years of 
 age, when she came to De Kalb County with her 
 parents, Samuel and Catherine (Page) Ault. They 
 were natives of Pennsylvania. The father was a 
 miller in his native State and followed that occupa- 
 tion after his removal in 1850 to Kingston Township, 
 De Kalb County. Mr. and Mrs. Ault both died in 
 that township, the former Nov. 17, 1868, aged 75 ; 
 the mother Feb. 27, 1865, aged 72. They were the 
 parents of 14 children. Mr. and Mrs. Rote have 
 had nine children, four of whom are yet living, 
 Ida J., Effie M., Harry A. and Fred B. Pearson 
 Llewellyn, Alice E., Lettie and Walter did not sur- 
 vive their childhood. 
 
 Mr. Rote commenced farming independently on 
 section 35 of Franklin Township, on a farm which 
 he had purchased previous to his marriage. He 
 owned and operated the place four years, when he 
 sold it and bought 120 acres of improved land on 
 which he has since prosecuted his agricultural opera- 
 tions. He has a fine and valuable farm, on which 
 he has erected a good class of buildings. In politi- 
 cal views he is a Republican of an uncompromising 
 type- 
 
 ^oratio N. Perkins, retired farmer at Genoa, 
 is the son of James and Deborah (Davis) 
 Perkins, and was born Nov. 6, 1808, in 
 Groton, Conn., the native place of his parents, 
 where their marriage took place, and where 
 they were resident a number of years thereafter. 
 They removed thence to Rensselaer Co., N. Y., 
 where their deaths occurred. Noyes, Sarah, Eliza, 
 
 
 Horatio N., Caroline, Calvin, Sylvester and Charlotte 
 were the names of their children. 
 
 The family of Mr. Perkins removed to Rensselaer 
 County when he was four years old. He lived there 
 until he was 15 years of age, when he went to Berk- 
 shire Co., Mass., and became a farm laborer, contin- 
 uing to operate in that occupation three years, when 
 he returned to the Empire State. In the fall of 1837 
 he came to Illinois and bought a claim, consisting of 
 a half section of land, in Genoa Township, then in- 
 cluded in the municipality of Orange, the township 
 of Genoa not having been organized. He settled 
 in what is now the village of Genoa, and built the 
 hotel now known to the traveling public as the Pacific 
 House, which he conducted about 20 years. Selling 
 out, he devoted his time and energies to farming, 
 residing on his farm on section 20, 16 consecutive 
 years. In the fall of 1872 he became a permanent 
 resident of Genoa village. He is still the owner of 
 420 acres of land in De Kalb County, under partial 
 improvement. During his earlier residence at Genoa 
 he received the appointment of Postmaster from 
 President Van Buren, and discharged the duties of 
 the position about 20 years, when he resigned. Five 
 years later he was re-appointed, and held his com- 
 mission until Dec. i, 1884, .when he again resigned. 
 He is a member of the fraternity of Masons. Mr. 
 Perkins is a staunch and decided Republican, and 
 although he has been a Village Trustee for two years 
 he is not an aspirant for official honors. 
 
 He was married in Columbia Co., N. Y., in the 
 township of New Lebanon, Nov. 4, 1830, to Eliza 
 Wallace. Her parents, James and Betsey (Stacy) 
 Wallace, were natives of Townsend, Mass., and early 
 in life removed to Columbia Co., N. Y., where their 
 lives terrhinated. Their family included 12 children, 
 of whom Mrs. Perkins is the third daughter. She 
 was born April 23, 1808, in Columbia County. Three 
 children have been born to her and her husband. 
 Eliza Jane was born Aug. n, 1831, in Columbia 
 County, and married Henry C. Graves, of Sandwich, 
 Nov. 20, 1856. Her health failed and she went to 
 Chicago for medical treatment, where she died, July 
 6, 1874. Henry N. was born Aug. 15, 1833, in Co- 
 lumbia County, and is a resident of Genoa. Mary 
 M. was born May 2, 1840, in Genoa, where she died 
 Aug. 23, 1864. Henry N. was married Feb. 28, 
 
 @ ^3^
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 1856, to Margaret M. Stiles, of Genoa, who died in 
 March, 1880. 
 
 The portrait of Mr. Perkins appears on a page just 
 preceding, as an appropriate addition to the galaxy 
 illustrating this ALBUM. 
 
 alter L. Cole, farmer, section 9, Kingston 
 Township, became a resident of De Kalb 
 County in 1859, when- he removed hither 
 with his parents. He was born Oct. 18, 
 1850, in Clark Co., 111., and is the youngest 
 of five children included in the family of Wash- 
 ington and Harriet E. (Stiles) Cole. His father is 
 a native of Washington County, and his mother was 
 born in Ontario Co., N. Y. They have been resi- 
 dents of Kingston Township continuously since their 
 removal hither. 
 
 Mr. Cole was united in marriage in Kingston 
 Township, March 8, 1877, to Ella J. Crosby, and 
 they have one child, Charles W., who was born Sept. 
 14, . 1883. Mrs. Cole was born in the township 
 where she has lived all her life, June 25, 1856, and 
 is the daughter of Leonard and Rebecca (Cameron) 
 Crosby, pioneer settlers of De Kalb County, where 
 her father died about 1857. Her mother subse- 
 quently became the wife of Charles McAllister, and 
 is a resident of Kingston Township. 
 
 Phelps Adams, manufacturer and secre- 
 tary of the Sandwich Manufacturing Com- 
 l |fe^ pany, was born Sept. 18, 1835, in Pine 
 i T Valley, Chemung Co., N. Y., and is the son of 
 Hon. Augustus Adams, of Sandwich, of whom 
 a detailed account may be found elsewhere in 
 this volume. 
 
 He has been a resident of Illinois since his fifth 
 year, his parents having removed in 1840 to Elgin, 
 r* 111. He received all the 'educational advantages 
 possible from the common schools at Elgin and ob- 
 tained a good training for business at Bell's Business 
 College in Chicago, completing his course there when 
 20 years of age. He obtained a situation as account- 
 ant at Marshall, Calhoun Co., Mich., where he was 
 also engaged in mercantile relations and later entered 
 
 
 the employment of the American Express Company 
 as messenger. He operated at that place- until 
 January, 1861. Meanwhile his father had trans- 
 ferred his business to Sandwich, where he had estab- 
 lished a small manufacturing business, which was in 
 a prosperous condition. At the date named Mr. 
 Adams came to Sandwich and assumed the position 
 of office manager. The dimensions of the business 
 of A. Adams & Sons took on added proportions every 
 year, its products becoming widely known and meet- 
 ing a popular necessity, and in' 1867 the present 
 company was organized and incorporated. J. Phelps 
 Adams was made its secretary and treasurer and has 
 since officiated in both responsible and laborious 
 positions, a period of nearly 25 years of continuous 
 service. The nature and character of the duties may 
 be inferred from the fact that the manufactures of 
 the Sandwich company are in popular use not only 
 in this country but in the Black Sea region of Russia 
 and all along the course of the Danube River on the 
 European continent, and in all the corn-growing 
 countries of the world. Within the past few years a 
 large trade in their machines has been established in 
 the Argentine Republic. (The merits of the business 
 connections of the Sandwich Manufacturing Com- 
 pany are fully treated in another part of this work.) 
 Mr. Adams is a leading citizen of Sandwich, and 
 has been closely identified with its religious, educa- 
 tional and political interests since he has been a resi- 
 dent there. He is a member of the Congregational 
 Church, and previous to May, 1884, had been Sun- 
 day-school Superintendent 12 years. Before Sand- 
 wich was organized as a city, he served several terms 
 as President of the village. He has been for years a 
 member of the Agricultural Society, and acted one 
 year as President of the Board, and is President ot 
 the Sandwich Literary Association. He has officiated 
 nine years as a member of the School Board, and has 
 filled the position of chief official of that body several 
 terms. He is a Republican in political preference, 
 and has been delegate on several different occasions 
 to the County and Congressional Conventions. In 
 September, 1884, he left Sandwich for an extended 
 tour through South America in the interests of the 
 business in which he is a prominent factor. He went 
 to all the coast cities of Brazil, and made an extended 
 visit to Buenos Ayres, traveling through the Argentine 
 Republic, making an exhaustive examination of the 
 
 4^^C^> 
 
 \ 
 
 f
 
 . - 
 
 ;i , :- 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 39 1 
 
 country and its institutions. He reached his home 
 Jan. 30, 1885. 
 
 Mr. Adams was married June 26, i86i,to Mary 
 B. Phelps, and of their union five children were born. 
 Following is their record : Eleanor Louise was born 
 March 24, 1863, and died Dec. 31 of the same year. 
 Fred Augustus, born June 24, 1865, died Sept. 2, 
 1866. Henry Ethelbert was born May 29, 1868, and 
 is attending school at Evanston, 111. William Morse 
 was born Aug. 8, 1870, and died March 22, 1884. 
 Florence Bradley was born Jan. 27, 1877. Mrs. 
 Adams was born Feb. 26, 1839, and is the daughter 
 of Dr. A. E. and Juliet B. Phelps, of Kirkland, 
 Oneida Co., N. Y. 
 
 Darius, the oldest brother of Mr. Adams of this 
 sketch, and his wife both died, leaving two daughters 
 and a son wholly orphaned. The daughters, Hattie 
 L. and Lue O., were, brought up by their uncle, and 
 are married. The former is the wife of J. F. Hun- 
 toon, an employee in the office of the Sandwich 
 Manufacturing Company ; the latter married Frank 
 L. Waite, secretary of the Pictorial Printing Company, 
 of Chicago. 
 
 vid Tower, farmer, section u, Mayfield 
 Township, is a son of Abel and Mary 
 (Moore) Tower, natives of New England 
 nd of English and Welsh descent, who were 
 the parents of six children, George, John, 
 Mark, Charles, Mary and David. The former 
 was born in 1770, and died Aug. 29, 1846 ; the latter 
 died in September, 1839. 
 
 The subject whose name heads this sketch was 
 born in Wilmington, Windham Co., Vt., Feb. 13, 
 1818, lived at home until 20 years of age, engaged in 
 farming, and in 1838 came to Illinois. After spend- 
 ing a year in the southern part of the State, he came 
 to this county and settled in Mayfield Township, 
 where he has since lived. He is now the owner of 
 480 acres of land, half of which is in cultivation. 
 Politically he is a Democrat, and locally he has held 
 the offices of Overseer of the Poor and Highway 
 Overseer. 
 
 He was married in Beloit, Wis., June 6, 1847, to 
 Miss Mary A. Daily, daughter of Jonathan and 
 Betsey (Fitch) Daily, who were natives of Pennsyl- 
 vania. Jonathan Daily was born April 24, 1802, 
 
 and died Feb. 8, 1842. Betsey (Fitch) Daily was 
 born May 23, 1803, and died Oct. 5, 1877. They 
 were married May 9, 1824. Mr. and Mrs. Daily 
 had a family of 1 1 children, Lydia, William J., 
 Elmira C., Francis, Andrew J., Mary A., Mahala D., V^ 
 Joseph E., Elizabeth A., Clarissa S. and Jane R. 
 Elmira C., Mary A., Joseph E., Elizabeth A., Clar- 
 issa S. and Jane R. are living. Mrs. Tower was 
 born in Luzerne Co., Pa., June 6, 1831. The chil- 
 dren in the family of Mr. and Mrs. Tower now are: 
 George W., who was born Sept. 22, 1853, and was ) 
 married April n, 1876, to Miss Caroline Lanan; jjy 
 Harriet B., who was born April 2, 1856, is the I 
 wife of Joseph Lanan ; David J., who was born Dec. 
 30, 1868. 
 
 illiam Bennet Barnes, senior member of 
 the firm of Barnes & Douglas, proprietors 
 of the Sandwich Free Press, was born 
 Feb. 27, 1855, in Ithaca, Tompkins Co., N. 
 Y., and-is the son of Gen. M. S. and Char- 
 lotte A. Barnes. He entered first upon the 
 duties of a journalist in 1869, in the office of the 
 Dubuque Daily Times, at Dubuque, Iowa, where he 
 learned the printer's trade. From Dubuque he re- 
 moved to Aurora, 111., and was associated with his 
 father in the publication of the Aurora Herald. He 
 next went to Galesburg, 111., and published the Daily 
 and Weekly Press in that city for a period of about 
 10 years. Disposing of the establishment in March, 
 1883, he accepted a position on the Peoria Daily 
 National Democrat, as assistant business manager, 
 which he relinquished to come to Sandwich. In 
 the month of October, 1883, he came to Sandwich 
 and purchased a half interest in the Free Press. 
 The paper is a popular and well conducted journal, 
 and has attained a position of high rank among the 
 local papers of De Kalb County, having a large cir- 
 culation both in Sandwich and the surrounding 
 country. The Free Press is also engaged in a gen- 
 eral job and book printing business, for the satis- 
 factory prosecution of which the office is fitted with 
 steam presses and all modern appliances. 
 
 Mr. Barnes was united in marriage, at Galesburg, 
 Sept. 13, 1882, to Fannie G. Rearick. Mrs. Barnes 
 was born in Beardstown, 111., Aug. 16, 1859, and is
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 J 
 
 : 
 
 & 
 
 the daughter of Judge Francis H. and Helen M. 
 Rearick. Mr. and Mrs. Barnes have one daughter, 
 Florence A., born at Sandwich, Oct. i, 1884. They 
 are members of the Congregational Church. 
 
 Mr. Barnes comes of journalistic stock dating back 
 several generations. His father has been actively 
 engaged in the newspaper business for the past 40 
 years, but is now living in retirement at Galesburg, 
 111., his health having been broken down by arduous 
 literary work and the exposure and results of being 
 engaged in two wars, the Mexican War and that 
 of the late Rebellion. 
 
 eorge A. Gillis, farmer, section 32, South 
 Grove Township, was born June 7, 1824, 
 in Argyle Township, Washington Co., N. 
 Y. Alexander A. Gillis, his father, is a native 
 of the State of New York and was born in the 
 same county, of Scotch descent. He was a 
 farmer by calling and died in April, 1832, in Wash- 
 ington County. The mother, Jane. C. (Gilchrist) 
 Gillis, was born in New York, of mixed Scotch and 
 New York parentage. After the death of her hus- 
 band she came to South Grove, where she died in 
 1864. 
 
 Mr. Gillis is the second child of his parents, and 
 lived with his mother after the death of his father, 
 which occurred when he was eight years old, remain- 
 ing with her until he was of age. His first inde- 
 pendent employment was in a grist-mill, where he 
 labored some years, and in 1851 came to De Kalb 
 County and purchased a farm in Franklin Township, 
 his mother living with him four years. Nov. 13, 
 1855, he was married to Amy T. Irvin, in Washing- 
 ton Co., N. Y. Her parents, David and Nancy 
 (Histcox) Irvin, were born respectively in Ireland 
 and New York. They were married in Washington 
 County, where they resided until the death of the 
 former, Sept. 29, 1858, at the age of 58 years. The 
 mother joined her daughter in Illinois after becoming 
 a widow, and is still living, aged 85 years. Consid- 
 ering her accumulation of years, she is in remark- 
 able possession of her faculties of body and mind, 
 particularly the latter, as she takes a keen interest in 
 the current moral questions of the day; and from her 
 reading, which is, even now, extensive and diversi- 
 
 fied, and her rare memory, she is an agreeable com- 
 panion and a zealous advocate of temperance and 
 religion. Mrs. Gillis was born June 7, 1831, in 
 Washington Co., N. Y., where she was reared and 
 educated. Previous to her marriage she was en- 
 gaged some time as a teacher. She is the mother of 
 six children, to whose mental, moral and spiritual 
 interests she is wholly devoted. One child is de- 
 ceased : David, the eldest child, was married Dec. 
 22, 1880, to Maud Karr, a native of McLean Co., 
 111.; Elizabeth was married April 7, 1 88 1, to Chester 
 Swan, a dentist of Walworth Co., Wis. ; Jennie was 
 married May 9, 1877, taAdelbert J. Cobb, a farmer 
 of Sac Co., Iowa; Amy was married Sept. 13, 1883, 
 to Clarence Culver, a dentist in Lancaster, Grant 
 Co., Wis.; Gorge was born June 30, 1863; Irvin 
 was born March 31, 1870. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Gillis lived on the farm in Franklin 
 Township three years subsequent to their marriage. 
 In 1858 Mr. Gillis bought 240 acres of land in the 
 township of South Grove, and later became the 
 owner of 40 acres additional situated on section 6, 
 in Malta Township. The farm of Mr. Gillis is a 
 model of good management, and he is rated as one 
 of the progressive agriculturists of his township. He 
 is a Republican in political opinion. Mrs. Gillis is 
 a member of the Congregational Church. 
 
 eter C. McClellan, a farmer of Somonauk 
 Township, is the owner of the northwest 
 quarter of section 29. He was born Oct. 
 26, 1829, in the township of Hebron, Wash- ^ 
 ington Co., N. Y., and is the son of Robert G. 5 J> 
 and Nancy (Cruikshank) McClellan. The 
 former was born Sept. 17, 1799, in the same town- 
 ship The latter was born in Salem, in the same 
 county, Aug. 12, 1804. Mr. McClellan of this sketch 
 is their first-born child. Rev. David M., third son, 
 is a graduate of Jefferson College, in Pennsylvania, 
 and has been for 20 years an ordained minister of 
 the United Presbyterian Church, and for the past 10 
 years has been a settled Pastor at Kansas City. He 
 prepared for the ministry at the Theological Semina- 
 ry at Xenia, Ohio. Maggie, only surviving sister, 
 lives with her brother, Peter. 
 
 The latter received a substantial education, finish- 
 ing his course of study at Cambridge Academy, 
 
 -*-
 
 COUNTY. 
 
 Washington Co., N. Y. He taught nine terms of 
 school in New York and Iowa, and afterwards be- 
 came a farmer. He was married in his native town- 
 ship Sept. 7, 1864, to Isabella Beveridge. They 
 have one child, Mary E., who was born on the farm 
 in Somonauk Township, Nov. 7, 1869. Mrs. Mc- 
 Clellan was born in Hebron Township, Oct. 5, r83o, 
 and is the daughter of Matthew and Elizabeth Bev- 
 eridge. 
 
 In June, 1866, Mr. McClellan came to DeKalb 
 County and bought the farm which he now owns, and 
 of which he took possession in 1867. He has been 
 Assistant Supervisor of Somonauk two years. 
 
 Robert McClellan, from whom Mr. McClellan is a 
 descendant in the fourth generation, was a citizen of 
 Micklenax, in the parish of Buttle, Scotland. In 
 1769 he went to Newtown in the parish of Twenho- 
 len in the stewartry of Galloway, on the River Dee 
 near Kirkcudbright, where the family lived five years 
 on the estates of Lord Selkirk. In June, 1774, with 
 his wife, Nicolas (Gordon) McClellan, and children, 
 William, John, Grise, Robert, Mary and Nancy, 
 set sail from the Mass at the mouth of the river Dee, 
 for America. The ship "Golden Rule," on which 
 they took passage, proved unseaworthy and put into 
 Dublin Bay for repairs, where she was detained three 
 days. Three guineas was paid for the passage of 
 each member of the family. They landed at New 
 York and proceeded up the Hudson River to Albany 
 and thence to Manchester, Vt. From there they 
 went across the Green Mountains to Springfield on 
 the Connecticut River. The route they pursued 
 across the mountains had never before been trav- 
 ersed by a carriage, and a part of the journey, in- 
 cluding a distance of T4 miles, consumed 14 hours. 
 They resided at Springfield 10 years, and on account 
 of religious considerations they removed to Hebron, 
 Washington Co., N. Y., then called Black Creek. 
 The parents afterwards removed to Salem in the 
 same county. The father died there in 1789, aged 
 73 years. He was .also buried there. The mother 
 died in Cambridge in T799, at the age of 69 years, 
 and was burred in the place where she died. 
 
 Robert McClellan (2d) was born in 1766, in Mick- 
 lenax, Scotland, and came to America with his fath- 
 er's family, as stated. He was married Dec. 5, 1793, 
 to Mary Thompson, who was born in 1768, in Salem. 
 Their children were named Sarah, William, Robert 
 Gordon, Nancy, John and Phebe. Sarah is still liv- 
 
 ing and is over 90 years of age. She is the widow 
 of Alexander Beveridge, of Hebron. Phebe is the 
 widow of William Armstrong, of Somonauk. Four 
 of them died on the farm where they were born and 
 reared. Robert McClellan died in Hebron Jan. 6, 
 1829. His wife died there also, June 20, 1839. The 
 paternal ancestors of Mr. McClellan were born, 
 reared and died in the Associate Presbyterian 
 Church and its outgrowth, the United Presbyterian 
 Church. 
 
 enry H. Little, farmer, section 10, Kingston 
 Township, has been a resident of De Kalb 
 County since 1845, in which year he ac- 
 companied his parents hither. He was born 
 May i, 1824, in Erie Co., N. Y., and is the son 
 of Henry and Amy (Bingham) Little. The 
 former was born in the State of New York, April 22, 
 1799; the latter in Vermont, July 23, 1804. They 
 were married in Erie Co., N. Y., May n, 1823, which 
 was their place of abode until 1845, when they set 
 out for Wisconsin with the purpose of establishing a 
 home; but with little delay proceeded to De Kalb 
 County, and located in Kingston Township, where 
 the father died, Aug. 18, 1858. The mother survives 
 and has reached advanced age. 
 
 Mr. Little is the oldest of nine children. He ac- 
 quired as good an education as the common schools 
 of his native county afforded, and was trained in 
 farm labor. He was 21 years of age when he came 
 to Illinois, and he entered a land claim of 80 acres of 
 prairie, afterwards buying 40 acres of timber land, 
 all situated in Kingston Township, and which has 
 since been his field of operation. He has made a 
 later purchase of land, which increased his real estate 
 to 169 acres, of which 120 acres are tillable. The 
 place is stocked with 41 head of cattle and to horses. 
 
 Mr. Little is a member of Kishwaukee Lodge, 
 No. 402, F. & A. M., and in political faith is a Re- 
 publican. He was elected Supervisor of his town- 
 ship in 1882, and has been successively re-elected 
 since to the same position, in which he is serving his 
 third term. 
 
 He was first united in marriage in Erie Co., N. Y., 
 to Elvira Boies. She was born Jan. 22, 1831, in 
 Erie Co., N. Y., and was the daughter of Eber and 
 
 s 
 
 c
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 J 
 
 gi 
 \ 
 
 Esther (Henshaw) Boies. She died in Kingston 
 Township Sept. 28, 1872. The second marriage of 
 Mr. Little, to Esther Heckman, occurred Oct. i, 1873. 
 The parents of Mrs. Little, Jacob and Catherine 
 (Kepple) Heckman, were natives of Westmoreland 
 Co., Pa. They came thence to De Kalb County in 
 1855, where they located and were among the agri- 
 cultural class the remainder of their lives. Tire 
 father died July 23, 1872, the mother April 17, 1884. 
 Mrs. Little is the third of five children and was born 
 / in Morgan Co., Ohio, July 13, 1831. Mr. L. is a 
 member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 
 'ohn Uplinger, a citizen of the village of 
 Kingston, has been for nearly a score of 
 years a prominent agriculturist and busi- 
 ness man of De Kalb County, whither he came 
 in 1866, settling in the spring of that year in 
 the township of Kingston on a fine farm of 240 
 acres of land. He pursued there his agricultural 
 operations until 1882, when he removed to his pres- 
 ent place of abode and where he has been engaged 
 some time in the grain, coal, lumber and furniture 
 business, in which his relations are important and ex- 
 tensive. His real estate in De Kalb County com- 
 prises 245 acres, all of which is in tillable condition 
 except 45 acres. 
 
 Mr. Uplinger was born Nov. 12, 1819, in Luzerne 
 Co., Pa., and he is the son of Henry and Elizabeth 
 Uplinger. He lived in his native State until his re- 
 moval to De Kalb County in 1866. He was married 
 in the county where he was born, July 31, 1840, to 
 Elizabeth, also a Pennsylvanian by birth. Their 
 children are Mary, Jacob, Susan, Charles, Sarah, 
 John, Elmina, Amelia, Frank, Margaret, Lizzie, 
 Amanda and Martha. 
 
 ; orris H. Westlake, a farmer on section 
 12, Mayfield Township, was born in Or- 
 ange Co., N. Y., Nov. 8, 1845. His par- 
 ents, Benjamin and Eliza (Bond) Westlake, 
 e also natives of the Empire State. His 
 icr died in Orange County, and his mother 
 afterward married Mr. H. Mackey (see sketch), and 
 now resides in Mayfield Township. 
 
 ^^1^ ^^^ @ 
 
 Morris H. lived in his native county until the fall 
 of 1860, when he came to De Kalb County, and at 
 the age of 21 he married and settled upon his farm 
 in Mayfield Township, on section i, which he car- 
 ried on for eight years. He then exchanged this for 
 a farm in Orange Co., N. Y., but did not return 
 there. Instead, he followed railroading four years in 
 Indiana, and in the spring of 1879 returned to May- 
 field Township and settled upon section 12, where he 
 now resides and owns 166 acres, having 146 acres in 
 cultivation. 
 
 Officially, Mr. Westlake has served as School Di- 
 rector ; politically, he acts with the Republican par- 
 ty ; and religiously, he, as well as Mrs. W., is a mem- 
 ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 
 He was married in Sycamore, Dec. r3, 1866, to 
 Emma E., daughter of Norman and Rosette (Wills) 
 Beckley, natives of Vermont, who came and settled 
 in Sycamore Township, this county, in 1861 ; he is a 
 resident of Elkhart, Ind. Their three children are, 
 Emma E., Edgar H. and Edward E. Mrs. W. 
 was born in Littleton, Mass., July 26, 1849. The 
 children of Mr. and Mrs. Westlake are, Lulu M., 
 who was born Nov. 29, 1867, in Mayfield; Norman 
 B., born May 21, 1869, in Mayfield; and Rosette, 
 Nov. it, 1878, in Elkhart, Ind. The brothers and 
 sisters of Mr. Westlake all elder than he are 
 David B., Hannah E., Milton, Charlotte and John. 
 
 ames Henry, farmer, section 28, Somonauk 
 Township, was born Jan. 22, 1812, in Wash- 
 ington Co., N. Y. John Henry, his father, 
 was a native of Scotland and married Pamelia 
 Johnson, by whom he had 12 children : seven 
 of these, four sons and three daughters, are 
 now living. The mother was a native of Vermont. 
 Mr. Henry was brought up on a farm, and on at- 
 taining to the estate of manhood he became a farmer 
 on 140 acres of land in his native State. He was 
 married in Greenwich, Washington Co., N. Y., Oct. 
 26, 1837, to Jeannette, sister of ex-Governor John L. 
 Beveridge, and daughter of George and Ann (Hoy) 
 Beveridge. She was born May 5, 1813, in Washing- 
 ton County. Of this union 10 children were born 
 and are all living with a single exception. Anna M. 
 was born Dec. 20, !8 3 8; Parmelia, July 31, 1840 
 
 i >u?*5yr- cojU~>5&?) 
 
 ^^^- "frsssvvv^ 
 
 * 

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 ijx (died May 30, 1841); Isabella B., May 10, 1842 ; 
 John V., July 27, 1844; George B., Sept. 26, 1846; 
 Sarah T. L., Sept. 15, 1848; Philomelia, Nov. 13, 
 1850; Agnes R., Jan. 25, 1853 ; Margaret E., April 
 n, 1857; Minnie J., Aug. 17, 1859. John V. Henry, 
 the oldest son, enlisted in the service of the United 
 States in 1862 and served in various capacities until 
 the close of the war. He is a resident of Quincy, 
 111., and is chief clerk in the postal service at the 
 headquarters of the mail agency in that place. 
 
 Mr. Henry removed to Somonauk Township in 
 , 1854, where he purchased upwards of 300 acres of 
 land. His farm now includes 210 acres, and he is 
 the owner of a fine herd of graded Durham cat- 
 tle, and is conducting a valuable dairy business. 
 
 rof. Andrew J. Blanchard, Principal of the 
 Public Schools of Sycamore, from April, 
 1862, to July, 1867, and Superintendent 
 from 1877 to the current year (1885), was born 
 Aug. n, 1827, in Cabot, Washington Co., Vt. 
 His father, James Blanchard, was born in Con- 
 cord, N. H., May 9, 1793; and his mother, Abigail 
 (Hoyt) Blanchard, was born in Cabot, Vt., Sept. 2, 
 1799. The latter died March 5, 1837; the former, 
 Nov. 24, 1869. 
 
 Mr. Blanchard left the home farm at the age of 20 
 years and entered upon a course of study preparatory 
 for college. In the winter of 1848-9 he taught his 
 first school in Plkinfield, Vt., " boarding round," as 
 that was considered the correct thing to do at that 
 time. In the spring of 1849, he resumed his studies 
 at the People's Academy, Morrisville, Vt. During 
 the summer of 1849, he caught the gold fever that 
 was sweeping over the land and carrying all before 
 it, and in September engaged passage for California 
 by way of Cape Horn, on the good ship " Argonaut," 
 Capt. William Knott, commander. The " Argonaut" 
 sailed from Boston Harbor on the igth of October, in 
 company with two other ships, the " Henry Ware '" 
 and the " Richmond." On the 8gth day out, having 
 successfully braved the perilous storms of Cape 
 Horn, the " Argonaut " dropped anchor in the harbor 
 of Valparaiso, Chili, and on the I34th day, after a 
 
 voyage of 18,000 miles, she was safely moored in San 
 Francisco Bay. In California Mr. Blanchard was 
 soon stricken down by disease and brought near 
 death's door; but an iron constitution carried him 
 through. After long sickness, and still suffering from 
 a complication of diseases, and, leaving his gold in the 
 " banks " of the Yuba and Feather Rivers, he em- 
 barked by way of Panama for home, which he reached 
 in September, 1851, with broken health and a shat- 
 tered constitution. Having partially regained his 
 former health and vigor, he again assumed the 
 pedagogical baton, at the same time resuming his 
 studies. 
 
 March 30, 1853, he married. Abbie A. Beckley, 
 daughter of Horace and Abigail (Wellington) Beck- 
 ley. His wife was a fine singer and an excellent 
 performer on the piano and organ, and for many 
 years after her marriage, taught instrumental and 
 vocal music with marked success. In March, 1855, 
 Mr. Blanchard became Assistant Principal of the 
 People's Academy, which institution he, as a student, 
 had attended years before. He was invited to take 
 charge of the school in 1858, and did so, his wife 
 having charge of the musical department, which she 
 had assumed in 1855. He remained here till April, 
 1861. 
 
 The echoes from the assaulting guns in Charleston 
 harbor reverberated among the Green Mountains and 
 awoke the spirit of the " Boys of "76 " in the breasts 
 of their descendants, and Mr. Blanchard, yielding to 
 the influence of the hour, relinquished his position to 
 take active part in the work of preparing to defend 
 the standard of the Union. He raised a company of 
 volunteers in Lamoille Co., Vt., which was assigned 
 to the Third Vt. Inf. as Co. E, with himself as Cap- 
 tain. The command was assigned to the Army of 
 the Potomac. In November, 1861, Capt. Blanchard, 
 on account of disability, was honorably discharged 
 from the army. 
 
 Returning to Vermont, he remained there until 
 April, 1862, the date of his removal to De Kalb 
 County, to take charge of the public schools of Syca- 
 more. He found school matters in a desperate con- 
 dition, but with a firm hand and resolute will he 
 inaugurated reform. Under his vigorous manage- 
 ment, educational affairs soon assumed a prosperous 
 aspect. In January, 1863, the school edifice was 
 burned. The fine building now devoted to the same 
 
 \\
 
 ) 
 
 \\ 
 
 purpose was erected the summer following. It con- 
 tains eight school-rooms, a large hall and several 
 recitation rooms. In 1867, Mr. Blanchard severed his 
 connection with the schools of Sycamore, and en- 
 gaged in the same capacity at Litchfield, Montgomery 
 Co., 111., where he remained one year. He next be- 
 came Principal of the Rochelle schools in Ogle Co., 
 Ill , where he taught four years with decided success. 
 He then succeeded to the management of the Galva 
 schools, Henry Co., 111., and at the end of two years 
 was elected Superintendent of the schools of Lyons, 
 Iowa. At the close of the year, he resigned his 
 position and returned to the home of his earlier 
 years, Morris ville,Vt., and again took his old place at 
 the head of the People's Academy. But he soon dis- 
 covered that he had been West too long to be con- 
 tented there. He was again invited to take charge 
 of the schools of Sycamore, and in 1877 accepted, 
 where he may be found, an earnest, enthusiastic 
 worker. 
 
 Prof. Blanchard is a member of Sycamore Com- 
 mandery, Knights Templars, and Commander of 
 Potter Post, No. 12, G. A. R., of Sycamore. Frank 
 W. Blanchard, his son, was born June 16, 1861, in 
 Morrisville, Vt., and is now book-keeper in the R. 
 Ellwood Manufacturing Company at Sycamore. 
 Fanny M. was born Sept. 8, 1863, at Sycamore. 
 Claribel was born June 14, 1867, and died in Litch- 
 field, 111., October 4, following. 
 
 Prof. Blanchard takes foremost rank as a teacher 
 and disciplinarian. Few men possess the power of 
 control to such a degree as he does. Sincerity is his 
 characteristic. He is always guided by a sense of 
 strict justice and impartiality. No sham finds the 
 least favor in his eyes. His long period of service, as 
 well as his natural abilities, has fitted him thor- 
 oughly for his place in the profession, in which he 
 has few peers and no superiors. He has devoted 
 many of the best years of his life to the interest of 
 the schools of Sycamore. He has worked physically 
 as well as mentally. Whatever needs doing, he does. 
 He has been mainly instrumental in securing the 
 best High-School library and the finest philosophical 
 apparatus in the county. He has presented the High 
 School with a fine collection of birds and small 
 mammals; the Senior Grammar School with a library 
 of 100 volumes; the Middle Grammar School with a 
 library of 80 volumes. His absorptiion in his work 
 
 * 
 
 is complete. He has no other interest than that of 
 his school. The present high standing and pro- 
 ficiency of Sycamore's schools are the best evidence 
 of his faithful work. 
 
 We have the pleasure of presenting portraits of 
 both Mr. Blanchard and his wife in this volume. 
 They are engraved from photographs taken in 1883. 
 
 scar Schmoldt, farmer, section 24, Mayfield 
 Township, is a son of John and Wilhelmina 
 (Sturm) Schmoldt, natives of Germany who 
 emigrated to America in 1830, settling in 
 Pennsylvania, where they lived until the death 
 of the former, in Louisville, Ky. Mrs. S. went 
 Kane County in 1845, and came to De Kalb 
 County in 1862, and made her residence in Mayfield 
 Township, where she finally died, Feb. 5, 1870. 
 They had 1 1 children, seven of whom grew to years 
 of maturity, namely, Augusta, Rudolph, Amandus, 
 Amiel, Adolph, Wilhelmina and Oscar. 
 
 The youngest above mentioned, who is the sub- 
 ject of this biographical sketch, was born in Schuyl- 
 kill Co., Pa., April 13, 1833, and lived at home until 
 19 years of age, learning the carpenter's trade. He 
 then went to California, remaining six years. Next 
 he came to Geneva, Kane Co., where he remained 
 about a year, and in the spring of 1862 came to De 
 Kalb County and settled on 100 acres of land in 
 Mayfield Township, which he had purchased the 
 year previous. Here he has since made his home, 
 and is now the owner of 270 acres of land, 200 of 
 which is in cultivation. He keeps about 40 head of 
 cattle, 13 head of horses, and fattens about 75 head 
 of hogs yearly. 
 
 In his political views Mr. Schmoldt is a Repub- 
 lican. He was married in Mayfield Township, April 
 n, 1866, to Miss Mary A., daughter of Charles and 
 Phebe (Nichols) Townsend, natives of the State of 
 New York. The father was born in Schoharie Co., 
 N. Y., Oct. io, 1808, and came to this State in 1837. 
 The mother was born in Sullivan Co., N. Y., Aug. 1 1, 
 1810. They were married Oct. io, 1834. They 
 lived in this county until their deaths. Mr. T. died 
 in May, 1879, and Mrs. T. April 26, 1880. They 
 had 1 1 children, Mary A., Edwin, Francis, Marinda, 
 Erastus, Harrison, Clarissa, Caroline, Orrissa, Charles
 
 fN. and one who died in infancy. Mrs. Schmoldt was 
 born in Sullivan Co., N. Y., July n, 1836, and the 
 ^ children now in her family are William A., who was 
 born Oct. 19, 1869; May was born April 26, 1872, 
 and one died when an infant. Mrs. S. is a member 
 of the Advent Church. 
 
 iptain Joseph W. Foster, real estate and 
 loan agent, residing in Kingston Town- 
 ship, on section 9, has lived chiefly in 
 that township since the age of eight years. 
 His father, Moses Foster, was born in Adams 
 Co., Ohio, and married Anna B. Robb, a na- 
 tive of Allegany Co., Pa Subsequent to their mar- 
 riage, they passed three years in Adams County, and 
 removed thence to Fountain Co., Ind. There they 
 resided a similar period of time, when they made 
 another transfer, to Warren County in the same 
 State, and thence removed to De Kalb County, this 
 State, and settled in 1836, in Kingston Township, 
 where they were among the earliest of the first 
 permanent settlers. The mother died in January, 
 1878, at a greatly advanced age. The father went 
 in 1882 to spend some time with a son in Colorado, 
 arid is now residing there. The children included 
 in their family were Joseph W., Thomas P., Robert 
 R., Rebecca, Esther E., Harriet A. and Mary C. 
 One died in infancy. 
 
 Joseph vV. was born Jan. 17, 1828, in Adams Co., 
 Ohio. He was educated in the common schools, 
 and remained at home until he was 22 years of age. 
 In 1850 he became an independent land-holder by 
 the purchase of 100 acres of land in Franklin Town- 
 ship, where he prosecuted his agricultural projects 
 two years previous to his settling thereon. Two 
 years later he removed to Belvidere, Boone County, 
 where he formed a partnership with A. F. Powers, 
 and engaged in the sale of groceries and farm prod- 
 uce, under the style of Powers & Foster. At the 
 end of two years the former withdrew, and the latter 
 continued the purchase and shipment of grain about 
 one year alone. Some time afterward he engaged in 
 trade in general merchandise and operated in that 
 avenue of business about three years. He then re- 
 turned to Franklin Township and rented his father- 
 in-law's farm one year. In the fall of 1860 he em- 
 barked anew in the grain trade, in which he was 
 
 * 
 
 interested until the business and all other interests of 
 the people of the United States were interrupted by 
 the event of civil war. 
 
 Mr. Foster was one of the first tp rally to the 
 standard of union and loyalty. He enlisted in April, 
 1 86 1, and in August following, his company was as- 
 signed to the 42d 111. Vol. Inf. In July previous 
 he was commissioned First Lieutenant of Co. K, and 
 during the month of November, 1862, he was pro- 
 moted to the command of his company as a reward 
 for meritorious conduct at Stone River. He con- 
 tinued the chief officer of his company until his cap- 
 ture at the battle of Chickamauga, on the afternoon 
 of Sept. 20, 1863. He had received a terrible gun- 
 shot wound in his face, the traces of which he will 
 bear to his dying day ; and he was held prisoner of 
 war on the field 19 days after the action. He was 
 taken thence to Richmond, Va., where he was in 
 close confinement seven months. He was removed 
 thence to Danville, Va., and afterwards to Macon, 
 Ga. While at the latter place, a plot was laid which 
 was intended to result in a wholesale escapade of 
 the Union prisoners ; but, owing to the failure of 
 some of the soldiers in the fulfillment of their assigned 
 duties, the scheme came to naught, and soon after- 
 ward they were removed to Charleston, S. C. Two 
 months later a second removal, to Columbia, S. C., 
 took place, where they were held several months. 
 In the spring of 1865, they were paroled at Annap- 
 olis, Md., and Captain Foster returned home after 
 an imprisonment of 17 months and n days. Pre- 
 vious to that event he was in charge of the paroled 
 and convalescent soldiers of Johnson's Division at 
 Nashville, Tenn., six months. While en route to 
 Charleston, subsequent to the failure of the plan to 
 escape, Captain Foster and two comrades endeavored 
 to effect an escape by jumping from the train. The 
 success of the venture was only thwarted by blood- 
 hounds, which the Confederate villains let loose after 
 their absence was discovered. At Columbia, Cap- 
 tain Foster made a second attempt to regain his 
 freedom, by endeavoring to pass the lines as a 
 paroled soldier. He passed 16 days in the swamps 
 and marshes, and at the end of that time was again 
 retaken and returned to prison. He was mustered 
 out at St. Louis, Mo. In 1870 he was made United 
 States Census Enumerator, and performed the duties 
 of his office in seven townships in De Kalb County. 
 He has acted as Assessor of his township six years 
 
 
 
 f >
 
 DE KALB COUNT*. 
 
 \\ 
 
 J 
 
 I 
 
 ^ 
 
 In the 3ist General Assembly of Illinois in 1879, he 
 acted in the capacity of Under-Policeman. In Au- 
 gust, 1879, he was made door-keeper for the State 
 Board of Equalization, and in 1881 he was made as- 
 sistant in the same position. He acted during the 
 33d Assembly as a Messenger of the Senate. 
 
 Captain Foster was married June 19, 1850, in 
 Sycamore, to Alidah, daughter of Martin and Mary 
 A. (Ives) Barringer. He was born July 19, 1806, 
 and the latter was born in Sand Lake, N. Y., Dec. 
 n, 1810, and removed thence to Genesee ,0., N. 
 Y. In 1 845 they came thence to Illinois and settled 
 in Franklin Township, in De Kalb County. After a 
 residence there of six years they went to Belvidere, 
 Boone Co., 111. 'The mother died June 27, 1874. 
 The death of the father occurred at Lake City, Flor- 
 ida, Nov. 15, 1877, where he had gone in quest of 
 health. Edward, Alidah, Mary E., Fidelia and Susan 
 J. are the names of their children. Mrs. Foster was 
 born Aug. 30, 1821, in Rensselaer Co., N. Y. Three 
 children have been born to her arid her husband: 
 J. Wesley, Charles M . and Thomas P. 
 
 Captain Foster is an earnest Republican and is 
 at present the Commander of Barnes Post, No. 395, 
 G. A. R. He has been for four years Superintend- 
 ent of the Sunday-school connected with the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal Church, to which he and his wife 
 belong. Since his return from the army he has en- 
 gaged principally in farming, but has combined his 
 operations in that line with trade in real estate. 
 
 rentiss D. Worthley, farmer, section 28, 
 Kingston Township, was born Nov. 20, 
 1850, near Bangor, Maine, in Kennebec 
 County. His father, Conrad C. Worthley, was 
 a native of the same State, as was his mother, 
 Esther A. (Bradbury) Worthley. The father 
 was born in October, 1801, and died Sept. 29, 1877. 
 The mother was born Oct. n, 1804, and died May 
 19, 1884. They had four sons and two daughters, 
 and the son who is the subject of this sketch is the 
 youngest. He came with his parents when five 
 years of age to Michigan City, Ind., removing thence 
 two years later to Porter County, in the same State. 
 The family were resident there about 12 years, and 
 came thence to McHenry Co., 111. The son sought 
 an independent home and career in De Kalb County 
 
 QVJ^f-co -^^f^ ^ 
 
 ,^ ;_, -^n^ 
 
 in the spring of 1870, when he located in Kingston 
 Township. He is now the manager of 140 acres of 
 improved land. In political faith Mr. Worthly is a 
 Republican. 
 
 His marriage to Amelia Uplinger occurred Dec. 
 10, 1878, and they have one child, Ralph, bom Oct. 
 26, 1879. Mrs. Worthley was born April 18, 1857, 
 in Luzerne Co., Pa., and is the daughter of John and 
 Elizabeth (Wood) Uplinger, residents of Kingston 
 Township, whither Mrs. W. came when she was nine 
 years of age. 
 
 orace B. Johnson, mechanic, resident at 
 Fielding, Franklin Township, was born Oct. 
 20, 1829, in Wilton, Kennebec Co., Maine. 
 John Johnson, his father, was a ship carpenter, 
 and married Mehitable Dacy. Both parents 
 were natives of the Pine-Tree State, and tfiere 
 they died, the former when Horace was in youth, the 
 latter in 1880. 
 
 When Mr. Johnson was 13 years of age, he was 
 apprenticed to a man named Cyrus Dunn, to acquire 
 a knowledge of brick-laying, and remained under his 
 instructions until he reached his majority. He be- 
 gan his independent career by the practice of his 
 trade in Oxford Co., Maine, going thence to Lewiston 
 in the same State. He was married while there to 
 Nancy Nash, who died in 1855, leaving one child, 
 Walter E., who is a resident at Lewiston. After the 
 death of his wife, Mr. Johnson came to Illinois and 
 settled in Franklin Township. He passed some 
 years in working at his trade and in farming, remov- 
 ing eventually to the village of Fielding, where, in 
 1876, he purchased a sight for his home, consisting 
 of two and a half village lots, on which he erected 
 a pleasant residence. Since his removal hither he 
 has followed his trade. 
 
 His marriage to Sarah J. Van Dresser occurred in 
 Franklin Township, Jan. i, 1856, and they had three 
 children. Liona R. is the single survivor. Nancy 
 A. died when four years old. Charles W. died at the 
 the age of four months. Mrs. Johnson is the 
 daughter of Gilbert and Nancy Van Dresser. Her 
 parents were natives of Allegany Co., N. Y., and 
 came West in 1845, first locating in Erie Co., Ohic 
 After a residence there of seven years they removed 
 
 - ) >^r: Hli^f 

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 to Lake County, in the same State, where the father 
 died. The mother removed with her children in 
 1853 to Illinois and now resides at St. Charles. 
 
 Mr. Johnson is a Republican and as officiated 22 
 years as a Constable. He has also held other local 
 offices in his township. 
 
 eonard Aurner, a retired farmer and mer- 
 chant, resident at Kingston, was born July 
 6, 1811, in Sugar Loaf, Armstrong Co., 
 Ohio. His parents, Henry and Betsey (Billick) 
 Aurner, were natives of Pennsylvania, and when 
 their son was in his early childhood they re- 
 turned to Lycoming County, in that State, removing 
 thence to De Kalb County, this State, where they 
 were among the pioneer settlers. His father died 
 at 90 years of age ; his mother was 88 years old 
 when she died. On attaining his majority he be- 
 came .his " own man," and he went to Livingston 
 Co., N. Y., where he spent two years as a farm as- 
 sistant, working by the month. In 1832 he came to 
 St. Joseph, Mich., for the purpose of enlisting to aid 
 in expelling the Indians; but the difficulties there 
 were at an end before his arrival. He obtained em- 
 ployment on the " turnpike," which was then being 
 built through that country, ajid he spent three 
 years in that vicinity, operating a part of the 
 time as a lumberman. At the end of that time 
 he bought a farm in the township of Sherman, St. 
 Joseph County, where he operated as a farmer two 
 years. The location did not agree with his health 
 and he sold his farm, coming thence to De Kalb 
 County. He purchased a large tract of land of a 
 man who had made a claim, and he was at one time 
 the possessor of 406 acres of land in the county. 
 He is the present owner of nearly 200 acres of land 
 and also of quite an amount of village property. 
 
 Mr. Aurner was first married Feb. 4, 1836, in St. 
 Joseph Co., Mich., to Margaret Dibble, a native of 
 Colchester, Delaware Co., N. Y. They became t^ie 
 parents of nine children, Orlando J., Eliza C., Wil- 
 liam R., Jane M., Harriet L., Charles L., Joseph F., 
 Emma and Marcus D. The death of their mothet 
 occurred in 1864, in Kingston Township, and Mr. 
 Aurner was a second time married Aug. 3, 1874, at 
 De Kalb, to Ellen (Carter) Burkhardt, daughter of 
 
 Jared and Lydia (Ames) Carter, and widow of John ^f 
 Burkhardt. Her first husband died Dec. 25, 1865, $ 
 leaving nine children, Caroline, Mary E., Josephine $ J. 
 A., Robert O., John S., Jared H., George H., Carrie !! 
 
 V. and Claude A. Four of the latter are deceased. 
 Mrs. Aurner was born Nov. 16, 1827, in Vermont. 
 Mr. Aurner is a Democrat, and has officiated in sev- 
 eral positions of responsibility and trust in his town- 
 ship. 
 
 rancis Rote, farmer, section 35, Franklin 
 Township, vyas born June 9, 1820, in Ly- 
 coming Co., Pa., and is the son of Daniel 
 and Mary (Kitchen) Rote. His father, Daniel 
 Rote, was born in Eastern Pennsylvania, May 
 i 27, 1792, and joined the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church at an early age, but for honest difference of 
 views he left it, and in 1831 or '32 he joined the 
 Christian Church, and was baptized by Elder John 
 Case in 1832. He soon after began to exhort, and 
 was ordained at Fairfield, Lycoming Co., Pa., March 
 9, 1833, by Milliard Marvin and others. Within 
 one year afterward he organized four Churches in his 
 own neighborhood, of 143 members in the aggregate. 
 He continued his labors in Pennsylvania for many 
 years, and was one of the leading men in the organiza- 
 tion of the Pennsylvania Christian Conference, of 
 which he became a member. In 1846, he left his 
 home and work in Pennsylvania, and moved to De 
 Kalb County. In his new locality in the West, he 
 entered heartily into the work of the ministry, and was 
 very useful in the cause. About 1860 disease and 
 old age came upon him, so that he was not able to do 
 much labor ; but his heart was in the work to the 
 last.' In 1862 he received a stroke of paralysis, from 
 which he never entirely recovered. He died May 
 24, 1864, aged 72 years, leaving an aged companion 
 in a dying state with the same disease. He had 
 been 'a successful man in his day. He married 
 Mary Kitchen, Nov. r, 1814, who was born in New 
 Jersey, July 4, 1787, and died Feb. 26, 1865. Mr. 
 R. was the son of David Rote, a native of Holland, 
 who was born in that country April 12, 1740, and 
 came to America and settled in Pennsylvania, where 
 he was a successful farmer. 
 
 Mr. Rote of this sketch is the third child of a 
 
 V!
 
 
 404 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 family of nine children born to his parents ; they were 
 named as follows : Henry, Sarah, Francis, Hannah, 
 Rachel, Mary and Martha (twins), Amos H. and 
 Margaret. 
 
 Mr. Rote was married Sept. 4, 1861, in Belvidere, 
 Boone Co., 111., to Catherine E. McCarty, who is the 
 daughter of Edward and Mary A. (Sherman) Mc- 
 Carty. Her father was born in Illinois and went in 
 early life to Ontario, Can., where he married. His 
 wife is a native of New Brunswick, and after their 
 marriage they located in Franklin Township, and are 
 still residing there, aged respectively 77 and 7 2 years. 
 They had 14 children, of whom Mrs. Rote was born 
 sixth in order. Ten of her brothers and sisters sur- 
 vive. She was born in Ontario, April 28, 1843, and 
 was ten years of age when she accompanied her 
 parents to Boone Co., 111., where they settled in Cale- 
 donia Township. She is the mother of 10 children, 
 who were born as follows: Albert D., March 17, 
 1862; Mary E., June 30, 1863, and died Sept. 
 20, 1863; Sarah A., born May 26, 1865; Libbie J., 
 Dec. 2, 1867; Frank, Feb. 13, 1870; Hattie, Jan. 
 13, 1872; Charles, Sept. 14, 1874; Eddie, Aug. 
 i, 1876: Freddie A., Jan. 8, 1878; and Jessie E., 
 June 13. 1880. 
 
 After his marriage, Mr. Rote succeeded to the pro- 
 prietorship of the homestead, which comprised 80 
 acres and a piece of timber land 15 acres in extent 
 and located on section 35. The place is under 
 excellent tillage. 
 
 Mr. Rote is a Republican in his political views. 
 
 ^amuel Knight, farmer, section 9, Mayfield 
 Township, is a son of Peter and Anna 
 (Dell) Knight, who were natives of Mary- 
 land, where they lived until their, demise. 
 They had eight children, Susanna, Samuel, 
 Jacob, Lydia, John N., Michael, Matilda P. 
 and Lilly A. The second-born, whose name heads 
 this sketch, was born in Frederick Co., Md., June 28, 
 1816, and lived at home until of age, learning the 
 blacksmith's trade of his father, which he followed 
 for many years. In 1837 he emigrated to Adams 
 County, this State, where he continued to work at 
 his trade for eight years, and then, in 1845, he came 
 this county and pre-empted a quarter of section 
 
 
 
 9, where he settled and has since resided, one of the 
 oldest and most honored pioneers of the county. 
 He is now the owner of 175 acres in the township, 
 most of which is in cultivation. He has been Road 
 Commissioner, Overseer of Highways, etc., is Demo- 
 cratic in his political principles, and is a member of 
 the Christian Church, as is also Mrs. Knight. 
 
 Mr. K. was married in Columbus, Adams Co., III., 
 March 20, 1839, to Miss Mary, daughter of Abel and 
 Mary (Moore) Tower, who were natives of Vermont 
 and the parents of George, John, Charles, Mary 
 (Mrs. K.) and David. Mrs. K. was born in Wil- 
 mington, Windham Co., Vl., Feb. 21, 1815. The 
 living children of Mr. and Mrs. Knight are, Harri- 
 et, wife of Nicholas Weber, and resides in Kingston 
 Township ; Mary, who married H. G. Vandeburgh, 
 .and resides in Kingston Township; Amanda, who 
 was married to H. G. Campbell ; Laura married 
 Oliver Low, of Kingston ; Augusta L., the wife of 
 F. G. Menter, of Mayfield Township; Sarah, the 
 wife of James Snell; and Charles, who married 
 Martha Swanson. Alice, George W. and John H. 
 are deceased. 
 
 Ibert N. Freeland, farmer, located on sec- 
 tion 36, De Kalb Township, was born Sept. 
 22, 1827, in Tioga Co., N. Y. Joseph and 
 Lydia (Perry) Freeland, his parents, were na- 
 tives of Massachusetts, and went thence to 
 Tioga County, where they passed the remain- 
 der of their lives. Their five children reached ma- 
 ture life. They were named Melissa, Betsey, Ly- 
 man, Squire and Albert N. 
 
 Mr. Freeland obtained a good common-school ed- 
 ucation and operated as a farmer in New York. In 
 the fall of 1854 he came to De Kalb County and 
 became a landholder of the township of Pierce. He 
 continued to carry on his farming operations there 
 uTitil 1860. In that year he disposed of his farm by 
 sale and passed the next three years in farming and 
 in other occupations in Sycamore. In 1863 he as- 
 sumed charge of the county poor farm and continued 
 the management of its affairs about seven years. 
 On the termination of his connection therewith he 
 went to Aurora, 111., and spent three years engaged 
 
 \\ 

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 in various pursuits, which required little activity, as 
 he was in poor health. In the winter of 1875 he 
 removed his family to Fredericksburg, Va., to pro- 
 cure a change of climate for his daughter, who was 
 in a precarious state of health. He remained there 
 until the next October, when the family went to 
 Tompkins Co., N. Y., and a few months later re- 
 turned to Illinois, settling in De Kalb Township. 
 His farm contains 160 acres of valuable land, all 
 under improvements, and fairly stocked. Mr. Free- 
 land is a Republican of decidedly zealous spirit. 
 
 He was married Dec. 24, 1852, in Tioga Co., N. 
 Y., to Jane Bunnell. One child was born to them, 
 Jan. 18, '864, Jennie D., who died of consump- 
 tion in the township of De Kalb, May 2, 1882. 
 Mrs. Freeland was born Nov. 14, 1829, in Tioga 
 County, and is the daughter of Isaac and Rachel 
 (Brink) Bunnell. The latter died in New York, her 
 native State. The former removed thence to De 
 Kalb County, where he afterwards died. 
 
 fabez W. Ward, farmer residing on the 
 northeast quarter of section 21, Afton 
 Township, was born in West Rutland, 
 Rutland Co., Vt., Nov. 6, 1829. The Ward 
 family are of the old " Puritan Stock." Four 
 of five brothers came to this country in the, 
 Mayflower, and Luke Ward, father of Jabez W.," had 
 directly descended from one of those brothers. The 
 fifth brother came over the next year after the land- 
 ing of the Mayflower at Plymouth Rock. The father 
 of Jabez W. was born in 1795, and died at West 
 Rutland, Rutland Co., Vt., April 23, 1876. He was 
 a farmer by vocation. His mother, Fanny (Watkins) 
 Ward, was born May 10, 1804, and is still living in 
 West Rutland, Vt. They are the parents of five 
 children, namely: Charles E., George H., Jabez W., 
 Henry M. and Fanny E. 
 
 Jabez W. Ward, subject of this notice, was raised 
 on a farm in Rutland Co., Vt. He spent his early 
 years in farm labor and attending the common 
 schools, and remained on the home farm until he 
 attained the age of 25 years, with the exception of 
 one year which he spent at Castleton, his native 
 county. At that age in life he went forth upon the 
 i road of adversity alone, with a firm determination to 
 
 overcome the trials of life and procure a competency. 
 Following the promptings of his conscience, and rely- 
 ing on his faith in the future development of the 
 " Great West," he came to this State and located at 
 Joliet, Will County. He arrived there in November, 
 
 1854, and during the winter of 1854-5 traveled for 
 his brother in the marble business. In the spring of 
 
 1855, he came to this county and purchased the 
 northwest quarter of section 32, Afton Township, the 
 date of his purchase being May i. The land had a 
 frame house on it and 65 acres under the plow. He 
 lived on this farm for nine years, meanwhile culti- 
 vating and improving it, and then, in 1864 sold it to 
 John Sturtevant. Soon thereafter he purchased 152^ 
 acres on section 21, same township, of the "Tyler 
 estate," on which he moved and has resided ever 
 since. It contained a small frame house, with a 
 locust grove, where his present residence now stands, 
 and a fence (which was a perfect failure) of locust 
 trees. He has now a good frame house, warm and 
 comfortable barn, 26x36 feet, good fences, and the 
 farm is under good cultivation. 
 
 Mr. Ward was united in marriage Sept. 30, 1850, 
 to Miss Susan, daughter of Chester and Hannah 
 (Peak) Ward. Both parents are deceased. Her 
 father was born in West Rutlarfd, April 10, 1797, 
 and was found dead in his bed Oct. 10, 1884. Her 
 mother was born in Vermont, Jan. 2, 1800, and died 
 at Highgate, Franklin County, same State, Oct. 2, 
 1842. Mrs. Susan Ward was born Oct. 31, 1828, in 
 Highgate, Franklin County, Vt., and was one of a 
 family of five children, three boys and two girls, 
 namely: Luther H., Erastus W., Susan, Elizabeth 
 and Benjamin. There was also a half sister, Jane. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Ward are the parents of four chil- 
 dren : Lucy E. was born Dec. 25, 1852, married 
 John Rice, April 28, 1875, and is residing in Forres- 
 ton, Ogle County, this State. Fannie A. was born 
 April 25, 1856, married N. H. Givens, March 14, 
 1876, and resides on section 7, Afton Township, this 
 county. George L. was born April 4, 1859, and re- 
 sides in Sanborn Co., Dak. Rollin W. was born 
 Nov. 24, 1863, and resides on the home farm. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Ward is a Republican. He has 
 been Highway Commissioner two years, Justice of 
 Peace nine years, and School Trustee 1 2 years, and 
 is at present Township Treasurer, which latter office 
 he has held for three years. 
 
 Mr. Ward was one of the pioneer settlers of Afti 
 
 w>n <- _>s^Mr- ' ^&i<s- '- 
 
 v
 
 -X- ' 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Township. He moved into it before it was organized 
 and was one of the prime factors in its organization. 
 Prominent among those entitled to be classified as 
 self-made men in this county, men who achieved a 
 competency through honest, energetic effort and 
 good judgment, is Mr. Ward, and while we cannot 
 place the likeness of all of them in this work, we are 
 pleased to be able to give that of the gentleman 
 whose name heads this notice. 
 
 i illiam B. Low, Police Magistrate at Sand- 
 wich, was born in Hillier, Prince Edward 
 Co., Ont., Jan. 30, 1827. He is a son of 
 Charles and Laner (Richardson) Low, who 
 were the parents of 10 children; five of the 
 latter are yet living. Tamar A., second child, is the 
 wife of R. B. Warner, an attorney in Orange, Los 
 Angeles Co., Cal. Charles is a farmer in Sac Co., 
 Johnson is a farmer on the family homestead 
 
 Iowa 
 
 at Shabbona Grove, where the mother is living in ad- 
 vanced age. Wolfred N. is a prominent attorney in 
 Chicago. The father died at Shabbona Grove, Nov. 
 5, 1863. 
 
 Mr. Low is the oldest of his parents' children. 
 He is a born and bred farmer, to which vocation he 
 was trained in his native county, and in which he 
 was there occupied until the date of his becoming a 
 citizen of the United States. He emigrated to De 
 Kalb Co., 111., in 1856, and became the proprietor by 
 purchase of 40 acres of land at Shabbona Grove. 
 In r866 he went thence to Piano, 111., in the capacity, 
 of employee of the Marsh Harvester Company, then 
 engaged in perfecting their machines in the shops of 
 Lew Stewart. He operated there until January, 
 1869, when he came to Sandwich and completed 
 the invention of the machine known as the Low, 
 Adams and , French Harvester, whose utility has 
 since acquired a wide popularity. He was interested 
 in its manufacture until 1874, and in the autumn of 
 that year he sold his claim in the patents and works 
 to the Sandwich Manufacturing Company and T. L. 
 French, for $25,000, after which he was in no active 
 business until his election to the position of which 
 he is now and has since been the incumbent, whose 
 duties he assumed in the spring of 1882. He is still 
 a landholder of De Kalb County, owning 120 acres 
 
 
 
 of land near Shabbona Grove, also his residence with 
 four lots adjoining, and four acres within the South- 
 ern part of the corporation of Sandwich. 
 
 The marriage of Mr. Low to Lydia Christy oc- 
 curred Nov. 9, 1852, at Mariposa, Victoria Co., Ont., 
 and to them five children have been born, all of 
 whom survive but one Charles H. Low an ac- 
 count of whose short but busy and useful life may 
 be found elsewhere in this volume. Emma A. Low, 
 oldest daughter, born Sept. 28, 1853,13 the wife of 
 Loren Brown, of Girard, Kan., where he is engaged 
 in traffic in lumber. The deceased son was next in 
 order of birth. He was born Oct. 4, 1855, and died 
 Jan. 10, 1884. Cora was born March 14, 1858. 
 George J., born Jan. 31, 1862, resides at Odebolt, 
 Iowa, where he is engaged in banking. He was 
 married Sept. 12, 1883,10 Rachel Bateman. Wol- 
 fred W. was born June 28, 1870. 
 
 Mr. Low entered the Army of the Union during 
 the Civil War, enlisting Sept. 2, 1862, at Shabbona, 
 De Kalb County, in Co. E, 1 051)1 Reg. 111. Vol. Inf. 
 as a private. He accompanied the command to the 
 seat of war, and was discharged early in the spring 
 of 1863, without having seen active service, on ac- 
 count of ill health. 
 
 As a citizen, business man, and in his domestic 
 relations Mr. Low is among the most respected resi- 
 dents of Sandwich. Born to a life of effort, reared 
 in the prosecution of the duties of an agricultural 
 career, and taught the value of self-respect by pre- 
 cept and circumstances, his accession to affluence 
 proved no disturbing element in the course of his 
 tranquil, honorable career. He has devoted his 
 means and interest to giving his children solid, sub- 
 stantial education, and although by birth belonging 
 to another nationality, he recognizes no sovereignty 
 but manhood, and acknowledges no human suprem- 
 acy save that acquired by culture and education. 
 
 ary N. Parker, farmer, Kingston Town- 
 ship, section 34, was born Oct. 26, 1814, in 
 Ontario Co., N. Y., and is the third in order 
 of birth of a family of seven children included 
 in the family of his parents, James and Sarah 
 (Hubbs) Parker. The former was a native of 
 Connecticut, the latter of New York. They removed 
 about 1815 to Kentucky, where the son was brought
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 up to manhood and followed the calling of a farmer. 
 When he was 24 years of age he decided on fixing 
 his residence in the North, and he bought a farm in 
 Spencer Co., Ind., on which he resided 14 years. At 
 the end of that time he sold out and came in 1854 to 
 De Kalb County. He purchased 80 acres of land in 
 Kingston Township and there commenced his career 
 as an Illinois farmer. He has since doubled his 
 possessions and is the proprietor of 160 acres, all 
 under excellent improvement. 
 
 The marriage of Mr. Parker to Mary A. Stillwell 
 occurred July 22, 1834, in Campbell Co., Ky. She 
 is a native of that county and is the daughter of 
 Joseph and Martha (Barrickman) Stillwell, who were 
 also born in that State. She was born Nov. 23, 1812. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Parker have had eight children, 
 Martha, Sarah A., Louisa, Joseph E., John R., 
 Martha J., Mary A. and Fanny B. All are living 
 but the oldest. Mr. Parker is a Republican in 
 political belief and relations. 
 
 enjamin Scurr Estabrook, farmer, sec- 
 tion 36, De Kalb Township, was born in 
 Sackville, Westmoreland Co., New Bruns- 
 wick, Aug. 10, 1835. His parents, James and 
 Isabella (Buhner) Estabrook, were born in 
 the same province and remained there during 
 their entire lives. Their family comprised nine chil- 
 dren. 
 
 Mr. Estabrook is the second son born to his par- 
 ents and remained a resident of his native province 
 until he was 17 years of age. In 1852 he went 
 thence to Lowell, Mass., and passed about two years 
 in a machine shop. In the spring of 1855 he de- 
 cided on trying his chances in the opening West and 
 came to Illinois, locating in Kane County, and con- 
 tinued a resident there three years. In 1858 he 
 transferred his interests to De Kalb County, and in 
 1 86 1 settled on a farm of 80 acres in Pierce Town- 
 ship, of which he became proprietor by purchase. 
 After an ownership of 12 years he sold out and came 
 to De Kalb Township, where he bought 160 acres of 
 land, now constituting a model farm, such as have 
 founded the ,'unparalleled repute of the " Sucker " 
 State. He resided on the property until the fall of 
 884, when he removed to the village of De Kalb. 
 
 Mr. Estabrook is, in political bias and connection, 
 a Republican, and has been active in school and 
 local matters in his township. He was married in 
 Whitewater, Wis., April 5, 1865, to Orissa, daughter 
 of Isaiah and Olive (Tyler) Hall. Her parents were J& 
 born in the State of New York, of which she was 
 also a native, and was born May 24, 1845. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Estabrook have two children. Walter G. was 
 born Oct. 24, 1866, in Pierce Township; Cora B. 
 was born June 5, 1868, in De Kalb Township, De 
 Kalb County. 
 
 enry Kingsley, deceased, was a farmer, 
 owning 80 acres on section 29 and 80 acres 
 on section 30, Afton Township. He was 
 O born June 22, 1831, in Crawford Co., Pa., and 
 was a son of Ransom and Eliza A. (Cornell) 
 Kingsley. His father was born Feb. ir, 1799, 
 and died Sept. 23, 1877, in Du Page Co., 111. His 
 mother was born at Fort Ann, Washington Co., N. Y., 
 Dec. 12, 1802, and is yet living. His parents were 
 both of English extraction, and his father was a 
 farmer by occupation. 
 
 Henry Kingsley was raised on his father's farm, 
 alternating his labors thereon by attendance at the 
 common schools. Soon after attaining his majority 
 he came to this State and located with a sister in 
 Du Page County. He worked "around " in Du Page 
 and Kane Counties until March, 1863, when he pur- 
 chased the present farm and in October following 
 moved upon it. This is left to his family, and on it 
 his widow at present resides. There were a small 
 frame house and straw stable on the place, but he 
 went to work with a firm determination to make a 
 home for his family which would be a haven of rest 
 in the days to come. He died Aug. 19, 1884, from 
 the effect of paralysis. He received his first paralytic 
 stroke some five years ago, which, though not prov- 
 ing fatal at the time, gradually worked to his brain 
 and caused his death at the time stated. 
 
 He was married March 5, 1863, to Miss Mary, 
 daughter of Rodney and Abigail (Lounsberry) Mc- 
 Dole. Her father was born Jan. 31, 1809, in New 
 Hampshire, is of Scotch extraction and a farmer by 
 occupation. Her mother was born July 31, 1813, 
 in Chemung Co., N. Y., and died Jan. 14, 1876, while 
 
 r
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 on a visit to her relatives in Menard Co., 111., of heart 
 disease. Mrs. Kingsley was born Feb. 4, 1838, in 
 Kane Co., 111. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Kingsley were the parents of four 
 children. Nellie was born Dec. 7, 1863, married 
 Fred H. Rollins, Oct. 15, 1884, and resides in Cal- 
 houn Co., Iowa. Addie was born Feb. 25, 1866. 
 Jeddie J., Nov. r, 1869. Walter D, May 16, 1878. 
 
 Mr. Kingsley, politically, was a Republican. He 
 held the office of Justice of the Peace for many years, 
 and was also Supervisor and Road Commissioner. 
 i After his first stroke of paralysis he was unable to do 
 X jj any work, and passed from this world mourned and 
 beloved by a large circle of relatives and friends. 
 
 on. Luther Lowell, Judge of De Kalb 
 County, resident at Sycamore, was born 
 May 14, 1827, at Brookfield, Orange Co., 
 Vt. Martin L. Lowell, his father, was born 
 Dec. 14, 1792, at Lempster, N. H., and was the 
 son of Peter and Ruth (Frink) Lowell, the for- 
 mer of whom was a native of Massachusetts and 
 was a soldier of the Colonial war for independence. 
 The senior Lowell married Melinda C. Laporte, who 
 was born June 6, 1798, in New Jersey. Ten of their 
 children reached mature life. One daughter is de- 
 ceased. 
 
 Judge Lowell is of mixed English and Irish ex- 
 traction in the paternal line of descent. His mother 
 was French in her paternal line, her grandfather 
 having been born in France. He was reared in the 
 manner common to the place and period in the train- 
 ing of farmers' sons. This method comprised after 
 earliest boyhood three months of school during the 
 winter season and nine months of active life on the 
 farm, in which routine young Lowell passed the years 
 of his life from eight to eighteen years of age. He 
 "began to teach in the winter of 1845-6, and passed 
 a portion of every year in that occupation until he 
 completed his educational course. He prepared for 
 college at the academies at Hinesburg and Bakers- 
 field, entering the college at Middlebury two years in 
 advance. He graduated in 1851 with the degree 
 of A. B., and in 1854 received that of A. M. He 
 :aught a school in the village of Rutland, Vt., in the 
 r of 1850-1, and during the year following pur- 
 
 
 sued the same occupation at Ellicottville, N. Y. On 
 the establishment of an academy at Rutland he was 
 invited to take charge of it and was its Principal 
 from 1852 to 1854. He went thence to Flushing 
 Institute, Long Island, where he was teacher of Rhet- 
 oric and Ancient Languages. 
 
 In 1856 he came to Sycamore, and entered the law 
 office of Mayo & James. He was admitted to practice 
 in all the State Courts in April, 1857, and Aug. 27, 
 that year, entered into partnership with his precep- 
 tors. Their dissolution occurred Jan. i, 1858, and 
 each proffered to Mr. Lowell a copartnership. He 
 accepted the overtures of Mr. Jamas, and in 1858 the 
 firm became James, Lowell & Ellwood, for two years, 
 when Mr. Ellwood withdrew. The firm of James & 
 Lowell continued business until May i, 1864 when 
 it was dissolved, and Mr. Lowell associated with 
 himself J. Frank Meeker, now a man of wealth and 
 prominence at Marshalltown, Iowa. Mr. Meeker's 
 connection with the business of Mr. Lowell ceased 
 after, one year's duration. In 1867 he admitted 
 James H. Sedgwick to a partnership, which was 
 terminated in 1869 by the election of Mr. Lowell to 
 the position of County Judge, to which he was re- 
 elected in 1873. His second official term expired in 
 1877, and Jan. r, 1878, he formed a partnership with 
 D. J. Carnes, which existed five years and three 
 months, or until April 3, 1883. when Judge Lowell 
 was elected to fill a vacancy in the position he had 
 formerly held, made by the resignation of Hon. S. 
 B. Stinson, of Sandwich. 
 
 Judge Lowell's marriage to Ann P. James occurred 
 at Sycamore, Feb. 20, 1859. She was born May i, 
 1833, and is the daughter of Levi and Gyrene 
 (Batchelder) James. Judge Lowell and his wife are 
 childless, but have reared to mature years two chil- 
 dren, of whom they assumed charge in their tender 
 years, Lavina S. and Gilbert H. Denton, who bear 
 the relation of brother and sister. The latter is a 
 young gentleman of fine natural mental gifts, and 
 under the care and instructions of Judge Lowell and 
 Mr. Carnes he has become a lawyer of unusual 
 promise, and is associated in legal practice with D. J. 
 Games at Sycamore. 
 
 Judge Lowell is prominent in his character and 
 abilities. In his official position his natural traits 
 and disciplined mind render him peculiarly fit for 
 the duties incumbent upon him. Cool, sagacious, 
 methodical, upright, of sound judgment, and devoid 
 
 C'
 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 of ulterior purpose and motives, to no safer hands 
 could the interests with which he is intrusted by 
 virtue of his office be committed. As a counselor, 
 and chancery, probate and real-estate lawyer, Judge 
 Ixjwell has no superior in De Kalb County. His 
 knowledge of law is broad and comprehensive, and 
 in the branches of jurisprudence to which he has 
 given especial attention he has always controlled 
 a large practice. His capacious memory and clear 
 perception of the essential elements of the legal 
 system, seconded by the quality of his judgment, 
 make him a useful member of the legal fraternity of 
 De Kalb County. 
 
 ohn D. Jones, fanner, owning the east 
 half of the southwest quarter and the 
 west half of the southeast quarter of sec- 
 tion 29, Afton Township, was born in Brack- 
 nockshire, South Wales, Aug. 8, 1818, and is a 
 son of John and Margaret (Davis) Jones. His 
 parents are both deceased, his father dying in South 
 Wales in 1850, aged 60 years, and his mother in 
 Pennsylvania, in 1872, aged about 88 years. 
 
 John D. Jones, subject of this notice, lived in his 
 native country until 1848, when he emigrated to the 
 United States. His early years were spent in a 
 machine shop and attending school. No free-school 
 system existing in his native country, he was com- 
 pelled to pay for every month's instruction he re- 
 ceived. At 14 years he entered a machine shop to 
 learn the trade, and mastered the same only after 
 seven years of laborious toil. At 2 r years he com- 
 menced running an engine for a blast furnace, and 
 continued in that work until he emigrated to this 
 country. 
 
 On arrival in the " States," he went to Carbondale, 
 Lackawanna Co., Pa., and engaged in a machine 
 shop. He was soon selected by the same company 
 to take charge of a stationary engine engaged in pull- 
 ing cars up an inclined plane, and held the position 
 for 14 years. 
 
 In 1857 Mr. Jones came to this county, and, in 
 company with another gentleman, purchased the 
 land on which he at present resides. His partner 
 moved on the land, which was in its natural con- 
 dition, and Mr. Jones returned to Pennsylvania. In 
 ' /-yxVp^AS-- >m>JMkr^ rx V 
 
 >-^>V^V^tf ~^' '-'"''' 
 
 1859 he again returned to this county and purchased 
 his partner's interest in the property, together with 
 the improvements thereon, and again returned to 
 Pennsylvania. In the spring of 1863 he moved to 
 this county with his family, and settled on his land, 
 and has resided thereon ever since. 
 
 Mr. Jones was married in November, 1850, to Miss 
 Mary Ann, daughter of Samuel and Hannah (Wil- 
 cox) Kenyon, natives of New York. Her father was 
 a shoemaker by trade, and also owned a farm and 
 followed that vocation. Both parents are deceased, 
 her father dying in 1870, and her mother in 1863. 
 Mrs. Jones was born March 16, 1829, in Roxbury, 
 Delaware Co., N. Y. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Jones are the parents of seven chil- 
 dren living and two deceased. They were born as 
 follows : John F., in June, 1851, died in August of 
 the same year; Mary E., Aug. 16, 1854, died Sept. 
 8, 1877 ; George M., Aug. 15, 1856; Anna M., Dec. 
 21, 1859; Addie B., March 5, 1863; Edward J., 
 May 22, 1864; BurtD., Sept. 16, 1866; Lillie M., 
 May 13, 1871 ; and Minnie L., Dec. 3r, 1872. 
 
 Politically Mr. Jones is a Republican. He has 
 served as School Director for several years. 
 
 oseph M. Buckingham, farmer, section 15, 
 P Somonauk Township, was born on the farm 
 on which he is a resident, June 2, 1842, 
 ind where his parents located in_the autumn 
 of 1841. Nathan Buckingham, his father, was \ 
 a farmer and was born July 3, 1799, in Essex, | 
 Middlesex Co., Conn. He married Mary Pratt, f 
 Following is the record of their children : Frederick 
 E., born Oct. 19, 1830, died in 1864, in Nashville, 
 Tenn. ; William F., twin brother, was killed in 1857, 
 in a gold mine in California ; Almus W., born May 8, 
 1832, married Zelina Cheever; Mary J., born Aug. 
 24, 1835, married Levi Disbrow. (Q) 
 
 On removal to Illinois he bought 180 acres of land 
 on section 15, Somonauk Township, this county, and . 
 was a resident thereon 31 years, dying Jan. 23, 1873. I 
 The mother was a native of Connecticut and died on 
 the homestead in Somonauk, Nov. 14, 1855. Nathan 
 Buckingham was again married in 1856, to Ann W. 
 Stevens, of Piennont N. H. In the same year he c, HI 
 
 ^JJGLf' ayaL-Vx*/^ ' 
 
 ~~ I . ^STS^xxJV^
 
 ae 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 9 
 
 the trees from the lumber of which his house was 
 built, and which he drew to Piano to be sawed. 
 
 On setting out independently in life, Mr. Bucking- 
 ham bought 90 acres adjoining his father's farm, and 
 on the death of the latter he became the owner of 
 the homestead where he was born, by purchase from 
 the other heirs, and now owns a fine tract of land 
 1 80 acres in extent. 
 
 His marriage to Luella Evans occurred March 5, 
 1877. One daughter, Bertha, was born to them on 
 the farm, April 4, 1878. Mrs. Buckingham was born 
 Sept. 15, 1857, in Plainview, Wabasha Co., Minn., 
 and she is the daughter of Herford and Catherine 
 Evans. 
 
 lark Glidden, deceased, formerly a far- 
 mer occupying the southwest quarter of 
 section 4, Afton Township, was born in 
 Clarendon, Orleans Co., N. Y., Feb. 8, 1823. 
 His parents, Simeon and Lucy (Knowles) 
 Glidden, were of New England stock, being 
 from Vermont and New Hampshire. His father 
 died in June, 1865, aged 8 1 years; and his mother 
 died in 1880. 
 
 Mr. Glidden was reared to manhood on his father's 
 farm, having much of the labor and responsibility 
 devolving upon him, as his father was for 25 years 
 preceding his death afflicted with inflammatory rheu- 
 matism. His education was received in the district 
 school and at Brockford Academy. In February, 
 1854, he emigrated with his family to the West in 
 search of a suitable locality for a home, determining 
 finally to settle in this county, where Jos. F. Glidden 
 a distant relative, had already located. He bought 
 160 acres, and he increased his estate until he at one 
 time owned 420 acres, in this and De Kalb Town- 
 ships ; he sold too acres before his death. He was 
 a Republican, and was honored by his fellow citizens 
 with the offices of Collector, Assessor, School Direc- 
 tor, Road Commissioner and Justice of the Peace. 
 He died Feb. i, 187.1, in Afton Township, this 
 county. 
 
 He was married Feb. 14, 1847, in Clarendon 
 Township, Orleans Co., N. Y., to Miss Harriet, 
 daughter of I. B. and Clarissa (Foley) Keeler. Her 
 father was born May 18, 17 99, in Saratoga Co. N. Y., 
 
 X^ 
 
 and died Jan. 16, 1851; and her mother was born 
 Sept. 14, 7797, in the same county, and died Dec. 
 31, 1879. Mr. and Mrs. Glidden had six children, 
 four of whom are now living. The record stands : 
 Willis C., born July 23, 1848, in Clarendon, N. Y., 
 was married June i, 1881, to Mabel Seager, a suc- 
 cessful physician in Beloit, Kan., who graduated in 
 April, 1880, at the Homoeopathic Medical College of 
 Chicago; Burtis R., born June 24, 1850, in Claren- 
 don, N. Y., married Miss Emma Green, Dec. 15, 
 1880, and is now living in Scottville, Kan., where, in 
 company with his uncle, he is a merchant ; Ira B., 
 born Jan. 23, 1852, in Clarendon, N. Y., married 
 Allie T. Rathbun, Sept. 22, 1880, and now has two 
 children, Vernon C., bom April 15, 1882, in Afton 
 Township, and Jessie P., Dec. 22, 1883, in Afton 
 Township; Arthur J., born Dec. 25, 1855, in Afton 
 Township, married Miss Elva Lyon, March 10, 1880, 
 and now resides in Altoona, Beadle Co., Dak. 
 
 Neither Mr. Glidden nor any of his sons has ever 
 used tobacco. 
 
 It may be mentioned here that during the first 
 summer of their residence in this county, one mile 
 south of De Kalb, Mrs. Glidden was bitten by a 
 rattlesnake, bul, apparently with the aid of the ap- 
 plication of saleratus dissolved in whisky and the as- 
 sistance of a physician, she fully recovered. 
 
 atthias Ault, farmer, section 5, May field 
 Township, was born April 26, 1827, in 
 Lycoming Co., Pa. His parents, Samuel 
 and Catherine (Page) Ault, were born, reared 
 and married in the same State and were there 
 resident until 1850, when they came to Kane 
 Co., 111. In the spring of 1854 they came to Kings- 
 ton Township, where the mother died, March 28, 
 1866, and where also the decease of the father oc- 
 curred, Nov. 17, 1868. They had 14 children and 
 13 of them reached mature life. 
 
 Mr. Ault is the third son and seventh child, and 
 he obtained only the limited common-school educa- 
 tion of the place and period. He was 23 years of 
 age when he came to Kane Co., Ill, and he con- 
 tinued a resident of that county until 1854, coming 
 with his parents to De Kalb County and operating 
 as his father's assistant three years longer. In 1857
 
 ! 
 
 he became a land-holder by the purchase of 40 acres 
 of land in Kingston Township and 61 acres ad- 
 ditional in the township of Mayfield. The latter 
 has since been his homestead. He is now the pro- 
 prietor of 329 acres of land in De Kalb County, 
 which is chiefly under cultivation. 
 
 Mr. Aulthas acted in the capacities of School Di- 
 rector and Overseer of Highways. In political mat- 
 ters he is independent. 
 
 He was married in Rock Co., Wis., Sept. 20, 1858, 
 to Sarah, daughter of George and Mary (Keithline) 
 Gross, natives respectively of Lehigh Co., Pa., and 
 New Jersey. Her father died in Lycoming Co., Pa., 
 and the mother died after her removal to Mayfield 
 Township, Feb. 15, 1880. Mrs. Ault is the oldest 
 of six children, and was born Jan. 2, 1831, in Lu- 
 zerne Co., Pa. Mr. and Mrs. Ault have had five 
 children, William I., Amelia M., Mary C., Frank 
 S. and George W. The second child died when two 
 years old. 
 
 facob Haish, an extensive barbed-wire man- 
 ufacturer of De Kalb, was born March 9, 
 1827, in Germany, and is a son of Christian 
 and Christena Haish, natives of that country. 
 The family emigrated to this country when the 
 subject of this notice was nine years of age, and 
 settled in Crawford Co., Ohio. He purchased a farm 
 in the woods and entered on the task of clearing and 
 improving it. On this farm the son lived, alternating 
 his labors thereon by attending the common schools, 
 until he attained the age of 20 years. Arriving at 
 this age in life, he came West and located at Naper- 
 ville, Du Page Co., this State, where he engaged as a 
 farm laborer, which vocation he followed for several 
 seasons. 
 
 While living in that county, Mr. Haish was united 
 in marriage (in 1848) to Miss Sophie Brown. A 
 year after that event he came to this county and lo- 
 cated on a farm in Pierce Township. A few years 
 later, he moved into the village of De Kalb, and for 
 a time followed the carpenter's trade, which he had 
 previously lean.ed. He next engaged in the lumber 
 trade, at the same time taking building contracts. 
 In 1873 Mr. Haish made his first attempt to attach a 
 
 barb to a wire. He was successful, and in the fol- 
 lowing December made application for a patent. He 
 received his patent Jan. 20, 1874. Since that time 
 he has made some improvements and received other 
 patents. 
 
 ames Edmund Ellwood, Treasurer of the 
 f R. Ellwood Manufacturing Company at 
 Sycamore, was born April 25, 1831, in the 
 town of Canajoharie, Montgomery Co., N. Y. 
 He grew to manhood under the care of his 
 parents, Abraham and Sarah (Delong) Ell- 
 wood (see biography of Chauncey Ellwood, page 
 241 of this book, for sketch of parents), and cele- 
 "brated his approaching majority by his marriage, 
 Jan. 7, 1852, a little more than three months previous 
 to its advent, when Lodeska H. Fellows became his 
 wife. She is the daughter of Newton and Sarah Fel- 
 lows, and was born in Middleville, Herkimer Co., N. 
 Y. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Ell- 
 wood, three of whom died in infancy. A daughter, 
 Sarah A. (Mrs. B. W. Paine), and a son, James B., 
 survive. 
 
 The earliest business venture of any importance 
 in which Mr. Ellwood was interested was in raising 
 100 acres of broom-corn in the Mohawk Valley in 
 the Empire State, which occupied his attention one 
 year, after which, associated with his brother Hiram, 
 he engaged in the sale of groceries and provisions in 
 Frankfort, Herkimer Co., N. Y., which relation and 
 business was in existence one year. 
 
 In 1855 he came to Sycamore and again entered 
 upon the culture of broom-corn, in company with his 
 brother Reuben. They had about i ,000 acres planted 
 with that annual, and were engaged three years in 
 the various avenues of business arising from their ex- 
 tensive operations. In 1858 the drug and grocery 
 store of J. E. and Chauncey Ellwood was established 
 at Sycamore, under the firm style of J. E. Ellwood 
 & Bro. At the end of one year the former, in com- 
 pany with Daniel Dustin, purchased the interest of 
 Chauncey. In 1861 the firm of Ellwood & Dustin 
 terminated their relations, Mr. Dustin selling his 
 interest to his partner, who prosecuted the busine 
 singly about 13 years. In 1874 he associates with 
 
 f
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 X> himself his brother Alonzo, and they erected a niag- 
 nificent buildin, comprising part of the Central 
 , Block, for the accommodation of their business re- 
 lations, and the style of the firm name became J. E. 
 
 ^ 
 
 Ellwood & Bro. The brothers continued their joint 
 
 * 
 
 operations seven years. The single and associated 
 operations of Mr. Ellwood in the sale of drugs and 
 groceries covered a period of 23 years, and ceased 
 altogether in 1881. On the 1 6th of March of that 
 year he was succeeded by George M. Sivwright, the 
 
 / latter becoming a member of the present firm of Ell- 
 wood & Sivwright by purchase. Mr. Ellwood be- 
 came a stockholder in the R. Ellwood Manufacturing 
 Company at Sycamore in 1881, and has since 
 officiated as Treasurer of that corporation. He is a 
 member of the Order of Masonry and belongs to the 
 Lodge at Sycamore. 
 
 The portrait of Mr. Ellwood is given on the page 
 opposite this sketch, and is the fourth in order of 
 
 ) presentation of the Ellwood brotherhood, all of whom 
 are represented on the pages of this volume. 
 
 ilbert H. Robertson, editor and proprie- 
 tor of the Gazette at Sandwich, was born 
 in South Argyle, Washington Co., N. Y., 
 Nov. 28, i83T. His father's name was Archi- 
 bald Robertson. His grandfather, William 
 i Robertson, came from Ireland, but was himself 
 of Scotch descent. His mother's maiden name was 
 Anna Robinson, who came from the Highlands of 
 Scotland when six years old. The subject of this 
 sketch was reared on a farm, attending the common 
 school quite steadily, until the age of 14 years, when 
 he went to the Arygle Academy. He entered Union 
 College, Schenectady, N. Y., in 1848, and graduated 
 in 1849. The college at this time was still under 
 the presidency of the celebrated Dr. Nott. He was 
 therefore several months in college with Chester A. 
 Arthur, who was of the class of 1848. 
 
 Leaving college, he remained at home a year, 
 during which period his father and mother both died. 
 He went South in 1850 and remained there until 
 1853, when he returned and entered the Theological 
 Seminary of the Associate Presbyterian Church of 
 Canonsburg, Pa. He finished his course in 1855, 
 and was licensed to preach at East Greenwich, 
 
 Washington Co., N. Y., the same autumn, by the 
 Presbytery of Cambridge. The Associate' and Asso- 
 ciate Presbyterian Churches having united a few days 
 previously, he was ordained and installed Pastor of 
 the United Presbyterian Church in North Hebron, 
 in the summer of 1858, being the first minister or- 
 dained in the united Church. In the spring of i86a 
 he accepted a call to the Park Presbyterian Church, 
 Troy, N. Y., where he remained nearly five years. 
 He resigned in 1864, because of failing health 
 caused by a disease incurred while serving the Chris- 
 tian Commission during the famous battles of the 
 Wilderness and Spottsylvania. 
 
 Resting a few months in the spring of 1865, he 
 came West and accepted a call from the Presby- 
 terian Church of Sandwich, 111., where he remained 
 two years. In the spring of 1867 he accepted a 
 unanimous call from the Second Presbyterian Church 
 of Springfield, 111. Here he remained four years. 
 During his pastorate the congregation built a large 
 and commodious church, in which, before its entire 
 completion, the State Legislature of the winter and 
 spring of 1 870 held its sessions. In the summer of 1870 
 he received and accepted a unanimous call from the 
 Chestnut Second Presbyterian Church of Louisville, 
 Ky., one of the largest and wealthiest Churches in the 
 State. During his pastorate in that city he received 
 the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from 
 Danville College, Danville, Ky. In the winter of 
 1872-3 he became editor of the Louisville Daily acnA. 
 Weekly Commercial, the leading Republican paper 
 of the State, of which Gen. John M. Harlan, now 
 one of the Justices of the Supreme Court of the 
 United States, was the leading owner. In the spring 
 of 1874 he returned to Sandwich and bought of James 
 H. Furman the Sandwich Gazette, the oldest paper 
 in the city, of which he has since been editor and 
 proprietor. 
 
 In the spring of 1872 he was appointed Post- 
 master of Sandwich, which position he still holds. 
 During his residence here he" was for several years 
 Pastor of the Methodist Protestant Church of Somo- 
 nauk. 
 
 In 1849, while Pastor of the Hebron Church, Mr. 
 Robertson was married to Mary L. Beveridge, of 
 Xenia, Ohio. Her father, Rev. Thomas Beveridge, 
 D. D., was for many years the leading Professor of 
 the Theological Seminary of the Associate and after- 
 
 \\ 
 
 I
 
 ward of the United Presbyterian Church. Her grand- 
 father on her father's side, Rev. Thomas Beveridge, 
 came from Scotland, and was one of the first min- 
 isters in Washington Co., N. Y. and until his death 
 was Pastor of the Cambridge Church. Her mother 
 belonged to the McKee family, many of whom 
 were prominent citizens of the same county. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Robertson were given three chil- 
 dren, all of whom are still living. 
 
 The eldest, William H. Robertson, born in Troy, 
 N. Y., is in the office of the Enterprise Company of 
 Sandwich. The second, Bessie, was also born in 
 Troy, and is married to S. Parker Sedgwick, of the 
 law firm of Sedgwick & Son, of Sandwich. The 
 youngest, Harry K. Robertson, is clerk in the 
 United States mail service on the Chicago, Milwau- 
 kee & St. Paul Railroad. 
 
 
 H. Wiltberger, farmer, residing on and 
 owner of the northeast quarter of section 
 33, Afton Township, was born in Mun- 
 fordville, Hart Co., Ky., Dec. 8, 1835. His 
 father, Joseph W. Wiltberger, was born in 
 Philadelphia, Pa., April 7, 1794 (in which State 
 his father was also born), and died on the old home- 
 stead in this county, Jan. 16, 1881. His mother, 
 Amelia (Finley) Wiltberger, was born in Kentucky 
 (native State of her father), about 1805, and died 
 Sept. 12, 1854, in Lake Township, Cook County, this 
 State. 
 
 The parents of W. H. left Kentucky when he was, 
 about 1 1 years of age and came to this State, locat- 
 ing in Lake Township, Cook County. His mother 
 died during their residence in that township, and in 
 1857 his father moved into the city of Chicago. Two 
 years later (1859), W. H. came to this county, and 
 located in Clinton Township. He worked land in 
 Clinton and Afton Townships until 1862, when, Sept. 
 22, that year, he enlisted in Co. K, losth 111. Vol. 
 Inf., Col. Dustin and Capt. Austin. His regiment 
 was assigned to the 2oth Corps, 3d Division, and was 
 with Gen. Sherman in his march from Chattanooga 
 to Atlanta, and from Atlanta to the sea, and wit- 
 nessed the surrender of Johnston's army. Mr. W. 
 participated in all the battles in which the 2oth Corps 
 was engaged, was in the hospital only four days, and 
 was mustered out June 14, 1865, at Chicago, 111. 
 
 After receiving his discharge, he came to Afton 
 Township, and soon afterward purchased the home- 
 stead on which he is at present residing, from his 
 father. His father had moved from Chicago in 1862, 
 and settled on the farm of which he became owner 
 and on which farm the son has since resided. 
 
 Mr. Wiltberger was married Jan. 17, 1866, to 
 Miss Mary Antoinette, daughter of Norman and 
 Sophronia (Buck) Fuller, natives respectively of 
 Hamilton and Wyoming Counties, N. Y. Her par- 
 ents were of English extraction, and both are de- 
 ceased. Her father was born April 26, 1813, and 
 died Sept. 9, 1854, at Aurora, 111. Her mother was 
 born May 22, 1813, and died Aug. 12, 1872, at her 
 daughter's. Mrs. Wiltberger was born April 7, 
 1839, and is the mother of three children, all born in 
 Afton Township, as follows: Mary A., Dec. 18, 
 1867 ; Warren T., Jan. 4, 1870; and Joseph F., Jan. 
 12, 1876. 
 
 Mr. Wiltberger, in addition to his cereal produc- 
 tions, devotes a considerable portion of his time to 
 the dairy business. During the summer seasons he 
 purchases cream by the inch, and manufactures but- 
 ter therefrom, his daily production being about 435 
 pounds. He also keeps 45 cows, and during the 
 winter seasons he manufactures butter from the 
 product of his own cream. His farm comprises 280 
 acres, and is in good tillable condition. He has a 
 good frame house on the farm and substantial out- 
 buildings. 
 
 Politically, Mr. W. is a Republican. He was Col- 
 lector of his township one year, also School Director 
 and Trustee some three or four years. 
 
 j.uane J. Games, senior member of the law 
 firm of Carnes & Denton, at Sycamore, 
 was born May 27, 1848, in Pomfret, Wind- 
 sor Co., Vt. His father, John Carnes, was 
 born in Claremont, N. H., May 30, 1823, and 
 belongs by lineage to the distinctive class 
 known as Scotch-Irish. He became an orphan at an 
 early age with no heritage but the industry, thrift 
 and frugality which characterize the race of which 
 he is a member. He married Mary Paine, a lady of 
 English ancestry, and they settled in Pomfret, where 
 the father purchased a farm. His excellent charac- 
 
 ^ff^tf^ . f^. I^S.l 
 
 un*i
 
 
 COUNTY. 
 
 a 
 
 i 
 
 ter, integrity and sound judgment were recognized 
 during his active life in Pomfret, and he officiated 
 successively in the local offices of the township. The 
 senior Carnes exercised his abilities to such good 
 purpose that he secured a comfortable fortune on 
 the hillsides and among the rocks of the eastern side 
 of the Green Mountains, and in 1875 removed thence 
 to Sycamore, where he and his wife are passing the 
 sunset years of their lives in retirement. The mother 
 of Mr. Carnes of this sketch was born July 4, 1825, 
 in Pomfret, Vt. His brother, George D., is a suc- 
 cessful medical practitioner at South Haven, Mich. 
 
 Mr. Carnes spent his boyhood on his father's farm 
 in the Green Mountain State and acquired a thor- 
 ough knowledge of the elementary branches of 
 English at the public schools. At the age of 16 
 years he became a student in the State 'Normal 
 School at Randolph, where he studied about four 
 years in the aggregate. He came to Illinois in 1868 
 and taught school in Logan County a little less than 
 four years, returning to Vermont to complete a course 
 of Normal study, and was graduated in 1873. Dur- 
 ing the period of his educational course Mr. Carnes 
 laid the sure foundation for the success he has 
 achieved as an advocate. Gifjted by descent with 
 fluent speech, he acquired a habit, in lyceum debate, 
 of speaking to a pre-arranged purpose, and also of 
 making thorough preparation for his efforts, a process 
 which stored his mind with information and gave 
 him complete sway over his memory. The qualifi- 
 cations, combined with his powers of application, 
 have been invaluable in the career to which he has 
 devoted himself. 
 
 In the same year in which he left the school at 
 Randolph, he came to Sycamore, where he fulfilled 
 a long-cherished purpose and entered the office of 
 Hon. Charles Kellum as a student of law. His 
 natural abilities and industry, united with the ad- 
 vantages accruing through the qffice relations, of 
 Judge Kellum, whose value he was quick to perceive 
 and avail himself of, advanced him rapidly in the ac- 
 quisition of knowledge in legal affairs ; and in Sep- 
 tember, 1875, he was admitted to practice. On 
 receiving his credentials as an attorney, he formed a 
 business association with Judge Kellum, which was 
 operative two years. On the termination of this re- 
 lation, Mr. Carnes entered into a partnership with 
 Hon. Luther Lowell, with whom he was associated 
 
 between five and six years. In May, 1883, the firm 
 of which he is now a member was established, the 
 junior associate, Gilbert H. Denton, being the 
 adopted son of Judge Lowell. The law firm of Games 
 & Denton is one of the most promising ones in De 
 Kalb County and probably in Northern Illinois, both 
 its members possessing uncommon abilities and at- 
 tainments. In industry and devotion to business 
 they are unrivaled, and they are already in the enjoy- 
 ment of a large practice in the Circuit Courts of 
 DeKalb and adjoining counties, and in the Supreme 
 and Apellate Courts of the State. 
 
 Mr. Carnes is already approaching a peerless posi- 
 tion as a jurist and advocate. He has the discrimi- 
 nating judgment, the sturdy sense and the uncom- 
 promising straightforwardness of his progenitors the 
 Scotch-Irish coupled with the penetration and clev- 
 er shrewdness that characterize the genus Yankee. 
 As a criminal lawyer the qualifications ofMr. Carnes 
 are such as to insure his distinction in that branch 
 of the profession. He wins by his powers as a logi- 
 cian, basing his arguments on the principle of human- 
 ity, and appealing to reason and common sense in a 
 manner that rarely fails to convince a jury. 
 
 Mr. Carnes was married June r, 1880, to Helen 
 A. McMollan. One daughter, Hope, was born to 
 them, at Sycamore, Oct. 15, 1882. 
 
 [ hilip ' Heckman, hardware merchant at 
 it Kingston, has been a resident of De Kalb 
 County since 1852. In that year he set- 
 tled on a farm on section ro, Kingston Town- 
 ship, purchasing at first 147 acres of land, 
 which has since constituted his homestead. 
 To this he has added by later purchase and now 
 owns 240 acres, forming a valuable country estate. 
 He also owns 160 acres in Dakota. In 1879 lie 
 formed an association with William Straub for the 
 purpose of establishing a hardware business at King- 
 ston, and they operated jointly in that line of trade 
 about two years, when Mr. Straub sold his claim to 
 M. W. Cole, and the firm of Heckman & Cole has 
 since transacted the affaire of the business in a satis- 
 factory and profitable manner. 
 
 Mr. Heckman was born Jan. 2, 1823, in Morgan 
 Co., Ohio, and is one of seven children born to his 
 
 V
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 parents, Jacob and Catherine (Koppel) Heckman. 
 They were of German origin, and were residents of 
 Pennsylvania and Morgan Co., Ohio, 32 years pre- 
 vious to their removal in 1853 to the township of 
 Kingston. Both are deceased. The death of the 
 mother occurred April 14, 1884. The brothers and 
 sisters of Mr. Heckman are all younger than he, and 
 are named Susanna, Michael, Catherine, Esther, 
 John and Jacob. The older son lived in his native 
 State until 1843, when he came to Wisconsin. He 
 worked there by the month in the pineries two years. 
 In 1845 he went to Ohio and there passed the inter- 
 vening years until his removal to De Kalb County, 
 engaged in farming. 
 
 He was married in Morgan Co., Ohio, to Sarah A. 
 Farley. She was born in Morgan Co., Ohio, and is 
 the daughter of James and Ellen (Taylor) Farley, 
 natives respectively of West Virginia and England. 
 Of this union nine children have been born, Will- 
 iam W., Catherine E., Francis, Ann E., Alfred R., 
 Jacob I., Jessie, James and Frank. The latter died 
 when a year and a half old. 
 
 In political connection Mr. Heckman is a Repub- 
 lican. He has been School Director several years, 
 and has served two entire terms as Supervisor. He 
 was re-elected for a third time in the latter position, 
 but declined to serve. He and his wife are useful 
 and efficient members of the Free-Will Baptist 
 Church. 
 
 cholas Klemm, a farmer occupying the 
 northeast quarter of section 22, and the 
 north half of the southeast quarter of sec- 
 tion 22, Afton Township, was born in the 
 Grand Duchy of Baden, Germany, Oct. 10, 
 1839, the son of Peter and Elizabeth (Himmel- 
 hahn) Klemm, both of whom emigrated to this coun- 
 try and died here. They came in 1848, landing at 
 Chicago, and resided upon a rented farm in Du Page 
 County six years; then, coming to Pierce Township, 
 this county, Mr. Klemm purchased a farm of 80 acres. 
 He was finally killed, April 13, 1871, by a railroad 
 accident at Winfield Station, Du Page County, when 
 he was 75 years of age. 
 
 Nicholas lived at his parental home until he was 
 
 of legal age, when he married and took his father's 
 farm for seven years, and then he purchased his 
 present farm of 160 acres, to which he has since 
 added by purchase 80 acres, making a total of 240 
 acres. When he first took possession of it in 1868, 
 it was a wild prairie, but he has made of it a com- 
 fortable home. He has a new frame house, a good 
 stock and hay barn, etc., and a well fenced orchard. 
 He fattens for the market annually 20 hogs and sev- 
 eral head of cattle, and raises and sells hay and corn 
 in considerable quantity. 
 
 Mr. Klemm was married March 10, 1860, to 
 Sophia, daughter of Matthew and Mary A. (Kehna) 
 Schemer. Her father was born in 1803, in Germany, 
 and died in his native country in 1851 ; and her 
 mother, born March 25, 1807, also in Germany, is 
 still living, now making her home with the subject of 
 this sketch. She came with her family to this coun- 
 try in 1859, landing at Chicago and locating at Peru, 
 La Salle County, this State. Mrs. Klemm was born 
 in Baden, Germany, Jan. 23, 1840. The children born 
 in the family of Mr. and Mrs. Klemm are nine in 
 number, one of whom is deceased. The names and 
 dates of birth are: Mary E., March 15, 1862; 
 Nicholas, born March 7, 1863, died Feb. 9, 1883; 
 Katherine M., April 9, 1864; Peter, Feb. 18, 1866; 
 Barbara A., Dec. 15, 1868; Anna S., April 5, 1871 ; 
 Frank J., July 18, 1874; Eugene P., Jan. 20, 1876 ; 
 and Paul, Nov. 3, 1878. The first four were born 
 Pierce Township, the rest in Afton Township. 
 
 Mr. Klemm is a Democrat in his political princi- 
 ples, and in religion both himself and Mrs. K. are 
 members of the Roman Catholic Church. 
 
 iaron H. Clark, druggist, at Kingston, was 
 born Nov. 26, 1828, in Charlotte, Maine, 
 and he is the son of William D. O. and 
 Anna (Hersey) Clark. His father was the 
 first child born on the British island of Camp- * 
 obello, off the east coast of Maine. His moth- $ 
 er was born in Hingham, Mass. After their marriage * 
 they settled at Charlotte, Washington Co., Maine, 
 where they both died after becoming the parents of
 
 3fc5f- 
 
 :1 
 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 ii children, all of whom were living up to 1865, 
 except two. 
 
 Mr. Clark is the youngest child, and he was 
 brought up at home, receiving a very meager com- 
 mon-school education. He went to Machias Acad- 
 emy, Maine, the winter he was 21, to the Webster 
 Academy in Salisbury, N. H., the fall and winter he 
 was 24, and completed his academic studies at New 
 Ipswich, N. H., the fall he was 31. He engaged in 
 teaching, in which he was chiefly occupied 12 years 
 after completing his educational course. He also 
 taught during the period when he was obtaining his 
 preliminary training for his business, and|his attend- 
 ance at New Ipswich so late in life was for the pur- 
 pose of obtaining the advantage of more modern 
 methods. He began his career as a pedagogue 
 when 22 years of age, and after his removal to Kings- 
 ton he taught nine terms of school. He has been a 
 resident of that place since 1861, with the exception 
 of the time he spent in the military service of the 
 United States and in Iowa. He enlisted in 1864, in 
 the 3oth 111. Vol. Inf., and was in Sherman's march 
 to the sea and in the field nearly a year when the 
 war closed. In 1871 he went to Iowa, where he took 
 up a soldier's claim. He removed his family there 
 in 1872, and was resident there until 1874, when he 
 returned to Kingston and resumed the business of a 
 grocery and provision merchant, in which he had en- 
 gaged after returning from the war. He was also 
 engaged in the sale of drugs in addition, and in 1877 
 converted his entire store to the latter branch of busi- 
 ness, and has continued to operate in that line of 
 trade in which he is the only representative at Kings- 
 ton. He was the pioneer grocer and provision mer- 
 chant at that place in 1866. He was appointed 
 Postmaster in 1868, and held the position until 
 1872, when he removed his family to Iowa. He is a 
 Republican and has held various offices ; he has offi- 
 ciated two terms as Justice of the Peace, several 
 years as Township Clerk, as Supervisor four years, 
 and as School Director six years, and is a Notary 
 Public. He is a member of the Christian Church, 
 and very liberal in his religious theology. 
 
 The marriage of Mr. Clark to Sarah J. Hill took 
 place Nov. i, 1863, at Kingston, of which place she 
 is a native. She is a daughter of Judge Hill, whose 
 biographical sketch appears on other pages. Two 
 children have been born of their union, Nellie N., 
 
 Aug., 17, 1864, and Willie H. D. O., June 7, 1866. 
 Mr. Clark began in life for himself at the age of 17 
 without a dollar to call his own ; received his educa- 
 tion by his own exertion ; saved his odd pennies 
 with which to purchase books, often going hungry 
 and destitute for the purpose of obtaining a needed 
 text-book when in school. He now has a larger and 
 better selected family library than any other citizen 
 of his town, if not in the county, consisting of medi- 
 cal, legal, theological- and miscellaneous works. He 
 never read a novel in his life, or continued fictitious 
 newspaper stories. Never used tobacco, or dissipated j! 
 with liquors of any kind, and at his present age, 56, J 
 claims to be a perfectly sound, healthy man. 
 
 haddeus W. Cooper, farmer, residing on 
 and owner of the east half of the north- 
 west quarter and the west half of the north- 
 ast quarter of section 29, Afton Township, 
 was born in Cayuga Co., N. Y., March n, 
 1834. He is a son of George and Sarah (Mc- 
 Cauley) Cooper, both deceased. His father was born 
 in Cambridge, Washington Co., N. Y., in 1797. At 
 15 years he enlisted in the War of 1812, did service 
 in the field, came home, and in 1846 moved to this 
 State with his family, and died in La Salle County in 
 1871. His mother was a native of Washington Co., 
 N. Y., lived at home until her marriage, and died in 
 in La Salle Co., this State, in 1868, aged about 60 
 years. 
 
 Thaddeus W. Cooper, subject of this notice, was 
 raised on his father's farm and remained thereon 
 until 25 years of age. At 24 years of age he pur- 
 chased 80 acres of land for himself, on which he 
 lived from 1865 to 1884, then sold it and purchased 
 the farm on which he is at present residing. He 
 moved his family from La Salle County to his pres- 
 ent farm the latter part of February, 1884, and has 
 since lived on the place. He has a fine farm, with 
 good frame residence and outbuildings, and all his 
 land under cultivation. 
 
 Mr. Cooper was married in 1859. His wife died, 
 leaving one child, Mary J., and in 1865 he married 
 Melvina A. Covell. She died June 24, 1877. leaving 
 two children, Frank E., born June 25, 1867; and 
 Charles E., born June i, 1870. He was again mar-
 
 : t 
 
 1 min N. and Olive (Covell) Ellwood, both of whom 
 are living in Sandwich, 111. Her father was born 
 
 a 
 
 Jan. 6, 1827, and her mother in December, 1829. 
 Mrs. Cooper was born in Northville, La Salle County, 
 this State, Oct. 15, 1859, and is the mother, by Mr. 
 C., of two .children living, Bertie W., born Nov. 4, 
 1879, in La Salle County, and J. Ray, born Oct. 9, 
 1884, in this county. Alice M. and Lillie M., twins, 
 were born July 7, 1881, in Adams Township, -La 
 Salle County. The former died when five months 
 old, Dec. 7, 1881, and the latter Aug. 26, 1884, and 
 both are buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery, Sandwich, 
 I 111. Mrs. Cooper's grandmother is living with her 
 father, and is 82 years of age. 
 
 ^ 
 
 > 
 
 ahum Enon Ballou, M.D., Ph.D., F. R.M.S., 
 physician, surgeon, scientist and essayist, 
 is a son of Nahum and Anna (Phelps) 
 Ballou, and was born at Plymouth, Chenango 
 Co., N. Y., September 16, 1822. His father 
 was born at Richmond, Cheshire Co., N. H., in 1800. 
 His paternal grandfather was Daniel Ballou, who be- 
 longed to the New Hampshire branch of the Ballou 
 family. His mother was born at Homer, Cortland 
 Co., N. Y., Sept. 16, 1801, and was a daughter of 
 Enon and Mehitabel (Goldsmith) Phelps. The 
 maternal grandfather was at the massacre of Wyo- 
 ming, which occurred July 3, 1778, when that beau- 
 tiful valley was desolated by fire and sword, the story 
 of which Thomas Campbell depicts in his poem en- 
 titled "Gertrude of Wyoming." There were born to 
 this family seven sons and five daughters. William 
 W. Phelps, the oldest son, became an eminent schol- 
 ar, poet and writer. He was a strong anti-Mason, 
 and published at Canandaigua the Ontario Phcenix, 
 and subsequently drifted westward to Utah. On the 
 opening of the University of Deseret at Salt Lake 
 City, he was appointed to the chair of Latin and Greek, 
 and distinguished himself as an able writer and a 
 brilliant linguist. He died several years ago, at the 
 age of 74 years. 
 
 In 1830 Nahum Ballou moved with his family from 
 Chenango to Orleans County, same State, and settled 
 at Carlton, where our subject spent his youth. After 
 the death of his father, which occurred Aug. 5, 1832, 
 
 he went to live with an English gentleman, who was 
 not only kind but a man of culture and education. 
 Here our subject received his first solid instruction, 
 which gave direction to his future course of life. 
 Here, beneath this hospitable roof, he was treated 
 with great kindness, for the family had no children. 
 This gentleman taught the fatherless youth the ele- 
 ments of knowledge, and gave his mind such direc- 
 tion and inclination to study and reading that it 
 strengthened with increasing years. About this 
 time the school districts of New York were provided 
 with Harper's series of " District Libraries," which 
 contained most excellent works for youthful readers, 
 and our youthful student devoured these with avid- 
 ity and with profit. Having advanced as far as it 
 was then possible in the district schools, he finished 
 his literary education at Gaines and Yates Acade- 
 mies, in Orleans Co., N. Y. Meanwhile he had 
 picked up the shoemaker's trade at home, for his 
 father was a shoemaker, and for some time alternated 
 between pounding the lapstone and the brandishing 
 of the pedagogue's ferule, whichever for the time 
 being paid the best. He kept a stock of books in his 
 shoe-bench drawer, and when his day's work was 
 done his -books were next in order, especially the 
 study of the Latin and Greek languages, which to 
 him was a delightful as well as a very profitable 
 pastime. These studies later on in life were contin- 
 ued under competent tutors, who were paid for their 
 services. Having long before decided upon medicine 
 as a profession, he entered upon the study of it at 
 Albion, N. Y., with Drs. Nichoson, Paine and Huff, 
 and later studied with Dr. Alfred Babcock, of Gaines, 
 in the same county, arid attended his first course of 
 lectures at Geneva, N. Y., and his second course at 
 the Berkshire Medical College at Pittsfield, Mass. 
 (Dr. H. H. Childs, President), receiving the degree of 
 M. D., in November, 1846. Dr. Ballou practiced 10 
 years in Carlton, and while there attended a third 
 course of lectures at the ' Buffalo Medical College, 
 which proved extremely profitable. 
 
 After several years of practice, and as soon as he 
 had acquired a home, he chose a companion, Miss 
 Catherine Maria Fuller, of Carlton, an acquain- 
 tance of his early youth, to whom he Was mar- 
 ried, July 14, 1850, and who died April 14, 1877. 
 She was a loving wife, an affectionate compan- 
 ion, whose life was adorned with all ot the Chris- 
 tian graces. His second marriage is dated Nov. 
 
 f
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 J 
 
 i\ 
 
 i879> his present wife having been Mrs. Calista 
 (Clark) Byington, also of Carlton, another estimable 
 lady in the circle of his youthful acquaintances. Both 
 of these companions have made the Doctor's home 
 delightful, and both have striven to make it a hal- 
 lowed resting place after care and toil, truly a fitting 
 abode for the Christian graces. His first wife was an 
 active Christian worker, as is also his present wife. 
 
 In 1856, Doctor Ballou settled in Sandwich, and 
 has been a successful physician and surgeon for 
 nearly thirty years. He has always had a large 
 business, and long ago attained a high standing in his 
 profession and as a scientist. He has been a resi- 
 dent from almost the beginning of the city, witness- 
 ng its stable and rapid growth, and aided in every 
 audable way to give an impulse to moral and edu- 
 cational schemes for the general good of the citizens. 
 
 The scientific labors of the Doctor in different fields 
 of research have met with merited recognition. He 
 is a member of the Ottawa (Illinois) and the Cleve- 
 land (Ohio) Academies of Science. His associates 
 in the city, in the organization of the Sandwich 
 Naturalists' Association, made him their President. 
 He is a member of the "American Association for 
 the Advancement of Science," and is a practical 
 meteorologist. He has recently published the ob- 
 servations of 33 years, which are especially valuable 
 on account of their having been taken from the first 
 by the aid of the required physical instruments. 
 He has written much on the subject of meteor- 
 ology, that has been published in the State Reports 
 of Illinois. His specialties in natural history are 
 Ichthyology and the Arachnida, he having devoted 
 much time to the study of fish and the spider. 
 He spent several years with his pen in promulgating 
 the methods of artificial production of fish, for the 
 more rapid re-stocking of barren streams, exhausted 
 by over-fishing and fishing out of season. He was 
 made a member of the British Association for the 
 Advancement of Science at the meeting of that 
 association in conjunction with the American Asso- 
 ciation in August, 1884, at Montreal. In November 
 of 1884 he was made a member of the National 
 Public Health Association, which met at St. Louis. 
 But the crowning recognition was the conferring upon 
 the Doctor, on November 19, 1884, of a Fellowship 
 in the Royal Meteorological Society of Great Britain. 
 The Doctor is in correspondence with several emi- 
 nent scientists in Europe, as well as in this country, 
 
 ^^ ^ 
 
 and is well known among the students of natural 
 history on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. His 
 essays on medical science and on other subjects 
 which have been published at different times, have 
 elicited high commendation. Some of them have 
 brought him valuable prizes, notably those on agri- 
 cultural and horticultural subjects. One on " Dairy 
 Husbandry" and one on " Agriculture" received not 
 only high commendation, but prizes as well. He 
 has been a statistical correspondent for more than 
 20 years, of the United States Department of Agri- 
 culture ; has managed a meteorological station at 
 Sandwich for more than a quarter of a century, and 
 for 1 8 years reported to the Smithsonian Institution, 
 and for six years to the United States Signal Service. 
 His station is now a " Voluntary Signal Service Sta- 
 tion," and monthly reports are transmitted to the 
 Chief Signal Officer at Washington, the data col- 
 lected by a complete equipment of physical instru- 
 ments. His testimony is given that he has been 
 benefited more by his connection with the Smith- 
 sonian Institution by means of publications and 
 reports and miscellaneous collections than from all 
 other sources ; that the able management of Prof. 
 Henry, during his incumbency, and since his demise 
 the wise direction of its affairs by Prof. Baird, have 
 been the means of directing and educating more in 
 the natural sciences than could have been accom- 
 plished in any other direction. 
 
 It would seem to be an act of supererogation to 
 say that during all these 40 years, the Doctor had 
 led a busy life. While in Western New York, dur- 
 ing the administration of President Fillmore, in 
 addition to his professional business, he held the re- 
 sponsible position of Custom-House Officer in Niag- 
 ara District, and since 1863 he has been United 
 States Pension Surgeon, being now one of the oldest 
 appointees in Northern Illinois holding the office. 
 He is also Health Officer and Chairman of the Board 
 of Health of the city. He was also the originator 
 and Secretary of the Sandwich Fair, a stock com- 
 pany, whose exhibitions were equal to those of any 
 neighboring fairs. He held the office of Secretary 
 14 years. Meanwhile, the University of Florida, the 
 first educational center in that land of flowers and 
 semi-tropical fruits, conferred the degree of Doctor of 
 Philosophy (Ph.D.) upon our busy Doctor, pro 
 merito. He desires thus publicly to acknowledge 
 the great kindness of his eminent friends who fur-
 
 
 nished the high testimonials required in such cases, 
 namely : United States Senators Shelby M. Cullom, 
 John A. Logan, Hon. Reuben Ellwood, ex-Congress- 
 man John F. Farnsworth, Judge Isaac N. Wilson, 
 Chief Judge of the Appellate Court of Illinois, Rev. 
 William Goodfellow, A. M., D. D., Charles G. Faxon, 
 LL.B., and O. B. Knickerbocker, Esq., of Aurora. 
 
 Dr. Ballou has probably one of the largest medical 
 and miscellaneous libraries in De Kalb County, it 
 being especially rich in medical science, theology, 
 biography, natural history and belles-lettres. He is 
 a rigid Calvinist, and stands high socially and morally, 
 as well as professionally. He believes the Bible and 
 its teachings are better guides to the formation of 
 character and a well ordered Christian life than those 
 who are commissioned as expositors and interpreters 
 of the inspired volume and the loving words of the 
 Master. 
 
 Dr. Ballou is remotely related to that eminent 
 divine, the late Rev. Hosea Ballou, with whom the 
 Garfields are also connected by marriage, the martyr 
 President's mother being a Ballou and a cousin of 
 Nahum Ballou, the Doctor's father. The Doctor's 
 oldest surviving brother, Hosea M. Ballou, of Carlton, 
 N. Y., is Custom-House Officer of the Rochester 
 District, having served through two or more Repub- 
 lican administrations, evidently honoring his trust by 
 a faithful performance of its duties. His youngest 
 brother, Daniel R. Ballou, came to Illinois with the 
 Doctor, in 1856, and settled finally in the town of 
 Fox, Kendall County, where he became a wealthy 
 farmer, owning about 400 acres of land in the Fox 
 River valley near Millington; but in the prime of 
 manhood he lost his life by a fall from an iron 
 bridge which was being constructed at Millington, 
 111., on the TQth of February, 1884. He was a Cap- 
 tain in the War of the Rebellion, doing patriotic ser- 
 vice. He was long a station agent at Sandwich, and 
 served for a long time as Supervisor of the town of 
 Fox. He was also a Trustee of the Jacksonville 
 Asylum and President of the Board of Trustees at 
 the time of his death. 
 
 The Doctor has found time to indulge in metrical 
 composition, his elegies being tender and wholesome 
 in tone and faultless in measure. His poem entitled 
 " The Martyr President, Abraham Lincoln," has 
 been repeated on various occasions, more especially 
 on National Decoration days. 
 
 As a specimen of the Doctor's poetical talent we 
 
 reproduce the following magnificent tribute to 
 
 deceased wife. 
 
 IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 Lines written 
 April 14, 1877. 
 
 Oh, let me strike my harp of song 
 
 To mournful melody ! 
 In sorrow's notes the theme prolong 
 
 In tuneful harmony ! 
 Monarch Supreme, thou tyrant king 
 
 Of border realm of woe, 
 Whose upas touch and fatal sting 
 
 Proclaim a direful foe ! 
 
 II. 
 
 He comes at morning-dawn of life 
 
 And bears the loved away; 
 Ere noon he comes when passion's rife, 
 
 And buoyant hope holds sway; 
 He comes at noon when manly strength 
 
 And pride predominate ; 
 At day's decline he comes at length, 
 
 And closes life's estate. 
 
 Beneath each roof-tree, anxious fear 
 
 Pulses with each heart-beat, 
 Lest some cherub or darling dear 
 
 Be borne from Love's retreat. 
 We may not know the chemistry 
 
 That dims the lustrous eye; 
 But God inspires the agency 
 
 That heaves the lapsing sigh. 
 
 Beyond the stars in peerless light 
 
 There lies the summer-land; 
 Faith leads us to the shining height 
 
 Which bounds the golden strand. 
 Here, guarded by the Father's care, 
 
 The Savior dwells, whose hand 
 Leads pilgrims up the pearly stair 
 
 To greet each loving band. 
 
 How tender now her words of love 
 
 Exhaled almost in death! 
 They seem as wisdom from above, 
 
 Breathed out by angel breath. 
 Holy living, holy dying. 
 
 Caring for all she knew, 
 On Jesus firmly relying, 
 
 Thus daring to be true. 
 
 Our kindred here and those in Heaven, 
 
 Who've drifted on before, 
 Where God has gathered those He's given 
 
 Upon the other shore ; 
 To Jesus our loved one has gone 
 
 To claim her promised rest; 
 Each thither by His love is drawn, 
 
 To Him a welcome guest. 
 1 /~\ ^ni.Jgfe.ifflr' ^gygyXx/yg)
 
 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 In that bright world, our home above, 
 
 Where sorrow is unknown, 
 Is endless life, is joy and love, 
 
 Whither our loved has flown. 
 There is a voice by anguish heard 
 
 Beneath life's galling chain; 
 That sweetest voice is Jesus' word, 
 
 " The pure shall meet again." 
 
 As a representative of the highest order of learn- 
 ing and mental culture, and a man in every sense 
 worthy to be remembered by a grateful community, 
 we place the portrait of Dr. Ballou in this volume. 
 
 ev. John C. Schweitzer, resident in the 
 village of Malta, is engaged in general 
 farming on sections 2 and 3 in the same 
 township. He is the son of Jacob Schweitzer, 
 who was a German by birth, and was born 
 June 24, 1827, in the canton of Basel, Switzer- 
 land, near the city of the same name situated on the 
 river Rhine. His mother, Barabara M. (Mangold) 
 Schweitzer, was also a native of Switzerland. The 
 family came to America when the son who is the 
 subject of this sketch was six years old. They took 
 up their residence on a farm in Seneca Co., Ohio, 
 where the father died within the first year. Later 
 the mother married again and John was an inmate 
 of the new household until he was 20 years of age. 
 In 1847 he came to Kane Co., 111., to engage in farm- 
 ing, and accordingly purchased a farm. He returned 
 to Ohio for the members of his family and brought 
 back with him his step-father and mother, and they 
 were inmates of the same home several years in 
 Kane County. In 1852 Mr. Schweitzer decided to 
 settle in De Kalb County and bought a farm in 
 Pierce Township, whither the family removed. His 
 mother and step-father died there some years later. 
 Mr. Schweitzer was one of the earliest settlers in 
 Pierce Township, where he owned 160 acres of land, 
 and he was also a pioneer of the portion of Kane 
 County where he located. 
 
 While living in Pierce Township he spent eight 
 years as an itinerant minister of the Evangelical 
 Association, and his circuit embraced the entire 
 States of Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana. At Kan- 
 kakee, 111., he was seized with violent illness, which 
 resulted in the permanent loss of his health. He 
 
 ''" 
 
 began his career as a local preacher when he was 
 26 years of age, and he has pursued his ministerial 
 labors ever since, with excellent results. In political 
 views he is a Republican. 
 
 In 1882 Mr. Schweitzer came to the township of 
 Malta and, associated with his sons, he bought 409 
 acres of land, where they have conducted joint oper- 
 ations in agriculture and are also interested in rais- 
 ing stock. ' 
 
 He was married in De Kalb County, to Elizabeth, 
 daughter of John and Mary (Blow) Lesher. She 
 was born in Lebanon Co., Pa., Sept. 23, 1832, and 
 came with her parents in childhood to Ohio. In 
 1846 the family removed to Illinois and settled in 
 De Kalb County. Of this union 1 1 children have 
 been born : Amelia, Mary E., John H., Edward F., 
 Joseph A. and Nora E. S. are the survivors; the 
 others died in infancy. 
 
 bnerH. Calhoun, farmer, section 31, May- t 
 field Township, was born Feb. 19, 1827, in 
 Pittsford, N. Y. His father, Andrew Cal- i 
 houn, was born in the State of New York and S 
 married Eleanor Roweth, who was born in * 
 England. About the year 1829 the family ( 
 came to St. Joseph, Mich., and were there resident 
 until 1845, in which year they fixed their abode in 
 Hancock Co., 111. A year later they settled in De 
 Kalb. In 1873 the father removed to Cortland, his 
 present residence, the mother having died in De 
 Kalb, July 9, 1873. Their children n in number 
 grew to adult age. 
 
 'Mr. Calhoun is the fourth child of his parents, and J 
 he was less than three years of age when they went 
 to Michigan. He grew to manhood on a farm and 
 at 19 entered upon an independent career, operating 
 for some years as a farm laborer. In 1856 he rented 
 a farm and continued to manage it for three years. 
 In 1859 he bought 80 acres of land where he has f 
 since carried on h*s agricultural interests, and on 
 which he settled in 1860. On this his farm build- 
 ings are erected, and he has added to his estate until 
 it includes 400 acres, all improved and in advanced 
 cultivation. It is stocked with 60 head of cattle, 14 
 horses and a drove of 70 hogs. 
 
 Mr. Calhoun is identified with the Republican ele
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY 
 
 a 
 
 ment in politics, and is one of the leading men of his 
 township. 
 
 Mrs. Calhoun was formerly Betsey Renwick. She 
 was born in Scotland Aug. 26, 1830. Her parents, 
 Walter and Mary (Weel) Renwick, were also born in 
 the same country, and in 1835 emigrated thence to 
 Canada, where the mother died, in 1842. Her father 
 came to Illinois in 1845 and settled in Kane County. 
 After a stay of three years, in 1848, he came to 
 Pierce Township and died there April 9, 1871. Mrs. 
 Calhoun is the i2th in order of a family of 16 chil- 
 dren. She was five years of age when she came to 
 the American continent. Mr. and Mrs. Calhoun 
 were married Sept. 20, 1852, and have had n chil- 
 drenMaggie M., Walter R., Ida M., Nathan C, 
 Jennie M., Dudley S., Lizzie F., Delia I., Orlando, 
 Mary and Annabel. The three last named are not 
 living. 
 
 awrence Farley, general farmer, section 12, 
 Malta Township, was born in County 
 Meath, Ireland, about 1833. His parents, 
 Patrick and Mary (McCan) Farley, were born 
 in the same county and there passed their en- 
 tire lives. The senior Farley died when his 
 son was five years of age, and the mother survived 
 but six years later, leaving him wholly orphaned 
 when r i years old. He was made by the event the 
 builder of his own fortunes, and he took advantage 
 of every opportunity for remunerative labor that 
 offered. When he reached the age of 17 years, in 
 company with his youngest sister, Catherine, now 
 married and resident at Springfield, Mo., he came to 
 America. They landed at the port of New York and 
 proceeded thence to Newark, N. J , where a brother 
 and sister who had preceded his removal to the 
 United States some years earlier, were then resident. 
 Mr. Farley continued to remain in Newark four 
 years, when he came to Rockford, 111., and became a 
 farm laborer in the vicinity of that place. .He was 
 married at Rockford, to Catherine Downey, who was 
 a native of Ireland and is the daughter of John and 
 Mary Downey, also born in Ireland. Mrs. Farley 
 was born in County Louth, Ireland, Nov. 3, 1834. 
 Her father died when she was about eight years old, 
 and she was cared for by her mother as long as she 
 
 lived. She was orphaned but a few years later and 
 soon after came to the United States with acquaint- 
 ances. She went to Newark, N. J., where she con- 
 tinued to lived until she was 23 years of age, when 
 she came to Rockford and was married. Of this 
 union eight children have been born, two of whom 
 are deceased. Following is the record : John was 
 born July 17, 1861 ; Mary J., Feb. 12, 1863; Law- 
 rence L., April 14, 1865; James, July 28, 1867; 
 Katie, Aug. 21, 1870; Anna A., Sept. 27, 1872. 
 Thomas, oldest child, died Jan. 12, 1883, aged 23 
 years and nine months. William H., the youngest, 
 died March 5, 1875, aged five months. 
 
 Mr Farley was engaged in farming some years 
 after marriage at Rockford. In January, 1861, the 
 family came to the township of Malta and settled on 
 a rented farm, which the father conducted after the 
 method of working on shares, until the autumn of 
 1865. At that date he purchased 80 acres of land, 
 where he began independent farming, and he is nojv 
 the owner of 491 acres of land, 171 acres of which is 
 in De Kalb Township. Nearly the whole tract is 
 under good improvement, and the farm buildings are 
 of excellent type. He is also 'the owner of good 
 graded cattle and hogs. He is a Democrat and the 
 family are Roman Catholics. 
 
 enry O. Whitmore, Supervisor of Mayfield 
 Township, has been a resident of the county 
 and township where he now lives since 
 1845, having come hither when a child of three 
 years with his parents. He was born Oct. 18, 
 1843, in Pomfret, Windsor Co., Vt. The first 
 1 8 years of his life were passed on his father's farm 
 and in attendance at school. During the winter fol- 
 lowing his attaining his igth year, he engaged in 
 teaching ; but since that date he has operated exclu- 
 sively as a farmer. He then came into possession 
 of 120 acres of land, which is his homestead, and to 
 which he has added 90 acres. The entire acreage is 
 under excellent cultivation and forms an attractive 
 and valuable home. 
 
 In political sentiment Mr. Whitmore adopts 
 principles and issues of the Republican party. He 
 has held various local offices at different times, a 
 ^^@
 
 V ^ 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 in the spring of 1883 was elected Supervisor. He 
 was re-elected a year later to the same position. 
 
 Feb. 26, 1862, Mr. Whitmore was married to 
 Esther V. Andrews, and their two children were born 
 as follows: Wallace W., Feb. ir, 1863, and Cora C., 
 Oct. 20, 1867. Mrs. Whitmore was born Oct. 28, 
 1844, in Warren Co., N. Y., and is the daughter of 
 Luman and Sophronia (Collins) Andrews. Her par- 
 ents were natives of Warren County, and there the 
 mother died in 1850. Her father came to De Kalb 
 
 ( County and settled in the township of the same 
 ame, going thence a few years later to Indiana, 
 
 i where he passed the remainder of his life. Mr. and 
 
 Mrs. Whitmore 
 Church. 
 
 
 
 are members of the Universalist 
 
 lanson B. Puffer, farmer and stock-raiser, 
 residing on section i, Malta Township, was 
 born in Franklin Co., Mass., Sept. 30, 1841. 
 His father, James Puffer, is a native of Chesh- 
 ire Co., N. H., of New England ancestry, and 
 is at present residing in his native county, 
 aged 65 years. His mother, Harriet (Field) Puffer, 
 was also a native of Cheshire Co., N. H., and died 
 there in her 22d year. 
 
 Mr. Puffer was only two weeks old at the time of 
 his mother's death, and was the only son by his fa- 
 ther's first marriage. His father married again, and 
 Alanson was reared under the fostering care of his 
 stepmother. He remained with the family, assisting 
 on the farm and attending the common schools, until 
 he attained the age of 15 years, when he engaged 
 as a farm hand. 
 
 The marriage of Mr. Puffer occurred Jan. u, 
 1872, in Rutland Co., Vt.,and the partner of his joys 
 and sorrows whom he selected was Miss Emma S. 
 Ramney. She was a daughter of Aretas and Cleo- 
 patra (Clark) Ramney, natives of Vermont. Her 
 father was of New England parentage and of Scotch 
 extraction. The Clark family (maiden name of her 
 mother) were of the old " Puritan " stock, and from 
 authentic genealogical records in Mrs. Puffer's pos- 
 session she traces her ancestry back to Thomas 
 Clark, an officer on the Mayflower. Cleopatra 
 (Clark) Ramney, mother of Mrs. Puffer, was a de- 
 scendant of Thomas Clark of the seventh generation, 
 vas born Nov. 10, 1810, and died Aug. 14, 1880. 
 '%&& ^^ ^* 
 
 She was the second wife of Mr. Ramney, and by 
 him had three children, two of whom are living and 
 the oldest of whom is Mrs. Puffer, wife of the sub- 
 ject of this notice. She was born March 10, 1840, 
 in Rutland Co., Vt. Her maiden life was spent at 
 home, assisting her mother in the hojsehold duties 
 and attending the common schools, also Castleton 
 Seminary, at which institution she graduated. When 
 25 years of age Mrs. Puffer began teaching in the 
 common schools of her native county and followed 
 that vocation, in which she vigorously endeavored to 
 excel, for some 16 years and until her marriage to 
 Mr. Puffer. 
 
 Shortly after marriage Mr. Puffer came to this 
 county and purchased 80 acres of land in Milan 
 Township. He vigorously entered on the task of 
 improving it and resided on it for nine years. He 
 then, in 1880, exchanged it for 80 acres in Malta 
 Township, upon which he moved. He has subse- 
 quently purchased 80 acres additional, and now has 
 1 60 acres. The entire tract is under a good state of 
 cultivation and well stocked. His residence and 
 farm buildings are of first-class order. 
 
 Religiously, Mr. and Mrs. Puffer are members of 
 the Congregational Church, of which Mr. Puffer is 
 one of the Trustees. Politically, he affiliates with 
 the Democratic party, and has held the minor offices 
 of his township. 
 
 ames Carter, farmer, owning and residing 
 on the east half of section 3, Afton Town- 
 ship, was born in Springfield, Hampden 
 Co., Mass., Dec. 25, 1832. He is a son of 
 James and Anna M. (Nye) Carter, deceased. 
 His father was a Methodist Episcopal clergy- 
 man, a native of New England and of English ex- 
 traction. At his death, which occurred in 1845, 
 when James was but 13 years old, he left his son a 
 fortune aggregating $70,000. A guardian was ap- 
 pointed, and he squandered a portion of the fortune, 
 James receiving the remainder. The grandfather of 
 James, both on his father's and mother's side, were 
 soldiers in the Revolutionary War. 
 
 James Carter, subject of this notice, lived under 
 the parental roof-tree until the death of his father, 
 receiving the advantages of a common-school edu- 
 
 *$S "ffcg@.

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 cation. Four years after his father's death, in 1849, 
 having attained the age of 17 years, his desire to 
 increase his worldly possessions was augmented by 
 the discovery of gold in California, and he deter- 
 mined to go to that State. Six of his schoolmates 
 agreed to accompany him providing he would ad- 
 vance sufficient to pay expenses, to which he gener- 
 ously consented. Their names were Lester Conklin, 
 nephew of ex-Senator Conklin, John Hosmer, John 
 Munger, Obadiah Burdette, Anson Nye and Jack 
 Coby. They crossed the plains and safely arrived 
 in the " land of gold." Soon three of the seven 
 mates became homesick, and Mr. Carter- paid their 
 expenses home. The other four remained and en- 
 gaged in mining. 
 
 On one occasion Mr. Carter was out prospecting 
 unaccompanied, and while in a gulch a fog came up 
 and he , became lost. His mates commenced the 
 search for him, but not until three days and three 
 nights had passed did they succeed in finding him ! 
 He had almost perished for want of food, but, after 
 being taken to the camp and nursed a few days, re- 
 covered. 
 
 Four of the seven mates remained in California, 
 mining, Lester Conklin being the only one to make a 
 success. Mr. Carter remained there about 10 
 months and then returned, overland, and located in 
 Cayuga Co., N. Y. He had spent his fortune and 
 was compelled to go to work. Accordingly, he hired 
 himself to a German, and the first day's work he 
 ever did was chopping wood, and then drove team 
 for the same gentleman two months aq,d two days, 
 whereupon he received his discharge, accompanied 
 by the magnificent sum of $150 for his services. 
 
 Mr. Carter then came to Illinois and engaged in a 
 machine-shop, where he worked for 10 months, then 
 purchased a threshing-machine and engaged in 
 threshing grain. He followed the business for some 
 10 years, alternating it with buying horses in all 
 parts of the country, and speculating wherever he 
 could see a dollar to be made. 
 
 In 1862 he went to Afton Township, worked land 
 on shares for some two years, then, in 1866, purchased 
 1 60 acres. He has since added 447 acres to his 
 original purchase, and now owns 607 acres. He 
 has on his farm one of the finest frame residences in 
 the township, besides good frame out-buildings, and 
 a greater portion of his land undei; cultivation. 
 
 Carter was married Nov. 21, 1862, to Mrs. 
 
 Caty S. Avery, widow of Smith D., Avery, to whom 
 she was married March 27, 1858, at Aurora, Kane 
 County, 111. Mr. Avery was born Aug. 27, 1836, 
 and died Jan. i, 1862, at Camp Raleigh, Mo., 
 with a congestive chill, while in the service of his 
 country in the late Civil War. He was a member of 
 Co. A, 36th 111. Vol. Inf., denominated the "Aurora 
 Dragoons. " Mr. and Mrs. Avery were the parents 
 of three children : Anna D., born April 5, 1859; 
 Anson A., Sept. 21, 1860; and Smith D., Jan. 7, 
 1862. Mrs. Carter's father, Harvey B. Densmore, 
 was born Sept. 25, 1815, in Hartford, Windsor Co., 
 Vt., and is at present residing with her. Her mother, 
 Caty S. Densmore, was born March 25, 1817, and 
 died July 21, 1841, after which her father married 
 Mary J. Mather. Mrs. C. was born May 14, 1836, 
 in Cortland, Cortland Co., N. Y. She was brought 
 to this county by her parents in 1836, starting over- 
 land Dec. 19, and arriving here Nov. 29, of that 
 year. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Carter are the parents of four chil- 
 dren, namely: Charles E., born Sept. 27, 1863; 
 Jane H., Oct. 16, 1865; Caty S., June 22, 1867; 
 Grace E., July 29, 1869, all in Afton Township. 
 
 Mr. Carter, politically, is a Republican. He has 
 been Assessor for three years, and was elected to the 
 position again last spring. He has also been Road 
 Commissioner three years. 
 
 
 
 Joseph Slade, farmer, section 19, De Kalb 
 Township, was born Feb. 4, 1829, in Buck- 
 inghamshire, England. His parents, Simon 
 and Ann (Jones) Slade. were natives of Eng- 
 land, and there passed their entire lives. Their 
 family included 1 1 children. 
 At the age of 26 years Mr. Slade came to the 
 United States. He passed a few months in the 
 State of New York, and in the fall of the same year 
 1855 came to De Kalb County and to the township 
 of the same name, where he passed 12 years in vari- 
 ous occupations. In 1867 he bought the farm on 
 which he has since resided and labored, which com- 
 prised 80 acres of land. He is now the owner of 91 
 acres, which is all under cultivation. 
 
 Politically he is a Republican and has officiated 
 in the capacity of School Director. 
 
 He was married Feb. 5, 1878, in De Kalb Town- 
 
 (
 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 ship, to Jane, daughter of Henry and Harriet (Willis) 
 Sarney. Her parents were of English birth and lived 
 in that country all their lives. Mrs. Slade was born 
 there March 22, 1843, and came to America in Jan- 
 uary, 1878. Her mother was born in 1810 and died 
 in 1849; and her father, born in 1815, died in Janu- 
 ary, 1884. The children born of her marriage are 
 as follows: Henry H., born Dec. 15, 1878; Mabel 
 A., March i, 1881 ; Sarah I., May 2, 1883. 
 
 Among the list of portraits of representative men 
 of De Kalb County which may be found in this 
 ALBUM, we give that of Mr. Slade, which is engraved 
 from a photograph taken in 1878. 
 
 lias Hartman was born in Northampton 
 Co., Pa., Oct. 27, 1810. He is the son of 
 John and Regina (Bear) Hartman. When 
 eight years of age the family moved to Luzerne 
 County, in the same State, where Elias re- 
 mained until 22 years of age, when he went to 
 Medina Co., Ohio, where he remained two years. 
 For the next two years he roved about seeking the 
 place where he should make a permanent home. In 
 1836 he visited De Kalb County and located a claim 
 in Ohio Grove, Cortland Township, where he subse- 
 quently built a log house. On the first day of Jan- 
 uary, 1838, he was united in marriage with Almira 
 Churchill and moved at once into his new house. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Hartman are the parents of six chil- 
 dren, five of whom are living Philo De Witt, Mary 
 O., Rosetta M., David W, Carrie D. Mr. Hartman 
 is one of the oldest living settlers in De Kalb County 
 and has lived almost a half century within five miles 
 of where he located his claim in 1836. He has lived 
 to see realized more than he could have dreamed of 
 when, with his young bride, he lived a pioneer life in 
 old De Kalb. 
 
 Joseph B. Greek, yeoman, section 13, Malta 
 Township, was born Dec. 25, 1854, in 
 Devonshire, England, where his parents, 
 William and Mary (Judd) Greek, and their an- 
 cestors were torn. The father died there when 
 74 years of age, and the mother's demise oc- 
 curred when she was 53 years old. They had eight 
 
 children ; two died in England, two emigrated to Ne 
 Zealand and three are still faithful to the home in- 
 stinct, remaining in their native shire. > 
 
 Mr. Greek, of this sketch, yielded to impulse and 
 came to the New World, when he was 20 years old, 
 in 1874, accompanying some friends hither. He first 
 located at St. Charles, Kane Co., 111., where his uncle 
 had recently deceased, and where he had gone for 
 the purpose of settling the estate, which was willed 
 to the brother, the father of Mr. Greek. The legatee 
 had arranged for the reversion of the property, which 
 included 280 acres of land to the son who had crossed 
 the ocean to conduct the necessary details of the 
 business. The farm is situated on section 13, Malta 
 Township. After adjusting matters, Mr. Greek re- 
 turned to England and continued to reside there 
 until 1879, when he came to America a second time 
 to establish a permanent home on the farm in Malta 
 Township, which is now in a finely improved condi- 
 tion, and is stocked with valuable cattle and swine. 
 He is a Republican in his political views. 
 
 arry A. Joslyn, Cortland Township, was 
 torn in Genesee Co., N. Y., Dec. 10, 1816, 
 and is the son of Phineas and Lorinda 
 (Woodworth) Joslyn, the former a native of 
 New York, and the latter of Vermont. In the 
 I fall of 1838 the family came to De Kalb County, 
 Harry preceding them the previous spring, but re- 
 turning and ctoming back with his parents. On ar- 
 riving in the spring, Harry located a claim on section 
 9, Cortland Township, which he gave to his father on 
 the latter's arrival. He then purchased a claim on 
 section 4, Cortland Township, which he held for 
 some years, obtaining his title from the Government 
 when the land came into market. He subsequently 
 sold this farm and purchased another on section 3, 
 which he held until 1854, when he sold out, moved 
 to Sycamore, and, in company with H. H. Rowe, com- 
 menced the mercantile business, carrying a general 
 stock. In 1855, Kimball Dow became associated 
 with the firm of Rowe & Joslyn, the partnership con- 
 tinuing until the hard times of 1857, when it was dis- 
 solved. In 1858 Mr. Joslyn was appointed Deputy 
 Sheriff and served six years, when he was elected 
 Sheriff and served one term. In May, 1867, he pur- 
 
 r 
 
 I*
 
 chased a. farm on section 16, Cortland, where he 
 resided until May, 1883, when he sold out and pur- 
 chased a few acres of land, together with a comfort- 
 able dwelling-house on section 5, Cortland, but 
 immediately adjoining the city limits of Sycamore on 
 the south. In addition to that of Sheriff, Mr. Joslyn 
 has held other local offices in the county. He was 
 Collector of taxes for Sycamore for six years. While 
 only receiving a common-school education, Mr. 
 Joslyn mastered his studies so well that for one year 
 prior to his coming to De Kalb he taught school in 
 Erie County, of his native State. On his arrival here 
 he taught the winter term of the school four miles 
 north of Sycamore. He also taught one winter in 
 Tazewell Co , 111. 
 
 On the nth day of May, 1841, Mr. Joslyn was 
 united in marriage with Lucy Ann Waterman, a na- 
 tive of Genesee, now Wyoming Co., N. Y., but who 
 came to this county in company with her parents 
 at an early day. Five children were born unto them, 
 Louisa A.; Franklin M., now Probate Judge of 
 Atchison Co., Mo.; John P., deceased; William L. 
 an attorney and real-estate agent at Algona, Iowa;, 
 James C., now Assistant Postmaster at Sycamore. 
 
 arles P. Coy, farmer, section 13, Somo- 
 nauk Township, was born June 30, 1820, 
 n Middletown, Rutland Co., Vt. Reuben 
 Coy, his father, was born in the same township 
 in the Green Mountain State, and married 
 Charity Woodruff, a native of Farmington, 
 Conn. Two of their five children are now living. 
 Mr, Coy has one brother Martin H. a farmer in 
 Middletown, Vt. 
 
 Mr. Coy was reared on a farm and attended the 
 common schools of his native place, and later was a 
 student at the Troy Conference Academy at Poult- 
 ney, one of the most popular and successful educa- 
 tional institutions of the East. He taught six terms 
 of school, and also acted about 18 months as a clerk 
 in a store in Middletown. Associated with his 
 brother Martin, he bought 300 acres of land in his 
 native township, where they made a specialty of 
 breeding sheep and cattle. He was married Feb. 21, 
 1850, in Tinmouth, Rutland Co., Vt., to Nancy R. 
 Coleman. They have become the parents of six 
 >>JSXZL 1 I^' r> A 
 
 children, whose record is as follows . Cornelia is the 
 wife of John Scott, a farmer in Somonauk Township. 
 Horace G. is a farmer in the same township. Charles 
 D. is deceased. Hattie E. is at home. Jane C. is 
 deceased. Royal C. is a student at the Jenning 
 Seminary at Aurora, 111. 
 
 In 1869 Mr. Coy removed with his family to Illi- 
 nois and settled where he now resides. At the out- 
 set he bought 160 acres of fine and valuable land, 
 and has increased his estate until he has 272 acres 
 where he is pursuing a prosperous course of agricul- 
 ture. 
 
 While a resident of his native State, Mr. Coy was 
 actively interested in politics, both local and general, 
 and he held a number of township offices. He rep- 
 resented Middletown in the State Assembly in 
 1858-9, during which time the new State-House at 
 Montpelier was constructed. 
 
 elson Hotchkiss, retired farmer, residing at 
 Shabbona and a pioneer of 1836, was born 
 in Washington Co., N. Y., Dec. 19, 1820, 
 and is a son of Simeon and Annie Hotchkiss. 
 When 15 years of age, in June, 1836, his par- 
 ents emigrated to this State and located at Na- 
 perville, Cook Co., 111. Two months later they 
 moved to Kane County, where his father and family 
 made a claim of 1,100 acres of land. This was prior 
 to the Government survey, and claims were procured 
 by plowing furrows and blazing trees. The land was 
 all in its natural condition, and his father entered at 
 once on the laborious task of improving his claim. 
 The nearest postoffice was 10 miles distant, and 
 postage 25 cents on each letter. His father had great 
 faith in the future of the country and continued in 
 his labors of improvement until the land was offered 
 for sale by the Government, when he purchased 200 
 acres. 
 
 Nelson Hotchkiss remained with his father, assist- 
 ing in the improvement of his claim, prior to the time 
 it was offered for sale by the Government, and after- 
 ward on the land his father purchased until 1855. 
 During that year he moved on section 26, Shabbona 
 Township, where he at present owns 140 acres. Ht 
 lived on the latter place engaged in cultivating it 
 
 

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 until the fall of 1883, when he removed with his 
 j family to the village of Shabbona. 
 ,-% Mr. Hotchkiss was married April 22, 1845, to Miss 
 Harriet, daughter of Seth and Rachel (Davenport) 
 Rice. She was born in Chemung Co., N. Y., and 
 accompanied her parents to this State in 1843. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. H. are the parents of two children, 
 namely: F. Addie, wife of William Jackson, a mer- 
 chant at Shabbona, and Lewis R., who married Eliz- 
 abeth Vossburg and resides on the old homestead on 
 4 section 26. 
 
 ichael O'Brien, farmer, section 13, Milan 
 Township, was born Sept. 9, 1836, in 
 County Clare, Ireland. Martin O'Brien, 
 his father, claims lineal descent from one of 
 the Irish kings Bryan from whom he is in 
 the 29th generation. The genealogy is still in- 
 tact, although the posterity is widely diffused. The 
 senior O'Brien died in Ireland in 1858. 
 
 The younger O'Brien came to America when he 
 was 1 6 years of age, and located first at Boston, 
 where he spent some time occupied in the capacity 
 of a common laborer. In 1856 he came to Chicago, 
 and soon after proceeded to the Southern States, 
 where he spent three years in various localities. In 
 the fall of 1860 he came to De Kalb County and pur- 
 chased the farm upon which he has, since i878 t 
 prosecuted his agricultural interests, buying at first 
 80 acres in Milan Township. He placed it in care 
 of a man to enter upon the work of improvement and 
 in 1871 added 40 acres to the estate, the latter tract 
 being situated on section 12. In 1878 he entered 
 upon the work of cultivating his property in person, 
 and in 1884 purchased an additional 80 acres on 
 section 13. The large and valuable farm is all im- 
 proved and supplied with good farm buildings. Mr. 
 O'Brien's farm is stocked with all varieties of stock 
 except sheep. He is a zealous Democrat and is one 
 of the school officers of Milan Township. 
 
 His marriage to Mary A. Butler took place Jan. 29, 
 1878, in Clinton Township. Mrs. O'Brien was born 
 Dec. 23, 1856, in County Tipperary, Ireland, and she 
 is the daughter of William and Mary (Pollard) But- 
 ler, who are still living in their native land. She 
 came to America when she was 18 years of age, and 
 
 lived some time at Shabbona Grove. Mary E., Katie 
 and Maggie are the names of the children of Mr. and 
 Mrs. O'Brien. The family are members of the 
 Roman Catholic Church. 
 
 .amuel Archer, dealer in grain and coal at 
 Shabbona, was born in Suffolk, England, 
 ' April 21, 1850, the son of John and Eliz- 
 abeth Archer. He came to America with his 
 parents in 1864, and made his home on a farm 
 in the township of Paw Paw, De Kalb Co., 111. 
 He received a common-school education and was 
 engaged in farming till he formed the existing part- 
 nership with Mr. George Levering, Jan. i, 1883. 
 They dissolved partnership March 9, 1885, and Mr. 
 Archer has leased the Bouslough Elevator for five 
 years, and will carry on a trade in grain, seeds, hard 
 and soft coal, and will commence business on May 
 i, 1885. He has also purchased a fine residence in 
 the village. He was married in Malugin Township, 
 Lee Co., 111., July 5, 1872, to Miss Sarah Agler, 
 daughter of John and Sarah Agler. They had two 
 children, both daughters, named M. Allie and A. 
 Pearl. Mrs. A. died Nov. 16, 1878, and Mr. Archer 
 was married again Jan. 5, 1881, at Amboy, 111., to 
 Miss Sarah E. Lacey, daughter of William and Mar- 
 garet Lacey, and born in Chicago, 111. 
 
 Mr. Archer is independent in his votes on political 
 issues. 
 
 rs. Olive A. Eggleston, widow of Clark 
 A. Eggleston and daughter of Moses L. 
 and Martha (Brown) Simpson, was born 
 Feb. 7, 1811, in Chatham, Columbia Co., N. 
 Y. Her parents were farmers and lived all 
 their lives in the State of New York. Her 
 mother was a Quaker, and was a member of a settle- 
 ment of that sect in New York. After her marriage- 
 she settled with her husband near the State line of 
 Massachusetts, going later to Ohio and locating at 
 Cleveland. Mr. Eggleston was a mechanic and fol- 
 lowed his trade until his removal to the West in 
 1858, when he became a farmer in the township of 
 Milan. The place included 160 acres, and Mrs 
 
 t 
 
 c 

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 435 
 
 Eggleston has recently sold 80 acres. She has man- 
 aged her business affairs alone since 1862, conduct- 
 ing her farming and real-estate business herself. She 
 has been the mother of five children, three of whom 
 are deceased. George C. married Ella Duffy, and 
 they reside in the township of De Kalb. Edgar H. 
 married Clara Ranels, and they live with the mother 
 ou the homestead. The latter is a member of the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 
 eorge W. Crapser, dealer in general hard- 
 ware, stoves, etc., and farm machinery, 
 established his business at Shabbona, April 
 15, 1877, and carries a stock averaging from 
 $5,500 to $6,000. He was born near Northville, 
 La Salle Co., 111., Jan. 16, 1848, and is the son 
 of William H. and Emeline (Seaman) Crapser. He 
 was educated in the common schools, and was 
 brought up on his father's farm. In 1875 he began 
 traveling as a salesman of farm machinery, and con- 
 tinued that business about two years. He came to 
 Shabbona in the spring of 1877, and on the isth of 
 April, that year, entered upon his present business. 
 He was married at Sandwich, this county, March 
 27, 1872, to Miss Emma J., daughter of John and 
 Marian Linderman. She was born in Van Buren 
 Co., Mich., Jan. 14, 1853. They have three children, 
 one son and two daughters. The eldest, Harry 
 A., was born Dec. 6, 1873; the second, Hattie M. ( 
 was born Aug. 3, 1878, and Jessie E., Aug. 27, 1880. 
 Mr. Crapser has served two years as President of 
 the Board of Village Trustees of Shabbona. In 
 politics he is a Republican. 
 
 iwin P. Smith, farmer, section 35, May- 
 field Township, is a native citizen of De 
 Kalb County. His parents, Spafford and 
 Eliza (Sholes) Smith, came to De Kalb County 
 in the fall of 1839, the father remaining in 
 Sycamore about six months. While there, in 
 company with a brother, Curtis Smith, he entered a 
 claim of about 1,000 acres of land, which they after- 
 ward divided, and that portion allotted to Mr. S. 
 Smith included 500 acres situated in what became 
 
 " ^dfgal. ^^ ' Q/ 
 
 Mayfield Township after the organization. On this 
 the original proprietor resided until 1870, when he 
 located in Sycamore and i? now a resident there. A 
 biographical sketch and portrait of Spafford Smith 
 appears on other pages of this work. The only sister 
 of Edwin P. Smith was named Eliza A. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was born Jan. 19, 1843, 
 in the township of Mayfield, on the farm which he 
 bought of his father in 1883, with whom he was a 
 joint occupant of the place previous to that date. 
 He obtained such education as the common schools 
 afforded, and has devoted his life with vigorous effort 
 to the pursuit of agriculture. He is a Republican in 
 political faith and relations. 
 
 His marriage to Flora M. Joiner took place Jan. 6, 
 1870, in the township of Mayfield, where she was 
 born Feb. 27, 1849. She is the daughter of Cyrus 
 and Elmina Joiner, of Mayfield Township, of whom 
 a biographical notice appears elsewhere in this 
 ALBUM. One child, Albert P., born Nov. 8, 1871, 
 is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Mr. S. has 
 officiated three years as Highway Commissioner and 
 seven years as School Director. 
 
 dmund Gathercoal, general farmer and 
 stockman, located on section 13, Malta 
 Township, was born in Norfolkshire, Eng- 
 land, Dec. 4, 1812. His father, Thomas Gath- 
 ercoal, was also born in England, and married 
 Susan Johnson. She died where she had lived 
 all her life, when her son Edmund was but 13 years 
 old. The father, who in early life was a common 
 laborer, became a butcher in later life in his native 
 country ; and, having received a competence, he 
 came to America to spend his declining years with 
 his children, and he died in, Kingston Township, at 
 the home of his daughter, Mrs. Susan Clark, aged 82 
 years. 
 
 On the event of Kis marriage Mr. Gathercoal as- 
 sumed independent relations with the world, and 
 lived in Cambridgeshire, England, until 1863, the 
 year in which he emigrated with his family to Amer- 
 ica. Their first location was at Belvidere, Boone 
 Co., I\\. In February, 1865, they settled in Malta 
 Township, where the father purchased 40 acres of 
 land on section 1 3, and later bought 40 acres addi- 
 
 
 ; 
 
 t
 
 i* tional on section 12 adjoining his first purchase. 
 The entire property is now well improved. In polit- 
 
 9 ical affiliation he is a Republican. 
 
 Mr. Gathercoal was married in Cambridgeshire, 
 
 \^i England, May 2, 1841, to Sarah Garner, by whom 
 he has had 13 children, whose record is as follows : 
 Thomas is a farmer in Kingston Township; Faith 
 married George Ashelford (see sketch) ; John is a 
 mechanic at Sycamore; ' Susan (Clark) resides in 
 Kingston Township : Mary A. (Blake) lives in De 
 Kalb, where her husband is employed as a florist by 
 Isaac L. Ellwood ; Christiana (Mrs. Balcom) lives at 
 De Kalb; Addie M. and Bell are the two young- 
 est; Rosanna died when 15 months old; William 
 was nearly five years of age when he died; James' 
 decease took place when he was r5 months old; 
 William (zd) was four and a half years old when he 
 died ; an elder daughter, also named Rosanna, died 
 at the age of 13 years. Mrs. G. was born June 1 1, 
 1822. She is the daughter of John and Mary 
 (Spener) Garner, both natives of England, where 
 
 they passed their entire lives. 
 
 :; 
 
 
 
 sward Whitmore, farmer, section 34, May- 
 Hyipit field Township, was born in Pomfret, Wind- 
 sor Co., Vt, Dec. 2, 1838. His parents, 
 ^ Enos and Salina (Reed) Whitmore, were of 
 New England birth and origin. The father was 
 born Nov. 27, 1802, the mother Nov. 25, 1815. 
 They were married April 7, 1830. The former died 
 May i, 1877, and the mother died Aug. 16, 1861. 
 They settled in Mayfield Township about 1845, and 
 were among the pioneer element of the county of 
 De Kalb. They were residents of Mayfield Town- 
 ship from the time of their removal hither until their 
 deaths. 
 
 Mr. Whitmore has been an inhabitant of the 
 county and township where he now lives, since the 
 age of seven years. He is the proprietor of a finely 
 improved and valuable tract of land, which includes 
 1 60 acres. Politically he is a Republican. 
 
 He was united in marriage, at Sycamore, Feb. i, 
 1864, to Julia Andrews, and they have had five chil- 
 dren, Walter S., Eleanor, Alfred H., Roy P., and 
 
 Bessie M. The youngest son, Roy, died when 10 
 months old. Mrs. Whitmore was born May 3, 1847, 
 in Warren County, N. Y., and is the daughter of Lu- 
 man and Sophronia (Collins) Andrews, who were 
 natives of the State of New York, and where the lat- 
 ter died. The former came to De Kalb County, and 
 went later to Indiana. Mr. Andrews was born Feb. 
 1 8, 1809, and married Nov. 21, 1832, and died Sept. 
 1 8, 1864. His wife, Sophronia (Collins) Andrews, 
 was born April 6, 1815, and died Oct. 2, 1850. 
 
 obert Mullins, retired farmer residing at 
 Shabbona, was born in Woodhall, York- 
 shire, England, April 24, 1811. He is a 
 son of George and Juliana (Gillott) Mullins, 
 natives of that country, and was brought up 
 on a farm, receiving the advantages afforded 
 by the common schools. 
 
 He was married to Miss .Sarah Ulyett, at Elmton 
 Church, Derbyshire, England, Dec. 29, 1834. She 
 was a daughter of John and Margaret (Wardley) 
 Ulyett, natives of that country, and was born June 
 22, 1810, in Elmton, Derbyshire, England. In 1852 
 Mr. Mullins emigrated, with his family, to this 
 country. He immediately purchased a farm of 160 
 acres on section i-j, that township, and has since in- 
 creased his acreage to 580 acres. Of this amount 
 he now owns 160 acres, located on section 8, which 
 he retains. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Mullins were the parents of eight 
 children, all of whom were born in England. Ju- 
 liana, the eldest, was born March 6, 1836, and died 
 in infancy. Mary was born June 10, r839, and is 
 the wife of Septimus Storey, a resident of Shabbona 
 Township. George was born May 3, 1842, married 
 Mary A. Bostock and lives in Lee Co., 111. John 
 was born Oct. 4, 1844, married Martha Nicholson 
 and is a farmer in Shabbona Township. Robert F. 
 was born March 8, 1846, married Melvina Kenicut, 
 and lives in Ackley, Iowa. William was born 
 April 3, 1848, married Sarah Holmes and re- 
 sides in Shabbona Township. Henry was born Jan. 
 30, 1850; married Retie Cisco and lives in Ackley, 
 
 *"**&
 
 DE KALE COUNTY. 
 
 Iowa. Thomas was born Oct. 12, 1851, and is en- 
 gaged in the jewelry business tt Shabbona. 
 
 Mrs. Mullins died June 16, 1860, from fright 
 caused by a tornado. 
 
 In the latter part of 1861 Mr. Mullins returned 
 to England, and Jan. 7, 1862, he was again united 
 in marriage ; Miss Mary E. Challand, daughter of 
 Charles and Ann (Freeman) Challand was the bride. 
 She was born in Bridgeford, Nottinghamshire, Eng- 
 land, April n, 1819. Soon after marriage he re- 
 turned to this country, and Mrs. Mullins became 
 the mother of a child Esther A., born Jan. 26, 
 1863. She grew to maturity under the parental 
 roof-tree, became accomplished and educated, and 
 died Feb. 26, 1881. 
 
 Mr. Mullins has been honored with various official 
 positions in the county. He served several years 
 as Commissioner of Highways and four years as 
 Trustee of the village of Shabbona. He retired 
 from active farm life in March, 1877, and moved 
 into Shabbona. He has been a member of the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church for 26 years. His wife 
 is a member of the Wesleyan Methodist Church. 
 Politically Mr. Mullen is a Republican. He has 
 made three trips to the old country, the last time 
 in company with .his wife, soon after the death of 
 their daughter. 
 
 ,,on. Henry Wood, farmer, section 8, Syca- 
 more Township, was born Nov. 10, 1824, 
 in the town of Randolph, Vt., ai>d is the 
 \ son of Zechariah and Sarah (Bacon) Wood. 
 His father was born in Middlebury, Worcester 
 Co., Mass., and went thence in his early man- 
 hood to Orange Co., Vt., where he married Sarah 
 Bacon, a native of Pomfret, Windsor Co., Vt. He 
 became a landholder in Randolph, where he resided 
 until 1828, when he sold his estate preparatory to 
 settling at Tunbridge. He bought a farm on Tun- 
 bridge Hill, where he was engaged in general agri- 
 cultural interests about eight years. He sold out 
 again in 1835, and in January, 1836, set out for Illi- 
 nois, feeling that the narrow valleys of the Green 
 Mountain State and the limited opportunities of 
 crowded New England afforded small outlook for the 
 prosperous and useful future of his children ; and 
 ft >m.gxixy /-N /vx 
 
 seeing all he desired for them field for practical 
 
 effort in the promise of the Prairie State. On \ea.v- 
 ing Tunbridge he had a span of horses and sleigh for 
 the transportation of a portion of his household effects. 
 He drove across the State of New York, and when in ^to) 
 Pennsylvania exchanged his sleigh for a wagon with 
 which he made his way to Plainfield, Will Co., 111., 
 then the residence of Jesse C. Kellogg, his son-in- 
 law. He remained in that place through the sum- 
 mer, working a farm on shares. In June, 1836, he 
 came on a prospecting tour to De Kalb County, then V 
 attached to Kane County, for judicial purposes, and 
 located a claim of land on section 17, now Sycamore | 
 Township. The land had not then been surveyed 
 and did not come into market until seven years later. 
 His family, consisting of his wife, two sons, four 
 daughters, a son-in-law (Sumner French and son by 
 a former wife) and grandchild, joined him on the first 
 day of December, 1836, at the house of Jesse C. 
 Kellogg, who was then living on section 8, Sycamore 
 Township. The entire household spent a part of the 
 winter here, and part with Lysander Darling, a near 
 neighbor, removing in the spring to the log house 
 Mr. Wood had erected on his claim. He entered 
 vigorously into the work of improving his farm and 
 founding a home, and was a resident of Sycamore 
 until his death, which occurred March 24, 1853. 
 
 To him and his wife were born 10 children, only ( 
 two of whom, Thomas and Henry, survive. Follow- 
 ing is the family record : Zechariah Wood, the father, 
 was born Dec. 20, 1779, and died March 24, 1853; 
 Sarah (Bacon) Wood, the mother, was born Jan. 20, 
 1783, and died May 19, 1861. Their children were: 
 Hannah, born Oct. i, 1867, died April 8, 1837 ; Theo- \ 
 dore, born Nov. 17, 1808, died April 14,1829; Lorinda, 
 born April 27, 1810, died May 29, 1837 ; Phebe, born 
 Feb. 29, i8[2, died Feb. 14, 1873; Mary (ist), born 
 Jan. n, 1816, died Oct. 21, 1816; Mary (2d), born 
 Dec. 29, 1817, died March 27, 1845; Susan Eliz- 
 abeth, born June 19, 1820, died Sept. 23, 1845; 
 Thomas H., born Sept. 3, 1822 ; Henry, born Nov. 
 10, 1824; Sarah Emily, born June 16, 1827, died (* 
 Sept. 10, 1856. 
 
 Henry Wood came from Vermont with the other ^ f 
 members of his father's family, in the fall of 1836. 
 They set out from Middlebury on the first day of 
 October with two span of horses and two wagons, 
 one for the accommodation of the family, the other for 
 the conveyance of the household goods. The journey
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 furnished many incidents of travel which impressed 
 themselves upon the memory of the boy of 1 1 years. 
 In one instance, he was walking some distance in ad- 
 vance of the wagons with the son of his sister, Mrs. 
 French, when a train of cars came rushing toward 
 them. Darkness was coming on, and in the dim 
 light the wholly new experience presented a terrific 
 appearance, the blinding headlight, the unearthly 
 mixture of sounds and the unparalleled speed of the 
 approaching monster conveyed the impression that 
 the fabled horrors of the lower pit had broken bounds 
 and was abroad for prey. The youngsters precip- 
 itated a retreat and paused not until they were once 
 more with the wagons. Mr. Wood appreciates the 
 sentiments of the Irishman who remarked the first 
 time he saw a locomotive under way, " Sure, Pat, 
 it's hell in harness! " During the entire journey the 
 meals were cooked by the roadside and the family 
 slept in the wagons. They arrived in De Kalb 
 County on the last day of November, the journey 
 having consumed exactly two months. The prices 
 of provisions during the winter were very high, and 
 =s all supplies were brought from Chicago. Butter was 
 tfix 50 cents a pound, flour $25 a barrel, and pork and 
 p= lard were 37^ cents a pound. 
 
 vr In the spring of 1837 the family moved into a log 
 house erected by the father on his claim. It was 14 x 
 ) 14 feet in dimensions and covered with " shakes," a 
 variety of substitute for shingles riven from oak, 
 three feet long, from four to six inches wide and 
 bound in place with poles, no nails being obtainable, 
 and if they had been, each pound was worth a pound of 
 butter. The floor of the upper apartment was of shakes 
 and that of the room below of puncheons made from 
 bass-wood logs. Bedsteads were made by boring 
 holes in a log on one side of the house, in which 
 were driven poles, and with poles for cross-pieces a 
 frame was constructed on which a straw fnattress 
 was placed. Two of them were op the lower floor, 
 the upper not being sufficiently high for the purpose. 
 The boys were required to sleep in the room above, 
 and it was a frequent thing for them to wake in the 
 morning and find their beds covered with snow from 
 one to three inches in thickness, which drifted in be- 
 tween the shakes. The summer of 1837 was a hard 
 one, and but little was raised. For two months the 
 family lived on potatoes and samp with milk. The 
 samp was home-made, and was obtained with the aid 
 
 / 
 
 of a carpenter's plane, which was held in place with 
 the cutting side upward. Pushing the ears of corn 
 over the bit reduced the grain to hominy, which 
 made wholesome and palatable food. 
 
 The first five or six years of the life of Mr. Wood 
 in De Dalb County were spent in the active labor of 
 the farm, in the summers driving a "breaking" team 
 on the raw prairie. .General farming was conducted 
 in wholly different methods from those employed at 
 present. Grain was cut with a cradle, and threshed 
 in the following manner: A level place was selected, 
 the grass cut away, the grain piled in a circle about 
 15 to 20 feet in diameter, and oxen driven over the 
 straw. One or two men turned over the straw and 
 kept it in place. When sufficiently tramped, the 
 straw was thrown into a rick or stack, and the wheat 
 cleaned by a fanning-mill. The nearest market for 
 a time was Chicago, and Henry was the one usually 
 sent to that place, taking in a load of grain and re- 
 turning with needed supplies. 
 
 Until 22 years of age Mr. Wood remained with 
 his parents. In the fall of 1846 he went to Missouri, 
 and engaged in teaching at Pilot Grove, Cooper 
 County, during the winter following. He returned 
 to Sycamore in the spring of 1847, and was occu- 
 pied during the summer following* in house-painting. 
 In the fall he rented a farm, which he worked on shares 
 two years, with satisfactory pecuniary results, and in 
 1849 purchased 72 acres of land on section 9, 
 located half a mile from his father's house. He en- 
 tered at once upon the work of improvement, and 
 laid the foundation of a successful life. Starting 
 with these 72 acres, he has from time to time, dur- 
 ing years of unremitting toil, added to his original 
 purchase, paying for all with the proceeds of the sale 
 of farm products, thus demonstrating anew that 
 farming is a profitable business. He is now owner 
 of 267 acres of land in Sycamore Township, and 
 1 60 acres of rolling prairie in Plymouth Co., Iowa. 
 His farm is said to be one of the best improved in 
 De Kalb County, and includes 62 acres of fine and 
 valuable timber. The remainder is composed of 
 tillable land of the best character, together with 
 pasture'. The farm buildings are of excellent and 
 creditable type. Mr. Wood has operated extensively 
 in live stock, his herd of cattle being chiefly thorough- 
 bred "Short-Horns." He has also given considerable 
 attention to breeding choice swine. He is a practi- 
 
 ^^^
 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 cal advocate of mixed husbandry, and successfully 
 conducts all the branches common to general 
 farming. 
 
 In early political days, Mr. Wood was an Aboli- 
 tionist, but became a Republican on the organization 
 of the party, and was actively interested in its for- 
 mation and organization in De Kalb County. Dur- 
 ing the war he was a member of the Union League. 
 He has also discharged the duties of his citizenship 
 as Supervisor, and as Township School Trustee. In 
 1880 he was elected to represent the 171)1 District, 
 including Kendall, Grundy and De Kalb Counties, 
 in the Legislature of Illinois, and was re-elected to 
 the same official position in 1882. During the first 
 session he was on four regular Committees, " Canals 
 and Rivers," "State Institutions," "License," and 
 " Agriculture, Horticulture and Dairying." He was 
 an active member of the " Legislative Farmers' 
 Club," and served on special committees connected 
 with the farming interests of the State. He was also 
 selected by the House and from regular Committees 
 to visit some of the State charitable institutions, 
 with reference to special appropriations. Near the 
 close of the session of 1882, he was one of ten dele- 
 gates appointed by Gov. Cullcm to represent the 
 State of Illinois in the Canal and River Convention, 
 held at Dubuque, in the interest of the Hennepin 
 Canal. During the session of 1883 Mr. Wood was 
 Chairman of the Committee on "Public Charities," 
 and was also on the following regular Committees : 
 "Canals and Rivers,' " Public Printing," " Retrench- 
 ment," and "Visiting Committee to visit State Charit- 
 able Institutions." 
 
 He has been prominently identified with the De 
 Kalb County Agricultural Society from the date of 
 its organization ; was its President two years, and 
 officiated several years in the capacity of Chairman 
 of the Board of Directors. 
 
 The primary education of Mr. Wood was begun 
 in the district school of his native State, and he has 
 since gathered a useful and available fund of infor- 
 mation from observation and the various relations he 
 has sustained in business and society. He has all 
 his life been a friend of literature, has given much 
 attention to reading, and has traveled extensively 
 throughout the Union. He has now been a citizen 
 of De Kalb County for almost half a century; he 
 has witnessed the various changes that. have taken 
 
 place in transforming it from a wilderness to a well 
 developed country, with a thrifty, enterprising people, 
 and has been an active participant in almost every 
 enterprise that has tended to its advancement. To- 
 day he is one of the few old settlers that remain, 
 and he can look back upon a life well spent, and 
 know that what he now calls his own, under Provi- 
 dence, has been obtained by unceasing, unremitting 
 toil. Probably no man in De Kalb County has done 
 more hard work than himself. No man has a more 
 extensive acquaintance throughout the county ; and 
 whatever honor he has received from his fellow citi- 
 zens results from the fact that his manner of life 
 from his youth up is known of all men, and all know 
 that honesty and integrity have been the controlling 
 principles of his life. Other prominent traits of Mr. 
 Wood's character are, industry, economy, temper- 
 ance, executive ability and perseverance, and he has, 
 in the different offices of public trust held by him in 
 town, county and State, discharged the duties of 
 the various positions with intelligence, fidelity and 
 honesty, and has the respect and commendation of 
 the people. 
 
 He has been a frequent contributor to the local 
 press, writing descriptive letters during his travels 
 and also articles on agricultural subjects. He is a 
 firm friend of the temperance cause, and, with sev- 
 eral members of his family, is connected with the 
 First Congregational Church of Sycamore. 
 
 Mr. Wood is known to be something of a curiosity- 
 hunter, and is an enthusiastic student of mineralogy. 
 His collection of minerals and " precious stones," 
 containing many rare specimens obtained from vari- 
 ous parts of the United States and other countries, 
 form an unusual addition to the furnishings of a 
 country home. 
 
 The marriage of Mr. Wood with Rhoda Elizabeth 
 Richards occurred March 16, 1851. Mrs. Wood 
 was born at Hamilton, Madison Co., N. Y., July 28, 
 1829, and is the daughter of Nash and Emily Car- 
 rier Richards. Ten children have been born to them, 
 of whom six are living. Charles N. married Lizzie 
 E. Taylor, and lives at Wahpeton, Dakota, where he 
 is managing the real estate and loan business of his 
 cousin, T. L. French; Leroy B. married Georgia A. 
 Crawford, and is Treasurer of the Piano Manufac- 
 turing Company. Shepard H. is engaged in the real- 
 estate and loan business at Wahpeton, Dak.; Emily 
 
 v) 
 
 '. : 
 
 r
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 S:, only daughter, was graduated in 1884, in the Art 
 Department of Wheaton College. She is an accom- 
 plished artist in oil and crayon, and some of her 
 miscellaneous work has attracted favorable notice. 
 William H. and Albert C. are the names of the 
 youngest children who survive. 
 
 There is much in the life of such a man as Mr. 
 Wood worthy of commendation and honor. Coming 
 to this country while it was in its native wildness,and 
 growing up amid the hardships and privations of a 
 new country, he developed a manhood sturdy, noble 
 and true in all its phases. The coming generations 
 will not only desire to read the record of the lives of 
 such men, but will have a worthy desire to look upon 
 their portraits as well. We have therefore endeav- 
 ored not only to preserve a brief outline of the lives 
 of many of the prominent and representative men 
 and women of De Kalb County, but to give imper- 
 ishable likenesses of many, which is done in the gal- 
 axy of portraits given in this book. Among these, 
 and one equally worthy the honor with any other 
 man in the county, may be found that of Mr. 
 Wood. It is engraved from a photograph taken in 
 March, 1881. 
 
 j adison Van Velzor,' deceased, formerly a 
 farmer of Shabbona Township, was born 
 in Putnam Co., N.Y.June 1 1, 1817, is the 
 son of Elisha Van Velzor, was brought up 
 at farming, receiving a common-school educa- 
 tion, and removed in boyhood with his parents 
 to Allegany County, that State. 
 
 He was married in the latter county, June 27, 
 1844, to Miss Eunice, daughter of Joseph D. and 
 Hannah (Rogers) Wilcox, and a native of the same 
 county. He moved to St. Clair Co., Mich., in 1845, 
 where he was engaged in the lumber business. 
 From there he moved to Joliet, 111., spenf a winter 
 there, then moved to Du Page Co., 111., and finally, 
 in 1850, to Shabbona Township, this county. He 
 was actively engaged in farming on sections 10 and 
 n, where he had a large farm of 700 or 800 acres. 
 In 1877 he .removed to the village of Shabbona and 
 built the fine mansion now occupied by his widow 
 and children. His death occurred Oct. 23, 1884. 
 He had nine children, two sons and seven daughters, 
 
 @) 
 
 namely : De Witt, who married Lucy Nicholson and 
 lives at Shabbona ; Mary E., widow of Jacob Wat- 
 son and living at De Kalb Center; Frances A., wife 
 of John W. Middleton, of Shabbona; Sarah E, wife 
 of Wellington Helm, of the township of Shabbona; 
 William W., who married Emily Challand, of the 
 same township; Emma C., Jane A.; Ida; wife of 
 Henry Sherwood, of Shabbona Township, and 
 Lillie A. 
 
 Mr. Van Velzor was an enterprising, thrifty farmer 
 and of unquestioned integrity, just and kind to those 
 in his employ who proved faithful to their duties, 
 while he took no pains to conceal his dislike for the 
 lazy and incompetent. In all his relations with his 
 neighbors he was ever trusted and held in high es- 
 teem. He died leaving a valuable property to be 
 distributed among a large family. 
 
 homas Adams, retired farmer on section 7, 
 De Kalb Township, has been resident of 
 the county since 1849, when he purchased 
 160 acres of land. He has prospered and 
 increased his possessions to 240 acres, which 
 is in an advanced condition of improvement. 
 Mr. Adams was born Aug. 6, 1816, near Belfast, 
 Ireland, and is the son of William and Mary (Hanna) 
 Adarhs. His parents were born in the North of Ire- 
 land and were respectively of Scotch and English 
 descent. They emigrated to America in 1847 and 
 died a short time after their arrival 'in Canada. They 
 had six sons and four daughters, and nine of their 
 children lived to maturity. Thomas is the fourth 
 son and seventh child, and he was reared on his 
 father's farm, and later became an assistant in the 
 linen factory, his father belonging to the industrial 
 class known in Ireland as linen drapers. He was 
 thus occupied until he was 25 years of age, when he 
 came to Canada and bought a farm near Kingston. 
 He resided there about four years, coming thence to 
 De Kalb County at the date named. He is a pro- 
 gressive farmer and stockman, and raises annually an 
 average of 100 hogs, 50 head of cattle and a dozen 
 horses. 
 
 Mr. Adams was first married in Canada, to Eliz- 
 abeth Dart, a native of the Dominion, of mixed New 
 England and Scotch ancestry. They became the 
 
 > 
 
 vx
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 443 
 
 \ 
 
 parents of four children, Mary J., William, Almira 
 and Anna. Only the oldest of these is living The 
 mother died April 15, 1855, in De Kalb County. 
 The second wife of Mr. Adams, Mary Morgan, to 
 whom he was married in the city of New York, Oct. 
 26, 1856, was born in Belfast, Ireland. Their three 
 children were named William E., Isabella and 
 Thomas J. The youngest only is living and he is 
 managing the home farm. He was married Jan. 19, 
 1882-, to Miss Mary Welch, of Malta. 
 
 Mr. Adams is independent in politics. He has 
 officiated as Highway Overseer and as School Direc- 
 tor. With liis wife, he is a member of the Methodist 
 Church. 
 
 ' oseph C. Coster, of the mercantile firm of 
 Bauder & Coster, at Hinckley, is the son 
 of Richard and Rachel (Cook) Coster: His 
 father was born in Holland and his mother in 
 New York. The father emigrated to America 
 and was married in the State of New York, 
 where he located. His wife died May 7, 1841, and 
 later he came to Illinois to pass the remaining years 
 of his life. He died March 7, 1854, in Kane Co., 
 111. Peter, Alexander H., Joseph C., Rosetta A., 
 Richard, Stephen P. and Cornelia are the names of 
 his sons and daughters. 
 
 Mr. Coster was born Aug. 18, 1815, in Rensselaer 
 Co., N. Y. He was trained to a knowledge of agri- 
 culture and instructed in the common schools of the 
 State of his nativity. In 1847 he removed to Sugar 
 Grove Township, Kane Co., Ill, coming thence in 
 the spring of 1849 to De Kalb County, and purchased 
 295 acres of land in Squaw Grove Township, on 
 which he settled and where he has since resided. 
 He still holds his original acreage, and nearly the 
 entire tract is in tillage. 
 
 The first marriage, to W. Maria Weeks, took place 
 Dec. 8, 1838, in Rensselaer Co., N. Y. She was 
 born Aug. 4, 1818, in that county, and bore him 
 three children, Harriet P., Melvin, and another who 
 died in infancy. Both the others have since de- 
 ceased. Melvin entered the army of the United 
 States, enlisting in the iosth Reg. 111. Vol. Inf. in 
 August, 1862, and died of illness at Bowling Green, 
 Ky., Dec. 12, 1865. Harriet P. died March i, 1848. 
 
 g 
 
 The mother died Aug. 25, 1850, in Squaw Grove 
 Township. Mr. Coster was a second time married 
 in Squaw Grove Township, to Mrs. Sophronia (Red- 
 field) Bathrick. She was the widow of Daniel Bath- 
 rick, and became the mother of a son by her first 
 marriage. He was named Daniel and grew to man- 
 hood. Six children have been born of the second 
 marriage : Harriet M., Joseph A., Susan R., Mary 
 and Alfred. One child died in infancy. Mrs. Coster 
 died Jan. i, 1874. Mr. Coster was again married 
 at Piano, Kendall Co., 111., to Mary E. Evans. She 
 was born in the State of New York, Sept. 12, 1825, 
 and died in Squaw Grove Township, May 18, 1878. 
 Mr. Coster contracted a fourth matrimonial alliance 
 in Kane Co., 111., Sept. 22, 1880, with Keziah E. 
 (Owens) Scott. Her first husband, John A. Scott, 
 died Sept. 13, 1865. By him she had six children, 
 George R., Louis K., Hugh W., Lillie F., Walter W. 
 and Clara M. Mrs. Coster was born June 29, 1827, 
 in England, near the border of Wales. She accom- 
 panied her parents to America in 1834. William 
 and Sarah Owens, her father and mother, were na- 
 tives of England. 
 
 In political bias and relations Mr. Coster is a Re- 
 publican. He has officiated four years as a Justice 
 of the Peace and as School Director. In August, 
 1878, he engaged in mercantile business at Hinck- 
 ley, in company with his son-in-law, J. H. Bauder. 
 (See Sketch.) The firm are carrying on an exten- 
 sive business. 
 
 J 
 
 arles S. Palmer, Postmaster at Hinckley, 
 has resided in the State of Illinois since 
 1851, and in Hinckley since the spring of 
 1874. He was born March 4, 1838, in Kane 
 Co., 111., and is the fourth'-child of his par- 
 ents, Jonathan L. and Laura (Smith) Palmer. 
 His father was born in the State of New York, and 
 his mother in Vermont. They had six children. 
 
 Mr. Palmer was brought up on a farm, and was a 
 farmer until he was 36 years of age. In 1851 his 
 parents settled in the township of Milan in De Kalb 
 County. His mother died in Cortland, and the de- 
 mise of his father took place at St. Charles, Kane 
 Co., 111. On coming to Hinckley in 1874, Mr. Pal- 
 mer built a hotel, which is now occupied by O. P. T.
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 f Steinmetz as a store. He conducted his business 
 
 /Q as a landlord about 18 months, when he sold out 
 . '{ and soon after erected the store and dwelling now 
 occupied by Bauder & Coster. Mr. Palmer was 
 appointed Postmaster in .April, 1884. In political 
 convictions and relations he is a Republican. He 
 has officiated as one of the Board of Village Trustees 
 and as a School Director. 
 
 Mr. Palmer was married in Milan Township Feb. 
 17, 1863, to Emily N. Coster. Mrs. Palmer was 
 y born Aug. 26, 1845, and is the daughter of Alexander 
 H. and Miranda Coster. Laura M., Melvin P. and 
 . Myrtie E. are the names of the children of Mr. and 
 ^ Mrs. Palmer. 
 
 ivid Norton, farmer, section 14, Shabbona 
 Township, was born in Ontario, Wayne Co., 
 N. Y., July 24, 1821, was brought upon a 
 farm till his i7th year, and then removed, to 
 Geauga Co., Ohio, where he learned the car- 
 penter's trade, at which he was employed a 
 part of his time, the remainder being devoted to 
 farming until the fall of 1845. He then emigrated 
 to the Prairie State, arriving at Sugar Grove, Kane 
 County, Sept. n, that year. He married at the last 
 named place Aug. 20, 1846, Lucinda M., daugh- 
 ter of Stephen and Julia (Tyler) Gates. She was 
 born in Wayne Co., N. Y., June 13, 1826, lost her 
 mother in childhood, and was adopted and brought 
 up by her uncle, Isaac Gates. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Norton have had four children, 
 namely: Celia A., born July 23, 1848, who is the 
 wife of William Husk, Postmaster and merchant at 
 Shabbona; Wellington J., born Dec. 20, 1851; 
 Florence A., born July 3, 1854, is the wife of Hiram 
 Morey and lives at'Shabbona ; and one child died in 
 infancy. 
 
 In the spring of 1847, the year following his mar- 
 riage, Mr. Norton and wife moved to Shabbona 
 Township, this county, where he entered some Gov- 
 ernment land and purchased some at second-hand. 
 His farm contains 100 acres on section 14, and 15 
 acres on section 23, and is well improved. Mr. Nor- 
 ton has held various local offices since his residence 
 in Shabbona. During the war he was appointed En- 
 rolling Officer for the town ; served one term as Su- 
 
 3)^5C" >m &&' O * 
 
 .^ST/SV^^S 1 ^^TxT^^ 
 
 pervisor and many years as Road Commissioner and 
 Director of his school district. He has been identi- 
 fied with the growth and improvement of the town 
 since its pioneer days, and is held in high esteem by 
 a wide circle of acquaintances. In politics he is a 
 Republican. 
 
 illiam M. Sebree, farmer, resident in the 
 village of Hinckley, has lived in De Kalb 
 County since 1834, when he was brought 
 here an infant less than two years of age by 
 his parents, John S. and Sarah J. (Bateman) 
 Sebree. He is consequently the oldest living 
 settler in Squaw Grove Township. His father 
 was born in Virginia, and his mother is a native of 
 Indiana, where they located after marriage and lived 
 two years, removing in the winter of 1834 to Squaw 
 Grove Township. The father died there April 29, 
 1873. They had five children, named as follows : 
 W. M., Matilda J., James H., Mary A. and Ellen, 
 William M. and Ellen are the only surviving chil- 
 dren. 
 
 Mr. Sebree was born Feb. 7, 1833, in Indiana. 
 He was reared on the farm of his father in Squaw 
 Grove, and he attended the common schools. His 
 marriage took place when he was 23 years of age, 
 and on that -event transpiring he settled for an inde- 
 pendent struggle with circumstances on his father's 
 farm in the township of Squaw Grove. After con- 
 ducting its affairs five years, he removed to section 
 10, where he owned a farm of 120 acres. He con- 
 tinued its management 10 years, when he rented the 
 property and removed to the village of Hinckley in 
 1876. He owns 412 acres of land in Squaw Grove 
 Township, nearly all of which is under tillage. 
 
 Mr. Sebree conducted the creamery at Hinckley 
 seven years, and originated the plan of gathering 
 cream for the manufacture of butter. He made in 
 one day 2,480 pounds of butter, the largest amount 
 ever made in a single day in the county. 
 
 In political sentiment he is independent and has 
 been Constable, Highway Commissioner and School 
 Director, besides having held other minor offices. 
 He is a member of the Masonic fraternity. 
 
 Mr. Sebree was married Sept. 26, 1855, in Squaw 
 Grove Township, to Rosetta Donaldson. She was 
 born in Steubenville, Jefferson Co., Ohio, May 23, 
 ^&%SZ. ^Sx
 
 DFflf 
 
 UMVERSOT or
 

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 g 
 
 1837, and is the daughter of James and Jane (Cane) 
 Donaldson. Her father was born in Ireland and her 
 mother in the city of New York, They had two 
 children, Rosetta and Nancy. The family came in 
 the fall of 1844 to De Kalb County and settled in 
 Squaw Grove Township. The father's demise oc- 
 curred there, April 29, 1845 ; that of the mother 
 took place Sept. 28, 1876. Five children have been 
 born to Mr. and Mrs. Sebree, four of whom survive: 
 Alice J., Nellie A., Effie M. and Ray M. One child 
 died in infancy. 
 
 ^ohn Pooler, farmer and stock-raiser, resid- 
 ing on section 14, Afton Township, was 
 born in German Flats, Herkimer Co., N. 
 Y., Aug. n, 1824, and is of genuine "Yan- 
 kee " descent. His parents, Jacob and Betsey 
 (Price) Pooler, were born in Dutchess Co., 
 " York " State ; were married there and then moved 
 to Herkimer County. The father died at the age of 
 67 years, and the mother when the subject of this 
 notice was but seven years of age. 
 
 Orphaned by the death of his mother at an early 
 age, young Pooler was taken to be reared by an older 
 brother, who is still living and resides near Cortland, 
 this county, having attained the venerable age of 81 
 years. He grew to manhood on his brother's farm, 
 assisting in the farm labors and attending the com- 
 mon schools. On arriving at the age named he en- 
 gaged in farming by the month, with various persons, 
 and continued following that vocation for seven 
 years. 
 
 At the expiration of the time named, Mr. Pooler, 
 from his savings, purchased a farm in Steuben Coun- 
 ty, in his native State, which he cultivated for five 
 years. He then sold his property and spent a year 
 in attendance on his wife (having previously mar- 
 ried), who was undergoing medical treatment. On 
 the convalescence of his wife he came to this State 
 and located in Afton Township. He arrived here in 
 1857, and at once settled on the southeast quarter 
 of section 24, Afton Township, on which he resided 
 until 1870. He first purchased 80 acres, and subse- 
 quently added 80 more on the same section. 
 
 After residing on and improving his land on sec- 
 tion 24, Mr. Pooler purchased the farm on which he 
 
 (5>5<g^| a^g^ir pys 
 
 is at present residing. The original tract embraced 
 1 60 acres, and he has since added, by a subsequent 
 purchase, 80 more, making his landed estate on sec- 
 tion 14, 240 acres, and on section 24, 160 acres, or a 
 total of 400 acres. He erected his present residence 
 in 1883. It is a frame building, and one of the neat- 
 est and most convenient farm dwellings in the town- 
 ship. He has a large cattle barn on the home farm 
 and good, substantial outbuildings. 
 
 Besides cereal productions, Mr. Pooler deals to a 
 considerable extent in stock. He raises from 100 to 
 125 head of hogs annually, besides about 20 head 
 of cattle and as many of calves, and disposes of 
 some 30 head of cattle each year. He is one of 
 those men whose possessions came not by inherit- 
 ance, but by honest, industrious labor, coupled with 
 energetic determination and good judgment^ and in 
 the enjoyment of a competency he has the consola- 
 tion of having accumulated it himself, together with 
 the helpmeet he chose for his life companion. 
 
 Mr. Pooler was united in marriage March 25, 
 1851, to Miss Elizabeth A., daughter of Daniel and 
 Mary (Patten) Roof. Her father was born Aug. 15, 
 1803, in Montgomery Co., N. Y., in which county 
 her mother was also born Aug. 14, 1803, and both of 
 whom are yet living in the same county. Her father 
 followed the trade of a wheelwright until a short time 
 ago. Mrs. Pooler was born Feb. 5, 1833, in Minden, 
 Montgomery Co., N. Y., and resided with her parents, 
 assisting in the household duties and attending the 
 common schools until her marriage. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Pooler were the parents of five chil- 
 dren living and one deceased. The living are, 
 Charles H., born Nov. 7, 1856, in Addison, Steuben 
 Co., N. Y.; Willie E., born Oct. 30, 1861, in Afton 
 Township; Evron E., born Jan. 16, 1863, in Afton 
 Township; and Everett E., twin brother of Evron 
 E.; May M., born May i, 1873. One child, Hattie 
 C., born Feb. 26, 1858, in Afton Township, died May 
 8, 1884, on the home farm. She was married Jan. 
 18, 1881, to Charles Noble. March 2, 1881, she and 
 her husband moved to Lake City, Calhoun Co., Iowa, 
 where the husband worked at his trade, that of a 
 carpenter. She contracted consumption, and the 
 dreadful disease increased in its different stages so 
 rapidly that she seemed to realize her days of pleas- 
 ure and happiness on earth were almost closed, and 
 thus realizing, she, on Aug. f>, 1883, returned to the 
 
 \\
 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 home of her nativity, the old farm home on section 
 14, to die in the arms of father and mother. Her 
 sufferings were pitiful to behold, but were endured 
 by that fortitude which characterized her entire life, 
 and of a daughter and wife whose consolation was 
 that she had lived a good life, had fought the good 
 fight and was prepared for the hereafter. The dis- 
 ease had reduced her almost to skin and bones, and 
 for two months she had to be lifted in and out of 
 her bed, and at last, on the 8th of May, 1884, with a 
 smile of satisfaction on her countenance, she closed 
 her eyes in death, and the dutiful daughter, the lov- 
 ing wife, kind friend and Christian woman's soul had 
 passed into eternity. 
 
 When Mr. Pooler first came to Afton Township, 
 the roads extended zigzag over the broad prairies ; 
 there were no fences save one now and then enclos- 
 ing a farm house ; yet he had great faith in the fu- 
 ture of the country and energetically battled against 
 all obstacles, determined to establish a home for him- 
 self and family. How well he has succeeded, with 
 the co-operation pf his good wife, the thrifty condi- 
 tion of his farm, and possessions will testify. 
 
 As a gentleman worthy of recognition in the his- 
 tory of the county, and an example of what resolu- 
 tion, accompanied by energy and determination, can 
 do and has accomplished, we deem it a pleasure to 
 present the portrait of the gentleman whose name 
 appears at the head of this notice. 
 
 i 
 
 ^> 
 
 
 Herbert H. Hopkins, member of the firm of 
 Gurler Bros. & Co., who are conducting the 
 business relations and manufactures of the 
 " creamery " at Hinckley, was born July 2, 
 1 86 1, at Chesterfield, N. H., and is the son of 
 R. Henry and Ellen (Newton) Hopkins, natives 
 respectively of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. 
 After the marriage of his parents they settled in the 
 Granite State and there spent their lives. 
 
 Mr. Hopkins is the third of their six children. He 
 spent all his school days in the common schools, and 
 was a resident of New Hampshire until the spring of 
 1880, when he came to the village of De Kalb, and 
 obtained employment in the creamery at that place, 
 operating there two years in that capacity. He re- 
 
 mained there a year longer, and was engaged in the 
 manufacture of butter-tubs. In the spring of 1884 
 he came to Hinckley and assumed charge of the 
 creamery belonging to Gurler Bros. & Co., becoming 
 a partner therein. He is a Republican in political 
 connections and belief, and belongs to the Order of 
 Odd Fellows. 
 
 Mr. Hopkins was married March 14, 1883, in De 
 Kalb, to Frances C. Geiser. She was born Dec. 3, 
 1 86 1, in the State of New York. 
 
 ndrew H. Johnson, general farmer, section 
 29, Milan Township, was born Jan 27, 
 1830, in Stananger, Norway. His father, 
 Henry Johnson, was a farmer in that country 
 and married Melinda Pierson. The latter 
 died in September, 1883; the death of the 
 former occurred some years earlier. 
 
 Mr. Johnson is the fourth son of 1 1 children born 
 to his parents, and was sent to the public schools, 
 where he obtained a fair education. In 1854 he came 
 to America, accompanied by his younger brother, 
 Henry. They first located in Ottawa, La Salle Co., 
 111., where Mr. Johnson of this sketch spent three 
 years as a farm assistant. He was married in La 
 Salle County, town of Mission, Oct. 19, 1857, to 
 Sarah, daughter of Ole and Caroline (Benn) Baker. 
 She is the younger of two children and was born in 
 Norway, Jan. 27, 1841. At the date of her parents' 
 removal to America she was 18 months old. They 
 first settled in Wisconsin, where her father died 
 when she was about three years of age. Her mother 
 transferred her residence to La Salle County, where 
 she died about the time Mrs. Johnson attained to 
 the age of 1 1 years. The latter was cared for by 
 an aunt subsequent to the loss of her mother. By 
 her marriage to Mr. Johnson she is the mother of 
 eight children, Henry W., Caroline, Melinda, Ole, 
 James E., Emma J. and Aaron C. One child is not 
 living. 
 
 Mr. Johnson left La Salle County four years after 
 his marriage, and went to Kendall County, there 
 purchased a farm and lived on it three years, after 
 which he purchased 80 acres of land in Milan Town- 
 ship, where he established and has maintained his 
 homestead. To his original purchase he has added
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 ^ 
 
 ?> 
 
 8o acres on the same section, and 80 acres on sec- 
 tion 31 in the same township, constituting a superb 
 farm, which is under the best improvements, and 
 supplied with modern farm fixtures. Politically he 
 he is a hearty, enthusiastic Republican, and has held 
 several local offices. 
 
 i illiam Jackson, dealer in general mer- 
 chandise at the village of Shabbona, was 
 one of the earliest merchants at tliat place. 
 He was born in Schenectady, N. Y., Feb. i, 
 1845, and is the son of William and Eliza 
 I. Jackson. He received a common-school 
 education, and came to Illinois in 1864, locating at 
 Shabbona Grove, where he engaged in clerking about 
 three years. He then began business as a manu- 
 facturer of and dealer in boots and shoes, which he 
 continued up to 1870, when he sold out and followed 
 clerking. In November, 1872, he formed a partner- 
 ship with his brother, A. S., in a general store at 
 Shabbona village, under the firm name of A. S. & 
 Wm. Jackson. Theirs was the first store building at 
 the present business center of the village. One year 
 afterward they sold out, and the following spring Mr. 
 Jackson resumed business alone. March 3, 1877, 
 the building and stock was destroyed by fire, and he 
 resumed business May 22, 1877, the line of trade 
 consisting of dry goods, groceries, boots and shoes, 
 hats, caps and notions. 
 
 Mr. Jackson was married at Shabbona Grove, 
 June 18, 1873, to Miss Addie Hotchkiss, a daughter 
 of Nelson and Harriet Hotchkiss, who was born near 
 Geneva, Kane Co., 111. 
 
 ,dwin R. Colby, Supervisor of Milan Town- 
 ship, resident on section 33, was born 
 Aug. 10, 1823, in' Oswego, N. Y. His 
 father, Daniel D. Colby, was a native of Onon- 
 daga County, in the same State, and descended 
 from New England parentage and from stock 
 originally of English origin. His grandfather was a 
 participant in the war of the Revolution, in which he 
 received a wound that crippled him for life. He 
 _died in the State of New York. Daniel Colby fixed 
 
 his residence in Oswego when he was 19 years of 
 age, and was a resident there during the remainder 
 of his life, which terminated when he was 82 years 
 of age, in June, 1883. The mother of Edwin R. 
 Colby was^ Elizabeth Singer, and was a sister of Isaac 
 M. Singer, of sewing-machine notoriety. She was 
 born in New York and was of German parentage. 
 The Singer family were mechanics as far back as the 
 iyth century, the father, I. M. "Singer, being a mill- 
 wright. The inventive genius has been transmitted 
 to some members of every generation since, and all 
 are skillful in the use of tools. 
 
 Mr. Colby is one of 14 children born to his par- 
 ents, ten sons and four daughters. Twelve reached 
 adult age, and ten yet survive. Mr. Colby is the 
 third child in order of birth, and he resided at home 
 until he was 17 years of age. He had learned the 
 trade of cooper of a man who had been employed by 
 his father in that business, and at the age named he 
 set himself about the task of earning an independent 
 living. He turned his knowledge of the business of 
 coopering to good advantage and followed it as a 
 vocation for 16 years, alternating in the prosecution 
 of general farming. 
 
 He was married in 1854 to Catherine Simmons, 
 who was born -about 1824, in Connecticut, and was a 
 farmer's daughter. Her parents removed to Oswego, 
 where she was reared and educated. She became 
 the mother of four children : Calvert C. married 
 Frances Griswold and resides at Rockford, 111., where 
 he is employed as a moulder. Albert J. married 
 Nettie Steele. He is also a moulder and pursues 
 that business at Rockford. Olive married Peter 
 Cofield, a farmer in Shabbona Township. Eliza is 
 the wife of William Shambo, a teacher in the town- 
 ship of Milan. The mother died in November, 1850, 
 in the State of New York. She was a judicious 
 mother, an exemplary wife, and was generally es- 
 teemed. A few years after her death Mr. Colby re- 
 moved to Shiawassee Co., Mich., and located on a 
 small farm, where he pursued his trade of. cooper 
 about three years. In May, 1861, he came to Illi- 
 nois and located in the township of Shabbona. He 
 was married there in June, 1863, to Mrs. Deborah 
 (Simpson) Collins. She was born in 1828, in Orleans 
 Co., N. Y. She came to Illinois after her marriag 
 Following are the names of the children of the sec- 
 ond marriage : Sherman T., Eddie R., Abraham A., 
 Lovina and Nellie. 
 
 i 
 
 NUMB
 
 DE KALB COUNTY 
 
 o 
 
 Mr. Colby resided in Shabbona Township and car- 
 ried on a farm there eight years. At the end of that 
 time he sold his place and purchased the estate he 
 now owns in Milan Township. To this he has since 
 added 80 acres, and the entire estate is ijow under 
 excellent cultivation and improvements, with good 
 farm buildings and fine grades of stock. He is a 
 Republican and has discharged the obligations of 
 most of the township offices. 
 
 ! ohn S. Sebree, deceased, a former resident 
 |f of the township of Squaw Grove and one of 
 the earliest permanent settlers of De Kalb 
 County, was born Aug. 22, 1808, in Virginia. 
 In early life he spent some time in teaming 
 and in boating on the Mississippi River. He 
 was married Dec. n, 1831, in Indiana, to Sarah J. 
 Bateman. She was born Feb. 7, 1812, and is the 
 daughter of William and Elizabeth (O'Blonus) Bate- 
 man, and was the second of four children born to 
 her parents. After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Sebree 
 settled in Floyd Co., Ind. 
 
 In the fall of 1834 he. started with his wife and one 
 child for Illinois, making the journey to De Kalb 
 County with a team and driving a cow. On the way 
 Mr. Sebree worked for a time near Bloomington, 111., 
 picking corn on shares, for which he returned in 
 January. Reaching Squaw Grove Township, he locat- 
 ed a 300 acres of land, on which he built a shanty 
 that had a roof of basswood bark, the same as that 
 used by the Indians in building their wigwams. 
 Their shanty had a fire-place built of sticks and mud, 
 and the floor was covered with hay. This caught 
 fire on one occasion, but did no damage save the fear 
 of utter ruin to the establishment. They occupied 
 this shanty two weeks, and Mr. Sebree built a log 
 house which was far more comfortable. He cut the 
 first hay in the township. When he reached the 
 place where he located his land, the second - growth 
 of the prairie grass was fresh and still green and made 
 excellent hay, which was in immediate demand for 
 their horses and cows. 
 
 After settling his wife and child as well as he could, 
 
 Mr. Sebree returned to Bloomington for the corn he 
 
 had earned, -going away about the first of January 
 
 rid did not return until the last of February, follow- 
 
 *&. ^3ifZ & 
 
 ing. Mrs. Sebree was alone with her son and a 
 small boy nearly two months. She prepared the 
 corn from which her bread was made by pounding it, 
 in a wooden mortar made by a hole in the top of a 
 stump, with an iron wedge. The family lived 12 years 
 in the log house, in which they kept a sort of hotel, 
 as there was no other place for prospectors and land- 
 lookers to obtain necessary accommodations. Fre- 
 quently the floor of the little log house was covered 
 with the sleeping forms of tired travelers. In 1842 
 Mr. Sebree built a frame house which is still stand- 
 ing near the village of Hinckley, and in which she 
 resides. She is 74 years of age, and is the general 
 manager of a farm of 222 acres. She is uncommonly 
 vigorous and never required the attendance of a 
 physician until the winter of 1884-5. Her fi ye chil- 
 dren are married. William M., Matilda J., James 
 H., Mary A. and Ellen. 
 
 The father died April 29, 1873. At the date of 
 his removal to De Kalb County, he was in very 
 straitened circumstances. At the date of his death 
 he owned about 620 acres of land. 
 
 W. Tyrrell, senior editor and publisher of 
 the De Kalb Review, was born in Kalama- 
 zoo, Mich., Nov. 12, ^840. His parents 
 returned to Cliautauqua County, N. Y., and 
 resided at Quincy, Fredonia, and other points in 
 the county until 1850, when they took a boat at 
 Dunkirk and came West, landing at Racine, Wis. 
 Moving further on, the family settled in the town of 
 Magnolia, Rock Co., Wis., shifting locations as cir- 
 cumstances dictated, to different portions of the 
 county. In 1853 or '54 the impulse to move on to- 
 wards the wes'.ern " jumping-off place " again seized 
 the head of the family (Manlius Tyrrell), and, with a 
 yoke of steers hitched to a doubtful vehicle called a 
 wagon, out of which an orthodox prairie schooner 
 was improvised, a start was made for Iowa. 
 
 There is in the life of every boy some one event 
 which occupies a niche in the memory a little more 
 prominent than any other. This trip to Iowa, rather 
 with than in the " prairie schooner," rises up, even 
 now, in the mind of the subject of this sketch, lib 
 tolerably good-sized mountain, fraught as it was with 
 circumstances which might have tempted the patieno
 
 tltSs^&f 
 M-OV 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 of ]ob or tried the " sand " of an Alexander. Mak- 
 ing their way through clouds of mosquitoes, storms of 
 rain, across swollen streams, up and down hills little 
 and big, encountering mishaps of various kinds, with 
 those faithful steers, the Hawkeye State was finally 
 reached. The now rich, prohibition and always 
 patriotic State of Iowa had the honor of receiving the 
 Tyrrell family at McGregor-on-the-Mississippi, noted 
 for its one street and no lightning rods, the high 
 bluffs on either side of the solitary street absorbing 
 all the electric fluid which old Jove has to spare in 
 that neighborhood. The journey was continued on 
 from McGregor until their destination, West Union, 
 the county seat of Fayette County, was reached in 
 safety, the steers discharged and paterfamilias set to 
 work at blacksmithing, the will-o'-the-wisp, fortune, 
 still moving on, moving on still westward, with the 
 now travel-begrimed star of empire. 
 
 Here the family lived, or " stayed," as the case 
 may be, until the breaking out of the Rebellion. 
 Young Tyrrell meantime had apprenticed himself to 
 a printer by the name of Gharkey, who published 
 The Fayette County Pioneer, a thorough " Dough- 
 face," pro-slavery paper, and was at work in this 
 ''print shop " when the terrible war broke out. Tyr- 
 rell was an " Abolitionist " at heart and was so called 
 by Boss Gharkey, but a self-professed Republican, 
 and " Union " to the back-bone. So, after the ap- 
 palling news came flashing across the country that 
 Fort Sumter had been fired upon by the hot-headed 
 sons of South Carolina, he, with numerous other 
 young fellows not yet old enough to vote, rushed off 
 to the war with blood in his eye and a firm resolve in 
 his heart " never, no, never! to give up until the last 
 armed foe expired!" He served three years in 
 Co. F, Qth Iowa Regt. Vol. Inf., commanded by Col. 
 Vandever, of Dubuque, and participated in the vari- 
 ous campaigns with his regiment, notable among 
 which were the battles of Pea Ridge in Northwestern 
 Arkansas, the siege of Vicksburg, the battle (?) of 
 Lookout Mountain, and the many other minor battles 
 and skirmishes in which the regiment was engaged. 
 At Pea Ridge Lieut. Neff was shot down by his side 
 at the first fire from the Confederates. 
 
 But Tyrrell was glad to get back home as soon as 
 his "commission" expired, and not more than two- 
 :hirds of the foe had yet been accommodating enough 
 :o expire. Knowing that Grant and Sherman and 
 Sheridan and good, brave and noble old " Pap " 
 
 Thomas would be left to worry the " rebs " awhile 
 longer, he left the service without a pang or a wound 
 to draw a pension on and came back to the old paths 
 of peace and soft bread. 
 
 Returning to Iowa and finding the "girl he left 
 behind him " enjoying a state of double blessed- 
 ness, he soon left the State and again turned up in 
 Wisconsin, which, when he left it, was the " Badger 
 State," but found on his return that the " badgers " 
 had all gone West or to the war. 
 
 The " printing habit" which never entirely for- 
 sakes a man when it has once thoroughly fastened 
 itself upon him returned to torment Tyrrell. Find- 
 ing a situation open to him in Brodhead, Green 
 County, in The Independent office, he entered that 
 office and worked there for I. F. Mack, Jr., now 
 editor and publisher of the Sandusky (O.) Register, 
 for four or five years. E. O. Kimberly and Tyrrell 
 then purchased the Independent plant and published 
 the paper together some nine months, when, in con- 
 se'quence of a rupture in the Republican ranks at 
 the county seat (Monroe), a new paper was wanted 
 in that place in opposition to the Sentinel, which had 
 had the temerity to oppose the " regular " nominee for 
 State Senator. Great things were promised by the 
 politicians, and Tyrrell sold out his magnificent in- 
 terests and prospects in the Brodhead paper and 
 went to Monroe and started the Green County Re- 
 publican, with A. W. Potter as partner, a man who 
 knew as little about the publishing business as the 
 mo'st fastidious could wish. While indulging in the 
 laudable enterprise of running a paper for spite, 
 Tyrrell took in another partner, Mrs. Sarah Akin, 
 <?<?Gray, of St. Charles, 111. This last partnership, 
 for a wonder, has never been dissolved! Potter, a 
 nervous little body, soon found that the new paper 
 was not a bonanza of formidable proportions, and pro- 
 posed a dissolution. With Potter to propose was to 
 dispose, and so Tyrrell went out of the new paper in 
 a blaze of financial impecuniosity ! 
 
 Again farewell to Wisconsin ! Hail, Illinois! Tak- 
 ing his life partner along, Tyrrell found himself, in 
 1870, located at St. Charles, Kane Co., 111. He soon 
 found employment with S. L. Taylor in the Geneva 
 Republican office, where he worked about a year. 
 Meantime Mr. Taylor had established the St. Charles 
 Transcript, but no sooner having it started than an 
 opportunity presented itself to establish a new paper 
 in Elgin. He went there and started The Advocate, 

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 J 
 
 D. W. Tyrrell and Charles Archer taking his Geneva 
 and St. Charles papers off his hands. These papers 
 Tyrrell & Archer published for about a year, when 
 the " granger " craze broke loose and H. N. Wheeler, 
 the noted crank who promulgated the infamous sen- 
 timent in the Quincy (111.) Herald that " Garfield 
 was no better than the man who shot him," con- 
 ceived the brilliant enterprise of publishing a granger 
 paper. With this in view, Wheeler and one Mc- 
 Master proposed to Tyrrell to sell out to them, 
 threatening at the same time to "start" another 
 paper if their proposition to buy was not acceded to. 
 Tyrrell was bulldozed out and " swindled into the 
 bargain." Wheeler & McMaster gave T. a contract 
 in writing to pay his portion of the debts against 
 the. firm of Tyrrell & Archer, but after they got pos- 
 ses^ion of the concern they flatly refused to make 
 thdr contract good. A year or two afterwards Tyr- 
 rell sued Wheeler & McMaster and brought suit 
 against them in the Kane County Circuit Court, and 
 obtained judgment against them, which judgment 
 stands against them to this day. 
 
 Tyrrell, out of work and out of money, as a last 
 resort started the St. Charles Independent, which, 
 owing to a " plentiful lack " of patronage, soon died 
 a natural death, after a struggle of about eight 
 months, more or less, mourned by few and remem- 
 bered by none except its one parent. 
 
 In April, 1875, Tyrrell received a proposition from 
 L. H. Post, publisher of The 2)e Kalb County News, 
 to go to De Kalb and work for him. Post was then 
 Post-Master. Tyrrell accepted the offer of work and 
 moved there, working for Mr. P. about three years, 
 when he was superseded in the News office by Geo. 
 W. Taylor, of Sycamore. Tyrrell was again on his 
 oars, with winter coming on and the cupboard bare. 
 So he started a little daily, called it The Index, and 
 managed to squeeze out a precarious living through 
 the winter, working day and night like a Trojan to 
 keep the wolf from howling around the door of the 
 shanty. 
 
 Post didn't like the competition, and, becoming 
 disgusted with Taylor, proposed to buy out the little 
 daily and take its proprietor back into the News 
 office. The arrangement was made, and Mr. Tyrrell 
 remained with Post until The DeKalb County Chron- 
 icle, Mr. Glidden's paper, opened its ponderous jaws 
 and absorbed the News, body, soul and subscription 
 
 list. Mr. Tyrrell then tried to work for Rosette, the 
 man of iron will who steers the Chronicle craft, but 
 the water and oil of their respective compositions 
 wouldn't mix, and so the former formed a patent 
 combination with L. E. Tomblin, of the Genoa Sift- 
 ings, resulting in the purchase of the De Kalb Re- 
 view, established by S. L. Graham and H. L. Boies, 
 of the Sycamore Republican, in February, 1883. 
 
 Tyrrell & Tomblin are still " running " the Review, 
 having engineered it successfully through babyhood, 
 with every prospect of raising it to an exalted posi- 
 
 tion in the ranks of country journals, at 
 paid in advance! 
 
 a year, if 
 
 "ohn H. Bauder, merchant at Hinckley, has 
 been in business at that place since 1875, 
 and has been a resident of the State since 
 :86g. He was born Sept. 10, 1847, m Mont- 
 gomery Co., N. Y., and is a son of James and 
 Catherine (Young) Bauder. His parents are 
 natives of the State of New York, and are now resi- 
 dent there. Their family comprised eight children. 
 
 The first 1 6 years of the life of Mr. Bauder were 
 passed in home duties and in attendance at the com- 
 mon school. In 1863 he went to Hammondsport, 
 Steuben County, in the same State, and entered upon 
 a clerkship. He operated in that capacity three 
 years, and in 1869 engaged in a like employment at 
 Aurora, Kane Co., 111. He acted as a salesman in 
 that city about six years. In 1875 he formed a 
 partnership with Mr. Avery G. Case at Hinckley, 
 and the firm of Case & Bauder prosecuted the rela- 
 tions of a general mercantile enterprise one year, 
 when the senior partner sold out and the firm style 
 became thereby Meredith, Bauder & Co., the latter 
 term representing a gentleman named Morgan. 
 Messrs. Meredith and Morgan sold out 18 months 
 later to J. C. Coster, the firm name becoming Bauder 
 & Coster. Their stock consists of well assorted 
 merchandise suited to the local patronage, and their 
 transactions annually amount to nearly $40,000. 
 
 The marriage of Mr. Bauder took place Sept. 13, 
 1876, at Hinckley, to Hattie M. Coster. (See sketch 
 of J. C. Coster.) One child, Mabel C., has been 
 born to them. Her birth occurred April 10, 1878 
 
 Politically Mr. Bauder is independent in opinion.

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY 
 
 455 
 
 He is a member of the Masonic Order, and belongs 
 to Lodge 301, at Hinckley. He has held the follow- 
 ing offices : Member of Board of Trustees for vil- 
 lage of Hinckley, Township Clerk three terms, is 
 present Village Treasurer, having held the office 
 three years, and he has been Township Treasurer 
 for the past six years. 
 
 X \ 3 '^gjjL on- Thomas S. Terry, deceased, was born 
 at Enfield, Tompkins Co., N. Y., Jan. 25, 
 1819, and was the son of Erastus and 
 Hannah (Scudder) Terry. Was educated in the 
 public schools, and engaged in clerking and 
 teaching until he enlisted in the regular army, 
 March 28, 1841 ; was promoted Sergeant, served in 
 ) Texas on the Mexican border, and received an hon- 
 f orable discharge March 26, 1846, having been in the 
 service five years. 
 
 In the autumn of 1846, he emigrated to Illinois 
 x and entered a quarter of section 24, township of 
 Shabbona, this county, and engaged in the pursuits 
 - of agriculture. He was married in Clinton Town- 
 ^ ship, this county, Sept. 6, 1848,10 Miss Mary J., 
 daughter of James and Maria (Gott) Irwin, who was 
 born at Albany, N. Y., May 22, 1829. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Terry had six sons and one daughter, all of 
 whom were born in Shabbona Township, in the fol- 
 lowing order : 
 
 1. William W. was born Aug. 22, 1849, and mar- 
 ried for his first wife Miss Emma Harmon, who died 
 
 a little more than a year afterward, leaving one child, 
 daughter. His present wife was Miss Millie 
 \ Cooper : they reside in Portland, Oregon. 
 
 2. Charles R. was born May n, 1851, married 
 Miss Annie Stickney and lives in Piano, 111. 
 
 3. Althea H. was torn April 16, 1853, and is the 
 wife of Ira Smith, of Aurora, 111. 
 
 4. Fred E. was born Aug. 10, 1856, married Miss 
 Kate Setchel and lives at Little Sioux, Iowa. 
 
 5. Elias D., torn June 7, 1858, lives at Beards- 
 town, 111. 
 
 6. Lincoln A., born April 20, 1860, married Ella 
 V. Quinn, and lives at the old homestead in Shabbona. 
 
 7. Thomas S., torn Oct. 18, 1864, is yet un- 
 married and living at home. 
 
 On the breaking out of the late war Mr. Terry, the 
 subject of this sketch, recruited Co. E of the 1 051)1 
 111. Vol. Inf., in August, 1862, and Sept. 2, was 
 commissioned Captain. He served in the Army of 
 the Cumberland, under Gen. Thomas, but in March 
 following was compelled to resign his commission on 
 account of physical disability ; and after his return 
 from the army he never fully regained his health. 
 
 In 1865 he removed with his family to Leland, 
 111., where he resided until his death, which occurred 
 March 7, 1868, at Earlville, 111., while temporarily 
 absent from home. While a resident of Shabbona 
 he held various local offices, being Town Clerk and 
 Supervisor several years, Justice of the Peace 12 
 years, and elected a member of the Legislature in 
 1860, when he resigned his justiceship. He was a 
 Freemason of many years' standing, being one of the 
 charter members of Shabbona Lodge, No. 374, and 
 of De Kalb Chapter, R. A. M. He was a zealous 
 temperance man, and was instrumental in founding 
 a lodge of Good Templars at Shabbona Grove at an 
 early day. In politics he was an earnest Republi- 
 can. As a neighbor and citizen he was known as a 
 man of strict integrity, patriotism and public spirit, 
 whose influence was always good. His comrades in 
 arms have paid appropriate tribute to his memory by 
 naming their post at Shabbona after him, as " T. S. 
 Terry Post, G. A. R., No. 463." 
 
 Immediately after the death of her husband, Mrs. 
 Terry returned with her children to the old home- 
 stead in Shabbona, where she still resides, with her 
 two youngest sons. 
 
 ~M ..;=S=oSlEj=;..->~ 
 
 illiam Leifheit, farmer, section 17, Squaw 
 Grove Township, has been a resident of 
 the State of Illinois since 1850, and since 
 that date has resided successively in the 
 counties of Kendall and De Kalb. He was 
 born in Germany, in June, 1821, where he was 
 bred a farmer. His parents, Frederick and Hattie 
 (Borchas) Leifheit, were of German birth and emi- 
 grated to America with their children in 1850. After 
 a residence of two years in Kendall Co., 111., they 
 went to Iowa, where the mother died, about 1855. 
 The father returned to Kendall County and died 
 about two years later. They had six children, 
 
 v/ 
 
 * 
 
 (D
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 ^Hannah, Mollie, Henry, William, August and Minnie. 
 Mr. Leifheit removed from Kendall County to 
 
 iSquaw Grove Township in 1856, and bought 160 
 acres of land on sections 17 and 18, locating his 
 
 ^residence on the former, on which he has continued 
 to live. He now owns 565 acres of land in the town- 
 ship, and has placed 460 acres under cultivation. 
 He has held several township offices, is a Republican 
 in political opinion and in religious views and con- 
 nection a Lutheran. 
 
 He was married in July, 1850, in Kendall Co., 111., 
 < sjto Caroline, daughter of Charles and Julia (Sholla) 
 ^Eckhart. Her parents were natives of Germany, 
 where she was also born, May 2, 1823. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Leifheit are the parents of 1 1 children, Will- 
 iam L., Emmet A., Edward F., Caroline M., Adolph 
 F., Charles F., Julia A., Harvey H., Emma L., Anna 
 H. and Mary A. Julia died Sept. 12, 1881, aged 20 
 \ years. Mrs. Leifheit is a member of the Lutheran 
 Church. 
 
 ' Mr. Leifheit's portrait appears on another page. 
 ^E- He is a solid citizen of Squaw Grove Township and 
 f-? has earned the respect of his fellow citizens by a 
 I* straightforward life of effort and unvarying rectitude. 
 
 s 
 
 !- : harles Sanderson, Milan Township, has 
 been a farmer on section 18 since 1874. 
 He was born April u, 1861, in the town- 
 ship of Earl, La Salle Co., 111. His father, 
 Sander H. Sanderson, was a prominent 
 farmer of that county, whence he came, when 
 1 8 years of age, to La Salle County, and where he 
 was married to Anna Moland ; and there he was en- 
 gaged in agricultural pursuits until his removal to 
 Milan Township, where he became an extensive 
 landholder. His death occurred in December, 1881, 
 and that of his wife took place one week previous to 
 his own demise. 
 fJi Mr. Sanderson acquired a fair education at the com- 
 mon schools, and up to the date of his parents'decease 
 he spent the summer seasons at work on the farm. 
 * He was married April 20, 1882, to Carrie, daughter 
 I of Theodore and Maria (Davidson) Berg. She was 
 i born in Henderson Co., III., June 19, 1861, and when 
 she was three years of age came with her parents to 
 |_Milan Township, where they yet reside, on section 
 
 ^^^-^ 
 
 19. She is the oldest of five children, and the 
 mother of one, Mabel, born March 27, 1883. 
 
 Mr. Sanderson and his wife took up their resi- 
 dence after marriage on 120 acres of land, in Milan 
 Township, which has since become their property. 
 They have recently built a commodious frame res- 
 idence. Mr. Sanderson is an earnest Republican, 
 and, with his wife, is a member of the Lutheran 
 Church. 
 
 harles H. Taylor, dealer in agricultural 
 implements at Hinckley, was born April 
 13, 1830, in Tioga Co., N. Y., and is one of 
 nine children born to his parents, David and 
 Sarah (Tappen)Taylor, born in the following 
 order: Nancy A., Malvina, Cornelius, Chas. H.> 
 Catherine, Tappen A., Sarah, David and Mary. The 
 father and mother were born in Massachusetts, and 
 settled after marriage in the State of New York, 
 where their lives terminated. 
 
 Mr. Taylor is the son of a farmer, and passed the 
 first 20 years of his life on the home place, engaged 
 chiefly in farm labor, and operated several winters 
 in the woods. He came West in 1850, and after 
 prospecting in various localities about two years, he 
 came in the spring of 1853 to Squaw Grove Town- 
 ship, and bought 170 acres of land on section 4. 
 He was its occupant one year, when he sold and for 
 three years subsequent rented a farm. In 1858 he 
 again bought a farm, and was engaged in the prose- 
 cution of his agricultural interests until the spring 
 of 1874, when he built a residence in the village of 
 Hinckley, of which he took possession as soon as it 
 was completed. In the spring of 1880, he engaged 
 in the sale of agricultural implements, and conducts 
 a successful business. In political views and actions 
 he is identified with the interests and issues of the 
 Republican party. At the time of the draft in 1862, 
 he was Enrolling Officer for Squaw Grove Township. 
 From 186210 1868 he held the position of Super- 
 visor of his township, and has since officiated as 
 Collector and Assessor and in other official positions. 
 He was Census Enumerator in 1880. His marriage 
 to Eliza Kellogg took place at Geneva, Kane Co., 
 111., in March, 1855. She was a native of Ohio, and 
 became the mother of six children, Freddie, Dell 
 
 i 
 1 
 
 V 
 
 g ! 
 
 r
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Wilton, Anna, Zac. and Frank. Mrs. Taylor died 
 in Squaw Grove Township, in August, 1864. Mr. Tay- 
 lor was a second time married, in the same township, 
 to Maggie Murphy, who was born in Massachusetts, 
 May 6, 1848. 
 
 saac F. Morse, farmer, section 27, Shabbona 
 Township, settled in this county in 1846, 
 and is now the possessor of 160 acres of 
 land located on the section stated. He was 
 born in Canaan, Marion Co., Ohio, Nov. 7, 
 [9, and is a son of William A. and Hannah 
 (Finn) Morse. His parents took him to Franklin 
 Co., Ohio, in his childhood, and in that county he 
 grew to manhood. His minority days were spent on 
 the farm and attending the common schools, in 
 which he received a good education. 
 
 Mr. Morse was married Dec. 2, 1842, to Miss 
 Sophia A. Park, in Worthington, Franklin Co., Ohio. 
 She was a daughter of Jonathan and Aurelia (Slate) 
 Park, and was born in Worthington, Franklin Co., 
 Ohio, March 21, 1823, to which State her parents 
 moved from Massachusetts. 
 
 Mr. Morse moved to this State in 1845, with his 
 family, and located at Rock Island. He made the 
 trip with teams and experienced all the trials inci- 
 dent to such a tiresome journey, arriving at Rock 
 Island May 12, of that year. He spent one year 
 there, then came to Shabbona Township and located 
 on the farm on which he is at present residing, and 
 which he purchased from the Government. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Morse are the parents of 1 1 chil- 
 dren, six girls and five boys. Ten of their children 
 survive, namely: Mary A., born Oct. 19, 1843, be- 
 came the wife of Samuel Galloway, at present re- 
 siding in Tippecanoe City, Ohio; Sylvia L., born 
 Oct. 29, 1846, became the wife of John N. Kittle, 
 resident of Shabbona Township; Olive J., born Dec. 
 28, 1848, married Charles E. Brown and resides at 
 Sibley, Iowa; Frank F., born Sept. 5, 1852, married 
 Emma S. Morse, and lives in Shabbona ; Ida C., born 
 Dec. 2, 1854, is the widow of Addison S. Slate, and 
 resides with her father; Willis P., born Aug.s, 1858, 
 married Eva R. Slocum, and lives in Sibley, Iowa; 
 Llewellyn H. H., born March 17, 1861 ; Althia E., 
 born Jan. 4, 1863 ; Clara A. S., born Nov. 21, 1864; 
 
 and Clyde S., born Oct. 20, 1868. William S., born 1 
 Nov. 7, 1849, died July 4, 1850. 
 
 Mr. Morse has Held the office of Collector and also 
 Constable for several years. Politically he is a Re- 
 publican. Socially, he is a member of the Masonic 
 Order, and was one of the charter members of Shab- 
 bona Lodge No. 374, and also one of the first officers 
 of that lodge. He was also a member of the I. O. 
 O. F., and belonged to Fertile Lodge at Shabbona, 
 which has been suspended for a number of years. 
 He is a fair type of the early pioneer who in later \ 
 life preserves the large-hearted, generous feelings of \ \ 
 frontier days. His friends and the stranger are alike / 
 welcomed to his fireside. His wife is a member of 
 the Congregational Church. 
 
 rederiek J. Troeger, farmer, section 32, 
 Squaw Grove Township, has been identi- 
 fied with the agricultural interests of De 
 Kalb County and the township in which he 
 lives for upwards of 30 years, having bought a 
 farm here in 1853, when he arrived at the 
 period of his legal manhood. He was born Aug. 14, 
 1834, in Lebanon Co., Pa. His father, George F. 
 Troeger, who was a native of Germany, was a clergy- 
 man in the interests of the Moravian Church, and 
 transferred his family to the various places where he 
 prosecuted the duties of his professional labors. They 
 lived at different localities in Pennsylvania and Ohio, 
 and in 1855 came to De Kalb County, where the 
 father died Aug. 24, 1874. The mother, Magdalena 
 E. (Rosethaler) Troeger, born in Pennsylvania, is yet 
 living. 
 
 Mr. Troeger is the youngest of four children. 
 Emma L., Bertha A. and Henry A. are the names 
 bestowed upon the elder children. In 1853 he bought 
 80 acres of land on section 33, on which he operated 
 until 1864, the date of his purchase of the farm on 
 which he now resides. His real estate in the county 
 comprises 175 acres. Politically he is identified with 
 the Republican party. He has held the local offices 
 of School Director and Overseer of Highways. 
 
 He was married Nov. 6, 1855, in Northampton 
 Co., Pa., to Sophia M. Beitel, and they have eight 
 children : Emily L., Alletta M., Clarena G., Ida O., 
 Hortensia E., Octavie E., Benigna A. and Hermai 
 
 ii
 
 COUNTY. 
 
 A. Mrs. Troeger was born in the county where she 
 was married, Nov. 15, 1833. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Troeger are members of the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal Church and of the American Bible 
 Society. 
 
 ivid Smith, the oldest living pioneer of 
 Shabbona Township, residing at Shabbona, 
 was born in Chatham, Canada East, Dec. 
 10, 1820. He is a son of James and Sally 
 (Straw) Smith, formerly residents of Waterbury, 
 Vermont, and who were temporarily absent from 
 that State, in Canada, at date of the birth of their 
 son. 
 
 David was reared on a farm, and spent his years 
 prior to 13 in farm labor and attending the common 
 schools in Vermont. His father deceased, and his 
 mother was married to Edmund Town, now deceased, 
 who also was one of the early settlers in Shabbona 
 Township. 
 
 When 13 years old Mr. Smith, accompanied by his 
 mother, came to Paw Paw, Lee Co., this State, arriv- 
 ing there in October, 1834. His stepfather arrived 
 in December of the same' year, and he and Mr. 
 Smith erected the first house in Shabbona Township. 
 The House was located on section 26, was con- 
 structed of logs and was raised on the first day of 
 January, 1835. They entered at once on the labo- 
 rious task of improving the land and made that their 
 home. In 1835 David, then only 14 years of age, 
 improved a claim, the same being the land now 
 owned by Peter V. Miller and known as the south- 
 west quarter of section 24. He sold his claim and 
 improved another, southwest of the last named, 
 which he was compelled to relinquish on account 
 of his minority. Later he improved still another 
 claim, and subsequently traded it for the place he 
 now owns. Mr. Smith has added to his land until he 
 is at the present time the owner of 400 acres, situated 
 on sections u, 27 and 34. 
 
 In 1850, when the news of the discovery of gold in 
 California was received, Mr. Smith went overland to 
 that State. He arrived there in safety, and at once 
 engaged in placer-mining. He made a claim full of 
 promise at the time, and did turn out rich in ore, but 
 he was taken with a severe attack of typhoid fever 
 
 
 and lost the benefit of his discovery. His brother, f\ 
 who was with him, was stricken with the same <tv 
 disease and died, and Mr. Smith concluded to re- 
 turn home. He returned, via the Isthmus, arriving 
 here in December, 1852, and has since been residing \& 
 on his farm and in Shabbona. He moved into the 
 village in 1879, and has five acres of land and 
 several village lots there. 
 
 Mr. Smith was married in Brooklyn Township, 
 Lee Co., this State, June 7, 1839, to Miss Eliza J. 
 Carr. She was born in the city of New York, Aug. \ 
 10, 1818, and was the danghter of James and Eliza 
 (Johnson) Carr. She came to Illinois when seven 
 years old. Of their union six children were born : 
 Mary A., the wife of Frank Crowell, of Waterman, 
 this State. Rebecca, wife of Bradford Heath, resident 
 at Shabbona. Israel married Miss May Thomas and 
 resides in Shabbona. Henry married Miss, Jennie 
 Neal and resides in Shabbona. Warren married 
 Gate McFadden and resides at Shabbona.- Eliza, 
 youngest daughter, is unmarried and resides at home. 
 
 Mrs. Smith died in August, 1880, in Shabbona, 
 and July 7, 1883, Mr. Smith was again married, to 
 Miss Annie Seyler, daughter of George and Mary 
 Seyler. She was born in Cedar ville, Stephenson Co., 
 this State, Dec. 28, 1849. 
 
 Mr. Smith politically is a Republican. He is a 
 member of Spartan Lodge, 272, I. O. O. F., at Paw ^ 
 Paw, Lee County. 
 
 arles Kittelson, general farmer on sec- 
 tion 17, Milan Township, was born Oct. 
 28, 1851, in Earl Township, La Salle Co., 
 111. His parents were Kettle and Lavinia 
 (Sanderson) Kittelson, and he was but n 
 years of age when his father died, in March, 
 1863. He was mainly dependent on his own efforts 
 for a livelihood after that event, previous to which 
 he had received only a common-school education. 
 He gave considerable attention to the proper train- f { 
 ing of his mind, and also contributed to the family 
 maintenance, as there were four children younger 
 than himself. They are named : Austin, born Dec. 
 i, 1853; Emma, April 6, 1856; Adolph, Oct. 5, 
 18158; and Knute, Nov. 12, 1862. Emma is the 
 wife of Goodman Jacobs, a farmer of Milan Town- 
 ship. The mother and three brothers named live 
 ,O
 
 with Mr. Kittelson, of this sketch. The former is 
 62 years of age. Her mother, Adaline Sanderson, is 
 still living in La Salle County, and is nearly 90 
 years of age, and is still healthy and sprightly to a 
 remarkable degree. 
 
 Mr. Kittelson was married May 29, 1879, in Earl 
 Township, La Salle Co., 111., to Adelaide M. Sander- 
 son, daughter of Knute and Augusta (Halverson) 
 Sanderson. Her parents are natives of Norway and 
 removed thence to La Salle County, where she was 
 born April 20, 1857. They still occupy a farm in 
 that county. Mrs. Kittelson has become the mother 
 of three children, and one is now deceased, Levi 
 C., who died in infancy. Amos K. was born Aug. 
 ?.&, 1881 ; Silas H. was born Dec. 28, 1883. 
 
 In 1 88 1 Mr. Kittelson became by purchase the 
 owner of the family homestead in Milan Township, 
 and 80 acres additional from his brother Henry. The 
 family are Lutheran in religious belief. He is a re- 
 Republican in political principle and connection. 
 
 ev. Frederick Witherspoon, deceased, 
 formerly a resident of Somonauk, was born 
 in Hillsborough, N. C, March 31, 1814. 
 His father, Rev. John K. Witherspoon, an old- 
 school Presbyterian minister, was a grandson 
 of John Witherspoon, who signed the Declara- 
 tion of Independence. Frederick's mother's maiden 
 name was Susan Kallock. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was educated for the 
 ministry in his native town, and ordained by the 
 authorities of the Protestant Methodist Church. In 
 1834 he came to this county and spent a few months 
 in Somonauk, and the next year he settled here per- 
 manently, as an itinerant minister, at Somonauk, now 
 Sandwich. 
 
 Nov. 3 of the latter year (1835), he married Miss 
 Marietta Heath, a daughter of John and Mary 
 (Powell) Heath, who was born in Medina Co., Ohio, 
 April 7, 1820. They had five children, namely : 
 John, who was born Aug. 5, 1837, married Mary 
 Wheeler and is now living at Fremont, Neb.; Ed- 
 mond S., born Jan. 3, 1840, married Julia Jones and 
 lives at Hubbard, Iowa; Melissa H., born May 30, 
 1842, is now the wife of Darius Horton, of Water- 
 man, this county; Marietta B,, born April n, 1844, 
 '%&*% 
 
 is the wife of Frank A. Frost, of Shabbona; and 
 Frederick N., born Feb. 22, 1847, became a member 
 of the s8th 111. Vol. Inf., and died at Camp Butler, \ 
 March 18, 1864. 
 
 Rev. Witherspoon's field of labor was mainly in 
 Southern Illinois, he being assigned to the Southern 
 Illinois Conference. In 1848 he preached at Shab- 
 bona Grove. He died at Somonauk April 5, 1849. 
 
 "ames L. Eastabrooks, retired farmer, resi- i 
 dent at Hinckley, was born Dec. 9, i8t8 ) 
 in Tioga Co., N. Y. His parents, John 
 and Elizabeth (Howard) Eastabrooks, were 
 natives of Connecticut, where they settled after 
 marriage. Later, they went to Pennsylvania, 
 and afterwards to the State of New York. They went ( 
 then again to Pennsylvania, whence they came in 
 1 835 to De Kalb County and located in Squaw Grove 
 Township, where they remained until their death, a 
 That of the father occurred March 14, 1850, in the ?> 
 66th year of his age. The mother died Nov. 20, 2, 
 1875, in her 93d year. They had nine children ^. 
 Elizabeth H., Bradbury C., Ebenezer H., Bath- " 
 sheba A., Decatur M., Mary E., James L., Charlotte 
 A. and Augusta A. 
 
 Mr. Eastabrooks was five years of age when his 
 parents removed to Pennsylvania the second time. 
 He received his early education in the common 
 schools of that State. He came at 17 years of age, 
 in 1836, to De Kalb County, a few months after his 
 parents had taken up their residence in the county. JL 
 He has since remained in Squaw Grove Township | 
 and lived on a part of the homestead farm until the / 
 fall of 1878, when he removed with his family to 
 Hinckley and took possession of the residence he 
 had built in the summer of 1877. He is still the 
 owner of 100 acres of land in Squaw Grove Town- 
 ship. Politically, Mr. Eastabrooks is identified with 
 the Democratic party. 
 
 He was married Oct. 21, 1847, to Elizabeth C. 
 Cone. She was born July 12, 1830, in Oneida Co., 
 N. Y., and is the daughter of Archibald and Rosetta (> 
 (Cunningham) Cone. Her parents were natives of ^ 
 Scotland. Four days after their marriage, in Paisley, 
 the latter emigrated to America and settled in the 
 State of New York, living there until 1843, the 
 ee t^^f"
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 in which they removed to Squaw Grove Township, 
 where the mother died May 9, 1874. The father 
 died there Aug. 6, 1877. Following are the names 
 of their 1 1 children Jane, Jeannette, Mary, William, 
 Margaret, Isabella, John (ist), John (2d), Elizabeth 
 C., Archibald and Rosetta. Six children have been 
 born to Mr. and Mrs. Eastabrooks Mary E., John 
 H., Archibald C.Julia A., Delia E. and James A. 
 Archibald and Julia are deceased. The parents are 
 members of the Methodist Church. 
 
 Joseph Smith, farmer, section 25, Shabbona 
 Township, has a well improved farm of 150 
 1 acres. He was born in the town of Provi- 
 dence, Saratoga Co., N. Y., Sept. 18, 1818. 
 His parents were Harmanius V. and Hannah 
 (Westgate) Smith. His paternal grandfather, 
 Abraham M. Smith, was a soldier of the Revolution 
 and an enthusiastic patriot. His mother was a 
 daughter of Sylvanus Westgate, of Holland descent, 
 and a direct descendant of the Puritans of New Eng- 
 land. She came to the State of New York in 1802. 
 Joseph's father was born in New York, Nov. 7, 1790, 
 and died in Sandwich, this State, June 15, 1868. His 
 mother was born Dec. 28, 1789, in Massachusetts, 
 and died in March, 1866, at Little Rock, 111., where 
 she had lived since 1855. She was the mother of 
 three children, Henry T. Nathaniel, Caroline E. 
 and Joseph, the subject of this sketch, who is the 
 only one living. 
 
 The latter received an academic education, and 
 taught school during the winter seasons, alternating 
 with farm labor the rest of the year, from 1 840 to 
 1854, serving also as School Superintendent a portion 
 of the time. His fondness for mathematics was a 
 marked characteristic from early boyhood, and dur- 
 ing his career as teacher he had but few equals in 
 that branch of study. He still retains great aptitude 
 in " figur.es," as well as a remarkable recollection of 
 dates and facts. 
 
 He was married in Erie Co., N. Y., Dec. 31, 1846, 
 to Miss Lovina Fritts, daughter of John and Betsey 
 (Bentley) Fritts. She was born in Providence, Sara- 
 toga Co., N. Y., Nov. 12, 1827. Both her grand- 
 fathers were soldiers in the War of the Revolution. 
 , Mr. Smith and family emigrated from New York to 
 
 .SdfSaffi" = 
 
 Illinois in 1854. He bought land in Clinton Town- 
 ship, this county, where he engaged in farming one' 
 year, and then removed to Little Rock, 111., and from 
 there to Shabbona in 1857, where he purchased the 
 farm on which he now resides. This farm he man- 
 aged until 1864, when he sold and entered the drug 
 business at Piano, 111. The latter occupation he 
 abandoned in March, 1866, and commenced agricul- 
 tural pursuits on a place near Sycamore ; but in Oc- 
 tober following he traded for his old farm in Shab- 
 bona, since which time he has made this place his 
 home. 
 
 He is a member of the Ancient Order of Odd Fel- 
 lows, of New York. On coming to this county he 
 took the first degree of Masonry in the old lodge at 
 West Paw Paw; but,- owing to his removal to Piano, 
 he failed to advance. In politics he has been a 
 consistent Republican since the organization of that 
 party. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Smith have had five children. The 
 eldest, Frances E., was born in Saratoga Co., N. Y., 
 March 25, 18152, and is now the wife of Jury J. 
 Smith, of Sandwich, 111. The younger children were 
 born in De Kalb County. Charles, born Aug. 20, 
 1856, died Oct. 27, 1862; Mary, born July 27, 1863, 
 is now the wife of Delos D. Clapsaddle, of Shabbona 
 Township; Willie was born Dec. 23, 1866; and Jen- 
 nie E., Aug. 27, 1868. The two youngest are living 
 at home. 
 
 , 
 
 arles Cruise, farmer, section 9, Milan 
 Township, was born Aug. 22, 1882, in 
 Mecklenburg, Germany. His parents had 
 three children, of whom he was the eldest. 
 His father died when he was little more than 
 hild, and the widowed mother and the 
 other children were substantially' dependent on the 
 exertions of the older son and brother for main- 
 tenance. He devoted the years of his life after 
 the decease of his father until he was 23 years of 
 age to the fulfillment of that duty. At that time his 
 mother died. 
 
 He was married three years later, in July, 1848, 
 to Mary Anit. She is the daughter of Joseph and' 
 Sophia (Perry) Amt, both of whom were of German 
 birth. Mr. Cruise removed in 1851, accompanied 
 
 -^^ 4^5f
 
 DE KALE COUNTY. 
 
 by his wife and two children, to America. They 
 made their first stop at Chicago, where Mr. Cruise 
 was occupied three years as a common laborer. In 
 1854 he came to the county of De Kalb and rented 
 the farm of William Patton for some time. In 1864 
 ' he purchased the estate of which he is now the pro- 
 prietor in Milan Township ; and to this place he 
 removed his family of three children. The farm is in 
 excellent condition, and its prosperity is solely the 
 result of the industry and judicious quality of the 
 efforts expended upon it. Mr. Cruise is largely in- 
 >& terested in raising fine grades of cattle, hogs and 
 & 5 horses, and is ranked among the best and most 
 \ skillful farmers in the township. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Cruise have had six children, one of whom is de- 
 ceased. Sophia married Erik Eriksen, a farmer in 
 Milan Township ; Amelia is the wife of Charles 
 Rohr, a farmer of Dakota ; John, the eldest child at 
 home, is the manager of the homestead ; George is 
 a practical farmer and is still at home ; Lizzie is pre- 
 paring for a business career in Chicago. 
 
 Mr. Cruise is a Republican, and his qualities as a 
 man and a citizen have permanently established his 
 family among the best in the township. 
 
 rles O. Boynton, farmer and dealer in 
 real estate, at Sycamore, purchased the 
 property on which he resides in 1859. His 
 home farm embraces 120 acres, 40 acres be- 
 ing included within the city limits. He was 
 born July 19, 1826, in Rockingham, Vt. His 
 parents, John and Betsey (Davis) Boynton, were na- 
 tives of the same place, where the former was born 
 July 2, 1798. John Boynton was a joiner by voca- 
 tion, and in June, 1827, he removed to McLean, 
 Tompkins Co., N. Y., making the transit from the 
 Green Mountain State with a team, there being at 
 that date no other means of locomotion. He worked 
 at his trade for a time, afterwards becoming a mer- 
 * chant, and also managed a small tannery in com- 
 pany with another man. He died at McLean, April 
 29, 1869. His wife, the mother of Mr. Boynton of 
 this sketch, died in McLean in 1833. They had six 
 children. Mary married Daniel Marsh, of McLean 
 
 and died about 1845. Enza is the widow of John 
 P. Hart, formerly a farmer and dealer in stock, who 
 died in 1870. John H. resides at Chicago, 111. 
 Laura married H. W. Carr, general agent of the 
 Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Company, whose office 
 is situated at No. 329, Broadway, New York. Lydia 
 is the widow of Henry A. Jarvis, formerly a carpen- 
 ter. He died at Chicago in 1871. After the death 
 of their mother their father married Ann M. Fitts. 
 There are are two children from the second mar- 
 riage. Edward is a clerk in the employment of 
 Charles Carley, a produce merchant at Sycamore. 
 Fitz is the President of the Second National Bank at 
 Cortland, N. Y. 
 
 Mr. Boynton passed several years during his min- 
 ority as a clerk in his father's store, and soon after 
 becoming of age, in October, 1847, came to Chicago 
 and opened a dry-goods store on South Water Street. 
 He transacted business there one year, and in 1849 
 came to Sycamore, where he opened a general store 
 and conducted the affairs of a commercial enterprise 
 about three years. In 1852 he began to operate in 
 loans in a small way and continued as a financier 
 until 1879. In 1871 he formed an association with 
 R. L. Divine, under the style of R. L. Divine & Co., 
 in establishing and managing a banking house, their 
 relations existing one year, when he sold out to the 
 senior partner. In 1880 Mr. Boynton began to traffic 
 in real estate and has extended his operations until 
 he is the owner of 1,300 acres of finely improved 
 land in De Kalb County, which is managed by ten- 
 ants. He is the proprietor of about 12,000 acres in 
 Iowa, and 500 respectively in Kansas and Minnesota. 
 His claims in Arkansas include over 60,000 acres. 
 The improved tract in Iowa embraces 2,000 acres. 
 Mr. Boynton has officiated as Chairman of the Board 
 of Trustees of Sycamore several years. 
 
 He was married Nov. 26, 1861, in Ledyard, Cay- 
 uga Co., N. Y., to Lucetta P. Stark, and they have 
 three children. Charles D. was born Aug. 10, 1862. 
 He was educated at the Stevens Institute, where he 
 was a student in the scientific course four years. 
 Mary E. was born Feb. 23, 1864. Elmer E. was 
 born July 7, 1874. Mrs. Boynton was born May 10, 
 1836, in Wilkesbarre, Pa. Her parents, Paul and 
 Pauline (Billings) Stark, removed with their family to 
 Ledyard, N. Y., in 1855. 
 
 The portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Boynton appear on 
 other pages of this volume. 

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 tephen A. Hall, Supervisor of Squaw Grove 
 Township, and farmer on section 24, has 
 been a landholder thereon since 1867, 
 
 hen he purchased 160 acres of land, on 
 
 which he has since operated as a farmer. He 
 was born March 13, 1834, in the city of New 
 York. His parents, Alexis and Emeline (Hunt) 
 , Hall, were natives of New England. The mother 
 ' died in the city of New York, and in 1842 the father 
 came to the township 'of Big Rock, in Kane Co., 111. 
 He died there Jan. 15, 1883. Six children born to 
 them were named Fritzena, Charles Arabella, Stephen 
 A. and Arnold. 
 
 Mr. Hall came with his father to Kane County in 
 1842, where he remained until 1867. In that year 
 he bought 160 acres of land in Squaw Grove Town- 
 F" ship. On this farm he has since resided and has 
 placed it all under culture. He is a Republican in 
 = political principle, and was elected Supervisor in the 
 ^* spring of 1882. He has held the office ever since. 
 p= Mr. Hall was married March 29, 1860, at Big 
 Rock, Kane Co., 111., to Elizabeth, daughter of Dea- 
 ' con Jeremiah and Mary (Reese) Whildin, and they 
 ) have had five children, Frank A. (deceased), Sarah 
 L., Minerva A. (deceased), Arthur J. and Leonard S. 
 Mr. Hall has been Township Trustee and School 
 Director. Both himself and wife are members of the 
 itist Church. 
 
 sahel E. Hayes, farmer, section 35 and 36, 
 Shabbona Township, was born in Cazenovia 
 Township, Madison Co., N. Y., Feb. 2, 1832, 
 and is a son of Milo and Adaline (Partello) 
 Hayes. He was brought up on a farm and re- 
 ceived a common-school education. In April, 1855, 
 he came to Kane Co., 111., and located at Sugar 
 _ Grove. In the spring of 1864 he removed to Shab- 
 J bona Township, this county, locating on section 17 ; 
 ^ but in three years he sold out and purchased a tract 
 on section 27, same township, where he followed his 
 
 vocation of farming for 13 years; he then bought his 
 
 present place, in March, 1880, which comprises 194 
 acres, his dwelling being on section 35. 
 
 Mr. Hayes was first married Oct. 4, 1857, at Sugar 
 Grove, to Miss Cornelia Booth, and they had six chil- 
 dren, all boys, as follows : Elmer W., who was born 
 Oct. 12, 1859, married Sarah Spears and is now liv- 
 ing in Shabbona; Charles E., who was born Aug. 2, 
 1861, and is living at home ; George S., who was born 
 Oct. 24, 1863, and died in infancy; Joseph G., born 
 May 26, 1865, is also living at home ; and James B., 
 born Aug. 10, 1868, died when an infant. 
 
 Mrs. Hayes died Feb. 24, 1881 ; and Sept. 15, fol- 
 lowing, in Johnson Co., Mo., Mr. Hayes married Mrs. 
 Lavinia Russell, widow of Willis Russell and daugh- 
 ter of William and Hannah Arthur. She was born in 
 Maryland, March 27, 1851, adopted by Elhanan 
 Roop and brought up in Missouri. By her first mar- 
 riage she had four children, namely : Mary E., born 
 Aug. 3, 1871 ; Lelieu E., Oct. 27, 1873; Susan L., 
 born in 1875, died in infancy; and Paul A., born 
 March 15, 1877, and died in August, following. Mr. 
 Russel died in November, 1878. Mrs. Hayes is a 
 member of the Baptist Church, and Mr. Hayes, in 
 his political action, has always voted with the Re- 
 publicans. 
 
 eorge S. Potter, farmer, section 24, Squaw 
 Grove Township, is a native of the county 
 and town where he lives. His parents, 
 Samuel E. and Olive P. (Winslow) Potter, 
 were natives of Massachusetts, and settled in 
 the township of Squaw Grove in De Kalb 
 County about 1847. Their deaths took place there 
 respectively July 20, 1856, and Nov. 15, 1883. Their 
 children were named Harriet S., George S., Mary O., 
 Orlando B. and Samuel L. 
 
 Mr. Potter was born Sept. 24, 1860. He was edu- 
 cated in the common schools and attended a semi- 
 nary at Aurora several terms. Following in the 
 footsteps of his forefathers, he has always been a 
 farmer, and is the owner of 120 acres in Squaw Grove 
 Township and 40 acres in Kane County. The entire 
 acreage is chiefly under the plow. Mr. Potter is a 
 Republican in his political views. 
 
 He formed a matrimonial alliance with Flora M. 
 Long, in Kane County, April 29, 1873. Mrs. Potter 
 
 &
 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 was born Feb. i, 1849, in Kane Co., 111., and is the 
 daughter of John L. and Sarah A. (Cornell) Long. 
 Her father is a native of New York and her mother 
 of Massachusetts. 
 
 Lewis Olmstead, farmer, owning 137 acres 
 located on sections 25 and 36, Shabbona 
 Township, was born in Wilton Township, 
 Fairfield Co., Conn., May 13, 1802. He is 
 the son of David and Rebecca (Jackson) 
 \ Olmstead, who removed to the vicinity of 
 Ithaca, N. Y., when that city was but a small hamlet. 
 Mr. Olmstead was brought up on a farm of his 
 father's, alternating his labors thereon by attendance 
 at the common schools. 
 
 He was married in Tompkins Co., N. Y., Feb. 27, 
 1823, to Miss Eleanor, daughter of Jesse and Betsey 
 Owens, and by her had six children. The eldest, 
 Betsey, married James |Hare, and died when 32 
 years of age. Aaron, second child, married Huldah 
 Bayley and resides in Butler Co., Iowa. Hector died 
 
 at the age of 25 years. Harmon married Miss 
 
 Lee and resides in Dakota. Silas married Lucetta 
 Bayley and resides in Leland, 111. Lewis died at 
 the age of 18 years. John was a member of the 
 Second Illinois Light Artillery, in the late Civil War, 
 and died in the hospital at Vicksburg. Mrs. Olm- 
 stead died May 4, 1852, and Mr. Olmstead was a 
 second time married Nov. 14, 1852, in Somonauk 
 (now Sandwich), to Mrs. Marietta Witherspoon, widow 
 of Rev. Frederick Witherspoon and daughter of Dr. 
 John and Mary (Powell) Heath. She was born in 
 Liverpool Township, Medina Co., Ohio, April 7, 
 1820. Of their union three children were born, 
 two boys and one girl. Mary E., born Aug. n, 
 1855, is the wife of George Goodrich, a resident of 
 Lincoln, Neb. Lewis M., born Dec. 5, 1859, mar- 
 ried Maudie Lane and lives on the old homestead. 
 Frederick J., born Dec. 26, 1863, lives at home. 
 
 Mr. Olmstead came to this State in 1837, and lo- 
 cated in La Salle County. In August, 1838, he 
 came to Shabbona. The county was not surveyed, 
 and the town contained only two families, those of 
 Mr. E. Town and Nathan Olmstead, a brother. He 
 made his home on the farm on which he now resides 
 and on which he has since -continued to reside. He 
 
 
 and his wife are both members of the Congregational 
 Church. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Olmstead has been a Republican 
 ever since the party was organized. He is a man of 
 powerful physique, and, although 83 years of age, 
 he would be hale and hearty were it not for an acci- 
 dent a few years since in which his leg was broken. 
 He is now confined to a wheel chair for locomotion. 
 
 Mrs. Olmstead came to Somonauk, this county, 
 with her parents on the last week of 1833. She was 
 the oldest lady settler of De Kalb County present at 
 the old settlers' picnic held at Pritchard's Grove, 
 Sept. 8, 1 88 1, on which occasion she was presented 
 with a fine case of silver spoons. The presentation 
 speech was made by Hon. M. B. Castle, of Sandwich, 
 this county. Mrs. Olmstead had five children by 
 her first marriage, a record of whom will be found in 
 the sketch of Rev. Frederick Witherspoon in this 
 work. 
 
 ee E. Tomblin, junior editor and publisher 
 of the De Kalb Review, was born in the 
 township of Clinton, De Kalb County, Illi- 
 nois, Dec. 14, 1858, where he led an unevent- 
 ful life of farm work and attending the country 
 school until 1875. Mr. Tomblin's father, N. F. 
 Tomblin, died in the fall of 1874, and the following 
 year L. E. moved with his mother to the village of 
 Waterman, where he attended school for a time ; 
 then going to Emerson, Mills Co., Iowa, where he 
 served his first apprenticeship as printer's devil on 
 the Mills County Chronicle. He returned to Illinois 
 and worked on the old De Kalb News through the 
 winter of 'jG'ij, then again attending school for a 
 time. In 1878, in company with his brother, M. N. 
 Tomblin, they established the Hinckley Review and 
 Waterman Leader, which papers they successfully 
 founded and managed for four years, selling the en- 
 tire interest to H. W. Fay, who had ente'red as a 
 partner a year before. Mr. Tomblin immediately 
 started the Genoa Si/tings, and successfully con- 
 tinued that paper for one year, when he formed a 
 partnership with D. W. Tyrrell, a well-known news- 
 paper man, for the purpose of purchasing the De 
 Kalb Review, then printed in Sycamore, which paper 
 they have successfully established in De Kalb, 
 gether with a large job printing establishment. In
 
 
 JDE KALB COUNTY 
 
 ys the spring of 1884, Mr. Tomblin was appointed 
 
 'A Government Mail Weigher on the Chicago, Milwau- 
 p kee & St. Paul Railroad, between Chicago and 
 Marion, Iowa. Having passed the civil service ex- 
 A amination, he was in May of the same year ap- 
 pointed as an Inspector of Customs in the Chicago 
 Custom House, which position he held until Jan. 
 i, 1885. There being a change in administration he 
 returned to De Kalb and resumed his duties on the 
 Review, in which paper he had retained his interest. 
 In the fall of 1881 Mr. Tomblin was married to 
 Miss Laura M. Palmer, of Hinckley, to whom a 
 daughter was born in 1884. 
 
 i 
 
 scar M. Tanner, retired farmer, living at 
 Hinckley, was born Feb. 3, 1828, in Alex- 
 tfi^ii andria, Jefferson Co., New York. His par- 
 Q^ ents, William and Betsey (Paddock) Tanner, 
 were natives respectively of the State of New 
 York and Connecticut. Their children were 
 born in the following order : Emily, William A., 
 Elizabeth, Jane A., Mary and Maryette (twins), Sarah 
 and Oscar M. 
 
 William Tanner came to Kane Co., 111., with his 
 family in 1836 and settled in Sugar Grove Township. 
 Later they removed to Aurora, where the mother 
 died, Oct. 19, 1854. The father died there, Feb. 22, 
 1855. The youngest son, Oscar M., accompanied 
 his parents to Kane County, and was an inmate of 
 the paternal home until the year following that in 
 which he attained his majority. In the spring of 
 1859 he came to De Kalb County and bought 80 
 acres of land in Afton Township, where he settled 
 and remained six years. In 1865 he sold the 
 property there and bought a farm on section 15, 
 Squaw Grove Township. In the fall of 1884 he 
 bought a residence in the village of Hinckley, 
 where he has since lived. His farm contains 183 
 acres, and is nearly all under cultivation. Politically 
 Mr. Tanner is a Republican, and has been active 
 in school matters, have served seven years as School 
 Director. 
 
 He was united in marriage to Sarah J. Spaulding, 
 at Aurora, July 3, 1851. Mrs. Tanner is the daugh- 
 ter of Dr. A. and Julia A. Spaulding. Her parents 
 were natives of the State of New York, and had a 
 
 
 family of six children Emily D., Sarah J., Norman, 
 Henry A., Julja A. and Eliza J. Mrs. Spaulding 
 died Oct. i, 1847, in Jersey City. Mr. Spaulding 
 fixed his residence in Aurora in 1847, where he died 
 Dec. 4, 1884. Mrs. Tanner was born Oct. 19, 1832, 
 in Washington Co., N. Y. Henry Spaulding, a 
 brother of Mrs. Tanner, has been a resident of 
 Paris, France, for the last 12 years. He is a mem- 
 ber of the jewelry house of Tiffany & Co., of New 
 York, and is the manager of the branch house in 
 Paris. A sister, Eliza J., is the wife of Harlow 
 Miner, of Denver, Col. Following is the record of 
 the children of Mr. and Mrs. Tanner: Rosella 
 J. was born in Clinton, De Kalb County, April 20, 
 1852; Oscar R. was born Feb. n, 1856, in Aurora, 
 Kane County; Rilla B. was born in the same place, 
 April 14, 1858; Emma R. was born Jan. 26, 1863, 
 in Afton Township; Rhoda E., was born in Squaw 
 Grove, March 5, 1867; Alice R. was born Nov. 9, 
 1875, in that township. 
 
 eter Miller, farmer, section 24, Shabbona 
 Township, was among the first of ils sub- 
 stantial settlers, having located here June 
 5, 1845. He was born in Columbia Co., N. Y., 
 Feb. 21, 1816, the son of Simeon and Betsey 
 (Bedell) Miller. When ten years of age he 
 :aken by his parents in change of residence to 
 Cayuga Co., N. Y., where he was brought up on a 
 farm, receiving a common-school education. He 
 was married in that county, Feb. 25, 1841, to Miss 
 Elizabeth Quilhot, daughter of Henry and Hannah 
 (Van Allen) Quilhot. She was born at Amsterdam, 
 Columbia Co., N. Y., March 22, 1815. 
 
 Mr. Miller was engaged in agricultural pursuits, in 
 the town of Conquest, Cayuga Co., N. Y., until the 
 spring of 1845, when he emigrated to this State, ar- 
 riving at Shabbona Grove June 5, that year. He 
 purchased a claim to the southwest quarter of section 
 24, which he subsequently entered at Government 
 price, and which has been the home of himself and 
 family for 40 years. He has had five children- 
 three sons and two daughters, namely: Isaac P., 
 who was born April 8, 1843, and died May 15, 1845 ; 
 Peter V., who was born Aug. 18, 1846, and died June 
 4, 1857; Mary E., who was born May 28, 1850, and 
 } ^^f^ .&->$&(*) 
 
 N - **r/vriV?JVv^ .
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 is now the wife of Dr. Francis Steward, of Rochelle, 
 111.; Myndret S., who was born July n, 1855, and 
 married Clara E. Adams, and now resides at the old 
 homestead ; and Catharine J., who was born Oct. 22, 
 1861, and died Feb. 28, 1863. 
 
 Mr. Miller is a representative man of the class of 
 industrious, thrifty and successful farmers who took 
 their lands from the Government in a natural state in 
 the pioneer days ; who endured the many trials and 
 discomforts incident to a settlement in a new coun- 
 try, remote from markets and the many advantages 
 of advanced civilization ; and who, by industry, 
 economy and good management have secured to 
 themselves and children valuable and well improved 
 farms, with tasteful and commodious residences, 
 abounding in all the comforts of rural life in a rich 
 and well settled country. 
 
 ills A. Fay, retired farmer, resident at 
 Hinckley, was born Nov. 13, 1814, in 
 Onondaga Co., N. Y. His father, Jona- 
 than Fay, was born in Massachusetts and 
 married Rhoda White, a native of Vermont. 
 Mr. Fay, of this sketch, is the youngest of their 
 six children. 
 
 On reaching his legal freedom, in 1836, he settled 
 in De Kalb County, locating on Government land in 
 the township of Squaw Grove. He afterwards bought 
 his original claim, which comprised 300 acres situated 
 on sections 29 and 32, on which he was a resident 
 until 1882. In that year he removed to the village 
 of Hinckley, where he fixed his permanent residence. 
 In political opinion he is identified with the Repub- 
 lican party. He is still a landholder, and owns 270 
 acres of land in De Kalb County. He has been 
 Justice of the Peace, Assessor, and has held other 
 minor offices. 
 
 His marriage to Harriet E. Lay took place June 8, 
 1842, in Somonauk Township. She was born in Con- 
 necticut, and her parents, Samuel H. and Emily 
 (Pratt) Lay, came to De Kalb County in i84r, set- 
 tling in Somonauk Township, where her father died. 
 Her mother died in Squaw Grove Township, at the 
 home of Mrs. Fay. Five children have been born to 
 the latter and her husband, Emma F., Jane L., 
 
 Alcott W., Ida C. and Ashley H. The first and last 
 born are deceased. Mrs. Fay is a member of the 
 Methodist Church. 
 
 Raines Cameron, farmer, section 26, Shab- 
 f bona Township, was born in Delaware 
 Township, Juniata Co., Pa., Oct. n, 1824, 
 of Scottish ancestry. His parents were John 
 and Sarah (Jones) Cameron. He was reared 
 on a farm until 17 years of age, and then fol- 
 lowed the blacksmith's trade for 14 years. 
 
 In March, 1852, he moved to Mercer Co., 111., 
 bought land and pursued farming there for three 
 years. In the spring of 1855 he sold that place. and 
 removed to Shabbona Township, this county, pur- 
 chasing a farm on section 34, where he resided until 
 1865; then lived a year at Earl, La Salle County; 
 at Malta from November, 1866, to June, 1869, in the 
 grain trade and hardware business ; next in Creston 
 Township, Ogle County, in the hardware business ; 
 and in the spring of 1870 he returned to Shabbona, 
 this county, residing on his farm since 1873. It 
 comprises 100 acres. 
 
 In his political connections, Mr. Cameron was a 
 Whig in the days of Whiggism, and has been a Re- 
 publican ever since the organization of the latter 
 party. He and Mrs. C. are members of the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal Church at West Shabbona. 
 
 In Juniata Co., Pa., Sept. 26, 1846, Mr. Cameron 
 married Miss Melinda E., daughter of James and 
 Nancy (Talbert) Wallace, who was born in that 
 county July 26, 1824, of Scottish and English de- 
 scent. 
 
 ohn F. Newsham, general farmer, section 
 9, Milan Township, was born Jan. 24, 
 1842, Erie Co., Pa. Charles Newsham, JL. 
 senior, his father, was a native of England, and 
 emigrated to the "States " before marriage. 
 
 He is still a resident of Erie Co., Pa., and is 1 ^ 
 76 years of age. The wife and mother, Mary R. c/ 
 (Ward) Newsham, was born in the city of London, ^95* 
 England, where she was educated. She was married 
 soon after coming to America, at Pittsbutg, Pa. She 
 
 A/d^ ia>
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 died Nov. 13, r882, in Erie Co., Pa., and is survived 
 by seven of her nine children. 
 
 Mr. Newsham fulfilled his minority under the 
 guardianship of his parents, and in the spring of 1867 
 came to De Kalb County. After a few months he 
 made a purchase of 80 acres of land on section 9, on 
 which he has since resided, in Milan Township. 
 After securing his claim he returned to Erie County 
 and was married, Oct. i, 1867, to Maggie Brown. 
 She was born July 6, 1846, in Green Township, Erie 
 i Co., Pa., whither her parents, David and Catherine 
 \ (Bys) Brown, removed from the State of New York. 
 1 She is one of six children born to her parents, who 
 are now resident in the village of Malta, De Kalb Co. 
 She was carefully educated and instructed in all 
 womanly arts. She is the mother of one child, 
 Verna B., born Jan. 28, 1878. She returned to 
 Milan Township with her husband soon after mar- 
 riage, and they have had a prosperous life, through 
 the exercise of good judgment and ability. Their 
 farm includes 200 acres of excellent land with suit- 
 able farm fixtures. Mr. Newsham is a Republican. 
 
 \ eorge F. Mason, farmer, section 36, Squaw 
 Grove Township, is the son of Roswell 
 W. and Jane (Spofford) Mason, and is of 
 New England descent and origin. They came 
 from Vermont, their native State, to New York, 
 and to Kendall Co., 111., in 1856. Mrs. Mason 
 died while absent from her home on a visit to Wis- 
 consin. Mr. M. is now residing at Colorado Springs, 
 Col. Their children were named George F. and 
 Anna E. 
 
 Mr. Mason, the subject of this sketch, was born 
 Jan. 22, 1842, in Chautauqua Co., N. Y., and was 
 about 14 years of age when his parents became resi- 
 dents of the State of Illinois. He lived 'in Kendall 
 County until February, 1867, when he purchased his 
 farm in the Township of Squaw Grove. His original 
 purchase included 80 acres, and now consists of 160 
 acres, all of which is tillable and mostly in a fair 
 state of cultivation. Mr. Mason is politically in 
 sympathy with the Republican party, and has offici- 
 ated as School Director. 
 
 He was married Oct. 22, 1864, at Joliet, 111., to 
 ( Augusta, daughter of Timothy and Harriet (Chilcott) 
 
 &&a<fa 
 
 Hodgman. The former was a native of Vermont 
 and the latter of the State of New York. Mrs. Mason 
 had two brothers and a sister, all older than herself 
 and born in the following order : William, Jeannette 
 and Henry. She was born Sept. 29, 1847, at Crown 
 Point, Essex Co., N. Y., and has been the mother of 
 five children, Louis A., Warren G., Oscar W., 
 Harry L. and Elva A. The first-born died in early 
 childhood. Mrs. Mason's grandmother on her mother's 
 side was a sister of the famous Joseph Call, the 
 " Giant of New England." 
 
 illiam W. Irwin, farmer, sections 6 and 7, 
 Shabbona Township, was born in Wash- 
 ington Co., N. Y., Sept. 29, 1822, and is a 
 son of James G. and Mary (White) Irwin. 
 His parents removed to Oswego County, in 
 his native State, when William was an infant, 
 and located on a farm. 
 
 William remained on the farm in Oswego County, 
 assisting in its cultivation and attending school until 
 1 6 years of age, when he engaged to learn the coop- 
 er's trade, which he soon mastered and followed for 
 several years. He came to Shabbona, this county, 
 April 17, 1856, spent nearly a year in that township, 
 and then brought his family from " York State " and 
 located in Victor Township. He lived there one 
 year and then moved to Shabbona Township and 
 settled on the farm on which he is at present residing. 
 His farm comprises 210 acres and is in good tillable 
 condition, with a comfortable residence and good 
 substantial out-buildings. He also owns 344 acres 
 in Iowa. 
 
 Mr. Irwin was married in Oswego Co., N. Y., Jan. 
 16, 1855, to Miss Elizabeth E., daughter of Daniel 
 D. and Elizabeth (Singer) Colby. She was born in 
 Granby, Oswego Co., N. Y., Sept. 19, 1829. Eleven 
 children constitute the issue of their union, seven 
 boys and four girls, and their record is as follows : 
 Willie W. was born Oct. 21, 1855 ; Charles A. was 
 born Jan. 20, 1858, married Maggie Hutton and re- 
 sides at Storm Lake, Iowa, where he is practicing 
 law, and is Chairman of the Republican Committee 
 of Buena Vista County. He is also teaching law in 
 a business college; Miles H., born Jan. 10, 1860 
 i_
 
 OF TIE 
 
 wiYMsmr OF ILLMHU

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 J 
 
 s> 
 
 died March i, 1860; Frank D. was born Feb. 25, 
 1861 ; Mary E. was born Aug. 2, 1863, married Geo. 
 B. Foster and resides at Shabbona; Cora A., born 
 Sept. 23, 1865, died Oct. 31, 1865; Lewis J., born 
 Oct. 2, 1866, died Sept. 22, 1875; Emmet J. and 
 Emma M. (twins) were born June 20, 1868 : Emmet 
 J. died Oct. 16, 1869; Lottie A., born Jan. 31, 1871, 
 died Sept. 17, 1879; John H., born Oct. 6, 1873, died 
 Sept. 7, .875. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Irwin is a Republican, and relig- 
 iously, he and his wife are members of the Method- 
 ist Episcopal Church. 
 
 When Mr. Irwin arrived in Chicago he had to 
 borrow jjio to enable him to get to this county; and 
 by his industry he has now his splendid farm in the 
 above named township, besides the property he owns 
 in Iowa. He is now able to retire from active life. 
 
 ton. Augustus Adams, of Sandwich, is the 
 pioneer inventor and foundryman of North- 
 ern Illinois, having established at Elgin the 
 first foundry and machine-shop west of Chicago. 
 Mr. Adams was born May 10, 1806, in Genoa, 
 Cayuga Co., N. Y. Samuel Adams, the father 
 of Augustus Adams, died when the latter was 1 1 
 years old, leaving to his son the heritage of an un- 
 sullied name and the necessity of immediate effort 
 for self-maintenance. In the succeeding spring he 
 went with his brother-in-law to Chester, Geauga Co., 
 Ohio, where he spent some years in alternate farm 
 labor and attending school. 
 
 In boyhood Mr. Adams had a studious nature and 
 a reflective mentality, and he made the best use of 
 the limited advantages afforded by the sections of 
 New York and Ohio where he resided, lx>lh being in 
 their pioneer period. By devoting his leisure time to 
 study and reading, he acquired a substantial store of 
 general knowledge, and an education which on 
 reaching mature years he made available in teaching, 
 and in this avenue of effort he passed several win- 
 ters. From the bent of his tastes and circumstances, 
 he decided on mechanical inventions as a field for 
 the development of his genius, having been aroused 
 to the crudeness and inefficiency of farming imple- 
 ments, and believing with all the enthusiasm of true 
 genius in the possibilities open to inventors of agricul- 
 
 tural machinery. While he labored, his mind was 
 busy with plans for the future, and he worked on, 
 saving the results of his industry and frugality until, 
 in 1829, he was enabled to establish a foundry and 
 machine shop at Pine Valley, Chemung Co., N. Y. 
 Upon the inventors of that early day rested con- 
 victions of a twofold necessity. Not only invention 
 waited on opportunity, but ways and means as well ; 
 and facilities to aid the inventor in testing his appli- 
 ances, being practically wanting, and, to the mind of 
 the latter, remote from the centers of progress, the 
 necessity for such assistance was as palpable as the 
 dream of his genius. The establishment at Pine 
 Valley was in successful operation- until 1837. 
 Meanwhile, the thousand tongues of rumor had 
 painted glowing pictures of the promise and oppor- 
 tunity of the undeveloped West on every imagination 
 east of the lakes, and filled every mind with longing 
 to test the possibilities that awaited effort. 
 
 To Mr. Adams the field for the exercise of his in- 
 ventive faculties opened by the agricultural resources 
 of the Prairie State, offered the opportunity he had 
 hardly dared to hope for, and he foresaw the im- 
 portance and necessity of labor-saving machinery in 
 dealing with the enormous crops. Gradually he 
 formed the purpose of transferring his business and 
 interests to the land of promise, a plan which he car- 
 ried into successful operation in the fall of 1838, 
 when he came to Elgin, where he operated as he 
 found opportunity, bringing every effort to bear on 
 his ultimate purpose. His family joined him at 
 Elgin in the fall of 1840, and in the year following, 
 associated with James T. Gifford, he fulfilled his 
 cherished plan and found himself at the head of a 
 machine shop and foundry in the midst of the bound- 
 less, beautiful prairies, whence every outlook was 
 freighted with promise of successful application and 
 the fruits of effort and genius. Here he labored with 
 vigor and efficiency, and invented and manufactured 
 the first " harvester " on which grain was collected 
 and bound. He and Philo Sylla also invented the 
 " Hinge Sickle Bar," which is now in use on all mow- 
 ing-machines. He there commenced the manu- 
 facture of the Adams Corn-Shellers. These machines 
 were the outgrowth of a necessity consequent upon 
 the change in the staple product of Illinois, wheat 
 failing from the nature of the soil and corn taking its 
 place. Shelters were indispensable, and the hand 
 machines which were manufactured to some extent 
 
 vx
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 in the shops at Elgin were entirely inadequate in 
 disposing of the huge crops that grew on the broad 
 acres of Illinois and other prairie States. This new 
 want re-awakened the energies of Mr. Adams, and 
 the " Self-feeding Corn-Shellers " have given his 
 name a permanent place in the consciousness of 
 every agriculturist between the eastern and western 
 oceans. In 1856 Mr. Adams, while still resident at 
 Elgin, started a machine shop on a limited scale at 
 Sandwich, where he experimented in the construction 
 of a power corn-sheller. Within a year the idea was 
 perfected ; and, the opportune destruction of his 
 small engine giving him an opportunity to replace it 
 by one larger and more available, he was enabled to 
 push the work of manufacturing as fast as his means 
 would "permit. In a few months, so to speak, the 
 Sandwich Corn-Sheller attained a popularity which 
 crowded the factory to its utmost capacity, and as 
 early as 1861 the works afforded employment for a 
 large force of men. The shops were destroyed by 
 fire at a time when the products were in great de- 
 mand, when the firm which had become A. Adams 
 & Sons, with their well-known energy, reconstructed 
 the building on a larger and better scale and by ex- 
 traordinary exertions supplied the demand. The 
 value and necessity of the corn-sheller was an estab- 
 lished fact, and in 1867 home capital for the estab- 
 lishment of an incorporated company flowed in 
 abundantly, resulting in the organization of the Sand- 
 wich Manufacturing Company, with Augustus Adams 
 as its President. Increasing demand for machines 
 necessitated increased facilities, and the results are 
 manifest in the superb shops at Sandwich. 
 
 In 1870 Mr. Adams established his younger sons 
 at Marseilles, 111., in the manufacture of corn-shellers, 
 in order to make available the fine water-power of 
 the Illinois River in view of its greater economy as 
 compared with steam power. They organized and 
 were incorporated under the State laws as the 
 " Marseilles Manufacturing Company," with the 
 senior Adams as its President, he having resigned 
 his position as chief official of the Sandwich com- 
 pany. His interests are at present writing centered 
 in the establishment at Marseilles, whose products 
 have acquired a national reputation. 
 
 Mr. Adams is an inflexible adherent to the prin- 
 ciples, and supporter of the issues, of the Republican 
 element in politics; While a resident at Elgin his 
 characteristic traits of good judgment and clear fore- 
 
 
 sight received recognition in his election, in 1847, as 
 a Delegate to the Constitutional Convention of Illi- 
 nois to revise the Constitution, and he performed 
 efficient service as a member of that body. In 1850 
 he was elected a member of the House of Represent- 
 atives in the Assembly of Illinois, and in 1854 he 
 was elected to the Senatorial branch of that body. 
 He was also appointed one of the commissioners to 
 locate the Insane Asylum of Northern Illinois. In 
 religious convictions and connection Mr. Adams is a 
 Congregationalist, and belongs to the orthodox type 
 of the Christian element. 
 
 He was married Oct. 21, 1833, toLydia A. Phelps, 
 and they became the parents of nine children, eight 
 sons and a daughter, who were born as follows : 
 Darius, Aug. 26, 1834: J. Phelps, Sept. 18, 1835 ; 
 Henry A., Jan. 21, 1837; John Q., July 23, 1839; 
 H. Raymond, June 29, 1842; Amy W., May 29, 
 1844; Oliver R., Sept. 10, 1845; Walter G., July 12, 
 1848; Charles H., Feb. 17, 1855. The mother died 
 Dec. 14, 1867. Mr. Adams was a second time mar- 
 ried Jan. 13, 1869, to Mrs. L. M. Mosher. 
 
 The portrait of Mr. Adams on another page is an 
 appropriate accompaniment to the collated records 
 of De Kalb County, whose welfare has been so long 
 one of his chief interests. The, gallery of the por- 
 traits of inventors who have secured her permanent 
 reputation and prosperity would be singularly deficient 
 without it, and the citizens of Sandwich will welcome 
 it on these pages as that of a personal friend, one 
 who has walked among them in manly rectitude and 
 to whom his features have a more than common 
 interest. 
 
 "ohn C. Hopkins, attorney at Hinckley, was 
 born June 21, 1858, in Yorkville, Kendall 
 Co., 111., and is the son of Robert and Mary 
 (Cook) Hopkins. His parents came to Ken- 
 dall County in 1838, where they passed the 
 remaining years of their lives. They had six 
 children, William H., Martha C., John C., Hiram 
 R., Mary E. and Stella. 
 
 Mr. Hopkins was an atlendant at the common 
 schools until he was 15 years of age, when he en- 
 tered the Chicago University and was graduated 
 there in 1880. He entered at once upon the study 
 of law and was graduated in 1882 in the Union Law 
 
 ^t$%0 ^i^a@ 
 
 TX:^ ^"^TS^T^V^
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 ' School. In January, 1883, he was admitted to prac- 
 | tice in the Federal Courts, and in September, that 
 year, he established his practice as an attorney at 
 Hinckley. In political faith Mr. Hopkins is a Demo- 
 crat. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and 
 belongs to the Chapter, R. A. M. 
 
 He was united in marriage at Aurora, 111., Sept. 
 
 29, 1883, to Emma A. Young. Mrs. Hopkins was 
 
 born April 7, 1865, in Oswego, Kendall Co., 111., and 
 
 is the daughter of Henry and Sarah (Gray) Young. 
 
 The only child of Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins Robert 
 
 a H. was born Sept. 3, 1884. 
 
 I 
 
 Tames Lane, farmer, owning 193^ acres 
 on section 13, Shabbona Township, ,was 
 born in Kent, near London, England, Nov. 
 23, 1836, and is a son of Henry and Mary 
 (Luxford) Lane, natives of that country. 
 
 James Lane was brought up on a farm in his 
 native country and received the advantages afforded 
 by the common schools. He emigrated to this coun- 
 try during his 23d year, in 1859, and landed at 
 New York May 16 of that year. He immediately 
 came to this State and on May 23 located in La 
 Salle County, where he followed the vocation of a 
 farmer. He continued to follow that calling in that 
 country until 1874, and then came to Shabbona 
 Township, this county, and purchased land on sec- 
 tion 24. On this land he resided until 1878, when 
 he removed to his present residence on section 13. 
 He worked the place until 1880 as tenant and then 
 purchased it. 
 
 Mr. Lane was united in marriage to Miss Anna 
 M. Johnson, in Crawford Parish, England, May 23, 
 1858. She was a daughter of George and Ann 
 (Turner) Johnson, natives of England, and was born 
 in Dartford, Kent, England, Feb. 16, 1837. Her 
 grandfather was an English soldier and took part in 
 the memorable battle of Waterloo, in which engage- 
 ment he was wounded and died near the battle- 
 ground. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Lane have been the parents of nine 
 children, seven of whom were born in La Salle and 
 two in this county : Henry G. was born April 12, 
 1860; Edgar A., Feb. 17, 1862, and died in October, 
 1863; Maud M., born Jan. 25, 1864, is now the wife 
 
 of Lewis Olmstead, a farmer of Shabbona Township ; 
 EllaM. was born March n, 1866; Elmer E., April 
 14, 1868; Arthur A., March 27, 1870 ; Charles J., 
 March n, 1872; Oscar E., June 12, 1875; and 
 Frederick, July 21, 1879. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Lane are members of the Congrega- 
 tional Church at Shabbona. 
 
 D. Olmsted, farmer, section 31, Clin- 
 ton Township, and owner of 205 acres in 
 the township, was born in Catharine, Tioga 
 County, now Schuyler Co., N. Y., June 21, 
 1822. He is a son of Coleman and Clara*(Dau- 
 chey) Olmsted. He lived at home assisting his 
 father and attending the common schools until 1835, 
 when he removed with his parents to Big Flat, Che- 
 mung Co., N. Y., and three years later, 1838, came 
 with them to Illinois. The family located in La 
 Salle County, where they continued to reside until 
 the spring of 1841, when they removed to Shabbona 
 Grove, this county. The Olmsted family are of 
 Revolutionary stock. His great-grandfather died at 
 Valley Forge. 
 
 Mr. Olmsted was married Nov. 10, 1846, at Clin- 
 ton, this State, to Miss Ann B. McNish. She was a 
 daughter of Alexander McNish, of Washington Co., 
 N. Y., and was born in that county. She was the 
 mother of two children by Mr. O., both of .whom died 
 in infancy. The wife and mother died July 19, 1849, 
 and Mr. Olmsted was again married Dec. 12, 1850, 
 to Miss Elizabeth A. Frost, at Catharine, Schuyler 
 Co., N. Y. She is a daughter of Jonathan and Eliz- 
 abeth L. (Sherwood) Frost. She was born in Catha- 
 rine, Schuyler Co., N. Y., and has become the mother 
 of four children by Mr. Olmsted. Their children are : 
 Frank D., born Nov. 9, 1851, married Malinda Cam- 
 eron and resides in Shabbona. George J. F., born 
 Sept. i, 1854. Charles S., born March 6, 1856, and 
 died Oct. i, same year. Charles J. C., born Sept. 13, 
 1858, and died March 9, r86i. 
 
 Mr. Olmsted settled on his present farm in 1847. 
 Two years afterward his house was burned, which he 
 rebuilt and has continued to reside upon the farm 
 ever since. 
 
 In politics Mr. Olmsted, in the days of the old 
 Whig party, was a member of it, but since the or- 
 
 -4*@^@.
 
 8 1 
 
 ganization of the Republican party, has acted and 
 voted with it. He and his wife were both members 
 of the Methodist Episcopal Church, with which de- 
 nomination Mr. Olmsted has been identified ever 
 since its organization at Shabbona. 
 
 j'ollef T. Bide is a member of the firm of 
 Eide & Hommersand, dealers in general 
 merchandise at Lee, Lee Co., 111. These 
 gentlemen established their business here Oct. 
 1 6, 1883, and carry an average stock of $8,000 
 in value. They are enjoying a very prosperous 
 business. 
 
 Mr. Eide was born in Norway, Dec. 12, 1852, and 
 and is the son of Torres and Randvei Eide ; he was 
 brought up as a farmer and as a fisherman in Central 
 and Northern Norway. He arrived in the United 
 States Dec. 19, 1882, coming directly to Chicago, 
 where he spent a few months, and in February, 1883, 
 he came to the village of Lee, Shabbona Township, 
 and engaged as a clerk in the general store of Berliz- 
 heimer & Stensland. Oct. 16, 1883, he formed the 
 existing partnership with Mr. Hommersand, purchas- 
 ing the establishment where he had been acting as 
 manager since April 15, of that year. The present 
 firm are succeeding well in their business. 
 
 The marriage of Mr. Eide took place in Norway, 
 July 15, 1881, to Miss Christina H. Greve, born Aug. 
 12, 1861, is a daughter of John Greve and a native 
 of Norway. They have had two children, namely: 
 Torres, born in Norway, March 19, 1882; and Helena, 
 born in Lee, April 23, 1883. 
 
 Mr. Eide is a Republican in his political views, 
 and both himself and wife are members of the Lu- 
 theran Church. 
 
 ,lmer Bushnell, farmer, section 36, Squaw 
 Grove Township, has been a resident of 
 De Kalb County since 1865, and is the 
 owner of 200 acres of land, on which he is now 
 prosecuting his agricultural operations, and 
 which is nearly all under cultivation. He was 
 born March 30, 1830, in Cattaraugus Co., N. Y., and 
 is the son of Amasa and Mila (Frary) Bushnell. 
 His parents were natives of New York, and came 
 
 ^3^ @ 
 
 thence to Kendall Co., 111., in 1855, where the father * 
 died on the 2oth of September of the same year. ' 
 The mother removed to De Kalb County in 1865, 
 and died Jan. 9, 1876. Their three children were 
 named William J. (see sketch), Elmer and Marcus S. 
 
 Mr. Bushnell was reared as a farmer's son, obtain- 
 ing his education at the public schools and working 
 as a farm assistant on the home place until the age 
 of 25 years. He came to Kendall County when his 
 parents removed there, and he lived at Little Rock 
 in that county until his removal to Squaw Grove 
 Township in 1865. He has officiated as Overseer of 
 the Highway, and is identified in politics with the 
 Republican party. 
 
 He was married Nov. 25, 1852, in Cattaraugus Co., 
 N. Y., to Paulina R, daughter of William Merchant. 
 She was born April 4, 1832, near Cazenovia, N. Y. 
 Of their marriage the following children have been 
 born: Lillie M.,'Ada C., George H., Lettie and Kitty. 
 Ada and Kitty are deceased. 
 
 acob Stone, farmer, section 10, Milan Town- 
 ship, was born June 20, 1832, in Chester 
 Co., Pa. He is of German descent, his 
 grandfather, Garrett Stone, having been a na- 
 tive of that country. The latter was a black- 
 smith by calling and emigrated to the United 
 States, where he located in Chester County and died 
 there nearly 90 years old. Jacob Stone, senior, son 
 of Garrett, was a shoemaker in early life and is now, 
 at 80 years of age, engaged in farming in Perry Co., 
 Pa. The mother of Mr. Stone of this sketch, Mar- 
 garet (Glenn) Stone, was of Irish descent and was 
 born in Pennsylvania. Her father, Hugh Glenn, 
 was born on the Atlantic Ocean while his parents 
 were en route to the United States. The latter set- 
 tled on a farm in Pennsylvania, where they died. 
 Margaret (Glenn) Stone died Feb. 28, 1865, in Perry 
 Co., Pa., when nearly 58 years old. 
 
 Mr. Stone is third in order of birth of eight chil- 
 dren, four of whom are deceased. He was taugtit 
 the details of the shoemaker's craft by his father, and 
 when he became 19 years of age he set out to operate 
 as a journeyman, that method of obtaining employ- 
 ment being in vogue at that period and necessary to 
 both craftsman and beneficiary, as settlements were
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 sparse. He passed a year in that capacity, and then 
 became the manager of the homestead farm, in which 
 he was employed until his marriage. 
 
 He was united in marriage Dec. 29, ^857, in 
 Coral Township, Perry Co., Pa., to Susannah S. Hen- 
 derson. She was born April 15, 1830, in Perry 
 County, and is the daughter of H. and Nancy 
 (White) Henderson. Her father was born in Ire- 
 land. Her mother was a native of Perry County, and 
 was of Irish extraction. She died in the same county, 
 in 1872. The father's decease occurred in 1884. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Stone have been the parents of seven 
 children, all of whom are living except one, John 
 ^ W. The others are William H., Margaret A. (Mrs. 
 George Applebee), Israel A., Benjamin W., James E., 
 and Eddy T. 
 
 The family came West in 1868. They located on 
 1 60 acres of unbroken prairie, which has been con- 
 verted into an attractive and valuable farm, by ap- 
 ' plication and industry. Mr. and Mrs. Stone are 
 actively interested in the progress and welfare of the 
 ft* Methodist Episcopal Church, to which the entire 
 ^ family belong, and in which the former has officiated 
 igj in the several public relations. He has also acted as 
 c^ school officer. In political faith and connection he 
 $ is a Republican. 
 
 Llliam D. Coulson, resident on section 23, 
 Squaw Grove Township, has been a farm- 
 er in the State of Illinois since 1853, with 
 the exception of three years which he spent 
 in the military service of the United States. 
 He was born March 15, 1838, in England, and 
 is the son of John and Mary (Dale) Coulson. His 
 parents lived and died on their native soil. They 
 had 10 children, of whom Mr. Coulson of this sketch 
 is the oldest. He came to America in 1853 and at 
 once located in Illinois. In the summer of 1862 he 
 enlisted in the 127111 111. Vol. Inf., and was in the 
 service until the war closed. He was wounded once, 
 receiving a gunshot wound in the right hand at the 
 siege of Atlanta. After his discharge from the army 
 he returned to Kendall Co., 111. He continued there 
 three years, and in 1868 bought 165 acres of land, 
 which has since constituted his homestead and on 
 which he has erected a fine residence. He is the 
 
 *. 
 
 swner of 240 acres of land in Squaw Grove Town- ^ 
 
 ship, all of which is under cultivation. In political 
 faith he coincides with the principles of the Repub- 
 lican party. 
 
 He was married Jan. 15, 1867, at Yorkville, Ken- 
 dall Co., 111., to Phebe "A., daughter of John and 
 Leah (Jones) Darnell. Her parents were natives of 
 North Carolina, and had a family of 10 children. 
 Mrs. Coulson was born Sept. 19, 1842. She is the 
 mother of three children, Addie L., Alice M. and 
 Harry G. The parents are members of the Method- 
 ist Church. 
 
 homas Wright, deceased, was an early pio- 
 neer of Shabbona Township, being one of 
 the four Englishmen who located in the 
 western part of the township in the fall of 1851 
 and laid the foundation for the settlement 
 since known as the " English." 
 The subject of this sketch was born in Woodhall, 
 Yorkshire, England, Dec. 2r, 1802, his parents be- 
 ing William and Fannie Wright. He was mar- 
 ried in big native parish, April 3, 1831, to Miss 
 Mary, daughter of George and Julianna Mullins. 
 She was born in Yorkshire, Feb. 6, 1809. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Wright had five children, all born in England, 
 namely: George, born Oct. 10, 1832, was married 
 first to Elizabeth Scott, and, after her death, to Em- 
 ily C. Johnson, and is a farmer of Shabbona Town- 
 ship; Ann, born July 13, 1835, is now the wife of 
 William Cutts, of Lee County ; William, born May 
 9, 1840, became a soldier of Co. E, io5th 111. Vol. 
 Inf., was wounded at Resaca May 15, 1864, and 
 died in the hospital on the 25th of that month ; Rob- 
 ert M., born Nov. i, 1844, married Elizabeth Fowler, 
 and is now a resident of Fort Dodge, Iowa, where he 
 is practicing law; Julianna, born Jan. 31, 1844, is 
 now the wife of James Spaulding and lives in Palo 
 Alto Co., Iowa. 
 
 In England Mr. Wright was employed as over- 
 seer of a gentleman's farms. He emigrated to 
 America in 1850, reaching Morris, Grundy Co., 111., 
 May 31 of that year. During the ensuing summer 
 he came to. Shabbona, and in November, 1851, he 
 moved his family to that place. He came in com- 
 pany with S. Story, Wm. Cutts and Joseph Billam. 
 
 D > ijgy - t-f)g^^
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 ) 
 
 31 
 
 Settling on the northeast quarter of section 18, he 
 engaged in farming and continued in that calling 
 until about eight years prior to his death, when he 
 removed to Lee County. He died Sept 7, 1882, in 
 that county, a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church. In his political, action he voted with the 
 Republican party. 
 
 .rnest Peckman, farmer, section 6, Squaw 
 Grove Township, was born in Germany, 
 Aug. 30, 1830. He lived in his native 
 country until he was 24 years old in 1854 
 and settled in Kendall Co., 111., to which place 
 he at once proceeded in landing in the United 
 States. He resided four years there and came 
 thence to Somonauk Township, and after a residence 
 there of seven years he bought 102 acres in the 
 township of which he has been a citizen. 
 
 He was married in Kendall County, to Justinia 
 Wollenweber, and they have three children Her- 
 man, Henry and Ernest. Mrs. Peckman is a 
 native of Germany and was born Sept. 7, 1829. 
 With her husband, she belongs to the Lutheran 
 Church. 
 
 lamuel Cutts, farmer, section 18, township 
 of Shabbona, occupying 203 acres of land t 
 was born in the village of Harthill, York- 
 shire, England, June 28, 1831, and is the son 
 of George and Sarah (Rudeforth) Cutts. He 
 was reared to agricultural pursuits, and emi- 
 grated to America in September, 1851, coming direct- 
 ly to Lisbon, 111., where he resided a year. He then 
 came to Shabbona Township and " took up " the 
 west half of fractional northwest quarter of section 
 18, a track containing 100 acres; he has since 
 purchased 103 acres additional. He was one of the 
 pioneer party of young Englishmen who founded the 
 so-called English settlement in the western part of 
 Shabbona Township in 1852. The surrounding coun- 
 try at that time was in its natural state, and the most 
 familiar neighbors of these men were prairie wolves. 
 Mr. Cutts has always voted with the Republicans ; 
 and, while not a member of any Church he has con- 
 
 tributed liberally in the support of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church of his neighborhood. 
 
 He was married in Shabbona Township, June 23, 
 1857, to Mrs. Mary Dalton, widow of Thomas Dai- 
 ton and daughter of John and Mary (Tiffin) Barnes. 
 She was born in Aspatria, Cumberland County, Eng- 
 land, March 31, 1828, and had four children by her 
 first marriage, namely; Mary P., born July 27, 1849; 
 Thomas P., Jan. 15, 1851, married Lydia Hampton 
 and lives in Lee, 111.; Isabella, born Aug. 29, 1853, 
 is the wife of Siren Madison and resides in Nebraska ; 
 and Sarah A., born Feb. 27, 1855. Mrs. Cutts came 
 to America in 1852, and her children born in this 
 country, by the present marriage, are : Margaret E., 
 born March 12, 1858; Agnes, born March 2, 1861, 
 died May 23, 1876; John W., born Jan. i, 1864; 
 Addie M., July 22, 1867 ; and Emma M., Nov. 10, 
 1870. 
 
 & 
 
 arwood Veale, farmer, section 4, Milan 
 Township, was born Sept. 13, 1849, in 
 Devonshire, England, and is the son of 
 Oliver and Mary A. (Bailey) Veale. Hi s 
 parents emigrated from their native land to the 
 province of Ontario, Canada, settling in Darling- 
 ton. Their removal to the New World was effected 
 in 1852, and they became farmers in Canada. Six 
 children were included in their family, and in 1864 
 the parents with four children came to Illinois. The 
 father selected and purchased 160 acres of land in 
 Milan Township. On this they settled and there 
 the mother died, Nov. 19, 1872. After that event 
 Mr. Veale entered upon the work of conducting the 
 homestead, and not long after his father went back 
 to his children in Canada for a permanent home. 
 He is now 75 years old. 
 
 Mr. Veale was married March 28, 1871, to Flora 
 Blackman. Her parents, Ira and Sophia (Kibbee) 
 Blackman, were born in the State of New York, and 
 were of New England descent and English ancestry. 
 They belong to the agricultural class in New York, 
 and in 1846 removed to Wisconsin, settling in Rock 
 County. Mrs. Veale was born there Feb. 21, 1848, 
 and was a resident there until the removal of her 
 parents in 1860 to a farm in the township of Milan. 
 Her father and mother are respectively 83 and 70

 
 
 I 
 
 COUNTY. 
 
 years of age, and reside in their declining years in 
 the village of Malta. Mrs. Veale was educated with 
 care and when 19 engaged in the labors of a teacher, 
 pursuing that vocation until her marriage. Clyde B., 
 Merta S., Bertha M., Lester I. and Marwood V. 
 are the names of the several children now includ- 
 ed in the family. 
 
 Mr. Ve'ale managed the homestead on shares for 
 12 years. In April, 1883, he became its sole pro- 
 prietor by purchase, and now has 160 acres of land 
 under excellent tillage and greatly increased in value 
 by the farm buildings he has erected since his pur- 
 chase. He is a Republican in practice and theory, 
 and has held various township offices. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Veale are both members of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church. 
 
 leremiah Libby Brown, for many years a 
 prominent and respected citizen of Genoa 
 Township, but now deceased, was born of 
 American parents, at Scarborough, Maine, 
 April 17, 1805. He had only such educational 
 advantages as were afforded in the common 
 schools of that period. He lived with his parents, 
 working on the farm during the summer seasons and 
 attending school winters, until he was 18 years old. 
 At that time he seemed to have formed a gfeat de- 
 sire for seafaring life, and selected the most exciting 
 and romantic, as well as most dangerous kind of 
 ocean life, that of whaling. He joined a whaling 
 vessel, with which he remained three years, when he 
 returned home and with his father's family moved to 
 the town of Hope, Hamilton Co., N. Y. 
 
 In August, 1830, Mr. Brown was married to Judith 
 Richardson, of Johnstown, N. Y. The seven chil- 
 dren born of this marriage were Julia Ann, born June 
 20, 1831; James P., Jan. 31, 1833; Judith, April 6, 
 1835; Esther E., June 15, 1837; Abigail J., Aug. 6, 
 1840; Ruth Sina, Nov. 12, 1842; and Jeremiah W. 
 (see sketch), Aug. 7, 1845 ; all are now living except 
 Julia Ann, who died April 27, 1844; and Ruth Sina, 
 July n, 1856. 
 
 Mr. Brown moved with his family to Illinois in the 
 
 ^&& :*Cfrr 'Q.A 
 
 fall of 1837, and settled ori section 30, Genoa Town- 
 ship. He was, therefore, one of the very earliest 
 settlers in this part of the State. Three years prior 
 to this date there was not a white settler within the 
 borders of De Kalb County. He, as well as his 
 family, were compelled to undergo many hardships, 
 but able, sturdy and worthy men and women were 
 developed by these hardships and difficulties. His 
 life was a successful one, and, besides accumulating 
 considerable property, he lived to do a great deal of 
 good and in many ways aided in developing his town- 
 ship and building up a good society. 
 
 Mrs. Brown died March 4, 1848, at the home farm 
 in Genoa Township. Mr. Brown was married again 
 in May, 1850, to Eliza A., daughter of Abner and 
 Mary Jackman, of the town of Sycamore. Four chil- 
 dren were born of this marriage: Emma R., born 
 Feb. 8, 1851 ; Dillon S., May 12, 1852; Charles A., 
 Jan. 12, 1858; and Lizzie. M., Jan. 5, 1866. His 
 last wife and all the children, except the two men^ 
 tioned, are now living. 
 
 Mr. Brown was never especially prominent in 
 politics, yet always active. He served continu9usly 
 in some township official position, for a number of 
 terms being Supervisor. In early life he was a 
 Democrat. In 1840 his brother-in-law, Ezra Starr 
 Gregory, cast the first, and that year the only, Aboli- 
 tion vote cast in the county, voting for James G. 
 Birney for President. Mr. Gregory was the pioneer 
 of that grand political movement in De Kalb County, 
 and his name should be honored as the first to 
 come boldly to the front in an effort to remove the 
 dreadful stain of slavery from our civilization. At 
 the next election Mr. Gregory was joined by others 
 of De Kalb County's worthy citizens, who wanted all 
 men under our flag who should obey the laws of the 
 country, to be as free as they were. These. men were 
 Jeremiah L. Brown, Abner Jackman, Justus Preston, 
 Gideon King, John Judd, and Benjamin P. Brown, 
 brother of the subject of this sketch. At the 
 next election these patriots were joined by a host. 
 Upon the formation of the Republican party, Mr. 
 Brown accepted its principles and the remainder of 
 his life he passed within its ranks. He died at his 
 home, Jan. 5, 1882. 
 
 As one of the pioneers of the county, and a gentle- 
 man respected and esteemed by all who knew him,
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 we place a portrait of him in this volume. It is en- 
 graved from a photograph taken shortly before his 
 death. 
 
 . ames Darnell, farmer, has been a resident 
 on section 6, Squaw Grove Township, since 
 1859, with the exception of three years, 
 during which he lived at Sandwich. He is the 
 sixth of ten children born to his parents, John 
 and Leah (Jones) Darnell, who were natives of 
 North Carolina. They removed thence to Kendall 
 Co., 111., where the son was born, Sept. 7, 1835. He 
 there grew to the estate of manhood, and in 1859 
 came to the site of his present residence, where he 
 purchased 106 acres of land, of which he has since 
 been the owner; and he has added by later pur- 
 chases until his estate now comprises 186 acres. 
 
 He is a Republican in his political views and has 
 officiated seven years as School Director. He is a 
 member of the Congregational Church. 
 
 He was married April 3, 1862, at Sycamore, 111., 
 to Susanna Taylor, and they are now the parents of 
 four children, Elizabeth M., Anna, Jessie B. and 
 Edna E. Mrs. Darnell was born Dec. 16, 1840, in 
 Philadelphia, Pa., and is the daughter of William 
 and Catherine (Roberts) Taylor. Her parents set- 
 tled in Kendall Co., 111., in November, 1854. Her 
 father is a resident of Piano ; her mother died at 
 Sandwich, May 12, 1864. They had eight children, 
 of whom Mrs. Darnell is the oldest. The father of 
 Mr. Darnell died in Kendall Co., 111., Jan. 15, 1852. 
 
 ;,enry W. Wormley, farmer, residing on sec- 
 tion 4, Shabbona Township, and the owner 
 of 365 acres in the township, was born at 
 East Painted Post, now called Corning, Steuben 
 Co., N. Y., Nov. 2, r832. He is a son of John 
 and Deborah (Winans) Wormley, who emi- 
 grated, when Henry was five years of age, to Oswego, 
 Kendall County, this State. 
 
 Henry was brought up on a farm in the latter 
 county, and alternated his labors thereon by attend- 
 ance at the common schools until he attained the 
 age of 17 years. He then engaged as a clerk and 
 
 ^g^ @ 
 
 followed that vocation until 1852. During that year 
 he went to California, via New York and Nicarauga. 
 He spent 14 months in that State, mining and en- 
 gaged in other pursuits, then returned to this State. 
 In 1854 he, in company with his brother, purchased 
 the homestead farm near Oswego, Kendall County. 
 
 In the spring of 1856 Mr. Wormley came to this 
 county and purchased land in Shabbona Township, 
 on section 4, on which he at present resides. When 
 he purchased the land it was in its natural condition, 
 and by energetic toil he has succeeded in converting 
 it into a fine, productive farm. 
 
 Mr. Wormley was married in Oswego, Kendall 
 County, this State, Jan. 5, 1858, to Miss Miranda S., 
 daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Wolever) Lilley. 
 She was born in Hornby, Steuben Co., N. Y., March 
 25, 1837. Six children constituted the issue of their 
 union, and their record is as follows : Cassius L., 
 born Nov. 2, 1858, died March 20, 1860. Carrie M., 
 bom Nov. 15, i86r ; Lois M., March 24, 1868; Jes- 
 sie N., April 23, 1873; Blanch C., Jan. 12, 1876; 
 Harry R., Sept. 25, 1879. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Wormley is, and has been -;ver 
 since the organization of the party, a Republican. 
 He has held the office of Justice of the Peace 15 
 years, Highway Commissioner several years and As- 
 sessor two terms. 
 
 
 jl atrick M. Hart, farmer, section 16, Milan 
 Township, was born Aug. i, 1831, in 
 County Sligo, Ireland. Edward Hart, his 
 father, was a farmer and was born and died 
 on the Green Isle, as did the mother, Kittie 
 (M addon) Hart. They reared seven children, 
 of whom Mr. Hart is third in order of birth. 
 
 His marriage to Maggie Burns took place in Ire- 
 land, Jan. i, 1855. She is the daughter of William 
 and Jane (Noble) Burns, who were members of the 
 agricultural class in Ireland. Her mother died when 
 Mrs. Hart was a small child, and in due course of 
 time her father was again married. He is still a resi- 
 dent of Dunn Bakon, County Sligo, Ireland, where 
 Mrs. Hart was born, in March, 1832. 
 
 After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Hart decided 
 to emigrate to America, which they did in the sprinj 
 following, and they first located near Toronto, Can- 
 ada. They continued there but a year, when they
 
 
 
 COUNTY. 
 
 came to Kendall Co., 111., where they worked farms 
 on shares nine years. In the spring of 1866 they 
 proceeded westward with their savings to found a 
 home for themselves, and they purchased 160 acres 
 of land on section 16, in the township of Milan, 
 which has since been their field of operation, and 
 which they have reclaimed from its original state in 
 which it was still lying when they became its pos- 
 sessors. It is equipped with suitable and creditable 
 farm buildings. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Hart have had five children, re- 
 corded as follows: William E., Cora A., wife of 
 William Wescott, a farmer in Milan Township, Alice 
 J., Edward and George. Mr. Hart is a Republican 
 and is a school official. The family attend the 
 Church of England. 
 
 eorge Wright, farmer, owning 120 acres 
 located on section 7, Shabbona Township, 
 and residing thereon, whose postoffice is 
 Lee, Lee County, was born near Sheffield, 
 England, Oct. 10, 1832. He was brought up 
 in Darnell, three miles from Sheffield. He 
 emigrated to this country in 1850, when 18 years of 
 age, with his parents, and in November, 1851, came 
 with them to this county, locating at Shabbona. 
 
 Mr. Wright was married to Miss Elizabeth Scott, 
 Feb. 26, 1857, in Shabbona. She was a daughter of 
 William and Jane Scott, and was born in Brooklyn, 
 N. Y., Sept. 3, 1835, of English parentage. Seven 
 children constituted the issue of their union, namely: 
 Thomas W., born Dec. 29, 1857, married Miss Jane 
 Parris and resides in Calhoun Co., Iowa. Mary J., 
 born Dec. n, 1859, is the wife of Clark Richardson, 
 of Calhoun County; John E., born March 25, 1861, 
 married Sadie Willrett and resides in Malta Town- 
 ship; Cora E., born Dec. 4, 1862, is the wife of 
 William W. Hallett, a teacher in the schools at Lee, 
 Lee County; Stephen A., bom Dec. 8, 1865 ; George 
 C., born May 14, 1869; Robert S., born Feb. 8, 1877, 
 died May 8, 1881. 
 
 Mrs. Wright died March u, 1877, and Feb. 5, 
 1879, in Shabbona Township, Mr. W. was again mar- 
 ried. His second matrimonial alliance was formed 
 with Miss Emily, daughter of John and Christina E. 
 
 Johnson, natives of Sweden. She was born in 
 country, Nov. i, 1840. 
 
 Mr. Wright, soon after his parents came to this 
 county, engaged in the occupation of farming, and 
 has constantly followed that vocation except about 
 two and a half years, which he spent at Lee. He 
 has a good farm of 120 acres, comfortable residence 
 and good outbuildings, and enjoys the comforts of his 
 hard-earned possessions. 
 
 Politically, he is a Republican, having cast his first 
 vote for Fremont, and continued to vote that ticket 
 to the present time. Religiously, he and his wife are 
 members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 
 enjamin K. Favor, farmer, section 23, 
 Squaw Grove Township, is a native-born 
 citizen of the State of Illinois, having been 
 born Dec. 29, 1839, in Kendall County. His 
 parents, Ephraim W. and Roxalana (Webster) 
 Favor, were born in New Hampshire and 
 came to Kendall Co., 111., in 1836. They passed the 
 remaining years of their lives on their farm in that 
 county. Their children were Emily R., Mary A., F. 
 W., Sarah A., Benj. K. and Susan. 
 
 Mr. Favor was brought upon his father's farm and 
 remained at home a year after attaining his majority. 
 In 1862 he enlisted in the I2?th Regiment of Illinois 
 Volunteers, and continued in the military service of 
 the Union, receiving his discharge July 16, 1865, at 
 Quincy, 111. Returning to Kendall County, he re- 
 sumed the occupation of a farmer and continued a 
 resident of that county until March, 1876, when he 
 came to De Kalb County and purchased the farm on 
 which he has since operated. He purchased 200 
 acres of land on sections 23 and 24, and the entire 
 place is now in fine agricultural condition. 
 
 Mr. Favor coincides politically with the Republi- 
 can party and has been School Director. The mar- 
 riage of Mr. Favor to Cornelia A. Doyle took place 
 at Bristol, Kendall Co., 111., Aug. 14, 1862. Mrs. 
 Favor was born Aug. 26, 1843, in the State of New 
 York, and is the daughter of Edward and Catherine 
 (Fallen) Doyle. Her parents were born in Ireland, 
 were married there and afterward emigrated to the 
 United States. They landed at the port of New 
 York, and later went to Canada, were they main- 
 
 f 
 
 I
 
 484 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 tained a residence as long as they lived. Of their 
 six children four survive, Cornelia A., Michael, Ber- 
 nard and John E. Annie and John are deceased. 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Favor four children have been 
 born, Brodie K., Myrtie A., Wallace M. and Ethie 
 M. Wallace died when about a year old. 
 
 , illiam Converse Phelps, Assistant Secre- 
 tary of the Sandwich Manufacturing Com- 
 pany, was born June 16, 1849, in Kirkland, 
 
 Oneida Co., N. Y. His father, Alonzo E. 
 
 Phelps, was born Jan. 17, 1804, in Cazeno- 
 via, N. Y., and married Juliet Bradley, who was 
 born in Cayuga, Co., N. Y. Dr. Phelps removed to 
 Sandwich in October, 1869, and after practicing his 
 profession a short time, he retired. He died at Sand- 
 wich, Nov. 14, 1882. The mother of Wm. C. died at 
 Sandwich, only a short time subsequent to removal 
 hither, her demise occurring Dec. 25, 1869. They 
 had seven children: Mary B. and Juliet B. were 
 twins. The former is the wife of J. P. Adams, of 
 Sandwich, and the latter married William Barnes, a 
 farmer in Kirkland, Oneida Co., N. Y. Francis B. is 
 a machinist in the employment of the Sandwich 
 Manufacturing Company. 
 
 The subject of this sketch is the youngest of the 
 four surviving children. When he was 15 years of 
 age he entered a variety store in Clinton, N. Y., 
 where he was employed two years, after which he be- 
 came assistant book-keeper in Clark's cotton mills in 
 New York State, and operated in that capacity two 
 years. He next obtained a situation in the office of 
 a wholesale hardware manufacturing company in the 
 city of New York, where he remained four years, dis- 
 charging the duties of order clerk and managing the 
 entire routine of affairs pertaining to that department. 
 He entered upon the work of book-keeper of the cor- 
 poration in whose interests he is now engaged, jn 
 February, 1871. Two years subsequently ~he was 
 elected to the position he now fills, and operated in 
 the local office until the fall of 1880. At that date 
 he went to Lincoln, Neb., in order to conduct a branch 
 house of the company and continued in that avenue 
 of business until November, 1881, and during that 
 time opened up a large business for his company in 
 that particular field. On his return to Sandwich he 
 
 was again elected to his former position, in which he' 
 has since officiated. Mr. Phelps is the present City 
 Treasurer of Sandwich. He is a member of the Ma- 
 sonic fraternity, and also belongs to the order of 
 Mutual Aid of Illinois. 
 
 His marriage to Frances J. Root occurred Nov. 8, 
 1871, at Sandwich. Three! children have been born 
 to them as follows : Clare A., Aug. 19, 1872 ; Mary 
 B., Aug. 26, 1875; Ethel J., Oct. 18,1877. Mrs - 
 Phelps was born Sept. 26, 1850, in Utica, N. Y., and 
 is the daughter of George W. and Salina A. Root. 
 
 .manuel Younggren, farmer (postoffice, 
 Lee, Lee County), residing on section 8, 
 Shabbona Township, where he owns 160 
 acres, and also owning 80 acres in Milan Town- 
 ship and two acres of timbered land in Shab- 
 bona Grove, was born in Jonkoping, Sweden, 
 March 24, 1823. He is a son of Magnus and Cattha- 
 rine (Andersdolter) Younggren, natives of that 
 country, where his father followed the occupation of 
 a farmer. 
 
 Emanuel was educated in the public schools of his 
 native country and brought up on a farm. After at- 
 taining his majority, he learned the carpenter's trade, 
 and for seven years was employed in the widely 
 known match manufactory of his native town. 
 
 Mr. Younggren was married in his native town 
 Dec. 26, 1848, by Rev. Pastor Wadell, to Miss Mar- 
 garetha, daughter of Andrew and Margaretha Sand- 
 man, natives of that country. She was born in Jon- 
 koping, that country, Oct. i, 1817. Five children 
 constitute the issue of their union. The record is as 
 follows : Charles Wm. was born in Jonkoping, Jan. 
 28, 1850; Axel Rudolph was born at the same place, 
 Jan. 20, 1852; Gustavus Magnus was born on the 
 sea near the shore of Newfoundland, Sept. 5, 1854; 
 Jenny was born in Shabbona, this county, May 20, 
 1858, and died Dec. 22, 1858; Melvina Clarinda was 
 born in the same village, Nov. 29, 1859, and died 
 Aug. 4, 1 88 1. 
 
 Mr. Younggren emigrated with his family to this 
 country in 1854, leaving his native country June 23, 
 of that year. He landed at Quebec and came thence 
 by boat and rail to Chicago, arriving at that city Oct. 
 8, of the same year. From the latter place he came 
 direct to Shabbona Township, this county, and at 
 ?*$&Z ^^^@.-
 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 once engaged in farming and working at his trade. 
 In 1863 he purchased his present farm on section 8 
 and has since continued to reside there. About this 
 time, Oct. 8, 1863, he sustained a serious accident 
 while engaged in threshing. His right hand was 
 drawn into the cylinder of the machine and so 
 crushed that he was obliged' to have it' amputated, 
 two inches above the wrist. This was a severe blow 
 to a man dependent on his labors to support a large 
 family. He nevertheless was not the man to give up, 
 and by his push, pluck and energy, has succeeded in 
 accumulating a fine property. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Y. is a Republican. He has held 
 the office of Commissioner of Highways, Tow.n Col- 
 lector and other minor offices. Religiously he and 
 his family are members of the Lutheran Church. . 
 
 larles H. Hitchcock, M. D., physician 
 and surgeon at Hinckley, has been a resi- 
 dent of that place since 1869. He was born 
 Oct. 16, 1831, in Strong, Franklin Co., Maine. 
 His parents, Enos and Ann (Richards) Hitch- 
 cock, were born in the same State, where they 
 were married and lived until death. The decease of 
 the mother occurred June 6, 1849; the father died 
 May 31, 1872. Their children were six in number 
 and were named William, Charles G., J. Bennett, 
 Julia, Charles H. and Laura. 
 
 Dr. Hitchcock obtained an elementary education 
 in the public schools of his native State, and at 18 
 years of age went to Massachusetts, where he spent 
 two years. He went thence to Philadelphia and 
 prepared for the career which he has since chiefly 
 pursued without intermission. He attended medical 
 lectures in the City of Brotherly Love and studied 
 medicine two years, after which, in 1855, he pro- 
 ceeded to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he passed a 
 similar period in study under the direction of Pro- 
 fessor Stockwell, and was graduated in the American 
 Medical College in February, 1857. 
 
 On receiving his credentials, Dr. Hitchcock came 
 to Illinois and located at Earlville, La Salle County, 
 where he entered upon his practice, and operated 
 there about 18 months. In 1859 he went to Mc- 
 Lean in the county of the same name, where he pros- 
 ecuted the duties of his profession until he entered 
 
 the army of the United States. In 1862 he became 
 surgeon of the 117111 Regt. 111. Vol. Inf., and after a 
 service of 15 months in that capacity he resigned and 
 returned to his former field of action, where he re- 
 mained until 1866, when, on account of impaired 
 health, he went to Dixon, 111., and embarked in the 
 drug business. In 1869 he removed to Hinckley and 
 resumed his practice, which he has continued to 
 prosecute with uninterrupted success. In political 
 views and connections he is a Republican. He be- 
 longs to the Masonic fraternity. 
 
 Dr. Hitchcock was married in Earlville, Oct. 13, 
 1858, to Lizzie M., daughter of Rev. Samuel Gallo- 
 way. Her parents were born respectively in Penn- 
 sylvania and New Jersey. Her father is a graduate 
 from Princeton College, and after marriage located in 
 the South ; but, the climate not being favorable to 
 the health of his wife, they returned to 'New Jersey, 
 where she died. He is now located in Texas. Their 
 children were named Charles, Lizzie, Mary. Jacob 
 and Mattie. Mrs. Hitchcock was born July 28, 1837. 
 Four children have been born to Dr. Hitchcock and 
 his wife, of whom two are deceased, Arthur S. and 
 Lillian. Hattie E. and Mollie S. are the names of 
 those yet living. 
 
 ( 
 
 is hilo Slater, resident at Hinckley, is the son 
 of Thomas and Mary (Tears) Slater, the 
 former a native of Connecticut, the latter of 
 the State of New York. They settled first in 
 Slaterville, Tompkins Co., N. Y., and in the 
 spring of 1838 came to Kane Co:, 111. Both 
 are deceased. 
 
 Mr. Slater is the fourth of their children in order / 
 of birth, and he was born May 20, 1824, in Tompkins 
 Co., N. Y, He was 14 years of age when he came 
 with his parents to Illinois, and he was .23 years old 
 when he bade adieu to the parental roof and set out 
 in life independently. He bought a farm in Kane 
 County, which he carried on seven years. He then 
 sold out and in 1854 came -to De Kalb County. He 
 bought a farm of 190 acres in Squaw Grove Town* 
 ship, on which he has since lived. He is now the 
 owner of 425 acres of land, with 350 acres in tillage. 
 Mr. Slater is a prominent Republican, and during 
 the campaign of 1884 was President of the Repub-
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 lican Club at Hinckley. He is President of the 
 Board of Village Trustees, has been Supervisor and 
 Justice of the Peace and held most of the minor 
 offices. 
 
 He was married Nov. 10, 1847, in Sugar Grove 
 Township, Kane County, to Sallie, daughter of Cyrus 
 C. and Almira (Avery) Nichols. Her parents were 
 natives respectively of Vermont and New York, and 
 had six children. Mrs. Slater was born Sept. 26, 
 1828, in Chenango Co., N. Y., and died Jan. 25, 
 1884, in Hinckley. She had been the mother of five 
 children, one of whom Sarah is deceased. Cyrus 
 T., Mary A., Philo F. and Eva are living. 
 
 Barnes L. Greenfield, farmer, section 23, 
 Shabbona Township, was born in Rensse- 
 laer Co., N. Y., March 10, 1821, and is the 
 f son of Joseph R. and Polly (Green) Greenfield. 
 He removed in childhood to Oneida County, 
 that State, and resided both at Trenton and 
 Steuben, receiving a common-school education and 
 working on a farm. 
 
 In 1844 he came to Illinois and located at Sugar 
 Grove, Kane County, where he was engaged in farm- 
 ing two and a half years. He then returned to his 
 native State, where, at Steuben, he engaged in mer- 
 cantile business till 1854. Finally he came to De 
 Kalb County and purchased the farm on which he 
 now resides. 
 
 He was married in Trenton, N. Y., Jan. 24, 1849, 
 to Miss Elizabeth D. Ball, daughter of Capl. Thad- 
 deus and Cynthia (Tuthill) Ball, who was born at 
 Trenton, N. Y., Sept. 13, 1827. They have had two 
 daughters and one son, viz.: Mary E., born Oct. 10, 
 1850, became the wife of J. L. Airs, and died May 
 27, 1881 ; Lillian E., born Sept. 2, 1857, is the wife 
 of H. H. Bouslough, of Somonauk Township; and J. 
 Emerson, born Sept. 25, 1864, is employed as a mer- 
 chant's clerk at Aurora. 
 
 Mr. Greenfield devoted his attention to the man- 
 agement of his farm until failing health compelled 
 him to seek ease and comfort in retirement from 
 active duty. He and his wife still reside at their 
 
 pleasant country home. In political matters he votes 
 the Republican ticket; and, while he takes a warm 
 interest in public affairs, he has never consented to 
 accept public office beyond some minor position of 
 local jurisdiction. He is satisfied to have won the 
 respect and esteem of his neighbors and fellow citi- 
 zens. Mrs. Greenfield and her surviving daughter 
 are members of the Congregational Church. The 
 elder daughter in her life-time was a member of the 
 same Church. 
 
 sa M. Calkins, deceased, a former resident 
 of Sycamore Township, was born Nov. i o, 
 1796, in New Berlin, Chenango Co., N. Y. 
 He was married Sept. 17, 1817,10 Ruth Am- 
 bler, who was also born at New Berlin, Sept. 25, 
 80 r. Mr. Calkins owned a farm in the town 
 where he was born, and after marriage settled him- 
 self to the pursuit of agriculture. After a few years 
 his wife's health became precarious, and he removed 
 to the village where he was occupied as a merchant 
 until 1842, when he returned to his farm. A year 
 later he sold the place, and in the fall of 1843 set 
 out for Illinois. The family journeyed, by stage to 
 Utica and thence by canal to Buffalo, and from there 
 by the lake route to Chicago, whence a private team 
 conveyed the parents and eight children to Sycamore. 
 Mr. Calkins leased the City Hotel and managed a 
 house of public entertainment one year, when he re- 
 moved to Boone Co. ,111., and spent two years in 
 the management of a rented farm. He then returned 
 to De Kalb County and entered ' a claim of land in 
 Kingston Township, where he built a frame house 
 and improved a portion of the land. Soon afterwards 
 he removed to Genoa, where he spent a winter, and 
 in the spring following bought a farm on section 9, 
 Sycamore Township. This he retained in his pos- 
 session until 1865, when he again sold out and re- 
 turned to the State of New York, locating in Palmyra, 
 Wayne Co., N. Y., where he died Aug. 26, 1872. 
 His first wife died Aug. 2, 1841, and left six children : 
 Maria A. died in November, 1870. Lois A. is the 
 wife of Abner Angell, M. D., of Belvidere. Melissa 
 J. is the widow of J. M. Hammond, of Boone Co., 
 
 D ^^f -f^g^C^ 
 
 (t)
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 UMERSITY OF H.IWOS
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 111. Caroline M. is the widow of Wm. H. Wise (see 
 sketch). Mary E. married M. M. Tovvnsend, M. D. 
 MathewB. died June 10, 1869, at Belvidere. Mary 
 (Hovey) Calkins, second wife of Asa M. Calkins, died 
 in May, 1882, at Palmyra, N. Y. 
 
 auncey W. Broughton, farmer & stock- 
 raiser, residing on the northeast quarter of 
 section 31, Afton Township, and owning 
 about 900 acres of land on sections 30, 31 
 and 32, was born in Pepperell, Middlesex Co., 
 Mass., July 22, 1817. He is a son of Will- 
 iam and Ruth (Winters) Broughton, both of whom 
 died in Ashburnham, Worcester Co., Mass., his 
 father when he was 42 years old and his mother 
 about 1870. 
 
 After the death of his father, which occurred when 
 Mr. Broughton was about 13 years of age, he went to 
 live with an uncle, John Conant, in Brandon, Rut- 
 land Co., Vt. His uncle's business was diversified. 
 He was the owner of a blast furnace, was a merchant, 
 and later followed the milling business. Mr. Brough- 
 ton lived with him, receiving the advantages afforded 
 by the common schools, until he attained majority. 
 On arriving at that age he received $150 and two 
 suits of clothes from his uncle, and went forth to 
 fight the battles of adversity alone. He worked in 
 his uncle's mill for a while by the month, and then 
 engaged in the woolen business, in which he was in- 
 terested for about a year, after which he engaged in 
 the marble business and remained in that about a 
 year. He accumulated nothing in either line of 
 work. 
 
 Mr. Broughton, at this period in his life's history, 
 took the " Western fever " (a " disease " he is glad 
 existed at that time), and sold out his possessions in 
 Vermont and came to this State in 1884. He 
 located in Kaneville, Kane County, and purchased 
 200 acres of land from the Government, which he 
 soon after increased by a purchase of 40 acres 
 of timbered land from Mr. A. Churchill and has in- 
 creased it to 700 acres. He had great faith in the 
 future development of the country and the conse- 
 quent enhanced value of his land, and entered at 
 once upon its improvement. He built a small frame 
 house, and in 1845 replaced it with a more comforta- 
 
 <or^,ft__ ^.axa^ . p. ,V 
 
 .^.. y- --..,-., 
 
 ble and commodious building and continued to reside 
 on and improve his land for about nine years. The 
 Western fever still clung to him and he sold his pos- 
 sessions and moved to Fayette Co., Iowa, where he 
 bought land and remained from May, 1854, to March, 
 1855. During the latter month he returned to this 
 county, intending to remain a short time and then 
 move to Kansas. The report of cholera existing in 
 that (then) Territory induced him to change his mind, 
 and he purchased a half section of land on sections 
 30, 31 and 32, Afton Township, this county, on which 
 he has resided ever since. He has one of the larg- 
 est farms in that township, and conducts it in a 
 thorough, systematic and practical manner. He has 
 about three-fourths of his land under subjugation, 
 a fine frame residence, large barn and good, commo- 
 dious out-buildings. He has this present year (1885) 
 120 acres of corn and a large crop of oats and 
 grass. He keeps about 100 head of cattle, and this 
 year has 200 head of hogs, besides 25 head of 
 horses. 
 
 Mr. Broughton was married May 3, 1843, to Miss 
 Mary, daughter of Samuel and Mary (Richards) 
 Churchill. She died May 4, 1860, on the farm where 
 Mr. B. now resides, leaving one child, C. Preston, 
 born Feb. 23, 1844, in Brandon, Vt., and at present 
 a resident of Jackson Co., Mo. Mr. Broughton was 
 a second time married Jan. 30, 1861, to Miss Caro- 
 line C. Churchill, a sister of his first wife. She died 
 on the farm in Afton Township, May 29, 1871, leav- 
 ing three children, two having departed this life pre- 
 vious to her death. Their children were Ella, born 
 Jan. 26, 1865; Wm. A., born Feb. 19, 1863, and 
 died Jan. 6, 1866; May, born May 7, 1867; Judson 
 K., born April 2, 1869, and died Oct. 26, same year; 
 and Ben, born May 25, 1871. 
 
 Mr. Broughton was again married March 25, 1875, 
 to Miss Belle, daughter of Charles and Mary A. 
 Beers. Her father died Sept 25, 1877, aged 80 years, 
 and her mother is living with a daughter, Mrs. Chan- 
 dler, at De Kalb, and was born Jan. 9, 1808; 
 
 Two children constitute the issue of the last union, 
 namely: Charles B., born June 18, 1877, and 
 Chauncey W., Jr., born Sept. 10, 1879, both in this 
 county. 
 
 Mr. Broughton has been Supervisor of his town 
 ship four terms, and while a resident of Kane County 
 was Assessor two terms. He is truly one of the 
 
 4^ **^*
 
 
 DE KALB 
 
 V ^ 
 
 COUNTY. 
 
 i 
 
 representative and practical men of the c.ounty. 
 Commencing life with $150 and " two suits of clothes," 
 he has, through his own good judgment and perse- 
 verance, procured a competency, and in his home 
 content sits in the lap of plenty while success smiles 
 at the trials of the past. 
 
 As a representative and self-made man of the 
 county, as a man whose good judgment and ener- 
 getic determination conquered all obstacles that stood 
 between him and success, and as a respected and 
 honored citizen of the county, we are pleased to give 
 a portrait of Mr. Broughton in this work. 
 
 onathan Stevens, deceased, formerly a 
 farmer on section 3, Shabbona Township, 
 and section 34, Milan Township, was born 
 in Scipio, Cayuga Co., N. Y., in 1815; moved 
 to Monroe Co., Mich., in boyhood; learned the 
 millwright's trade, at which he worked in vari- 
 ous places for a number of years; and then purchased 
 a farm near Adrian, Mich., which he carried on until 
 1851, when he removed to La Salle County, this 
 State. ' In that county he bought a farm and con- 
 ducted it till 1857, when he finally came to this 
 county and purchased a farm on the line between 
 Shabbona and Milan Townships, on sections 3 and 34. 
 He built his house in Shabbona Township, within a 
 few feet of the line. He subsequently increased the 
 area, of his landed estate to 500 acres, and continued 
 in agricultural pursuits thereon until the time of his 
 death, which occurred Dec. 9, 1874. 
 
 Mr. Stevens was twice married. First, in his na- 
 tive county, he married Miss Ann R. Fisher, who 
 died within a year afterward ; secondly, in Chicago, 
 111 , May 23, 1863, Mrs. Lucy G., widow of Henry 
 O. Osborne and daughter of Samuel and Electa 
 (Newton) Newcomb, who was born in the town of 
 Thetford, Orange Co., Vt., and removed with her 
 parents to Livingston Co., N. Y., when 12 years of 
 age. She was first married in the town of York, N. 
 Y., April 19, 1840, to Henry O. Osborne, and they 
 resided at Perry, Wyoming Co., N. Y., where Mr. O. 
 was engaged in hotel-keeping. They subsequently 
 removed to Michigan, locating first in Almont, La- 
 peer County, and afterward at Mt. Clemens, Macomb 
 County. In 1855 they came to this State and settled 
 
 at Leland, La Salle County, where he died, Jan. 7, 
 1861. He was a native of Brixworth, Northampton- 
 shire, England. Mrs. Osborne continued to reside 
 at Leland until her marriage to Mr. Stevens, May 
 23, 1863. 
 
 Mr. S., while a resident of Shabbona, held various 
 local offices, as Commissioner of Highways, etc. He 
 was a zealous worker for the interest of the Baptist 
 Church, was at the head of the building ccmmittee 
 when the present church edifice was built at Shab- 
 bona, and contributed liberally to clear the society of 
 debt. He devoted himself so energetically to the 
 cause of the Church in his later years that he seri- 
 ously impaired his health. He was very generally 
 highly esteemed as a public-spirited, worthy citizen. 
 He never had any children. His wife survives him, 
 and designs in making the old homestead in Shab- 
 bona Township her future home. 
 
 ufus Harrington, farmer, section 12, Squaw 
 Grove Township, has been a resident of 
 his homestead in that township 35 years, 
 having settled on a tract of land in 1850 
 which he bought in 1848, the year in which 
 he came hither from his native State. His 
 original purchase included 200 acres, but he has 
 disposed of all but 40 acres in Squaw Grove Town- 
 ship and 40 acres in Kane Co., 111. 
 
 He was born Sept. i, 1809, in Pittsfield, Otsego 
 Co., N. Y., and is the son of Jacob and Polly (Spen- 
 cer) Harrington, natives of New England. They 
 had five children, all of whom lived to mature years. 
 They were named Lydia, Job, Rufus, Huldah and 
 Clarissa A. Their mother, Mrs. Harrington, died 
 when Rufus was six years old, and he lived from 
 that time until he was 12 years of age with a man 
 who was a miller by trade. As soon as he was old 
 enough he became a farm assistant, and was in the 
 employment of different individuals until he was 16 
 years of age. In 1825 he began to learn the busi- 
 ness of chair-making and painting, serving an ap- 
 prenticeship of three years, and following it nearly 
 20 years as a vocation. He received $48 a year 
 while learning his trade, and board, and he clothed 
 himself. He came to De Kalb County in Septem- 
 ber, 1848. He has held the offices of Township 
 
 O
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Clerk and Commissioner of Highways, and is a Re- 
 publican. 
 
 He was married Feb. 25, 1833, in New Berlin, 
 Chenango Co., N. Y., to Eliza Welch, and they had 
 five children, four only of whom grew to advanced 
 life. One died in infancy. Those who survived 
 were named George, Blin, Jesse and Buel S. Blin 
 became a soldier in the i27th 111. Vol. Inf. and was 
 killed May 19, 1863, at the battle of Vicksburg. 
 Mrs. Harrington was born July 8, 1813, in New Ber- 
 lin and is the daughter of Vine and Polly (Tyler) 
 Welch. Her parents were born in the State of New 
 York and had eight children : Calista, Vine, Polly, 
 Eliza, Sarah and Ebenezer lived to mature life. Two 
 died in infancy. Mr. ,and Mrs. Harrington have 
 been members of the Baptist Church since 1834. 
 
 aman Olmsted, deceased, was born in 
 Wilton, Fairfield Co., Conn., April 9, 1792. 
 He is a son of David and Rebecca (Jackson) 
 Olmsted. About r8r4 he removed to Tioga 
 Co., N. Y., near what is now called Odessa, 
 and was a pioneer of that county. He learned 
 the trade of blacksmith and followed it in Tioga 
 County until 1838. 
 
 In the spring of the year named he moved with his 
 family to this State and located in La Salle County. 
 He remained there until the spring of i84r, when he 
 removed to Shabbona Township and entered Govern- 
 ment land. He also purchased a half section of the 
 Reservation. His title was uncertain, and to perfect 
 the same he was compelled to pay for his land three 
 times. In 1846 he moved to Ottawa, La Salle Co., 
 this State, and for several years lived on a farm. In 
 1872 he went to Missouri, was unfortunate in his 
 business ventures, lost heavily and returned to his 
 son's, D. D. Olmsted, where he died, June 5, 1881. 
 
 Mr. Olmsted was twice married. His first alliance 
 was with Miss Clara Duchey, in i8ir. Of this union 
 six children were born: George, Jan. 19, 1816; Re- 
 becca, Julys, 1818, and died in 1849; John D., 
 July 7, 1820; Daniel D., June 21, 1822; Jane, Aug. 
 28, 1824; Clara, Nov. 5, 1^26. 
 
 Mrs. Olmsted died July 14, 1828, and Nov. 4 
 of that year Mr. Olmsted was united in marriage 
 
 (g\vp^5 OT Sig^e: ' n A 
 
 ^ytv^^tf^ 
 
 with Mrs. Hannah Bedient. Four children were the 
 issue of their union, namely : Clara M., born Aug. 6, < 
 1829; Samuel B., Jan. 24, 1831 ; Hannah, Sept. 9, 
 1833; Mary, Aug. n, 1846. 
 
 rrin M. Norton, farmer, section 2, Squaw 
 Grove Township, was born Nov. 27, 1825, 
 in Geauga Co., Ohio. He is the son of 
 Robert and Lovisa (Monroe) Norton, who were 
 born respectively in Vermont and Connecticut, 
 and were of Scotch descent. Their children 
 were Orrin M. and Orry T. (twins) and Mary Jane. 
 The family removed to Kane Co., 111., about 1837, 
 and some years later made a permanent residence 
 in the township of Squaw Grove. The senior Norton 
 died April n, 1849; the mother's demise took place 
 Jan. i, 1877. 
 
 Mr. Norton has been a resident of the township 
 since his parents removed here, and he is the owner 
 of a fine house, a farm of 305 acres, under advanced 
 improvements, well stocked and supplied with neces- 
 sary and suitable farm buildings. Mr. Norton is a 
 Republican and has held the office of School Di- 
 rector. 
 
 He was married Dec. 25, 1853, in Geneva, Kane 
 Co., 111., to Jemima Drake, and they have had two 
 children, Charles M. and Alice. Alice died Nov. 
 16, 1863. Mrs. Norton was born Aug. 10, 1835, in 
 Allegany Co., N. Y., and is the daughter of Ede and 
 Hannah (Seavey) Drake, natives of New England, 
 who were the parents of nine children, George, 
 William, Ede, Laura, Arvilla, Rosina, Betsey, Salina 
 and Jemima. 
 
 ^ayid C. Hoag, farmer, section 20, Paw Paw 
 L Township, where he owns and occupies 81 
 s acres of land, was born in Johnstown, 
 Montgomery Co., N. Y., July i, 1829, and 
 when six years of age his parents, Abram and 
 Nancy (Lamb) Hoag, moved with him to Ber- 
 
 rien Co., Mich., where he was brought up, in agricult 
 
 ural pursuits. 
 
 April 3, 185 r, he married Miss Clarissa, daughter 
 
 of Jeremiah and Phebe A. (Long) Ketcham. Sh
 
 
 
 j 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 was born on Long Island, Dec. 3, 1831. The chil- 
 dren of Mr. and Mrs. H. comprise two sons and five 
 daughters, viz.: Frank A., born Jan. 29, 1855, mar- 
 ried Harriet Atherton and lives in Paw Paw Town- 
 ship; Jennie M., born July 3, 1857, is the wife of Or- 
 lando B. Woodward, of the same township ; Celia C., 
 born Oct. 20, 1859, is the wife of Lewis P. Woods, of 
 Lee Co., 111.; John C., born Sept. 30, 1862, is living 
 at his parental home; Martha M., born June n, 1866, 
 is the wife of John Butterfield, of State Center, Iowa; 
 Carrie B. was born June n, 1868; and Bertha A., 
 Nov. 9, 1870. 
 
 Mr. Hoag removed to Kingston, this county, in 
 1851, and engaged in farming thereuntil 1856, when 
 he changed his residence to Paw Paw Township, set- 
 tling upon section 29. In April, 1865, he removed 
 to his present farm on section 20. He has held va- 
 rious local offices, having served as Township Col- 
 lector three terms, Road Commissioner three ye ars, 
 etc., etc. He is a pronounced Prohibitionist. For 
 12 years his was the only Prohibition vote cast in his 
 town, but in the last Presidential campaign he was 
 re-enforced by six others. He and his wife are mem- 
 bers of the Methodist Episcopal 'Church of South 
 1'aw Paw. 
 
 ^ 
 
 a 
 
 enry A. Sanderson, farmer, section 29, 
 Milan Township, is the owner of 60 acres 
 of the undivided estate which was once a 
 portion of his father's homestead, and he is also 
 the proprietor of 80 acres of land on section 20. 
 | The entire amount in both tracts is under ex- 
 cellent improvement. He is the son of Sander H. 
 and Anna (Morland) Sanderson. His father was 
 born March 12, 1825, in Norway, and came to the 
 Uhited States in 1843. He has held the office of 
 Justice of the Peace about 10 years, and other minor 
 offices. He has also been in the mercantile busi- 
 ness,at Lee, Lee County, for about three years : the 
 firm name was S. Sanderson & Son. He died Dec. 
 i, i88r. His wife, Anna Sanderson, was born May 
 5, 1832, and died Nov. 24, 1881. 
 
 Mr. Sanderson is the oldest of 10 children, one of 
 whom died in infancy. His birth occurred Oct. 14, 
 1851, in La Salle County, and he remained an in- 
 
 mate of his paternal home until the death of his 
 father and mother, and has since continued there 
 resident. 
 
 He was married Jan. 17, 1884, in York Township, 
 Green Co., Wis., to MelindaNessa. Mrs. Sanderson 
 is the daughter of Nels and Isabella (Moland) Nessa. 
 Her parents were born in Norway, where they were 
 married, and in 1854 emigrated to the United States. 
 Their daughter was born in Norway, Nov. 24, 1853. 
 On first coming to America they fixed their residence 
 in Green Co., Wis.. and are still living in York Town- 
 ship. They have reared a family of eight children, 
 of whom Mrs. Sanderson is third in order of birth, 
 and three of her brothers and sisters are deceased. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Sanderson is a Republican, and 
 both he and his wife are members of the Lutheran 
 Church. 
 
 braham V. Van Deusen, farmer, residing 
 on and owner of 140 acres of land located 
 on section 34, Shabbona Township, was 
 born in Galway, Saratoga Co., N. Y., Dec. r 3 , 
 831. He is a son of John B. and Sarah A. 
 (Marquith) Van Deusen, respectively of Hol- 
 land and French extraction. 
 
 His father's family moved to Clifton Park, in his 
 native county, when Abraham was an infant, and in 
 that place he spent his boyhood years, attending the 
 public schools. Arriving at maturity he learned the 
 carpenter's trade, and in April, 1857, came to this 
 State and located in La Salle County. He worked 
 at his trade in that county until October, the same year, 
 and then came to this county and lived in Paw Paw 
 until March, 1860, when he purchased the land on 
 which he at present resides. It was in its original 
 natural condition, and he engaged in the laborious 
 task of improving and cultivating it. That his labors 
 have accomplished the intended desire, to prepare a 
 home for himself and family that would be a comfort 
 to them in the future, the fine appearance and con- 
 dition of his farm will testify. 
 
 Mr. Van Deusen was married in Crescent, Sarato- 
 ga Co., N. Y., Sept. 6, r854, to Miss Elizabeth, daugh- 
 ter of David and Jane Ann (Wilbur) Steenburgh, of 
 Holland and English extraction. She was born in 
 Clifton Park, Saratoga Co., N. Y., Dec. 15, 1834. 
 The issue of their union was one child, Ernest C., 
 

 

 
 born in Shabbona Township, June 4, 1869. They al- 
 so have an adopted daughter, Alida M. Van Wert, 
 born in Shabbona, April 22, 1872. 
 
 Mrs. Van Deusen joined the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church in 1853, and continued a member of the same 
 until 1865, when she joined the Seventh-Day Ad- 
 ventists, her church being located at Serena, LaSalle 
 Co., 111. Politically, Mr. Van Deusen has voted with 
 the Republican party ever since its organization. It 
 is worthy of remark that he uses neither intoxicating 
 liquors of any kind, tea, coffee nor tobacco. 
 
 ^ ^ <> + ^. 
 
 larles Alfred Bishop, whose portrait ap- 
 pears on the opposite page, is a member 
 of the law-firm of Jones & Bishop, of 
 Sycamore, and was born Sept. 26, 1854. He 
 is English in lineal descent, and his immedi- 
 ate progenitors were natives of Nova Scotia. 
 His paternal grandparents, Gordon and Elizabeth 
 (Oakes) Bishop, were of pure Anglo-Saxon extraction 
 and became the parents of seven children, born in 
 the order following: Eunice A., Adolphus and Ed- 
 ward G. (twins), James L., Mary E., Allen and 
 Ainslie. The homestead estate was in the township 
 of Horton in Kings Co., Nova Scotia, and a portion 
 of it lay in the section known to all the nations 
 of the earth through " Evangeline," Longfellow's 
 exquisite poem, the provincial character and location- 
 of which, as much as any other of his works, gave 
 the author a. Continential recognition, which event- 
 uated in securing a place for his memorial bust in 
 Westminster Abbey. The geographical location of 
 the portion referred to is designated Grand Pre, and 
 has become known to literature through the writings 
 of several other authors of distinction, among them 
 the author of Antony Erode, or the Boys of Grand 
 Pre School. 
 
 As they approached the period of manhood's 
 estate in years and physical development, the twin 
 brothers, Adolphus and Edward, assumed the man- 
 agement of the homestead, and continued their joint 
 operations until the marriage of Adolphus to Joanna 
 Willett, daughter of George and Ann (Dunn) Willett. 
 She died in 1861, leaving three sons, Charles A., 
 David A. and Franklin W. She was a lady of re- 
 markable, amiable and lovely character,"and though 
 
 she died young she lived long enough to impress th 
 remembrance of her winning graces and equable 
 sunny temperament indelibly on the memories of 
 her friends. After her death, the husband and 
 father turned his attention to mining and became 
 largely interested in the Waverly and Joggins gold 
 mines, situated respectively in the counties of Hali- 
 fax and Lunenburg in Nova Scotia. In 1863 he mar- 
 ried the sister of his deceased wife, Mary E. Willett, 
 a lady of culture and refinement and an accom- 
 plished and popular vocalist. Of the second mar- 
 riage two children were born, namely, Ernest (now 
 deceased) and Nellie May, born in February, 1875. 
 Adolphus Bishop was born in 1822. He has been 
 all his life in active business, and has operated ex- 
 tensively for some years as a speculatorin farm prod- 
 uce, buying and shipping to New York, Boston and 
 parts of the West Indies. Previous to 1867, the 
 date of the " Confederation of the Provinces," he 
 was a loyalist or Tory in political principle ; subse- 
 quently he was identified with the Anti-Confederate 
 party. He is a man of prominence and ability and 
 has been active in the local affairs of his county and 
 township, having served several successive terms as 
 a member of the Common Council of Kings County, 
 representing the division known as " Ward Four." 
 He has also been unremitting in his interest and 
 efforts in behalf of the welfare and improvement of 
 the locality where he has resided most of his life. 
 He acted as Fish Commissioner under appointment 
 from the Dominion Government from 1870 to 1875. 
 In character, the father of Mr. Bishop of this sketch 
 is a representative of the best type of men belonging 
 to the class distinctly characterized as yeomanry. 
 Honorable, upright, dignified and courteous, he has 
 wielded all his life a palpable influence in his family 
 and social circle. He reared his sons on the old- 
 school plan, subjecting them to inflexible discipline 
 tempered with judicious and considerate kindness, 
 but never lapsing into indulgence. He is a man 
 respected by all classes, and his home has always 
 been the center of a broad and generous hospitality. 
 The younger sons are business men in their native 
 province. David is a merchant at Truro, and Frank- 
 lin is a fanner in the township of Horton. 
 
 Mr. Bishop was early placed at school and receiv- 
 ed a thorough preparatory education in the excellent 
 schools of Kings County, which are of the same 
 type throughout the confederated provinces of the
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Dominion. When he was 17 years of age he en- 
 tered Acadia College at Wolfville, Nova Scotia, where 
 he was a student until June, 1873, pursuing a literary 
 and scientific course of study. In September of 
 that year he went to Sackville, New Brunswick, to 
 avail himself of the advantages of the Wesleyan 
 College, and remained a student there until June, 
 1875, when he yielded to solicitation and accepted a 
 position as Principal of the High School at Sackville, 
 in which he officiated until May, 1878; then came 
 to Illinois, to fill a more advantageous situation. 
 An unavoidable delay of a few hours while en route 
 occasioned the loss of a creditable and remunerative 
 position in Kane County, and after a few days, de- 
 liberation Mr. Bishop decided to proceed farther 
 West, and made all necessary arrangements to that 
 effect. 
 
 A chance visit to Sycamore changed all his plans 
 and purposes, and he sought admission to the privi- 
 leges of the various law offices at Sycamore, which 
 he finally obtained in that of H. A. Jones, who re- 
 ceived him for a prescribed period, pending the 
 absence of a student to whom the opportunity had 
 been promised. The latter failed to avail himself of 
 his right, and Mr. Bishop continued his reading in 
 the office of Mr. Jones. In June, 1880, he presented 
 himself before the Appellate Court of Illinoisjn ses- 
 sion at Ottawa, for admission to the Bar. He passed 
 an examination of unusual severity, ranking third in 
 a class of 34 applicants. 
 
 Two years after entering the office Mr. Jones he 
 became his associate, and the firm is now engaged in 
 the prosecution of an extensive business which 
 places it among the prominent law associations of 
 De Kalb County. The cases which Messrs. Jones 
 & Bishop are called to manage are largely of a civil 
 character, including a fair share of criminal practice. 
 Although Mr. Bishop is still a comparatively young 
 lawyer, he has already earned a creditable reputa- 
 tion as an advocate, and the natural traits of his 
 character are such as to promise a steady and silb- 
 stantial preferment in his profession. Cool, wary, 
 imperturbable and gifted with discernment, he is 
 fully sensible of the advantage of making haste 
 slowly, realizing the force of the truism that " fools 
 rush in where angels fear to tread," Believing that 
 a man's worth to the world depends on the quality of 
 his work therein, he strives to exercise a .-prudence 
 
 
 and judgment which will leave no necessity of re- 
 trieval. 
 
 In addition to the business connections of his pro- 
 fession, Mr. Bishop has farming interests in De Kalb 
 County and Iowa. He has hitherto been too busy 
 to become an aggressive politician, but from princi- 
 ple adopts and supports the issues of the Republican 
 party. He is a prominent member of the Order of 
 Odd Fellows, Lodge No. 105 at Sycamore, and be- 
 longs to the Ellwood Encampment, No. 173. He 
 was a Delegate from the subordinate lodge at Syca- 
 more to the School of Instruction held at Blooming- 
 ton, 111., under orders issued by the State Grand 
 Lodge, when he obtained the unwritten work of the 
 order as theretofore changed by the Sovereign Grand 
 Lodge of the United States, in order to communi- 
 cate the same to the local lodge, a work which he 
 accomplished in accordance with the obligations im- 
 plied in his selection for the duty. He delivered 
 the address of welcome at the 63d anniversary of 
 the Order of Odd Fellows- which was held at Syc- 
 amore in 1882. He was elected a member of the 
 Board of Education of Sycamore in the spring of 
 1882, and has since been connected with that body, 
 of which he has officiated in the capacity of Secre- 
 tary since 1884. 
 
 He was united in marriage to Parmelia J. Wharry, 
 on the 25th day of August, 1880, at Sycamore, 111. 
 Mrs. Bishop is the daughter of Major Evans Whar- 
 jy, who was the first to make a practical attempt to 
 found a town at this point, and who is inseparable 
 from its earliest history. In May, 1836, he came to 
 De Kalb County as the representative of a company 
 of capitalists who had formed the plan of establish- 
 ing a city on the Kishwaukee River, and where he 
 entered vigorously into the projected work, of which 
 a description is given in the historical portion of this 
 work. The scheme came to naught through the col- 
 lapse attendant upon the undue inflation of values 
 which precipitated the financial stress of 1837, but 
 Major Wharry continued his individual effort for the 
 progress of the place, and established a mercantile 
 enterprise, which was probably the first in that ave- 
 nue of business in the vicinity of Sycamore. Almost 
 his first work was the building of a saw-mill on the 
 river, and he constructed the first dam .across the 
 stream. Major Wharry was a prominent and influ- 
 ential element in securing the establishment of the 
 .Q S^9J &* 
 
 I 
 
 ;/
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY 
 
 county seat at Sycamore, and he contributed liber- 
 ally of money and effort to that end. He continued 
 his exertions in behalf of the place as long as they 
 ware needed, interesting himself in the systematic 
 arrangement and naming of the streets. He is a 
 member of the family of his daughter. He was 
 born Aug. 23, 1801, at Little Falls, Herkimer Co., N. 
 Y., and is the son of Hon. Evans and Phebe (Bel- 
 knap) VVharry, both of whom were members of the 
 distinguished families in the Empire State. The 
 earliest known ancestor in the paternal line went 
 from Scotland to the North of Ireland, and after one 
 or two generations Robert or David Wharry, a Prot- 
 estant, came to the New World, landing at the city 
 of New York, whence he proceeded to Goshen, and 
 there married Polly Peacock, who was of the same 
 national lineage, coming from Ireland to Goshen 
 when she was six years of age. Of her marriage 
 10 children were born, of whom Evans, afterward 
 Judge, Wharry was the second. He was born in 
 1749, in Orange Co., N. Y. He was early orphaned 
 and devoted his abilities, which were of a superior 
 order, to the study of navigation; but one trial of a 
 seafaring life sufficed, and he abandoned the project 
 to become a surveyor, a business which tended to 
 intertst him in the contingencies of the Colonial re- 
 volt against the mother country, and in which he be- 
 came personally active. The details of his military 
 service are meager from obvious reasons, but it is 
 matter of record that he was in command of a com- 
 pany at the siege of Quebec. His services obtained 
 recognition from the Government, and he was the 
 recipient of a pension which was continued to his 
 wife, who survived him nearly 20 years. 
 
 After the Revolution he settled in Herkimer Coun- 
 ty and passed the remainder of his life in honorable 
 and useful citizenship, serving as a judge to the ex- 
 treme of the constitutional limit. He was the friend 
 and associate of Washington, Franklin, Knox, Ham- 
 ilton, Burr, Governor Clinton and others whose names 
 are on the " eternal roll of fame." He died at Little 
 Falls, in April, 1831. His wife, who was greatly his 
 junior in years, was an acknowledged beauty. She 
 was the daughter of Joseph Belknap, of Newburg, 
 one of the intimate friends of General Washington 
 and in whose family circle he was a frequent guest 
 during his residence at Newburg. It is well known 
 that Washington was a great lover of children, and 
 the younger members of the families ^f his friends 
 
 were the objects of his special attention. Miss 
 Phebe was in comparative childhood, and was a spe- 
 cial favorite of the distinguished guest of her father. 
 Of her marriage to Evans Wharry, nine children 
 were born, and she died about 1850, at a great age. 
 The record of Herkimer County states that Judge 
 Wharry had " one or two sons who left the country 
 many years ago," but he failed to discover that one 
 of the individuals of indefinite ultimatum became a 
 pioneer of De Kalb County. Major Evans Wharry 
 married Mrs. Martha Smith. Mrs. Bishop, only 
 daughter of her parents, was born April 2, 1856, at 
 Sycamore, where she was brought up to tha age of 
 1 5 years, when she was sent to Fairfield Seminary 
 in the State of New York. She was a pupil at that 
 institution three years, and in 1874 entered Wells 
 College at Aurora, N. Y., completing a course of 
 study there in 1877. She possesses superior literary 
 abilities, which were recognized and appreciated dur- 
 ing her collegiate course, as she was made Presi- 
 dent of the " Phoenix Literarum," a literary society : 
 she also conducted the Chronicle, the Wells Col- 
 lege journal. She returned to Sycamore in 1878. 
 Mrs. Bishop is acknowledged to be a lady of excep- 
 tional brilliancy and attainments, and is a valuable 
 member of the social circles in which she moves. 
 
 : lark Nichols, farmer, section 13, Squaw 
 Grove Township, is a citizen of that town- 
 ship of more than 40 years' standing, hav- 
 ing accompanied his parents hither in 1844. 
 He was born Nov. 3, 1841, in Allegany Co., 
 N. Y., and is the son of Eli G. and Phebe 
 (Horton) Nichols. His parents were natives of New 
 York and came thence in the fall of 1844 to make a 
 permanent residence in De Kalb County. Their 
 deaths occurred respectively Oct. 2, 1851, and Oct. 
 24, 1873. Huldah A., Phebe A. and Clark are the 
 names of their children. 
 
 Mr. Nichols has been engaged all his life in farm- 
 ing. He is the owner of 78 acres where he resides j 
 and also of 30 acres in Kane County. He has held 
 the office of School Director and politically affiliates 
 with the Republican party. 
 
 His marriage to Mary A. Schryver took place Sept. 
 27, 1866, in Kane Co., 111. Her parents, William 

 
 L>E KALB COUNTY. 
 
 and Martha (Amerman) Schryver, were born in the 
 State of New York and were of mixed German and 
 English descent. Mrs. Nichols was born Sept. 16, 
 1844, in the city of New York. William E. and 
 
 X Mary A. are the names of the children of Mr. and 
 
 Mrs. Nichols. 
 
 , enry S. Dickinson, wagon-maker and deal- 
 er in carriages at East Paw Paw, was born 
 in Otsego Co., N. Y., April 27, 1833, his 
 parents being Oliver H. and Olive (Brooks) 
 Dickinson. He was brought up in his native 
 county and was educated in the public and 
 select schools of the day. 
 
 He learned the wagon-maker's trade in the East, 
 came to East Paw Paw, 111., in the fall of 1855, and 
 worked as a journeyman at his trade until Jan. 18, 
 1856, when he bought out his employer, since which 
 time he has carried on his business continuously and 
 with success. 
 
 As to politics, Mr. Dickinson has always been a 
 Republican. 
 
 He was married at East Paw Paw, 111., Dec. 9, 
 1856, to Miss Nancy S., daughter of Jacob and Mary 
 (McCoy) Wirick. She was born at Far West, Mo., 
 March 5, 1839. 
 
 Bernard C. Allbee, retired farmer at Hinck- 
 ley, is the son of Joseph and Electa (Crip- 
 pen) Allbee. They were natives of the 
 State of New York, and had a family of 13 
 children, Mr. Allbee of this sketch being sec- 
 ond in order of birth. He was born June 10, 
 r, in Cayuga Co., N. Y. When two years old his 
 parents moved to Ohio, where he lived till 1838. In 
 that year he came to De Kalb County and settled in 
 the township of Squaw Grove. He arrived here pre- 
 vious to the land's coming into market and located 
 on what is now section 15. He has been the owner 
 of several different farms, and has lived in Squaw 
 Grove Township since 1840. 
 
 In 1 883 he retired from active farm labor, and re- 
 moved to the village of Hinckley. He is a. Republi- 
 
 ^* & 
 
 can in political sentiment and relations, and has held 
 several official positions. 
 
 Mr. Allbee was married Jan. 4, 1840, in the town- 
 ship of Sugar Grove, Kane Co., Ill, to Mary E., 
 daughter of Benjamin and Anna (Vanbelger) Jones. \& 
 Her parents were natives of Connecticut and had sev- 
 en children, of whom Mrs. Allbee is second in order 
 of birth. She was born June 5, 1823, in the city of 
 New York. She has been the mother of 16 children, 
 Sarah, Catherine, Joseph P., Eleazer and Electa 
 (twins), Emma E., John B., Charles F., Ella M., Ber- i 
 nard C., Anson G., Phebe J., Willie H., Carrie A., Lil- <| 
 lie M. and Edgar. 
 
 dam Haish, farmer, section 26, Pierce 
 Township, is a pioneer of that township. 
 He is a native of Bonddish, Germany, where 
 e was born Aug. 12, 1830. Two years after 
 his birth his parents emigrated from "das 
 Faderland " to the United States. They made 
 a short stay in the State of Pennsylvania, where his 
 mother died. After that event his father settled on 
 a tract of land in Crawford Co., Ohio. There were 
 five children in the family, of whom Mr. Haish is 
 the youngest. In 1850 the family came to De Kalb 
 County, and settled on a farm in Pierce Township. 
 
 Mr. Haish made his home with his parents until 
 18156, when he made a purchase of 40 acres of prairie 
 land at $5 per acre. Two years later he sold the 
 same for three times the original price. He then 
 purchased 80 acres of wholly unimproved land on 
 section 35, and has now 40 acres on section 36, 
 which he bought at $15 per acre, and later bought 
 40 acres additional for which he paid at the rate of 
 $44 per acre. In 1877 he bought the Eberly farm, 
 comprising 160 acres, paying therefor $8,000. In 
 1883 he bought the place known as the Lintner farm, 
 containing 82 acres, at $50.60 per acre. These farms 
 are all supplied with excellent buildings. 
 
 Mr. Haish was married May 17, 1853, to Lydia 
 Kuter, and they ,had five children, Lucy Ann, 
 Henry, William and Jacob G. Jeremiah died in in- 
 fancy. Mrs. Haish was born Feb. 9, 1828, and is 
 the daughter of John and Lydia Kuter. 
 
 Mr. Haish is one of the substantial citizens of 
 Pierce Township, and is a fine sample of what a man 
 
 t
 
 
 of foreign birth may accomplish in contrast with the 
 possibilities open to him in his own country, where 
 every foot of soil is crowded, and all opportunities of 
 advancement closed long before they reached to the 
 class to which he belonged. In the United States 
 all he needs is energy, perseverance and under- 
 standing. 
 
 In October, 1884, Mrs. Haish was attacked by a 
 painful disease which proved to be cancer of the 
 stomach, from which she suffered for 24 weeks. Her 
 death occurred Feb. 23, 1885. In calm resignation 
 she arranged the details of her burial, and her fu- 
 neral sermon was preached from Isaiah, 351)1 chap- 
 ter, loth verse, which she selected herself. 
 
 form Palm, retired farmer, residing at Shab- 
 bona, was born in Austin Township, Trum- 
 bufl Co., Ohio, Dec. 4, 1812, and is a son 
 of David and Mary (Shivley) Palm. His 
 father followed the vocation of a farmer, and 
 Mr. Palm grew to manhood on the farm, re- 
 ceiving the advantages afforded by the common 
 schools. 
 
 He was united in marriage to Miss Catharine 
 Flick, daughter of George and Margaret (Randolph) 
 Flick, Oct. 13, 1831. She was born in Bald Eagle, 
 Center Co., Pa., Aug. 3r, 1811. Four years after 
 marriage, in 1835, Mr - Palrn moved with his family 
 to Southington, same county, and engaged in farm- 
 ing, which vocation he followed in that county for 
 some years. He then removed to Middlefield, 
 Geauga County, State of Ohio, remaining there until 
 the spring of 1845, when he removed to Shabbona 
 Grove, this county, and entered 160 acres of Govern- 
 ment land on section 14, township 38 north, of range 
 3 east. In 1850 he went by the overland route to 
 California, where he was engaged in placer-mining; 
 but, contracting typhoid fever, he was not able to 
 work for about three months, yet afterwards accumu- 
 lated a moderate amount of means before returning. 
 He came home in a little less than two years and 
 paid for his land and made some substantial im- 
 provements on it. In 1862 he leased his farm and 
 moved to Leland, La Salle Cj., this State. He re- 
 mained seven years at the latter place, and then, in 
 1869, he returned to his farm, which he ontinued to 
 
 
 cultivate until 1877. At this time he was afflicted 
 with the partial loss of his eye-sight, and again 
 rented his farm and moved into Shabbona, soon af- 
 ter commencing treatment for his eyes, having built 
 a fine residence before moving to the village. Noth- 
 ing that money could procure or skill accomplish 
 did him any good, and about 1879 he was hopelessly 
 deprived of one of the greatest gifts to man, his 
 power of vision. 
 
 At this writing (1885) Mr. Palm is in full posses- 
 sion of all his other faculties. He is cheerful in dis- 
 position and vigorous and clear in his mental faculties. 
 He still owns an extensive farm of 236 acres in 
 Shabbona Township, which he rents, besides a com- 
 fortable residence and 13 lots in the village of Shab- 
 bona. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Palm are the parents of six children, 
 three sons and three daughters, only two of whom 
 are living. The eldest, Margaret, was born Aug. 13, 
 1832, married Alonzo Olmstead and died in her 25th 
 year. The second child, Adam, was born Jan. 7, 
 1834, lived to maturity, married Miss Almina Fuller, 
 is a farmer by vocation and resides at Shabbona. 
 Mary J., born Sept. 3, 1837, lived to maturity and 
 became the wife of Henry Husk, a farmer of Shab- 
 bona Township. Hannah, born July 30, 1839, grew 
 to womanhood, became, the wife of William Husk, 
 Postmaster at Shabbona, and died in August, 1865. 
 David, fifth child, was born May 3, 1842. He grew 
 to manhood under the parental roof-tree, and on the 
 breaking out of the late Civil War, enlisted in Co. E, 
 ic>5th 111. Vol. Inf., and died in November, 1862, in 
 the hospital at Bowling Green, Warren Co., Ky., from 
 disease contracted in the army. John, sixth and 
 youngest child, was born Jan. 21, 1845, and died 
 when five and one-half years of age: 
 
 While a resident of Leland, La Salle County, Mr. 
 Palm held the office of Trustee four seasons in suc- 
 cession. On coming to Shabbona he was elected a 
 member of the first Board of Village Trustees, and 
 at the expiration of his term was re-elected and held 
 the office four years. It was largely due to his lib- 
 erality and public enterprise that the railway station 
 was established at this place. He generously gave 
 the undivided one-half interest in 40 acres of land 
 for a village plat, besides giving the right of way 
 through 1 60 acres to the railroad company. He also 
 gave away quite a number of lots to encourage the 
 teSy^^Ti) 
 
 i
 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 i\ 
 
 growth and settlement of the village. His gift to 
 the railroad company was double that of any single 
 individual, and was the means of inducing others to 
 give. Truly, he is entitled to the honor of being 
 credited as one of the founders of the village of 
 Shabbona, as well as one of her most respected citi- 
 zens. 
 
 A lithographic portrait of the venerable subject of 
 the foregoing sketch is given on the page opposite the 
 beginning, and doubtless will be pleasurably appre- 
 ciated by a very large circle of acquaintances. It 
 was engraved from a photograph taken in 1870. 
 
 
 
 Toseph Henry Denton, Clerk of Pierce 
 Township, was born Aug. 25, 1837, in the 
 town of Stockton, Chautauqua Co., N. Y. 
 His earliest traceable paternal ancestor, Solo- 
 mon Denton, was born in Greenwich, Conn., in 
 {$ Y the year 1700, and from him Mr. Denton is the 
 ]E^ fifth in the line of descent. Solomon Denton (^d), 
 ^jft great-grandson of the first Solomon Denton and 
 = grandfather of J. H. Denton, was born Aug. 4, 1754. 
 ^ He entered the Colonial service during the Revolu- 
 tionary War and was connected with the Federal 
 army until the expiration of the term for which he 
 enlisted. On obtaining his discharge he made an 
 attempt to cross Long Island Sound, was captured 
 by the British soldiery and held prisoner of war about 
 18 months. On obtaining his liberty he went to Nova 
 Scotia, where he became acquainted with and mar- 
 > ried Clara Anderson. She was born in a town on the 
 JjL banks of the Hudson River, near New York city. 
 ^ After marriage they settled (about 1792), in the town 
 ' of Beekman, Dutchess Co., N. Y., where Fowler 
 Denton, father of J. H., was born, April 10, 1803. 
 The latter was twice married; Sophia Caldwell, his 
 first wife, was the daughter of Joseph and Anna 
 Caldwell and granddaughter of Col. Henry Luding- 
 ton, who became distinguished in the War of 1776. 
 To them were born four sons and three daughters. 
 The second wife was Amy G., daughter of Oliver and 
 Zilpha (Guild) Arnold, and granddaughter of Nathan 
 Morgan, who lived during the Revolutionary War at 
 Royalton, Vermont. On becoming his "own man," 
 Fowler Denton was employed for a short time as a 
 clerk in a store, and in the .spring of 1824 he entered 
 
 (?)V^3vf'oi - ^%T' O/* 
 
 OriV^V*'*^ 8 * TxT^ 
 
 the Hudson River service and conducted a sailing 
 vessel in the transportation of freight from Cold 
 Spring, Putnam Co., N. Y. In the spring of 1831 he 
 embarked in a mercantile enterprise at Carmel in the 
 same county, which he prosecuted until the winter of 
 1833, when he sold his business and its appurten- 
 ances. In the fall of 1834 he purchased a farm in 
 the town of Stockton, Chautauqua Co., N. Y., where 
 he resided until his death, which occurred March 30, 
 1874. Three of his children are now living: Julia 
 A., wife of J. M. Hardenburg, resides at Brockton, 
 Chautauqua Co., N. Y. Cecilia, widow of Norman 
 Safford, lives at Rockford, Winnebago Co., 111. 
 
 Mr. Denton is the youngest surviving child of his 
 parents and is the fifth in order of birth. He was 
 brought up to a knowledge of the methods of farm- 
 ing, and was educated in the common schools. When 
 he was 18 years of age he entered the employment of 
 a seed house in his native county, for whom he trav- 
 eled five years, and subsequently engaged in farm- 
 ing. In 1864 he came to De Kalb County and 
 settled on section 14, Pierce Township, where he has 
 since operated as a. practical farmer. All his land is 
 well improved and he has built a commodious frame 
 house, with other large and well constructed farm 
 buildings, and has set out an orchard and a number 
 of shade and ornamental trees. The farm is drained 
 by goo rods of tile. 
 
 Mr. Denton was married Dec. 9, 1862, to Maria 
 McCoul. She was born in Allegany Co., N. Y., and 
 is the daughter of James and Triphena (Arnold) 
 McCoul. Their five surviving children are named 
 Mary, Alta, Frank, Blanche and Solomon. George, 
 oldest child, was born July 13, 1865, and died Dec. 
 9, 1877. 
 
 W 
 
 j hineas Joslyn, deceased, a pioneer of De 
 Kalb County, and formerly a resident on 
 section 16, Cortland Township, was born 
 1791, in Westmoreland, Oneida Co., N. Y. * 
 His parents removed in his youth to Genesee 
 County, where they were pioneers of Western New *. 
 York,' and where they improved a farm and estab- 
 lished a home. His father died there. ^ 
 
 Mr. Joslyn was married in Genesee County, to 
 Lorinda Woodworth, a native of Bennington, Vt., and ' 
 *^,(g
 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 53 
 
 after marriage they settled in a portion of Pembroke 
 Township, now included in the township of Darien, 
 buying a form lying within the tract of land in the 
 State of New York, sold by Robert Morris, first 
 Secretary of the Treasurer of the Colonial Govern- 
 ment of America to an Amsterdam company and 
 known for a long term of years as the " Holland 
 Purchase." s ln 1830 he sold the property and re- 
 moved to Erie County, locating on a farm in the 
 township of Alden. *In 1838 he severed all his busi- 
 ness relations with his native State and set out for 
 De Kalb County with a team of horses and a wagon, 
 accompanied by his wife and nine children. He 
 drove to Buffalo, where he embarked on a steamer 
 for Detroit. Arriving at the City of the Straits, he 
 again set out as originally, and drove to De Kalb 
 County. They carried with them their domestic im- 
 plements and lived enfamille, as a Frenchman would 
 say, on the route, which was thereby converted into 
 a picnic of some days' duration. On reaching Cort- 
 land, Mr. Joslyn secured a claim of land on section 
 
 9, in Cortland Township. The land was still un- 
 surveyed and was not yet in market, but the proprie- 
 tor resided thereon some years and improved a fine 
 farm, which he sold later on and went to Sycamore 
 to pass the last years of his life, and died there in 
 1868. The mother died Nov. i, 1881. 
 
 Harry A. Joslyn, the oldest son, was born Dec. 
 
 10, 1816, in the township of Darien, Genesee Co., 
 N. Y., and when he was 14 years of age removed 
 thence with his parents to Erie County. He obtained 
 a common-school education, and in the winter of 
 1837-8 he engaged in teaching in Alden Township. 
 In the spring of 1838 he came to De Kalb County, 
 reaching Chicago by the lake route, and thence on 
 foot to Cortland Township. He secured a claim of 
 land and returned to the State of New York. In the 
 fall of the same year he came back to Cortland, ac- 
 companied by the entire family of his parents, as has 
 been stated. He lived at home and engaged alter- 
 nately in the labors of the farm and in teaching. 
 
 He was married May n, 1841,10 Lucy A., daugh- 
 ter of John and Deborah (Aldrich) Waterman, a 
 native of Perry, Genesee Co., N. Y. Her parents 
 were natives of Rhode Island, and located in 1837 
 in De Kalb County, in what is now Cortland Town- 
 ship. Her father first operated as a renter of land, 
 but later bought a claim on section 4, in the same 
 
 xpr- MJJ ^nyjMXfp'' r~^A.\. 
 
 ^'*S'' -^^y " 
 
 township. After " entering " the land he built a log 
 house and improved the farm, which he conducted 
 four years. Subsequently he sold his place and 
 bought another on section 3, where he was resident 
 seven years. At the end of that time he moved to 
 Sycamore and there passed three years in trade. At 
 the close of the war in 1865, he bought a farm on 
 section 16, where he was a resident until 1883, when 
 he sold again and bought the farm on which he now 
 resides, on section 5, situated one-fourth of a mile 
 from Cortland village. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Joslyn have had five children : John c 
 P., second son, was born March 24, 1850, and died 
 Sept. 2, 1878. Louisa A., Frank M., William L. and 
 James C. are the four who survive. 
 
 amin F. Atherton, farmer, section 31, 
 Shabbona Township, owning 180 acres of 
 land (postoffice, Paw Paw, Lee County), is 
 a son of Joseph and Phebe (Vosburg) Ather- 
 ton. The former was born in Luzerne Co., 
 Pa., Feb. 17, 1800. The latter was born in 
 New York about 18 10. They both died in Penn- 
 sylvania, she in 1836, and he in 1845. 
 
 Mr. Atherton, the subject of this sketch, was born 
 in Luzerne Co., Pa., Oct. 24, 1828, and was brought 
 up on a farm, alternating his labors thereon by at- 
 tendance at the common schools. He was married 
 Oct. 26, 1858, in Factoryville, Wyoming Ca, Pa., to 
 Miss Mira, daughter of Thomas J. and Susan (Cap- 
 well) Maynard. She was born in Factoryville, Wy- 
 oming Co., Pa., Feb. 20, 1835. Her father was born 
 in Marlboro, Mass., March 29, 1802, and moved 
 to Factoryville, Pa. He was married July 16, 
 1829, to Susan Capwell. They had four sons, all of 
 whom were Union soldiers in the late Civil War. 
 Stephen H. was in the 571)1 Pa. Vol. Inf., and was 
 killed at Fair Oaks, Va., May 31, 1862. James G. 
 was in Co. L, 3d Pa. Heavy Artillery, and was 
 drowned July 7, 1864, in the James River, at Fort 
 Powhat'.an, Va. Thomas was a member of the 57th 
 Pa. Vol. Inf.; and Garrick M. was assistant engineer 
 on the steamer "Baltic." The mother was born at 
 Factoryville, March 12, 1804, and died in the same 
 place Aug. 12, 1876; the father came to Illinois in 
 
 ^n-dBgyil^ S\@Xxf( 
 
 VX
 
 
 S4 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY 
 
 xh, * 880 and passed his remaining days with his daugh- 
 ^ ter. He died May 21, 1884. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Atherton have had four children, as 
 follows: Maude E., born March 26, 1860; Blanch, 
 born Jan. 17, 1864, died Oct. 5 same year. Thomas 
 M., born July 22, 1865, died Oct. 14, 1880; and 
 Joseph E., born Oct. 17, 1870. 
 
 Mr. Atherton came to this county in the spring 
 and located with his brother Charles, on the land on 
 which he is at present residing. The brothers have 
 been in partnership in the farm and the cultivation 
 of it ever since coming to the county in 1855. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Atherton is identified with the 
 issues and principles of the Republican party. 
 
 dwin H. Fay, farmer, section 27, Squaw 
 Grove Township, is the son of Horace W. 
 and Roxana (Eaton) Fay. The latter died 
 in December, 1835, ln New York State, where 
 she was born. About the year 1838 the father 
 came to De Kalb County, and, in company 
 with Wells A. Fay, purchased a farm. Subsequently 
 he went to Will Co., 111.; after a residence there of 
 three years he returned to Squaw Grove. During 
 the course of the war he enlisted in the Union ser- 
 vice, and died at Vicksburg, Miss., in the spring of 
 1863. For several years prior to enlistment he offi- 
 ciated as Surveyor of De Kalb County. His children 
 were,- Edwin H., Mahala P., Mary I, Rhoda H. and 
 Frances C. 
 
 Mr. Fay was born Aug. 4, 1826, in Manlius, Onon- 
 daga Co., N. Y. His mother died when he was nine 
 years old, and he went to Michigan with his uncle, 
 making the route there through Canada with a wagon. 
 He remained there between two and three years, and 
 then came to De Kalb County, where he has since 
 resided with the exception of about 16 months, 
 which he spent in the Mexican war, as a volunteer in 
 the 1 6th Ky. Inf. He owns 160 acres of land, of 
 which [zi acres are tillable. Mr. Fay endorses and 
 supports the principles of the Republican party. He 
 has held the office of School Inspector and other 
 public situations of less importance. 
 
 He was married in April, 1855, in Will Co., 111., to 
 Ann W. Haywood, and they had four children, 
 Arthur H., Herbert W., Oscar H. and Orpha A. The 
 
 ' 
 
 last named child died in infancy. Mr. Fay died in 
 Squaw Grove, Nov. n, 1884. She was born May 
 21, 1830, in Waterville, Maine, and was the daughter 
 of Timothy and Eleanor Haywood. 
 
 eorge Earner, farmer, section 22, Pierce 
 Township, was born April 21, 1844, in 
 Richland Co., Ohio, and came thence with 
 his parents, Henry and Susanna (Troup) 
 Ramer. He was reared on his father's farm, 
 and there made his home until after his mar- 
 riage. He was educated in the common schools. 
 Jan. 8, 1863, he was married to Anna, daughter of 
 Timothy Haley. 
 
 In 187 r he purchased a farm on section 22, Pierce 
 Township, and has erected a good dwelling-house, 
 barn and granary. He 'has also set out. an apple 
 orchard of 180 trees and a variety of small fruits. He 
 is a Republican in political opinion and he and his 
 wife are members of the Evangelical Association. 
 
 There are seven children in the family, Oscar, 
 Nora, Mina, Viola, Rosa, Robert and Ivan. 
 
 .aniel Pierce, banker at Sycamore, was born 
 in the town of Neversink, Sullivan Co., N. 
 Y., July 18, 1814, and is the son of Joseph 
 and Elizabeth (Corgill) Pierce. Wm. Pierce, 
 the paternal grandsire, lived and died in West- 
 chester Co., N. Y. On his mother's side Mr. 
 Pierce is of Scotch lineage. Joseph Pierce was born 
 in Westchester County and went to Sullivan County 
 when 15 years of age. He died in March, 1819, 
 aged 3r years, leaving a wife and six children Wil- 
 liam, Polly, John, Daniel, Nellie and Catherine. In 
 1822 the widow married Edward Porter. Mr. Pierce 
 senior had owned what was called a "lease farm " in 
 the town of Neversink, and this the family occupied 
 some years. 
 
 At the age of 12 years Mr. Pierce of this sketch 
 was thrown upon his own resources for maintenance, 
 and he went to work at $3 per month for the first 
 seven months. He continued in the occupation of a 
 farm laborer" until he obtained his title to the home- 
 stead and operated agriculturally on his own account.

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 He was married Dec. 17, 1835, to Phebe J., daugh- 
 ter of Abijah and Sarah (Lane) Brundige. She was 
 born Aug. 17, 1818, in Orange Co., N. Y. They 
 lived on the homestead until 1839, when Mr. Pierce 
 purchased another lease of a farm in a different 
 locality, where he operated five years, buying a third 
 farm under similar circumstances. On this he re- 
 mained until 1848, when he bought three farms, his 
 purchase including the homestead. He lived in 
 Sullivan County, with the exception of two years, 
 -until 1855. He passed the two years referred to in 
 Ulster County, where he owned and managed a tan- 
 nery associated with his brother. 
 
 In 1855 he sold the major portion of his land in his 
 native county, and came to Sycamore Township, 
 where he rented a farm one year. In 1856 he re- 
 moved to the city of Sycamore, where he lived until 
 1865. In that year he took possession of a farm on 
 section 6, Cortland Township, where he is still re- 
 siding. 
 
 On his removal to Sycamore in 1856, he engaged 
 in land speculation, trafficking in real estate, and im- 
 proving land. In 1867 the banking house of Pierce, 
 Dean & Co. was established, which in 1871 became 
 Pierce & Dean. In 1883 another change instituted 
 the banking firm of Daniel Pierce & Co., the existing 
 style. Mr. Pierce is still dealing in real estate and is 
 the proprietor of several farms. 
 
 His family includes two daughters : Eleanor P. 
 married A. W. Townsend. Sarah P. is the wife of 
 G. P. Wild. The first-born child died in infancy. 
 The mother died Oct. 4, 1876. 
 
 August Bastian, farmer, section 20, Squaw 
 Grove Township, is a son of Jacob P. and 
 Mary C. (Thomas) Bastian, who were na- 
 tives of Nassau, Germany. They had a fam- 
 ily of six children, of whom August was the 
 fourth in order of birth. He was born in Ger- 
 many Dec. 22, 1822, and when 29 years of age he 
 came to America, and after a year's residence at 
 Louisville, Ky., he came to this county and first lived 
 two years in Somonauk Township, then a year in 
 Kendall County, and finally he settled upon his 
 present place of residence. At first he bought 120 
 
 acres, but he now has double that acreage. He has 
 served the community as Overseer of Highways and 
 as School Director. In his political views he is a 
 Democrat. 
 
 He was married in Oswego, Kendall Co., 111., Oct. 
 n, 1855, to Miss Louisa C. Thomas, daughter of 
 Cost H. and Mary C. (Post) Thomas, who were na- 
 tives of Germany. She also was born in that coun- 
 try Dec. 14, 1829. Mr. and Mrs. Bastian have eight 
 children, Lewis, Peter, Mary C., Gustave W., Ber- 
 tha, Frank, Anna and Charlie A. 
 
 lenjamin Gurler, farmer and stock-raiser, 
 located on section 32, De Kalb Township, 
 was born Oct. 25, 1807, in Nelson, N. H., 
 and is the son of Thomas and Susan (Far- 
 well) Gurler. His father was born in Mar- 
 blehead, Mass., and married a lady who was 
 a native of New Hampshire, where they settled and 
 where both died. They had 10 children. 
 
 Mr. Gurler is their eldest son, and he continued to 
 reside in his native State until 1856. He was there 
 interested in farming, and passed 13 years in the 
 manufacture of cast-steel augers and bits. He set- 
 tled in De Kalb County in the fall of the year named, 
 purchasing 160 acres of land in De Kalb Township, 
 and eight acres in the township of Afton. He lo- 
 cated on the quarter-section which he owned in De 
 Kalb Township, and there established his home- 
 stead. He owns 288 acres of improved and valu- 
 uable land, stocked with 70 head of cattle, 6 horses 
 and about TOO hogs. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Gurler is a Republican. While 
 a resident in New Hampshire, he was a Captain in 
 the old State Militia seven years. 
 
 He was married May 9, 1839, in Chesterfield, N. 
 H., to Harriet F. Hopkins, and they became the 
 parents of five children : Henry B. was born May 
 21, 1840, in Chesterfield. Sarah M. was born Oct. 
 13, 1841, in Keene, N. H., which was the birthplace 
 of George H., born March 29, 1844. Mary J. was 
 born Sept. 6, 1848, in Chesterfield, and died in De 
 Kalb, Nov. 20, 1859. Lizzie T. was born in De 
 Kalb, Feb. 8, 1861. Mrs. Gurler was born Oct. 29, 
 1817, in Colerain, Mass., and is the daughter of 
 Richard and Emmeline (Lewis) Hopkins. Her par- 

 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 . ents were natives of New Hampshire, where they re- 
 sided nearly all their lives with the exception of six 
 years, when they lived at Colerain, Mass. They died 
 in the State of their nativity. 
 
 As a man eminently worthy a place among the 
 leading men of De Kalb County, we place Mr. Gur- 
 ler's portrait in this work. It is engraved from a 
 picture taken in 1874. 
 
 illiam P. Wheeler, farmer, section 23, 
 Clinton Township, is a son of Nathan and 
 Abigail (King) Wheeler, natives of Ver- 
 mont. The senior Wheeler died in his 
 native State, and Mrs. W. in Clinton Town- 
 ship, this county. 
 Mr. Wheeler, whose name heads this sketch, was 
 born in Colchester, Vt, Aug. i, 1810; learned the 
 trade of carpenter and joiner; followed it till 1845, 
 then for six years worked in a saw-mill, and then, in 
 1851, he came to this county and purchased a quar- 
 ter of section 33, where he has since resided, and 14 
 acres in Shabbona Township. He now owns 84 
 acres, most of which is in good cultivation. 
 
 In political matters he is identified with the Demo- 
 cratic party. He has held the office of Justice of the 
 Peace four years, Township Clerk, one year, etc. 
 
 He was married in Rutland Co., Vt v- Oct. 15, 
 1834, to Miss Mary A., daughter of William and 
 Lucy (King) Ambler, natives also of the Green 
 Mountain State. She was born in Lyons, Wayne 
 Co., N. Y., Oct. ip, 1810, the youngest of five chil- 
 dren. Mr. and Mrs. W. are the parents of Lucy, 
 William, Wallace, Julia F. and Henry K. 
 
 " saac Kirkpatrick, manufacturer and miller 
 at Waterman, is a native of the Keystone 
 State. His parents, Jesse and Ruth 
 (Smiley) Kirkpatrick, natives also of Pennsyl- 
 vania, emigrated to De Kalb County, 111., 
 in the spring of 1855, where they spent the 
 remainder of their lives. He died in the spring of 
 1858, and she Oct. 8, 1879. They had six chil- 
 dren, named Ann, Isaac, Smiley, Hiram, Margaret 
 and Ellen. 
 Mr. Kirkpatrick was born in Perry Co., Pa., Oct. 
 
 20, 1822; followed farming and lumbering in his 
 youth till 1855, when he came and settled in Clinton 
 Township, on a farm which he had bought two years 
 previously. Here he followed agricultural pursuits 
 for 17 years, when he sold his place and removed to 
 the village of Waterman, and began the milling busi- 
 ness and afterwards the manufacture of bee-hives 
 and water and stock tanks and cisterns. He had 
 formed a partnership with his son-in-law, W. S. 
 Andrews, under the firm name of Kirkpatrick & 
 Andrews, before he began the manufacture of bee- 
 hives, water and stock tanks, etc., and they are man- 
 aging a good business. In his political views Mr. K. 
 is a Republican. Officially he has been Overseer of 
 Highways in his township and Street Commissioner 
 in Waterman. Both himself and wife belong to the 
 Presbyterian Church. 
 
 He was married in Perry Co., Pa., Oct. 28, 1848, 
 to Catherine McCord, who was born in thai county, 
 Oct. 17, 1817. Mr. and Mrs. Kirkpatrick are the 
 parents of four children Lizzie, Inda, Ida S. and 
 one who died in infancy. Mrs. K.'s parents, Benj. 
 and Elizabeth (Smiley) McCord, were also natives of 
 Pennsylvania, where they passed their entire lives. 
 
 athew W. Olmstead, retired farmer, re- 
 siding in the village of Shabbona, was 
 one of the very first pioneers of Shabbona 
 Township, being the fourth person to effect 
 a settlement in it. He was born in Wilton, 
 Fairfield Co., Conn., Nov. 22, 1804, and is the ^ 
 son of David and Rebecca (Jackson) Olmstead. 
 
 When about 13 years of age he removed with his | 
 parents to Tompkins Co., N. Y. He attended the 
 common schools in that county, learned the black- 
 smith's trade, and removed to Chemung County, 
 that State, where he worked at his trade until 1837. 
 During this year he, in company with his brothers, 
 Lewis and Nathan, came to La Salle County, this f 
 State ; one year and two months later he came to 
 Shabbona, locating there in September, 1838. On 
 arrival at Shabbona, he found Edmond Towne, Oliver 
 P. Johnson, Nathan Olmstead and David Smith. 
 
 Mr. Olmstead selected his claim prior to the Gov- 
 ernment survey, and after the survey was made he 
 found his land comprised a portion of sections 25
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 !i 
 
 ind 36, his house being located on section 25. His 
 farm comprised 207 acres, which he sold some years 
 later and removed to section 36, same township. In 
 1878 he removed to the village of Shabbona, where 
 he has a fine residence and three and a half acres in- 
 side the village corporation. 
 
 Mr. Olmstead was married in Chemung Co., N. Y., 
 June 28, 1828, to Catharine, daughter of Benajah 
 and Agnes Lockerby. She was born in Veteran 
 Township, Chemung Co., N. Y., April 6, 1801, and 
 was the mother, by Mr. Olmstead, of five children, 
 two boys and three girls. The eldest, Robert L., 
 was married to Louisa Clapsaddle, was a member of 
 an Iowa Inf. Reg., was wounded in the Red River 
 expedition, taken prisoner, and died from the effects 
 of his wound, in Texas. Hannah was the wife of 
 Howell Leyson, and died in June, 1881. Araminta 
 is the wife of Lewis Larkin. a resident of Iowa. Re- 
 becca is the wife of William Van Vlack. William 
 W. married Ellen Walker, was a member of the same 
 regiment as his brother, was taken prisoner, ex- 
 changed and died soon after from disease contracted 
 while in service. 
 
 Mrs. Olmstead died Jan. 8, 1857, and June 28, 
 1858, Mr. Olmstead married Mary Walker, at Syca- 
 more, this county. She died in 1863, without issue. 
 Mr. Olmstead was a third time married Jan. 2, 1882, 
 at Northfield, Minn., to Miss Armina, daughter of 
 Benjamin and Elizabeth Lockerby. She was born in 
 Washtenaw Co., Mich., March 15, 1836, and accom- 
 panied her parents to Northfield in 1855. They 
 were pioneers of that place and she resided there 
 until her marriage. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Olmstead is a Republican. He 
 has held the office of School Treasurer some 10 
 years. 
 
 fhomas B. Kolbrook, a retired farmer at 
 Waterman, is from New England. His 
 parents, Jacob and Dorothy (Blahchard) 
 Holbrook, were natives of Weymouth, Mass., 
 where they also terminated their lives. Their 
 three children were Ruth W., Thomas B. and 
 Jacob, Jr. 
 
 The second born, the subject of this sketch, was 
 born also in Weymouth, July 22, 1813, learned the 
 trade of shoemaker of his father, and followed it until 
 
 he came West in 1856. He bought 88 acres of land 
 in Clinton Township, this county, and lived there 
 until January, 1882; then, after spending nearly a 
 year in Michigan, he settled in the village of Water- 
 man, where he now has his residence. He is the 
 owner of 167 acres of land in this county. Publicly, 
 he has been a School Director, and in his views of 
 national affairs he sympathizes with the Republican 
 party. 
 
 He was married in AVeymouth, Mass., June 28, 
 1843, to Miss Mary A., daughter of Isaac and Cyn- 
 thia (Pratt) Reed, who also were natives of Wey- 
 mouth, where they passed their entire lives. They 
 had a family of eight children Eliza, Cynthia, Mary 
 A., Asa, Isaac, Frederick and Stephen. One died in 
 infancy. Mrs. H. was born in Weymouth, Jan. 4, 
 1824, and has become the mother of five children. 
 Ann and Andrew died in infancy, and the surviving 
 children are T. Frank, Ruth W. and Cynthia R. 
 Ruth W. is the wife of George C. Pratt and resides 
 in Jackson, Mich. Cynthia R. is the wife of Hum- 
 phrey Roberts, Jr., and resides in Waterman. T. 
 Frank is settled near Fergus Falls, Minn. 
 
 v 
 
 acob Wirick, deceased, was the second 
 settler of East Paw Paw, coming here in 
 1842. He was born in Cumberland Val- 
 ley, Pa., May 22, 1789, and during his life was 
 a farmer by occupation. He was married in 
 1811, to Mary McCoy, who was born in the 
 same county with him, Dec. 12, 1795. 
 
 They first emigrated to Ohio and thence to a Mor- 
 mon settlement in Missouri called the " Far West ;" 
 but, becoming dissatisfied there, they changed their 
 residence to Adams Co., 111., and later to Nauvoo, 
 111., where Mr. W. was still identified with the Mor- 
 mons, but opposed to polygamy. In 1842 he moved 
 to East Paw Paw, this county, and bought out the 
 only white settler at that point, Wm. Rogers, who 
 kept a hotel. Mr. Wirick bought also 80 acres of 
 land of Mr. Rogers, and added to it by subsequent 
 purchases until he had a total of 240 acres. He 
 also increased the capacity of the hotel, which he 
 named the " Paw Paw House," where he dispensed 
 with a liberal hand the substantial fare of the fron- 
 tier. He was a man of sterling qualities, remark- 
 able for his positive opinions and force of character. 
 
 Q 
 
 r. 

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 In early life he was a Democrat in his political views, 
 but toward his latter days he became independent 
 in his voting. 
 
 He had 14 children, 1 1 of whom grew up, namely : 
 John, born Dec. 9, 1812, died after he had attained 
 the age of manhood : Harriet, born Feb. 25, 1815, 
 died in California; Cornilla, born Oct. 13, 1816, is 
 now the wife of Justin Merrill, of Utah ; William, 
 born May 13, 1818, married Phebe Potts and lives 
 at Princeton, 111.; George, born Feb. n, 1820, mar- 
 ried Juliette Atwood and lives in Aurora, 111.; James, 
 born Aug. 29, 1823, lives in Adrian, Mich.; Ed- 
 mond, born June 25, 1825, married Mary Leyson 
 and lives at Storm Lake, Iowa ; Rebecca, born 
 March 13, 1827, is now the widow of J. H. Breese 
 and resides at Aurora, 111. ; Mary, born April 23, 
 1829, is the wife of D. A. Baxter, of Rochelle, 111., 
 Valentine, born March 25, 1831, first married Eliza- 
 beth Hildebrand, and afterward Jennet Quothera, 
 and now is a resident of Rochelle, 111. ; and Nancy 
 S., born March 5, 1839, is the wife of H. S. Dickin- 
 son of East Paw Paw. 
 
 It K 
 
 !.A. Schermerhorn, farmer, section 30, Clin- 
 ton Township, is a son of Henry and Mi- 
 randa (Mattison) Schermerhorn, natives of 
 New York. They came to this county in 1846 
 and settled on section 30, Clinton Township, 
 where the son now resides. His mother died 
 on the old homestead Aug. 20, i86r. His father still 
 survives and resides in Clinton Township. Their 
 family comprised eight children, namely: Myron 
 B., Herschel A., Lorenzo, George H., Ossian D., 
 Mary E., William M. and Hannah J. 
 
 Herschel A. Schermerhorn, subject of this bio- 
 graphical notice, was born in Jefferson Co., N. Y., 
 Feb. 22, 1845, and was only two years old when his 
 parents moved to this county. He has lived in this 
 county since 1846, except seven years which he 
 spent in Kane County during the early period of his 
 life. He lived at home assisting on the farm and at- 
 tending the common school until he attained the 
 age of 16 years. On arriving at this age, he en- 
 gaged to learn the trade of a carpenter and joiner, 
 which he completed, and which trade he has fol- 
 lowed in connection with fanning ever since. He is 
 
 the owner of 100 acres of land in Clinton Township, 
 all of which is in a good condition of cultivation. 
 
 Mr. Schermerhorn was united in marriage to Miss 
 Emily A. Hall, Dec. 18, 1866, in Somanauk Town- 
 ship. She is a daughter of Wm. and Susan (Sim- 
 mons) Hall, natives of "York State." TJiey had a 
 family of four children, namely: Mary E., Susan 
 A., Emily A. and George B. 
 
 Emily A., wife of Mr. Schermerhorn, was bom in 
 Clinton Township, Jan. 10, 1849. She resided with 
 her parents, assisting in the household duties and 
 embracing the opportunities afforded by the common 
 schools of the county, until her marriage to Mr. S. 
 She has borne him five children, four of whom are 
 yet living, namely : Ettie, Charles H., Estella and 
 Ralph E. Effiie died when three years of age. 
 
 Politically Mr. Schermerhorn is a believer in and 
 supporter of the doctrines and principles of the Re- 
 publican party. 
 
 sa Bailey, residing with his son Cyrenius, 
 on section 23, Shabbona Township, was 
 born in Schoharie Co., N. Y., June 19, 
 1797, the son of Asa and Lucy Bailey, and was 
 reared in the vocations of milling and farming. 
 He has been married twice, first, in early 
 manhood, to Anna McNeil, by whom he had six C 
 children, four of whom are living. Mrs. B. died in 
 1852, and Mr. Bailey, in November, 1854, married 
 Mrs. Esther Shauber, who was born in Saratoga Co., 
 N. Y., Feb. 24, 1811. 
 
 In 1861 Mr. Bailey came to Illinois, settling in 
 Scott Township, Ogle County, where he was engaged \ 
 in agricultural pursuits until 1876, when he came to 
 Shabbona to make his home with his sen. He is / 
 now 88 years of age, and begins to feel the weight of 
 his many years. 
 
 homas Shoop, farmer, section 25, Pierce ' 
 Township, was born Jan. r, 1846, in 
 Holmes Township, Crawford Co., Ohio, and 
 > but one year old when John and Sarah 
 (Schultz) Shoop came to Illinois, and they 
 were among the pioneer settlers of K 
 County. He was brought up to the vocation of his

 
 ' 
 
 (Si 
 
 father that of farming and attended the pioneer 
 schools. After his marriage he bought a farm in 
 Kane Township, which he conducted until 1882, 
 when he bought his present farm, which is located on 
 section 25 of Pierce Township. 
 
 Mr. Shoop was married May 9, 1871,10 Kate 
 Gusler, who died Sept. 31, 1877, aged 33 years, 
 leaving two children, Charles H. and Glen Edward. 
 Her parents were early settlers of Du Page County. 
 The second wife of Mr. Shoop, to whom he was 
 married April 30, 1878, was Emma, daughter of 
 Jacob and Jane Harter. She was born in Center 
 Co., Pa. Mr. and Mrs. Shoop have one child, 
 Jessie. Mr. Shoop's mother died in Pierce Town- 
 ship, Feb. 20, 1885, aged 69 years. She was born 
 in Columbia Co., Pa. 
 
 " oseph. Bartlett, deceased, one of the pioneer 
 settlers of Paw Paw, was born in North- 
 ampton, Mass., Jan. 27, 1790. His parents 
 were Joseph and Lucy (Post) Bartlett. When 
 19 years of age he moved from Massachusetts 
 to Geauga Co., Ohio, in which county, in Hamp- 
 den, March 23, 1810, he married Miss Temperance 
 Pomeroy, daughter of Ichabod Pomeroy. They had 
 five sons and five daughters, viz.: Wealthy, born Dec. 
 18, 1810, is the wife of Shadrach Bosley and resides 
 in Iowa; Sally (ist), born May 7, 1812, died Dec. 
 12 following; Sally (2d), born March 15, 1813, is the 
 wife of Lorenzo Fitch, of Ohio ; Marcus A., born 
 Dec. 25, 1816, married Mary A. Fowler and resides 
 in Paw Paw Township ; Roxana, born April 22, 1818, 
 is now the widow of Charles Firkins, and resides in 
 Paw Paw Township; Lucy, born April 9, 1820, be- 
 came the wife of Cyrus Bosley, and died April 20, 
 1879; Moses, born Oct. n, 1825, first married Miss 
 Martha Harper and afterwards Mrs. Mary Christy, 
 and now is a resident of Paw Paw Township ; Joseph, 
 born Aug. 17, 1827, married Ann Graves and resides 
 in Colorado ; Lester A., born Oct. 3, 1829, died Aug. 
 1 1, 1842 ; and Eli O., born March 17, 1831, married 
 Harriet Wales, and is a resident of Paw Paw Town- 
 ship. 
 
 Mr. Bartlett maintained positive and strict princi- 
 ples in regard to morality, religion and governmental 
 policy. He was an enthusiastic and practical tem- 
 
 
 perance and anti-slavery man. He " harbored " and 2o 
 assisted many a fugitive slave making his way from ^ 
 Egypt to Canaan, that is, from the land of bondage, 
 ignorance and misery to the land of freedom, Canada, 
 on the " under-ground railway." In his religious his- V 
 tory he, as well as his wife, was in early life a Pres- 
 byterian, but after coming to Paw Paw he joined the 
 Congregational Church. 
 
 enry Cristman, deceased, formerly a resi- 
 dent on section 8, South Grove Township, 
 was for many years a leading agriculturist 
 and a prominent citizen of De Kalb County. 
 He was born Feb. i, 1830, in Herkimer Co., 
 N. Y. His parents were of German extraction, 
 and are deceased. ^Mr. Cristman grew to manhood 
 in his native county and obtained his education in 
 the common schools. On attaining his majority he 
 began to operate as a common laborer, and soon re- 
 alized 'the reward of thrift and industry. He was 
 married Dec. 29, 1853, when he was 23 years of age, 
 to Louisa Pooler. She was born Feb. 6, 1837, on 
 the German Flats, an Herkimer County, and is the 
 daughter of Henry Pooler (see sketch), who was a 
 prominent actor in the history of that county. He 
 was extensively interested in agriculture, acquiring 
 considerable property in that business. He came 
 to Illinois and settled on a tract of 300 acres of land, 
 which he purchased in the township of Cortland and 
 where he has since resided, on one of the most valu- 
 able farms in the county. The mother of Mrs. 
 Cristman, Margaret (Shoemaker) Pooler, was born 
 in New York, and is still living. Mrs. Cristman is 
 the mother of three children : Emma is the wife of 
 Amos Willis, of Kingston, and has had two children : 
 Ida, who married Fred Goodrich, a farmer in South 
 Grove Township, and has had two children; and 
 Mary (Mrs. Schram) has one child. 
 
 About one year subsequent to marriage, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Cristman came to Illinois and purchased 128 
 acres of improved land. The proprietor exercised 
 the same proclivities which had proved efficacious in 
 his early experience, and made additions to his 
 estate until it aggregated 600 acres. He enga 
 general farming and in raising stock, also entering 
 largely into the manufacture of cheese. Later on, 
 
 4*@@.
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 he became interested in traffic in horses, and en- 
 gaged to a considerable extent in buying and ship- 
 ping to Eastern markets. He had a wide reputation 
 as a judge of horses and stock generally, and his 
 herds on his farm made a good exhibit of cattle, sheep 
 and swine of excellent grades. 
 
 Mr. Cristman died Jan. 4, 1883, in the prime of 
 his manhood and at the height of his success and 
 popularity as a man and citizen of De Kalb County. 
 He was a Republican in politics and had held the 
 most responsible local official positions. His estate is 
 managed by his heirs, who conduct its affairs on the 
 same basis as formerly. 
 
 Among the many valuable portraits of prominent 
 citizens of De Kalb County included in this valuable 
 volume, will be found those of Mr. and Mrs. Crist- 
 man, made from photographs taken in 1874. 
 
 _than A. Pritchard, deceased, was former- 
 ly a lawyer, and a farmer on section 29, in 
 Clinton Township. His parents, Reuben 
 and Maria (Mason) Pritchard, natives of New 
 York State, had four children, who in order of 
 birth were Reuben M., Ethan A., Ira and Maria. 
 He was born in Malone, N. Y., Nov. 8, 1832, and 
 came in 1845 to this county with his parents, who 
 settled in Clinton Township. In the fall of 1857 
 Ethan A. moved to Aurora, 111. In April, 1861, he 
 enlisted for the war in defense of his country, in the 
 i3th 111. Vol. Inf., and served three years, participat- 
 ing in the sieges of Vicksburg and Jackson, Miss., 
 , and other heavy engagements, as well as in many 
 skirmishes, etc. He was promoted from the private 
 * ranks to the position of First Lieutenant. After his 
 term of enlistment expired he returned to Aurora, 
 and in March, 1865, to Clinton Township, and died 
 the following 291)1 of July, of consumption. When 
 about 24 years of age he took up the study of law, 
 and practiced that profession with marked success. 
 At the time of his death he owned 353 acres of land 
 in Clinton Township. In religion he was a member 
 of the Congregational Church, and in politics a Re- 
 publican, and at the date of his death he was a nom- 
 inee for County Treasurer. 
 
 He was married July 20, 1856, at Linwood, Benton 
 Co., Iowa, to Miss Sarah E., daughter of Josiah and 
 
 ^^ % 
 
 Locena (Hodges) Wilkins. Her parents were natives 
 of the State of New York, had a family of 1 3 chil- 
 dren : Elizabeth, Anson T.,Dayton, Alfred T., Josiah, 
 Sarah E., Afaminta, Ursula, Newton J., Mary A., 
 Hannah J., and two who died in infancy. Mrs. 
 Pritchard was bom in Ontario Co., N. Y., Jan. 24, 
 1833, and is the mother of three children, Ethan 
 A., who was drowned when about seven years old at 
 Aurora on Fox River, Elotia A. and Elliott A. Mrs. 
 Pritchard is a member of the Congregational Church. 
 
 ra Park, retired farmer, residing at Earlville, 
 La Salle Co., 111., was a pioneer of Shabbona 
 Township, De Kalb Co., having located 
 herein 1838. He was born in Massachusetts, 
 in 1812, and is a son of Jonathan and Patience 
 (Fox) Park. His parents moved to Ohio when 
 the son was four years of age, where he grew to man- 
 hood. He followed the vocation of a farmer while in 
 that State. He was married in Marion Co., Ohio, to 
 Matilda McNeal, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth 
 (Finley) McNeal. She was born March 2, 1815, in 
 Ireland, and came to America with her parents when 
 she was two years old. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Park were the parents of six chil- 
 dren, as follows : Elizabeth was born in Marion Co., 
 Ohio, Aug. 13, 1832, and died Dec. 18, 1876 ; John 
 B. was born in Marion Co., Ohio, Oct. 26, 1834; 
 Sarah A. was born at Holderman Grove, 111., Feb. 
 10, 1838, and died Dec. 15, 1865 ; Levi W. was born 
 in Shabbona Township, June 12, i84r, and died May 
 7, 1869; George F. was born June 17, 1849, in Shab- 
 bona Township ; and one child died in infancy. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Park is a Republican ; and himself 
 and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church. 
 
 ^umphrey Roberts, a prominent pioneer of 
 Clinton Township, is a native of Wales. 
 His parents, Humphrey and Mary (Owens) 
 Roberts, natives also of that county, emigrated t f 
 to America in 1832 and settled in Oneida Co., 
 N. Y., where his father died, in June, 1854; his 
 mother died in Wyoming Co., N. Y., Dec. 28, 1867. ($)] 
 They had a family of eight children, namely, Mary, 
 
 I
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 .^ 
 
 v/ 
 
 Owen, Griffith, Robert, John, Thomas, Ellen and 
 Humphrey. 
 
 The youngest above mentioned, the subject of this 
 brief biographical outline, was born Dec. 22, 1823, 
 and was ten years old when he came with his par- 
 ents to America. Remaining at the paternal home 
 until 23 years of age, he married, and a year after- 
 ward he came to Kane County, this State, where he 
 followed farming for ten years. In 1857 he came to 
 De Kalb County and settled upon a quarter-section 
 of land in Clinton Township, which he had bought 
 some six years previously. After successfully prose- 
 cuting agricultural pursuits there about 25 years, he 
 built a fine residence in Waterman, into which he 
 moved in 1882. He is the possessor of 340 acres of 
 land in Clinton Township, besides 100 acres in Lee 
 County. The village of Waterman, which he platted, 
 is located upon what was once his land. He has 
 held the office of Highway Commissioner two terms, 
 and has had minor official trusts. In his political 
 views he is a Republican, and in religion a Baptist. 
 
 Mr. Roberts was married in Oneida Co., N. Y., 
 Jan. 7, 1846, to Miss Catherine, daughter of Wm. G. 
 and Grace (Williams) Jones. Her parents were 
 natives of Wales, and emigrated (before marriage) to 
 the above mentioned county, where her parents died. 
 Her mother died June 6, 1830. Their two children 
 were Catherine and Wm. G., Jr. Mrs. Roberts was 
 born in that county, July 23, 1824. Mr. and Mrs. R. 
 have had six children, namely: William W., born 
 Oct. 16, 1846; John Q., March 12, 1849; J. Delos, 
 July 7, jSsi ; Helena W., Jan. 28, 1853; Grace A., 
 Nov. 30, 1855 ; Humphrey, Jr., April 28, 1858. John 
 Q. died Aug. 31, 1851, and Helena W., Aug. 21, 
 
 le A. Hommersand, of the firm of Eide & 
 Hommersand, dealers in general merchan- 
 dise, at Lee, was born near the city of 
 Stavanger, Norway, Aug. 16, 1858, and is the 
 son of Andreas and Lena (Irubs) Hommers- 
 and. He emigrated from Norway to the 
 ^ United States in the spring of 1871, and until De- 
 >j> cember, 1874, made his home on a farm near Lee, 
 [ in De Kalb County. Returning then to his native 
 country, he was employed as a merchant's clerk until 
 
 1 88 1, when he came again to the land of greater 
 opportunity, engaging the next year as a clerk in the 
 general store of Berlizheimer & Stensland at Lee, 
 this county. On the i6th of October, 1883, he 
 formed the present partnership with T. Eide, and V, 
 their business is in a prosperous condition. 
 
 In his political views, Mr.. H. is a Republican, and 
 in religion he is a member of the Lutheran Church. 
 
 bijah Little, Jr., retired farmer, residing at 
 Waterman, Clinton Township, is a son of 
 Abijah, Sr., and Elizabeth (Bean) Little, na- 
 tives of New Hampshire. His father's family 
 comprised 10 children, of which Abijah, Jr., is 
 the fifth in order of birth. He was born in 
 Canada June 9, 1809. His early years were spent 
 on his father's farm, assisting in its cultivation and 
 attending the common schools in Canada. June 20, 
 1848, he came to this State and purchased an entire 
 section of land (section 8) in Clinton Township, this 
 county. He subsequently disposed of a part of the 
 land, and continued to reside an the remainder until 
 the spring of 1875. At that date he retired from the 
 farm and erected a fine residence at Waterman, 
 where he is at present residing. He learned the car- 
 penter and joiner's trade in his younger days, and did 
 the larger portion of the work on his residence at 
 Waterman himself. His present arable possessions 
 comprise about 170 acres in Clinton and Shabbona 
 Townships, most of which is in a tillable condition. 
 Mr. Little has been twice married. He was first 
 united in marriage Sept. 20, 1830, in Canada, to Miss 
 Eleanor McNorton, who was a native of New Hamp- 
 shire, of Scotch parentage. The union was blessed 
 with seven children, namely : William, born Aug. 20, 
 1831; John, born in September, 1832; Elizabeth, 
 born in November, 1834; Edwin, born July 7, 1835 
 Jennette, born in August, 1838; Edgar and Ellen, 
 twins, born in April, 1841. 
 
 The wife and mother died in Clinton Township, in 
 August, 1860. His second marriage occurred April 
 27, 1867, at De Kalb. Mrs. Lucy Fearon, widow of 
 Alfred Fearon, was the bride. Her husband died in 
 Canada Nov. 29, 1857. Her maiden name was East- 
 man and she is a daughter of Peter and Thankful 
 (Powley) Eastman, and was eighth in order of birth ot 
 
 I 
 I
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 
 _ _ children born to them. She was born in Canada 
 ij May 24, 1829, and is the mother by Mr. Fearon of 
 two children, namely: Ida A., born Nov. 9, 1852, and 
 Alfred J., born April 21, 1854. 
 
 ( ^j Mr. Little was the first Mayor of Waterman. In 
 politics he is a Democrat and has held many of the 
 minor offices of his township. 
 
 : awling A. Morey, farmer, section 30, Paw 
 |! Paw Township, was born in Ballston, Sara- 
 toga Co., N. Y., Dec. 14, 1829, and was 
 brought up on the farm. His parents were 
 Jesse and Amanda (Pawling) Morey. On 
 coming to Illinois in 1853, he spent a short 
 time in prospecting in La Salle and De Kalb Coun- 
 ties, and returned East. 
 
 In the spring of 1855 he came to De Kalb County 
 and located in Shabbona Township, where he pur- 
 chased a quarter of section 33, in partnership with 
 Cyreniiis Bailey. After a residence of four years 
 there he purchased a place on section 3, Paw Paw 
 _ Township. In 1869 he bought his present farm of 
 $ 1 60 acres, on section 30, where he prosperously man- 
 ages a comfortable home. In his political views he 
 ) is independent. 
 
 He was married in Paw Paw Township Feb. 22, 
 1859, to Miss Sallie A., daughter of Peter and Maria 
 (Wilkison) Hagadorn. She was born in Albany, N. 
 Y., Aug. i, 1827. Mr. and Mrs. Morey have two 
 children, namely: David C., born in Shabbona 
 Township, Dec. r8, 1860; and Jessie A., in Paw Paw 
 Township, Dec. 20, 1865. 
 
 Joseph Dyas, proprietor of the Sandwich 
 House at Sandwich, is the son of Joseph 
 and Abigail (Abbey) Dyas, and was born 
 Jan. i, 1825, in Albany, N. Y. In early life he 
 passed some years as a saw-mill assistant, and 
 later went to Wisconsin, buying 160 acres of 
 land in the township of Harris, Marquette County, 
 where he was engaged eight years in farming. He 
 went thence to Green, Lake County, in the same 
 State, where he passed two years on 80 acres of 
 prairie farm land. He went in 1861 to Minnesota, 
 
 ' 
 
 where he had previously purchased a farm about 30 
 miles southeast of St. Peter's, and not long after went 
 to Cedar Falls, Iowa, and in company with a brother- 
 in-law, G. N. Miner, entered into the manufacture of 
 lumber and also of flour barrels, heading and staves, 
 in which line of business he was interested two years. 
 He exchanged his property for 160 acres of land in 
 De Kalb County, township of Shabbona, which he 
 managed three years. In the fall of 1865 he came 
 Sandwich and bought the hotel which he has since 
 conducted. The house is the leading place of public 
 entertainment at Sandwich, and can accommodate 
 about 40 guests. 
 
 Mr. Dyas was married in Peru, Berkshire Co., 
 Mass., May 9, r847, to Mary Ann Miner, and they 
 have three sons: Joseph P., born June 4, 1848. He 
 married Carmina, daughter of Carmi and Mercy 
 (Phelps) Wells. Webster M. was born Sept. 28, 
 1852, and married Caroline Gertrude Sedgwick, 
 daughter of Hon. W. W. Sedgwick. He is a druggist 
 at Arlington Heights, 111. Charles De Witt Clinton, 
 born Dec. r4, 1857, is a traveling salesman. 
 
 miley Kirkpatrick, farmer, section 22, 
 Clinton Township, is a son of Jesse and 
 Ruth (Smiley) Kirkpatrick, natives of Penn- 
 sylvania, who in 1855 settled in the above 
 mentioned township, where they spent the re- 
 mainder of their life : he died Dec. ig, 1857, 
 and she Oct. 8, 1880. They had six children, 
 namely, Ann, Isaac, Smiley, Hiram, Margaret and 
 Eleanor. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was born in Perry Co,, 
 Pa., March 31, 1825. He received his education at 
 the common school and at New Bloomfield Academy 
 in his native county, attending the latter about two 
 years. His father had a saw-mill, and he assisted 
 in the operation of the mill and also of the farm, un- 
 til 20 years of age, when for seven months he taught 
 school. He followed clerking in a store for a time 
 and traveled a period. In 1855, when 30 years of 
 age, he came to this county, settling upon 80 acres 
 of land in Clinton Township, which he had bought 
 in 1853. At the same time he purchased a quarter- 
 section of Government land in Milan Township. 
 Since that date he has resided in Clinton Township, 

 

 
 and is now the owner of 320 acres, all in good till- 
 able condition. At the present time he has his two 
 sons, Marvin H. and I. Frank, associated with him 
 in the management of his farm. He keeps about 
 135 head of live stock. 
 
 Mr. Kirkpatrick has held the office of Justice of 
 the Peace one term, that of Township Clerk two 
 terms, and other offices. He is a Republican in his 
 political views, and in religion a member of the Pres- 
 byterian Church, as is also Mrs. K. 
 
 He was married in his native county, Sept. 15, 
 1853, to Anna M. Hippie, daughter of Lawrence 
 and Sarah (Heafy) Hippie, who were also natives of 
 the Keystone State, of Holland ancestry. They had 
 a family of 1 1 children. Mrs. K. was born in Carl- 
 isle, Cumberland Co., Pa., March 27, 1831, and she 
 has had 10 children : Marvin H., Elmer H., I. 
 Frank, Emma S., Mary E., Jesse L., William L., 
 Albert O. and a pair of twins who died in infancy. 
 
 ^pafford Smith, whose portrait appears on 
 the page opposite, is a retired farmer, and 
 is resident at Sycamore. He was born 
 May 18, 1809, in Windsor, Vt. He is the son 
 of Asahel and Elizabeth (Kendall) Smith, and 
 his father was the son of one of the pioneer 
 settlers of Windsor, who died therein 1810. The 
 family originated in Connecticut, and Asahel Smith 
 was born in Farmington in that State, Oct. 15, 1756. 
 He was nine years of age when his parents joined 
 the pioneers of the Green Mountain State, then 
 known as the New Hampshire Grants. He became 
 a soldier of the Revolution and saw much active ser- 
 vice in the course of that struggle. He was present 
 at the surrender of Burgoyne at the battle of Sara- 
 toga. He died in Windsor, in 1848. 
 
 The father of Mr. Smith was a farmer and reared 
 the son to habits of thrift and industry, giving him 
 what was then considered a fair education. He was 
 apprenticed at 17 years of age to learn the business 
 of a carpenter, and after obtaining a thorough knowl- 
 edge of all its details he pursued it as a vocation 
 summers and taught school winters. Later, he oper- 
 
 ated as a contractor and builder, and managed a 
 considerable business until 1839, when he came to 
 De Kalb County. He became the proprietor of 300 
 acres of land in Mayfield Township, and fora period 
 of seven years worked as a carpenter and managed 
 his farm. At the expiration of that time he found 
 the twofold duties inconvenient and injurious, and 
 he relinquished the pursuit of his trade as a builder. 
 At the time of his arrival in De Kalb County the 
 homes of the few settlers were built of logs; there 
 were no roads, and the nearest market place was 
 Chicago. When he built a house a pound of nails 
 was worth a pound of butter. There was one hotel 
 at Sycamore and three small houses, and he has been 
 the witness of the entire growth and progress of the 
 place. There was no school at Sycamore for several 
 years, and for nearly two years after he came here 
 there was no meeting held, the community being too 
 small in number to form a respectably sized congre- 
 gation. 
 
 Mr. Smith has been a resident of the city of Syca- 
 more since 1870, and has been actively interested in 
 whatever enterprises have promised permanent ben- 
 efit to the place. He is a sincere friend of morality 
 in every phase and has been a substantial promoter 
 of religious interests, aiding with his means in the 
 building of the various church edifices, and has been 
 a stockholder in the different manufacturing interests 
 of the place. He is a member of the Baptist Church 
 in which he is an official, and has also done effective 
 service in the temperance ranks. He has served his 
 generation in official capacities, has been Assessor 
 several .times, and has taken an active interest in 
 school matters, discharging the duties of the several 
 official positions. 
 
 Mr. Smith has traveled considerably in his own 
 country, visited the Centennial Exposition and spent 
 ten days in the City of Brotherly Love. He has 
 journeyed through New England and in the West, 
 particularly in Nebraska. He has suffered from ac- 
 cident more than most men in the ordinary walks of 
 life, sustaining at one time a fracture of four ribs. 
 At another he had a shoulder broken, and afterwards 
 the other shoulder, and is still in unbroken health, 
 and sound in constitution. 
 
 He was married June 9, 1835, to Eliza Sholes, and 
 they had three children, Louisa, Eliza Ann and 
 Edwin P. They also had an adopted daughter, 
 Ar-^ ^nJSilLiir' _*A^vX 
 
 & 
 
 I
 
 Jennie. The mother died in 1880, and Mr. Smith 
 was a second time married in December, 1882, to 
 9 Mrs. Marcia Van Horn. 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 acob F. Plapp, deceased, was one of the 
 earliest of the permanent pioneer settlers 
 of the township of Pierce, where he located 
 1848. He was a native of Wurtemburg, 
 
 Germany, where he was born June 29, 1816. 
 
 According to the law of that country he was 
 placed at school at the age of six years and continued 
 there until he was 14 years old. He was then em- 
 ployed in a vineyard where he spent two years, after 
 which he engaged in the management of a dairy, 
 which he conducted 18 months. He next passed 
 six months at home, and then re-entered the service 
 of his first employer, with whom he continued about 
 one year and was subsequently engaged in agricul- 
 tural labor until he decided to cross the ocean and 
 cast his fate in another land and among another 
 people. In 1838 he set out for the Western Conti- 
 nent on a sailing vessel, and after a passage of 42 
 days' duration landed at Baltimore. He found him- 
 self in the beautiful Monumental City without money, 
 but his readiness to work soon obtained employment, 
 and a month later he had sufficient means to set out 
 for Pennsylvania. He left Baltimore on foot, and 
 14 miles from the city he obtained employment on 
 a farm at $6 a month. He worked at that point five 
 months, and then made his way to his uncle's in 
 Erie Co., Pa. He remained there engaged in farm- 
 ing and chopping wood until 1844, when he located 
 in Kane Co., 111. He was there employed by the 
 Howard Mill Company and assisted in erecting the 
 mills at Geneva, after which he engaged in farming. 
 When he came to De Kalb County, in 1848, he 
 settled on the east half of the northeast quarter of 
 section 24, township No. 39, range 5 east, now in- 
 cluded in Pierce Township. He had saved his 
 earnings, and at once proceeded to the land office at 
 Chicago, and had a sufficient sum to pay the re- 
 quired amount in full. He worked the first year for 
 a Mr. Churchill in Kane County, and in 1849 built a 
 small frame house on his land and began the im- 
 provement of his property. He owned at the time 
 of his death 80 acres, all under good improvement, 
 
 with a fine frame house and fruit and shade trees. 
 He was also the owner of 50 acres of land in Kane 
 County, situated across the road from his homestead. 
 This is devoted to the growth of grain and stock- 
 raising. 
 
 Mr. Plapp was married in 1850, to Elizabeth Lipp, 
 She was born Sept. 25, 1820, in Wurtemburg, Ger- 
 many. Nine of their children are living, Mary, Re- 
 becca, Jacob, David, Philip, Elizabeth, Jonathan, 
 Catherine and Aaron. The father and mother are 
 members of the Evangelical Association. 
 
 When he first fixed his residence in Pierce Town- 
 ship, Mr. Plapp was obliged to go to Geneva, 16 
 miles distant, for mill privileges, and he took his first 
 crops to Chicago, 60 miles, with an ox team. The 
 condition of the roads, sloughs not being bridged, re- 
 tarded progress to such extent that four days were 
 commonly consumed in going there. 
 
 Mr. Plapp died at his residence in Pierce Town- 
 ship, Jan. 25, 1885, loved and respected by all who 
 knew him. 
 
 Hoot, farmer, section 7, Clinton Town- 
 ship, is a son of Lawrence and Rocksa 
 (Pratt) Root, natives of New York. They 
 came 'to this county in 1856 and settled in De 
 Kalb Township, where they resided until their 
 death. Of 14 children born of their union n 
 survive, namely, Icy, Fanny, Jerome, Rocksa, Caro- 
 line, Horace (2d), Cynthia, Philo J., Lewis A., Ger- 
 main (2d), and James M. Germain (ist), Horace D. 
 (ist) and an infant are deceased. 
 
 Horace Root was born in Herkimer Co., N. Y., 
 Feb. 24, 1833. He resided on his father's farm, as- 
 sisting in the cultivation of the same, and attending 
 the common schools during his early years, until he 
 was 28 years old. At that age he accompanied his 
 father to this county, in 1856, and located. Soon 
 thereafter, Mr. Root rented a farm in Sycamore 
 Township, which he cultivated one year, and then 
 ranted a farm in De Kalb Township. He cultivated 
 the latter farm two years, then moved to Muskegon, 
 Mich., and engaged in carpentering, which trade he 
 had mastered in York State. He followed his trade 
 at the latter place for two and one-half years, then 
 returned to this county and from his savings pur- 
 
 -SH^JK: 4^^^@ 

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 chased 99 acres of land situated on section 7, Clin- 
 ton Township, on which he moved and is at present 
 residing. His land is all in a tillable condition. 
 
 Mr. Root was married in De Kalb, Dec. 20, 1860, 
 to Miss Mary A. De Long. She is a daughter of 
 Hiram and Eliza (Post) De Long, natives of New 
 York. They came to this county in 1855 and set- 
 tled in the village of De Kalb. To them were born 
 six children, namely : Mary A., Elizabeth, James, 
 Matilda A., Elinor and Hiram A. 
 
 Mrs. Root was born in Herkimer Co., N. Y., Oct. 
 n, 1837. They have one daughter, adopted, Nora 
 A., born Dec. 29, 1869. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Root is a Republican. He has 
 held the office of Road Commissioner, School Di- 
 rector and others of minor impoit. 
 
 eorge R. Holmes, farmer, section 25, Paw 
 Paw Township, is a son of Richard and 
 Lucretia (Smith) Holmes, and was born in 
 Oneida Co., N. Y., June n, 1840. His father 
 was a farmer by occupation and during the in- 
 fancy of his son George, moved his family to 
 Jefferson Co., N. Y. He left that county in 1846 and 
 came with his family to this county, settling in Paw 
 Paw Township. 
 
 George Holmes consequently came to this county 
 with his parents when in his sixth year, and has re- 
 sided here ever since. He was brought up on his 
 father's farm, in Paw Paw Township, and received an 
 academic education. 
 
 Mr. Holmes was married at Leland, La Salle 
 County, this State, Dec. 24, 1861, to Miss Frances 
 M., daughter of Dr. Darwin and Martha C. (Smith) 
 Hinckley, of Leland. She was born in Mercer, Som- 
 erset Co., Me., July 24, 1844, and came to Hardin, 
 this State, with her parents when four years of age. 
 Seven children constituted the issue of their union, 
 namely: Ella M., born Oct. 6, 1863, in Leland. 
 Mary C., Oct. 23, 1865. S. Wright, July 17, 1868. 
 George H ., Aug. i r , 1 87 i . Frances L. (called " Tot "), 
 Oct. 31, 1877. Bert D, Feb. 8, 1881. Clyde R., 
 July 13, 1883. 
 
 Mr. Holmes has a well improved farm of 240 
 
 , :SHJ%JK: Q-& 
 
 acres, and is one of the active, energetic farmers of ^ 
 the county. Politically, he votes and acts with the 
 Democratic party. 
 
 ohn Kuter, deceased, a former resident of 
 Pierce Township, was born in 1792 in 
 Brooks Co., Pa. His parents were both 
 $ T natives of Pennsylvania, and his father was a 
 Revolutionary patriot. He died at the age of 
 91 years. In early life, John Kuter bought a 
 farm in Schuykill Co., Pa. Previous to that he had 
 learned the trade of carpenter, which he followed 
 but a few years. He married Lydia Kahler, also a 
 native of Pennsylvania, and in 1850 sold his farm in 
 the Keystone State, and, accompanied by his son, 
 Israel, came to De Kalb County and bought 400 
 acres of land on section 25, of township 39, range 
 5. He secured his claim by payment of part of the 
 Government demand and stipulated for the payment 
 of the remainder in the spring of the year to follow. 
 He returned to Pennsylvania and spent the winter, 
 and set out for his farm in Illinois in the spring, car- 
 rying with him $4,000 in gold and silver coin. It 
 was too heavy to be carried like any other baggage, 
 and was placed in a wooden box and strapped with 
 iron and wooden hoops. It was missent from Harris- 
 burg, and he was delayed at Detroit while awaiting 
 its return from St. Louis. He wished to take the 
 box with him in the car in which he traveled West- 
 ward, but the railroad officials decided against him, 
 and it was placed in a freight car, from which it was 
 stolen. Through an attorney of Chicago he brought 
 suit against the railroad company for the recovery of 
 the value of his property, and won the case, which 
 was sent to the Appellate Court and the judgment 
 sustained. He recovered a portion of his loss. 
 After remaining a year on the land for which he had 
 bargained, he relinquished his claim, and purchased 
 the southeast quarter of section 24 in the same 
 township, where he resided until death. He became 
 the father of 12 children, nine of whom are living. 
 
 Israel Kuter, eldest son, was born June 23, 1824, 
 in Schuykill Co., Pa. He was reared on the farm 
 and taught in the public schools. At the age of 15 
 years he connected himself with the Evangelical 
 Association, and as soonjas practicable began to pre-
 
 524 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTV. 
 
 pare for the ministry. He entered upon the duties 
 of a preacher in the Naperville circuit of the Evan- 
 gelical Church, and continued his efforts in ministe- 
 rial labors until 1878, preaching at Chicago, Milwau- 
 kee, Racine, Winona, and other places. He was 
 stationed at the place last named seven years ; in all, 
 he officiated as Presiding Elder eight years. Some 
 years previous he had purchased the family home- 
 stead in Pierce Township, and of this he took pos- 
 session in 1878. Since that date he has put the place 
 in excellent condition, erected good farm buildings 
 and set out fruit, shade and ornamental trees. 
 
 He has been twice married. Elizabeth Louter- 
 mich, to whom he was married May 6, 1849, was 
 born June 4, 1830, and died Dec. 20, 1861. Of this 
 union three children were born named Henry, 
 George and Sarah. The last named was born Dec. 
 !?> 1859, and died July 25, 1881. Mr. Kuter was 
 married again Oct. 16, 1862, to Margaretta Schweit- 
 zer, a native of Freeport, Stephenson Co., III. She 
 is the daughter of John and Barbara (Kaercher) 
 Schweitzer, and her parents were pioneers of Free- 
 port. Her father went to California, and her mother, 
 during his absence, settled at Preston, Fillmore Co., 
 Minn., where she bought a claim of land. ' On this 
 land now stands the beautiful village of Preston, the 
 present county seat of Fillmore County. Mrs. 
 Schweitzer proved to be a better financier than her 
 husband, for, during his absence she made more 
 money in Minnesota than he did in California! 
 Mr. and Mrs. Kuter have six children, Albert H., 
 Luella I., Charles E., Daniel M., Ida M. and Ruth- 
 erford L. 
 
 ; ichael J. O'Connor, farmer, section 7, 
 Clinton Township, is from the State of 
 New York. His parents, John and Mary 
 (Joyce) O'Connor, natives of Ireland, emi- 
 grated to America in 1825, settling in the State 
 of New York, where they spent the remainder 
 of their lives. 
 
 The subject of this sketch, the youngest of a 
 family of 10 children, was born in Franklin Co., N. 
 Y., Feb. 12, 1844. Lived at home till about 17 
 years old, when he entered service on the lakes, 
 which he followed for 1 1 summer seasons, in differ- 
 
 ent relations. He first came to De Kalb County in 
 the summer of 1865, but did not settle permanently 
 in the county until 1872. In 1874 he purchased 160 
 acres of land in Clinton Township, on section 7, 
 where he has since lived. He is now the owner of 
 240 acres, 200 of which is in a good state of cultiva- 
 tion. In politics he is a Democrat, and in religion 
 both himself and wife are members of the Catholic 
 Church. 
 
 Mr. O'Connor was married in Chicago, 111., July 5, 
 1873, to Maria Lynch, daughter of Thomas and 
 Margaret (Feeney) Lynch, natives of Ireland, and 
 came to La Salle Co., 111., about 1856; in r866 they 
 removed to this county, settling in the township of 
 Paw Paw. Mrs. O'Connor, the second child in a 
 family of seven children, was born in Columbia Co., 
 N. Y., March r7, 1851. She has become the mother 
 of four children, named Minnie, Thomas, John and 
 Margaret P. Thomas died when two and a half 
 years of age. 
 
 ames B. Harper, farmer, section 35, Paw 
 Paw Township, was born in Argyle, Wash- 
 ington Co., N. Y., June 19, 1819. His 
 father, James Harper, was of Irish descent, 
 and his mother, nee Elizabeth Black, of Scotch. 
 He came to Paw Paw Township Dec. 3, 1853, 
 locating at Ross Grove, where he engaged in farm- 
 ing until 1860, when he removed to his present farm, 
 which comprises 240 acres. 
 
 Politically Mr. H. is an earnest Democrat. 
 He was married in Sterling, Cayuga Co., N. Y., 
 Nov. 18, 1844, to Miss Elizabeth, daughter of James 
 and Mary (Brown) Smiley. She was born at Lyons, 
 Wayne Co., N. Y., Nov. 20, 1826. By this marriage 
 there were five children, namely : Mary E., born 
 Sept. 26, 1845, died aged eight years; Andrew G., 
 born March 25, 1847, married Emma Wallace and 
 resides in Aurora, 111.; Dewitt C., born Dec. r8, 
 1848, married Cora Rice and is a resident of Sedg- 
 wick Co., Kan.; Thomas A., born Dec. 18, 1850, 
 married Carrie Gorton and lives also in Sedgwick 
 Co., Kan.; and Alanson C., born Oct. 14, 1852, died 
 at the age of five years. 
 
 Mrs. Harper died Oct. 20, 1852, and Mr. Harper 
 was again married, March 18, 1854, in Oswego Co., 
 
 v,

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 5 2 7 
 
 N. Y., to Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Chancy and 
 Sally (Scott) Comins. She was born in Steuben Co., 
 N. Y., Nov. 15, 1833, and by this marriage there 
 have been seven children, viz. : James H., born 
 June 22, 1854, married Jennett Hubbel, and lives in 
 La Salle Co., 111. ; Alice E., born Dec. 7, 1855, is the 
 wife of Reuben Baxter, of Paw Paw Township ; 
 William, born April 7, 1857 ; Robert, Aug. 10, 1862, 
 died Dec. 5, 1864; Mary J., born Feb. 13, 1864; 
 Margaret A., Nov. 29, 1865 ; and Charles, April 15, 
 1867. 
 
 Mrs. H. is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church. 
 
 rank O. Van Galder, associate editor and 
 junior member of the firm of Hix & Van 
 Galder, publishers of the City Weekly, 
 Sycamore, 111., was born in La Prairie Towrt- 
 *f?* "ff$~* sn 'P> near Janesville, Wis., on the 6th day of 
 ica { January, 1855, andis theson of Truman W. and 
 Mary (Phelps) Van Galder. The father was a native 
 of Niagara Co., N. Y., and was born July 3, 1822. 
 The mother is a native ofMt. Morris, Livingston Co., 
 ^ N. Y., and was born March 9, 1822. The parents 
 of the former were natives of Vermont, and those of 
 the latter of Pennsylvania. The Van Galders came 
 originally from Holland. 
 
 Truman W. Van Galder and Mary Phelps 'were 
 united in marriage at Montville, Ohio, Jan. 29, 1843, 
 and were the parents of nine children, four sons and 
 five daughters, all of whom survive with the excep- 
 tion of the youngest daughter. From Ohio, they 
 removed to Michigan at quite an early day, and from 
 the latter State to Wisconsin in 185 1. Mr. Van Gal- 
 der was a cooper by trade and carried on the busi- 
 ness extensively in the city of Janesville. His 
 establishment, in fact, was the first of the kind in the 
 place. While a citizen of Wisconsin, during a large 
 portion of which time he was engaged in agricultural 
 pursuits, he held several offices of trust, having 
 served as a Justice of the Peace and Supervisor of 
 his town. In 1868 the family removed to Sycamore, 
 where he became a manufacturer of brick on a large 
 scale, a business which he followed until his death, 
 Jan. 24, 1882, and is continued by his sons, Philo H. 
 and FredW. While a resident of New York, Mr. 
 
 Van Galder was engaged in operating a number of 
 salt wells. He was a man of great industry and en- 
 ergy, and a citizen of sterling worth. He was a 
 member of Lodge No. 105, I. O. O. F., and of the 
 Patriarchal Circle, No. 2. Truman Temple was 
 organized in 1882, and was named in honor of Mr. 
 Van Galder. The subject of this sketch is also a 
 member of Lodge No. 105, I. O. O. F., and of the 
 Good Templar!' Lodge. 
 
 The educational advantages enjoyed by him were 
 those of the common school. In 1874 he entered 
 the office of the Free Methodist, with a view of 
 learning the printing trade. He also worked for a 
 time in the office of the News, at De Kalb, and the 
 True Republican, at Sycamore. As local editor of 
 the Daily News he was employed a few months. 
 On the i4th of January, 1878, the firm of Van Gal- 
 der & Davis commenced the publication of the Daily 
 Free Press, Mr. Van Galder retiring in August 
 following. In September, 1878, he became associ- 
 ated with V. Hix in the publication of the Sycamore 
 City Weekly, the partnership then formed continuing 
 to the present time. From 1881 to 1883 the firm 
 also was engaged in the publication of the Daily Re- 
 corder. ' He is at present the Sycamore representa- 
 tive of the Chicago Times. Frank O. Van Galder 
 and Florence M. Talbot, daughter of Charles and 
 Harriet Talbot, of Cortland, early settlers of this 
 county, were united in marriage March 17. 1881. She 
 was born in Cortland, Jan. 17, 1861. They have 
 two children, Annie Claire and Cora May. 
 
 eptimus Storey, farmer, owning 400 acres 
 of prairie land and four and one-half acres 
 of timber in Shabbona Grove, and residing 
 on section 17, Shabbona Township, was born 
 in the parish of Harthill, Yorkshire, England, 
 Feb. 10, 1829. 
 He is a son of Barnabas and Sarah Storey, natives 
 of England. He was reared under the parental roof- 
 tree and attended the schools of his native country, 
 alternating his study therein by learning the trade of 
 a wrought-nail maker until he attained his majority. 
 His forefathers were wrought-nail makers, and after 
 learning the trade he continued to follow it until 16 
 years of age. He emigrated to the United States in 
 
 ; 
 
 & 
 
 f
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 \f 1850, spent one year in Kendall County, this State, 
 ^j? and then came to this county. 
 
 ^ p He was one of the four emigrants from England 
 1! who in the fall of 1851 selected the western parts of 
 /> Shabbona Township for their future homes, while the 
 land was in its original natural -condition, and thus 
 established the foundation for what has since been 
 known as the " English Settlement." His com- 
 panions were George Glossup, Thomas Wright, Joseph 
 Billam and William Cutts. Mr. Storey located on 
 j the land oa which he is at present residing, in the 
 , fall of 1851. He procured it from the Government 
 in its wild state, and entered vigorously upon the 
 laborious, task of cultivating and improving it. How 
 well he has succeeded, the splendid condition of his 
 farm will testify. 
 
 Mr. Storey was married in Shabbona Township 
 Dec. 23, 1856, to Miss Mary, daughter of Robert and 
 Sarah Mullins. She was born in Sheffield, England, 
 ) June 10, 1839, and came to the United States with 
 her parents in 1852. Nine children, six sons and 
 ^ three daughters, have been born of their union: 
 a Robert M., Jan. i, 1857, died Jan. 5, 1861 ; Sarah S. 
 Aug. 3, 1860, is the wife of Harvey Greene, a resident 
 3 of Victor Township, this county ; Annie M., born 
 '$ Sept. 14, 1862, died April 24, 1865; John L., born 
 April 3, 1865; Charles E., May 14, 1867; William 
 ") H., Aug. 3, 1869; George T., Aug. r4, 1871; Lillian 
 M., Nov. 22, 1873 ; De Forrest L. C., April 19, 1876. 
 Mr. Storey, politically, is a Republican. He has 
 held the office of Overseer of Highways, School 
 Director and Trustee, and Supervisor, which latter 
 office he is at present holding. Religiously, he and 
 ( his wife, together with his two oldest children, are 
 J a members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 
 A portrait of Mr. Storey, printed from a fine stone 
 engraving, approprialely accompanies this sketch and 
 embellishes this work. 
 
 ;saac Potter, farmer, section 17, Clinton 
 ' Township, is a son of James and Margaret 
 (Thome) Potter, who were natives of New 
 York State. They came to Illinois in i8s3 j 
 settling in Kane County, and a year afterward 
 in the above named township, where they 
 . spent the remainder of their days. In their family 
 
 -X 
 
 were the following children : Silas, William, Theron, 
 Isaac, Seneca and Fanny. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was born in Dutchess 
 Co., N. Y., May 7, 1831. When about 15 years of 
 age he moved to Wyoming County, that State, where 
 he lived until the spring of 1867. He then came to 
 Kane Co., 111., and in 1876 to this county, purchas- 
 ing r6g acres of land, on which he now resides. He 
 has held the office of Justice of the Peace four years, 
 and other official positions. In his political views he 
 prefers the principles of the Republican party. 
 
 He was married in Allegany Co., N. Y., May 30, 
 1855, to Miss Mary, daughter of Moses and Polly 
 (Lebrett) Robinson, natives of Massachusetts, who 
 passed the latter portion of their lives in the Empire 
 State. Mr. R. died April 2, 1852, and Mrs. R. Dec. 
 27, 1861. Mr. and Mrs. Robinson have had ten 
 children, namely, Sally, Rufus, Joseph, Hubbard, 
 Philena, Hosea, Harvey, Matilda, Cordelia and 
 Mary. Mrs. Potter was born in Hume, Allegany 
 Co., N. Y., Feb. 18, 1834. She is the mother of one 
 child, Florence E., who was born July 3, 1858. She 
 became the wife of Henry B. Bridge, Feb. 6, 1884. 
 He is a farmer residing in Clinton Township. 
 
 sher Downer, farmer, in section 32, Milan 
 Township, is the son of Abel and Lucinda 
 (Loonier) Downer, and was born in the vil- 
 lage of Naperville, Ontario, Canada, Aug. 30, 
 1832. His mother was born July 4, 1799, 
 on Grand Isle, in Lake Champlain, belonging 
 to Vermont. His father was born in Windsor Co., 
 Vt., in February, 1789. Their ancestral lineage orig- 
 inated in Connecticut. The family came to Illinois 
 in 1840 and located in Aurora, then a small village 
 having but two stores, and there the parents passed 
 the remainder of their lives. The father died in 
 June, 1864, when 73 years of age. The demise of 
 the mother occurred May 27, 1884, she being at the 
 time nearly 85 years of age. They had nine chil- 
 dren, seven of whom were born previous to their 
 removal to Illinois. Six of the number are yet living. 
 With one exception they are residents of the State of 
 Illinois. One son is a farmer in Nebraska. 
 
 Mr. Downer acquired a good education and 
 attended school at odd times until he was 25 years 
 of age. He was married March 27, 1858, in 
 
 '* ! 
 f
 
 Batavia, Kane Co., 111., to Elizabeth Curtis. Mrs. 
 Downer was born Dec. 9, 1828, in Lee, Oneida Co., 
 N. Y. When she was 22 years of age she accompanied 
 her father, Ephraim Curtis, to Illinois. He was born 
 in Lee, Oneida Co., N. Y., July 3, 1802. He came to 
 Aurora, 111., in 1852, where he remained until 1857, 
 when he moved to Clinton Co., Iowa, where he died, 
 Jan. 29, 1866. His first marriage was to Miss Sybil 
 M. Brooks, by whom he had three children. She 
 died in New York, in 1836. Mr. Curtis was again 
 married, his second wife being Miss Sarah Wickwire. 
 Mrs. Downer continued the occupation of teaching, 
 in which she had previously engaged in her' native 
 State. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Downer are 
 Fred C., born July 21, 1859; H. Curtis, Aug. 22, 
 1860, and Mary S., June 27, 1862. 
 
 Mr. Downer removed to Milan Township in August, 
 1858, and located on a piece of property of which he 
 became proprietor through inheritance from his 
 father. To this he has added until he owns 360 
 acres of fine land, all of which is situated in the same 
 township. The improvements, buildings and stock 
 are all of creditable character, and the owner is con- 
 sidered one of the leading farmers of Milan Town- 
 ship. He is a Republican, and is actively engaged 
 in promoting educational interests, and has for a long 
 time been connected therewith in an official capacity. 
 Mrs. Downer is a member of the Methodist Episco- 
 pal Church. 
 
 . acob Kunes, an early settler in Pierce 
 Township was born Dec. 18, 1825, in 
 Lebanon Co., Pa., and is the son of Law- 
 rence and Eve (Meyer) Kunes. He grew to 
 manhood in the Keystone State and learned 
 the trade of carpenter, besides passing one 
 year as a coal miner. He was married Nov. 14, 
 1 849, to Eve, daughter of John and Lydia (Keler) 
 Kuter, and in 1851 they accompanied her parents to 
 the township of Pierce. The two families lived 
 together one year after their arrival, when Mr. Kunes 
 bought 80 acres of prairie land on section 25 and 
 began the career of an independent farmer. He has 
 reaped the reward common to industry and good 
 judgment, and his fine farm of 240 acres is all under 
 excellent improvements and devoted to the cultiva- 
 
 tion of grain and raising of stock. When he bought ~\ 
 the place, Mr. Kunes paid $3 per acre for it and d 
 borrowed the money to buy the claim, at 10 per cent; * * 
 but, being delayed in his plans by sickness and heavy 
 expenses, by the time the place was paid for it had ^ 
 cost $70 an acre. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Kunes have six children living 
 John, William, Wilhelmina (Mrs. Alfred Phillips, of 
 Aurora), George, Adam and Ella. Mr. Kunes is a 
 Republican in political belief, and belongs to the 
 Evangelical Church, of which his wife is also a mem- 
 ber. 
 
 illiam Bowers, farmer, section 5, Clinton 
 Township, is a son of John and Ursula 
 (Brooks) Bowers, natives of New Hamp- 
 shire. They removed, from that State to 
 Vermont and thence to " York State," where 
 they resided until their death. They were the 
 parents of 12 children, namely, Elizabeth, John, Abi- 
 gail, William, Isaac, Ursula A., George", Loren, 
 Mary, Charles, Sanford and Charlotte. 
 
 William Bowers, the subject of this biographical 
 notice, was born in Hancock, Hillsborough Co., N. 
 H., Jan. 18, 1814. He was united in marriage to 
 Miss Sarah Field, Feb. 6, 1836, in Jefferson Co., N. 
 N. She bore him two children, namely : Helen and 
 Corinne. Helen is the wife of Albert Dickey and 
 resides near Columbus, Ohio. Corinne is deceased. 
 
 Mr. Bowers came to this county in 1848, bringing 
 his wife and two children. He purchased 1 08 acres 
 of land in Clinton Township, on which he moved and 
 resided three years, until 1851, when, Nov. 1 6 of that 
 year, his wife died. He then sold his land and 
 returned on a visit to " York State." While in this 
 county, for about two years, he followed " trafficking 
 in produce." 
 
 Mr. Bowers purchased two farms, and in the 
 spring of 1865 purchased 220 acres of land on sec- 
 tion 5, where he at present resides. He is at pres- 
 ent the owner of 225 acres, nearly all of which is in 
 a first-class state of cultivation. 
 
 On his return from New York, Dec. 7, 1853, Mr. 
 Bowers was again married, the lady of his choice 
 being Miss Laura E. Allen, daughter of Reuben and 
 Nancy (Andrews) Allen, natives of New England. 
 
 -#g*<
 
 
 53 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 They moved to this county in 1845 and located in 
 Shabbona, where they resided until their death. They 
 were the parents of six children, namely: B. F., 
 Henry E., Elmira M., Hiram P., Laura E. and 
 Martin V. 
 
 Laura E. Bowers was born in St. Lawrence Co., N. 
 Y., April u, 1830. She lived at home with her par- 
 ents, assisting the mother in the household duties 
 and attending the common schools, and accompanied 
 her parents to this county in 1845 and continued 
 to reside with them until her marriage. She is 
 the mother of seven children by Mr. Bowers, namely : 
 Lillian A., Ada L., Herbert W., Nancy C., Albert A., 
 Mina E. and Grant H. Ada L. died in Clinton 
 Township, Nov. 16, 1869, when 13 years of age. 
 
 Mr. Bowers, is a believer in the principles advo- 
 cated by the Republican party, has held the office 
 of Assessor of his township and other minor positions 
 of public trust. 
 
 javid Hughes, baker and grocer at Sand- 
 wich, was born Oct. 24, 1839, in Ayrshire 
 Scotland, the cottage of his parents being 
 situated on the road where the home of 
 Robert Burns was located, and about one-fourth 
 of a mile from the birth-place of the poet. His 
 father, James Hughes, after his birth went to Glas- 
 gow, the capital city, where he was employed on the 
 municipal detective force, and he died in his native 
 country. The mother, Margaret (Hendry) Hughes, 
 is also deceased. 
 
 Mr. Hughes learned the business of pastry baker 
 and confectioner in the city of Glasgow, and in 1866 
 he came to the city of New York. After a brief tarry 
 there, he came to Chicago, where he lingered a short 
 time, going thence to Elgin. He next proceeded to 
 Aurora, 111., and conducted a steam bakery there until 
 June, 1874, the date of his coming to Sandwich. He 
 became possessor of the bakery and confectionery 
 business already established, and has since contin- 
 ued its management with the exception of one year. 
 He is conducting a prosperous and profitable busi- 
 ness. He is interested in local politics, and is a 
 member of the fraternities of Masons and Odd 
 Fellows. 
 
 He was married April 12, 1865, in Glasgow, Scot- 
 
 sSDjj^ff- 2$$^ 9"* 1 
 
 land, to Isabella M. Shaw, and they have had seven 
 children, born in the following order: James (de- 
 ceased), Margaret, David, Samuel (deceased), Alex- 
 ander (deceased), Maude and Raymond. Mrs. 
 Hughes is the daughterof James and Margaret Shaw, ^ 
 and was born in Scotland. 
 
 ,vid Gerlach, deceased, was a pioneei of 
 De Kalb County. He was born March 
 27, 1796, in Wurtemburg, Germany, where 
 he was brought up under the personal super- 
 vision of his parents. He was married there to 
 Wilhelmina Oover, a native of the same State. 
 They left their native country in 1830 and came to 
 the United States, landing at the port of New York, 
 after a passage of 57 days on a sail vessel. They 
 made their way to Erie Co., Pa., where Mr. Gerlach 
 bought 80 acres of timber land ; but owing to the 
 hard times and advanced price, he was obliged to 
 surrender his claim from inability to pay for it. After 
 a struggle of nine years, the family came to Naper- 
 ville, 111., traveling with their own teams and camp- 
 ing nights in their wagons. On arrival at the latter 
 place the father rented land about one and a half 
 years, subsequently going to Geneva, Kane County, 
 where he rented farms until 1849. In that year 
 he came to De Kalb County and entered a claim 
 on the northwest quarter of section 24, in township 
 39, range 5, now Pierce Township. On this he es- 
 tablished his homestead and vigorously prosecuted 
 the improvements until his death, Feb. 8, 1873. 
 Mrs. Gerlach died April 27, 1883. Their children, 
 eight in number, are all living, and are recorded as 
 follows : Henrietta is the widow of Gotlieb Buerer, 
 of Pierce Township. Amanda is the widow of 
 Nathaniel Lintner, of Naperville. Elizabeth married 
 Peter Ramer (see sketch). Sarah survives her 
 husband, Jacob Eberly, and resides at Hinckley. 
 Caroline is the wife of James Boston, of Pawnee Co., 
 Neb. Samuel is the manager of the homestead. 
 Regina married John Lintner, of Sibley, Osceola Co., 
 Iowa. Andrew is the youngest child. 
 
 Samuel Gerlach was born April 9, 1836, in Erie 
 Co., Pa., and accompanied his parents to Illinois. 
 He was married in 1857 to Catherine, daughter of 
 John and Sarah (Shultz) Shoop, and they have six 
 
 sjjMjjsr:; %&/& 
 
 ^^VvS^^^^^^^^^ swgWSgc^TtrlA.^ 
 
 \l
 
 . ) 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 children living : Lucy, wife of Henry Zeigler; Mary, 
 wife of Louis Zeigler; Elizabeth (Mrs. Oliver 
 Snyder); Frances, Carrie and Mattie. 
 
 Andrew Gerlach was born in Erie Co., Pa., July 7, 
 1841. He was less than two years of age when his 
 parents came to Naperville, 111., and but eight years 
 of age when they came to Pierce Township, where 
 he has since resided. His marriage to Mary J. Har- 
 ter took place Oct. 5, 1862. She was born in Center 
 Co., Pa., and her parents afterward removed to 
 Naperville, Du Page County, where they are now 
 resident. When he was married he located for life 
 on the farm on which he now resides, situated on the 
 southeast quarter of section 14. He owns 240 acres 
 of land, a large proportion of which is under improve- 
 ments, with excellent farm buildings. He is chiefly 
 engaged in raising grain and stock. Franklin E. and 
 Harrison G. are the names of his children. He is a 
 Republican, and, with his wife, belongs to the Evan- 
 gelical Association. 
 
 L habbona, the celebrated Indian Chief and 
 friend of the whites, was born near the 
 Maumee River, in Ohio, about the year 
 1775. Some published accounts differ as to 
 the place of his birth, but he gave to the late 
 William Hickling, formerly of Ottawa, but later 
 of Chicago, and who was a warm personal friend of 
 his, the above as correct. The fatner of Shabbona 
 belonged to the Ottawa tribe, and was one of that 
 numerous band of Ottawas who fought with the 
 great Ottawa Chieftain, Pontiac, throughout his wars, 
 and upon his defeat returned with him to the Illinois 
 country in the year 1764. 
 
 In early manhood Shabbona married the daughter 
 of a Pottawatomie chief, whose village was on the 
 Illinois River bottom, near Ottawa. He lived at this 
 village a few years, when he moved with his family, 
 or band, to Shabbona Grove* De Kalb County. Here 
 he and his band had their village and council-house, 
 and resided until the fall of 1837, at which time they 
 numbered some 130 souls. 
 
 Shabbona was a great admirer of Tecumseh, and 
 in the war of 1812, with his warriors, he joined the 
 great chief and stood by his side when he fell at the 
 battle of the Thames. He was a warm friend of "the 
 
 Sauganash," Billy Caldwell, whom he probably knew 
 as early as 1800. At the memorable battle of the 
 Thames and the defeat of the Indians and the En- 
 glish, both Shabbona and Caldwell lost all faith in 
 the power and promises of their British allies. A short 
 time afterward they visited Gen. Cass, at Detroit, and 
 to him gave their submission to the United States. 
 At the time of the Winnebago war, in 1827, he visited 
 almost every village among the Pottawatomies, and 
 by his persuasive arguments prevented them from 
 taking part in the war. By request of the citizens of 
 Chicago, Shabbona, accompanied by Billy Caldwell 
 (Sauganash), visited Big Foot's village at Geneva 
 Lake, in order to pacify the warriors, as fears were 
 entertained that they were about to raise the toma- 
 hawk against the whites. Here Shabbona was taken 
 prisoner by Big Foot, and his life threatened, but on 
 the following day was set at liberty. From that time 
 the Indians (through reproach) styled him " the 
 white man's friend," and many times his life was 
 endangered. The next and last attempt made to 
 embroil the Pottawatomies and Ottawas in a war 
 with the " pale faces," was that made by Black Hawk 
 and the Prophet, in 1832. These two chiefs, repre- 
 senting the Sauk and Fox nations, met the Pottawat- 
 omies and Ottawas in council at Indiantown, in 
 February of that year, and eloquently pointed out to 
 the large number of Indians assembled there, the 
 necessity of co-operation, in order to save their na- 
 tions from the further encroachments of the white 
 men upon their hunting grounds. In that large as- 
 semblage the voice of but one Pottawatomie chief 
 was raised in favor of war and union with Black 
 Hawk, and that was given by old Wau-pan-seh. In 
 that council, Shabbona, in answer to that fervent ap- 
 peal of Black Hawk for union, and his figurative as- 
 sertion that such an union would give them an army 
 of warriors equal in number to the trees of the forest, 
 replied : " Yes, and the army of the pale faces you 
 will have to encounter will be as numerous as the 
 leaves on those trees." At the period of this. confer- 
 ence, probably no other chief, excepting Caldwell, 
 possessed greater influence with the tribes assembled 
 than did Shabbona, and Ihese two leaders so well 
 knew the power and military resources of the white 
 race, and how futile it wou)d be to engage in another 
 war with them. 
 
 Subsequently, when Black Hawk and his band 
 crossed over to the east side of the Mississippi, and 
 
 II 
 
 
 -~~-
 
 
 5.34 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 just before the commencement of his foray on the 
 white settlements, he made one more attempt to se- 
 cure a union with the Pottawatomies, and sent his 
 runners or emissaries to visit Shabbona, who, at this 
 time, with his band, were encamped and on a hunt- 
 ing expedition in the Bureau timber. Shabbona here 
 again rejected all offers of alliance made by Black 
 Hawk. Seeing that hostilities must soon commence, 
 Shabbona broke up his hunting camp and returned 
 home to his grove. Shortly afterwards, the defeat of 
 Major Stillman's forces followed, and opened a clear 
 path for the hostile Indians to make a foray upon the 
 settlements. This Shabbona foresaw ; and here the 
 goodness of his heart, his humanity, and desire to 
 avert the horrors of savage warfare, are shown in the 
 arduous and disinterested efforts made by him in be- 
 half of the few white settlers so soon to be exposed to 
 savage fury. Immediately he sent his son and 
 nephew to notify the scattered settlers on the Fox 
 River and at Holderman's Grove, of their great 
 danger, urging them in all haste to leave their homes 
 and seek the sheltering walls of the fort at Ottawa. 
 The old Chief himself undertook the task on his 
 mission of mercy to warn the settlers of Bureau and 
 Indian Creek of their great danger. His appearance 
 on that 1 6th day of May, riding at full speed, bare- 
 headed, his pony heated and jaded by the long ride 
 through the scattered settlements, has been well 
 described by other writers. Nearly all the persons 
 interested followed Shabbona's advice and fled in 
 haste to Ottawa, leaving their homes but a few hours 
 in advance of the entry of the hostile Sauk. A few 
 persons, however, in the Indian Creek settlement, 
 took no heed of Shabbona's warning, and paid in a few 
 hours afterwards the penalty of their rashness, by all 
 their party, excepting four persons, being massacred 
 in the one log house in which they had sought refuge, 
 and which they so heroically defended. 
 
 At a treaty made at Prairie Du Chien, July 29, 
 1829, Shabbona's old home at the Grove, consisting of 
 two sections, was reserved for him. This consisted 
 of all of section 23, the east half section 26 and the 
 west half of section 25. By direction of Major 
 Langham, then Surveyor-General of Illinois and 
 Missouri, a survey and plat of the reservation was 
 made by a deputy surveyor, and Shabbona fondly 
 hoped that the house which he and his family had 
 occupied for so many years was secured to him and 
 them forever. Upon this subject William Hickling, 
 ^^^ % 
 
 in his address upon the life of Shabbona before the 
 Chicago Historical Society, says : 
 
 "I believe that in all the other reservations of 
 land granted by the aforementioned treaty, all the 
 parties thereto having such reservations enjoyed 
 them in fee, and only required the consent and 
 signature of the President of the United States, in 
 order to pass a good title to parties purchasing such 
 reserved lands. Why Shabbona's case should differ 
 from all the rest I could never determine. At any 
 rate, when the survey of the public lands, lying north 
 of the old Indian boundary line was ordered by the 
 Land Department to be made, the Deputy Surveyor 
 had instructions to ignore the previous survey of the 
 reservations, and include the lands thereon contained 
 in the regular section lines of the United States sur- 
 vey; and during the absence of poor old Shabbona 
 and his family in Kansas, these lands were sold by 
 public sale at Dixon. The home of the old Chief and 
 his family passed into other hands, strangers to him, 
 and in answer to an appeal made at Washington in 
 Shabbona's behalf, the Commissioner of the General 
 Land Department, in answer, said that Shabbona had 
 forfeited and lost his title to the lands by removing 
 away from them." 
 
 In 1 837 , Shabbona was notified by the Indian Agent, 
 that by the terms of the late treaty, all members of 
 his band, with the exception of those of his own 
 family, must remove to their new reservation in 
 Western Missouri. The parting with so many of 
 those with whom he so long had been associated, he 
 could not endure ; so he resolved, with all his family, 
 to accompany them to their new homes. But no 
 sooner had ^Shabbona and his family reached their 
 lodges in their new homes than new troubles began. 
 The Sauks and Foxes, unfortunately, had their new 
 reservation in close proximity to that of the Potta- 
 watomies and Ottawas. The well-known hostility, 
 a few years previous, of Shabbona to Black Hawk, 
 and the part which the Ottawas took against him and 
 his followers in the wai which followed, were still 
 fresh in the mind of the individual Sauk leader 
 and made enemies of two noted braves. The war- 
 fare against Shabbona and his family resulted in 
 the murder of his eldest son, Pypeogee, and a nephew, 
 Pyps. The old Chief Shabbona narrowly escaped with 
 his life from the vengeance of his foes. This caused 
 him and his family to return to Illinois, in about one 
 year after having left it. From this time until in
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 1849, Shabbona and his family, some 20 to 25 in num- 
 ber, lived at the Grove in peace and quietness with 
 the white neighbors surrounding them. By this time, 
 the Pottawatomies and Ottawas had been again re- 
 moved to a new reservation granted them in Kansas, 
 and Shabbona again, with his family, left their old 
 homes in Illinois, to join their red brethren in the 
 new one to be occupied. He remained there with 
 his old friends and tribe some three years, then 
 again with his family retraced their steps back to 
 their old home in the Illinois grove, only to find his 
 village and lands in the possession of strangers ; the 
 old home he and his family had occupied for more 
 than 40 years, was lost to him forever ! When he 
 fully realized his forlorn situation, it is said that the 
 old warrior, who probably had scarcely ever before 
 shed a tear, here "wept like a child." But his cup 
 of misery was not yet full. An unfeeling brute, the 
 new owner of the land, upon which, on his return, 
 Shabbona and his family encamped, cursed the poor 
 old man for having cut a few lodge poles on what he 
 thought was his own property, and peremptorily 
 ordered him and his family to leave the Grove. This 
 they did, and it is said that Shabbona never visited it 
 again. 
 
 Mr. Tracy Scott, an old pioneer of this section, re- 
 lated the following incident of Shabbona, which 
 occurred at this time : He was returning from 
 Aurora, and, coming through Big Rock timber, saw 
 the Indians encamped. Shabbona seemed utterly 
 cast down; and, in reply to Scott's inquiry as to why 
 he left and where he was going, said he had always 
 been a friend to the whites ; that he had treated them 
 well ; that his wife and some of his children were 
 buried in the Grove ; that he had lived there, and 
 wanted to die there; that he had lost all; was very 
 poor; then he told that, because his band had burned 
 a few sticks of wood, "big white man call me damn 
 Indian! Shabbona never damn white man .'"and 
 pointing upwards, while the tears- ran down his old 
 cheeks, he continued, " No big white man no damn 
 Indian up there all 'like ; all like ! " 
 
 A few friends realizing the destitute situation in 
 which the poor old Chief and his family were placed, 
 purchased for him a small tract of 20 acres of timber 
 land on the Illinois River, being the north half of 
 the northwest quarter of the southeast quarter of 
 section 20, township 33 north, range 6 east of the 3d 
 
 Principal Meridian (Norman Township), Grundy 
 Co., 111. The title of this land was vested in the 
 Judge of the Circuit Court of La Salle County, 111., 
 .for the use of Shabbona and his heirs. Here, in a 
 semi-state of poverty and wretchedness, the old Chief 
 and part of his family lived, most of the time in 
 wigwams, or tents, using the house for storage 
 purposes and as a barn. Shabbona died at his wig- 
 wam, July 17, 1859, aged about 84 years. He was 
 buried in the cemetery at Morris ; and be it said to 
 the shame of the white men, no memorial stone, 
 nothing but a piece of board stuck in the ground, 
 shows the spot where lies the remains of the best and 
 truest Indian friend which the early settlers of 
 Northern Illinois had in the day of their tribulation! 
 
 Shabbona's first wife was buried at the Grove. His 
 second wife, Pokanoka, a large and decrepid old 
 woman, weighing some 400 pounds, and two of her 
 daughters, came back to their old home at Shabbona 
 Grove, July 5, 1864, took quiet possession of a thicket 
 near their old home and remained three days. Soon 
 after this, Nov. 30, 1864, while crossing Mazon Creek, 
 Grundy County, with her grandchild, they were 
 thrown from her wagon and drowned in about six 
 inches of water, and both were buried by the side of 
 Shabbona. 
 
 Shabbona was not by birth an hereditary chief, 
 and in fact only became one over his band by their 
 tacit consent, after the death of his first wife's father. 
 In his personal appearance, he was a model of phys- 
 ical strength, one of the finest specimens of the 
 American Indian. Tall in stature, straight as an 
 arrow, large head and face, with pleasant features 
 and an agreeable expression of countenance. He 
 was hot much of an orator, yet his words of wisdom 
 always had their weight in council deliberations. 
 Until quite late in life (after his return from the West 
 in 1838), he was remarkably temperate in his habits, 
 scarcely ever tasting of the " fire-water," that great 
 enemy of his race. No doubt his long association 
 with Tecumseh, who also was remarkably temperate in 
 his habits, had its influence upon the mind and char- 
 acter of Shabbona. 
 
 The name and memory of Shabbona should be ever 
 dear to the old settlers of this section of the West ; 
 the prompt action he took to thwart the schemes of 
 that wily old savage, Black Hawk, and save from his 
 savage fury the lives of so many of our early pio- 
 
 vg) 
 
 I 
 I 

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 neers, many of whom would certainly have been 
 sacrificed had it not been for his disinterested efforts 
 in their behalf, deserve greatest praise from the 
 whites. 
 
 Shabbona's name is variously spelled. In a cer- 
 tificate of character given him by Billy Caldwell, 
 Aug. i, 1816, and which is now in the archives of 
 the Chicago Historical Society, it is spelled Cham- 
 blee. Others in early time spelled it Chab-o-neh 
 and Shau-be-na. John H. Kinzie and G. S. Hubbard, 
 both of whom knew him, spelled his name with a 
 " C " instead of " S." Even at present it is frequently 
 spelled as follows: Shabonee, Shau-be-nay and 
 Shab-eh-ney. The meaning of his name is, " head 
 and shoulders like a bear." 
 
 The portrait of Shabbona which we present in 
 connection with this sketch was made from a portrait 
 by F. B. Young, of Rome, N. Y., painted about 1840. 
 By those who knew Shabbona personally, it is pro- 
 nounced a splendid likeness of the good old Chief. 
 
 ev. William Brown, farmer, resident on 
 section IT, Milan Township, was born 
 March 13, 1831, in County Donegal, Ire- 
 land. John Brown, his father, was also a native 
 of Ireland, of Scotch extraction and ancestry, 
 belonging to the race known as Scotch-Irish, 
 and was an active and zealous member of society 
 and of the Presbyterian Church. Mary (Johnson) 
 Brown, the mother was born in Ireland, of English 
 parentage, and was a member of the Church of Eng- 
 land, as was her parents before her, and in -whose 
 tenets she was brought up. They had five sons and 
 a single daughter. Nathaniel is a farmer in the 
 township of Milan. John is a Presbyterian minister 
 in the South of Ireland, at a military station com- 
 manding the entrance to Waterford Harbor. James 
 studied for the ministry, but owing to failing health 
 abandoned his intentions in that direction, and is now 
 a farmer on the family homestead. William is the 
 next in order of birth. Thomas died when nine 
 years of age. Elizabeth married Mr. Campbell and 
 lives in Ireland. It was the ambition of the father 
 that his sons should enter the ministry, and Mr. 
 Brown was taught at home with that end in view. 
 
 The latter had from his boyhood an overwhelming 
 conviction of the attractions and merits of the New 
 
 World, and when he was about 19 years of age he 
 came to the United States, settling at first near 
 Sandusky, Ohio ; after a tarry there of four years he 
 returned to his native land, finding home and its in- 
 mates as he had left them. In 1855 he returned to 
 the United States, accompanied by his sister and old- 
 est brother. After some prospecting they settled 
 near Sycamore, De Kalb Co., 111., fixing their resi 
 dence there, May i, 1855. The oldest brother and 
 sister soon returned to Ireland, where the former re- 
 mained until the next, year, when he came back to 
 De Kalb County and located in Milan Township. 
 
 In 1853, during his first stay in America, Mr. 
 Brown bought 353 acres of land on section n, Milan 
 Township, which was in an entirely uncultivated and 
 unimproved condition. He accumulated sufficient 
 means during the four years referred to, to make his 
 title secure. After his marriage he took possession 
 of his estate where he has since pursued the career 
 of a skilled and prosperous farmer. He his at pres- 
 ent the owner of 560 acres of finely located and valu- 
 able land, all under the plow, and the place in point 
 of management and equipments is one of the most 
 valuable in the township. . 
 
 Mr. Brown was one of the pioneer preachers of 
 Methodism in Malta, and he has been active in the 
 interest of that denomination since 1856. He has 
 been also actively interested in educational matters. 
 He is a zealous adherent of the Republican party. 
 
 Dec. 18, 1859, he was united in marriage, in Jeffer- 
 son Township, Hillsdale Co., Mich., to Sarah, daugh- 
 ter of Theron B. and Sarah (Edgerly) Seely. The 
 former was of Irish descent, and the latter was of 
 German lineage. They were pioneers of Hillsdale 
 Co., Mich., and were among the first permanent 
 settlers of Pittsford Township in that county. They 
 removed later to Jefferson, where they became exten- 
 sive landholders. The mother died there in October, 
 1878; the father in January, 1879. Mrs. Brown is 
 the seventh child and fourth daughter in a family of 
 nine children. She was educated in the common 
 schools, and has reared her five 1 children in a credit- 
 able manner. Theron is a teacher at Morgan Park, 
 near Chicago ; Grace M. is an accomplished musician, 
 and is engaged in teaching instrumental music ; 
 Sarah E. has finished a preparatory teachers' course 
 at Aurora, 111.; William J. and Pearl A. are the 
 youngest. 
 
 The parents of Mr. Brown died in their native 

 
 Of W 
 WnVERSITC OF fl.LQts
 
 
 land, after long and useful lives. The demise of his 
 father occurred in June, 1859; that of his mother, 
 Jan. 26, 1865. 
 
 ^lijah Curtis, farmer, section 8, Afton 
 Township, was born in Douglass, Worces- 
 ter Co., Mass., Nov. 23, 1836. His father, 
 
 ^ Bryant Curtis, was born in the same county, 
 Dec. 4, 1803, and died in Afton Township, Dec. 
 8, 1880. His mother, Patience, nee Powers, 
 was born June n, 1803, in Croydon, Sullivan Co., 
 N. H., and died March 12, 1876, in Afton Township, 
 this county. She was twice married, the issue of her 
 first marriage being one son, and of her second, four 
 sons and four daughters. Her first son was Harvey 
 Powers Robbins. The names of her other children 
 are Joanna Maria, Mary E., Elijah, Sarah, Martha 
 A., Stephen, David B. and Nathan S. 
 
 Elijah Curtis, subject of this notice, was reared on 
 a farm in Worcester Co., Mass. He assisted in the 
 farm labors and attended the common schools until 
 the age of 19 years, then came to this county, arriv T 
 ing here in 1856. He engaged in farm labor by the 
 month, and continued in that vocation until 1859. 
 He then began working land on shares and followed 
 that until 1861. 
 
 At this period in his life's history, the nation be- 
 came imperiled, and he went forth to aid in her de- 
 fense. He enlisted in Co. C, s8th 111. Vol. Inf., 
 Capt. G. W. Kittell and Col. W. F. Lynch, of the 
 i6th Corps, 2d Division. His regiment was in ac- 
 tive service at Fort Donelson. He also participated 
 in the battle of Shiloh, and was wounded, April 6, 
 1862. He then came home on a furlough, the hos- 
 pital being full, and spent three months, after which 
 he returned to his regiment at Camp Danville, Miss. 
 He was in the battle of Corinth and received a 
 wound in the right ankle Oct. 4, 1862. The wound 
 was made by what was supposed to be a sharp- 
 shooter's ball, a piece of which was found in his 
 stocking. He was taken to the hospital, where he 
 remained two weeks, and was then sent to the hos- 
 pital at St. Louis ; was there a month, received a 
 furlough, came home and remained two months, then 
 went to the hospital at Chicago and was there four 
 months, when he returned to his regiment at Spring- 
 
 :st ^^ 
 
 field, 111. His regi.nent was recruiting at Springfield, 
 and two months later moved to Cairo, 111., where it 
 was encamped during the fall and winter of 1863-4. 
 The regiment then joined Sherman's army at Vicks- 
 burg, and participated in a raid through Mississippi, 
 after which it returned to Vicksburg. He then par- 
 ticipated in the Red River expedition and during the 
 same was wounded in the lefl thigh, May 18, 1863, 
 and was sent to Jefferson Barracks, Mo. He remained 
 there two months, received a furlough for a month 
 and then joined his regiment at Jefferson Barracks. 
 The regiment "were after" Price and had a battle 
 with him near Kansas City, after which it returned to 
 St. Louis and shipped on board a steamer for Nashville 
 to join Gen. Thomas in time to participate in the bat- 
 tle of Nashville. The regiment then went to Eastport, 
 Tenn. Mr. Curtis then left the regiment to be mus- 
 tered out, his time having expired, and was dis- 
 charged Feb. 7, 1865, at Chicago. He enlisted as 
 a private, and at the time of his muster out he was 
 Sergeant. 
 
 On receiving his discharge from the army, Mr. 
 Curtis came to this county and engaged in farm la- 
 bor by the month, which he followed for a year, and 
 then traded 40 acres of land for an 8o-acre tract in 
 Clinton Twonship, on which he moved. 
 
 Mr. Curtis was first married July 2, 1865, to Miss 
 Candace E. Bovee. She was a daughter of Richard 
 and Orpha (Parks) Bovee, and was born in Erie Co., 
 N. Y., Sept. 14, 1836, and died June 22, 1875. She 
 was the mother of one child, David G., born Feb. 9, 
 1868. He was married a second time, April 3, 1879, 
 to Miss Juliette E. Hurd, a daughter of Alanson and 
 Jerusha A. (Springer) Hurd, both natives of " York ," 
 State, the former born April 4, 1812, and the latter 
 Dec. 25, 1820. Both her parents are living in Dakota, 
 and their children comprised five sons and four 
 daughters, namely : Robert F., Juliette E., Susan P., 
 Harriet M., Mary S., Durfy S., Millie M. and Samuel 
 A. B'y the last marriage of Mr. Curtis there are two 
 children, namely: Hortense, born Sept. 9, 1880, died 
 Oct. 10, 1884, and Sarah E., born Jan. 10, 1883. 
 
 The grandfather of Mr. Curtis W;as a Revolutionary 
 soldier and participated in the capture of Burgoyne's 
 army ; and Mr. Curtis still retains in his possession 
 the old musket that his grandfather used during 
 those dark days. The family of Mr. Curtis, his 
 father's family, and his grandfather's family all lived 
 on a piece of land that was deeded to his great- 
 
 . Q. '^jy f*^< 
 
 \\
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 grandfather, Beriah Curtis, by the King of England. 
 
 Mr. Curtis also his in his possession a cutlass his 
 great-grandfather captured at Cape Town, West In- 
 dies. The mother of our subject had four uncles 
 ii who participated in the battle of Bunker Hill, and 
 were among the fortunate ones to escape unhurt. A 
 brother of Mr. Curtis died in a rebel prison at Dan- 
 ville, Vt., and a brother of Mrs. Curtis died in a hos- 
 pital at Helena, Ark 
 
 Mrs. Curtis, present wife of the subject of this 
 / notice, was horn in Marion Co., Ind. Aug. 14, 1844. 
 <? a Her parents were farmers and of German descent. 
 ^ Mr. Curtis added 80 acres to .his original 80, and 
 in 1873 exchanged the 160 for his present farm of 
 200 acres. He is at present Highway Commissioner 
 and Town Clerk, and also a member of the Board of 
 School Directors, of which he is Clerk. Politically 
 he is a Republican. Socially, he is a member of 
 Merritt Simonds Post, No. 283, G. A. R., of which he 
 is Sergeant Major. 
 
 The subject of the foregoing biographical notice 
 being a representative man and a prominent citizen 
 of De Kalb County, the publishers place a portrait of 
 his features in this work. 
 
 & 
 
 '& 
 
 i\ 
 
 jarshall Miller, of Squaw Grove Township, 
 has been a resident therein since the fall 
 of 1836, having come here when about 18 
 months old. His parents, Samuel and Gil- 
 ley M. (Sebree) Miller, were natives of Kentucky 
 and Indiana, and on coming to Illinois settled in 
 Squaw Grove Township. Their only child at that 
 time is the subject of this sketch. They pas?ed their 
 after lives in and near the village of Hinckley. The 
 death of the mother occurred about 1849; that of the 
 father took place Feb. 2, 1880. Mr. Miller had five 
 brothers and sisters, John, William, Charles, Melissa 
 and Augusta. 
 
 Mr. Miller obtained a common-school education of 
 the kind common to pioneers. He was an inmate of 
 the paternal homestead until he was 27 years of age, 
 when he married and settled down to an independent 
 career. He is now the 'owner of no acres of land, 
 the chief proportion of which is under tillage. 
 
 He was married Dec. 31, 1860, to Maria L., daugh- 
 ter of Alexander and Miranda (Nichol) Coster, in 
 
 Milan Township, De Kalb County. Her parents re- 
 moved from New York, their native State, to Milan 
 Township, De Kalb County, in the spring of 1855, 
 Her mother died Dec. 28, 1866, and her father is 
 now a resident of Sandwich. Their nine children 
 were named Millicent B., Philander C., Rachel E., 
 Maria L., Richard L., John B., Emily N., Cornelia 
 A. and Peter E. Mrs. Miller was born June 25, 
 1840, in Erie Co., Pa., and was about 15 years of age 
 when her parents removed to De Kalb County. Two 
 children have been born of her marriage, Alice L. 
 and Sammy E. The daughter died Dec. 20, 1881. 
 
 'ohn Wedlake, farmer, section 2, jtlilan 
 Township, was born May 10, 1828, in 
 Somersetshire, England. Henry Wedlake. 
 his father, was an English farm laborer, and 
 was born, lived and died in the native shire of 
 his son. His death occurred in April, 1879. 
 Betty (Pierce) Wedlake, the wife and mother, was 
 also a native of the same place, where she died, in 
 June, 1876. 
 
 Seven children were born to Henry and Betty 
 Wedlake, John being the oldest. The first important 
 event in his life was his marriage. He was born to 
 poverty, and according to the customs of the class to 
 which his parents belonged was early made acquain- 
 ted with labor. He was compelled to work when 
 only six years of age, receiving for his remuneration 
 six cents a day, which was increased to eight cents 
 daily when he became eight years old. His marriage 
 to Harriet Orchett took place April 5, 1851. She 
 was the daughter of George and Mary (Bardford) 
 Orchett, and her parents lived in the same house in 
 which they were born in Somersetshire, and where 
 three families of three successive generations had 
 lived before them. -Mrs. Wedlake was born Sept. 14, 
 1827. She was in service until she was married. 
 She has been the mother of-fwo children, Henry 
 and George. The latter died in England when four 
 years of age. Some years after marriage Mr. Wed- 
 lake determined to seek the promised opportunities 
 of the New World, and leaving his family in comfort 
 he set out alone to examine the feasibility of the 
 claims of which such glowing accounts came across 
 the sea to the homes of the English peasantry. He 
 
 r
 
 located for .a time in Onondaga Co., N. Y., where he 
 operated as a common laborer on a farm. After two 
 years he had accumulated sufficient means to return 
 for his wife and only child, one having died. They 
 returned to Onondaga County and remained there 
 two years. In 1861 they came to the township of 
 Milan, and were tenants on the farm of James Mc- 
 Carroll, which he worked one summer and then 
 rented of William Brown six years. In 1868 Mr. 
 Wedlake bought 80 acres of land, to which he after- 
 ward added extensively by purchase, and is now the 
 owner of 240 acres, which he has finely improved 
 and augmented in value. Politically he is a Repub- 
 lican. He is a zealous member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church, as is also his wife. 
 
 arles Hallam, retired farmer, at Shab- 
 bona village, was born in* Nottingham, 
 England, Sept. 14, 1836, and is a son of 
 William and Mary (Burton) Hallam. He 
 received an academic education, and by pro- 
 fession became an accountant. 
 He emigrated to America in May, 1855, and was 
 first engaged as an accountant in New York city for 
 nine years ; then spent about two years in various 
 States, and finally settled down on a farm, in 1866, 
 on section 28, Shabbona Township, where he con- 
 tinued farming until January, 1885, when he removed 
 to his present residence in Shabbona village. He 
 still retains possession of his farm, which consists of 
 1 60 acres. Since coming to this country, Mr. Hal- 
 lam has visited his native land five times, and thus 
 has crossed the Atlantic Qcean n times. 
 
 He was first married Jan. 7, 1864, in New York 
 city, to Miss Emily Millington, and Nov. 16 follow- 
 ing they had a daughter, Emily E. Mrs. H. died 
 April 1 6, 1865, and Mr. Hallam was again married 
 July 28, 1866, at Jacksonville, 111., to Miss Elizabeth 
 Challand, daughter of Reuben and Rebecca Chal- 
 land. She was born*ri England, Aug. n, 1845, and 
 was brought by her parents to America in 1 85 i . By 
 this marriage there have been one son and two 
 daughters, namely: Charles P., born Jan. 29, 1877 ; 
 Winnie L., Feb. 26, 1879, and Millie R., Dec. 15, 
 1883. 
 
 r. Hallam, in his political action, votes the 
 Democratic ticket. 
 
 \\ 
 
 arvey L. Fuller, farmer, section 9, Clinton 
 Township, is a native of New York. His 
 parents, Norman and Sophronia (Buck) 
 Fuller, were also natives of that State, and 
 came to Kane Co., 111., in 185 i, where he, the 
 father, died in September, 1854. They had 
 five children, namely : Harvey L., Rosetta L., Mary, 
 Antoinette, Edwin A. and Adelbert U. 
 
 The eldest, the subject of this sketch, was born in 
 Orleans Co., N.-Y., Sept. 22, 1835, and came with his 
 father to Kane Co., 111., in 1851, and the spring of 
 1855 to this county. He has since lived here, and 
 now owns 400 acres of land, most of which is good 
 farming land. Politically, he is. identified with the 
 Republican party, and he has held several positions 
 of public trust. 
 
 Mr. Fuller was married in Rochester, N. Y., Oct. 
 15, 1863,10 Sarah Brady, daughter of Stephen and 
 Lydia (Gordon) Brady. The children of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Fuller are five in number, namely : Carrie L. 
 was born July 15, 1864; Lewis G., July 4, 1868; 
 Dwight A., April 4, 1870; Mary E., April i, 1875 ; 
 and James G., Sept. 12, 1880. 
 
 dolphus G. Smith, Supervisor of Pierce 
 Township, and a farmer on section 23, was 
 born in the township of Lykins, Crawford Co., 
 Ohio, Sept. 2, 1842. His parents, John Fred- v 
 erick and Christlieba (Lippman) Smith, were 
 ' both born in Germany. They had come early ^ 
 in life from their native land and remained all their ' 
 subsequent lives in Ohio. The mother died in 1848, 
 and the husband married again not long after her 
 death. 
 
 Mr. Smith acquired a fair education in the public 
 schools and was thoroughly trained in a knowledge 
 of agricultural pursuits. He came to Illinois when 
 he was 20 years of age, and became a farm laborer 
 in Kane County one year. He then rented and 
 worked on a farm five years, and returned to Ohio 
 and worked four years with his brother, who was a 
 carpenter and builder by trade. He then returned 
 to Illinois to establish a permanent home on a farm 
 
 Q 

 
 
 fa 
 
 ) 
 
 542 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 I 
 
 on section 23 in Pierce, which he had bought two 
 years previously. The place now boasts of a good 
 dwelling-house, fruit and shade trees and commodi- 
 ous farm buildings. In political sentiment Mr. Smith 
 is independent of any organized party. He votes 
 according to his judgment irrespective of party or 
 politics. His wife is a member of the Evangelical 
 Association. He has filled various township offices, 
 among them School Trustee, Assessor and Collector, 
 and in 1883 was appointed to fill a vacancy as Su- 
 pervisor, and he was elected to the incumbency in 
 1884. 
 
 He has continued resident on his farm, but has 
 devoted his attention to his trade of contractor and 
 builder, in which he has operated successfully 15 
 years. Among the dwellings he has constructed are 
 the residences of John Pooler and Nicholas Klemm 
 in Afton Township," P. W. Gallagher, Thomas Gal- 
 lagher, George Schule and William Van Ohlen, in 
 Squaw Grove Township. 
 
 He was married in March, 1863, to Mary Ann 
 Shoop. Three of their children are living, Harvey 
 W., Sarah Alice and Alta G. Ella, second child in 
 order of birth, died when about three years of age. 
 Mrs. Smith is the daughter of John and Sarah 
 (Shultz) Shoop. Her parents were born in Pennsyl- 
 vania and were among the earliest permanent settlers 
 in 'Kane Co., 111. 
 
 orge N. Maxwell, Principal of the Shab- 
 bona schools since Jan. i, 1883, was born 
 in Assonnett, Bristol Co., Mass., Oct. 30, 
 1847, and is a son of Rev. John S. and Lucy 
 (Babcock) Maxwell, and removed with his 
 parents to La Salle County, this State, in 1868, 
 settling near Leland. He was educated in Giundy 
 Co., 111., at the common school. 
 
 In the winter of 1868-9 he commenced teaching 
 school, and continued in that profession during the 
 winter seasons for ten years, alternating with farm 
 labor during the intervening summers ; but since his 
 removal to Shabbona his only occupation has been 
 teaching. He was married in Highland, Grundy 
 Co., 111., Oct. 4, 1871, to Miss Emma, daughter of 
 Alonzo and Maria (Andrews) Spink, who was born at 
 Blackberry, Kane Co., 111. They have had three 
 
 children, namely : Alice, who died aged one year, 
 Charles E., and Arthur W. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell are members of the Con 
 gregational Church of Shabbona. 
 
 eorge Easterbrook, deceased, was a farm- 
 er on section 14, Pierce Township, and 
 had been a landholder in De Kalb County 
 from 1856 to the date of his death. In that 
 year he purchased 80 acres of unimproved 
 land on the northeast quarter of section 14, 
 and four years later he purchased an additional 80 
 acres on section 14. In 1883 his wife made a third 
 purchase, of 80 acres on the section last named, and 
 the estate now includes 300 acres of land, under good 
 improvements, provided with suitable farm buildings 
 and a good orchard. 
 
 Mr. Easterbrook was born Dec. 29, 1825, in Sack- 
 ville, Westmoreland Co., New Brunswick, where he 
 was reared to the pursuits of agriculture and also in- 
 structed in the vocation of stone mason. In 1847 
 he came to Freeport, 111., and there worked as a 
 farm assistant and also as a mason, alternating be- 
 tween the two callings for two years. Subsequently he 
 went to Kane Co., 111. He was there married Feb. 
 17, 1853, to Priscilla, daughter of James and Eliza- 
 beth (Reed) Outhouse. Her parents were both born 
 in the province of New Brunswick, and were pioneers 
 of Kane County, whither they removed in 1834. 
 They are of Holland descent and are, at present 
 date (1885), residents in Blackberry. The parents 
 of Mr. Easterbrook were of English birth, and his 
 paternal grandfather was for many years a member 
 of the House of Commons in England, and his father 
 served as a member of the Canadian House of Par- 
 liament. 
 
 Soon after his marriage, Mr. Easterbrook went to 
 Iowa and purchased 200 acres of land in Black Hawk 
 County. He made no location for a home, but re- 
 turned to Kane County, where he remained until the 
 year named, in which he settled in Pierce Township. 
 He died Dec. 9, 1864, leaving five children, Isa- 
 bella, James George, Susan Emma, Wilson E. and 
 Alvin W. After his decease, his wife rented the 
 farm and returned to Kane County. She bought a 
 farm, where she resided until 1875, when she re- 
 
 s 
 
 1 
 
 s 
 
 / 

 
 * f turned to the homestead in Pierce Township." 'Her 
 'A sons are continuing the management of the estate in 
 
 a highly creditable manner. Isabella married John 
 
 Vosburgh, of Kingston ; Susan E. is the wife of 
 /. William Postle, and lives in Virgil Township, Kane 
 
 County. James G. Easterbrook is the Assessor of 
 
 Pierce Township. 
 
 ,vid Orr, hardware merchant at Water- 
 man, Clinton Township, is a son of Samuel 
 and Mary (Burnett) Orr, natives of Ireland 
 .nd New Jersey. The record of their family 
 is as follows : Jane, David, Thomas B., 
 Smith, Samuel, Levi and William. Three 
 children are dead James, Alfred and one child that 
 died in infancy. 
 
 David was born in Ohio, May 10, 1818. He 
 lived on the farm, assisted in the support of the 
 family and attended the common schools until he 
 attained the age of 21 years. 
 
 For one year after attaining his majority, Mr. Orr 
 was engaged in clearing land, and then hired to 
 learn the carpenter's trade. He soon mastered the 
 same and was engaged in following it for 13 years. 
 
 In 1852 Mr. Orr came to this county and settled 
 in Somonauk Township. He remained there only a 
 short time and rented a farm in Clinton Township, 
 which he cultivated one season. Previous to this, 
 when he first came to the county, Mr. Orr entered a 
 quarter section of land in Clinton Township. After 
 managing a rented farm one year, he moved on his 
 homestead, and at once entered vigorously upon its 
 improvement. He lived on this farm for 20 years, 
 with the exception of about two years, which he spent 
 working at his trade, and succeeded in placing it in 
 a good tillable condition. 
 
 In 1872 Mr. Orr sold his farm and moved to 
 Waterman: His son, J. D., had engaged in the hard- 
 ware business a year previous, and Mr. Orr formed a 
 partnership with him, which only continued a short 
 time, as the son died in December, 1872. Mr. Orr 
 carried on the business for three years alone, when 
 another son, Levi R., was admitted to the firm part- 
 nership, and the business is now conducted under 
 the firm name of David Orr & Sons, David E. hav- 
 ing been admitted to the firm in 1884. The busi- 
 
 ness is a progressive and successful one, and their 
 sales approximate annually to $65,000. 
 
 Mr. Orr was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth 
 McCleery, in Wayne Co., Ohio, Jan. 14, 1845. She 
 was born in " York State " about 1817, and was the 
 mother, by Mr. Orr, of six children, namely, Mary A., 
 James D., Ellen, John S., William and Smith. John 
 S. and Ellen are the only ones surviving. Ellen is 
 the wife of Charles A. Low, and resides in Iowa. 
 Mrs. Orr died Feb. 25, 1858. Mr. Orr was again mar- 
 ried, March i, 1860, to Miss Martha J. McAffee, 
 daughter of William and Martha (Ray) McAffee. 
 She was born in Ireland, in February, 1825, and emi- 
 grated to the United States in 1837. 
 
 Four children were born of his second union, two 
 of whom are deceased. The living are, Levi R., 
 born Dec. 3, 1860; and David E., Feb. 13, 1865, 
 both of whom are associated with their father in busi- 
 ness. 
 
 Mr. Orr affiliates with the Republican party ; has 
 held the offices of School Director and Highway 
 Commissioner, and has been one of the village Trus- 
 tees for several years. 
 
 phraim Depue, farmer, section 13. Genoa 
 Township, is the son of Samuel and Eliza- 
 beth (Ogden) Depue, and is one of a family 
 of 10 children. Ose, Sarah, Benjamin, Jesse, 
 Phebe and Theo C. are the names of his broth- 
 ers and sisters who reached mature life. Three 
 children died in infancy. 
 
 Mr. Depue was born Oct. n, 1816, in Sussex Co., 
 N. J. At the age of 18 years he was apprenticed to 
 acquire a knowledge of the wagon-making trade, and 
 served an indentureship of three )iears. He em- 
 barked independently in the business, in which he 
 operated about 20 years. In 1848 he became a citi- 
 zen of Illinois, taking up his residence at Elgin, Kane 
 County. He passed three years there in the pursuit 
 of his trade, and about 1851 entered the employment 
 of the old Galena, Chicago & Illinois Central Rail- 
 road Company, his route extending from Chicago to 
 Freeport and from Dubuque to Centralia. 
 
 He came to De Kalb County in 1861 and bought 
 90 acres of land in Genoa Township, moving his 
 family hither in the autumn of the same year. His
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 j 
 
 homestead farm now comprises 360 acres, with 230 
 acres under improvement, supplied with suitable 
 and creditable farm buildings and well stocked. In 
 political faith and connections Mr. Depue is identi- 
 fied with the Republican party ; he has officiated as 
 School Director and in other local offices. 
 
 He was married April 21, 1838, in New Jersey, to 
 Catherine M. Dennis, and they have five surviving 
 children, Lucy, Elizabeth, Henry C., Allen and 
 Emma. Anna M., Catherine M. and Caroline A. 
 and a child unnamed died in infancy. Mrs. Depue 
 was born Sept. 26, 1813, in New Jersey, and is the 
 daughter of John and Lucy Dennis. She had two 
 brothers and two sisters, born in the following order : 
 Elizabeth, Henry C., Allen and Emma. She is the 
 oldest of her parents' children, and is a member of 
 the Congregational Church. 
 
 The publishers of this ALBUM take pleasure in 
 presenting to the public of De Kalb County a litho- 
 graphic portrait of Mr. Depue, as one of the worthy 
 and representative farmers of Northern Illinois. 
 
 fohn H. Merritt, farmer, section 5, Clinton 
 |p Township, is from the State of New York. 
 His parents, Joseph and Esther (Dean) 
 Merritt, were also natives of that common- 
 wealth, and passed their lives there. 
 
 The subject of this sketch, who was the 
 third in order of birth of ten children, was born in 
 Dutchess Co., N. Y., Oct. 6, 1828, and when about 
 seven years old went to live with a family by the 
 name of Hanford, in Westchester Co., N. Y. He 
 lived there until 1849, when he came to De Kalb 
 County, this State, and purchased 80 acres in Somo- 
 nauk Township. He remained in that township un- 
 til the summer of 1852, when he moved to the place 
 where he now resides, and where he owns 100 acres 
 of good land, and five acres of timber in Shabbona 
 Township. Mr. Merritt has held the office of Road 
 Commissioner, Overseer of Highways, School Direc- 
 tor, etc., and politically is identified with the Repub- 
 lican party. 
 
 He was first married at Freeland's Corners, this 
 county, Oct. n, 1854, to Rhoda S. Fay, a native of 
 the State of New York, who died Nov. 12, 1862, in 
 Clinton Township. She was the mother of two chil- 
 
 ^5^!- ^^ ^ 
 
 dren, Charles H. and Fred F. Mr. Merritt was 
 again married Oct. 10, 1865, to Mrs. Betsey (nee 
 Simpson), widow of Ira Chamberlain, who died in 
 Orleans Co., N. Y., Feb. 8, 1857. She had had by 
 her first marriage two children, Clara V. and Kate. 
 Mrs. M. was born in Clarendon, Orleans Co., N. Y., 
 Dec. 20, 1830, her parents being Ira and Fanny 
 (Cox) Simpson, natives of that State. Mr. and Mrs. 
 M., by their present marriage relation, have had two 
 children, namely, George and Emma. George died 
 when about one year and three months old. 
 
 dam Palm, retired farmer, 'residing in the 
 village of Shabbona, is the son of John and 
 Catharine (Flick) Palm (see sketch of John 
 Palm), and was born Jan. 7, 1832, in Trumbull 
 Co., Ohio. He came to Illinois in 1846, one 
 year later than his father, and began farming 
 on section 14, Shabbona Township. He has since 
 exchanged this for one on section 22, of 120 acres. 
 Besides this, he is at present the owner of three vil- 
 lage lots in Shabbona. He retired from the active 
 duties of farming life in 1884, moving into the vil- 
 lage. In political matters he votes with the Repub- 
 lican party. 
 
 He was married at Paw Paw, Jan. i, 1857, to Miss 
 Elmina, adopted daughter of David R. and Angeline 
 Fuller. Mrs. Palm was born in Geauga Co., Ohio, 
 Aug. 14, 1839, and came to this State in 1853. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Palm have had one child, a daughter, now 
 the wife of Ira E. Stevens and residing in the town- 
 ship of Shabbona. 
 
 'ohn Cain, farmer, section 27, Squaw Grove 
 Township, is a son of John and Mary 
 (McElwain) Cain, who were natives of Ire- 
 land and had a family of six children, namely : 
 Samuel, John, Eliza J., Margaret, James and 
 Joseph H. The subject of this sketch was 
 born in Ireland, March 17, 1832, and was about 
 eight years old when his parents emigrated with their 
 family to America. He lived at home until about 
 26 years of age, and in 1856 came to De Kalb
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 County, first settling in Paw Paw Township, next in 
 Somonauk Township, and in r86s in Squaw Grove 
 Township, where he now has 119 acres of land, all 
 of which is in cultivation. 
 
 He was married in Paw Paw Township Dec. 23, 
 1858, to Elizabeth McElwain, a native of Ireland. 
 The have five children, Charles A., Hattie L., 
 Mary A , Margaret R. and Fanny J. Mrs. Cain died 
 June 21, 1872, in Squaw Grove Township. Mr. Cain 
 was again married Feb. 19, 1874, in the same town- 
 A ship, to Miss Mary J., daughter of Gerrit and Mary 
 A g Brower, and born in Dutchess Co., N. Y., Jan. 28, 
 
 1845- 
 
 Mr. Cain, in his political views, is a Republican, 
 and in his district he has held the office of School 
 Director. 
 
 Christopher, of the firm of Christopher & 
 Jorgensen, dealers in grain, lumber, coal 
 .nd live stock at Lee (on the county line be- 
 tween this and Lee Counties), their business 
 house being located in this county, was born 
 in Norway, April 7, 1832, and is a son of 
 Chris, and Juliane Christopher, natives of that 
 country. 
 
 He was reared and educated in his native country, 
 where he learned the carpenter's trade and followed 
 it, in Norway and Sweden, until 1855. July i, of that 
 year he emigrated from the latter country to the 
 United States, came direct to this State and located 
 in Bradford Township, Lee County. He worked at 
 his trade and farming until 1863, when he purchased 
 a farm located on section i, Willow Creek Township, 
 that county, and with his family moved on it, and at 
 once entered on its improvement and cultivation. 
 He subsequently purchased additional land in Alto 
 Township, that county, and at present is the owner 
 of 200 acres. 
 
 In 1867 Mr. Christopher visited his native country, 
 where he remained enjoying the hospitality and 
 company of his relatives and friends for almost a 
 year. He then returned to this country and contin- 
 ued his labors on the farm. In 1871, in company 
 with Ole Jorgensen Prestegard, he opened the first 
 busines house at Lee station under the firm name of 
 Christopher & Jorgensen, which relation still exists. 
 The firm is widely and favorably known as enter- 
 
 prising and fair-dealing, and to be composed of men 
 of unquestioned integrity,- and their business is a 
 steady, increasing and prosperous one. Mr. Chris- 
 topher was prominently identified with the growth 
 and development of the village of Lee, and, his resi- 
 dence being in the village, is at the present time one 
 of its enterprising business men. 
 
 Mr. Christopher was married in Bradford Town- 
 ship, Lee County, Oct. 17, 1857, to Miss Betsy, 
 daughter of A. and Annie Aadson. She was born in 
 Norway, March 16, 1838, and emigrated to the 
 United States in 1854. Of their union, six children 
 were born, namely : Juliane, May 23, 1858, married 
 Holden L. Reisetter Nov. n, 1875, and resides in 
 Willow Creek Township, Lee County ; Annie, born 
 Nov. 13, 1860, married Wm. K. Reisetter March 29, 
 1880, also a resident of Willow Creek Township; 
 Betsy, born July 26, 1862, married Ole Solomonsen 
 June 9, 1881, and resides in the same township; 
 Lena, born Aug. 25, 1864; Christina, Feb. 10, 1869, 
 and Maria, Oct. 24, 1876. The latter three reside 
 at home. Politically, Mr. C. is, and always has been 
 since the formation of the party, a Republican. He 
 has served as School Director many years, and Trus- 
 tee of the village of Lee several years. Religiously, 
 he and his family are members of the Lutheran 
 Church. 
 
 dward Boyland, farmer, section 4, Clinton 
 
 Township, was born in Ireland, June 14, 
 
 r823- His parents, Patrick and Sarah 
 
 (Robinson) Boyland, natives also of that coun- <Q> 
 
 try, passed their entire lives there. 
 
 When 25 years of age, Edward emigrated to 
 the " land of the free and the home of the brave," 
 landing in New Orleans, La., and coming soon after 
 to Chicago, 111. In the fall of 1851 he came to De 
 Kalb County and purchased 162 acres of land in 
 Clinton Township, on section 4, where he has since 
 resided. He now owns 242 acres, most of which is 
 good farming land. In politics he is a Democrat, 
 and in religion both himself and wife are members of 
 the Catholic Church. 
 
 He was married in Chicago, Sept. 17, 1851, to 
 Mary A. O'Brien, a native also of " Erin's green isle." 
 __ ^4^N@
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 The living children of Mr. and Mrs. Boyland are 
 three in number, namely, Sarah, James and Cather- 
 ine. They have lost to the other world Patrick, Jane, 
 Edward and Mary. 
 
 |arcusA. Bartlett, farmer, residing on sec- 
 tion 8, Paw Paw Township, is the owner 
 of 80 acres of land. He is a native of 
 the State of Ohio, and was born in Thomp- 
 son Township, Geauga County, Dec. 25, 1816. 
 His parents, Joseph and Temperance (Pome- 
 roy) Bartlett, were residents of Geauga County, 
 where the father followed the occupation of a farmer. 
 
 Marcus was brought up on his father's farm in 
 Geauga County. He attended the common schools, 
 and assisted in clearing 300 acres of land (of the 
 timber that grew thereon), and aided in the cultiva- 
 tion of the same. 
 
 He was married Jan. i, 1839, to Miss Mary A., 
 daughter of Capt. John and Nancy (Crane) Fowler. 
 She was born in Westfield, Hampden Co., Mass., 
 Oct. 10, 1811. In 1840 he and his family emigrated 
 from Ohio to this State and located in Bureau 
 County, where he was engaged in farming until Feb- 
 ruary, 1844. At that time he came to Paw Paw 
 Township, this county, and made a claim on section 
 9 of that township. He sold his claim the following 
 year and purchased the property on section 8, same 
 township, on which he has constantly resided to the 
 present time. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Bartlett have been blessed with five 
 children, four girls and one boy. Their record is 
 given as follows : Cora was born June 17, 1840, in 
 Ohio, is the widow of Joseph Haslett and resides in 
 West Paw Paw. Louisa was born in Bureau County, 
 this State, Oct. 6, 1842, and died Feb. 24, 1865. 
 The three younger were born in Paw Paw, namely : 
 Alice, Oct. 10, 1846, is the wife of A. E. Garnet, of 
 Chicago; Emma J., May 17, 1849; Albert F., Sept. 
 9, r8s2. The two youngest are single and reside on 
 the homestead. 
 
 Politically, Mr. B. was a member of the old Whig 
 party, but on the organization of the Republican 
 party joined it and has always been identified and 
 voted with it. He was elected one of the first Board 
 
 of Trustees of Paw Paw Township, and has also V 
 served as Road Commissioner and held various <^y 
 school offices. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Bartlett united with the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church in early life, and have been con- \&) 
 nected with that denomination at East Paw Paw for 
 many years, of which Mr. B. has served as Class- 
 Leader and Steward for over 30 years. 
 
 anics Fulton, merchant at Waterman, Clin- 
 ton Township, is a son of Thomas and 
 Elizabeth (Thompson) Fulton, natives of 
 Scotland. They emigrated to Canada in r842, 
 where his father died. His mother still resides 
 there. They were the parents of six children. 
 The mother was married a second time, to a Mr. 
 Cole, by whom she had two children, Robert J. 
 Cole, a farmer of Vinton Township, and Mrs. J. A. 
 Armstrong, of Somonauk Township. 
 
 James Fulton was the youngest of his father's 
 family and was born in Haldimand Co., Ont., May 
 r2, 1846. He resided at home, took advantage of 
 the opportunities afforded by the common schools, 
 attended the High School at Seneca and the Normal 
 School at Toronto, and developed into manhood. 
 After obtaining his majority and leaving school, he 
 engaged in teaching, which vocation he followed for 
 six years, meeting with success. Leaving the chair 
 of the teacher, Mr. Fulton turned his attention to 
 mercantile pursuits, and engaged in business at Lang- 
 ton, Ont. He continued in his business at that 
 place for three years, then sold out and came to 
 Sandwich, this county. On arriving at the latter 
 place he engaged as a clerk and followed that voca- 
 tion for seven months. 
 
 In the winter of i88r Mr. Fulton removed to 
 Waterman and engaged in general mercantile busi- 
 ness, which he has continued to the present time. 
 When he first came to Waterman, he formed a part- 
 nership with J. A. Armstrong, which relation existed 
 until September, 1884, when Mr. Fulton purchased 
 his partner's interest and has since conducted it 
 alone. His business is a progressive and successful 
 one, and his stock ample to meet the wants of his 
 customers. His annual sales approximate $40,000. 
 
 Mr. Fulton was married Nov. 14, 1871, in 
 
 | 
 \\ 
 
 I ;
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 \ 
 
 Canada, to Miss Jane E. Gray. She is a daughter 
 of George and Jane (Charlton) Gray, natives of 
 New York and England respectively. 
 
 Mrs. Fulton was born in Portage, N. Y., May 
 19, 1846, and is the mother of eight children by Mr. 
 Fulton, namely : George T., born. Aug. 18, 1872; 
 William J., Jan. 14, 1874; Annie E., Oct. 19, 1875 ; 
 Robert B., May 13, 1877 ; Walter S., March 23, 
 1879; James T.,Sept. 26, 1880; Frederick G., Sept. 
 30, 1882, and Ella C., Aug. 25, 1884. 
 
 The husband and wife are both members of the 
 Presbyterian Church. Politically Mr. Fulton is a 
 Republican. 
 
 A. Kellogg, liveryman at Sycamore, was 
 born July 10, 1853, in the township of 
 Genoa, De Kalb County. His father, Le- 
 ander P. Kellogg, was born in the State of Ver- 
 mont and came to De Kalb County when a 
 young man. He is a pioneer of De Kalb 
 County, and married Melissa Hutchinson subsequent 
 to his removal to Illinois. He settled where he still 
 resides in Genoa Township, and is the proprietor of 
 a large and valuable farm, containing more than 200 
 acres of finely improved land. 
 
 Mr. Kellogg is the fourth of seven children born 
 to his parents. He passed his minority under the 
 authority of his parents on the farm, and at the age 
 of 21 he made a contract for the control of the stage 
 and mail route between Sycamore and Marengo, 
 which he managed seven years. In the fall of 1881 
 he purchased 300 acres of land, two smiles east 
 of Genoa, in the township of the same name, and 
 was a resident there. . He is now the owner of 194 
 acres, which he rents. After residing on his farm 
 two years, he bought a livery stable at Sycamore and 
 rented another, situated immediately adjoining, 
 where he is engaged in the traffic common to livery 
 establishments, keeping about a score of horses, with 
 an excellent quality of equipments, and also man- 
 ages a feed and sale stable. He also conducts a 
 considerable trade in carriages, dealing chiefly in the 
 Lewis Cook manufacture, of acknowledged repute. 
 During the summer seasons he keeps a hack line in 
 operation between Sycamore and Genoa, a distance 
 of eight miles, making three daily trips. 
 
 Mr. Kellogg was married Oct. n, 1876, in Genoa, 
 
 to Ida M. Wager; they are the parents of one child, 
 Flossie Pearl, born Feb. 10, 1884. Mrs. Kellogg was 
 born Aug. 13, 1858, and is the daughter of Henry 
 and Deborah Wager. Her father was born April 19, 
 1819, at Davenport, Delaware Co., N. Y. He be- V^ 
 came a pioneer of the State of Illinois in 1837, an< ^ 
 died in Genoa in 1875. 
 
 He lived at Genoa for more than 30 years, well 
 known throughout the ^county and universally re- 
 spected. In the City Weekly, of Sycamore, there 
 appeared at the time of his death a sketch of his life, \ 
 in which were mentioned some of his characteristics ^ 5 
 of mind and heart. The following is the tribute re- I 
 ferred to: 
 
 He successfully battled with the difficulties con- 
 nected with a new country, and by diligence and 
 economy succeeded in gathering around him an 
 abundance of this world s goods. . Mr. Wager was 
 possessed of fine business ability, and by strict at- 
 tention to his own business was enabled to possess 
 and enjoy the large property he has left behind him. 
 He was a man of sterling integrity, fine tact and no- 
 ble sentiment. He died as he had lived (as far as 
 we know), without an ememy. Mourned by many 
 friends, he passed slowly and gently away, the victim 
 of the cruel disease, consumption. 'Liberal, but un- 
 ostentatious, kind, manly and upright, death had no 
 terror for him, nor the life across the river nothing 
 but anticipated happiness and everlasting rest. To 
 the last he lived the golden rule, thinking more _for / 
 others than for himself. Death did not come unan- 
 ticipated. Before the cold hand had been placed upon 
 him, he had said, calmly and peacefully, " I am 
 ready to die." In his death, as in his life, there was 
 an example and a lesson. The funeral service was 
 held in the M. E. Church, of which he was a mem- 
 ber for over 25 years. Rev. Joseph Caldwell preached 
 the funeral sermon. A large and sympathetic con- 
 gregation assembled in the church to pay their last 
 tribute of respect to their friend and neighbor. The j 
 family circle has lost a husband and father; the 
 Church, a brother and friend ; the community, an 
 honest and faithful citizen. He leaves a widow and 
 ten children, some of whom are married and settled 
 in life. His happy soul is at rest in the heaven of 
 eternal peace. Among his friends and relations 
 
 There is weeping on eartli for the lost, 
 There is bowing in grief to the groun 
 But rejoicing and praise 'mid the sanctified host, 
 
 There is bourn;;- in grief to the "round, 
 
 rejoicing and praise 'mid the 
 For a spirit in Paradise found! 
 
 Though brightness has passed from the eartli, 
 
 Yet a star is new born in the sky, 
 And a soul hath gone home to the 'land of its birth, 
 
 Where are pleasures and fullness of joy. 
 And a new harp is strung, and a new song is given, 
 
 To the breezes that float o'er the gardens of Heav 
 Mr. Wager was married in 1846 to Miss Mehita- 
 
 ^3^
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 S 
 
 bel Brown, of Sycamore. She died in 1852, and in 
 1856 he married Miss Debora Brown, of Sycamore, 
 sister of his first wife. He left a farm of 860 acres, 
 nicely improved, and a large amount of personal 
 property. His wife and ten children are living at 
 this date (1885). 
 
 The portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Kellogg appear in 
 connection with this sketch. 
 
 lonzo M. Laport, farmer, residing on sec. 
 it, Paw Paw Township, and owner of 780 
 acres of land, was born at Sackett's Harbor, 
 Jefferson Co., N. Y., April 27, 1827. He is a 
 son of Narcis and Minerva (Gardner) Laport, 
 of French descent on the father's side. His 
 mother traces her descent from the English pilgrims 
 who crossed the ocean in the Mayflower. 
 
 Mr. Laport emigrated to this State with his par- 
 ents in 1838. They came by way of the lakes, ar- 
 riving in Chicago in June of that year. From the 
 latter place they moved to Sugar Grove, Kane 
 County, where they remained until 1845, and in 
 March of that year came to this county and located 
 in Paw Paw" Township, on the same section on which 
 Mr. Laport at present resides. The country at that 
 time was so sparsely settled and markets so remote 
 that money was scarce and hard to procure. Split- 
 ting rails at 50 cents a hundred, or cutting cord-wood 
 at 25 cents a cord, was accepted as a generous re- 
 muneration by many hungry applicants. 
 
 Young Laport, in hopes of finding a better remune- 
 ration for his labors, went to Racine, Wis., but found 
 work scarce in that neighborhood ; and, to satisfy a 
 hungry appetite, was compelled to go to work chop- 
 ping wood at thirty-seven and a half cents a cord, 
 and board himself. Not being able to more than 
 make his board at those figures, he moved on to 
 Milwaukee. He soon after returned to Paw Paw, 
 better contented with a prairie country for a home. 
 
 Mr. Laport enlisted in Co. I, First Regt. 111. 
 Vol. Inf., in 1848, to serve in the Mexican War. 
 He served in Mexico under Gen. Price, and was 
 honorably discharged in October of the same year. 
 He then returned to Paw Paw, and in April, 1850, 
 he started overland for California. Arriving in that 
 State, he spent three years in mining and returned 
 
 to Paw Paw in 1853, and again engaged in farming, 
 and has continuously followed that vocation until 
 the present time. 
 
 The marriage of Mr. Laport to Miss Thirsa A. 
 Hyde occurred Nov. 22, 1855. She is a daughter of 
 James and Ruth (Corbin) Hyde, and was born in 
 Brazier Township, Franklin Co., N. Y., Nov. 2, 1838. 
 They have six children, four girls and two boys, 
 whose record is as follows : Eva H. was born Nov. 
 4, 1856, and is the wife of Win. Edwards, resident of 
 West Paw Paw, Lee County. Thirsa L., born Sept. 
 28, 1858, is the wife of Wm. Nesbitt, a resident of 
 Paw Paw Township. Frank A. L. was born Nov. 5, 
 1860; Maggie E., Oct. 12, 1862; Lucia M., March 
 3, 1866; James H., July n, 1873. 
 
 Mr. Laport, by industry and good management, 
 has accumulated a competency. His push and 
 pluck, together with his good judgment, has accom- 
 plished a determination formed in early years ; and, 
 looking back over the trials of the past and compar- 
 ing them with the present, he has the satisfaction of 
 knowing that he and his good help-meet overcame 
 adversity, and to-day enjoy the fruits of honest, 
 energetic endeavor. He and his wife (for Mr. 
 Laport is one who believes in attributing to the 
 good wife her share in the honors won) have accu- 
 mulated a large property. He has one of the largest 
 and best stocked farms in De Kalb County, with 
 good residence and outbuildings, and to-day they sit 
 by the fireside of content surrounded with plenty. 
 
 Mr. L., politically, has voted with the Republican 
 party ever since its organization in 1856. He has 
 never sought an office, but accepted the office of 
 Road Commissioner and held the same four terms. 
 
 ohn A. McCormick, proprietor of the Shab- 
 bona House and dealer in live stock, is a 
 native of Ireland. He was born in the 
 county of Tipperary, May 7, 1842. His par- 
 ents, Daniel and Mary (Farrell) McCormick, 
 emigrated with their family to Upper Canada 
 in 1853; in 1855 they removed to Chicago; in the 
 spring of 1859 to Paw Paw Township, this county; 
 and the following year John A. went to Texas, where 
 he was employed at railroading, at Galveston and 
 near Houston. 
 In the spring of 1861, after the breaking out of 

 
 xr 
 II 
 
 1 
 
 the late war, he made his escape to the North, re- 
 turning to his home. In August, 1862, at Shabbona, 
 he enlisted as a private in Co. E, io5th 111. Vol. Inf., 
 which was attached to the Army of the Cumberland 
 under Gen. Thomas, and was in all the engagements 
 participated in by his company till he was dis- 
 charged, at the expiration of his term of enlistment, 
 in June, 1865. 
 
 He then engaged in farming, in Clinton Township, 
 this county, until December, 1872, when he came to 
 Shabbona and erected the' " Shabbona House," which 
 he has conducted as a hotel to this date. Although 
 it is the only hotel in the place, it is well kept, and 
 the proprietor succeeds well in his business- as land- 
 lord. 
 
 Mr. McCormick was married at Aurora, 111., April 
 24, 1870, to Miss Julia Cargan, daughter of James 
 and Bridget (Lalway) Cargan. She was born in the 
 county of Meath, Ireland, Aug. 23, 1845, and emi- 
 grated to America with her uncle, Peter Lalway, in 
 18158. They have a family of six children living, all 
 girls, viz. : Mary Elizabeth, born in Clinton, 111., 
 Feb. 16, 1871; Nellie, same place, Sept. 12, 1872; 
 Treasa, born May 13, 1874, died five days afterward ; 
 Eva, born Feb. 9, 1876, at Shabbona; Lucy, born 
 March 10, 1879, died Aug. 31, following ; Kate, born 
 May 10, 1880; Martha, Dec. 23, 1882, at Shabbona; 
 and Julia, same place, Feb. 3, 1884. 
 
 Mr. McCormick is a member of the Village Board 
 of Trustees, and an officer of T. S. Terry Post, No. 
 463, G. A. R. In politics he is a Democrat, and in 
 religion Jx>th himself and wife are members of the 
 Catholic Church. 
 
 jilliam Colton, farmer, section 17, Clinton, 
 Township, is a son of Reuben and Rhoda 
 (Law) Colton, who were natives of Massa- 
 chusetts and Connecticut respectively, and 
 settled in New York State, where they reared 
 a family of i r children, Eunice, Flavia, Timo- 
 thy, Orrel, Clinton, Oramel, Betsey, Martin, Laura, 
 William and Daniel. 
 
 The tenth in the above family, the subject of this 
 sketch, was born in Tompkins Co., N. Y.,Oct. 4, t8r i. 
 He was educated at the common school, and he 
 inued to live in his Viative county till 1846, when 
 
 he came to Kane Co., 111., and resided in Sugar 
 Grove Township three years. In 1849 he came to 
 this county and purchased 50 acres of land in Clin- 
 ton and Shabbona Townships, settling where he still 
 makes his residence. At present he is the owner of 
 88 acres in this county, eight of which is in timber. 
 
 In regard to political issues Mr. Colton acts with 
 the Republican party. He has been Overseer of 
 Highways and School Director. Both himself and 
 wife are members of the Second-Advent Church. 
 
 He was married in Dryden, Tompkins Co., N. Y., 
 Aug. 3, 1837, to Lucinda, daughter of Abner and 5 
 Mary (Todd) Emery, natives of New England. She , 
 was born in Tompkins Co., N. Y., Aug 16, 1818. Mr. 
 and Mrs. C. have had nine children, namely : Lovina, 
 Lucretia (deceased), Sarah A., Maria, Franklin, W. 
 Luther, Samuel C. (deceased), Carrie L. and Charles 
 Wesley. Mr. and Mrs. Emery have also had nine 
 children, Stephen, Lucinda, Lucretia, Mary A., 
 Franklin, Frederick, Hiram, Sarah and Eleazer. 
 
 ames L. Adams, farmer, section 7, Paw Paw = 
 Township, (P. O., East Paw Paw) has 60 ^ 
 acres of land. He was born in Boston, ^ 
 
 i., in April, 1814, and is the son of Albe- , 
 gence and Catharine Adams. He lost his 
 parents in early youth; left Boston in 1824 
 and removed to Otsego Co., N. Y. From the latter 
 place he removed to Allegany County, and from there 
 to Chicago, 111., in 1836. He spent a few months as 
 clerk in a drug-store in that city, and in the fall of 
 that year removed to Aurora. He opened the first 
 general store on the east side of that town, and con- 
 tinued in business there two years, and then he went 
 to Sugar Grove, Kane County, where he was engaged 
 in farming. 
 
 He was married in Sugar Grove, in March, 1839, 
 to Martha J. Barnes, daughter of Jabez and Mary 
 Barnes. Nine children were born to them, five 
 sons and four daughters : Alfred, born June 1 6, 1 840, 
 married and is living in Oregon ; Lucina, born Aug. 
 5, 1842, died aged two years; Martha J., born April ^ 
 20, 1844, is the wife of Henry S. Griffeth, of Webster, 
 Iowa; Jabez A., born Oct. 24, 1846, married Ellen 
 Persons and resides in Iowa ; John Q., born April 3, 
 1848, lives in Lehigh, Iowa ; Kate, born Aug. 3, 1849,
 
 > v*' lives with her brother in Dakota; Robert A., born 
 :? Dec. 10, 1852, married Lizzie Edwards and lives in 
 ^ Dakota ; Mary A., born Feb. 10, 1854, wife of Spencer 
 Griffeth, of Paw Paw Township; Douglass A., born 
 Oct. 23, 1856, married Miss Lake and lives in Dako- 
 ta; Sarah F., born Aug. 9, 1858, resides in Milling- 
 ton, 111. ; Mrs. Adams died April 29, 1862. 
 
 Mr. Adams moved to Shabbona Grove in 1849, 
 where he was engaged in merchandising about four 
 years. He then removed to East Paw Paw and con- 
 tinued in the same business till 1859, when he went 
 to California. He spent three years in that State, 
 during which time he was engaged in mining and in 
 dispensing justice as a frontier 'Squire. He returned 
 to De Kalb County in 1862. 
 
 He was married again March 3, 1864, in Greens- 
 town, 111., to Mrs. Harriet Firkins, widow of Asahel 
 Firkins, and daughter of James H. and Hannah 
 (Preston) Miller. Mrs. Adams was born in Monroe 
 Co., Mich., Jan. 25, 1823. One child was born of 
 * their union, March 26. 1865, a daughter named Nellie 
 
 ^ A. Soon after his last marriage Mr. Adams engaged 
 in farming on his present farm. In his religious 
 views he favors the Universalists. In politics he is 
 a Democrat. 
 
 eorge Jackson, dealer in general hard- 
 ware, stoves, tinware, farm machinery and 
 barbed wire at Shabbona, was the first man 
 to open a tin shop in the village named. He 
 opened his shop in March, 1874, and contin- 
 ued the same for about a year, when he " closed 
 out." In October, 1876, he resumed his business at 
 i that point, putting in a stock of general hardware, 
 stoves and tinware, and has carried on the business 
 continually ever since, covering a period of about nine 
 years. 
 
 In 1 88 1, Mr. Jackson began dealing in farm 
 machinery, making a speciality of McCormick's ma- 
 chines and the Bassett and Ottawa wagons. He has 
 continued in the latter line until the present time. 
 His stock on hand averages $4,000, and his business 
 is a steadily increasing and prosperous one. 
 
 Mr. Jackson is a son of Jonathan and Mary (Wilds) 
 Jackson, and was born in Schenectady, N. Y., Sept. 
 850. He received a common-school education 
 
 S^ < 
 
 in his native city and early in life learned the tinner's 
 trade. In 1870 he came to this county and located 
 at Shabbona Grove. He opened the pioneer tin shop 
 of that place and continued the same until 1872, at 
 the time the village of Shabbona was started. For 
 two years from that time he was engaged in farming, 
 and then located in Shabbona and opened a shop, as 
 before stated. 
 
 Mr. Jackson was married at Shabbona, Oct. 16, 
 1872, to Miss Camelia E., daughter of Nicholas and 
 Maria (Quilhot) Kittle. She was born at Shabbona 
 Grove, Dec. 5, 1850. Three children constitute the 
 issue of their union, one son and two daughters. 
 Their record is as follows : Bertie was born Jan. 24, 
 1874; Ethel, Oct. 14, 1883; and Lizzie, July 22, 1881. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Jackson is a believer in and sup- 
 porter of the principles of the Republican party. 
 
 ifflfiljkenry W. Leifheit, " mine host " of the Clin- 
 ton House at Waterman, is the son of 
 Henry and Frederica (Hartman) Leifheit. 
 ^ They were natives of Germany and emigrated 
 to the United States in 1852, settling in York- 
 ville, Kendall County, this State. The follow- 
 ing spring, 1853, they came to this county and located 
 in Somonauk Township, where they resided for two 
 years, and then returned to Kendall County. Four 
 years later they returned to Somonauk, resided there 
 two years and then moved into Clinton Township, 
 where they are at present residing. They were the 
 parents of nine children : Henry W., August, William, 
 Fred, Herman, Caroline, Alvina, Anna and Minnie. 
 Henry W. Leifheit was born in Germany Dec. 4, 
 1840, and was T2 years of age when he crossed the 
 ocean with his parents. He remained with them on 
 the farm, assisting his father in its cultivation and 
 taking advantage of the opportunities afforded by the 
 common schools, until he attained the age of maturity. 
 On reaching that age, he rented a farm in this county, 
 on his own responsibility, and successfully cultivated 
 the same for four years. His next move was to Iro- 
 quois County, this State, where he bought a farm, on 
 which he resided for seven years. Selling his farm, 
 he purchased a hotel in the village of Ashkum, that 
 county, and for one and a half years was engaged as 
 landlord of the same. He then sold his hotel and 
 
 i 

 
 Of TIE
 

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 came to Clinton Township and engaged in the 
 saloon business. He continued in the latter busi- 
 ness for three years, until 1877, then sold and 
 purchased the hotel at Waterman, of which he is at 
 present proprietor. His hotel is known as the " Clin- 
 ton House," and is conducted in a manner entirely 
 satisfactory to his guests. He is as genial and gen- 
 tlemanly as one could wish to meet, and the pains 
 he takes to attend to the wants of his guests and 
 make their stay at his hotel pleasant is appreciated, 
 as instanced by his constantly increasing business. 
 
 Mr. Leifheit was united in marriage in Oswego, 
 Kendall Co., this State, Nov. 25, 1860, to Miss Jo- 
 anna Wollenweber, daughter of Earnest and Hattie 
 Wollenweber, natives of Germany, in which country 
 her father died. Her mother came to this country 
 with her children, in 1857. They had nine children, 
 namely: Earnest, Augusta, Henry, William, Joanna, 
 Charles, Minnie, Carrie and Eureka. 
 
 Mrs. Leifheit was born in Germany Dec. 30, 1840, 
 and came to the United States with her mother in 
 1857, as stated. She is the mother of 10 children 
 by Mr. L., namely: Willie, born July 16, 1862; 
 Emma, Dec. n, 1863; George W., April 10, 1865; 
 Albert, Aug. 26, 1867; Ida, Jan. 16, 1870; Millie, 
 March 21, 1872; Emmett, Feb. 4, 1874; Delia, 
 March 3, 1877; Carrie, Aug. 4, 1879; and Jessie 
 M., Dec. 22, 1 88 1. William, Emma and Ida are 
 deceased. 
 
 Mr. Leifheit is a member of Lodge No. 580, I. O. 
 O. F., and politically is identified with the Dem- 
 ocratic party. 
 
 ^ P= ? - L arle8 H. Low, deceased, oldest son and 
 second child of William R. and Lydia 
 (Christy) Low, was born in Mariposa, Vic- 
 toria Co., Ont., Oct. 4, 18515. He died at 
 Sandwich, Jan. 10, 1884. Although the rec- 
 ord of his brief career must be wholly memo- 
 rial, it must also be typical, and pre-eminently valu- 
 able from the traits which characterized him and 
 from what he achieved. From the beginning of his 
 conscious existence he was an extraordinary [child. 
 . . His love for learning commenced with his under- 
 standing of the existence of knowledge, and even in 
 "" his earliest school days his intellect flashed like a 
 
 gem in a less brilliant setting. All branches of study 
 delighted him, and while he attained wonderful prog- 
 ress in science and Latin, he reveled in the field of 
 mathematics, which was the element of his nature, 
 in the curriculum of instruction. His mind was in- 
 herently systematic, and its development was self- 
 constructed step by step, advancing like a mathe- 
 matical series. He was the possessor of uncommon 
 powers of demonstration, and the rapidity with which 
 he reached his conclusions proved alike the clearness 
 of his perceptions and the accurate methods of his 
 mental operations. The testimonials of his teachers 
 express a uniform estimate of the quality of his in- 
 tellect and his remarkable precocity. Without excep- 
 tion he impressed his instructors, not only with his 
 superior abilities but also with the sterling worth of 
 his character, even in his earliest boyhood. His 
 parents, brothers, sisters and other family relatives 
 were regarded by him with the tenderest considera- 
 tion, and no instance is remembered by them in 
 which he wavered or was recreant to the deep and 
 abiding home love which was the predominating 
 excellence of his character. 
 
 He came to Illinois with his parents in 1856, and 
 was then less than a year old. He lived with them 
 at Shabbona Grove until the age of 1 1 years, and 
 from 1866 until 1869 lived at Piano. Previous to the 
 date when his father became a resident of Sandwich, 
 he had only the advantages of the public schools ; 
 but he waited not on opportunity. He utilized every 
 privilege that presented itself, and while his waking 
 hours were crowded with effort he paid grateful 
 homage to all to whom he believed himself indebted 
 for assistance in his march of progress. There was, 
 in his composition, no room for the exercise of evil 
 proclivities toward any one. He loved, trusted and 
 believed in all with whom he was brought in contact, 
 and he received from others measure running over 
 of that which he gave. He was the object of un- 
 qualified affection and unrestricted confidence, and 
 was believed in implicitly by all who came to know 
 him intimately. 
 
 When he entered the school taught at Sandwich 
 by A. J. Sawyer, now an attorney at Lincoln, Neb., 
 he was less than 1 2 years of age, a frail lad with 
 locks yet in their boyish fairness ; he was found to 
 possess a comprehensive understanding of Robin- 
 son's Higher Arithmetic and Algebra, Greene's Eng- 
 lish Grammar, of Philosophy and History and the 
 
 : ^V^ ^^^ -$@&,
 
 vx 
 
 560 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 commoner English branches, in which he passed a 
 satisfactory examination and was placed in the High 
 School department. Mr. Sawyer says of him : " For 
 four years he was rarely, if ever, absent from his seat. 
 He was not only brilliant in scholarship, mastering 
 the most difficult studies with the greatest ease', but 
 he was exemplary in deportment, manly in conduct, 
 generous in impulse and kind and accommodating to 
 all his classmates." These were the traits that char- 
 acterize h,is whole life. 
 
 Mentally, he was equipped for a business life at 
 16, and in 1872 he became an office boy in the em- 
 ployment of the Sandwich Manufacturing Company 
 and rose by virtue of merit in six years to the posi- 
 tion of confidential clerk. The route by which he 
 attained his preferment need not be outlined The 
 fact of the achievement' is its own explanation. 
 Through one year he was the assistant of J. Phelps 
 Adams, Secretary of the Company ; and let it be re- 
 marked in passing, that while the natural traits of 
 " Charlie " were so unusual, it must still be remem- 
 bered that the associations and influences in which 
 his business qualities developed were of rare type and 
 contributed largely to his advancement. The oppor- 
 tunities he enjoyed through the years of his personal 
 relations with the gentleman named were of incalcu- 
 lable advantage in shaping his career. He went 
 early in 1883 to Kansas City as manager of the 
 southwestern department of the company's interests. 
 In August, 1883, having been offered a responsible 
 position by William Deering, of Chicago, which he 
 thought would eventually afford him greater scope 
 for work and achievement, with reluctance and re- 
 gret on the part of the company his employer from 
 childhood and himself, he resigned his position at 
 Kansas City and entered the services of Mr. Deering 
 in a responsible place in his great agricultural works 
 at Chicago. Mr. Deering had the highest appreciation 
 of his character and abilities. Some weeks later, he 
 started for Oregon, California and the far West in be- 
 half of his employer. He took leave of his home and 
 friends with reluctance. The way seemed long and 
 the burdens onerous. It was afterward remembered 
 that the face, always worn with intense mental strain, 
 was unusually sharpened, and that the hitherto tire- 
 less, indomitable spirit faltered in view of its impend- 
 ing labors and fatigues. But no one guessed that he 
 stood, even then, within the mystic shadow of the 
 unseen world. He was seized with malarial illness 
 
 &%&& *&> ^ 
 
 at Salt Lake City, and though he received every care '* , 
 and attention from friends to whom he was as dear 
 as their own, his instincts drew him resistlessly back 
 to the home at Sandwich. Following are the last 
 words he traced with the hand that had inscribed v 
 countless loving messages to the loved ones under 
 the home roof-tree : 
 
 SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, Dec. 28, 1883. 
 Dear Folks: 
 
 I am getting better, but do not get an appetite v 
 as I should, and I am going to wait here for it. ' 
 The doctor says I can go home easy enough now, but 
 I think it is too long a ride to take on an empty ^ 
 stomach, and so shall wait until I eat better. Will 
 then go to Sandwich and try your cooking. Am 
 better this A. M. than any time yet, and it will only 
 be a few days before I start. 
 
 Yours, etc., C. H. Low. 
 
 And he came, even though he knew that to 
 
 come would in all likelihood be at the risk of 
 his sole chance for recovery. But he took it, and he 
 kept the holiday of the opening year in the home he A?. 
 had craved to see once more with an irresistible 
 longing. Hope never faltered or grew dim while 
 consciousness lasted; but the remorseless fever sap- 
 ped his life forces, and though the encroachments of 
 the grim guest were contested inch by inch with every 
 device of science and love, the splendid intellect fell ( 
 at last in ruin, and the brave heart became still. He 
 was borne away to that house " whose curtain never 
 outward swings" with decorous ceremonial; but 
 neither the fragrance nor the beauty of the wealth of 
 flowers, nor the sympathy of the friendly throng, could 
 soften the pang of irreparable loss. 
 
 The manhood of Charles H. Low began where his 
 boyhood ended. After that he was no more a child. 
 He answered to the claims of society, morality and 
 the customs which govern the business world with an 
 alacrity that finds few parallels in a generation. He 
 was a member of Meteor Lodge, No. 283, at Sand- 
 wich, of Sandwich Chapter, No. 107, R. A. M., and 
 of Aurora Commandery, No. 22, Knights Templars. f ( 
 Each of the Masonic organizations to which he be- 
 longed passed the usual resolutions when he died, 
 and the funeral exercises were conducted by the 
 Knights of Aurora Commandery and the Masonic 
 societies of which he was a member. They were 
 held in the Congregational church, where he had rent- 
 ed a pew from 1877, about the time he became of age.
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 * * He died when a little more than 28 years old, as 
 rA we note the succession of years, but 
 
 If lives he long which answer life's great ends, 
 Where shall we fix the sum that numbered thine? 
 fa The portrait of the subject of this sketch, which 
 ^^ appears on another page, is inserted in this volume 
 by his parents as a perpetual monument to the 
 memory of their beloved son. 
 
 on. Robert Hampton, fanner, residing on 
 section 7, Paw Paw Township, and owner 
 of 369 acres' of land (postoffice, East Paw 
 Paw), was born in Ontario, Can., March 27, 
 1821, and is a son of James and Clarissa (Mc- 
 Carty) Hampton. He emigrated from Canada 
 and settled in Adams County, this State, in 1838, 
 where he resided until 1846, and then came to this 
 county, locating in Paw P^w Township. 
 
 Mr. Hampton was married in Hancock County, 
 this State, Jan. i, 1843, to Miss Lydia, daughter of 
 Frederick and Catharine (Walters) Zemmer. She 
 was born in Fairfield Co., Ohio, July 16, 1818. 
 Eight children constitute the issue of their union, 
 and their record is as follows: Hiram D., born March 
 7, 1844, died Aug. 13, 1858; William S., born Oct. 
 12, 1846, was educated for the ministry and ordained 
 by the Congregational Church : he married Celestia 
 A. Wood, and is the Principal of the Congregational 
 Academy at Franklin, Neb.; Joseph P., born Feb. 28, 
 1848, married Catharine J. Nicholson, and resides in 
 Green Co., Iowa; Marietta, born Feb. 23, 1850, is 
 residing with her parents; Robert F., born Feb. 3, 
 1852, married Elizabeth C. Dienest, and resides in 
 Paw Paw Township; Riley J., born Sept. 29,1854, 
 married Sarah A. Henderson, and resides in Lee, 
 Lee County; Lydia A., born Sept. 7, 1857, married 
 Thomas P. Dalton, of Lee ; Harriet D., born May 21, 
 1860, married Samuel M. Henderson, a resident of 
 Clinton Township, this county. As an item of family 
 history, we mention the fact that all the children ex- 
 cept two were teachers. They all have a good edu- 
 cation, procured at the common schools and under 
 parental instruction, and are well-to-do in life. 
 
 Mr. Hampton is a gentleman possessing fine ex- 
 ecutive ability, which fact the citizens of his township 
 and of the county were not slow to discover and ap- 
 
 preciate, and have kept him in office almost con- 
 stantly since his residence in Paw Paw Township. 
 He was elected Supervisor of his township at an early 
 day, and at the expiration of his term was re-elected, 
 has held the office 12 terms, and is the present in- 
 cumbent of the same. He has served as Township 
 Trustee for 16 years and Road Commissioner several 
 years ; was elected Justice of the Peace, served seven 
 years, and is the present incumbent of that office. In 
 1866 he was elected to the Illinois Legislature from 
 the 57th Representative District, on the Republican 
 ticket, and served on several important committees. 
 In 1873 he was supported by the farmers for the 
 office of Treasurer of De Kalb County, and was 
 elected by a good round majority. Politically, Mr. 
 Hampton is a zealous, working Republican. In 
 early life he was a Democrat, but left that party in 
 1854, and on the organization of the Republican 
 party in 1856 he cast his vote for John C. Fremont, 
 and has since been identified with that party. 
 
 Religiously Mr. Hampton, together with several of 
 his family, are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church. 
 
 renius Bailey, farmer owning 168 acres 
 on section 33, Shabbona Township and 
 resident thereon, was born in Schoharie Co., 
 N. Y., June 21, 1823. His parents, Asa and 
 Anna (Me Neil) Bailey, moved from Schoharie 
 to Saratoga County, his native State, when; 
 Cyrenius was about 13 years old, and in the latter 
 county he was reared and educated, receiving his 
 education in the common schools. 
 
 He was married in Saratoga County, in Ballston, 
 the county seat, Dec. 14, 1853, to Miss Jane A., 
 daughter of Jesse and Amanda (Pawling) Morey, 
 descendants from the Revolutionary patriots. She 
 was born in Ballston, March 15, 1826.' 
 
 Mr. Bailey came to this State, with his family, in 
 1856, spent one year at Paw Paw, Lee County, and, 
 in 1857, moved on the land on which he is at present 
 residing. The land was in its natural state, and Mr. 
 Bailey entered at once upon the laborious task of im- 
 proving it, confident the future development of the 
 country would add greatly to the value of his prop- 
 i erty, and determined 19 establish a home for himself 

 
 
 
 and family. How well he has succeeded the condi- 
 tion and value of his farm will testify. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Bailey are the parents of seven chil- 
 dren, two living and five deceased. The record is 
 as follows : Anna A., born Sept. 24, 1854, is the 
 wife of George B. Flinders, a resident of Cherokee 
 Co., Iowa. Emma, born Aug. 3, 1856, married Byron 
 Hinds, and moved to Iowa : she had two children, 
 and died Jan. 12, 1882. Asa, born Oct. 30, 1858, 
 lives in Cherokee Co., Iowa. Hattie M., born May 
 20, :86r, died March 14, 1862. Jennie, born April 
 7, 1863, died April 30, 1884. Edwin C.,born March 
 26, 1865, died Feb. 23, 1867. Clara, born Nov. i, 
 1867, died Aug. 21, 1868. 
 
 Mr. Bailey, politically, is a Republican. He has 
 been Assessor two years, and has held other minor 
 offices. Religiously, he and his wife are both mem- 
 bers of the Baptist Church. 
 
 F. Post, farmer, section 2, Shabbona Town- 
 ship, was born in Potsdam, St. Lawrence 
 Co., N. Y., April 20, 1826, his parents being 
 John and Jerusha (Fuller) Post, and was 
 reared on the farm. He emigrated to Illinois 
 in the spring of 1850, passed the ensuing sum- 
 mer in Kane Co., 111., and in the fall came to John- 
 son's Grove, this county. In 1865 he purchased a 
 farm of 90 acres and it now comprises 254 acres, in 
 Shabbona Township. 
 
 Mr. Post has been an active citizen in local inter- 
 ests. He has been a member of the Masonic lodge 
 at Shabbona for 20 years ; was a Whig in early life, 
 and has been a steadfast Republican since the organ- 
 ization of that party ; and in religion he (as well as 
 his wife) is a member of the Congregational Church 
 of Shabbona. 
 
 He was married April 26, 1854, in Aurora, 111., to 
 Miss Mariett, daughter of Hanford and Dorcas 
 (Perry) Hoselton. She was born at Lyme, Jefferson 
 Co., N. Y., Nov. 10, 1833. Mr. and Mrs. Post have 
 had two sons and three daughters, as follows : Ida 
 M., born April 6, 1857, is now the wife of A. J. 
 Chandler, of Plymouth Co., Iowa; Emery A., born 
 March 2, 1859, married Lineaetta Stimpson and lives 
 
 in Shabbona Township; Eddie M., born Nov. 29, 
 1861, died March 28, 1864; Elma D., born Nov. i, 
 1869; and Mabel E., Oct. 29, 1873. 
 
 ewis Nelson, farmer, section 26, Squaw 
 Grove Township, is a son of Nels and Ane 
 (Kirstine) Jepson, who passed their lives in 
 their native country, Denmark, having three 
 children, Sarah, Jeppe and Lewis. The sub- 
 ject of this sketch was born in Denmark, Jan. 7, 
 1844, lived there till 1868, came to America and for 
 two and a half years worked out on a farm in Som- 
 onauk Township; next he worked two years in 
 Whiteside Co., 111., and then in 1873, he returned to 
 Denmark on a visit for about two months. He came 
 again to the " land of opportunity " and first bought 
 80 acres of land in Squaw^Grove Township, which 
 he afterward sold, and purchased 159 acres, which he 
 now occupies, on section 26, as above mentioned. 
 Most of his place is in a good state of cultivation. 
 
 He was married in Chicago Oct 6, 1877, to Chris- 
 tiane Johnson, who was born in Denmark, March 19, 
 1856, and they are the parents of two children, 
 Agnes L. and Harvey M. 
 
 In his political views ,Mr. Nelson is a Republican. 
 
 illiam Harper, deceased, was a pioneer of 
 Paw Paw Township. He was born in Ar- 
 gyle, Washington Co., N. Y., June 19, 
 1815. When 13 years of age he removed 
 with his parents, James and Elizabeth (Black) 
 Harper, to Sterling, Cayuga Co., N. Y., was 
 brought up on a farm and in 1844 emigrated to Illi- 
 nois, arriving in Paw Paw Township, De Kalb County, 
 in September of that year. He entered 120 acres of 
 Government land on section 14, and subsequently 
 added to it by purchase till he had 720 acres at the 
 time of his death, which occurred July 6, 1881, at 
 the old farm. 
 
 Mr. Harper was married in Sterling, N. Y., April 
 25, 1848, to Sarah Irwin, daughter of John and Jane 
 (Kirk) Irwin. Mrs. Harper was born in the town of 

 
 * '**"
 

 
 ^KT 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Argyle, Washington Co., N. Y., Aug. 16, 1814. Im- 
 mediately after their marriage they made their home 
 in Paw Paw Township, 111. There were five chil- 
 dren born of their union, four boys and one girl , 
 Mary J., born April 14, 1849 ; William, Sept. i, 1850, 
 died Jan. n, 1857; Thomas, born June 28, 1852, 
 married Katie Santee, who died Jan. 27, 1885 : he is 
 a resident of Wyoming, Lee Co., 111.; James, born 
 Dec. 2, 1853, married Bertha Patrick, and lives at 
 East Paw Paw; John K.,born July 15, 1856, married 
 Mary C. Davis, and lives at the old homestead in 
 Paw Paw Township. 
 
 Mr. Harper was a Democrat in early life, but on 
 the formation of the Republican party he joined 
 that organization, and continued to vote that ticket 
 while he lived. He was a member of the United 
 Presbyterian Church of Ross Grove, and was a very 
 liberal contributor toward the building of the church, 
 and subsequently to its support. The estate has 
 been divided among the hews. His estimable wife 
 survives him and makes her home at the old home- 
 stead. She also is a member of the United Presby- 
 terian Church. 
 
 nry Husk, farmer, owning 157 acres lo- 
 cated on sections 22, 23, 26 and 27, Shab- 
 * bona Township, and residing at Shabbona vil- 
 lage, was born in Auburn, Cayuga Co., N. Y., 
 Jan. 7, 1835. He is a son of Daniel and Cath- 
 arine (Quilhot) Husk, with whom he resided 
 until 1848. 
 
 Mr. Husk received a good common-school educa- 
 tion in his native State, and assisted his father until 
 the year 1848. During that year he, with his 
 brother William, emigrated to this State and June 9 
 located at Shabbona Grove. Some time afterward 
 he purchased a farm located on sectibn 16, Shabbona 
 Township. He cultivated and improved this place 
 for a time, then moved on a farm located on section 
 1 1, same township. He followed the occupation of 
 a farmer on the latter place, until 1876, during which 
 time he succeeded in putting the farm in a good till- 
 able condition. He then sold his farm and subse- 
 quently purchased the land he owns on sections 22, 
 23, 26 and 27. On Feb. 28 of that year named, he 
 moved to Shabbona village. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Husk is a Republican. He has 
 
 g^gS(*n > VfrT' C * 
 
 sii/X*V^vS^ 
 
 held several important local offices, and is the pres- 
 ent Deputy Sheriff, which office he also held in 1864. 
 He was also Collector of taxes five years and Con- 
 stable 12 years. 
 
 Mr. Husk was married in Shabbona Grove, Jan. i, 
 1855, to Miss Mary J., daughter of John and Cath- 
 arine Palm. She was born in Southington, Trum- 
 bull Co., Ohio, Sept. 3, 1838, and is the mother of 
 two children by Mr. H., namely: Elizabeth M. was 
 born Oct. 14, 1858, and is the wife of Lloyd Bous- 
 lough, a resident of Shabbona village ; Mary B., born 
 Nov. 8, 1860, is residing with her parents. Relig- 
 iously, Mrs. Husk and her daughter Mary are mem- 
 bers of the Congregational Church. 
 
 sahel B. Byers is one of the most extens- 
 , ive farmers and stockmen in the township 
 of South Grove, and resides on section 10. 
 He was born Oct. 22, 1831, in Delaware Co., 
 N. Y. James Byers, his father, was a native 
 of Scotland, and a farmer by profession ; he 
 came to the American continent when he was a i 
 years of age, bringing with him his wife, to whom he 
 was married just before taking a final leave of his 
 native land. He came to De Kalb County in 1841, 
 and purchased several hundred acres of land in 
 South Grove Township, where he was one of the 
 pioneer settlers. His death occurred Dec. 9, 1874, 
 when he was 77 years of age. Jane (Scott) Byers, 
 the mother, was the child of Scotch parents, and was 
 a most valuable acquisition to the early social ele- 
 ment of the township where she settled with her 
 husband. She died Nov. 7, 1873, when she wa's 78 
 years old. They became the parents of six children, 
 four of whom are yet living, and all are residents of 
 the State of Illinois. Three live in De Kalb County. 
 Mr. Byers is the fifth child of his parents, and was 
 ten years of age when they came to Illinois. In 
 their early days the order was -hard work and limited 
 education, but, while the difficulties held sway to a 
 certain extent and proved a great inconvenience, 
 they tended to mature judgment and convert experi- 
 ence into education of a valuable character. Mr 
 Byers was married Feb. 21, 1856,^11 Mayfield Town-
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 ' t ship,' to Mary A. McRae. She is the daughter of 
 "<* 5 Christopher and Celinda (Phelps) McRae, respect- 
 ively of Scotland and New England. After their 
 marriage, they removed to Ontario, Can., where the 
 ; daughter was born, Nov. n, i8;u- When she was 
 15 years old, her parents came to De Kalb County, 
 and she resided with them until her marriage. Her 
 father died in Mayfield Township, in May, 1858. 
 Her mother is still living, aged 87 years, and resides 
 at Waterloo, Iowa, with a daughter. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Byers settled on a farm which they 
 y > had previously purchased, consisting of 500 acres 
 of land, and he is now the proprietor of i ,300 acres 
 of land, all under improvement, besides a farm of 
 1 90 acres, part of which is included in the village of 
 Kirkland. He is an extensive dealer in sheep, cattle 
 and hogs, and takes a leading rank as a breeder of 
 stock and in general farming. In political faith and 
 action Mr. Byers is a Republican and has discharged 
 the duties of several local offices in his township. 
 
 The family includes eight children Christie A., 
 James, Fred, Margaret, Jessie, Frank, Flora and 
 Myrtie S. 
 
 As one of the leading agriculturists in De Kalb 
 County, and a gentleman altogether worthy the posi- 
 tion, we present the portrait of Mr. Byers in this 
 volume. 
 
 & 
 
 vX 
 
 idrew Clapsaddle, farmer, on section 24, 
 Paw Paw Township, was born in Herkimer 
 Co., N. Y., March 30, 1824. His parents, 
 George A. and Nancy (Bellinger) Clapsaddle, 
 were of German descent and followed agricul- 
 ture. In 1848 he came West to " spy out the 
 land," resulting in the purchase of his present farm, 
 consisting of 360 acres. At that time, however, he 
 returned East, and moved to his new Western home 
 in 1850. He has improved and developed his 
 property till he is now ranked among the foremost 
 of the wealthy farmers of the county. In his politi- 
 cal views he is an old-time Democrat. 
 
 He was married in this county, July 16, 1861, to 
 i Mrs. Mary L. Heustis, widow of Miles Heustis and 
 * daughter of Alman Ames. Mrs. C. was born in 
 @) Otsego Co., N. Y., Nov. 12, 1830, and died July 22, 
 1870, leaving three sons and two daughters, namely, 
 
 g>X^)f| ^^ & 
 
 Frank J., born Nov. 21, 1862; Esther A., March 
 1864; Alman A., Nov. 25, 1865; George F., Nov. 
 19, 1867, and Mary N., June 5, 1870. Mr. Clap- 
 saddle was married again June 24, 1875, in Cass Co., 
 Mich., to Miss Mary Walter, daughter of George 
 and Elizabeth (Harter) Walter, who was born in 
 Herkimer Co., N. Y., April 9, 1834. 
 
 oses Bartlett, who is a farmer on section 
 9, Paw Paw Township, where he has 79 
 acres, is one of the pioneers of this part 
 of the county. He was born in the town of 
 Hampden, Geauga Co., Ohio, Oct. u, 1825, his 
 parents being Joseph and Temperance (Pome- 
 roy) Bartlett. He received a common^school edu- 
 cation. 
 
 In the fall of 1840 the family emigrated by team 
 from Ohio to Bureau Co., 111., where Moses assisted 
 his father in conducting the farm until the spring of 
 1843, when they removed to Paw Paw Township, set- 
 tling on Government land, which is still the residence 
 of Mr. Bartlett. 
 
 He was married at Ross Grove, Paw Paw Town- 
 ship, June 10, 1848, to Miss Martha R. Harper, 
 daughter of James and Elizabeth (Black) Harper. 
 Mrs. B. was born in the town of Sterling, Oswego 
 Co., N. Y., March 19, 1823, and, died Oct. 2, 1872, 
 leaving one child, Lester A., who was born May 21, 
 1849, and in December, 1871, married Jennie Blair. 
 They moved in 1884 to Concordia, Cloud Co., Kan.; 
 they have four children three sons and a daughter. 
 
 Mr. Bartlett, whose name heads this sketch, was 
 married a second time Oct. n, 1873, in Clinton 
 Township, this county, to Mrs. Mary Christy, widow 
 of John Christy and daughter of James and Jennie 
 (Dobbin) McAllister. She was born in Greenwich, 
 Washington Co., N. Y., Feb. 6, 1826. By her first 
 marriage she had the following five children : James 
 B., born Feb. 10, 1851, died Aug? 29 following; 
 Martha J., born Dec. n,.i853, died Aug. 29, 1854; 
 Alpha, born Aug. 9, 1855, died Sept. 22, 1856; Alice, 
 born July 20, 1857, died Aug. 25, 1858; Charles W., 
 born July 26, 1859, married Maggie Morrow, Jan. i, 
 1884, and resides in West Paw Paw, Lee County. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Bartlett have an adopted daughter, 
 Eva, who was born Sept. 12, 1861, and whom they 
 
 *^ *fe
 
 
 Q 
 
 KALB COUNTY. 
 
 adopted at the age of two years. She is a school- 
 teacher by profession. 
 
 In politics Mr. Bartlett is a Republican, and has 
 been such since the organization of the party. He 
 and his wife are members of the Congregational 
 Church of Ross Grove, in which society he has held 
 the the office of Deacon over 30 years. 
 
 ' vando W. White, a farmer on section 27, 
 Shabbona Township, was born in Preble 
 Co., Ohio., Jan. 24, 1849, and when three 
 years of age his parents, Lemuel and Nancy 
 (Morrow) White, removed with him to Boone 
 Co., Ind. He was brought up to agricultural 
 work and received a common-school education. In 
 November, 1865, he came to Shabbona Township, 
 this county, locating at Shabbona Grove. He pur- 
 chased his present farm of 100 acres in the spring 
 of 1880. 
 
 Mr. White was married at Shabbona Grove, Aug. 
 15, 1875, to Annie Lockey. She was the daughter 
 of David and Elizabeth Horn, and was the adopted 
 daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Enoch Lockey, natives of 
 Whitestown, Ind., and they came to Sandwich, De 
 Kalb Co., 111., in 1866. She remained with them 
 until her marriage. She is the mother of three chil- 
 dren: May, born March 20, 1879; Gracie, born 
 April 20, 1881 ; and Jennie, Dec. 17, 1882. The 
 mother was born in New York, Nov. 9, 1855. 
 
 In politics Mr. White has always voted the Re- 
 publican ticket. 
 
 |fi|jC rank H - Perry, merchant at Waterman, 
 
 L-'.'"> Clinton Township, is a son of Henry L. 
 
 '> and Charlotte (Hall) Perry, natives of New 
 
 ^^ York. They came to this State and settled in 
 
 f,, Aurora in 1853. While on a visit to Water- 
 man, this county, his father was taken ill and 
 died. His mother still survives and is a resident of 
 Aurora. The issue of their' union was eight children, 
 namely: Aimer K., Edwin S., Amitta, Harvey O., 
 Frank H., Newton, Mary A. and Ella M. 
 
 Frank H. Perry, the subject of this biographical 
 notice, was born in Oneida Co., N. Y., Jan. 25, 1845. 
 
 r 
 
 inducts the business at the present ti s 
 stock approximating $20,000, and j * 
 
 He remained under the parental roof-tree, assisting 
 his father on the farm and attending the common 
 schools, until he attained the age of manhood. 
 
 Arriving at the age of maturity, Mr. Perry engaged 
 as clerk in a store at Aurora, which position he held .t 
 for seven years. Resigning his position, he opened 
 a general store at Kaneville, Kane Co., this State. 
 He continued in the business at the latter place for 
 five years, meeting with success, and then removed 
 his stock of goods to Waterman, this county, the 
 date of his removal being the fall of 1879. At the v 
 latter place he cond 
 time, carrying a stock approximating 
 does an annual business of about $45,000. Mr. Perry 
 may be said to have spent all his past years in the 
 mercantile business, at least since maturity; and he 
 is perfectly familiar with all its details. 
 
 He -was united in marriage to Miss Eunice O. 
 Merrill, Dec. 14, 1874. She is a daughter of Chester 
 L. and Seraph S. (Wiswell) Merrill, natives of New 
 York. Mrs. Perry was born in Troy, N. Y., June 27, 
 1851. 
 
 Mr. Perry is a believer in and supporter of the 
 principles and doctrines of the Democratic party. 
 He was elected Township Treasurer in the fall of 
 1883 and still holds the office. He is a member of 
 the Masonic Order. 
 
 \l 
 
 eorge H. Clapsaddle, residing on section 
 24, Paw Paw Township, and owning 160 v 
 acres thereon, is a son of George A. and 
 Nancy (Bellinger) Clapsaddle, and was born *j 
 in Frankfort, Herkimer Co., N. Y., March 17, * 
 182 r. His father was a farmer by occupation, 
 and George was brought up on the farm, alternating 
 his labors thereon by attendance at the common 
 schools, until he attained the age of 17 years. On 
 attaining that age, he was apprenticed to learn the 
 shoemaker's trade, which he followed for two years, 
 mastered and followed more or less until 1850. Dur- 
 ing that year he came to Paw Paw Township, this 
 county, and in the fall purchased the farm he at 
 present owns and on which he resides. The land 
 was in its natural condition, and after purchasing it 
 from the Government, Mr. C. at once entered upon
 
 568 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 its improvement, and by energetic labor has placed 
 it in the excellent condition it is in at this time. 
 
 Mr. Clapsaddle was married in Erie Co., N. Y., 
 Oct. i, 1855, to Miss Clarissa, daughter of Abram 
 (/ and Electa (Whitney) Snook. She was born in 
 Lenox,/ Madison Co., N. Y., June 4, 1832, and is the 
 mother of the following children : Lelia M., born 
 March 12, 1863, died Sept. 4, 1875; Alvin G., born 
 July 9, 1866, died Oct. 27, 1867 ; John H., born 
 Feb. 20, 1869, died Jan. 9, 1870; Alvin A., born 
 March 29, 1871. 
 
 Politically, Mr. C. has been identified with the 
 ^ Democratic party all his life. Religiously, Mrs. C. 
 is a member of the Baptist Church. 
 
 
 f homas Harper, farmer and breeder of' full- 
 blooded Norman horses, is a resident of 
 Wyoming, Lee County, has 112 acres, and 
 lives on section 1 1 ; postoffice, West Paw Paw. 
 He was born in Paw Paw Township, De Kalb 
 Co., 111., June 28, 1852, and is the son of Wil- 
 liam and Sarah (Kirk) Harper. He received an 
 academic education and was brought up to agricul- 
 tural pursuits. 
 
 He was married at East Paw Paw, May i, 1876, 
 to Miss Katie Santee, daughter of James and Caro- 
 line (May) Santee. Mrs. Harper was born in Grand 
 de Tour, Lee Co.,.Ill., June 23, 1857. Two children 
 were born of their union, a daughter and son : Gracie, 
 born Dec. 29, 1878, and Benjamin, July 30, 1880. 
 Mrs. Harper died Jan. 27, 1885. 
 
 Mr. Harper was engaged in farming in Paw Paw 
 Township and moved to his present farm Sept. 9, 
 1884. In politics he is a Republican. 
 
 J'ohn Houghtby, farmer, section 21, Shab- 
 bona Township, was born in Northorsby, 
 Lincolnshire, England, Sept. 19, 1819, a 
 son of William and Susannah (Hadkins) 
 Houghtby. He was by occupation a " gentle- 
 man's bailiff." He emigrated to the United 
 States in 1876, reaching Shabbona in June, and pur- 
 chased his present fine farm, which comprises 240 
 acres. 
 
 He was married Dec. 19, 1839, at Ashton-under- 
 
 Line, Lancashire, Eng., to Miss Margaret, daughter 
 of John and Bessie (Calvert) Gibson, who was born 
 in that shire Sept. 5, 1815. They had eight children, 
 namely: George, born Oct. 5, 1840, is married and 
 lives in Shabbona; Susannah, born July 19, 1843, is 
 the wife of John Lightbown, in England ; Titus C., 
 born June 18, 1845, died July 9, 1874; Charles G., 
 born Aug. 6, 1850, married Ettie Abel and resides in 
 Shabbona Township; Elizabeth C., born Dec. 22, 
 1852, is the wife of Cornelius Hall, residing in Eng- 
 land; Mary A., born March 3, 1855, is the wife of 
 Wesley' C. Nicholson, of Shabbona; John, born March 
 i, 1858, married Elizabeth Stimpson and resides in 
 Shabbona Township ; and Sarah J., born March 27, 
 1 86 1, is now the wife of George Ray, of Shabbona. 
 
 Mr. Houghtby and family are members of the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church in Shabbona. 
 
 >n. Henry M. Boardman, farmer, residing 
 on section 4, Paw Paw Township, is the 
 owner of 437 acres in that township and 320 
 in Pocahontas Co., Iowa. He is the son of 
 Charles G. and Submit (Wadkins) Boardman, 
 and was born in Pittsford, Rutland Co., Vt., Dec. 12, 
 1831. 
 
 When Henry was five years old, his parents moved 
 to Rutland, his native county, and he received his 
 education in the public and high schools of that place. 
 His days of minority were passed on the farm. In 
 1854 he came to this State and was employed by a 
 marble firm at Joliet for about 15 months. In the 
 spring of 1855 he came to Paw Paw Township, this 
 county, and purchased the farm on which he at 
 present resides. 
 
 Mr. Boardman was married Feb. 6, 1855,10 Miss 
 Caroline, daughter of Wait and Mary (Bacon) Chat- 
 terton. She was born in Rutland, Rutland Co., Vt., 
 Aug. 15, 1833. Two children were born of their 
 union: Francis A., May 23, 1862, married George S. 
 Hyde, a farmer residing in Paw Paw Township; 
 Jennie M., born March 17, 1867, died Oct. 19, 1867. 
 Mrs. Boardman died July 30, 1867, and Mr. B. form- 
 ed a second matrimonial alliance Nov. 18, 1868, in 
 Paw Paw Township, with Miss Christianna, daughter 
 of Norman H. and Catharine (Hart) Powers. She 
 was born in Earl, La Salle County, this State, Feb. 
 
 
 
 *s
 
 THF UBHAfir 
 IF IK 
 
 UMIVEHSiTy OF ILLHtOiS
 
 
 COUNTY. 
 
 22, 1846, and came to this county with her parents 
 in 1848. Four children were the issue of their union, 
 namely: Ellen, born July 5, r874; Norman H. and 
 Catharine S. (twins), born Aug. to, 1876 ; and Charles 
 W., born Nov. n, i88t. 
 
 Politically Mr. Boardman is a Republican, and 
 has held several important official positions, as well 
 as minor offices. In 1882 he was elected to the State 
 Legislature from the I7th District, on the Republican 
 ticket, and served in the term of 1882-3, with credit 
 to himself and entire satisfaction to his constituents. 
 He has served eight terms as Assessor and five terms 
 as Supervisor of Paw Paw Township. 
 
 Mr. Boardman is one of those who have accumu- 
 lated their possessions through honest industry and 
 fair dealing, and is a respected and esteemed citizen 
 of the county. He and his wife are both members 
 of the Congregational Church at Paw Paw. 
 
 obert H. Harper, deceased, an early 
 pioneer of Paw Paw Township, was born in 
 the town of Argyle, Washington Co., N. Y., 
 June n, 1813, and was the son of James and 
 Elizabeth (Black) Harper. He .removed to 
 Cayuga County in early life, and was married 
 March 20, 1840, to Ann Oswald. Mrs. Harper was 
 born in Oswego Co., N. Y., July 10, 1817. They had 
 three children: James, born Jan. 2, 1842, married 
 Elizabeth Nisbet and lives in Paw Paw Township ; 
 George, born Aug. 3, 1845, was a soldier of the late 
 war and subsequently of the U. S. regular army ; he 
 died at the age of 24 years ; Malcom, born April 3, 
 1848, died in infancy. Mrs. Harper died May 30, 
 1848, and Mr. Harper was married again Oct. 9, 
 1852, in the Township of Victor, De Kalb County, to 
 Mrs. Ann Anderson, daughter of Robert and Janet 
 Brown. Her parents were born in Scotland. Mrs. 
 Harper was born in Canada, near Pearth, Oct. z, 
 1821, and came to Illinois in 1850. Four children 
 were born of their union : Malcom C., Nov. 7, 1859; 
 Anna M., born Feb. 7, 1861, is the wife of John W. 
 Arnold and is a resident of Iowa. Alice M., born 
 Dec. 9, 1862, died Jan. 16, 1864; Robert B., born 
 Feb. 9, 1867. 
 
 Mr. Harper came to Paw Paw July 20, 1848, at 
 which time he purchased the farm on which his 
 widow now resides. He had 240 acres of land, and 
 >5@fl 5%%JC -A 
 
 was engaged in farming in Paw Paw continuously to 
 the time of his death, which occurred March 28, 
 1882. Mr. Harper was a member of the United 
 Presbyterian Church, a liberal donor toward the con- 
 struction of the Ross Grove church, and a generous 
 supporter of the same for many years. In politics he 
 was a Republican. 
 
 orge Henry Read, deceased, a former 
 resident of Sycamore, and whose portrait 
 we present on the opposite page, was born 
 April 12, 1826, in the province of New Bruns- 
 wick. His paternal grandparents were natives 
 of Massachusetts and went to the provinces 
 about the date of the Revolutionary War. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was only 12 years 
 of age when his parents came to Kane Co., 111., 
 and located in the township of Virgil, where he was 
 reared on the farm and attended the public schools. 
 In 1852 he went with his brother to Australia, where 
 he spent three years in the gold mines. On his re- 
 turn from there he settled in Kane County, where he 
 was married, in July, r856, to Adeline, daughter of 
 Samuel and Susan (Bannister) Worcester. Her 
 father was born six miles from Boston, Mass., and 
 accompanied his parents to Vermont when he was 
 six years of age. He married a lady of Vermont 
 birth, who descended from ancestors of Massachusetts 
 origin. Mrs. Read was bori\ Aug. 4, 1832, in West 
 Windsor, Vt. When she was nine years of age in 
 1841 her parents removed to Illinois and became 
 pioneers of Virgil Township, Kane County. They | 
 journeyed hither by stage from Windsor to Troy,J 
 
 thence by the Erie Canal to Buffalo, taking steamer 
 passage from that city to Chicago, whence they were 
 brought by a team to Lily Lake. Her father bought 
 a claim, where he built a house and resided nine 
 years, when he sold out and bought a second farm 
 one and a half miles distant from the first. On this 
 he resided until his death in 1860. Her mother died 
 in January, 1882. 
 
 Soon after marriage Mr. Read settled near Maple : 
 Park, Kane County, where he owned a tract of land ; : 
 containing 300 acres. On this he built a frame house c / 
 and other necessary and suitable farm structures.^* 
 In 1865 he bought a similar acreage situated four, 
 miles from the first and containing a good equipment
 
 -' V'i':' - 
 
 572 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 of buildings. He removed his family thither and it 
 formed his field of operations until December, 1874. 
 At that date he disposed of the estate by sale, bought 
 four acres of city property at Sycamore, with a resi- 
 dence, and moved there. In 1876 he bought a farm 
 on section 34, Sycamore Township, where he resided 
 until his death, April 18, 1883. 
 
 In 1870 Mr. Read purchased a considerable tract 
 of land in Hardin Co., Iowa, and in 1882 he bought 
 300 acres of wild land in Cherokee Co., loWja, where 
 he erected necessary farm buildings. To these he gave 
 considerable personal attention, but never became a 
 resident of the State. 
 
 Mr. Read was a man of excellent traits of charac- 
 ter, and possessed qualities which received for him 
 general esteem and respect. His leading character- 
 istic was a spirit of boundless charity, and he was 
 frequently mentioned as a philanthropist. 
 
 Mrs. Read occupies the homestead at Sycamore. 
 She wrote the following lines on the death of her 
 husband : 
 
 He came in youthful vigor 
 
 And wooed me for his bride; 
 How glad was I to welcome 
 And go with him in pride! 
 
 And now 1 see the shadow 
 
 Of Death's wing o'er him fall; 
 
 I libt the knell's sad peeling; 
 O'er him is spread the pall. 
 
 My stricken heart is bleeding; 
 
 Mv eyes with tears are dim; 
 My life is dark with anguish; 
 
 Earth's joys have flown with him. 
 The neighbor and the stranger 
 
 Gaze on with troubled sighs. 
 Alas! they mourn the flat 
 
 That caused the sacrifice. 
 But all fades into nothing 
 
 Beside a wife's deep woe. 
 And the helpless grief of sisters, 
 
 And that his brothers know. 
 But calm the heart's wild tumult 
 
 Subdue the murmuring will- 
 In meekness bear the chastening 
 
 And bid the tempest still. 
 
 ' ohn Dixon, farmer, section 7; Squaw Grove 
 Township, was born in Canada, Nov. 29, 
 1820, and was a farmer in the Dominion 
 nil the spring of 1865. He then came to 
 e Kalb County and located in the township 
 af Clinton. In the spring of 1874 he removed 
 to Squaw Grove Township, and, associated with his 
 
 sons, William and John, bought 305 acres, on which 
 the homestead was established. He is an adheren 
 to and supporter of the Republican party. 
 
 The first marriage of Mr. Dixon occurred in Can- 
 ada, when Louisa Perry, a native of the Dominion, ^ 
 became his wife. After becoming the mother of 
 seven children, she died, in Clinton Township, May 
 12, 1873. Her children were named Robert, Sarah, 
 John, William, Maud, Ida and Cyrus L. The sec- 
 ond marriage of Mr. Dixon, to 'Rebecca Owen, took 
 place at Sandwich, Dec. 10, 1874. She was 1 born V 
 March 5, 1835, in Perry Co., Pa. 
 
 I 
 
 rnest S. Chambers, farmer, residing on the 
 southeast quarter of section 26, Afton 
 Township, was born in Piano, Kendall Co., 
 Ill , April 7, 1859. He is a son of Moses and 
 Sarah (Tyler) Chambers. His father was born 
 in Wayne Co., Pa., Aug. 26, 1821, and resides 
 with his son on section 26. His mother was born in 
 Tompkins Co., N. Y., April 8, 1821, and died on the 
 home farm in Afton Township, March 16, 1880. 
 
 Ernest S. Chambers, subject of this notice, came 
 to this county with his parents when but six weeks 
 old and has resided here ever since. His education 
 was received in the common schools, and the major 
 portion of his years previous to majority were passed 
 on a farm. He has one brother and two sisters 
 living, namely: Leuverna, born Aug. 29, 1848, mar- 
 ried Henry Richmond and resides at DeKalb; Ade- 
 lia, born Jan. 2, 1850; and Fred S., born July 22, 
 1864, at present living in Iowa and working at his 
 trade, that of a carpenter. 
 
 Mr. Chambers was united in marriage to Miss 
 Phena S., daughter of Lansing E. and Lurena De 
 Forest, Dec. 20, 1882. Her father was born in 
 Southville, HerkimerCo., N. Y., May 10, 1832, and 
 her mother in "German Flats," Herkimer Co., N. Y., 
 Dec. 31, 1831. Both are living in this county. Her 
 father is a carpenter and worked at his trade after 
 coming to this county. He has a farm which he 
 rents, and he lives in the village of De Kalb. He 
 and his wife were the parents of seven children, 
 namely: Ella M., born Oct. 24, 1852, in Oneida Co., 
 N. Y.; Elizabeth A., born Dec. 25, 1855, in Oneida 
 County,; Eugene A., born Feb. 17, i854;Tnvena 
 
 Jg 
 
 I 
 5 
 
 * 
 
 ( 
 
 ^
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 fborn in 1857, and died July 9, 1866 ; Phena S., born 
 Oct. 18, 1861; Carrie M., born Jan. i, 1864, and 
 Lettie E., born July 3, 1870. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Chambers is a Republican. He 
 fi has followed the vocation of a farmer all his life, and 
 truly representative and practical gentleman. 
 
 f; aul H. Nichols, farmer and tile manufac- 
 irer, resident on section 22, Squaw Grove 
 Township, is the son of Cyrus C. and Al- 
 mira (Avery) Nichols. The former was born 
 in Vermont, the latter in New York, and after 
 their marriage they were resident in the former 
 State five years, subsequently removing to the State 
 of New York. In 1845 they removed to Kane Co., 
 111. In 1859 they located in Squaw Grove Town- 
 ship, where the father died, July 31, 1872. The 
 mother is yet living. Mr. Nichols had three sisters, 
 all older, Fanny A., Rhoda D. and Sally H. 
 
 He was born July 12, 1834, in Chenango Co., N. 
 Y., where he attended the public schools. He ac- 
 companied his parents in their various removals, 
 and, since November, 1859, has been a resident of 
 the township of Squaw Grove. He is the owner of 
 400 acres of land, and is ranked among the leading 
 farmers and business men of his township. In 1879 
 he embarked in the manufacture of drain tile, in 
 which he is prosecuting relations of rapidly extend- 
 ing popularity. The clay bed which had been pre- 
 viously utilized in the manufacture of brick to some 
 extent, proved on more extended investigation to be 
 of the most superior character known in the business, 
 a fact entirely unsuspected by Mr. Nichols at the 
 commencement of the venture. It is classed as 
 " timber " clay, which exceeds all other varieties in 
 tenacity or strength, obviously a most desirable qual- 
 ity. The annual product ranges from 350,000 to 
 950,000 feet, and it is mostly absorbed by local pa- 
 tronage, only a small proportion being shipped to a 
 distance. During the season the working force 
 numbers at times 16 men. Mr. Nichols has several 
 diplomas from local fairs attesting the comparative 
 value of the tile. The manufacturing is under the 
 management of Charles Pratt, and the value of the 
 output is materially increased by the skill exercised 
 in manipulating the material and in the completing 
 
 process, the foreman being a practical and experi- 
 enced craftsman, having been bred to the business 
 in which he is engaged. 
 
 Mr. Nichols built his factory in the winter of 
 1878-9, and had but opened preparatory operations 
 when, May 10, the building was destroyed by fire, 
 between five and six o'clock in the morning, with no 
 insurance save in the hearts of his neighbors, who, 
 before nightfall of the day of disaster, had purchased 
 in Chicago the material required for building another 
 of similar pattern. The new establishment was 
 ready to be occupied July 6, following. Mr. Nichols 
 made the first successful application of drying clay 
 by means of steam pipes, a method now in general 
 use. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Nichols is an endorser and sup- 
 porter of the issues and principles of the Republican 
 party. He has been Treasurer of his township a 
 little less than 17 years. He has also been Town- 
 ship Clerk one year. 
 
 He was married Feb. 3, 1858, in Sugar Grove 
 Township, Kane Co., 111., to Sarah J. Skiff, and of 
 their five children four survive : Edwin C., Obed C., 
 Fanny E. and Jesse J. May died when she was a 
 little child. Mrs. Nichols was born Feb. 27, 1833, 
 in Warren Co., N. Y., and is the daughter of Obed 
 and Azubah (Judd) Skiff. Her parents were born 
 in Massachusetts. 
 
 homas Harper, Sr., was a pioneer of Paw 
 Paw Township of 1842. He is now a res- 
 ident of Wichita, Kan. He was born in 
 Ireland in 1811, and is the son of James and 
 Elizabeth (Black) Harper, and emigrated from 
 Ireland to America with his parents in infancy 
 in 1812. The family located in Washington Co., N. 
 Y., and moved from there to Sterling, Cayuga County, 
 in 1819. 
 
 He emigrated to Peoria, 111., about 1840, and from 
 there to Paw Paw Township, De Kalb County, in 
 1842. He entered Government land in that town 
 on sections 13 and 14, and was engaged in farming 
 and stock-growing till 1877, when he removed to 
 Shabbona Station. In 1880 he removed to Wichita, 
 Kan., his present home. 
 
 He was twice married, first to Sarah Hart, by
 
 y& whom he had one child, a son, Norman, now a resi- 
 ? dent of Kansas. His second wife was Mrs. Hattie 
 
 T-. Becker. There were no children of the second mar- 
 riage. 
 
 ^ Mr. Harper was a member of the United Presby- 
 
 ^^ terian Church of Ross Grove, was a liberal supporter 
 of the Church and aided largely in the construction 
 of their house of worship. In politics he was a Re- 
 publican. 
 
 homas Thomason, farmer, section 30, Clin- 
 ton Township, is a son of Osmon and 
 Bertha (Sawyer) Thomason, natives of Nor- 
 iray. He was born in that country, March 25, 
 1825, the third in order of birth in a family of 
 five children, and was about 12 years of age 
 when he came with his parents to America. He fol- 
 lowed farming in La Salle County, this State, until 
 the spring of- 1880, when he came and bought the 
 Reuben Pritchard farm, of 180 acres, which he now 
 owns and cultivates. Coming from a nation noted 
 for industry, economy and honesty, and characterized 
 by the same traits, Mr. T. succeeds well in this land 
 of plenty. Politically, he is a Republican, and locally 
 he has been entrusted with the office of School 
 Director. 
 
 He was married in La Salle County, July 19, 1851, 
 to Tabitha Aget, a native also of Norway. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Thomason have had r2 children, named Sarah 
 A., Francis M., Thomas H., Emily J., Emery J., 
 Martha M., Eunice E., Lottie N., Addie R. and Ella 
 J., and two who died in infancy. 
 
 j illitim J. Bushnell, farmer, section 36, 
 Squaw Grove Township, was born April 
 4, 1828, in Cattaraugus Co., N. Y., and is 
 the son of Amasa and Mila (Frary) Bush- 
 nell. His parents were natives of the State 
 of New York, and came to Kendall Co., 111., in 
 1855. The father died there Sept. 20,1855. The mother 
 died Jan. 9, 1876, in De Kalb County. They had 
 three children William J., Elmer and Marcus S. 
 
 Mr. Bushnell came to Illinois with his parents, 
 and was then 27 years of age. He lived in Kendall 
 
 County until 1872, and in the spring of that year 
 took possession of the farm where he is now a resi- 
 dent, in Squaw Grove Township. He owns 120 
 acres of land, all of which is in a fine state of culti- 
 vation and constitutes a valuable farm. 
 
 Mr. Bushnell was first married Dec. 17, 1863, in 
 Aurora, Kane Co., 111., to Adaline Hubbell, who was 
 born in Kendall Co., 111. Jennie, only child of this 
 marriage, died when she was one year old. The 
 mother died April 28, 1870, in Kendall County. Mr. 
 Bushnell was a second time married Feb. 2, 1872, in 
 Cattaraugus Co., N. Y., to Mrs. Maria (Rhoades) 
 Hoard. She is the daughter of Asahel and Permelia 
 (Fair) Rhoades. and was the widow of Nathaniel 
 Hoard. The latter was a soldier in the Ninth N. Y. 
 Cav. and was killed near Fairfax Court-House, Va. 
 Cora A., only issue of that marriage, is the wife of 
 Charles Foster, of Piano. Frank J. is the name of 
 the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Bushnell. The latter 
 was born Dec. 18, 1835, in Genesee Co., N. Y. 
 
 In political sentiment Mr. Bushnell affiliates with 
 the Republican party. 
 
 athew G. Shackelton, dealer in drugs 
 and groceries at Shabbona, was born in 
 Northampton Co., Pa., Nov. 28, 1838, and 
 is the son of Samuel and Catharine (Darling) 
 Shackelton. He received a common-school 
 education. When 14 years of age he left his 
 native place and came to Illinois with his parents, 
 the family settling in Clinton Township, this county, 
 in the fall of 1851. 
 
 Young Shackelton was brought up on a farm. In 
 1861 he went to Durand, Pepin Co., Wis., where 
 he spent about two years as clerk in a drug and 
 grocery store. He was next engaged in the hard- 
 ware business till 1864. He then returned to Clin- 
 ton and went from there to Chicago, where he spent 
 the winter of 1865-6. During the following spring 
 he went to Cairo, III., where he spent a few months, 
 and returned to De Kalb County, where he was en- 
 gaged in farming till the fall of 1875. He then went 
 to De Kalb city and engaged in the grocery, res- 
 taurant and bakery business. He was doing well till 
 he was burned out, June 29, 1876, by which he lost 
 about $3,000. He then bought an interest in a hotel
 
 TiruwuRir 
 
 OF THE

 
 at De Kalb, which he operated two years. He was 
 next engaged in farming in Afton Township. In the 
 spring of 1880 he erected a building in Shabbona 
 and opened a restaurant. He sold out to Mr. Lucas 
 and spent some time in traveling in Iowa. He next 
 bought a stock of general merchandise at Hinckley, 
 111., and carried on business there one year. He sold 
 out, went to Kansas, and from there to Missouri. 
 Returning to Shabbona, he bought back his old stand, 
 which he operated till March i, 1883, when he 
 sold out to Mr. E. M. Card, and opened at his pres- 
 ent stand, in the drug and grocery business. He 
 carries an average stock of $3,000. 
 
 He was married in De Kalb, Dec. 31, 1868, to 
 Miss Annie Goodrich, (laugher of Erastus and Annie 
 (Taylor) Goodrich. Mrs. Shackelton was born in 
 Oswego, N. Y., Oct. 30, 1 85 1 . They have one child, 
 a daughter, named Kittie, born Sept. 2, 1872. 
 
 In politics Mr. Shackelton is a Democrat. 
 
 ram Ellwood, Secretary and General Man- 
 ager of the Superior Barbed-Wire Company, 
 resident at De Kalb, is one of the Ellwood 
 rothers, whose names are prominent in the 
 history of De Kalb County. The portrait of 
 the gentleman who forms the subject of this 
 sketch appears on the page opposite, and is a valua- 
 ble addition to the gallery of portraits given in this 
 volume. 
 
 Mr. Ellwood was born in Montgomery County, 
 N. Y., in the town of Canajoharie, on the ipth day 
 of September, 1828. He is the son of Abraham"and 
 Sarah (Delong) Ellwood. (See sketch of Hon. C. 
 Ellwood for further mention of parents.) When he 
 was about ten years of age his father became a con- 
 tractor on the Erie Canal, entering into an agreement 
 to build a mile of that water course lying within the 
 town of Minden, Montgomery County. The contract- 
 or boarded the men whom he employed, and every 
 member of the family who was still under the par- 
 ental authority contributed their share of assistance 
 in the scheme. Girls in the Ellwood household 
 were not numerous enough or large enough to afford 
 the necessary amount of assistance that is generally 
 supposed per se to fall to the feminine lot, and the 
 boys who were plenty and available were pressed 
 
 into domestic dirty. Hiram was one of the most 
 useful adjuncts of the household and did valiant 
 service in the intervals of school, his principal busi- 
 ness at home being washing dishes, and, like Billy 
 Gray, the Boston millionaire, who was wont to boast 
 of the quality of his work when he sawed wood for 
 his living, chiefly remembers that he did it well, and 
 moreover is not ashamed of it. Later, Abraham Ell- 
 wood went with his family to Ilion, in Herkimer 
 County, N. Y. Hiram engaged as a salesman 
 in the employ of a Mr. Dygert in the city of Utica. 
 He was then about 15 years of age, and remained 
 in that employment about two years. Subsequently 
 he was employed by a Mr. Folts as a clerk in a dry- 
 goods and grocery store, where he continued three 
 years. He had saved his earnings, and, being desir- 
 ous of embarking independently in business, he 
 purchased a half interest in a canal boat, which he 
 sold after one season. He returned to the mercan- 
 tile establishment where last employed and resumed 
 the ocupation of a clerk. 
 
 His next business venture was in an enterprise in 
 company with William Frank in raising broom-corn 
 and manufacturing brooms, carrying on their opera- 
 tions on the " Flats " in the town of Mohawk, adja- 
 cent to the river of the same name. 
 
 Mr. Ellwood made his home with the household of 
 his associate in business, and the family circle was 
 increased by the addition of a young lady, a cousin 
 of Mrs. Frank Miss Sarah Dygert by name. The 
 young people were mutually attracted from the first. 
 Their first meeting occurred between 30 and 40 
 years ago, and their first favorable opinions strength- 
 ened into appreciative friendship and soon into sub- 
 stantial affection which resulted in their marriage in 
 March, 1850. No finer touch of manliness appears 
 on these pages than the tribute paid by Mr. Ellwood 
 more than 35 years afterward to the strength of the 
 sentiment which held him in indissoluble bonds. 
 " I thought her the handsomest and most lady-like 
 girl I' had ever seen, and I still think so." The 
 marriage took place at Fort Plain, N. Y., and to the 
 wedded pair one child was born Alice who was 
 married in the spring of 1871 to D. D. Brown, of 
 Sycamore. 
 
 Chauncey Ellwood, the oldest brother of Hiram 
 Ellwood, was a widower, and in 1852 the latter and 
 his wife entered the employ of the former the wife
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 J 
 
 as general housekeeper, the husband as assistant in a 
 grocery and provision store at a point on the Erie 
 Canal in Frankfort, Herkimer County. There was 
 no business save during the season of navigation, 
 and the intervening seasons were spent in methods 
 that combined muoh amusement and little exertion, 
 as there was literally nothing to do. The relation 
 between the brothers was in existence two years. At 
 the end of that time the elder was appointed to the 
 position of Superintendent of a section of the canal, 
 and the traffic of the store passed into the hands of 
 Messrs. J. E. and Hiram Ellwood. They conducted 
 their affairs jointly one year, when the former sold 
 his interest to the latter and it continued under his 
 management two years. 
 
 In the spring of 1856 Hiram Ellwood sold out 
 and came West. On the ninth day of August in 
 that year, the mercantile firm of Ellwood & De- 
 long opened business at De Kalb, then a village 
 with little promise of the prosperity and development 
 of to-day, and they continued the sale of drugs and 
 groceries until 1866, when the junior member of the 
 firm withdrew and Mr. Ellwood conducted the busi- 
 ness until 1877 in his own name. He then sold 
 out to J. H. Lewis, who still continues its successful 
 prosecution. Meanwhile the business of I. L. Ell- 
 wood & Co. had assumed mammoth proportions 
 and Mr. Ellwood went to Kansas City, Mo., in the 
 interests of that firm and operated as Western 
 agent, shipping barbed wire West and South from 
 Kansas City. He returned to De Kalb at the expi- 
 ration of three years. In August, 1881, the Superior 
 Barbed-Wire Company of De Kalb went into opera- 
 tion. The charter members included I. L. Ellwood, 
 J. F. Glidden, J. D. Lott, Reuben Ellwood and 
 Hiram Ellwood, and the latter was elected Treas- 
 urer, Secretary and General Manager, and still holds 
 the same position. 
 
 Mr. Ellwood, in addition to his business relations 
 with De Kalb city and county, has discharged the 
 duties and responsibilities of several official jaosi- 
 tions. In 1857 and 1858 he was elected Supervisor 
 of the township of De Kalb and has served three 
 terms as member of the Board of Trustees of the 
 village before its corporation as a city. He has 
 served a term as School Director, officiating as Clerk 
 of the Board. He acted two years as Deputy Post- 
 master under I. V. Randall, and on the resignation 
 of his chief, two years after, he was appointed Post- 
 
 master and served four years. During the years 
 1859, '60, '61, '62, he officiated as Treasurer of De 
 Kalb County and executed all the trusts which fell 
 to him in his duties in a characteristic way, one of 
 which was the signing of the soldiers' orders. With 
 A. K. Stiles, County Clerk, he was appointed by the 
 Board of County Supervisors to act as County 
 Agent in the sale of the county bonds, which labor 
 was accomplished and resulted in the payment of the 
 claims of the soldiers of the io5th Regiment 111. Vol. 
 Inf., the soldiers receiving one-half cash and one- 
 half the amount due them in county orders. 
 
 Mr. Ellwood located at De Kalb nearly 30 years 
 ago, when it was a village. He has watched its de- 
 velopment and the increase of its business resources 
 with much gratification. At the date he made the 
 acquaintance of the place its population was about 
 500, and it is now six times as great, and is second 
 in business to no town of its capacity between Chi- 
 cago and the Mississippi. The interest of Mr. Ell- 
 wood in his adopted home and his identification with 
 its general welfare will expire only with his life. One 
 notable event, which has heretofore failed to receive 
 deserved notice in the sketches, of the Ellwood 
 brothers, and which should find place, is the last act 
 of filial affection performed by them in connection 
 with the death and burial of their venerable mother. 
 It was her dying request that " her boys " should act 
 as her pall-bearers, which they did, the six bearing 
 her remains to their last resting place in Elmwood 
 Cemetery. 
 
 sahel Firkins, deceased, was an early 
 pioneer of Paw Paw Township. He was 
 born near Oswego, N. Y., in 1819, and was 
 the son of George and Lydia (Chappel) Fir- 
 kins, of English descent. He emigrated to 
 inois in 1838 and made his home in Hender- 
 son, Knox County, where he was married, Jan. 10, 
 1841, to Miss Harriet Miller, daughter of Tames and 
 Hannah (Preston) Miller. Mrs. Firkins was born in 
 Monroe Co., Mich., Jan. 25, 182 3, and came to Illinois 
 in 1838. Seven children were born to them, three boys 
 and four girls: Mariette, born Dec. 25, 1841, wife of 
 George D. Heldebrant, of Kansas ; William, born Jan. 
 7, 1844, married Laura Haskell and lives in P
 
 
 -,. - 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 >' 
 
 Paw; John, born Jan. 26, 1846, died in infancy; 
 Harriet A., born May 19, 1837, wife of William Rust, 
 of East Paw Paw; Emma F., born July 22, 1849, 
 was killed by the cars while in a carriage crossing 
 the track near Maiden, 111., Feb. 5, 1874; Josephine, 
 born Sept. 21, 185 1, wife of Seneca Duncan, of Kan- 
 sas; George A., born Jan. 16, 1854, single, at home. 
 
 Mr. Firkins made his home in Knox County till 
 1842, when he removed to Warren Co., 111.; spent 
 three years in that county, and in March, -1845, re- 
 moved to Paw Paw Township, De Kalb County, and 
 entered land on section 7. He had 204 acres. He 
 made his home in this township, and was engaged in 
 farming till his death, which occurred June 17, 1856. 
 
 He was a Methodist from early life, and a Class- 
 leader many years. In politics he was an avowed 
 Abolitionist. 
 
 ^dmond Towne, the first white settler of 
 Shabbona Township, and now deceased, 
 was a native of Waterbury, Vt., became a 
 brick-maker by trade, moved to Ohio, where he 
 resided several years, and returned to his native 
 State. He married Mrs. Sally Smith, widow of 
 James Smith and daughter of David Straw. He then 
 returned to Marion Co., Ohio, where he engaged in 
 brick-making until 1834, when he came to this State 
 and settled in what was afterward surveyed as Shab- 
 bona Township, De Kalb County. He subsequently 
 removed to Marble Rock, Iowa, selling out here to 
 Frank Frost. He died in the fall of 1881. Before 
 his removal to Iowa his wife died, in Shabbona, and 
 jx none of their family are now left in this county. 
 ^ y Their children were Mary J., Electa, Cynthia, Sarah, 
 I Ralph, Chester, Russell and Daniel. 
 
 illiam Cone, resident on section 4, Squaw 
 Grove Township, has been a citizen there 
 since he arrived at the estate of manhood. 
 His parents, Archibald and Rosetta (Cun- 
 ningham) Cone, were natives of Scotland and 
 came to the United States in 1815. They 
 fixed their first residence in the State of New York, 
 whence they removed in 1843 to Squaw Grove Town- 
 ship, De Kalb County. The mother died there May 
 
 9, 1873, and tlle father Aug. 6, 1877. Their family 
 of 1 1 children were born in the following order : 
 Jane, Jeannette, Mary, William, Isabella, Margaret, 
 John (ist), Elizabeth, John (2d), Archibald and 
 Rosetta. 
 
 Mr. Cone was born Sept. 13, 1822, near Albany, 
 N. Y. He passed his early years on a farm and at 
 school. On coming to De Kalb County at the age 
 of 21 years, he became a farmer. In 1848 he entered 
 the Army of the United States, enlisting in the First 
 Mo. Vol. Inf., which was engaged in the Mexican 
 War about ten months. On receiving his discharge, 
 he returned to the township of Squaw Grove. In 
 1862 he went to California, reaching there by the 
 overland route across the plains, and spent three 
 years in mining and farming in the Golden State. 
 He is the owner of 323 acres of fine fanning land, on 
 which he has erected excellent farm buildings. He 
 is a Democrat in political opinions. 
 
 Jan. 19, 1856, Mr. Cone was married, in Oneida 
 Co., N. Y., to Margaret McFar.land, and they have 
 had five children, Isabella, Jeannette, John, Jane 
 and Margaret. The latter died Dec. 18, 1882, when 
 17 years of age. Mrs. Cone died May 3, 1881. Is- 
 abella is the wife of Henry Schmidt, of Squaw Grove. 
 Jeannette married Elihu Ramer, of Pierce Township. 
 Jane is Mrs. Louis Hohn, and resides in Nebraska. 
 The only son, John, resides on the homestead. 
 
 eorge F. Park, a retired farmer residing in 
 the village of Shabbona, has a farm of 138 
 acres on section 27, Shabbona Township. 
 He is a native of this township, his birth dat- 
 ing June 17, 1849, and his parents being Ira 
 and Matilda (McNeal) Park. He passed his 
 boyhood upon his father's farm, and when 15 years of 
 age he removed with his parents to Leland, La Salle 
 County, where he lived six years. The family then 
 removed to a farm near Leland for two years, and 
 finally returned to the old homestead in Shabbona 
 Township. Mr. Park removed to his present resi- 
 dence in Shabbona village in December, 1883. 
 
 Mr. Park was married in Somonauk, Oct. 25, 1870, 
 to Miss Joanna, daughter of Charles D. and Matilda 
 D. (Suidam) Skinner. She was born at Leland, 111., 
 Jan. 31, 1853. Mr. and Mrs. Park have three chil-
 
 dren, two sons and a daughter: Charles F., born 
 July 23, 1871 ; Ira E., Oct. 14, 187^7 ; and Etta M., 
 Dec. 14, 1880. 
 
 In his political views Mr. Park is a Republican, 
 and both himself and wife are members of the Con- 
 gregational Church of Shabbona. 
 
 "ohnson Low, farmer, sections 19 and 20, 
 Clinton Township, is a son of Charles and 
 Lanor (Richardson) Low, natives of Can- 
 ada. They were married in that country and 
 came to this country in 1856, settling in Clin- 
 ton Township, where the father died Nov. 5, 
 1863. He was of Scotch extraction, and held an 
 officer's position in the British Army. His wife still 
 survives, and is still a resident of Clinton Township. 
 They were the parents often children, namely: Wil- 
 liam R., John S., Tameran, Mary J., Charles, Caro- 
 line, James, Johnson, George and Wolford. Of the 
 ten children, John S., Mary J., Caroline, James and 
 George are deceased. James was a soldier in the 
 late Civil War, doing duty in the io5th 111. Vol. Inf., 
 and died at Gallatin, Sumner Co., Tenn., in 1863. 
 
 Johnson Low, the subject of this biographical 
 notice, was born in Canada, May 16, 1842. He re- 
 ceived his education in the common schools of Can- 
 ada and Illinois, coming to this State when 14 years 
 of age with his parents. He lived with them in 
 Clinton Township, assisting on the farm until his 
 father's death, when he purchased the homestead of 
 120 acres and on which he is at present residing. 
 
 Mr. Low enlisted in the Second Illinois Light Ar- 
 tillery, Sept. 16, i86r, and was in his country's ser- 
 vice for 18^ months. He was in the battle of Fort 
 Donelson, Tenn., Feb. 16, 1862, in which the Union 
 forces, commanded by Gen. Grant and Com. Foote, 
 had 446 killed, 1,735 wounded and 150 taken pris- 
 oners, but captured six forts, 65 guns, and 17,500 
 small arms. He was also in other battles and skir- 
 mishes of less import, and was honorably discharged 
 at Memphis, Tenn. On receiving his discharge he 
 immediately returned home. 
 
 Mr. Low was married Dec. 25, 1866, in McDon- 
 ough Co., 111., to Miss Kate, daughter of Joseph and 
 Delia (Overton) Long, natives of Pennsylvania, who 
 settled in McDonough County at an early day. 
 
 They had ten children, namely: Albert, Clarkson, 
 John G., Mary E., Kate, Joanna, Susan, Bessie, Lilly 
 and Brainard. 
 
 Mrs. Low was born in Hancock Co. ,111., Aug. 25, 
 1851, and of the issue of her marriage to Mr. Low 
 there are seven children, all living, namely : Caddie 
 V., born Jan. 23, 1868; William R., born Aug. 20, 
 1870; Sue F., born Oct. 29, 1873; Johnson, born 
 Sept. 30, 1875 ; James R., bom Sept. 5, 1878; Katie, 
 born Feb. 4, 1883; and Charles H., born Dec. 9, 
 1884. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Low affiliates with the Republican 
 party. Three of his brothers, William R., James and 
 Wolford, were soldiers in the late Civil War. 
 
 tarles V. Weddell, farmer, residence sec- 
 tion 20, Paw _Paw Township, has 160 
 acres of land. He was born in the town- 
 ship of Paw Paw, Aug 8, 1853, and is the son 
 of William B. and Agnes G. (Vail) Weddell. 
 He received an academic education at the 
 Teachers' Institute and Classical Seminary of East 
 Paw Paw, and at the Presbyterian academy of Na- 
 perville, 111. He was brought up to agricultural 
 pursuits, and was married in Paw Paw Township, 
 March 29, 1877, to Miss Mary Nisbet, daughter of 
 Mathew and Agnes (Harper) Nisbet. Mrs. Weddell 
 was born in Paw Paw Township, De Kalb Co., 111., 
 Nov. 28, 1855. They have two children, namely : 
 Nellie V., born Jan. 9, 1878; and Christina L., born 
 June 29, 1879. 
 
 Mr. Weddell has served four years as School 
 Trustee and is now holding that office. Politically, 
 he is a Republican. 
 
 tes W. McAllister, farmer, section 36, 
 jf Clinton Township, is a son of James and 
 Jennie (Dobbins) McAllister, natives of 
 Scotland and Ireland respectively. They were 
 married and emigrated to the United States 
 about the year 1822, and settled in Washing- 
 ton Co., N. Y. From there they moved to Ohio, 
 and thence, in 1849, came to this county and settled 
 in Clinton Township, where they died. They were

 
 the parents of 12 children, namely : Margaret, 
 Mary, Eliza, Martha, William, James W., Sarah, 
 Ellen, Esther, Anna, Bell and Samuel. Samuel and 
 William are deceased. 
 
 James W. McAllister, the subject of this biograph- 
 ical notice, was born in Washington Co., N. Y., July 
 i, 1834, went with his parents to Ohio, and when 15 
 years of age accompanied them to this county. He 
 lived at home, assisting on the farm and attending 
 the common schools, in Ohio and this county, until 
 he was 25 years of age. On arriving at the age 
 <?% stated, Mr. McAllister purchased 80 acres of land 
 on section 36, Clinton Township, where he at present 
 resides. His present landed possessions consist of 
 1 60 acres, all of which is in a good tillable condition. 
 
 Mr. McAllister was married Dec. 18, 1864, to Miss 
 Mary A. Graham, in Victor Township, this county. 
 She is a daughter of Robert and Sarah (Williamson) 
 Graham, and a sister of Mrs. James McCleery, whose 
 biography appears in this ALBUM. She was born in 
 Franklin Co., Ohio, Dec. 5, 1841, and is the mother 
 of seven children by Mr. McAllister, namely : Ward, 
 born Dec. 4, 1866 ; Hellen, Nov. 9, 1868 ; Robert J., 
 Nov. 4, 1871; Margaret, Dec. 25, 1873; Russell, 
 June n, 1876; Mary B., Dec. 15, 1878; and Sarah 
 J., Dec. 24, 1 88 1. 
 
 Mr. McAllister affiliates with the Republican 
 party. Religiously, he and his wife are members of 
 the United Presbyterian Church. 
 
 innaeus C. Burke, farmer, owning 315 
 acres located on section 20 and 21, Shab- 
 bona Township, and residing thereon, was 
 born in Bridgewater, Windsor Co., Vt, Sept. 5, 
 1814. His parents, Erastus and Lydia (Ward) 
 Burke, moved to Plymouth, Windsor Co., Vt, 
 when their son was an infant, and to Orwell, Rut- 
 land (now Addison) County, that State, when he was 
 two years of age. Nine years later they removed to 
 Benson, same county. His father, Erastus Burke, 
 was born Sept. 8, 1783, in Westhampton, Mass. He 
 was a practicing physician for several years. He 
 died Nov. 23, 18158, at the house of his son. Lydia 
 (Ward) Burke, his mother, was born July 7, 1787, and 
 died in Vermont, Oct. 16, 1849. 
 
 Linnaeus received his education in the schools at 
 
 (sy^^g^bo ^f^r,^ ^ ! 
 
 Benson and assisted his father on the farm, and early 
 in life engaged in teaching. He taught during win- 
 ters, and occupied his time summers by labor on the 
 farm. In all, he taught about 20 terms of school. 
 
 Mr. Burke was married in Rutland Co., Vt, Oct. 
 29, 1839, to Miss Abigail, daughter of Rufus Long. 
 She was born at Rutland, Vt, March 21, 1814. Two 
 children were born of their union, namely : Sylvanus 
 O. (ist), Aug. 10, 1840, died Oct. 16, 1843, and Syl- 
 vanus O. (2d), born Oct. 19, 1843, and died May 31, 
 1844. Mrs. Burke died Aug. 27, 1844, and Sept. 6, 
 1848, Mr. Burke was married a second time; Miss 
 Mary E., daughter of Horace and Aurelia (Bush) 
 Higgins, was the lady whom he selected. She was 
 born in Orwell, Addison Co., Vt, Nov. 2, 1828, and 
 became the mother of four children, the issue of their 
 union, namely: Horace H., born Dec. 18, 1849, died 
 Feb. 28, 1861 ; Mary E., born Dec. 12, 1853, and is 
 the wife of James W. Shanks, a resident at Simpson, 
 Kan.; Elizabeth A. was born April 4, 1856, and is 
 the wife of Samuel T. Thompson, residing in Shab- 
 bona Township; Linnaeus C., Jr., was born Dec. 
 26, 1857, married Maria E. Plant, and resides in 
 Shabbona Township. Mrs. Burke died Jan. 30, 1861. 
 
 Mr. Burke contracted a third matrimonial alliance 
 July 20, 1862, at Shabbona, with Mrs. Martha Sher- 
 wood. She was a daughter of Thomas Reese and 
 widow of Salmon Sherwood, and was born in Hamp- 
 shire Co., Va., March 24, 1816, and departed this 
 life Feb. 24, 1882. 
 
 Mr. Burke came to this county from Vermont in 
 1852, and located on his present farm on section 21, 
 Shabbona Township. He had traded a stony farm 
 in the Green Mountain State, for the one he now 
 owns (at that time consisting of 160 acres) and moved 
 on it when he first came here. He has continued to 
 reside on the place ever since, and by subsequent 
 purchase has increased his acreage to the amount 
 stated. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Burke is a Democrat. He has 
 served four years as Town Clerk, and the same num- 
 ber of years as Town Treasurer. He joined the Con- 
 gregational Church while a resident of Benson, Vt, 
 and is at present a member of the same Church at 
 Shabbona. He has always been a worker in the 
 Church. 
 
 As one of the leading and representative agricul- 
 turists of De Kalb County, and a gentleman worthy 
 
 ^^^ "&*<&
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 to be classed with the best citizens of the county and 
 State, we place a portrait of Mr. Burke in this vol- 
 ume. It was engraved from a photograph taken in 
 
 J 
 
 eorge G. Congdon, farmer, section 15, 
 Clinton Township, is a son of James H. 
 and Lydia E. (Brock) Congdon, natives of 
 Rhode Island and Vermont. They were mar- 
 ried and settled in Rutland Co., Vt., where 
 they died, the father Nov. 22, 1854 and the 
 mother March 10, 1837. They were the parents of 
 ii children, named as follows: Lansford W., James, 
 John, Charles, OrvTlle, Harvey, Lydia E., George G., 
 William M., Hannah S. and Phillip P. 
 
 George G. Congdon was born in Wallingford, Rut- 
 land Co., Vt., Feb. 29, 1828. He attended the com- 
 mon schools of his native county, matriculated at the 
 academy at Ludlow, Windsor County, known as 
 "Black River Academy," in which institution he re- 
 mained four terms and then attended the Leland 
 Seminary at East Townsend one term. 
 
 After leaving the latter school Mr. Congdon en- 
 gaged in teaching, which profession he followed dur- 
 ing winter months for 10 years, meeting with success. 
 His summers he devoted to farming. 
 
 In 1854 Mr. Congdon came to Kane Co., this 
 State, where he resided, variously engaged, for two 
 years and then, in 1856, came to this county. He 
 purchased 160 acres of land in Clinton Township, on 
 which he located and where he has since resided, 
 with the exception of the time he served in the late 
 civil war. He enlisted in the summer of 1862 in the 
 io5th 111. Vol. Inf., and received his discharge at 
 Gallatin, Sumner Co., Tenn. 
 
 Mr. Congdon was united in marriage to Miss 
 Augusta A. York, at Wallingford, Rutland Co., Vt., 
 Feb. 14, 1867. She is a daughter of Levi and Laura 
 (Allen) York, natives of Vermont. Her mother died 
 in Vermont, Feb. 9, 1875. Her father, after the 
 death of his wife, came to this county, and is at pres- 
 ent living with his daughter. The parents had a 
 family of seven children, four of whom are living, 
 namely, Lura A., Rufus A. Augusta A. and Ella E. 
 
 Mrs. Congdon was born in Wallingford, Rutland 
 Co., Vt., March 27, 1843. She remained an inmate 
 
 of her father's family, assisting the mother in the 
 household duties, and for four years previous to her 
 marriage she was engaged in teaching. She is the 
 mother, by Mr. Congdon, of five children, one of 
 whom, Lillian, died in infancy. The surviving are 
 George E., born Feb. 25, 1869; William A., Nov. 24, 
 1870; John S., Feb. 12, 1873; Carrie P., April 14, 
 1876. 
 
 Politically Mr. Congdon is a supporter of and be- 
 liever in the principles and doctrines advocated by 
 the Republican party. He has held the offices of 
 School Trustee, Township Collector and Constable 
 for about four years, Township Clerk a number of 
 years and at present is a Justice of the Peace. 
 
 Mrs. Congdon is a. member of and believer in the 
 faith of the Baptist Church. 
 
 enjamin Lobdell, merchant and Post- 
 master at East Paw Paw, was born in 
 Putnam Co., N. Y., Oct. 3, 1844, and is 
 the son of Harry and Mary (Davenport) Lob- 
 dell. He moved to Lee Co., 111., with his 
 ' parents in 1856; learned the carpenter's 
 trade, at which he was engaged several years. In 
 December, 1883, he. engaged in merchandising at 
 East Paw Paw, and Jan. 14, 1884, was appointed 
 Postmaster of East Paw Paw. 
 
 In politics Mr. Lobdell is a Democrat. 
 
 chard P. Rowley, retired farmer, Water- 
 man, is from the Empire State. His par- 
 ents, Asahel and Betsey (Roberts) Rowley, 
 natives also of that State, came to Kane 
 County, this State, in 1856, and spent the re- 
 mainder of their lives there. He died Nov. 
 17, 1864, and she in February, 1863. They had 
 eight children, Amanda, Phebe, Richard P., Enoch, 
 William, Albert, Elizabeth and Mary. 
 
 Mr. Rowley was born in Rensselaer Co., N. Y., 
 Feb. 26, 1824. From the age of 15 to 20 years he 
 worked by the month in farming pursuits. He then 
 learned the carpenter's trade and followed that until 
 1853, when he came to Kane Co., 111., and followed 
 agriculture on a rented farm for 17 years. In 1872 
 4_Q ^$&Z ^^@ 
 
 ^ /^v^SJO'Vx--> 

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 he came to this county and settled upon 104 acres in 
 Clinton Township, which he had bought three years 
 previously. He resided on this place until 1883, 
 when he sold it and moved to the village of Water- 
 man, where he now resides, and is one of the Village 
 Trustees. In his views of national interest he is a 
 Republican, and locally he has held the office of 
 Overseer of Highways in the township. 
 
 He was married in Rensselaer Co., N. Y., Sept. 10, 
 1846, to Hannah M. Cole, also a native of that 
 county. She became the mother of five children, 
 Mary L., Phebe A., Elliot D., William H., and 
 Charles, who died in infancy. Mrs. R. died May 24, 
 1855, in Kane County, and Mr. R. again married, in 
 Rensselaer Co., N. Y., Feb. 2, 1857, Mrs. Mary A., 
 nee Finckle, widow of Jacob Pitcher, who died in the 
 last named county, Oct. 28, 1855. By her first mar- 
 riage she had one child, Sarah E., who is the wife of 
 Thomas Cummings and resides in Iowa. Mrs. Row- 
 ley was born in Rensselaer Co., N. Y., Aug. 10, 1825. 
 By the present marriage there is one child, Erwin N. 
 Mrs. R.'s parents, Nicholas and Harriet (Silvernale) 
 Finckle, were natives of Dutchess Co., N. Y. 
 
 ran Evans, farmer, section 2, Squaw 
 Grove Township, was born May 31, 1823, in 
 Wales. His father and mother, John and 
 Anna (Thomas) Evans, were natives of the 
 South of Wales, and of their family of ten chil- 
 dren the son who is the subject of this notice 
 was the fifth in order of birth. He was engaged in 
 the pursuit of agriculture in his native country until 
 1851, and in the fall of that year he came to the 
 United States. After landing he proceeded to Chi- 
 cago and remained there until Feburary, 1852, when 
 he came to Kane County and conducted a rented 
 farm at Big Rock for three years. In 1855 he 
 bought the farm he has since owned in Squaw Grove 
 Township, purchasing 160 acres originally, which he 
 has since doubled in extent. His farm includes 260 
 acres of land under tillage, and he has built hand- 
 some and valuable buildings. 
 
 He was married in Chicago, Feb. 16, 1852, to Ann 
 Davis, and they have had five children : David, Ann, 
 John E., Dean and Willie E. The latter died when 
 jearly three years old. Mrs. Evans was born Feb. 
 
 6, 1823, in Wales. Her father and mother, Benjamin 
 and Catherine Davis, were natives of Wales, and the 
 former died in his native country. The latter came 
 subsequently to America, and died at Big Rock, in 
 September, 1872. Mrs. Evans had one brother, 
 Benjamin. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Evans are members of the Congre- 
 gational Church. Politically Mr. E. is identified 
 with the Republican party. 
 
 I* eter V. Quilhot, farmer, section 13, Shab- 
 bona Township, has a well improved farm 
 of 170 acres. As a settler at that place he 
 s a pioneer. He was born in the town of 
 Victory, Cayuga Co., N. Y., Jan. 21, 1822. His 
 irents were Henry and Hannah (Van Allen) 
 Quilhot. He lost his father in early youth, and cir- 
 cumstances rendered it necessary for him to aid his 
 mother in the care of the family ; so that his educa- 
 tional advantages were limited to a few weeks at 
 school in the winter. After he became of legal age 
 he succeeded in securing one term at the Red Creek 
 Academy. 
 
 He learned the painter's trade, and in June, 1845, 
 came to this county and purchased a tract of 120 
 acres in Shabbona Township, and made his home 
 with his brother-in-law, Peter Miller. Not finding 
 the West a profitable field in which to work at his 
 trade, he returned in 1847 to New York. In the fall 
 of the following year he came again to Shabbona, im- 
 proved his land and engaged in farming. Aug. 8 t 
 1850, he was married in Somonauk, this county, to 
 Miss Frances Bacon, daughter of Lyman and Sarah 
 (Rood) Bacon, which family were among early pion- 
 eers of this county, having emigrated from Syracuse, 
 N. Y., to De Kalb County in the fall of 1846. Mrs. Q. 
 was born at Salina, Onondaga Co., N. Y., Aug. 28, 
 1827. She has had seven children, all of whom are 
 living except one. The eldest, John J., was born 
 Sept. i, 185 i ; married Fannie Burchard and lives at 
 the old homestead. His wife was adopted in child- 
 hood by her step-father, S. M. Corey, and she was 
 married under the name of Corey. Henry B., born 
 March 20, 1853, married Alice Prescott, and lives in 
 Morris Co., Kan. Helen E., born Jan. i, 1856, is 
 the wife of Richard K. Anderson, of Atchison, Kan. 
 Josephine, born Nov. 30, 1859, is the wife of John A, 

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Ox Sweet, of Waterman, 111. Franklin, living at home, 
 
 was born July 5, 1862. Lila S. was born Jan. 5, 
 JC_ 1865, and one child, a son, died in infancy. 
 
 Mr. Quilhot has been prominently identified with 
 public affairs in his town and county. He has served 
 seven years as Supervisor of Shabbona, and repre- 
 sented his township as many terms in the County 
 Board, besides having held various minor offices. 
 During the late war he was active in aiding and en- 
 couraging enlistments, and contributed liberally to 
 the volunteer bounty fund. In his views of national 
 policy he is a Republican, and has voted with that 
 party every since its organization. He has been con- 
 I nected with the Masonic Order for many years, be- 
 ng now a member of Shabbona Lodge, No. 374. 
 
 obert Humphrey, retired farmer, residing 
 at Waterman, Clinton Township, is a son 
 of John and Ann (Price) Humphrey. His 
 parents were natives of Wales and emigrated 
 to this country about 1831, his father dying 
 soon thereafter. They were father and mother 
 * to five children, namely, John, Thomas, Mary, Rob- 
 * ert and Edward. 
 
 /I* Robert Humphrey, subject of this biographical 
 J notice, is a native of Wales, in which country he was 
 born Nov. 22, 1827. He was about four years of age 
 when his parents emigrated to America, and passed 
 his early life on a farm in Oneida Co., N. Y. He 
 alternated working on the farm and attending the 
 common schools until he attained the age of 25 years. 
 9 At that age he engaged in the hotel business, at 
 ^ North Western, Oneida Co., N. Y., in which he re- 
 mained for six months, then sold and engaged in the 
 lumber business. He remained in the latter busi- 
 ness for about three years, when he sold out and 
 came to this county. 
 
 On arriving in this county, in the fall of 1853, Mr. 
 Humphrey located on a farm on section 4, Clinton 
 (q\ Township, which he purchased. He continued to 
 reside on the farm until 1872. During his residence 
 there he was for a year engaged in the coal and lum- 
 ber business, and had charge of the station at Water- 
 ^ man for about 20 months. He has subsequently 
 been engaged in the lumber and coal business at 
 Waterman, which he disposed of in 1875. He then 
 
 moved to Chicago, and was engaged in the grain and 
 commission business two years and a half. He then 
 returned to Waterman and built his present fine resi- 
 dence. Since he returned to Waterman, he has not 
 been actively engrged in any business. 
 
 Mr. Humphrey was united in marriage to Miss 
 Louisa Barnes, in Lee, Oneida Co., N. Y., Sept. 22, 
 1851. She is a daughter of Amos Barnes, a native 
 of York State. She was born in Martinsburg, Lewis 
 Co.,N. Y., in 1827. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Humphrey are the parents of one 
 child, Emma L. She was born March 12, 1857, and 
 is the wife of J. J. A. Zeller, resident of Rochelle, 111. 
 Mr. Humphrey affiliates with the Republican party. 
 He has been honored with all the offices in the gift 
 of the people of his township except Assessor; was 
 Supervisor three years, Collector about three years, 
 and at present holds the offices of Road Commis- 
 sioner, Street Commissioner and Notary Public. He 
 is a member of the Masonic Order. 
 
 Mrs. Humphrey has been a member of the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal Church for a number of years, and is 
 still a believer in the faith of that denomination. 
 
 ipt. Thomas B. Lucas, dealer in agricul- 
 tural implements and live stock, residing 
 at Shabbona village, was born in Boone Co., 
 Ind., July 2, 1843, and is a son of Henry and 
 Jane (Montgomery) Lucas. He lived with 
 his parents, assisting his father in the support 
 of the family and attending the common schools, until 
 he was 18 years of age. At this period in his life's 
 history, the rebel shot on Sumter awoke a patriot's 
 desire on his part to join the North in defense of the 
 Union. He enlisted May 10, 1861, in Co. E, 55th 
 Ind. Inf., and served as a private until September, 
 1862. He was then transferred to the n6th Ind. 
 Inf., and Sept. 8, 1862, commissioned Second Lieu- 
 tenant of Co. G, and Dec. i, 1863, was commissioned 
 First Lieutenant. In May, 1864, he was transferred 
 to the 1 35th Ind. Inf., and on the roth of that month 
 received his commission as Captain, in which ca- 
 pacity he served until the expiration of his term of 
 enlistment, Nov. 28, 1864. Captain Lucas served in 
 the Army of the Cumberland, under Gen. Thomas, 
 and was in all the engagements in which his com- 
 rades participated, and escaped without any' serious 
 
 1}
 
 THFUBW
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 & 
 
 i 
 \ 
 \ 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 wound. Considering the age at which he entered the 
 army, and his steady promotion from private to Lieu- 
 tenant and from Lieutenant to Captain, his record is 
 most certainly an honorable one. 
 
 After his discharge from the army, Capt. Lucas 
 came to this county, in December, 1864, and located 
 in Shabbona Township, where he engaged in farming 
 until 1870. During that year he moved to Shabbona 
 village, and was engaged with William Jackson in 
 general merchandise until 1873. He then engaged 
 in the business in which he is at present employed 
 and has continued in the same ever since, except a 
 portion of the year 1878, which he spent in Colorado 
 to recover his health. 
 
 Capt. Lucas was married Sept. 4, 1865, at Shab- 
 bona Grove, to Miss Melissa E., daughter of Lemuel 
 White. She died May 3, 1877, and Capt. Lucas was 
 again married Sept. 4, 1879, at Shabbona village, to 
 Miss Jennie, daughter of Dominicus and Catharine 
 (Rennick) Mitchell. She was born in Comanche, 
 Iowa, June 14, 1856. 
 
 Politically, Capt. Lucas is a Republican. He has 
 been Collector of his township on two occasions. 
 Socially, he is a member of T. S. Terry Post, No. 
 463, G. A. R. 
 
 eneral Daniel Dustin, Clerk of the Circuit 
 Court and Recorder ex officio of De Kalb 
 County, resident at Sycamore, was born 
 Oct. 5, 1820, in Topsham, Orange Co., Vt. 
 John K. Dustin, his father, was a farmer, born 
 Jan. 24, 1784, in Atkinson, New Hampshire, 
 near the border line between that State and Massa- 
 chusetts. He died in Topsham, Vt., in August, 
 1858. His wife, Sally (Thompson) Dustin, was born 
 in Newbury, Vt., Jan. 15, 1788, her death transpiring 
 in Topsham, Vt, Dec. 14, 1829. The immediate 
 ancestors of John K. Dustin were Nathaniel Dustin 
 and Judith (Knight) Dustin. The former was born 
 Sept. 8, 1756, and died March 3, 1815. The latter 
 was born May 2, 1756, and departed this life June 
 3, 1842. 
 
 The Dustin family is of Scotch and English de- 
 scent, and the first authentic record of them in this 
 country was of Thomas and Hannah Dustin, of Ha- 
 verhill, Massachusetts, in 1677, which was at the 
 
 time of their marriage. " Hannah Dustin," says the 
 historical record, "became the mother of 13 children. 
 She was taken prisoner by the Indians in the attack 
 on Haverhill March 15, 1698, her nurse and infant 
 one year old being also taken, but the child was soon 
 afterward killed. She was placed in an Indian fam- 
 ily of 12 persons on an island (Dustin's Island), in 
 the Merrimack River, near the mouth of the Conto- 
 cook, in New Hampshire, and with the aid of the 
 nurse and a white captive boy she killed all the In- 
 dians in their sleep except a squaw and a boy who 
 escaped. She returned to Haverhill with their 
 scalps." 
 
 General Dustin is the seventh of a family of 13 
 children, and remained with his parents on the farm 
 until attaining his majority. He received a good 
 common-school and academical education, and after 
 studying medicine at Topsham and Corinth, at- 
 tended three full courses of medical lectures at 
 Dartmouth College, at Hanover, N. H., graduating 
 therefrom in 1846. His labor upon the farm had 
 been interspersed with the duties of a teacher in the 
 district school. Thrown mainly upon his own re- 
 sources, he continued teaching at intervals while a 
 medical student at Dartmouth. After being gradu- 
 ated he first established himself in the practice of 
 medicine at East Corinth, his native county, remain- 
 ing there for a period of three years. In March, 
 1850, like many other adventurous and ambitious 
 young men, he was pursuaded by the glowing reports 
 of gold discoveries in California to try his fortunes 
 in the new Eldorado, whither he went and engaged 
 in mining operations until 1853, when, in connection 
 with mercantile pursuits in which he had become en- 
 gaged, he resumed the practice of his profession. The 
 political abilities which have always distinguished 
 the General soon attracted favorable attention, and 
 in 1855-6 he was chosen to represent Nevada Coun- 
 ty in the Legislature of that State. 
 
 In 1858 he was induced by the representations of 
 friends to come to Sycamore, where he became asso- 
 ciated with J. E. Ellwood in the sale of drugs and 
 medicines. He continued in business until the 
 breaking out of the Rebellion, when in response to 
 the call of the Government for troops he disposed of 
 his interest to Mr. Ellwood and assisted in raising the 
 8th Regt. 111. Cav. The regiment was organized at 
 St. Charles, 111., September, 1861, was assigned to 
 the Army of the Potomac, and General Dustin went 
 
 r 
 
 \\
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 J 
 
 to the front in command of Co. L. In January, 
 1862, he was made a Major of the 8th Cav. In 
 March, r862, his regiment joined in the general ad- 
 vance on Manassas, in General Summer's Division. 
 In the early part of the spring of that year, at four 
 different times it drove the enemy across the Rap- 
 pahannock. His regiment did important service at 
 Gaines' Hill and Malvern Hill, and was on picket 
 duty while the army laid at Harrison's Landing; it 
 led the advance on the second occupation of Mal- 
 vern Hill, and with Benson's Battery, United States 
 Artillery, bore the brunt of the fight, and brought up 
 the rear of our retreating forces at Barrett's Ford 
 and Chickahominy. At the opening of the " Seven 
 Days' Fight " General Dustin was in command of a 
 squadron !of the 8th on the extreme right of our 
 lines, and where the rebel troops first encountered 
 the Union army ; and the first volley of musketry on 
 the first day of that memorable succession of en- 
 gagements was fired at Major Dustin, his orderly 
 and a captain of his command, by the advance guard 
 of the enemy at close range, the captain being shot 
 down by the Major's side. 
 
 In July, 1862, under the call for more men, the 
 rosth Regt. of III. Inf. was raised. It was mustered 
 into the service Sept. 2, 1862, at Dixon, 111., and the 
 General became its commanding officer. The regi- 
 ment joined the Army of the Cumberland, with which 
 it remained through the war. In the spring of 1864 
 the regiment was brigaded with the io2d and i2glh 
 Illinois, the 7oth Indiana and the 79th Ohio, the 
 same being in the ist brigade, 3d division of the 2oth 
 Army Corps. After the Atlanta campaign Col. Dustin 
 was placed in command of the 2d brigade of the 
 same division and corps and remained in command 
 of that brigade during the war. He accompanied 
 Gen. Sherman in his grand march to the sea. After 
 the ba~ttle of Averysboro, N. C., he was brevetted 
 Brigadier General, a promotion which his coolness, 
 dash and bravery in that engagement had well 
 merited. It may be said here that he has a spotless 
 military record, and was one of the most gallant 
 officers sent from De Kalb County. Upon being 
 mustered out of the service June 7, 1865, at Wash- 
 ington, where he took a proud part in the Grand Re- 
 view of the armies, Gen. Dustin returned home, and 
 in the fall of that year was elected to the office of 
 County Clerk, without opposition, which position he 
 held for four years. He was subsequently elected 
 
 County Treasurer for one term, and in the fall of 
 1880 was elected Circuit Clerk and Recorder. He 
 was re-elected in 1884, and with the expiration of his 
 present term will have completed sixteen years of 
 official service in the Court-House at Sycamore. It 
 is needless to say that he has performed the several 
 important trusts reposed to his keeping by the people 
 of the county with signal fidelity and ability. As a 
 Republican none have been more active and influen- 
 tial in local politics. The General has twice been 
 the choice of Republicans in De Kalb County for 
 Congress, and in both instances has he withdrawn in 
 favor of personal friends, preferring in his modesty 
 and humility to remain in comparative obscurity, 
 although second to none in influence and fitted in 
 every sense to confer honor upon any position to 
 which he might be called. He has been a stanch 
 Republican from the first, and in every political cam- 
 paign sincejiis return from military to civil life he 
 has done yeoman service for his party. Intellectually 
 gifted, he is fluent of speech and possesses that rare 
 grace and power of oratory which is at once most 
 pleasing and effective on the stump. He is a man 
 of warm and generous impulses and never fails in 
 his appeals to the patriotic feelings of those whom he 
 addresses. In this respect he is exceptional. His 
 fine presence and courtly manners, added to his un- 
 swerving integrity and his utter unselfishness, have 
 won for him a host of friends and enthusiastic ad- 
 mirers. De Kalb County is proud of him, and loves 
 him for the gallant soldier that he was, for the faith- 
 ful and able part he has borne in the administration 
 of its civil affairs and for his manly and devoted 
 spirit in all things pertaining to their interests. As a 
 neighbor he is conspicuous for his kindly ways and 
 his ready response to every appeal in behalf of 
 charity and benevolence. He is one of those worthy 
 sons of New England who have left the impress of 
 their character and good deeds upon the institutions 
 and people of the West. 
 
 He has been twice married. His first wife being 
 Isabel, daughter of Colonel Gouldsbun Taplin, of 
 Corinth, Vt. Their marriage took place at Topsham 
 Vt., in 1846, and of their union three children were 
 born. Emma A. married William B. Myers, a woolen 
 manufacturerof Carthage, Mo. Electa J. is the wife 
 of Walter Waterman, a merchant at Sycamore. Wil- 
 liam G. is connected with a prominent journal pub- 
 lished at Rockford, 111. The mother died at East 
 I s-^ ^nij.ggtyir' jj&ygKX^X/g)
 
 Corinth, Vt., which was also the place of her nativity. 
 The second marriage of General Dustin, to Elmira E t 
 Pauly, occurred Oct. r5, 1854, and they have one 
 daughter, Zada Belle. Mrs. Dustin was born in War- 
 ren Co., Ohio. 
 
 In 1859 the General became especially interested 
 in the Masonic Order and is now a Mason of the 
 3ad degree. He is a member of Sycamore Lodge, 
 No. 134; Sycamore Chapter, No. 49; Sycamore 
 Council, No. 36, and Sycamore Commandery, No. 15. 
 In 1872 the Knights Templar of Illinois elected 
 = him to the highest office within their gift, that of 
 i$ Right Eminent Commander of the Grand Com- 
 \ mandery of the State. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Dustin, together with their daugh- 
 ters, are members of the First Congregational Church 
 of Sycamore, in which society the General has held 
 important offices, being at present Clerk of the 
 Church. 
 
 The portrait of General Dustin on a preceding 
 page is presented by the publishers with a satisfac- 
 tion which will meet with a corresponding degree 
 of appreciation wherever the subject is known. 
 
 eorge C. Cooper, deceased, for many years 
 a resident of Paw Paw Township, was born 
 in the town of Salem, Washington Co., N. 
 Y., Oct. 2, 1808, and is the son of William and 
 Sarah (Crage) Cooper. His parents were born 
 in Washington Co.,N. Y., of Irish descent. He 
 moved to Cayuga County, with his parents, in 1810, 
 became a farmer and was married in Sterling, N. Y., 
 Sept. 26, 1831, to Miss Elizabeth Moore, daughter of 
 James and Letitia Moore. Mrs. Cooper was born in 
 Cambridge, Washington Co., N. Y., of English and 
 Irish descent, April 20, 1810. They had two chil- 
 dren, both born in Sterling, Cayuga Co., N. Y., a son 
 and a daughter : James C., born Feb. 2, 1833, married 
 Margaret Newton, Feb. 21, 1856, and died Oct. 22, 
 1869; Mary C., born May 30, 1835, wife of Joseph 
 L. Holmes, married Feb. 28, 1858, and resides in 
 Leland, 111. 
 
 Mr. Cooper emigrated with his family to Illinois, in 
 1848, and arrived in Paw Paw Township, De Kalb 
 County, July 24. He purchased 320 acres of Gov- 
 ernment land, and subsequently bought an 8o-acre 
 
 i 
 
 tract at private sale, making 400 in all. He was en- 
 gaged in farming and stock-growing to the time of his 
 death, which occurred July 20, 1862. In politics he 
 was an earnest Republican, with Abolition sym- 
 pathies. He always took a warm interest in political 
 affairs, and was a zealous advocate of temperance 
 principles. He was a man who aimed to advance 
 the best interests of society, and was highly esteemed 
 by his fellow citizens. His wife survives him, and 
 still resides at the old homestead, on section 23, 
 where she is held in high esteem by neighbors and 
 friends. 
 
 ames McCleery, Supervisor of Clinton 
 Township, residing and farming on section 
 34, is a son of James and Jane (Thompson) 
 McCleery, natives of New York and Scotland 
 respectively. They were married and settled 
 in Canada, and eight years later moved to 
 Wayne Co., Ohio. From Ohio they came to this 
 county in 1851, and settled in Somonauk Township, 
 and afterward removed to Victor Township, where, 
 May 29, 1859, his mother died. His father then 
 removed to Washington Co., Iowa, where he is at 
 present residing, at the advanced age of 81 years. 
 Nine children constituted the issue of their marriage. 
 Six survive, namely, John, James, Mary A., Margaret, 
 Elizabeth, and William D. The deceased are Hugh, 
 Robert and Jane C. 
 
 Jaines McCleery, Jr., was born in Canada, near 
 Gault, Waterloo County, June 18, 1835. He was 
 seven years of age when his parents moved to Ohio, 
 and remained on his father's farm, assisting in its 
 cultivation and attending the common schools until 
 he attained the age of 22 years. Arriving at that age, 
 he set out to fight life's battles alone. He at first 
 engaged in farming, which vocation he followed in 
 Ohio until 1851, when he came to this county. 
 
 In 1855 Mr. McCleery came into possession of 120 
 acres of land situated in Victor Township. He at 
 once settled on his land and lived thereon for two 
 years, when he traded it for 187 acres in Clinton 
 Township. He moved on the latter farm in 1861, 
 and is still a resident thereon. He is at present the 
 owner of 292 acres of land, all situated in De Kalb 

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 > 
 
 9 
 
 County, and of the entire amount 220 acres are under 
 a good state of cultivation. 
 
 Mr. McCleery was united in marriage to Margaret 
 Graham, in Victor Township, Feb. i, 1858. She is a 
 daughter of Robert and Sarah (Williamson) Graham, 
 natives of Washington Co., N. Y. They came to this 
 county in 1850 and lived for one year in Somonauk 
 Township, then removed to Victor Township, where 
 they at present reside. They are the parents of six 
 children, five of whom survive, namely, Margaret, 
 ^ary A., Andrew, Russell and James. One died in 
 nfancy. 
 
 Margaret McCleery, wife of the subject of this 
 biographical notice, was born in Washington Co., N. 
 Y., June 15, 1837. She remained an inmate of her 
 father's family, assisting in the household duties and 
 attending the common schools until her marriage. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. McCleery are the parentsof ten chil- 
 dren. The living are Sarah J., Mary, Fanny E., 
 Adeline I., William R., Raymond and Jeannett. The 
 deceased are John, Andrew and Margaret. 
 
 Mr. McCleery was appointed Supervisor of Clinton 
 Township in the spring of 1883, and in the spring of 
 1884 was elected to the office, and now holds the 
 same. He has also held other minor offices in his 
 township. Politically, he is a Republican. Relig- 
 iously, Mr. and Mrs. McCleery are members of the 
 Presbyterian Church. 
 
 i homas Wright, farmer and stockman, resi- 
 dent on section 34, De Kalb Township, is 
 one of the leading agriculturists of his 
 county. On attaining his majority he settled 
 on the farm on which he has since resided and 
 carried on his successful operations. His 
 estate includes 226 acres of land, all under a high 
 order of cultivation and devoted largely to the rearing 
 of stock of excellent grades, comprising 44 head of 
 cattle, 1 20 swine and eight horses. He is a Repub- 
 lican in political connection. 
 
 Mr. Wright was born March n, 1833, in Oneida 
 Co., N. Y. He acquired a fair degree of education 
 in the common schools, and after the death of his 
 father, which occurred when he was three years of 
 age, was brought up by his mother, who supported 
 her family of four sons and two daughters and reared 
 
 them to a period when they could make their own 
 way in the world. From the age of 12 years until is 
 manhood, he was a farm laborer. He was seven 
 years of age when the family came to De Kalb 
 County. Before coming of age, in company with his 
 brother Jabez, he bought 160 acres of land, of which 
 he afterwards became by purchase sole proprietor 
 and which is now included in his homestead. 
 
 The marriage of Mr. Wright to Amanda Richard- 
 son took place Dec. 21, 1854, in De Kalb Township. 
 Her parents, Abiel and Sophia Richardson, were 
 natives of Vermont, and removed from that State to 
 Illinois in 1837, becoming pioneer settlers of De Kalb 
 County. The former died April 14, 1869; the de- 
 cease of the latter occurred March 12, 1871. Mrs. 
 Wright was born Aug. 18, 1836, in Addison Co., Vt. 
 Frank E., only child of Mr. and Mrs. Wright, was 
 born March 19, 1857. 
 
 ivi Hurst, a retired farmer, residing in the 
 village of Shabbona, was born at Eaton, 
 Nottinghamshire, England, Nov. 23, 1823, 
 and is the son of James and Mary (Bowskill) 
 Hurst. In youth he was employed in farming 
 and other service, and, May 15, 1849, he was 
 married, at Troxford, England, to Miss Sarah Burdin, 
 daughter of John and Ann Burdin, who was born in 
 Bothamsall, England, Feb. 7, 1828. 
 
 Mr. Hurst and family emigrated to America in 
 1851, and after spending two years in Seneca Co., 
 N. Y., removed, in 1853, to Batavia, Kane Co., 111., 
 where they resided one year. Then they were resi- 
 dents of Victor, De Kalb County, three years ; then 
 again in Seneca, N. Y., three years; next, in 1859, 
 they returned to Victor; and finally in 1864, Mr. 
 Hurst purchased a farm of 160 acres in the town- 
 ship of Shabbona, being the southeast quarter of sec- 
 tion i. He carried on his farm successfully till 1881, 
 when he sold, and Feb. 20, 1882, removed to the vil- 
 lage of Shabbona, where he has a pleasant and com- 
 modious residence. 
 
 The living children of Mr. and Mrs. Hurst are 
 seven in number, besides two deceased, and all born 
 in America except the oldest, as follows: John, born 
 April 14, 1850, married Eva Wigton and lives 
 Hamilton Co., Iowa; Mary A., born June 20, 1852, 
 
 
 5
 
 
 

 
 died July i, 1852; George, born Aug. 10, 1853, mar- 
 ried Franc Bronson and lives in Hamilton Co.. 
 Iowa; James H., born Sept. 12, 1855, married Sarah 
 Wescott and resides also in Hamilton Co., Iowa; 
 Sarah E., born May 29, 1858, is the wife of William 
 Launsbury and lives in Hamilton Co., Neb. ; Eliza 
 J., born Nov. i r, 1860, is the wifeof Charles R. Dodd 
 and is a resident of Humboldt, Iowa; Ann M. was 
 born Feb. 4, 1863; Lillie M., July 22, 1865; and 
 Joseph, born Oct. 23, 1868, died June 2, 1873. 
 
 ames McFarland, deceased, was a re- 
 spected pioneer of Paw Paw Township of 
 1845. He was born in the town of Salem, 
 Washington Co., N. Y., Sept. 24, 1797, and was 
 the son of John and Janet McFarland. His 
 parents were of Scotish birth, and had emigrated 
 to the State of New York in an early day. He 
 moved with his parents to Cayuga County in boy- 
 hood, where he was engaged in farming and lum- 
 bering. 
 
 He came to Illinois in 1845 and settled on section 
 23, Paw Paw Township, De Kalb County. He pur- 
 chased his land of the Government (160 acres), and 
 made this his home continuously till the time of 
 his death, which occurred Dec. 27, 1876. He was 
 married in Cayuga Co., N. Y., March 6, 1832, to Miss 
 Mary Harper, daughter of James and Elizabeth 
 (Black) Harper. Mrs. McFarland was born in 
 County Tyrone, Ireland, April 10, 1809. She emi- 
 grated with her parents to America during the War 
 of 1812. The family settled in Washington Co., N. 
 Y., and subsequently removed to Cayuga County, 
 same State, where she was married. Three children 
 were born of this union, one boy and two girls : 
 Elizabeth, born Feb. 10, 1833, became the wife of 
 Charles S. Hubbell, and died Feb. 24, 1875, leaving 
 three children, all girls; the next younger than 
 Elizabeth was Janet, who was born Nov. 14, 1835, 
 and died June 24, 1848; Thomas, born in 1837, died 
 in infancy. 
 
 Mr. McFarland was an earnest member of the 
 United Presbyterian Church from boyhood. He 
 took an active part in building the church at Ross 
 Grove, and was one of the most liberal in its support. 
 
 He was a man of the strictest integrity, and com- 
 
 manded the confidence and esteem of all who knew 
 him. His wife, a lady justly held in high esteem, 
 survives him and still occupies the old homestead. 
 She is a consistent Christian and has a membership 
 in the United Presbyterian Church of Freeland, De vj 
 Kalb County. 
 
 ewis H. Crego, farmer, residing on section 
 36, De Kalb Township, was born in Che- 
 nango Co., N. Y., Jan. i, 1841. He Is the 
 son of Daniel Crego, a native of New York, and 
 was born in Herkimer County, that State, April 
 30, i8ot. He followed the business of a 
 farmer in that county until his .removal to this State 
 in 1852, when he settled in Kane County. In 1857, 
 he came to De Kalb County, which is now their place 
 of residence. His father was born in Dutchess Co., 
 N. Y., in 1750, of Holland parentage. His wife, 
 Polly (Stanehan) Crego, was born in Chatham, N. Y., 
 and they moved to Chenango Co., N. Y., where she 
 died, in 1829, aged 69 years; and his death occurred 
 in 1836. They were the parents of nine children, 
 two daughters and seven sons. Daniel Crego, their 
 eighth son, was married to Ann Kelley, who is the 
 daughter of Michael and Elizabeth (Stall) Kelley, 
 natives of New York, both of whom died the same 
 year, the father in February and the mother in July, 
 1837. There were seven children in the family of 
 Daniel and Ann Crego, namely, Sarah, George M., 
 Polly J., Owen C., Lewis H., Nancy E. and Ellen. 
 
 Mr. Crego, the subject of this sketch, is a promi- 
 nent agriculturist of De Kalb County, of which he 
 has been a continuous resident since 1857. He has 
 a valuable farm, which comprises 480 acres of land, 
 devoted to the raising of stock and general farming of 
 an advanced character. Mr. Crego 's political views 
 are in harmony with those of the Democratic party. 
 The marriage of Mr. Crego to Millie Souders took 
 place in Kane Co., 111., March i, 1873, and they be- 
 came the parents of four children : John S. and Dan 
 S., twins, were born June 28, 1875 ; Floyd O., Aug. 
 14, 1876; Mabel M., July 14, 1879. Mrs. Crego 
 died Oct. 28, 1879, in the township of De Kalb. She 
 was born in Kane County, Nov. 27, 1842, and was 
 the daughter of John and Polly Souders, natives of 
 &*ag*e@) 
 
 r
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 3 
 
 
 Ohio, who were the first settlers on Blackberry Creek 
 in Kane County. 
 
 As one of the prominent and representative agri- 
 culturists of De Kalb County, we take pleasure in 
 presenting Mr. Crego's portrait in this work among 
 other leading and representative men; and as a fit 
 and worthy companion picture of Mr. Crego, we place 
 by it that of his estimable wife. The photographs 
 from which the engravings were made were taken in 
 1878. 
 
 iathaniel Smith, deceased, formerly of 
 Sandwich, came in 1858 to that place from 
 Little Rock, 111., where he had located in 
 1849. He was born in Providence, Sara- 
 toga Co., N. Y., Dec. 2, 1822. 
 After completing a course in the State Normal 
 School of New York, he was appointed Public School 
 Inspector in his native State. Mr. Smith was a man 
 of artistic tastes and was one of the best photogra- 
 phers in the west. He was the instructor of C. D. 
 Mosher, of Chicago, who has a national reputation. 
 Nathaniel Smith died at his home in Sandwich, Jan. 
 24, 1878. 
 
 ^rastus Dean, proprietor of a drug store 
 and meat-market at Waterman, is from the 
 Empire State. His parents, Smith and 
 Delilah (Wright) Dean, also natives of that 
 State, came to Kane Co., 111., in 1846, where 
 | where they resided the remainder of their lives. 
 Tlieir seven children were Erastus, Althea, John, 
 Robert, Lewis, Miriam and Nathaniel. 
 
 The gentleman whose name heads this sketch was 
 born in Putn am Co., N. Y.,July 18, 1831, came to this 
 State with his father in 1846, lived at home till 1855, 
 and came and purchased a farm of 146 acres "in 
 Afton Township, this county, where he lived about 
 14 years, and then rented his farm and removed to 
 Shabbona, where he engaged in the meat business 
 about five years ; he then removed to Waterman, 
 wher,e he has since been employed in the same voca- 
 tion, adding to his business a stock of drugs in 1884. 
 In his political views Mr. Dean is a Democrat. 
 
 %&*& 
 
 He has been one of the Trustees of the village of 
 Waterman for four years, School Trustee, etc. 
 
 He was married in Afton Township, this county, 
 Oct. 12, 1859, to Miss Charlotte L., daughter of 
 Orson and Betsey (Brainard) Pearl, natives of New ^ 
 York State, who came to this county in 1854, settling 
 in Afton Township, where Mrs. Pearl died. Mr. P. 
 afterward married and moved to Waterman, where 
 he at present resides, at the advanced age of 81 
 years. His children are Julius, Mary A., Charlotte 
 L., Sarah, Ellen and Charles. Mrs. Dean was born 
 in the State of New York, July TO, 1841. Mr. and 
 Mrs. D. have 12 children, namely: Alice, Smith A., 
 Charles O., Amzy, William E., Bertie P., Cornelius, 
 Jennie, Lulu, John W., Fred and one who died when 
 an infant. 
 
 zra M. Ames, farmer, section 33, Clinton 
 Township is a son of Elijah and Cynthia 
 Ames, natives of Vermont, and is the 
 youngest of 15 children who constituted the 
 issue of their marriage. 
 
 He was born in Potsdam, St Lawrence Co., 
 N. Y., June 5, r822. He was a resident of "York 
 State " for 25 years, until 1847, when he came to Du 
 Page County, this State. He lived in the latter coun- 
 ty three years, until June 1850, when he came to this 
 county and purchased 80 acres of land in Clinton 
 Township, on which he located and where he is at 
 present residing. He is the owner of 204 acres of 
 land, 180 of which are in a good tillable condition. 
 
 Mr. Ames was united in marriage to Miss Orpha 
 M. Ames, Jan. 9, 1846, in St. Lawrence Co., N. Y. 
 She is a daughter of Elijah and Mable (Pierce) Ames, 
 natives of Vermont and Massachusetts respectively, 
 and are the parents of 1 2 children. 
 
 Orpha M. Ames was born in Canton, St. Lawrence 
 Co,N. Y., April 27, 1822. She is the mother ot 
 eight children by Mr. Ames, namely: Marion E., 
 born April 9, r847 ; Almeda, born March 6, 1850; 
 George W., born April 15, 1852; Ota E., born Nov. 
 23, 1856; Charlie I., born March 30, 1859: Ethan 
 E., born Dec. 21, 1860; Myron P., born May 29, 
 1863, and Cora M., born Dec. 5, 1865. Marion E. 
 died April 19, 1868. Almeda is the wife of James
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Merritt, and resides in Waterman. Ota E. married 
 Miss Ella Hill and resides in Sycamore. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Ames is a Republican.. He has 
 held the office of School Director, Overseer of the 
 Poor and Overseer of Highways. 
 
 fames Harper, farmer, residence East Paw 
 Paw, on section 18, has 628^ acres of 
 land, 158 acres of which lies in Lee 
 f County, the balance being in De Kalb County ; 
 was born in Paw Paw Township, De Kalb Co., 
 111., Dec. 2, 1854, and is the son of William 
 and Sarah (Kirk) Harper. He received a common- 
 school education and was reared on his father's 
 farm. He has always made this township his home. 
 He was married at East Paw Paw, April 10, 1878, 
 to Bertha Patrick, daughter of William and Mary 
 (Congrave) Patrick. Mrs. Harper was born in Du 
 Page Co., 111., April 7, 1858. They have three chil- 
 dren, all boys: Floyd E., born March 9, 1879; 
 Frank W., born Nov. 23, 1881 ; and Jesse C., born 
 Dec. 10, 1883. 
 
 Mr. Harper made his home on section 14 of this 
 township immediately after his marriage, where he 
 still has a farm, and continued to reside there till 
 1883, when he removed to East Paw Paw, his pres- 
 ent home. Politically, he is a Republican. 
 
 illiam Howison, farmer, section 33, Clin- 
 ton Township, is a son of George and 
 Margaret (Brown) Howison, natives of 
 Scotland, who emigrated to America in 1834 
 and settled in New York in 1844 and came to 
 Somonauk Township, this county, where they 
 passed the remainder of their lives. 
 
 They were the parents of James, William, Eliza, 
 Alexander and Robert. 
 
 Mr. Howison, of this sketch, was born also in 
 Scotland, Oct. 18, 1821, and in 1843 he emigrated 
 to this country, coming direct to De Kalb County. 
 He first resided about four years in Somonauk 
 Township, and then, in 1847, he moved to Clinton 
 Township, where he purchased a quarter of section 
 33, settled upon it and has since resided there. He 
 
 ^^ ^ 
 
 is now the owner of 500 acres of land in Clinton 
 Township, most of which is in a state of good cul- 
 tivation or pasture. He keeps about 250 head of 
 hogs, 60 of cattle and 14 horses. 
 
 In his political principles he is identified with the 
 Republicans. He has been entrusted with the 
 offices of Highway Commissioner, School Director, 
 etc. He and Mrs. H. are both members of the 
 United Presbyterian Church. 
 
 He was married in Clinton Township, Oct. 18, 
 1855, to Catherine Walls, who was born in Washing- 
 ton Co., N. Y., Dec. 25, 1824, and they are the par- 
 ents of James A., William J., Robert W., George W., 
 Albert and Mary M. The first-born, James A., 
 died March 15, 1882. 
 
 ranklin O. Stevens, farmer, owning 120 
 acres on section 30, Shabbona Township, 
 was born in West Haven, Rutland Co., 
 Vt., Sept. 14, 1832. His parents, Amma and 
 Polly (Talmadge) Stevens, moved from Ver- 
 mont tj Parma, Monroe Co., N. Y , in which 
 vicinity his father soon after engaged in farming. 
 
 Franklin O. was raised on his father's farm, alter- 
 nating his labors thereon by attendance at the com- 
 mon schools. In 1840 he came, with his parents, 
 from New York and located in Cook County, this 
 State. They resided in the latter county for about 
 three years, then moved to Du Page County, and in 
 1848 came to this county and located on a farm. 
 
 Mr. Stevens was married Feb. 15, 1855, to Loticia 
 M. Erwin, who died Dec. 8, same year, leaving a son, 
 Terry G. He was bom Nov. 14, 1855, married Cora 
 Allen and resides in Montana. Mr. Stevens was a 
 second time married Sept. T3, 1857, at Shabbona, to 
 Miss Ann, daughter of Lyman and Hannah (Gates) 
 Norton. She was born in Parkham, Geauga Co., 
 Ohio, July 22, 1835, and came to this State with her 
 parents in 1845. The issue of their union was two 
 children : Murray L., born Oct. 6, 1868, married E. 
 Hattie Ray and resides on a farm in Shabbona 
 Township; Curtis E. was born Feb. 13, 1874, and 
 is living with her parents. 
 
 Soon after the breaking out of the late Civil War, 
 Nov. 2, 1861, Mr. Stevens enlisted in Co. C, soth 
 111. Vol. Inf., was a Sergeant and served in the 
 Army of the Tennessee. He received an honorable 
 <* ^ -^reup*- *^^^@, 
 
 \l
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 i 
 
 discharge June 17, 1862, on account of physical dis- 
 ability. 
 
 Mr. Stevens settled on his present farm and has 
 constantly resided thereon except two years he spent 
 in Oregon and the time he was in the army. In 
 May, 1871, he, with his family, went to Oregon via 
 the Union Pacific Railroad. He traveled by stage 
 about 300 miles and located in Jacksonville, Jackson 
 County. He spent two years there, and then re- 
 turned to his farm, which he had rented during his 
 absence, arriving in the fall of 1872. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Stevens has been identified with 
 the Republican party ever since its organization. 
 
 eorge Harrington, farmer, section 13, 
 Squaw Grove Township, was born Sept. 26, 
 1835, in New Berlin, Chenango Co., N. Y., 
 and is the son of Rufus and Eliza (Welch) 
 Harrington. (See sketch of Rufus Harrington). 
 He obtained his education in the public 
 schools of his native State and of Illinois, having 
 been about 13 years of age when he came to De 
 Kalb County. His first act of unusual importance 
 was his enrollment in the Union army. He en- 
 listed Aug. 15, 1862. in the rosth 111. Vol. Inf., as a 
 private in Co. H. He served until the close of the 
 war, and obtaining his discharge returned to Squaw 
 Grove. He is the owner of 120 acres of land, 
 which is under advanced cultivation and forms a 
 valuable property. He is a Republican and is a 
 member of Aurora Post, No. 20, G. A. R. He has 
 held several local offices, of different degrees of re- 
 sponsibility. 
 
 Nov. 25, 1858, he was married at Sandwich, to 
 Elvira A. Ward. She was born Dec. 24, 1835, in 
 Ohio, and they have three children, Jessie A., 
 Ruth E. and Stella M. Mr. and Mrs. Harrington 
 are members of the Baptist Church. 
 
 ^artman Schule, farmer on section 21, Pierce 
 Township, was born April 24, 1803, in 
 Hesse Darmstadt, Germany. He grew to 
 manhood in his native State, and was married 
 May 20, 1830, to Elizabeth Roth. In 1847 the 
 family, including the parents and five children, 
 set out for America, landing at the port of New York. 
 
 Mr. Schule found employment there and saved suf- 
 ficient of his earnings to come to Illinois after a year 
 and a half, and in the fall of 1849 settled in Du 
 Page County, where he was engaged in farm labor 
 until 1853, when he settled in Pierce Township, to 
 which place he had come a year before and purchased 
 240 acres of wild land situated on section 21, at the 
 rate of $3 per acre. They first built a shanty with a 
 shed-roof, which served a few months for a shelter 
 and was then replaced with a more commodicus 
 frame house. Their children are named Catherine, 
 John, Henry, Elizabeth and George. The latter is 
 the only one living in the township of Pierce. He 
 was born in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, and was 
 married Dec. 2, 1862, to Mary A. Shoop, a native of 
 Crawford Co., Ohio, and daughter of Solomon and 
 Catherine (Eberly) Shoop. They have five children, 
 Adelia Jane, William Henry, Emma Ellen, Nelson 
 George (Postmaster at Pierceville) and John Harvey. 
 On coming West from New York, they came by 
 the Hudson River and Erie Canal to Buffalo, and 
 thence to Chicago by steamer. From the last place 
 they came to Du Page County on foot. The family 
 homestead is in fine and valuable condition, with 
 good farm buildings, orchard and shade trees. 
 
 el M. Swift, retired farmer, residing at 
 Waterman and owning land on section n, 
 Clinton Township, is a son of Samuel and 
 Betsey M. (Woodworth) Swift, natives of New 
 York. They moved to Calhoun Co., Mich., 
 where they located and resided until their 
 death. Seven children were the issue of their union, 
 namely : Samuel M., Elizabeth M., Nathaniel, 
 Charles, David, Harriet, Woodworth and Kent. 
 
 Samuel M. Swift, the subject of this biographical 
 notice, was born in Columbia Co., N. Y., March 27, 
 1820. He lived at home, aiding in the support of 
 the family, working on the farnj and attending the 
 common schools until manhood. On attaining that 
 age, he set forth to meet life's obstacles with a deter- 
 mination to accumulate a competency. He came to 
 Kendall County, this State, where he remained until 
 the spring of 1854, and then came to this county. 
 On his arrival, he purchased 160 acres of land on 
 section n, Clinton Township, on which he at once 
 located and resided until the spring of 1885, when 
 A ^
 
 
 lie moved to Waterman. All of his land is in good 
 tillable, condition. Politically, Mr. Swift is identified 
 with the Republican party, and has held the offices 
 of School Director and Highway Commissioner. 
 . Mr. Swift was united in marriage to Miss Harriet 
 M. Shonts, April 7, 1846, in Little Rock Township, 
 Kendall Co., 111. She is the daughter of Andrew M. 
 and Mariam (Buck) Shonts, natives of New York 
 and Connecticut respectively, and of German and 
 American extraction. They moved about the year 
 1840 to Kendall Co., this State, where they died. 
 Their family comprised 12 children, namely : Eber,, 
 Anthony, David, Eliza, Angeline, John, Mariam 
 Harriet M., Mary, Andrew, Edwin and Jeremiah. 
 
 Harriet M. Swift was born in Saratoga Co., N. Y., 
 Nov. 1 6, 1819. She was an inmate of her father's 
 family until the date of her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Swift are the parents of seven children, namely: 
 Drew C., : Emma M, Eber M., R. K., Earnest, Ells- 
 worth and Elizabeth. Emma M. and Elizabeth are 
 deceased. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Swift are members of the Baptist 
 Church. 
 
 t enry Corson, farmer, section 28, Genoa 
 Township, whose portrait is given on the 
 opposite page, was born July 8, 1825, in 
 Lycoming Co., Pa. His parents, John and 
 Elizabeth (Buck) Corson, were born in the Key- 
 stone State. The former was born Feb. 5, 1788, 
 and died in Pennsylvania April 16, 1842. The 
 mother came to De Kalb County after becoming a 
 widow. She was born Oct. 15, 1795, and died in 
 January, 1882, in McHenry County. They were the 
 parents of 1 1 children, Hannah, Catherine, Peter, 
 Sarah, Susan, Henry, Lovinia, Daniel B., Alfred, 
 Harriet and Lucretia. 
 
 Mr. Corson was a farmer in his native county un- 
 til the spring of 1864, when he removed with his 
 family, consisting of his wife and four children, to 
 De Kalb County. He bought 140 acres of land in 
 Genoa Township, on section 3, immediately after his 
 removal hither, on which he prosecuted his agricul- 
 tural work until 1877, about which time he rented 
 the place to a tenant and bought 40 acres on section 
 28 since constituting his homestead. In the spring 
 of 1878 he went with his family to Colorado and 
 
 New Mexico, and spent about nine months, return- 
 ing to his home in Genoa Township. In political 
 principle and preference he is identified with the 
 Democrats. 
 
 The marriage of Mr. Corson to Eliza A. F. Hew- 
 lett took place Oct. 31, 1850, in Lycoming Co., Pa. 
 Mrs. Corson is one of 12 children, Edward, Caro- 
 line, Charlotte, Sophia, Drusilla, Eliza A. F., Thomas, 
 Angeline, Charles, Catherine, William E. and Henry 
 C. Mrs. Corson was born Feb. 5, 1831, in Lyco- 
 ming County, and is the daughter of Charles and 
 Martha (Croft) Hewlett, the former a native of Eng- 
 land, the latter of Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Corson have had four children born to them, Hor- 
 ton H., Angeline, Mary D. and Carrie E. The 
 youngest child died when 16 months old. 
 
 ohn Ray, farmer, residing at Shabbona, was 
 born in Nassau, Germany, Jan. 10, 1820, 
 and is a son of John J. and Catharine Ray, 
 natives of that country. He received a good 
 common-school education in his native coun- 
 try, and prior to majority had mastered the 
 stone-mason's trade. In 1849 he emigrated to the 
 United States, arriving in New York city July 15 of 
 that year. He proceeded from that place to Monroe 
 County, that State, where he resided for about four 
 years and then came to this State, locating at Piano, 
 Kendall County. He followed the vocation of a 
 farmer in that county for five years, when he re- 
 moved to Victor Township, this county, and contin- 
 ued in the same occupation until 1864. During the 
 latter year he moved to Shabbona Township and on 
 Feb. 9, of that year, purchased 160 acres of land lo- 
 cated on section 15, that township. 
 
 On the construction of the railroad through Shab- 
 bona Township, Mr. Ray gave the right of way 
 through his farm, and also donated an undivided half 
 interest in 17 acres to secure the establishment of a 
 station at Shabbona. He aided by his liberality and 
 public-spiritedness very materially in establishing the 
 village of Shabbona. 
 
 Mr. Ray was married in his native country Jan. 10, 
 1843, to Miss Elizabeth Enders. She is a daughter 
 of George and Mary Enders, and was born in Nassau, 
 Germany. They have been blessed with nine chil- 
 A_Q 5%JK__ 
 
 vx
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 dren, three of whom were born in Germany, namely : 
 William H., the present editor and publisher of the 
 Shabbona Express ; John Ferdinand died in this 
 country, aged 12 years and 8 months; Lissette H. is 
 the wife of George Hochstrasser and resides at Wil- 
 low Creek, Lee Co., 111. The remaining six children 
 were born in this -country. "They are : John P., 
 married Lotta Heun ; Benjamin F. married Laura 
 Linthicum ; George A. married Miss Sarah J. 
 Houghtby ; John A. died in infancy ; Emma A. is 
 unmarried and lives at home ; Esther H. is the wife 
 of M. L. Stevens and resides in Shabbona. 
 
 Mr. Ray and his sons are Republicans. He and 
 his wife are members of the Baptist Church of Shab- 
 bona. 
 
 ichael Zeigler, a farmer on section 22, 
 Pierce Township, was born Sept. 20, 1820, 
 in Wurtemburg, Germany. His father, 
 Michael Zeigler, was a native of Baden and 
 married Elizabeth Steinle, who was born in 
 Wurtemburg. He was a land-holder five miles 
 from the chief city of his province, and his residence 
 , was in the village of Pfahlbash. 
 
 Mr. Zeigler was sent to school eight years and 
 obtained a good education. In 1847, accompanied 
 by his brother, he set out in a sail vessel for America, 
 and in 28 days landed at New York. He proceeded 
 from that city to Pennsylvania and spent a few 
 months as a clerk. He came next to Chicago, where 
 . he prospected for a couple of weeks, and went thence 
 to Michigan. He spent a few months as a saw-mill 
 assistant, but he contracted the ague and returned to 
 
 Chicago, where he remained until he recovered his 
 
 'health. He next made his way to Du Page County, 
 and during the summer following worked on a farm 
 in Kane County. In 1850 he contracted the Califor- 
 nia gold " fever," and in company with five men and 
 six teams set out for an overland journey to the land 
 of promise, carrying with them their supplies. The 
 journey consumed four months. Mr. Zeigler passed 
 
 $( three years in the mines at different localities and 
 with varying success. In 1853 he returned, making 
 
 ^ the route across the Isthmus and by steamer, thence 
 to New York, coming from there to De Kalb County. 
 He bought 160 acres of land on section 22, Pierce 
 
 MUL/BQjV' /~\ f 
 
 Township, which included 20 acres of broken prairie 
 and a log house. At date of writing, 32 years after 
 making his purchase, Mr. Zeigler has his farm all 
 improved and excellent farm buildings. His marriage 
 to Laura Ramer took place in 1853. Their children 
 are Ferdinand, Edward, Reuben and Melinda. 
 
 Imon W. Lake, farmer and stock-grower, 
 section 25, Paw Paw Township ; . post- 
 office, Leland. He was born in Sterling, 
 Cayuga Co., N. Y., Oct. 13, 1829, and is the 
 son of John and Catharine (Van Tassel) Lake, 
 of English descent on the father's side, and of 
 German on the mother's. When 10 years of age he 
 emigrated to Hancock Co., 111., arriving May 31, 
 1840. In the spring of 1845, he came to Paw Paw 
 Township, De Kalb County, and purchased a part of 
 his present farm, of the Government, in 1849. He 
 worked out at $i i a month to earn money to pay for 
 it, and subsequently purchased another tract of 80 
 acres, making 160 in all. He was married in Paw 
 Paw Township, Jan. 5, 1860, to Mary E. Dennis, 
 daughter of John and Margaret (McFarland) Dennis. 
 Mrs. Lake was born in the township of Argyle, 
 Washington Co., N. Y., April 16, 1842. They have 
 one child, a son, Myron E., born Jan. 15, 1863. 
 
 In politics Mr. Lake is a Republican and has 
 voted that ticket since the organization of the party. 
 
 le Jorgensen Prestegard, of the firm of 
 Christopher & Jorgens, dealers in grain, 
 lumber, coal and live stock, in the village 
 of Lee, was born in Norway, April 23, 1841, 
 the son of Jorgen and Gruenelda Prestegard. 
 He emigrated from his native land to America 
 in 1864, coming directly to Illinois and settling in 
 the township of Alto, Lee County, where he engaged 
 in farming. He purchased 320 acres of land, situ- 
 ated on sections 35 and 36, which he still owns and 
 on which he still resides. 
 
 In 1871 he formed the existing partnership with 
 C. Christopher, in the business above mentioned. 
 He moved to the village of Lee in September, 1874,
 
 
 
 1 
 
 s 
 
 where he resided till the spring of 1885, and he then 
 removed to the farm in Alto, still continuing his 
 business at Lee. As a business man he has a repu- 
 tation for enterprise and fair dealing of which any 
 man might be proud. 
 
 Since declaring his intention to become a citizen, 
 he has always voted with the Republican party. 
 
 He was married in Alto Township Dec. 24, 1868, 
 to Gorend Pedersen, daughter of Lars and Segeri 
 Pedersen. She was born in Norway. They have 
 had a family of eight children, namely: Gruelda, 
 Lars, Gorgen, Sarah (ist) deceased, Sarah (2d), 
 Peder O., deceased, and Olaf G. 
 
 ^dward Molitor, M. D., practicing physican 
 and surgeon at Somonauk, is the son of 
 Dr. Nicholas and Rosa (Salmon) Molitor 
 and was born in Somonauk, Dec. 31, 1862. 
 His father was a native of Bavaria and was 
 graduated at Rush Medical College in Chicago. 
 He came to Somonauk in 1860. He was for 23 
 years a practicing physician and surgeon at Somo- 
 nauk. He died March 12, 1883, at Somonauk, aged 
 58 years. 
 
 He educated his son in his profession, and the 
 latter was graduated Feb. 20, 1883, at Rush Med- 
 ical College, and on his father's decease a month 
 later succeeded to his office and practice, and is 
 doing an extensive and prosperous business. Dr. 
 Molitor was a student at Notre Dame, Ind., two 
 terms, 1879-80, previous to his matriculation at 
 Rush College, and received a medical certificate 
 from that University, dated June 23, 1880. 
 
 ussell B,. Brown, deceased, formerly a far- 
 mer on section 36, Clinton Township, was 
 born in the State of New York, in Septem- 
 ber, 1816. In the family of his parents, 
 James and Fanny (Scott) Brown, were five 
 children, Russell R., Morris P., Adelia, 
 Abi and Emma. 
 
 Mr. Brown came to De Kalb County with his 
 parents in 1846 and entered a quarter-section of land 
 in Clinton Township, where he followed agriculture 
 
 until his death, which was a most distressing circum- 
 stance. He was driving a team of spirited horses 
 near his home, when they became frightened and ran, 
 throwing him out and breaking his back. He died 
 ten days afterwards, from the result, July 3, 1864. 
 
 Mr. Brown was married Dec. 19, 1850, to Miss 
 Nancy Warner, daughter of Ralph and Clara Warner. 
 She came to Henry Co., 111., with her parents in 1845 
 and to De Kalb in 1850. In her father's family 
 were ji children, namely : Wilson, Amos, Hester, 
 Rhoda, Nancy, Calvin, John, Marrilla, Orman, David 
 and Mary A. The deceased are Rhoda, Marrilla 
 and Mary A. Mrs. Brown was born in Elizabeth- 
 town, Canada, March 10, 1826. She is the mother 
 of five children, namely: Fred A., born Sept. 16, 
 1851; Ralph R., born Oct. 7, 1853, married Anna 
 M. Beveridge Feb. 18, 1880, and resides in Clinton 
 Township; Grace was born March 27, 1855, and 
 married A. G. Case, July 14, 1878 ; he is a hardware 
 merchant at Aurora; Sarah, was born July 13, 1860, 
 and died Nov. 4, 1862 ; Grant, born March 14, 1864. 
 
 I 
 
 mma Stevens, deceased, formerly a citizen 
 of Shabbona, was born in Connecticut, 
 Sept. 21, 1788, and was a son of Daniel 
 Stevens. He was seven years of age when 
 his parents moved with him to Vermont. In 
 1836 he moved to Parma, Monroe Co., N. Y., 
 and in 1840 to Cook Co., 111., where he resided three 
 years ; next, in Du Page Co., 111., for a time, and 
 finally, in 1848, he settled in Shabbona, where he 
 lived until his death, which occurred Feb. 9, 1870. 
 
 He was married Nov. 24, 1814, in West Haven, 
 Vt., to Miss Polly, daughter of Wm. Talmadge, and 
 a native of the Green Mountain State. They had a 
 family of five children, namely : Edwin F., born 
 May 3, 1821, was drowned in Lake Michigan 
 Oct. 23, 1841 ; Demmon D., born June 2, 1823, 
 married Charlotte E. Smith and lives in the town- 
 ship of Shabbona; William H. O., born Jan. 30, 
 1827, married Elnora Waters and resides in Shab- 
 bona; Enoch W., born Nov. 15, 1830, married first 
 Elizabeth Park and afterward Hannah Kittle, and is 
 now living in Shabbona Township ; and Franklin 
 O., born Sept. 14, 1832, was also twice married, first 
 
 f,
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 ' to Loticia M. Erwin and subsequently to Ann Nor- 
 'A ton. He also is a resident of Shabbona. 
 
 In his life-time, Mr. Stevens was a Jackson Dem- 
 ocrat, and since the organization of the Republican 
 .-, party he was a member of that body. Mrs. S., his 
 widow, who was born June 17, r793, departed this 
 life July 4, 1873. 
 
 'ohn H. Larson, farmer, section 3, Paw Paw 
 Township, has 216 acres in this township 
 and 83 acres in Shabbona township. He 
 was born in the town of Adams, La Salle Co., 
 111., Feb. 14, 1847, and is the son of Lars and 
 Caroline (Holverson) Larson. His parents 
 were born in Norway and came to America in child- 
 hood. 
 
 John H. was brought up on a farm, and was mar- 
 ried in Dodge Co., Minn., Jan. 8, 1868, to Miss Sarah 
 Stevenson, daughter of Sjure and Annie (Seeverts) 
 Stevenson. Mrs. Larson was born in the town of 
 Rutland, La Salle Co., 111., July 18, 1847. They 
 have had seven children, five boys and .two girls: 
 Edward L., born Oct. 7, 1868; Frank S., Jujy 16, 
 1870; Albert O., Oct. 3, 1872; Nellie A., May 10, 
 r876; Emma C., Sept. 9, r878; John C., Nov. 13, 
 1 88 1 ; and one child died in infancy unnamed. 
 
 Mr. Larson was engaged in farming in La Salle 
 County till the fall of 1875, when he purchased his 
 present farm upon which he moved in January, 1876, 
 and has made his home here continuously since. 
 Mr. Larson is one of the most successful farmers arid 
 stock-growers in Paw Paw Township. Politically he 
 is a Republican. 
 
 plbert Hinds, farmer and tile manufacturer, 
 section 29, Clinton Township, is a native of 
 the Empire State. His parents, Thomas and 
 Phebe (Bent) Hinds, were natives of Massa- 
 chusetts, married in Vermont and settled in 
 New York State, where they finally died. They had a 
 family of 13 children. 
 
 The subject of this sketch, the ninth in the above 
 2! family, was born in Champion, Jefferson Co., N. Y., 
 
 March 29, 1818. He lived in his native State until 
 his emigration westward, with the exception of about 
 three years, which he spent in Canada. In 1849 he 
 settled in Clinton Township, this county, purchasing 
 a farm of 65 acres, which he afterwards sold. He 
 then bought 300 acres on sections 29 and 30, most of 
 which is tillable, where he now resides. 
 
 In public affairs Mr. Hinds holds the principles of 
 the Republican party, has been School Director about 
 30 years, and held other positions of public trust. 
 
 He was married in Canada August 20, 1843, to 
 Fanny Richardson, a daughter of William and Jane 
 (Schermerhorn) Richardson, who was born in Cana- 
 da, March T4, 1824. Mr. and Mrs. H. have become 
 the parents of six children, four of whom survive, 
 namely: Albert, Jr., William R., Carlos W., and Or- 
 vis. The deceased are Emily and Gilbert L. 
 
 euben Allen, deceased, formerly a farmer of 
 Shabbona Township, was one of the early 
 pioneers of that section of the county. He 
 was born in the town of Ira, Rutland Co., Vt., 
 July 30, 1787, and was married Feb. 1 1, r8r3, to 
 Miss Nancy Andrews, who was born in the town 
 of Canaan, Litchfield Co., Conn., Dec. 25, 1792. He 
 removed in early manhood, with his family, to St. 
 Lawrence Co., N. Y., where he was one of the first 
 pioneers, and where he engaged in farming a number 
 of years. He next removed to Jefferson County in 
 the same State, where he carried on the dairy busi- 
 ness. In his younger days he had been brought up 
 to both farming and dairying. 
 
 In the spring of 1845 he emigrated to the West, 
 settling at Shabbona, this county, where he entered 
 land at Government price, on section 24 of town 38, 
 range 3 east, and on section 19, town 38, range 4 
 east, 320 acres in all. Here he continued his agri- 
 cultural pursuits until his death, which occurred 
 Sept. 20, 1850. He was a Justice of the Peace sev- 
 eral years, and also held other offices. In politics he 
 was a Free-Soil Democrat. He was an honorable, 
 upright man, who commanded the respect and esteem 
 of his neighbors and fellow citizens. 
 
 By his death, Mr. Allen left a widow, four sons and 
 two daughters. The children were Benjamin F.; 
 Harvey E.; Almira M., wife of Earl B. Hines, of 
 
 ^ ^^ -u@*@>.

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Jefferson Co., N. Y.; Hiram P.; Laura E., wife of 
 William Bowers, of Clinton, 111.; and Martin V., of 
 Shabbona. Mrs. Allen, an estimable lady, survived 
 her husband about 16 years, dying in 1866, at the old 
 omestead. 
 
 appan R. Elliott, farmer, residing on sec. 
 4 (and owning the west half of lots i and 
 2 of the northeast quarter), Afton Town- 
 ship, is a son of Ephraim and Mary (Robie) 
 Elliott, natives of Chester, Rockingham Co., 
 N. H. His father was a young man at the 
 date of the Revolutionary War, and, sympathizing 
 with the " sons of freedom " in their battle for liberty 
 and country, enlisted as a privateer on board an 
 American vessel. He was captured and sent to the 
 " Old Mill " prison, Ireland, and was kept there until 
 the end of the war. The prison was said to be 
 haunted, and the fact was so thoroughly impressed 
 on the minds of the prisoners that it added twofold 
 to the misery of their confinement. He had the 
 small-pox, as the result of vaccination. Mr. Elliott 
 also had an uncle who was a Lieutenant in the Rev- 
 olutionary Army. He participated in the battle of 
 Bennington, and during that memorable engagement 
 received a gunshot wound, the ball entering one side 
 and was extracted at the other; but he recovered 
 from its effect. At the close of the war the father of 
 Mr. Elliott was exchanged and returned to New 
 Hampshire, where he engaged in farming, and where 
 he resided until his death. He was appointed En- 
 sign of the Militia in 1793, and Lieutenant in 1795, 
 by Gov. Bartlett, and in 1800 he was appointed Cap- 
 tain of a company by Gov. J. T. Gilman ; he was 
 also a member of the New Hampshire Legislature. 
 
 From the foregoing history, we see that Mr. Elliott 
 of this sketch comes from the old " Revolutionary 
 stock," of which an American of this generation may 
 justly feel proud. He was born in the town of 
 Thornton, Grafton Co., N. H., Nov. 18, 1809. He 
 was an inmate of the family household and assisted 
 on the farm until he attained the age of manhood. 
 In addition to the education he received at the com- 
 
 mon schools he was, through the generosity of an 
 uncle, an attendant at an academy for a year. 
 
 He came to Kane County, this State, in 1839, and 
 remained at the residence of a married sister for 
 about six months, and then returned to New Hamp- 
 shire. Previous to coming his patents died, and Mr. 
 Elliott sold the old homestead. On returning to his 
 native State, he purchased a farm in Merrimac 
 County, four miles from Manchester in the same 
 State, on which he lived and which he cultivated 
 for several years and then sold. In the spring of 
 1855 he again came to this State, accompanied by 
 his wife and son, and on June 27 of that year pur- 
 chased the farm on which he at present resides. It 
 was a wild piece of land, in the natural condition, 
 and Mr. Elliott, having faith in the future develop- 
 ment of the country, and a desire to establish a 
 home, entered at once upon the laborious task of its 
 improvement. He has planted about six acres of 
 timber. 
 
 When he first came to the State he made the trip 
 overland with a horse and buggy, with others who 
 were seeking a home in the West. 
 Mr. Elliott has been twice married. His first 
 matrimonial alliance was with Miss Elmira, daughter 
 of Nathan and Mary (Basford) Carr, and occurred 
 Dec. 14, 1837. She accompanied him to this county 
 on his second trip, and lived on the farm until her 
 death, Oct. 6, 1855. She was the mother of one 
 child by Mr. Elliott, Wm. Francis, born Nov. 17, 
 1840, and at present living on the old homestead. 
 
 He was married a second time at Dixville, Oneida 
 Co., N. Y., Jan. 28, 1858, to Mrs. Hannah J. Kelley, 
 widow of William C. Kelley, who died at the age of 
 33 years, in Westchester Co., N. Y. He was the 
 father of one child, T. Augustus Kelley, born in 
 Westchester County, March i, 1849. He is now liv- 
 ing inCalhoun Co., lowra, near Lake City, at which 
 place Mr. Elliott has a farm of 160 acres adjoining 
 that on which the son resides. The maiden name 
 of Mrs. Elliott was Hannah J. Parker. 
 
 Mr. Elliott has been Highway Commissioner and 
 School Director, the latter of which offices he held 
 for nine years. Politically he is a Republican. 
 
 The portrait of Mr. Elliott appears in this work, 
 and, in company with this brief sketch, will stand 
 for ages to come, as portraying and representing a 
 man respected and esteemed by the community in 
 which he lived. 
 
 V 
 
 \\ 
 
 
 I!
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 
 .rederick Clapsaddle, farmer, section 24, 
 Paw Paw Township, postoffice, Leland, 
 La Salle County, has 175^ acres, a por- 
 tion of which lies in Victor Townsjiip, and two 
 and one-half acres in Ross Grove. He was 
 born in Frankfort, Herkimer Co., N. Y., April 
 827, a son of George A. and Nancy (Bellinger) 
 Clapsaddle, was brought up a farmer, came to Paw 
 Paw in the spring of 1851, settled on his present 
 farm, and has made this his home continually since. 
 Was married in Frankfort, Will Co., 111., Nov. to, 
 1853, to Marenda Hare, a daughter of Nicholas and 
 Mary (Rice) Hare. She was born in Houghton, Can- 
 ada, Nov. 6, 1836, and came to Ohio with her par- 
 ents in 1849. Their children were: Dan, born 
 March 29, 1855 ; Myron H., Oct. 30, 1859, lives in 
 Iowa; Omer, born Dec. 3, 1861 ; Harry B., June 26, 
 1869; Hattie M., Sept. 23, 1871 ; Andrew F., March 
 12,1874; Neva M , June 28, 1879. Dan married 
 Mrs. Ida Everson and lives in East Paw Paw, Lee 
 County ; Omer married Mary C. Cox and lives in 
 Paw Paw Township. 
 
 In politics Mr. C. is Democratic. 
 
 ' 
 
 Tohn B. Fulle, farmer, section 16, Clinton 
 |{j- Township, is a son of Peter and Mary A. 
 (Enderle) Fulle, who were. natives of Ger- 
 " many and spent their entire lives in their na- 
 tive land. They had 16 children, all of whom 
 are deceased, excepting the subject of this 
 sketch, the youngest of the family. 
 
 Mr. Fulle was born in Germany, Aug. 26, 1836, and 
 when 1 8 years of age he emigrated to the "land of the 
 free." After a year's residence in New York city he 
 was employed about six months in New Jersey on a 
 farm, then about four months on Long Island, next 
 about ten months in a machine-shop at Buffalo, N. 
 Y., one year in Chicago at various occupations, a few 
 months in a woolen mill at Aurora, 111., and finally, 
 in the summer of 1856, he came to De Kalb County 
 and purchased 80 acres -of section 16, Clinton Town- 
 ship, where he resided until about 1871. He then 
 built the " Clinton House," a hotel, which he con- 
 ducted about five years, when he rented and after- 
 
 ward sold the property, returning to his farm, where 
 he has since lived, in the successful prosecution of 
 agriculture. In political matters he generally votes 
 the Republican ticket. 
 
 He was married in Kane Co., 111., April 14, 1862, 
 to Margaret Jones, daughter of Joseph and Mary 
 Jones, and they have had three children Ida M., 
 Mary E. and Henry F. They also have an adopted 
 daughter, named Mabel E. Cutler. Mrs. Fulle was 
 born in Wales, May 27, 1840. Her brothers and 
 sister are William, Walter, Henry and Anna. 
 
 euben Challand, retired farmer, residing at 
 Shabbona, was born in East Bridgeford, 
 Nottinghamshire, England, Feb. 7, 1821, 
 nd is a son of Charles and Ann (Freeman) 
 Challand, natives of that country. Reuben 
 Challand received a good common-school ed- 
 ucation in his native country. Early in life he en- 
 gaged to learn the blacksmith's tr.ade, which he 
 mastered and followed in his native country until 
 1851. During that year he emigrated to the United 
 States, arriving at New York city May 30. He spent 
 three months in Genesee County, that State, then 
 came to Aurora, this State, remained nine months 
 and then removed to Shabbona Grove, this county. 
 On arriving at the latter place, he opened a shop 
 and worked at his trade for three years. He had 
 meanwhile purchased a farm on section 8, Shabbona 
 Township, on which, after disposing of his shop at 
 Shabbona Grove, he moved his family. He subse- 
 quently increased his original purchase to 253^ 
 acres, and continued to reside on the farm until 1875. 
 He then retired from farming and removed to Aurora, 
 and the following year (1876) sold his farm. He 
 lived at Aurora two years,' until 1877, and then 
 moved to Shabbona, where he has resided since, and 
 where he has a fine residence and six lots. 
 
 Mr. Challand was married May 15. 1843, to Miss 
 Rebecca Brownlow. She was a daughter of Thomas 
 Brownlow, and was born in England, March 8, 1820. 
 They had seven children, four born in England, 
 namely: Charles, Feb. n, 1844; Elizabeth, Aug. 
 n, 1845; George, Oct. 12, 1846; and Reuben, 
 March 5, 1849. Sarah N., born May 2, 1854 ; Es- 
 ther R., Oct. 14, 1856; and Emily M., June
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 1859, are natives of this country. Charles is a phy- 
 sician at Charlotte, Iowa, and married Annie Mark- 
 ham. Elizabeth is the wife of Charles Hallam, of 
 Shabbona. George married Alice Greenfield and 
 resides in Iowa. Reuben married Mary Cults and 
 lives on the old homestead in Shabbona Township. 
 Sarah N. is the wife of Weekman Stimpson, of Shab- 
 bona. Esther is the wife of George Cults, resident 
 in La Salle Co., 111. Emily M. is the wife of Wm. 
 Van Velzor, resident of Shabbona. 
 
 Mrs. Challand died March 24, 1873, and Mr. 
 Challand was again married Dec. 30, 1874, at 
 Naperville, 111., to Mrs. Ann Ashland, widow of John 
 Ashland and daughter of William and Nancy (Hurt) 
 Wells. She was born in Northscar, Lincolnshire, 
 Eng., Oct. 1 6, 1818, and came to the United States 
 in 1850. By her first marriage she had four chil- 
 dren, one son and three daughters, namely : Jennie, 
 born June r, 1848; Helen, Nov. 24, 1850; Annie, 
 Nov. 4, 1853; and William W. A., Jan. i, 1856. 
 Jennie was the wife of William North and died June 
 8, 1876, in Du Page County. Helen is the wife of 
 Wallie Jones, a resident of Du Page County, and 
 they have one son, Frank J. Annie was the wife of 
 Hiram Davis and died Sept. 22, 1881, leaving one 
 child, Gracie. William W. A. is single and resides 
 on a farm in Du Page County. 
 
 Mr. Challand is a member of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal Church, and one of the respected and esteemed 
 citizens of Shabbona. 
 
 D. Weddell, a pioneer farmer of 
 Paw Paw Township, section 21, has 517 
 acres of land. He was born in West- 
 moreland, Pa., March 8, 1824, and is the 
 son of Jesse and Nancy Weddell. He re- 
 moved to Indiana in childhood with his parents. 
 He was brought up on a farm and subsequently 
 learned the carpenter's trade. In 1849 he went to 
 Iowa, where he bought land, but did not become a 
 resident. He came to Paw Paw the same year and 
 purchased his land on section 21, where he engaged 
 in farming and stock-growing on a large scale, till the 
 spring of 1883, when he retired from active farming. 
 He was married in Indiana to Agnes G. Vail, 
 daughter of Charles C. and Ann (Jeffries) Vail. Mrs. 
 
 Weddell was born in Fayette Co., Pa., April 9, 1829. 
 They had three children one son and two daugh- 
 ters : Nancy A., born March 22, 185 1, wife of E. B. 
 Powers, of Paw Paw Township; Charles V., born 
 Aug. 9, 1853, married Mary Nisbet and lives in Paw 
 Paw Township ; the youngest, Elma A., was born 
 Nov. 6, 1866, and is unmarried. Mrs. Weddell died 
 Dec. 16, 1881, and Mr. Weddell was married again 
 in June, 1883, to Mrs. Priscilla M. Upton, sister of 
 his former wife. 
 
 Mr. Weddell is a member of the Congregational 
 Church. In politics he is a Republican. 
 
 -artin L. Posson, Treasurer of Pierce 
 Township, was born July 8j 1833, in the 
 town of Knox, Albany Co., N. Y. His 
 parents, John and Betsey (Partridge) Pqs- 
 son, were both natives of the State of New 
 York, and reared their son to a knowledge of 
 agricultural pursuits, meanwhile giving him a fair 
 education in the common schools. 
 
 When he was 21 years of age he went to Tama 
 Co., Iowa, for the purpose of buying land, and after 
 accomplishing his purpose he went back to the State 
 of New York. He was married Feb. 5, 1857, to 
 Sophia E. West. She was born May 28, 1837, in 
 the town of Berne, Albany Co., N. Y., and is the 
 daughter of Benjamin C. and Eunice (June) West. 
 A few weeks after their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Pos- 
 son went to Iowa City by rail and then by stage to 
 Tama County. But they made only a short stay 
 there, returning to Joliet, 111. There Mr. Posson was 
 employed as an assistant in the construction of the 
 State prison. He acted in the capacity of teamster 
 and drew some of the first stone used in the build- 
 ing. In the fall of the same year he negotiated for 
 the management of a farm adjoining Joliet and con- 
 ducted its affairs one year, after which ~he spent an- 
 other year on a rented farm and in the spring of 
 1860 came to De Kalb County and exchanged his 
 land in Tama County, Iowa, for 80 acres of land on 
 section 35, on which he commenced the work of 
 improvement. He plowed the land, set out an or- 
 chard, dug a well and after adding to the buildings 
 sold the place, and bought 160 acres of land on sec- 
 tion 34. This was in a backward state, and he has 

 
 >*$iXi 
 
 612 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 placed it under advanced improvements and has it 
 well stocked. He is showing some valuable grades 
 of cattle. Mr. Posson has been a member of the 
 School Board some time and has officiated as Treas- 
 urer of the township 1 1 years. 
 
 Mrs. Posson died July 14, 1869, leaving four chil- 
 dren Wallace S., Myron J., Leah M. and Martin 
 Luther, jr. Mr. Posson formed a second matrimonial 
 alliance Dec. 6, 1870, with Phebe, daughter of Cyrus 
 B. and Fanny (Larkin) Hopkins. Her parents were 
 pioneer settlers in Cortland Township, where she 
 was born Aug. 14, 1848. She is the mother of two 
 children John H. and Chester G. 
 
 ^.enry Grim, farmer, section 27, Pierce Town- 
 ship, was born July 24, 1831, in what was 
 designated the Armstrong Valley, in Dau- 
 phin Co., Pa., and is the son of John and Cath- 
 erine Grim. His father and mother were both 
 born, in Pennsylvania' and settled in Dauphin 
 County soon after marriage. His father bought 
 timbered land and cleared a large farm, assisted in 
 the labor of improvement by his children. He is 
 still its occupant and is 90 years of age. He was a 
 soldier in the second war with Great Britain. 
 
 The first 20 years of life Mr. Grim passed on the 
 paternal homestead, and after arriving at a suitable 
 age joined in the work of making a homestead in the 
 Pennsylvania forest. He became the maker of his 
 own fortunes when he reached the year preceding his 
 majority, and left home to try a different portion of 
 the world. He first came to Kane County and 
 spent a season in farming. In the fall he went to 
 Kaneville and worked a year with a carpenter, with 
 the intention of learning the business, but his employer 
 failed and he was forced to seek another situa- 
 tion. He returned to his native State at the expira- 
 tion of two years, and on the second day of Febru- 
 ary, 1853, he was married to Abby Laudermilch. 
 She was born in Jackson Township, Dauphin Co., 
 Pa., and is the daughter of Adam and Mary (Kreiner) 
 Laudermilch, both of whom were born in Pennsyl- 
 vania. In March following their marriage Mr. and 
 Mrs. Grim came to Illinois and settled in the town- 
 ship of Mayfield. The husband rented a farm, 
 which he managed three years. He saved his earn- 
 igs, and in 1856 bought 80 acres of land on section 
 
 27, Pierce Township, at the rate of $24 per acre. 
 The land had been improved to some extent, a frame 
 house had been built and a grove set out. He 
 brought all his energies to bear on the final payment, 
 and in a few years he had cleared himself from debt 
 and had become the owner of 1,400 acres of valuable 
 land, all in the highest state of cultivation. In 1882 
 he commenced buying farms in Cerro Gordo Co., 
 Iowa, and has now 1,200 acres there and other tracts 
 in adjoining counties. 
 
 Following is the record of the children of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Grim : Charles M. was born April 29, 1856, in 
 Mayfield Township, and married Alida Shoop, 
 daughter of Solomon and Catherine Shoop, who was 
 born in Pierce Township. They live in Cerro Gordo 
 Co., Iowa. George W. was born Sept. 25, 1858, and 
 married Henrietta Callanan, a native of Cerro Gordo 
 Co., Iowa, where they reside. Aaron was born Aug. 
 27, 1863, and married Isola Bartmess, born in Kane 
 Co., 111. They live on the Grim homestead in Pierce 
 Township. Alice M. was born Aug. 26, 1867 ; 
 Elmer S., Nov, 24, 1872; Eugene, Jan. 19, 1875. 
 All the children of Mr. and Mrs. Grim, except the 
 oldest son, were born in the township of Pierce. 
 
 Mr. Grim is one of the most prominent and suc- 
 cessful farmers in De Kalb County. He began his 
 agricultural operations by raising stock and grain. 
 In 1860 he harvested 3,200 bushels of small grain, 
 among which was barley, which he sold at $2.18 
 per bushel. He sold his entire grain crop in De 
 Kalb County. The family attend the assemblies of 
 the Evangelical Association, of which Mrs. Grim is a 
 member. Mr. Grim is a Republican in political sen- 
 timent. 
 
 pencer Griflfeth, farmer, section 8, Paw 
 Paw Township; postoffice, East Paw Paw ; 
 he was born in Herkimer Co., N. Y., Jan. 
 21, 1847, and is the son of Wright and Susan 
 (Smith) Griffeth. His parents were of Amer- 
 ican birth and of Welsh descent. He came 
 to Illinois with his parents in 1854, and settled in 
 the township of Paw Paw. He was educated at 
 Clark's Seminary, of Aurora, 111., and at Humboldt 
 College in Iowa. Mr. Griffeth has made farming 
 his business, and resides on the old homestead. He 
 
 A ^~\ ^lUt> s )i^. **&^S
 
 owns 300 acres of land. He was married in Paw 
 Paw Township, Jan. 15, 1879, to Miss Mary Adams, 
 daughter of James L. and Martha J. (Barnes) Adams. 
 Mrs. Griffeth was born in East Paw Paw, 111., Feb. 
 10, 1854. They have two children, a girl and a boy ; 
 Edith, born Sept. 22, 1881, and Howard, June 28, 
 1884. 
 
 Mr. Griffeth is the present Township Treasurer, 
 and is also the secretary, solicitor and surveyor of the 
 Paw Paw Mutual Fire Insurance Company. He is 
 a member of the Congregational Church, and politi- 
 cally a Republican. 
 
 dwin R. Zellar, farmer, section 6, De ;Kalb 
 Township, was born Sept, i 14, 1836, in 
 Herkimer Co., N. Y! His father and; 
 mother, Jacob and Fanny Zeilar, .were natives- 
 of the State of New York, and settled in 1864; 
 in the township of De Kalb. The mother died- 
 Nov. 21, 1883. The- father still survives; ' Their fam- 1 
 ily comprised five children, as follows: Edwin R.,; 
 William W., George W.,Charles ; and Ruth. - ,: 
 
 Mr. Zellar came to Illinois in 1857', and' located in' 
 Piano, Kendall County. To birfi, as to million^, the 1 
 call of his country came : with unmistakable importy 
 and he responded as did the millions, 1 placing his 1 
 young life and the strength and energies' of his open-' 
 ing manhood at her service. He enlisted in 1861,' 
 in the 36th 111. Vol. Inf., and during the time he was 
 in the army saw much arduous service. He was 
 under fire at Pea Ridge, Perrysvilte, Stone River, 
 Mission Ridge and Lookout Mountain. At Mission 
 Ridge he received a shot in the elbow of his right 
 arm, necessitating amputation just above the joint. 
 He was wounded Nov. 25, 1863, and was confined 
 to the hospital six months. On recovery he was dis- 
 charged, and on leaving the army went to Jefferson 
 Co., N. Y., where he remained six months, coming 
 thence to De Kalb. He is now a successful and 
 substantial farmer, owning 176 acres of land, con- 
 stituting a valuable estate, all the acreage being cul- 
 tivated and improved. Mr. Zellar is a Republican 
 in political faith and connection. 
 
 He was married in De Kalb, March 26, 1868, to 
 Mercy A. (Ferguson) Chappell, and they are the 
 
 parents of one child Marvin, born Sept. 22, 1880. 
 Mrs. Zellar was born May 18, 1838, in Jefferson Co., 
 N. Y., and is the daughter of Luther and Alvira 
 (Gardner) Ferguson. Her father was born in Can- 
 ada and died March 15, 1852, in St. Lawrence Co., 
 N. Y. The mother came with her two children, 
 Samuel and Mercy A., to Illinois, in September, 
 1860, and settled in Malta Township, where she 
 died Nov. 21, 1871. The first marriage of the daugh- 
 ter occurred in De Kalb, June 27, 1862, when she 
 became th'e 'wife of Charles Chappell. He was a na- 
 tive of the State of New York and settled in Malta 
 Township, where he deserted her, leaving one child, 
 Olive A., who was born May 18, 1863. 
 
 ^Mr. Zellar is a member of Edward Bridge Post, 
 No. 21, G. A. R. 
 
 : As-one pf the leading and representative agricul- 
 turists of De Kalb County, we place Mr. Zellar's 
 portrait in this work. It is engraved from a photo- 
 graph taken in March, 1885. 
 
 enry Ramer, deceased, formerly a farmer, 
 resident of Pierce Township, was a pioneer 
 . settler .of De Kalb County. He was bom 
 in Dauphin Co., Pa., Aug. 8, 1804, and was 
 there brought up and instructed in agricultural 
 pursuits. His marriage to Susannah Troup oc- 
 curred April i, 1826. She was born Nov. 2, 1808, 
 in Dauphin County. In 1833 they emigrated to Ohio, 
 moving there in what was then known as an emigrant 
 wagon, but is called in Illinois a " prairie schooner." 
 Mr. Ramer purchased a tract of timber land in 
 Richland County, made a clearing, built a log house 
 and lived on the place until 1846, clearing and im- 
 proving 65 acres. In that year he bought another 
 place near by which he sold a year later and came 
 to Illinois. The journey thither was accomplished 
 by the aid of three horses, a pair of oxen and two 
 wagons, and they brought with them their household 
 goods and provisions. They were 17 days on the 
 road. They rented a farm in Du Page County, where 
 they operated until 1849, when they settled in town- 
 ship No. 39, range 5 east, which afterwards became 
 Pierce Township. Mr. Ramer purchased 160 acres 
 of land in its original condition on section 27. He 
 built a frame house upon it, for which he drew the, 
 
 ^tf*^ ee.&@\2)<9) 
 
 vf^y ~^S337^\i^, 
 
 I 
 
 VX 
 
 1
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 lumber from Du Page County. On this he lived 
 until his death. His first wife died Jan. 9, 1877. 
 He married Catherine Smith, who lived but five 
 months after marriage. Mr. Ramer died in April, 
 1881. He was the father of 10 children by his first 
 wife, Maria, Catherine, Peter, Levi, Lavina, John, 
 Henry, Philip, Anthony and George. 
 
 Peter, oldest son and third child, was born Aug. 4 ; 
 r83o, in Dauphin Co., Pa., and was but three years 
 of age when his parents went to Ohio. He came 
 with them in their journey to Illinois and helped to 
 drive their one cow. He was married July 2, 1853, 
 to Elizabeth, daughter of David and Wilhelmina 
 (Hoover) Gerlach. Her parents were natives of 
 Germany. In 1850 Peter Ramer had bought 80 
 acres of land on section 29, and built a frame house, 
 with a car-shaped roof. The year subsequent to his 
 marriage he, with his wife, lived on the farm of 
 Moses Hill, after which he took possession of his 
 own property. In 1862 he erected a commodious 
 frame house, drawing the required material from 
 Chicago with horse teams. In 1872 he built a fine 
 frame barn, 36 x 46 feet in dimensions, and has since 
 erected another adjoining, 38x50 feet in size. His 
 farm contains 320 acres and is supplied with modern 
 farm machinery and well stocked. The family in- 
 cludes five children, Mina S., Elihu B., Frankie C., 
 Grant A. and Ella E. 
 
 .dward B. Powers, farmer, section 33, Paw 
 Paw Township, postoffice Earl, La Salle 
 Co., 111., was horn in La Salle Co., 111., 
 Sept. 1 6, 1841, and is the son of Norman H. 
 and Catharine (Hart) Powers. He came to 
 Paw Paw Township, De Kalb County, with his 
 parents, in June, 1849, and spent his boyhood on his 
 father's farm. He enlisted in the late war Aug. 13, 
 1862, as a private of Co. I. 4th 111. Cav. He was 
 captured by the enemy during a skirmish at Chest- 
 nut Bluffs, Tenn., in November, 1862, but was 
 paroled the same day. He was soon afterward ex- 
 changed and resumed his connection with his com- 
 pany, and served till the last of June, 1865, or till 
 the close of the war. 
 
 He was married in Paw Paw Township Dec. i, 
 1867, to Miss Nancy A. Weddell, daughter of Will- 
 
 iam B. and Agnes (Vail) Weddell. Mrs. Powers 
 was born in Paw Paw Township, March 22, 1851. 
 They have two children (daughters) : Katie C., born 
 in Paw Paw Township, Sept 29, 1868; and Agnes 
 G., Jan. 2, 1873. 
 
 Mr. Powers is the present Assessor of Paw Paw 
 Township. In politics he is a Republican. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Powers are members of the Congregational 
 Church of Ross Grove. 
 
 enry Till, deceased, was formerly a farmer 
 on section 5, Malta Township. He was 
 
 tborn in Suffolkshire, England, about 1824, 
 and was the son of Christopher and Mary 
 (Hutton) Till, also of English birth and parent- 
 age. The mother died when her son was in 
 childhood. The latter was reared by his father, who 
 gave him a fair common-school education, and when 
 he grew to manhood he followed the customs of the 
 class to which he belonged, and became a laborer 
 on the farms of his native shire. He was thus en- 
 gaged until his marriage Aug. 27, 1848, in Dorset- 
 shire, England, to Sarah Coombs, and afterwards 
 continued in the same line of employmenfin his na- 
 tive country eight years. In 1856 they came to 
 America, and with little delay at the port of landing 
 came to De Kalb County. They located in the 
 township of the same name, where Mr. Till engaged 
 in farming on shares. In 1868 he purchased 80 
 acres of land, where he pursued the vocation of 
 farming, with success, until his death, and doubled 
 his landed estate, owning 160 acres, all of which was 
 well improved and stocked. He died Jan. 17, 1881, 
 aged about 57 years. He was a Republican in 
 political opinions, and was much respected for his 
 excellent traits of character. Since his death the 
 management of the farm has been conducted by 
 Mrs. Till. 
 
 She was born June 10, 1819, in Burton Bradstock, 
 County of Dorsetshire, England, and is the daughter 
 of Giles and Mary (Wills) Coombs. Her parents 
 were of English origin -and lineage and belonged to 
 the yeomanry of their native land, tracing their name 
 and line of descent back to ancestry of the earlier 
 days of England. The father of Mrs. Till died in 
 1831, the mother in July, 1848. Mrs. Till passed 
 ^ '^tgjx&jar' M JLygvV^/gf)
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 her life previous to her marriage near the place of 
 her birth, and attended the public schools. She has 
 one child, Sarah J., born Aug. 20, 1858. She was 
 married Oct. 29, 1881, to Herman Sandgren, a native 
 of Sweden. He came thence when 2 1 years of age, 
 and has since resided in Illinois. To him and his 
 wife one child, Agnes J., has been born. The family 
 of Mr. Sandgren reside on the estate of Mr. Till. 
 
 i illiam Gibbons is a representative farmer 
 of Victor Township, where he owns a val- 
 uable estate on section 10. Henry Gib- 
 bons, his father, was a native of England 
 and emigrated thence to Potsdam, N. Y., 
 where he married Betsey Ames. He was a 
 farmer and trafficked in real estate, buying timber 
 land, and after improving it selling it again, in which 
 manner he operated 21 years. In 1864 he sold his 
 interests in the State of New York and removed to 
 Waupaca, Wis., where he bought 140 acres of land 
 and was occupied 10 years in farming. In 1874 he 
 sold tiis farm preparatory to retiring to private life in 
 the village of Waupaca, where he died in 1880. The 
 mother is still living. 
 
 Mr. Gibbons was born Dec. 22, 1827, in Potsdam, 
 St. Lawrence Co., N. Y. He received a common- 
 school education, and on attaining his majority came 
 to Illinois, where he spent three years in farm labor, 
 obtaining $10 a month as a remuneration for his 
 services. In 1851 he went to Minnesota and passed 
 a winter in the lumber woods, after which he came 
 to the township of Clinton, in De Kalb County, and 
 became by purchase the owner of 1 20 acres of land. 
 
 Jan. 5, 1857, he was married to Emily Warren, by 
 whom he had three children, Warren H., Oscar S. 
 and Rachel O. The oldest son is married and lives 
 at Stratton Station, Hitchcock Co., Neb. The mother 
 was born in the State of New York, and died in De 
 Kalb County March 13, 1863. In 1864 Mr. Gib- 
 bons married Araminta Willey, a native of Illinois, 
 and they have had seven children : George W. 
 died when he was five years old ; Dora, at the age 
 of seven months; Ernest O., Alice B., Mary E., 
 Clara R. and Ray E. are still living. 
 
 After a residence of one year in Clinton Township, 
 Mr. Gibbons sold his farm and passed five years 
 
 %&*& 
 
 subsequently in the township of Victor, on a rented 
 farm. He then purchased his present homestead of 
 1 60 acres, and has since made an addition of 160 
 acres more. He at first built a small house, 1 6 by 
 24 feet in extent, and later erected .a valuable resi- 
 dence and a fine barn. 
 
 Mr. Gibbons is a farmer of the pattern that has 
 made the State of Illinois what it is, peerless among 
 the Western States earliest settled. Besides the im- 
 provements named, he has planted a fine grove on 
 his farm, has about 300 hickory trees, natural growth, 
 and 800 black-walnut trees which were planted. He 
 has made a specialty of Durham cattle for the past 
 12 years, and his herd has always included registered 
 stock of acknowledged standard. 
 
 Mr. Gibbons is a Republican of a decided type. 
 
 i 
 
 illiam H. Ray, editor and publisher of the 
 Shabbona Express and President of the 
 Village Board, residing at Shabbona, was 
 born in Nassau, Germany, Nov. 13, 1843. 
 He is a son of John and Elizabeth (Enders) 
 
 f ' Ray, natives of Germany, and who emigrated 
 to this country in the spring of 1849. His parents 
 located near Rochester, Monroe Co., N. Y., where 
 they remained until 1851 and then removed to Little 
 Rock, Kendall County, this State. Two years later 
 they came to Somonauk, this county, and in the 
 spring of 1864 moved to Shabbona. 
 
 William H. Ray, subject of this notice, grew to 
 manhood under the parental roof-tree. He received 
 his education in the common schools and at Clark's 
 Seminary, Aurora, spending two years in the last 
 named institution. After leaving the seminary, he 
 engaged in farming, and alternated his labors on the 
 farm by teaching during winter seasons. 
 
 In 1871, when the Chicago & Iowa Railroad was 
 completed through Shabbona Township, he was ap- 
 pointed station agent at a station called CorntOn. 
 He was also American Express agent at the same 
 place. He held the former position one year and the 
 latter some 14 years, being Express agent at Shab- 
 bona at the present time. 
 
 In 1876 he purchased a half interest in the Shab- 
 bona Express and in May, 1878, bought his partner's 
 interest, since which time he has conducted the pub-
 
 
 DE KALB 
 
 COUNTY. 
 
 
 I 
 
 lication of the paper alone. The Express is a five- 
 column quarto with patent inside. It is Republican 
 in politics and is issued weekly. The paper's popu- 
 larity is due to the energy of its editor, who fears not 
 to give to the reading public facts as they transpire 
 and condemn vice wherever it is found. Fair dealing 
 with all and an earnest and persistent effort to sus- 
 tain the principles which it believes to be right, is 
 constantly increasing the subscription of the paper, 
 and its future will place it the peer of any in the 
 county. 
 
 Mr. Ray has held various local offices in the town- 
 ship. He is present Town Clerk and has held the 
 office for 12 years in succession. He also served 
 as School Director of District No. 3 for 1 1 years. 
 He has been a Trustee of the village for four years, 
 and is at present serving his second term as Presi- 
 dent of the Village Board. 
 
 He was married at Aurora, Dec. 22, 1870, to Miss 
 Emmagene, daughter of Hon. Hiram Loucks, of 
 Sandwich. She was born in Oneida Co., N. Y.,Feb. 
 27, 1850. Her mother's maiden name was Vosburg. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Ray have one child, Lizzie A., born 
 Nov. 13, 1871, at Shabbona. 
 
 | athew Parks, a retired farmer, resident 
 at Leland, La Salle County, a settler on 
 section 28, Victor Township, in 1856, 
 was born Feb. 25, 1827, in Ireland. His 
 parents, Edward and Sarah (Davidson) Parks, 
 came thence with their family in 1832 to Mont- 
 real, reaching that city at a time when the cholera 
 was raging. After a residence of a year in the 
 Dominion they went to the State of New York. 
 
 Mr. Parks came to the State of Illinois in the fall 
 of 1856 and purchased 53 acres of land in the town- 
 ship of Victor. To this he has added by subsequent 
 purchase until he is the owner of a quarter-section. 
 On this he pursued mixed husbandry, with satisfac- 
 tory results, until 1882. In that year he purchased 
 his residence at Leland and relinquished the man- 
 agement of his farm, of which he still retains the 
 ownership. He is a Republican and is justly con- 
 sidered a substantial and reliable citizen. He held 
 the office of Road Commissioner 10 years. 
 
 (g>Vg@{& "^ffin^ O " 
 
 Mrs. Eliza Parks was born Sept. 3, 1826. 
 
 the daughter of John Parks, of Niagara Co., N. Y. 
 Of the four children born to Mr. and Mrs. Parks, 
 three are living, Nettie M., Lizzie B. and Emma G. 
 
 "oseph B. Lyons, farmer and stock-grower, 
 section 14, Paw Paw Township, has 206 
 acres of land. He was born in county 
 Tyrone, Ireland, Nov. 12, 1834, and is the son 
 of Joseph and (Mary) Lyons. He emigrated 
 to America in r856, and came directly to Illi- 
 nois and made his home in Paw Paw Township. 
 He bought a farm in r864, on section 23, and occu- 
 pied it in May, 1866. 
 
 He remained there until 1884, when he purchased 
 his present farm on section 14, and took possession 
 Sept. 9 of that year. 
 
 He was married in Sterling, Cayuga. Co., N. Y., 
 March 2, 1866, to Elizabeth McFadden, daughter.of 
 Benjamin and Eleanor (Harper) McFadden. Mrs. 
 Lyons was born in Sterling, Cayuga Co., N. Y., Aug. 
 17, 1841. They had one child, Benjamin, born June 
 1 8, 1869, and died aged three months. Mrs. Lyons 
 is a member of the United Presbyterian Church. In 
 politics, Mr. Lyons is a Democrat. Mr. Lyons takes 
 a warm interest in local history, and has by intelli- 
 gent research arrived at a better knowledge of the 
 history of his township than many earlier settlers. 
 The publisher takes pleasure in acknowledging the 
 receipt of valuable information from him. 
 
 J 
 
 r^ 
 
 illiam Lang, farmer, section 28, Malta 
 Township, was born Nov. 27, 1849, in 
 ^p Devonshire, England. William Lang, sen- 
 P ior, his father, was a native of the same 
 county and married Mary A. Boiles. Both 
 are now living in the place of their nativity. 
 Mr. Lang is next the youngest in birth of six children, 
 and he remained with his parents until he was 20 
 years old, receiving as good an education as could be 
 obtained in the public schools of his native land. 
 In 1870 he accompanied neighbors and relatives to 
 America, and the entire party came to the county of 
 De Kalb, where he operated for a time as a farm la-
 
 THE UBHARV 
 jfTKE 
 OF U.LMKMS

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 I 
 
 borer, to which calling he had been bred in England. 
 He pursued that means of obtaining a livelihood 
 until his marriage, previous to which he purchased 
 1 60 acres of land, where he established his home- 
 stead, and the place is now in valuable and credita- 
 ble condition and finely located. His marriage to 
 Mary C. Lang occurred July 28, 1882, at Sycamore. 
 She was born Oct. 3, [859, in the north of Devon- 
 shire, England, where her parents, Thomas and Ann 
 (Huxtable) Lang, now reside. She was reared at 
 home and educated at Oxford, England, becoming, 
 after finishing her studies, a teacher in the public 
 schools of her native land, and was occupied in that 
 calling eight years. She taught in both the primary 
 and grammar-school grades. In July, 1882, she set 
 out alone for America in order to fulfill a pre-arranged 
 project and respond to an obligation she had entered 
 into to become the wife of William Lang. She 
 joined him in Malta Township, and a week later the 
 pair were united in matrimony, at Sycamore, in the 
 Episcopal Church, in whose cherishing arms she had 
 been reared. The farm house in Malta had been 
 made ready for the advent of a mistress, and the 
 wedded pair at once took possession of their home. 
 One child Albert C. has been born to them, who 
 died when six months old. Mr. Lang is a substan- 
 tial and enthusiastic Republican, and is at present a 
 School Director. 
 
 ichard L. Divine (deceased), a former resi- 
 dent of Sycamore, where he was a promi- 
 nent attorney for more than 20 years, was 
 born Sept. .27, 1832, in Fallsburg, Sullivan 
 Co., N. Y., and was the son of James and 
 Mehitable (Hall) Divine. His grandfather, 
 Joseph Divine, who is his earliest ancestor now trace- 
 able, removed with his family from Plattekill, Ulster 
 Co., N. Y., in 1794, to Sullivan County and located 
 in the western part of the township of Fallsburg, the 
 place where he settled soon afterward taking the 
 name of Divine's Corners. At the time of his re- 
 moval there he was the first white settler, his nearest 
 neighbor being four miles distant. His demise oc- 
 curred in 1802. James Divine, born June 14, 1781, 
 in Fallsburg, was his youngest son and was a man 
 of conspicuous ability and became prominent. He 
 
 was for many years a Justice of the Peace and was 
 the occupant of other positions of trust and responsi- 
 bility. He spent his entire life on the homestead at 
 Divine's Corners and died there Feb. i, 1846. The 
 descendants of Joseph Divine still resident in Falls- 
 burg sustain the honorable prestige of the family 
 name and are recorded as prominent and valuable 
 citizens of Sullivan County. The wife of James 
 Divine, known in the records of Sullivan County as 
 " Hetty " Divine, was a member of the denomination 
 of Friends or Quakers, and was a "preacher." She 
 was a woman of decided character and opinions, and 
 so uncompromising a foe to slavery that she sacri- 
 ficed her peace principles in her opposition to the 
 "divine institution." The quality of esteem in which 
 she was held and that of the influence she exerted is 
 manifest from the fact that a spirited controversy 
 with a male member of the society in which she was 
 the aggressor, is preserved in the history of Sullivan 
 County. She was born Jan. 15, 1789, was married 
 July 1 6, 1803, when she was 14 years and six 
 months old, and died in the town of Fallsburg, 
 March 14, 1866. She was the daughter of John 
 Hall, one of the first white settlers in the town of 
 Neversink, in Sullivan County. Her mother's maiden 
 name was Stone, and of her marriage to John Hall 
 five children were born, of whom " Hettie " was the 
 second in order of birth. 
 
 One of the most suggestive thoughts arising from 
 examination of the personal records of the closing 
 years of the i8th century and the opening period of 
 the century following, concerns the women of those 
 days; and if it were possible to trace their influence 
 in forming the characters of their sons, there is no 
 question but the development would present a most 
 interesting study. 
 
 The ancestral stock of Mr. Divine in the paternal 
 line of descent were Huguenots, and he was the 
 youngest child in order of birth of 10 children seven 
 sons and three daughters born to his parents. He 
 was a boy of studious, reflective character, and he 
 acquired a comprehensive knowledge of all the 
 branches taught in common schools. He afterwards 
 attended a select school taught by Henry R. Low at 
 Fallsburg, and spent eight years in teaching in the 
 county where he was born and in the counties ad- 
 joining, and also studied law with George W. Lord, 
 an attorney of prominence at Monticello, Sullivan 
 Co., N. Y. His interest in educational matters was 
 
 < 
 
 I:
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 recognized in his native county by his election in 
 1857 to the position of School Commissioner. In 
 the fall of that year he came to Michigan and en- 
 gaged in teaching at Allegan. 
 
 In the spring of 1858 he settled at Sycamore and 
 completed his preparation for a professional life in 
 the office of Hon. E. L. Mayo. In the winter of the 
 same year he taught a term of school at Cortland, 
 and in March, 1860, was admitted to practice. He 
 entered into a business association with Judge Mayo 
 and rapidly rose to pre-eminence as a counselor and 
 advocate. He held his position unassailed and was 
 recognized as one of the leaders of the Bar of De 
 Kalb County for many years, and justly ranked and 
 estimated in all the Courts in which he practiced, 
 which included the local tribunals, the Supreme and 
 Apellate Courts of Illinois and of other States, and 
 the United States Courts. His knowledge of law 
 was commensurate with his abilities, his memory, 
 his industry, his powers as a logician, his skill in 
 legal adaptation and his intrepidity in the interests 
 of his clients. Under the pressure of his indomitable 
 energy and ambition .to crowd the greatest possible 
 amount of labor into his life, he met his Waterloo, 
 dying a few days before reaching his soth birthday, 
 at the period when his splendid powers should have 
 been at the zenith. 
 
 In social life Mr. Divine was on occasion the rarest 
 of companions ; and in conversation the powers of 
 mind he displayed differed essentially from those he 
 exercised in his professional relations. The field of 
 imagination was, so to speak, his ground of recrea 
 tion, and he reveled in the beauties of practical and 
 classical literature, his obedient memory storing the 
 pictures of imagery painted in glowing words, which 
 he was in the habit of reproducing under the influ- 
 ence of the social hours in which he endeared him- 
 self to his friends and built an enduring monument 
 to his life and genius. 
 
 Mr. Divine was a Republican in his political con- 
 nections. In 1872 he was elected Presidential Elec- 
 tor, and in 1875 was made Mayor of Sycamore. In 
 1867 he embarked in a private banking enterprise in 
 company with Moses Dean and Daniel Pierce, which 
 relation was in existence until 1871. In the latter 
 year he withdrew and erected a building for banking 
 purposes, and, associated with C. O. Boynton, con- 
 ducted business in that avenue under the firm style 
 of Divine & Boynton. Their relations continued 
 
 until the withdrawal of Mr. Boynton, when the firm 
 became Divine & Co., and the business was prose- 
 cuted until the failing health of Mr. Divine compelled 
 his surrender of active business life. 
 
 He died Aug. 22, 1882, of typhoid fever. His 
 marriage to Susan S. Smith occurred Aug. u, 1862, 
 at Sycamore. Mrs. Divine was born in St. Johns- 
 bury, Vt., and is the daughter of James M. and 
 Martha (Lowell) Smith. The children born of her 
 marriage are all living. They are named Henry, 
 Mary Beatrice, Richard L., Gertrude A., James Jo- 
 seph and Charles A. 
 
 The portrait of Mr. Divine on a preceding page is 
 given by the publishers with unusual pleasure, con- 
 fident of its value to his numerous friends, who 
 cherish a warm remembrance v of his genius and abil- 
 
 eorge Ashelford, farmer, section 25, South 
 Grove Township, De Kalb County, was 
 born April 12, 1834, in Somersetshire, 
 Eng., and is the son of George and Sarah 
 (Blackmore) Ashelford. The father removed 
 with a part of his family to America in 1858, 
 but soon after returned to his native land, and 
 died in his native shire in 1876, aged about 74 
 years. The mother is 80 years of age and still re- 
 sides in the shire where she was born. 
 
 Mr. Ashelford is the third of six children born to 
 his parents, five of whom are living. Two are in 
 America and are residents of this township and 
 county. He came with his father and one sister to 
 the United States in 1858, and settled at once in 
 Illinois. After his father's return to England, Mr. 
 Ashelford began to work as a farm laborer, working 
 on shares. He operated in that method until he 
 had accumulated sufficient money to buy 80 acres of 
 land, situated on section 36, in the township where 
 he is now a resident. He is now the owner of 320 
 acres of valuable and well improved land, in loca- 
 tion and merit second to none in the county. His 
 herds of stock are of excellent grade, and all the 
 belongings of the place afford a fine testimonial to 
 the character and quality of the energy and effort 
 expended upon them. 
 
 Mr. Ashelford was married Feb. T7, 1863, at Syca- 
 
 ^e s^rajiE: ,
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 more, in the Episcopal Church, to Faith Gathercoal. 
 She was born March 3, 1844, in Cambridgeshire, 
 Eng., of English parentage. Her parents came to 
 the United States when the daughter was a child of 
 nine years, and are now residents of Malta Township. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Ashelford have eight children, all of 
 whom are living but one. They are named George 
 E., Ida M. (Mrs. Lock, of Malta Township), Will- 
 iam H., Albert, Joseph, Frank and Grace M. The 
 family are attendants of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, to which the mother belongs. 
 
 Mr. Ashelford is a Republican in political persua- 
 sion, and has held various local official positions. 
 
 I 
 
 tries Atherton, farmer, residing on sec- 
 tion 31, Shabbona Township, postoffice 
 Paw Paw, Lee County, was born in Luzerne 
 Co., Pa., Nov. 20, 1832, and is a son of 
 Joseph and Phebe (Vosburg) Atherton. 
 He was brought up and resided in Pennsylvania 
 until 23 years of age ('855), receiving the advan- 
 tages afforded by the common schools of that State. 
 During the year named he came to this county and 
 settled in Shabbona Township, where, in company 
 with a brother, B. F. Atherton, he engaged in farm- 
 ing and in which vocation he has continued to the 
 present time. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Atherton is a Republican. He is 
 a single man, and for a period of 30 years has fol- 
 lowed the occupation in which he is at present en- 
 gaged. 
 
 lames Baxter, farmer, section 17, Malta 
 [ Township, was born about 1819, in Devon- 
 shire, England. John and Elizabeth (Rich- 
 ards) Baxter, his parents, lived all their lives 
 in their native country, the former dying when 
 the son was 13 years of age, about 1832. The 
 latter was a little past his majority when his mother 
 died. 
 
 Mr. Baxter was married while yet an inhabitant of 
 his native country, to Mary A. Daracot, the daughter 
 _pf an English farmer. Eight years later Mr. and 
 
 .,* >U?!ij^ /-N A. 
 
 Mrs. Baxter came to America and sought a home in 
 the township of Malta. At that date (1856) the sec- 
 tion was in a comparatively unsettled state, and for a 
 time Mr. Baxter worked as a common laborer. He 
 was industrious and frugal, and was soon in circum- 
 stances to become a. land-holder, a privilege he could 
 never enjoy on the " tight little island." He entered 
 a claim of 320 acres of land and put in a crop of 
 wheat in 1857. This was entirely destroyed by 
 thunder-storms in that year; but instead of becoming 
 disheartened he began anew, and has since accom- 
 plished signal success. He is now the proprietor of 
 540 acres of land, all within the limits of the same 
 section and well improved. 
 
 The wife and mother died about 1874,^ Chicago. 
 She was 53 years of age. Charles, the first-born 
 child, is deceased; Eskat married Hattie Griswold 
 and is a farmer on section 20, Malta Township; 
 William is a citizen of the far West ; Mary E. mar- 
 ried William Letheby, a farmer in Malta Township ; 
 John is a deaf-mute ; Emma is the wife of Lant Gris- 
 wold, and they live on the homestead ; Mary A. mar- 
 ried John Letheby, who is engaged in farming in 
 Malta. Mr. Baxter is an inflexible Republican. His 
 name was originally Baxtaer, but has become Ameri- 
 canized by custom. 
 
 illiam W. McDonald, farmer, section 10, 
 Kingston Towship, is the son of Daniel 
 and Catherine (Penny) McDonald. His 
 father was a native of Scotland, and his 
 mother was bom in Maine. The former died 
 n 1843, in Ohio, aged 73 years; the latter died 
 in 1882, aged 84 years. 
 
 Mr. McDonald was born March 17, 1820, in Wash- 
 ington Co., Ohio, and lived there until the fall of 
 1852, the date of his removal and location in Kings- 
 ton Township, his home since that period, and where 
 he owns 138 acres of partly improved land. His 
 first marriage, to Susan Heckman, took place in Ohio. 
 She died in April, 1855, after becoming the mother 
 of four children, John, who married Lettie Johnson 
 in Wisconsin, and now resides in Kansas ; George, 
 Daniel and Wallace. The latter married Ann Per- 
 cell, a native of Ohio, and resides in De Kalb. 
 George, the second son, was first married to Carrie 
 
 'm.giSXiiy' avgyXv/Vcy, 
 :s ^^ K - e pggl6V. 
 
 v>
 
 $ 
 
 4 1 
 
 Stowe, a native of Kane Co., 111. They were the 
 parents of two children, Edna G. and Eddie. After 
 the death of their mother, which occurred March 30, 
 1881, they were brought to the home of their grand- 
 parents to live. Edna died of scarlet fever April 27, 
 1884; and Eddie died three days later, from scarlet 
 fever also. Mrs. McDonald, wife of William W., 
 subject of this sketch, died in April, 1855. Mr. Mc- 
 Donald was again married in October, 1856, to Sarah 
 E., daughter of Jacob and Joanna (Blacklidge) 
 Stephens, and they have three children, Susie A., 
 H. Edwin and Lizzie M. Mrs. McDonald was born 
 April 8, 1831, in Morgan Co., Ohio; her mother was 
 born in Pennsylvania in 1807, and her father in Ohio 
 and died in the same State when the daughter was 
 two years old. 
 
 . Politically Mr. McDonald is a Republican and has 
 officiated as School Director, and in other minoroffices. 
 
 ^ohn P. 'Newhall, farmer, living in retire- 
 ment at Malta, was born Feb. 20, 1817, at 
 Athol, Mass. His father, William Newhall, 
 is a descendant from the family of that name 
 who came to America with Governor Winthrop 
 in 1630, and settled in Lynn, Mass. The 
 mother, Clarissa (Phillips) Newhall, was a descend- 
 ant of a family conspicuous in the early history of 
 the Colonies, and who were afterwards distinguished 
 for wealth and position. William Newhall was a 
 farmer in early life, and afterwards devoted his atten- 
 tion to mechanics. He died June 6, 1858, in New 
 Hampshire, aged 75 years. His mother died in the 
 same State, when she was 83 years of age. 
 
 Mr. Newhall was the youngest but one of a family 
 of six children. His brother, Cyrus Newhall, is a 
 noted mechanic and inventor, and has acquired a 
 wide reputation as a manufacturer of lawn and 
 meadow mowers, and John P. became at 20 years of 
 age an employee in his shops, where he remained 
 until 1856. 
 
 Nov. 7, 1841, he was united in marriage in Chester- 
 field, Cheshire Co., N. H., to Emmeline L., daughter 
 of Richard and Emmeline (Lewis) Hopkins. Her 
 father and mother passed their entire lives in their 
 native county and State, and died in the same county 
 in New Hampshire, respectively in April, 1864, and 
 
 (&egM& ^ygy' Q/- 
 
 v^/ysv^vy** ^^,y 
 
 \ March, 1877, aged 7r and 81 years. Mrs. Newhall 
 I was born July 25, 1819, in Colerain, Mass. She is 
 the second of four children, and was reared under 
 the care of her parents. She is the mother of one 
 child, J. Frank, who is a resident on the homestead 
 estate in Afton Township. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Newhall came to Illinois in 1856, 
 and after a short residence in the township of De 
 Kalb they located on section 6, Afton Township, 
 where Mr. Newhall purchased 50 acres of farming 
 land. In 1877 they retired from active life to the 
 village of Malta, where they are residing in quiet 
 comfort after busy and honorable lives of useful 
 effort. 
 
 oscph B. Stephens, State's Attorney, resi- 
 dent at Sycamore, is a native of De Kalb 
 County, and was born Aug; 25, r849, in 
 Genoa. His father, Samuel Stephens, was 
 born in Pennsylvania and removed early from 
 the Key- Stone State to Indiana, where he resi- 
 ded a number of years. In the fall of 1836, while 
 yet unmarried, he came to the township of Genoa 
 and pre-empted a large tract of land. He is a resi- 
 dent of Genoa, and nearly one-half of the village is 
 built on his original homestead. About 30 acres 
 was first platted and portions of the town are known 
 as "Stephens' First and Second Additions." The 
 senior Stephens married Rebecca Patterson for his 
 first wife, and she died before her son was two years 
 old. The father was afterward married to Philena 
 Crocker. 
 
 Mr. Stephens is the only child of the first mar- 
 riage, and was brought up on his father's farm. At 
 14, he was placed at the seminary at Woodstock, 
 where he was a pupil a year, and was sent thence 
 to the Warren Institute. He studied there two years 
 and went next to De Kalb, where he remained about 
 the same time. After leaving school he worked on 
 the farm summers and taught school winters until 
 1877. In April of that year he entered the law 
 office of Kellum & Carnes, of Sycamore, and studied 
 law under the supervision of the former two years. 
 April 19, 1879, he was admitted to the Bar, and in 
 October of the same year he opened a law office at 
 De Kalb and conducted a legal business there until 
 February, 1881, when he came to Sycamore.
 
 f//
 
 J 
 
 He was elected State's Attorney for De Kalb 
 County in the fall of 1880, and was re-elected 
 in November, 1884. While a resident of Genoa he 
 served four years as Township Clerk, and discharged 
 the duties of other minor local official positions. He 
 is at present (1885) an Alderman at Sycamore. 
 
 Mr. Stephens was married in Sycamore, Jan. 4, 
 1881, to Martha M., daughter of Coles and Jane L. 
 Cook. She was born in Monkton, Vt., April 26, 
 1860. Mr. and Mrs. Stephens have one child, Her- 
 bert C., born Sept. 14, 1883, at Sycamore. 
 
 w 
 
 I 
 
 - iram Kirkpatrick, farmer, section 27, Clin- 
 ton Township, is a son of Jesse and Ruth 
 (Smiley) Kirkpatrick. (See sketch of Jesse 
 Kirkpatrick.) Hiram was born in Perry Co., 
 Pa., July 23, 1827. He received a common- 
 | school education and lived on the parental 
 homestead until 1845. He then apprenticed himself 
 to learn the blacksmith trade and worked three 
 years in Cumberland Co., Pa., under his indentures. 
 After mastering his trade, he worked for his old em- 
 ployer two years, and then entered into partnership 
 with him. The partnership existed for one year, 
 when it was dissolved by mutual consent, 
 
 In the spring of 1852 Mr. K. moved to Dayton, 
 Ohio, and was there employed in a machine shop for 
 about one and a half years. In the summer of 1853 
 he removed to Hagerstown, Ind., and for a year was 
 foreman in a car shop, and also worked at his trade 
 one year. 
 
 In 1856 Mr. K. came to this county with his wife 
 and child, and purchased 85 acres of land on sec- 
 tions 22 and 27, Clinton Township, on which he set- 
 tled and continuously resided until the present time. 
 He is at present the owner of 400 acres of land, all 
 situated in Clinton Township, 350 of which is in a 
 good tillable condition. After coming to this county 
 he followed his-trade at his home until 1862. 
 
 Mr. Kirkpatrick was united in marriage to Mary 
 M. Thomas, in Carlisle, Cumberland Co., Pa., Nov. 
 1 6, 1854. She was a daughter of William and 
 Susanna (A ply) Thomas, natives of Vermont and 
 Pennsylvania. They were married and resided in 
 that State until the date of her father's death, March 
 9,1839. After her father's death her mother came 
 
 
 to this county and made her residence with her 
 daughter, Mrs. K., until her death, June 8, 1874. 
 They were the parents of four children, namely : 
 Samuel, Caroline, William B. and Mary M. 
 
 Mary M., wife of Mr. K., was born in Gettysburg, 
 Pa., March 9, 1831, and is the mother of five chil- 
 dren by Mr. K. The livingare : Arestes J., Ira T., 
 Niles H. and Minnie M. One child died in infancy. 
 
 Mr. Kirkpatrick has held the office of Highway 
 Commissioner for several years, that of School Di- 
 rector and other offices of minor import. In poli- 
 tics he is a Republican. He and his wife are mem- 
 bers of the Presbyterian Church. Mrs. K. united 
 with the Methodist Church in York Co., Pa., when 
 she was 15 years of age, and has been a communi- 
 cant .of that Church and the Presbyterian ever since. 
 
 Mr. Kirkpatrick has been a resident of this county 
 for nearly 30 years, and during that period has won 
 the esteem and respect of a large circle of friends ex- 
 tending throughout the county. As a worthy gentle- 
 man and representative citizen of De Kalb County, 
 we insert his portrait in this volume. 
 
 ames Hunt, retired farmer at Malta, is a 
 native of county Waterford, Ireland, where 
 he was born April 15, 1825. His parents 
 were natives of Ireland, and spent their lives 
 on the soil where they were born. They died 
 about the year 1864. 
 Mr. Hunt was reared a farmer, like his father be- 
 fore him, and obtained such education as the com- 
 mon schools of his native land afforded. When he 
 reached man's estate he came to America. He was 
 the youngest of four children two boys and two 
 girls and is the only one of his family who left their 
 native land. On his arrival in the United States he 
 went to Charlemont, Mass., and was occupied there 
 as a common laborer on various farms. He was 
 married in that vicinity, to Mary Phipps. She was 
 born Aug. 23, 1832, where she was afterward married, 
 and where she spent her youth and girlhood. After 
 the event of their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Hunt con- 
 tinued to reside for a. time there on a farm, coming 
 West to locate about 1854. They made their first 
 settlement in Sugar Grove Township, Kane Co., 111., 
 but decided on another transfer three years later, and
 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 came to De Kalb County to make a permanent resi- 
 dence. Mr. Hunt purchased 160 acres of land on 
 section 34, Malta Township, on which he located and 
 entered at once upon its improvement. It is now in 
 an advanced agricultural condition, and its value is 
 materially increased by the addition of excellent farm 
 buildings. In 1881 Mr. Hunt leased the place and 
 settled in Malta, where he purchased a house and 
 lot. 
 
 Mrs. Hunt died in January, 1881. She was a per- 
 
 . son of fine mind, and exercised a wide influence in 
 her social circle previous to the loss of her reason, 
 some time before her decease. Every possible 
 
 \ means was used for her restoration, but to no avail, 
 and her life terminated at Elgin, where she was taken 
 for treatment. No children were born to Mr. and 
 Mrs. Hunt. They adopted a daughter, Ida M., who 
 was born May 23, 1862. Mr. Hunt is an adherent 
 of the Democratic' element in politics. 
 
 orman H. Powers, deceased, was born in 
 Vergennes, Vt, Aug. 20, 18:9. He ac- 
 companied his parents in childhood to 
 Canada, and resided there from 1832 to 1839. 
 In August of the latter year he moved to this 
 State and located in La Salle County, where he 
 was engaged in farming until 1849. At that date 
 he came to this county and located on section 33, 
 Paw Paw Township. In 1852 he crossed the plains 
 to California, and spent about a year and a half in 
 the gold regions. Although he took a mining claim 
 which subsequently proved to be very rich, he 
 did not work it, as he preferred the slower and 
 safer course, and engaged in getting out cord-wood 
 and ship timber. This work proved profitable, and 
 he returned to the "States " well satisfied with his 
 venture. 
 
 He carried on his farm till the breaking out of the 
 late war, when he enlisted as a private of Co. I, 
 Fourth 111. Cav.,in August, 1861. He was promoted 
 as Sergeant, and was seriously wounded by a burst- 
 ing shell at the battle of Pittsburg Landing, April 6, 
 1862. The serious nature of his wound disabled him 
 for further duty, and he was given an honorable dis- 
 charge in the following August. Within three days 
 after his return to his home, his son Edward B, en- 
 
 
 listed in the same company and regiment to which 
 his father had belonged, and served till the close of 
 the war. 
 
 Mr. Powers removed to Earl in 1875, and six years 
 later he removed to Scranton, Greene Co., Iowa, in 
 the spring of 1882, where he died suddenly while 
 talking to his horse in the barn, June 7, r882.' His 
 wife survives him and continues to reside at Scran- 
 ton. Mr. Powers was married to Catharine Hart, 
 daughter of James and Elizabeth Hart. Mrs. Powers 
 was born in England, Oct. n, 1816. They had a 
 a family of five children, two boys and three girls : 
 Edward B., born Sept. 16, 1841, married Nancy A. 
 Weddell, and lives on the old homestead in Paw 
 Paw Township; Christianna, born Feb. 22, 1846, is 
 the wife of Hon. H. M. Boardman, of Paw Paw 
 Township; Susan A., born July 29, 1847, is the wife 
 of James E. Moss, of Greene Co., Iowa; Elizabeth, 
 born April 3, 1849, died April 13, 1861; Horace E., 
 born Sept. 21, 1850, married Nettie B. Porter, and 
 lives at Blair, Neb. 
 
 Mr. Powers returned from Canada to Illinois, and 
 was engaged in farming in La Salle County till 1849, 
 when he moved to Paw Paw Township, De Kalb 
 County, and settled on section 33. He served in 
 various official capacities in Paw Paw Township, 
 having been Township Supervisor. Assessor and 
 Justice of the Peace several years each. He was a 
 consistent Christian from early life, and was an influ- 
 ential member of the Congregational Church. In 
 early life he was a Whig in politics, but on the organ- 
 ization of the Republican party he espoused that 
 cause, and always afterward voted that ticket. 
 
 .ewell F. Butler, farmer and breeder of 
 stock, residing at Malta, was born Aug. 5, 
 1845, in Du Page Co., 111. Joseph Butler, 
 his father, was born and reared in the State 
 of New York and there followed the vocation 
 farmer. He married Abigail West and soon f^) 
 after removed to Illinois, settling in Du Page County 
 at a period when the State was in its pioneer condi- 
 tion, and where he was among the first to locate in 
 the township of Bloomingdale. He is the owner of 
 320 acres of land where he first settled, and is one of 
 the foremost citizens of the county. The mother died 
 
 . .-.
 
 
 
 3 
 
 3 ! 
 
 KALB COUNTY. 
 
 there May 5, 1834, aged 62 years and eight months. 
 The father is 68 years old. 
 
 Mr. Butler continued to reside in his native county 
 until he was 28 years of age. In 1873 he went to 
 Buchanan Co., Iowa, where he was married March 
 n, 1874, to Sarah, daughter of Andrew and Abigail 
 (Peck) Payne. She was born March 15, 1849, in 
 Delaware Co., N. Y., which was also the native place 
 of her parents. The family went to Iowa when the 
 daughter was seven years of age, and she was the 
 youngest of ten children. Her father died -a short 
 time before her marriage. Her mother is 75 years of 
 age, and is still a resident of the homestead in Bu- 
 chanan County. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Butler came to Malta immediately 
 after their marriage and located in section 24, where 
 they owned 135 acres, on which they carried on 
 agricultural operations until May, 1882. In that 
 month the farm was leased and the family removed 
 to the village of Malta. Mr. Butler purchased two 
 acres of land within the village corporation, includ- 
 ing an improved lot and available buildings. He is 
 also the owner of 40 acres of land on section 23, one- 
 half of which is within the incorporated limits of 
 Malta. Mr. Butler is a Republican of decided 
 stamp. 
 
 The children of Mr. and Mrs. Butler are : Helen 
 M., born Feb. 27, 1871 ; Adelia, Sept. 4, 1880, and 
 Elijah, Jan. 15, 1884. 
 
 LOlomon V. Butterfleld, farmer, section 20, 
 Paw Paw Township, has 240 acres of land. 
 The subject of this sketch is the oldest 
 living representative of the pioneers of 1835 of 
 this township. He was born in Cayuga Co., 
 N. Y., Aug. 26, 1826, and is the son of Edward 
 and Polly (Harris) Butterfield. He went to Michigan 
 in 1830 with his parents, and came to Paw Paw 
 Township, De Kalb Co., 111., in July, 1835. He was 
 brought up on a farm, and has made this township 
 .his home for 50 years. He was married in Paw Paw 
 Township, Dec. 20, 1847, to Miss Polly Burch, daugh- 
 ter of Zebulon Burch. Mrs. Butterfield was born 
 in Washington Co., N. Y., about 1826. They had 
 two children, Mary Belle, born April 5, 1852, wife of 
 John Spier, of Earlville, 111. The youngest died in 
 
 infancy. Mrs. Butterfield died in 1855. Mr. Butter- 
 field was married again May 8, 1856, at Earlville, 
 111., to Miss Helen M., daughter of Levi S. and 
 Loretta (Brewer) Wales. Mrs. Butterfield was born 
 in Schoharie Co., N. Y., June 21, 1834, and came 
 West in 1855. They have had three children: 
 Charles E., born March 31, 1858, died May n, 1858; 
 Sidney E., born Oct. 30, 1859, married Ida Braith- 
 waite, and lives at the old homestead ; John H., born 
 July 25, 1865, died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. But- 
 terfield are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church. In politics Mr. B. is a Democrat. 
 
 "ainos Lock, farmer, section 33, Malta Town- 
 ship, was born May 28, 1831, in Somerset- 
 shire, England. His father, James Lock, 
 ^P* senior, was a farmer in England and died 
 there when his son was but four years of age. 
 The latter was for some years under the care 
 of his mother, Mary (Norman) Lock, supporting him. 
 self after arriving at a suitable age. She died in 
 1859. In 1857, in company with Robert Willis, who 
 now lives in the township of South Grove, they left 
 England for America, and pressed forward in their 
 journey until they reached South Grove Township. 
 
 Mr. Lock passed two years in farm labor, and in 
 1859 purchased 80 acres of land in Mayfield Town- 
 ship. On this he operated three years, then selling 
 out and removing to South Grove Township, where 
 he bought 160 acres of land. He was there resident 
 until February, 1869, when he came to Malta. He 
 purchased 248 acres of land where he has since pur- 
 sued his agricultural operations, improved the place 
 and erected good farm buildings. He has yet 140 
 acres, all under cultivation. He is a practical and 
 prosperous stockman and farmer. He is a Republi- 
 in political principles, and has held most of the town- 
 ship offices. 
 
 His marriage to Nancy Safford took place Sept. 15, 
 1859. She was born in Pittsburg, Mass., Dec. 4, 
 1842, and her parents, Oliver and Nancy (Andrews) 
 Safford, were of New England origin and ancestry. 
 Her father was a carpenter, and both her parents 
 died in South Grove Township, whither they had re- 
 moved in the pioneer days of that township. Mrs. Lock 
 -auaS^Sto
 
 
 630 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 was four years of age when they became residents 
 of South Grove. She has been the mother of 13 
 children, two of whom are deceased. They were 
 born in the following order : Thomas, James, Clara, 
 ( 5; Oliver, Nancy, William, Mary, Charles, Alice, John 
 and Robert. Frank and George died in infancy. 
 The parents were reared under the regulations of the 
 Church of England. 
 
 'aeob Morsch, farmer, section 29, Squaw 
 Grove Township, was born Oct. 29, 1833, 
 in Germany. He has been a resident of 
 the State of Illinois since he came to the 
 United States in 1847, when he was but 14 
 years old. He lived in La Salle County until 
 1869, when he bought 440 acres of land in Squaw 
 Grove Township, of which he took immediate pos- 
 session and commenced the work of improving a 
 farm. He has prospered by his industry and good 
 judgment, and is now the owner of 600 acres of land 
 in Squaw Grove Township. 
 
 He is a Republican in political affinity, and has 
 been School Director and Highway Commissioner. 
 
 Mr. Morsch was married Nov. 25, 1860, in Ottawa, 
 111., to Elizabeth Smith, a lady who, like himself, is a 
 native of Germany, and they have had 1 2 children, 
 five of whom are still living, namely : Henry, J. 
 William, John, Emma and Lizzie. The deceased 
 are H. Hammond, Julia. Anna, and four who died 
 unnamed in extreme infancy. 
 
 liel D. Hunt, farmer, section 34, and 
 Supervisor of De Kalb Township (1885), 
 was born Sept. 19, 1835, in Wyoming Co., 
 N. Y., and is the son of Isaac and Martha 
 (Ludington) Hunt. His parents were na- 
 tives of Herkimer Co., N. Y., and became 
 residents of De Kalb Township in 1857, where his 
 father died within a year. The mother died April 
 12, 1865. 
 
 Mr. Hunt accompanied his parents to De Kalb 
 County, and he has continued to reside therein with- 
 out intermission since. He is the owner of 160 acres 
 of land in a creditable state of cultivation, and 
 
 slocked with 125 swine, 26 head of cattle and eight 
 horses. He is a Republican in political sentiment 
 and has been an occupant of responsible local posi- 
 tions of trust for many years. He officiated 16 years 
 as School Trustee, and was elected Supervisor of his 
 township in the spring of 1884. Mr. Hunt is a 
 member of the Masonic fraternity, and belongs to 
 Lodge No. 144, De Kalb Chapter, No. 52, and Syca- 
 more Commandery, K. T., No. 15. 
 
 His marriage to Evaline L. Preston occurred Oct. 
 28, 1856, in Wyoming Co., N. Y. She was born in 
 that county Nov. 12, 1837. Earl H., only child of 
 Mr. and Mrs. Hunt, was bom July 24, 1857, and 
 was married Feb. 9, 1885, to Lena Mixer, at Leslie, 
 Mich. She was born at Machias, Cattaraugus Co., 
 N. Y., March 17, 1863. 
 
 acob Deily, farmer, section 5, Malta Town- 
 ship, has lived in De Kalb County since 
 about the year 1850, when he came with 
 his widowed mother to Pierce Township. He 
 was born Nov. 22, 1845, in what is now Niles, 
 Cook Co., 111. John Deily, his father, was born 
 in Germany and married Elizabeth B. Lipp after he 
 came to America. The mother was a German by 
 birth and came to Ohio with her patents from the 
 "fatherland" when n years of age. They settled in 
 Columbiana County, where they were married, and 
 came thence to Chicago, where the father died, in 
 1849, of cholera, which was then epidemic in that 
 city. He was 33 years of age. The children born of this 
 marriage included two daughters and two sons, Mr. 
 Deily being the third child ; and he was four years of 
 age when his father died. His mother married Jacob 
 F. Plapp, a farmer of Pierce Township, and is yet 
 living. Mr. Deily entered the army of the United 
 States to fight for the Union, enlisting before he was 
 of age, March 4, 1864, as a recruit of Company K, 
 I5th 111. Vol. Infantry. He was in constant warfare . 
 to the collapse of the rebellion, his regiment being 
 assigned to the command of Sherman and accom- 
 panying him to the sea, marching with his legions of 
 war through the Carolinas and to Alexandria. Mr. 
 Deily was honorably discharged Sept. 16, 1865, at 
 
 ^ ^^ .$e&e<&^ 
 
 S 
 
 I 
 1
 
 Iff UNARY 
 
 Of THE 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLMKRS
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Fort Leavenworth, Kan. He was mustered out of 
 service at Springfield, 111., and on returning to Pierce 
 Township he began to work at the trade of a mason, 
 and pursued that business at odd intervals for sev- 
 eral years. After that he operated somewhat as a 
 farmer, and in January, 1869, located on his farm in 
 Malta Township. He had made his claim three 
 years previous, which included 80 acres on section 5 
 and now contains 40 acres additional. The place is 
 all under excellent improvements, well cultivated, 
 stocked with good grades of cattle and supplied with 
 a creditable class of farm buildings. In his political 
 convictions Mr. Deily is an inflexible and uncompro- 
 mising Republican. 
 
 His wife, to whom he was married June 16, 1867, 
 was formerly Miss Caroline Buerer. She was the 
 daugher of Gotlieb and Henrietta (Garlach) Buerer, 
 who were born respectively in Baden and Wurtem- 
 burg. After coming to America they located at 
 Geneva, 111., where Mrs. Deily was born March 6, 
 1849. Her parents removed when she was six weeks 
 old to Pierce Township, De Kalb County, where she 
 grew to womanhood on her father's farm and was 
 taught in the common school. She has been the 
 mother of six children, one of whom (John) is de- 
 ceased. Those yet surviving (1885) are named Sarah 
 M., David H., Mary E., Carrie A. and Frank E. 
 
 saac Leonard Ellwood, of De Kalb, is one 
 of the most prominent business men in the 
 entire West, and his name is a synonym 
 for one of the most important industries in 
 the country. He was born at Salt Springville, 
 Montgomery Co., N. Y., Aug. 3, 1833. 
 Mr. E. is the seventh son of Abraham and 
 Sarah (Delong) Ellwood (see biography of C. Ell- 
 wood for sketch of parents), and received from his 
 parents a common-school education of the limited 
 character of the times. Upon quitting his studies 
 he commenced life for himself by driving a team on 
 the Erie Canal at jjjtto per month. Afterwards he 
 became a clerk in a store where he was occupied 
 until he reached the age of 18 years. In 1851 he 
 went to California, where he remained between three 
 and four years. He passed the first year in mining, 
 after which he became a clerk in a store in Sacra- 
 
 mento. He had simple, unostentatious tastes and 
 habits, and he saved his accumulations and returned 
 East in 1855 with the means to start a hardware en- 
 terprise of moderate dimensions, in the village of 
 De Kalb. He gave his attention to his business, 
 managed its relations to accommodate his patrons, 
 and while he won general esteem he gradually 
 placed his affairs on a substantial basis of prosperity, 
 which he continued for about 20 years. During this 
 time that he was engaged in the hardware business, 
 he was extensively employed as auctioneer, locally 
 at first ; but after a few years his success as a sales- 
 man became so great that his services were fre- 
 quently in demand in distant portions of the State, 
 and for the time he was inteTested in this line nq 
 one ever achieved greater success than he. He 
 had long considered the necessity which depressed 
 the hopes of Western farmers, that of the want of 
 suitable fencing material; and it is impossible to con- 
 sider the subject without a feeling of wonder that 40 
 years of active agricultural exertions, with always the 
 same need impending, elapsed before the simple de- 
 vice that solved the difficulty entered the mind of 
 man. 
 
 In the year 1874 Mr. Ellwood invented and 
 obtained one of the earliest patents on. barbed fenc- 
 ing, since which time he has been engaged in the 
 manufacture, improvement and building up of the 
 barbed-wire industry. Through his influence and by 
 his foresight all of the underlying and first patents 
 on barbed wire and machinery for making the same 
 were combined together, enabling him with the as- 
 sistance of others to build up one of the largest and 
 most successful business enterprises in the his- 
 tory of this country. For a time he was associated 
 in the manufacture of barbed wire with Mr. J. F. 
 Glidden, and later with the Washburn & Moen 
 Manufacturing Company, of Worcester, Mass., but 
 at present he is exclusive owner and proprietor of 
 the large manufacturing establishment at De Kalb 
 doing business under the firm name of I. L. Ellwood 
 & Co. The capacity of these works at this time 
 is nearly 12 car-loads of finished fencing each ten 
 hours. While there have been a great many differ- 
 ent persons engaged in the barbed-wire business, and 
 manufactories are scattered all through the western 
 country, Mr. Ellwood has been a recognized leader 
 in the conduct of the business, and there is no ques- 
 tion with those who are acquainted with its details, ( 
 
 ;>fl^ ^^ ^^^^
 
 J 
 
 I 
 
 but that it is almost exclusively through his efforts 
 that the great success of the business has been 
 achieved. 
 
 It is but justice to Mr. Ellwood to say that no man 
 ever pushed a meritorious enterprise to great success 
 with fewer motives of selfishness than he. Genera- 
 tions to come must know that no more unpretentious 
 man ever lived than he; and in all the prosperity 
 that has fallen to his lot, his chief delight and 
 satisfaction is in having been the instrument of 
 good to his fellow-men. A warm welcome will be 
 accorded to the portrait of him which appears on a 
 preceding page, and it is presented with a double 
 satisfaction, for reasons which have direct reference 
 to the fraternal relations of Mr. Ellwood, five of 
 whose brothers resident in the county are similarly 
 presented, and to his business relations, which ren- 
 der him in a certain sense the property of his country 
 and generation. 
 
 The subject of this sketch, with limited education, 
 inheriting little save integrity and ambition to achieve 
 something in the world's work, conscientious, hum- 
 ble, he met and recognized a great opportunity ; and 
 it is eminently true of him that the prosperity which 
 has resulted is looked upon as having fallen into de- 
 serving hands, and therefore awakens no jealousy. 
 Reading and observation, coupled with reflection and 
 judgment, have furnished and disciplined a mind of 
 uncommonly fine faculties, and he is in no rate the 
 inferior of men who have spent their lives among 
 books and in scholarly associations. He is self-reli- 
 ant, self-poised, self-respecting, and is esteemed ac- 
 cordingly. An undeviating Republican in political 
 sentiment, he has never sought or held a local office, 
 save being elected for one or two terms to the City 
 Council of De Kalb. No deserving man or woman 
 has ever applied to Mr. Ellwood without receiving 
 liberal aid, and his greatest pleasure is in doing sub- 
 stantial acts of kindness for the poor in their vicinity. 
 
 He was married to Harriet A. Miller, only daugh- 
 ter of William A. Miller, at her father's residence in 
 the village, now city, of De Kalb, Jan. 27,' 1859. 
 Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Ell- 
 wood, three daughters and four sons, of whom 
 three daughters and two sons are still living. 
 
 His eldest son, William L., has been engaged for 
 
 several years in the importing and breeding of 
 
 rench draft horses, making annual trips to France 
 
 S^ 9; 
 
 and attending to the purchase of his stock in person ; 
 and during this year (1885) he expects to import 
 from 75 to 100 head. He also has entire charge of 
 his father's stock farms in the vicinity of De Kalb, 
 containing some 3,400 acres, all under a high state 
 of cultivation,and with all modern improvements for 
 stock-raising. 
 
 homas J. Tindall, stock-raiser and farmer, 
 residing on section 15, Malta Township, 
 was born in Tecumseh, Lenawee Co., Mich., 
 June 29, 1840. When Thomas was one year 
 old his parents moved to Buffalo Grove, Ogle 
 C6unty, this State, and one year later came to 
 this county and located on a farm in South Grove 
 Township. Here, Thomas assisted his father on the 
 farm and attended the common schools until he at- 
 tained the age of 17 years. At this age he entered 
 the college at Wheaton, the county seat of Du Page 
 County, this State, and pursued his studies in that 
 institute for four years. From Wheaton College he 
 went to college at Beloit, Wis., and there completed 
 his course of study. Soon after leaving college, in 
 October, 1864, Mr. Tindall enlisted in Co. K, 4zd 
 111. Vol. Inf., Capt. J. N. McClellan, to serve in the 
 late Civil War. His company was, in the Army of the 
 Cumberland, and was in the Division commanded by 
 Gen. Thomas. Mr. Tindall participated in all the 
 battles in which his regiment was engaged, promin- 
 ent among which were Spring Hill, Franklin and 
 Nashville, Tenn.; and after faithfully serving his 
 country for 14 months he received an honorable dis- 
 charge at Lavaca, Texas, in December, 1865, and re- 
 turned to the home of his father in South Grove 
 Township, this county. 
 
 The father of Mr. Tindall was of New England 
 parentage, a farmer by occupation, and resided in 
 New Jersey until 1841, when he came to this county, 
 as stated. He died at his home in South Grove 
 Township, July 8, 1880. Mr. Tindall's mother, 
 Mary (Berber) Tindall, was born in " York State; " 
 is of Yankee extraction and is living at present with 
 her daughter, Mrs. J. B. Millner, of Lawrence, Kan. 
 Mr. Tindall was united in marriage Feb. 27, 1868, 
 to Miss Mary E., daughter of William T. and Louisa 
 (Riddle) Kirk. See sketch of William T. Kirk. Mrs 
 
 I 
 Z
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Tindall was the oldest of family of nine children, all 
 of whom are yet living, and was born in Franklin 
 Township, this county, March 24, 1843. Her years, 
 prior to maturity, were spent at home assisting the 
 mother, attending the common schools and the col- 
 leges at Rockford and Wheaton. She acquired a 
 good education and at the age of 20 years engaged in 
 teaching, which profession she followed with success 
 until her marriage. 
 
 Two children are the issue of their union, namely : 
 Edith, born Aug. 15, 1869, and Willie, born Feb. 18, 
 1873. After marriage the husband and wife located 
 on the farm on which they are at present living, and 
 which was owned by Mr. Tindall prior to that event, 
 The farm comprises 320 acres of good tillable land, 
 and the entire tract is well improved. He has a 
 good residence and substantial farm buildings on the 
 place, and to the passer by everything indicates en- 
 ergy and progress. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Tindall is a Republican, and has 
 . held a number of the minor offices of his township. 
 He and his wife are members of the Congregational 
 Church. 
 
 ames Henderson, farmer on section 26, 
 Victor Township, is also engaged in the 
 dairy business. He was born Aug. 12, 
 1834, in Perry Co., Pa. His parents were 
 Hodgen and Nancy (White) Henderson. His 
 father was born in Ireland and came to Amer- 
 ica with his parents when he was 1 3 years old, grew 
 to manhood and married a Pennsylvania lady. 
 
 Mr. Henderson received only the limited educa- 
 tion of the common schools, and remained at home 
 until the years of his minority were passed. After 
 arriving at the period of man's estate he worked out 
 two years, and at the end of that time he married 
 Eliza Hippie, and they had eight children, seven of 
 whom are still living, Sarah L., Ida N., John A., 
 Matilda C., James F., Alvin C. and Martha A. John 
 married Mary J. Cooper, of La Salle Co., 111., Dec. 
 10, 1884. He is a farmer on section 27, Victor 
 Township. Sarah married G. N. Price, Nov. 16, 
 1880. They went to Nebraska, where Mr. Price 
 died, Dec. 22, 1884. 
 
 The first purchase of land made by Mr. Hender- 
 
 son was the 80 acres on which he has since resided, 
 now increased by an additional 80. His land was 
 all in its primeval condition, and there were but few 
 settlers in his vicinity. He has made important im- 
 provements and built a fine residence, barn and 
 other farm structures. 
 
 Ibert Ashcraft, fanner, section 25, Malta 
 Tp., was born Dec. 19, 1820, in Machias, 
 Cattaraugus Co., N. Y. His father, Elijah T. 
 Ashcraft, was a native of Brooklyn, Conn., 
 and was the son of Nathan Ashcraft, a man of 
 pure Yankee extraction. Betsey Curtis Ash- 
 craft, wife of the latter, was of the same origin and 
 ancestry, and died at the advanced age of 91 years. 
 Betsey Ashcraft, the mother of Albert and wife of 
 Elijah T., came of a long line of New England an- 
 cestors. Her husband died when he was 82 years 
 old. They had 12 children, and 10 reached ma- 
 ture years. 
 
 Mr. Ashcraft was the seventh child, and he passed 
 the years of his minority in the manner usual to far- 
 mers' sons, alternating farm labor with attendance 
 at the common schools. On becoming of age he 
 took the molding of his own career under his own 
 management, operating for a few months as a gen- 
 eral laborer. 
 
 He was married on the first day of the week, 
 month and year of 1843, to Helen M., daughter of 
 David and Polly (Dow) Russell. The parents were 
 natives of Vermont and the mother belonged to the 
 same race with the eccentric preacher, Lorenzo Dow. 
 Her father was a farmer and mechanic, and after re- 
 siding at various places in the East, the family came 
 to De Kalb County. The mother died in the town- 
 ship of Cortland, in 1852. The father died at 
 Chase, Lake Co., Mich., at the home of his son, and 
 was 80 years of age at the time of his decease. Mrs. 
 Ashcraft is the fourth of 13 children, and was reared 
 and educated principally in the State of New York. 
 Of her marriage 13 children have been born, of 
 whom five are deceased. Solon married Elizabeth 
 Smith, is a resident at De Kalb village, and is a me- 
 chanic. Alva married Antoinette Ellithorpe, a far- 
 mer in Marshall Co., Kan. Burton married Mary 
 Melvin and resides in Osage Co., Kan. ; Luella mar- 
 
 ^
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 \\ 
 
 Y 
 
 i 
 
 ried Richard S. Hooper and they live at Ness City, 
 Ness Co., Kan., where the latter is holding the office 
 of County Register. Laona is at Jacksonville, 111., 
 and is the wife of Peter S. Newell. She was married 
 Feb. 5, 1885. Charles, Edna and Marion H. are 
 unmarried and inmates of the parental home. 
 Hiram C., Wallace W, Amanda, Malvina and Al- 
 bert, Jr., are deceased. 
 
 After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Ashcraft lived 
 in the State of New York until 1848, the year of 
 their removal to Sycamore, De Kalb County, where 
 they lived one year. Removing thence to Cortland 
 Township, they spent two years there, and in 1852 
 secured a claim of 160 acres of land by pre-emption 
 in Malta Township, where the permanent home was 
 established. The whole property was unbroken prairie 
 and times were hard ; circumstances existed which 
 tried the stuff of which a man was made; but the 
 tide was stemmed by persistent energy and well di- 
 rected effort. The place was remote from other 
 settlers, and deer were so unaccustomed to humanity 
 that they roamed in close proximity without manifest 
 fear. Mr. Ashcraft owns 80 acres, all in the most 
 advanced cultivation. He assimilates with the Re- 
 publican party element in politics, and was one of 
 the first Justices of the Peace after the township 
 was organized. He has also officiated as Township 
 Treasurer of Schools. Mr. Ashcraft is one of the 
 oldest resident settlers of the township, having lived 
 here 33 years. 
 
 Iford Arnold, farmer and stockman, resi- 
 dent on section 27, Victor Township, was 
 born Dec. 10, 1826, and is the son of John 
 nd Alice (Alford) Arnold, who were natives of 
 Lincolnshire, England. The family came to 
 America in 1851, and located during the first 
 ten months in Tompkins Co., N. Y. Their next re- 
 moval was to Batavia, on the Fox River, in Illinois, 
 where they worked a farm on shares two years, remov- 
 ing thence to Victor Township. There they operated 
 a farm on section 28 for a year, when a farm was 
 purchased on section 26, where the parents died, 
 respectively in 1862 and in 1869. 
 
 Alford remained at home until he was 1 1 years of 
 ge, and received a common school-education. Af- 
 
 ter that age he became a farm laborer and spent four 
 years in that occupation, when he obtained a situa- 
 tion as a shepherd and herder, in which two-fold ca- 
 pacity he was occupied until he was 23 years of age. 
 He came to the United States in 1850, landing at 
 the port of New York, whence he went to Trumans- 
 burg, Tompkins County. After spending 17 months 
 there on a farm he pushed on West and worked a 
 year on a farm near Batavia, Kane Co., 111., and was 
 occupied during a second year in a machine-shop. 
 
 He was married Feb. 25, 1854, to Lucy Hales. 
 She was born in England and came two years before 
 her marriage to America. Of the 12 children of 
 whom Mr. and Mrs. Arnold became the parents, 
 eight are still living, Mary A., John H., Alfred A., 
 Benjamin F., Edgar, Alice C., Emma E. and Lucy S. 
 The three oldest children are married. 
 
 After his marriage, Mr. Arnold worked a farm two 
 years on shares, and subsequently came to Victor 
 Township, \vhere he purchased 80 acres of land on 
 section 27, which has since been his homestead. To 
 this he has added 80 acres by subsequent purchase, 
 two tracts adjoining each other. Mr. Arnold is a 
 successful and prosperous farmer. He is a Repub- 
 lican, and his wife is a member of the Baptist 
 Church. 
 
 riel S. Morey, farmer, section 20, Malta 
 Township, was born May 24, 1840, in the 
 township of South Columbia, Herkimer 
 Co., N. Y., whence he came with his parents 
 to De Kalb County in 1853. He was then 
 about 13 years of age, and he continued a 
 member of the home circle and acted as his father's 
 assistant until the date of his marriage. That event 
 took place May 24, 1864, when Miss Elizabeth Van 
 Vlack became his wife. Her parents, John and 
 Anna M. (Oliver) Van Vlack, were born in the State 
 of New York, and were of German ancestry. They 
 were descendants of families who were among the 
 earliest settlers of the Empire State. Mrs. Morey 
 was born Aug. 4, 1842, in East Glenville, Schenectady 
 Co., N. Y. Her father died when she was about 
 nine years of age, and six years later (1857), she ac- 
 companied her mother to De Kalb County, locating 
 at Shabbona village. She is the youngest of three 
 children and received a good education. The death 
 

 
 COUNTY. 
 
 of her father occurred March 9, 1851, when he was 
 40 years of age. Her mother died at Shabbona 
 Grove, Feb. 6, 1863, at the age of 51 years. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Morey have become the parents of five 
 children, born as follows: Floyd, Aug. 31, 1865; 
 Nettie, Oct. 31, 1869; Jessie, Sept. 18, 1875 ; Myra, 
 Oct. 24, 1878 ; Lilla, twin sister of Myra, died when 
 nine months old. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Morey established their independent 
 home life immediately after marriage and settled on 
 a farm in Shabbona Township. On this place Mr. 
 Morey conducted agricultural operations 16 years, 
 when the family removed to Malta Township, where 
 the father, in company with his brother, Wm. H., lo- 
 cated on 264 acres of land on section 20. They have 
 continued their joint labors, and have operated ex- 
 tensively in agriculture and as stock-growers, ranking 
 among the best and most progressive farmers of the 
 township. They are Republicans in political faith 
 and connections. 
 
 Smith Morey, the father of Mj. Morey of this 
 sketch, was born Sept. 9, 1812, in Onondaga Co., 
 N. Y. Jesse Morey, father of the former, was of 
 French lineage and married Faith Wilcox. She was 
 born, in Connecticut, and was of purely Yankee ori- 
 gin. Smith Morey married Jeannette Smith Jan. i, 
 1839. She was born in Suffield, Conn., and died at 
 the home of her son Dec. 17, 1877, aged 64 years. 
 Her three sons, Hiram D., of Shabbona, Ariel and Wi 
 H. survive her. The family were among the first set- 
 tlers 'in Shabbona Township in 1853. He labored 
 there as a farmer until 1869, when another transfer 
 was made of the joint family interests of the father, 
 eldest and youngest sons, to Malta Township, where 
 they located on 264 acres of land and have since 
 managed their farming interests together. 
 
 ipt. Martin V. Allen, druggist, residing 
 at Shabbona, was born in St. Lawrence 
 Co., N. Y., Nov. 6, 1832, and is a son of 
 Reuben and Nancy (Andrews) Allen. In 
 1845 his father's family left Sackett's Harbor, 
 Jefferson Co., N. Y., in a sail vessel, cruised 
 around the lakes, debarked at Chicago and came 
 thence by \team to this county, arriving at Shabbona 
 Grove June 2, 1845. His father was consequently 
 (gyV^N/g-., ^^JUS^i^ s-*, !^S-: 
 
 one of the pioneers of this county, and soon after he 
 arrived here entered 320 acres of Government land 
 on sections 19, Clinton Township, and 24, Shabbona 
 Township, and entered vigorously on the laborious 
 task of cultivating and improving it. 
 
 Capt. Allen was brought up on his father's farm. 
 He assisted in the farm labors and attended the 
 common schools, and developed into manhood while 
 under the parental roof-tree. Aug. 12, 1862, he en- 
 tered the military service of the United States in 
 the late Civil War with the commission of First Lieu- 
 tenant of Co. E, togth 111. Inf., and was promoted 
 as Captain March 9, 1863. He was wounded at 
 Atlanta, Aug. 16, 1864, receiving a gunshot wound 
 in the right arm near the shoulder, which resulted in 
 resection and causing the loss of about three inches 
 of the bone. He was then, Jan. 22, 1865, discharged 
 for physical disability. 
 
 Capt. Allen suffered a far more serious misfortune 
 as a result of being wounded than the loss of a 
 portion of his- arm. His wife, on hearing of the 
 casualty, proceeded to. his side to nurse him. She 
 found him at Chattanooga, Tenn., in an atmosphere 
 infected with pestilence,- and fell a victim to typhoid 
 fever. She lived to reach home, in a delirious con- 
 dition, and died in a few days. Their second child, 
 a. daughter, contracted the disease, and in a short 
 time followed her mother to the land of everlasting 
 peace. 
 
 Captain Allen was married at Little Rock, 111., 
 Oct. 7, 1856, to Miss Jane A. Hunter. She was a 
 daughter of William and Janet Hunter, and was a 
 native of Scotland. Three children were born to 
 Mr. and Mrs. Allen : Cora A., Lida E. and Jennie 
 M. The eldest, Cora A., is the wife of George C. 
 Sanborn, a commission merchant at Chicago. The 
 youngest daughter was adopted by H. E. Allen, of 
 De Kalb, a brother of Capt. Allen. She grew to 
 womanhood in his household, and is the wife of 
 William Ellwood, of that place. 
 
 Mrs. Allen died Sept. 20, 1864, and Capt. Allen 
 was again married Nov. 6, 1867, at Shabbona, to 
 Miss Lizzie, daughter of Giles M. and Eve (Clapsad- 
 dle) Alexander. She was born in Herkimer Co., 
 N. Y., and is the mother of one child, a son, Bertie, 
 aged 14 years. 
 
 Soon after his return from the army Capt. Allen 
 was elected Superintendent of Schools of De Kail 
 
 Av^/(?) 
 
 , '\ -
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 f County, which position he held for a term of four 
 years, from 1865 to 1869. In 1873 he engaged in 
 the drug business at Shabbona, and has since con- 
 tinued in the same. He carries a slock averaging 
 ,"5. $2,000 and including everything pertaining to that 
 business. In March, 1877, he was burned out, sus- 
 taining a loss of about $1,500, with no insurance. He 
 is a prominent Freemason, and was the first Master 
 of Shabbona Lodge, No. 374, A. F. & A. M., and is 
 holding that position at the present time (1885). 
 
 / He is also a member of De Kalb Chapter, No. 52, 
 R. A. M., and of Aurora Commandery, No. 22, K. 
 T. He is likewise Sen. V. C. of T. S. Terry Post, 
 G. A. R., of Shabbona. 
 
 Politically, Capt. Allen is a Republican. Relig- 
 iously, he is a member of the Congregational Church. 
 He is one of Shabbona's most liberal-minded and 
 enterprising citizens, and is held in high esteem. 
 Of no other citizen in the county could a portrait be 
 more appropriately given in this work, and accord- 
 ingly a fine lithographic likeness of Capt. Allen is 
 given on a page just preceding. 
 
 .ohn Mutton, farmer, section 20, Malta, was 
 born about the year 1824 in the county of 
 Cornwall, in the south of England. Richard 
 Mutton, his father, was also of English birth, 
 and his wife, Elizabeth Mutton, was a native 
 of the same country, where they were married 
 and passed all the years of their lives. 
 
 Mr. Mutton has been an independent self-sustainer 
 since he was 15 years of age, at which time he began 
 to operate as a laborer on a farm. He was married 
 Aug. 15, 1847, in the county where he was born, to 
 Elizabeth Bray. She was born in the same county, 
 May 25, 1820. Her mother, Elizabeth (Herd) Bray, 
 died when she was nine years of age, after which she 
 had to earn her own living, Richard, her father, 
 being left with a large family and unable to support 
 them all from his meager savings. To her and her 
 husband have been born the following children : John, 
 Elizabeth J., Mary A., Rebecca, Emma, William and 
 Silena. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Mutton set out for America after 
 their marriage and located at first in Ontario, Can. 
 They were residents in Northumberland County 18 
 
 (\VXg)'Sea >m.gaXfy /"> \. 
 
 years, engaged in farming. In 1865 they removed to 
 Creston, Ogle Co., 111., where they maintained a resi- 
 dence three years, coming in the spring of 1868 to 
 Malta Township, where Mr. Mutton became by pur- 
 chase the proprietor of 105 acres of land. The place 
 gives every evidence of skillful and judicious farming 
 and the farm buildings are of excellent character. 
 Politically, Mr. Mutton is a Republican. He has 
 been for years active in the local offices of his town- 
 ship. 
 
 enry Challand, farmer, section 6, Clinton 
 Township, is a son of Charles and Ann 
 (Freeman) Challand, both natives of Eng- 
 land, and residents in that country until their 
 death. They were the parents of a family of 
 1 1 children, namely : Ann, Eliza, Charles, Wil- 
 liam, Mary E., Reuben, Henry, Sarah, Maria, George 
 and Joseph. 
 
 Henry Challand, the subject of this biographical 
 notice, was born in England, Feb. 3, 1822. His edu- 
 cation was received in the common schools of that 
 country, and was limited on account of the financial 
 condition of his parents. At the age of 12 years he 
 set forth to carve a name and accumulate a compe- 
 tency for himself, first working on a farm, and then 
 as a drayman. In 1847 he emigrated to Canada, 
 where he lived seven years, and in the spring of 1854 
 came to De Kalb County and settled in Shabbona 
 Township, where he purchased 89 acres of land. 
 The land was situated partly in De Kalb and partly 
 in Lee County, and after holding it for a year as 
 owner he sold it. He "worked out" during that 
 year, and purchased 80 acres in Afton Township, on 
 which he located and lived for seven years, and then 
 sold. 
 
 In 1861, Mr. Challand purchased 190 acres in 
 Clinton Township. He moved on this land and cul- 
 tivated it until 1874, and then moved to the village 
 of Waterman, still retaining possession of his land. 
 He lived in the latter place some seven years and 
 then moved back upon his farm. Residing there a 
 year, he again returned to Waterman, and two years 
 later moved upon the farm again. He has resided 
 in Waterman and on his farm since 1861. He is the 
 owner of 365 acres of land in Clinton and Shabbon: 
 Townships, most of which is in a good state of culti- 
 
 l ^^^ *t*^(<
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 vation. That he is a man of great energy and per- 
 severance, his accomplishment of a purpose formed 
 when 12 years old, namely, to procure a competency, 
 is certain and positive proof. He has certainly ac- 
 complished that' purpose, and to his own indomitable 
 energy and pluck he may attribute its success. 
 
 Mr. Challand was first married in England, to 
 Miss Elizabeth Green, a native of that country. She 
 emigrated with him to Canada, and there died, of 
 "emigrant fever." She bore him two children, 
 namely, Fredrick and Elizabeth. The second mar- 
 riage of Mr. Challand occurred Oct. 31, 1849, and 
 the lady of his choice was Miss Julia Bilney, of En- 
 glish parentage, and born in Canada. She was the 
 mother of 10 children by Mr. .Challand, namely: 
 Elizabeth A., Freeman, Mary, Jemima, Julia, Sarah, 
 Margaret A., Walter, Esther R., Rosa and Eliza. 
 Mrs. Challand died in Clinton Township, in July, 
 1872. 
 
 Mr. Challand was a third time married, at Sand- 
 wich, this county, Jan. 12, 1873, to Mrs. Emily Fas- 
 sett, widow of Henry R. Fassett. He was born 
 Nov. 7, 1836, and died May 4, 1871. Mrs. C. is the 
 daughter of Elijah and Mary A. (Bilney) Hardiman. 
 She was born in Canada, Sept. 19, 1842. By her 
 first marriage she had two children: John H. and 
 Antoinette, the latter of whom is deceased. The 
 issue of her second marriage is three children : 
 Frank W., Gracie A. and Charles H., all living. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Challand are both members of the 
 Wesleyan Methodist Church. Politically, Mr. Chal- 
 land is a Democrat. He has held the office of Over- 
 seer of Highways and School Director. 
 
 i, deceased, was born in 
 Carolton-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, Eng- 
 land, in November, 1811, and was a son of 
 John and Susan Stimpson, natives of that 
 country. 
 
 Mr. Stimpson grew to manhood in his native 
 country and engaged in the vocation of a maltster, 
 which occupation he followed for many years. He 
 was married at Norwell, Eng., Nov. to, 1835, to Miss 
 Sarah Weightman, a daughter of Thomas and Mary 
 (Selby) Weightman, natives of that country. Her 
 father was born in North Muskham, and her mother 
 
 .>/---;*" 
 
 s_ /VV '., 
 
 _^--_ 
 
 in Balderton, Eng. She was born at North Musk- 
 ham, Eng., April 26, 1817. They emigrated to the 
 United States in 1850, arriving at New York city in 
 October of that year, after a tedious voyage of six 
 weeks. From the latter place they went to Albany, 
 N. Y., where they remained for about six months, and 
 then removed to Genesee, Livingston County, that 
 State, where they remained until 1853. During the 
 latter year they came to this State and located at 
 Aurora, where they remained for about two years, a 
 greater portion of which time Mr. Stimpson was an 
 invalid. From Aurora they moved upon a farm in 
 that vicinity, and Mr. Stimpson was engaged in that 
 vocation for about five years. At the expiration of 
 that time, in 1862, he moved his family to Minne- 
 sota, but the Indian massacres at New Ulm and other 
 places which were prevailing at that time in the 
 vicinity in which he settled, and various unpleasant 
 features of the country, induced him, after a sojourn 
 of about two years, to return to this State. He re- 
 turned to Aurora, and from thence, in 1864, came to 
 Shabbona Township, this county. ( He located in what 
 is called the " English Settlement," in the western 
 part of the township, and purchased a fine farm of 
 1 60 acres. He continued to cultivate this farm, 
 meeting with success in his endeavors, until the date 
 of his death, Nov. 17, 1872. Politically, he was a 
 Republican, and socially was a member of the Order 
 of Odd Fellows. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Stimpson were the parents of 14 
 children, eight of whom were born in England, name- 
 ly : Edward, who married Mary Cox, " an English 
 girl," and is at present living on Grand Prairie, Iro- 
 quois County, this State. Thomas, who was a soldier 
 in the late Civil War, enlisting in the 72d 111. Inf., 
 was wounded at Vicksburg May 22, 1864, and died 
 at Memphis, Tenn., six days later, from the effects of 
 his wound. Rebecca, who is the wife of Theodore 
 Porter and lives in Chicago. George married an En- 
 glish lady and lives at Elgin. William was a black- 
 smith in Shabbona Township, and was killed in his 
 shop in July, 1870, by a man named Grover. Jane 
 died in childhood. T. Weightman married Sarah A. 
 Challand and resides in Shabbona. John died at 
 home when 30 years of age. 
 
 Of the six children born in this country, Mary J. 
 and Sarah A. died in infancy ; Elizabeth is the wife 
 of John Houghtby, a resident of Shabbona Township. 
 Henry B. married Hannah Nau, and lives in Shab- 
 <^ :3%
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 bona ; Linnetta is the wife of Emory A. Post, also a 
 resident of Shabbona Township ; Frederick is living 
 at home. 
 
 Mrs. Stimpson survives her husband and resides 
 in Shabbona. The old farm of 160 acres is hers 
 during life. She has been a member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church for upwards of 42 years. Looking 
 back upon the history of her past life, she reads of 
 trials and pleasures, of sorrows and happiness ; and as 
 her days are drawing to a close she has the consola- 
 tion of having spent a Christian life, a life of useful- 
 ness. She is living in comfort at Shabbona, where 
 she expects to pass her remaining years, and where 
 her body may be placed by the side of her companion. 
 
 Alexander Southern, farmer, section 32, 
 Malta Township, was born in Ashford, 
 Kent Co., England, Feb. 28, 1836. He is a 
 prominent agriculturist of De Kalb County 
 and affords- a good example of what a man, 
 born under another flag, may accomplish when 
 transferred to a land whose standard floats over no 
 classes of born distinction and inherited privileges. 
 Alexander Southern, Sr., came of a good family 
 which originated and had been perpetuated in Kent 
 County, and belonged to the agricultural class. His 
 wife was Mary Thompson before marriage. The par- 
 ents died when the son was in childhood, the death of 
 the mother occurring soon after that of the father in 
 1846. Alexander, Jr., was left homeless and depend- 
 ent on his own resources. He was not of a race that 
 was easily disheartened or overwhelmed by circum- 
 stances, and as early as practicable he devoted his 
 time and abilities to an acquisition of a knowledge of 
 the trade of a stone and brick mason. He was thus 
 employed three years. In r8s6 he took a final leave 
 of his native soil and kindred, and came alone to the 
 United States. He landed at the port of New York 
 and pressed on thence to Milwaukee. He passed 
 three years in that city at work as a mason, and in 
 18159 went to Chicago. He obtained employment at 
 his accustomed business, and three years later went 
 to Belvidere, Boone Co., 111. The character of his 
 work and his industry served to win for him a good 
 reputation as a craftsman, and he had no difficulty 
 in finding work in his various wanderings. Not long 
 
 after coming to Illinois, he came to Malta Township. 
 He was employed sometime after as a mason, and 
 was sent to various places, among others to Terre 
 Haute, Ind., where he was the principal workman in 
 the construction of the Normal buildings. 
 
 He was married in March, i86r,'at De Kalb, to 
 Mary J., daughter of John and Jane (Hancock) Rowe. 
 She was born in Brownton, Devonshire, England, 
 April 19, 1834. Her parents were natives of the 
 same town and shire, and her father made a prelimi- 
 nary visit to the United States, which resulted in his 
 returning to England to bring his family, the follow- 
 ing year. They remained a short time near Buffalo, 
 N. Y., and in the spring of 1851 came to the town- 
 ship of Malta. They are now quite aged and reside 
 with a daughter at Creston, Ogle Co., 111. The chil- 
 dren of Mr. and Mrs. Southern are all living: Lillie 
 J. married John Norton and resides in Chicago. 
 They have two children : Reuben A. was born Oct. 
 1 6, 1866. The youngest is William J. After the 
 marriage of the parents they took the farm of the 
 Misses Todd, which they conducted on shares four 
 years. At the end of that time they located on 320 
 acres of land, which the father had purchased in 
 1868, and which has since been the homestead. It 
 is all in a finely cultivated condition. In the spring 
 of 1884, the wife and mother was seized with a ner- 
 vous disease, from which she died three months later. 
 She was a member of the Congregational Church, as 
 is her bereaved husband. The latter is a Republi- 
 can, and has held various township offices. He is a 
 man of reliable integrity and much respected as a 
 man and a citizen. 
 
 ev. Benoni Harris, deceased, the pioneer 
 minister of Paw Paw Township, and one of 
 the very earliest settlers of the township, was 
 born in Cayuga Co., N. Y., and was the son 
 of John Harris. He united with the Method- 
 ist Episcopal Church in early life, was or- 
 dained a minister and labored many years in the 
 discharge of his duties. He was married in- New 
 York, to Thankful Miles, who was born in Cayuga 
 Co., N. Y. They had a family of 12 children, six 
 boys and six girls. 
 
 In 1831 he removed to Michigan, and in July, 1835, 
 came to De Kalb Co., 111., and settled in what is now 

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 645 
 
 i 
 
 Paw Paw Township. He was the first Methodist 
 circuit preacher in this region, and also labored as a 
 mission preacher. He was a Mason of high standing 
 and a good citizen. His wife was the first white 
 person to die in the new settlement in Paw Paw 
 Township. Her death occurred in 1836. Mr. Har- 
 ris died in 1845. 
 
 His sons, Benjamin and Joseph, were among the 
 very first settlers- of this township. The Rev. 
 Benoni Harris, Jr., came several years later. Ben- 
 jamin Harris came to Paw Paw in the summer of 
 1835 and settled in the western part of the township. 
 He was married and removed to Black Hawk Co., 
 Iowa, in 1854. He enlisted in the late war and died 
 at his home in Iowa, from disease contracted in the 
 army. Joseph Harris came to Paw Paw with his 
 father and brother. In 1853 he removed to Iowa 
 and later to Kansas, where he now resides. Rev. 
 Benoni, Jr., moved to Iowa in 1853, and died in that 
 State. 
 
 arles D. Patch, of the grocery and pro- 
 vision house of Rowe, Norris & Patch, at 
 Sycamore, was born Dec. 25, 1855, in North- 
 umberland Co., Pa. He is the son of Sala- 
 thiel C. and Margaret A. (Watson) Patch. 
 The former was born Aug. 17, 1812, in New- 
 ark, N. J. The latter is a native of Pennsylvania, 
 and was born March 7, 1831. Both are still living 
 at Sycamore. 
 
 Mr. Patch is an only child. He passed the years 
 of his minority on the homestead farm, 7 miles east 
 of Sycamore. Before he was 21 years old he taught 
 school during two winters in this State, and in the 
 spring of 1877 came to Sycamore, and entered the 
 store of which he is now one of the proprietors, and 
 acted two years in the capacity of clerk. 
 
 In September, 1879, he entered the Law Depart- 
 ment of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, 
 where he studied one term. Returning to Sycamore, 
 he assumed editorial charge of the Daily Free Press 
 during the Presidental campaign of 1880, continu- 
 ing in that avenue of business until November. In 
 April, 1881, he again entered the provision house of 
 which he is a member, as a salesman, and operated 
 
 in that capacity until April, 1883, when he bought a 
 third interest in the stock. 
 
 Mr. Patch was married June i, i88t, in McGregor, 
 Iowa, to Rosa B., daughter of Seymour and Laurinda 
 Chilson. She was born east of Cortland, in De Kalb 
 County, Feb. 28, 1861, and died Dec. 23, 1881, six 
 months after marriage. 
 
 Mr. Patch has been for some time the regular cor- 
 respondent of the Chicago Inter-Ocean, and has a 
 decided taste and ability for newspaper work. 
 
 acob Spansail, a farmer situated on section 
 24, Genoa Township, was born Dec. 16, 
 1833, in Germany. His parents, Jacob 
 ind Elizabeth D. Spansail, were natives of 
 Germany and in 1850 emigrated to America, 
 locating in Ohio. They had a family of seven 
 children, Jacob, Sebastian, Rosa, George, Dora, 
 Catherine and Fred. The father died in Michigan 
 while en route to Illinois to visit his son : the mother 
 survives. 
 
 Mr. Spansail was about 17 years of age when he 
 accompanied his parents to America, and he lived in 
 the Buckeye State three years, coming thence to 
 Kane Co., 111. Two years later, in 1855, he removed 
 to De Kalb County and became the owner by pur- 
 chase of 40 acres in the township of Genoa, and has 
 since maintained his residence thereon. His home 
 estate now includes 320 acres and nearly the entire 
 acreage is under improvement. His herd of cattle 
 includes 50 head on an average and he fattens about 
 65 hogs yearly. 
 
 Mr. Spansail was married March 29, 1857, to 
 Elizabeth Vote, and they have seven children, Mary 
 E., George H., John M., Rosa (died when three 
 months old), Dora J., Katie M. and Frederick W. 
 Mrs. Spansail was born March 30, 1837, in Craw- 
 ford Co., Ohio, and is one of 10 children born to her 
 parents, Elizabeth, Mary A., John M., Anna W., 
 Susan', William H., Jacob G., Margaret, Charles F. 
 and Franklin P. The parents, John and Anna M. 
 (Karn) Vote, are natives of Pennsylvania and Ger- 
 many. 
 
 Mr. Spansail is a Republican in politics and has 
 been a prominent man in the local offices in his 
 township, having held the position of Road Com- 
 
 ^ 
 
 r 
 
 f
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 a 
 
 ussioner 15 years and also that of School Director. 
 He is a man of acknowledged business abilities and 
 acted as salesman for the patrons of the New Lebanon 
 cheese factory for three years. In 1882 he was ap- 
 pointed Postmaster of New Lebanon. 
 
 The portrait of Mr. Spansail accompanying this 
 sketch is a representation of a worthy citizen of De 
 Kalb County. 
 
 li W. Lloyd, farmer, section 21, Malta 
 Township, was born Dec. 14, 1836, in 
 Hartford, Mass. .His parents, Artimus W. 
 md Parthenia (Haskell) Lloyd, changed their 
 residence from Hartford to Old Stockbridge in 
 the same State when the son was in youth, and 
 went thence soon after to Washington in the Bay 
 State. Mr. Lloyd was educated in the common 
 schools, and at the age of 20 years found himself at 
 liberty to enter upon his unaided struggle with for- 
 tune. He set out westward and finally reached 
 Rockford. He had friends in that city, and he ob- 
 tained employment in that locality, where he re- 
 mained two years. Meanwhile, his father had re- 
 moved to De Kalb County, then comparatively new, 
 and here Mr. Lloyd rejoined the family in South 
 Grove Township. He remained at home but a short 
 time, as he believed that the promises of the farther 
 West foreshadowed opportunity for a venturesome 
 and energetic man to get on in the world, and he ac- 
 cordingly pressed on to the gold regions of California. 
 He operated in mining two years, and then went to 
 San Francisco, where he engaged in the livery busi- 
 ness. Two years later, in 1863, he returned to De 
 Kalb County and located on 160 acres of land, 
 which he purchased and where he has since operated 
 as a farmer. He has 120 acres of his original pur- 
 chase, and has added to his estate until he is now 
 the proprietor of 200 acres, in the best possible agri- 
 cultural condition. Mr. Lloyd was one of the first 
 to consider the feasibility of a permanent settlement 
 in Malta Township, and he has been active in gener- 
 al affairs since he has been one of its citizens. In 
 addition to general farming he is largely interested 
 in stock, and has home herds of cattle and hogs of ex- 
 cellent grades. Mr. Lloyd is an ardent Republican, 
 
 ZX^ 
 
 and has officiated in the local offices of his township. 
 He was united in marriage March 5, 1865/111 
 Malta Township, to Kate Spickerman. She was born 
 in Columbia Co., N. Y., and is the daughter of John 
 and Mary E. (Rowley) Spickemian. While she was 
 yet in her childhood the family removed to Spencer, 
 N. Y. Her mother died when she was eight years 
 of age, and she was then placed in the care of her 
 grandparents in Nassau, Rensselaer Co., N. Y., 
 where she obtained some degree of common- school 
 education. Her grandparents removed, while she was 
 still a very young girl, to Oak Park, Cook Co., 111., 
 where she had the advantages of excellent school 
 privileges for two years. When she was 14 years old 
 another transfer of residence, to the village of Malta, 
 was made, and she was sent next to school at Rock- 
 ford. On completing her studies she engaged in 
 teaching in Milan Township, De Kalb County, when 
 1 6 years of age. Of her marriage to Mr. Lloyd, five 
 children have been born. Frank B. is a student at 
 the Commercial College at Rockford, 111. ; Walter E., 
 Artimus A., Kittle E. and Olive O. are busy in ac- 
 quiring their education. One of their sons Arti- 
 mus A. is a boy of remarkable physical proportions, 
 developed in stature and weighing 130 pounds, 
 though only nine years of age. The family attend 
 the Congregational Church, to which the mother be- 
 longs. 
 
 lilliam H. Keene is a farmer in Victor 
 Township, and is pursuing his agricultural 
 operations on sections 4 and 9. He was 
 born March 4, 1820, at Esperance, Schoharie 
 Co., N. Y. His parents, Bartholomew and 
 Fanny (Van Schoonhoven) Keene, were also 
 born in the State of New York. 
 
 Mr. Keene passed the years of his minority in the 
 manner common to farmers' sons, obtaining an educa- 
 tion and a knowledge of farm labor. After reaching 
 the period of his legal freedom, he worked three 'Y 
 years on a farm. In 1844 he accompanied his 
 parents and grandmother to Illinois. They first 
 settled at Aurora and spent five years in farming, 
 four miles north of that city. The cash capital of 
 Mr. Keene on his arrival at his point of destination 
 was $15. In 1849 he purchased 46 acres of land on
 
 ) 
 
 J 
 
 section 4, of which he took possession and bent his en- 
 ergies to such good purposes that he was enabled in 
 1850 to purchase 160 acres additional. He contin- 
 ued to prosper, and in 1856 bought another 40 acres. 
 He increased his possessions in 1881 by the pur- 
 chase of 40 acres more, making an aggregate of 286 
 acres, lying in an unbroken body. In addition to his 
 several investments named, he has purchased and 
 given 1 60 acres to his oldest son. He is a typical 
 farmer, and has engaged continuously in the pursuit 
 of mixed husbandry. He has trafficked in short- 
 horn cattle for the past 20 years. In 1850 he began 
 to raise black-walnut trees, which are now in fine 
 bearing order. 
 
 Mr. Keene is a Republican and greatly interested 
 in the political affairs of his town, county and State, 
 and also in national matters. He is one of the most 
 prominent citizens of Victor Township, and has been 
 active in local official positions. 
 
 He was married, Oct. 17, 1848, to Emily Pulver, a 
 native of New York, and to them have been born 
 eight children, six of whom are still living : Julia E., 
 Martha A., George M., Nancy M., Lewis A. and 
 Laura B. Julia is the wife of S. L. Brewer, of Frank- 
 lin Co., Kan. George married Malinda Merritt, and 
 lives in Victor. Nancy M. married Jonathan E. 
 Davis, and resides in Victor Township. 
 
 ndrew J. Johnson, farmer, section 35, Mal- 
 ta Township, was born March 15, 1842, in 
 the province of Smolen, Sweden. His 
 mother died when he was in childhood, and 
 not long after that event the father came with 
 two wns to America, leaving behind a son and 
 two daughters. They located at De Kalb, and Mr. 
 Johnson entered the employment of a Mr. Stephens, 
 with whom he remained nearly two years, after which 
 he went to Franklin Township in the employment of 
 Thomas Nelson, a farmer for whom he commenced 
 to labor in ,June, 1855, remaining until October, 
 1863. In the spring of 1867 he purchased 80 acres 
 of land on section 35, Malta Township. At the time 
 of the purchase, the place was in its original natural 
 condition, and Mr. Johnson at once interested him- 
 self in its improvement. He purchased 80 acres ad- 
 ditional and has now the entire amount under im- 
 provement. He is a skillful and industrious farmer, 
 
 and besides fully improving his property has erected 
 excellent farm buildings and good fences. His farm 
 is stocked with good varieties of cattle and swine. 
 Mr. Johnson is a Republican in political principle 
 and is a Trustee in the Lutheran Church, to which Ig) 
 he and his wife belong. 
 
 He was married May 24, 1873, to Louise Samuel- 
 son, who was born April, 15, 1851, in Sweden, and 
 came to America in 1870. She died at her home in 
 Malta, Feb. 16, 1881, leaving four daughters: Minnie 
 V., Mary and Martha (twins who bear to each other 
 so close a resemblance that theia mother frequently |j|x 
 made a mistake in their identity), and Martin M., 
 Andrew J., Jennie M. and an infant child are de- 
 ceased. The latter, after it was born, died with its 
 mother. 
 
 Mr. Johnson was again married in De Kalb, Dec. 
 13, 1883, to Matilda Peterson, born in Sweden, March 
 18, 1860. She is the daughter of Jonas and Christina 
 (Holkenson) Peterson, and came to the United States 
 in August, 1882. Gusta E. is the name of her only 
 child. 
 
 homas Nicholson, farmer, section 15, Paw 
 Paw Township; postoffice, East Paw Paw, 
 De Kalb Co., has 240 acres. He was born 
 in Phillipsto<vn, Putnam Co., N. Y., Feb. 14, 
 1807, and is the son of Joshua and Rebecca 
 I (Kenyan) Nicholson. He removed to Dutch- 
 ess Co.,. N. Y., with his parents when 14 years of age, 
 and five years later to Tompkins Co., N. Y., where 
 he was married, June i, 1833, to Eunice, daughter 
 of Abram Clark. Mrs. Nicholson was born in Con- fi !> 
 necticut Aug. 20, 1812. They had 13 children, the 
 seven older ones born in New York and six born in 
 Illinois. There were ten boys and three girls, as 
 follows: Joshua, born March 8, 1834, and died aged 
 46 years, still unmarried. David H., born Oct. 18, 
 1835, married Mary J. Jones and lives in Paw Paw 
 Township; John W., born May n, 1836, married 
 Carrie Emmons, and lives in Chicago ; Charles W., 
 born Oct. 18, 1837, married Mary J. Roff, and lives 
 at Aurora; Clark, born June 10, 1839, died in child- 
 hood; Lydia A., born Dec. 6, 1841, wife of Cyrus 
 Fristoe, lives at Hot Springs, Ark. ; Susan R., born 
 May 26, 1843, is the wife of Dexter V. Pratt, and 
 lives in Paw Paw Township ; William L., born J 
 
 %*4>imm<
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 
 20, 1845, married Rachel Dunton, and lives in West 
 Paw Paw; Catharine J.,born Sept. 21, 1847, is the 
 wife of J. P. Hampton, and lives in Greene Co., Iowa ; 
 Edward J.,born Jan. 15, 1849, married Maria Greves, 
 and lives at Sandwich, 111. ; George M.,born Feb. 16, 
 185!, married Laura Braithwaite, and lives in Cal- 
 houn Co., Iowa; Thomas C., born April 22, 1853, is 
 deceased ; Fremont, born June 22, 185 6, lives in Paw 
 Paw Township. Mrs. Nicholson died Nov. 28, 1879. 
 Mr.. Nicholson came to Paw Paw Township, De 
 Kalb Co, 111., in 1846, bought his land of the 
 Government, on section 15, where he has made his 
 home ever since. 
 
 ev. Levi H. Davis, farmer, section 30, town- 
 ship of Paw Paw, postoffice, Earlville, La 
 Salle County, has 108 acres of land. He 
 is born in the town of Providence, Saratoga 
 Co., N. Y., Aug. 2, 1837, and is the son of 
 Richard C. and Susan E. (Pawling) Davis. 
 He removed in the spring of 1846 with his par- 
 ents to Oswego, 111., and in December of that year 
 came to Paw Paw Township, De Kalb Co., 111., and 
 located on the same section on which he now resides. 
 He was brought up a farmer, and was married at 
 Buchanan, Mich., Oct. 7, 1869, to Mrs. Mary J. 
 Davis, widow of his brother, Alexander P. Davis, who. 
 was drowned in the Illinois River, July 24, 1864, and 
 daughter of Thomas B. and Eliza (Hoag) Sawyer. 
 Mrs. Davis was born in Schenectady Co., N. Y., Sept. 
 20, 1834, and -came to Illinois in April, 1857. She 
 had one son by her fopner marriage, Charles A., born 
 Feb. 8, 1858. He married Sene Hanson and resides 
 in Paw Paw Township. One child was born of the 
 present marriage, namely, Wyman P., Jan. 16, 1871. 
 Mr. Davis united with the Baptist Church at the 
 age of 10 years. In 1861 he began laboring for the 
 conversion of souls. He soon after joined the Sec- 
 ond-Advent Christian Church and became a preacher 
 of that faith in 1863, since which time he has labored 
 continuously in that cause. Mrs. Davis united with 
 the Baptist Church in early life, and since 1868 has 
 been connected with the Second-Advent Christian 
 Church. Mr. Davis has served his School District 
 (No. i) nine years as Director. In politics he is an 
 arnest Republican, with prohibition sympathies. 
 
 In connection with the family history of Mr. Davis 
 and the following named cousins, now resident of De 
 Kalb County, Mrs. Cyrenius Bailey, Mrs. Mary J. 
 Y. Fonda, Mrs. Jane E. Sturgeon, Mr. Pawling A. 
 Morey and Mr. A. Pawling Yourg the following 
 references to their relation to well known historical 
 characters of Revolutionary times forms an appro- 
 priate and interesting feature: 
 
 Their great-grandfather, Alexander Wilson, was a 
 cousin of Alexander Hamilton. The Wilsons were 
 connected by marriage through Col. Pawling (an 
 officer in Washington's army), with Governor James 
 Clinton, of New York. This Alexander Wilson, of 
 New York city, was of Scotch descent, and married 
 Jane Armour, of Scotland. Their daughter, Jane, 
 married Levi Pawling, whose brother, Col. Albert 
 Pawling, was an officer in Washington's army, subse- 
 quently the first Mayor of Troy. The children of Levi 
 and Jane Pawling were the parents of the persons first 
 named in this sketch. Their eldest daughter, Helen 
 Pawling, married Winthrop Young, of New York, and 
 was the mother of Mrs. Mary J. Y. Fonda and of 
 Mr. A Pawling Young. Amanda Pawling married 
 Jesse Morey, and was the mother of Mrs. Cyrenius 
 Bailey and Pawling A. Morey. Susan E. married 
 Richard C. Davis and was the mother of Alexander 
 P. Davis, who was drowned in the Illinois River, 
 July 24, 1864, and of William J. Davis, of Missouri, 
 Albert P., of Livingston, M. T., and his twin brother, 
 the Rev. Levi H. Davis, of Paw Paw Township, and 
 of Jane E., wife of John D. Sturgeon, also of Paw 
 Paw. 
 
 An interesting anecdote of their great-grandmother, 
 Mrs. Jane Wilson, is traditionary in the family, and 
 deserves preservation in connection with the fore- 
 going. Mrs. Wilson, who was a devoted patriot, hav- 
 ing lost her husband in New York city, removed to 
 Salem, Washington County, where she married one 
 Moffat, of Tory sympathies. They carried on a store 
 and farm, and among their employees had several 
 Tories. One day Mrs. Moffat discovered that she 
 had been robbed of some valuables, including a gold 
 watch. The absence of some of her Tory workmen 
 led her to believe them to be the thieves and to sup- 
 pose that they had sought safety in Burgoyne's camp 
 at Saratoga. Mounting her horse, she rode to the 
 British camp and demanded an audience of Gen. 
 Burgoyne, which was granted, when she demanded 
 a search for her properly, which was at first refused, 
 
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 *<Xy ^^g7^3S>\\c4-
 
 THFLIWWRY 
 OF THE 
 
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 whereupon she threatened to report the General. 
 Burgoyne coolly asked to whom she would report 
 him. Her answer was, " To the Congress of the 
 United Colonies." The General, much amused 
 at this storming of his camp by a patriot in petti- 
 coats, he ordered a search. The stolen articles were 
 found and restored to her with the exception of the 
 watch, which an officer pocketed, with the remark 
 that he would keep it for Mr. Moffat. 
 
 At another time her husband, under pretense of 
 danger to her safety in her home, packed their goods, 
 mounted heron a horse with her baby in her arms and 
 started for Albany. On the way she surmised, from 
 a mysterious conversation between her husband and 
 some well-known Tories, that she was being taken to 
 the camp of the British army. Watching her oppor- 
 tunity, she ordered her attendants back, while she led 
 them and returned to her home. 
 
 The tradition of these incidents go to prove the 
 courage and patriotism of this lady ancestor, and is 
 very properly remembered with pride by her descend- 
 ants. 
 
 1, farmer, section 29, Victor Town- 
 ship, was born Jan 5, 1831, in Lincolnshire, 
 England, of which country his parents, 
 William and Sarah (Watson) Bend, were also 
 natives. He received the education common 
 to his class, and was reared at home through 
 the years of his minority. On leaving home he came 
 to seek a wider field of operation than that afforded 
 by the conditions which surrounded him in his native 
 country. He made his way to Scottsville, Monroe 
 Co, N. Y., where he, worked by the month as a farm 
 laborer a year and a half. He proceeded next to 
 Ohio, where he remained six weeks only, the situa- 
 tion not suiting his taste. He came to Illinois and 
 passed three years in farm labor at various places, 
 after which he located in De Kalb County, taking 
 land in Victor Township to work on shares. After 
 operating in this manner eight years, in 1866, he 
 bought 1 60 acres of land, where he established his 
 homestead, and which he still retains in his posses- 
 sion. He also owns 97 acres on section 30. He has 
 erected substantial and valuable buildings on his 
 farm, and has a fine stock and grain barn constructed 
 *^*~ 5% 
 
 at an expense of $3,000. He is interested in raising, 
 and in the sale of, fine graded stock. In political 
 views and actions, Mr. Bend has until the election of' 
 1884 affiliated with the Republican party; in that 
 year he cast his vote for the Democratic ticket. He \J 
 has officiated as School Director. 
 
 He was united in marriage Sept. i, 1852, to Jane 
 Sturges, and they have had 12 children, three of 
 whom are deceased : Mary A., Lewis W., John T., 
 Emma L., Esther E., Rosella, Joseph J., Metta J. 
 and Lucy E. are still living. ) 
 
 The portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Bend appear on jj |b 
 other pages of this work. 
 
 nton Stollberg, farmer, section 25, Malta 
 Township, was born Aug. 24, 1834, in 
 Prussia, Germany. He attended the schools 
 of .his native country as the law required ; and, 
 as the same regulation provided, on finishing the 
 prescribed studies he learned the trade of wea- 
 ver, commencing his apprenticeship when 14 years 
 of age. When he was 20 years old he took leave of 
 all his kindred in Germany and came alone to Amer- 
 ica, to seek a livelihood under more favorable circum- 
 stances than his native land afforded. His parents 
 were quite aged and have since died. He first set- 
 Jled in Ontario, Canada, where he was engaged as a 
 general laborer on farms in various places for a per- 
 iod of six years. 
 
 He was married in Petersburg, Canada, Jan. 4, 
 1857, to Bertha Sass. She was born Dec. 13,1840, 
 in Mecklenburg, Germany, of German parents. Her ) 
 mother died when she was 14 years of age, and dur- 
 ing the year following she came alone to America, j 
 whither her father had preceded her a short time. 
 She failed to find him as she expected, and she went 
 to Waterloo Co., Ont., and lived there with an ac- 
 quaintance. She afterward ascertained that her fa- 
 ther became a soldier in the Union army, and that 
 he was killed at the battle of Gettysburg. He en- ^ 
 listed in Chicago in an Illinois regiment. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Stollberg have three children. Mary 
 married Lewis Johnson, a Norwegian, and they live 
 on a farm in Malta Township. Louise is the wife of 
 August Bahr, a. mechanic in the barb-wire shops at 
 De Kalb. Bertha married Charles Johnson, and 
 they reside in De Kalb. After marriage the parents 
 

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 located in Petersburg, Ont., which was their residence 
 seven years, and they came thence to Detroit, Mich. 
 Three years later they removed to Sonionauk. After 
 their removal to De Kalb County, Mr. Stollberg 
 worked as a farm laborer at various places until 1875, 
 when he bought 80 acres o' improved land in Malta 
 Township, in which he has since prosecuted his ag- 
 ricultural labors with satisfactory results. He is a 
 Republican, and he belongs to the Baptist Church, 
 as does also his wife. 
 
 '.on. George Stewart Robinson is a resi- 
 dent of Sycamore. He was born June 24, 
 1824, in Derby, Orleans Co., Vt., and is the 
 son of George and Harriet (Stewart) Robinson. 
 His father was a native of Connecticut, the son 
 of Eber Robinson, a Captain in the War of the 
 Revolution. His mother was a native of Vermont, 
 the daughter of Rufus Stewart, a Major in the War 
 of 1 8 12. The subject of this sketch was reared on- a 
 farm in his native town and acquired such education 
 as was attainable in the public schools and semi- 
 naries of the place at that period. He is the only 
 survivor of a family of three children. His younger 
 brother, Charles, died in Cuthbert, Ga., April 9, 
 1860, and his brother Lucius died at Newport, Vt., 
 Jan. 8, 1882. 
 
 When 19 years of age he entered the law office of 
 Hon. S. B. Colby, at Derby, and began his profes- 
 sional studies. After reading under Mr. Colby's 
 instruction for two years he finished his legal course 
 with Hon. Lucius B. Peck, of Montpelier, and was 
 admitted to practice in the Courts of his native State, 
 November, 1846. On account of close application to 
 his studies, his health failed, and, with the hope of 
 its restoration, in 1847, he went South, where he was 
 occupied in teaching. In 1853 he returned to Derby, 
 and on the i3th day of October, 1853, was united in 
 marriage with Olive A. Colby, the daughter of Ne- 
 hemiah M. and Melinda (Larabee) Colby, born Dec. 
 20, 1831. Her parents were natives of New Hamp- 
 shire. 
 
 Shortly after their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Robin- 
 son removed to Cuthbert, Ga., where they resided 
 until 1866, Mr. Robinson engaged in the practice of 
 his profession. On leaving Georgia they came direct 
 
 to Sycamore, where Mr. Robinson formed a partner- 
 ship with Charles Kellum, at present Judge of the 
 Circuit Court, which partnership was continued four 
 years. He then continued alone until his election 
 as County Judge, in 1877, which position he con- 
 tinued to hold until 1882, when he resigned to attend 
 to private business in Vermont. When Sycamore 
 was organized as a city, he was elected one of its 
 Aldermen, and held the position two terms. He was 
 also City Attorney and drafted the ordinances under 
 which the city was governed for years, many of which 
 are still in force. For several years prior to his elec- 
 tion as Judge of the County Court, he held the posi- 
 tion of Master in Chancery, which position he 
 resigned soon after his election. In 1869 he was 
 appointed on the Board of State Commissioners of 
 Public Charities for the State of Illinois, by Gov. 
 John M. Palmer, was re-appointed by Gov. John L. 
 Beveridge in 1874, and again by Gov. Shelby M. 
 Cullom in 1879. He continued upon, and was an 
 active member of, the Board until March, 1884, when 
 he resigned, being unable to attend to the duties of 
 the position by reason of absence from the State on 
 business demanding his entire time. He was a 
 member of the Board for nearly 15 years, and was it's 
 President for nine years, devoting from two to three 
 months of his time each year to its work without 
 compensation. 
 
 Judge Robinson is a man of more than ordinary 
 ability, possessing a good legal mind and endowed 
 with good common sense. He was always consid- 
 ered an able lawyer and a safe counselor. Devoting 
 himself to general practice and not to any special 
 line of his profession, he has discharged his duties 
 as an attorney in a faithful manner to his clients 
 and has retained the respect of the Court. As 
 Judge of the County and Probate Courts, no man has 
 ever filled the position in a more satisfactory manner, 
 being popular alike with the Bar and the people. 
 As a member of the State Board of Public Charities, 
 he has made a State reputation. Notwithstanding 
 he received no compensation, he devoted his time 
 just as faithfully and as energetically as though re- 
 ceiving annually a handsome salary. That his ser- 
 vices were appreciated, his re-appointment and long 
 continued labors will attest. His service upon that 
 Board shows that he had a heart to feel for the 
 fortunate and realizes the responsibility of the State 
 and people to care for them. As a citizen, the Judge 
 
 
 HV
 
 
 
 > KALB COUNTY. 
 
 S ! 
 
 
 enjoys the respect of all. Ever ready to lend a help- 
 ing hand to every public enterprise, he takes hold 
 with a will, and what he does he does with all his 
 might. Few men enjoy the confidence of the people 
 in a greater degree. 
 
 Of three children born to Judge and Mrs. Robin- 
 son, only one survives. Hattie Melinda was born 
 Dec. 22, 1856, at Cuthbert, Ga. She was married in 
 June, 1881, to C. L. Buchan, of Chicago, and died 
 Nov. 3, 1884, at Sycamore, leaving a babe two weeks 
 old. Lucius Prentiss was born July 22, 1858, and 
 died in infancy. Nellie Colby was born Feb. 9, 
 1862. 
 
 obert F. Hampton, farmer, section 7, Paw 
 Paw Township, has 160 acres of land ; 
 postoffice East Paw Paw, is the son of Rob- 
 ert and Lydia (Zemmer) Hampton, and was 
 born in Paw Paw Township, Feb. 3, 1852. He 
 received an academic education and taught 
 school several winters, while he was farming summers. 
 He was married in Chicago, March 9, 1879, to 
 Miss Elizabeth C., daughter of Casper and Magda- 
 lena Dienst. Mrs. Hampton was born in La Salle 
 Co., 111., Nov. 12, 1858. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Hampton are members of the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church of East Paw Paw, and 
 Mr. H. is Republican in political views. 
 
 illiam Hecox, farmer, section 22, Malta 
 Township, was born Aug. 26, 1825, in Bur- 
 lington, Otsego Co., N. Y. Alexander 
 Hecox, his father, was a native of Montgom- 
 ery Co., N. Y., and a son of Samuel Hecox, 
 M. D., of Connecticut, of well-known and trace- 
 able ancestry, his progenitors having came to America 
 during the Colonial period to escape persecution in 
 England, and they reached distinction through su- 
 periorly of birth and culture. Dr. Hecox attained 
 celebrity in medicine and politics, ranking in both 
 without peer in his native Stale. He died al 96 years 
 of age. His second wife, Betsey Flint, belonged to 
 the class known as Mohawk Dutch, and who were 
 located adjacent to Cherry Valley at the period when 
 
 ^^ Q-A 
 
 that section of the State of New York was made his- 
 toric by the ravages of the Indians ; and her immedi- 
 ate relatives were among the refugees of that terrible 
 epoch, occupying places of cruel exposure in the dead 
 of winter to secure themselves from the tomahawk 
 and the more dreadful fate of capture. Dr. Hecox' 
 family included eight children, of whom Alexander 
 was the second. The latter was born, lived and died 
 on the same place, his demise occurring about 1838. 
 His wife, Emma Hammond, was a native of Brattle- 
 boro, Vt., and came of illustrious stock. Her father, 
 Thomas Hammond, was a soldier of 1812 and par- 
 ticipated in the battle of Queenstown, where he was 
 captured. He was carried to England, where he 
 was held a prisoner of war 1 8 months. He was a 
 shoemaker, and died at an advanced age, as did his 
 wife, in Montgomery Co., N. Y. 
 
 William Hecox is the eldest of six children, all of 
 whom are yet living and are prominent for health, 
 activity and intelligence. His father died when he 
 was 13 years old, and the widowed mother devoted 
 herself to the care and education of her children, 
 everyone of whom is a living example of inherited 
 merit and a testimony to the value of a sacrificing, 
 judicious mother. The youngest child is a daughter, 
 who is an inmate of her brother's home in New York. 
 Another brother is resident there and two others live 
 in Southern Nebraska. 
 
 Mr. Hecox contributed his assistance to the main- 
 tenance of the family until he was 21 years old, 
 passing his time as a day laborer on neighboring 
 farms. He also secured a fair degree of education, 
 and by frugality was enabled to save a share of what 
 he earned during the latter years of his minority. 
 
 He was first married Oct. 19, 1851, in Hartwick, 
 Otsego Co., N. Y., to Julia A., daughter of Austin 
 and Anna (King) Fuller. Her parents are natives of 
 Otsego County, and are still living in Chenango Co., 
 N. Y., although very aged. The daughter was born 
 Nov. 5, 1826, in Hartwick, Otsego County. She was 
 well and carefully educated and was for some years 
 a teacher. She died (childless) in Malta; in 1876. 
 Mr. Hecox was again married May 9, 1881, in Ran- 
 dallville, N. Y., to Mary, daughter of John and So- 
 phronia (Hartshorn) White. Her parents are of 
 genuine Yankee stock, born respectively in Connect- 
 icut and Massachusetts. The families of both 
 settled early in the State of New York, where they 
 were married. Mr. White, who was a cloth-dresser by
 
 
 f vocation, died when his daughter was four years of 
 age, and the latter was brought up by her mother, 
 who died in 1865. 
 
 Mr. Hecox came to Illinois in 1859, and he at once 
 ( -j). located on 160 acres in Malta Township. After his 
 second marriage he sold his farm with the intention 
 of establishing a permanent home in Nebraska; but 
 after a trial, the associations of De Kalb proved too 
 strong for him to resist, and he returned after a few 
 months. He again became a land-holder in Malta 
 / by the purchase of 80 acres of land, which has proved 
 a most desirable home, being well improved and cul- 
 tivated and supplied with presentable and valuable 
 farm buildings. Mr. Hecox is an adherent to the 
 tenets and principles of the Republican party. His 
 wife is a member of the Baptist Church. 
 
 ev. William Nicholson, minister, residing 
 at Shabbona, was in active service as a 
 Pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
 from 1834 to 1871, when, on account of being 
 thrown from his horse, he was 'compelled to re- 
 tire from active life. He was born in Newark, 
 Nottinghamshire, Eng., July 13, 1806, and is a son 
 of John and Charlotte (Rud) Nicholson. He was 
 reared and educated in his native town and spent a 
 portion of his early years in the lumber business. In 
 1829 he was converted to the faith of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church, and spent five years as tract dis- 
 tributor, benevolent visitor and teacher, and in 1834 
 began preaching as a local preacher. 
 
 He emigrated to the United States in 1842 and lo- 
 cated in the Western Reserve in Ohio, where he be- 
 gan preaching, at Nelson and Hiram Centers. In 
 1849 he removed to a point 20 miles from Coldwater, 
 in Branch Co., Mich. He preached in that county 
 and in Indiana for six years, and then in 1854 came 
 to this State and located at Aurora, where he as- 
 sisted in charge of the Church located there. In 
 
 1855 he went to Clinton Township, this county. In 
 
 1856 he preached in Shabbona Grove, then a part of 
 the Paw Paw Circuit. During that year he pur- 
 chased 80 acres of land in Shabbona Township, but 
 continued to reside at Paw Paw, Lee County, until 
 
 859, when he removed to his farm. He has subse- 
 
 quently added to his original purchase until he be- 
 came the owner of 200 acres. He was instrumental 
 in the building of school-houses and establishing re- 
 ligious meetings. 
 
 In the spring of 1876 Rev. Nicholson moved to 
 the village of Shabbona, where he has since lived. 
 He has filled the pulpit of both churches at that 
 place at different times. Since the summer of 1882 
 he has retired from active work in the ministry on 
 account of failing health and injuries received as 
 stated. 
 
 He was married Nov. 27, 1828, to Miss Maria, 
 daughter of Henry and Mary (Gilbert) Radford. She 
 was born in Nottinghamshire, England. They are 
 the parents of nine children, seven of whom are liv- 
 ing, viz.: Hannah, widow of James McCray, resides 
 in 'Earl, 111.; Sarah is the wife of Ira Lyons, a resi- 
 dent of Oregon ; Elizabeth died at the age of 19 years ; 
 Josiah H. married Loie Nicholson and resides in 
 Iowa; Mary is the wife of Dewitt Van Vliet and re- 
 sides at Elk Grove, Mo.; Martha is the wife of John 
 Mullins, and lives at Shabbona; John J. enlisted in 
 Co. E, losth 111. Inf., in the late Civil War, and died 
 with fever at Chicago before leaving for .the field of 
 action; Charles W. married Miss Marion Houghtby 
 and lives on the old homestead; Lucy M. is the 
 wife of Dewitt Van Velzor, a resident of Shabbona. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Nicholson has been identified with 
 the Republican party since the days of Fremont. He 
 has met with several severe accidents during his life. 
 The last one of consequence occurred when he was 
 65 years of age. He was thrown from his horse on 
 the frozen ground and badly crippled. He is also 
 the victim of acute rheumatism, from which he suffers 
 greatly. With all his afflictions, he maintains a pa- 
 tient faith that all is for the best, and still endeavors 
 to impress the divine precepts of his religion upon 
 all those who come within his influence. 
 
 VX 
 
 ifc 
 
 eorge W. Smiley, hardware merchant 
 and dealer in agricultural implements at 
 Malta, is also an extensive farmer, stock 
 and grain dealer, owning two fine farms situ- 
 ated on either side of the village. He is a 
 native of Sullivan Co., N. Y., whence he came 
 th his parents to Illinois, locating in Kane County. 
 

 
 TKUMAIIY 
 OF THE 
 
 U.LHKIS

 
 
 DE KALE COUNTY. 
 
 ; 
 
 > 
 
 & 
 
 He lost his mother by death when nine years old, 
 and from that period he continued under the charge 
 of his father in the States of New York and Pennsyl- 
 vania. He was in the latter State about four years. 
 After he was 13 years of age he maintained himself. 
 He reached his majority in Kane County, but before 
 he was 22 years of age he had traveled in 26 differ- 
 ent States. He had spent a summer in Canada and 
 visited Central America, Cuba and Mexico. While 
 in Central America he was arrested on some triv- 
 ial] pretext and held a prisoner for some time by the 
 suspicious authorities. In California he was inter- 
 ested in gold-mining, which proved a fortunate in- 
 vestment. Returning thence via New Orleans to 
 Illinois, he settled on a farm of 160 acres, which he 
 had previously purchased in Kane County, where he 
 pursued agriculture several years. In 1863 he came 
 to the township of Malta and purchased 80 acres of 
 farming land in Milan Township. Later on he 
 bought another tract of similar extent, and soon after 
 located in the village, where he has since conducted 
 his business, at first engaging in the sale of coal, lum- 
 ber and farming implements, in partnership with 
 Charles W. Haish. They operated jointly five years. 
 Since 1870, Mr. Smiley has transacted a heavy busi- 
 ness in the lines of traffic indicated. As an agricul- 
 turist he ranks with two others as the best in De 
 Kalb County, and has at one time been the leading 
 dealer in farming apparatus in the county, supplying 
 fully a third of tjjie demand. For the last 15 years he 
 has shipped to market annually an average of 100 
 car-loads of stock. He is the proprietor of 260 acres 
 of land, all in advanced cultivation. His property 
 in the village includes a stock and feed yard, a 
 double store and grain warehouse, and the building 
 and lot where he resides. His business transactions 
 aggregate yearly $150,000. 
 
 Mr. Smiley is a Democrat in political persuasion. 
 He is present President of Malta Corporate Board, 
 and has held all the local offices of the township and 
 village. 
 
 He was united in marriage to Arzoda Smith, Jan. 
 6,1857, at Geneva, 111. Her parents, James and 
 Arzoda Smith, were early settlers in Kane County, 
 whither they came from Erie Co., Pa., in 1835. Her 
 mother and father have been dead some years. Mrs. 
 Smiley was born Jan. 21, 1835, m Erie Co., Pa., 
 and was eight months old when brought by her 
 parents to Illinois. After obtaining her .education 
 
 she managed the domestic part of her father's affairs 
 until her marriage. Following is the record of five 
 children, of whom she has been the mother: Burr B., 
 born April 30, 1859, was married Oct. 21, 1880, in 
 Malta, to Emily J. Peters, and they Rave one child 
 Eva, born July 3, 1882; B. B. Smiley is connected 
 with his father in business ; Thyrza was born June 
 13, 1864; May and Myrtie, twins, were born June 
 27, 1868; Budd D., born, Feb. 3, i86i,was accident- 
 ally killed May 26, 1878, by a freight train on the 
 railroad at Creston, Ogle Co., 111. 
 
 t avid West, a pioneer farmer of De Kalb 
 County, who resides on section 34, Syca- 
 more Township, was born July 16, 1806, 
 in Waterville, Oneida Co., N. Y., to which 
 place his parents had removed from Massachu- 
 setts in the same year. Asa West, his father, 
 was born in 1769, in Williamstown, Berkshire Co., 
 Mass.,, and married Sarah Parker, who was born 
 April 25, 1773, in Deerfield, Franklin Co., Mass. 
 In 1808 the fa.nily migrated to Madison Co., N. Y., 
 where they were pioneers. The father bought a tract 
 of timber land, where he built a log house, which was 
 occupied by the family for a number of years. The 
 senior West was a clothier by trade and a man of 
 natural mechanical abilities, later in life becoming a 
 cooper and following that business during the winter 
 seasons after his removal to the State of New York. 
 While the second struggle of the Colonies with Great 
 Britain was in progress, he made wooden canteens 
 for the soldiers. In 1815 his health failed, and after 
 an illness of six years' duration, he died, in January, 
 1821. The mother, with her children, resided some 
 years after that event in Madison County, and re- 
 moved thence in 1826 to Erie County, where she 
 died, Dec. 2, 1828, aged 48 years. 
 
 Mr. West is the sole survivor of nine children, five 
 of whom preceded him in order of birth. After the 
 death of his father, he was a member of the family 
 of his brother-in-law, Daniel Hurd, of Georgetown, 
 Madison Co., N. Y., until he was 20 years of age, 
 when he went to Evans, Erie Co., N. Y., and oper- 
 ated as a contractor in the forests, clearing land and 
 lumbering. On the 2gth of April, 1829, he was mar- 
 ried to Sarah Chapin, in Georgetown. She was the
 
 KALB COUNTY. 
 
 uighter of Elias and Dimis (Chapman) Chapin, 
 who removed from Stafford, Conn., to Madison County. 
 The former was born Feb. 15, 1751, was a soldier of 
 the Revolution and was with Washington at the 
 evacuation of the city of New York by the British. 
 He died in Evans, Erie Co., N. Y., Feb. 4, 1839. 
 The latter was born. Oct. 15, 1774, and died in New 
 .Woodstock, Madison Co., N. Y., Oct. 12, 1860. 
 
 After his marriage, Mr. West purchased a tract of 
 land included in the " Holland Purchase," in Evans> 
 built a house and barn and cleared 45 acres. He 
 was a resident there until 1843, and in addition to 
 his own clearing and farming operations he put in 
 tillable condition about 350 acres of land. In the 
 fall of 1843 he sold his farm, and with his family, in- 
 cluding his wife and five children, he started for 
 Illinois, making the journey with a pair of horses and 
 a wagon, and bringing with them a portion of their 
 household goods. After 23 days of travel, exclusive 
 of Sundays, they arrived in Sycamore and passed the 
 ensuing winter with Aaron C. West, a brother, then 
 resident on section 34. Mr. West bought a tract of 
 land adjoining on section 34, and in the winter of 
 1844-5 ne built a small frame house for the accom- 
 modation of his family. During the same winter he en- 
 tered his claim. His first crop was raised on rented 
 land in 1844, the same year in which he broke 20 
 acres on his own property. In 1845 he raised a crop 
 of grain on his own place. At that time Chicago was 
 the nearest market, and also the nearest point to ob- 
 tain necessary supplies. The nearest mill was at 
 St. Charles in Kane County. The farm of Mr. West 
 presents a wide contrast from its primitive condition. 
 It comprises 107 acres under tillage, with an excel- 
 lent class of farm buildings. The place is supplied 
 with an apple orchard planted by the proprietor, 
 some of the trees having been brought by him from 
 the State of New York. The yard fronting the house 
 is made pleasant and attractive by shade trees and 
 ornamental shrubbery. 
 
 The first wife of Mr. West was born Jan. 8, r8o4, 
 in Stafford, Conn., and of their union eight children 
 were born, six of whom survive : Elias C. was born 
 Nov. 25, 1839, in Evans, Erie Co. N. Y., and has 
 been a resident of Sycamore since he was four years 
 of age. He entered the army of the United States | 
 during the War of the Rebellion, enlisting Sept. 2, 
 
 32, in Co. A, 105111 111. Inf. The command was 
 attached to the 20th Army Corps, and he experienced i 
 
 the vicissitudes of the Atlanta campaign and march 
 through Georgia and the Carolinas, participating in 
 the Grand Review at Washington, D. C., at the close 
 of the war. He was slightly wounded at Kenesaw 
 Mountain and at Atlanta. 
 
 He was married June 17, 1872, to Ella A. Reese, 
 and they have had three children, May B., Roy C. 
 and Gertie May. The oldest child died when about 
 nine years of age. Mrs. West was born in Wisconsin, 
 and is the daughter of Adam and Mary (Bass) 
 Reese. He is associated with his father in dairying 
 and raising fine stock, their joint ownership of land 
 including 205 acres, all under improvement. The 
 unmarried children of Mr. West are Alice C., Orrin, 
 Asa P., Sarah L. and Miranda M. The mother died 
 Jan. 23, 1849. Mr. West was a second time mar- 
 ried, May 28, 1849, to Mrs. Lucinda (Rose) Wells, 
 widow of Israel Wells, who died in March, 1845, 
 leaving two children, George M. and Ruth. The 
 latter died when 26 years old. The former is a con- 
 ductor on the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. The 
 mother was born in August, 1804, in Sherburn, 
 Chenango Co., N. Y. Her parents, Joseph and 
 Ruth (Whitney) Rose, were natives of Windhall, Vt., 
 whence they removed to Sherburn. The former was 
 born Dec. 25, ^60, the latter July 28, 1772. Mrs. 
 West died April 10, 1884. 
 
 On a preceding page in proximity a lithographic 
 likeness of the above sketched venerable pioneer is 
 given, which will doubtless be appreciated with a 
 high degree of pleasure by the public in this part of 
 the State. 
 
 Most of the life of Mr. West has been of a pioneer 
 character. Georgetown, in 1826, the date of his re- 
 moval thence, was still in the heart of a wilderness, 
 and the same state of affairs existed in Erie County 
 (Buffalo being comparatively a village), whence he 
 came to De Kalb County, only to repeat his experi- 
 ence in an undeveloped section of country. He has 
 been active in the duties of his citizenship at Syca- 
 more, and as Commissioner assisted in the construc- 
 tion of the highways. He has been a factor in the 
 organization of the school districts, and served his 
 township several years as Assessor. When he was 
 25 years of age he connected himself with the Con- 
 gregational Church, in the town of Collins, Erie Co., 
 N. Y., of which he remained a member until 1879, 
 when he severed his relations therewith from con- 
 scientious scruples, believing that the Bible, by pre- 
 

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 ! 
 
 
 cept, discountenances secret organizations, Masonry 
 in particular. In the days when Sycamore was in its 
 incipiency his house was the home of the clergy who 
 came hither in the practice of their calling, and it 
 was also a depot on the " Underground Railroad," 
 Mr. West often being called on to aid the refugees 
 from the South and help them on their way to a land 
 of freedom. He has been a practical temperance 
 man and a zealous advocate in the cause for many 
 years, and has never used tobacco in any form. He 
 raised a barn in Erie Co., N. Y., which was erected 
 without the aid of whisky, about 1835. Mr. West is 
 a man of firm convictions and fearless in the practi- 
 cal application of his opinions. He voted for James 
 G. Birney for President at a time when the anti- 
 slavery candidate of the district for Representative 
 received but 40 votes. 
 
 Asa P. West, second son of David West, was born 
 May 16, 1837, in Evans, Erie Co., N. Y. He was 
 educated with care, and fitted for entering upon a 
 professional career. He entered the United States 
 military service as a soldier for the Union, and was 
 mustered in May 24, 1861, with his regiment, I3th 
 111. Vol. Inf. At the battle of Chickasaw Bayou he 
 was shot through the right lung, the ball shattering a 
 rib and passing through the shoulder blade. He 
 worked his finger into the wound to control the 
 bleeding, and made his way unassisted to the rear 
 of the line of battle. He was taken in charge by Dr. 
 Henry T. Salter, Assistant Surgeon of his regiment, 
 who put his own fingers in the wound and controlled 
 the flow of blood until coagulation stopped the artery. 
 Late in the afternoon he was carried on a stretcher 
 to a hospital boat, where he was placed face down- 
 ward on a straw mattress in the cabin and left to die, 
 the surgeon in charge pronouncing his fate certain. 
 After several days the surgeon remarked, " This fel- 
 low won't die ; we may as well do what we can for 
 him." His wound was officially described as follows: 
 " He is shot through the right lung, the ball striking 
 the fourth rib, cutting it off, severing the branch 
 artery and passing out through the inner curve of the 
 scapula." His father had given him a white silk 
 handkerchief for use in case he was wounded, and 
 the surgeon inserted this in the wound by means of 
 a probe and drew it out at the back. This was done 
 several times, and repeated several successive days. 
 The wounded were sent North, the installment to 
 
 66 1 
 
 which Mr. West belonged reaching St. Louis Jan. 19, 
 1863. The weather was very cold, and when he was 
 carried into the hospital his feet and legs were found 
 to be frozen nearly to his knees. There was talk of 
 his losing them, but he was in charge of an experi- 
 enced French nurse, who had been in the Crimea, 
 and whose care saved his limbs and his life. After he 
 recovered, he assisted about the hospital until he was 
 taken with the small-pox. He lived through the 
 attack, and was discharged from the hospital June 6, 
 1863. He returned Jo Sycamore and entered upon 
 the study of law. His wound had not healed, and 
 he was obliged to undergo an operation to remove 
 the diseased portions of the shoulder blade. 
 
 In the winter of 1864-5 ne was a g am m the em- 
 ployment of the Government, and had charge of a 
 portion of a construction corps with the army of Gen- 
 eral Sherman. He acted as engineer on the locomo- 
 tive that took General Grant to Smithfield after the 
 surrender of General Johnston, and went from there 
 to Baltimore through the Dismal Swamp Canal, and 
 thence to Washington, reaching there the day before 
 the Grand Review. Mr. West is engaged in the 
 practice of law at Geneva, Kane Co., 111. Nov. 7, 
 1882, he fell from a tree and crushed the loth and 
 nth vertebrae of the back-bone, throwing the spine 
 six inches out of place, tearing the two lower perma- 
 nent ribs from the breast-bone and driving them 
 through the flesh. The bones of the heel of the 
 right foot were also crushed. Surgical skill saved 
 his life again. The case of Mr. West forms one of 
 the most remarkable instances of the surgical his- 
 tory of the war. 
 
 He was married June 22, 1867,10 Maria, daughter 
 of John and Grace Wilson. She was born in Hali- 
 fax, Yorkshire, England. Her father was for 17 years 
 the publisher of the Kane County Advertiser. 
 
 .enry Lanan, a farmer on section 4, May- ., 
 field Township, is a son of John and Mar- 
 garet Lanan, natives of Belgium, who 
 emigrated to America and settled first in Al- 
 bany, N. Y., and came to Illinois in 1837, 
 locating in De Kalb County ; they died in the 
 township of Mayfield, in 1862, the father March 16, 
 and the mother June 16.
 
 
 Mr. Henry Lanan was also born in Belgium 
 March 25, 1821, c:me to this county with his parents 
 and has since lived in Mayfield Township. He 
 owns 280 acres of good farming land. Politically he 
 is a Democrat, and in religion he is a Catholic, as is 
 also his wife. He was married in Chicago, 111., 
 March 24, 1854, to Anna M. Gregory, daughter of 
 Anton and Christine Gregory, natives of Germany. 
 She was born April 26, 1825, also in Germany. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Lanan have five children, namely : Martha, 
 born Jan. 28, 1856; Caroline, April 9, 1857, became 
 the wife of George Tower, April n, 1876; Joseph, 
 born Feb. 3, 1860, married July 4, 1881, to Hattie 
 Tower; Henry was born May n, 1868. 
 
 illiam H. Corey, farmer, . section 35, 
 Malta Township, was born in Hancock, 
 Berkshire Co., Mass., March 13, 1834, 
 ^ Hamilton Corey, his father, was of New Eng- 
 land birth and Scotch descent, and a farmer 
 by occupation and inheritance. He married 
 Lydia Streeter, and a few years before their death 
 they settled in Columbia Co., N. Y. The former died 
 Aug. 19, 1854 ; the latter, April 18, of the same year. 
 He was born April 24, 1807, and she was born Oct. 
 22, 1806. 
 
 Mr. Corey is the youngest of their four children, 
 all of whom are living, as follows : Lydia I. is the old- 
 est child; Julius lives at Rockford, 111.; Olive R. 
 married J. E. Mecum, and resides at Dalton, Mass. 
 Mr. Corey lived with his parents until he was 18 
 years of age, attending school, and two years later 
 his father died. After that event he engaged for a 
 short time as a clerk in Columbia County, coming 
 when he was 2 1 years of age to Rockford, 111., where 
 his brother had located some years before. He pur- 
 chased an interest in a carpenter's shop and set him- 
 self about learning the use of tools. After pursuing 
 the business a few years he came to South Grove 
 Township and purchased 80 acres of land. It was 
 chiefly in its original unbroken condition, and he 
 operated on the place four years, making necessary 
 improvements, and converting it into a good farm. 
 In 1867 he sold the place and purchased the farm 
 hich he has since operated in Malta Township, 
 with satisfactory results. He owns 160 acres, and is 
 
 considered a skillful and practical farmer. He makes 
 a specialty of Durham cattle and Poland-China swine 
 Mr. Corey. is a Republican. 
 
 He was first united in marriage, Sept. 9, 1862, at 
 Rockford, to Jennie O. Dwight. She was born near 
 Springfield, Mass., and came West after reaching 
 womanhood. Her death transpired April 9, 1871, 
 after she became the mother 'of four children : 
 Lura, the oldest, wq,s born July 21, 1864, and mar- 
 ried George Kempson, a farmer in Malta Township. 
 Mary D. was born Oct. 24, 1865; Ellie died when 
 five months old. Henry D. was born Nov. 12, 1871, 
 and died Feb. 12, 1882. Mr. Corey was again mar- 
 ried March to, 1876, in De Kalb, to Irene A., daugh- 
 ter of Solomon and Nancy (Goodell) Hollister. The 
 former was born in New York, the latter in Connecti- 
 cut. They were among the early settlers in the 
 township and county of De Kalb, and the father is 
 now deceased. His widow resides with a son in Da- 
 kota. Mrs. Corey was born Feb. 7, 1849, in De 
 Kalb, and was less than two years old when she lost 
 her father. She lived after that with her mother, at- 
 tending school at De Kalb until she was 19 years of 
 age, when she commenced teaching, in which she 
 was engaged until her marriage. Two children are 
 now included in the home circle: Jennie, born March 
 2r, 1877, and Dan E., Nov. 20, 1883. Mrs. Corey 
 belongs to the Baptist Church. 
 
 enry L. Band, resident on section 31, South 
 Grove Township, has lived in De Kalb 
 County from his boyhood. He was born 
 Jan. 7, 1832, in Genesee Co., N. Y., and is the 
 son of Aaron and Permelia (Ains worth) Rand, 
 who were natives respectively of Massachusetts 
 and New York. The former was a farmer during 
 his active business life, and came to Illinois in 1839, 
 settling in St. Clair County, where the mother died 
 in 1840. The father is now 95 years of age, and re- 
 sides alternately in the counties of Green and 
 Jasper, Iowa, with a son and daughter. He was a 
 soldi8r of the War of 1812 and is the recipient of a 
 pension. 
 
 Mr. Rand was a member of his father's household 
 until he was 26 years of age. He acquired a thor- 
 ough knowledge of the vocation of his father, and 
 also secured a good district-school education. In 

 
 m 
 inn 
 
 WWEBnY Of lUMOIS
 
 -J^v 
 
 I 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 1858 he made a purchase of 80 acres of land with a 
 view to settling in independent life. The land was 
 in its original prairie condition, and he entered ener- 
 getically into the work of improvement and cultiva- 
 tion. On this he resided until 1879, when he sold 
 and bought a similar acreage on the same section, 
 where he established a permanent home. 
 
 The marriage of Mr. Rand to Laura A. Pritchard 
 took place Nov. 20, 1857, in Franklin Township. 
 Mrs. Rand was born July 9, 1833, in Plattsburg, 
 State of New York, and is the daughter of Henry 
 and Mary (Blackmer) Pritchard. Her parents were 
 both of English descent, and were born respectively 
 in Vermont and New York. Late in life they 
 left their native States and settled in De Kalb 
 County, where the former died, in April, 1875. The 
 mother is 81 years of age (1885). Mrs. Rand pre- 
 ceded her parents in her removal to Illinois and be- 
 came a member of the household of her aunt, Mrs. 
 Roxana Moon, of South Grove Township, with whom 
 she lived until her marriage. One of four children 
 born of that event is deceased. Herbert B. is mar- 
 ried and engaged in farming in South Grove Town- 
 ship. Herman H. and Amie A. are unmarried. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Rand are members of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal Church. 
 
 L.harles Newsham, farmer, section 24, Mal- 
 ta Township, was born Nov. 2, 1835, in 
 Pittsburg, Pa. Charles Newsham, senior, 
 removed his family in 1838 to a farm in Erie 
 County in the same State. The latter married 
 Mary Ward, a native of the city of London, 
 England. The father was born and bred in York- 
 shire, England, and their marriage took place after 
 their removal to the United States, and they resided 
 in Erie County, Pa. The mother died in November, 
 1882, and the father has since married Mrs. Betsey 
 (Henton) Brace. He is 77 years of age. 
 
 Mr. Newsham is the oldest of nine children, seven 
 of whom yet survive. He was bred to the occupation 
 of a farmer on his father's homestead in Pennsylvania, 
 and he acquired a fair common-school education. He 
 was married Oct. 6, 1856, in Erie Co., Pa., to Sarah 
 Barton. She was born Oct. 3, 1 838, in Trenton, Onei- 
 ida, Co., N. Y., and is a daughter of Thomas P. and 
 
 ^^^ 
 
 Rhoda (Calkins) Barton. In 1848 Mrs. Newsham re- 
 moved with her parents to Erie Co., Pa., where both 
 died after long and useful lives. Five children have 
 been born to Mr. and Mrs. Newsham May, Nellie, 
 George H., Jennie V. and Kiltie D. 
 
 After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Newsham set 
 out for the West to seek to build up a home and for-* 
 tune, and they first fixed their residence at Broad- 
 head, Greene Co., Wis., where they engaged in farm- 
 ing, operating as renters. In the winter of 1864 Mr. 
 Newsham went to the oil regions of the Keystone 
 State, where he was occupied two years, and during 
 two years subsequent he resided in Erie County, in 
 the vicinity of his father's homestead. The family 
 came to Illinois in the summer of 1867 and settled 
 in Milan Township, De Kalb County, where they 
 continued six years, and at the end of that time re- 
 turned to Pennsylvania for a year's stay at Erie City, 
 after which they settled permanently in Malta Town- 
 ship. Mr. Newsham is conducting the farm interests 
 of Mrs. Thomas Holderness. In political connection 
 he is a Republican. 
 
 r. 
 
 A. Iievi Wells, dealer in lumber, 
 building material, stone, coal, etc., at 
 Shabbona, established his present business 
 
 June i, 1880, as successor to Wm. Deacon. 
 
 He was born in Charlotte, Chautauqua Co., N. 
 
 Y., Sept. 1 6, 1836, the* son of Royal and Betsey 
 (Larkin) Wells, and received a common-school edu- 
 cation. He engaged in clerking until 1857, when he 
 came to Albany, Whiteside Co., 111., and one year 
 afterward removed to Kaneville, Kane Co., 111., con- 
 tinuing in the same business. 
 
 He enlisted in the cause of the Government Sept. 
 18, i86r, in the Eighth 111. Vol. Cav., Co. I, and on 
 its organization was appointed Corporal. In Decem- 
 ber following he was elected First Sergeant, served 
 as such till Sept. i, 1862, when he was commissioned 
 First Lieutenant, and April 3,1863, was commissioned 
 Captain of Co. I, above referred to, his commission 
 to date back to Aug. 29, 1862. In this capacity he 
 served till Sept. 27, 1864. He was wounded at the 
 battle of Falling Waters, July 14, 1863, by a 
 gunshot in the left breast, the ball passing around 
 to the shoulder blade and thence outward. Capt. 
 Wells was in 85 different engagements in all, in-
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 eluding all those in which the Army of the Potomac 
 participated up to December, 1864. 
 
 After his return from the war, in the springof 1866, 
 he settled in the town of Milan, De Kalb County, 
 and engaged in farming. Continuing in that busi- 
 ness until March 1878, he removed to Shabbona vil- 
 lage, formed a partnership with S. G. Gilbert in the 
 grocery trade, and followed that business until June, 
 1880, when he entered upon his present business, in 
 which he is prospering. 
 
 He was Supervisor of Milan Township four years, 
 Township School Treasurer eight years. In his 
 views of national policy he is a Republican. 
 
 Mr. Wells was married at Kaneville, III., Sept. 7, 
 1863, to Miss Nancy C. Fink, daughter of J. A. and 
 Nancy B. (Norris) Fink. She is a native of Onondaga 
 Co., N. Y. Mr. and Mrs. Wells have five children, 
 namely, RilleM., Jessie M., Clarence N., Marion H. 
 and Lizzie. 
 
 The publishers of this ALBUM take pleasure in 
 presenting to the public a fine lithographic portrait 
 of the subject of the foregoing brief biographical 
 sketch, upon a page in proximity. 
 
 ft 
 
 L.harles Whitney, one of the inventors and 
 manufacturers of the Marsh-Whitney 
 Platform Binders, resident at Sycamore, 
 was born Jan. 30, 1834, in Almond, Alle- 
 gany Co., N. Y., and is the son of David and 
 Margaret (Karr) Whitney. The former was 
 born March 4, 1796, in Chittenden Co., Vt, was a 
 farmer by vocation and became a resident of Alle- 
 gany Co., N. Y., in 1814. He married and contin- 
 ued a resident of that county until his removal in 
 the fall of 1836 to Ohio. He went later to Roches- 
 ter, Minn., and eventually to Carthage, Jasper Co., 
 Mo., where he died, in the fall of 1876. The mother 
 is a native of the Mohawk Valley in the Empire 
 State, and was born in the year 1800. She is still 
 living, in Allegany County. They had eight chil- 
 dren, five of whom are deceased: Matilda is the 
 wife of H. O. Nearing, a farmer of Delta, Ohio. Car- 
 oline is the widow of Oscar Snyder, formerly a farmer 
 of Massillon, Ohio. 
 
 Mr. Whitney was brought up on his father's farm 
 until he was r8, when he went to California, then in 
 
 the height of its notoriety as the Golden State, and 
 offering a. wonderful field of successful operation to 
 such as sought its opportunities in cool, well balanced 
 judgment, instead of being impelled by the spirit of 
 adventure which so frequently gives a false impetus 
 toward unexplored and undeveloped regions. Mr. 
 Whitney made his way to the El Dorado of the 
 Pacific coast under the guidance of the former im- 
 pulse, and operated in the gold fields nearly three 
 years, meeting with a reasonable degree of success. 
 Early in 1855 he returned to the Buckeye State, and 
 was married on the 25th of March of the same year, 
 at Waterville, Lucas County, to Orilla Paine. Soon 
 after that event Mr. and Mrs. Whitney located at 
 Rochester, Minn., where three sons were born to 
 them: George was ''born March 25, 1856. Fred 
 was born Oct. 7, 1857, and died July 5, i88i,at 
 Sycamore. Frank was born April 7, 1860. Mrs. 
 Whitney was born May 20, 1834, in Huron Co., 
 Ohio, and is the daughter of Henry A. and Esther 
 (Middleton) Paine. 
 
 On his removal to Minnesota, Mr. Whitney pre- 
 empted a claim of 160 acres of prairie, and not long 
 afterward, associated with Z. J. Cowles, he engaged 
 in the manufacture and sale of furniture, in which he 
 continued to operate until 1869. Mr. Whitney pos- 
 sesses keen powers of observation, and a mental 
 organism of a reflective character, coupled with in- 
 ventive genius of a practical type ; and the feasibility 
 of all kinds of agricultural machinery in prairie farm- 
 ing was with him a foregone conclusion from the 
 beginning of enterprise in that direction. In 1869 
 he sold his interest in the traffic in k which he had 
 been engaged for 14 years, and, in company with his 
 brother John, gave scope to the bent of his inventive 
 proclivities in manufacturing and experimenting with 
 platform binders. They pursued their operations in 
 Minnesota until 1871, with varying success, and in 
 that year went to St. Louis, Mo., and continued their 
 business in that line several years, their joint opera- 
 tions being terminated in the spring of 1876 by the 
 death of John Whitney. 
 
 Charles Whitney came to Sycamore in 1877, and 
 became interested in perfecting and manufacturing 
 the Marsh-Whitney platform binder. The machine 
 in its completeness was first put into market in 1882, 
 and was received with all the favor it merited. Its 
 popularity grew and sales multiplied in proportion
 
 
 -zn&cr 
 
 COUNTY. 
 
 667 
 
 I 
 
 until June, 1884, when the manufacturers were com- 
 pelled to suspend operations by the collapse of other 
 p business houses of heavy capital with which they 
 were connected. 
 
 Mr. Whitney has patented several principles con- 
 nected with his inventions, which he is engaged in 
 introducing to manufacturers, who are recognizing 
 the merits, and becoming interested in the con- 
 struction, of the machines. 
 
 eorge Chapel, farmer and stock-raiser, sec- 
 tion 22, Malta Township, was born in 
 Washington Township, Berkshire Co., 
 Mass., Oct. '6, 1829. Joseph Chapel, his fa- 
 ther, was a native of the same township and 
 
 I a farmer by occupation, and his father, Jona- 
 than Chapel, was born in Connecticut and also fol- 
 lowed the vocation of a farmer. 
 
 The Chapel family were of English extraction and 
 early settlers in this country. Jonathan, grand- 
 father of our subject, was a soldier in the war of 
 1812, and Mr. Chapel of this notice still retains in 
 his family, as a memento of those " trying days," the 
 old musket his grandfather used. The grandfather 
 died in Berkshire Co., Mass., at an advanced age. 
 
 The father of Mr. Chapel came West in 1868 and 
 lived with his children until the date of his death, 
 which occurred at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. 
 E. A. Watkins, in Malta, May 13, 1874. The mother 
 and grandmother of Mr. Chapel were both natives of 
 New York. The latter died in Berkshire Co., Mass., 
 about 1847, at an advanced age, and the mother, 
 Amanda (Chapel) Chapel, also died in that county, 
 in 1880, aged 79 years. 
 
 George Chapel lived at home, and assisted the 
 father in the cultivation of the farm and attending 
 the common schools, until he attained the age of 22 
 years. At this period in his life, Mr. Chapel was 
 united in marriage. That event occurred at Lebanon 
 Springs, Columbia Co., N. Y., Aug. 26, 1852, and the 
 life companion he chose was Miss Mary E. Watkins. 
 She was a daughter of Millen and Barbara (Arm- 
 strong) Watkins, natives of Massachusetts and Scot- 
 land, respectively. Her grandfather and grandmother, 
 Zack and Olive (Brown) Watkins, were natives of 
 Massachusetts, of English extraction, and died in 
 
 Berkshire Co., that State, the former in 1852 and the 
 latter in 1874, aged respectively 73 and 92 years. 
 
 The parents of Mrs. Chapel came to this county 
 in 1858 and located in Malta Township, where her 
 father died in September, 1867, and her mother in 
 September, 1874, aged 68 and 83 years respectively. 
 Mrs. Chapel remained a member of her father's farn-' 
 ily until the date of her marriage. 
 
 After marriage Mr. Chapel lived in his native State 
 and county until the year 1858, when he came to 
 this county and located in South Grove Township. 
 He remained on that farm six years, until 1864, 
 when he moved to Malta Township and purchased 
 186 acres of land approximate to the village of Malta. 
 The land was only partially improved at the time he 
 made his purchase, but he has since improved the 
 entire tract and has the same under a good state of 
 cultivation. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Chapel are the parents of five chil- 
 dren, one of whom is deceased. The living are 
 Emma A., born March 16, 1856, and married David 
 Radcliff, Dec. 12, 1875, at Malta; Will D., born 
 Dec. 3, 1858, married Miss lola Chandler, Dec. i, 
 1878, and resides on the homestead; Barbara, born 
 July 24, 1863, resides with her parents; and George 
 E., born July 26, 1869, also resides on the farm. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Chapel are members of the Congre- 
 gational Church, of which Mr. Chapel is a Trustee 
 and Deacon. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Chapel is a Republican. He has 
 been Assessor of his township for 10 years, and is at 
 present acting in that capacity. 
 
 lies M. Alexander, general merchant at 
 Shabbona, was born in Paris, Oneida Co., 
 N. Y., July 15, 1823. He is a son of 
 Henry and Betsy (Gallup) Alexander, who 
 soon after the birth of their son moved to 
 1 Herkimer County, that State, and settled on a ^ 
 farm. Mr. Alexander, of this sketch, was brought 
 up on his father's farm in Herkimer County. His 
 years of minority were passed in farm labor and in 
 attendance at the common schools. In the fall of 
 1845, in Herkimer County, he was married to Miss 
 Eve, daughter of Dennis and Elizabeth Clapsaddle. 
 She was born in Herkimer County, N. Y., May 28,
 
 J 
 
 1822. Two children were the issue of their union, 
 namely : Elizabeth C., wife of M. V. Allen, of 
 Shabbona, and Eva M., wife of W. W. Bouslough, 
 residing at Shabbona. Mrs. Alexander died in the 
 fall of 1858. 
 
 In the spring of 1854 Mr. Alexander, with his 
 family, came to this county and located on section 
 34, Shabbona Township. He entered at once on the 
 improvements and cultivation of his land and con- 
 tinued to reside on it until 1875. In the spring of 
 that year he moved to Shabbona village and engaged 
 in the drug business. Two years later, sold his busi- 
 ness to Capt. M. V. Allen, and in October, 1878, en- 
 gaged in the mercantile business which he has con- 
 tinued to the present time. He carries a full line of 
 general merchandise and is conducting a growing 
 and prosperous business. 
 
 Mr. Alexander contracted a second marriage in 
 Herkimer County, N. Y., in October, 1859, the lady 
 chosen for his wife being a Miss Maryett, daughter of 
 Lawrence and Margaret (Hess) Clapsaddle. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Alexander is a Republican. He 
 has held various public offices, was Supervisor of 
 Shabbona Township two years and Justice of the 
 Peace 1 1 years, and is at present holding the latter 
 office. He is one of the oldest Masons in this vi- 
 cinity and was prominently instrumental in establish- 
 ing Shabbona Lodge, No. 374, and was elected its 
 first Master after the charter was organized. 
 
 [illiam D. Seeley, mechanic and retired 
 farmer on section 3, Franklin Township, 
 was born Nov. 18, 1816, in Easton Town- 
 ship, Bristol Co., Mass. He was brought 
 up to the vocation of a farmer, and on attain- 
 ing his majority he found himself with the dis- 
 posal of his future on his hands. Mr. Seeley came 
 to Boone Co., 111., in 1851. He became the owner 
 of 60 acres of land in that county, where he pursued 
 agriculture with success and profit. In 1870 he sold 
 the place and located where he has since resided and 
 where he owns 18 acres of land. On'making sale of 
 his land in Boone County he put the money at inter- 
 est, and the accumulated sum is now a practical 
 competency for a man of moderate requirements. He 
 lives in solitude, engaged at times in farming and 
 
 working also as a blacksmith and carpenter. He is 
 a natural mechanic, with an aptitude for the use of 
 tools which was not acquired under the directions or 
 guidance of a craftsman. He enjoys his solitary cir- 
 cumstances, and he has been an expert in flute-play- 
 ing, but is now deprived of the pleasure of his favor- 
 ite recreation, having received an injury to one of his 
 hands which resulted in necrosis of the bone, neces- 
 sitating amputation of his arm below the elbow. His 
 natural ingenuity is manifest from the fact that he is 
 still a skillful workman as a mechanic. 
 
 He was married in early manhood, but circum- 
 stances compelled a separation from his wife. They 
 had two children, Sarah F. and William H., who 
 remained in the State of New York. 
 
 ) 
 
 Lattin, deceased, a former pioneer C 
 De Kalb County, was born May 30, * 
 Reading, Conn., of which State his 
 Abner and Sarah Lattin, were both 
 The family removed to the State of 
 New York in 1815 and settled in that part of 
 Chemung County now included in Schuyler County, 
 where Mr. Lattin grew to manhood and was reared -| 
 on a farm. His parents had six children, and when ( )) 
 he was nine years of age he became an inmate of the 
 family of Jesse Lyon, under whose charge he contin- 
 ued until 1834. In that year he came to Illinois, 
 going at first to the southern part of the State. He 
 came to De Kalb County in the spring of 1835 and 
 took possession of a claim including the west part of V 
 the present site of Sycamore. When the land came 
 into market, Mr. Lattin, with other settlers in De 
 Kalb County, went to Chicago and entered a claim 
 to 160 acres of land, now within the city limits. He 
 built a log house in Sycamore, on Main Street, near 
 the present location of the National Bank. This was 
 his home for ten years. He next erected a brick 
 house on High Street, which he occupied ten years, f 
 His next residence was a large frame house, which 
 he built on the cornerof Somonaukand High Streets. 
 Mr. Lattin was a resident of Sycamore 41 years, and 
 was a witness of, and a participant in, its career of 
 splendid progress. He was a member of the Metho- 
 dist Church, and a most zealous supporter of the 
 society at Sycamore. He donated the land now oc-
 
 ffl 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 cupied by the church^ edifice and the two parsonages, 
 besides a great deal of money. He gave $1,000 to- 
 ward the present church. He was one of its first 
 members, and when the first church was built he and 
 Joseph Sixbury, as Trustees, assumed the heavy in- 
 debtedness, of which he afterwards paid $500. 
 
 In the days of his early political belief he was a 
 Whig, but on the organization of the Republican 
 party he adopted its principles and issues. The first 
 political meeting at Sycamore was held at the home 
 of Mr. Lattin. He was one of the first instigators of 
 the movement which established the county seat at 
 Sycamore. He was engaged for a number of years 
 in traffic in grain and lumber, his farm being leased. 
 His death took place at Sycamore,, April, 20, i8j6. 
 
 Mr. Lattin was married Sept. 5, 1839, to Nancy, 
 daughter of James and Ruth (Pierce) Cartwright. 
 She was born Aug. 9, 1820, in the town of Perinton, 
 Monroe Co., N. Y. Mr. and Mrs. Lattin became 
 the parents of seven children, Jesse L., Ellen D., 
 John W., Carlos Orlando, Marion Ella, Charles W. 
 and Sadie A. All are deceased but the two youngest. 
 
 Charles W. was born March 6, 1855. He was 
 educated in the public schools of Sycamore, and in 
 the Gem City College, where he was graduated in 
 1873. He was married Oct. 10, 1883,10 Emily E. ( 
 daughter of George E. and Christina (Young) Stafford, 
 born in the township of Cortland. C. W. is the own- 
 er of 190 acres of finely improved land situated on 
 sections 30 and 31, formerly the property of his father. 
 The youngest child Sadie A. married Frank E. 
 Stephens, a banker and attorney at Huron, Dak. 
 
 jrbert W. Fay, editor of the Hinckley 
 '. Review and of the Waterman Leader, was 
 born Feb. 28, 1859, in Squaw Grove Town- 
 ship, and is the son of Edwin and Ann (Hay- 
 wood) Fay, the former a native of New York, 
 I the latter of Maine. His father settled in De Kalb 
 County in 1849, on a soldier's land warrant obtained 
 for services in the Mexican War. The mother died 
 Nov. n, 1884. The father resides in the township 
 of Squaw Grove. 
 
 Mr. Fay obtained his primary education in the 
 common schools, and was a student four years at the 
 college at Monmouth. After completing his educa- 
 
 tional course, he taught school one term, and then 
 came to Hinckley and purchased a third interest in 
 the Review and remained in company with Tomblin 
 Brothers, the former proprietors, from May, 1880, to 
 May, 1882, when he became sole proprietor by pur- 
 chase and has since conducted the paper alone. 
 Politically he is a Republican. 
 
 He was married Sept. 24, 1884, in Hinckley, to 
 Nellie, daughter of William M. and Rosetta Sebree. 
 (See sketch of W. M. Sebree.) Mrs. Fay was born 
 in Squaw Grove Township, Dec. 21, 1864. 
 
 The grandfather of Mr. Fay, Horace W. Fay, was 
 a civil engineer on the Illinois & Michigan Canal 
 and an early surveyor of De Kalb County, laying out 
 nearly the entire county. He became prominent in 
 public affairs and was a member of the Legislature 
 of Illinois from 1848 to 1850. He died at Vicks- 
 burg, Miss., during the course of the Civil War, 
 while officiating as an army chaplain. H. W. Fay 
 has been Village Clerk of Hinckley, since 1881, and 
 Town Clerk of Squaw Grove Township since 188,2. 
 
 Mr. Fay is the youngest editor in De Kalb County. 
 He is a young man of versatile talents, has a decided 
 predilection for a literary career and is an accom- 
 plished draughtsman, showing some fine specimens 
 from his pencil. He possesses a fine discriminating 
 taste in artistic matters. 
 
 'ames L. Hamilton, farmer and stock-raiser, 
 section n, Malta Township, was born 
 in Delaware Co., N. Y., Dec. i, 1844. The \ 
 grandfather of James L., Robert Hamilton, 
 was a native of Glasgow, Scotland, and emi- 
 ;rated to America, settling in Delaware Co., 
 N. Y., about the year 1800. He was one of the first 
 to settle in that county and was a soldier in the war 
 of 1812. He died on the old homestead on which 
 he originally settled. 
 
 John Hamilton, father of James L., was born on ^ 
 the homestead of his father, Robert, assisted him on 
 the farm and remained thereon, developing into 
 manhood. He married Miss Mary Scott, a native 
 of New York and of Scotch extraction. She was his | 
 faithful and loving companion until February, 1861, * 
 when death called her to a better home. They were 
 the parents of four children, namely : James L., 
 -^
 
 KALB COUNTY. 
 
 a 
 
 Robert S, Mary J. and William C. William C. died 
 at Albany in 1873, aged 24 years. Robert is living 
 with James L. on his farm on section n, Malta 
 Township. Mary J. is married and lives on the old 
 homestead in Delaware Co., N. Y. 
 
 James L. Hamilton, the subject of this notice, was 
 brought up on the old homestead in Delaware Co., 
 N. Y. He remained on the farm assisting his father 
 in its cultivation and attending the village school at 
 Andes, that county, until he attained the age of ma- 
 turity. On arriving at this age he went forth to bat- 
 tle against the trials and difficulties of life's journey, 
 single-handed and alone. He aame to this county 
 and remained for a year at the village of Malta 
 when, in 1870, he and his brother purchased 120 
 acres of land in Malta Township. He then went to 
 Iowa where he remained nearly a year. From Iowa 
 he came to Chicago, thence back to Malta. Re- 
 maining in the latter 'place one summer, he went 
 east to the old homestead again. His next move 
 was to Albany, N. Y., where he engaged with 
 Messrs. Wilcox & Gibbs, in the sewing-machine 
 business, and with whom he remained for three 
 years. Severing his connection with the " Wilcox & 
 Gibbs," he engaged with the Domestic Co., and dur- 
 ing a greater portion of his time was engaged in their 
 office. After leaving the latter company he traveled 
 for the Burlington Cork Co., New York. His deal- 
 ing was with wholesale houses throughout the East- 
 ern and Western States. Remaining in the employ 
 of the company for about a year, he severed his con- 
 nection and again came to this county. 
 
 On arriving in the county, he at once purchased 
 his brother's interest in the land they had jointly 
 owned in Malta Township, which he traded for 120 
 acres on section ir. He has since added, by a sub- 
 sequent purchase, another 120 acres to his landed 
 possessions and is at present the owner of 240 acres. 
 His entire acreage is in a good state.of cultivation, ex- 
 cluding pasturage, and well stocked. His time and 
 resources are divided between cereal production and 
 stock-raising, and of the latter he is ja considerable 
 shipper. 
 
 Mr. Hamilton was married at Chatham, Columbia 
 Co., N. Y., Feb. 10, 1873, to Miss Hattie A. Spicker- 
 man, daughter of John V. and Mary (Rowley) Spick- 
 erman, a native of New York and of German descent. 
 Her father was a horse dealer and trader. He died 
 ^^ Z^Z ^ 
 
 at Oak Park, 111., on his way home from St. Louis, 
 Mo., where he had been to dispose of a shipment of 
 horses. Her mother died in York State when Mrs. 
 H. was only 18 months old. 
 
 Mrs. H. was the youngest of a family of four chil- 
 dren, was born in 1855, and after the death of her 
 mother lived with her grandfather. She remained 
 in his family, attending the common schools and as- 
 sisting in the household duties, until her marriage. 
 
 Four children are the issue of the marriage, name- 
 ly: John C., born Nov. 7, 1874; Mary G., born 
 May 28, 1876; Alma B., born Dec. n, 1879; and 
 Hattie L., April 29, 187-. 
 
 The family attend the Congregational Church, of 
 which Mrs. H. is a member. 
 
 Mr. Hamilton, politically, is a Republican. He 
 has been chosen delegate to the County Convention, 
 has been Township Collector and held, other minor 
 offices. 
 
 
 
 illiam Bowling Atehison, Pastor of the <$; 
 Methodist Episcopal Church at Sycamore, 
 was born Feb. 19, 1832, at West Salem, ^ 
 Mercer Co., Pa., and is the son of Matthew 
 Calvin and Mary (Dowling) Atehison. His 
 .rents were of Scotch descent and were both 
 natives of Pennsylvania. His father was a land- 
 holder and combined agricultural pursuits with the 
 duties of a carpenter and millwright. He died when 
 his son was five years of age. He and his wife were 
 devoted members of the United Presbyterian Church, \ 
 the sect formerly known as Scotch Seceders. They | ^ 
 had five sons and four daughters. After the death 
 of the father and husband, the children were kept to- 
 gether and brought up with care by their mother. 
 
 Mr. Atehison was brought up on the farm and 
 attended the district school until he was 18 years of 
 age. He joined the Church of which his parents had, 
 been zealous members, when he was 1 6 years of age. f 
 At the age of 18 years he began his career as a pub- 
 lic lecturer, speaking on the subject of temperance 
 reform and giving Bible readings. He attended 
 school, taught school and studied classics with pri- 
 vate tutors. He also studied languages at Beloit 
 College, Wisconsin. 
 
 In 1854 he joined the Methodist Episcopal Church
 
 COUNTY. 
 
 l\ 
 
 at Mt. Pleasant, near Galena, 111., and at the same 
 time was licensed to preach. In 1858 he was or- 
 dained an Elder at Waukegan, 111., and has been 
 constantly in the ministry since that date. In 1859 
 he was appointed to Belvidere, 111. In 1864 he was 
 made Chaplain of the 45 th Regt. 111. Vol. Inf., and 
 accompanied the Army of the Tennessee through 
 Georgia and the Carolinas to Washington. He was 
 mustered out of the service in July, 1865, at Louis- 
 ville, Ky. His ministerial appointments since that 
 
 / date have been Elgin, Kankakee, Aurora, Oak Park, 
 Waukegan, Sterling and Princeton, where he officiated 
 three years respectively except at Oak Park, where 
 
 * he preached one year. In 1864 he assumed pastoral 
 charge of the Methodist Episcopal society at Syca- 
 more. t ; 
 
 Mr. Atchison was married Jan. 4, 1855, to H. Jen- 
 nie, daughter of John and Martha (Bennett) Cook. 
 Her parents were born in England, and she is a na- 
 tive of Elizabeth, Jo Daviess Co., 111. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Atchison have six children, viz.: John E. is a lumber 
 merchant at Scandia, Kan.; Wilbur F. is officiating as 
 Pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Des 
 Plaines, 111.; Hugh is a student at the Northwestern 
 University at Evanston, 111.; Florence J., George B. 
 and Robert H. are the names of the youngest chil- 
 dren, and they are at home. 
 
 nos Whitmore, deceased, a pioneer of De 
 Kalb County, was born Nov. 27, 1805, in 
 Weathersfield, Windsor Co., Vt., and he 
 there passed the years of his minority, acquiring 
 a common-school education and a knowledge of 
 agricultural pursuits. He also passed some time 
 in a woolen factory in his native town, of which he 
 was proprietor. He was married April 7, 1836, 
 to Celina Reed. She was born at Windsor, Windsor 
 Co., Vt., Nov. 23, 1815. Five years subsequent to 
 their marriage they went from Weathersfield to Pom- 
 fret and located on a farm. The place was sold in 
 1847 and the family removed to De Kalb County, 
 coming by canal and steamboat on the lakes to Chi- 
 cago, whence they traveled to their destination in a 
 private conveyance. Mr. Whitmore purchased 160 
 acres of unimproved land on section 35, Mayfield 
 Township, where he built a good frame house and 
 
 at once set about improving his estate. He lived 
 to see De Kalb County rank in development with 
 the best counties in Illinois, and was a factor in its 
 progress. His death occurred May i, 1877. His 
 first wife died Aug. 16, 1861. He was married in 
 1867, to Lovonia Skeels, who died Dec. r, 1876. Fol- 
 lowing is the record of their children : Louisa mar- 
 ried A. G. Weeden (see sketch). Howard resides in 
 Mayfield. Harrison is a lawyer and lives in Frank- 
 lin Co., Neb. ; Harry O. is a farmer in Mayfield ; Lavi- 
 na was born March 21, 1858, and died Feb. 6, 1861. 
 
 in. F. Peas, merchant and farmer, residing 
 in Malta, was born in Middlefield, Hamp- 
 shire Co., Mass., Dec. 30, 1826. His 
 father, Dan. Peas, Sr., was also a native of 
 that State and was born in the same town. He 
 was of New England parentage, a farmer by oc- 
 cupation and resided in his native county until the 
 date of his death, July 8, 1883, at which time he had 
 attained the venerable age of 81 years. The mother 
 of our subject, Mary (Root) Peas, was a native of the 
 same State and county as her husband and son, and 
 there resided until her death, which occurred July 12, 
 1872. 
 
 Dan. F. Peas was the oldest of seven children t 
 four boys and three girls, all of whom are living. He 
 lived on the homestead, in Massachusetts, assisting 
 in the cultivation of the farm and attending the com- 
 mon schools until he arrived at the age of maturity. 
 
 On arriving at man's estate, Mr. Peas purchased 
 a farm in his native county, which he successfully 
 cultivated for about six years and worked out five 
 years, or until he arrived at the age of 32 years, 
 when he came to this county. He purchased a farm 
 of 40 acres in Malta Township, which he added to 
 and sold from at subsequent purchases and sales, 
 owning at times some 700 acres in the county. He 
 is at present the owner of 80 acres of land in a good 
 state of cultivation. 
 
 In the spring of 1867 Mr. Peas moved to the vil- 
 lage of Malta. He there engaged in the general 
 mercantile business, in 1873, in a store room he had 
 previously purchased. His stock averages about 
 $5,000 and his annual trade amounts to $20,000. 
 He has also three houses and lots in the village. 
 
 Mr. Peas was united in marriage Aug. 7, 1860, to 
 
 <^ 
 
 P;
 
 Miss Rachel Burgess in the village of Malta. She 
 was born in Buffalo, Erie Co., N. Y., May 18, 1836. 
 Her parents were natives of France and emigrated to 
 Canada Her father died at Genoa, this county, 
 in 1873, and her mother is still living, with her son 
 at Genoa. 
 
 Mrs. Peas came to this State with her parents 
 when she was about eight years of age, and lived 
 with them in Genoa Township, this county, attend- 
 ing the common schools and assisting in the house- 
 hold duties, until she attained the age of maturity. 
 She is the mother of 1 1 children by Mr. Peas, four of 
 whom are deceased. The living are : Julia, wife of 
 H. H. Morris, editor of the Rochelle Herald; Jennie, 
 Frank, Charles, Nettie, Emma and Henry. All the 
 children received the advantages of a good educa- 
 tion and Henry is exceptionally learned in mathe- 
 matics. . 
 
 Mr. Peas has been honored with the offices of 
 Supervisor and Collector, and has been Justice of 
 the Peace for some years. Politically, he is a staunch, 
 active and energetic Republican. 
 
 ilbert A. Maxfleld, of Sycamore, was born 
 May 17, 1828, in Crawford Co., Ohio. His 
 father, John Maxfield, was born in Fair- 
 fax, Vt., in 1791, and removed to Crawford Co., 
 Ohio, where he was married Nov. 27, 1816, to 
 Anna Pond, who was also a native of the Green 
 Mountain .State. 
 
 He was a pioneer of Crawford County, where he 
 settled after marriage on a tract of timbered land 
 which he bought of the Government. With his wife 
 he took possession of a log house which he built on 
 his farm and entered with energy upon the work of 
 clearing away the forest. In 1837 he sold his prop- 
 erty in the Buckeye State, and, equipped with five 
 yokes of oxen, two wagons, a horse and carriage and 
 the household goods, the family came to De Kalb 
 County, camping at night while on their way hither. 
 On arrival Mr. Maxfield, senior, made a claim on 
 section 16, in town 41, range 5 east, which is now 
 Sycamore Township. The family lived in tents and 
 in wagons until a log house was built for their ac- 
 commodation. The doors were constructed of lum- 
 ber which was purchased in Chicago when they 
 
 passed through that city. For a number of years the 
 nearest market and place of supplies was Chicago. 
 A large farm including nearly 400 acres was placed 
 under excellent improvements by the father, on which 
 he resided until a short time previous to his death, 
 which occurred May 25, 1875. The mother died 
 June 27, 1878. 
 
 They had five children, and the subject of this 
 sketch is the only one now living. William Munson, 
 the eldest son, was born Dec. 5, 1817. He accom- 
 panied his parents to De Kalb County, and entered 
 a claim adjoining that of his father on the east. 
 When it came into market in January, 1843, they 
 went together to Chicago and secured their Govern- 
 ment title. He went back to Ohio in 1846 and on 
 the 6th of October was married to Caroline Plummer. 
 He returned to his. land on which he lived until he 
 improved the property in a creditable manner, re- 
 moving thence to Sycamore. He died June 27, 1872, 
 in Odin, Marion County, where his widow now re- 
 sides. He left two children Lymna O. and Forrest. 
 James M., the second child, was born in Ohio in 
 1820 and died there in 1823. John Nelson was born 
 Sept. 5, 1824. He was married June i, 1847, to 
 Mary A. Crocker, and settled on the homestead, his 
 parents becoming members of his household. His 
 wife died April 22, 1867, leaving three children 
 Carlos M., Frank A. and Mary V. He was married 
 a second time in Ohio, to Rebecca Hosford and they 
 had one child Flora Belle. He died Jan. 23, 1873, 
 and the widowed mother resides in Galion, Ohio. 
 Carlos K., youngest brother of Mr. Maxfield, was born 
 in 1833 and died in 1847. 
 
 The senior Maxfield divided his property in 1854 
 between his three children then living, and after the 
 death of his son, John Nelson, he lived with his remain- 
 ing son until his death. In his political belief and con- 
 nection he was originally a Whig, and on the expira- 
 tion of the issues of that element became a member 
 of the Free-Soil party and later a Republican. The 
 first Abolition meeting held in this county convened 
 at his home. The candidate of the Free-Soil ele- 
 ment for Representative in the State Legislature who 
 was then in the field received only seven votes in 
 Sycamore. 
 
 Mr. Maxfield was nine years of age when he ac- 
 companied his parents to De Kalb County, and he 
 attained to man's estate on his father's farm, obtain- 
 
 s 

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 ing such education as he could in the pioneer schools. 
 Jan. 19, 1850, in company with two others, he started 
 for California by way of New Orleans. They crossed 
 the Isthmus on the river Chagres in a bark canoe, up 
 the river by boat to Cruces, thence to Panama on 
 foot, and to San Francisco in a sail vessel called 
 "Glenmore " (which name he afterward gave to his 
 oldest son). He returned home in the latter part of 
 the winter of 1851. 
 
 His marriage to S. Eleanor Crocker occurred Dec. 
 14, 1852, and they settled on a portion of the home- 
 stead estate. Five children have been born to them 
 Frederick G., Anna M. and George G., and two 
 who died in infancy. Mrs. Maxfield was born July 
 21, 1832, in the State of New York. 
 
 The family resided on the farm until 1870, when 
 he bought a residence at Sycamore, whither he re- 
 moved. He rents a portion of his farm which in- 
 cludes the original claim, and the remainder is under 
 his own control and operated by hired assistants. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Maxfield were among the earliest 
 members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. 
 Maxfield, having been a Republican since the party 
 was organized, was one of 20 who cast their votes for 
 prohibition in the town of Sycamore in 1 884, out of 
 900 votes cast.. 
 
 If; hilip I. Cromwell, M. D., homeopathic 
 [| physician at De Kalb, was born July 12, 
 ^ 1848, at Queensbury, Warren Co., N. Y. 
 His parents, James and Sarah C. (Bradshaw) 
 Cromwell, were born in the same State, where 
 the latter is still resident. His father was a 
 physician and practiced medicine more than 40 
 years, dying at Lake George, N. Y., Dec. 5, 1876. 
 Their children were born in the following order : 
 Ellen B., Edward A. (killed in the second battle of 
 Bull Run), John B., Philip I., James J. and Mary E. 
 When Dr. Cromwell was eight years of age he 
 went to live with an uncle in Otsego County in his 
 native State, where he remained three years. At the 
 end of that time he returned to his parents and 
 passed the next five years as an assistant on his 
 father's farm and in attendance at school as his health 
 L .. nitted, unremitted study being inadmissible from 
 a tendency to an invalid condition. At the age of 
 
 1 6 years he attended the academy at Glens Falls, 
 studying there about a year, and going thence to Gil- 
 more 's private school at Ballston Springs in his native 
 State. His attendance there was interrupted at the 
 end of two months by the destruction of the building 
 by fire. In the fall following he entered the Medical 
 College at Albany and attended one term of lectures. 
 He went to the University of New York, where he 
 gave his attention to medical instruction during a 
 similar period, after which, his health again becom- 
 ing precarious, he sought relaxation from mental la- 
 bor and recuperation of physical powers in a mackerel 
 fishing expedition, on which he was absent some 
 weeks. After a few months interim he again re- 
 sumed attendance upon the lecture course at Albany, 
 and four months later began his career as a medical 
 practitioner at Patten's Mills, N. Y., operating there 
 several months and returning to Albany for his de- 
 gree and credentials, which he received in December, 
 1870. He obtained the appointment of resident 
 physician in the Albany City Dispensary, in which 
 position he officiated eight months. He went thence 
 to Salem, Washington Co., N. Y., where he estab- 
 lished himself in the practice of his profession. He 
 was not satisfied with the location, and after a trial 
 of four months he proceeded to Cleveland, Oswego 
 Co., N. Y., where he embarked in the twofold duties 
 of druggist and physician. He prosecuted his busi- 
 ness there until July, 1873, when he came to Chi- 
 cago, and soon after to De Kalb, where he has since 
 continued the career of a practitioner of homeopathy 
 without intermission, and is the only representative of 
 that school of medicine at that place. 
 
 Dr. Cromwell is a Republican in political views 
 and connections. He belongs to Lodge No. 155, I. 
 O. O. F. 
 
 He was married at Cleveland, N. Y., Nov. 5, 1874, 
 to Kate, daughter of Christopher and Sybil Halle- 
 ghan. The latter was born in Maine, the former in 
 Ireland. Mrs. Cromwell was born in Oswego Co., 
 N. Y., in 1854. Following is the record of the chil- 
 dren born to Dr. and Mrs. Cromwell : Edward G. 
 was born July ig, 1876 ; Harry D. was born Jan. 15, 
 1880; Clinton B., June 22, 1882; George G., Aug. 
 2, 1884. A daughter died when four months old. 
 
 As one of the prominent and representative pro- 
 fessional men of the county, we give Dr. Cromwell's 
 portrait in this ALBUM and opposite to this sketch. 
 
 :
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 t artin C. Dedrick, farmer and general 
 stock-raiser, residing on section n, Malta 
 Township, was born in Ghent, Columbia 
 Co., N. Y., April 26, 1824. His father, 
 Christian Dedrick, was born in the same State 
 and on the same farm as his son. In fact, the 
 farm on which the father and son were born had 
 been in possession of the Dedricks for three genera- 
 tions. Christian Dedrick, the great-grandfather of the 
 father of our subject, pre-empted it, and it is at pres- 
 ent in the hands of Henry Dedrick, a brother of our 
 subject. The family were originally from Holland. 
 The father of Martin C. died on the homestead in 
 1833, at the age of 60 years, when Martin was 14 
 years old. His mother, Hannah (Bener) Dedrick, 
 was a native of New York, of Holland extraction 
 and died in her native State, about 1839, aged 63 
 years. She was the mother of four children, Martin, 
 Henry, Phillip and Eliza. The last two are de- 
 ceased. Sixteen years elapsed between the birth of 
 the two oldest and the two youngest, and Martin C. 
 is the youngest of the four. 
 
 He lived at home, assisted his father on the farm 
 and attended the common schools until the death 
 of his father. At this point in his life's history, 
 when 14, years of age, he started on his journey 
 alone. He engaged with a Mr. Stickles to learn the 
 boot and shoe making trade, with whom he remained 
 for three years. Discovering fhat his health was 
 failing, he left the shop and returned to the home- 
 stead, and he and his brother worked the same for 
 five years in partnership, at which time Martin sold 
 his interest to his brother and engaged in the grocery 
 business at Kinderhook. He remained at the latter 
 place, successfully prosecuting the business stated, 
 for 12 years. 
 
 In 1857 Mr. Dedrick came to this county and 
 purchased 160 acres of land, which he has made his 
 home until the present time. After making some 
 improvements on his land, in 1860, Mr. Dedrick re- 
 turned to his native State after his family and 
 brought them to his new home in the West. He has 
 since added 80 acres, by subsequent purchase, to his 
 original tract, and is now the owner of 240 acres. 
 His farm is a gocd one, the land being productive, 
 
 with no waste, and all under a high state of cultiva- 
 tion. He has a fine and costly residence, and his 
 barn and out-buildings are emblematical of good 
 taste and prosperity. 
 
 Mr. Dedrick is certainly one of the representative 
 men of the county. He is a man of popularity, as 
 evinced by his constituents electing him for 17 years 
 as their Supervisor, in which capacity he is at present 
 serving. He was also Assessor of his township and 
 three times assessed the same. In fact, every year 
 (except the first) since 1857, the year he came to the 
 county, Mr. Dedrick has held some office. Politically 
 he is an active, energetic working Republican. 
 
 May 14, 1849, Mr. Dedrick was united in marriage 
 to Miss Elizabeth Fowler, daughter of Delaware and 
 Polly (Head) Fowler, natives of New York. She 
 was born at Kinderhook, Columbia Co., N. Y., March 
 24, 1823. Her father followed the occupation of a 
 farmer and the daughter remained under their care, 
 on the farm, assisting her mother in the household 
 duties and attending the common schools until her 
 marriage. She is the mother by Mr. Dedrick of four 
 children, born as follows : Freeling H., born March 
 26, 1850, was married Sept. 20, 1882, to Miss Sarah 
 Modeland, and at present resides at Glidden, Carroll 
 Co., Iowa. Adelphia, born Dec. 25, 1852; Anna 
 Stella, born Jan. 29, 1856; and Charles H., born 
 Oct. 24, 1858. 
 
 iram Holcomb, of Sycamore Township, 
 and President of the De Kalb County Ag- 
 ricultural Society, was born Oct. 30, 1838, 
 in Newstead, Erie Co., N. Y. George Holcomb, 
 his father, was born June 8, 1798, in Sangerfield, 
 Oneida Co , N. Y. Orator Holcomb, father of 
 George, was a native of Massachusetts and married 
 Hannah Terry,, who was born in Connecticut. They 
 removed from Erie to Canandaigua, Ontario Co., N. 
 Y., in 1805, whence they went after four years to that 
 part of Genesee County, now included in Attica, Wy- 
 oming County. He there bought a tract of land in- 
 cluded within the immense acreage sold by Robert 
 Morris to the Amsterdam Company and known as 
 the "Holland Purchase," which comprised 3,500,000 
 
 \\
 
 DE KALB COUNTY, 
 
 ) 
 
 I 
 
 acres lying west of the dividing line between the 
 States of New York and Massachusetts. 
 
 George Holcomb passed the years of his minority 
 there and assisted his father in clearing a farm. In 
 1819 he was married to Beulah Hosingting, and he 
 started out in life as the head of a family, settling on 
 60 acres of timber land given him by his father. A 
 house of basswood logs was built, in which the young 
 pair began their housekeeping.' A few years later 
 the place was sold, and Mr. Holcomb moved to 
 Darien, an adjoining town, where he bought another 
 farm, which he sold three years later and returned to 
 Attica. He bought a farm adjoining his father's 
 homestead, whence he went soon after to Orange- 
 ville, making another removal not long after to 
 Darien. He again became a land-holder there, and 
 in 1836 his wife died. In 1837 he was married to 
 Caroline A. Hebbard. and they settled on a farm in 
 Newstead, Erie County. In 1848 they sold out 
 preparatory to removal to Illinois, whither they made 
 an overland journey from their former home to Buf- 
 falo, and there embarked team ' and all on <i 
 steamer for Chicago, coming thence with their team 
 to De Kalb County. 
 
 Mr. Holcomb bought 80 acres of land on sections 
 34 and 35, Sycamore Township, for which they paid 
 $8 an acre. There was on it a log house and a straw 
 stable. A neat frame structure soon supplied the 
 place of the former, and additional improvements 
 ' were soon made. Mr. Holcomb continued to occupy 
 the place until his death, in October, 1878. His sec- 
 ond wife died meanwhile, and he was again married 
 to Harriet Stillwell. 
 
 Hiram Holcomb is the older of two children born 
 of the second marriage. He was born in the State 
 of New York, and was 10 years of age when he came 
 to De Kalb County with his parents, and there he 
 has lived since, obtaining a common-school educa- 
 tion and a thorough knowledge of agricultural pur- 
 suits. He was married Feb. 4, 1863, to Clara Ben- 
 ton Dow, daughter of Agrippa Dow. He settled on 
 the homestead which he owns and occupies with his 
 brother, Orator F. They own together 227 acres of 
 land, which is improved and comprises 10 acres of 
 timber. The farm contains double sets of frame 
 buildings. The brothers are engaged in raising stock 
 and in the pursuit of general agriculture. Mr. Hol- 
 comb has been a member of the Agricultural Society 
 
 since its organization, of which he is now the Presi- *& 
 dent, and he is a member of the Farmers' Alliance, ^jj 
 He and his wife are the parents of five children, % ^ 
 George D., Sanford A., Frank T., Arthur H. and 
 Millie Florence. 
 
 homas W. Dodge, farmer, section 10, Malta 
 Township, was born in Mt. Holly Town- 
 ship, Rutland Co., Vt, May 30, 1 838. His 
 father, Thomas, Sr., was of ." York State " par- 
 entage, of English extraction, and was born in 
 
 I the province of Quebec. His parents left 
 Canada for Vermont just prior to the war of 1812, 
 and when the son was but two years of age. Thomas, 
 Sr., came to this county in 1863, and is at present 
 residing here, aged 76 years. The mother of Thomas 
 W. was born in Townsend, Mass., was of New Eng- 
 land parentage, and came to this county with her 
 husband, Thomas, Sr., in 1863. She resided here 
 until March 22, 1875, when death separated her from 
 her loved ones, and 67 well spent years marked the 
 period of her earthly existence. Together they reared 
 a family of three children, all of whom are yet living, 
 and the elder of whom is the subject of this notice. 
 
 Thomas W. lived under the parental roof-tree, 
 assisting the father on the farm and taking advan- 
 tage afforded by the common schools of the county 
 until he attained the age of maturity. 
 
 On attaining his majority, Mr. Dodge engaged in 
 the occupation of teaching, which vocation he fol- 
 lowed, with no small degree of success, in the com- 
 mon schoolsof his native county until 1867. During 
 the summer of that year he came to De Kalb, this 
 county, and the following year moved to Malta 
 Township. He purchased 160 acres of partly im- 
 proved land, situated on section 10, that township, 
 and at once entered on the laborious task of improv- 
 ing the same. How well his energetic labors have 
 succeeded is observable in the fine condition of his 
 farm to-day. The entire tract is in a good state of 
 cultivation, and the farm .is well supplied with all 
 necessary farm buildings, including a small but com- 
 fortable residence. 
 
 Mr. Dodge was united in marriage July i, 1867, 
 in Windham Co., Vt., to Miss Eugenia Upham, 
 daughter of Gardner and Eunice (Emory) Upham, 
 natives of New England, of English extraction, and 

 
 : 
 
 ' 
 
 date the origin of their family in the United States to 
 the early English settlements in Massachusetts. Her 
 father follows the vocation of a farmer, and still re- 
 sides in Windham Co., Vt, having attained the ven- 
 erable age of 87 years. Her mother died in the lat- 
 ter county in 1848, while in her 46th year. 
 
 Mrs. Dodge was born March 4, 1843, and remained 
 at her father's home, attending the common schools 
 of her native county, until her marriage. Prior to 
 the latter event she engaged in teaching, which voca- 
 tion she began when 15 years of age, and a number 
 of years (until her marriage) followed with success. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Dodge are the parents of five chil- 
 dren, namely: James W., born July 25, 1868; Ma- 
 bel E., born May i, 1871 ; Arthur U., born Aug. 3, 
 1875 ; Edmond Roy, born Dec. 29, 1878, and Nellie 
 E., born April 10, 1881. The family attend the 
 Congregational Church, of which Mrs. Dodge is a 
 member. Politically, Mr. Dodge affiliates with the 
 Republican party, and has held some of the minor 
 offices of his township. 
 
 l"acob Siglin, farmer, section 15, Sycamore 
 Township, was born in Chestnut Hill, 
 Northampton (now Monroe) Co., Pa., July 
 19, 1810, and is the son of Jacob and Susan 
 (Singer) Siglin. His father was born in New 
 Jersey, and settled in Pennsylvania with his 
 parents when he was young. His mother was also 
 a native of the same State. 
 
 Mr. Siglin was reared on his father's farm, and 
 lived in his native town until his marriage in March, 
 1832, to Hannah J. Setzer. She was born in Ham- 
 ilton Township, then Northampton County. Her 
 great-grandfather was born in Germany, and his 
 wife was a native of Paris, France. Both her grand- 
 sires were soldiers in the Revolutionary war. 
 
 After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Siglin settled 
 on a farm he owned at Chestnut Hill, which he had 
 previously purchased, and on which they resided un- 
 til 1853, when Mr. Siglin sold out and came to De 
 Kalb County. He bought a farm on section 15, Syc- 
 amore Township, of which 75 acres was broken to the 
 plow, and the place was provided with a small log 
 house. It now contains 216 acres fenced and mostly 
 improved, and he has erected good frame buildings 
 and set out orchards of apples and small fruits. 
 
 ^y v V_PT^/-g 
 
 ^Jj^f- 
 
 They have ten children. Rachel married Thomas 
 Marshall, of Sycamore Township. Mary is the wife 
 of Royal Wright and lives in Floyd Co., Iowa. Jacob 
 is a practicing attorney at Marshfield, State of Ore- 
 gon, and is serving his second term as a Senator of 
 that State. Susan is the wife of Albert Olmstead, 
 and lives in Genoa Township, De Kalb County. 
 Joshua married Delia Dean and lives at Sycamore. 
 Isaiah married Sarah Scott and resides in Crawford 
 Co., Iowa. Taylor is in the employ of the Govern- 
 ment in Oregon. Michael married Lottie Lawrence 
 and lives in Dallas Co., Iowa. Jennie is the wife of 
 Harvey Barlow, of Dallas Co., Iowa, and Ellen mar- 
 ried William Whipple, of Sycamore. 
 
 armon Paine, a citizen of Sycamore, was 
 born July 25, 1822, in the town of German 
 Flats, Herkimer Co., N. Y. His father, 
 Chester Paine, was born Aug. 21, 1792, in Con- 
 necticut, and when in infancy was taken by his 
 parents to the State of New York, the removal 
 being accomplished by means of ox teams. Chester 
 Paine grew to manhood in Herkimer County and 
 married Angelina Vedder, who was born in the Em- 
 pire State, Jan. 16, 1786. After their union they lo- 
 cated on a farm in German Flats, where they were 
 the first cheese-makers. Angeline (Vedder) Paine 
 died Sept. 5, 1822, and Chester Paine Sept. 10, 1850. 
 Harmon, the subject of this sketch, was brought 
 up on his father's farm, and was married Jan. 13, 
 1842, in Springfield, Otsego Co., N. Y., to Clarinda 
 Van Home, a native of that place, born Feb. 26, 
 1824. After a residence of a year's duration at Ger- 
 man Flats, they bought a farm near Stone Mills, Jef- 
 ferson Co., N. Y., which they sold after three years 
 and went back to the home of their early married 
 life, where they settled on the homestead and lived 
 until 1855. In that year the family removed to Syc- 
 amore, and Mr. Paine bought the Wyoming House, 
 which was built by Marshall Stark, on the present 
 site of the Ward House. This was conducted as 
 " Paine's Hotel " 14 years, when the proprietor sold 
 out, and, in company with E. F. Dutton, he engaged 
 in agricultural pursuits, in which he has since contin- 
 ued, though he has remained a resident of Sycamore. 
 He has also trafficked in farm produce. During the
 
 J 
 
 war he was occupied in buying horses for the United 
 States Government. In 1876 he bought the site for 
 his residence in Sycamore. 
 
 Following is the record of the children of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Paine: Julia A. was born Jan. 29, 1843, and 
 died March 20 following. Rosa A. is the wife of E. 
 F. Button (see sketch). William B. was born Aug. 
 29, 1847, at Orleans, Jefferson Co., N. Y. He mar- 
 ried Sadie Ellwood and resides at Sycamore. Ida 
 D. was born at German Flats, May i, 1850, and is 
 the wife of Edward Boynton, of Sycamore. 
 
 shn Henaughan, farmer, section 20, Pierce 
 Township, is one of the pioneer settlers of 
 De Kalb County. He was born in June, 
 1828, in County Mayo, Ireland. He was 
 brought up on the farm where his parents 
 lived and was sent to the subscription school, 
 His parents, Malachi and Mary (Gibbons) Henaug- 
 han, were both natives of County Mayo, and in 1849 
 the family sailed from Ireland for America. After a 
 sailing voyage of seven weeks and four days, they 
 landed at New Orleans, and proceeded thence up the 
 Mississippi to the Illinois River, by which they came 
 to Peru in La Salle County, and from there on the 
 canal to Ottawa. His father came with a part of the 
 family to De Kalb County, making the journey with a 
 team. The family of Michael Walsh, who were 
 friends and neighbors in the " Green Isle," had lo- 
 cated a home in the township of Pierce, and thither 
 they made their way. A purchase of 160 acres of 
 land on section 19 was made, and the necessary steps 
 taken to secure the claim from the Government. 
 
 Mr. Henaughan, of this sketch, had obtained a job 
 in Ottawa, where he passed two months before join- 
 ing the family of his father in their new home. The 
 latter, with the aid of his sons, improved a home- 
 stead. They lived at first in a rude, hastily con- 
 structed shanty, which they occupied a year, and 
 afterward erected a more comfortable shelter. The 
 first year the father broke ten acres of prairie and 
 sowed it the next year to wheat. The yield was 
 about 30 bushels to the acre. In the year following 
 a much larger acreage was sown, and the surplus 
 ! marketed at St. Charles. The parents lived on this 
 
 (J5\V2G5jL 
 
 place until death. That of the father occurred 
 Dec. 31, 1875, when he was 88 years of age. The 
 death of the mother took place in July, 1879, at 
 which time she was 79 years of age. 
 
 Mr. Henaughan was nlarried Nov. 26, 1853, to 
 Mary, daughter of Michael and Ellen (Philbien) 
 Walsh, and they lived with his parents until 1858, 
 when he settled on his farm on section 20, now well 
 tilled and valuable from the skill and good judg- 
 ment exercised in its management. The buildings 
 are of a good type, and the place has a good orchard, 
 including small fruits of several varieties. The pro- 
 prietor is interested in the production of both grain 
 and stock. The family includes n living children, 
 Malachi L., Michael J., Stephen M., Patrick J., El- 
 len A., Mary A., John, Thomas, Mark, Bridget and 
 James. The first-born son is married and lives in 
 Greene Co., Iowa. Michael is a merchant at De Kalb. 
 The family belong to the Roman Catholic Church. 
 
 Mr. Henaughan is a leading agriculturist and a 
 prominent citizen of his township. He has been a 
 School Director nearly 25 years, and has served as 
 Assessor and Road Commissioner. In 1878 he re- 
 turned to Ireland to rest his eyes once more on the 
 place of his nativity and to renew friendly ties with 
 those to whom he is allied by association and con- 
 sanguinity. 
 
 John H. Luther, a citizen of Syc- 
 amore, was born Dec. 16, 1825, at Somer- 
 set, Bristol Co., Mass., and is the son of 
 Wheaton and Mary A. (Hood) Luther. His 
 parents were born in Massachusetts, and in 
 the paternal line he is a descendant from two 
 ancestors named Luther, who came from Germany 
 to America in the i7th century. His grandfather 
 Luther was born in Swansea, Mass., and was a Revo- 
 lutionary soldier, and during the closing years of his 
 life drew a pension. His mother's father was a sol- 
 dier in the War of 1812, and an officer. Wheaton 
 Luther, then but 15 years of age, was aid on his staff, 
 and later married his daughter. His wife is still liv- 
 ing and receives a pension. 
 
 Captain Luther was brought up in his native town, 
 and passed his earlier years on the farm and in at- 
 tendance at the public schools. He became a sailor ,
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 before the mast when he was 17 years of age, but he 
 soon worked his way up the scale of promotion and 
 eventually became master of a sailing vessel, and 
 was in the merchant service until 1870, engaged in 
 the South American and European trade. 
 
 On leaving his maritime calling, Captain Luther 
 came to Sycamore and bought an interest in the flax- 
 mill with Mr. Loomis. He was married Oct. 16, 
 1856, to Josephine, daughter of Daniel A. and Abby 
 E. (Windsor) Brown. She was born in Providence, 
 R. I., of which State the preceding generations of her 
 family were natives and were of English descent, 
 Mr. and Mrs. Luther have three children, Amy 
 rioward, John H., Jr., and Mary A. 
 
 rederick Love, deceased, was one of the 
 pioneer settlers of this county, and was 
 born Oct. 18, 1793, in New York State. 
 The maiden name of his wife was Jane De- 
 Mott, and after marriage, which occurred 
 March 7, 1813, they settled in Chautauqua 
 Co., N. Y., where they resided until 1833. During 
 that year they moved to this State and located in 
 Kane County. In 1835 they pushed further West 
 and located on section 6, now known as De Kalb 
 Township, this county. After the land was surveyed 
 and was offered to settlers, he entered it and at once 
 commenced vigorously the laborious task of improv- 
 ing it. He lived on this land until 1862. In 1853 
 he made an overland journey to California, to visit a 
 son. He returned via the Isthmus, after an absence 
 of about a year. In 1862 he again attempted to 
 cross the plains, but turned back after he had crossed 
 the Missouri River. He then moved to De Kalb. 
 He was a man of considerable attainment, for that 
 age, being kind and generous, and popular among 
 his fellow men. He held various offices of trust and 
 was the first Superintendent of Schools in De Kalb 
 County. His death occurred at De Kalb about June, 
 1874. He and his wife were the parents of nine 
 children, only two of whom survive, namely: Lewis, 
 a resident of Portland, Oregon ; and Melinda, wife of 
 F. P. Wright, who lives in East Pierre, Dak. 
 
 Frederick Love, son of Frederick, Sr., and Jane 
 
 (DeMott) Love, was born in Chautauqua Co., N. Y., 
 
 Nov. n, 1827, and was in his eighth year when his 
 
 irents moved to this State. He grew to manhood 
 
 in De Kalb Township, working on the farm and at- 
 tending the common schools. He was married 
 March 31, 1853, to Alice C., daughter of David and 
 Sarah (Chapin) West, pioneers of De Kalb County. 
 He purchased 80 acres of land on section 7, Cort- 
 land Township, built good frame buildings, planted 
 fruit, shade and ornamental trees thereon and en- 
 tered on the task of cultivating the land. He was 
 industrious, a good manager and soon added to his 
 landed possessions, and in 1862 purchased the old 
 homestead of his father in De Kalb Township, on 
 which he moved his family. He continued to operate 
 both farms until the date of his death, March 15, 
 1865. He-and his wife were the parents of seven 
 children, five of whom, two sons and three daughters, 
 survive. They are all married except the youngest 
 son, and living in comfortable homes of their own. 
 Their names are Lewis D.; Carrie E., wife of Robert 
 Whittaker, resident of Cortland Township; Sarah J., 
 wife of M. D. Barber, resident of Cortland Township; 
 Alice M., wife of George E. Robinson, resident of 
 Cortland Township; and Frederick C. 
 
 Lewis D., the eldest son, was born July 7, 1855. 
 He received his early education in the schools of De 
 Kalb and matriculated at Gem City College, Quincy, 
 111. After completing his studies at the latter place 
 he returned home and assumed the management of 
 the homestead farm, on which he is at present re- 
 siding. He was married June 31, 1877, to Miss 
 Minnie I., daughter of Sylvester and Elizabeth 
 (Badger) Taylor. She was born in De Kalb Town- 
 ship, Nov. 16, 1858. They are the parents of three 
 children. Frederick D., Zuella A. and Marion Joy. 
 The youngest son, Frederick, matriculated at Hills- 
 dale College, Mich., and is at present a teacher in 
 the schools at De Kalb. 
 
 
 ames C. Fulkerson, of Sycamore, was 
 born in the township of Greenwood, Craw- 
 ford Co., Pa., July 30, 1822. His father, 
 Cornelius Fulkerson, was born in New Jersey, 
 and married Annie Custard, who was a native 
 of Pennsylvania. They removed during the 
 infancy of their son, to Chautauqua Co., N. Y., 
 where the father bought timber land in the town of 
 Busti. He improved a farm there and died in 1836. 
 James C. is the oldest of six children, and after 
 
 HH3>A^ **^ f*^
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 68 1 
 
 he decease of his father he spent some years in aid- 
 ing in the support of the family. He operated as a 
 farm assistant and worked the first year at $4 per 
 month. The second year he obtained an advance of 
 $2 on his monthly wages. Between the ages of 16 
 and 20 years he worked for a man named Eliakim 
 Garfield, engaged in farming and lumbering. The. 
 year before he was 21 he went with his mother on 
 a visit to Crawford Co., Pa., and after a brief stay 
 returned to " York " State. In the winter following 
 he went to Crawford Co., on foot, and engaged as a 
 laborer on his uncle's farm. He was married (here, 
 Jan 23, 1845, to Olive E. Moyers, a native of that 
 county. In February, 1846, he went to the State of 
 New York, where he was engaged for a month in 
 lumbering and rafting, arid when the river opened 
 he -went with a raft down the Allegheny River to 
 Pittsburg, and thence to Cincinnati. He went from 
 there to the Mississippi on a steamer and then up 
 that river to Galena. At that place, in company 
 with five others, he went by hired conveyance to 
 Freeport. He set out thence to walk to Belvidere, 
 but his feet became sore, and after he had walked 
 12 miles he took the stage. The coach was full, 
 and he was obliged to take an outside seat, which 
 was far from pleasant, as the day was rainy. Three 
 miles out from Rockford the stage became fast in a 
 slough, an incident which characterized every journey 
 in the early days of Illinois. But a " breaking " team 
 was at hand, and the difficulty overcome. Belvidere 
 was reached, and there the traveler spent the night, 
 setting out on foot the following morning for Genoa, 
 in De Kalb County. Reaching Deer Creek, he found 
 the water high and no bridge available. He 
 took off his clothes, strapped them on his shoulders 
 and swam across. He stayed a few days with some 
 friends in Genoa, and proceeded to Burlington, Kane 
 County, where he remained until July, when he re- 
 turned to Pennsylvania, by way of Chicago and the 
 lakes to Cleveland. He started to go from there to 
 his home on foot, a distance of 90 miles. At the 
 close of the first day he was seized with ague and 
 hired a man to take him home. In the spring of 
 1847 he started with his family for Kane County, 
 driving the entire distance with a span of horses and 
 a covered wagon. On the 23d of May they arrived 
 in Burlington, where Mr. Fulkerson rented a piece of 
 land and raised a good crop of corn. In the spring 
 :o De Kalb County and rented 
 
 land in Kingston Township, which method of opera- 
 tion he continued until 1857, when he bought 80 
 acres of unimproved land on section 4, in the town- 
 ship of Mayfield. He at once erected a frame 
 house and proceeded lo reclaim his land, and in the 
 course of a few years he had the entire place im- 
 proved and well supplied with necessary farm build- 
 ings. In 1859 he drove through to Pike's Peak, and 
 after spending two months there in the mines he re- 
 turned home. He went back in 1860 and returned 
 to his farm in De Kalb County in 1861. In 1869 he 
 rented his farm and removed to Sycamore, where he 
 bought two lots and a residence. To the latter he 
 has made additions, and has built another dwelling 
 on his land. After settling at Sycamore he engaged 
 in the lumber business with James Harrington, in 
 which he was engaged five years. After that he was 
 employed by the Marsh Harvester Company as an 
 expert in machinery. 
 
 Four children are living: Ann E. is the wife of 
 Wenlworth Sivwright. Sophia married John W. Os- 
 terbout, of Johnson Co., Neb. David E. lives in 
 Chicago. George P. resides at Sycamore. James 
 Harvey, oldest child, died in 1872, aged 22 years. 
 
 athew Nisbet, deceased, was a pioneer of 
 Paw Paw Township of 1841. He was 
 born in Glasgow, Scotland, April i, 1820, 
 \ and was the son of William and Isabella 
 (Drew) Nisbet. He emigrated from Scotland 
 to America in 1840 and made his home near 
 London, Canada West. 
 
 In 1841 he came to Paw Paw Township, De Kalb 
 Co., 111., on foot from Chicago, searching for a site for 
 a home. In passing through this township he was 
 delighted by the beautiful appearance of the country 
 about Ross Grove , but he continued on farther west, 
 crossed the Mississippi into Iowa, and traveled sev- 
 eral weeks. Not finding anything to suit him better, 
 he returned to Ross Grove and made a claim at the 
 south side of the Grove on section 22, taking up 160 
 acres of land, which he entered at Government price. 
 He continued to occupy the home of his choice to 
 the time of his death, which occurred March 23, 
 1874. He had increased his acreage to 360 acres. 
 He was married at Ross Grove, 111., May 3, 1847, 
 
 mmn&^ ^^ -*@.
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 9 
 
 to Agnes Harper, daughter of James and Elizabeth 
 (Black) Harper. Mrs. Nisbet was born in the town 
 of Argyle, Washington Co, N. Y., May 3, 1825, and 
 came to Illinois in September, 1845. Six children 
 were born of their union, three boys and three 
 girls: Elizabeth, born Feb 3, 1848, is the wife of 
 James Harper (son of Robert Harper), residing in 
 Paw Paw Township; Isabella, born March r, 1849, 
 is the wife of William Hyde, and is living in Taylor 
 Co., Iowa; William, bora Jan. 28, 1851, married 
 Lillian Laport and lives in Paw Paw Township ; 
 James, born Oct. 28, 1853, married Lemira Bartlett, 
 and is also a resident of Paw Paw Township ; Mary, 
 bom Nov. 28, 1855, is the wife of Charles V. Wed- 
 dell, of Paw Paw Township; Lawrence, born Sept. 
 14, 1860, single, is living at home. 
 
 Mr. Nisbet was a man of upright principles, arid 
 held in high esteem by a wide circle of acquaintances. 
 Although not a member of any Church, he was a fre- 
 quent attendant at the United Presbyterian Church 
 of Ross Grove. He was one of the most liberal 
 contributors toward the building of that church, and 
 subsequently a generous supporter of it. 
 
 His estimable wife survives him, and with her 
 youngest son occupies the old homestead, of 200 
 acres. She is a consistent Christian and at present 
 a member of the United Presbyterian Church of 
 Freeland. 
 
 > 
 
 ease Alden, of Sycamore, was born March 
 - 2, 1821, in Lyme, Grafton Co., N. H., and 
 is the son of Ezra and Clarissa (Beal) Al- 
 f den. He is a descendant from the first Al- 
 denswho came to the New World, whose unique 
 courtship has handed their names down to 
 posterity, and is in the seventh generation from the 
 John who told his story to Priscilla in behalf of 
 another man. He lived in Lyme until the years of 
 his minority were passed, and at 21 he went to 
 Natick, Mass. He there obtained employment in 
 the shoe factory of the Hon. Henry Wilson. He 
 continued there three years, when impaired health 
 compelled his return to his native place. He lived 
 at Lyme until 1855, when he came West and located 
 \ De Kalb County, buying a farm on sections i and 
 2, in De Kalb Township. He greatly improved the 
 
 
 'imothy Solon, general farmer, section 13^ 
 Malta Township, was born May 15, 1822, 
 in County Mayo, Ireland. He is of un- 
 xed Irish blood and descent, his parents, 
 Patrick and Sarah (Craby) Solon, having been 
 born of Celtic parentage in the same country. 
 They died in County Mayo, where they passed their 
 entire lives. 
 
 Mr. Solon passed his entire minority in his native 
 county and was married there Feb. 7, 1848, to Mary 
 Welch. She was born in County Mayo in 1823, and is 
 the daughter of Martin and Mary (Kelley) Welch, 
 both of whom have been some years deceased. To 
 Mr. and Mrs. Solon nine children have been born, 
 five of whom are no longer living : John S., Anna, 
 William and Ella, are the names of the children yet 
 surviving. Michael, Mary, Thomas, Sarah and Jane 
 are deceased. 
 
 Mr. Solon was 25 years of age when he became 
 the head of a family, and soon after the incident of 
 his marriage he set out with his wife to seek a home 
 in what was to him the land ofpromise. Proceeding 
 from New York, the port of landing, they first located 
 in Herkimer Co., N. Y., where they continued four 
 years. They came thence to Elgin, 111., where they 
 were some time residents, while Mr. Solon operated 
 
 place and resided upon it until 1862. In that year 
 he sold it and removed to the village of Sycamore, 
 where he embarked in the provision business, and 
 was occupied in its relations three years. Mean- 
 while he bought a farm in Mayfield Township, and 
 superintended its management. In 1875 he bought 
 the farm he now occupies, situated on section 31, 
 Sycamore Township. It contains no acres of land, 
 and is situated adjoining the city. It is well im- 
 proved, and the buildings are of an excellent class. 
 He was married Sept. 12, 1847, to Mary E. Dur- 
 kee, who vvas born in Hanover, N. H., Sept. 12, 
 1826. Mr. and Mrs. Alden have three children: 
 Clara E. is the wife of John F. Tudor, of Sycamore ; * 
 Flora R. married John A. Rankin, a lawyer of 
 Girard, Kan. Mary H. is a teacher in the High 
 School at Sycamore. She is a graduate from the 
 Normal School at Oswego, N. Y., and has been a 
 teacher in California. 

 
 - ,, - 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 i 
 
 as a section man on the line of the Northwestern 
 Railroad. Two years later he accepted the position 
 of foreman of a construction corps on the main line 
 owned by the Northwestern corporation, his route ex- 
 tending from " Turner's " to Rochelle, a distance of 
 46 miles. He acted as section foreman between De 
 Kalb and Creston from the completion of the road in 
 1854 to 1873. Meanwhile, in 1864, he purchased 
 1 60 acres of land near Malta, which he rented to 
 others until 1872, in which year he settled with his 
 family on the place. Since 1874 he has devoted his 
 time exclusively to agriculture, and his improved 
 farm is a testimony to the quality of the effort and 
 judgment he has exercised. In political views Mr. 
 Solon is a Democrat. 
 
 ulius Chapman, farmer and miller, resident 
 in the township of Kingston, was born Nov. 
 23, 1812, in Morgan, Ashtabula Co., Ohio. 
 
 He- passed the first 23 years of his life in his 
 ative town, obtaining as good an education as 
 
 was possible in those days. He came in 
 March, 1837,10 De Kalb County, which was then 
 included in Kane County for municipal purposes. 
 He had learned the trade of carpenter in Ohio, and 
 during the first 10 years which he spent in Illinois 
 he followed that branch of business. He entered a 
 claim of 40 acres of land in what is now the town- 
 ship of Genoa, in 1841, which he afterwards sold. 
 About 1843, in the year in which the land came into 
 market, he obtained a claim of 240 acres of land on 
 sections 14 and 15, Kingston Township, which is 
 still in his possession. He has added to his estate 
 until he now owns 1,400 acres in De Kalb County, 
 nearly all of which is under improvement. He set- 
 tled upon section 14 in the spring of 1844, and en- 
 entered with vigor into the work of improving his 
 property and adding to his estate, and operated from 
 that point until 1877, when he removed to the village 
 of Kingston, where the family resided one year. 
 They returned in 1878 to the farm and resumed 
 united associations and their accustomed avenues of 
 employment, in which they continued two years. At 
 the end of that time they went to Kingston village 
 for a permanent residence. 
 
 In the summer of 1876 Mr. Chapman erected a 
 
 grist-mill in the vicinity of his residence, and he has 
 since been engaged mostly in its management. He 
 has also built a grist-mill, at a cost of $10,000, at 
 Millbank, Grant Co., Dak. In 1881 he constructed 
 a business block of brick, which is located near the 
 center of the village, and is a credit alike to the 
 place and to the enterprise of the builder. In 1880 
 he built the cheese factory near the limits of Kings- 
 ton, which is at present under the management of a 
 company in Elgin, 111. He also constructed the 
 wooden bridge over the creek near his home. 
 
 Caleb Chapman, his father, was a native of Win- 
 sted, Conn., where the wife and mother, Deborah 
 (Knowlton), was also born. They settled in Ohio 
 after their marriage, where the father died, in January, 
 1875. The mother died in January, 1885. The 
 son, who is the subject of this sketch, is the oldest of 
 12 children. 
 
 He was married Sept. 14, r843, m tne township of 
 Genoa, to Sarah, 'daughter of Henry and Jane (Wa- 
 ger) Durham. Her parents were natives of Dela- 
 ware Co., N. Y., and they settled in the township of 
 Genoa in 1838. Her father died there Feb. 12, 1855. 
 and her mother's demise followed Nov. 4, of the 
 same year. They had 10 children, of whom Mrs- 
 Chapman is the second, and is the oldest daughter. 
 She was born March 5, 1823, and has been a resi- 
 dent of De Kalb County since her 15 th year. 
 
 Mr. Chapman is a Democrat in political princi- 
 ple. He has officiated eight years as Justice of the 
 Peace, two years as Assessor, and held other local 
 offices. 
 
 The lithographic likeness of Mr. Chapman, on a 
 page just preceding, is considered an essential addi- 
 tion to the collection of portraits of representative 
 men of De Kalb County. 
 
 I eorge H. Gurler, son of Benjamin (see 
 sketch) and Harriet (Hopkins) Gurler, is a 
 manager of a creamery, and resides in the f 
 village of De Kalb. He was born in Chester- 
 field, Cheshire Co., N. H., March 29, r84S, 
 and was 12 years of age when his parents 
 emigrated with the family to the West, locating in 
 this county. Here he grew up to manhood, working 
 upon his father's farm and attending school. 
 
 In February, 1865, he enlisted in the cause of the
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 ; 
 
 Government of his country, in Co. H, I5th 111. Vol. 
 Inf., and went to Morehead City, N. C., under Gen. 
 Sherman's command; thence he marched with the 
 army to Washington, where he participated in the 
 Grand Review ; next he was ordered to the Western 
 plains, to Fort Kearney and Leavenworth, and was 
 finally discharged with the regiment at Springfield. 
 Returning home in the spring of 1866, he engaged in 
 the grocery trade, in partnership with his brother, 
 Henry B., for two. years; he then conducted the 
 business alone for nine years ; the .next three years 
 he acted as a clerk in Hiram Ellwood's drug store ; 
 was then one year in the produce and poultry busi- 
 ness. In 1882, in company with his brother above 
 mentioned, he engaged in the creamery business, 
 having four establishments, namely, at Hinckley, 
 South Grove, De Kalb and Malta. 
 
 Mr. Gurler was married Jan. i, 1867, to Zilla 
 Newitt, who was born in the village of Thames, Eng- 
 land, and they have two children, Charles H. and 
 Bertha B. 
 
 ( Ibert Eugene Hix, a citizen of Sycamore, 
 was born June 24, 1843, i n Alabama, Gen- 
 esee Co., N. Y., and is the youngest son of 
 Ephraim and Laura W. (Williams) Hix. 
 When he was five years of age his parents 
 came to De Kalb County. He was educated 
 in the district schools, and afterwards attended 
 Wheaton College two terms. In the winters of 1861 
 and 1862 he was employed in teaching in Kingston 
 Township, after which he was variously employed, 
 operating at times as a farmer and also as a travel- 
 ing salesman and buying farm produce. In October, 
 1869, he removed to Sycamore and entered the em- 
 ployment of the Marsh Harvester Company, and in 
 1871 was made foreman of their warehouse. In 
 1873 he became shipping clerk, and operated in 
 their interests until October, 1883. Upon the or- 
 ganization of the Fourth Ward in April, 1878, he was 
 elected one of its Aldermen for one year, and in 
 1879 was re-elected for a full term of two years. In 
 April, 1884, he entered the employment of E. B. 
 Shurtliff, as book-keeper and shipping clerk, and is 
 at present officiating in that capacity. 
 
 He was married in September, 1863, to Eleanor 
 
 Irish, and they have two children, Laura A. and 
 Orvis R. Mrs. Hix is a native of Canada, where she 
 was born March 16, 1843, a daughter of Daniel and 
 Janet Irish. Daniel Irish is a native of Vermont, 
 and Janet (McLean) Irish was born in Ireland, her ^ 
 family emigrating to Canada when she was about 
 seven years of age. 
 
 eorge Terwilliger, resident at De Kalb, 
 was born in Ulster Co., N. Y., May n, 
 1842, and is a son of Levi H. and Fanny 
 Terwilliger, natives ofr " York State." When 
 14 years of age Mr. Terwilliger set forth on the 
 road of adversity to battle against the trials of 
 life alone. He came to this State and engaged to a 
 cousin, Lewis McEvven, to work on his farm and con- 
 tinued in that vocation until 1869. During the latter 
 year he came to De Kalb, and, in company with A. 
 B. Pollock, built an elevator, and entered upon the 
 business of buying grain. In 1872 the present firm 
 of L. M. McEwen & Co. was formed and Mr. Ter- 
 williger became a member of it and still retains his 
 connection. They deal in grain, lumber, coal, live 
 stock, lime, hair, etc. 
 
 He was married Nov. 6, 1873, to Miss Genevra, 
 daughter of Perley B. and Lois Snow. They had five 
 children, Roy L., Fay L., Perley S., Covell G. and 
 Nevie H. Mr. Terwilliger was a member of the 
 Board of Trustees for a number of terms. Politically 
 he is a believer in and supporter of the principles and 
 doctrines of the Republican party. 
 
 ichard Parks, farmer, resident on section 
 32, Victor Township, was born Dec. 5, 
 1837, in Niagara Co., N. Y. His parents, 
 Edward and Sarah (Davidson) Parks, were 
 natives of Ireland, and emigrated thence to 
 Canada in 1832. After being there one year 
 they moved to New York State. They came to 
 Illinois in 1873, and are now living at Lelancl, La 
 Salle Co., 111., aged respectively 84 and 80 years. 
 
 Mr. Parks was reared by his parents and instructed 
 in practical farming, remaining at home until he was 
 22 years of age. In 1858 he came to Illinois and 
 
 , ;-^ 

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 began his career as an independent farmer in the 
 township of Victor, where he is now the owner of 169 
 acres of land. His farm is in fine agricultural con- 
 dition, supplied with good and necessary buildings 
 L and well stocked. The proprietor is a representative 
 farmer of his township, and has held several offices 
 of trust and responsibility. He is a Republican and 
 takes an interest in local and national affairs incum- 
 bent upon his citizenship, and is active in affording 
 aid in the furtherance of any cause or enterprise for 
 i the general welfare. 
 
 JL Feb. 13, 1860, he contracted a matrimonial alliance 
 V with Mary S. Parks, of Youngstown, N. Y., and they 
 have had seven children, four of whom are living, 
 William H., Hattie M., Bert L. and Charlie R. 
 Three children died unnamed in infancy. Mrs. 
 Parks has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church since 1852. 
 
 incey Rose, a pioneer of De Kalb 
 County, was born March 31, 1800, in 
 Chenango Co., N. Y. He was brought 
 up a farmer, and married Salina E. Porter, 
 also a native of Chenango County. Soon af- 
 ter marriage they set out to seek a home, and 
 located in Evans, Erie Co., N. Y., where he bought a 
 farm and continued to reside until 1843, when he 
 again took up his march westward, with a span 
 of horses and a wagon, and, accompanied by his fam- 
 ily, he came to De Kalb County. He entered a 
 claim in Sycamore Township, which included a part 
 of the Norwegian Grove, and began to improve a 
 farm, on which he died Aug. 3, 1846. His widow 
 died Aug. 14, 1878, aged 76 years and 14 days. 
 
 J. Conde, a resident at Sycamore, was born 
 Jan. 19, 1817, in the city of Schenectady, 
 N. Y., and is the son of Isaac S. and Mary 
 (Bradford) Conde. He was reared and edu- 
 cated in the schools of his native city, and 
 when he was 14 years of age was apprenticed 
 to a hatter and served five years, which included 
 nearly all the time he worked at that business, as 
 hand-made hats were soon afterward supplanted by 
 those made by machinery. He next operated as a 
 
 .&&& 
 
 traveling salesman for John Benedict, in Saratoga 
 County, for whom he drove a two-horse team and 
 supplied the farmers with tin-ware and Yankee no- 
 tions. He conducted that line of business n years, 
 after which he removed to Monroe Co., Mich., going 
 there in 1845. He bought timber land in the town- 
 ship of Milan, intending to make a permanent set- 
 tlement ; but, the entire family becoming ill, he sold 
 the place in 1 848 and returned to Schenectady. He 
 obtained a situation as lock-tender on the Erie Canal, 
 in which capacity he was occupied three years ; and 
 in 1851 he established a grocery trade three miles 
 west of Schenectady on the Erie Canal, where he 
 was engaged five years. About 1856 he sold out 
 and removed to De Kalb County and settled on a 
 farm in Shabbona Township, where he was engaged 
 in agricultural pursuits until 1866, when he sold out 
 and bought a place on State Street in Sycamore, 
 where he opened a restaurant.' He managed the re- 
 lations of that business about 13 years, when he 
 again sold out and embarked in the provision busi- 
 ness, in which he has since been engaged. 
 
 Mr. Conde was married in 1847, to Philela Ketch- 
 am. She was born in Glenville, Schenectady Co., 
 N. Y. She died in Shabbona Township in 1865, 
 leaving five children, Mary J., Chauncey, Jane 
 Amanda, Sadie and Porter. Mr. Conde was a second 
 time married in September, 1869, to Eliza Van Pat- 
 ten. She was born in the same place as her prede- 
 cessor, the first wife of Mr. Conde. 
 
 enry H. Harrington, deceased, was form- 
 erly a farmer on section 16, Malta Town- 
 ship. He was born Aug. 2, 1839, in Erie 
 Co., N. Y., and was the son of Sydney P. Har- 
 rington, a farmer of the Empire State. His 
 mother, Polly (Hicks) Harrington, was also a 
 native of the State of New York, and the parents came 
 to De Kalb Co., 111., in r 840, locating in Franklin 
 Township. (See ske.tch of S. A. Harrington.) The 
 father is now a resident of Kirkland, in that town- 
 ship, where Henry was reared and attended the com- 
 mon schools. He was married Sept. 23, 1862, to 
 Jane A. Jones. Her parents, Edmond and Ann 
 (Barber) Jones, were of Welsh and German extrac- 
 tion, and were natives respectively of New England 
 
 \
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 and New York. They were of the farming fraternity 
 and came in the early history of the " West " to 
 Hillsdale Co., Mich. The point where they first lo- 
 cated is now the flourishing and well-known village 
 of Jonesville, near the city of Hillsdale, which re- 
 ceived its name from Mrs. Harrington's father, who 
 was the first permanent white settler. The daughter 
 was' born there March u, 1843. When she was 
 1 1 years of age her parents came to Illinois and 
 located in Franklin Township, De Kalb County, 
 at a time when the inhabitants where resident on 
 sections widely separated. Nine children have been 
 born to Mr. and Mrs. Harrington, six of whom are 
 living: Frank L., born Dec. 19, 1864, is attending a 
 business college at Rockford, 111.; Beulah A. was 
 born July 4, 1866; Edward E., Feb. 26, 1868, is at 
 school at Bement, Piatt Co., 111.; Susan L., Jan. r, 
 1871; Martha L., Oct. 25, 1872, and Guy H., Sept. 
 25, 1878. 
 
 Mr. Harrington died Aug. 12, 1881, when he was 
 ten days past 42 years of age. He was a skillful 
 farmer and stock-grower, and during the last years of 
 his life was extensively interested in the latter busi- 
 ness. After his death Mrs. Harrington continued to 
 conduct the homestead until the autumn of 1884, 
 when she leased the place and removed to Malta 
 village for the purpose of educating her children. 
 
 Mr. Harrington was an adherent of the Republi- 
 can party. He held during his life several positions 
 of importance and trust. 
 
 [homas M. Hopkins, attorney at law, De 
 Kalb, was born in the town of Salem, 
 Washington Co., N. Y., April 23, 1818. 
 He received his early education at the public 
 schools and at Washington Academy three 
 years. In 1835 he commenced the study of 
 law, and was admitted to practice by the Supreme 
 Court of the State at Albany in January, 1842, Judge 
 Samuel Nelson presiding. After that time he prac- 
 ticed law in Salem one year. 
 
 In r843 he came to Illinois, and after spending a 
 summer in this State he went to Missouri, where he 
 resided until February, 1846, when he came to this 
 county and made a claim on section 13 of De Kalb 
 Township, and afterward entered the same from the 
 
 Government. He immediately commenced building 
 and improving the land, and engaged in raising the 
 usual farm products ; and, having been admitted to 
 the Bar of this State by the Supreme Court, Chief 
 Justice Caton and Judge Richard M. Young, May 
 2, 1843, he also prosecuted to some extent his pro- 
 fession as an attorney. In 1865 he came to the vil- 
 lage of De Kalb and opened a law office, and has 
 since devoted his whole time to legal practice. 
 
 He was married April 23, 1836, to Miss Julia A. 
 Hawken, who was born in St. Louis, Mo., the daugh- 
 ter of Jacob Hawken, a native of Maryland. By this 
 marriage there have been five children, namely : 
 Montgomery, now a resident of Sycamore; Charles, 
 a farmer in this county ; Christopher H., a physician 
 at Wall Lake, Iowa; Alice C.; and Jacob, the young- 
 est, is a student at Knox College, Galesburg. 
 
 Mr. Hopkins has been and is a prominent and in- 
 fluential citizen of De Kalb. 
 
 amesVan Dusen, a pioneer settler of Syca- 
 more Township, now deceased, located on 
 section 15 of township 41, range 5, as it 
 then designated, in 1842, and was thence- 
 forward a resident of De Kalb County as long 
 as he lived. On taking possession of his farm, 
 he built the customary pioneer house a log cabin 
 with puncheon floor and clapboard roof. He har- 
 vested his first crop of grain in 1844, which was 
 threshed with oxen, several yoke being driven over 
 the grain, which was spread in a circle. He con- 
 tinued to make improvements until he had placed 
 130 acres under the plow. 
 
 He was born in the State of New York, in 1795, 
 where he attained to the age of manhood. He was 
 married there to Bethiah Sprague, who was born in 
 the same State in 1799. They located at first at 
 Penn Yan, whence, after a short residence, they 
 went to Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, and settled near Cleve- 
 land, where they were pioneers, having taken up 
 their residence there about 1820. They continued 
 to live there about a score of years, and improved a 
 farm. They removed thence to Crawford Co., Ohio, 
 whence they came, as has been stated, to De Kalb 
 County. Mr. Van Dusen died in 1861, leavings 
 children, Eliza, James Riley, Oliver, Simeon, Au- 
 
 V 
 
 I 
 
 , 

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 rilla and Martha Ann. Eliza and Aurilla are now 
 deceased; James lives in Dakota ; Oliver is in Dodge 
 Co., Minn ; Martha is the wife of L. W. Miller, of 
 Madison Co., Neb. 
 
 Simeon Van Dusen was born April n, 1832, in 
 Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, and was 10 years of age when 
 his parents came to Illinois and settled in De Kalb 
 County. He was married in 1858, to Mary J., daugh- 
 ter of Harris and Lavina (Snow) Sibley. Mrs. Van 
 Dusen was born in Clarendon, N. Y., and when she 
 was yet in childhood they came to Illinois and lo- 
 cated at St. Charles, in Kane County. Their chil- 
 dren are named Willie and Frank. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Van Dusen settled at first on the Van Dusen home- 
 stead, on section 15, and continued there until 18701 
 when the farm they now occupy was purchased, and 
 which contains 191 acres situated on sections 21, 22 
 and 23. The place is all under improvements, with 
 good buildings, orchard and modern farm fixtures. 
 
 i\ 
 
 fheodore Klein, farmer, section 35, Pierce 
 Township, has been a land-holder since 
 February, 1868, when he bought land on 
 section 16. In 1875 he bought his present 
 farm on section 35. He was born April 27, 
 1832, in Prussia, and went to school from the 
 age of 6 to 14 years, according to the law of his na- 
 tive land. He was then employed on his father's 
 farm until he was 21 years of age, when he set out to 
 find a home and fortune in the New World. He 
 sailed for New York and landed at that port after a 
 journey of 63 days, which he remembers as a^stormy, 
 anxious time. On arrival in the great city he had a 
 surplus cash capital of only $12, but he bestowed 
 nearly all of that on his needy fellow passengers. He 
 went up the Hudson River to Catskill, where he 
 worked in the harvest field a few days, receiving a 
 recompense of $i a day. He proceeded thence to 
 Chicago, where he obtained employment in a lumber- 
 yard three months, after which he went to Michigan 
 and chopped wood through one winter. He came 
 then to Aurora and worked by the month for four 
 years, receiving $14 a month. He next went to 
 California, going from the city of New York by the 
 Isthmus to San Francisco, where he operated alter- 
 nately in mining and farming. He left the Golden 
 
 
 State in 1865 and returned to Kane Co., 111. April 5, 
 1866, he was married to Caroline Ahart, and they 
 have six children Mary J., Ida May, Emma A., 
 Cora, Frank T. and Theadore O. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Klein lived in Kane County two years, bought a 
 farm of P. McDole, which was originally located by 
 Benjamin McDole. The place contains 440 acres, 
 all under cultivation and with two sets of farm build- 
 ings of excellent type. For some years Mr. Klein 
 has been interested in the purchase and sale of 
 stock, for Chicago markets. Mrs. Klein is the daugh- 
 ter of Christoph and Maria Ahart, and was brought 
 from Wurtemburg, Germany, by her parents when an 
 infant. 
 
 yron F. Wyman, farmer, section 36, Syca- 
 more Township, a life-long resident of De 
 Kalb County, was born March 19, 1839, 
 in Sycamore Township. Ralph Wyman, his 
 father, was a pioneer of De Kalb County, 
 whither he came in 1836. At that date the 
 townships were designated under the regulations by 
 which they were located previous to being put upon 
 the market by the United States Government, and 
 the senior Wyman made a claim on section 36, town 
 41, range 5, and also on section i of town 40, ranges- 
 He was born in 1813, in Weathersfield, Windsor 
 Co., Vt. His parents, Asa and Sally (Searls) Wy- 
 man,.were natives of the Bay State, and settled after 
 their marriage in Vermont. When he was two years 
 of age they went to Worcester, Mass., removing 
 thence after a brief residence to Middletown, Rut- 
 land Co., Vt., where the son attained to man's estate, 
 and was married in 1837 to Susan Dayton. He came 
 to De Kalb County, as stated, and after making his 
 claims he returned to Vermont for his wife and set- 
 tled in town 4.1, where he built a log house and com- 
 menced the work of improving his property. In 1842 
 he made a trip to his native State, and on the third 
 day of December, of the same year, he set out as agent 
 for a cloth-manufacturing firm, with a span of horses 
 and a large sleigh loaded with woolen goods, to sell 
 in their interest. The snow had disappeared when 
 he reached Western New York, and he exchanged 
 his sleigh for a wagon and pressed on to De Kalb 
 County, passing through Chicago on the day when 
 the land sale of the county began, Jan. 29, 1843.
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 ' 
 
 On reaching his destination he exchanged his wares 
 for wheat, of which the farmers had abundance, but 
 little money; and the opportunity was one they 
 heartily appreciated. Mr. Wyman took the wheat to 
 St. Charles, where it was converted into flour, and 
 was shipped to the East. He resided on his farm 
 until 1860, when he bought a lot in Sycamore, built 
 a house thereon, in which he lived until his death, in 
 February, 1864. To him and his wife who survives 
 him 1 1 children were born, eight of whom are still 
 living: Henry D., Byron F., Helen G. (Mrs. Coch- 
 rane Black), Cecil (Mrs. A. C. Colton), Ida (Mrs. A. 
 N. Wheeler), Frank W., Eva (Mrs. Henry Knights) 
 and Susie. 
 
 B. F. Wyman was reared to manhood in his native 
 county and township, where he was eduuated prima- 
 rily in the' common schools, obtaining further ad- 
 vantages by one term of attendance at Rock River 
 Seminary, Mt. Morris, and three terms of study at 
 select schools in De Kalb and Sycamore. 
 
 He had just passed his 22d birthday when the 
 nation was involved in a struggle for existence, and 
 lie was one of the first to enroll after the call of 
 President Lincoln, May 4, 1861, for three-year men. 
 As Illinois was permitted to furnish only six regi- 
 ments, places in the ranks were at a premium. Mr. 
 Wyman enlisted, and on the gth of May, 1861, the 
 1 3th Illinois regiment was organized at Dixon, and 
 he was made First Corporal of Co. F. On the 24th 
 the regiment was mustered into the service of the 
 United States, and after a few weeks of necessary 
 preparation it was transferred to the field of action. 
 Mr. Wyman served until the expiration of his period 
 of enlistment, and received an honorable discharge, 
 June 1 8, 1864. In September, 1862, he was promo- 
 ted as Sergeant. Among the engagements in which 
 he took active part were Chickasaw Bayou (where he 
 was severely wounded), siege of Vicksburg, Jackson, 
 Tuscumbia, Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge and 
 Ringgold, Ga. At the latter, one-half the members 
 of his company who were involved in the action were 
 killed or wounded. He marched an aggregate of 
 3,500 miles. 
 
 After being relieved from the military service of 
 his country, he returned to De Kalb County and 
 operated a few months as a clerk at Sycamore. In 
 1867 he went to Sauk Co., Wis., where he engaged 
 hop-raising about two years. In the spring of 
 
 1869 he returned to Sycamore, to the place he now 
 owns and occupies, and where he has since been a 
 resident. He has put the place in the best of order 
 and has rebuilt the farm structures, including the 
 house, barn and granary. Mr. Wyman is a Repub- 
 lican in political views, and is at present (1885) hold- 
 ing the position of Assistant Supervisor, in which he 
 has officiated two years. He acted several years as 
 Township Trustee and also as School Director. In 
 1880 he was also Census Enumerator for the city of 
 Sycamore. 
 
 His marriage to Nettie S. Lowell occurred Oct. 19, 
 1865, and they are the parents of six children, 
 Ralph L., Luther E., Frank E., Bernard A., Vincent 
 D. and Edmond Stanley. Mrs. Wyman was born in 
 Moretown, Washington Co., Vt. With her husband, 
 she is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 and he has been Superintendent of the Sunday- 
 school a number of years. 
 
 tephen Santee, a farmer on section 26, 
 Kingston Township, was born April 30, 
 1841, in Luzerne Co., Pa. Simon and Mary 
 (Hoffecker) Santee, his parents, were born in 
 Pennsylvania and still reside in that State, in 
 advanced age. Mr. Santee passed the first 23 
 years of his life on his father's farm as an assistant 
 after reaching a suitable age, and previous to that 
 time in attending school. He was then married and 
 located t>n the homestead, which he conducted three 
 years. In March, 1867, he came to -Illinois and 
 operated one year as a laborer on the farm of his 
 father-in-law. In the autumn of that year, he pur- 
 chased 135 acres of land, and in 1868 he took posses- 
 sion of his property on which he has since labored, 
 and all of which he has improved with the exception 
 of 10 acres which is in timber. Mr. Santee is a Re- 
 publican in political affinity, has been School Director 
 and Overseer of Highways, and in the spring of 1884 
 was elected Highway Commissioner. 
 
 He was married Dec. 25, 1863, in Luzerne Co., 
 Pa., to Susan, daughter of John and Elizabeth 
 (Wood) Uplinger. She was born Sept. 25, 1847, in 
 the county where she was married, and which wa 

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 ...e native place of her parents. The names of the 
 ) children of Mr. and Mrs. Santee are Ario, Amlin, 
 3j Simon, Ida, Mary, Clara, Eva, John H. and Charles F. 
 
 4 ^^^^^^ 
 
 i illiam L. Pond, attorney at law, De Kalb, 
 was born in the town of Genoa, this coun- 
 ty, Feb. n, 1860. His parents, Americus 
 H. and Amy N. (Hollembeak) Pond, were 
 early settlers in Genoa Township, where the 
 subject of this sketch was reared and received 
 his education. He graduated at the Genoa High 
 School June 10, 1881, in the first class that graduated 
 there. He next taught the High School at Kirkland 
 a year, then entered the law office of Games & 
 Denton at Sycamore, completed a course of law 
 studies, was admitted to the Bar at Ottawa in June, 
 1884, and commenced the practice of his chosen pro- 
 fession at De Kalb in September of that year. He is 
 fQ a young gentleman of much promise, having great 
 ^ " honor even in his own country." 
 
 dward Butterfield, deceased, one of the 
 first pioneers of Paw Paw Township, was 
 born in Vermont. He left Vermont with 
 his parents, and went to Canada, where he re- 
 sided till of age, when he returned to the United 
 States, locating in Cayuga Co., N. Y., and en- 
 gaged in farming. 
 
 He married Polly Harris, daughter of Rev. Benoni 
 and Thankful Harris, about 1819. They had ten 
 children, six sons and four daughters, namely : Solo- 
 mon V., Benoni, Thankful, Marion D., 'Sarah J., 
 Mary A. and Alexander H., who grew to be heads of 
 families; the others died in childhood. Of those 
 named only three are now living Solomon V., a 
 farmer of Paw Paw, and the oldest surviving repre- 
 sentative of the pioneers of 1835, i s st 'H a resident 
 of the township; Sarah J. is the wife of J. A. Edgett 
 and lives in Carroll Co., Iowa; Mary A. is the widow 
 of Lorenzo Chesley, and lives in West Paw Paw, Lee 
 County. 
 
 Mr. Butterfield moved to Michigan in 1830 and 
 settled on what was known as Sturgis Prairie. He en- 
 listed in the Black Hawk War, and was commissioned 
 
 <> 
 
 First Lieutenant in Capt. Hunter's company, Co. I, 
 and served till the close of the war. He spent one 
 winter in Michigan after his return from the war, and 
 then moved to Ottawa, 111. The following summer 
 (July, 1831;) he came with his family to Paw Paw 
 Township, De Kalb Co., 111. He was accompanied 
 by his father-in-law, Rev. Benoni Harris, and his 
 family, and several young single men. He made a 
 claim on section 19, of this town, where he lived till 
 1852, when he removed to Iowa. He returned to 
 Paw Paw in 1864, and died May 28, 1867. 
 
 Mr. Butterfield was a Democrat in politics. He 
 served as Deputy Sheriff four years, was Collector 14 
 years and Constable many years. In early days the 
 struggle for claims and the natural turbulence of 
 society on the frontier, furnished a plenty of busi- 
 ness for justices and officers, and Mr. Butterfield was 
 actively employed in the discharge of his duties over 
 a wide range of territory. 
 
 illiam Loomis, senior member of the busi- 
 ness firm of Loomis & Luther, at Sycamore, 
 was born Sept. 3, 1813, in Georgia, Frank- 
 lin Co.,Vt., and is the son of Jonah and Ora 
 (Barnard) Loomis. His parents were both 
 natives of the Green Mountain State. Mr. 
 Loomis was reared and educated in the town where 
 he was born, and was there married June 23, 1836, 
 to Eliza D., daughter of Zina D. and Betsey (Bowen) 
 Stannard. She was born in Georgia, Vt., Sept. 30, 
 1816. Her father was born in Connecticut, her 
 mother in Vermont. 
 
 After his marriage, Mr. Loomis bought a farm, in 
 company with his brother in Georgia, and they man- 
 aged it jointly four years, when he sold his interest. 
 In 1851 he bought a farm in the town of St. Albans, 
 in the same county, where he lived with his family 
 until 1857. In that year he again sold out and 
 went to Grand Rapids, Mich., where he engaged in 
 banking. He was burned out, and he finally dis- 
 posed of his business relations and went to Newaygo 
 Co., Mich., where, in company with his brother, 
 Henry Loomis, he engaged in the lumber business. 
 Their land lay remote from the Muskegon River, and 
 in order to transport their logs to the stream they 
 built a railroad, two and one-fourth miles long, on 
 AiffiA@ 
 
 Vx
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 
 
 which the motive power was furnished by horses. 
 This was the first railroad built for the purpose and 
 operated by horses in Michigan. 
 
 In 1864 he sold his interest there and came to 
 Sycamore, where he bought city property and built 
 his present residence. He bought the lumber yard 
 of H. James, and was engaged 14 years in the lum- 
 ber trade, being associated a part of the time with 
 his brother, Samuel Loomis. Afterward he bought 
 an interest in the flax-mill, which he still retains. 
 This establishment is one of the earliest business 
 ventures at Sycamore, having been put in operation 
 about 1838, and has been run since with little inter- 
 ruption. 
 
 Mr. Loomis has been prominently identified with 
 the manufacturing interests at Sycamore, owning 
 stock in the Marsh Harvester Company and in the 
 Ellwood Manufacturing Company, and being a 
 director in each. He is at present the Vice-Presi- 
 dent of the latter. He is popular in public esteem 
 from meritorious character, having been a decided 
 and consistent advocate and supporter of the prin- 
 ciples of morality and religion. He has been a 
 Trustee in the Methodist Episcopal Church about 
 seven years, of which denomination his wife is also a 
 member. He was a Whig originally, but on the 
 organization of the Republican party became its 
 adherent. Five children born to Mr. and Mrs. 
 Loomis are living. 
 
 9sse C'. Kellogg, deceased, was a pioneer 
 citizen of De Kalb County, and came to 
 Illinois in its earliest days, setting out from 
 Vermont with his bride of a few weeks to find 
 a home in the Prairie State. They started 
 from Stowe, Lamoille County, and went by pri- 
 vate conveyance to Vergennes, then the only city in 
 the Green Mountain State and only a few hundred 
 rods square. The absurd little metropolis is" a lake 
 port, and Mr. and Mrs. Kellogg embarked on Lake 
 Champlain and went thence via Champlain Canal to 
 Albany, whence they traveled by the Erie Canal to 
 Buffalo and thence by the lakes to Chicago. They 
 passed 17 days between the two ports. After a few 
 days spent in the Garden City, then showing scarcely 
 ji shadow of its present splendid prominence, they 
 
 (S&eZ^t&a ^y^C Q-A 
 
 Ory/^V*^* ^-X^ 
 
 went to Plainfield, Will County, where Mr. Kellogg 
 rented a farm. 
 
 In the spring of 1836 he visited the part of Kane 
 County, now converted by separation and independ- 
 ent municipal regulations into De Kalb County, and 
 made a claim of sections 8 and 9, in what is now 
 Sycamore Township. This was seven years previ- 
 vious to the survey, and when the land was placed 
 on the market he entered a claim of 160 acres. In 
 the summer succeeding his locating here he broke a 
 few acres of land and built a log cabin 14 feet 
 square, floored with " puncheons " and roofed with 
 "shakes." He soon became prominent in local af- 
 fairs, and in 1837 was elected County Recorder. He 
 was. re-elected in 1841 and in 1842, and also in 
 1845, serving in the same office until 1848. He was 
 one of the first Postmasters at Sycamore, and was 
 one of the founders of the Congregational Church at 
 that place, of which he was the first Deacon and 
 held the position as long as he lived. He was for a 
 long period of years President of the De Kalb 
 County Bible Society, and was held in the highest 
 esteem for his character of uniform Christian consist- 
 ency. He was elected Trustee of the city on the 
 temperance issue, as he was a strong advocate of 
 the principles of the temperance reform. He was an 
 active Abolitionist and was a powerful adjunct of the 
 " Underground Railroad," one of whose prominent 
 stations was at Sycamore. He was for many years 
 Deputy Clerk, and in all passed 35 official years in 
 the Court-House at Sycamore. In 1841 he took up 
 his residence at Sycamore. A part of the land he 
 entered was included within the corporation, but he 
 never engaged to any great extent in personal effort 
 on the place, operating in the way of renting until 
 his sons were sufficiently grown to work it. 
 
 Mr. Kellogg was a man of superior mental and 
 executive abilities. He had a good education, 
 which was found especially valuable in the formative 
 period in which he came to De Kalb County, and he 
 was an interesting contributor to the local press of his 
 native State during those early days. He also wrote 
 much on occasions for the Sycamore papers, by 
 which valuable reminiscences were preserved. 
 
 He was born April to, 1806, in Stowe, Vt. His 
 father, Aaron Kellogg, was a native of Connecticut 
 and was a pioneer of Lamoille Co., Vt. He was edu 
 cated at the district schools and at Randolph Acad 
 emy, one of the most thorough educational institu- 
 
 C) ^g^ f*^ 
 

 
 TUfUIWRf 
 
 OF THE 
 DIVERSITY OF ILLHKNS

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 695 
 
 tions of the State. His father died when he was 
 ? five years of age, and he lived with an older brother, 
 t who assisted him in obtaining an education. He 
 began his struggle with the world by teaching in the 
 public school at $8 a month, one-half to be paid in 
 cash and one-half in grain ; and he boarded among 
 the patrons of the school. He worked at farming 
 summers and taught winters, and paid his way at 
 the academy with his earnings. While^studying at 
 Randolph he became acquainted with Phebe, daugh- 
 / ter of Zachariah Wood, of Tunbridge, herself a 
 student and teacher. They were married Feb. 5, 
 1 834, and their subsequent history has already been 
 * told. The wife died in February, 1873, and the 
 husband in March, 1874. Following is the record of 
 their five children: Emily J. was born Jan. 18, 
 1837, and married C. T. Pierce. She lived many 
 years in De Kalb County, arfd died in March, 1877, 
 in Erie, Whiteside Co., 111.; Hiram J., Heniy W., 
 Heman A. and Homer W. were born in the order 
 named. Henry W. is Auditor of Greene Co., Iowa. 
 Heman A. is a resident of Anderson Co., Kan. 
 The youngest son died at Jefferson, Greene Co., 
 Iowa, July 5, 1883. 
 
 ra Vail Randall, attorney at De Kalb, and 
 whose portrait is on the opposite page, was 
 born in Mount Holly, Vt., March 2, 1820. 
 His father, Isaac Randall, a farmer, was a 
 native, of the same county, and died when the 
 subject of this sketch was in his i6th year, 
 leaving him without home or means, and only a 
 moderate common-school education. The grand- 
 father of Ira was Snow Randall, who came from En- 
 gland after the Colonies, had gained their indepen- 
 dence. Snow Randall was a Quaker of the Hicksite 
 faith. Isaac Randall married Gallana Chandler, a 
 Methodist lady, and Isaac was thereupon expelled 
 from the Quakers for marrying one not a member of 
 their sect, willfully and against the rules of their 
 society. Gall ana's grandfather was a millionaire and 
 settled in Chester, Vt., and owned at an early day 
 the township. He held many positions of public use- 
 fulness, and kept a public house, or, more properly 
 
 speaking, a house for the public, in which his hos- 
 pitalities were dispensed with an entirely gratuitous 
 as well as a liberal hand. 
 
 He married a sea captain's daughter, and tradition 
 states that at the wedding he (the sea captain) 
 measured out half a bushel of gold coin, uncounted, 
 as a present to his wife. 
 
 Our subject, with $3 in silver money in his pocket, 
 and his clothing tied up in a cotton frock, on his 
 back, started out on foot, the spring after his father's 
 death, for West Poultney, Vt., to attend the academy 
 there, where he could work by the hour at I2j^ cents 
 to pay for books, tuition and board. At the end of 
 the first quarter he found himself in debt for board 
 $13}^. He hired out to a tanner in the village for 
 one month at $r3, to drive horse in grinding bark 
 and hauling hides from lime vats, and scraping off 
 the hair, etc. After graduating at the tannery at the 
 end of the month he took possession of his $T3 and 
 paid his debts. Working on a farm for a short time, he 
 attended the fall term of the Poultney School. He 
 then taught school during the winter, attended the 
 academy in spring and next fall, teaching again in 
 the winter, and continued to teach, work on farm in 
 summer, and attend school spring and fall. He 
 taught 13 terms, attending the academy alternately 
 until fitted for college, and intending to take a full 
 course; but the state of his health deterred him from 
 matriculating. At the latter part of his career as 
 teacher, which commenced in his i7th year, he com- 
 menced the study of the law. He read with the 
 Hon. Sewell Fullam, State's Attorney at Ludlow, Vt., 
 and finished his reading with the Hon. Solomon Foot, 
 of Rutland, and was admitted to the Bar at Rutland, 
 in 1847. 
 
 In April of the year before, he married Miss Susan 
 L. Earle, of Mount Holly, daughter of Lawson Earle, 
 an extensive farmer and dairynnn. Mr. Randall 
 practiced his profession for three years at Barnard, 
 Windsor Co., Vt. During that period he visited the 
 West, and on the solicitation of the " Maine Law 
 Alliance," lectured in Illinois for three months in ad- 
 vocacy of the Maine law, an episode in his life 
 which no doubt he still calls to remembrance with 
 great pleasure. 
 
 Dec. 27, 1856, he landed in the embryo village of 
 De Kalb, with his family, consisting of his wife and 
 one daughter, Emma A., his only child. 
 
 For more than a quarter of a century, Mr. Ran- 
 
 1
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 dall has been in the practice of the Law, doing bus- 
 iness in all the State and Federal Courts, and making 
 a success of his profession. He has the reputation 
 of being a well-read lawyer, faithful to his clients, 
 clinging to his client's interests with bull-dog ten- 
 acity, thus attaining a success in his profession per- 
 haps greater than most practitioners. Mr. Randall 
 was Postmaster at Mount Holly, his native town, and 
 held the same office at an early day at De Kalb ; 
 but resigned his office on entering the State Legisla- 
 ture in 1865-6, to which he was, against his own 
 wishes, elected, and has held several municipal 
 offices in this city, and was also a member of the 
 School Board. He has always taken a lively interest 
 in the cause of education, and no doubt still regrets 
 that ill health prevented him from going through 
 college. 
 
 He was originally a Whig, an unterrified Vermont 
 Whig, and left that State two years after "John 
 Brown's soul " commenced " marching on." Since 
 1855 he has been an enthusiastic Republican, and an 
 earnest worker in his party, attending Judicial, Con- 
 gressional and State Conventions as a Delegate from 
 his county, and at times doing manly and effective 
 work on the stump. Also, he was an efficient worker 
 in securing recruits for the war, making war speeches, 
 but poor health prevented hini from taking the field. 
 He is still a zealous advocate of temperance, in be- 
 half of which cause he has pleaded in a half dozen 
 States besides Illinois, including New Hampshire, 
 Vermont, Massachusetts, New York and Michigan. 
 Mr. Randall has also lectured on various other sub- 
 jects, such as the enfranchisement of women, pre- 
 Adamite man, etc. Being well posted in the Scrip- 
 tures, he has given an able lecture on "What is Re- 
 ligion ?" and is familiar with the various questions 
 and themes agitating the public mind. He is a fas- 
 cinating talker, a keen logician and a splendid de- 
 bater. 
 
 His first wife died in 1861, and in 1868 he married 
 Mrs. Mardula D. (Bent) Boynton. They have no 
 children. Mr. Randall has a compact build, is five 
 feet two inches tall, and weighs 185 pounds. His 
 eyes are blue, but his disposition is not! He is 
 rather jovial, laughs easily and heartily, and is a 
 good factor of a social circle. He was educated a 
 Methodist and is a member of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal Church. 
 
 ohn P. Van Voorhis, physician an sur- 
 geon, resident at Fielding, was born Oct. ^ 
 16, 1833, in Ulster Co., N. Y. Daniel Van 
 Voorhis, his father, was a native of Ulster 
 County and married Cornelia Nagle. Both 
 parents were of Dutch descent. After their 
 marriage they remained in Ulster Co., N. Y., until 
 the subject of this sketch was about a year old, 
 when they moved to Booneville, Oneida Co., N. Y., 
 where the father died, Aug. 8, 1,842, aged 43 years, f 
 The mother died there, Aug. 31, 1884, being 86 
 years of age. 
 
 The subject of this sketch is the sixth in order of 
 birth of a family of nine children. He was eight 
 years qjd when his father died. He remained a pupil 
 of the district school until he was 15 years of age, ( 
 when he entered Whitestown Seminary, .which school 
 he attended for the next five years, teaching "win- 4 
 ters to pay his way. At this time he commenced J 
 reading medicine with Dr. Gardner, of Whitesboro, ^ 
 and graduated three years later, in the Eclectic Medi-J 
 cal Institute, May 17, 1856, at Cincinnati, Ohio. ~ 
 Soon after obtaining his credentials he took the^ 
 practice of Dr. Thomas at Harrison, Ohio, while that 
 doctor took a vacation, coming thence in the spring 
 of 1857 to Rockford, 111., where he .remained only a 
 few months. In the fall of 1857 he located in the Penn- 
 sylvania Settlement in the township of Monroe, in 
 Ogle County, where he prosecuted the labors of his 
 chosen profession until 1877, when he moved tov 
 Fielding, DeKalb Co., 111. 
 
 At the time of his settlement in Ogle County he 
 was considerably in debt for his last year's schooling,' 
 but when he left there he paid off his' indebtedness 
 and was the owner of 320 acres of land in that 
 county and of 800 acres in Wright and Delaware 
 Counties in Iowa. He became a stock-holder in the 
 Sycamore National Bank at its organization in 1876,^ 
 and is now a Director of the Bank, having had a 
 considerable experience in money-lending, on his 
 own account, for the last 20 years. Since his re-* . 
 moval to Fielding he has added 150 acres to hispos-^y 
 sessions in Illinois, and has purchased 320 acres in* 
 the southern part of Dakota. He is also the owner* 1 , 
 of a fine and valuable location at Fielding. 

 
 X 
 
 The Doctor's skill as a medical practitioner has 
 <?met with constant and ready recognition, and he con- 
 ^trols a large practice. He is a temperance advocate 
 of an inflexible type. While politically a Republican, 
 he is always ready to support prohibition principles. 
 
 He married Miss J.. Ann Miller, Oct. 3, 1860. Her 
 father, John Miller, was born at Canajoharie, N. Y. 
 Her mother, Mary Grill, was born at Starks, N. Y. 
 Both parents were of German descent. After their 
 marriage they moved to Steuben, Oneida Go., 
 N. Y., where Mrs. Van Voorhis was born, Dec. 31, 
 1833. When she was 12 years of age, she came 
 <|>West with her parents, who settled in Ogle Co., 111. 
 \Five children have been born of her marriage to the 
 Doctor, as follows : Miss Viola V., their eldest, is a 
 music teacher and has an enviable reputation in hej 
 profession. Miss Carrie C., their second daughte^ 
 is a successful school-teacher ; J. Frank, their oldest 
 son, is a graduate of the business college at Dixon, 
 
 )lll.; D. De Witt, their second son, is an acth 
 
 ^getic lad of 14 summers, full of business and energy ; 
 ttie M., their youngest, is a bright, active little girl 
 ^nine years of age; is very fond of her books and a 
 ^ great reader. 
 
 = Thus we see the Doctor has a good home, a pleas- 
 ^Jant family, a competence of this world's goods, and 
 .something to help his children, of whom he is very 
 fond. / 
 
 artin Pabst, formerly of Sycamore, was 
 born in Unterlauderbach, Bavaria, in 
 October, 1824. He attended school until 
 he was 14 years of age, as required by the 
 laws of his native country, after which he was 
 engaged in farming. He came to the United 
 States in 1 848 and located at first in Chicago, where he 
 learned the cooper's trade. He removed from there 
 to Elgin and was there married to Margaretta Wetzel. 
 He remained in Elgin working at his trade until 1854, 
 when he went to Dundee, and there opened a 
 cooper's shop. He soon after bought a hotel and 
 continued to operate in both capacities until 1863, in 
 *jj* which year he transferred his residence to Chicago. 
 His wife died July 30, 1864. He was again married 
 ^ Dec. 25, 1864, to Mary Bar, a native of Baden, Ger- 
 many 
 
 Mr. Pabst continued to operate as cooper until his 
 
 removal to Sycamore in 1866. He bought a frame 
 house, and its location on the corner of State and 
 Maple streets, and opened a boarding-house and 
 restaurant and continued the management of these 
 branches of business until he built the Pabst House in 
 1873. He died Jan. 13, 1875, at Sycamore. In 1883 
 his wife sold his hotel property and bought a site for 
 a dwelling where she erected a fine residence. Mr. 
 Pabst was one of the solid men of Sycamore and has 
 done a prosperous business throughout his life of ac- 
 tivity. 
 
 By his first marriage he had two children Frank 
 and Anna. The present Mrs. Pabst is a lady of in- 
 telligence and ability. 
 
 eorge I. Talbot. County Superintendent of 
 Schools, residing at De Kalb, was born in 
 Wyoming Co., N. Y., April '19, 1854. He 
 is a son of Alfred and Celia (nee Hunt) Tal- 
 bot, the former a native of England and the 
 latter of New York. His parents moved to 
 Barry Co., Mich., when the subject of this notice was 
 but four years of age, where they remained two 
 years and'then came to this State, locating in Leland, 
 La Salle County. 
 
 Mr. Talbot received his early education in the 
 graded schools at Leland, and previous to his i8th 
 year taught a term of winter school in Northville, La 
 Salle County. After teaching several terms he con- 
 cluded to prepare himself more thoroughly for pro- 
 fessional work ; and, possessing a strong desire for a 
 higher education, he matriculated at the State Nor- 
 mal University at Normal, 111., and followed the cur- 
 riculum of that institution two years. 
 
 After leaving the latter place, Mr. Talbot sojourned 
 for one summer in Kentucky, when he returned to 
 this State and engaged in teaching. In the fall of 
 1877 he returned to the State Normal University and 
 completed the entire curriculum of that institution, 
 including three terms, teaching in the preparatory 
 department, graduating in the spring of 1878. 
 
 After graduating he taught one year in Victor 
 Township, and was then invited to take charge of 
 the graded schools of Shabbona, which invitation he 
 accepted. In 1881 he was appointed, and in 
 elected, County Superintendent of Schools, which 
 position he now holds. When he first accepted the 
 
 -^ ~^^f^ -*4*f^(5)
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 appointment of County Superintendent, the time al- 
 lotted to that officer in which to perform his duties 
 was so short (65 days in each year) and the salary 
 so small, he was compelled to teach also. But the 
 increasing duties of the office obliged him to resign 
 his position as teacher at the close of the year 1882. 
 At this time the Board of Supervisors increased the 
 number of days allowed for official duties. Since 
 that time he has devoted his entire time to the inter- 
 ests of the schools of this county. 
 
 Previous to Mr. Talbot's appointment, for several 
 years, the district schools had been entirely without 
 supervision, without any definite plan of work and 
 with but few trained teachers. Under his judicious 
 management, a course of study and system of exam- 
 ination for district schools has been prepared and 
 introduced; a series of institutes and teachers' meet- 
 ings held ; the grade of scholarship of the teachers 
 raised at lea.st 40 per cent. A lively interest is 
 awakened and De Kalb County is rapidly taking a 
 a prominent place among the counties of the State 
 in educational matters. At the institute held in 
 1 884, the teachers of this county testified their ap- 
 preciation of the ability of Mr. Talbot as a school 
 manager, as well as of his genial and gentlemanly 
 social qualities, by presenting him a fine gold watch. 
 
 Mr. Talbot was united in marriage to Miss Lucy 
 E. Maxwell, Oct. 4, 1879. She was born in John- 
 sonburg, N. J., June 16, 1856. They are the parents 
 of two children, namely : Ray Maxwell, born Dec. 
 4, 1880, and Edna J., born Dec. 4, 1882. 
 
 i illiarn H. Wise, deceased, a former resi- 
 dent of section 9, Sycamore Township, 
 was born in Minden, West Prussia, Feb. 2, 
 1827. He obtained a good education in his 
 native country, and in 1847 sailed for the 
 United States. When he landed at Boston, he 
 was the possessor of five dollars in cash. His first 
 employment was with a hotel-keeper, where he was 
 engaged until winter, when he attended school. In 
 the ensuing spring he went to Wisconsin. He 
 engaged in farming, and saved his earnings to pay 
 his educational expenses at a seminary. He became 
 competent to teach, and passed four years in that 
 vocation. He went next to Massachusetts, where 
 
 he passed four years, after which he resumed the 
 labors of his former vocation in Wisconsin, coming 
 subsequently to Illinois, where he was similarly em- 
 ployed until 1859. In that year he made an over- 
 land journey to California, walking most of the way, 
 and spending four months on the journey. He 
 bought 300 acres of land in Yuba County, four miles 
 from Marysville. He sold his California property in 
 1863 and came to Sycamore, where he arrived in 
 December. 
 
 He was married March 12, 18615, to Caroline M. V 
 Calkins, daughter of Asa M. Calkins, one of the 
 early settlers of Sycamore. After their marriage, Mr. j 
 and Mrs. Wise settled on a farm on section 9 of 
 Sycamore Township, where his death occurred Jan. 
 15, 1884. The farm contains 467 acres, all under 
 improvement, well stocked and having commodious 
 buildings. Two sons survive the father William C., 
 a student at Evanston, and Charles H. 
 
 Mr. Wise was a Republican in political sentiment, v '} 
 and was a member of the Methodist Episcopal . 
 Church, to which Mrs. Wise also belongs. 
 
 *, 
 
 amen A. McDole, foreman in the shops of ^ 
 the Superior Barbed-Wire Works, located , 
 at De Kalb, is a native of New York 
 State. He was born in Deering, Chemung 
 County, that State, Oct. 18, 1848, and is a 
 son of John and Catherine (Swasey) McDole. 
 When five years of age his parents moved to this 
 State and located in Kane County. They resided in v 
 the latter county for about three years, and then 
 moved to this county, settling in Pierce Township. g 
 Remaining in that township two or three years, they 
 then removed to Afton Township, where his father 
 purchased a farm and devoted his time and energies 
 to its improvement and cultivation. 
 
 Mr. McDole remained on his father's farm, in 
 Afton Township, assisting in its cultivation and at- 
 tending the common schools, until he attained his 
 majority. In 1872 he started on life's journey single- 
 handed and alone. For two years he cultivated a > 
 farm which he rented, and then purchased one of 
 his own, which he conducted until 1875. During^ 
 that year he sold his farm and moved to the village 
 of De Kalb, and for a year worked in a grocery and 
 ^^(^
 
 ) 
 
 
 : 
 
 restaurant. He then engaged in the wire works and 
 followed that vocation for three years, after which he 
 returned to Afton Township and resumed farming. 
 He continued in the latter vocation until 1882, when 
 he again returned to De Kalb, and on the sth of 
 April of that year accepted the position as foreman 
 in the shops of the Superior Barbed- Wire-Fence Fac- 
 tory, and has continuously filled the position ^ntil 
 the present time. 
 
 Mr. Me Dole was married Dec. 20, 1882, to Miss 
 Amanda, daughter of Henry and Mary (Brown) 
 Wilkinson. She was born in Mayfield Township. 
 
 ouis Connart, one of the substantial busi- 
 ness men of Sycamore, was born Aug. 4, 
 1833, in the city of Krotochin, in the prov- 
 ince of Posen, in Prussian Poland. He is the 
 son of Simon and Bertha Warschauer. His father 
 was a merchant in the city where the son was 
 born. The latter went to England, where, on ac- 
 count of the orthographical difficulty with the family 
 name, and the fact that its proper pronunciation was 
 almost impossible to untrained tongues, induced 
 him to change his name to its present form. 
 
 Mr. Connart passed the period required by the 
 laws of his native land in attendance at school and 
 in compliance with the law that the children should 
 go to school until 13 years of age ; but he was taken 
 from school for the purpose of learning a trade at the 
 age of 12 years and was apprenticed to a tailor. 
 At the end of the prescribed three years he had ac- 
 quired a thorough knowledge of the business, and on 
 the expiration of his indentures he set out for Ham- 
 burg on foot with ten cents cash capital to begin the 
 world with. He spent six months in Hamburg, and 
 went thence to England, where he worked at his 
 trade in London two years. In the year 1850 he 
 returned to his home, where he passed a brief period 
 among his friends, after which he sailed for America. 
 After a voyage of six weeks he landed at the port of 
 New York. He went thence to Boston, where he 
 operated as a tailor a few months and proceeded to 
 Eastport, Maine. He was there one year, working 
 at his trade and as a salesman in a clothing house. 
 He went next to Calais and became the manager of 
 a clothing establishment, officiating in that capacity 
 
 two years, when his employer failed, without having ^ 
 paid his salary for the time he had operated in his < 
 interests. Attorneys advised him to take no legal 
 measures to secure the amount due him, but he 
 watched his opportunity, and on one occasion, when 
 he found his employer making a temporary stay in 
 New Brunswick, he procured his pay by forcing 
 him to a settlement. Mr. Connart went next to 
 Dover, N. H., and after a short time proceeded to 
 Farmington, where, with an associate, he opened a 
 tailor shop. This venture proved a failure and V 
 closed at the end of a year, Mr. Connart finding G ^ 
 himself the possessor of $20, with which he set out 
 for the West. After a brief stay in Chicago, he came 
 to Sycamore, the owner of $5 in money. He arrived 
 here in 1858. He obtained a situation in the store 
 of Isaac Marks, at a salary of $30 a month, with 
 which he paid his own expenses and contributed to 
 the support of his father in his native land. His in- ,. 
 dustry and frugality wrought substantial results, and 
 in 1861 he found himself the possessor of $600, and 
 friends (Mr, J. S. Waterman and E. Hunt) in cir- 
 cumstances to afford him assistance in obtaining from 
 the latter the necessary guaranty for $5,000 worth 
 of goods in New York, and entered upon the prose- 
 cution of a prosperous business. He carries on a 
 gentlemen's furnishing store, dealing in all the arti-* 
 cles common to such establishments. A custom de- 
 partment is attached to the establishment. 
 
 Mr. Connart was married in 1865, to Miss Herbert, 
 a native of the same city in Prussia, of whifch he is 
 himself a native. They have four children Bertha, 
 Benjamin, Isaac and Dora. The family residence 
 on State Street was purchased in 1876. 
 
 R. Thompson, one of the oldest and most 
 prominent and worthy pioneers of De Kalb 
 County, and residing at De Kalb, as a vener- 
 able patriarch, surrounded by a large circle^, 
 of relatives and friends, is a native of Ohio. 
 His parents, Samuel and Hannah (Roberts) 
 Thompson, were natives of the State of New York. 
 His grandfather Thompson, a native of Connecticut, 
 was one of the early settlers of the Holland Pur- 
 chase, in Western New York. He and three sons,^ 
 as also Samuel Thompson's father-in-law, served in
 
 
 ^nti^ 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 'the War of i8r2, between the United States and 
 ? Great Britain, and were stationed at Buffalo, N. Y., 
 J^at the time that city was captured and burned. Mr. 
 Samuel Thompson, being well acquainted with the 
 topography of the country in the vicinity of Buffalo, 
 if was selected to act as guide to a portion of the re- 
 treating army. 
 
 After the restoration of peace, the latter settled in 
 Ashtabula Co., Ohio, where he was a pioneer, and 
 made three farms in the primitive wilderness, in the 
 /town of Geneva. In the meantime, as foreman, he 
 ^superintended the construction of the Government 
 .works at the wharves at the mouth of Ashtabula 
 ^Creek; but while thus engaged he contracted a pul- 
 monary disease, which became the occasion of his 
 moving Westward. Accordingly, on the I5th day of 
 April, 1835, he started West, with two yoke of oxen 
 and two wagons, loaded with household goods, and 
 accompanied by his family, consisting of his wife, 
 eight children and a son-in-law. At that early day, 
 *when the roads were poor and the bridges few and 
 *' far between, they had a tedious journey. They were 
 = five and a half days crossing the Maumee swamp 
 > alone a distance of 31 miles. They arrived at 
 ajoliet on the 22d of May, stopping first at the Black- 
 Tavern. Mr. T. bought city property, and, 
 '"with "his family, remained a resident there until No- 
 ) vember, 1836. Then pushing on still further into the 
 frontier, he first located, before the land was sur- 
 veyed, in that part of Kane County which is now in- 
 cluded in De Kalb County. He purchased a claim 
 on what was afterward surveyed as section i of 
 De Kalb Township, on which was only a log house. 
 (Here he commenced the protracted task of making a 
 X J comfortable home; but, his health already impaired, 
 i he continued gradually to fail until Aug. 2, 1840, 
 when death put an end to his sufferings. He had to 
 cease from manual labor entirely in the fall of 1838. 
 Three years afterward his widow married Valentine 
 Randall and moved to Kane County. She finally 
 died in Hampshire Township, that county, in July7 
 
 The grandfather of the subject of this sketch, a 
 ^native of Connecticut, was a pioneer of Western New 
 ^York, and afterward a resident of Ashtabula Co., 
 /p\ Ohio. In 1836 he visited his son in Illinois, making 
 he journey from Ohio and return with a team. His 
 cai* Shme CL^ 
 
 death occurred in Pennsylvania, in 1837, at 77 years 
 of age. 
 
 Mr. Thompson, whose name heads this biography, 
 was born in the town of Geneva, Ashtabula Co., Ohio, 
 Aug. 23, 1818, came to Illinois with his parents and 
 made his home with them until the death of his 
 father. He continued to occupy and improve the 
 claim, which he entered after it came into market. 
 He equipped the place with a good- collection of farm 
 buildings, residing there until 1872, when he sold it 
 and moved to De Kalb, purchasing the residence he 
 now occupies. 
 
 He was married Dec. ro, 1843, to Miss Eliza A. 
 Parker, who was born in Castile, Genesee Co., N. Y. 
 They had eight children, namely: Alvira, now the 
 wife of Daniel Klock ; Elizabeth, now Mrs. Charles 
 Foreman ; William W. ; George S., farmer and broom 
 manufacturer in Ogle County; Ira Andrew, who is a 
 resident of Texas; James S., a resident of De Kalb ; 
 Ida, who is the wife of Dr. C. D. Carter; and Emma, 
 the youngest, who resides at home with her parents. 
 
 ev. L. A. R. Erhard, Priest in charge of 
 the Catholic Church at Somonauk, was 
 born in Joliet, Will Co., 111., April 16, 1856. 
 Sept. i, 1870, he entered the College and 
 Seminary of Our Lady of Angels, an institution 
 beautifully situated, two miles north of Sus- 
 pension Bridge, on the New York bank of Niagara 
 River. By a special act of the Legislature it enjoys 
 all the privileges of a university. 
 
 It was there that Mr. Erhard completed his classi- 
 cal and theological studies, and June 7, 1879, was 
 ordained priest for his native diocese of Chicago by 
 Rt. Rev. S. V. Ryan, Bishop of Buffalo. At that 
 time he was appointed by the deceased Bishop Mc- 
 Mullen, then administrator of the diocese, to take 
 charge of one of the most important curacies in the 
 city. He remained there for five years, under the 
 learned and zealous priest, Father P. Riordan, who, 
 Sept. 16, 1883, was consecrated coadjutor, now 
 Archbishop of San Francisco. Under the adminis- 
 tration of this learned and zealous ecclesiastic, was 
 built St. James" Catholic Church, a structure erected 
 at a cost of $150,000. Its location is 2,924 Wabash 
 Avenue. Whilst discharging his duties as a curate 
 
 3 **$$>
 
 
 
 COUNTY. 
 
 in this church, Father Erhard made for himself 
 numerous friends by his zeal, which he particularly 
 evinced whilst in charge with Father Henneberry, 
 his fellow-curate, over the Sunday-school department, 
 which had an attendance of 1,000 children. It was 
 from this Church, Father Erhard was first appointed 
 to take charge of a parish by His Grace, Archbishop 
 Feehan, of Chicago. He was appointed to succeed 
 Father Huth, of Somonauk, May i, 1884. 
 ' His parents are the oldest residents of Will County. 
 They emigrated from Europe in 1833 and arrived 
 that same year in Chicago; assisted in erecting its 
 first Catholic church, old "St. Mary's;" were there 
 united in the holy bonds of matrimony, and two years 
 later settled in Joliet, enjoying at an advanced age 
 the society of numerous friends. Mr. Erhard's 
 father, George Erhard, was born in the town of Mid- 
 dlestreih, in the kingdom of Bavaria, and his mother, 
 Louisa (Periolat) Erhard, is a native of Hochfelden, 
 in the province of Alsace. 
 
 Rev. L. A. R. Erhard, their son, though hardly a 
 year in his new fieM, has added improvements to the 
 amount of a thousand dollars to the parochial resi- 
 dence. A new Catholic Church, at a cost of $3,000, 
 will be dedicated during the autumn of 1885, in Bris- 
 tol, a mission attached to Somonauk. The contract 
 for building a Catholic church at the same cost will 
 be let this spring in Piano, where a mission has re- 
 cently been opened, and in Sandwich $600 has been 
 paid in the purchase of a lot and in the laying of a 
 foundation for a Catholic school. Four Sunday- 
 schools have been organized, with an average attend- 
 ance of 200 children. Father Erhard is doing a 
 grand work for his people. 
 
 orenzo Dow Evans, resident on section 2, 
 Sycamore Township, was born Feb. 9, 1834, 
 in Ash County, N. C. He is the son of 
 Benjamin and Frances (Perry) Evans, and was 
 an infant in his mother's arms when his par- 
 ents set out to seek a home in the then far away- 
 West. They made the journey overland, but he has no 
 remembrance of the slow, toilsome and tedious prog- 
 ress they made toward the setting sun. When he 
 was four years old in 1838 they located at Syca- 
 more. He has, therefore, so to speak, " grown up " 
 
 with the county, and witnessed its increasing pros- 
 perity. As soon as he reached a suitable size he 
 aided his father in his labors on the farm, arid he re- 
 ceived his education in the pioneer schools ; to use 
 his own language, he " graduated at the log school- 
 house." 
 
 He was married April 26, 1857, to Mary.daughter 
 of Eli and Deborah (Rockwood) Jewell, who were 
 among the earliest settlers in De Kalb County. After 
 marriage he settled on section 2, Sycamore Township, 
 which he still occupies. It had been entered by his 
 father, and is now a valuable farm with a comple- 
 ment of good buildings. 
 
 dward P. White, deceased, was one of the 
 earliest of the pioneer settlers of De Kalb 
 County, where he came in 1836. He was ( 
 born Jan. 31, 1795, in Rensselaer Co., N. Y 
 and is the son of James and Mary White. His ^ 
 parents were both natives of New England, and 
 when he was an infant they moved to Brandon, Vt., 
 where he was reared to adult age on a farm. Dur- 
 ing the War of 1812 he was a volunteer, and went to 
 Plattsburg. After the battle he returned to Vermont. ! 
 Two years later he went to the State of New York ( 
 and located near Plattsburg. He was married Aug. 
 25, 1822, to Mary, daughter of Seth and Sarah 
 (Stone) White. He owned a farm in Chazy, 12 miles 
 from Plattsburg, on which he resided until 1835. In 
 that year he started for Illinois. He went with two 
 span of horses and two wagons to Ogdensburg, and 
 thence by boat on the St. Lawrence River and Lake<b 
 Ontario to Lewiston, on the Niagara River. From^ 
 there the teams were in requisition to Buffalo, where 
 they re-embarked for Detroit. They drove thence to 
 Chicago, which was then but a village, and went to 
 Plainfield, where they remained until the spring of 
 1836. 
 
 In the previous winter, Mr. White prospected in 
 De Kalb County, and bought a claim in what is now 
 Sycamore Township, where he built a log house, of 
 which the family took possession in May. When the 
 survey was made and the land came into market, 
 seven years later, he paid $228 for the claim, which' 
 he entered in the land office at Chicago. He made 
 the usual improvements on the farm, which he occu-'
 
 pied until 1859. In that year he removed to Syca- 
 more, where he died, Sept. 23, 1867. He was one of 
 ; ~ f the organizers of the First Methodist society at Syca- 
 more. 
 
 Mrs. White still survives her husband. Five chil- 
 dren are also living Eveline, Phebe, Caroline, Al- 
 mira and Mary. Oliver White, the only son, died 
 when 42 years of age. 
 
 J 
 
 ichael Walsh, formerly a resident on sec- 
 tion n, Pierce Township, was a pioneer of 
 De Kalb County. He was born in 1796, 
 in County Mayo, Ireland, and was bred to 
 the vocation of farming in his native land. Hrs 
 wife, Ellen (Philbein) Walsh, was also born :in" 
 ) County Mayo, and to them were bom four chil- 
 
 - dren, John, Mark, Mary and Bridget. 
 
 N In 1848 the family set out from Liverpool for the 
 
 * United States in a sailing vessel, and were on the 
 J Atlantic Ocean five weeks. On arrival at the port of 
 i New York they started for Albany on the Hudson 
 River, and proceeded thence by the Erie Canal to 
 fc Buffalo. From that place they came to Chicago on 
 > a lake steamer. Their journey thence to St. Charles, 
 
 Kane Co., Ill , was made with a team, where they 
 arrived in June, 1848. In July following they came 
 to De Kalb County, where the father entered a claim 
 of land on section n,of township 39, range 5, now 
 the township of Pierce. The family lived for a time 
 y in a shanty made of boards, which was later replaced 
 by a comfortable house. The first crops raised on 
 the place were marketed at St. Charles, 17 miles dis- 
 tant. Mr. Walsh improved his entire property, set- 
 ting out shade and fruit trees and erecting good 
 buildings. He lived to see his property well devel- 
 oped, and died March 4, 1871. His wife died May 
 18, 1884. Three of their children survive them. 
 
 Mark Walsh was born May 10, 1837, in County 
 Mayo, Ireland. He came when 1 1 years old with 
 his parents to the United States, and grew to man- 
 
 hood in the township of Pierce, assisting in the im- 
 'f provement of the home farm and attending the 
 ^ pioneer schools. He was married Sept. 28, 1869, to 
 
 Mary Scott. She was born in Illinois and was the 
 daughter of Richard Scott. She died in 1876, leav- 
 
 s^^f 8 - ^^^- ^ 
 
 ing one child Richard. The second wife, to whom 
 Mr. Walsh was married Jan. i, 1877, was named 
 Margaret Bartley. She died Oct. 15, 1880, leaving 
 two children. Ellen and John. Mr. Walsh con- 
 tracted a third matrimonial alliance, Oct. 19, 1882, 
 with Mary Coffey, and they have one child, named 
 Mark. Mrs. Walsh is the daughter of Jeremiah and 
 Bridget Coffey, and was born in County Kerry, Ire- 
 land, 
 
 In 1869 Mr. Walsh located on his homestead, 
 comprising 240 acres of land located on sections 2 
 and 1 1 , all of which is at present under good improve- 
 ments. In 1876 he rented his farm and removed to 
 Sycamore, whence he went in 1880 to Maple Park 
 and engaged in the lumber business, in which he is 
 still interested. 
 
 mos Story, whose name is as much a part 
 of the local history of the county of De Kalb 
 and the township of Sycamore as that of 
 any other individual within their borders, has 
 been identified with the progress and develop- 
 ment of both since 1837, six years before the 
 land came into market, and some time before Syca- 
 more assumed the dignity of its present name. He 
 has been a resident on section 9 from the date of 
 making his location. The claim contained a log 
 shanty roofed with shakes, and constituted the en- 
 tire improvements. Mr. Storey moved the structure 
 to a new location, bought a yoke of oxen and entered 
 resolutely into the work of improvement. He was 
 then a single man, and boarded in' the neighborhood 
 while improving his property. 
 
 He was born Dec. 8, 1813, in the town of Stowe, 
 Washington Co., Vt., and is the son of William and 
 Rebecca (Hicks) Story. His parents were natives of 
 Vermont, and his paternal grandfather was a soldier 
 in the war of the Revolution. He died and was buried 
 at St. Alban's, Vt. The father died in St. Lawrence 
 Co., N. Y., whither he had removed many years be- 
 fore. 
 
 Mr. Story grew to manhood in his native town. In 
 the fall of 1835, he went to Allegany Co., N. Y., with 
 a team, and there spent the winter as a saw-mill as- 
 sistant in the town of Cuba. In the spring of 1836 
 he started for Pittsburg with a raft of lumber on the

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 75 
 
 Allegheny, and at the junction boarded a similar 
 river cr.ift for Cincinnati, and proceeded to the junc- 
 tion of the Ohio with the Great Father of Rivers. He 
 went up the Mississippi to the mouth of the Illinois, 
 and went on the latter river to Ottawa, La Salle 
 County, on board a steamer, whence he went to Plain- 
 field, Will County. He there engaged as a farm 
 laborer with James Matthews. In the spring of 1837) 
 in company with another man, he went to Iowa to 
 seek a place for a home, but was not pleased with 
 the outlook and came to De Kalb County as stated. 
 
 He was married Jan. 28, 1860, to Mrs. Abbie 
 (Cronk) Hunt, and they have had five children 
 Jane, Alma, Amos, Arthur and Lottie. Mrs. Story 
 was born Aug. 14, 1838, in Chenango, Broome Co., 
 N. Y. She was married May 13, 1857, at St. Charles, 
 Kane Co., 111., to Augustus Hunt, who died Nov. 23, 
 1858, leaving one child Kendall A. 
 
 After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Story began to 
 keep house in their pioneer log cabin, where they 
 lived until 1861;, when the fine brick residence they 
 no.v occupy was erected. Mr. Story has built a good 
 class of farm structures, and has a valuable place 
 with good stock. He is engaged in other avenues of 
 business besides farming, and has been prominent in 
 official life. In 1872 he met with an accident from 
 which he has since been a constant sufferer. 
 
 D. London, farmer on the northeast quar- 
 ter of sec. 1 6, Cortland Township, was born 
 in Clearfield Co., Pa., Aug. 10, 1842. His 
 father, Richard London, was born in Luzerne 
 Co., Pa., Jan. 20, 1818, was reared in his native 
 State, followed farming, and after coming to De 
 Kalb County, dealt considerably in stock, and died 
 Feb. 2, 1880. The mother of the subject of this 
 sketch, Sarah A., nee Estes, was born Jan. 15, 1818, 
 in Luzerne Co., Pa., and is now living in Sycamore. 
 When he was 1 3 years of age, the subject of this 
 sketch came with his parents to this county, in 1855, 
 first settling in Mayfield Township. Two years af- 
 terward they sold out and purchased a farm in Syca- 
 more Township, where they lived about ten years; 
 then they located upon the farm now occupied by 
 Mr. L. D. London. Five or six years afterward his 
 father moved back to Sycamore. He has since lived 
 on this place, except a year and a half in Iowa. 
 
 Mr. London was married Sept. 8, 1867, to Miss 
 Mary M. Schoonover, who was born April 6, 1842, 
 in Bradford Co., Pa. Her father, James Schoonover, 
 was born Nov. 23, 1808, was a farmer, moved to this 
 county in 1855, settling in De Kalb Township for 17 
 years, then moved to Boone Co., Iowa, and finally 
 died in Dallas County, that State, Feb. 16, 1880. 
 Her mother, Palmila E., nee Lattimore, is living in 
 Ogden, Boone Co., Iowa, with her danghter, Mrs. 
 Sarah Smith. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. L. have two children, viz. : Emma 
 J., born June 23, 1870, and Nettie A., Sept. 26, 
 
 I8 7 2. 
 
 Mr. London is a Democrat in his political princi- 
 ples, and both himself and wife are members of the 
 Free-Will Baptist Church. 
 
 eorge E. Hobbs, retired farmer, living at 
 Hinckley, was born May 12, 1823, in 
 Delaware Co., N. Y. His father, Samuel 
 Hobbs, was born in New York State and mar- 
 ried Catherine Williams, a native of England. 
 His parents settled after marriage in Delaware 
 Co., N. Y., where his father died Sept. 4, 1829. His 
 mother died in January, 1830, in Oneida Co., N. Y. 
 Mr. Hobbs is the second of five children born to his 
 parents. Joseph W., Olive E., Jonas and Catherine 
 are the names of his brothers and sisters. 
 
 He received a common-school education, and 
 afterwards attended the academy at Delhi in his 
 native county, where he resided until 1865, with the 
 exception of three years which he spent in California, 
 and along the Pacific Coast, spending some time in 
 each of those small republics from New Granada or 
 Colombia (as it is now called) up to California, 
 and also spending some months in Mexico. In 
 In February of that year he came to De Kalb County 
 and bought 320 acres of land in Squaw Grove Town- 
 ship, located on section 8. On this he pursued his 
 agricultural interests, and was resident there until his 
 removal to Hinckley in the spring of 1883, and has 
 not since participated in active business life. He is 
 and has been prominent and active in the Dem- 
 ocratic element of De Kalb County, and is one of the 
 leaders in the local organization. He is also promi- 
 nent in the Masonic and Odd Fellows fraternities, 
 and has held the highest offices in both. 

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 He was united in marriage Oct. 9, 1848, in Delhi, 
 Delaware Co., N. Y., to Jannett P. Aitken. She 
 was born May 3, 1828, in the city of New Yoik, and j 
 was the daughter of David and Agnes (Gordon) j 
 Ailken. By her mother she was distantly connected 
 with General Gordon, recently (1885) killed at Khar- 
 toum, Afric.i. David A., Mary A., Hattie A. and j 
 Nettie M. are the names of the children of Mr. and j 
 Mrs. Hobbs. Mary A. died when nine years and six 
 months old. Hattie A. married William T. Blagg 
 and resides at Sandwich. Nettie M. is the wife of 
 George Mewhirter, of Bristol Station, Kendall Co., 
 111. The mother died at Hinckley, April 16, 1883. 
 
 For nearly 20 years Mr. Hobbs was extensively en- 
 gaged in agricultural pursuits in this county, becom- 
 ing one of the leading and most prominent farmers in 
 the county. He is a gentleman highly esteemed by 
 the many who know him and has a most excellent 
 reputation throughout the county. As a man, there- 
 fore, worthy of the place, we insert his portrait in this 
 volume. 
 
 Daniel Waite, farmer, resident on section 34, 
 Sycamore Township, was born Oct. 2, 
 1798, in Braintree, Orange Co., Vt., and 
 is the son of Daniel and Sally (Kidder) 
 Waite. His parents were both natives of Mas- 
 sachusetts, and accompanied their parents to 
 Orange Co., Vt., when extremely young. The fam- 
 ilies of both became prominent in social and public 
 life, and were remarkable, even in that land of steady 
 habits, for correct, well ordered lives. 
 
 The history of Braintree, Vt., in the Gazetteer of 
 Miss Abbie Hemenway, says that Daniel Waite came 
 to Braintree in 1788 or '9. " Uncle Daniel," as he 
 was familiarly called, was thorough and successful, 
 and wholly devoted to his calling. In this particu- 
 lar he demonstrated the fact that intelligent farming 
 pays. He early imbibed the principle that no far- 
 mer can afford to raise corn, oats or hay to sell. He 
 should sell horses, not oats ; sheep and cattle, not 
 corn. In common with other pioneers, he endured 
 many hardships. Once he was obliged to bring his 
 seed wheat from Middlebury on horseback, with only 
 marked trees to guide him across the mountains. 
 All the Waites were strictly temperate, not one of 
 
 them having ever been known to be intemperate or 
 to use tobacco in any form. The death of the father 
 of Daniel Waite occurred Sept. 6, 1862. Mrs. 
 Waite, the mother, died Oct. 4, 1849. 
 
 Mr. Waite grew to man's estate on the farm in 
 Braintree, and was educated in the common schools. 
 He was married Jan. i, 1827, to Mary, daughter of 
 Elias and Mary (Willmarth) Cobb. He settled on 
 one of his father's farms, where he continued to 
 reside until 1839, the year in which he moved to 
 Darien, Genesee Co., N. Y., where he became the 
 possessor of an improved farm. He decided to lo- 
 cate in the West on account of his growing sons, 
 and accordingly, in 1854, he sold his farm and came 
 to De Kalb County, where he bought an improved 
 farm on section 34, on which he pursued his agricul- 
 tural projects until 1869. His wife died on the 3d 
 of February of that year, and soon afterward he sold 
 the place and has since resided with his sons, who 
 are farmers on the same section (34). 
 
 To him and his wife nine children were born, as 
 follows: Daniel P., Tyler K., Orlando, Edwin and 
 Ellen (twins), John E., Charles, Jasper H. and Mary 
 E. Daniel P. Waite was born Feb. 22, 1828, in 
 Braintree, Vt. He was, for nearly a quarter of a 
 century, secretary of the Minnesota Copper Mining 
 Company, and in March, 1871, he settled in Spring- 
 field, Mo., and engaged in mercantile business. He 
 died there Nov. 3, 1871. Tyler K. Waite was born 
 July i, 1829, and was engaged as a teacher after the 
 removal of his parents to Western New York. He 
 came to Sycamore in 1854 and started the pioneer 
 cheese factory in De Kalb County, and continued its 
 manager and proprietor until his death, March 13, 
 1871. Charles and Jasper Waite entered the mili- 
 tary service of the United States, an,d both distin- 
 guished themselves and honored the stainless name 
 they represented, as well as the generation and com- 
 munity to which they belong. 
 
 The former enlisted as a private in Co. C, 271)1 
 Michigan Regiment Vol. Inf. Soon after the organ- 
 ization of his company he was promoted to the rank 
 of Second Lieutenant, and he passed the several 
 grades of promotion for meritorious conduct, leaving 
 the army at the close of the war with the rank of 
 Brigadier General, by brevet. He is living at Lena, 
 Stephenson Co., 111., and is engaged in the banking 
 business. He was wounded in the battle of the 
 
 I! 

 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Wilderness. Jasper enlisted in 1863, in Co. C, i?th 
 111. Cav. He went to the front as Lieutenant of his 
 command, and was promoted to a Captaincy. He 
 served until the close of the war, and during the 
 closing months was a member of the staff of Gen. 
 Curtis. Orlando, Edwin and John are farmers on 
 section 34. The former has traveled extensively on 
 his native continent, has been to California twice, 
 and on the second occasion extended his trip to 
 British Columbia, where he passed three years. 
 Edwin Waite is an enterprising and prominent citi- 
 zen of his township, and has devoted much time and 
 attention to the interests of the general public. He 
 is a voracious reader, and has a well stored and dis- 
 ciplined mind. He was formerly engaged in the 
 sale of McCormick's farm machinery. The broth- 
 ers Waite have a valuable and well improved farm, 
 with good buildings and orchard. The sisters Waite 
 reside with their brothers. 
 
 ackson Hiland, farmer, section 25, De 
 I? Kalb Township, was born in Licking Co., 
 Ohio, in September, 1832, and is a son of 
 Joseph and Hannah (McKillup) Hiland. 
 His father was a native of Pennsylvania and 
 settled in Ohio a few years after his marriage, 
 where he resided until about 1846. During that 
 year he started with five horses and two wagons for 
 an overland trip to Illinois, accompanied by his 
 family. He arrived in De Kalb Township and pur- 
 chased a farm from the widow of one Jacob Cox, lo- 
 cated on sections 13 and 14. There was a double 
 log house and a stable covered with straw on the 
 place, but he soon erected a comfortable frame house 
 and fenced the land. He then sold the farm and 
 moved to De Kalb, where he died. There were 
 eight children in his family, seven of whom grew up 
 and six of whom are yet living. 
 
 Jackson Hiland, the subject of this notice, soon 
 after coming to this county, engaged with Dr. Ruby 
 in the sale of drugs, groceries and dry goods. The 
 relation existed for five years, when Mr. Hiland, in 
 company with J. W. Stone, opened a jewelry, drug 
 and grocery store and continued to operate it 
 jointly until 1861. During the latter year he en- 
 listed in the 42d Regt., Douglas Brigade, and served 
 nine months, in the late Civil War. 
 
 On receiving his discharge, Mr. Hiland returned 
 to De Kalb and worked at the jewelry trade 
 until 1867. He then purchased an improved farm 
 on section 25, De Kalb Township. He has since 
 erected thereon a good frame barn and otherwise 
 improved the place. 
 
 Mr. Hiland was married June 8, 1857, to Juliet, 
 daughter of David and Juliet (Smith) Price, and a 
 native of Otsego Co., N. Y. They have one child, 
 Carrie, wife of Luzerne Hopkins, a farmer of De 
 Kalb Township. 
 
 illiam J. Bates, dealer in agricultural ma- 
 chinery at Cortland, was born Oct. 15, 
 1830, in Chenango Co., N. Y. He came 
 n 1844 to De Kalb County with his parents 
 and located in what is now Cortland Town- 
 ship. In 1848 the family went to what is now 
 Pierce Township and settled on the northeast corner 
 of section 5, where the senior Bates bought 40 acres 
 of land. His mother, Cynthia Bates, died there. 
 His father, J. J. Bates, continued to reside on the 
 farm some years and was occupied in its improve- 
 ment. Later on he took up his residence with his 
 son William in Cortland, where he passed his last 
 days. 
 
 Soon after coming to De Kalb County, Mr. Bates 
 bought his time of his father, paying him $50 there- 
 for, and in the winter of 1850-1 he taught the first 
 school in the township of Pierce. He chopped the 
 wood and furnished the stove in which it was burned. 
 He was to receive $15 per month for his services as 
 pedagogue and waited two years for his pay. He 
 continued to operate as a teacher 24 years, pursuing 
 that vocation winters and farming summers. He 
 taught 20 terms in District No. 3, Pierce Township. 
 
 Mr. Bates was married Marches, 1851, to Sarah, 
 daughter of Daniel and Polly Hunt. She was born 
 in Chenango Co., N. Y., and came to Illinois with 
 her parents in 1844. Mr. Bates bought a farm on 
 section 5, Pierce Township, where he built a house, 
 after a primitive fashion, driving posts in the ground 
 and boarding outside, while the inside was plastered. 
 He is the owner of 160 acres of fenced and well im- 
 proved land. In 1856 he began the sale of farm 
 machinery, and in 1860 he established his present
 
 DE KALB 
 
 COUNTY. 
 
 
 ^.f business at the village of Cortland, where he has 
 f s? built a commodious warehouse for the storage of ag- 
 ' ricultural implements. Mr. Bates was the first Clerk 
 of Pierce Township, and offidated six years success- 
 ively as Assessor in Cortland. To him and his wife 
 ^fJ six children have been born, only one of whom, Wal- 
 ter H., survives. Three children died in infancy. 
 Charles A. died when 13 years of age, and Sarah J. 
 when she was three years old. 
 
 ylvester Pasley, deceased, formerly a far- 
 mer on sections 13 and 14, De Kalb 
 Township, was born in July, 1842. in the 
 township in which he lived until his death. His 
 father, James Pasley, one of the pioneers of this 
 county, was born in Kentucky, April n, 1807. 
 When seven years of age, his parents moved to Hamil- 
 ton Co., Ohio, where he lived and grew to manhood. 
 He married Sarah Carney, a native of that State, 
 born Jan. 30, 1808, and about 1834 they moved to 
 Indiana and located on the Wabash River, near the 
 mouth of the Shawnee. He was a carpenter by 
 trade, and was engaged in making flat-boats in the 
 latter State until the spring of 1836. At that time 
 he, with his family, started on an overland trip to 
 Illinois and arrived in that part of Kane County 
 now known as De Kalb. He immediately entered a 
 claim on sections 13 and 14 of what is now De Kalb 
 Township, this county. He at once set about to 
 build him a log house, split shakes to cover the roof, 
 and in lieu of nails used heavy poles to keep the 
 roof in place, and for a floor used puncheons split 
 from basswood logs.. Having faith in the future de- 
 velopment of the country, and desiring to establish a 
 home for his family, he entered vigorously upon the 
 laborious task of improving his land, and continued 
 to reside thereon and labor until his death in 1851. 
 Ten years later, in 1861, his wife joined him in the 
 unknown world. They were the parents of six chil- 
 dren. Henry died in Indiana, and William Hamil- 
 ton died in this county ; May married Arthur Pasley 
 and died in De Kalb Township. William and Ben- 
 jamin are the only survivors, and the latter is a res- 
 dent of Story Co., Iowa. 
 
 Sylvester Pasley was brought up on the home- 
 stead and assisted his father in its development. 
 
 He was a recipient of the advantages afforded by 
 the common schools and remained on the home- 
 stead until he attained his majority. When the late 
 Civil War broke out, Mr. Pasley was among the 
 many who responded to the call for troops and en- 
 listed December, 1861, in Co. G, 58th 111. Vol. Inf. 
 He veteranized in 1863 and continued in the service 
 until April, 1866. Among the more important bat- 
 tles in which he participated, were Ft. Donelson, 
 Shiloh, Nashville, Fort Blakely, and Spanish Fort, 
 besides numerous minor battles and skirmishes. He 
 was wounded at the battle of Shiloh and thereby 
 incapacited from service for about four months, ex- 
 cepting which time he was continuously in active 
 service. He was mustered out with the regiment in 
 1866, and was the only one of 17 from this county 
 in his company who had not previously received his 
 discharge. 
 
 In the spring of 1867 Mr. Pasley went to Colo- 
 rado, where he engaged in teaming between Denver 
 and the mines. After three years' sojourn in that 
 State he returned to this county, remained a year 
 and then went back to Colorado. He remained at 
 the latter place six years, variously engaged, and 
 then r-iturned and settled on the old homestead on 
 which he resided until his death, which occurred 
 March 30, 1885. 
 
 Mr. Pasley was married Feb. n, 1878,10 Miss 
 Sarah Kessler, a daughter of Michael and Mary A. 
 Kessler, pioneer settlers of Pierce Township, in 
 which township she was born. They have four chil- 
 dren, Ida M., Henry C. and Alonzo A. The old- 
 est child, Eliza D., died when one year and one 
 month old. 
 
 osea W. Willard, contractor and builder at 
 Sycamore, was born July 17, 1826, in 
 Windsor Co., Vt. His father, Oliver Will- 
 ard, was born Aug. 5, 1789, at Windsor, Vt., 
 and died Jan. 2, 1854. His mother, Lucy 
 (Weeden) Willard, was born Oct. 24, 1796, at 
 Hartland, Vt., and died Dec. 9, 1849. They re- 
 moved from the Green Mountain State to Sycamore, 
 111., in 1846. Five of their n children are living. 
 Mr. Willard is the eldest who survives, and is the 
 fifth in the order of birth. Charles is a mason 
 
 
 4*^
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 709 
 
 
 (21 
 
 i 
 
 Boone Co., Iowa. Marcia is the wife of Spafford 
 Smith, a retired farmer of Sycamore. Helen married 
 Robert Rowe, a merchant in Story Co., Iowa. Cur- 
 tis is a mason and pursues his trade in Boone Co., 
 Iowa. 
 
 Mr. Willard was reared to the age of 1 6 on a farm. 
 In the fall of 1843, an elder brother, Oliver, now de- 
 ceased, came to Sycamore and engaged in the busi- 
 ness of a mason. Hosea accompanied him and 
 obtained employment as a carpenter. After working 
 ( at his trade for a time he began to operate as con- 
 tractor, which method of business he has since pur- 
 sued. He has erected a number of fine residences 
 and prominent buildings in Sycamore. 
 
 He was married in Derby, Orleans Co., Vt., to 
 Martha A. W., daughter of Thomas and Susan 
 Weeden and a native of Hartland, Windsor Co., Vt. 
 They have two children : Clarence H., now follow- 
 iiig the business of photography, was born Feb. 19, 
 1856; and Oliver T., born July i, 1868, is a tele- 
 graph operator. 
 
 dwin L. Mosher, retired farmer, De Kalb, 
 was born in Providence, Saratoga Co., 
 N. Y., Jan 2, 1834, and was 12 years of 
 age when his parents, Levi and Caroline L. 
 (Smith) Mosher, natives of the same county, 
 removed to the town of Yates in Orleans 
 County, same State, where he was reared to man- 
 hood on the farm and at the district school. 
 
 In 1854 he was married to Miss Mercy A. Water- 
 bury, who was born in the town of Yates above 
 mentioned. They then resided in the town of 
 Ridgeway, same county, for a period of three years, 
 and then, in 1857, removed to Clinton, this county; 
 but within two years returned to New York State and 
 worked his father-in-law's farm in Ridgeway for three 
 years. Coming again to this county, Mr. Mosher 
 bought a quarter of section 16, De Kalb Township, 
 of his brother, Charles D., who now resides in Chi- 
 cago. He managed that farm until 1882, when he 
 left his son in charge of it -and moved to the city of 
 De Kalb, occupying his present residence on Fourth 
 Street. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Mosher have had four children, 
 namely : George W. ; Charles W. is married and 
 
 settled on a farm in Carroll Co., Iowa; Grant E., 
 now living on the home farm; and Frank, now a 
 clerk in De Kalb. George W., the first child, was 
 born Sept. 14, 1858, and died Dec. 9, 1877. 
 
 orter Swift Coolidge, farmer, resident on 
 sections 9,5 and 4, Cortland Township, was 
 born Sept. 28, 1829, in the town of Frank- 
 fort, Herkimer Co., N. Y., and is the son of 
 Warren and Rachel (Swift) Coolidge. Both 
 his parents were natives of Massachusetts, and 
 when a young man his father went to the State of 
 New York, to seek a home. After a stay of a year at 
 Frankfort Hill, he returned and was married. At the 
 date of his settlement in Herkimer County, there was 
 but one log house on the present site of Utica. He 
 bought a tract of land, which was all covered with 
 timber. He was in a position to secure the choice of 
 land in the Mohawk Valley, but he had been cau- 
 tioned against it as a fever-and-ague district, and 
 made his selection on the hills instead. He went on 
 foot from Albany, and on arrival at the place where 
 he had determined to locate, with the necessary and 
 trusty ax, he took up his lodgings in a hollow log. In 
 this he slept, and a few mornings after taking pos- 
 session he found a bear in the other end of the log! 
 He made a clearing, built a house and started vari- 
 ous plans in the way of pushing his work for estab- 
 lishing a home. To this place he brought his wife. 
 The first stove he owned he bought with 40 cords of 
 split body maple wood and drew it four miles. 
 
 Twelve children were born to Warren and Rachel 
 Coolidge, all of whom attained maturity, Porter being 
 the youngest. .The mother died in 1837, and the 
 father in 1842. 
 
 After the demise of the latter, Porter took charge 
 of the farm and_ conducted its affairs, in company 
 with his three sisters. He obtained a good common- 
 school education, and afterwards attended Sauquoite 
 Academy three years. On leaving school he set out 
 for Illinois, and in the winter of 1850-1 taught school 
 at Naperville. In the spring following he went to 
 California, making the route there via Nicaragua. 
 He spent six months there on the Middle Fork of 
 the American River, after which he proceeded to the 
 Santa Clara Valley, near San Jose Mission, where he 
 spent 1 8 months as a farmer. He then returned 

 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 > 
 
 Illinois, coming thither by Panama and New York to 
 De Kalb County. In company with Stephen A. 
 Bemis, he leased the stock farm of John R. Hamlins, 
 which contained 1,000 acres. He went to Ohio and 
 Kentucky, and purchased horses, and they interested 
 themselves in breeding horses, mules and cattle, 
 having about 100 head of each. They continued 
 their joint operations five years, after which Mr. 
 Coolidge sold his interest to Mr. Bemis and Nathan 
 Lattin, and the stock was taken across the plains to 
 California. 
 
 Mr. Coolidge was married July 26, 1858, to Mary 
 M. McLagan. In the fall of that year he bought his 
 farm, which was one of the first settled in that part 
 of De Kalb County, having been improved by Phineas 
 Joslyn (see sketch). It had a small frame house 
 and a small barn. The house in which he now re- 
 sides was built in 1875. In 1874 he purchased the 
 Churchill farm, which contained 212 acres, located 
 on sections 4 and 5. He now owns nearly 400 acres, 
 all of which is under improvement. On the comple- 
 tion of the Central Pacific Railroad, he returned to 
 California, of whose climate he had always held a 
 favorable opinion, and had cherished a plan to es- 
 tablish his home there. But the soil had deteriorated 
 to such an extent that the yield of grain was less than 
 one-half of that at the date of his earlier visit, and 
 he did not continue there. In 1881 he made a third 
 trip to California, going there by the Southern Pacific 
 Railroad, and making a tour of the State from 
 north to scuth. He still had the purpose of estab- 
 lishing a home in a milder climate, but was again 
 disappointed in the Golden State and returned to 
 Illinois, not deeming it wise to risk the certainties of 
 a farm in the Prairie State for the uncertainties of 
 the lands of California. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Coolidge have six children Carrie 
 E., Porter B., Irving A., Ida L., Gertie M. and Abbie 
 Blanche. 
 
 'homas A. Luney, cashier of the De Kalb 
 National Bank, was born in the city of 
 Rockford, Winnebago Co., 111., July 2, 
 1853, and when a year old his parents, Ed- 
 mund and Catherine (Hogan) Luney, moved 
 with their family to De Kalb, where he grew to 
 years of maturity and received a thorough education 
 
 <&&*&- ^^^ %* 
 
 at the district school. When 16 years of age he en- 
 tered the bank of R. Hopkins & Co., as clerk, and 
 since that time he has been closely identified with 
 that bank, till its dissolution in 1874, and with its 
 successors through all the changes of proprietorship, 
 policy and name. Before it was made a National 
 bank it was conducted as a private institution for 
 several years. At the time it was organized as a 
 National bank, Mr. Luney was appointed to his pres- 
 ent position as cashier. Mr. Luney is an independ- 
 ent Democrat in politics, and has held the office of 
 Township Treasurer since 1877. 
 
 Mr. Luney was married in 1878, to Miss Anna A. 
 Solon, who was born in De Kalb County, and from 
 infancy to the time of her marriage lived in Malta. 
 She is the daughter of Timothy and Mary Solon. 
 Mr. and Mrs. L. have two children, Ella Agnes 
 and Francis Solon. 
 
 I 
 
 ylvanus Holcomb, of Sycamore, was born " 
 March 23, 1803, at Sangerfield, Oneida Co., $ 
 N. Y. He is the son of Orator and Hannah J: 
 (Perry) Holcomb. His father was born in Mas- &> 
 sachusetts and went'in early manhood to the * 
 State of New York, where he met and married 
 his wife, who was a native of Connecticut, and had 
 moved from that State to New York with her parents. 
 They lived in Sangerfield until 1805, when they 
 moved to Ontario .Co., N. Y., and after a residence of 
 four years they removed to that part of the Hol- 
 land Purchase included in Genesee County, where he ^ 
 bought land and improved a large farm. 
 
 When Mr. Holcomb was 17 years of age his par- 
 ents went to the township of Darien. He was mar- 
 ried there Oct. 4, 1826, to Julia B. Joslyn. He 
 bought a farm in the same township, which he re- 
 tained in his possession until 1839, when he started 
 for a home in the West. He drove with his own 
 team to Buffalo, where he embarked for Toledo. He 
 drove thence to De Kalb Co., 111., and bought a 
 claim on section 34, in what is now the township of 
 Sycamore. The tract consisted of unbroken prairie, 
 and Mr. Holcomb built a log house, 18 x 24 feet in 
 dimensions. There was but one house in sight, and 
 the neighbors were the deer and wolves, which then 
 were in abundance. One night the fire went out, 
 ~^t^f *>fr^)@
 
 i 
 
 and as they were without matches, Mr. Holcomb was 
 obliged to go more than a mile to obtain fire. Ifi the 
 year in which he made his location, he broke 10 
 acres and tried to raise a crop on it in 1840, but it 
 was almost a failure. He rented land the same year 
 on which he raised a crop of oats. Soon after- 
 ward he began to raise wheat, which he marketed at 
 Chicago, then and for some years subsequently the 
 nearest available point. He improved 175 acres of 
 land, and built two dwellings besides other farm 
 buildings. He sold his farm in 1863 and moved to 
 Sycamore. 
 
 His first wife died Dec. 20, 1864, leaving seven 
 children. He married Betsey C. Adams, Jan. i, 
 1866, who died Dec. 27, 1882. 
 
 ' r - *. .Q*^Q- * - , 
 
 *^* t X'j&v "*"* 
 
 oses W. Jordan, farmer, resident on sec- 
 tion 1 6, Cortland Township, was born 
 Dec. 5, 1819, in the town of Moriah, Es- 
 sex Co., N. Y. He was the fifth child of 
 Rufus and Rebecca (Bacon) Jordan. His 
 father was born Sept. 21, 1783, in the town of 
 South Brimfield, Mass. His mother was born March 
 22, 1788. The parents of his mother, Thaddeus and 
 Polly (Daly) Bacon, were natives of the State of New 
 York. John Jordan, father of Rufus Jordan and 
 grandfather of Moses, was born Dec. 19, 1752, in 
 Massachusetts, and was born of English ancestry. 
 He settled in Moriah in the early part of the i8th 
 century, where he was engaged in farming. He, in 
 connection with his son Rufus, bought timber land, 
 from which he cleared two good farms. He was 
 prominent in town and county affairs, acting some 
 years as Justice of the Peace. His records as a 
 Magistrate (dating back to 1809) are now in the 
 possession of Mr. Jordan of this sketch. He died 
 March 19, 1813, and the demise of his wife occurred 
 Oct. 30, 1810. His son Rufus was manied Feb. 4, 
 1808, and settled on a farm adjoining his father. In 
 1830 he removed to Gainesville, Genesee Co., N. Y., 
 which is now included in Wyoming County, buying a 
 farm where he spent many years, afterwards retiring 
 from active life and buying a residence near his 
 daughter. He died Nov. i, 1862, and his wife died 
 in Cortland, April 29, 1865. Four of their children 
 are still living: Hiram is a fanner at Gainesville but 
 
 ** m aair' s-\ A. 
 
 much of his time has been spent in teaching; Lucina 
 is the wife of F. H. Jennison, of Gainesville; Moses 
 W. and Lydia, wife of C. F. Ely, live in Cortland. 
 
 Mr. Jordan of this sketch was reared on the farm 
 and educated in the public schools. He continued 
 to live with his parents until 1843, when he went to 
 Warsaw, the county seat of Wyoming County, and 
 operated there as a carpenter and joiner and also as 
 a farmer, having bought a small farm. He lived in 
 Warsaw until 1852, in which year he settled on his 
 farm in Cortland Township. In the spring of 1853 
 he bought land on sections 9 and 16, containing 69 
 acres, of which 15 acres were broken prairie, with a 
 small log house and an orchard of limited extent. The 
 place is now in advanced cultivation, with valuable 
 buildings, fruit, shade and ornamental trees. While 
 a resident at Warsaw he studied medicine with C. A. 
 Dake, M. D., after which he operated to some extent 
 as a practitioner while yet in his native State, and 
 also has been similarly occupied since coming West. 
 
 In December, 1839, he joined the Methodist Epis- 
 copal Church at Gainesville, and immediately de- 
 voted himself to the study of the Bible with a view of 
 preparing for the ministry. While living in the State 
 of New York he was an active member of the Church, 
 a Class-leader and Steward. In 1869 he was or- 
 dained at Freeport as a local preacher. He has 
 always been warmly interested in educational affairs 
 and an earnest and decided anti-slavery, anti- tobacco 
 and anti-liquor advocate. 
 
 He was united in marriage Feb. 27, 1843, to Miss 
 Betsey Perkins. She was born in Hampton, Wash- 
 ington Co., N. Y., Aug. 5, 1817, and is the daughter 
 of. Sylvester and Ruth (Hooker) Perkins The family 
 consisted of three sons and six daughters, she being 
 the youngest daughter. Mr. Perkins was born in 
 Connecticut, and his wife in Poultney, Rutland Co., 
 Vt. Only one child was born to Moses and Betsey 
 Jordan, Edward Franklin, whose birth occurred Sept. 
 21, 1847, in Warsaw, Wyoming Co., N. Y., and he 
 married Lucy J. Gale. She was born May 2, 1875, 
 in Pierce, De Kalb Co., 111., and is the mother of two 
 children, Ethel and Carmi. E. F. Jordan is the 
 manager of his father's farm. He is apt with the use 
 of tools, and his readiness in mechanical arts is of 
 special value in his business as a farmer and to his 
 neighbors. 
 
 Mrs. Jordan is a lineal descendant of Rev. Thomas 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 ] 
 \ 

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Hooker, who came from England with his Church 
 and settled at Hartford, Conn., in 1600, and her father 
 was a local preacher in the Methodist Church. David 
 Star Jordan, son of Hiram Jordan, is a graduate from 
 Cornell University at Ithaca, N. Y., the author of 
 several modern, standard text-books on natural 
 science, and is at present residing at Bloomington, 
 Ind., where he is President of the State University. 
 
 {.on. A. W. Lloyd, of Sycamore, was born 
 Dec. 14, 1800, in the town of Blandford, 
 Hampden Co., Mass. His father, James 
 Lloyd, was born in Massachusetts, of Scotch 
 parentage, and married Sally White, of English 
 descent, and belonging to the posterity of Pere- 
 grine White, the first white child born in Massachu- 
 setts. 
 
 Mr. Lloyd was educated in the public schools of 
 his native county, and was taught the details of 
 farming on his father's estate. In 1825 he married 
 Parthenia, daughter of Roger and Mary (Webster) 
 Haskell, both of Massachusetts. She was born in 
 Peru, Berkshire County. Her father was of French 
 descent, and was a patriot of the Revolution. After 
 marriage, Mr. Lloyd and his wife occupied the home- 
 stead until 1854, when they sold their interest and 
 came to De Kalb County, where they bought a tract 
 of unimproved land in South Grove Township. Dur- 
 ing the first year he broke 100 acres on his own land, 
 and built a house ; this he did in addition to man- 
 aging the affairs of a farm he rented. In 1855 the 
 family took possession of the place. Mr. Lloyd im- 
 proved and operated nearly the entire acreage of the 
 farm 240 acres erected a large frame house and 
 barn, a granary and other farm buildings, and con- 
 verted the place into one of the best and most val- 
 uable farms in De Kalb County. In 1872 he placed 
 his son in charge of the estate and removed to Syca- 
 more, where he bought a residence. In April, 1884, 
 he removed to another location on the same street. 
 Mr. Lloyd became a distinguished citizen of Berk- 
 shire County, and held important township offices. 
 He also represented his district two terms in the 
 State Legislature. He also became prominent in 
 local military affairs. He was commissioned Ensign 
 of the State militia Feb. 10, 1823, and assigned to 
 
 the Fourth Regiment of Infantry in the First Brigade 
 and Fourth Division. He afterwards received the 
 following commissions : Jan. 7, 1828, Captain of the 
 same company; Major of the "Fourth" March 13, 
 1829; Lieut-Colonel, June 9, 1830; and Colonel, 
 Feb. 21, 1831. 
 
 His wife died July 2, 1867, and left seven chil- 
 dren : Paulina resides with her father at Sycamore ; 
 William is a Congregational clergyman at Ravens- 
 wood, 111. ; Mary is the wife of A. J. Vanderen, who 
 is engaged in mining at Boulder, Col. ; Sergius is the 
 manager of the homestead in South Grove Town- 
 ship ; Louis is in business in Chicago ; Alice married 
 William M. Rule and lives at Boulder, Col.; and 
 Eli W. is a farmer in Malta Township. 
 
 Lawrence Curts, Principal of the De Kalb 
 Schools, was born in Benton Township, 
 Crawford Co., Ohio, Oct. 14, 1852, and is a 
 son of John and Elmira (Leist) Curts, natives 
 of 'Ohio. His father is a Methodist Episco- 
 pal preacher, though formerly connected with 
 the United Brethren Church. 
 
 The parents of Mr. Curts moved from Crawford 
 County when lie was an infant, and settled in Henry 
 County. They lived there 1 1 years and removed to 
 Linn Co., Iowa. Remaining there five years, they 
 removed to Sterling, this State, then to Manteno, then 
 to Mendota. Between the ages of 13 and 18, three 
 years of his life were spent working at the shoe- 
 maker's trade, and one year on a farm. 
 
 In 1870, his father purchased a farm in Dickinson 
 Co., Kan., and moved his family upon it. He was 
 absent from the farm a greater portion of the time, at- 
 tending to his professional duties, and the manage- 
 ment of the place and necessary work required to 
 successfully cultivate it in a great degree devolved 
 on the son. He. nevertheless was ambitious to ac- 
 quire an education, and managed to alternate his 
 labors on the farm with attendance at the common 
 schools and study at home. His energy soon ad- 
 vanced him sufficiently to teach. He taught his 
 first term of school near Abilene, Dickinson County, 
 and then returned to Henry Co., Ohio, and taught in 
 the first school-house in which he had received in- 
 struction, His object in teaching at this time was to 
 A ^ 
 
 I *
 
 nruaunr 
 
 OF THE 
 
 flwvERsnr op ILLHKMJ
 
 DE KALB COUN'J Y. 
 
 procure means in which more thoroughly to prepare 
 himself for the calling of teacher, and he was suc- 
 cessful. He taught two winter terms at the place 
 last mentioned, and during the remainder of the time 
 attended the Rock River Seminary at Mt. Morris, 111. 
 In 1876 he returned to Kansas and engaged in teach- 
 ing at Ellis, in Ellis County, that State. He taught 
 there two years, and from his savings was enabled to 
 matriculate at Cornell College, Iowa. He completed 
 the curriculum of that institution and graduated in 
 June, 1881. He then came to De Kalb and ac- 
 cepted the position which he at present occupies. He 
 is one of those who believe " a person never gets 
 too old to learn," and devotes considerable time to 
 study. That his efforts at De Kalb have proven a 
 success, the present flourishing condition of the 
 schools will testify ; and that they are appreciated by 
 the citizens, is demonstrated by the length of time 
 he has served and the terms of praise connected with 
 his name when he is spoken of as an educator and 
 gentleman. 
 
 Mr. Curts was married in June, 1881, to Miss 
 Clara Holroyd. She was born in Wyanet, Bureau 
 Co., 111., and is a daughter of Mark and Cordelia 
 Holroyd. Two children have been born to Mr. and 
 Mrs. Curts: Boyd G., Oct. 2, 1882, and Paul H., 
 July 3, 1884. 
 
 ichard Dee, manufacturer of bottled soda- 
 water and ginger ale, bottled beer, ale and 
 porter, and dealer in ice in any quantities, 
 at De Kalb, was born in Lincolnshire, Eng- 
 land, Oct. 31, 1829, was brought up to agri- 
 cultural pursuits, and in 1851 left his native 
 land and came to America, locating first in Racine, 
 Wis., where his employment for a few months was in 
 a pork-packing establishment. He next engaged at 
 chopping wood at three shillings per cord, walking 
 twice a day the four miles which lay between his 
 boarding place and the woods ! This was not the 
 kind of life he had dreamed of enjoying in America, 
 and he felt like returning to his native land ; and he 
 probably would have done so had he sufficient means 
 in his possession. 
 
 In the spring of 1852 he came to Illinois and en- 
 gaged in coal-mining in La Salle, 111., six years ; then 
 
 was three years in McDonough County, managing a 
 saloon at Colchester two years of that time; then he 
 continued the same line of business in Chicago until 
 1863, when he came to the village of De Kalb. For 
 the first year here he kept a saloon ; the succeeding 
 three years he conducted a meat market; selling out 
 the latter, he built a brewery at Dixon ; but during 
 the following winter he again crossed the ocean and 
 for a couple of months visited friends in his native 
 land. Returning in the spring, he sold his interest 
 in the brewery, came again to De Kalb and re-pur- 
 chased the meat market, which he operated for some 
 years. In 1878 he established his present business 
 as above stated. 
 
 He was married March 3, 1851, to Miss Augusta 
 Trower, who died May 4, 1855. Mr. Dee was again 
 married Feb. 25, 1865, to Miss L. S. Bennett, and by 
 the present marriage there are two sons, Richard 
 D. and William H. 
 
 arshall Stark, deceased, a pioneer of De 
 Kalb County, first came to Illinois in 
 1834, and spent the summer of that year. 
 He returned to his native State to engage 
 in teaching during the winter, and in 1834 lo- 
 
 | cated a claim of land near Rockford, Winne- 
 b:igo County, but made no permanent settlement 
 there. He came soon after to De Kalb County and 
 located a claim on sections 20 and 21 in what is now 
 Sycamore Township. He built a log house near the 
 timber and began to make improvements, and as 
 soon as the land came into market took the neces- 
 sary steps to secure the claim. 
 
 In 1841 he returned to Pennsylvania and was 
 married Oct.. 5, of the same year, to Louisa S. Tyler, 
 daughter of Royal and Mary Tyler. She was born 
 DSC. r6, 1820, in Dimock, Susquehauna Co., Pa. 
 Her parents were born in Connecticut and settled 
 in Pennsylvania in the fall of the year in which the 
 daughter w.n born. Two weeks after their marriage 
 Mr. and Mrs. Stark started for their new home in the 
 West, and drove through with a pair of horses. They 
 occupied the log house three years, when they re- 
 moved to a frame house that had been built on sec- 
 tion 2r. Mr. Stark has been School Director. In 
 1848 he was elected Sheriff and removed to Syca- 
 
 lj
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 more. He served in that office three years, and 
 during the time he built a hotel at Sycamore. He con- 
 ducted it as a house of public entertainment six years, 
 after which he returned to the farm. During the 
 period of his business career he became extensively 
 interested in the lumber business in Michigan and 
 spent two winters there. He also owned and man- 
 aged a lumber yard in the city of Sycamore. His 
 connection with official matters in the township be- 
 gan at an early date, and he fulfilled the obligations 
 of many offices of trust. His homestead farm included 
 800 acres of land, all of which was improved, and he 
 owned 360 acres of land in the township of Kings- 
 ton, which was all under tillage. 
 
 Mr. Stark was born Aug. 12, 1813, in Luzerne Co., 
 Pa. His parents, Oliver and Betsey (Dixon) Stark, 
 were both natives of that State, and gave their son a 
 good education, which at as eavly a date as possible 
 he utilized in teaching winters, spending the remain- 
 der of the years in agricultural pursuits. He died 
 Dec. 26, 1882, leaving 10 children,- Harmon M., 
 Martha S., Mary E., Jefferson O., Henry J., Theron 
 M., Adah Louisa, Ella A., Emma J. and Hattie M. 
 
 As a representative pioneer of De Kalb County, as 
 well as of this section of Illinois, and a gentleman 
 who was honored with public office and esteemed by 
 his fellow-citizens and worthy to be classed with the 
 representative men of the county, we place the 
 portrait of Mr. Stark in this volume. 
 
 eorge Spickerman, farmer, section 34, 
 Malta Township, was born Oct. 14, i833 ) 
 in Columbia Co., N. Y., and is the son of 
 Andrew A. Spickerman, a farmer and native 
 of the State in which his son w;is born, and 
 where he married Catherine E. Budd, a native 
 of Dutchess Co., N. Y. The father is of German ex- 
 traction; the mother also, with a slight admixture of 
 French. She former died in Columbia County, March 
 16, 1883, and in June of the same year the mother 
 died. Mr. Spickerman, Sr., was a man of influence 
 and position, and possessed a fine estate. He was 
 85 years of age when he died, which was also the age 
 of his wife. She was a devoted member of the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 
 Mr. Spickerman is one of 10 children born to his 
 
 %&& **^ & 
 
 parents, seven of whom are living. He was educated 
 in the public schools of Rensselaer Co., N. Y., ad- 
 joining that of his nativity. He remained at home, 
 assisting on his father's farm until 1859, the year of 
 his removal to Illinois and of his locating in Malta 
 Township, where he operated as a farmer on his own 
 account, making frequent visits to his native county. 
 
 He was married there March 27, 1880, to Annie 
 M. Pulver. She was born March 6, 1842, in Ghent, 
 Columbia Co., N. Y., and is the daughter of James 
 and Sarah (Stupplebeem) Pulver, farmers, and of ^ 
 German descent. Mrs. Spickerman is one of six 
 children, and was but nine years of age when her 
 father died. Her mother died April 26, 1877. She 
 has one child Harry, born May 13, 1881. 
 
 After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. S. took posses- 
 sion of their home in Malta Township, where the 
 former has an undivided interest in his father's es- 
 tate and also 160 acres of land in Iowa. He is a 
 Republican, and has served a term as Tax Collector. 
 Mrs. S. is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church. 
 
 Charles S. Hunt, retired farmer, De Kalb, 
 was born in the town of Murray, Orleans 
 Co., N. Y., Sept. 3, 1811. His parents, Joseph 
 L. and Lydia (Davenport) Hunt, natives of 
 Vermont, moved to Western New York in 
 , making the journey with a one-horse 
 n, containing all their worldly possessions. They 
 were early settlers in what is now the town of Murray. 
 The senior Mr. Hunt soon made a contract with the 
 Holland Company for a tract of timber land. Being 
 too poor to pay cash, he followed the plan of purchas- 
 ing, clearing and improving a few acres and selling 
 what he had thus reduced from the wild forest, pro- 
 ceeding to contract for and clear a few more acres, 
 and so on. Residing there until 1836, he moved to 
 Ashtabula Co., Ohio, and after a few years to Fulton 
 Co., 111., and after several years more to Mason 
 County, this State, where he spent the remainder of 
 his days, passing from earthly scenes in 185 i. 
 
 In his family were 1 1 children, nine of whom grew 
 up to years of maturity, namely, Charles S., Betsy P., 
 Harvey, Hiram, Abel, Warren, Joseph L., Sarah, 
 Curtis, Sophia and Louisa J. Abel died in Ohio, at 

 
 V v 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 '..' 
 
 ^V the age of 20 years, and Sophia died in Havana, 
 /$ Mason Co., 111., in 1884. 
 
 The first above mentioned, the subject of this 
 sketch, lived with his parents until 16 years of age, 
 when he foand employment in a hotel at Holly, Or- 
 leans Co., N. Y., continuing there five years. In 
 1836 his father proposed to him to go to Ashtabula, 
 Co , Ohio, and select a tract of land, for which he 
 (the father) was about to trade. Accordingly, in the 
 month of February, in company with five others, he 
 started on foot and walked all the way to his destina- 
 ML tion, a distance of 200 miles. He soon selected a 
 <4 3 tract of land, in R)ma Township, near the turnpike 
 I leading from Ashtabula to Warren, and fell to work 
 clearing the same. In the meantime he had to do, 
 two days' work each week at Rogers' Hotel, to pay 
 for his board there. The following May his father 
 and family moved to the place, when they all com- 
 menced work together. 
 
 Here Charles S. lived with his parents until 1838, 
 when he sold the 50 acres of land which his father 
 A had given him, and with the proceeds, $300, started 
 3 out to seek a home farther West, accompanied by his 
 5 wife and child, and his brother-in-law, wife and two 
 pa children. Coming by way of Lake Erie to Detroit 
 $> and thence by wagon to Fulton County, this State, 
 they, in company with seven others, started a village 
 which they named Bernadotte, building a hotel, dis- 
 tillery, etc. : they also bought two farms. Mr. Hunt 
 soon sold his interest in the village and purchased 
 80 acres of farming land in the vicinity ; but this he 
 sold rn 1847 and he moved to a point on the Illinois 
 River in the same county, and conducted a " tavern" 
 / a year in a rented building. In the spring of 1849 
 he moved to Havana, Mason County, purchasing a 
 J \ farm on the banks of the Illinois River ; but he leased 
 the land and kept .a hotel in the village, in a building 
 he rented for the purpose. In 1854 he sold the farm 
 and moved to this county, and, in company with 
 Israel Nichols, engaged in the business of buying 
 and shipping grain. In 1857 he bought a farm on 
 section 19 of De Kalb Township, where he resided 
 from 1860 to 1882, when he bought his present resi- 
 dence in De Kalb, which he has since occupied. 
 
 Mr. Hunt was married May 4, 1837, to May A. 
 Woodard, who was born Feb. 5, 1815. They had 
 ^ eight children, namely: Horace D., Mortimer A., 
 Amanda M., Harriet A., Charles M., William Artluir, 
 
 Darwin ]. and Carrie Edna. Mortimer A. and Har- 
 riet A. died in infancy, and Arthur died in Colorado, 
 at the age of 66. Mr. Hunt's second wife was Mary 
 Cooper, A native of Summit Co., Ohio, whom he mar- 
 ried July 10, 1865. 
 
 rthur Mozley Stark, of Sycamore, was born 
 Jan. 31, 1849, in the city of London, Eng- 
 land, and is the son of John M. and Harriet 
 Jane (Guy) Stark. He attended school until 
 he was 15 years of age, when he became a 
 clerk in the store of' his father, who was a sta- 
 tioner, continuing in the situation two years, when 
 he accepted a position as assistant in the publishing 
 house of Simpkin, Marshall & Co., in London, where 
 he remained until he was 21 years of age. 
 
 In 1870 he came to the United States and fixed 
 his first residence' at Beloit, Wis., whence he came 
 four months later to Sycamore and became' book- 
 keeper in the employment of the Marsh Harvester 
 Company. Subsequently he was made secretary 
 and treasurer in the same business, and is still offi- 
 ciating in that capacity. 
 
 He was married May 20, 1873, to Ellen, daughter 
 of Fleming and Louisa (Stone) Holcomb, of Syca- 
 more. Mr. and Mrs. Stark have two children, Guy 
 and Emily. 
 
 eorge W. Savory, farmer, resident at Cort- 
 land, was born Aug. 20, 1818, at Orford, 
 Grafton Co., N. H., and is the son of John 
 and Abiah Sa.vory. His father was born in 
 Plymouth, Mass., and descended from Eng- 
 lish ancestors. His mother was born in Ver- 
 mont. The senior Savory served an apprenticeship 
 with a shoemaker when a youth, with whom he- re- 
 moved to New Hampshire, and he became a soldier 
 of the War of 18 1 2. He died at Orford in 1820, and 
 his wife died there in 1827. Mr. Savory was taken 
 in charge by the authorities, who bound him to a 
 farmer named Willard Jaquith, who lived in Orford 
 and with whom he resided until 15 years of age, when 
 he became the charge of a man named Webster Hall, 
 who was his guardian three years. At 18 years of age 

 
 he bought his time for $(oo. He remained in Orford 
 variously employed until 1844, when he came to 
 Perry Co., 111. After spending a few months there 
 he went to Chicago. He obtained employment at 
 the lime kilns in the vicinity of that city, where he 
 remained until the spring of 1847, when he enlisted 
 in the Third United. States Infantry and went to 
 Mexico. He was a participant in the battle at 
 Contreras and at Churubusco, where he. was wounded 
 Aug. 20, 1847, l) y a gunshot in the .right thigh. (He 
 has a bamboo cane, which was cut on the battle-field 
 of the last named engagement.) After the capfure 
 of the city of Mexico he was conveyed to the hospital 
 there, and was honorably discharged Jan. 13, 1848. 
 He returned to Chicago, where he remained until 
 1857, variously employed. In that year he came to 
 Cortland, where, in company with James Burbank, 
 he bought the Cortland Hotel property. He sold his 
 interest in thai about two years later to his partner, 
 and in 1860 bought two lots at the east end of the 
 village and built a house. He .has since purchased 
 additional land, and has now a valuable farm. He 
 was engaged for a time in market gardening, but for 
 Ihe past few years he has been interested in the dairy 
 business. 
 
 In 1856 Mr. Savory was married to Joan C., daugh- 
 ter of Joseph and Catherine (Kelly) Wood. They 
 have four children, George W., May, Virginia and 
 Lulu. 
 
 ewis M. McEwen, one of the self-made men 
 of the county, residing at De Kalb, was born 
 in Crawford, Orange Co., N. Y., Sept. 28, 
 827. He is a son of Henry and Ann Eliza 
 (Terwilliger) McEwen, natives. of " York State " 
 and of Scotch and Holland descent, respect- 
 ively. At the age of 13 years, Mr. McEwen became 
 an orphan by the death of his father, and continued 
 to reside with, his mother until he was 18 years old. 
 At this age in his life's history, he set forth to fight 
 the battles of his future unaided except by his own 
 indomitable determination to succeed. He made 
 his way to New York city, and succeeded in obtain- 
 ing employment in a morocco manufactory. He 
 continued in that vocation, laboriously endeavoring 
 to learn the trade, and succeeded. 
 
 No sooner had the tidings reached the city of New 
 
 York of the discovery of gold in California, than Mr. 
 McEwen determined to cast his fortunes with thou- 
 sands of others and visit the " Land of Gold." He 
 accordingly, in 1849, started for that distant region. 
 He sailed Jan. 30, on board the good ship " Orpheus,'' 
 which took him round Cape Horn, and in July fol- 
 lowiiTg, over five months after starting, landed him 
 in the country for which he set out. While there he 
 engaged in mining, and was thus occupied for about 
 three years, until the spring of 1852. He then 
 started on his return to New .York, and went by way 
 of the Isthmus, arriving at the metropolis in May of 
 that year. 
 
 Afte: returning to Ne.v York city, Mr. McEwen 
 spent several weeks visiting friends, and then came 
 to this State and located in what is now Milan Town- 
 ship, this county. He entered 320 acres of land, 
 the first land that was entered in the township. On 
 this land he erected a small frame house, or as it 
 might more properly be called, " shan'y," in which 
 he kept " bach " and energetically entered on the 
 laborious though pleasant task of improving the land. 
 The same year he replaced his " shanty " with a good 
 and comfortable frame house, bringing his lumber 
 from Aurora, 30 miles distant. 
 
 Mr. McEwen was married O>:t. 4, 1857, to Miss 
 Elizabeth Ward. She was born in Highgate, Fiank- 
 lin Co., Vt., Oct. 25, 1833, and is the mother of six 
 children by Mr. M., namely: Frances, Flora, Annie, 
 Willard, Earnest and Harry. 
 
 After marriage, he continued to reside on his farm, 
 and, having great faith in the future development of 
 the country and the consequent enhanced price of 
 the land, he added 80 acres to his 320 and is at 
 present the owner of 400 acres, accumulated through 
 his own endeavors. In 1869 Mr. McEwen rented 
 his farm and moved into the village of Di Kalb. In 
 1871 he, in company with George Terwilliger, en- 
 gaged in the coal and lumber business, and has been 
 continuously occupied in that line ever since. 
 
 Mr. McEwen is. a true representative of that class 
 of successful individuals who wasted no time in boy- 
 hood's days and improved each shining moment of 
 manhood's years. His early education was limited, 
 and he accumulated only such as the labors on the 
 farm would permit him to receive from the public 
 schools. As he grew in years, he improved each 
 leisure mo.nent in reading and study, and the ac- 
 cumulated knowledge he possesses to-day, both pn 
 
 I 

 
 S 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 tical and professional, for he is a practical as well 
 as professional man, is due to his uncontrollable 
 determination to succeed. He was the first Super- 
 visor of Milan Township, and was its Supervisor dur- 
 ing his entire residence in the township except one 
 year. He has also acted as Supervisor of De Kalb 
 Township several yjars. In 1870 Mr. McEwen was 
 elected to represent his district in the State Legisla- 
 ture. Politically he is a Republican. For several 
 years he was a member of the Board of Trustees of 
 De Kalb and at present writing is City Attorney. 
 
 dwin P. Rose, conductor on the Cortland 
 Branch of the Chicago & Northwestern 
 Railroad, resident at Sycamore, was born 
 April n, 1827, in the town of Evans, Erie Co , 
 N. Y. He is the son of Chauncey and Salina 
 (Porter) Rose. When he was 16 years old his 
 parents emigrated with their family to Illinois, 
 whither they made their journey with a team and 
 also transported their household effects. After his 
 father's death he assumed the control of the farm af- 
 fairs, where they settled for a time. He then went to 
 Sycamore and was there variously occupied until he 
 obtained his situation as conductor. 
 
 Mr. Rose was married in 1863, to Sarah ]., daugh- 
 ter of David and Louisa Russell, and they have eight 
 children, Chauncey D., Lamont F., Effie A , Elmer 
 E. arid Elzie E. (twins), Edwin S., Fred A. and 
 Frank C. 
 
 anfordA. Tyler, Superintendent of the Ell- 
 wood Wire Works, was born in Newark, 
 Tioga Co., N. Y., Jan. 1 1, 1836. His par- 
 ents were Anthony and Harriet B. (Packer) 
 Tyler, both natives of the State of New York. 
 He was reared on a farm in his native town, 
 making his home with his parents there until he was 
 1 8 years of age. 
 
 He came to Illinois and first stopped at Belvidere, 
 where he attended school one year. In 1854 he 
 came to this county and bought land in Afton Town- 
 ship, where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits 
 for six years. March 20, 1864 he started on a jour- 
 ney across the plains, and arrived at Virginia City, 
 
 Montana, June n following, where he followed gold- \f 
 mining for about half a year. Returning to this * 
 county, he engaged in mercantile trade, in company 
 with R. H. Roberts, and this relation continues to the 
 present. They also buy live stock, which they ship . \ 
 to Chicago. In addition to the above business, Mr. 
 Tyler, since 1883, has been also Superintendent in 
 the Ellwood Wive Works. In all the public enter- 
 prises of De Kalb, Mr. Tyler has been an efficient 
 agent, having held the offices of Town Clerk and 
 Aldermar, and is a member of the Board of Educa- v 
 tion. He is a member of De Kalb Chapter of A. F. 
 &A. M. 
 
 He was married in November, 1861, to Sarah 
 Louisa- Taylor, a native of Paris, Ky., and they have 
 three children, Clara Louisa, Squire Allen and 
 Harriet Daisy. 
 
 Imon F. Parke, farmer, sections 7, 8 and 9, 
 Sycamore Township, was born Jan. 25, 
 1838, in Evans, Erie Co., N. Y. He is the 
 son of Larmon Z. and Martha W. (Fenton) 
 Parke, and grew to manhood on his father's 
 farm, receiving his education in the public 
 schools at Pontiacin his native county. In 1856 he 
 accompanied his parents to De Kalb- County, where 
 they settled in the township having the same name. 
 He had learned the Irade of brick, stone and plaster 
 mason, and after his arrival in De Kalb County pur- 
 sued th .t vocation until he entered the army of the 
 Unio'i. He enlisted Sept. 2, 1862, in Co. K, 1051)1 
 Regiment, 111. Vol. Inf., which was for a time at- 
 tached to the i ith Army Corps, and later to the 2oth, 
 being assigned to the First Brigade and Third 
 Division. Mr. Parke was a participant in the battles 
 at Resaca, Dallas, Kenesaw Mountain, Marietta, At- 
 lanta and Peach-Tree Creek, and in many others of 
 less importance. At Atlanta he procured a furlough 
 to return home to see his father, who was danger- 
 ously ill, and was absent seven days. On his attempt- 
 ing to return he was cut off from his regiment and 
 stopped at Chattanooga, where he was placed in 
 charge of a company of recruits, with whom lie re- 
 turned to Nashville, and' was there on garrison duty 
 at the time of the battle. He went thence with the 
 army to Decatur, Ala., where he was taken sick and 

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 was sent to the hospital at Chattanooga. As soon as 
 he recovered he was appointed on the military com- 
 mission at Chattanooga. In April follo.ving he was 
 sent to join his command at Raleigh, N. C., and pro- 
 ceeded thence for the Grand Review at Washington, 
 D. C. He was mustered out of the United States 
 service with his regiment, June 7, 1865, at Chicago 
 He enlisted as a private, but on the organization of 
 his company was made Second Lieutenant. Three 
 months later he was promoted First Lieutenant, and 
 in 1863 was made the Captain of Co. K. 
 
 Returning to Da Kalb, he resumed work at his 
 trade. The same fall he bought a farm in Afton 
 Township, where he combined work at his trade with 
 the labors of his farm. In 1870 he abandoned 
 the vocation of mason, and has since given his atten- 
 tion wholly to farming. In 1873 he settled on the 
 farm on which he now resides, being sections 7, 8 
 and 9. The place was originally settled by Edward 
 White, was well improved and supplied with good 
 frame b.iildings. In 1884 he erected a large brick 
 house, one of the best in De Kalb County. The 
 farm contains 250 acres. Mr. Parke is largely in- 
 terested in raising stock and horses, and is giving 
 particular attention to raising Norman horses. 
 : He was married Sept. i, 1870, to Ruth, daughter 
 of Ephraim and Caroline Hall, and they have had 
 six children Nelson, Henry H., Mary E., Mila, 
 Ruth and Eleanor G. 
 
 enjamin Evans, a pioneer of De Kalb 
 County, was born Feb. 21, 1811, in Ash 
 Co., N. C., and was there reared on a 
 farm. He was married April 21, 1833, lo 
 Frances Perry, also a native of Ash Co., N. 
 C., where she was born Oct. 31, 1814. In 
 the year following they left their native State and 
 journeyed West with a span of horses and a wagon 
 with their household effects, and cooked and camped 
 on the route. They reached La Salle County after 
 long and weary travel, and Mr. Evans made a 
 claim where the city of Piano is now situated. He 
 built a log house, which had a roof of "shakes " and a 
 floor made of puncheons. He sold out in 1838 and 
 came to De Kalb County and bought a. claim on sec- 
 
 tion 14, Sycamore Township. He retained his own- 
 ership two years, and in 1840 sold and bought on 
 section 3 of the same township. There he built a 
 log house and entered into the work of making im- 
 provements. He died on the place Feb. 5, 1854. 
 Of six children born to himself and wife, four reached 
 adult age, Lorenzo Dow, Lucinda, Ira and Mary 
 Belinda. The latter married Alfred King, and died 
 Oct. 2, 1880. The mother resides with her son, Lo- 
 renzo Dow Evans. 
 
 =E3- 
 
 zel P. Stone, florist, at Sycamore, was born 
 Nov. ir, 1815, in Franklin Co., Vt. His 
 father, James Stone, at the outset of his 
 business life, was a tanner and currier, and 
 later was a fanner. He was a native of Hav- 
 erhill, N. H., and in 1837 came to Allegan Co., 
 Mich., where he died. The mother, Chastina Stone, 
 was born in Haverhill, N. H., and died in Paw Paw, 
 Mich. Four of their nine children are living : A. P. 
 is the oldest ; Irena is the widow of E. A. Kinney, of 
 Prairie Ronde, Mich.; Clarinda is the wife of Norman 
 Rice, of Paw Paw, Mich.; Emeline married Frank 
 Taylor, of Medicine Lodge, Kan. 
 
 Mr. Stone was reared to the callings of his father, 
 in the tan-yard and on the farm. He came West, to 
 Allegan, Mich., in the fall of 1835, and learned the 
 trade of mason. He was married there July 16, 
 1839, to Mary, daughter of David and Ruth Schurt- 
 leff Her parents were among the early pioneer 
 settlers of this portion of Illinois. Mrs. Stone was 
 born on Stanstead Plains, Canada. Six children 
 have been born of her marriage to Mr. Stone : Mary 
 A., deceased, was the wife of C. H. Beach, of Syca- 
 more ; Herbert F. is a manufacturer of agricultural 
 implements, wind-mills, etc., at Appleton, Wis. ; 
 Edwin is deceased he was a cheese manufacturer 
 at New Lebanon, III, for some years, and later was 
 an insurance agent at that place; Nellie B. is the 
 wife of Harry Ewing, photographer at Sycamore ; 
 James B. is a machinist at Batavia, III; and Clarence 
 is an assistant in the office of the Minnesota Lumber 
 Company, at Sycamore. 
 
 Mr. Stone went to Kenosha, Wis., where he followed 
 his business as a mason and builder for a score of 
 years, operating as a contractor and erecting a num- 
 
 
 k' : : i 
 
 I 
 
 <V
 
 DB KALB COUNTY. 
 
 i 
 
 a 
 
 ber of fine and valuable buildings at that place. He 
 went in 1860 to Central City, Colorado, taking wilh 
 him a quartz mill and entering a gold claim. He 
 met with a reasonable degree of success, and after 
 a stay there of tw^ years he came to Geneva and 
 purchased 184 acres of land, took up his residence 
 there, and engaged in its improvement until his re- 
 moval to Sycamore in 1875. He first embarked in 
 the purchase and shipment of farm produce, in 
 which he was occupied two years. He then built a 
 feed mill at New Lebanon in this county, which he 
 continued to manage three years. In 1882 he estab- 
 lished the business in which he has been since en- 
 gaged. His grounds are 190 x 85 feet, and his green- 
 house stocked with finely assorted varieties of plants. 
 He sends the cuttings to Chicago, and supplies the 
 home demand for cut flowers and designs. Mr. 
 Stone is a member of the Order of Odd Fellows. 
 Mrs. Stone is a communicant in the Episcopal 
 Church, of which her family are attendants. 
 
 enry B. Gurler, farmer and a resident of De 
 Kalb, was born in Chesterfield, Cheshire 
 Co., N. H., May 21, 1840, and was eight 
 years of age when his parents, Benjamin (see 
 sketch), and Harriet (Hopkins) Gurler, moved 
 to Keene, N. H., where they resided until 1856^ 
 when they came to De Kalb County, settling on sec- 
 tion 32, De Kalb Township. 
 
 On the latter place the subject of this sketch made 
 his home with his parents until his enlistment, July, 
 
 1861, in the 42d III. Vol. Inf., Co. K, which was 
 ordered first to Missouri, then to Kentucky and Miss- 
 issippi. He was honorably discharged in September, 
 
 1862, but in May, 1864, he re-enlisted, in Co. K, 
 I32d Vol. Inf., and was placed on garrison duty in 
 Kentucky, as Second Lieutenant. On the expiration 
 of his term of service in October, 1864, he returned 
 home and engaged in the grocery trade in De Kalb, 
 which he continued until 1868. The next two years 
 he look charge of his father's farm, and then pur- 
 chased a farm on section 5 of Afton Township, 
 whereon were a small house and barn. He has since 
 added to the dimensions of his house, erected a good 
 frame barn, corn-crib and other farm buildings, be- 
 sides a creamery. At present, in company with his 
 
 brother, he has creameries at Malta, De Kalb and 
 Hinckley. In March, 1882, he moved into the village 
 of De Kalb, and since then has bought his residence 
 on Fourth Street He still owns and manages the 
 farm. 
 
 Mr. Gurler was married March 27, 1867,10 Sale- 
 nia Rolph, a native of Oxfordshire, England, who 
 emigrated to this country when ten years of age, and 
 was reared in this county. Mr. and Mrs. G. are the 
 parents of three children, Stella F., Lulu May and 
 Hazel. The youngest died March 24, 1885, aged 
 two years and four months. 
 
 illiani J. Me Alpine, member of ihe firm 
 of Willard & McAlpine, contractors and 
 builders at Sycamore, was born Aug. 15 
 
 1852, in Ashtabula, Ohio. His father, Dr. 
 
 Lemuel McAlpine, was born in Connecticut, 
 nd was a physician while in active lite. He 
 is living in retirement at Aurora, III. The mother, 
 Sarah (Price) "McAlpine, was born in the State of 
 New York, and is yet living. Ella, their youngest 
 child, resides with them; Thomas, older son, is a 
 farmer in Cortland Township. In 1853, Dr. McAl- 
 pine transferred his family to Illinois and settled on 
 a farm of 200 acres in the township of Cortland, in 
 De Kalb County, which they occupied until their re- 
 moval to Aurora, in 1871. 
 
 Mr. McAlpine is the second of three children born 
 to his parents, and was reared on a farm in this State. 
 When about 17 years of age he went to Aurora, 111:, 
 and entered upon an apprenticeship to acquire a 
 knowledge of his trade, and served two years. He 
 passed a period of three years in work at various 
 places in New York and Michigan, and in the fall of 
 1873 returned to Sycamore. After working a short 
 time at his trade, he entered into a business relation 
 with Jacob Deily as contractors and builder.-;. Their 
 joint transactions covered a period of three years, and 
 was terminated in 1877. In 1879 the present asso- 
 ciation of Willard & McAlpine was formed, which 
 has since been in operation. A number of the prom- 
 inent edifices in De Kalb and adjoining counties 
 were built by them. Their buildings at Sycamore 
 comprise the Congregational church and a number of 
 prominent residences. 
 
 v 
 
 x 

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Vf Mr. McAlpine was married Jan. 12, 1876, in Syca- 
 \ more, to Mattie Manning, daughter of John Manning. 
 &, She was born Dec. 6, 1857, in Piano, 111. 
 
 Abraham Ashelford, retired farmer and 
 stockman, resident at Sycamore, formerly 
 a resident on section 31, South Grove 
 Township, was born Feb. 24, 1832, in Somer- 
 setshire, England. His parents were George 
 and Sarah (Blackmer) Ashelford (see sketch of 
 George Ashelford). 
 
 Mr. Ashelford came to America in October, 1855, 
 having passed his minority in his native country un- 
 der the circumstances of the class to which he be- 
 longed. After a brief stay in Ontario, he came to 
 De Kalb County, arriving at the city bearing the 
 same name on Christmas day of 1855. In March, 
 1856, he returned to Canada, remaining, however, 
 but a short time and came back, to Illinois, making 
 a permanent location in South Grove Township. He 
 was almost wholly without means, but obtained em- 
 ployment on the farm of John Orfut and worked 
 some time for him and his brother. With his first 
 earnings he bought a yoke of oxen, and worked land 
 on shares for a time, subsequently leasing a large 
 farm for a period of five years. At the end of four 
 years he had saved sufficient money to buy 160 acres 
 of the farm which he had leased, and whereon he 
 established his homestead. To this he has added 
 by later purchases until he owns 680 acres of the 
 best quality of land, under the best type of improve- 
 ments, the condition being manifest from the fact 
 that the proprietor has laid 29 miles of tiling. The 
 farm bindings are of a character in keeping with the 
 value of the estate. Mr. Ashelford makes a specialty 
 of raising Durham cattle and half-breed Norman 
 horses. All the land he has improved was in its 
 primeval condition when it came into his possession. 
 
 Mr. Ashelford cast his first Presidential vote for 
 Abraham Lincoln, and has since been an ardent ad- 
 herent of the " grand old party." 
 
 He was married in Pierce Township, Kane Co., 
 111., Feb. 3, 1863, to Ellen McMutchy. She was 
 born July 6, 1834, in Ontario, Can., and was brought 
 in her childhood to Kane County by her parents. 
 She died May 27, 1877, aged 43. years, and was the 
 
 mother of five children: Sarah was born Dec. 7, 
 1 86-; James, Jan 22, 186-; Lizzie, Feb. 12, 1872; 
 Robert, May i, 1875. John died when two years 
 old. Mr. Ashelford was again married Jan. 8, 1878, 
 in the township of Malta, to Mrs. Mary J. Crandall. 
 She was born Nov. 13, 1833, in Columbia Co., N. Y., 
 and is the daughter of Delaware and Dolly (Head) 
 Foster. Her parents were of French extraction and 
 of New England ancestry and were born in the State 
 of New York, where they lived all their lives. The 
 father died about 1872, the mother in May, 1876. 
 Both were aged 76 years. Mrs. Ashelford was first 
 married in her native county in 1855, to Morgan L 
 Crandall, a native of Delaware Co., N. Y. In 1856 
 she accompanied her husband to Malta To'vnship 
 and settled on a farm. Mr. Crandall's demise oc- 
 curred Feb. 2, 1874, at the age of 44 years. Five 
 children were bom of this union. Ida is married 
 and lives on her mother's estate in Malta. Hattie 
 resides in Malta. Cary lives in Mayfield Township. 
 Charles is in the charge of his uncle in Malta Town- 
 ship. Mary died at the age of 19 years, in Malta 
 Township. 
 
 . Basil Ruby, physician, residing at De 
 Kalb, was bom iu Bedford Co., Penn., 
 Oct. 5, i8ti, and is a son of Arthur and 
 Sarah (Conaway) Ruby, the former a native 
 of Maryland and the latter of Virginia. 
 \ When about three years of age, the parents 
 
 of Mr. Ruby moved to Perry Co., Ohio, where they 
 resided two years, then removed to Muskingum 
 County, same State; resided there six months, then 
 moved to Licking County, that State. In the latter 
 county Dr. Ruby resided, working on his father's 
 farm, attending the common schools and developing 
 into manhood. 
 
 In October, 1832, Dr. Ruby was united in marriage 
 to Miss Mary Mackrel, a native of Pennsylvania. 
 Thirteen months afterward she died, and he was 
 again married in 1836, to Miss Isabell Hiland, a na- 
 tive of Huntington Co., Pa. 
 
 They settled in Licking Connty, where he followed 
 the vocation of a farmer until 1849. During that 
 year he started with a team of horses, overland, for 
 this State, and 14 days later arrived iu De Kalb. 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 f 

 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 He purchased a lot in the village, erected a dwelling 
 thereon, and then engaged in the mercantile busi- 
 ness with John M. Goodell. which relation existed 
 for six months, when the same was dissolved, and in 
 the spring of 1850 Dr. Ruby engaged in business on 
 his own account, continuing two years. At the expi- 
 ration of the latter date, Dr. Ruby, in company with 
 Jackson Hiland, purchased the business of Mr. 
 Goodell, and the firm name became Ruby& Hiland. 
 They carried on the business, which consisted of two 
 stores, and also engaged in the sale of drugs, groceries 
 and dry goods, until 1855, when they closed. 
 
 Dr. Ruby had been a medical student in Ohio, 
 completed his study of medicine after coming to this 
 county, and commenced his practice in 1855. After 
 closing his business, in 1865, his son bought the 
 building, moved it and converted it into a dwelling, 
 in which they resided until 1883, when it was burned, 
 and he built his present residence. 
 
 Dr. Ruby is a member of the Advent Church, and 
 Mrs. Ruby of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 They are the parents of two children Baxter W. 
 and Mary D. 
 
 fohn Buckardt, farmer, section 16, Victor 
 1^- Township, was born Aug. 22, 1825, in 
 Pomerania, Prussia. His parents, Jacob 
 id Caroline (Wokossen) Buckardt, were na- 
 ves of Germany, and there spent their lives. 
 The son remained an inmate of his father's 
 house until he was 24 years of age. He attended 
 school during the period prescribed by law, and on 
 leaving school learned the trade of mason, the statute 
 requiring that every boy be taught a trade. He 
 served three years in its acquisition and pursued it 
 as a business from 1844 to. 1859. 
 
 In the year last named he emigrated to America 
 and located in Somonauk, De Kalb County, where 
 he spent five years in working at his trade and other- 
 wise. He then rented a farm in Victor for three 
 years, and at the end of that time, in 1868, he be- 
 came the owner, by purchase, of 160 acres of land 
 on section 16. This he has since held and has added 
 no acres to his original purchase. Mr. Buckardt is 
 one of the leading farmers of Victor Township, and 
 has been successful in his methods of operation. He 
 
 is justly esteemed for his character of benevolence ^ 
 and energetic perseverance. 
 
 His marriage to Caroline Gruel took place Nov. 2, * 
 1849, and they have had 12 children, six of whom 
 are living, John A., Herman A., August A., Ida J., .1 
 Bertha M. and Henry V. John married Caroline 
 Kelso, Aug. i, 1881; Herman was married Dec. 2, 
 1883, to Caroline Kukuk. Bertha was married to 
 John M. Kukuk, July 22, 1840. Ida J. was married 
 Oct. 26, 1884, to Gus. Johnson. The two oldest 
 sons are marketmen at Somonauk. Mrs. Buckardt, 
 the mother, is a native of Germany. 
 
 F. Warren, jeweler at De Kalb, and 
 
 and whose portrait appears on the oppo- 
 site page, was born in Rushford, Allegany 
 Co., N. Y., July 5, 1848, and is a son of 
 Luke A. and Ursula (Foster) Warren. His 
 parents were both natives of Ycrk State, his 
 father of Delaware and his mother of Orleans County. 
 In 1864 they moved to Whiteside County, this Stale, 
 where they resided two years, and then removed to 
 Ogle County, where, in Monroe Township, his father 
 purchased a farm. 
 
 Mr. Warren remained on the farm about a year 
 and then concluded to abandon that vocation. He 
 accordingly left the place and went to Sycamore, 
 where he engaged with J. E. Southworth, a jeweler, 
 and with whom he remained until 1871. He then 
 engaged with Frank Smith, successor of Mr. South- 
 worth, and worked for him two years. By this time 
 he had thoroughly mastered the trade in all its var- 
 ious branches, and established a business of his 
 own. 
 
 In 1875 Mr. Warren formed a partnership with 
 Frank W. Lott, and they jointly conducted the busi- 
 ness until 1877, when Mr. Warren sold his interest 
 to his partner and moved to De Kalb, and estab- 
 lished his present business. By strict attention to 
 business, and fair and honest representations, Mr. 
 Warren has built up a good and constantly increas- 
 ing trade. 
 
 He was married to Mariam E., daughter of John 
 and Mary (Johnson) Woodworth, July 5, 1870. They 
 have two children, J. Lott and John Lyle. 
 
 Mr. Warren is a member of Sycamore Lodge, No. 
 
 ^ng^
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 xx 134, A. F. & A. M. He has traveled extensively in 
 this country, and in 1880. accompanied by his wife, 
 visited his old home in " York State." In 1883116 
 accompanied the Knights Templars' excursion to 
 California, visiting all the places of interest in Colo- 
 ^ rado and the Territories, as well as in the " Land of 
 Gold," and keeping a diary of the principal events of 
 the trip. He has a lot and residence at De Kalb 
 and is succeeding well in his business. 
 
 3. Hemenway, of Sycamore, was born 
 in the town of Williamsburg, Hampshire 
 Co., Mass., June 17, 1813. His grand- 
 fy father, Ichabod Hemenway, was a native of 
 Framingham, Mass. He was a patriot of the 
 Revolution, and was in the actions at Saratoga 
 and Schuylerville (now Herkimer), N. Y., and in 
 other important battles. He was one of the first to 
 locate at Williamsburg, whither he went on foot from 
 Framingham carrying an ax, Hampshire County then 
 being in its primitive condition and covered with 
 heavy timber. He improved a farm and resided 
 there until his death about 1823. 
 
 Mr. Hemenway is the son of Elijah and Amy 
 (Budlong) Hemenway. He was married April 14, 
 1836, in Conway, Hampshire Co., Mass., to Eunice 
 Guild. She was born Nov. 12, 1814, in Brookfield, 
 Vt., and is the daughter of Israel and Rachel (Kel- 
 logg) Guild, both natives of the State of Vermont. 
 In September, 1836,1116 Hemenways, father and son, 
 with their families, set out for Illinois. Public convey- 
 ances of travel were the exception rather than the 
 rule, and the journey from Massachusetts to Albany, 
 N. Y., was made by private conveyance, whence the 
 party came to Buffalo by way of the Erie Canal. 
 From there they traveled by steamer to Chicago, 
 whence they went by team to what is now Du Page 
 County, then included in Cook County for municipal 
 purposes. The land had not been surveyed, and the 
 elder Hemenway made a claim in what is now Wayne 
 Township ; and when the land came into market 
 he entered the claim. This was his home until his 
 death in 1862. His wife died in 1860. 
 
 H. B. Hemenway bought a claim in Wayne Town- 
 ship, on which there was a log house, of which the 
 family took possession. In 1838 he cut a quantity 
 
 of oak logs, drew them to the mill, and with the 
 lumber built the first frame house in the township of 
 Wayne. It was finished with pine lumber, which 
 was drawn from Chicago. In 1843 he went to 
 Chicago and there secured the title to his land. In 
 December, 1862, he enlisted in Co. C, i2th 111. Cav. 
 At Harper's Ferry he was taken prisoner, being cap- 
 tured in August, 1862. He was held five days and 
 released on parole, when he came home, and in Sep- 
 tember, 1862, was honorably discharged on account 
 of illness. 
 
 In 1870 he sold his farm in Wayne and removed 
 to a farm situated two and a half miles east of the 
 city of Sycamore, in De Kalb County. He sold the 
 place five years later and bought a residence in Syca- 
 more. Mr. and Mrs. Hemenway have eight children. 
 Edward is a merchant at Bartlett Station, 111.; A. 
 Dwight lives in Chicago ; George W. resides at 
 Greenwood, Kan., where he is a farmer; Ellen mar- 
 ried Charles Stevenson, of Sycamore ; Elma is the 
 wife of James Congleton, and lives in Wheaton, Du 
 Page County; Sarah E. married Walter Scott, a 
 grocer in Chicago. Lyman is a practicing physician 
 at Pingree Grove; William is m the grocery business 
 in Chicago. 
 
 acob Gletty, a pioneer farmer of Somonauk 
 Township, resident on section 5, is the son 
 of George and Frederika Gletty, and was 
 born Oct. 10, 1802, in Alsace, France. He 
 was bred to the calling of his forefathers, that 
 of agriculture, which he has pursued all his 
 life. He was reared to manhood in his native land, 
 and was married there, June 22, 1836, to Betsey 
 Yant. She was born Aug. 20, 1816, in France, where 
 six children were born to her and her husband. 
 
 In May, 1844, the family bade a permanent fare- 
 well to " Fair France," and came to the New World, 
 arriving in the township of Somonauk July 28 of the 
 same year. Mr. Gletty Ixnight 80 acres of land, 
 where he at once settled and commenced the work of 
 improving, subsequently adding to his acreage until 
 he now has 132 acres. He is living in retirement, 
 his sons, Louie and Henry, conducting the affairs of 
 the farm. His wife died Sept. 16, 1881. Six chil- 
 dren were born to them after their removal to Amer 
 
 I 

 
 
 
 jy.fi' KALB COUNTY. 
 
 . 
 
 \\ 
 
 ica: Charles is a farmer. Louisa is the wife of 
 Frank Goradot, of Somonauk. Louie is next in order 
 of birth. Jacob lost his life in the Civil War. Wil- 
 liam'is a farmer in De Kalb County. Henry is the 
 seventh child. Daniel is deceased. Josephine resides 
 at home. Caroline is Mrs. Julius Schidecker. David 
 is a farmer in Somonauk Township. Adeline is the 
 wife of George Beck, of Sandwich. 
 
 fames W. Arkills, farmer and breeder of 
 stock, resident on section 15, Victor Town- 
 ship, was born Dec. 18, 1849, at Richmond, 
 McHenry Co., 111. His parents, John and 
 Maria (Eastwood) Arkills, were natives of the 
 State of New York and settled in McHenry 
 County in 1839. After a residence there of 33 years, 
 they removed to the township of Victor, where they 
 settled in 1873, locating on section 15. The father 
 died there in 1884. . . 
 
 Mr. Arkills was educated in the common school, 
 and has always lived with his parents. In 1884 he 
 succeeded to the ownership of his father's home- 
 stead. He is a progressive farmer, and is breeding 
 Hambletonian horses, also fine grades of Short-Horn 
 Durham cattle. He is a Republican, and takes a 
 zealous interest in all movements and measures that 
 seem likely to benefit the general public. 
 
 Mr. Arkills was married Feb. 21, 1872, to Mary 
 Eastwood, and they have had one child, Ada M., 
 who died when she was 15 months old. 
 
 
 J. Woodworth, resident at Sycamore, is 
 the agent for the estate of Mrs. James S. 
 Waterman. He was born Dec. 10, 1850, 
 Jrownhelm, Lorain Co., Ohio. His father 
 and mother, John and Mary (Johnson) Wood- 
 worth, were natives of Chenango Co., N. Y., 
 and located soon after their marriage in Sandusky. 
 In 1853 they came to Illinois, and the senior Wood- 
 worth bought a farm in Cortland Township, De Kalb 
 County. The land was in its original condition. At 
 the date of its owner's death, which occurred Aug. 
 27, 1858, it was all improved. 
 
 Mr. Woodworth went to live when he was nine 
 
 years of age with Milo Wells, of Sycamore, and work- 
 ed on a farm except in the winter seasons, when he 
 attended district school. In the summer of 1870, 
 when 19 years old, he suddenly formed a resolution, 
 while engaged in farm labor, that he would not be an 
 agriculturist through life, and he then and there laid 
 down the implement he was using and went to Syca- 
 more, where he formed a partnership with F. B. Col- 
 ton in the sale of musical instruments. In the spring 
 of 1872 he went to Madison, Wis., and there pursued 
 a course of study preparatory to a business career, 
 attending the Northwestern Commercial College. In 
 the spring of 1873 he went to Quincy, 111., and en- 
 tered upon the duties of a teacher of plain and orna- 
 mental penmanship, book-keeping and business cor- 
 respondent in the " Gem City Business College." He 
 resigned the position July 15, 1876, to enter upon the 
 responsibilities of Principal of the " Theoretical Bus- 
 iness and Penmanship Departments of Jacksonville 
 Business College,"at Jacksonville, 111., which he held 
 until July 25, 1883. At that date he resigned to 
 assume the position he now occupies. 
 
 He was united in marriage, June 6, 1876, to Nellie 
 L., daughter of Dr. Charles W. and Lucia C. Bab- 
 cock. They have five children, James A., Jessie 
 M., Arthur C., Charles J. and Edward G. Mrs. 
 Woodworth is the niece of Mrs. James S. Waterman. 
 
 ansing De Forest, retired farmer, residing 
 in De Kalb village, was born in Southville > 
 Herkimer Co., N. Y., May 10, 1832. His 
 parents, John and Elizabeth (Pooler) De For- 
 est, were al#o natives of the Empire State. He 
 remained with them until 12 years of age, and 
 until 17 years old he worked out during the summer 
 seasons, attending school during the winters ; thence- 
 forward he devoted his whole time to manual labor. 
 Feb. 5, 1852, he married Lurena L. Kingsbury, 
 who was born in the town of Turin, Lewis Co., N. Y., 
 the daughter of Flavel C. and Tryphena (Holmes) 
 Kingsbury, both the latter being natives of Connect- 
 icut, and settling in the State of New York after mar- 
 riage. At the time of his marriage, Mr. De Forest 
 located in German Flats, N. Y., where he rented 
 saw-mill for one year, and then a farm until the 
 spring of 1856, when he moved to Rome, N. Y. In
 
 .... 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 the spring of 1857 he came to this county, locating 
 near Cortland, where he followed farming a year, and 
 the next spring he purchased 80 acres of land on sec- 
 tion 24, Afton Township, where there were only a 
 small frame house and a small stable. Six years 
 afierward he sold that place and bought 160 acres, 
 on the same section, where there were a small frame 
 house and a straw stable. This place he still owns, 
 having improved it in every way, erecting a good 
 frame house, a frame barn, corn-crib, etc., and plant- 
 ing shade and ornamental trees. Having bought 
 other land adjoining, he now has a total of 310 acres 
 all improved and fenced. In April, 1884, he leased 
 his farm and moved to De Kalb city, where he now 
 lives, on Third Street, North, in a residence he had 
 previously purchased. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. De Forest have had seven children, 
 namely : Mary Ella, wife of Ellis Ingham and living 
 in Afton Township; Albert Eugene ; Lizzie A., wife 
 of J. Charles Smith, and also living in Afton Town- 
 ship; Smith; Inverna B., who died at the age of nine 
 years and four months ; Sarah Phenie, wife of Ernest 
 Chambers, and resides in Afton Township ; Carrie 
 Melvina, the wife of Grant E. Mosher, and resides in 
 Afton Township ; and Lettie E. 
 
 ; eter H. Lawyer, retired farmer, resident at 
 Sycamore, was born Jan. 12, 1824, in the 
 town of Wright, Schoharie Co., N. Y. His 
 parents, David S. and Maria (Snyder) Lawyer, 
 were natives of the State of New York. His 
 grandparents on both sides were Germans, and were 
 among the early settlers of Schoharie County. David 
 L. Lawyer removed with his family to De Kalb 
 County in 1853 and settled in the township of Cort- 
 land, on section 8, where he died April 2, 1879. His 
 first wife died about .1840, and he was married a 
 second time, to Maria Settle, and she resides on the 
 homestead. 
 
 The son was reared on the homestead faim, and 
 was educated in the public schools. He was mar- 
 ried Dec. 23, 1853,10 Eva Schoolcraft, a native.of 
 Schohaire County. After his marriage, Mr. Lawyer 
 lived on the farm where he was born and brought up 
 until 1857, when he came to De Kalb County and 
 bought an improved farm in Cortland Township, 
 
 located on section 17. The farm had a small house 
 on it, which Mr. Lawyer rebuilt, and he also added 
 other farm buildings. In 1875 he rented the place 
 and moved to Sycamore where he already owned a 
 residence. Mr. and Mrs. L. have one son, Jay, who 
 is traveling for his health in California. Mrs. Law- 
 yer was born May 5, 1827, and is the daughter of 
 Adam and Catharine Schoolcraft. They were natives 
 of York State, where the mother died, when the 
 daughter was eight years old ; and the father came 
 to Illinois when she was 18 years old and died in 
 Belvidere, Boone'Co., 111., in t86i. 
 
 : enry A. Severy, farmer and stock-breeder, 
 resident in Somonauk Township, is the 
 owner of 200 acres of land on sections 16 
 ^ and 21. He was born Oct. 7, 1851, in Lawrence, 
 
 I Mass. Dexter Severy, his father, is a native of 
 Maine, and is engaged in raising stock, associ- 
 ated with his two sons, Henry and Charles A. Their 
 father resides in Leland, La Salle Co., 111., and the 
 second son is prosecuting his branch of the business 
 in Victor Township, De Kalb County. Their aggre- 
 gated herds include more than 200 head of fine 
 blooded stock, of which 125 head are thoroughbreds. 
 Mr. Severy 's individual herd includes usually about 
 25 cows. He has several registered animals, among 
 them Princess Anna, No. 685, Julia A., No. 798, 
 Princess of Brabant the Fourth, No. 1,027, and Hilke, 
 No. 3,460. The head of the herds of Messrs. Severy 
 is Lawrence Marion, No. 2,050, from Lawrence, 
 Mass., and he is a lineal descendant from the Lord 
 Clifton and Aaggie family. (On the farm of C. A. 
 Severy are kept Lord Clifton, Sir Newton of Aaggie, 
 No. 1,858, and several others registered and num- 
 bered.) Thirty-five fine thoroughbred animals were 
 added to the herds during 1884. The Messrs. 
 Severy are practically pioneers in raising fine stock 
 west of Ohio, having been in the business 12 years. 
 They are members of the Holstein Breeders' Asso- 
 ciation, have bought a number of thoroughbreds from 
 the East, and have imported stock. They rank 
 among the most reliable dealers in the West and 
 have issued a catalogue annually for n years. C. A. 
 Severy raises trotting horses from the well-known 
 stock Basha and Hauibletonian. Mr. Severy of th 
 
 v 
 
 :.
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 ) 
 
 sketch is President of the Mutual Fire Insurance 
 Company. 
 
 He was married March 23, 1875, to Julia A., 
 daughter of Hon. Hiram and Amanda Loucks, of 
 Sandwich. (See sketch of H. Loucks.) She was 
 born Dec. 5, 1851, in Oneida Co., N. Y. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Severy have one son Frank D., born April 13, 
 1878. 
 
 The family of Mr. Severy came to De Kalb County 
 in 1854. The elder Severy was born March 4, 1820, 
 and his wife in November, 1821. They have but 
 two children, and the family circle intact. Mr. 
 Severy took possession ot his present farm April i, 
 '875- 
 
 ^ 
 
 ! 
 
 eorge W. Weeden, deceased, a former res- 
 ident of Sycamore, was born Dec. 23, 1807, 
 in Hartland, Windsor Co, Vt., and was 
 the son of Samuel and Mrs. M. Weeden. He 
 learned the trade of a brick and stone mason, 
 at which he worked in his native State until 
 1843. In that year he came to Illinois to find a 
 broader field for a life of activity than that afforded in 
 the narrow valleys of the Green Mountain State. He 
 crossed the Green Mountains and reach Whitehall, 
 at the foot of Lake Champlain, went to Albany by 
 the Champlaii'i Canal, thence by the Erie Canal to 
 Buffalo, whence he came to Chicago by the lake 
 route. At that city he hired a ; ' prairie schooner " 
 to bring him to De Kalb County. The land was in 
 market that year and he entered a claim of 80 acres 
 on section 31, Sycamore Township, and bought 130 
 acres adjoining. He built a log house, in which his 
 household found shelter seven years; after this 
 period they occupied a brick house which Mr. 
 Weeden built on his farm The place was sold in 
 1855 and a removal to Sycamore effected, where Mr. 
 Weeden bought town property and worked at his 
 trade. 
 
 His marriage to Sarah Pearsons occurred Jan. 29, 
 1834. She was born Jan. 7, 1812, in Reading, Wind- 
 sor Co., Vt., and is the daughter of William and 
 Azubah (Brockvvay) Pearsons. Her parents were 
 both bom in Vermont. Two of the six children of 
 Mr. and Mrs. Weeden are living, Alvin G. and Al- 
 bina S. The latter married S. C. Hale and is now 
 
 %&*& 
 
 living near Laddonia, Audrain Co., Mo. Mr. Weeden 
 died Aug. 16, 1870. 
 
 Alvin G. Weeden was born Nov. 16, 1834, and 
 was but nine years of age when his parents removed 
 from Hartland, Vt., his birthplace, to De Kalb 
 County. He assisted his father in improving his 
 farm and acquired a thorough knowledge of the vo- 
 cation of a stone and brick mason. He has been for 
 a number of years engaged in the business of a con- 
 tractor. He was married Aug. 10, 1857, to Louisa, 
 daughter of Enos and Celina (Reed) Whitmove. 
 They have two children, Lillie M. and Leon F. 
 
 euben Nichols, a pioneer of De Kalb 
 County, of 1837, was born May 23, 1770, 
 in DutchessCo., N. Y. His parents were 
 of Connecticut origin, and soon after their 
 marriage located in the State of New York. 
 His father bargained for a farm a few miles 
 from Poughkeepsie, and took possession. He had 
 saved sufficient money to pay for the place, but the 
 marauding English soldiery in the Revolutionary 
 War invaded the house and carried off the money. 
 He managed by hard labor and economy to secure 
 his title, and died on his farm Nov. 22, 1802, aged 
 74 years and n months. His wife died May 21, 
 1820, at the age of 88 years and n months. 
 
 Reuben Nichols grew to mature life in Dutchess 
 County, and learned the trade of harness, and boot 
 and shoe maker. He was married to Mercy Caverly, 
 a native of Ulster Co., N. Y. After marriage they ' 
 located for a short time near Newburg, where Mr. 
 Nichols worked at his trade and managed a tannery 
 several years, after which he went to Ontario, Can- 
 ada. The location caused him to fall into ill health, 
 and he returned to Ulster Co., N. Y. After a short 
 stay there he went to Sullivan County, in the same 
 State, and bought a farm, which he cultivated until 
 1837. In 1835 a son John Nichols came to De 
 Kalb County and settled on a claim on section 13, 
 of township 41, range 4 east, now Mayfield Town- 
 ship. 
 
 The senior Nichols sold his farm in 1837, with the 
 intention of establishing a home in De Kalb County, 
 and he started in company with his wife, four chil- 
 dren and two sons-in-law. They made the journey 
 i ^^^ "&i@.
 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 overland, driving through, and were on the road six 
 weeks. They first stopped in Mayfield Township, at 
 the home of their son. Mr. Nichols bought the 
 claim, and when the Government survey was made 
 and the land put upon the market, he went to Chi- 
 cago and secured the claim. He raised his first 
 crop of grain in 1838. He died May 5, 1844, and 
 his wife survived him several years, dying Sept. 6, 
 185 i. Their children were named Benjamin, Esther, 
 Amy, Peter, Ephraim, Abigail, Phebe, John, Ira, 
 Amos and Latin. 
 
 Latin Nichols, a resident of Sycamore, was born 
 Dec. 4, 1820, in the township of Neversink, in Sulli- 
 van Co., N. Y., and was 17 years of age when he 
 came with his parents to De Kalb County, and he 
 lived at home .until the death of his father. After 
 spending a few seasons as a farm laborer, he bought 
 80 acres of land on section 10, Mayfield Township. 
 He built a small frame house on the place, and 
 broke and plowed a part of the land the same year 
 he became its owner. 
 
 He was married July 3, 1847, to Armena, 
 daughter of Abner and Mary (Kendall) Jackman, 
 who weue pioneers of the township of Sycamore. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Nichols settled on the farm he had 
 prepared for his residence, and which they occupied 
 until 1882, when it was sold, and the family removed 
 to Sycamore. Three children were born of their 
 union: Mary E. married William B. Dunmore, and 
 resides at Sycamore. Martha L. was born Oct. 30, 
 1855, and died Jan. 4, 1861 ; Clara E. married 
 William Ault and lives in Mayfield Township. 
 
 left home, and had received a limited education. 
 After coming to Victor Township he became a farm 
 laborer and continued in that capacity three years. 
 He subsequently managed a farm on shares, in which 
 he was occupied three years. He then bought the 
 estate he now owns, then consisting of 80 acres, and 
 | he has also added thereto 80 acres more. Mr. Cox 
 is a Republican, and has held several offices in the 
 township in which he is a citizen. He has reaped 
 the reward of faithfulness and merit in all his busi- 
 ness relations. 
 
 He was married Jan. i, 1867, to Alice Arnold, a 
 native of England. Four children were added to 
 their household, Jonathan, Alice, Betsey and Cyn- 
 thia. 
 
 Joseph Cox, farmer, section 25, Victor 
 Township, was born April 22, 1840, in 
 
 f"* Lincolnshire, England. His parents, Joseph 
 and Jane (Wilson) Cox, were also born in Eng- 
 land and emigrated thence in 1863 to the 
 United States. They first found a home .in 
 the State of New York, where they maintained a resi- 
 dence three years. In 1866 they came to Illinois, 
 where the father died in 1872. The mother is still 
 living. 
 
 Mr. Cox left his native land for America three 
 years before his father and mother came hither. On 
 landing at the Port of New York he came at once to 
 Victor Township. He was 20 years of age when he 
 
 
 
 enry M. Thorp, farmer, section 17, Somo- 
 nauk Township, was born Sept. 25, 1836, in 
 Otsego Co., N. Y., and is the son of Leon- 
 ard and Eliza (Miller) Thorp. His father was 
 born April 4, 1802; his mother, Nov. 20, 1805, 
 and were both natives of the State of New York. 
 They had ten children, seven of whom are still liv- 
 ing. The family came to Illinois at a period when 
 Chicago was in its infancy, there being but n houses 
 in the now monster metropolis when they passed 
 through it on their way to " Big Woods," near Aurora. 
 The senior Thorp kept what was then known as a 
 stage house at Bristol for a period of two years, after- 
 wards removing to Piano, Kendall County, where 
 the parents are now living, probably the oldest 
 couple of the pioneer settlers now living there. 
 
 Mr. Thorp was married in January, 1856, at 
 Piano, to Belinda Loomis. Mrs. Thorp was born 
 May 22, 1839, in Lewis Co. N. Y., and is the daugh- 
 ter of Emery and Nancy (Lane) Loomis. Of their 
 marriage three children have been born : "Emery 
 (Jan. 30, 1859) is a farmer in Lee Co., 111. ; Leonard, 
 born Feb. 3, 1861, resides on the family homestead; 
 and Lyman was born Oct. 7, 1867. 
 
 Mr. Thorp came to Somonauk Township in the 
 spring of 1860. He rented the farm of which he is 
 now the proprietor, then comprising 320 acres, and 
 continued its management 13 years, when he pur- 
 chased the property. He has made additional pur- 
 
 s*y -teSK,
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 a 
 
 i 
 
 chases, and the farm now includes 453 acres. He is 
 the owner of 163 acres in Lee Co., 111., and 43^ \ 
 acres in Iowa. In connection with his agricultural I 
 operations, Mr. Thorp has been largely interested in 
 the business of threshing and corn-shelling. In the 
 course of his transactions in these avenues he has | 
 worn out 12 threshing-machines and several shellers. 
 During one season he shelled 80,000 bushels of 
 corn, and has averaged a daily amount of 2,460 
 bushels. He keeps from 20 to 35 head of horses 
 and mules. He is the owner of a Clydesdale and 
 Norman registered stallion and an English draft 
 horse, and is interested in breeding fine animals for 
 market. 
 
 ustave Walter, manufacturer of carriages, 
 road carts, cutters, sleighs, etc., at Sand- 
 wich, is the son of Christian and Sarah 
 Walter, and was born Oct. 3, 1849, in Alsace, 
 France. He began his apprenticeship to learn 
 his trade when 14 years of age and served 
 three years. In 1868 he came to America and lo- 
 cated at Ottawa, 111. After working there one year, 
 he came to Chicago, where he remained two years. 
 He proceeded thence to Peoria, 111., whence he went 
 nearly a year later to Woodstock. At that place he 
 opened his business, which he prosecuted two years, 
 going next to Serena. Two years later he made an- 
 other transfer, to Piano, where he continued one year. 
 In 1876 he located his business at Sandwich, buying 
 his present location. He has three buildings one 
 36x48 feet, built of brick, constituting a general 
 blacksmithing department; another is 24x48 feet, 
 and is used as a repository; a third, 24x30, is the 
 wood department. His business transactions amount 
 annually to $25,000, and includes all varieties of 
 popular vehicles. The usual working force includes 
 about 10 men. Mr. Walter is a member of the Ma- 
 sonic fraternity, Blue Lodge and Chapter of Sand- 
 wich and Aurora Commandery. 
 
 He was married at Woodstock, 111., July 20, 1872, 
 to Sophia, daughter of Christian Retterer. She was 
 born April 10, 1851, in Alsace, France. Charles A., 
 
 born Feb. 26, 1876, Laura A., Aug. i, 1877, and 
 Mabel E., March 17, 1882, are the children of Mr. 
 and Mrs. Walter. 
 
 irles D. Jackman, deceased, was born 
 July 7, 1837, in Sycamore. His parents, 
 Abner and Mary (Kendall) Jackman, were 
 among the pioneer settlers of De Kalb County, 
 and were born in the State of Vermont. 
 
 Mr. Jackman was born and bred on his 
 father's farm, and attended the district school. He 
 was married Nov. 10, 1857, to Eunice Halladay. She 
 was born in the to\Vn of Horicon, Warren Co., N. Y., 
 and is the daughter of Harvey and Betsey (Hollon) 
 Halladay, who were natives of Vermont, and were 
 among the earliest of the permanent settlers of Syca- 
 more. Mr. and Mrs. Jackman located on the Jackson 
 farm, on section 5 in that township. The husband 
 became a soldier in the Union army, and enlisted in 
 August, 1862, in Co. C, 1051)1 Regt. 111. Vol. Inf. 
 He participated in all the closing campaigns of the 
 war in which the Army of the West was involved, 
 marched with Sherman to the sea and through the 
 Carolinas to Washington, where he was a part of I he 
 Grand Review. He was mustered out of service at 
 Chicago, and resumed farming on the homestead in 
 Sycamore Township, where he died, Jan. 18, 1879, 
 leaving four children : Merton resides in McHenry 
 Co., 111.; Adelbert, Abner and Mary live with their 
 mother on the homestead, on section 5 . 
 
 fames B. Glidden, teacher and farmer, re- 
 siding in De Kalb, was born in Clarendon, 
 Orleans Co., N. Y., May 10, 1819. His 
 father, Jacob Glidden, was a native of the town 
 of Unity, Sullivan Co., N. H., where the " Glid- 
 den farm " has remained in possession of the 
 family for more than 200 years. He settled in Or- 
 leans Co., N. Y., soon after the War of 1812, emi- 
 grating from his native State in the winter, with two 
 yoke of oxen and sleds. He was a very early settler 
 in that portion of the Empire State, bought a tract of
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 - 
 
 ' 
 
 s 
 
 timber land, cleared a farm and spent the remain- 
 der of his days there. His wife, nee Sarah Smith, 
 was also a native of the town of Unity, Sullivan Co., 
 N. H. They had 13 children, of whom Jan.es B. was 
 the youngest, except one brother. Both were born 
 in Orleans County. 
 
 Mr. Glidden was brought up on the farm and at- 
 tended the district school. In April, 1841, he mar- 
 ried Miss Juliet Beard, a native of the town of Lyons, 
 Yates Co., N. Y. He Ixnight a farm of 58 acres, 
 which three years afterward he sold, and he rented 
 a farm until 1852, when he purchased another in Van 
 Buren Co., Mich. In the whiter of 1852-3 he was 
 employed as foreman in the construction of the Chi- 
 cago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad, and with that ex- 
 ception, and teaching school during the winter 
 seasons, he has always been engaged in agricultural 
 pursuits. He commenced teaching school at the age 
 of 18, in the State of New York, and has taught for 
 20 winters. In 1860 he sold his farm in Michigan 
 and came to De Kalb County, this State, buying a 
 farm on section 10, in Afton Township. Here, at 
 that time, there were but a few acres broken, and he 
 proceeded to place the farm in a fine and presentable 
 condition, by fencing, breaking, setting out fine shade 
 and ornamental trees, erecting buildings, etc ; but he 
 sold it in 1878, in order to take charge of farms in 
 the county belonging to his cousin, J. F. Glidden. 
 He occupied his farm residence until 1884, when he 
 moved into the village of De Kalb. 
 
 The four children of Mr. Glidden are Orson E., 
 Varnum A., Frances and Chase E. 
 
 ohn Brechbiel, farmer, section 35, Victor 
 !? Township, is a native of Germany, where 
 he was born Oct. 28, 1848. His father, 
 John Brechbiel, was also born there, and mar- 
 ried Mary Hanse. The former removed with 
 his family from the Old World to the New in 
 1859, and landed in the city of New York, coming 
 thence to Somonauk, DeKalb County, where the 
 father bought 80 acres of land on section 35. After 
 a residence thereon of five years he died, in 1865. 
 The family included two children, but Mr. Brech- 
 biel, of this sketch, is the only one living, to whom 
 the homestead was willed, and he has been since its 
 
 manager and the custodian of his mother. He has 
 since purchased 46 acres joining his homestead, 
 besides two tracts of 40 acres each, situated respect- 
 ively on sections 26 and 27. Mr. Brechbiel is a 
 Democrat in political faith. 
 
 He was married March 9, 1869, to Mary A. Lutts- 
 mann, and they have six children Ann, Louise, 
 Emma, George E., Mary M. and Ida. Mr. Brech- 
 biel and his wife are members of St. John's Lutheran 
 Church, at Somonauk. 
 
 I i 
 
 oseph Allen, deceased, was a pioneer of 
 De Kalb County, and for some years a 
 resident of Sycamore Township, where he 
 located in 1846. He was born Sept. 26, 1790, 
 in Kingsbury, Washington Co., N. Y. In his 
 early manhood he was a miller by vocation. 
 He was married Dec. 23, 1810, to Sally Allen, who 
 was born Sept. 14, 1793, at Thurman, Washington 
 Co., N. Y., and they had 14 children, 12 of whom 
 grew to adult age, and seven are still living. Annie 
 is the wife of C. B. Vaughn, of Montgomery, Kane 
 Co., 111. ; Abisha is the widow of Eldad Calkins 
 and lives near Aurora, 111. ; Charles lives in O'Brien 
 Co., Iowa ; William is a resident of Kane Co., 111-. ; 
 Joseph is a farmer of Decatur Co., Kan. ; Angelina 
 and Benjamin were born next in order ; Henry is the 
 youngest living, and resides in Gentry Co., Mo. 
 
 At the time of their marriage they settled at Fort 
 Ann. Mr. Allen was a " minute man " during the 
 War of 1812, and with his company made a forced 
 march to Plattsburg, where they arrived just in time 
 to witness the retreat of the British soldiers. Mr. 
 Allen pursued his trade at different parts of his 
 native county until 1845, when impaired health 
 furnished an imperative reason for a change of loca- 
 tion, and he set out to seek a home in the West. He 
 came to Kane County, where his family joined him, 
 and in the following year he came to De Kalb 
 County and settled on land owned by his daughter 
 in Sycamore Township. His death occurred there 
 Nov. 27, 1853. Mrs. Allen died Aug. 28, 1873. 
 
 Benjamin Allen was born April 20, 1829, and was 
 16 years of age when he came with his mother and 
 the other children of his father's family to Kane 
 County. He remained under the parental authority 

 
 OF THE 
 
 (fflnvEnsirr OF HJJNOB
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 until the years of his minority were passed, and 
 afterward found employment in the vicinity. He 
 had bought 40 acres of land on section 25, Syca- 
 more Township, and he devoted his earnings to pay- 
 ing for his land, on which he settled after marriage, 
 and where he had built a house. He afterward pur- 
 chased 20 acres adjoining and improved ihe entire 
 property. He was its occupant until 1865, when he 
 sold and bought a farm on section i.Cortland Town- 
 ship, which is in good agricultural condition. Mr. 
 Allen is a Republican. While a resident of Syca- 
 more he was a member of the School Board, and has 
 also been Road Commissioner. 
 
 His marriage to Abigail Lhommedieo took place 
 Oct. 10, 1852. She was born at Smithville, Che- 
 nango Co., N. Y. Mr. and Mrs. Allen have an 
 adopted child Benjamin Arthur 
 
 snry Miller, a farmer of Victor Township, 
 who is a landholder on section 32, was born 
 April 30, 1837, in Germany. His parents, 
 Christian and Louise (Gobel) Miller, were na- 
 tives of Walden, Germany. His mother died 
 there. Mr. Miller was thrown upon his own 
 exertions fora livelihood when he was 12 years of 
 age. He had received a common-school education, 
 and after the age named he became a farm laborer, 
 in which capacity he was employed until he was 22 
 years of age. In 1845 he left his native soil to win 
 for himself an opportunity that a republic offered for 
 the better development of his manhood's ambitions; 
 and, after landing at New York, he pressed on to 
 Illinois, making his first stop at Aurora, where he 
 found employment four years, going thence to Piano. 
 He was married there Nov. 24, 1859, to Elizabeth 
 Buckardt, who also is a native of Germany. Seven 
 children have been born of their union : William 
 H., Henry W., Mary L., Fritz J., Christian J., Charles 
 F. and George S. The oldest son and the only 
 daughter are married. 
 
 Mr. Miller made his first purchase of land in Vic- 
 tor Township, in 1859, when he bought 160 acres of 
 land, on which he has made all the improvements. 
 He has also bought 80 acres on section 28, and is 
 engaged in general farming. He and his wife belong 
 
 to the Lutheran Church at Leland. Christian Mil- ^", 
 ler, the father, came to America in 1850. 
 
 ', 
 
 rlando M. Bryan, M. D., of Sycamore, is 
 one of the pioneer physicians and surgeons 
 cv^r of the portion of De Kalb County of which 
 Qc^ he has been for 40 years a citizen. He is a 
 self-made man in the best sense of the term, 
 possessing the qualities of industry and judg- 
 ment requisite for the exertion of his natural traits 
 of character, and the exercise of the discrimination 
 and good sense which, under the privileges of the 
 times, places a man securely on the plane for which 
 he is fitted, both by nature and training. 
 
 Dr. Bryan was born July 6, 1823, in Fairfield, Her- 
 kimer Co., N. Y., and is the son of Dr. M. L. and 
 Phebe (Whiteside) Bryan. He inherited from his 
 father his predilection for his profession, and obtained 
 an elementary training from association and observa- 
 tion that was especially valuable, although its impor- 
 tance as a molding influence was neither recognized 
 nor understood at the time. He received an excel- 
 lent fundamental education at Fairfield Academy, 
 an institution of acknowledged reputation, and at 17 
 years of age he began the regular course of reading 
 for his profession with Dr. G. Sweet, of Fairfield, one 
 of the first preceptors of the place and period. He 
 attended lectures at Geneva, N. Y.. and also at the 
 University of New York City, where he was gradu- 
 ated and received his degree in 1844. He began his 
 professional career with Dr. Sweet, at Fairfield, and 
 had the benefit of the association and the office rela- 
 tions of his preceptor until 1846, when he came to 
 De Kalb County. He was only 23 years of age when 
 he sought to test the promise of the West, and he 
 brought to his work therein the fresh hopes of his 
 young and ardent manhood. 
 
 Sycamore was but the germ of a village when 
 Dr. Bryan identified himself with its people and inter- 
 ests, and he grew up and developed with it. He gave 
 his undivided attention to his local medical duties 
 until 1861, a period of 15 years, and won a substan- 
 tial reputation. In the first year of the war he was 
 appointed by Governor Yates to a position on the 
 State Board of Medical Examiners to determine re-
 
 garding the qualifications of army surgeons, and was 
 made Secretary of that body. While engaged in the 
 discharge of the duties of the position he was sum- 
 moned by Secretary Cameron to report at Washington 
 for examination for the position of Brigade Surgeon. 
 He was found to be qualified, and was commissioned 
 by President Lincoln as Brigade Surgeon, with the 
 rank of Major. Pending the preliminaries, after pass- 
 ing the ordeal of examination, he returned to Spring- 
 field and served in his former position until he 
 received his commission and orders to report to Gen. 
 Fremont in the State of Missouri., under whom he 
 remained until his commanding officer was super- 
 seded by General Hunter. He was made a member 
 of the staff of the latter, and was attached to the 
 command through the actions at Island No. 10 and 
 New Madrid. He was in charge of the general hos- 
 pital of the Army of the Mississippi, at Farmington, 
 near Corinth, whither he went with General Pope's 
 command the day following the battle of Shiloh. He 
 was already suffering the effects of over-exertion and 
 a relaxing climate, and while at Corinth he made ap- 
 plication to the Surgeon-General at Washington to 
 be transferred to New Mexico for the benefit of his 
 health. He soon received orders to report at 
 Santa Fe to Surgeon Bailey of thj Regular Army, and 
 relieve him from duty as Medical Director and Pur- 
 veyor of the Department of New Mexico. He occu- 
 pied this position nearly three years, until mustered 
 out of service. Dr. Bryan was in the service through- 
 out the entire Rebellion, and remained in New Mex- 
 ico until the border disturbances were under control. 
 He obtained his discharge in 1866, and was mustered 
 out of the service of the United States at Santa Fe, 
 N. M., while he had the rank of Colonel, by brevet. 
 During his connection with the army at that point 
 he made extensive tours through Mexico, New Mex- 
 ico and Colorado, and secured great benefit to his 
 health. He resumed his practice at Sycamore, and 
 prosecuted his business vigorously until 1873, when 
 failing health again compelled him to seek another 
 climate, and he has since passed several winters in 
 Colorado. 
 
 He was married July 23, 1849, to Jane Leslie 
 Voorhees. She was born Sept. 10, 1824, in Lysander, 
 OnondagaCo., N. Y., and is the daughter of James L. 
 and Martha (Northrup) Voorhees. Her parents were 
 natives respectively of New York and Connecticut. 
 Following is the record of the children of Dr. and 
 
 **^ e^Hngnns 
 
 Mrs. Bryan : Urania V., born June 9, 1850, became 
 the wife of Edward Crist, of Sycamore, and died 
 June 14, 1883; Florence was born Sept. 24, 1851, 
 and died Dec. 26, 1853; Martha, born Sept. 6, 1854, 
 died April 23, 1861; Martin L., born July 9, 1858, 
 died June 26, 1879; James L., born May 25, 1862, 
 died June 24, 1883 ; Jane Leslie, fourth child in or- 
 der of birth, is the only survivor. She was born 
 Feb. 24, 1857, and married Ellhom Rogers, of Syca- 
 more, May 6, 1880. 
 
 The name and career of Dr. Bryan are inseparably 
 connected with the history of Sycamore. In its early 
 days he was a part of its pioneer households, his pro- 
 fessional duties bringing him to an identity of inter- 
 ests with the entire community. He exerted his skill 
 in behalf of those who suffered from the illness inci- 
 dent to a developing section, and in his professional 
 capacity came to have a personal relation to the 
 affairs of those with whom his lot was cast. With 
 many he began his association at the opening of their 
 lives, and went with them until they were gathered 
 into final rest. His face was as familiar as those of the 
 household to which they belonged, and was regard- 
 ed as one of their greatest benefactors. The resident 
 pioneer physician of a community is by far the most 
 important personage in it, and his mission is one 
 that bears with it its own weight of importance. 
 While the personal records collated in this volume 
 have each its own value to the work, that of Dr. 
 Bryan is presented with a peculiar satisfaction, from 
 the fact that while it reflects great credit on the an- 
 nals of De Kalb County, its subject holds a relation 
 to the people of Sycamore of paramount importance. 
 
 A portrait of Dr. Bryan appears on a preceding 
 page. 
 
 ndrew Graham, farmer, section 
 Township, was born Dec. 9, 1844, in 
 Franklin Co., Ohio. His parenis, Robert 
 and Sarah (Williamson) Graham, were natives 
 of New York and removed thence to Illinois 
 in 1850, when their son was six years old. As 
 he advanced in age he received a good education, 
 and at the time he attained his legal freedom he be- 
 gan farming on his own responsibility. He took a 
 farm to work on shares, and made a success of the
 
 
 - .. :- 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 - 
 
 venture, in which he was occupied two years. Sub- 
 sequently he devoted the avails of his labors to the 
 payment of his expenses at Monmouth, where he 
 was engaged in study three years and obtained a 
 superior education. He spent eight months in 
 teaching, after which he took farms on shares and 
 operated in that method five years. He then pur- 
 chased 200 acres of land, where he has since been 
 occupied in general farming. 
 
 Mr. Graham is a Republican in political principles 
 j and takes the interest of a. man of understanding 
 who knows the responsibilities of citizenship. He 
 has officiated in the local offices of his township. 
 
 His marriage to Mary McEachron took place Dec. 
 26, 1872, and they have four children, Walter, 
 Bertha J., Sarah W. and Thomas H. Mrs. Graham 
 is a native of the Empire State. 
 
 dmond B. Harned, farmer, section 17, 
 Sycamore Township, was born July 13, 
 1829, in Smithtown, Suffolk Co., N. Y.,and 
 is the son of Hosea Harned. His great grand- 
 father, Jacob Harned, was a native of Perth 
 Amboy, N. J., and located on a tract of 1,100 
 acres of land on Long Island, which came into his 
 possession about the date of the war of the Revolu- 
 tion. He belonged to the sect of Friends, or Quakers ; 
 and, although the principles of the society would not 
 permit him to go to war, he aided in the construction 
 of barracks for the soldiery, as that variety of 'assis- 
 tance fell under a possible higher law of rendering 
 help to the needy. He died on Long Island, about 
 1824. Hosea Harned, his son, was born Jan. 2, 
 
 1798, in Smithtown; Suffolk Co., L. I., and was there 
 brought up, under the care and instructions of his 
 father, who gave him a through training in agricultural 
 arts. He was married Sept. 27, 1818, to Rosetta 
 Brown. She was born in Smithtown, Sept. 24, 
 
 1799, and died Sept. 27, 1833, leaving four children, 
 two of whom still survive, Edmond B. and Amelia. 
 Mr. Harned was married a second time Nov. 5, 1833, 
 to Mrs. Fanny (Hoag) Babcock, widow of the Rev. 
 James Babcock, a Methodist clergyman. 
 
 Mr. Harned went from Long Island to Ohio in 
 1832, leaving his home by way of Sandy Hook, pro- 
 ceeding up the Hudson River until he reached the 
 
 ^3^ ^ 
 
 Erie Canal, by which he went to Buffalo, and went 
 from there by lake to Painesville, Lake Co., Ohio. 
 He located in Leroy in that county, which was then 
 included in the county of Geauga and lived on a 
 farm there four or five years, which he sold. He 
 then removed to another, which he bought, near 
 Madison in Lake County. After a few years he 
 bought a third farm, near Monticello, in Geauga 
 County, which he sold four years later and removed 
 to Streetsboro, Portage County, where he bought a 
 fourth farm. He decided on coming farther West, 
 and in 185 i disposed of his estate in Ohio and set 
 out for De Kalb County, whither he came with two 
 two-horse teams and wagons^. During the fi/st year 
 after his arrival he rented a farm, meanwhile pros- 
 pecting for a desirable location. In the spring of 
 1852 he bought a farm on section 8, Sycamore 
 Township, one of the earliest settled in the township 
 or county, and which he purchased from the widow 
 of one of the leading pioneers of Sycamore, Lysander 
 Darling. The farm remained in his possession until 
 1865, when he again sold out and removed to the 
 village of Cortland. After a residence there of four 
 years, he went to Grundy Co., Iowa, to live with his 
 daughter at Fayette, where he died May 6, 1877. Of 
 his. second marriage five children were born, four of 
 whom are now living Lyman, Mary (Mrs. Enoch 
 Wheeler, of Fayette, Iowa), Angeline, widow of 
 David Underwood, of Marshalltown, Iowa, and Wal- 
 ter, resident at Steamboat Rock, Franklin Co., Iowa. 
 
 The youngest son enlisted in 1864, in the I47th 
 Reg., 111. Vol., and died while in the service at Dal- 
 ton, Ga. The eldest daughter by the first marriage 
 is the wife of Fitz Henry Talcott, and lives at Wal- 
 dena, Fayette Co., Iowa. 
 
 Edmond B. Harned accompanied his parents from 
 Long Island to Ohio and thence-to Illinois. He was 
 in early manhood when they located in De Kalb 
 County. In the fall of 1853 he went to his native 
 State and passed a year there. He was married 
 Oct. 21,' 1855, at Sycamore, to Susan H., daughter 
 of James M. and Prudence (Eaton) Sivwright. She 
 was born Jan. 6, 1833, in Nova Scotia. After his 
 marriage, Mr. Harned rented the property known as 
 the Tower farm, and a year later (in 1856) bought a 
 farm on section 16, on which about four acres had 
 been broken. He built a house and stable, broke and 
 fenced the land, and there conducted his agricultural 
 projects until 1865, when he sold it and bought his
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 father's farm on section 7, where he is still living. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Harned have five children living. 
 Rosetta married Charles C. Pond,- Merton R. is a 
 graduate from the Dental College at Philadelphia, 
 A and is engaged in the practice of his profession at 
 ^ Oregon, Ogle Co., 111. Armanella P., James E. and 
 Susan A. are the names of the youngest living 
 children. Eugene, the eldest, was born June 29, 
 1856. He was completing a business education at 
 the Gem City Business College, when he died, April 
 19, 1876. 
 
 L. Barber, one of the pioneers of the 
 county and now a resident at De Kalb, 
 was born fn the town of Pike, then in Al!e- 
 gany, now in Wyoming, Co., N. Y., June 29, 
 1812. His parents, Levi C. and Sally (Rood) 
 Barber, natives of Vermont, settled in the 
 township in 1811, as pioneers. He (the senior Bar- 
 ber) bought land of the Holland Purchase Company 
 four miles east of Pike Hollow, in the wilderness) 
 having to follow a line indicated by marked trees in 
 order to find his place. Here he immediately erected 
 a log house (in which Clark L. was born), cleared a 
 farm and made considerable advancement toward the 
 establishment of a comfortable home ; but in Feb- 
 ruary, 1835, he started with a pair of horses and a 
 sleigh for the Prairie State. Arriving in this county, 
 he took a claim on section 15 of what is now De Kalb 
 Township. He was accompanied by his two eldest 
 sons, Lyman and Harry, who also took claims and 
 afterwards entered the land when the Government 
 had surveyed it and placed it in market. This was 
 their home until the death of the father, in 1859. 
 He was a stirring man, full of energy and enterprise. 
 He had been Sheriff of Allegany Co., N. Y , for a 
 number of years. Six of his children by his first wife 
 Lyman, Harry, Clark L., Amelia, Adelia apd Polly 
 grew up to years of maturity. The first two, who 
 settled on land adjoining that of their father, are now 
 deceased. Amelia is the wife of Luman Huntley, 
 now of |Dixon, 111. Adelia is the wife of Franklin 
 Burr and lives at Lincoln, Neb. ; her second son, Car- 
 los C., is a member of the Nebraska State Senate. 
 The elder Barber's second wife was Mrs. Hannah 
 Brownell, and by this marriage there were three 
 
 children, two of whom are now living, namely : Wan- 
 ton B., now a resident of De Kalb Township; and 
 Laura E., who married Clark Carter, of De Kalb. 
 
 Mr. Clark L. Barber, the subject of this sketch, 
 grew to manhood in his native township, being 
 brought up to farming pursuits. In 1836, accom- 
 panied by two sisters, he started to meet their father 
 in Illinois. Leaving his sisters in Chicago, he started 
 on foot for that part of Kane County now included 
 in De Kalb County, where he found his father. He 
 first made a claim on what is now called Geneva 
 Lake ; but he abandoned it and took one on sections 
 15 and 1 6, in "Orange Precinct," now in De Kalb 
 Township. Here he built a log house, a chimney 
 with sticks and mud, making the roof with " shakes " 
 split from oak timber, and the floor of puncheons. 
 From this rude beginning Mr. Barber improved the 
 place to its present fine proportions, the farm con- 
 taining several hundred acres. In 1883 he sold it, 
 and he has since traveled extensively, visiting Kansas 
 and Nebraska. In Chase County, in the latter State, 
 he purchased a farm of 400 acres. The same year, 
 1883, he also bought a large farm in Iroquois County, 
 this State. 
 
 Mr. Barber has filled offices of trust in the town and 
 county ; was Deputy Sheriff six years, under C. C. 
 Landis, and Assessor of his township several years, 
 
 He was married in May, 1839, to Mary M. Spring, 
 a native of the town of Woodhull, Steuben Co., N. Y., 
 and they have two children living, namely : Louisa, 
 who is the wife of Jacob Crawford, and lives in De 
 Kalb ; and Harriet, who is the wife of Newcomb 
 Crawford, and lives near Woodstock, McHenry 
 County. 
 
 eorge B. Trench, farmer, section 9, Somon- 
 auk Township, was born in the house in 
 which he now resides, Dec. 19, 1850. His 
 father, William French, was a carpenter and 
 came to Illinois, driving a team from Chi- 
 cago to Somonauk Township, arriving June 2, 
 1842. He took up a claim of 160 acres of mixed 
 prairie and timber land, and became a prominent 
 and successful farmer. He was born Dec. 30, i8n, 
 in Washington Co., N. Y., and was married Oct. 29, 
 1833, in his native county, to Isabella Beveridge (see
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 739 
 
 sketch of J. H. Beveridge). She was born in the 
 same county, Nov. 17, 1815, and is still living. The 
 father died July 19, 1880. Five of seven children 
 born to them yet survive : Ellen A., wife of Chester 
 Henry, of Somonauk Township ; Mary C., deceased ; 
 Sarah A., wife of Martin McCleary, a farmer of 
 Morris Co., Kan. ; John B., deceased; George B. ; 
 Andrew L., a farmer near Pawnee City, Neb. ; and 
 Jeannette, wife of Thomas McElheny, a farmer in 
 Nebraska. 
 
 Mr. French has always resided on the farm where 
 he was born 35 years ago, and he is a substantial 
 and successful agriculturist. In connection with 
 general farming he owns about a score of cows, of the 
 Short-Horn Durham breed, for dairy purposes. 
 
 His marriage to Clara M. Kirkpatrick occurred in 
 Squaw Grove Township, Dec. 31, 1879, and they 
 have two children : Mary E., born Oct. 21, 1880, 
 and William I., born Nov. 6, 1882. Mrs. French 
 was born May 4, 1853, and is the daughter of Isaac 
 and Sarah Kirkpatrick, pioneer settlers of Squaw 
 Grove Township. 
 
 Christian Von Ohlen, farmer, section 29, 
 Victor Township, was born April 27, 1830, 
 in Braunschweig, Germany. He was 
 educated according to the laws of his native 
 country, and was under the authority of his 
 parents until he was of age, and he spent ten 
 subsequent years in their support. Oct. i, 1851, he 
 was conscripted and served in the Army of Germany 
 until April, 1853, when, by request 'of the authorities, 
 he was released from military obligations to maintain 
 his parents and the other members of the family. 
 He came to America in 1854, and landed Dec. 13, 
 in the city of New York, whence he proceeded to 
 Piano, 111., where he arrived Dec. 22, nine days 
 later. His first employment was in the capacity of 
 assistant on the farm of Washington Walker, with 
 whom he engaged to remain one year, at the aggre- 
 gate wages of $150. In 1856 he was occupied in 
 the same capacity on a 4o-acre farm near Yorkville, 
 Kendall Co., 111. The subsequent year he rented a 
 farm containing 80 acres, which he conducted one 
 year. In 1858 he came to the township of Victor. 
 On the first day of April he took possession of 160 
 
 
 acres of land he had purchased the previous autumn. 
 He brought to the furtherance of his agricultural 
 projects his old country thrift, industry and persistent 
 energy, and has risen in accumulations and standing 
 to a far better position than the classes in his own 
 land who would deem it beneath their dignity to 
 have offered him a civility on his native soil under 
 the flag he was forced to defend for them. He is a 
 Republican, and rejoices that he is also a citizen of 
 a land that recognizes his claims as a man. In 1867 
 he sold 80 acres of his first claim to his brother, and 
 in 1873 he bought 80 acres on section 21, which is 
 still in his possession. 
 
 His wife, Louise Merkel before marriage, is a 
 native of Germany, and of their six children five are 
 still living, Christian W., Anna, Ernst, France and 
 Juliana. Mr. and Mrs. Van Ohlen are members of 
 the Lutheran Church. 
 
 ilas O. Vaughan, City Clerk of De Kalb, 
 was born in the town of Hanover, Grafton 
 Co., N. H., June 6, 1821. His father, 
 Silas T., was a native of Royalton, Vt., and 
 his mother, nee Polly Ingals, of Hanover, N. H 
 When the subject of this sketch was 13 years 
 of age he began to learn the blacksmith's trade, and 
 served an apprenticeship of seven years. He then 
 moved to the State of New York, locating in the town 
 of Attica in that part of Genesee County now included 
 in Wyoming County, where he was employed as 
 foreman in a shop until 1844, when he came to Illi- 
 nois and located in Naperville. There, in company 
 with others, he purchased the Naperville Plow Fac- 
 tory, the largest factory of the kind in the State at 
 that time, and was connected with the institution 14 
 years. Then, in 1858, he came to De Kalb and 
 opened an establishment for the manufacture of plows 
 and general blscksmithing, which he carried on for a 
 number of years; and since he has been here he has 
 held various local offices, among them, Village and 
 City Clerk for 20 years. He has once been elected 
 a member of the Board of Trustees, of which body 
 he has also been once chosen President. For some 
 years past he has also been engaged in the insurance 
 business, and now represents 12 solid and reliable 
 companies. He is a member of De Kalb Lodge, No. 
 
 ^m.JVfi^' M SvgK>A/>gi
 
 144, A. F. & A. M. ; he first joined the order in 1850, 
 at Naperville. For seven years he has been Master 
 of the Lodge, and for 13 years High Priest of De 
 Kalb Chapter, No. 52 ; in 1880 he was Grand High 
 Priest of the Grand Chapter of Illinois. For 18 
 years he has been a member of the Ancient Scotch 
 Rite. 
 
 Mr. Vaughan was married Sept. it, 1850, to Caro- 
 line Sabin, daughter of S. and Mary M. Sabin. She 
 was born in Alexander, Genesee Co.,N. Y. Mr. and 
 Mrs. V. have three children, Edmond E., Willie 
 and Mary Marcy. 
 
 1'acob M. Hall, an early settler, has been a 
 resident of the township of Somonauk 
 since 1838. He was born Dec. 2, 1815, in 
 
 Ontario Co., N. Y. His father, William C. 
 
 Hall, was born in Connecticut, Sept. i, 1787. 
 
 He married Dorcas Thurston, and afterwards 
 settled in Bradford Co., Pa., where he died in 1852. 
 The mother was born Feb. 16, 1794, and died May 
 26, 1852, in the same place where the demise of her 
 husband occurred. Five of their nine children are 
 living. 
 
 Mr. Hall came hither in the month of January, 
 and located on 80 acres of land, which he entered 
 and plowed when it came into market. The entire 
 acreage is now platted, and a portion of it is known 
 as Hall's Addition to Sandwich. The residence of 
 Mr. Hall is established on four lots of his original 
 purchase. In 1869 he bought 120 acres of land on 
 section 36, Somonauk Township, whither he removed 
 and resided seven years, converting it into a fine 
 farm, which he still owns. In 1876 he removed to 
 Sandwich for a permanent abode. 
 
 He was married Nov. 7, 1842,10 Lurano, daughter 
 of Major and Eunice Dennis, who were among the 
 earliest settlers of De Kalb County. The marriage 
 service was conducted in the log house which Mr. 
 Hall built on taking possession of the farm, and 
 which afterward became his legal property. Mrs. 
 Hall was born June 29, 1815, in Dartmouth, R. I. 
 Of her union with Mr. Hall five children have been 
 born : Dorcas, widow of Charles W. Humiston, 
 resides at Sandwich. She was born July 26, 1843. 
 _Alvira, born March 2, 1845, died Sept. 24, 1866. 
 
 ^Vfre-fR-- >B tf%r < ^ A(^' 
 
 I O/^^OT*^ ^ ^^ ^Pv^^^ T^x: 
 
 Sarah A. was born July 8, 1846. Myron C., a 
 farmer in Somonauk Township, was born Sept. 2, 
 1848. John W. H., born July 30, 1851, rents his 
 father's farm in Somonauk Township. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Hall are members, of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, and he is a Class-leader in the society at 
 Sandwich. 
 
 ewis Dieterich, senior member of the firm 
 of Dieterich & Ebinger, manufacturers of 
 drain tile and brick on the Somonauk road, 
 one mile west of Sandwich, is the son of George 
 and Margaret (Breidenstein) Dieterich, and was 
 born Dec. 26, 1842, in Baden, Germany. His 
 father was a brick-maker and died in Germany. The 
 son was 12 years of age when he accompanied his 
 mother and stepfather, George Ebinger, to America. 
 They had seven children besides him, of whom six 
 are now living. They came across the sea in 1854 
 and settled at a place now called Streator, La Salle 
 County. They went thence soon after to Ottawa, in 
 the same county, where Mr. Ebinger had a brick- 
 yard and where the younger members of the family 
 were employed early in life, and also secured a com- 
 prehensive knowledge of trie business. Mr. Dieterich 
 also learned the trade of shoemaker at Ottawa, and 
 in the fall of 1857 came to Sandwich, where he was 
 employed at his trade in the winter seasons, and 
 passed the summers on the farm and in the brick- 
 yard. About 1862 he was placed in charge of Em- 
 mons & McCoy's brick-yard at Sandwich, and offi- 
 ciated in that position two years. In 1864 he bought 
 the claim of Mr. McCoy, and the firm of Emmons & 
 Dieterich operated about two years, when his brother 
 George became a half owner. He carried on his 
 business in this connection two years, when he pur- 
 chased the entire property, and removed the machin- 
 ery to its present location about 1870. He bought 
 six acres where the kilns are now situated, and was 
 engaged there in the manufacture of brick. He 
 bought 124 acres adjoining, together with a nice resi- 
 dence. In 1882 he admitted his half-brother, Valen- 
 tine Ebinger, as a partner, and they are now engaged 
 in the prosecution of an extensive business, including 
 also the manufacture of tile. They have three kilns. 
 and their respective buildings are 36x96, 36x36
 
 
 
 j 
 
 ; 
 
 5> 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 and 20x60 feet in dimensions. The first, a main 
 building, is three stories high: the others are two 
 stories in height. The main structure is heated by 
 steam, and they employ on an average about 20 men. 
 Their works are in operation all the year, and their 
 products are utilized chiefly by home patrons. They 
 do about $20,000 worth of business yearly, and their 
 wares are always in demand, their surplus being 
 shipped West. 
 
 Mr. Dieterich was married in Sandwich, Jan. i, 
 1866, to Phebe Haibach, daughter of Adam and 
 Anna L. Haibach. She was born Nov. 14, 1846, and 
 came to the United States in extreme childhood, 
 when less than three years old. Their children were 
 born as follows: Amelia, Nov. 4, 1866; Adeline K., 
 Nov. 10, 1868; Ellen E., Feb. 27, 1871; Lewis 
 Franklin, Dec. 10, 1872; Martin G., April 27, 1875 
 (died Dec. 18, 1878); Herbert M., Feb. 9, 1877 (died 
 Dec. 13, 1878); Milton G., Jan. i, 1880; Alvah E., 
 March 3, 1882 ; Roy O., Aug. 22, 1884. The deaths 
 of the deceased children were but five days apart. 
 
 F. Stout, a farmer of Victor Township, 
 resident on section 15, was born Sept. 14, 
 1814, in New Jersey, and he is the son of 
 John V. and Elizabeth (Field) Stout. After 
 he was 1 8 years of age he learned the trade of 
 carpenter, previous to which he had passed 
 his time in attending school and in farm labor. He 
 operated as a carpenter one year, receiving a dollar a 
 day for his services. He came to Illinois in 1836, 
 locating in Fairview, Fulton County, where he found 
 abundant employment and worked by the day or job 
 at his trade at that place until 1852, when he came 
 to De Kalb County and purchased 40 acres of land 
 in Victor Township. He is now the owner of 200 
 acres of land, having purchased 160 acres lying ad- 
 joining the tract he first purchased. He has a fine 
 and valuable farm, whose improvements are the re- 
 sults of his own efforts, judgment and good taste. 
 The place is supplied with fruit and ornamental 
 trees, every one having been set by the hands of the 
 proprietor himself. He is also the owner of valuable 
 herds of stock of several varieties. 
 
 Mr. Stout was married Oct. 16, 1844, to Ann M. 
 Suydam, who was born in New Jersey, and is the 
 
 ^^ <&> 
 
 daughter of S. B. and Johannah Suydam. Her par- ^ 
 
 ents removed from New Jersey to Ohio and came 
 thence three years later to Illinois, settling in Victor 
 Township. Her mother died July 7, 1882. Her 
 father is 82 years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Stout have 
 three children, John, Cornelius and Mary E. The 
 daughter is married and lives in Iowa. The sons are 
 married also and reside in California. 
 
 C. French, farmer, resident on section 1 1 , 
 Somonauk Township, was born March 27, 
 1819, in Wallingford, Vt., and is the son 
 of Isaac and Rebecca (Cummings) French. 
 Both parents were natives of Cornish, N. H., 
 and belonged to the agricultural class. Two 
 of their four children are living: Betsey, the sister cf 
 Mr. French, of this sketch, married James H. Mig- 
 hell, a farmer of Hamilton Co., Iowa ; Abigail, de- 
 ceased, was the wife of Silas Edson ; and Loomis is 
 deceased. 
 
 Mr. French is essentially a farmer by descent and 
 inheritance, and has spent a large portion of his life 
 in teaching. He obtained a practical education in 
 Vermont, ar.d there engaged in teaching winters. 
 The aggregate number of times in which he operated 
 in that capacity comprised 15 seasons in New Eng- 
 land, and seven since his removal to Illinois. He 
 was first married in Wallingford, toMariette Thomp- 
 son, by whom he had a son Wallace since de- 
 ceased. The wife and mother died Sept. 12, 1859, 
 in Wheatland, Will Co., 111. Mr. French was a sec- 
 ond time married Dec. 12, 1866, to Mrs. Lucy A. 
 Congdon. of Wallingford, Vt., where she was born 
 Aug. 28, 1835. Mrs. French is the daughter of Lev- 
 erett and Abigail (Hart) Culver. The former was 
 born in 1800, in Wallingford, and died there July 4, 
 1866. The latter was also a native of Wallingford, 
 and was born in 1807. She died Jan. 14, 1861. 
 The record of their family is . remarkable : they had 
 14 children seven sons and seven daughters all 
 of whom reached adult age and all are yet living save 
 one son, who -died from the effects of a wound re- 
 ceived at the siege of Petersburg during the Civil 
 War. Luanda is the widow of Allen Edgerton, of 
 Wallingford, Vt. Abigail is the widow of A. K. 
 York and lives in the vicinity of Wallingford. Eli- 
 
 V
 
 
 ' 
 
 I 
 
 phalet ; Harry enlisted in a Vermont regiment of 
 Sharp-shooters, and was killed June 18, 1864. Lucy 
 Ann and Laura Ann, twins, were born next in order. 
 The sister of Mrs. French is the wife of Seneca Cul- 
 ver, of Sandwich. Melvina married James C. Patch, 
 of East Wallingford. Daniel is a farmer in Walling- 
 ford. Luke is a farmer in Fond du Lac Co., Wis. 
 Mary is the widow of Wallace Johnson and lives at 
 Wallingford. Elmer is a farmer in Illinois. James 
 is a farmer of La Salle Co., 111. Chauncey is a farmer 
 in Somonauk Township. May is Mrs. Cornelius 
 Patch, of East Wallingford. The paternal grandpa- 
 rents of Mrs. French were James and Hannah 
 (Tucker) Culver ; on the mother's side they were 
 Ainasa and Abigail (Fenn) Hart. Mrs. French was 
 a teacher in Wallingford a number of years, and 
 taught one term of school in Fond du Lac Co., Wis. 
 Mr. French has been a farmer of Illinois since 
 1853. In that year he came to Kendall County and 
 bought land in Big Rock Township, which he man- 
 aged three years. He went thence to the township 
 of Wheatland in Will County, and was a farmer there 
 five years, removing thence to Clinton, De Kalb 
 County, where he maintained his residence six years. 
 He bought the farm where he now resides in 1868. 
 The place includes 100 acres of land, and is all im- 
 proved. Mr. French has been prominent in public 
 life, both in his native State and in Illinois. He was a 
 member of the Legislature of Vermont in 185 1-2, be- 
 siJes holding a number of minor offices in that State, 
 and while a resident of Clinton, officiated three years 
 as Township Clerk, and has held other offices here. 
 
 enry Von Ohlen, farmer, section 29, Vic- 
 tor Township, is the son of Christian Henry 
 and Johannah (Burneman) Von Ohlen. 
 They were natives of Brunswick, Germany, and 
 on the igth day of October, 1855, came to 
 Sandwich, De Kalb Co., 111. After a residence 
 there of two years the family came to Victor Town- 
 ship, where the father died April 15, 1880, the 
 mother's demise occurring Nov. 27, 1882. 
 
 The son, who is the subject of this sketch, first 
 became a land-holder in the township of which he is 
 tizen, in 1857, when he bought 80 acres of land, 
 on which he has since pursued his agricultural de- 
 
 signs, and also on 1 60 acres on the same section, 
 which he has since purchased. He is engaged in 
 the various branches of husbandry common to prairie 
 farms, and he owns a fine assortment of stock. Mr. 
 Von Ohlen is a respected citizen of his township, and 
 is a Republican in political principle. 
 
 His marriage to Caroline Likert took place Oct. 9, 
 1865. She is a native of Germany, and the house- 
 hold now includes five children, Alvena M., Clara, 
 Henry J., Emma L. and Alice. Mr. and Mrs. Von 
 Ohlen belong to the Lutheran Church. 
 
 ohn Syme, manager of the R. Ellwood 
 Manufacturing Company at Sycamore, was 
 born Nov. 15, 1833, on the Scottish coast 
 at a point eight miles south of Edinboro, and 
 is the son of James and Ann (Young) Syme. 
 The father removed the family to Ballymena, 
 in the North of Ireland, Mr. Syme being a lad at the 
 time of the transfer. He secured a good education 
 and became a book-keeper later, engaging in the 
 manufacture of hats at Limerick, in which occupa- 
 tion he was interested four years. 
 
 He came to this country in 1861, making his way 
 through Canada to Chicago, where he entered the 
 employment of Low Brothers, an extensive grain and 
 produce firm, as traveling salesman, in whose inter- 
 ests he operated about two years. In the fall of 
 1863 he came to Sycamore, and established himself 
 in the same business, buying and shipping grain, 
 produce and live stock, in company with Roswell 
 Wheeler. They also were the proprietors of a lum- 
 ber yard, in which they conducted a considerable re- 
 tail business. In 1865 he built an elevator, which is 
 now owned by the railroad company. In 1868 he 
 became associated with his brother, David A. Syme, 
 holding with him a joint ownership in a hardware 
 store, in the sale of agricultural implements, and 
 also in buying and shipping grain, etc. In 1876 the 
 hardware department was sold, and the remaining 
 branches of business divided, Mr. Syme continuing 
 the sale of agricultural implements until 1880, when 
 he sold out and became a stock-holder in the busi- 
 ness in which he is now interested, and which had been 
 re-organized. Mr. Syme was elected manager, and 
 has since operated in that capacity. When the 

 
 works are running on full time, about 130 men are 
 ? employed. The products are cultivators, hay-racks, 
 ' harrows, sulky-plows, etc. Mr. Syme is a member 
 of the firm of H. T. Lawrence and Co., dealers in 
 ^ wagons, carriages and agricultural implements at 
 ^^ Sycamore. He has been three times elected Alder- 
 man and has served six years in that capacity. In 
 1878 he was elected Captain of Co. A, Third Regi- 
 ment of Illinois National Guards, a position he held 
 two years. He is prominent as a Republican, and has 
 been Chairman of the County Committee during the 
 past ten years. He belongs to the Sycamore Com- 
 mandery, K. T., No. 15. 
 
 Mr. Syme was married in September, 1876, to 
 Carrie W. Waterman. Their children were as fol- 
 lows: John W., Aug. 1 6, 1878, and Kate Irene, Aug. 
 22, 1882. Mrs. Syme is the daughter of the late 
 John C. and Caroline (Hoyt) Waterman, and was 
 born at Sycamore. 
 
 homas F. Latham, retired farmer, section 
 26, Somonauk Township, was born Feb. 23, 
 1812, in Groton Township, New London 
 Co., Conn. Joseph Latham, his father, was a 
 farmer in early life, and in 1824 a dealer in fish 
 I in the city of New York, becoming the husband 
 of Mary Fish. 
 
 In 1833 Mr. Latham engaged in mercantile trans- 
 actions in New York, in which he was interested until 
 1838, the year in which he removed to De Kalb 
 / County, accompanied by his wife and one child, now 
 deceased, and his brothers Joseph and Hubbard. 
 The latter is a resident of Willamet, 111. The former 
 * is deceased. 
 
 Mr. Latham settled on a claim of 300 acres, which 
 included what land he now owns in the township 
 of Somonauk. His brothers also secured claims. 
 Joseph resided on his farm, situated north of that of 
 his brother, until his death in March, 1883. 
 
 In 1849 Mr. Latham went with the tide to Cali- 
 fornia, remaining in the gold mines five years. He 
 returned to Illinois and resumed charge of his farm- 
 ing interests, laboring in that capacity four years. In 
 1858 he again went to California and spent seven 
 years, with unsatisfactory results. In 1880 he went to 
 the mining district of Colorado and has passed five 
 
 vv 
 
 summers there prospecting for gold and silver. He 
 owns three claims in Chaffee County, which are be- 
 ing worked. The farm in Somonauk Township is 
 conducted by his son, Thomas J. 
 
 The marriage of Mr. Latham to Jane Ayres took 
 place March 27, 1837. She was born Feb. 25, 1820, 
 near Cleveland, Ohio, and is the daughter of Enos 
 and Jane (Debow) Ayres. Seven children have been 
 born to Mr. and Mrs. Latham: Julia H., deceased, 
 Feb. 22, 1838; Thomas J., June 14, 1841; Mary, 
 wife of G. S. Serine, of Iowa, April 23, 1843 ; Aurelia 
 April 7, 1847; Franklin, Nov. 25, 1856. 
 
 hristian Miller, farmer, section 34, Victor 
 Township, was born June 8, 1837, in 
 Germany. He was an inmate of the parental 
 household until he was 15 years old, and 
 passed the next three years in farm labor. 
 When he was 18 years old he set out for 
 America, and on landing on the shores of the New 
 World he made his way to Aurora, 111.;, he worked 
 there five years on a farm, when he bought 80 acres 
 of land on section 34 of Victor Township and estab- 
 lished his homestead. He is prosperously engaged 
 in agriculture, and is earning the right to his privileges 
 of American citizenship. He is a Republican in 
 political principles. The parents of Mr. Miller, 
 Christian and Louise (Gobel) Miller, were natives of 
 Germany. . 
 
 He was married March 5, 1866, to Christina Roth, 
 a lady of German birth and parentage, who came 
 from her native land in 1865. Their five children 
 are named Louise J., Frederick C , Henry F., John 
 C. and Emma A. 
 
 tries H. Pratt, senior member of the 
 mercantile firm of Pratt Brothers, at Sand- 
 wich, was born Feb. 19, 1846, in Deep 
 River, Middlesex Co., Conn. His father, H. 
 H. Pratt, was born in Connecticut, and is now 
 living at Sandwich. Mary J. (Comstock) Pratt, 
 the mother, is deceased. They had seven children, of 
 whom two (daughters) died in infancy. Five son 
 survive: Merritt C. is a hardware merchant 
 
 .... , 
 
 "
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 
 
 % 
 
 North Loup, Neb. ; Wilbur A. and Ashley W. are 
 druggists at West Paw Paw, 111. ; Burton E. is a 
 member of the firm of Pratt Brothers. 
 
 Mr. Pratt was reared on a farm to the age of 16 
 years, when he became clerk and book-keeper in a 
 banking house at Sandwich. He remained in this 
 position two years, after which he became a clerk in 
 the dry-goods store of Harvey Toombs, of Sandwich. 
 Six months later his employer sold out his establish- 
 ment to A. B. Crofoot, and he continued to officiate 
 in the same capacity under the new order of things 
 about two years, at which time he was admitted to a 
 partnership. The firm of A. B. Crofoot & Co. existed 
 five years, when it was terminated by the junior part- 
 ner selling his interest to Mr. Crofoot, and the former 
 then embarked in the sale of boots and shoes, in 
 which he was interested about a year. At the end 
 of that time the firm of Pratt, Goodman & Gurley 
 was constituted, and their business relations were 
 extended until they were engaged in the prosecution 
 of a profitable trade in general merchandise. Later 
 they opened a branch store at Walnut, Bureau Co., 
 111. After three years Mr. Goodman withdrew and 
 Pratt & Gurley maintained their business relations 
 until April, 1882, when the firm became Pratt Broth- 
 ers by the sale of one-half the interest to B. E. Pratt. 
 (See sketch.) 
 
 Charles H. Pratt is a member of the fraternity of 
 Odd Fellows, and also of the Masons, and belongs 
 to the Blue Lodge, Chapter of R. A. M., and to 
 Aurora Commandery. 
 
 He was married Oct. 10, 1871, to Martha S., 
 daughter of Frederick A. and Martha W. Slack. She 
 was born Oct. 10, 1854, in Ottawa, 111. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Pratt have one daughter, Mabel J., born Oct. 
 12, 1879. Mr. and Mrs. Pratt are both members of 
 the Congregational Church. 
 
 eorge Rompf is a farmer of Victor Town- 
 ship, resident on section 35, and he was 
 born March 20, 1813. His parents, Jacob 
 and Margaret (Stahl) Rompf, was born in 
 Germany, where he was reared at home to the 
 f age of 20 years. He was apprenticed to learn 
 the boot and shoe trade, and was a craftsman about. 
 2 years in his native country. 
 He was married March 29, 1843, to Henrietta 
 
 Thomas, previous to coming to America. He made 
 his way hither in 1853, and proceeded immediately 
 to Northville, La Salle Co., 111. There he bought 10 
 acres of land, and also worked at his trade. He sold 
 his property there three years later, and became a 
 farmer of De Kalb County, buying 80 acres of land 
 in Victor Township, on which he has since lived and 
 conducted his agricultural labors, with a success that 
 may be inferred from the fact that in 1876 he bought 
 1 60 acres of land on section 34, for which he paid 
 $8,000. In political views and actions he is a 
 Republican. He is a member of the Lutheran 
 Church, to which also his wife belongs. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Rompf have had six children, four 
 of whom are still living : Adolph W., Paulina, Ed- 
 ward and Ferdinand. All are married. Adolph W. 
 married Rebecca Price, March 18, 1873, and they 
 have four children : Eveline B., Ada M., George R. 
 and Frank A. Paulina is the wife of Frederick 
 Schroder, to whom she was married in 1868. Their 
 children are named Amanda C. and Ervin E. Ed- 
 ward married Louisa Hein, Oct. 24, 1879, and they 
 have two children, George W. and Lillie M. Ferdi- 
 nand was married to Mary J. Smith, Feb. 22, 1882. 
 They have one child, Conrad E. 
 
 M. Arnold, liveryman, at Sandwich, was 
 born May 10, 1843, within tne (now) cor- 
 poration of Sandwich. His father, Dr. 
 Stephen Arnold, was born in Vermont and 
 married Dorcas Loof borrow, of Delaware Co., 
 Ohio, where he engaged in the practice of his 
 profession until 1836, when he came to De Kalb 
 County, and bought 320 acres of land. The northern 
 part of the city of Sandwich is now located on the 
 southern portion of the farm, which was divided 
 among the children on the death of their father. Dr. 
 Arnold died March 22, 1845, while on a professional 
 trip to Big Rock, Kendall Co., 111. The wife of Dr. 
 Arnold died at Sandwich, Feb. 26, 1884. They had 
 nine children, three of whom are living : Wesley W., 
 Hester A., wife of Harrison Robb, of State Center, 
 Iowa, and Mr. Arnold of this sketch. 
 
 The latter remained on the place where he was born 
 25 years, and in 1868 opened a livery stable at Sand- 
 wich, which he conducted five years. In 1873 he 
 
 
 ^W ^A^
 
 
 I 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 purchased 112 acres lying a few miles west of Sand- 
 wich, where he interested himself in progressive 
 agriculture eight years and converted the place into 
 a fine and valuable farm. He disposed of his 
 property there in September, 1883, and March 19, 
 1884, he bought the equipments and stand, where he 
 has since conducted a popular and successful busi- 
 ness. 
 
 He was united in marriage Sept. 9, 1864, to Hat- 
 tie, daughter of William and Eleanor Ryan. She 
 was born July n, 1842, in Little Rock Township, 
 Kendall Co., 111. One child, John W., was born 
 to Mr. and Mrs. Arnold, Feb. 12, 1867. 
 
 Following is the record of the deceased brothers 
 and sisters of Mr. Arnold : John L. Arnold, M. D., 
 was a graduate at the Medical College at St. Charles, 
 111. He went in 1849 to California and died at 
 Marysville. Mary D. married George L. Ismon, of 
 Sandwich, where she died, leaving a daughter 
 Louise, now the wife of Burr Kennedy, of Deering 
 (Chicago). Elias C. was a farmer of Somonauk 
 Township. Another child died in infancy. 
 
 x> 
 
 ewis Von Ohlen was formerly a farmer 
 on section 31, Victor Township. He was 
 born in Germany, where his parents ) 
 Christian Henry and Johannah (Bruneman) 
 Von Ohlen, were also born. They came to the 
 New World in October, 1855, and on landing at 
 New York proceeded to Illinois and located at Sand- 
 wich. 
 
 Mr. Von Ohlen lived there with his parents until 
 he was 20 years of age, receiving a fair elementary 
 education. He was occupied in various places for a 
 short time, and in 1865 bought the farm where he 
 lived until his death. He was a Republican and 
 held several official positions in the township where 
 v he was a citizen, the last in which he officiated being 
 that of Road Commissioner. He was a member of 
 the Protestant Episcopal Church. 
 
 Mrs. Alwine (Schulz) Von Ohlen was born in Ger- 
 f f many and came to America with her parents, who 
 ^ are still living at Somonauk. She was married July 
 '^ 22, 1845, to Lewis Von Ohlen, and they became the 
 parents of five children Herman E., Emil A., 
 ^^ ^ 
 
 ? 
 
 ! 
 I 
 
 Lewis J., Edward and Ida. Mrs. Von Ohlen resides 
 on and manages the farm of 155 acres left to his 
 family by her deceased husband. 
 
 rs. Elsie C. Van Olinda is a resident on 
 section 15, Somonauk Township. She 
 was born Jan. 3, 1823, in the township 
 of Washington, Morris Co., N. J. Her 
 parents, Jacob and Lenora (Welch) Frace, were 
 natives of the place where they died, and in 
 1854 she came to Kane Co., 111., to live with her 
 brother, Jacob M. Frace. She was married there 
 Nov. 17, 1857, to John D. Van Olinda, and removed 
 thence to the farm of her husband, where he has 
 since resided, and which became his property in 1854. 
 The place is finely located and valuable and includes 
 120 acres. Mr. Van Olinda died Dec. 2, 1874, and 
 was buried on his farm. He was born near Water- 
 ford in Saratoga Co., N. Y., June 19, 1814. 
 
 Three children were born of their marriage : 
 Lenora died in infancy ; Elsie resides at home ; 
 Laura is' the wife of George Hanson, a farmer of 
 Somonauk Township. 
 
 Wesley W. Morse, the manager of the estate of 
 Mrs. Van Olinda, was born Jan. 15, 1857, and was 
 adopted by her in February, 1858. 
 
 Burkhart, furniture dealer at Sandwich, 
 'f was born Oct. 18, 1820, in Bavaria, Ger- 
 
 fY*"* many, and is the son of Adam and Bar- 
 ' bara (Schale) Burkhart. After attending school 
 through the period required by the laws of his 
 native country, he served four years as an ap- 
 prentice at cabinet-making, after which he worked as 
 journeyman five years, traveling through the prin- 
 cipal German cities. He was at one tifine a workman 
 in the palace of the Emperor William at Berlin. 
 
 Mr. Burkhart was married in Bavaria in 1847, to 
 Catherine, daughter of Adam and Elizabeth Bradey, 
 by whom he has had four children. After the event 
 of his marriage he was in business for himself six 
 months, and in 1852 came to America. He worked 
 at his trade in Utica, N. Y., three years, and in 185
 
 I 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 came to Sandwich. After working at his business a 
 year in the interest of an employer, he opened an 
 establishment for himself in the same line. In 1858 
 his works were destroyed by fire, the disaster causing 
 a total loss, and leaving him with a debt of $700 on 
 his hands, without insurance. His credit was good, 
 and he again started his business, in which he has 
 met with success, and is now associated with his son. 
 In the fall of 1874 he erected his business building, 
 22 x 60 feet in dimensions, two stories in height above 
 the basement, and built of brick. His stock is 
 generally estimated at about $8,000. He is a mem- 
 ber of the Order of Odd Fellows Lodge, No. 212, 
 and the family belong to the Lutheran Church. 
 
 Two of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Burkhart 
 were born in Germany. Phillipena (deceased) was 
 married to Gustavus Short, a farmer in Nebraska. 
 Jacob is in business with his father at Sandwich. He 
 was married May 2, 1872, to Augusta Turk, of Sand- 
 wich, and they have three children Jacob, Edward 
 and William. Elizabeth married William Huerke, a 
 harness-maker at Sandwich. Caroline is deceased 
 
 id G. Carson is a farmer of Victor Town- 
 ship, residing on sections 4 and 9. David 
 Carson, his father, was of Scotch descent, 
 and married Jane Shannon, who was of Ger- 
 n origin. The son was born in 1830, at Es- 
 perance, Sr.hoharie Co., N. Y., and at the age of 
 eight years became a member of the family of Bar- 
 tholomew Keene, in the village of Esperance. With 
 him he remained six years and attended school five 
 years. He next went to live with Sander Deffen- 
 dorf, where he was an assistant on the farm six 
 months and went to school. Subsequently he worked 
 three years on the farm of Thomas Curry. He 
 passed alternate summers and winters in farm lalx>r 
 and in attendance at school until he was 2 1 years of 
 age, after which he spent two years working farms 
 on shares. At the expiration of this time he came 
 into possession of his father's farm by will, and he 
 rented the place two years. After giving it his per- 
 sonal attention one year, he sold the place and came 
 to De Kalb Co., 111. He took possession of 80 acres 
 of land on section 4, and there still maintains his 
 residence. 
 
 The quality of his prosperity is manifest from the 
 *@^ CU 
 
 fact that he is now the possessor of 500 acres of 
 finely improved farming land. He is a Republican 
 and has held various town offices. He has been 
 Road Commissioner 15 years. He was once elected 
 Justice of the Peace, but declined to qualify. 
 
 He was married Dec. 15, 1857, in Fulton Co., 
 N. Y., to Mary, daughter of John Brewer, and they 
 have had five children, four of whom are still living 
 John H., George L., Kit C. and George M. 
 
 enjamin Wilsey, jeweler at Sandwich, was 
 born Jan. 14, 1831,111 the township of 
 Hamilton, Madison Co., N. Y. His 
 parents, Archibald M. and Phebe (Manches- 
 ter) Wilsey, belonged to the farming class, 
 and the former was born in the city of New 
 York, Jan. 18, 1800. In 1844 they removed to 
 Illinois, and the father died in Fox Township, Ken- 
 dall County, Oct. 4 1882. The mother was born in 
 Rhode Island, and died in December, 1845, in 
 Newark, Kendall County. Five of their nine chil- 
 dren are living : James W. is a farmer near Aurora, 
 111. ; Margaret married W. Hull, of Newark ; Benja- 
 min is the next in order of birth; Mary married 
 Merritt Winchell, of Vallejo, Cal. The youngest 
 living child is Andrew J. 
 
 When he was 19 years of age Mr. Wilsey bade 
 farewell to farm labor. During that winter he 
 attended school, and in the spring of 1851 went to 
 Ottawa, 111., and entered upon the business of learn- 
 ing his trade with J. H. Morrill. After an apprentice- 
 ship of four years, he engaged in business for him- 
 self in Ottawa, but continued only a short time, 
 going thence to Newark, where he remained until 
 December, 1862, the date of his coming to Sand- 
 wich. He exhibits a fine stock of watches, clocks, 
 jewelry, silver and plated ware, Johnston's Optical 
 Company's goods, and all goods common to a first- 
 class establishment, and suited to his patronage. He 
 is also engaged in general repairing, and is doing a 
 prosperous business. 
 
 Mr. Wilsey was married Feb. 25, 1858, in Fox 
 Township, Kendall County, to Leonora, daughter of 
 Lewis andSabrina Robinson. She was born Dec. 15, 
 1 840, near Spencer, Tioga Co., N. Y., and died 
 
 SUB*:
 
 
 COUNTY. 
 
 Q 
 
 I 
 
 Sandwich, March 2, 1875. She was the mother of 
 three children: Charles B., born Dec. 7, 1858, is 
 the only one who survives. Leonora and Gracie, twins, 
 were born Feb. 23, 1875. The latter died March 
 19. following her birth, and 17 days after the 
 decease of her mother. Leonora died Sept. 10, 1875, 
 a little less than six. months old. Mr. Wilsey was 
 again married Feb. 21, 1884, in Princeton, Bureau 
 Co., 111., to Anna L. Stannard. She was born at 
 Dover, 111., and is the daughter of Norman and 
 Almanda Stannard. 
 
 dward Lewis, a resident of Sandwich, was 
 born June i, 1815, in Wales, and is the 
 son of Lewis and Ann (Lumley) Lewis. 
 He was three years of age when his parents 
 came to America and settled in Oneida Co., 
 N. Y., where his father bought a farm in the 
 township of Trenton. He was reared to the age of 
 14 years on a farm and passed four years subse- 
 quent to that in obtaining a knowledge of the tan- 
 ner's business. In 1833, when he was 18 years of 
 age, he went to Buffalo, N. Y., where he was con- 
 nected with a construction corps in building the 
 Buffalo & Black Rock Railroad, the first line of rail- 
 road that was built running into that city. He was 
 engaged a short time after the road was completed 
 as a conductor, going next to Clarence, Erie Co., 
 N. Y., where he passed a year and a half as a gen- 
 eral laborer. His next transfer was to Little Rock, 
 Kendall Co., 111. He there bought 40 acres of land 
 pK and engaged in farming. To this he added by sub- 
 ^ sequent purchase until he owned upwards of 300 
 acres, on which he resided until 1864, when he sold 
 the place and removed to Sandwich. On the organ- 
 ization of the Sandwich Manufacturing Company of 
 that place, he invested his means in its relations, 
 and was for years connected with the corporation. 
 He acted as a night watchman nearly 13 years. 
 Since September, 1880, he has not been actively en- 
 gaged in any variety of business. 
 
 Mr. Lewis was married at Little Rock, Dec. 28, 
 1839, to Maria A. Hadden. She was born May i, 
 1810, in Westchester Co., N. Y. Four of their five 
 children are living: Noel B. was born Oct. 18, 
 840 ; Mary E., born Sept. 20, 1842, is the wife of J. 
 
 
 
 D. Kern, of Sandwich; Caroline was born Sept. 5, 
 1045, alld is the wife of Thomas E. Culver, of Sand- 
 wich. James C., born Sept. n, 1849, is an employee 
 of the Sandwich Manufacturing Company ; Edwin, 
 born May 2, 1852, died six days after birth. The 
 wife and mother died at Sandwich, April 23, 1883. 
 Mr. Lewis was a second time married Sept. 1 1, 1884, 
 at Yorkville, Kendall Co., 111., to Mary E. Humis- 
 ton. She was born Aug. 3, 1827, near Littlefield, 
 Grayson Co., Ky., and is the daughter of Anthony 
 and Susan (McClure) Litsey, who were married in 
 Kentucky and came to Illinois in 1829, located in 
 Tazewell County, and in 1830 came to Kendall 
 County. The mother died in Kentucky when the 
 daughter was two years old. The father was mar- 
 ried again, moved to Iowa, and died in 1859. Mrs. 
 Lewis is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church. 
 
 
 /A 
 
 , illiam Fraser, farmer, section 14, Somo- B 
 nauk Township, was born April 29, 1816, S> 
 in the township of Hebron, Washington 4 
 Co., N. Y. Isaac Fraser, his father, was ^ 
 born in North Adams, Mass., and died in He- 
 J_,' bron, aged 84 years. The mother, Mary (Mun- /- ^ 
 son) Fraser, was a native of Washington Co., and 
 was about the same age as her husband at the time 
 of her death. Seven of their ten children are living. 
 David is a retired farmer of Salem, Washington Co. 
 N. Y. Lyman is a retired farmer and resides at 
 Sandwich. John is a retired merchant at He- 
 bron. Lonson is an attorney at Salem, N. Y. 
 Aurilla A. is the wife of Charles Wilson, a farmer of 
 Salem, N. Y. Mary is the widow of Peter Larkin 
 and resides at Salem. 
 
 Mr. Fraser is the fourth of the surviving children 
 of his parents. He was brought up on his father's 
 farm, where he was instructed in agricultural pur- 
 suits. In 1843 he came to Illinois and bought a 
 farm of 80 acres near Piano, Kendall County. On 
 this he resided until his removal to his present loca- 
 tion, where in 1854 he bought at first 300 acres of * 
 land. He is now the owner of 370 acres, situated on fc'j 
 sections 13, 14 and 15, which is managed by his son- f\ 
 in-law, Pernett Potter. Mr. Fraser has been a num- ^ 
 ber of years in retirement from active life. 
 
 fa
 
 He was married in Greenwich, Washington Co., 
 N. Y., to Mary Faxon. Following is the record of 
 their children : Caroline married John J. Arm- 
 strong, a farmer of Somanauk Township. Ira M. is 
 deceased. Horace W. is a farmer in Ford Co., 111. 
 Charles H. resides in Sandwich, and is a teacher by 
 profession. Mary married James Crinklaw. William 
 is a farmer of Somonauk Township. Martha mar- 
 ried William Potter, a farmer in Missouri. Edith is 
 the wife of Pernett Potter, and resides on the home- 
 stead. Arthur is the youngest. Mrs. Fraser was 
 born Oct. 31, 1819. 
 
 uke A. Warren, resident at Sycamore, was 
 born in Andes, Delaware Co., N. Y., Dec. 
 19, 1819, son of Luke and Mary (Baird) 
 Warren, natives of " York State." His father 
 moved to Allegany County, that State, in 1832, 
 and settled in Rockford Township. The land 
 on which he settled was timber, and after building a 
 log house he set about to clear and improve his land. 
 In 1850 he disposed of his land and moved to 
 Michigan, where he died shortly after. 
 
 Luke A., Jr., was reared on the farm in Allegany 
 Co., N. Y., and alternated his labors thereon with at- 
 tending the common schools. He was 'married in 
 1841, to Miss Ursula Foster, born in Clarendon, 
 Orleans Co., N. Y. Soon after marriage, they located 
 on a farm of 20 acres near Rushford, Allegany Co., 
 which he increased by subsequent purchases. He 
 resided on that farm until 1869, when he sold it and 
 came to this State and settled on a farm in White- 
 side County. In 1866 he moved to Monroe Town- 
 ship, Ogle County, where he purchased a farm on 
 which he resided until r87i. In April of that year 
 he removed to this county and two months later 
 (June) he purchased a farm on sections seven and 
 eight, De Kalb Township. In 1882 he sold the farm 
 and removed to Sycamore, where he has since 
 lived. In July, 1883, he purchased a farm located 
 on section 3, Cortland Township, which he still 
 owns and rents. 
 
 He has seven children, namely : William, in the 
 Government employ at Grand Forks, Dak.; Mary, 
 vife of J. E. Southworth, resident of Santa Clara, Cal.; 
 Sarah, wife of William Wilber, resident of Clinton, 
 
 .Sfrgsfa *&* ^ 
 
 Iowa ; Alta, wife of William A. Campbell, resident of ^ 
 Mason, Ingham Co., Mich.; M. F., jeweler at De Kalb; <|) 
 John, resident of Galveston, Tex., and George O., *y 
 jeweler at Sycamore. Mr. Warren's grandfather, I 
 Thomas Warren, was one of the very first settlers in \^, 
 Delaware Co., N. Y.; was a shoemaker by trade, a 
 farmer by occupation, and died in Allegany Co., 
 N. Y. 
 
 larles E. Bradt, member of the firm of 
 Bradt & Shipman, glove manufacturers at 
 De Kalb, was born near Gloversville, Fulton 
 Co., N. Y., Jan. 27, r852 ; and when he was 
 about two years of age his parents, Andrew 
 and Amy A. (Sweet) Bradt (see sketch), re- 
 moved with their family to this county, where he grew 
 up to manhood, working on the farm and attending 
 the city schools. Since setting out in life for himself 
 he has employed himself in the manufacture and sale 
 of gloves, in which business he is doing well. The 
 firm of Bradt & Shipman prosecute an extensive 
 jobbing business, their goods being sold by traveling 
 salesman in the Northwest. 
 
 Andrew Bradt, farmer, De Kalb Township, was 
 born in the town of Ephratah, Fulton Co., N. Y., 
 May 15, 1824, and was the son of Anthony J. and 
 Hannah (Peek) Bradt, both natives of the State of 
 New York. He was reared on the farm and edu- 
 cated at the district school. At the age of 17 years 
 he commenced teaching, in his native township. 
 This profession, alternating with farming during the 
 summer seasons, he followed, with one or two excep- 
 tions, in Fulton County, until 1856, when he came to 
 Illinois. Here he purchased 140 acres of land on 
 sections 23 and 24, De Kalb Township, and settled 
 down to agricultural pursuits. During the winter 
 seasons, however, he was engaged in selling gloves 
 and mittens to dealers in the northern portion of this 
 State, purchasing his stock from the manufactories at 
 Gloversville and Johnstown, N. Y. In 1870, in com- 
 pany with his son, he started the glove factory in De 
 Kalb, which is now conducted by his son and Mr. 
 Shipman. He now devotes his time exclusively to 
 his farming interests. 
 
 He was married Jan. 31, 1848, to Amy Ann Sweet, 
 who was born in Ephratah, Fulton Co., N. Y., Jan 
 
 v
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 I 
 
 J 
 
 20, 1828. They have had nine children, Jennie S., 
 deceased, Luella, Charles E., deceased, Ada F., 
 Hiram A., Abraham L., Samuel E., deceased, and 
 Laura Luella, deceased. 
 
 Mr. Bradt is a Class-leader in the Methodist Epis- 
 copal Church, of which denomination all the rest of 
 the family are also members. 
 
 Augustus C. Thompson, general farmer on 
 section 1 1, South Grove Township, was born 
 Feb. 2-, 1830, in Delaware Co., N. Y. Mat- 
 thew Thompson, his father, was a native of the 
 Empire State, where he pursued farming until 
 1842, the year of his removal to De Kalb 
 County, where he was one of the earliest of the pio- 
 ) neer settlers of South Grove Township, having been 
 ., preceded by only four other permanent residents. 
 /^ He was born in 1800 and died in 1868, on the home- 
 si stead. Rebecca O. (Schryver) Thompson, the mother, 
 OX was born in Dutchess Co., N. Y., Oct. 25, 1805, of 
 E=I German parentage, and resided in her native State 
 f? until her removal with her husband and children to 
 "^ De Kalb County. She is living, at 79 years of age, 
 with her son, is still in possession of her mental and 
 physical faculties to a surprising degree, being able 
 to fulfill a considerable proportion of the duties of the 
 household. 
 
 Mr. Thompson was an inmate of his father's house 
 until his marriage in February, 1852, in Ohio Grove, 
 Kane Co., Ill , to Mary E. Hatch. She was born in 
 *i Delaware Co., Ohio, and came to Illinois when very 
 i 9 young. Her father located in this State previous to 
 * 1840. She died at her home, Dec. 6, 1880, and left 
 two surviving of four children that had been born to 
 her. Her death was the result of sciatic rheumatism, 
 and her sufferings from that terrible disease were 
 severe and were borne with patience and calmness. 
 Mr. Thompson was about 22 years of age when he 
 ^ made his first purchase of land, which included 80 
 acres on section 16. On this he lived and labored in 
 its improvement some years, when he sold out and 
 bought 176 acres on section i i,of this township, and 
 has since made it his home and expended his efforts 
 and energies in its improvement, and has placed the 
 entire acreage under cultivation. In the early days 
 
 -xf ^kJBSL^' ^-N V 
 
 the grain was all cut with " cradles " and hauled to ; 
 Chicago by teams, that being the nearest point of ' 
 shipment and market. 
 
 Mr. Thompson is a Republican and has held all 
 the offices of the township. 
 
 Ilium W. Brown, deceased, was a pioneer 
 of Sycamore Township in 1838, and en- 
 tered his claim of about 200 acres of land 
 on section 14 of Congressional township 41, 
 range 5. On this he settled and began the 
 usual pioneer improvements. When the land 
 n the State of Illinois was put into market he se- 
 cured a large acreage in addition, a considerable pro- 
 portion of which he bought for the benefit of his sons. 
 The nearest markets were Chicago, Milwaukee and 
 Sheboygan, and Mr. Brown drove an ox team with 
 his wheat crop to the former place. One fall he 
 sent a load of dressed beef to Sheboygan. He 
 improved quite a considerable portion of his land, 
 and was a resident upon his homestead until his 
 death. 
 
 He was born on the North or Hudson River in the 
 State of New York in 1782, and grew to mature life 
 on his father's homestead. He was in early manhood 
 when his parents settled in the township of Rock- 
 land, in Sullivan County, where they were pioneers. 
 He was there married to Sally Hall, the first white 
 child born on Mutton Hill in Sullivan County. He 
 became a land-holder there and cleared 104 acres of 
 his farm. He sold the place in 1831 and removed 
 to Cortland County, where he lived until 1835, in 
 which year he bought a farm in La Grange, Lorain 
 Co., Ohio. He sold it in 1838, and set out with his 
 family and household goods in a wagon with an ox 
 team as a means of locomotion. They were on the 
 road four weeks, and during the trip passed but four 
 nights under the shelter of a roof. The remainder 
 of the time they camped. 
 
 Mr. Brown died in 1850. His wife survived him 
 32 years, dying in 1882. Following is the record of 
 their 1 1 children : Mary is deceased ; Sally A. and 
 Obadiah, the youngest son, live on the homestead; 
 Lucinda is dead ; Isaac lives in O'Brien Co., Iowa ; 
 John lives in Lac-qui-parle Co., Minn. ; Betsey 
 J. and Mehitable are deceased ; Amy lives in Bour- 
 

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 bon Co., Kan. ; Deborah resides in the township of 
 Genoa; Bradley is deceased. 
 
 Obadiah Brown was born Nov. 27, 1834, in 
 Ohio, came to Illinois with his parents, and was mar- 
 ried in January, 1877, to Lavina Harms, a native 
 of Graham ville, N. Y. He is a Republican in po- 
 litical faith. 
 
 r imon Suydam, farmer, section 23, Victitf 
 Township, is a native-born citizen of Illi- 
 nois, being born Aug. 8, 1839,* in Fulton 
 Co , 111. Simon B. and Johannah (Cortelyou) 
 Suydam were natives of New Jersey (see 
 sketch.) In 1838 they left their native State 
 to make a permanent home in Illinois. 
 
 Mr. Suydam was brought up under v the care and 
 authority of his parents, acquiring a common-school 
 education and laboring on the farm. After attaining 
 his majority he spent two months in farm labor and 
 resumed his former position on his father's farm, 
 where he remained until 1861. He had determined 
 on renting a farm preparatory to entering upon an 
 independent career, but his plans were mixed with 
 desires to take a share of the risks in the soldier's 
 fate, and he enlisted the same fall in which he made 
 his arrangements for a farm, Sept. 18, 1861, in the 8th 
 III. Cav., General Farnsworth. The organization re- 
 mained but a short time in camp and departed for 
 Washington, where it remained until the next April, 
 when it was sent to Bull Run in skirmish service. 
 Five days afterward it returned to Alexandria, and 
 after a stay there of two weeks, went down the Poto- 
 mac. The first engagement in which it participated 
 took place at Williamsburg, followed by the fight at 
 Mechanicsville under General McClellan. Mr. 
 Suydam was in 22 battles and skirmishes, and after 
 a continued service of three years was honorably dis- 
 charged Sept. 28, 1864, at Chicago. 
 
 In 1865 he purchased 80 acres of land on section 
 27, in Victor Township, on which he operated suc- 
 cessfully for 20 years. In 1885 he bought his pres- 
 ent homestead. He is a business man of good ability, 
 and is justly respected. He is a Republican in 
 politic-al affiliation. He has held the office of School 
 Director 12 years, and been Collector four years. 
 Nov. 7, 1866, he was married to Sarah O. Brown, 
 
 and they have eight children Charles H., Ade 
 J., Johannah, Mary, Nellie G., Amy, Lorenzo G. a 
 Sarah J. 
 
 urton E. Pratt, merchant at Sandwich, 
 was born July 6, 1855, in Deep River. 
 Middlesex Co., Conn., and is the son of 
 Henry H. and Mary J. (Comstock) Pratt. On 
 the removal of the family to De Kalb County 
 from Connecticut, they located three miles 
 northeast of Sandwich, where his father bought a 
 farm of 320 acres. They resided on it and improved 
 it until it was converted into a fine and valuable 
 farm, which was afterwards sold and the family re- 
 moved to Sandwich, where the father is now living; 
 the mother died in 1871. They had seven children, 
 five of whom survive. Merritt C. is a hardware 
 merchant at North Loup, Neb.; Wilbur and Ashley 
 W. are druggists at West Paw Paw, III; the firm is 
 known as Pratt Bros.; and Burton E. is the subject 
 of this sketch. Mr. Pratt, Sr., was again married in 
 Oswego, 111., to Sylvia C. Collins. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was educated in Sand- 
 wich, and when he was 17 years of age he entered 
 the store of L. Kent, where he was engaged two 
 years as a salesman. His next employment was ob- 
 tained at Paw Paw, where he was a clerk in a store 
 eight months. At the end of that time he came to 
 Sandwich and engaged as a clerk with Pratt, Good- 
 man & Gurley, with whom he operated several 
 years. Mr. Goodman having withdrawn in 1868, the 
 firm continued as Pratt & Gurley until 1882, when 
 Mr. Gurley withdrew from the firm. Mr. Pratt, of 
 this sketch, then purchased the interest of Mr. Gur- 
 ley, since which date the firm style has been known 
 as Pratt Brothers. Their business in Sandwich and 
 vicinity is prosperous and popular, and their stock of 
 general merchandise is valued at $20,000 on an aver- 
 age. Mr. Pratt is a member of the fraternity of 
 Masons. 
 
 He was married June 22, 1882, to Anna J., daugh- 
 ter of William and Anna Turkington, and she was 
 born in the city of New York, Nov. 22, 1862. He 
 father is an extensive manufacturer of millinery 
 goods on Wabash Avenue, Chicago. Gertrude, only 
 |^^) 
 
 \ 
 
 \ \ 
 / 
 
 t
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 I 
 
 J 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 s 
 
 i 
 
 child of Mr. and Mrs. Pratt, was born June 4, 1884. 
 Himself and wife are members of the Congregational 
 Church of Sandwich. 
 
 t enry G. Bell, farmer, section 9, Sycamore 
 Township, was born Sept. 13, 1808, in 
 Elizabethtovvn, St. Lawrence Co., N. Y., 
 and is the son of Ralph R. arid Desire (Rey- 
 nolds) Bell. His parents were both natives of 
 Rutland, Rutland Co., Vt., his father being in 
 the service of the United States in the second war 
 with Great Britain, during which he operated as a 
 pilot on the lakes. He was captured by the British 
 and taken to Montreal, where he was held about six 
 months a prisoner of war. On being exchanged he 
 re-entered the service and continued in the army 
 until the termination of the contest. 
 
 In 1816 they went to Michigan, and the son, who 
 was then but eight years of age, was left with friends 
 in Genesee Co., N. Y., where he was brought up on 
 the farm. When he was 16 'years of age he joined 
 his parents in Michigan, and he remained at Red- 
 ford, Wayne County, until 1837, when he set out 
 westward to seek a location for a home. He started 
 on horseback and proceeded to Michigan City, where 
 he overtook his wife, who had started previously with 
 her brother-in-law. His means of locomotion were 
 there increased by the addition of a yoke of oxen, and 
 they pushed on to Kane Co., 111., consuming about 
 two weeks on the way. Mr. Bell bought a land 
 claim for $170, near Chicken Grove, and built a log 
 house with a puncheon floor. During the first year 
 he broke 60 acres, and in December following he 
 sold the claim and came to Chartres' Grove, De Kalb 
 County, where he spent the winter. In the spring of 
 1838 he bought a claim of land on Coon Creek, lo- 
 cated on section 29, Hampshire Township, McHenry 
 County. He built a log house, covered it with shakes 
 and set about the work of improving the place, and 
 as soon as the land came into market he received the 
 claim. He then put the place in the hands of a 
 renter and bought a claim on section 5, Sycamore 
 Township, and engaged a man to break 20 acres. 
 The claim was "jumped," but he succeeded in main- 
 taining his rights. He built a log-house and dug a 
 
 well 32 feet deep, finding what was known as "float 
 wood " on the bottom. The man who attempted to 
 jump his claim started at early morning for Chicago, 
 and on Mr. Bell's hearing of his intention and action 
 late in the afternoon, he at once started for the land vi_ 
 office, driving to Chicago in the night, where he suc- 
 ceeded in entering his claim. Soon afterwards he 
 sold his title and returned to Kane County, where 
 he settled on the land he owned there. In 1874 he 
 again rented the place and came to Sycamore, sec- 
 tion 9, where he bought the farm on which he has 
 since resided and prosecuted his agricultural plans, j? 
 The farm in Kane County which he still owns com- 
 prises 320 acres of land, chiefly improved, fenced 
 and with good buildings. 
 
 Mr. Bell was married March r6, 1837, to Charlotte 
 DeWitt, and they had ten children, Martinette, 
 Helen, Prudence, George H., Charlotte, John, Annie 
 D., Frank, Charles and Candace. Annie died when 
 a year old. The mother was born Feb. 28, 1815, at 
 Niagara Falls (Canadian side), and died Nov 
 1879. Mr. Bell married Annie Kesler, a native of 
 St. Lawrence Co., N. Y. 
 
 '0 
 
 nton E. Rosette, editor and one of the 
 publishers of the De Kalb Chronicle, was 
 born Oct. 24, 1850, in Paw Paw Township, 
 De Kalb Co., 111. He is the son of William 
 E. and Elizabeth (Breese) Rosette, natives of 
 
 New Jersey, the former being of French descent, his 
 parents removing to this county but a short time be- 
 fore his birth. They were among the early settlers 
 of De Kalb County, locating in Paw Paw Township 
 in 1841. 
 
 Clinton was born on a farm and received his edu- 
 cation at the academy in East Paw Paw, at which 
 institution he graduated, and in which he subse- _^ 
 quently was a member of the faculty for two years. ( 
 With a view of becoming a physician, he studied 
 medicine for five years as the opportunity was offered, ' 
 but becoming dissatisfied with it he abandoned the 
 study before receiving a degree. In the fall of 1875 
 he moved to De Kalb and for one year and a few 
 months was engaged as a teacher in the public
 
 
 
 DE KALE COUNTY. 
 
 schools. In connection with his wife, he then opened 
 a private school, which they continued four years 
 with good success, having 125 pupils enrolled at the 
 time of its suspension. The school was closed that 
 ^j he might give his undivided attention to the publica- 
 tion of the De Kalb Chronicle, the publication of 
 which was commenced in 1879 with Mr. Rosette as 
 editor, which position he still occupies. A history of 
 the paper may be found elsewhere in this volume ; 
 suffice it to say, in this connection, that under his 
 management it has been an unqualified success. On 
 the 25 th day of December, 1874, Mr. Rosette was 
 j united in marriage with Alpha C. La Clair, daughter 
 of John and Ann La Clair, of Paw Paw. Mr. Ros- 
 ette is a member of the Independent Order of Odd 
 Fellows, and politically is a Democrat, the principles 
 of that party being instilled in him in his youth ; and 
 he never has forsaken the way of his fathers. 
 
 ' 
 
 
 ^ilas D. Wesson, farmer, section 17, Victor 
 Township, was born Aug. 22, 1839, in 
 Chautauqua Co., N. Y. His parents, 
 James W. and Sybil (Hatch) Wesson, were na- 
 tives of Vermont. Until he was 2 1 years of age 
 Mr. Wesson was at home with his parents and 
 accompanied them to Illinois in 1844, when they lo- 
 cated on section 17, Victor Township. They re- 
 mained there until their deaths. That of his father 
 occurred Aug. 26, 1880; that of his mother, March 
 26, 1884. 
 
 Mr. Wesson enlisted Sept. 18, 1861, for three 
 years in the 8th 111. Cav., and at the expiration of 
 two years veteranized, receiving a discharge on con- 
 dition of re-enlisting, which he did, and served three 
 years and eleven months longer. He received a 
 wound June 9, 1863. He participated in all the 
 battles of the Army of the Potomac except that at 
 Gettysburg. He obtained his release from military 
 service Aug. i, 1866. In 1872 he went to Kansas, 
 and there entered a claim of 160 acres of land on a 
 soldier's warrant. He was a resident upon it eight 
 years. In 1880 he returned to Illinois and effected a 
 purchase of his father's farm by complying with the 
 terms of the will. He is a Republican, and has 
 been Supervisor two years. He was elected Justice 
 of the Peace but refused to qualify. 
 
 Mr. Wesson was married Oct. r5, 1866, to Mag- 
 dalen Suydam. She is the daughter of S. B. and 
 Johannah Suydam. (See sketch.) Ten children 
 have been born to them, Sybil J., Elvie M., Mason 
 D., Alpha G., Minerva M., Sarah M., Jaques W., 
 Harry W., Floyd F. and Elon W. 
 
 .imon B. Suydam, a farmer of Victor Town- 
 ship, resident on section 22, was born Jan. 
 4, 1803, in Somerset Co., N. J., and is a 
 son of John and Ann (French) Suydam, who 
 were natives of Holland. Mr. Suydam passed 
 the years of his minority in attending school 
 and in labor on his father's farm. When he was 22 
 years of age he went to Millstone, N. J., and was 
 there for a period of ten years engaged in farmin 
 He went thence to Butler Co., Ohio, where he bought 
 80 acres of land. Three years later he sold the 
 place and located in Fairview, Fulton Co., 111., where 
 he became by purchase the proprietor of 1 60 acres 
 of land. He managed his agricultural affairs there 
 13 years when he sold, preparatory to a removal to 
 Victor Township. He bought a farm of 160 acres 
 at first and later purchased a similar amount. His 
 home and field of operation has since been on the 
 same place. At the date at which he became a 
 resident in Victor Township, he drew his crops to 
 Chicago and brought back with him lumber and pro- 
 visions. 
 
 He is a Democrat and has served several terms in 
 official life in his township. He has been liberal in 
 his support of local religious movements, and when 
 the Methodist church was built he contributed an 
 acre of ground for the site of the edifice. He has 
 exerted a broad influence in the community to which 
 he belongs, and in 1877 was the chief instrument in 
 the organization of a chartered fire-insurance associa- 
 tion in the township of Victor, having a capital of 
 $60,000. It has been in operation eight years, and 
 its capital stock now nets $140,000. It has been 
 called on to pay but $35 in losses by fire since its 
 organization. 
 
 Mr. Suydam was married Feb. 16, 1825, to Johan- 
 nah Cortelyou. Six of ten children born to them are 
 living: Anna M., Sarah, Matilda D., John H., Si- 
 
 
 
 W 
 
 g. ( > ;
 
 J 
 
 \\ 
 
 mon, Jaques C. and Magdalen. Cornelius R. died 
 in the military service of the United States Jan. 20, 
 1862. John and Simon <fcre also soldiers for the 
 Union. The former was wounded in his ankle and 
 has always been lame. Their beloved mother died 
 July 7, 1881. 
 
 4 avid Alexander Syme, grain dealer at 
 Sycamore, was born Sept. 15, 1841, in Bal- 
 lymena, Antrim Co., Ireland, and is the 
 son of James and Ann Young Syme. His 
 parents were natives of Perthshire, Scotland, be- 
 longing to families long established in that 
 place. 
 
 At 15 years of age Mr. Syme entered a wholesale 
 mercantile house in the city of Belfast, where he re- 
 mained till he was 20 years of age. He then joined 
 some friends going to Australia and New Zealand, 
 where he spent a few years engaged in mercantile 
 and oilier pursuits. On March 28, 1868, he arrived 
 in Sycamore, and formed a partnership with his 
 brother, as dealers in grain and seeds and agricultural 
 machinery. In 1876 he dissolved this partnership, 
 confining his attention to the grain business, which 
 he extended to Kirkland and other towns in the 
 vicinity. 
 
 Mr. Syme was one of the incorporators of the Syca- 
 more Preserve Works, of which he is the general 
 manager and treasurer. 
 
 February 3, 1873, he was married to Miss Marga- 
 ret E. Morton at Sycamore. Mrs. Syme was born in 
 Montreal, Canada. 
 
 ristian Hager, farmer, section 29, Vic- 
 tor Township, was born Feb. 26, 1839, in 
 La Salle Co., 111. His parents, Oley and 
 Martha (Anderson) Hager, were born in 
 Germany and emigrated thence to America 
 in 1830. Previous to his igth year Mr. 
 H. was subject to the authority of his parents, and 
 was instructed by his father in the details of a farm- 
 er's vocation, which he has pursued all his life. He 
 was married Feb. 28, 1875, to the widow of Herman 
 Suydam, and is her third husband. She was mar- 
 
 ried Nov. 28, 1857, to Enoch Talbot. The latter 
 enlisted Oct. 20, i86r, and was shot and instantly 
 killed July 12, 1863, in a forced battle at Jackson, 
 Miss. At the same time three brothers and two 
 brothers-in-law were in the military service of the 
 United States, but all returned in safely. Herman 
 Suydam, the second husband of Mrs. Hager, was 
 born in Fairview, this State, and settled in 1848 on 
 section 29, Victor Township, where he died, March 
 7, 1872. At the date of his making a permanent 
 settlement he could ride miles without passing a 
 house. The nearest place of supply for provisions 
 and lumber was Aurora. Chicago was the nearest 
 grain market. He was an enterprising citizen and 
 public-spirited and interested in all projects for the 
 general well-being. In political views he was a Re- 
 publican and held various town offices. Both he and 
 his wife were members of the Methodist Church. 
 Their only child, Hattie M. Suydam, was born Nov. 
 12, 1871. At the date of his death Mr. Suydam 
 owned 320 acres of land. 
 
 Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. 
 Hager Bertie D. and Alice R. 
 
 athsheba A. Hummel, residing on section 
 i, Somonauk Township, accompanied her 
 husband, Peter F. Hummel, to Illinois in 
 58, since which date she has been a resi- 
 dent of De Kalb County. They located first 
 at Freeland, where they kept a hotel some 
 years. In 1849 Mr. Hummel went to California, 
 and died in the year following on his way home. He 
 was born in 1805, and his death occurred Oct. 20, 
 1850. He was a carriage-maker by vocation, and 
 after he came to De Kalb County he entered the 
 claim of land on a portion of which his widow 
 has since resided. The original tract included 640 
 acres, all of which was sold excepting the 80 on 
 which she has since resided and conducted her farm- 
 ing interests. 
 
 Mrs. Hummel was born in Woodstock, Windham 
 Co., Conn., Aug. 23, 1811, and is the daughter of 
 John and Elizabeth (Howard) Estabrooks. Her 
 parents went when she was a little -more than a 
 month old to Orwell, Bradford Co., Pa. Her father 
 had previously been a shoe dealer in Providence, R. 
 
 %&m. 
 
 ' 
 

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 "" I. He lost his property during the second Colonial 
 struggle with Great Britain. He beca.ne a farmer in 
 V Pennsylvania, where he continued to operate until 
 f 1835, when he removed with his family to Squaw 
 \j Grove Township, where he purchased land. He 
 was the second Postmaster at Somonauk, and for a 
 time was Justice of the Peace. He was one of the 
 earliest pioneers of De Kalb County, and died in 
 Squaw Grove in 1850. Mrs. Hummel was married 
 March 25, 1830, in Orwell, Pa. Three of the chil- 
 { dren born to them are living : John H. resides at 
 j Hyde Park, 111.; Miriam is the wife of James H. 
 Harmon, a farmer on section 32, Somo-iauk Town- 
 
 ship; Julius M. is a merchant at Sandwich, 111. 
 
 ^alentine Ebinger, of the firm of Dieterich 
 & Ebinger, manufacturers of drain-tile and 
 brick, in Somonauk Township, one mile 
 west of Sandwich, was born April 24, 1847, in 
 Baden, Germany. He is the son of George and 
 Margaret Ebinger, and is a half-brother of his 
 partner, Lewis Dieterich. He came in 1856 with his 
 parents to this country, and his father was engaged 
 in brick-making in Ottawa, La Salle County, and af- 
 terward at a place one a half miles north of Sand- 
 wich. The son was employed a number of years in 
 the yard. In 1871 he assumed charge of the ship- 
 ping department of the Sandwich Manufacturing 
 Company, and was occupied in the duties of the 
 position until August, 1882, when he resigned and 
 formed his present business association. In that 
 year they erected their buildings and entered upon 
 the prosecution of their business, in which they have 
 met with gratifying success. Their works demand a 
 working force of 20 men all the year, and they man- 
 facture tile from three to twelve inches in diameter. 
 The brick which they supply to the trade is of a fine 
 quality, and their business transactions amount an- 
 nually to about $20,000. The firm are the owners 
 of the Sandwich Fair Grounds and buildings, and 
 besides their own occupancy they have four families 
 as tenants. 
 
 Mr. Ebinger was married at Sandwich, April 8, 
 1869, to Louisa, daughter of Gustave and Elizabeth 
 
 
 
 Miller, a native of La Salle Co., 111. They have 
 six children: Lydia was born June n, 1870; Wal- 
 ter, Dec. 21, 1872; B-injftiin, June 19, 1874; Will- 
 iam, Feb. 18, r877 ; George, Feb. 14, 1881 ; Ida, Aug- 
 19, 1883. Mr. and Mrs. Ebinger are members of the 
 Methodist Church. 
 
 on! Edward L. Mayo, deceased, a former 
 resident of Sycamore, was born April 7 , 
 1807, in Moretown, Washington Co., Vt. 
 He was the son of Leonard and Thyrza (Marcey) 
 Mayo. His father died when he was a child of 
 six years, and he was placed in charge of a far- 
 mer in Moretown Township named Ebenezer John- 
 son, and he was brought up on the farm, attending 
 common school in the intervals of labor. He was 
 studious by nature, and while his hands performed 
 the required duties, his mind was eager to explore 
 the realms of knowledge, and even in youth he was 
 accustomed to take his book to the field with him to 
 study while he worked. He taught winters after he 
 reached a suitable age and degree of acquisition, and 
 devoted his earnings to fitting himself for college by 
 attending an academy at Montpelier. 
 
 He studied law with Hon. E. Prentice (afterward 
 United States Senator) at Montpelier, and was there 
 admitted to the Bar in 1835, and initiated his pro- 
 fessional career at Morrisville, Vt. He came to De 
 Kalb County in 1841, and opened his office at Syca- 
 more. He entered at once upon a popular and suc- 
 cessful practice. His genuine traits of character and 
 method of conducting his business recommended him 
 to the confidence and trust of the people of whom he 
 was one, and in 1849 he was elected County Judge. 
 On the expiration of his first term he was re-elected, 
 and served two terms successively. Subsequently he 
 was again elected for another four years. In 1854 
 he was the Democratic candidate for Congress, and 
 if the question had rested solely on merit he would 
 have been elected; but the district is one of the most 
 strongly Republican in the State. He was at one 
 time connected with the press of De Kalb County, 
 and for some years edited the Sentinel, at Sycamore, 
 Illinois. 
 
 He was united in marriage, in November, 1837, to 
 
 \ >v.gisx<ini< rcSv^VxA/g) 
 
 : 

 
 Lettice A. Holden, who was born in Springfield, 
 Windsor Co., Vt., and lived but fourteen months after 
 
 her marriage. Judge Mayo was again married Sept. 
 17, 1840, to Emily K. Holden, a cousin of his first 
 
 ) wife, and they had ten children. Four are now 
 living: Edward L., M. D., practicing his profession 
 at De Kalb (see sketch) ; Lettice A., wife of Captain 
 J. W. Burst, of Sycamore; Emily Matilda, and 
 Kate A. 
 
 Judge Mayo died Nov. 16, 1877, at De Kalb, 111., 
 aged 70 years. 
 
 > dward L. Mayo, practicing physician, res- 
 ident at De Kalb, was born in Sycamore, 
 this county, June 16, 1843. He lived.with 
 his parents and attended the public schools of 
 Sycamore until 21 years of age. On attaining 
 his majority he entered upon the study of med- 
 icine, first under the instruction of Dr. Bryant, and 
 later with Dr. Garvin. 
 
 = In 1864 he matriculated at Rush Medical College, 
 ^ Chicago, and followed the curriculum of that institu- 
 
 tion for four years, when, in 1868, he graduated and 
 received his diploma. He at once entered on the 
 practice of his profession at Malta, this county, and 
 continued in practice at that place for seven years, 
 meeting with success. 
 
 In 1875 Dr. Mayo changed his residence to De 
 Kalb, where he has since followed the practice of his 
 profession, and where he is meeting with success in 
 the increase of his business and the treatment of his 
 cases. 
 
 Dr. Mayo was married to Miss Alice L. Ballou, 
 Jan. i, 1872. She was born at Springville, N. Y., 
 Oct. 18, 1853. She possessed in an eminent degree 
 those qualities of mind and heart so requisite to make 
 a woman what she was a most kind and loving wife 
 and mother, a true friend, having many friends and 
 no enemies. They lived most happily until her 
 death, Sept. 27, 1880. Mr. and Mrs. Mayo were 
 the parents of two children Ross E. and Alice L. 
 The former was born May 10, 1875, arid the latter 
 Sept. 6, 1880. 
 
 Dr. Mayo was again married Dec. 10, 1884, to 
 Miss Irene Robinson, who was born in Malta, 111., in 
 1862.
 
 

 
 
 
 3 
 
 ! 

 
 
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 s 
 
 
 (RyVsray 
 ^_ A^V
 
 
 

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 IT* 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 jlME is ever moving on. A 
 half century has passed 
 away since the first settle- 
 ment was effected by the 
 white men in what is now 
 the county of De Kalb a 
 period of time in which more 
 important events have transpired 
 than in any five hundred years of 
 the world's history. In the record 
 of events De Kalb County has per- 
 formed no inconsiderable part, as 
 the pages of this history will testify. 
 Within that time a wilderness has 
 been transformed into a cultivated 
 region of thrift and prosperity by 
 the untiring zeal and energy of an 
 enterprising people. The trails of 
 hunters and the wily red men have given place to rail- 
 roads and thoroughfares for vehicles of every de- 
 scription ; the cabins and garden patches of the pion- 
 eers have been succeeded by comfortable houses and 
 broad fields of waving grain, with school-houses, 
 churches, mills, postoffices, manufactories, and every 
 convenience that could be asked for by civilized man. 
 The record of this marvelous change is history, 
 and the most important that can be written. For 
 one half century the people of De Kalb County have 
 been making a history that for thrilling interest, grand 
 practical results, and lessons that may be perused 
 ith profit by citizens of other regions, will compare 
 favorably with the history of any county in the great 
 Northwest. Take, for instance, the record of the 
 county in the great war of the rebellion. Where were 
 
 
 
 braver men than those forming the quota of De Kalb ? 
 There were few only of the battle-fields of the South 
 but what were moistened by the life-blood of her sons. 
 .In the matter of useful inventions, few counties can 
 boast of labor- saving articles more universally adopted 
 than those that came from the brains of the men of 
 De Kalb. The names of Marsh, Glidden, Whitney, 
 Ellwood, Adams and others will always be classed 
 among the world's benefactors. 
 
 The question is often asked why men leave the 
 comforts and pleasures of civilized lands and strike 
 out into a new and almost unknown country bearing 
 the toils and privations which are unavoidable. Not 
 more from choice than from necessity, did the old 
 pioneers bid farewell to the play-grounds of their 
 childhood and the graves of their fathers. One 
 generation after another had worn themselves out in 
 the service of avaricious landlords, or to eke out a 
 miserable existence upon barren or worn out land 
 which they called their own. From the first flashes 
 of the morning light until the last glimmer of the 
 setting sun, they had toiled unceasingly on from 
 father to son, carrying home each day upon their 
 aching shoulders the precious proceeds of their daily 
 labor. Money, pride and power were handed down 
 in the line of succession from the rich father to his 
 son, while unceasing work, continuous poverty and 
 everlasting obscurity were the heritage of the work- 
 ing man and his children. For the sons and daugh- 
 ters of the poor man to remain there was to follow 
 and never to lead to be poor forever. 
 
 Without money, prestige or friends the old pioneer 
 drifted along seeking the garden spot, the place where 
 he might establish a home, where he might educate
 
 his sons and daughters, giving them privileges never 
 enjoyed by himself. The broad prairies and the 
 beautiful groves of De Kalb County in that early day 
 were indeed inviting to those seeking a home in a 
 more favored land, and here planted their stakes, 
 many of whom the present generation have reason 
 to rise up and call them blessed. To secure and 
 adorn the homes desired by the pioneers, more than 
 ordinary ambition was required, greater than ordinary 
 endurance demanded. How well they have succeed- 
 ed let the broad cultivated fields and fruit-bearing 
 orchards, the flocks and the herds, the palatial resi- 
 dences, the places of business, the spacious halls, the 
 clattering car-wheels and ponderous engines all testify. 
 There was a time when pioneers waded through 
 deep snows, across bridgeless rivers and through 
 bottomless sloughs, more than a score of miles to 
 mill or market, and when more time was required to 
 reach and return from market, than is now required 
 to cross the continent or the Atlantic Ocean. These 
 were the times when their palaces were constructed 
 of logs and covered with " shakes " riven from the 
 forest trees. These were the times when children 
 ' were stowed away in the night in the low, dark attics, 
 amongst the horns of the elk and the deer, and 
 where through the chinks in the" shakes "they could 
 count the twinkling stars. These were the times 
 when chairs and bedsteads were hewn from the forest 
 trees, and tables and bureaus constructed from the 
 boxes in which goods were brought. These were the 
 days when all were required to work six days in the 
 week and all the hours in a day from sunrise to sun- 
 set. Now all is changed. In viewing the blessings 
 which now surround us, we should reverence those 
 that made them possible, and ever fondly cherish in 
 memory the sturdy old pioneer and his log cabin. 
 
 Value of Local History. 
 
 HE great dread of man from remote ages 
 has been to be forgotten. The means em- 
 ployed to prevent this and to perpetuate 
 his memory has been in proportion to the 
 amount of intelligence he possessed. It has 
 been conceded now by scientists that the prin- 
 cipal object of the Egyptians in building their pyra- 
 mids was to perpetuate the name and deeds of their 
 
 great leaders and rulers. The walls in the extensive 
 apartments beneath those huge stone monuments are 
 covered with paintings illustrating the deeds, both in 
 peace and war, of her illustrious princes, and in 
 chronological order. These colors are as bright, 
 apparently, as when they were first laid on, and the 
 work shows great skill and artistic design. The ex- 
 humations made by the archeologist of Egypt from 
 buried Memphis indicate a desire of these people to 
 perpetuate the memory of their achievements. The 
 walls of the palaces found buried here are decorated 
 with historical emblems representing the lives and 
 deeds of these people. In Memphis they displayed 
 a higher art. They carved out in marble elegant and 
 life-like statues of their distinguished princes, accom- 
 panied with hieroglyphics, illustrating their deeds. 
 The erection of those great obelisks were for the 
 same purpose. Coming down to a later period we 
 find the Greeks and Romans erecting mausoleums 
 and monuments, and carving out statues to chronicle 
 their great achievements, and carry them down the 
 ages. It is evident that the' mound-builders, in 
 piling up their great mounds of earth, had but this 
 idea, to leave something to show that they had lived. 
 All these works, these representations, though many 
 of them costly in the extreme, give but a faint idea 
 of the lives and character of those whose memory 
 they were intended to perpetuate, and scarcely noth- 
 ing of the masses of the people that then lived. The 
 great pyramids and some of the obelisks remain, ob- 
 jects only for scientists or curiosity seekers ; the 
 mausoleums, monuments and statues are crumbling 
 into dust. The monuments, statues and other relics 
 are being gradually conveyed to the different muse- 
 ums of the world, and soon there will nothing remain 
 in these countries to illustrate the lives of the people 
 who once dwelt in them. 
 
 Generation after generation come and go like the 
 leaves of autumn. Nations have been born, have 
 had their rise and fall, and then passed away, leav- 
 ing scarcely a riffle on the great ocean of time to 
 show that they ever existed, sj imperfect and muta- 
 ble has been their means to perpetuate their achieve- 
 ments. It was left to modern ages to establish an in- 
 telligent, undecaying, immutable method of per- 
 petuating this history; immutable in that it is almost 
 unlimited in extent, and perpetual in its action; and 
 this is through the art of printing. Nations may be- 
 come disintegrated and pass away, monuments and 
 
 ,,,, 

 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY, 
 
 763 
 
 statues may crumble into dust, but books will live, j 
 This art has been rapidly advancing from its first in- ! 
 ception until now it would seem that there were no i 
 longer any further ground for improvement. This is 
 pre-eminently an age of printing, an age of books. 
 
 To the present generation, however, are we in- 
 debted for the introduction of the admirable system 
 of local history and local biography. By this system 
 every man, though he has not achieved what the 
 world calls greatness, has the means to perpetuate 
 his life, his history through the coming ages; so alike 
 has every community. 
 
 We come now to the work before us : To our 
 patrons, we say, that the scythe of Time cuts down 
 all ; nothing of the physical man is left ; the monu- 
 ment which his children or friends may erect to his 
 memory in the cemetery will crumble into dust and 
 pass away; but his life, his achievements, the work 
 he has accomplished, which otherwise would be for- 
 gotten, is perpetuated by this book through coming 
 ages. Shakspeare has said : 
 
 The evil men do lives after them ; 
 
 The good is oft interred with their bones. 
 
 Our aim in this work has been only to preserve 
 the good. We sought to gather from the best 
 sources of information obtainable, the conditions and 
 incidents of the early pioneer life, and to present 
 that, together with the present development of the 
 county. Many of the pioneers came into this beau- 
 tiful country without a dollar in their pockets, but 
 with the unflinching determination to carve out their 
 fortunes and build up a community. With undaunted 
 hearts, and a courage equal to that of the great he- 
 roes of our history, they began life. 
 
 ^ + <> + ^. 
 
 How Our Fathers Lived. 
 
 r IONEER life at the present time is not to 
 be compared with that of fifty years ago. 
 In this day the great railway corporations 
 build railroads into and through such country 
 as they may think in time will become profita- 
 ble to the settlers and themselves, and the pio- 
 neers enter palace cars and are conveyed to their 
 destination at the rate of thirty miles an hour, and 
 from the beginning have a market for their produce 
 
 M3$4 ^^ @ 
 
 at their very door. All this was different in the 
 early days of De Kalb County. Then, when one 
 desired to remove from the far East, it required 
 long and extensive preparations, their conveyance 
 generally being an ox team hitched to a heavy lum- 
 ber wagon. The route lay through a wild and 
 rough country ; swamps and marshes were crossed 
 with great exertion and fatigue ; rivers were forded 
 with difficulty and danger, nights were passed in the 
 dense forests, with mothet earth for a couch and the 
 trees and foliage for a shelter; long weary days and 
 weeks of travel were endured, but finally their eyes 
 were gladdened and their hearts beat faster when a 
 vision of their future home burst upon them. 
 
 The first thing upon their arrival was to set about 
 building a cabin. While this was being done the 
 family slept in the wagons or upon the grass, while 
 the horses or mules, tethered to prevent escape, 
 grazed on the grass around them. Trees of a suita- 
 ble and uniform size were selected, felled and pre- 
 pared for their places. The day for the raising was 
 announced and from far and near came other pio- 
 neers to assist in the labor. The structure went up, 
 a log at a time, those engaged in the work stopping 
 now and then to " wet their whistles," and soon it 
 was ready for the clapboard roof, which was held on 
 by huge weight-poles. A door and a window were 
 cut where the good wife directed, a chimney built, 
 and the building was ready for its occupants. The 
 space between the logs was filled with split sticks of 
 wood, called " chinks," and then daubed over, both 
 inside and out, with mortar made of clay. The 
 floor was sometimes nothing more than earth tramped 
 hard and smooth, but was commonly made of " pun- 
 cheons," or split logs, with the split side turned up- 
 wards. The roof was made by gradually drawing 
 in the top to the ridge-pole and on cross-pieces 
 laying the clapbsards, which, being several feet in 
 length, instead of being nailed were held in place by 
 weight-poles, reaching the entire length of the cabin. 
 
 For a fire-place, a space was cut out of the logs 
 on one side of the roDm, usually about six 'feet in 
 length, and three sides were built up of logs, making 
 an offset in the wall. This was lined with stone, if 
 convenient; if not, then earth was used. The flue, 
 or upper part of the chimney, was built of small 
 split sticks, two and a half or three feet in length, 
 carried a little space above the roof, and plastered 
 over with clay, and when finished was called a " col 
 
 -*&&
 
 \ 
 
 ' and clay " chimney. The door space was also made 
 by cutting an aperture in one side of the room of the 
 required size, the door itself being made of clap- 
 boards secured by wooden pins to two cross-pieces. 
 (. The hinges were also of wood, while the fastenings 
 consisted of a wooden latch catching on a hook of the 
 same material. To open the door from the outside, 
 a strip of buckskin was tied to the latch and drawn 
 through a hole a few inches above the latch bar, so 
 that on pulling the string the latch was lifted from 
 / the catch or hook, and the door was opened without 
 further trouble. To lock the door it was only neces- 
 sary to pull the string through the hole on the inside. 
 Here the family lived, and here the guest and way- 
 farer were made welcome. The living-room was of 
 good size, but to a large extent it was also kitchen, 
 bed-room, parlor and arsenal, with flitches of bacon 
 and rings of dried pumpkins suspended from the 
 rafters. These simple cabins were inhabited by a 
 kind and true-hearted people. They were strangers 
 to mock modesty, and the traveler seeking lodgings 
 '* for the night, or desirous of spending a few days in 
 =* the community, if willing to accept the rude offer- 
 ^ ings, was always welcome, although how they were 
 disposed of at night the reader may not easily imag- 
 ine. 
 
 Character of the Pioneers. 
 
 'HE character of the pioneers of De Kalb 
 County falls properly within the range of 
 the historian. They lived in a region of 
 exuberance and fertility, where Nature had 
 scattered her blessings with a liberal hand. 
 I The forest supply, the fertile, prairie, and the 
 many improvements constantly going forward, with 
 the bright prospect for a glorious future in every- 
 thing that renders life pleasant, combined to deeply 
 impress their character, to give them a spirit of en- 
 terprise, an independence of feeling, and a joyous- 
 ness of hope. They were a thorough admixture of 
 many nations, characters, languages, conditions and 
 opinions. There was scarcely a State in the Union 
 that was not represented among the early settlers. 
 All the various religious sects had their advocates. 
 All now form one society. 
 
 ^g^ %A^HU 
 
 t 
 
 Clothing. 
 
 HE clothing of the early pioneers was as 
 plain and simple as their houses. Neces- 
 sity compelled it to be in conformity to the 
 strictest economy. The clothing taken to the 
 new country was made to render a vast deal of 
 service. In summer, nearly all persons, both 
 male and female, went barefooted. Buckskin moc- 
 casins were worn considerably. Boys twelve and fif- 
 teen years of age never thought of wearing any- 
 thing on their feet except during three or four months 
 of the coldest weather in winter. Boots were un- 
 known until a later generation. 
 
 Wolf-Hunting. 
 
 N early days more mischief was done by 
 wolves than by any other wild animal, and 
 no small part of their mischief consisted in 
 their almost constant barking at night, which al- 
 ways seemed menacing and frightful to the set- 
 tlers. Like mosquitoes, the noise they made 
 appeared about as dreadful as the real depreda- 
 tions they committed. The most effectual, as well 
 as the most exciting method of ridding the country 
 of these hateful pests, was that known as the circular 
 wolf hunt, by which all the men and boys would 
 turn out on an appointed day, in a kind of circle 
 comprising many square miles of territory, with 
 horses and dogs, and then close up toward the cen- 
 ter field of operation, gathering, not only wolves, but 
 also deer and many smaller " varmint." Five, ten or 
 more wolves, by this means, would be killed in a 
 single day. The men would be organized with as 
 much system as a small army, every one being 
 posted in the meaning of every signal and the appli- 
 cation of every rule. Guns were scarcely ever al- 
 lowed to be brought on such occasions, as their use 
 would be unavoidably dangerous. The dogs were 
 depended upon for the final slaughter. The dogs, 
 by the way, had all to be held in check by a cord 
 
 
 r
 
 
 .v * - 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 765 
 
 i 
 
 in the hands of their keepers until the final signal 
 was given to let them loose, when away they would 
 all go to the center of battle, and a more exciting 
 scene would follow than can easily be described. 
 
 Snakes. 
 
 N pioneer times snakes were numerous, such 
 as the rattlesnake, adder, milk-snakes, gar- 
 ter and water snakes, and others. If, on 
 meeting one of these, you would retreat, they 
 would chase you very fiercely ; but if you 
 would turn and give them battle, they would 
 immediately turn and crawl away with all possible 
 speed, hide in the grass and weeds and wait for a 
 " greener " customer. These harmless snakes served 
 to put people on their guard against the more danger- 
 ous and venomous kind. 
 
 Bee Hunting. 
 
 'ECREATIONof this sort was a peculiar one, 
 and many sturdy backwoodsmen gloried in 
 excelling in this art. He would carefully 
 watch a bee as it filled itself with the product of 
 some sweet flower or leaf bud, and notice par- 
 ticularly the direction taken by it as it struck 
 a " bee-line" for its home, which, when found, would 
 generally be high up in the hollow of some tree. The 
 tree would be marked, and in the fall a party would 
 
 go and cut down the tree and capture the honey as 
 quick as they could before it wasted away through the 
 broken walls in which it had been so carefully stowed 
 by the busy little bee. Several gallons would often 
 be taken from a single tree, and by a very little work, 
 and pleasant at that, the early settlers could keep 
 themselves in honey the year round. By the time 
 the honey was a year old it would turn white and 
 granulate, yet be as good and healthful as when 
 fresh. This was called by some " candied " honey. 
 
 - 
 
 Religion. 
 
 HE religious element in the life of the pio- 
 neer was such as to attract the attention of 
 those living in more favored places. The 
 pioneer was no hypocrite. If he believed in 
 horse-racing, whisky-drinking, card-playing, or 
 anything of like character, he practiced them 
 openly and above board. If he was of a religious, 
 turn of mind he was not ashamed to own it. He 
 could truthfully sing 
 
 " I'm not ashamed to own my Lord, 
 Or blush to speak His name." 
 
 But the pioneer clung to the faith of his fathers, 
 for a time at least. If he was a Presbyterian he 
 was not ashamed of it, but rather prided himself on 
 being one of the elect. If a Methodist, he was one 
 to the fullest extent. He prayed long and loud if 
 the spirit moved him, and cared nothing for the 
 empty form of religion. 
 
 | 
 
 
 

 
 5N the pioneers of De Kalb 
 County came here to seek a 
 home they found the coun- 
 try inhabited by the once 
 powerful tribe of Potto- 
 watomie Indians, though the 
 country had some years be- 
 fore been ceded to the whites. 
 This tribe came originally from Canada, 
 and as civilization advanced they were re- 
 required to take up their line of march to- 
 ward the setting sun. While there has 
 been much maudlin sentiment written of 
 the " noble red men," yet one cannot help 
 expressing pity as they witness how loth 
 they were to leave the home of their fa- 
 thers. Some writer thus speaks of them : 
 " Like most Indians, they were in person rather 
 above than below the average height of Europeans. 
 The usual expression of their countenance, when in 
 repose, was grave, even to sadness. They had 
 high cheek-bones, faces uncommonly wide below the 
 eyes, retiring foreheads, long, sleek, black hair, finer 
 than a horse's mane, but much resembling it, but no 
 beards, for a beard was considered disgraceful, and 
 untold tortures were endured in plucking out the 
 first faint symptoms of one that sometimes appeared. 
 They were of rugged health, straight and well 
 limbed, and with a stoical indifference to pain that 
 was either a wonderful exhibition of fortitude, or 
 more probably the result of physical insensibility. 
 They were generally sullen, seldom impatient, or 
 hurried into intemperate warmth, except in hatred of 
 ^^ *^Z 
 
 their enemies ; generally feigning a proud indifference 
 to their families, yet often giving evidence of strong 
 attachment to them, and always indolent except in 
 the chase or on the war path." To this general de- 
 scription a local writer added : " This was rather the 
 natural character of the Indians than that which 
 most of them bore at the period of the settlement of 
 this county. The use of intoxicating liquors had at 
 this time demoralized them and destroyed their no- 
 bility of character. They had become more puerile 
 and purposeless, and their most conspicuous traits 
 were their indolence and their disgusting personal 
 habits." 
 
 The art of hunting not only supplied the Indian 
 with food, but, like that of war, was a means of 
 gratifying his love of distinction. The male chil- 
 dren, as soon as they acquired sufficient age and 
 strength, were furnished with a bow and arrow, and 
 taught to shoot birds and other small game. Suc- 
 cess in killing large animals required years of care- 
 ful study and practice, and the art was as sedu- 
 lously inculcated in the minds of the rising gen- 
 eration as are the elements of reading, writing and 
 arithmetic in the common schools of civilized com- 
 munities. The mazes of the forest and the dense 
 tall grass of the prairies were the objects of the 
 most searching scrutiny, and revealed at a glance 
 the animal that made any visible traces, the direc- 
 tion it was pursuing, and the time that had elapsed 
 since it had passed. In a forest country he selected 
 the valleys, because they were most frequently the 
 resort of game. The most easily taken, perhaps, of 
 all the animals of the chase was the deer. It is en- 
 
 ^^ *&i*& 
 
 f
 
 
 SSS*^ 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 767 
 
 
 
 dovved with a curiosity which prompts it to stop in its 
 flight and look back at the approaching hunter, who 
 always avails himself of this opportunity to let fly 
 the fatal arrow. 
 
 Their general councils were composed of the 
 chiefs and old men. When in council they usually 
 sat in concentric circles around the speaker, and 
 each individual, notwithstanding the fiery passions 
 that burned within, preserved an exterior as immov- 
 able as though cast in bronze. Before commencing 
 business a person appeared with the sacred pipe, 
 and another with fire to kindle it. After being 
 lighted it was first presented to heaven, then to the 
 earth, then to the presiding spirit, and lastly to the 
 several councilors, each of whom took a whiff. These 
 formalities were observed with as close exactness as 
 state etiquette in civilized courts. 
 
 The dwellings of the Indians were of the simplest 
 and rudest character. On some pleasant spot by 
 the bank of a stream, or near an ever-running spring, 
 they raised their groups of wigwams, constructed of 
 the bark of trees, and easily taken down and re- 
 moved to another spot. The dwelling-places of the 
 chiefs were sometimes more spacious, and con- 
 structed with greater care, but of the same materi- 
 als. Skins taken in the chase served then for re- 
 pose. 
 
 Though principally dependent upon hunting and 
 fishing, the uncertain supply from these sources led 
 them to cultivate small patches of corn. Every 
 family did everything necessary within itself, com- 
 merce", or an exchange of articles, being almost un- 
 known to them. In case of dispute and dissension, 
 each Indian relied upon himself for retaliation ; 
 blood for blood was the rule, and the relatives of the 
 slain man were bound to obtain bloody revenge for 
 his death. This principle gave rise, as a matter of 
 course, to innumerable and bitter feuds, and wars of 
 extermination, when such were possible. War, in- 
 deed, rather than peace, was the Indian's glory and 
 delight war, not conducted as in civilization, but 
 where individual skill, endurance, gallantry and 
 cruelty were prime requisites. For such a purpose 
 as revenge the Indian would make great sacrifices, 
 and display a patience and perseverance truly heroic ; 
 but when the excitement was over he sank back into 
 a listless, unoccupied, well-nigh useless savage. 
 During the intervals of his more exciting pursuits, 
 
 
 the Indian employed his time in decorating his per- 
 son with all the refinement of paint and feathers, 
 and in the manufacture of his arms and canoes. 
 These were constructed of bark, and so light that 
 they could easily be carried on the shoulder from 
 stream to stream. His amusements were the war 
 dance, athletic games, the narration of his exploits 
 and listening to the oratory of the chiefs ; but during 
 long periods of such existence he remained in a 
 state of torpor, gazing listlessly upon the trees of 
 the forest and the clouds that sailed above them ; 
 and this vacancy imprinted habitual gravity, and 
 even melancholy, upon his general deportment. 
 
 The main labor and drudgery of Indian communi- 
 ties fell upon the women. The planting, tending 
 and gathering of the crops, making mats and bas- 
 kets, carrying burdens, in fact, all things of the 
 kind were performed by them, thus making their 
 condition but little better than slaves. Marriage 
 was merely a matter of bargain and sale, the hus- 
 band giving presents to the father of the bride. In 
 general they had but few children. They were sub- 
 jected to many and severe attacks of sickness, and 
 at times famine and pestilence swept away whole 
 tribes. 
 
 The Indians had not only their '* manitous" but 
 also their evil spirits ; and the wild features of the 
 lake scenery appears to have impressed their savage 
 minds with superstition. They believed that all the 
 prominent points of this wide region were created 
 and guarded by monsters ; and the images of these 
 they sculptured on stone, painted upon the rocks, or 
 carved upon the trees. Those who " obeyed " these 
 supernatural beings they thought would after death 
 range among flowery fields filled with the choicest 
 game, while those who neglected their counsels 
 would wander amid dreary solitudes, stung by gnats 
 as large as pigeons. 
 
 The principal Indian settlements in this county 
 were at Shabbona Grove, where for many years the 
 noted chief, Shabbona, resided; at Squaw Grove, in 
 what is now Squaw Grove Township ; at the point in 
 De Kalb Township, where the village of Coltonville 
 was subsequently located, but which has since been 
 vacated; and in Kingston. The early settlers have 
 many interesting incidents to relate of the habits of 
 the Indians when the settlements were first made in 
 this county. It was a custom of an Indian when 
 passing and desiring a rest in the middle of the day 
 
 >?y 4>@^)6 

 
 to unceremoniously open a door of a cabin and throw 
 in his blanket. If it were suffered to remain, he 
 would walk in, lie down upon it and take a nap; if it 
 was immediately thrown out, he would pick it up and 
 go on his way. No Indian was ever known to knock 
 at a door. While engaged in their household duties, 
 the women would often be frightened on looking up 
 to find one who had noiselessly entered, and who 
 usually went in only for the purpose of obtaining 
 something to eat. When their wants were supplied 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 they would go away as unceremoniously as they 
 entered. 
 
 In September, 1835, the last payment was made to 
 the Indians at Shabbona Grove, and those who were 
 then here, with the exception of Shabbona and his 
 family, were removed across the Mississippi River to 
 their new reservations. Shabbona remained for some 
 years, and is well remembered by many who came in 
 even at a later day. The reader is referred to page 
 533 for a lengthy sketch of Shabbona. 
 
 HE first permanent settle- 
 ment in De Kalb County 
 was doubtless made by Wil- 
 liam Sebree in the fall of r 834, 
 at Squaw Grove. By some it 
 is thought that Peter Lamois 
 located north of the present city 
 of Sycamore in the summer of 
 the same year. The evidence, 
 we think, is not sufficient to 
 substantiate the claim, Lamois' 
 settlement being made early in 
 1835. A house for some years oc- 
 cupied by Reuben Root in Somo- 
 I nauk Township is thought by some 
 to be the first one erected in the county, its erection 
 being claimed for the summer of 1834. A Mr. Rob- 
 inson is said to have occupied this house in the win- 
 ter of 1834-5. No one seems to have any personal 
 knowledge of the man ; and should it be true that he 
 was there at the time stated, his settlement here 
 could not be said to have been a permanent one. 
 
 Early in 1835 settlements were made at Paw Paw 
 by David A. Towne, Benoni Harris, Edward Butter- 
 field ; in Somonauk, by Reuben Root, William Poplin, 
 Joseph and William Sly, Thomas and William Brook, 
 ( Capt. William Davis and others; in Sycamore, by 
 
 (^vVg'B/gco > "tf5!if r ' ^ 
 
 ^T^VSTf 59 
 
 Peter Lamois, Lysander Darling and others ; in De 
 Kalb, by John B. Collins, N. C. Moore and others. 
 There were also settlements made in Kingston, Clin- 
 ton and Mayfield Townships. For a full history of 
 each of the settlements the reader's attention is 
 directed to the various township histories, where the 
 settlement of each is treated in detail. Suffice it to 
 say, in this connection, that when it became known 
 that the Indians were removed settlements were 
 rapidly formed, and in 1837 a county was organized. 
 The first settlers of De Kalb County, like those of 
 every other section of the country, located in the 
 groves, or in the timbers along the streams. The 
 Government survey had not then been made, and 
 each man made claim to a tract of timber, covering, 
 as he supposed, about 80 acres, and generally about 
 1 60 acres of prairie land. In order to protect them- 
 selves in their claims when the land came into mar- 
 ket, claim associations were formed in which the 
 members pledged themselves to defend one another 
 in their rights, and to deed to each other free of cost 
 any part of the claim made which might be part of 
 the purchase made from the Government. There 
 were two associations formed in this county, one in 
 the northern and the other in the southern part. 
 That in the northern part was formed in 1836, while 
 that in the southern was formed shortly after. 
 

 
 K*aft*)V*MMHK*Jl*+)INMHIIi*3l*^^ 
 
 )UNDING De Kalb County, 
 we find on the east Kendall 
 and Kane Counties ; on the 
 west Lee and Ogle, on the 
 north Boone and McHenry, 
 and on the south La Salle 
 County. It is in the second 
 tier of counties south from 
 the Wisconsin line. The 
 county comprises 18 Congressional town- 
 ships, and is 18 miles across from east to 
 west and 36 miles from north to south. 
 The surface of the county is a rich, roll- 
 ing prairie, with here and there a small 
 natural grove, and watered by a few small 
 streams, the largest of which is the Kish- 
 waukee River. The county occupies 
 the elevated ground between the Fox 
 and the Rock Rivers, whicli are noted 
 for their purity and beauty. 
 
 The central portion of the county contains but 
 little timber, and only a few running streams. There 
 is more timber and water in the northern and south- 
 ern parts of the county. The largest stream in 
 the county is the Kishwaukee River. This stream 
 heads in the town of Shabbona, and flows through 
 the towns of Milan, Afton, De Kalb, Mayfleld, Syca- 
 more, Genoa, Kingston and Franklin; and empties 
 into the Rock River, in Winnebago County. It has 
 several branches, one of which heads in the town of 
 Virgil, Kane County, and flows through Cortland and 
 Sycamore Townships, and enters the main branch in 
 
 the town of Mayfield. There are several small creeks 
 that flow through the northern part of the county, 
 which are valuable to the farms which they water. 
 Along the banks of the Kishwaukee, in the northern 
 half of the county, stretches one continuous forest 
 composed principally of white, red and burr oak trees, 
 and some maple, butternut, black walnut and hickory. 
 This grove furnished at an early day the north half of 
 the county with fuel and fencing timber. The rolling 
 prairies occupy almost the entire surface of the cen- 
 tral portion of the county. The early settlers of the 
 county made their claims in close proximity to the 
 timber and water, and could hardly believe that the 
 distant prairies would ever serve any other purpose 
 than that of a large range, for stock. They felt sure 
 that no farmer could live there, so far away from the 
 timber. They little thought that many of them would 
 live to see it all settled and occupied by man. Some 
 of the wealthiest farmers and the most productive 
 farms of the county, are now found on the prairies. 
 The central portion of the county has but little water. 
 The southern portions of the county, like the north- 
 ern, are better watered and timbered than those 
 towns which occupy the center. The townships of 
 Paw Paw and Shabbona are watered by the Big In- 
 dian Creek, while Shabbona Grove and Ross Grove 
 furnish its timber. The Little Indian Creek waters 
 the townships of Victor, Paw Paw and Clinton; while 
 Somonauk and Squaw Grove Townships are watered 
 by Somonauk Creek; and along this stream will be 
 found timber enough to supply the wants of the sur- 
 rounding country. Some limestone is found in 
 Kingston, Franklin and Afton Townships.
 
 . 'I . 'I . 'I . 'I . 'i . 'i . 'i . 'T . 'i . 'i . 'i . 'i , 'i . '.'.< . \' . i 1 , i 1 . i 1 .1' . i' . ]' . I 1 . l 1 . V . 1' I' . !" ' 
 
 EGULAR steps were taken 
 shortly after the settlement of 
 the county for its organization. 
 Therefore, on the first Monday 
 in May, 1837, in accordance 
 I with an act of the Legislature, 
 the election was held to deter- 
 mine whether the county of De Kalb 
 should be set off from the county of 
 Kane, of which it then formed a 
 part. The result was a majority in 
 favor of the division. By the same 
 act calling this election the bound- 
 aries of the new county to be created 
 were defined as follows : " All that 
 tract of country beginning at the southeast corner of 
 township 37 north, range 2 east of the third principal 
 meridian, thence north to the northeast corner of 
 township 42 north, range 2 east of the third principal 
 meridian, and thence along the northern boundary of 
 township 42, in ranges 3, 4 and 5 east of the third 
 principal meridian, thence south on the southeast 
 corner of township 37 north, range 5 east, thence 
 west on said township line, to the place of beginning." 
 By section 8 of the act determining the bound- 
 aries of the county, for the purpose of fixing the per- 
 
 ' *^~ 
 
 manent seat of justice of the county, Benjamin 
 Thruston, of La Salle County, James Walker, of 
 Cook County, and Germanicus Kent, of Winnebago 
 County, were appointed Commissioners, and required 
 to meet at the house of Frederick Love, on the first 
 Monday in June, or as soon thereafter as may be, for 
 the performance of their duty. 
 
 When the result of the election to determine 
 whether De Kalb County should be set off from the 
 county of Kane was officially announced, the County 
 Clerk of Kane County issued a call for an election to 
 be held at the house of Frederick Love, at which 
 there should be chosen three County Commissioners, 
 one Sheriff, Recorder and Coroner. The election 
 was held July 3, 1837, resulting in the election of the 
 following named : Rufus Colton, Robert Sterrett, 
 Levi Lee, County Commissioners; Joseph C. Lan- 
 der, Sheriff; Jesse C. Kellogg, Recorder; Eli Barnes, 
 Surveyor; Lysander Darling, Treasurer. 
 . De Kalb County was named in honor of the re- 
 nowned Baron De Kalb, who, on the outbreak of the 
 American Revolution, offered his services to the 
 Colonies, was accepted, and after nearly four years' 
 fighting, bravely fell in battle, thus giving his life, as 
 he so aptly expressed it, for the rights of man. He 
 was born in a German province, which, at the time 
 of his birth, was in possession of France.
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 771 
 
 
 Location of the County Seat. 
 
 'HE commissioners appointed by the Legis- 
 lature to locate the county seat met at the 
 Chouse ot Fred. Love sometime during the 
 month of October, 1837. There were three 
 competing points, and citizens representing 
 each of the three met with the commissioners 
 and proceeded with them to view each separate one. 
 After three days spent in riding about and listening 
 to the pleas of the interested persons, the commis- 
 sioners decided upon the present site of Sycamore, 
 and drove their stake where the court-house now 
 stands. A local writer thus describes this scene: 
 " In the presence of quite a crowd of interested 
 observers, they set a long pole upon the green 
 prairie, placed on it a streaming flag, and declared it 
 to be the location of the county seat of the new 
 county of De Kalb. Captain Eli Barnes now ad- 
 vanced and christened the new town by the name 
 of Orange. No objection was raised to this, and for 
 some time thereafter the point was known by that 
 name. Some objection had been made to the exact 
 spot selected by parties who thought the land a 
 half mile south more favorable. This was admitted; 
 but it was decided that this spot was as far out 
 on the broad prairie as the center of the town ought 
 to be placed, and here it was put. It did indeed 
 seem to be, in the phrase of the country, clear out of 
 sight of land, a lonely, windy, grassy, desolate spot. 
 The inhabitants of the rival locations, disappointed 
 at the result, ridiculed and denounced the selection, 
 chiefly for this reason. It was argued, however, that 
 the great State road from Vandalia, the capital of the 
 State, north to Lake Superior, passed through this 
 place, that the State road from Chicago to Galena 
 would cross here, and that consequently it would be 
 more accessible than the Coltonville and Brush Point 
 settlements, which were further to the west. It was 
 also held that there was a great deal more timber on 
 the eastern side of the county than on the western 
 side ; and as, of course, the settlements must always 
 be near the timbered lands, the center of population 
 would rather be at the east than at the west. The 
 gfr&fa *^ % 
 
 location was made north of the center of the county, 
 partly because it was thought that the southern end, 
 divided from the north by a broad stretch of bare 
 prairie, would ultimately be set off into some other 
 county." 
 
 County-Seat Contests. 
 
 HE selection by the commissioners of the 
 present site of Sycamore for the location of 
 the county seat, did not end the matter. 
 The question was not to be decided so easily. 
 The hopes raised in the breast of the citizens 
 of Brush Point and of Coltonville were not to 
 be thus rudely quenched by the dictum of any three 
 men. 
 
 During the session of the Legislature of 1837-8, 
 Henry Madden, a citizen of Brush Point in the pres- 
 ent township of Mayfield, and a member of the 
 Legislature, procured the passage of an act provid- 
 ing that a vote should be taken for or against the re- 
 moval of the county seat from Orange. The design 
 was that the friends of Brush Point and Coltonville 
 should combine to carry the measure through, then 
 have the question submitted as to which of the two 
 should be the county seat. Boies, in his History of 
 De Kalb County, thus speaks of this attempt to 
 procure the removal of the county seat: " Madden 
 returned and made no public mention of the passage 
 of this act, but it was strongly suspected by the 
 Orange men that something of the kind had been 
 done and was to be put through on the sly. It was 
 finally discovered in this way : A certain bachelor 
 of Genoa, Gleason by name, who was attached to the 
 Orange party, invaded the Brush Point settlement 
 one Sunday night in search of a wife. From his fair 
 Dulcina, he learned to his surprise that on the next 
 Monday week an election was to be held in that set- 
 tlement to remove the county seat. Gleason in- 
 formed his friends of what he had learned, and it 
 was agreed that the Orange men should meet them 
 at the polls and vote the removal project down. J. 
 C. Kellogg and E. G. Jewell were dispatched south 
 in the night to rouse their friends in Somonauk. In 
 due time the polls were opened, and, to the surprise 
 of the Brush Pointers, were opened in those precincts 
 opposed to the change as well as in those favor- 

 
 able to it. The unfairness of the secret conspiracy 
 was so apparent that in Somonauk precinct, which 
 then included six townships, 45 of the 47 votes cast 
 were against removal. The project was voted down 
 by 17 majority in the whole county." 
 
 An election was subsequently held, at which but 
 few votes were cast, but a majority in favor of the re- 
 moval of the county seat to Coltonville. On the 3d 
 of January, 1840, an act was passed by the Legisla- 
 ture to " permanently locate the seat of justice for 
 the county of De Kalb." On the third Monday in 
 
 August following, an election was held in pursuance 
 of the act. There were given at this election 240 
 votes in favor of the removal of the county seat from 
 Coltonville, and 143 votes against the removal. At 
 -the same time there were cast 207 votes in favor of 
 Sycamore to be the permanent county seat and 
 137 votes in favor of Brush Point, showing a ma- 
 jority of 70 votes in favor of Sycamore. 
 
 Other attempts have been made from time to time 
 to take from Sycamore the seat of justice of the 
 county, but without avail. 
 
 A ft i 
 
 HE first meeting of the Coun- 
 ty Commissioners' Court was 
 held at the house of Rufus 
 Colton, July 3, 1837. There 
 were present Rufus Colton, 
 Levi Lee and Robert Sterrett. 
 fter administering the oath of 
 office to each other they ap- 
 pointed Jesse C. Kellogg Clerk 
 of the Court. Mr. Kellogg at 
 once entered into bonds with Eli 
 Barnes as security in the sum of 
 $1,000 to faithfully perform the 
 duties of the office. On the nth 
 of July a special term of the Court 
 was held at the house of Rufus Col- 
 ton and the county was divided into 
 five election precints, each precinct 
 being made a justice's district. The 
 first precinct was called Kingston, 
 its boundary being as follows : Com- 
 mencing at the northwest corner of 
 the county, from thence south 1 2 
 miles, on the county line, from 
 thence northeast, crossing the Sycamore River, in- 
 cluding Benjamin Stephens in the precinct, from 
 
 thence north to the county line, from thence west to 
 the place of beginning. 
 
 The second precinct was called Sycamore and was 
 bounded as follows: Commencing at the northeast 
 corner of Kingston precinct, from thence westerly to 
 the line of Kingston precinct to the southwest corner 
 of the same, thence south so far that an east line 
 will cross Sycamore stream between James and Isaac 
 McCollum's, thence easterly so as to include Char- 
 ires' Grove to the east line of the county, thence 
 north to the place of beginning. 
 
 The third election precinct was called Orange, 
 with the following boundary line: Commencing at 
 the northeast corner of Sycamore precinct, from 
 thence westerly on the line of Sycamore precinct, to 
 the southwest corner of the same; thence south so 
 far that an east line will include Lost Grove; from 
 thence east to the county line ; from thence north to 
 the place of beginning. 
 
 Somonauk was the name given the fourth precinct, 
 with boundary lines as follows : Commencing at the 
 southeast corner of Orange precinct, from thence 
 westerly ten miles, from thence south to the south 
 line of the county, from thence east to the southeast 
 corner of the county, from thence north to the place 
 of beginning. 
 
 The fifth precinct was named Paw Paw, and was 
 
 -- 
 A
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 i 
 
 ! 
 
 bounded as follows : Commencing at the northwest 
 corner of Somonauk precinct, thence west to the 
 west line of the county, from thence south to the 
 southwest corner of the same, from thence east on 
 the county line to the southwest corner of Somonauk 
 precinct, from thence north to the place of begin- 
 ning. 
 
 Elections were ordered and judges of election 
 appointed for the several districts as follows : 
 
 Kingston district, at the house of Levi Lee, with 
 George H. Hill, John Whitney and Jonas Hait, 
 judges of election. 
 
 Sycamore precinct, at the school-house near Ly- 
 sander Darling's, with William A. Miller, James A. 
 Armstrong, and Samuel Cory, judges of election. 
 
 Orange district, at the house of Rufus Colton, 
 with Frederick Love, James Root and Eli Barnes, 
 judges of election. 
 
 Somonauk district, at the house of Woodruff and 
 Lane, with William Davis, Frederick A. Witherspoon 
 and Samuel Price, judges of election. 
 
 No election was appointed for the Paw Paw pre- 
 cinct, and there probably was none held, for on the 
 nth day of August the Commissioners allowed the 
 sum of one dollar each to the judges of election for 
 each of the foregoing districts, without reference to 
 Paw Paw. 
 
 At this term of court it was ordered that Levi Lee, 
 Benjamin Harris and Richard Hogeboom obtain a 
 writ of ad quod damnum for the purpose of damming 
 the Sycamore River for the erection of mills. 
 
 At this session the clerk prepared three tickets, on 
 the first of which was written, " one year," the sec- 
 ond, " two years," and the third, "three years." The 
 Commissioners then proceeded to draw, the 
 ticket drawn representing the term of years each 
 was to serve. Levi Lee drew one year, Rufus 
 Colton two years, and Robert Sterrett three years. 
 
 In August, 1838, another election was held for 
 three county commissioners, made necessary by a 
 change in the law. E. G. Jewell, Burrage Hough 
 and Henry Hicks were elected. They issued an 
 order that the October term of the Circuit Court 
 should be held at the house of Eli Barnes at the 
 proposed county seat. The house not being 
 erected at the time mentioned, court was held at 
 Coltonville. 
 
 At the September meeting of the board the ques- 
 
 tion of the erection of a court-house and jail was 
 considered, but no plan adopted. 
 
 Eli G. Jewell was authorized to secure the ser- 
 vices of a surveyor to plat the new county seat. 
 
 The compensation of jurors was fixed at 75 cents, 
 but subsequently reduced to 50 cents per day. 
 
 Three tavern licenses were granted this year one 
 to Russell Huntly, at which is now the town of De 
 Kalb ; one to John Eastabrooks, at Squaw Grove, 
 and one to H. N. Perkins, at Genoa. 
 
 In 1839 the county was divided into three assess- 
 ment districts the election precincts of Franklin, 
 Kingston and Kishwaukee constiluting one, with H. 
 F. Page as assessor. Sycamore, Orange and Ohio 
 precincts were made the second district, with Austin 
 Hayden, assessor. Somonauk and Paw Paw was 
 the third, Stephen Arnold being appointed assessor. 
 
 The total receipts and expenditures of the county 
 this year amounted to $452.15. 
 
 In 1840 the principal duty was to devise ways and 
 means to run the county without money. The 
 license for grocery-keepers was raised to $25 per 
 year. 
 
 For some years about all that was done by the 
 County Commissioners was to lay out and locate 
 new roads. In 1848 the increasing population 
 demanded the division of the county into more 
 election precincts. Squaw Grove precinct was 
 formed out of what is now Squaw Grove Township 
 and the south half of Pierce. Somonauk precinct 
 was changed so as to include Somonauk Township 
 and part of Victor. The name of Wooster precinct 
 was changed to Genoa. 
 
 In March, 1849, commissioners were appointed 
 to provide for the building of a new court-house. At 
 the same time an order was passed authorizing the 
 erection of a jail. 
 
 At the December term, 1849, William A. Miller, 
 William J. Hunt and Robert Sterrett were appointed 
 to divide the county into townships for a new organ- 
 ization under the township organization law. They 
 divided the county into thirteen townships, to which 
 were given the following names : Genoa, Kingston, 
 Franklin, Vernon, Liberty, Sycamore, Richland, 
 Orange, Shabbona, Clinton, Squaw Grove, Somonauk 
 and Paw Paw. 
 
 The following comprises the list of those who 
 have held the office of County Commissioner : R. 
 
 C) > *O^ "f^^f 
 
 
 i 
 
 I 

 
 Colton, Levi Lee, Robert Sterrett, Burrage Hough, 
 E. G. Jewell, H. Hicks, M. M. Mack, David Merritt, 
 Sylvanus Holcomb, A. Hayden, George H. Hill, 
 Joseph Newberry, W. Young, A. Hill, John S. Brown. 
 
 Board of Supervisors. 
 
 CAVING adopted the township organization 
 law, a Board of Supervisors was elected in 
 1850. The first meeting was held at Syca- 
 more, Oct. 7, 1850. James Harrington, of 
 Sycamore, was chosen Chairman. Among the 
 | first acts of the Board was to change the name 
 of the townships of Orange to De Kalb, of Richland 
 
 to Pampas, of Liberty to Mayfield, and of Vernon 
 to South Grove. From 1850 to the present time 
 the township organization system has been in vogue 
 and has generally been acceptable to the' people. ' 
 Wise counsels have usually prevailed in the Board, ^ 
 and much has been accomplished by the members 
 to advance the welfare of the county. Especially 
 during the perilous times of the Rebellion was the 
 Board active in providing means and measures to aid 
 the Government and the people at home. 
 
 For a list of Supervisors, see the respective town- 
 ship histories, where a full list of the Supervisors of 
 the county, serving the various townships in this 
 capacity, is given. 
 
 JHE County Commissioners, in 
 1838, when the seat of jus- 
 tice for the county was deter- 
 mined upon, after providing 
 for the survey and the plat- 
 ting of the village, issued an 
 order requiring EliG. Jewell 
 to sell certain lots at public auc- 
 tion, the proceeds to be applied to 
 the erection of a court-house and 
 jail. The auction was held and 
 some 15 or 20 lots were sold at 
 prices ranging from $20 to $50 each. 
 Among the purchasers were Fred- 
 erick Love, J. C. Kellogg, James S. 
 Waterman, Harvey Maxfield, Dan- 
 iel Bannister, Altnon Robinson, 
 Erastus Barnes and Timothy Wells. 
 Steps were at once taken to erect a court-house, and 
 accordingly a building 20 x 30 feet was erected on 
 the south side of the public square, in which the 
 June session of the Circuit Court, in 1839, was held, 
 although incomplete at the time. This building was 
 
 used until the winter of 1850-1 as a court-house, 
 and afterwards used for various purposes until r88i, 
 when it was torn down and the lumber removed. 
 
 In consequence of increase in population, and in 
 the volume of business transacted by the county 
 officers, it was but a few years before a larger and 
 better building became absolutely necessary. The 
 people throughout the county felt unwilling to bear 
 the expense of the entire building, believing that the 
 count seat, which they thought would be benefited 
 thereby, should bear a large proportion. After much 
 discussion, at the March term, 1849, of the Commis- 
 sioners' Court, three commissioners were appointed 
 to contract for building a new court-house. The 
 commissioners were E. P. Koring, Kimball Dow and 
 J. C. Kellogg. The building was to be erected in the 
 center of the public square, to be of brick 60 x 40 
 feet, two stories in height, and cost not to exceed 
 $6,000. Of this amount individual citizens, presum- 
 ably of Sycamore, were to contribute $[,500, being 
 allowed to pay in notes, two-thirds of which should 
 be paid Nov. i, 1849, and the remainder one year 
 thereafter. The County Commissioners further or- 

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 
 
 
 dered that it should be agreed that in case the 
 county seat should ever be removed from Sycamore 
 the county should return to the persons the amount 
 paid by each. It was ordered that the notes be 
 registered on the court records and be evidence of 
 the liability of the county for the re-payment of this 
 advance. An active canvass was at once made to 
 secure the required amount from the citizens of Syca- 
 more, with flattering results. Among those con- 
 tributing, with the amounts given, are the following 
 named: E. B. Barnes, j$roo; Amos Story, $20; 
 John Mayfield, $40; Thomas Woolsey, $20; Kim- 
 ball Dow, $50; E. P. Young, $150; W. H. Beavers, 
 $37; W. J. Hunt, $50; Ellsworth Rose, $25; E. 
 Hall, $25 ; E. H. Barnes, $25 ; Alonzo Brown, $20; 
 O. P. White, $25 ; Z. B. Mayo, $50 ; E. L. Mayo, 
 $50; John Chatfield, $20; J. S. & J. C. Waterman, 
 $r5b; M. Stark, $50; O. M. Bryan, $30; Thomas 
 H. Wood, $25 ; E. Wharry, $20; E. G. Jewell, $20; 
 Darius Williams, $25; R. Wyman, $20; William 
 Connell, $20; J. C. Kellogg, $25; R. Hopkins and 
 W. P. Dutton, $75 ; D. Easterbrooks, $25 ; A. Jack- 
 man, $20; Homer Roberts, $20 ; Sylvanus Holcomb, 
 $25 ; W. Fordham, $30; G. W. Kretsinger, $20. 
 
 The agents for building were also authorized to 
 sell the old court-house and all town lots owned by 
 the county at auction, and apply the proceeds in 
 payment of the $4,500 in bonds issued by the county' 
 for the new building. In the winter of 1850-1 the 
 new court-house was completed and occupied by the 
 county officers. 
 
 No changes were made to this building until 1863, 
 when a fire-proof addition was made upon the west 
 side for the use of the offices of of the circuit and 
 county clerks, at a cost of $4,500. 
 
 At the same time in which the order was passed 
 appointing agents to superintend the erection of the 
 court-house, one authorizing the erection of a jail at 
 a cost not exceeding $1,500 was passed. Nothing, 
 however, was done under this order. 
 
 In 1855 another attempt was made to secure an 
 appropriation and an order authorizing the erection 
 of a county jail. After much discussion an order 
 was passed appropriating $3,500 for this purpose, 
 provided the citizens of Sycamore would subscribe 
 $1,500. An effort was made by interested persons 
 to secure this amount, but without avail. At the 
 January term of the Board of Supervisors, in 1856, 
 
 the committee appointed to solicit subscriptions re- 
 ported no success in their mission, and recommended 
 that the county proceed to build the jail without 
 their aid. After considerable discussion, the Board 
 appropriated $5,000 for the purpose, and appointed 
 J. S. Brown, James Harrington and Alonzo Ellwood 
 a building committee. The work was at once begun 
 and soon completed. Thus the first jail in DeKalb 
 County was not erected for 19 years after its organi- 
 zation. 
 
 In 1853 the Board of Supervisors appointed W. C. 
 Tappan and Jesse Tindall a committee to contract 
 for a tract of land for a poor-farm, the expense of 
 keeping the poor becoming quite burdensome to the 
 county. A loan of $3,000 was called for with which 
 to purchase it. In September, the farm of A. H. 
 Cartwright, between Sycamore and De Kalb, was 
 purchased for the purpose. Suitable buildings were 
 erected and for a number of years met the wants of 
 those for whom it was intended. 
 
 At the November term of the Board of Supervisors, 
 in 1870, Moses Dean, W. L. Simmons, C. W. Brough- 
 ton, J. F. Glidden and Curtis Smith were appointed 
 a committee for the purpose of taking into consider- 
 ation the purchase of a new farm for the poor and 
 the erection of more suitable buildings. The com- 
 mittee at the January, 1871, term, reported against a 
 change of location, but urged the erection of new 
 buildings, according to certain plans and specifica- 
 tions filed with their report. The report of the com- 
 mittee was adopted and recommendations concurred 
 in. Moses Dean and J. F. Glidden were appointed 
 a committee to superintend the erection of new 
 buildings. An appropriation of $9,500 was made for 
 the purpose. At the September term, 1871, the 
 committee reported the cost of improvements would 
 amount to about $14,000. An additional appropriation 
 of $1,500 was made. The buildings were completed 
 before winter. In that year there were 33 inmates 
 in the poor-house. For the year 1884, the cost of 
 operating the farm and caring for the poor was 
 $2,263.38. The average appropriation annually is 
 $1,800. For the year 1884 it was reported there 
 were 26 inmates in the house ; three deaths and one 
 birth had occurred. The cost of each inmate for 
 the year, exclusive of farm products used, was $1.59 
 per week. The institution is well and economically 
 managed, all parties being satisfied with it. 
 
 
 ' 

 
 its organization De Kalb 
 County was made part of the 
 7th Judicial Circuit. The 
 first session of the Court was 
 held at the house of Rufus 
 Colton, in Coltonville, on the 
 9th day of October, 1838. There 
 were present Hon. John Pearson, 
 Judge of the Circuit, Joseph C. Lan- 
 der, Sheriff, and Rufus Colton, Clerk. 
 The first suit on record was that of 
 Erasmus D. Walrod vs. Stephen 
 Sherwood. This was a case of appeal 
 from a justice's court, the plaintiff 
 having obtained a judgment for the 
 same of $100. The judgment of the lower court was 
 sustained. 
 
 The following named composed the first grand 
 ury: George H. Hill, Nathan Billings, William A. 
 Miller, Lysander Darling, John Whitney, John Easta- 
 brooks, William Miles, Henry Madden, Eli Barnes, 
 Phineas Stevens, Alpheus Jenks, Russell D. Crossett, 
 John Maxfield, William Davis, Mallby B. Cleveland, 
 D. S. Ballard, Zachariah Wood, Ralph Wyman, Ben- 
 jamin Stephens, Joseph A. Armstrong, Henry B. 
 Barber, Reuben Nichols, Justin Crafts. 
 
 The petit jurors for the same term were C. W. 
 Branch, E. F. White, Abner Jackson, Peter Lamois, 
 Clark Wright, John Elliott, Clark L. Barber, Joseph 
 A. McCollum, Russell Huntley, Ora A. Walker, John 
 Corkins, Solomon Wells, H. N. Perkins, Jacob Cox, 
 Lyman Judd, Henry Durham, F. A. Witherspoon, 
 John Sebree, Marshall Stark, Jeremiah Burleigh, John 
 &&& 
 
 Riddle, Wm. Russell, W. Y. Pomeroy, Ezra Hanson. 
 
 There were 20 cases on the docket at this term. 
 The only indictment found by the grand jury was 
 one against William Taylor for passing counterfeit 
 money. Taylor was supposed to be one of an organ- 
 ized gang that was then infesting the country and 
 swindling honest citizens. Not being ready for trial 
 he was retained until the next term of court. After 
 being boarded for some weeks by the Barber family 
 the County Commissioners ordered him sent to the 
 Will County jail, to do which cost the county $45. 
 When he was next brought out for trial he escaped 
 from the guard and was never afterwards heard from. 
 
 The June session of the Circuit Court convened at 
 Coltonville with Hon. Thomas Ford, Judge of the 
 gth Judicial Circuit, presiding. While in session the 
 Board of County Commissioners ordered its clerk to 
 notify the Judge that a court-house had been erected 
 at the county seat and was ready for occupancy, re- 
 questing that he direct the Circuit Clerk to there keep 
 his office. Boise thus speaks of this matter: " Cap- 
 tain Barnes served the order upon the Judge, and 
 the crowd of attendants, augmented by a large body 
 of citizens, assembled to see what action would be 
 taken upon this order, awaited with great interest the 
 argument upon the proposition to remove to Sycamore. 
 When the Judge decided that the court must be re- 
 moved thence a shout of triumph went up from the 
 Sycamore party, while the opponents of removal were 
 correspondingly depressed. Judge Ford took his 
 record under his arm, State's Attorney Purple bundled 
 up his papers, the Sheriff, the lawyers, juries, parties- 
 and witnesses followed suit, and, led by Captain 
 
 > S5jr: 4)@$& 
 
 xxr ,_ | /v
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 .. 
 
 
 
 Barnes on that well-known spotted horse that he rode 
 upon all public occasions for more than 20 years 
 later, all took up their line of march through the thick 
 woods and across the green prairie, to the new seat of 
 empire at Sycamore. The assemblage was enter- 
 tained at a grand public dinner at the new tavern, 
 when all the luxuries that the country afforded were 
 freely provided by the successful party. When the 
 Court repaired to the new court-house, it was found 
 that the declaration of the Commissioners that the 
 court-house was ready for occupancy was rather more 
 than its condition warranted. It had a frame, a 
 roof, and some siding upon it, but there were no 
 doors or windows, and the only floor was some loose 
 boards covering one half of the upper story. When 
 the officers of the Court had clambered up to the seat 
 of justice in the second story, they found furniture 
 somewhat scarce. A tilting table was the judge's 
 desk, and a broad, rough board was provided for the 
 clerk's and attorney's tables. It was a rough and 
 primitive arrangement for the entertainment of the 
 blind goddess, and if she had had her eyes about her 
 she would have fled from the spot in alarm. A 
 question arose whether processes having been made 
 returnable at Coltonville, suits could be tried at an- 
 other locality, and except a few agreed cases no liti- 
 gation was carried on. William Taylor, the only 
 criminal, having fortunately run away, and the arrest 
 of all others carefully avoided, there was no use for 
 a grand jury, and it had been at once dismissed, and 
 the court speedily adjourned." 
 
 Judge Ford presided at each session of the Circuit 
 Court from 1839 to 1841, inclusive. The Judge sub- 
 sequently became Governor of the State, a biograph- 
 ical sketch and portrait of whom will be found upon 
 other pages of this work. 
 
 Hon. J. D. Caton, one of the Judges of the Supreme 
 Court, was assigned to circuit duties, and presided 
 here from 1842 to 1849 inclusive. Judge Caton is 
 well known to be one of the ablest judges ever upon 
 the bench in the State of Illinois. 
 
 Hon. T. Lyle Dickey was assigned to the circuit 
 in 1850. He is at present a popular Judge of the 
 Supreme Court. 
 
 Hon. Isaac G. Wilson was the first Judge elected 
 
 the new 131)1 Circuit, under the Constitution of 
 He was commissioned in June, 1851. Judge 
 Wilson was born in Middlebury, N. Y., April 26, 
 
 1815. He received a good collegiate education, and 
 in law few men are better read. Of a fine, dignified, 
 personal appearance, a cultured gentleman, he re- 
 ceives the respect of all. As a judge, he ranks among 
 the best, and in his long career upon the bench, he 
 has never been accused of corruption or favoritism. 
 
 Judge Wilson was succeeded by Allen C. Fuller, 
 who is widely known as the Adjutant General of the 
 State during the Rebellion, discharging the duties of 
 that office in a most acceptable manner. Judge 
 Fuller was and is a man of great force of character, 
 with indomitable will and energy, and, as a lawyer, 
 ranked high. He remained upon the bench but a 
 few months, resigning to accept the appointment of 
 Adjutant General. He has become immensely 
 wealthy. 
 
 Hon. Theodore D. Murphy was elected to succeed 
 Judge Fuller, his commission bearing date Sept. i, 
 1862. He was re-commissioned June 27, 1867, and 
 served until 1879 as Judge of the i3th and of the 
 Second Circuit as re-organized under the Constitution 
 of 1870, and again as one of the Judges of the i2th 
 Circuit created by the act of 1877, of which De Kalb 
 County forms a part. Judge Murphy is of Irish de- 
 scent, born in Virginia. He was very popular with 
 the people. 
 
 By the act of 1877 three judges were elected to 
 to each circuit, and at present Judges Clark W. Up- 
 ton, Isaac G. Wilson and Charles Kellum serve the 
 circuit. No circuits in the State have more popular 
 judges. Isaac G. Wilson has already been men- 
 tioned. He is now one of the Judges of the Appellate 
 Court also. Of Clark W. Upton much could be said 
 in his praise. He is a native of Vermont, a man of 
 great and diversified experience, well read in litera- 
 ture and law, an upright judge and well liked by the 
 Bar. In personal appearance he is one to attract at- 
 tention, having a smooth face, florid complexion, and, 
 to sum it all up, is a handsome man. 
 
 Of Charles Kellum it is unnecessary to speak in 
 this connection. A full biographical sketch appears 
 elsewhere in this volume, accompanied by a well 
 executed portrait. Suffice it to say, as a lawyer he 
 is regarded highly ; as a judge, among the best, hav- 
 ing the confidence and respect of the Bar and peo- 
 ple alike ; as a citizen, ever ready to do all in his 
 power to advance the best interests of the commu- 
 nity in which he lives.
 
 
 MONG the learned profes- 
 sions, none rank higher than 
 the legal. Its members exert 
 probably a greater influence 
 upon a community than that 
 of any other. The lawyer is 
 expected to occupy a leading 
 position upon all questions af- 
 fecting the well-being of the peo- 
 ple. In all public assemblies 
 he is expected to take a promi- 
 nent part and his views are often 
 accepted and endorsed. The Bar 
 of De Kalb County has always 
 ranked high, embracing among its 
 members some of the brightest legal talent in North- 
 ern Illinois. 
 
 Mr. Crothers, a young attorney, located at Colton- 
 ville shortly after the village was laid out, in 1837, 
 and has the honor of being the first lawyer to reside 
 in the county. He was a man of great natural abil- 
 ity and well read for one of his age. He remained 
 until about the time the county seat was removed to 
 Sycamore, when he moved to Ottawa, became the law 
 partner of T. Lyle Dickey, and became quite dis- 
 tinguished at the Bar. 
 
 Andrew J. Brown, who is usually supposed to have 
 been the first lawyer to locate in the county, was 
 doubtless the second. He remained here but a 
 short time and then moved to Chicago, where he 
 
 y-s, A. 
 
 subsequently became quite distinguished. He is now 
 dead. 
 
 Mr. Masters is said to have been the next attorney 
 to locate here. He did but little if any business, 
 and has been forgotten by most of the older resi- 
 dents. 
 
 E. L. Mayo and W. J. Hunt were next in order. 
 The latter did little or no business at the Bar, but 
 the former became quite distinguished. 
 
 Among those who have lived and practiced here 
 at the Bar, whose names are readily recalled, and 
 who now reside elsewhere, have quit practice, or 
 who have since died, are John L. Beveridge, a man 
 of sterling worth, who has been Governor of the 
 State of Illinois ; Mr. Favor, J. A. Simons, A. C. 
 Allen, D. B. James, Z. B. Mayo, A. C. Babcock, R. 
 L. Divine, John J. McKinnon, William Fordham, O. 
 S. Webster, A. C. Bryant, Gilbert Winters, Volney 
 Owen, Charles Balliette, H. D. Willis, F. W. Part- 
 ridge, Mr. McBroom, George Kretsinger, J. H. Sedg- 
 wick, L. E. Hay and Frank Stevens. 
 
 D. B. James was admitted to the Bar in his native 
 State of Vermont about 1847. In 1849 he dropped 
 his law books and went to California, where he re- 
 mained some two years engaged in mining, but with 
 poor success. Returning to Vermont, he made his 
 arrangements to come to Illinois, arriving in De Kalb 
 County in 1852, where he at once formed a partner- 
 ship with E. L. Mayo, which continued until 1858. 
 He then formed a partnership with Luther Lowell
 
 - 
 
 and Chauncey Ellwood, under the firm name of 
 James, Lowell & Ellwood, which continued some 
 months, when Mr. Ellwood withdrew. The follow- 
 ing four years the firm of James & Lowell had an 
 existence. In 1864 the partnership of James & 
 Lowell was dissolved and that of James & Jones 
 formed. In the fall of this year Mr. James was 
 elected County Judge. Taking the office Jan. i, 
 1865, he served four years. Some time in 1866 he 
 received a stroke of paralysis, from which he never 
 entirely recovered, but notwithstanding he continued 
 to discharge the duties of his office. On the expira- 
 tion of his term he was appointed Postmaster and 
 served one term. Judge James was a man of good, 
 native ability and a very popular man. According 
 to his ability he did as much to advance the inter- 
 ests of Sycamore as any man that ever resided here. 
 He did too much for his own good, financially speak- 
 ing. As a lawyer he ranked high during the first 
 ten years of his life in Sycamore. He was not a 
 close student, but was a man of quick perception, a 
 fluent speaker, and as an advocate before a jury met 
 with great success. Like many other lawyers he 
 devoted much of his time to politics. During the 
 war he was very active in promoting enlistments, 
 and was appointed upon the staff of Gov. Oglesby, 
 with rank of Colonel. His wife was Ann George. 
 Col. James died Jan. 29, 1877. 
 
 George Kretsinger was a brilliant, though not a 
 profound lawyer. His best work was as an advocate 
 before a jury. He served the county one term in 
 the Legislature. Many years ago he removed to 
 California, where he has since died. 
 
 J. A. Simons was a good chancery lawyer. He 
 removed to Missouri Junction, Iowa, and has since 
 died. 
 
 A. C. Allen was from Bradford Co., Pa. As a law- 
 yer he ranked high during the second decade of the 
 county's existence. He died here. 
 
 John J. McKinnon was a native of Canada, but 
 came here from Chicago. He was a man of fine 
 ability, well read in literature and law. 
 
 A. C. Babcock was a stirring fellow, a fine advo- 
 cate, but while here devoted himself more to the ab- 
 stract business than the law. 
 
 R. L. Divine was from Sullivan Co., N. Y. He 
 was a man of great ability, surpassed by few in the 
 State as a criminal lawyer. A good sketch of hi 
 will be found elsewhere in this volume. 
 
 Volney Owen was from Herkimer Co., N. Y., and 
 was here a portion of the time during the second c? 
 nd third decades of the county's history. He 
 "ormed a partnership with Chauncey Ellwood after 
 the withdrawal of the latter from the firm of James, v 
 Lowell & Ellwood. He was a well read lawyer. 
 After remaining in this State a few years, he returned 
 to New York, was subsequently elected County Judge 
 of Herkimer County, and has since died. 
 
 William Fordham was from Montrose, Susque- 
 hannah Co., Pa. He was here in the second decade. 
 Mr. Fordham was a man of more than ordinary abil- < 
 ity, a little erratic, but well read in law. He now 
 resides in Morgan Co., Tenn. 
 
 O. S. Webster settled at Cortland shortly after the 
 completion of the railroad through that place, 
 where he remained a short time and then moved to 
 Sycamore. He was regarded as a promising young 
 man. On the breaking out of the war he enlisted, ( 
 served his time, and then located in Sagamon Co., 
 111., where he now resides. He served as County 
 Superintendent of Public Schools of that county for i= 
 some time. 
 
 A. C. Bryant was from Vermont. He was a ^ 
 bright young man, but ill health prevented his doing 
 much business in this county. He removed tempo- 
 rarily to Minnesota, but returned and died here. 
 
 Gilbert Winters was a lawyer of considerable ability, 
 a fine special pleader. He went into the army, and at 
 the close of his term of service returned to Mans- 
 field, Ohio, from whence he came. 
 
 Charles Balliette was a young man, but one who 
 was not content to remain unknown. As a lawyer y 
 he was painstaking, with a steadfast determination g 
 to succeed. He now resides in Nevada, Story Co., 
 Iowa, where he has attained a fine reputation as a 
 lawyer. 
 
 H. D. Willis was a young man of much ability. 
 He remained but a short time, moving to Elgin, 
 where he has since obtained prominence, being 
 State's Attorney for Kane County. 
 
 F. W. Partridge was from New York. He located 
 here in 1858, read law and was admitted to the Bar 
 shortly before the war. He opened an office in 
 Sandwich, and was building up a good practice j 
 when the President issued his call for the first 300,- * 
 ooo men. He dropped his law books, raised a com- ' 
 pany, was commissioned Captain, and before the 
 
 
 
 ....
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 close of the war rose to the rank of Colonel and was 
 brevetted Brigadier-General. Returning home, he 
 was elected to the office of Circuit Clerk, was subse- 
 quently appointed Consul to Siara, and now has a 
 clerkship in one of the departments at Washington. 
 J. H. Sedgwick is a native of Ohio, born in 
 Hartford, Licking County. With his parents he 
 moved to Little Rock, Kendall Co, 111., in 1844, 
 where he remained until 1856, when he removed 
 to Sandwich. He read law with F. W. Part- 
 ridge, attended a law school in Chicago, and was 
 admitted to the Bar about 1860. Serving his time 
 in the war, he returned to Sandwich, purchased an 
 interest in the Gazette, and for a few months engaged 
 in editorial work. Disposing of his interest in that 
 paper, he removed to Sycamore, and for a time was a 
 partner of Judge Lowell. Again returning to Sand- 
 wich, he became a partner of his brother, W. W. 
 Sedgwick, which partnership continued till the fall 
 of 1879, after which time he practiced alone for two 
 years. He then went to Chicago, where he remained 
 one year and then went to Peoria, where he yet re- 
 sides, and is numbered with the best legal men of that 
 city. 
 
 L. E. rlay came to Sandwich with his parents in 
 1854. He subsequently read law with S. B. Stinson, 
 attended the law department of Ann Arbor Univer- 
 
 sity, and was admitted to the Bar. Remaining in 
 Sandwich some eight or ten years, he attended to 
 active practice in connection with other business. 
 He moved West some years ago. 
 
 Frank E. Stevens was born in Dixon, 111., in 1855, 
 and is the son of Capt. John Stevens, also a lawyer, 
 and who was a soldier in the late war and killed in 
 battle. Frank was educated at Dixon, studying law 
 with Mr. Treusdale, and was admitted to the Bar'in 
 in 1877. He is now a banker at Huron, Dakota. 
 
 The Bar at present (1885), will compare favorably 
 with that of any other period. 
 
 In Sycamore there are C. A. Bishop, Geo. Brown, 
 D. J. Games, G. H. Denton, G. W. Dunton, J. J. 
 Flannery, L. S. Hodge, H. A. Jones, W. C. Kellum, 
 J. H. Kenyon, Chauncey Ellwood, J. L. Pratt, C. D. 
 Rogers, G. S. Robinson, T. B. Stephens, Luther 
 Lowell. 
 
 In De Kalb, E. B. Gilbert, Thos. M. Hopkins, 
 W. L. Pond, Wm. W. Rathbun,!. V, Randall, D. E. 
 Reed. 
 
 Sandwich is represented by E. G. Coe, C. G. 
 Faxon, W. W. Sedgwick, S. B. Stinson, J. I. Mont- 
 gomery. 
 
 Kirkland is represented by Wm. B. McDowell. 
 
 Sketches of the greater number of these men will 
 be found in this work. 
 
 I 
 

 
 
 
 
 1R e c o r 6 
 
 
 INCE the days of Cain crime 
 has existed in the world. While 
 the county of De Kalb will 
 rank with any other in the State 
 as a law-abiding community, 
 yet there have been some law- 
 less characters among the greater 
 number of law-abiding men and wo- 
 men. In the early day of the coun- 
 ty's existence it was cursed with a 
 gang of horse-thieves whose presence 
 was very undesirable. Possessors of 
 valuable horses never felt secure in 
 possession of their property. For 
 some years it was necessary either to 
 employ faithful watchmen or to keep 
 horses under a strong lock. Horses once stolen 
 were seldom recovered, the organization of the 
 thieves being so perfect that stolen animals were 
 quickly taken long distances. 
 
 Following we give an account of all ihe murders 
 committed in the county, with the final disposition 
 of the murderers so far as the court records show. 
 
 The Driscolls. Brodie's Grove, in Ogle County, 
 was a resort of the gang, and doubtless headquar- 
 ters, Brodie being regarded as one of the chiefs of 
 the gang. South Grove was generally considered 
 another rendezvous of the gang, David and John 
 Driscoll being thought to be engaged in the nefari- 
 ous business. Gleason's house, in Genoa, was also 
 thought to be a safe place for the thieves. Lynch- 
 ing parties 'were formed in this and adjoining coun- 
 
 Z^Z Q. 
 
 ties, and suspected parlies were ordered to leave the 
 country within a specified time. 
 
 Among those ordered to leave by the Lynching 
 Club, were the Driscolls at South Grove. John 
 Long, of Srillman's Run, was Captain of several 
 combined companies of lynchers, and was proprietor 
 of a large saw-mill. The banditti sent him a threat- 
 ening letter defying the society to combat them, and 
 threatening him with personal violence. Being intim- 
 idated by these threats, Mr. Long resigned, and John 
 Campbell, of White Rock Grove, Ogle County, was 
 elected Captain. The Club, headed by Campbell, 
 visited the Driscolls and ordered them to leave 
 within twenty days. To David Driscoll it is reported 
 Campbell said : " If after that time you are found 
 east of the Mississippi River, we will brand your 
 cheeks with R. S., and crop your ears, so that none 
 shall fail to know your character as a rogue and a 
 scoundrel wherever you may be saen." 
 
 This threat aroused the passions of the banditti 
 and they determined to resist. They held a meeting 
 at which this was resolved. Says Boies, in his history 
 of the occurrence: " On the Sunday morning follow- 
 ing this meeting, old man Driscoll was seen about 
 the premises of Campbell. He walked around the 
 grounds, passed up to a clump of bushes, closely 
 observed the location and then went away. He 
 might that night have easily gone home, but he did 
 not. He stayed at a neighbor's without any apparent 
 reason, and slept there. Was it because he knew a 
 foul crime was about to be committed and wanted to 
 prove an alibi ? It was so supposed. That evening, 
 
 

 
 .-?, 
 
 
 just at dusk, Captain Campbell, who had returned 
 from attending church at Rockford, was passing from 
 his dwelling to his stable, when he was accosted by 
 two men who enquired the road to Oregon. His wife 
 heard him call out " Driscoll," and immediately after 
 there was the report of a gun, and as she rushed 
 toward him he fell lifeless in her arms, shot through 
 the heart. The two men immediately and delib- 
 erately walked off in the direction of Driscoll's 
 Grove. The brave son of Campbell, a lad of thir- 
 teen years, seized his father's gun and rushed toward 
 the retreating murderers and snapped it at them 
 three times; but the effort to avenge the murder was 
 unavailing : the gun would not go off. The murder- 
 ers disappeared in the distance, and the grief-stricken 
 family was left alone with its honored dead." 
 
 Great excitement was aroused and detachments 
 were sent out to scour the country and capture the 
 guilty pair. John Driscoll, the father, was captured, 
 and the house of David Driscoll burned and his 
 family left shelterless upon the prairie. Afterwards 
 William Driscoll and his young brother, Pierce, were 
 taken into custody. William Driscoll had been the 
 first to tell the story of the murder to the settlers at 
 the grove. Conscious of his own innocence, he felt 
 sure of acquittal. He was told by the party taking 
 him into custody that they only wanted him to go 
 before Mrs. Campbell, that she might see if he was 
 the man who killed her husband. Toward evening 
 they arrived at the residence of the late Captain of 
 the lynchers, when Mrs. Campbell unhesitatingly 
 stated that neither one was present at the murder. 
 The party having the prisoners in charge were 
 excited and determined to avenge the death of their 
 leader upon some one. 
 
 The next day the Driscolls were taken to White 
 Rock Grove, in Ogle County, which had been selected 
 as a place of rendezvous by the lynchers. The three 
 Driscolls were carried in one wagon with ropes 
 around their necks. A form of trial was gone through 
 with and Pierce Driscoll was discharged, but John 
 and William Driscoll were sentenced to death, not 
 because they were thought to be guilty of murder, but 
 because they were believed to be of the gang of 
 horse-thieves. Efforts were made to have the sen- 
 tence changed to banishment from the country, but 
 
 thout avail. The old man was first led out, blind- 
 folded, and made to kneel upon the grass. The 
 
 
 lynchers then drew up in a long line, with guns in 
 their hands. The fatal one, two, three was called ' 
 and a hundred guns were discharged, and the lifeless 
 body of the old man fell over. William Driscoll was 
 then led out by the side of the old man and he, too, 
 shared the same fate. Only a portion of the guns of 
 the lynchers were loaded with balls, the remainder 
 being with powder only, that no one might know who 
 fired the fatal shot. 
 
 It is due to the relatives of William Driscoll to 
 say that few people ever believed him to be one of 
 the gang of horse-thieves, but he was a Driscoll, and 
 the community had a prejudice against the name. 
 
 Asa Baldwin lived in Belvidere, Boone County, 
 but owned a farm in the northern part of De Xalb 
 County. Early in 1862 he went to the farm to inter- 
 view his tenant in regard to some matters in dispute. 
 He failed to see him, but met a young .man named 
 McGinnis, who was working for his tenant. With 
 him he had some words, which so angered Baldwin 
 that he shot him. He was arrested, an indictment 
 was found against him and he was brought before the -^ 
 court for trial. A change of venue was asked for, 
 granted, and the case was removed to Boone County. 
 After a trial, in which he was prosecuted by A. B. 
 Coon, assisted by William Brown, now a Circuit 
 Judge, and defended by Gen. Hurlbut and Mr. 
 Thompson, he was acquitted. 
 
 Robert Moles. On the night of August 29, 1864, 
 Robert Moles, living in the north part of the county, 
 was killed by being thrown into a well, and with 
 sticks and clubs kept under the water till death 
 ensued from drowning. Pat. Whalen and Ann 
 Moles were indicted by the grand jury for the com- 
 mission of the crime. No record was ever made as 
 to the disposition of the case, but it is asserted they 
 were taken before the Judge of the Circuit Court on 
 a writ of habeas corpus and discharged. 
 
 Henry C. Atwood was a young man, residing in 
 the village of De Kalb. He had been married but 
 a short time to a woman of whom it was said that he 
 was somewhat jealous. On the i8th day of December, 
 1865, he was at home engaged in cleaning a revolver, 
 while his wife was engaged in her household duties. 
 In some way the revolver was discharged, the ball 
 penetrating the abdomen of his wife, causing her 
 death. Atwood was arrested, indicted, tried, found 
 guilty and sentenced to five years in the penitentiary. 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 4 i. 
 
 = 
 
 After the expiration of two years, he was pardoned 
 by the Governor. He claimed that the killing was 
 accidental. 
 
 Sylvester P. Taylor Sylvester P. Taylor and 
 Amos H. Chase had a dispute in regard to the 
 possession of certain lands near the village of De 
 Kalb. Taylor, who was in possession, loaded a horse 
 pistol and ordered Chase not to come upon the 
 premises. Regardless of the threats of Taylor, the 
 latter attempted to enter the premises, when he was 
 shot by the former. This was June 2, 1869. Taylor 
 was arrested, indicted, tried, and the jury disagreed. 
 Pending a new trial, he was admitted to bail. When 
 the case was next called, a continuance was had on 
 the ground of absence of material witnesses. A 
 continuance was had from time to time on the same 
 ground, until the patience of the court was exhausted 
 and the case was stricken from the docket. 
 
 George Shaw, a constable, in company with E. 
 Stone Abbott, went into Shabbona Township, for the 
 purpose of serving, for the latter, a writ upon William 
 Unwin, on the 24th day of August, 1871. Unwin, 
 becoming enraged, attacked Shaw with a pitch-fork, 
 when the latter shot him. Shaw and Abbott were 
 jointly indicted, tried and acquitted upon the ground 
 of self-defense. 
 
 Horace Graver. There was a young man living 
 near the village of Shabbona named Horace Grover. 
 He was a student of the military school at Fulton, 
 111., and was home on a visit in 1870. Hearing that 
 William Stimpson had made remarks derogatory to 
 one near and dear to him, he visited the latter in his 
 blacksmith shop at Shabbona, and after talking with 
 
 m a while shot him through the head and heart, 
 and also split his skull with a blacksmith's chisel. 
 After committing the deed, Grover fled, was cap- 
 tured, and tried at the following term of the circuit 
 court at Sycamore. Pleading guilty, and the exten- 
 uating circumstances being made known, he was 
 sentenced to three years in the penitentiary. He re- 
 mained in prison but a few days before receiving a 
 pardon from the Governor. 
 
 John Reed, a young Irishman, was in love with 
 Johanna McCormick, and sought her hand in mar- 
 riage. He was refused with scorn, and determined 
 that he would have revenge upon the young lady for 
 the slight offered him. About the ist of July, 1871, 
 he asked her company to attend a Fourth-of-July 
 
 
 .... 
 
 celebration at De Kalb, and was refused. On the 
 3d of July, he went to a neighbor and borrowed a gun, 
 on the pretense of wanting it to shoot some wolves 
 that had been committing some depredations in the 
 neighborhood. On the evening of that day, while 
 the McCormick family were at supper, he slipped up 
 to the house and discharged the gun twice through a 
 window, the first charge passing into the brain of 
 Johanna, killing her instantly. The second charge 
 passed over the head of a younger sister' and was 
 buried in the wall. A few days subsequently he was 
 arrested and made a full confession, saying that he 
 had contemplated the deed for one year, and only 
 awaited a good opportunity to do the act. He said 
 that the second discharge of the gun was for the pur- 
 pose of ending his own life, and failing in this he 
 returned the gun and obtained some poison from the 
 family, which he ate, but the dose was too large and 
 he threw it up. He then tried to escape. An in- 
 dictment was found against him, but before a trial 
 could be had he broke jail and made good his es- 
 cape. No clue has ever been obtained as to his 
 whereabouts. 
 
 Mrs. Bowler. Timothy Bowler, his wife Mary 
 and their family lived a miserable life. The par- 
 ents were addicted to liquor. On the night of July 
 31, 1872, the old man was killed, his head being al- 
 most severed from his body, which had many wounds 
 upon it, inflicted with an ax. Mrs. Bowler was ar- 
 rested, charged with the commission of the crime. 
 On her trial it was proven that the couple had had 
 anything but a pleasant time for weeks previously, 
 the old man sleeping much of the time out-doors to 
 escape the wrath of his wife. She was found guilty 
 and sentenced to five years in the penitentiary. 
 
 George Alexander, a colored man, living at Syca- 
 more, married a white woman, of whom he was ex- 
 ceedingly jealous, so much so that finally the woman 
 could no longer live with him, and, leaving him, went 
 to reside in De Kalb. Sometime in 1878, Alexan- 
 der borrowed a shot-gun, went to De Kalb, visited 
 the house where his wife was stopping, and, calling 
 her out, shot her through the neck, killing her in- 
 stantly. He claimed that the discharge of the gun 
 was accidental; that in some way it got caught in 
 a hedge fence, and in pulling it away it discharged, 
 the gun bursting and throwing him several feet. He 
 was arrested, and at the June term, 1879, was tried, 
 
 ^^ 
 
 

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 
 
 convicted and sentenced to death. The scaffojd was 
 erected and every preparation made for his execu- 
 tion, when the Supreme Court interfered and granted 
 him a new trial. The second trial was held in June, 
 i88r, when he was sentenced to the penitentiary for 
 a term of 25 years. 
 
 Floyd Givens lived at Malta with his parents. 
 Some time in the fall of 1879, he met a cousin on the 
 streets of that city, charged him with the commis- 
 sion of a certain crime, and then shot him. He was 
 arrested, indicted, a change of venue was had to 
 Kane County, where he was tried and acquitted. 
 
 Walter Upstone was a native of England, and of a 
 family of 12 children. He was a blacksmith by trade 
 and had resided in or near the village of Fielding 
 for about 15 years. He was a married man, and 
 had a family of three children, one daughter being 
 married. His mother was insane at the time of his 
 birth, and he had two or three brothers and one sis- 
 who were said to be insane ; also two aunts on his 
 mother's side. Walter had been intemperate for some 
 years, and when under the influence of liquor was ex- 
 ceedingly violent. Peter Melson was a boon com- 
 panion of Upstone, and the two were often together. 
 About the first of February, 1882, the two went to 
 Monroe, a small village west of Fielding, where they 
 procured some liquor and became intoxicated. Re- 
 turning to Fielding, on Sunday morning, February 5, 
 the two went into Upstone's blacksmith shop, shut 
 the door, and it is supposed drained a bottle of alco- 
 hol. About noon Willard Grill went to the shop, 
 when Upstone offered him a drink, but the alcohol 
 was so strong that Grill refused to drink it. Upstone 
 then tried to get Melson to drink ; but the latter was 
 too drunk to take any more. Upstone raised his 
 head from the floor on which he was lying and 
 placed a coat under it. Grill left the shop. The 
 next thin^ known was between one and two o'clock. 
 George Clark, a young lad, was riding by the shop, 
 when Upstone came to the door, singing and wav- 
 ing back and forth a small hammer which he held in 
 his hand. Seeing him, he called out, "George, look 
 here." Upstone turned and struck the body two or 
 three blows with a sledge hammer, then told George 
 to go and tell some one that a dead man was there. 
 The boy went down the street and gave the alarm. 
 Several men hastened to the shop and found Up- 
 stone striking the body with a scoop-shovel. Up- 
 
 ^^ %* 
 
 stone stopped beating the IxxJy and then commenced 
 talking in a maudlin manner : " Pete, come home 
 with me;" "Pete; this don't look like Pete, but 
 them's his boots ; " " this looks like Pete, but them 
 ain't his boots." 
 
 Melson's body was removed from the shop to a 
 hotel near by, and Upstone was placed under arrest. 
 He was taken to Sycamore and placed in jail. A true 
 bill of indictment was found against him, and when 
 the case was called a change of venue to Winnebago 
 County was granted. At the February term, 1883, 
 of the Circuit Court of Winnebago County, he was 
 tried, convicted, and sentenced to the penitentiary 
 for 17 years. The case was prosecuted by J. B. 
 Stephens, Prosecuting Attorney of De Kalb County, 
 assisted by G. A. Works, Prosecutor of Winnebago; 
 Charles E. Fuller, of Belvidere, and D. J. Games, of 
 Sycamore. Upstone was'defended by John L. Pratt, 
 of Sycamore, William Lathrop, of Rockford, and 
 A. J. Hopkins, of Aurora. The defense was based 
 upon insanity, that if the deed was committed by 
 Upstone he was insane, caused probably from liquor! 
 it being proved that liquor acted differently upon him 
 from ordinary persons. His actions both before and 
 subsequent to the deed were those of an insane man. 
 The prosecution, admitting that insanity existed in 
 the family, and that Upstone, under the influence of 
 liquor, became frenzied', averred that Upstone was 
 aware of the fact that liquor had that effect upon 
 him, and therefore should have abstained from its 
 use ; that he had the power to refrain, having for one 
 whole year gone without tasting it, and was then a 
 law-abiding and respected citizen. 
 
 The defense appealed to the Supreme Court, which 
 sustained the decision of the lower court, and Up- 
 stone received his sentence and was taken to Joliet. 
 From the State's prison he has since been removed 
 to the Insane Asylum at Elgin, the authorities con- 
 sidering him a fit subject for the latter institution. 
 
 Hiram P. Allen. On the night of Feb. 15, 1880, 
 Hiram P. Allen, of Sandwich, was murdered by some 
 one who was attempting to burglarize his residence. 
 Will Thomas and three others were arrested, charged 
 with the commission of the crime. Thomas obtained 
 a change of venue to Kane County, where he was 
 tried and sentenced to prison for a term of years. 
 
 James M. Brogan, Oct. 28, 1881, shot and killed 
 
 William Henry in his room at Sandwich. He claimed. 
 
 A r^ -^jsa^*f *fj^^f@
 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 
 & 
 
 that Henry made an attack upon him and the shoot- 
 ing was in self-defense. He was arrested, an indict- 
 ment was found against him, and he was brought 
 before the Circuit Court at Sycamore for trial. A 
 change of venue to Du Page County was granted, 
 and he was there acquitted. Brogan himself was 
 mysteriously murdered in the winter of 1883-4. 
 
 Nicholas Kittle. Nelson Hinkston rented a farm 
 of Nicholas Kittle, near the village of Shabbona. 
 While in a saloon in that village one day in August, 
 1884, the two got into a quarrel about the division 
 of some oats raised upon the land, when Kittle 
 stabbed Hinkston, causing his death. Liquor was 
 doubtless the cause of the crime. Before his death, 
 Hinkston asked that Kittle should not be prosecuted. 
 
 Lewis Taylor was a young man in the employ of 
 H. H. Mitchell, in Mayfield Township. On the i3th 
 of August, 1884, the family of Mr. Mitchell, with the 
 exception of his daughter Florence, went to Syca- 
 more. Florence was left in charge of the house, and 
 Alice Dennis, a young lady neighbor, was sent to 
 keep her company. Taylor that morning was engaged 
 in work near the house. From surrounding circum- 
 stances, it is surmised that Florence went out to the 
 barn to obtain some eggs, when she was discovered 
 
 by Taylor, who held a grudge against her for her re- 
 fusal to accept his attentions, and was immediately 
 fired upon with a revolver by the latter. The ball 
 not taking effect the girl ran into the house, pursued 
 by the villain, who stopped not until his deadly ob- 
 ject was accomplished and the lifeless body of Flor- 
 ence lay in the cellar. He then sat fire to her 
 clothes, and also attempted to fire the house, and 
 then escaped. All this occurred within the space of 
 a half-hour and before Alice Dennis reached the 
 house. When she arrived she went into the sitting- 
 rpom and kitchen, calling for Florence. Not finding 
 her, she went to the cellar and discovered the smoke 
 and Florence's body lying cold in death. She rushed 
 out and gave the alarm. Fortunately two men were 
 passing the house, who rescued the body of the girl, 
 and then hurried to Sycamore and spread the sad 
 intelligence. No words can describe the agony of the 
 parents. A large crowd soon gathered and hastened 
 to the scene of the tragedy and to capture the mur- 
 derer. After committing the horrible crime, Taylor 
 fled to the river, and, first taking off his watch and 
 tying it to a barbed-wire fence, waded into the water, 
 placed the revolver to his heart, pulled the trigger 
 and thus ended his miserable life. 
 
 
 
 (& 
 

 
 
 
 
 ANY of the earlier elections 
 were held without party 
 lines being very closely 
 drawn, at least so far as 
 the Democratic and Whig 
 parties were concerned. 
 Up to the time of the or- 
 ganization of the Republican party 
 the county almost invariably went 
 Democratic. Many of the Demo- 
 crats, however, were of Free-soil pro- 
 clivities, and when the Republican 
 party was organized embraced its 
 principles. Early in 1854 the scat- 
 tered Free-soil forces, or more prop- 
 erly those opposed to the Anti-Ne- 
 braska bill, and opposed to the further extension of 
 slavery, began to crystallize. On the 14111 day of 
 September, 1854, a mass convention of those holding 
 these views was held at Sycamore to appoint dele- 
 gates to a Republican convention to be held at Au- 
 rora. There were three parties represented in this 
 county Democrats, Whigs and Free-Soilers. In 
 choosing delegates, representatives of each of these 
 old parties were elected as follows : 
 
 Democratic: Horace W. Fay, G. A. Colton, Jo- 
 seph Sixbury, James Harrington and Royal Crossett. 
 Free-Soilers: Pierpont Edwards, Stephen Town- 
 send, Thurston Carr, David West, James H. Bever- 
 idge, E. S. Gregory. 
 
 Whigs: Reuben Pritchard, W. J. Hunt, H. A. 
 Joslyn, William Byers, Dr. E. Rose and John N. 
 Braddock. 
 
 From the organization of the party to the present 
 
 time De Kalb County could always be relied upon 
 to give a large majority for the Republican party. 
 In a political view, therefore, there is nothing excit- 
 ing for the historian to relate. 
 
 Among those who have served the Nation, State or 
 county during the period of its existence are the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 GOVERNOR. 
 
 John L. Beveridge was elected to the office of 
 Lieutenant Governor on the ticket with Gov. Oglesby 
 in 1872. He served in that capacity but about ten 
 days, when he succeeded Oglesby as Governor, the 
 latter being elected to the United States Senate. He 
 served four years with marked ability. Gov. Bev- 
 eridge was for many years a citizen of this county. 
 He now resides in Evanston, 111. 
 
 STATE TREASURER. 
 
 James H. Beveridge, brother of the above, now re- 
 siding near Sandwich, was State Treasurer from Jan. 
 9, 1865, to Jan. 10, 1867. 
 
 CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, 1847. 
 
 A convention to amend the Constitution of the 
 State convened at Springfield June 7, 1847, and ad- 
 journed Aug. 31, 1847. George H. Hill represented 
 De Kalb County. 
 
 CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, 1862. 
 
 In this convention De Kalb, together with Kane 
 County, was represented by Stephen B. Stinson and 
 Adoniram J. Joslyn. 
 
 CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, 1870, 
 
 De Kalb and Boone Counties were represented i 
 this convention by Westel W. Sedgwick and Jesse 
 S. Hildrup. 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 787 
 
 
 GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 
 
 On the organization of the county, De Kalb was 
 part of a district comprising the counties of La Salle, 
 Kane and Iroquois. In the Tenth General Assembly 
 (1836-8) the county was represented by William 
 Stadden, of La Salle, in the Senate, and Henry Mad- 
 den, of De Kalb. 
 
 In the Eleventh Assembly, William Stadden still 
 represented the county in the Senate, while Joseph 
 W. Churchill was in the House. 
 
 William Stadden, in the Senate, in the Twelfth As- 
 sembly. The Legislative Directory omits the De 
 Kalb Representative in the House. 
 
 In the Thirteenth Assembly, Ira Minard was in 
 the Senate and Henry Madden in '.the House, repre- 
 senting this county. 
 
 Ira Minard, in the Senate, and William M. Jack- 
 son, E. G. Jewell and James L. Loop were in the 
 House, representing this county together with the 
 the counties of Kane, McHenry and Boone. 
 
 In the Fifteenth Assembly, Elijah Wilcox was in 
 the Senate, and James Harrington, George W. Kret- 
 singer and James T. Pierson represented the same 
 counties. 
 
 Under the constitution of 1848, an apportionment 
 was made, and the counties of De Kalb, Ogle, Lee 
 and Kane formed the Twenty-second Senatorial 
 District, and were represented by William B. Plato, 
 of Kane, in the Sixteenth General Assembly. De 
 Kalb and Kane were made the Fifty-first Repre- 
 sentative District, and were represented in the same 
 Assembly by H. W. Fay, of De Kalb, and E. W. 
 Austin, of Kane. 
 
 In the Seventeenth General Assembly, William B. 
 Plato was still in the Senate, but the Fifty-first Rep- 
 resentative District was represented by Benjamin F. 
 Hall, of De'Kalb, and Augustus Adams, of Kane. 
 
 In the Eighteenth General Assembly, in the Sen- 
 ate was William B. Plato, while in the House were 
 William Shepherdson, of De Kalb, and John Ransted, 
 of Kane. 
 
 In 1854 another apportionment was made, with 
 De Kalb, Kane, Lee and Whiteside forming the Fifth 
 Senatorial District, and the counties of De Kalb and 
 Kane the Forty-sixth Representative District. In 
 the Nineteenth General Assembly, Augustus Adams, 
 of Kane, was in the Senate, while William Patten 
 and Benjamin Hackney were in the House. 
 
 In the Twentieth General Assembly, Augustus 
 Adams was still in the Senate, but the Forty-sixth 
 Representative District was represented by David M. 
 Kelsey, of De Kalb, and William R. Parker, of Kane. 
 
 In the Twenty-first General Assembly, Richard F. 
 Adams, of Lee, was in the Senate, and William Pat- 
 ten, of De Kalb, and William B. Plato, of Kane were 
 in the House. 
 
 In the Twenty-second General Assembly, Richard 
 F. Adams was Senator, and Edward R. Allen, of De 
 Kalb, and Thomas S. Terry, of Kane, were in the 
 House. 
 
 A new apportionment was made in i86r, and De 
 Kalb, Du Page and K ane formed the Nineteenth 
 Senatorial District, and De Kalb and Boone the 
 Fifty-first Representative. In the Twenty-third Gen- 
 eral Assembly, Edward R.' Allen, of Kane, repre- 
 sented the district in the Senate, and Westel W. 
 Sedgwick, of De Kalb, and Luther W. Lawrence, of 
 Boone, were in the House. 
 
 In the Twenty-fourth General Assembly, Edward 
 R. Allen was in the Senate and Ira V. Randall, of 
 De Kalb, and Allen C. Fuller, of Boone, were in the 
 House. 
 
 In the Twenty-fifth General Assembly, William 
 Patten, of De Kalb, was in the Senate, while in the 
 House the district was represented by Robert Hamp- 
 ton, of De Kalb, and Stephen A. Hurlbut, of Boone. 
 
 In the Twenty-sixth General Assembly, William 
 Patten was in the Senate, and Charles W. Marsh, of 
 De Kalb, and Elisha H. Talbott, of Boone, were in 
 the House. 
 
 In 1870 an apportionment was made in which De 
 Kalb, Du Page and Kane became the Nineteenth 
 Senatorial District, and De Kalb the Eighty-fourth 
 Representative District, with two Representatives. 
 In the Twenty-seventh General Assembly, Charles 
 W. Marsh, of De Kalb, and James W. Eddy, of 
 Kane County, represented the district in the Senate, 
 and Reuben M. Pritchard, of Shabbona, and Lewis 
 M. McEwen, of De Kalb, in the House. 
 
 In 1872 another apportionment was made, the 
 State being divided into Senatorial Districts as pro- 
 vided by the constitution of 1870, each district being 
 entitled to one Senator and three Representatives. 
 De Kalb, Kendall and Grundy became the Thirteenth 
 District. In the Twenty-eighth General Assembly 
 Miles B. Castle, of Sandwich, De Kalb County, was 

 
 
 
 COUNTY. 
 
 in the Senate, while Lyman B. Ray, George M. 
 Hollenbeck and Perry A. Armstrong represented the 
 district in the House. 
 
 In the Twenty-ninth General Assembly, Miles B. 
 Castle, of Sandwich, was still in the Senate, the dis- 
 trict being represented in the House by Philip Col- 
 lins, Joshua McGrath and D. B. Bailey. 
 
 In the Thirtieth General Assembly, Miles B. Castle 
 was Senator, and Peter S. Lott, William M. Byers 
 and Amos D. Glover were Representatives. 
 
 In the Thirty-first General Assembly, John R. 
 Marshall represented the district in the Senate. 
 William M. Byers, Robert M. Brigham and Alonzo 
 B. Smith were in the House'. 
 
 In the Thirty-second General Assembly, J. R. 
 Marshall was Senator, with Henry Wood, ' Hiram 
 Loucks and John Clark, Representatives. 
 
 In the Thirty-third General Assembly, Lyman B. 
 Ray was Senator, and Henry Wood, H.'M. Board- 
 man and Andrew Welch were in the House. 
 
 In the Thirty-fourth General Assembly, Lyman B. 
 Ray still represented the district in the Senate, with 
 H. C. Whittemore, Mr. Hanna and Andrew Welch 
 in the House. 
 
 STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION. 
 
 Washington L. Simmons, of Sandwich, was elected 
 a member of the Board Nov. 3, 1868, and held the 
 office until June 29, 1872, when he resigned. 
 
 James H. Furman, of Sandwich, was appointed 
 June 29, 1872, and filled out the unexpired term of 
 Mr. Simmons. 
 
 Samuel Alden was elected in 1882 and served one 
 term. 
 
 CONGRESS. 
 
 When organized, De Kalb County formed part of 
 the Third Congressional District, represented by 
 William L. May, of Springfield, in the 25th Congress. 
 
 In the 26th Congress it was represented by John 
 T. Stuart, of Springfield, who likewise served in the 
 271)1 Congress. 
 
 Under the apportionment of 1843, De Kalb be- 
 came part of the Fourth District, with John Went- 
 worth as Representative in the 28th Congress. Mr. 
 Wentworth represented the district in the 291,1, 301)1 
 and 3 1 st Congresses. In the 32d Congress, Richard 
 S. Molony was the Representative. 
 
 Under the apportionment of 1852, De Kalb County 
 was thrown into the Second District. John Went- 
 worth represented the district in the 33d Congress ; 
 
 gfr&fr ^^^ & 
 
 James H. Woodworth in the 34th ; John F. Farns- 
 worth in the 35th and 36th ; and Isaac N. Arnold in 
 the 37th Congress. 
 
 De Kalb was again placed in the Second District 
 under the new apportionment made in 1862. John 
 F. Farnsworth was elected and re-elected, serving in 
 the 38th, 391!!, 4oth, 4131 and 42d Congresses. 
 
 In 1872 another apportionment was made, De 
 Kalb County being then placed in the Fourth Dis- 
 trict. Stephen A. Hurlbut represented it in the 43d 
 and 44th Congresses. William Lathrop in the 45th, 
 John C. Sherwin in the 461)1, and Reuben Ellwood 
 in the 47th Congress. The latter was re-elected to 
 the 481)1 Congress, De Kalb now being a part of the 
 Fifth District. 
 
 UNITED STATES ASSESSOR. 
 
 Alonzo Ellwood from 1862 to 1866. 
 Reuben Ellwood from 1866 till the office was 
 abolished. 
 
 UNITED STATES CONSUL. 
 
 J. M. Hood, of Sycamore, was appointed Consul 
 to Siam in 1864. 
 
 Frederick Partridge was appointed to succeed 
 Hood. 
 
 COUNTY CLERKS. 
 J. C. Kellogg. 
 
 ..1839-4* 
 -1843 
 ..1844-48 
 ..i 849-52 
 
 Danlefe:::- ::-:'$%& 
 c^-fc::: 
 
 CIRCUIT CLERKS AND RECORDERS. 
 
 j. c. kdlogg.' '.'.'.'.'. 
 
 M. M. Mack 
 
 533 
 
 George C . Co'x .'.'""I!!! 
 Daniel 
 
 
 
 COUNTY TREASURERS. 
 
 John Waterman.... 
 "Ciirlos l.attin 
 
 loin, i. Waterman. 
 WiiK 101 Shepardson 
 
 K. T. Miller 
 
 Otepfe Sixbury.... 
 ). l.illlc 
 
 {f"^o^ d ".:: 
 M-.^: ng :::::::: 
 
 II. (urness 
 
 I. 1 . (Hidden 
 
 William Phelps 
 
 ?,! a laSr y.Y:::. 
 gife-Ssr.-.".-.-. 
 
 K. ].. Mayo 
 
 E$ 
 
 1847- 
 
 -838-39 
 
 :::.: 
 
 1848-49 
 
 1850-51 
 
 -85^-53 
 
 ,854-55 
 
 -856.57 
 
 ....,858-59 
 
 H. Ellwood 
 
 R. A. Smith 
 
 Daniel Dustin... 
 Robert Hampton 
 
 -873-74 
 .1875-76 
 .,877-83 
 
 COUNTY JUDGES. 
 
 ,849-52 I Luther Lowell .. 
 
 1853-60 I G. S. Robinson 
 
 ....,861-64 S. li. Slinsoi,. 
 
 -^^
 
 
 - . - 
 
 )E KALB COUNTY. 
 
 789 
 
 SUPERINTENDEI> 
 Frederick Love 1838-42 
 Marshall Stark ,843-44 
 
 TS OF SCHOOLS. 
 D.Crossett 
 H.C. Heard 
 
 .. ,861-62 
 . . . 1863-64 
 
 1). W. Lamb 
 H.W.Kay 
 
 ..,842-52 
 ...,853-58 
 
 V. D. Miller 
 S. T. Armstrong 
 
 ..1866-8, 
 1882-84 
 ..,884-85 
 
 
 
 59 o 
 
 James Harrington... 
 
 ....,845-46 
 ,847-50 
 
 M. V. Allen 
 H.P. Hall 
 
 . -.1865-68 
 
 ::: isr| 
 
 Samuel Thompson... 
 
 CORO 
 
 ...1838-39 
 
 >JEKS. 
 
 I.. Wliitlemorc 
 T. 11. Russell 
 
 ..,864-69 
 
 N.S Greenwood .'.'.'. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Charles Preston 
 M. R. Hnbbell 
 
 
 
 SURVEYORS. 
 
 
 K.'. Wharry....'; 
 
 ...,846-49 
 
 Sanies M. Sivwriht.. 
 
 
 Eli Rarnes 
 C. Churchill 
 
 ::::,8 8 4 3 
 
 Orange Potter 
 D. W". Lamb 
 
 ...1861-62 
 ...,863.65 
 
 L. \Vhittemore 
 J.R. Crossett 
 
 ...1850-53 
 ...1854-6, 
 ...,862-63 
 
 oscph C. Pierce 
 
 ::,'&r 3 
 
 --*- 
 
 ROM the formation of the 
 Government for a period of 
 over three-fourths of a cen- 
 tury the institution of slavery 
 was a source of trouble be- 
 ween the free and slave- 
 
 holding States. Bitter feelings 
 were engendered, threats often 
 indulged in, and compromise 
 measures passed to avert what 
 many had believed would ulti- 
 mately come to pass a bloody 
 civil war. Increase in power, 
 with a strong following in the 
 free States, had made the slave-holders bold and ar- 
 rogant in their demands. The Missouri compromise, 
 which limited the spread of slavery in the terri- 
 tories south of an imaginary line, was repealed by 
 the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, and the 
 friends of freedom were aroused. The Republi- 
 can party rapidly gained in numbers and in 
 strength, and in 1860, in consequence of the divis- 
 ion existing in the Democratic party, succeeded in 
 electing their candidate for the Presidency Abra- 
 ham Lincoln. Threats of secession were made by 
 the Southern States in the event of Lincoln's elec- 
 
 -^y ^A 
 
 tion, and almost as soon as the result was known, 
 State after State in the South, by their respective 
 conventions, passed articles of secession. Lincoln 
 was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1861, and is- 
 sued an inaugural address full of kindly feelings and 
 assurance that the rights of no State would be inter- 
 fered with, but it was without avail to allay the fan- 
 cied fears of the Southern people. Preparations 
 were made for war by the so-called Southern Confed- 
 eracy, which had been organized, and on the i2th 
 day of April, 1861, the first gun was fired upon Fort 
 Sumter, which, on the Hth, was compelled to sur- 
 render to the rebel forces. 
 
 The first gun that was fired echoed and re-echoed 
 through the North, and was as much the signal for a 
 call to arms as the proclamation of President Lin- 
 coln for 75,000 men which immediately followed. 
 No call by any government that ever existed upon 
 the face of the earth was more speedily answered. 
 De Kalb County was behind no other section of the 
 country. " In nine days after the fall of Fort Sum- 
 ter," says a local chronicler, " a company of troops 
 from Sandwich, under Captain Carr, was garrisoning 
 the fortifications erected at Cairo, and on the loth of 
 May, a company of which Z. B. Mayo was Captain, 
 and E. F. Dutton and R. A. Smith were Lieutenants, 
 left Sycamore to join the famous i3th Illinois at Dixon 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Patriotic citizens raised subscriptions amounting to 
 over $30,000, which they pledged themselves to pay, 
 if required, to maintain the families of volunteers 
 while they were absent in the service. The Board of 
 Supervisors subsequently met and passed liberal ap- 
 propriations for this purpose. In October nine com- 
 panies of De Kalb County men had gone into the 
 service. Two were in the 13th regiment under com- 
 mand of Captains Partridge and Button, one under 
 Captain Carr in the loth, one under Captain Stoll- 
 brand in the 2d Artillery, one under Captain Butts 
 in the 42d, one under Capt. Fox, two in the 8th Cav- 
 alry under Captains Dustin and Whitney, and one in 
 the szd under Captain Stark." 
 
 The year 1862 will be remembered as one of gen- 
 eral gloom. The Union armies had met with a num- 
 ber of reverses and great apprehensions existed on 
 every hand. All thought of a speedy triumph in the 
 suppression of the rebellion was at* an end. In its 
 place was a fixed determination to maintain the su- 
 premacy of the Union at whatever cost. Several 
 calls had been made by the President for more troops 
 to fill up the depleted ranks of our defeated armies, 
 and most nobly did the men of De Kalb respond to 
 the call. In every portion of the county the ladies 
 united to form Soldiers' Aid Societies, laboring with 
 zeal and energy to supply the boys in the field with 
 such delicacies as the general Government did not 
 supply. 
 
 Call after call was made and responded to willingly, 
 cheerfully, by the citizens of De Kalb, but in 1864 
 the supply was exhausted. In the fall of that year 
 the quota of the county had reached 2,133 men, and 
 1,888 had responded, leaving a deficit of 273. In 
 severaHowns a draft became necessary, and where it 
 was possible the drafted man went into the service 
 and fought as bravely as the man who volunteered. 
 A number of the townships paid bounties, and drafted 
 men who could not go were required to hire substi- 
 tutes, at a large figure. 
 
 But the war was drawing to a close. The brave, 
 grand armies, under command of Grant, Sherman, 
 Sheridan, Logan, and others whose names have been 
 rendered immortal, were fast drawing in on the 
 rebels, capturing their fortifications, taking prisoners 
 corps and divisions of half-starved rebel soldiers, and 
 
 soon the news flashed over the wires that Lee had 
 surrendered, that Richmond had fallen and the 
 rebellion was virtually at an end. 
 
 Boise thus speaks of the close of the war : " About 
 3,000 men had been furnished by the county for the 
 great war now gloriously ended. The official records 
 of the State credit the various towns the following 
 numbers, probably reducing the number by estimat- 
 ing and averaging them as if furnished for three 
 years' service: Paw Paw, 136; Shabbona, 137; Milan, 
 38; Malta, 94; South Grove, 103; Franklin, 99; 
 Kingston, 98; Mayfield, 103; De Kalb, 223; Afton, 
 89; Clinton, in; Victor, 103; Somonauk, 311; 
 Squaw Grove, 93; Pierce, 100; Pampas, 134; Syca- 
 more, 307 ; Genoa, 109. Total, 2,388." 
 
 A glorious record truly ! 
 
 The happy termination of the war was made 
 gloomy by the sad death of the President of the 
 United States, that great and good man, one whom 
 the Nation was beginning to love as its Savior, 
 Abraham Lincoln. Struck down by the hand of an 
 assassin on the night of the i4th of April, 1865, on 
 the morning of the isth he breathed his last, all the 
 nations of the earth mourning his loss. In every vil- 
 lage and hamlet where the church spires pointed 
 heavenward, services in commemoration of the noble 
 dead were held. 
 
 The war is over, but it is not forgotten by the loyal 
 citizens of De Kalb County. In too many homes 
 exist the vacant chair ; too many mourn the loss of a 
 kind father, a loving brother or an affectionate hus- 
 band. In our graveyards lie the remains of many 
 who lost their lives during that fearful rebellion, or 
 have wasted away from disease contracted in that 
 gloomy period. In the sunny South were left others 
 of the brave men of De Kalb, where they will remain 
 till the resurrection day. On our streets are daily to 
 be seen the empty sleeve and the wooden limb of 
 those who fought that the nation might be saved. 
 No, the war is not forgotten, nor are the brave men 
 who perished. Once each year the old soldiers and 
 their friends meet at the graves of the departed, 
 strewing them with beautiful flowers, shedding the 
 regretful tear, but happy in the consciousness that 
 they are at rest and have exemplified the thought, 
 " How noble it is to die for one's country!" 
 
 
 ... -
 
 > 
 
 | ! 
 | 
 
 I 
 
 : 
 
 lOTICING the article on the phy- 
 sical features of the county, 
 it will be seen that its soil is 
 adapted to all the cereals 
 peculiar to this climate. In 
 the early day much wheat 
 ^ was raised, but latterly this 
 lias given place to corn, the 
 great staple product of the North- 
 west. In 1884 there were but 843 
 acres of wheat reported to the vari- 
 ous township assessors, while of corn 
 there was 112,546 acres. Among 
 the other products there were in 
 oats, 61,976 acres; meadow, 80,- 
 05 1 ; field products, 5,606 ; inclosed 
 pasture, 119,116; orchard, 4,503; 
 wood land, 13,131. In the past few 
 years much attention has been given 
 by the farmers to stock-raising, which has proven 
 more productive than general farming. The dairy 
 interest has also been rapidly increasing, many 
 farmers devoting their time to this branch of their 
 business, which yields a satisfactory profit; hence the 
 large amount of meadow land. For the general 
 farmer, De Kalb County affords extraordinary induce- 
 ments to make money easily and rapidly. 
 
 Agricultural Societies. 
 
 N the fall of 1852 the first exhibition of the 
 De Kalb County Agricultural Society was 
 held at Sycamore. Of this exhibition Boies 
 says: "It was in marked contrast with the ex- 
 tensive collections of the present era. One old 
 white bull was chained to a stake in the center 
 cant open lot, and two or three stallions, with 
 
 
 as many cows and colts, and a few beets and pump- 
 kins completed the amusing exhibition.' The same 
 authority says of the third annual exhibition: "The 
 third annual fair of De Kalb County was held on the 
 nth and i2th days of October, 1854. It was a very 
 tame and spiritless affair, only 26 premiums being 
 awarded in all, and these being divided among 18 
 persons. Those of our citizens who participated in 
 the demonstration were mortified at the poor display 
 of the industry of the country, and at the close of the 
 fair a meeting of the County Agricultural Society was 
 held, at which it was resolved to put forth every effort 
 to enlist a deeper interest in the annual fairs among 
 the farmers of the county." 
 
 On the loth day of December, 1856, S. W. Arnold 
 wrote the Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture, 
 stating that no fairs had been helfl for two years, but 
 that efforts were being made to revive the society and 
 hold other exhibitions. A meeting was held at which 
 the following named officers were elected for 1857: 
 John S. Brown, President; D. B. James, Correspond- 
 ing Secretary; A. K. Stiles, Recording Secretary; A. 
 Elhvood, Treasurer. A fair was held in the fall of 
 that year, which must have been successful, the 
 Secretary reporting that after all expenses had been 
 paid there was $12 remaining in the treasury. 
 
 In 1858 a fine exhibition was held, which greatly 
 encouraged the society, and at its regular meeting it 
 decided to locate a permanent fair ground adjoining 
 the Kishwaukee River, directly north of the village 
 of Sycamore, on grounds belonging to Clark Wright. 
 Here about fifteen acres of land were secured and 
 some improvements made. Not being able to ob- 
 tain a perfect title to the land, at a meeting of the 
 society in 1861, Moses Dean secured the appoint- 
 ment of a committee to locate new grounds. At this 
 time the citizens of De Kalb were very anxious to 
 
 ^3^ 
 

 
 
 secure the location of the fair at their place and 
 offered such inducements that the committee decided 
 to accept the proposal. 
 
 In reference to the proposition to remove to De 
 Kalb, the Secretary, in his report to the State Board 
 of Agriculture, said : "The annual meeting of 1861 
 was very fully attended. A proposition came up for 
 a change of location of the society to some grounds 
 at the village of De Kalb, which after a long and 
 spirit discussion was voted down. Secession being 
 about this time in fashion, and some members feeling 
 themselves aggrieved at this action, they publicly 
 seceded from the society with a view of forming a 
 society at De Kalb." 
 
 The members of the committee to secure a per- 
 manent location, and who had reported recommend- 
 ing the society to accept the proposition of the 
 citizens of De Kalb, were among the members re- 
 ferred to by the Secretary. A new committee was 
 appointed to select grounds at Sycamore. They 
 reported shortly after in favor of securing some land 
 of J. C. Waterman, west of the city. Subsequently 
 about fifteen acres were purchased of Erasmus D. 
 Walrod, the ground now occupied by the present 
 society. The land purchased from Mr. Walrod was 
 fitted up and for some years after fairs were held 
 therein. In 1864 no fair appears to have been held, 
 and no reports were* made to the State Board until 
 1866. Misfortune seemed to have overtaken the 
 fair and exhibitions were finally abandoned, a new 
 organization taking its place. 
 
 The officers for the years 185810 1861 inclusive 
 were as follows: 
 
 1858 Daniel Wait, Pres.; P. Waterman, Vice 
 Pres,; W. H. Beavers, Rec. Sec. ; D. B. James, Cor. 
 Sec. ; A. Ellwood, Treas. 
 
 1859 Daniel Wait, Pres.; W. T. Kirk, Vice 
 Pres.; William H. Beavers, Rec. Sec. , W. J. Hunt, 
 Cor. Sec.; A. Ellwood, Treas. 
 
 1860 John S. Brown, Pres. ; James S. Glidden, 
 Vice Pres. ; T. C. Wetmore, Rec. Sec. ; A. K. Stiles, 
 Cor. Sec. ; William A. Nickerson, Treas. 
 
 1861 John S. Brown, Pres.; J. R. Crossett, Vice 
 Pres.; H. L. Boies, Rec. Sec.; William H. Beavers, 
 Cor. Sec.; William A. Nickerson, Treas. 
 
 The fair for 1859 was reported by the Secretary as 
 " by far the most prosperous fair ever held in the 
 county." 
 
 (gyVA^Ia- 
 
 Union Agricultural Institute. 
 
 .PON the nth of February, 1860, pursuant 
 to notice, a meeting was held at Sandwich, 
 for the purpose of organizing an agricul- 
 tural society. William L. F. Jones was 
 called to the chair and J. A. Dickson was made 
 Secretary. William Patten, S. Lay, J. A. Dick- 
 son and S. Guernsey were appointed a committee to 
 draft constitution and by-laws. At a meeting held 
 February 18, the committee reported, and the name 
 " Sandwich Agricultural Institute " was adopted. At 
 a meeting held on the 25 th, the following named 
 officers were elected : William L. F. Jones, Presi- 
 dent ; A. Adams, J. S. Fuller, Vice Pres. ; J. H. 
 Cam Treas. ; N. E. Ballou, Cor. Sec. The first fair 
 was held Oct. 16 to 18, 1860, the receipts of which 
 were $400.65, the expenses $290.95. This being the 
 day of "wild-cat" money, the Treasurer reported 
 that a part of the balance remaining in his hand was 
 uncurrent. 
 
 In January, 1861, the Institute voted to purchase 
 20 acres of land of J. A. Dickson, lying three-fourths 
 of a mile west of the village. In March, 1861, the In- 
 stitute was incorporated, or, it might be said, a new 
 society was formed under the name of " Union Agri- 
 cultural Institute." Its incorporators were William L. 
 F. Jones, H. F. Winchester, Hubbard Latham, A. 
 H. Palmer, A. R. Patten and N. E. Ballou. Its 
 officers for that year were William L. F. Jones, Pres. ; 
 J. H. Furman, Vice Pres. ; N. E. Ballou, Sec. ; Jon- 
 athan Able, Cor. Sec. ; G. W. Culver, Treas. From 
 1862 to 1883 the following named have held the 
 offices mentioned in this society: 
 
 Presidents: William L. F. Jones, 1862-7; wil1 - 
 iam Patten, 1868; C. A. Reed, 1869; William L. F. 
 Jones, 1870-3; Hubbard Latham, 1874-6; David 
 Harmon, 1877 ; F. Baldwin, 1877-82 ; J. P. Adams, 
 1883. 
 
 Vice Presidents: J. H. Furman, 1862; S. B. Stin- 
 son, 1863-6; F. Baldwin, 1867: C. A. Reed, 1868; 
 H. W. Sweetland, 1869; S. D. Colman, 1870; David 
 E. Harmon, 1871-6; W. H. Sweetland, 1877; 
 William Patten and J. P. Adams, 1877 ; J. P. 
 Adams, 1878-82 ; F. Baldwin, 1883. 
 
 Secretaries: N. E. Ballou, 1862; S. B. Stinson, 
 1863-6; Joseph A. Dickson, 1867; N. E. Ballou
 
 
 COUNTY. 
 
 868-76; Amos Shepard, 1877; J. M. Hummel, 
 1877-81 ; H C. Graves, 1882-3. 
 
 Treasurers: G. W. Culver, 1862-76; M. B. 
 Castle, 1877-83. 
 
 From the Secretary's record it is judged that no 
 fairs were held in 1861 and 1862, though in the 
 meantime ground had been bought for the purpose, 
 H. F. Winchester fencing the same for its use. In 
 1863 a fair was held, the receipts being $549. Fairs 
 were held without intermission from 1863 to 1874. 
 / In February, 1877, a re-organization was effected, the 
 stock of the institute being divided into 20 shares. 
 Ten men took all the stock, paying therefor $2,000. 
 A fair was held in 1877 under the auspices of the 
 new association, at which their receipts were $2,154. 
 In 1878 and until 1882 successful fairs were annually 
 held, the association paying its premiums in full and 
 having a good surplus each year. In March, 1883, 
 the grounds were sold to Dieterich & Ebinger, since 
 which time no fairs have been held. 
 
 (_/ De Kalb County Agricultural and Mechanical 
 Society. 
 
 ARCH, 1861, a meeting was held at De 
 Kalb for the purpose of forming an 
 organization to advance the interests of 
 agriculture and mechanics. A joint stock 
 company was formed with capital stock of 
 $2,500, and a motion was made to purchase the 
 grounds selected by the committee appointed by the 
 \ old society. The foregoing name was adopted by 
 which the society was to be known. The following 
 named were selected as officers for 1861 : J. F. Glid- 
 den, Pres. ; N. Saum, Vice Pres.; J. W. Smull, Sec. ; 
 Harvey Thompson, Treas. The finest exhibition 
 was held in September following, and was reported 
 as being very successful. The grounds purchased 
 from Mr. Glidden were fitted up in a satisfactory 
 manner and for some years very successful exhibi- 
 tions were held. This society generally secured the 
 aid voted by the State, amounting to $100 annually. 
 ) Three fairs in the county were too much, and the De 
 Kalb fair some time since suspended. 
 
 De Kalb County Agricultural Association. 
 
 N the i2th day of March, 1870, the De Kalb 
 County Agricultural Association was formed 
 at Sycamore. One hundred and thirty two 
 persons subscribed for from one to five shares 
 each of the stock of the association. The 
 capital slock was placed at $2,500. The fol- 
 lowing named were elected as officers for the year 
 1870: Henry Wood, President; S. C. Hale, Vice- 
 President; T. K. Waite, Rec. Sec.; Samuel Alden, 
 Cor. Sec.; Roswell Dow, Treasurer ; Alonzo Ellwood, 
 A. H. Pond, Nicholas Saum, John M. Schoonmaker, 
 James M. Byers, Directors. 
 
 The first annual fair of the association was held 
 at the old fair grounds, which had been purchased 
 and several hundred dollars in improvements made 
 thereto, commencing on the 6th day of October, 1870, 
 and continuing four days. The fair Was considered 
 a success, the award of premiums being made from 
 the judges' stand at 2 p. M. on the gth day of Octo- 
 ber. 
 
 Annual fairs have since been held, which have 
 grown in interest year by year, the increase in re- 
 ceipts being about $100 each year over the previous 
 one. The fair grounds have been paid for, many im- 
 provements, made and premiums paid in full each 
 year. The society is now, in January, 1885, out of 
 debt, with money in the treasury. Much of the suc- 
 cess is due to the earnest work of the officers. 
 
 The following is a list of officers from 1871 to 
 1885, inclusive: 
 
 1871 Henry Wood, President ; Stephen Town- 
 send, Vice-President; T. K. Waite, Secretary; Ros- 
 well Dow, Treasurer. 
 
 1872 Samuel Alden, President; A. H. Pond, 
 Vice-President ; H. C. Whittemore, Secretary ; Rich- 
 ard A. Smith, Treasurer. 
 
 18738. C. Hale, President; A. H. Pond, Vice- 
 President; H. C. Whittemore, Secretary; E. P. Saf- 
 ford, Treasurer. 
 
 18748. C. Hale, President; R. A. Smith, Vice- 
 President ; Edwin Waite, Secretary ; E. P. Safford, 
 Treasurer. 
 
 1875 R. A. Smith, President; L. D. Evans, Vice- 
 President ; Edwin Waite, Secretary ; William Town- 
 send, Treasurer. 
 
 i **^ "t^@ 

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 1876 Damon Decker, President; Elias C. West, 
 Vice-President ; Edwin Waite, Secretary ; Hiram 
 Holcomb, Treasurer. 
 
 1877 Elias C. West, President; John G. Smith, 
 Vice-President ; Edwin Waite, Secretary; Hiram 
 Holcomb, Treasurer. 
 
 1878 No record. 
 
 1879 Hiram Holcomb, President; E. P. Safford, 
 Vice-President; Edwin Waite, Secretary; B. F. 
 Wyman, Treasurer. 
 
 1880 Hiram Holcomb, President: A. P. Stone, 
 
 Vice-President; B. F. Wyman, Secretary; Amos W. 
 Townsend, Treasurer. 
 
 1 88 1 Hiram Holcomb, President; E. P. Safford, 
 Vice-President; B. F. Wyman, Secretary; A. W. 
 Townsend, Treasurer. 
 
 1882 All the officers re-elected. 
 
 1883 Hiram Holcomb, President; C. Elhvood, 
 Vice-President; B. F. Wyman, Secretary; A. W. 
 Townsend, Treasurer. 
 
 1884 All the officers re-elected. 
 
 1885 All the officers re-elected. 
 
 IEbe 2)e1Ralb Count? 
 
 ..USTLY has the printing press been 
 said to be the Archimedean 
 lever that moves the world. By 
 it the thoughts of the wise men 
 of every age are reproduced over 
 and over again, circulated broad- 
 cast, and find their way into al- 
 most every home, exerting an in- 
 fluence as lasting as time. While 
 the great dailies of our metropoli- 
 tan cities supply the general 
 news of the world almost as soon 
 as the events occur, the local 
 press of each town and county is 
 expected to chronicle items of 
 interest transpiring in the community in which it is 
 established. While the great dailies are of special in- 
 terest to those who desire to be posted in the affairs 
 of the whole world, the home paper is indispensable 
 to those who feel a more than ordinary interest in 
 the local happenings of the day, and in events of 
 which they are cognizant ai.d an active participant. 
 
 In comparison with its circulation, the home paper 
 exerts even a greater influence than the so-called 
 great papers of the metropolitan cities. At the pres- 
 ent time De Kalb County is well supplied with home 
 papers. In the list are the following : True Republi- 
 can and City Weekly, Sycamore; Chronicle and Re- 
 view, De Kalb; Index, Genoa; Mail, Malta; Re- 
 view, Hinckley; Gazette, Free Press and Argus, 
 Sandwich ; Reveille, Somonauk ; Express, Shabbona. 
 
 The Eepublican-Sentinel. 
 
 'EPUBLICAN-SENTINEL, edited and pub- 
 lished by H. A. Hough, at Sycamore, was 
 the first paper printed in De Kalb County. 
 The first issue made its appearance May 31 
 r854. The Sentinel gave a vigorous and en- 
 thusiastic support to the prohibitory liquor law 
 presented to the people of the State for its adoption. 
 In 1858, the Republican- Sentinel was purchased by 
 
 ^^
 
 - .. - 
 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 795 
 
 the friends of Senator Douglas, its name changed to 
 the Sycamore Sentinel, and it became, under the edi- 
 torial management of E. L. and Z. B. Mayo and 
 Jacob A. Simons, an earnest supporter of Senator 
 <-) Douglas for re-election. This was the year in which 
 the great debate was held between Douglas and 
 Lincoln, which, as Lincoln subsequently remarked, 
 elected Douglas to the Senate and Lincoln to the 
 Presidency. The paper was continued until May 29, 
 1861, when it was consolidated with the True Re- 
 / publican. 
 
 ' 
 
 I 
 
 ; 
 
 & 
 
 The True Republican. 
 
 N the! fall of 1857 the True Republican was 
 started by C. W. Waite, editor and proprie- 
 tor. It was a seven-column folio, and pre- 
 sented a very neat and attractive appearance. 
 On the 30th day of March, 1858, the material 
 and good will of the office was purchased by 
 James H. Beveridge, D. B. James and C. M. Brown, 
 and the paper was continued under the firm name 
 of J. H. Beveridge & Co., proprietors ; O. P. Bassett, 
 publisher ; C. W. Waite was retained as editor. On 
 the sth day of April, 1859, O. P. Bassett purchased 
 the material of the office and became publisher and 
 proprietor, retaining Mr. Waite as editor. On the 
 zgth day of May, 1861, Mr. Bassett bought out the 
 Sycamore Sentinel, consolidating the papers under 
 the name of the Republican ami Sentinel. Mr. 
 Bassett remained as sole publisher until May 14, 
 1862, when he disposed of one-half of the office to 
 H. L. Boies, and the paper was continued under the 
 firm name of Bassett & Boies, with Mr. Boies in the 
 editorial chair. The paper had some time previous 
 been changed to an eight-column folio About the 
 close of the war John Norris purchased Mr. Bassett's 
 interest, and, under the firm name of John Norris & 
 Co., the paper was published, Mr. Boies still attend- 
 ing to the duties of editor. The name was now 
 changed to Sycamore True Republican. In Janu- 
 ary, 1868, Mr. Boies became sole proprietor. On 
 the i ^th day of December, 1869, the paper was 
 changed to a semi-weekly, seven-column folio, con- 
 tinuing as such to the present time. In September, 
 [874, George P. Taylor purchased a half interest 
 
 and the firm became Boies & Taylor. This arrange- 
 ment continued until 1875, when Taylor sold his 
 interest to George O. Armstrong, and the firm then 
 became Boies & Armstrong. On the i3th of March, 
 1878, David L. Peck purchased Armstrong's interest, 
 the firm name being changed to Boies & Peck. On 
 the Sth day of September, 1880, D. W. Hartman 
 purchased the interest of Mr. Peck, and the firm 
 was then known as Boies & Hartman. In July, 
 1884, Mr. Hartman retired and the paper now is pub- 
 lished by H. L. Boies & Co. The True Republican 
 is now in its 28th year. It has had its ups and 
 downs, but has held steadfastly on its way, always 
 being a consistent advocate of the principles implied 
 in its name. Mr. Boies has been connected with it 
 almost a quarter of a century, devoting the best part 
 of his life to its success and in the advocacy of true 
 Republican doctrine. 
 
 The People's Press. 
 
 HE loth day of September, 1857, the 
 People's Press made its first appearance. 
 It was the first paper published in Sand- 
 wich, and was a neat six-column folio, 
 " devoted to literature, science, agriculture, 
 local and general news," and independent on 
 all subjects. W. L. Dempster was editor and pub- 
 lisher. He was a practical newspaper man and 
 made an interesting paper. Notwithstanding the 
 business men of the place patronized it liberally, at 
 the expiration of about six months it ceased to exist. 
 Its editor and publisher, having got deeply in debt, 
 left the country, without bidding his friends and 
 patrons an affectionate good-bye. 
 
 The Prairie Home and Advertiser. 
 
 HE second paper established in Sandwich 
 had the foregoing title. Its publication 
 was commenced Oct. 13, 1859, by Matti- 
 son & Higbee. The paper was a four-column 
 folio, with a border around each page. Its 
 nee was brief. 
 
 
 f 
 
 .
 
 The Sandwich. ISews 
 
 AS the third paper started in Sandwich. 
 James M. Higbee was editor and pub- 
 lisher. It was issued bi-monthly, and 
 vas a four-column folio, with border. The 
 News was continued about five months, 
 at which time it shared the fate of many news- 
 paper enterprises. It is a most difficult undertaking 
 to establish a newspaper upon a paying and profit- 
 able basis. 
 
 
 
 The Sandwich Gazette. 
 
 AMES HIGBEE, in May, 1865, began the 
 publication of a five-column folio sheet 
 under the above name, which he issued 
 weekly. A short time afterwards he associated 
 with him in its publication James H. Sedg- 
 wick, and, under the firm name of Higbee & 
 Sedgwick, the paper was continued, being enlarged 
 to a seven-column folio. On the I4th of April, 
 1866, James H. Furman purchased the interest of 
 Mr. Sedgwick, and subsequently the firm of Higbee 
 & Furman enlarged the paper to an eight-column 
 folio. On the 3d day of October, 1868, Mr. Fur- 
 man became sole proprietor, and continued as such 
 until the 291)1 day of May, 1874, when he sold the 
 office and good will of the paper to G. H. Robertson. 
 Mr. Robertson continued its publication weekly as 
 an eight-column folio but a short time, when he 
 changed its form to a six-column quarto. As such 
 it was continued until 1877, when it was changed to 
 a seven-column folio, and its publication continued 
 semi-weekly. For six years Mr. Robertson con- 
 tinued to publish a semi-weekly paper, and then he 
 returned to the weekly issue, and resumed the old 
 form of an eight-column folio, its present size. The 
 Gazette has had a prosperous career of 20 years, and 
 in that time has always held aloft the Republican 
 banner, advocating the principles of that party with 
 signal ability. As a local paper, it has endeavored 
 to advocate in a consistent manner everything that 
 has tended to build up the city in which it has been 
 
 
 
 printed. Mr. Robertson, its editor, is a well educated 
 man, with large experience in public life, and wields 
 a ready pen. 
 
 De Kalb County Farmer. 
 
 URING September, 1871, the first number 
 of the Ee Kalb County Farmer made its 
 appearance, with V. Hix as editor and pro- 
 prietor. It was a four-column quarto, the 
 subscription price being $i per year. For 
 tome time previous Mr. Hix had been con- 
 tributing a series of articles to the True Republican, 
 descriptive of farming and stock-raising in De Kalb 
 County, with practical hints derived from experience. 
 The articles meeting with favor by the farming com- 
 munity, it was thought advisable to establish a paper 
 in which subjects of interest to farmers could be 
 treated more in detail than in the columns of a lo- 
 cal paper. The experiment was not a success finan- 
 cially, and the paper was discontinued at the end of 
 one year. 
 
 The City Weekly. 
 
 MONG the leading papers of the county is 
 the Sycamore City Weekly. It may be said 
 to be the outgrowth of . the De Kalb 
 County Farmer, the experience in the latter 
 giving Mr. Hix a taste for the profession. The 
 first number of the Weekly made its appear- 
 ance in September, 1872. It was a six-column 
 quarto, independent in politics, devoted mainly to 
 local news and miscellany. Mr. Hix continued 
 as sole proprietor for six years, when he admitted 
 into partnership F. O. Van Galder, a practical prin- 
 ter and an excellent workman. In 1876 the 
 Weekly became the supporter of Republican princi- 
 ples, for which it has continued to battle to the 
 present time. In 1877 the form of the paper was 
 changed to an eight-column folio, which it main- 
 tained until August, 1879, when it was made a nine- 
 column folio. In March, 1882, it resumed its orit 
 nal form of a six-column quarto. The City Weekly 
 
 a_Q____Sfcp%jE: V&XS&SJL 
 
 m yK^Jci\ ( ^^, 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 model local paper, keeping abreast with the 
 times. Few items of any importance escape the 
 watchful eyes of its editors. Its circulation is large 
 and it is a No. i advertising medium. 
 
 
 
 Sandwich Free Press. 
 
 'ULY 16, 1873, was the date the first issue 
 |? of this paper bore. Its motto was, "Home 
 first, the world afterward." H. F. Blood- 
 good, a young printer, who had just entered 
 upon his majority, and who had for several 
 years been an employee on the Gazette, con- 
 ceived the idea there was room for one more paper, 
 and proposed to fill the vacancy. In his salutatory 
 he said that witli " malice toward none and charity 
 for all," he would endeavor to give the people a paper 
 devoted specially to home interests ; that he be- 
 lieved in speaking a good word for his town, when it 
 could be done, and he would doit. He said further : 
 '" Sandwich will not be able to support the second 
 paper.'" some say; but we believe she will, and shall 
 test her thoroughly before we give it up. If we do 
 not succeed, we can, with a little practice, hoe corn, 
 quench potato bugs, draw water from Fox River (when 
 the season is dry) for .the neighbors to wash with, 
 and in the fall go to plowing for John Keene, of Af- 
 ton, who assures us we can have a job. We print 
 advertisements, local notices, etc., and our charges 
 are not very high. We have worked at the trade for 
 the past five years, but never acquired the knack of 
 placing every person's advertisement at the head of 
 the first column, nor do we expect to. We will give 
 them all a fair show, however. Our 'better half,' 
 like Josiah Allen, despairingly says, ' Who'll read the 
 paper after it is printed, Bloodgood?' We replied 
 that we knew of three already who had promised to 
 do so, and if the people would [follow suit we would 
 soon have a list." 
 
 It was soon found out that Sandwich would sup- 
 port a second paper, so Mr. Bloodgood was not com- 
 pelled to " quench potato bugs " to support his 
 family. The paper, under his administration, soon 
 became quite popular, and its popularity continued 
 until his death. On the 5th day of October, 1881, 
 Mr. Bloodgood was caught in a revolving shaft and 
 
 crushed in a horrible manner. He lingered along 
 until April 4, 1882, when he died from the effects of 
 the injuries received. From a sermon by Rev. G. 
 W. Crofts is gleaned the following: 
 
 "Henry Francis Bloodgood was born in Rochester, 
 N. Y., Feb. 6, 1852. He came to Sandwich when 16 
 years of age and entered the office of the Gasette, 
 where he worked five years. He commenced the 
 publication of the Free Press in July, 1872. Small 
 was its beginning, like the grain of mustard seed, but 
 during the years as they passed it continued To grow 
 in popular favor, until it ranked in point of circulation 
 and editorial ability with the very best local papers 
 in the State. This fact was acknowledged by all the 
 editorial brotherhood throughout the State. The 
 Free Press had not a single exchange that did not 
 again and again speak in the highest terms of its 
 rank, of the marked ability and taste with which it 
 was conducted, and of the genial and generous char- 
 acter of the man who stood at its helm. A still 
 higher acknowledgment was the fact of other jour- 
 nals copying many of his sparkling and piquant 
 sayings. Few men possessed the faculty of putting 
 things in a more condensed, telling and charming 
 way. Some of his efforts in prose and verse would 
 have secured favorable comment in more pretentious 
 publications. He was original, witty and versatile." 
 
 The Free Press was continued as a six-column 
 folio for about two years, then changed to a six-col- 
 umn quarto and subsequently to a nine-column folio. 
 On the death of Mr. Bloodgood the office was pur- 
 chased by C. B. Taylor, who changed the form to a 
 five-column quarto, running it as such for a few 
 months, then changed it to a six-column quarto. 
 Mr. Taylor was a man of fine ability, coming here 
 from Urban a, 111., where he had been engaged in 
 newspaper work as a partner in the Herald. On re- 
 tiring from the Free Press, he went to Danville, and 
 for a time was on the News. He is now a Metho- 
 dist minister, and is located at Lerna, Coles Co., 111. 
 Barnes & Douglas purchased the office and good- 
 will of the paper and issued their first number Oct. 
 17, 1883. They are still the publishers, and print 
 one of the best local ' papers in Northern Illinois. 
 They are both practical printers, and, like the first 
 editor of the paper, they believe in doing all they 
 can to build up their town, while at the same time 
 trying to observe well the motto at the head of their 
 paper to " Fear God, tell the truth, andimake money." 
 

 
 .. 
 
 
 COUNTY. 
 
 Somonauk Reveille. 
 
 ;OMONAUK REVEILLE first made its 
 appearance Dec. 18, 1875. It was a seven- 
 column folio, independent in politics, with 
 C. A. West as editor and proprietor. After 
 the expiration of the first year the paper was 
 changed to a five-column quarto, its present 
 size. Mr. West continued the publication of 
 the paper for three years, when he sold to S. D. New- 
 ton, who since continued in its charge. The Re- 
 veille under the administration of Mr. Newton has 
 been a success in every particular. Having but a 
 limited field for circulation, it has made the best use 
 of its opportunities and has worked the field thor- 
 oughly, and but few families in the vicinity of Somo- 
 nauk are without the Reveille. The merchants of 
 the place have been very liberal in advertising, show- 
 ing a proper appreciation of the local press. Mr. 
 Newton advocates the principles of none of the politi- 
 cal parties now in existence, while at the same time 
 he is free to support such men and measures as he 
 may think best. A good local paper is what he pro- 
 poses and does furnish his patrons. 
 
 
 
 Shabbona Express. 
 
 CURING the month of May, 1876, the Shab- 
 bona Express was commenced by Blood- 
 good & Hunt, of the Sandwich Free Press. 
 
 % 4^" Mr ' Hunt was tlie resident or local editor at 
 \s(S ^ Shabbona, the paper being printed at Sandwich. 
 It was a six-column folio. At the expiration of 
 six months Mr. Hunt sold out to W. H. Ray, of 
 Shabbona, the publication of the paper being con- 
 tinued by Bloodgood & Ray. This arrangement con- 
 tinued for two years, when Mr. Ray became sole pro- 
 prietor. For some months he had the paper printed 
 S> at Paw Paw, and then at Hinckley for two years, 
 when he purchased a press and has since printed it 
 at home. In May, 1880, the paper was enlarged to 
 a seven-column folio, and six months laterto an eight- 
 column folio. It was thus continued till the expira- 
 tion of the current year, when it was changed to a 
 five-column quarto, its present form. In June, 1882, 
 
 a Fair Haven power press was introduced, on which 
 it is now worked. The paper is Republican in poli- 
 tics, and, as a local newspaper, has done much to- 
 wards building up the town and influencing public 
 opinion. A biographical sketch of its editor is found 
 elsewhere in this volume. 
 
 ---HIMIH^ 
 
 The Malta Mail. 
 
 C. NEEDHAM, as editor and proprietor, 
 issued the first number of the Malta Mail 
 in February, 1877. It was a five-column 
 folio. Mr. Needham continued its publica- 
 tion until November of the same year, when he 
 sold to G. W. Morris, who for one year and a 
 half continued as sole proprietor, when he took in 
 one of his sons as a partner. Subsequently another 
 son was admitted as a partner, the firm then being 
 G. W. Morris & Sons. In 1881 one of the sons re- 
 tired, leaving the father and one son as publishers, 
 under the firm name of G. W. Morris & Son. The 
 paper has changed its size a number of times, being 
 enlarged each time. In 1881 it was changed to a 
 seven-column quarto, which size it yet remains. In 
 politics, the Mail is Republican, though liberal in its 
 views. It is a neat and well-printed sheet, and ed- 
 ited with considerable ability. 
 
 The Hinckley Review. 
 
 'AY, 1878, M. N. Tomblin commenced the 
 publication of the Review, the first paper 
 published at Hinckley. It was a five- 
 column quarto, six pages, patent. He occu- 
 pied small rooms over the present barber shop. 
 In about six months his brother, L. E. Tomb- 
 ' lin, became a partner and changed their paper 
 to a six-column folio, half patent. With a Washing- 
 ton hand press, a limited outfit of type, small quar- 
 ters, and a steadfast aim for success, these two hard- 
 working and enterprising young men struggled on for 
 two years. On May i, 1880, they associated with 
 them Herbert W. Fay. and commenced operating un- 
 der the firm name of Tomblin Bros. & Fay. The old 
 
 
 4g*@,
 
 - .. - 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 press was exchanged to a rotary Nonpareil, a large 
 amount of new type was added and the office was 
 moved down on the ground floor of the same build- 
 ing, on an equal footing with other business places of 
 Hinckley. The paper was doubled in size, and the 
 subscription price increased to $1.25 per year. In 
 June, 1882, Herbert W. Fay bought out the interests 
 of his partners. On Nov. 4, 1882, he purchased the 
 next building east of the one in which the paper was 
 started. 
 
 On March i, 1883, the office was moved into the 
 new and larger quarters. During all this time the 
 proprietors have published a branch paper for Water- 
 man, 111., called the Leader. During the last two 
 years the Review has adopted the plan of rejecting 
 nearly all foreign advertising, especially patent-med- 
 icine contracts. The plan has gre itly increased its 
 subscription and materially added to its home adver- 
 tising patronage. At present no paper in the county 
 has a better advertising patronage, and its circulation 
 is not surpassed by many. 
 
 The Argus. 
 
 NOVEMBER 9 , 1878, M. B. Castie&Son 
 
 commenced the publication of the Argus, 
 a seven-column folio. The salutatory was 
 to the point. Among other things, the editor 
 lid : " The Argus starts with a clean record 
 in all particulars, especially in the subscriptions, 
 having but 'five ; but, like the mustard seed the 
 woman put in a lump of dough, these will leaven the 
 whole lump (we quote from memory), forming a 
 nucleus for the 1,500 we are going to have. We will 
 make but few promises, but will endeavor to do bet- 
 . ter in performance. There is one thing, however, we 
 are quite sure of, and that is, that the Argus has 
 come to stay, as we heard a young lady say the other 
 day ' you bet,' which we suppose to be the elegant 
 method of strong assertion. We have always done 
 our ' level best ' to please everybody, and we have 
 been remarkably successful therein. We have no 
 doubt we shall succeed equally well in this enter- 
 prise. But if by any chance we should not, it would 
 grieve us sadly; and we at this early date, and in ad- 
 vance, beg to offer apologies and be forgiven. . . . 
 They do not expect to make a better paper than all 
 
 others, and do not expect to have it free from faults 
 or above criticism, but they do expect to have a wide- 
 awake paper. . . . The proprietors of the Argus 
 are both young. J. B. Castle is young in years, and 
 M. B. Castle is young in heart ; so they may be ex- 
 pected to say and do some foolish things ; but they 
 are ready to promise faithfully not to repeat them, 
 when once they see the error, and that should be a 
 merit in this world of obstinate wrong." 
 
 On commencing its publication, the publishers 
 used one-half foreign print, but on the 22d of March, 
 1879, began the printing of the entire sheet at home. 
 The second volume of the paper was enlarged to an 
 eight-column folio, which size is still maintained, at 
 the same time it being all home print. During the 
 first year, a series of personal sketches of old settlers 
 was published, which were of much interest to its 
 readers. The paper has been very successful, having 
 a large circulation, and fine advertising patronge. 
 
 De Kalb County Chronicle. 
 
 ARCH 8, 1879, the first issue of the De 
 Kalb County Chronicle made appearance. 
 For some time the Democracy of the 
 county were without an organ, and it was 
 thought a favorable opportunity presented itself 
 for starting and sustaining a paper that would 
 advocate the principles of Jefferson and Jackson. 
 The first number had at the head of its columns, D. 
 W. Tyrrell & Co., publishers, and Clinton Rosette, 
 editor. In his salutatory, the editor said : "It (the 
 Chronicle} will advocate free trade, a uniform cur- 
 rency, State rights and personal liberty, as being not 
 only the ancient Democratic faith and sound consti- 
 tutional doctrine, but as best calculated to preserve 
 the liberties of individuals, to conduce to the pros- 
 perity of the people, and to the Union and the Con- 
 stitution." When first established the Chronicle was 
 a five-column quarto. In July, following, J. F. Glid- 
 den became sole proprietor and the paper was en- 
 larged to a six-column quarto. Mr. Rosette was 
 continued as editor and remains as such to the 
 present time. Under his able management it has 
 taken rank as one of the leading Democratic organs 
 of Northern Illinois, and is a credit to its proprietors 
 and to the city and county in which it is published. 
 
 
 
 , 
 
 i 

 
 DE KALB COiTSTT, 
 
 Mr. Rosette is mow < 
 
 name being J. E. Gladden & Co. Tl>e joper is *H 
 
 printed at home. The office of the CJirmdck is -cnw 
 of the largest m the State ontside-of Chicago, having 
 foul large cylinder power presses and several job 
 presses. A large amount of job printing is jtnnnjIBy 
 done, tie greater part of -which is ibr the maoa- 
 factarrng rms of De Kalh. * 
 
 The De Kalb Beview. 
 
 118%, tie feist issae *tf afre 
 De KaTb Rnneai appeared. Its publica- 
 tion was began by H. L. Boies & G^ of 
 Sj'camore, with S. L. Graharo as editor, After 
 being issued abont three months, dw food wffl 
 of the paper and subscription list wjs pur- 
 chased by Tyrrell & Tomblin. The latter w.ss tben 
 publishing a newsjiaper at Genoa, whici he then 
 suspended and removed the material of the office 
 toDeKalb. The Review is an eighi-column folio 
 and presenls a neal and creditable appearaDce. 
 While its motto from the beginning has been '"Inde- 
 pendent in all things," it is yet an advocate of the 
 principles and policy of the Republican party, D.. 
 
 PAPER, 
 started as iS4- JA Gkaw., ike 
 ui^ dte Oct. ai, mil, U W, 
 
 :v ,.. - 
 
 inw are, WaMarm H&rMxal De EaJto **- = 
 ted De Kalb M i^S, bj Mr. A- f 
 by L p 
 
 . . ~ /:-.-, v.:cv ;: 
 
 
 .,, v 
 

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 I 
 
 NLY a few, if any, counties 
 in the State can at all be 
 compared with De Kalb in 
 the number of useful inven- 
 tions. Among the number 
 " tj-vjo * worthy of special mention in 
 this volume are the Marsh Harvesters, 
 Whitney Self-Binder, Glidden Barbed 
 Wire, " S " Barbed Wire, the Ellwood 
 Cultivators, the Powers, Corn-Shellers 
 and Cultivators of the Sandwich Man- 
 ufacturing Company. Among the in- 
 ventions made by citizens of De Kalb 
 County, that of barbed wire for fenc- 
 ing has probably given the county its 
 greatest reputation. While wire for fencing pur- 
 poses was used as early as 1821, when the first 
 patent was granted, it was not until 1874 that any- 
 thing practical was invented. As early as 1873, J. 
 F. Glidden began to experiment with barbed wire. 
 Having upon his farm a large quantity of smooth 
 wire fence, the thought occurred to him that he could 
 place barbs upon the wire in a more satisfactory 
 manner than had yet been done. With very simple 
 instruments he twisted the barb around the wire and 
 
 imade the first practical test upon his own farm. En- 
 listing the interest of I. L. Ellwood, the two formed 
 ._ a partnership and made application for a patent, 
 ^ which was granted in May, 1874, the essential fea- 
 . tures being that of "coiling a short piece of wire 
 between its ends around the fence wire," a device 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 which has never been deviated from in the slightest 
 particular in the construction of the now world- 
 famous Glidden Steel Barb Fence Wire. 
 
 At the time Mr. Glidden was making his practical 
 tests, Jacob Haish, of De Kalb, was also experiment- 
 ing in the same line. The first patent secured by 
 him was Jan. 20, 1874. The specification read as 
 follows : " Two strands of wire twisted together, 
 said wires cut into lengths of about one-sixth of a 
 panel, their ends lapping so far as to permit hooking 
 by turning each end back and then projecting them 
 laterally upward and downward to serve as barbs." 
 Other patents followed and improvements were made 
 until the efforts of the inventor were crowned by the 
 invention and introduction of the justly celebrated 
 " S " Barb Wire. 
 
 Reuben Ellwood has led a busy, active life. His 
 mind seems never at rest. As an idventor he has 
 presented to the world many useful articles, some of 
 which are here enumerated : 
 
 1. The Ellwood Riding Cultivator was first pat- 
 ented July i, 1873. Machines of this kind are made, 
 either four or six blades, from which, together with 
 the attachments, four complete cultivators are made, 
 
 four, five, six or nine blade cultivators. This style *& 
 has more good points with less complication than 
 any other cultivator made. 
 
 2. The Ellwood Walking Cultivator is the out- 
 growth of a demand for a first-class implement of 
 that kind. It was patented by Mr. Ellwood Aug. 
 21, 1883. 
 
 3. The Ellwood 4Oo-Pound Sulky Plow was pat- 
 
 p ^*g&z -l^if^/43 

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 
 ented Aug. 22, 1879. Its weight is much less than 
 any other, while the strongest. 
 
 4. The Ellwood Self-Discharging Sulky Rake was 
 patented April 22, 1879. It is simple, strong and 
 durable. 
 
 5. Ell wood's Barrel Cart is one of the most con- 
 venient things about a farm. It was invented by a 
 practical farmer to lighten the labor of carrying slops 
 and milk from the house and dairy. It was patented 
 April 3, 1877. 
 
 6. Ellwood's Barn Door Hanger is simple and sub- 
 stantial in construction. The patent was issued July 
 4, 1876. 
 
 7. The Little Giant Wire Stretcher, for stretching 
 barb-wire fences, was patented in 1882. Two hun- 
 dred thousand made and sold. 
 
 Among other inventions of Mr. Ellwood are the 
 Hinge Harrow, One-Horse Power, Revolving Box 
 Churn, Iron Fence Picket and Rolling Coulters, all 
 practical inventions and in use throughout the coun- 
 try. 
 
 C. W. & W. W. Marsh have a national reputa- 
 tion. Their inventions are in use throughout the 
 Union and even in foreign lands. The following 
 comprises a part of what has been invented by them : 
 
 Harvester, patented by C. W. & W. W. Marsh, 
 Feb. T4, 1865, consists of an open inside divider. 
 This has generally been adopted by all harvester 
 companies. 
 
 Harvester, patented by C. W. & W. W. Marsh, 
 June 7, 1865. A re-issue to cover the binding table 
 and receptacle and the position of the binder. Vir- 
 tually used by all harvester companies. 
 
 Harvester, patented June 18, 1872, by C. W. & 
 W. W. Marsh, a simple device for hurrying forward 
 the butts of the grain. 
 
 Harvester, re-issue patented by C. W. & W. W. 
 Marsh, Jan. 12, 1875. Consists of an elevating 
 mechanism reaching forward of the sickle bar. This 
 invention has been adopted by all manufacturers of 
 harvesters. 
 
 Harvester, patent re-issued Jan. 12, 1875, by C. 
 W. & W. W. Marsh. Patent consists of folding or re- 
 moving the hand-binder table, in order to narrow up 
 the machine in passing through narrow places. This 
 is virtually used by all the harvester companies. 
 
 Harvester, patent re-issued March 9, 1875. Claim, 
 the hand-binding tables on the outside of the drive- 
 
 
 .:- >-' 
 
 
 
 wheel, in order to balance the machine. This inven- 
 tion was practically adopted by all the hand-binding 
 harvesters manufactured in this country. 
 
 Harvester, patent re-issued March 9, 1875, by C. 
 W. & W. W. Marsh. This patent consists of a cover 
 for holding the grain down on the lower elevator can- 
 vass. This virtually has been adopted by all manu- 
 facturers of harvesters, the only difference being, they 
 use a canvass revolving cover. 
 
 Harvester, patented by C. W. & W. W. Marsh, 
 Feb. 21, 1876. A devise for protecting the finger- 
 bar. 
 
 Harvester, patented by C. W. & W. W. Marsh, 
 June 13, 1876. This consists of a device for level- 
 ing the hand-binder's foot-board table while the ma- 
 chine is in motion. A useful invention. 
 
 Harvester, patented by C. W. & W. W. Marsh, 
 June 13, 1876. Consists of a raising and lowering 
 device. 
 
 Harvester, patented by C. W. and W. W. Marsh, 
 Feb. 20, 1877. Consists of an adjustable reel. 
 
 Harvester Reel, patented by C. W. & W. W. 
 Marsh, April 17, 1877. The claim consists of an ad- 
 justable reel. 
 
 Grain-Binding Harvester, patented by W. W. 
 Marsh and M. E. Blood, April ro, 1883. Claim, a re- 
 volting adjuster wheel for straightening and working 
 grain back to the binder in proper position for bind- 
 ing. 
 
 Grain-Binding Harvester, patented Feb. 10, 1885, 
 by W. W. Marsh and M. E. Blood. Claim, a vertical 
 canvass placed over the drum of the platform can- 
 vass, in order to force grain to the binder, thereby 
 straightening the same. The vertical canvass is in 
 a frame which is held down by a spring to accommo- 
 date itself to the different thickness of the grain. 
 Claim, also a vibrating butter used to square up the 
 butts of the grain, together with a raised wall for re- 
 sisting the flow of the grain in order to straighten it. 
 
 These patents virtually cover the Marsh-Blood 
 machine. 
 
 Harvester and Binder, patented March 18, 1884, 
 by Charles Whitney & W. W. Marsh. This patent 
 covers rotating butts ; combination of the trip and 
 compresser; rotating bundle-discharging fingers; 
 straight-sliding cord guide and knife. 
 
 Grain-Binding Harvester, patented by C. Whitney 
 
 ^^^
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 803 
 
 
 
 7. 
 
 ! 
 
 
 & W. W. Marsh, Jan. i, 1884. Claim, combination 
 of the binder arm and packer fingers by connecting 
 link, so that as the binding arm goes into the grain 
 the packer fingers are raised out of the grain. 
 
 The two last patents cover virtually the Marsh- 
 Whitney Platform Machine. 
 
 Back Belt, patented Nov. 12, 1869, by C. W. & 
 W. W. Marsh. This invention is used by almost all 
 the harvester companies and was very profitable to 
 the inventors. 
 
 Painting Machine, patented by W. W. Marsh in 
 1876. For painting straight work by the use of rub- 
 ber rollers. 
 
 Wheel Cultivator, patented by W. W. Marsh and 
 H. Mclntyre, July 16, 1872. This patent consists 
 of an adjustable seat and foot rest for high and low 
 corn. 
 
 Corn-Husker, patented by W. W. Marsh in 1870. 
 Consists of rubber rollers for husking corn out of the 
 shock. 
 
 Wind-Mill, patented by W. W. Marsh and O. E. 
 Miles, July 15, 1873. This patent consists of a mov- 
 able shaft giving a graduating stroke to the piston. 
 
 Wind-Mill, patented by W. W. Marsh, May 25, 
 
 1875. A shifting device in combination with a mov- 
 able shaft. 
 
 These- patents cover the Marsh mill. 
 
 Wind-Mill, patented by W. W. Marsh, Aug. 15, 
 
 1876. Consists of a mechanism for folding the wheel 
 in combination with an adjustable shaft. 
 
 Sulky Plow, patented by W. W. Marsh, Dec. 17, 
 1878. Claim, an improved mechanism. 
 
 Wire-Stretcher, patented by W. W. Marsh and 
 Charles Burquist, in 1877. 
 
 The Sandwich Manufacturing Co., at Sandwich, 
 are owners of a large number of valuable patents, the 
 inventions principally of some member of the com- 
 pany. Augustus Adams and H. A. Adams deserve 
 honorable mention in the list of De Kalb County in- 
 ventors. Their inventions are of a practical charac- 
 ter and for practical use, and have been brought out 
 in the shops of the Sandwich Manufacturing Co. The 
 following is a partial list : 
 
 Horse-Powers, patented July 2, 1861, by A. Adams, 
 No. 32,637. 
 
 Corn-Shellers, patented by A. Adams, Aug. 6, 1861, 
 
 No. 32,971. Re-issued March 20, 1866, No. 2,205. 
 Another patent on same issued May 15, 1866, No. 
 54,659- 
 
 On the isthof October, 1872, H. A. Adams re- 
 ceived a patent on corn-shellers, No. 132,128. 
 
 The foregoing were the inventions making the 
 foundation of the great corn-sheller manufacture 
 which made A. Adams & Sons, and their success- 
 ors, the Sandwich Manufacturing Company, known 
 throughout the whole country and many parts of 
 Europe and South America. 
 
 Other shelter patents were granted to A. Adams, 
 No. 123,758, Feb. 20, 1872; No. 135,306, Jan. 28, 
 1873. H. A. Adams also secured one, No. 252,594, 
 Jan. 24, 1882. 
 
 Of harvester patents the following have been 
 issued : 
 
 To Adams & Low, No. 99, 451, Feb. i, 1870. 
 
 To H. A. Adams, No. 144,179, Nov. 4, 1873; No. 
 191,217, May 29, 1877 ; No. 191,631, June 5, 1877; 
 Nov. 191,632, June 5, 1877; No. 256,812, April 25, 
 1882; No. 306,891, Oct. 21, 1884. 
 
 To Shogren & Adams, No. 187,159, Feb. 6, 1877. 
 
 On grain-binders, several patents have been se- 
 cured : 
 
 To H. A. Adams, No. 214,980, May 6, 1879. 
 
 To W. H. Payne No. 191,776, June 2, 1877 ; No. 
 234,372, Nov. 9, 1880; No. 214,790, April 29, 1879; 
 No. 219,304, Sept. 2, 1879. 
 
 To Shufelt & Adams, Nc. 265,159, Oct. 17, 1882; 
 No. 306,184, Oct. 7, 1884. 
 
 On cultivators, A. Adams secured a patent, No. 
 139,752, June 10, 1873, and H. A. Adams, No. 103,- 
 537, May 21, 1870. 
 
 On key-making machine, A. Shogren received a 
 patent, No. 186,437, J an - 2 3, '877- 
 
 The company has also bought rights and interests 
 in a large number of other valuable patents. There 
 has also been produced by them from time to time 
 many improvements and inventions not patented, 
 such as the circling side gears now so much used in 
 threshing and shelling machinery and the like, and 
 flexible iron cob spines for corn shelters. Nearly all 
 the popular forms of hand shelters and many of the 
 best devices used in both hancf and power corn- 
 shellers originated in this establishment. 
 
 The feed-grinders, manufactured by the Enterprise 

 
 
 Company of Sandwich, are the invention of T. W. 
 Beal and patented in 1883. The frame is of iron 
 and can be bolted to the floor at any convenient 
 place, the legs being provided with lugs and holes 
 tf). for that purpose. 
 
 The climax cultivators are the invention of Harvey 
 Packer, and were patented in 1876. They are manu- 
 factured by the Enterprise Company, Sandwich, 111. 
 The Climax Spring Walking Cultivator has an 
 equalizer, the invention of T. R. Polglase, the fore- 
 / man of the Enterprise Company, of Sandwich. The 
 object of this equalizer is to require each horse to do 
 ^ its own share of the work, as well when one is 
 slightly in advance of the other as when they are 
 even. It works like a charm". 
 
 Wind Mill. The invention of Harvey Packer, 
 patented in 1876, and manufactured by the Enter- 
 prise Company, of Sandwich, 111. The claim made 
 for this invention is a solid wheel, made without joint 
 or pivot, with hard-wood arms bolted into a strong 
 ^S cast-iron hub, hard-wood circles, into which the fan 
 3 slats are securely fastened, the whole firmly bolted 
 
 together, and forming a strong and durable wheel ; 
 the vane is large and strong, made so as to hold the 
 
 g wheel at aH times steadily and firmly in the wind, 
 and when folded keeps the wheel with its edge to 
 the wind, enabling it to withstand the fiercest gale. 
 A revolving post and multiplying governor are also 
 strong features. 
 
 In 1870 Richard Emerson, of De Kalb, a practical 
 machinist, bega experimenting with a view of con- 
 structing a reaping machine that would be an im- 
 provement upon all then in use. In 1871 he had a 
 
 ^ complete machine manufactured and gave it a thor- 
 ough test in the harvest field. The result was not 
 satisfactory. In 1872 he constructed another, which 
 likewise proved a failure. He did not yet despair, 
 but believed that he would still succeed. Being a 
 poor man, he could not pursue his investigations as 
 he desired, and three years passed before he could 
 build his third machine. Unfortunately, this too was 
 condemned as being impracticable. In 1876116 in- 
 
 vented and patented an adjustable binding table, to 
 be used on any of the machines then made. This 
 invention was adopted by the Marsh Harvester Com- 
 pany and by McCormick, and used until displaced by 
 the self-binder. In 1877 Mr. Emerson turned his 
 attention to and invented and patented a wire self- 
 binder. For some years past Mr. Emerson has had 
 the active co-operation of H. H. Mason, who has 
 furnished him the means to continue his experiments, 
 investing several thousand dollars for that purpose. 
 For the confidence reposed in him by Mr. Mason 
 and for the kindly aid furnished, Mr. Emerson is in- 
 deed grateful, realizing his inability to continue with- 
 out it. Wire binders being found objectionhble, Mr. 
 Emerson, as well as other inventors, turned his at- 
 tention to the construction of a binder using twine 
 instead of wire. In 1884 he constructed another 
 machine almost entirely different from any others, 
 which he gave a thorough test in the field, with 
 the best satisfaction. A patent for this was ob- 
 tained. For this machine, which he terms the 
 Emerson & Mason Harvester and Table Rake 
 Spring Binder, Mr. Emerson makes the following 
 claims : A reaper with a table rake to a diagonal ele- 
 vation. By a swinging apron the grain is greatly 
 compressed before reaching the elevator, which is 
 comparatively short and from which the grain is de- 
 livered into the packer. By a new and simple device 
 a knot is formed after the twine has been made to 
 encircle the grain, which by a swinging binder is dis- 
 charged from the rear of the drive wheel. A further 
 claim is made that the machine is lighter by 300 
 pounds than the ordinary harvesters, at the same 
 time equal in strength and more durable, in conse- 
 quence of its principal part being of iron. 
 
 In 1883 William C. Watkins secured a patent on 
 an invention for stretching wire upon the posts. 
 The stretcher is so constructed that it will stretch 
 from either or both ends, while being unwound from 
 the spool. 
 
 In 1880 Watkins & Ellwood secured a patent for 
 a wire-stretcher. The R. Ellwood Manufactur- 
 ing Co. now own the patent. 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 

 
 '- -.'--. '. ..'... '- .- - '. '-- '..'. '.......'.. 
 
 )WNSHIP history is an es- 
 sential and prominent part 
 of the county history. The 
 various parts of De Kalb 
 County were settled by men 
 most of whom have repre- 
 sentatives now living in the 
 county, or are still living here 
 themselves. A careful reading of 
 the incidents relating to the early 
 settlement of the several town- 
 ships will repay the reader, as each 
 one contains the names of the 
 first settlers, and many other items 
 which are required to make the 
 history complete. The township 
 histories are given in their alpha- 
 betical order, and the sketches of 
 the villages are included in their respective town- 
 ships. The cities of Sycamore, De Kalb and Sand- 
 wich follow the townships. 
 
 AFTON TOWNSHIP. 
 
 FTON Township lies in the third tier from 
 the south, and is bounded on the east by 
 Pierce, on the north by De Kalb, on the 
 south by Clinton, and on the west by Milan. 
 The land is a beautiful rolling prairie, well 
 adapted to all the cereals peculiar to this lati- 
 tude. The head-waters of Little Rock Creek are on 
 
 .*gt- ::S ^^ % 
 
 section 14. It is said that John A. Hayden, one of 
 the early settlers of the township, was a great 
 admirer of the song, " Flow gently, sweet Afton," 
 and persisted in calling this stream " Sweet Afton," 
 from which the township derived its name. 
 
 W. R. Campbell is given the honor of being the 
 first settler and John. A. Hayden the next. Among 
 other early settlers were Daniel Washburn, Timothy 
 Pierson, John McGirr, Benjamin Muzzy, Charles 
 Ward, Francis Bemis and Alexander Folger. 
 
 Afton was one of the last townships in the county 
 to be settled, on account of there being no timber 
 in proximity to it. While having no village within 
 its boundaries it is considered one of the best town- 
 ships in the county. 
 
 On the adoption of the township organization law, 
 in 1850, and the creation of civil townships, the 
 northern half of Afton was attached to De Kalb and 
 the southern half to Clinton. The township was organ- 
 ized in 1855. The first election was held at the 
 house of Sanford A. Tyler, on section 14. Timothy 
 Pierson and Orson Pearl were elected Justices ; San- 
 ford A. Tyler, Town Clerk ; Clark Glidden, Assessor 
 and Collector. Since that time the following named 
 have served the township as members of the Board 
 of Supervisors : 
 
 ' 
 
 E. Noble 
 
 C. W. Broughton 
 Henry Kingslcy. 
 JohnA.Ryon... 
 
 Sylvester W. Pa 
 John A. Ryon.. 
 David B. Stryke 
 
 In 1855 the first school was held in a house belbng- 
 ig to Mr. Goodell. Mr. Lord was the teacher. In
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 
 1856 the school section was sold, the township was 
 divided into two school districts and a good school- 
 house was built on the northwest corner of section 
 24, in district No. i, which comprised the east half 
 of the township. The township was subsequently 
 divided into nine school districts. 
 
 The following items in regard to educational mat- 
 ters in the township are gleaned from the report of 
 the county superintendent of public schools for the 
 year ending June 30, 1884: There were 387 per- 
 sons under 21 years of age, of whom 307 were over 
 six and under 21, of which number 269 were 
 enrolled in the public schools. In each of the nine 
 districts lying within the township was a good frame 
 school-house, the total value of which was $5,850. 
 During the year 16 teachers were employed, at an 
 average salary of $35.75 per month, the highest 
 being $45 and the lowest $25. A tax was levied for 
 school purposes amounting to $2,529. 
 
 In 1867 the Second Adventists built a church at 
 Afton Center. 
 
 In reference to the part performed by this town- 
 ship in the War of the Rebellion, Boies remarks : 
 " Afton manfully did its part in the war. Eighty- 
 one men went from that thinly populated township 
 to fill the ranks of the Union Army. Its total popu- 
 lation by the census of 1860 was but 516. Fifty- 
 nine men had volunteered when the necessity of 
 the Government called for more men, and seven 
 more, were procured. In the summer of 1864 an 
 additional tax.was voted upon the township, amount- 
 ing in all to $14,000, and 15 .more recruits were 
 enlisted. Among those who gave their lives in 
 defense of their country were Charles Elliott, Demp- 
 ster Wheeler, Alexander Campbell, Emerson T. 
 Knight, Lewis Olverson and L. De Forest." 
 
 Afton Township has 22,363 acres of improved 
 land, assessed in 1884 at $315,412. The personal 
 property was assessed the same time at $68,386. A 
 total of $383,798. The State Board of Equalization 
 reduced this to $339,603. Among the items of 
 personal property enumerated were the following : 
 Horses, 666; cattle, 2,738; mules and asses, 23 ; 
 sheep, 204; hogs, 2,931; steam engines, 3; car- 
 riages and wagons, 193; watches and clocks, 101 ; 
 sewing and knitting machines, 75 ; organs and 
 melodeons, 23. 
 
 CLINTON TOWNSHIP. 
 
 NGRESSIONAL Township 38 north, 
 range 4 east, comprises the civil township 
 % of Clinton. It is one of the most prosperous 
 in the country. There is one small grove in 
 
 ] l the southwestern portion of the township, the 
 remainder being a beautiful rolling prairie. Hon. R. 
 M. Pritchard thus speaks of the first settlement : 
 
 " The territory comprising the town of Clinton to 
 the year 1835, was a part of the vast undisturbed, 
 unbroken, and unsettled wilderness of the great North- 
 west. It is only the haunt of the red man, and the 
 home of the wild beast. The little grove in this 
 town, covering about 100 acres, was up to this year 
 only occasionally seen by the white manas he passed 
 it on his way to some other part of the State. The 
 capture of the old Indian Chief Black Hawk in 1832, 
 and the disposition of his tribe, opened up this wild 
 region to settlement by the white man. On the 22d 
 day of April, 1835, Oliver P. Johnson, a daring young 
 man about 23 years of age, with his young wife 
 Elizabeth and a babe a few weeks old, settled at this 
 grove and gave it the name of Johnson's Grove. Mr. 
 Johnson found at the south end of the grove three 
 Indian houses or wigwams made of elm bark, each in 
 size about 12x16 feet. These houses we're built by 
 the Indians and occupied by them from time to time 
 as they passed over the country in quest of game and 
 during the summer months while cultivating their 
 corn-fields which they had at this grove. Into one 
 of these bouses Mr. Johnson moved and stayed until 
 he could build him a log house, which he commenced 
 at once ; he soon had a fine, strong double log house 
 erected, into which he moved and where he lived for 
 three years with the Indians alone for neighbors, who 
 occasionally got up their drunken pow-wows or ca- 
 rousals, sometimes to the great annoyance of the 
 young wife, who, in the absence of her husband, would 
 become so frightened she would bar the heavy oaken 
 door to her house, and pile all her furniture against 
 it, and then brace herself again U the whole to keep 
 the saucy, impudent red-skins out. In this way Mr. 
 Johnson lived for three years, without a white man 
 for a neighbor for many miles, and no prospect of any 
 for many years to come. Awhile traveler would call 
 upon him occasionally, and for a few weeks a young 
 
 . 
 
 ^ 
 
 c 
 

 
 
 ^ 
 
 COUNTY. 
 
 807 
 
 Englishman by the name of C. H. Duck stayed with 
 him, with the intention of making this grove his 
 home. He made an excavation into the bank, at the 
 northwest end of the grove, lined it up with split 
 logs (the remains of which can be seen by the 
 visitor to-day) ; this hut constituted the second habita- 
 tion built by white men in this town. Dr. C. H. 
 Duck, as he was called, soon got tired of his claim, 
 deserted it and went to Chicago, where he now re- 
 sides. 
 
 Among the earliest settlers after Mr. Johnson, were 
 W. B. Fields, Parker Thomas, Alexander McNish, 
 Silas Mines, John and James Walker, Preston Curtiss, 
 William Robertson, C. B. Whitford, Shelburne J. and 
 Tracy Scott, Felix and Baldwin Woodruff, Sylvester 
 Hall, N. S. and Thomas J. Greenwood, Benjamin 
 Matteson, William Sherman, Sylvester and Elbert 
 Hall, J. L. Bailey, J. L. Mighell, Aruney Hill, John 
 Secor. 
 
 Clinton, as a civil township, was organized in 
 1850. At that time it included much more territory, 
 bat was reduced to its present dimensions in 1853. 
 The name was applied to the township from the fact 
 a number of the settlers were from Clinton, New 
 York, and were attached to the name. 
 
 The following named have served the township as 
 members of the Board of Supervisors : 
 
 Reuben Pritchard. 
 
 Arunah Hill; 
 
 Reuben Pritchard. 
 
 O. A. Tubbs 
 
 X. S. Greenwood . 
 
 K. M. Pritchard.. 
 
 \V. C.Macey 
 
 R. M. Pritchard.. 
 
 J.L. Mighell 
 
 Robert Humphrey. 
 R.M. Pri 
 
 William C 
 George G 
 K.iwin Fr 
 Charles F 
 
 F.luin Fr 
 
 R. M. Pritchard . 
 William C.Macey.... 
 George Greenwood .. 
 
 Edwin Fraser 
 
 i F. Greenwoo 
 
 1866 
 .867-69 
 
 % 
 1872.74 
 1875-76 
 .877-79 
 
 ,88-8 3 
 
 The first school is said to have been taught by H. 
 C. Beard, in 1847. In 1885 the educational advan- 
 tages of the township were of a superior character. 
 According to the report of the County Superinten- 
 dent of Public Schools there were nine school 
 districts in this township, with one graded and eight 
 ungraded schools. There were 512 persons under 
 the age of 2 1 , of whom 35 3 are of school age. Of 
 that number 297 were enrolled in the public schools 
 for the year ending June 30, 1884. Eighteen 
 teachers were employed. The highest monthly 
 salary paid was $50, and the lowest $27.50. Each 
 district is supplied with a good frame school-house, 
 the total value of which is estimated at $9,050. The 
 
 levy for the support of the schools in 1883-4 was 
 
 $4,022. 
 
 The Methodists and Baptists were pioneers in 
 matters pertaining to the religious welfare of the 
 people. Societies were formed by the Methodists 
 north of the present village of Waterman, and by the 
 Baptists southeast of the same village. The people 
 now worship in the neighboring villages. 
 
 Clinton township furnished 1 1 1 men for the war, 
 and raised for war purposes $13,746. The names of 
 those who lost their lives in the service were, Jona- 
 than Morris, Egbert Matteson, M. C. Kirkpatrick, 
 Seeley Simpson, Henry Kellogg, James Low, Asahel 
 Childs, C. Rose, jr., Corydon Heath, Alfred Hodgkin, 
 Charles Nears and E. A. Pritchard. 
 
 From the abstract of assessments in the office of 
 the County Clerk, the following facts were obtained : 
 
 Clinton Township in 1884 had 22,231 acres of im- 
 proved land, valued at $331,551. Town lots were 
 assessed at $25,480; personal property, $91,295; 
 total $448,326. This amount was reduced by the 
 State Board of Equalization to $396,809. Among 
 the items of personal property, reported by the Asses- 
 sor for that year, were the following : Horses, 632 ; 
 cattle, 2,856; mules and asses, 26; sheep, 160; 
 hogs, 3,501; steam engines, 3; safes, 4 ; carriages 
 and wagons, 250; watches and clocks, 71; sewing 
 and knitting machines, 138 ; pianos, 9 ; organs and 
 melodeons, 50. Of hogs Clinton reports a larger 
 number than any other township in the county, and 
 of cattle, the largest number save South Grove, 
 which reports 2,897, an d Corlland, 2,857. 
 
 Waterman. 
 
 HE village of Waterman was surveyed and 
 platt;d by S. T. Armstrong, County Sur- 
 veyor, in March, 1872. It comprised a 
 portion of the north half of the northeast quar- 
 ter of the southeast quarter; and the south 
 half of the southeast quarter of the northeast 
 quarter of section 16, the property of Humphrey Rob- 
 erts. Three additions have since been made. The 
 village at the present writing presents a neat appear- 
 ance, and has about 400 inhabitants. 
 
 A station was established here on the completion 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 ,..
 
 
 
 of the railroad, and a temporary depot building erec- 
 ted. The village was named in honor of D. B. Wa- 
 terman, of Aurora, general solicitor of the road. 
 
 In the spring of 1872 David Chapman erected a 
 dwelling-house, the first in the village. Soon after, 
 Martin Fancher erected a small building just above 
 where the depot is now located, and opened a stock 
 of groceries. Mr. Fancher was soon followed by A. 
 Bradbury, who also opened a grocery and provision 
 store ; Coy & Giles, who carried a miscellaneous 
 stock; Hill & Fancher, with groceries. Humphrey 
 & Samson commenced retailing lumber in the winter 
 of 1871-2. They also brought in the first coal dur- 
 ing the same season. They put up the first scales, 
 the same which are now in use at the stock-yards. 
 With the foregoing in business, and the erection of a 
 number of dwelling-houses, Waterman had a fair 
 start in 1871. For some time it had a good, steady 
 growth. 
 
 The first grocery store was by Martin Fancher in 
 the spring of 1872. The present representatives in 
 that line are A. Bradbury and F. Schrader. The 
 latter has a restaurant in connection. 
 
 Coy & Giles, the first general merchants. S. H. 
 Perry and James Fulton, present representatives. 
 
 Coy & Giles were the first to keep drugs in stock, 
 while Giles^ Bros, were the first exclusive druggists. 
 E. Dean is now engaged in the trade, and is the sole 
 representative in that line. "^ 
 
 David Orr was the first to engage in the hardware 
 trade exclusively, in 1872-3. In connection with 
 his sons, he still continues in the business. 
 
 In 1873 Alex. Wallace engaged in the furniture 
 trade, being the pioneer in that line. F. Wirts now 
 represents that trade. 
 
 J. R. Griffith is the first and last to engage in the 
 harness trade. 
 
 In the spring of 1873 Mrs. Austin opened the first 
 millinery store in the village. The present dealers 
 are Mrs. J. R. Griffith, Mrs. R. Ostrander. 
 
 Humphrey & Samson were the first to deal in lum- 
 ber and coal. In January, 1885, the Minnesota Lum- 
 ber Company, with G. G. Kopp, manager, conducted 
 the business. 
 
 George W. Wakefield was dealer in grain and coal 
 in January, 1885. 
 
 H. Roberts, Jr., at the same time was a grain 
 dealer. 
 
 The stock dealers early in 1885 were H. L. Ful- 
 
 ler & Co., Roberts Bros, and E. H. Baie. The first 
 buyer was Robert Humphrey, of the firm of Hum- 
 phrey & McCleery. 
 
 The first hotel was erected in 1872, by John Ful- 
 le, now known as the Clinton House, standing just 
 opposite the depot. H. Leifheit is the present pro- 
 prietor. The Irving House is run by Robert Irving. 
 
 John M. St. John was the first barber. William 
 Marion now represents that trade. 
 
 Newell & Persons in 1872 were the first wagon- 
 makers. George W. Place is now iii the business. 
 
 Richard Anderson for some years had worked near 
 the present village at his trade of blacksmithing. 
 When the village was started he moved into it with 
 his shop, and became the pioneer in that line. 
 Charles Tompkins and Isaac Edwards are the pres- 
 ent blacksmiths. 
 
 David Chapman and G. G. Kopp were the first 
 carpenters. Henry Baie now carries on the trade. 
 
 Mr. Schrader is the jeweler. 
 
 E. Dean opened a meat market in the spring of 
 1873. He is still in the business. 
 
 D. Horton was the first painter to locate here. 
 The trade is now represented by D. Horton, James 
 Barmore, Henry Hudgen. 
 
 Drs. G. M. Macklin and S. C. White attend to the 
 physical well-being of the place. 
 
 George Hutes is the shoemaker. 
 
 The manufacturing interests are represented by 
 M. Daly, in the manufacture of adjustable harrows 
 and swill carts. 
 
 Kirkpatrick & Andrews have a feed mill in success- 
 ful operation. 
 
 Robert Telford and Charles Tompkins are livery- 
 men. 
 
 The village of Waterman was incorporated under 
 the general act in March, 1877. The following-named 
 comprise the Board of Trustees since that date : 
 
 1877 A. Little, David Orr, C. F. Mighell, E. 
 Dean, C. Taft, Martin Fancher. 
 
 1878 A Little, C. Taft, G. G. Kopp, E. Dean, D. 
 Orr, C. F. Mighell. 
 
 1879 C. F. Mighell, D. Orr, G. G. Kopp, E. Dean, 
 John Abbey, A. L. McCaskey. 
 
 1880 C. F. Mighell, David Orr, George G. Cong- 
 don, E. Dean, A. L. McCaskey, John Abbey. 
 
 1 88 1 J. Abbey, A. L. McCaskey, G. G. Congdon, 
 J. J. A. Zellar, W. H. Moremus, George W. Place. 

 
 
 2 W. H. Moremus, D. Orr, L. E. Phelps, H. 
 Roberts, Jr., James W. Porter, G. G. Congdon. 
 
 1883 J. R. Griffith, G. W. Place, A. L. McCas- 
 key, W. H. Moremus, H. Roberts, Jr., G. G. Cong- 
 don. 
 
 i884-^,A. L. McCaskey, G. W. Place, J. R. Grif- 
 fith, R. P. Rowley, G. G. Congdon, C. G. Kopp. 
 
 The village is provided with a council-room and 
 calaboose combined. It has a well 55 feet deep by 
 6 feet in diameter. The well is a never-failing one, 
 and, doubtless, lies over a subterranean lake. Within 
 two minutes after striking water it filled up. For the 
 extinguishment of fires the village has 300 feet of 
 hose, with a lever force-pump at which ten men can 
 work. 
 
 Religious. 
 
 T Waterman the Christian religion is repre- 
 sented by the Methodist Episcopals, Baptists 
 and Presbyterians. In 1855 a Methodist 
 Episcopal class was organized north of the 
 present village, to which was given the name 
 of Malugin and Twin Grove class. It com- 
 prised the following named : Hiram Greeley, Leader ; 
 Ora Greeley, O. G. Greeley, Ezra Samson, Catharine 
 Samson, W. W." Fuller, Evaline Fuller, Lydia Fuller, 
 M. S. Fuller, H. L. Fuller, L. K. Fuller, and Eber 
 Greeley. In 1859 a class was organized known as 
 the North Clinton class, of which Eber Greeley was 
 Class-leader. For some time meetings were held at 
 private residences and then in the school-house. Be- 
 coming strong, numerically and financially, it was 
 determined to erect a house of worship, in which 
 both classes might unite. Accordingly, in 1867, a 
 beautiful structure was erected and dedicated to 
 the service of Almighty God. In the winter of 1873- 
 4, the building was removed from the farm of Robert 
 Humphrey to the village. In 1884 the house was 
 newly furnished and now presents a very attractive 
 appearance. The Church is known as the North 
 Clinton Methodist Episcopal Church. The present 
 membership of the Church is no. The pastors since 
 871 are as follows: Revs. N. O. Freeman, 1871 ; J. 
 R. Allen, 1872; Joseph Wardle, 1873; J. J. Tobias, 
 1874; J. Hartman, 1875; W. R. Beans, 1876-7; C. 
 
 A. Bucks, 1878-9-80; N. M. Stokes, 1881; John O. 
 Foster, 1882; John Adams, 1883-4. 
 
 The N. Clinton Center Baptist Church was organ- 
 ized in 1856. A preliminary meeting was held in 
 Tuttle's school-house, two and a half miles south- 
 east of the present village, Sept. 27, at which the fol- 
 lowing named expressed a willingness to enter into 
 mutual covenant for the formation of a Baptist 
 Church in that neighborhood : E. Mighell, John 
 Curtice, Alexander Henderson, J. C. Miles, Mrs. 
 Julia A. I. Henderson, Mrs. Ellen Miles, Mrs. 
 Harriet Swift, Mrs. Benevolence Maple, Mrs. Eliza 
 Mighell, Mrs. Delana Mighell. On the nth of Oc- 
 tober a meeting was held for the purpose of perfect- 
 ing the organization by adopting articles of faith and 
 covenant. J. C. Miles first served the Church as its 
 minister, while E. Mighell was its deacon. On the 
 igth of May, 1858, a meeting was held at the Swift 
 school-house, at which the organization was recog- 
 nized as a Baptist Church. Among those serving 
 the Church as pastor or supply, were : Elders Per- 
 sons, H. R. Hicks, Paul Kinney, D. T. Richards, 
 M. J. Martin, E. W. Hicks, S. P. Davis, P. Reynolds, 
 Nelson Crandall and A. S. Orcutt, the present pas- 
 tor. The present membership is 30. The President 
 *ofthe C. & I. Railroad, soon after the village of 
 Waterman was projected, offered to transport material 
 for the erection of a church edifice free of charge, if 
 the congregation would remove here. The offer was 
 accepted and work was commenced on the building 
 in July, 1872, and completed in January, 1873. 
 
 The Presbyterian Church of Waterman is in good 
 condition, with a neat church edifice. 
 
 
 
 G 
 
 Schools. 
 
 ; HE school district of which the village of 
 Waterman forms a part was organized about 
 1856. The first school remembered by 
 those consulted was in that year, Miss Rey- 
 nolds being the teacher. The school was held 
 in a small frame building that had been used 
 as a dwelling. The first school-house was erected in 
 1858, Tilda Kirkpatrick first occupying it as teacher. 
 This house, which was a frame structure, stood 
 about one-fourth mile south of the present one. In 
 1875, a new building was erected within the corpor- 
 vSft&gA 

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 
 ate limits of the village, and the school became a 
 graded one. Charles W. Rolph was the first princi- 
 pal in this new house, with Sarah Anderson as assist- 
 ant. Ella York succeeded Rolph, Miss Anderson 
 r remaining as assistant. The following year C. W. 
 Curtis was made principal and Miss York was given 
 the primary department. Hattie L. Norton was the 
 successor of Mr. Curtis, with Finette Norton as the 
 primary teacher. The latter is now in her fourth 
 year as teacher in this department. Miss Frank 
 Hutchinson succeeded Hattie L. Norton, and in 
 turn was succeeded by Wirt F. Weston, the incum- 
 bent. The school is in a flourishing condition, with 
 an enrollment in January, 1885, of 109. 
 
 Societies. 
 
 N 1873 members of the Masonic fraternity 
 living in the neighborhood, desiring to or- 
 ganize a lodge, and there being no place in 
 which they could meet, organized the Masonic 
 Building Association, and erected a two-story 
 frame building, 26 x6o, with 24-foot posts. The 
 lower room was destined for mercantile purposes, 
 while the upper was to be used as a lodge- room. 
 The building was completed; in 1874, and a dispen- 
 sation was secured, under which they acted until Oc- 
 tober 5, 1875, when a charter was granted to Water- 
 man Lodge, No. 628, A. F. & A. M. The following- 
 named were the charter members: Nathan S. Green- 
 wood, W. M.; Irving W. Pritchard, S. W.; Richard 
 P. Rowley, J. W.; E. P. Rowley, I. J. Reynolds, 
 Joseph Gilchrist, O. F. Matteson, E. Dean,. George 
 Hall, D. Horton, Milton Kain, George Greenwood, 
 R. Humphrey, R. Telford, C. P. Sage, J. W. Giles, 
 Martin McCleery, Edwin Reynolds, Kirk Anderson, 
 John Deacon, R. M. Pritchard, C. F. Greenwood, H. 
 N. Rose and J. H. Phillips. The following named 
 have since served as W. M.: I. W. Pritchard, E. F. 
 Greenwood, E. P. Rowley, J. M. St. John and, Enoch 
 Rowley. The latter is the present W. M.,with Rob- 
 ert Humphrey, S. W.; A. J. Kirkpatrick, J. W.; 
 George W. Wakefield, Sec.; R. P. Rowley, Treas. 
 The lodge has lost the following named by death : 
 N. S. Greenwood, J. W. Porter and J. W. Giles. The 
 present membership is 45. 
 
 CORTLAND TOWNSHIP. 
 
 CORTLAND comprises one of the six 
 townships lying upon the eastern border 
 of the county. It is bounded on the east by 
 Kane County, on the north, by Sycamore, on 
 the south by Pierce, and on the west by De 
 Kalb Townships. It is well watered by the 
 Kishwaukee River and its tributaries, and has a large 
 body of timber land in the eastern part, the remainder 
 being a rolling prairie. The Chicago & Northwestern 
 Railroad passes through the southern part of the 
 township, while the Sycamore branch of the same 
 road runs due north from the village of Cortland to 
 Sycamore, a distance of four miles. 
 
 The first settlement was made in 1835 at what 
 was subsequently termed Ohio Grove, from the fact 
 that the greater number of the first settlers in that 
 neighborhood were from the State of Ohio. Among 
 the pioneers of the township were George W. and 
 Isaac Gandy, John and Perry Ellet, David Wood, 
 Henry Smith, Hale Perry, Alvin Dayton, Ralph 
 Wyman, John Champlin, Peter Young, Elias Hart- 
 man, the Crossetts, Springs, Norcutts, Kites, Lowries 
 and Osgoods. There may be others. All these it is 
 believed settled in 1835 and 1836. They all settled 
 as near as possible to the borders of Ohio Grove. 
 
 About the same time James and Joseph Roberts 
 settled at a small grove in the center of the town- 
 ship, to which was given the name of Lost Grove, 
 from the fact that it was separated from the main 
 body of timber. These brothers for many years en- 
 tertained travelers. 
 
 The township settled slowly until the completion 
 of the railroad, much of the land even at that time 
 being owned by the Government. The early settlers 
 could not bear the thought of locating upon the 
 prairie. 
 
 A postoffice was established at Ohio Grove as early 
 as 1841, Samuel Spring, at that time being Postmas- 
 ter, the receipts of his office for the year amounting 
 to $2.22 Mr. Spring was succeeded by Homer 
 Roberts, who held the office for many years. 
 
 At Luce's Corners, one-half mile south of the pres- 
 ent village of Cortland, a number of houses had been 
 erected, a tavern and store opened and a postoffice 
 was established there about 1850, with Chauncey 

 
 ! 
 
 .} 
 
 
 ! 
 
 a 
 
 Luce as- Postmaster. The office was continued until 
 the completion of the railroad, when it was moved to 
 the station which had been established by the rail- 
 road company, and is now the Cortland postoffice. 
 
 The first name given the township was Richland. 
 This was soori after changed to Pampas, a name 
 suggested by J. R. Crossett, from the resemblance of 
 its prairies to the pampas or plains of South America. 
 In 1864 the name was changed to Cortland, the name 
 of its village. 
 
 The first school in the township was at Ohio Grove 
 and held in a log house erected for the purpose. 
 The first teacher was Rev. Castle Churchill. He 
 was succeeded by Mary Ann Hamlin. 
 
 In his report for the year ending June 30, 1884, 
 George I. Talbott, County Superintendent of Schools, 
 gives the following interesting items in regard to the 
 schools of the township : There were eight school 
 districts, each having a frame school-house, the total 
 value of which was estimated at $9,980. Of the 
 schools one was graded and seven ungraded. There 
 were 589 persons under 21 years of age, 299 being 
 males and 290 females, of whom 421 were of school 
 age, and of which number 341 were enrolled in the 
 public schools. During the year 18 teachers were 
 employed, the average salary paid begins- $31 per 
 month, the highest being $68 and the lowest $15. 
 The tax levy was $3,240. 
 
 The record of Cortland in the war for the Union is 
 honorable in the extreme, 134 having enlisted from 
 the township. Of that number 16 lost their lives in 
 the service: Ruthven Russell, Alonzo Russell, Rob- 
 ert Close, W. Stark, Charles Flapper, Spafford De- 
 ford, John Young, Charles F. Bannister, Charles V. 
 Peck, Oliver Wilson, Emory Marshall, George H. 
 Gould, T. D. Packard, W. H. Rose and Morris R. 
 Wilson. For war purposes the township raised 
 $12,103. 
 
 There are two mills in the township one at Cort- 
 land and the other at Maple Park. The latter was 
 built in 1882 by Nathaniel A. Hail. The building is 
 60x24, with i6-foot posts. There is one run of 
 buhrs and a corn-sheller. It is a feed mill, run by 
 steam, with a 3o-horse power engine. A good busi- 
 is done here. 
 
 Porter S. Coolidge has the credit of being the first 
 to bring Norman horses into the township, and prob- 
 ably the first in the county. Mr. Coolidge was also 
 
 one of the first to engage in the dairy business, hav- 
 ing at one time too cows. 
 
 'Oatman Bros., of Dundee, 111., built a cheese fac- 
 tory near Maple Park, in the spring of 1884. It is a 
 commodious frame building, with a stone basement. 
 The factory is run on the dividend plan, though 
 some milk is bought. Alfred Hall is cheese-maker, 
 and William Morrison butter-maker. 
 
 In 1884, according to the local assessor, there were 
 22,068 acres of improved land in the township, val- 
 ued at $326,061, an average of $14.77 P er acre. The 
 town lots ware valued at $24,773; personal prop- 
 erty, $100,515; a total of $451,349. The State 
 Board of Equalization reduced this amount to $400,- 
 727. There were many articles of personal property 
 listed, among the items the following: Horses, 800; 
 cattle, 2,857 ; mules and asses', 9 ; sheep, 198 ; hogs, 
 1,646; steam engines, 4; safes, i ; carriages and 
 wagons, 454; watches and clocks, 327 ; sewing and 
 knitting machines, 178; pianos, 23; melodeons and 
 organs, 60. 
 
 SUPERVISORS. 
 
 David F. Finley.- 1850-52 Edwin Gilson 1866 
 
 Austin Hayden 1853 John Wright 1867-68 
 
 David F. Finley 18^4 A.V. L. 'Smith 1871-72 
 
 Horace S. Champlin i8 s =- 5 8 Dwight Crossett 1873-74 
 
 Alonzo L . Lovell 1859-61 William Raymond 1875-77 
 
 P. S. Coolidge 1862 Dwight Crossett 1878-81 
 
 Jacob R. Crossett 1863-65 Theodere Balis 1882-84 
 
 Village of Cortland. 
 
 CURING the month of January, 1855, the 
 village of Cortland was laid out by Ezra 
 and Maria Croft. The plat is located on 
 the northwest quarter of section 29, township 
 40, range 5. In April, 1855, Samuel L. Parker 
 and J. T. Tubby platted the northwest quarter 
 of the northeast quarter of section 29, in connection 
 with that laid out by Mr. and Mrs. Croft, the whole 
 forming the original plat of the town. Two addi- 
 tions have since been made. 
 
 Previous to the building of the railroad, which was 
 completed quite a year before the platting of the vil- 
 lage, some half-dozen or more houses had been 
 erected at Luce's Corners. Some of these were 
 moved to the station and a village soon sprang up, 
 which for a time bid fair to be one of the most impor- 
 tant in the county. From the beginning for a num- 
 

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 
 ber of years it was one of the best points on the 
 railroad for grain. H. S. Champlin and John M. 
 Lawrence were the^first to engage in the grain trade. 
 They were not partners, but each commenced about 
 the same time in 1854. Other dealers soon estab- 
 lished business here, among'whom were Mr. Arnold, 
 George and Jerome Champlin, and I'ierce & Jewell. 
 At one time it is said there were 17 local buyers, 
 representing, probably, some half-dozen firms. The 
 trade continued to be good until the completion of 
 the Sycamore & Cortland Railroad, when it began to 
 decrease, much of its trade from the north going to 
 Sycamore. Pressed hay for a time was quite largely 
 dealt in by Pierce & Jewell. 
 
 Horace S. Champlin and James S. Waterman, un- 
 der the firm name of Champlin & Waterman, were 
 the pioneers in the trade of general merchandise. 
 They commenced business in 1854, and while they 
 had the monopoly had a very large and lucrative 
 trade. 
 
 Smith & Brown were the next dealers. After run- 
 ning about two years they failed, as the local rhyme- 
 ster put it, "Smith & Brown, they broke down." 
 
 Jabez Gwinup was the first to engage in the man- 
 ufacture and repair of wagons. 
 
 Marcenus Hall and Charles Smith were the first 
 blacksmiths. Albert Havens opened the second 
 shop, Hall & Smith being partners. 
 
 Lawrence & Washburn and Mr. Woodworth might 
 also be classed among the pioneer merchants of the 
 place, commencing business but a short time after 
 those already mentioned. 
 
 As stated in the township history, the postoffice 
 known as Lost Grove was removed to the station 
 in 1854. The following named have since held the 
 position of postmaster: A. D. Brown, John Cadwal- 
 lader, R. O. Joslyn, Theodore Loring, Marcus Wash- 
 burn, I. Carpenter, Mrs. C. Sackett and Joseph 
 Adams. The latter now holds the commission, but 
 the business of the office is transacted by Mrs. 
 Adams. 
 
 The school district in which the village is located 
 was organized at an early day. There was a school- 
 house near the present site in 1841, the first teachers 
 being E. Eaton and Maiden Jones. 
 
 There is but one religious organization in the vil- 
 lage the Methodist Episcopal. It was organized 
 before the village came into existence. A neat church 
 
 sS^SWfr- *^* & 
 
 edifice was subsequently erected here. The present 
 membership is 54.' Among those who have served 
 as pastors since 1862 have been Revs. C. M. Web- 
 ster, F. D. Corvvin, E. Smith, O. E. Burch, R. H. 
 Wilkinson, N. O. Freeman, Frick, Swift, Samuel 
 Hewes, Isaac Whitcomb and F. B. Hardin. The 
 latter is the present pastor. In the winter of 1884-5 
 a revival was held in the church in which there were 
 40 conversions, and the Church greatly strengthened. 
 
 Alxnit 1855 a frame building was erected for 
 school purposes on the north side of the railroad. 
 The village growing quite rapidly, it soon became 
 too small to accommodate the pupils in the district, 
 and one was erected on the south side. It being 
 impossible to properly grade the schools using two 
 school buildings, the district, in 1867, voted to erect 
 another building, larger and more centrally located. 
 Accordingly the present building was erected the 
 same year. On its occupancy the school was divided 
 into three grades. Dwight Crossett was the first 
 principal. Since that time the following named have 
 served in that office: Mr. Watson, J. M. Whitson, 
 C. W. Curtis, J. A. Vroman, J. L. Calland and L. S. 
 Parsons, the latter being principal in 1884-5. 
 
 The village was incorporated in 1866. The Pres- 
 ident of the Board of Trustees, by virtue of his office, 
 is also a member of the Board of Supervisors. The 
 following named have served : 
 
 John King 1874-76 
 
 Nath 
 l.ihn 
 George W. Saveiy. 
 
 Mm T. Woodley. 
 John King 
 
 Peck 
 
 . Woodley... 
 W. Sa 
 
 The Cortland flouring mills are owned by Goodall 
 & Holdridge, who purchased the same in the fall of 
 1884. The mill was built about 1870 by Lovell, 
 Smith & Craft, the village giving a bonus of $2,000. 
 Lovell subsequently became sole proprietor, and sold 
 to the present owners as stated. The mill has four 
 run of buhrs, and is run by a 4o-horse power engine. 
 
 The butter and cheese factory of Wood & Delaney 
 is one of the institutions of Coriland. It is consid- 
 ered one of the best in this region of country. 
 
 The best days of Cortland were previous to the 
 building of the Sycamore & Cortland Railroad, still 
 a fair business has always been transacted here. It 
 is surrounded by a fine country, and only its prox- 
 imity to Sycamore and De Kalb is in the way of 
 great prosperity. In the beginning of 1885 the fol- 
 lowing business was represented in the place :
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 General merchants Henry Martin, E. Jordan & 
 Co., James Murphy. 
 
 Agricultural implements W. J. Bates. 
 
 Blacksmiths Benjamin Champlin, Wheeler & 
 Havens. 
 
 Wagon-maker James Cheasebro. 
 
 Hotel C. A. Talbot. 
 
 Grist-mill Holdridge & Goodall. 
 
 Lumber and coal J. T. Woodley. 
 
 Meat market Snyder & Ramer. 
 
 Harness shop C. A. Talbot. 
 
 Livery C. A. Talbot. 
 
 Barber Carl Mattice. 
 
 Cheese factory Wood & Delaney. 
 
 DE KALB TOWNSHIP. 
 
 ^E KALB is one of the best townships in the 
 county. It is mostly rolling prairie, while 
 yet abundantly supplied with timber. The 
 Chicago & Northwestern Railroad passes 
 through the township from east fo west, afford- 
 its citizens an outlet for all their produce 
 and stock. The township is bounded on the east by 
 Cortland, on the north by Mayfield, on th south by 
 Afton, and on the west by Malta. 
 
 The first settlement made in the township was in 
 1835. Among the number locating that year were 
 John B. Collins, Mr. McCrellan, N. C. Moore, Phineas 
 Stevens, Mr. Root, S. Jenks, James Cox, James 
 Paisley, Levi Barber and sons. There may have 
 been some others, whose names have been forgotten. 
 Mr. McClellan is thought by Clark Barber, now 
 the oldest living settler in the township, to have pre- 
 ceded the others. He was from Indiana, and located 
 on section 23, where he remained until in the 
 winter of 1836-7, or early in the spring of 1837. On 
 one occasion during the winter, while away for the 
 purpose of securing food for his family, they ate up 
 everything in the house and were two days without 
 food. Calling upon Levi C. Barber, they made 
 known their wants, but Mr. Barber's family were in 
 almost the same condition. He gave them a few 
 ears of corn, which he had been saving for seed, and 
 which they hulled and ate. Clark Barber hastened 
 off to soin-; neighbors and succeeded in getting some 
 
 frozen potatoes and a few other articles of food, which 
 lasted until the return of the husband and father. 
 Mr. McClellan sold his claim to Mr. Powers. Whether 
 now living is not known. 
 
 John B. Collins was from New York. He made a 
 claim upon sections 13 and 14, where he remained 
 about three years, when he sold out and moved to 
 Fox River. His present whereabouts is unknown. 
 
 N. C. Moore was also from New York. With his 
 family he settled on section 12 of this township 
 where he remained about four years and left for 
 parts unknown. 
 
 James Cox was from Indiana. He had a large 
 family and located upon sections 13 and 14. He 
 sold to Joseph Hiland a few years after and dis- 
 appeared. 
 
 James Paisley came with Cox and settled upon 
 the same sections. He died here some years ago, 
 leaving a family, some of whom reside upon the old 
 homestead. 
 
 Among the number who came in during the year 
 1836 were Frederick Love, C. Morey, Joel, Jacob 
 and Alpheus Jenks, David Walrod, Samuel Thomp- 
 son, Solomon Hollister. 
 
 Samuel Thompson bought out S. Jenks, on section 
 t. The latter removed to Winnebago County and 
 died near Roscoe. Mr. Thompson remained here 
 till his death. 
 
 Frederick Love settled on section 12, and became 
 noted in the early history of the county. He was 
 the first School Commissioner of the county and held 
 other local offices. He was considered a man of 
 more than ordinary ability. Mr. Love is now dead. . 
 
 Levi C. Barber was a native of that portion of 
 Allegany Co., N. Y., that has since been set off as 
 Wyoming. He settled on sections 14 and 15, where 
 he remained until his death. The Barber family 
 were quite musical in their tastes. It is said that 
 even in sleep they would sing some old familiar 
 song, which would be commenced by one and joined 
 in by the rest of the family! When awakened, not 
 one of them would know anything about what had 
 transpired. Clark Barber played for all the dances 
 held for miles around. 
 
 C. Morey settled on section 2, his claim being sub- 
 sequently purchased by Rufus Colton, the founder 
 of Collonville. 
 
 Joel, Jacob and Alpheus Jenks were three broth- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 - ' " 
 
 ^
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 ' 
 
 
 ers who came from Ohio and settled on section n. 
 Jacob Jenks was a local preacher in the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church. The first revival of religion in 
 this county was held in the barn of the brothers and 
 conducted by Jacob in the summer of 1837. The 
 first saw-mill in the county, as well as in the town- 
 ship, was put up by the Jenks brothers, run by water 
 power. An upright saw was used. The mill was on 
 section u. Misfortune overtaking the brothers, the 
 mill, together with all their property, was sold at 
 sheriff's sale some years after. Clark Barber became 
 the purchaser. He sold it to John Cleghorn in 1851, 
 and it was run by him until 1855. The Jenkses re- 
 moved to Wisconsin. 
 
 Russell Huntley was from New York and un- 
 married when he came to the county. He laid claim 
 to a large tract of land and during the first year broke 
 300 acres and made four miles of rail fence. He 
 was an enterprising man, reliable in his business af- 
 fairs and had many friends while he remained in the 
 county. 
 
 Henry B. Barber and Rachel Spring were united 
 in marriage Oct. 5, 1837, by Rufus Colton, J. 
 P. This was the first marriage in the township. 
 The fact of their marriage is the first on record in 
 this county. 
 
 A child was born to Mr. and Mrs. N. C. Moore in 
 the fall of 1836, who is supposed to have been the 
 first born in the township. 
 
 The first Justice of the Peace in the township, as 
 well as in the county, was C. Morey, who was elected 
 at the regular election in 1836. 
 
 The first death was that of a young son of Ora A. 
 Walker, who died in August, 1837. His remains 
 were interred on land donated by Shubal Jenks for a 
 burying ground. The second death was that of Mrs. 
 Ruth Cartwright, who died three weeks after the 
 death of the Walker child. 
 
 Dr. Bassett was the first physician. He subse- 
 quently moved to Sycamore township and is believed 
 to be the first in that township. 
 
 The first religious services seems to be in doubt. 
 Services were held at David Walrod's house, con- 
 ducted by one of his sons, early in 1836. Jacob 
 Jenks held services, and continued a meeting some 
 days in the summer of 1837. Dr. Arnold also held 
 services about the same time. There were services 
 at Coltonville in 1837-8. 
 
 Eli Barnes put out the first orchard, on his farm 
 on section i, in 1839. This was probably the first 
 in the county. He brought seed from Vermont. W. 
 R. Thompson put out the second orchard. 
 
 In 1837 a mail route was established between 
 Coltonville and Oregon, Ogle County. Clark Barber 
 was the first mail-carrier. The oath was adminis- 
 tered to him by Judge, afterward Gov., Ford. 
 
 The first school in the township was held at Col- 
 tonville in the summer of 1838, with % Miss Barber as 
 teacher. The school was held in a log house erected 
 for that purpose. The first winter term was taught 
 by Mr. Lawrence. Many changes have since been 
 made and the pioneer school-houses have long since 
 been displaced by the more modern structures. De 
 Kalb Township has no reason to-day to be ashamed 
 of her position in reference to the public schools. 
 
 From the County Superintendent's report for the 
 year ending June 30, 1884, the following interesting 
 facts are gleaned: There were 1,450 persons under 
 21 years of age, of whom 983 were between 6 and 2 1 1 
 in the ten districts composing the township. Of this 
 number 765 were enrolled in the public schools. In 
 the township were two graded and nine ungraded 
 schools, in which had been employed during the year 
 27 teachers. The highest monthly wages received 
 by any teacher was $122.22 and the lowest $25. 
 There was one brick and ten frame school-houses, 
 the total value of which was estimated at $24,250. 
 The tax levy was $9,335. 
 
 In the early history of De Kalb County, no place 
 was more noted than that of Coltonville. Rufus Col- 
 ton, in the winter of 1836-7, or in the spring of the 
 latter year, purchased the claim of C. Morey, on sec- 
 tion 2, erected a log house and soon after commenced 
 the sale of merchandise, having a fond hope that 
 around him would spring up a thriving village bear- 
 ing and commemorating his name, and that would 
 also be the shire town of the county. Having a por- 
 tion of his land surveyed and a village plat made, he 
 invited all who would to make this their home. 
 
 Lyman Levings was the first to avail himself of 
 the privilege of settling here. He built a house in 
 which the first term of the circuit court was subse- 
 quently held. 
 
 Jeremiah Burley was the next man to build. Eight 
 buildings in all were erected before the bubble burs 
 
 Stephen Sherwood opened a blacksmith 'shop here
 
 in 1838, and in the same year a young lawyer, named 
 Crothers, commenced the practice of law. The latter 
 remained but one year, when he removed to Ottawa. 
 
 A distillery was erected by Rufus Colton and 
 Phineas Stevens, which proved a financial failure, 
 whether from mismanagement of the proprietors, the 
 poor quality of whisky manufactured, or the want of 
 a general market, the old settlers refuse to testify. 
 
 Rufus Colton was a man of considerable enter- 
 prise, probably a little visionary, yet worked hard to 
 secure for the place the location of the county seat, 
 but without avail ; consequently, the few inhabitants 
 living here when the county-seat contest was set- 
 tled, moved away, and Coltonville was numbered 
 among the things that " might have been." 
 
 De Kalb Township in 1884 had 21,539 acres of 
 improved land, valued by the assessor at $343,265. 
 Its town lots were valued at $322,775 ; personal 
 property, $248,678. A total valuation of $914,718. 
 The State Board of Equalization cut this down to 
 $802,104, on which valuation the assessment was 
 made. Among the items of personal property listed 
 are found the following: Horses, 1,084; cattle, 
 2,597 ; mules and asses, 7 ; sheep, 24; hogs, 2,802 ; 
 steam engines, n; safes, 21; billiard tables, 6; 
 carriages and wagons, 343 ; watches and clocks, 
 448; sewing and knitting machines, 262; pianos, 
 46 ; organs and melodeons, 95. This township has a 
 greater number of horses than any other in the county. 
 SUPERVISORS. 
 
 Thomas M. Hopkins.. 
 
 }. . Glidden 
 
 Thomas M.Hopkins... 
 
 &ti 
 
 mpson 
 
 s M. Ho 
 
 FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP. 
 
 RANKLIN Township lies in the extreme 
 northwestern portion of the county, and is 
 bounded on the east by Kingston Town- 
 hip, on the south by South Grove, on the west 
 by Ogle County, and on the north by Boone 
 County. The township contains more running 
 streams, and has a larger body of timber, than any 
 township in the county. The Kishwaukee River is 
 
 the main stream, numerous tributaries flowing into it. 
 
 The first settlement of this township seems to be 
 a matter of doubt, but was probably about the same 
 time with the settlement of groves in other sections 
 of the northern part of the county. 
 
 Among the persons living here in 1838 were D. 
 M. Gilchrist, T. H. Humphreys, Theophilus Wat- 
 kins, Samuel, Charles and Henry Hicks, Andrew 
 Brown, Henry Holmes, Allen Gardner, John Barrett, 
 Wm. T. Kirk, Mr. Owen, B. N. Dean, John Mc- 
 Dowell, Alvah and James Bennett, Job Trindle, Zal 
 Young, Daniel Cronkhite, Martin M. Mack, Samuel 
 Cronkhite, Robert Hoover, Spencer M. Myers, Irill 
 Dibble, Mr. Parsons, William Miles, Andrew Miles 
 and John M. Riddle. 
 
 In 1837 Henry Hicks erected a saw-mill, deriving 
 his power from the Kishwaukee River. He ran it 
 until 1842, when it passed into the hands of Dr. 
 Hobart, who also continued to run it for some years. 
 Hicks' mill was known far and near and was quite a 
 place of resort. A postoffice was established here 
 at a very early day, called Hicks' Mill P. O. Henry 
 Hicks was the first postmaster, and held the office 
 until about 1842, when D. M. Gilchrist received the 
 appointment. In 1841 the receipts of the office were 
 reported at $7.72. In 1843, under Mr. Gilchrist's 
 administration, it was increased to $9.93. Martin 
 M. Mack was Gilchrist's successor and was suc- 
 ceeded in 1847 by Morgan Losee, who in turn gave 
 way to S. P. Harrington, Mr. Gilchrist and J. W. 
 Elithorpe. The office was discontinued on the 
 advent of the railroad. 
 
 Lacey postoffice and Blood's Point postoffice were 
 each established during the first decade of the 
 county's existence. Lacey postoffice was on the 
 line between Kingston and Franklin, and around it 
 sprung up a little village, which is now a thing of 
 the past. Blood's Point was on section 2, Franklin 
 Township. 
 
 Jones Abernethy and Betsey Rand, Miles Aber- 
 nethy and Lucy Hatch, Daniel Rand and Miss 
 Abernethy, were among the first married in the 
 township. 
 
 The first school was taught by Betsey Rand, in a 
 log school-house on section 20, about 1842. The 
 old log school-houses have long since been displaced 
 by mere pretentious buildings. From the report of 
 the County Superintendent of public schools for the 
 year ending June 30, 1884, the following items are 
 

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 gleaned in relation to the schools of the township at 
 that time : There were 522 persons under 21 years of 
 age, of whom 335 were of school age, 324 of that num- 
 ber being enrolled in the public schools. There were 
 ii school districts, with one graded and 10 ungraded 
 schools. Each district had a good frame school- 
 house, the total value being estimated at $10,000. A 
 tax was levied of $4,357 for school purposes. Dur- 
 ing the year 27 teachers had been employed. The 
 highest wages received by any teacher per month 
 was $60, and the lowest $25, the average being 
 $30.58. 
 
 The war record of Franklin Township is com- 
 mendable. Among the number who distinguished 
 themselves was Thomas W. Humphrey, Lieutenant- 
 Colonel of the 95111 Illinois Infantry. At the storm- 
 ing of Vicksliurg, he was wounded the first day, but 
 continued at the head of his regiment. On the 
 22d of May, 1863, he was stunned by an explosion 
 of a shell and reported killed, but crawled back to 
 camp in the night. At the battle of Guntown he 
 lost his life. A younger brother, James Humphrey, 
 enlisted as a private in the 8th Cavalry and wrought 
 his way up to a Captaincy. There were 99 men 
 enlisted from the township. 
 
 One Sunday in May, 1853, a terrible tornado 
 passed through the northern portion of the township. 
 It prostrated buildings, fences, trees, and everything 
 that stood in its way. John Young's house was the 
 first one struck. It was lifted up, shattered, and 
 portions of it carried off so far they were never found. 
 Mrs. Young was instantly killed. The residence of 
 Ira Dean was next struck, and a lady relative visit- 
 ing there had her back broken and died soon after. 
 Two boys in the house were blown out of a window, 
 but were not seriously hurt. Several other houses 
 were unroofed and barns destroyed. 
 
 In 1860 another similar storm passed through the 
 township, by which great damage was done. 
 
 The township of Franklin has 22,816 acres of im- 
 proved land, on which valuation as placed by the 
 local assessor of $323,606. The town lots are as- 
 sessed at $42,517 ; personal property, $98,359; total, 
 $464,482. The State Board of Equalization reduced 
 the amount to $410,668. Among the items of per- 
 sonal property are the following as reported by the 
 assessor in 1884: horses, 853; cattle, 2,215 ; mules 
 ind asses, 19; sheep, 976; hogs, 1,742; steam en- 
 
 gfrj&fr ^^ @: 
 
 gines, 4 ; billiard tables, 9 ; carriages and wagons, 
 282 ; watches and clocks, 159 ; sewing and knitting 
 machines, 166; pianos, 3; melodeons and organs, 41. 
 
 SUPERVISORS. 
 
 V. T. Kirk 
 
 Stephen G. Rowcn. 
 I. W. Klithorpe.... 
 St<-plii-n G. Row,:,,. 
 Daniel H. Kiir^bnr 
 Warn:,, GilchrM . . .' 
 
 B. N. Dean 
 
 Charlrs !'. Mi-ycr.. 
 Klisha A. Kirk 
 
 : 
 
 Kirkland. 
 
 IRKLAND village was platted in May, 
 1876, by Nicholas Saum, though improve- 
 ments had been made and quite a start 
 given it the previous year. In July, 1875, 
 Mr. Putney built a store-room in which he 
 opened out a stock of groceries. H. H. Stow 
 soon after opened a stock of general merchandise. 
 A portion of his room was rented by Dr. Spiers and 
 E. H. Gardner, who opened up a stock of drugs. 
 
 During the same year John Dritzbaugh com- 
 menced work at the shoemaker trade in the village, 
 and Connelly & Delevan began blacksmithing. 
 
 In 1876 Charles Miner started an exclusive hard- 
 ware store, the first in the village, though Mr. Stow 
 carried a line of such goods. 
 
 The first harness-maker was Arthur Bassett. 
 
 The first furniture dealer was James Hathaway. 
 
 The first grain-buyer was G. W. Wood, who pur- 
 chased grain which was stored in a ware-house erected 
 by William T. Kirk in 1876. After using the ware- 
 house some 1 8 months Mr. Wood put in an elevator. 
 
 The first hotel was run by George Delevan, in 
 1875. The village has a good hotel known as the 
 Rowen House, erected in 1879. George W. Wood 
 leased and ran the house for three years. Until 
 dining cars were placed upon the railroad, trains 
 stopped at this house for meals. 
 
 The first lumber dealer was Fred Edlar. 
 
 As the village increased in population new busi- 
 ness enterprises were engaged in and changes were 
 made in the firms originating various lines of trade. 
 In the spring of 1885 the business of the place was 
 represented by the following named : 
 
 > Nffihr < n?^>if^ 
 
 '\ ,
 
 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 t\ 
 
 General merchandise J. W. Lyons & Co., Har- 
 rington & Griggs. 
 
 Groceries Harley Rowen, Ira Brooks. 
 
 Notions Black Brothers. 
 
 Drugs A. D. Blagden. 
 
 Shoemakers Peter Anderson, William Smith. 
 
 Blacksmiths Roberts & Gardner, Franklin Poust. 
 
 Lumber W. C. Tuttle. 
 
 Grain and coal D. A. Syme. 
 
 Skating Rink E. A. Kirk. 
 
 Harness-maker I. N. Miner. 
 
 Hardware Charles Miner. 
 
 Bank Dean & Rowen. 
 
 Furniture M. P. Perry. 
 
 Meat market George W. Kirk. 
 
 Livery Jacob Stenner. 
 
 Attorney William B. McDowell. 
 
 Physician R. B. Spiers. 
 
 The Kirkland Creamery is one of the institutions 
 of the place. It was erected in 1878 by W. H. 
 Hintz, of Elgin. It is a frame, with stone basement. 
 About 12,000 pounds of milk is used per day. An 
 average of $2,500 per month is paid out. C. E. 
 Feakins has been in charge of the factory for five 
 years. 
 
 Kirkl-and comprises a part of School District No. 4. 
 A small brick school-house which stood just south of 
 the village was used for school purposes until 1879, 
 when the present two-story frame structure was 
 erected. The building is 40x60 in. size, with four 
 school rooms. It was opened in the fall of 1879, 
 with Mrs. E. A. Hatch, Principal. S. G. Mason is 
 the present principal, with Richard Haywood and 
 Jennie Dick, assistants. 
 
 There are at present no church edifices in the vil- 
 lage, though the Methodist Episcopals have an or- 
 ganization and hold regular services in the school- 
 house. Rev. Mr. Edmundson is the Pastor. 
 
 The village of Kirkland was incorporated under 
 the general act in 1882. An election was ordered 
 held Aug. 10, 1882, at which the question was to be 
 voted on as to whether it should incorporate. There 
 were 42 votes casl for and one against incorporation. 
 The first election for village officers was held Sept. i, 
 1882, at which the following named were elected : 
 H. P. Grout, Pres. ; Chas. Miner, Elias H. Gardner, 
 Dr. R. B. Pierce, R. W. Fox, G. W. Wood, Trustees ; 
 W. M. Burroughs, Clerk; W. B. McDowell, Treas. 
 
 The officers for 1883 and 1884 were as follows : 
 
 1883 W. B. McDowell, Pres.; E. H.Gardner, 
 O. W. Rice, H. P. Grout, R. W, Fox. E. A. Kirk,. 
 W. M. Burroughs, Ttustees ; G. W. Kirk, Treas.; W 
 B. McDowell, resigning, B. N. Dean was elected 
 President of the Board. 
 
 1884 F. W. Brock, Pres.; H. P. Grout, J. D. 
 Morris, O. W. Rice, E. H. Gardner. E. A. Kirk, 
 Trustees; W. M. Burroughs, Clerk; G. W. Kirk, 
 Treas. ; John Trude, Marshal ; Wm. B. McDowell, 
 Attorney. 
 
 Since its incorporation, two miles of sidewalk have 
 been built and an expenditure of $3,000 made on the 
 streets, about two miles being graveled. No direct 
 tax has ever been made, the income derived from 
 saloons being sufficient to meet the running expenses 
 of the village government. A council room and 
 calaboose is also numbered among the improvements 
 made. 
 
 The village has now about 400 inhabitants. About 
 75 buildirrgs have been erected since incorporation. 
 The credit for progress made is due in a great 
 measure to W. B. McDowell. 
 
 Fielding. 
 
 NOTHER pleasant little village of this 
 township is Fielding. It was laid out in 
 July, 1875, by Henry and Julia A. Kock, 
 on the southwest quarter of section 19, town- 
 ship 42, range 3. One addition has since been 
 made. 
 
 Louis Keith erected the first building and opened 
 the first stock of goods in August, 1875. He carried 
 a line of general merchandise. 
 
 L. W. King started the first drug-store in Sep- 
 tember, 1875. 
 
 Henry O'Roke built the first dwelling. 
 Patten Bros, commenced business in the fall of 
 1875 in the hardware line. 
 The first shoemaker was Andrew Cristman: 
 Henry Peake in 1876 started the first harness 
 shop. 
 
 Philip Upstone, in the summer of 1875, started the 
 first blacksmith shop. 
 
 In the summer of 1875 Fred Elder commenced 
 the lumber trade. 
 
 
 I 
 
 I 

 
 Chas. Peake opened the first hotel in the fall of 
 
 ' 
 
 , 
 
 
 Eugene Ridell was the first grain-buyer, in October. 
 
 i875- 
 
 The first wagon-maker was Louis Poole in the 
 fall of 1875. 
 
 Philip Van Voorhis was the first physician. 
 
 For the first three years the village was quite 
 prosperous, more so than at any period since that 
 time. 
 
 In 1878 a frame school-house was erected, 30 x 40 
 feet, at a cost of $r,2oo. Mr. Royal was the first 
 teacher. The teacher in the spring of 1885 was 
 James Davis, at which time there was an enrollment 
 of 45. 
 
 The religious interests of the place are represented 
 by the Methodist Episcopal Church. Rev. Mr. 
 Schoonmaker is the present pastor. 
 
 A postoffice was established at this point in 1875. 
 B. B. Blace was the first postmaster. He was suc- 
 ceeded by John Ball. The incumbent is E. N. Post. 
 
 The most important industry of the place in the 
 spring of 1885 was its creamery, which was started 
 in 1882. Lovejoy Johnson, Jeremiah Davis and 
 Joseph Goodrich were the proprietors, under the firm 
 name of Davis & Co. About 500 pounds of butter 
 is manufactured per day. In the summer four teams 
 are engaged in gathering cream. 
 
 The business of Fielding is now represented by 
 the following named : 
 
 General merchants Craig & Romney. 
 
 Drugs L. W. King. 
 
 Harness E. N. Post. 
 
 Bakery M. C. Johnson. 
 
 Shoe shop Robert Brown. 
 
 Blacksmiths Philip Upstone, Smith Wyllys. 
 
 Wagon-maker Joseph Mason. 
 
 Boarding-house Horace Johnson. 
 
 Hardware Miller Bros. 
 
 Grain-buyers H. O. Leet & Co. 
 
 Lumber Frederick Edler. 
 
 Coal dealer Philip Upstone. 
 
 Meat market Mr. Thompson. 
 
 Jeweler Frank Ball. 
 
 Physician F. J. Weld. 
 
 GENOA TOWNSHIP. 
 
 ENOA Township lies in the extreme north- 
 eastern part of the county, with Kane 
 County formng its eastern boundary, Mc- 
 Henry County its northern, and the townships 
 of Sycamore and Kingston upon its south 
 and west respectively. The township is a 
 beautiful rolling prairie, diversified by several 
 natural groves, and watered by the Kishwaukee 
 River and Raccoon Creek. It is one of the best im- 
 proved townships in the county. 
 
 The finest settlement in Genoa was made by 
 Thomas Madison, a native of Ohio. He was quite 
 an intelligent man, but a regular frontiersman, 
 preferring the life of the pioneer, with all its priva- 
 tions, to the comforts secured in a well settled country. 
 In 1837 he sold his claim, which consisted of about 
 two sections of land, to Horatio N. Perkins, Samuel 
 Corey, Thomas Monahan and Henry Durham. Upon 
 part of this claim is now located the pleasant village 
 of Genoa. 
 
 Henry Durham moved into a portion of the cabin 
 erected by Madison when the purchase was made, and 
 soon opened a stock of general merchandise. He 
 was a man of energy, possessed of a determination 
 to succeed, and success crowned his efforts. He 
 died here many years ago. 
 
 Daniel T. Whittemore was here in 1836. He was 
 from Rhode Island, and remained here but a few 
 years, disposing of his claim to E. P. Gleason and 
 removing to California. 
 
 Samuel Corey was from Ohio. Soon after his set- 
 tlement he sold out, moved into Franklin township, 
 and there died. 
 
 Thomas Monahan was from Indiana, to which 
 State he returned after a residence here of a few 
 months. 
 
 Genoa settled quite rapidly for two or three years. 
 Among those who came in 1837 and 1838, or soon 
 after, were Henry Preston, E. P. Gleason, Samuel 
 Stephens, J. L. Brown, Putney Brown, E. S. Gregory, 
 Jesse Preston, Ephraim Hall, A. N. Hollembeak, 
 Dr. H. F. Page. 
 
 When Madison settled here he erected a block- 
 house, 62 x 1 6 feet, one story in height. This house 
 came into possession of Mr. Perkins, who raised it 
 another story, and for several years used it as a hotel. 
 
 
 
 
 - -:_ 

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 819 
 
 
 
 
 In 1843, on the same site, he erected a frame build- 
 ing, which has since been used uninterruptedly as a 
 hotel. 
 
 The purchasers of the Madison claim each set off 
 six acres of land on which to locate 'a village, but> no 
 regular plat was made. As stated, during the same 
 year the purchase was made, Henry Durham opened 
 the first store. He continued in the business about 
 eighteen years. James S. Waterman was the second 
 to embark in trade at this point. Daniel Ball opened 
 the third store, Mr. Amsden the fourth and Robert 
 Waterman the fifth. These were not all in business 
 at once, but covered a period of several years. A 
 very large business was transacted by some of these 
 dealers, Robert Waterman reporting his sales one 
 year at $90,000. 
 
 Joseph Maltby was the first blacksmith, locating 
 here about 1840. 
 
 Mr. Preston was the first wagon-maker and A. N. 
 Hollembeak the second. 
 
 Mr. Gregory and Jerry Brown were the first shoe- 
 makers. 
 
 The first religious services were held at the house 
 of H. N. Perkins, in the winter of 1837-8. Rev. Ora 
 Walker preached the sermon. Rev. Mr. Geddes was 
 the second preacher in the township. 
 
 The first school was in 1838. A school-house was 
 erected about three-fourths of a mile south of the 
 present village of Genoa. Mary Ann Hill was the 
 teacher. Improvements in educational facilities have 
 been constantly going on. 
 
 S. O. Pike claims to have built the first wagon in 
 the county, at his home in this township, in 1845. 
 
 From the report of the County Superintendent of 
 Schools for the year ending June 30, 1884, the fol- 
 lowing items are gleaned in relation to educational 
 matters in this township: There were 510 persons 
 under twenty-one years of age, of whom 358 were of 
 school age. Of this number 300 were enrolled in the 
 public schools. One district had no school during 
 the year, while seven had more than 1 10 days each. 
 One school was graded. Twenty teachers were em- 
 ployed during the year, receiving an average salary 
 of $28.41 per month, the highest being $90 and the 
 lowest $22. The school property was valued at 
 $7,000. A tax was levied for school purposes amount- 
 ing to $3, 87 9. 
 
 The first celebration of Independence Day was in 
 
 1838, when Mr. Perkins provided entertainment for 
 hundreds who assembled. Geo. H. Hill delivered 
 the oration. There were people present from Aurora, 
 St. Charles, Rockford and other places. 
 
 A postoffice was established here in the fall of 
 1837, with Horatio N. Perkins as postmaster. Mr. 
 Madison had been endeavoring to get an office before 
 Mr. Perkins' arrival, and had secured the promise of 
 one. On selling, he recommended Mr. Perkins for 
 the position. With the exception of a few months, 
 Mr. Perkins held the office 47 years, resigning No- 
 vember n, 1884, when his grandson, H. A. Perkins, 
 received the appointment. 
 
 Balls were quite common in the early days, and 
 Perkins' Hotel, at Genoa, was a popular place for 
 them to be held. The young men and young ladies 
 would come for miles around, and dance till the " wee 
 sma" hours o' morn." Mr. Perkins has taken in as" 
 much as $225 in one night. 
 
 Some of the early settlers of Genoa were no credit 
 to the community in which they lived, and brought 
 upon it an unsavory name. Whittemore had the 
 reputation of being a leading member of the gang of 
 horse-thieves, counterfeiters and burglars who infested 
 the country. In 1838 Mr. Perkins had his house 
 broken open, and was robbed of $300. While he 
 felt morally certain as to who were the guilty parties, 
 he could not prove it, and never recovered his money 
 or had the satisfaction of seeing the robbers punished. 
 
 Gleason was thought to be one of the gang of coun- 
 terfeiters. He was known to have counterfeit money 
 in his possession, but never used it in the commu- 
 nity in which he lived. He was arrested once, his 
 case called in court, but no witnesses could be had 
 to testify against him, and he was set at liberty. He 
 was again arrested, but made his escape from the 
 officers. Returning, after the evidence of his guilt 
 was thought unattainable, he started in business 
 again. He married here. A few years after, he be- 
 came ill, and a traveling doctor, who was said to be 
 attached to his wife, attended him, but he soon died. 
 Soon after, the doctor and Mrs. Gleason were arrested 
 for causing his death, but no evidence was directly 
 obtainable, and they were discharged. Not long af- 
 ter, they were married and moved to La Salle County, 
 where the doctor died under circumstances that led 
 people to believe that he, too, was poisoned. His 
 wife soon after died very suddenly. 
 
 ; 
 
 
 - 
 
 ' v ';
 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 
 Genoa furnished 109 men to aid in suppressing 
 the Rebellion. 
 
 On its organization, in 1850, Henry Durham was 
 elected to represent the township as a member of the 
 Board of Supervisors. He was succeeded by G. F. 
 King in 1851 ; Isaac W. Garvin, 1852; A. N. Hol- 
 lembeak 1853-4; Isaac W. Garvin, 1855; Jesse 
 Doud, 1856; D. Buck, 1857; John Heath, 1858-9; 
 J. L. Brown, 1860; John Heath, 1861-2; J. L. 
 Brown, 1863; D. Buck, 1864-5; H. N. Perkins, 
 1866-9; A. H. Pond, 1870-3; John Heath, 1874; 
 Jeremiah L. Brown, 1875 ; John Heath, 1876; Henry 
 N. Perkins, 1877-80; A. H. Pond, 1881-3; Kendall 
 Jackman, 1884. 
 
 Genoa Township, according to the report of the 
 local assessor, in 1884, had 22.862 acres of improved 
 land, valued at $336,998. The town lots were valued 
 at $48,5 1 6 ; personal property, $r 15,45 i . A total of 
 $500,965. The State Board of Equalization reduced 
 this amount to $444,080. Among the items of per- 
 sonal property assessed were the following: Horses, 
 899; cattle, 3,121; sheep, 75; hogs, 2,107; steam 
 engines, 3; safes, 2; carriages and wagons, 324; 
 watches and clocks, 311 ; sewing and knitting ma- 
 chines, 176; pianos, 6; melodeons and organs, 59. 
 With the exception of Paw Paw, Genoa had a larger 
 number of cattle than any township in the county. 
 
 L. P. Kellogg contributes the following as his ex- 
 perience of pioneer life : He came to Illinois in the 
 fall of 1844 and spent the first winter in the town of 
 Harmony, McHenry County, moving on his farm in 
 Genoa Township in the spring of 1845, where he 
 broke enough land for temporary use, spending the 
 remainder of his time in teaming. He used to make 
 the trip to Chicago with' anything he could procure, 
 returning with merchandise and immigrants. His 
 hotel was where night overtook him on the way. He 
 generally did his teaming with horses, but at times 
 drove from three to five yoke of oxen. He was mar- 
 ried Jan. 20, 1847. The week after his marriage he 
 went to move a family from near Belvidere to Ottawa 
 and came near losing his life. He started with four 
 horses but only got home with two. After reaching 
 Ottawa, he concluded to take back with him a load 
 of coal. There was no well-defined wagon road, but 
 only an Indian trail to follow. In crossing a slough 
 on his return, the wagon broke through the ice and 
 settled in the water and earth up to the hub. He 
 could not get out without unloading, and had to carry 
 
 the entire load by hand a distance of ten rods. His 
 fingers were all bleeding and he suffered intensely 
 from the cold, but there was no help for it : the work 
 had to be done, and there was no house within twenty 
 miles. He left the coal and drove hard to make 
 some house to shelter himself and team, but too late. 
 One of those winter blizzards came on, with hail 
 and rain. His team could not follow the trail and it 
 was soon so dark that it was impossible to see any- 
 thing. There was no cover on his wagon to shelter 
 himself, nothing for his team to eat, the winds howl- 
 ing like demons and he lost in the wilderness. He 
 concluded his best course was to unhitch his team, tie 
 each horse to a wagon-wheel and wait till the com- 
 ing of the morn. His team was tired out, the trail 
 was lost, and it would have been folly to attempt 
 traveling any more that night. Covering the horses 
 as best he could, he then took the end gate out of his 
 wagon, and holding it before him to break the force 
 of the wind he walked around the wagon the entire 
 night. The night was a long and hard one, but hope 
 was kept alive within him by thinking of his newly- 
 wedded wife at home. Two of his horses -died be- 
 fore morning, chilled to death. 
 
 On this trip he passed near the old log house on 
 Indian Creek where 2 1 white women and children 
 were massacred by the Indians. This trip was only 
 one out of many hard ones that he experienced while 
 following teaming. He lost five horses in the first 
 four years. Once, when the thermometer registered 
 40 degrees below zero, he lay out, wandering on the 
 open prairie the entire night, having lost his way in 
 one of those blizzards. He did not dare to stop 
 walking, nor give way to the desire for sleep, for he 
 well knew that death would follow. 
 
 Thinking a good dog would be some comfort to his 
 wife when he was away, he bought a young pup, took 
 him home ; but one night the wolves came up to his 
 house, carried him off and killed him. 
 
 Mr. Kellogg took up his claim on section 3, Genoa 
 Township, in 1845, where he still lives. He says 
 that although he has had a hard time in life, he has 
 the satisfaction of knowing that he was never sued 
 nor ever sued a man in his life. He has tried to live 
 in peace with his neighbors, enjoying their respect 
 and esteem. In 1855 he experienced religion, since 
 which time he has tried to live a consistent Christian 
 life, although connected with no religious society 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 - 
 
 f 

 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 The Bible is his daily study, and daily he gathers his 
 household around him and offers up prayer and praise 
 to God. 
 
 Village of Genoa. 
 
 : OTWITHSTANDING a small village had 
 sprung up at this point many years before, 
 fll^S^' "* '* was no ^ un t'l '853 triat a plat was made 
 ^g)?' and filed. In March, 1853, E. P. Gleason, 
 who had purchased the interest of Whittemore 
 & Corey in the claim made by Madison, 
 platted the east half of the southwest quarter of 
 section 19. For a time the village flourished, but 
 the building of railroads in proximity to it cut off its 
 trade, and, for a time, it seemed that one more vil- 
 lage was to be a thing of the past. The building of 
 the railroad through the county, in 1875, revived the 
 place. At that time there were here one hotel ; a 
 general store, by Henry N. Perkins ; a grocery store, 
 by R. S. V. Burrington ; a postoffice ; two blacksmith 
 shops, owned by J. A. Risden and William H. Laird; 
 shoe shop, by L. Williams. There were about 20 
 dwelling-houses within the present village limits. 
 
 The railroad reached this place Jan. 2, 1875, and 
 in honor of the event the ladies of the village pro- 
 vided the railroad employees with a grand free din- 
 ner. During the year 1875 but little improvement 
 was made, though a building was erected by J. E. 
 Stott, who, in connection with a brother, opened a 
 general merchandise store, and one by Walter Dick- 
 erman, for a grocery store. The three following years 
 many improvements were made, more than at any 
 other like period of time. 
 
 In 1880 a destructive fire occurred in which 
 several buildings were burned, involving a loss of 
 $co,ooo. 
 
 The Genoa Creamery is owned by Crawford & 
 Hill. In 1884 a business of $40,000 was transacted. 
 
 The following comprises the business firms in 
 Genoa in the spring of 1885 : 
 
 General merchants H. H. Slater, Alex. Crawford, 
 Charles Stott, Mann Brothers. 
 
 Groceries H. A. Perkins. 
 
 Drugs W. P. Van Alstine, H. H. Slater. 
 
 Hardware William Sayer, S. M. Davies. 
 
 Furniture A. Tyler, Charles Stott. 
 
 Boot and shoe dealer John Lembka. 
 
 Harness D. W. Schwartz. 
 
 Millinery Mrs. Carrie Wilson. 
 
 Restaurant James Allen. 
 
 Blacksmith Risdon & Downing, A. Tyler, Tichler 
 & Smith, G. W. Baldwin. 
 
 Meat market W. Hix. 
 
 Merchant tailor F. O. Holtgren. 
 
 Jeweler W. H. Matthews. 
 
 Bank Brown & Brown. 
 
 Lumber -K. Jackman & Son, also dealer in agri- 
 cultural implements and coal. 
 
 Grain M. G. Leonard & Co. 
 
 Stock dealers Frank Jackman, H. H. Yonken, 
 Charles Whipple. 
 
 Physicians A. M. Hill, C. H. Mordoff. 
 
 Veterinary surgeons G. J. Mordoff, D. S. Brown. 
 
 Hotels L. V. Corson, Mrs. C. S. Bailey. 
 
 Creamery Crawford & Hill. 
 
 Attorney A. S. Hollembeak. 
 
 The village was incorporated under the general 
 law in 1876, and the first meeting of the Board of 
 Trustees was held April 24. The following named 
 comprises the Trustees and Clerks since that date: 
 
 1876 Henry N. Perkins, President; James Mer- 
 riman, George H. Ide, L. P. Whitney, A. M. Hill, 
 Henry H. Slater, Trustees ; J. B. Stephens, Clerk. 
 
 1877 Henry N. Perkins, President: Alex. Craw- 
 ford, J. B. Stephens, C. S. Bailey, James Stott, Henry 
 Patterson, Trustees ; Oscar Jones, Clerk. 
 
 1878 Henry N. Perkins, President; Alex. Craw- 
 ford, William H. Matthews, E. Sumner, George E. 
 Wood, John Patterson, Trustees ; Oscar Jones, Clerk. 
 
 1879 Horatio N. Perkins, A. M. Hill, W. H. 
 Mathews, Alex. Crawford, Daniel Stephens, John 
 Patterson, Trustees ; A. D. Blagden, Clerk. 
 
 1880 Alex. Crawford, President; E. S. Wilcox, 
 Charles Stott, D. W. Schwartz, John Flint, Samuel 
 Slater, Trustees ; J. B. Lee, Clerk. 
 
 1881 Alex. Crawford, President; A. M. Hill, 
 John McLean, George H. Ide, E. S. Wilcox, Charles 
 Stott, Trustees ; M. E. Sandall, Clerk. 
 
 1882 A. M. Hill, President; John McLean, Geo. 
 H. Ide, John Patterson, A. C. Senska, Gurdin Rowen, 
 Trustees ; F. M. Worcester, Clerk. 
 
 1883 A. C. Senska, President ; John Patterson, 
 Gurdin' Rowen, D, S. Brown, James E. Stott, William 
 E. Hill, Trustees ; H. A. Perkins, Clerk. 
 

 
 ' 
 
 18840. S. Brown, President; James E. Stott, 
 William E. Hill, R. Blanchard, Samuel Slater, John 
 Lembka, Trustees ; H. A. Perkins, Clerk. 
 
 Saloons have been licensed but one year since the 
 village was incorporated, in 1880. 
 
 Genoa is in School District No. i, which was or- 
 ganized at an early day. The present large and 
 convenient school-house was erected in r877, at 
 which time the school was thoroughly graded and 
 placed in charge of Professor D. M. Gibbs. The 
 building was erected at a cost of $4,000, and has four 
 rooms, in addition to cloak rooms and halls. Since 
 1877 Professor Gibbs has been in charge of the 
 schools, with Mrs. J. A. Gibbs, his wife, as first 
 assistant. Under his administration the school has 
 taken rank with the best in the county. One class 
 of seven were graduated in 1881. The graduates 
 were M. E. Sanvall, Herman Patterson, Charles 
 Brown, W. L. Pond, M. Harned, Allie Cole, Mary 
 Gwinup. Of these graduates, M. E. Sanvall is now 
 book-keeper in a large establishment in Chicago; 
 Herman Patterson is an engineer in Humboldt, Iowa, 
 and married to Mary Gwinup ; Charles Brown is a 
 banker in Genoa ; William L. Pond is a lawyer in 
 De Kalb; M. Harned is a dentist in Oregon, 111.; 
 Allie Cole is a teacher at Kingston. A second class 
 graduated in 1883. The graduates were Mary Pat- 
 terson and Belle Holroyd, both of whom have been 
 teaching since graduation. The teachers in the 
 school here since 1877, in addition to Mr. and Mrs. 
 Gibbs, are Lottie Brown, Allie Cole, Addie White, 
 Myra Smith, Lydia Richardson and Mary Silvious. 
 In the past year there were enrolled 142 pupils, 42 
 of whom were from outside the district. 
 
 Resaca Post, No. 478, G. A. R., was organized 
 Aug. 22, 1884, with the following named charter mem- 
 bers : Almon M. Hill, Com. ; Alex. B. Ross, S. V. 
 C. ; George W. Johnson, J. V. C. ; A. S. Hollem- 
 beak, Adj. ; James M. Allen, Chap. ; W. E. Hill, 
 Serg. ; George H. Ide, O. D. ; Henry W. Slater, Q. ; 
 George G. DeWolf, O. G. ; John F. Graver, S. M. ; 
 Frank McQuarie, G. ; Geo. W. Baldwin, Q. S. ; 
 Ezra G. Pike, Francis D. Bridge, Wm. R. White. 
 The first officers continue. The present membership 
 is 24. 
 
 Genoa Lodge, No. 288, A. F. & A. M., received 
 ts charter Oct. 16, 1858. The charter members 
 were Thurston Carr, W. M. ; M. D. Reyman, S. W. ; 
 
 A. B. Green, J. W. ; M. Carr, Wm. Peters, P. Carr, 
 A. E. Carr, J. Chase. The P. W. M.'s are Thurston 
 Carr, Thomas E. Lawrence, L. P. Wood, A. C. 
 Senska, Geo. E. Wood, A. N. Hollembeak, E. S. 
 Wilcox, Dr. John McLean. The lodge is in a flour- 
 ishing condition. 
 
 KINGSTON TOWNSHIP. 
 
 ITH the exception of Franklin Township, 
 Kingston has the largest body of timber 
 land in the county. The southern por- 
 tion is prairie, and also the northeastern. 
 The township is well watered by the Kish- 
 waukee River and its tributaries. Kingston 
 comprises township 42, range 4 east, and lies 
 upon the north border of the county, adjoining 
 Boone County, with Genoa Township upon the east, 
 Mayfield upon the south, and Franklin upon the 
 west. 
 
 The first settlement in Kingston was made in 
 1835. Thomas Robb is thought to have been the 
 first to make a claim. Among those who came in 
 that year were John Judd, Isaiah Fairclo, Lyman 
 Judd, Joseph Collier, Nathan Billings, John Friel, 
 Louis Driggs, George H. Hill, James Green, Benja- 
 min Schoonover, Harmon and Wm. Miller, George 
 Hill and Levi Lee. 
 
 Thomas Robb was from Indiana. He located 
 on section 22. Mr. Robb was about 65 years old 
 when he came to this county. He died on the 
 homestead that he claimed in 1835. 
 
 John Judd, Isaiah Fairclo, Lyman Judd, Nathan 
 Billings, John Friel and Louis Driggs were also 
 from Indiana. John Judd lived in the township 
 about 12 years and died here; Isaiah Fairclo died 
 here also ; Lyman Judd moved away and has since 
 died; Joseph Collier was one of the first Justices 
 of the Peace ; was elected while the county was 
 attached to La Salle ; he died here. Nathan Billings 
 and John Friel returned to Indiana. Louis Driggs, 
 after a few years' residence, moved to Iowa. 
 
 Harmon and Wm. Miller were from New York. 
 Harmon subsequently moved to Prairie du Chien, 
 where he since died. William, in 1873, moved into 
 De Kalb, where he now resides. 
 
 Levi Lee was from New York. He was a man of 

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 x^x good natural and acquired ability, a Methodist 
 Episcopal minister, for some years a Justice of the 
 -, Peace, and one of the first County Commissioners. 
 Before the war he removed to Elkhorn, Wis. He is 
 now dead. 
 
 Other settlers came in soon after, and it was but 
 a few years before all the valuable land in the town- 
 ship was claimed. 
 
 Zalmon Young and Sarah Brown were united in 
 marriage Oct. 5, 1837, by Geo. H. Hill, J. P. The 
 license granted to these persons was the second 
 ,* obtained in De Kalb County. 
 
 '^f A child was born to Mr. and Mrs. Louis Driggs 
 early in 1836. This child was probably the first 
 born in the township. Wm. W. Hill, son of George 
 H. Hill, was born Oct. 23, 1836, and was probably 
 the second born. 
 
 The first death was that of the wife of Peyton 
 Russell, in 1837. Her body was buried on section 
 23, in what is now the Kingston Cemetery. 
 
 The Kingston postoffice was established about 
 1838, with Levi Lee as postmaster. In 1841 the 
 receipts of the office were $4.31. Jonas Haight suc- 
 ceeded Lee and was in turn succeeded by George 
 H. Hill, who had charge of the office for many 
 years. The following named have since served as 
 postmasters : Charles O'Connor, Dr. James Mc- 
 ) Allister, L. J. Bliss and James Stuart. The office 
 was removed to the village of Kingston on' the ad- 
 vent of the railroad. 
 
 North Kingston postoffice was established about 
 1852. Charles W. Branch was postmaster for some 
 years. 
 
 ^ Dr. James McAllister was the first physician, 
 $b locating here about 1848. 
 
 I The first religious services were held in private 
 houses in 1836. Revs. Woolsey, Arnold and Lee 
 were the first to preach the word in this region of 
 the country. A house of worship was some years 
 after erected on the south line of the township, but 
 has since been removed. 
 
 The first school now remembered by some of the 
 old settlers was in in a log house on section 22, and 
 was held in 1840. Harriet Russell was the first 
 teacher. It was a subscription school. Public 
 schools were introduced some years afterwards. 
 From the report of George I. Talbott, County 
 Superintendent of Public Schools, for the year end- 
 
 ing June 30, 1884, the following items are gleaned: 
 There were 526 persons under 21 years of age, of 
 whom 342 were of school age. Each of the 10 
 districts had a frame school-house, the total value 
 being $9,800. School was held in each of the dis- 
 tricts, and there was a total enrollment of 311. Dur- 
 ing the year 18 teachers were employed, receiving as 
 wages an average salary of $29.48 per month, the 
 highest receiving $75 and the lowest $25. The tax 
 levied for school purposes amounted to $4,575. 
 
 The first store in the township was owned by Levi 
 Lee, who, in 1836, commenced the mercantile busi- 
 ness at his house. 
 
 George H. Hill had his dwelling-house and its con- 
 tents burned in 1836, the first destruction of a 
 dwelling by fire in the township. 
 
 In 1853, and also in 1860, a fearful tornado swept 
 through the township, destroying everything in its 
 path. In 1860 Isaac McCoy had his house destroyed, 
 not a single piece of timber being left to mark its lo- 
 cation. 
 
 The first dwelling-house was erected by Lyman 
 Stuart, who rented the same for a hotel. 
 
 John Uplinger started a hardware store in the fall 
 of 1875. 
 
 In the spring of 1876, Mr. Uplinger erected an- 
 other building, which he rented to Dunbar Bros., 
 who opened a stock of general merchandise. They 
 are still in the trade. 
 
 A. H. Clark commenced in the drug business in 
 1876, moving a building into the village for the pur- 
 pose. 
 
 Among others who began business during the first 
 two or three years of the village's existence were : 
 William Straub, who commenced the hardware busi- 
 ness, now continued by Heckman & Cole; Orson 
 Rogers, who opened a stock of general merchandise ; 
 S. P. Hancock and Mr. Gritzbaugh, in shoe-making; 
 I. C. Sherman, blacksmith ; Louis Lyon, harness- 
 maker. 
 
 Kingston Township, in 1884, had 22,053 acf es of 
 land, which was assessed at $331,503. The lots were 
 listed at $23,941; personal property, $83,995 ; total, 
 $448,419. The State Board of Equalization reduced 
 this to $395,967. In the list of personal property as- 
 sessed may be found the following items : Horses, 
 875; cattle, 2,394; mules and asses, 20; sheep, 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 , 1,978; steam engines, 4; safes, 4; billiard 
 tables, i; carriages and wagons, '397; watches and 
 % clocks, 214; sewing and knitting machines, 144; 
 
 pianos, 3; organs and melodeons, 37. 
 ,2). The following named have served the township as 
 members of the Board of Supervisors : 
 
 ..-86 3 
 
 John Sheeley. 
 C.W. Br 
 William ,' 
 George H 
 Geor B e L 
 James Me A: 
 P. Heckman 
 
 William A. Miller. 
 George H. Hill.... 
 George L. Wood... 
 
 .1853 
 
 .'jr 7 
 
 .1859-60 
 
 George H. Hill. 
 
 Charles W. Branch 1864-70 
 
 JohnL. Hoag 1871-73 
 
 Sylvester Mead 1874-75 
 
 Leroy E. Benson 1876-77 
 
 Aaron H. Clark 1878-81 
 
 : 
 
 Kingston. 
 
 This village is located on the line of the C., M. & 
 St. P. Railroad, in this township. It is a pleasant 
 little village; was platted in May, 1876, by Lyman 
 and James Stuart. In November, 1875, the first 
 house was erected by James Stuart, who opened up 
 a stock of groceries. 
 
 The village comprises a part of School District, 
 No. 6. A school-house which stood about a half 
 mile east of the village, was used until 1881, when 
 the present two-story frame building was erected, at 
 a cost of $3,304. J. G. Lucas was the first principal 
 in the new house and yet occupies the position. Mrs. 
 H. Hatch was his assistant in 1881 ; Maggie Lucas 
 in the spring and Grace Harris in the fall of 1882; 
 Allie Cole in 1883 and 1884-5. 
 
 There is one church edifice in the village, the 
 property of the Methodist Episcopals. The building 
 was erected in 1860, on the south line of the town- 
 ship and moved here in 1876. Rev. J. B. G. Shad- 
 ford is the present pastor. 
 
 The Masons have a lodge, and the G. A. R. a post 
 in this place. 
 
 Kishwaukee Lodge, No. 402, A. F. & A. M., was 
 organized Oct. 5, 1864, about three-fourths of a mile 
 west of the present village. In 1877 the place of 
 meeting was removed here. The officers for 1885 
 were : J. H. Fellows, W. M.; A. N. Wyllys, S. W.; 
 A. H. Clark, J. W.; Sylvester Mead, Treas.; J. H. G. 
 Lucas, Sec. The present membership is 35. 
 
 Gilbert Barnes Post, No. 395, G. A. R., was or- 
 ganized Jan. 19, 1884, with 12 charter members. 
 For the first year meetings were held every two weeks, 
 
 
 but now are held once a month. The present officers 
 are : J. W. Foster, Com.; S. S. Russell, S. V. C.; 
 J. Mackey, J. V. C.; S. D. Whitney, Q.; B. P. 
 Penney, Chap.; H. M. Bacon, Surg.; O. H. Taplin, 
 O. G.; A. J. Miller, S. ; A. H. Clark, Adj. The 
 post is in good working condition, with a membership 
 of 20. 
 
 The first grain-buyer was Lyman Stuart, in 1876. 
 He erected a warehouse that year. J. H. Uplinger 
 erected a warehouse in 1877 and also engaged in the 
 trade. 
 
 Among the present industries, the creamery of 
 Julius Chapman should be mentioned. It stands 
 one-half mile east of the village, and does a good 
 business. He has also a steam grist-mill, with 
 four run of buhrs. James Stuart has a good steam 
 saw-mill, erected in 1876. A planing-mill and a feed 
 mill have since been added. 
 
 The business of the place is now represented as 
 follows : 
 
 General merchants Dunbar Bros., O. Rogers. 
 
 Groceries J. Russell & Co., James Stuart & Co. 
 
 Hardware Heckman & Cole, J. H. Uplinger. 
 
 Shoe-shop C. A. Arison. 
 
 Millinery Mrs. Jennings, Mrs. Thurston. 
 
 Restaurant Isaac McCollum. 
 
 Meat market C. Uplinger. 
 
 Stock-buyers Mead and Witt Bros. 
 
 Drugs A. H. Clark. 
 
 MALTA TOWNSHIP. 
 
 ALTA Township is bounded on the north 
 by South Grove, on the east by De Kalb, 
 on the south by Milan and on the west 
 by Ogle County. The Chicago & North- 
 western Railroad enters the township on sec- 
 tion 24, and running almost due west enters 
 Ogle County from section 19. There is no natural 
 timber in the township, and it was not therefore set- 
 tled until a late day, the first settlement being made 
 in i8sr by Ezekiel Whitehead. But little of the land 
 had been taken up at the time, but was soon after- 
 wards entered by various persons more for specula- 
 tive purposes than with a design of making for
 
 
 -: x 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 themselves homes upon its broad but beautiful 
 prairies. 
 
 Previous to 1856 the township had been a part of 
 De Kalb. At this time there was a sufficient popu- 
 lation to entitle it to a separate government, and the 
 Board of Supervisors accordingly organized it under 
 the name of Milton. When organized it embraced 
 the north half of the present township of Milan. 
 Subsequently its name was changed to Etna, and 
 soon after to Malta, the name of the village that had 
 sprung up on the line of the railroad. 
 
 Since its first settlement the town has increased 
 materially in wealth and general prosperity, and is 
 now considered one of the best in the county. 
 
 During the war of the Rebellion it sent out 94 
 of the best men to help sustain the general Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 The schools in the township are in good condition. 
 From, the County Superintendent's report for the 
 year ending June 30, 1884, the following facts are 
 gleaned: There were in the township eight school 
 districts, each having a good frame school-house, 
 the total value of which was estimated at $10,700. 
 One of the districts had a graded school, the remain- 
 der being ungraded. There were 496 persons under 
 21, of whom 364 were over six. Of this number 
 303 were enrolled in the public schools. During the 
 year 15 teachers had been employed, receiving an 
 average of $34.43 per month, the highest being 
 $66.67 and the lowest $25. The tax. levy for school 
 purposes was $33.88. 
 
 Malta Township reported a total of 21,967 acres 
 of improved land in 1884, on which the local asses- 
 sor placed a valuation of $309,410. On lots there 
 was an assessment of $39,143 ; on personal property, 
 $77,318. Among the items of personal property 
 listed were the following: Horses, 763; cattle, 
 2,119; mules and asses, 12 ; sheep, 448; hogs, 2,390; 
 carriages and wagons, 276; watches and clocks, 261 ; 
 sewing and knitting machines, 114; pianos, n; 
 melodeons and organs, 38. 
 
 The following named have served the township as 
 members of the Board of 
 
 SUPERVISORS : 
 
 K. Whitrhead 
 T. C. Wetmore 
 H. Ma.lden 
 M.C. Dcdrick 
 G. W. Smiley 
 Daniel K. Pease 
 
 CI,:,rI,:sW. Haish.. 
 \V. II. \V,,oIsl,,n..: 
 Martin f. D.-,l,i,k. 
 George W. Smiky . . 
 M.min C D,-,l,-i,:l:. 
 
 ...,, 
 
 Village of Malta. 
 
 HE village of Malta was surveyed and plat- 
 ted by Horace W. Fay, County Surveyor, 
 in August, 1856. The land was then owned 
 by Charles C. Sheppard and T. C. Wetmore. 
 It was located on the northwest quarter of sec- 
 tion 23, township 40 north, range 3 east. There 
 have since been two additions made and recorded. 
 
 The first house was erected in the fall of 1856 by 
 J. M. Orput. It was a story and a half frame and 
 used by him as a dwelling house and for mercantile 
 purposes. In this house Mr. Orput opened a stock 
 of staple and fancy groceries, and therefore has the 
 honor of being the first merchant in the place. He 
 also dealt in lumber, coal and grain, buying the first 
 grain shipped from this station. In the spring of 
 1857 Mr. Orput formed a partnership with John At- 
 wood, and under the firm name of Orput & Atwood 
 the business was continued, dry-goods being added 
 to the grocery stock. In the fall of 1857 Dwight 
 Booth purchased the stock. 
 
 Shortly after Mr. Orput began business, Shedd & 
 Fuller erected a warehouse and began purchasing 
 grain. A portion of this warehouse was subsequently 
 converted into a hotel and was the first in the village. 
 Frank Graves was the first landlord. 
 
 The present Orient House was erected in the fall 
 of 1858 by Daniel Sprague, but opened by D. E. 
 Fennell. It was the first house erected exclusively 
 for hotel purposes, and has been used constantly as 
 such to the present time. 
 
 The first hardware store was started by J. R. 
 Evans in 1838. 
 
 Henry Madden was the first druggist. He com- 
 menced business in 1857. 
 
 The first blacksmith was John Schultz, in 1857. 
 
 The first wagon-maker was Walter Tuiett. 
 
 The first furniture dealer was William LeBrant. 
 
 The first shoemaker was John Swanson, in 1858. 
 
 The first harness-maker was J. O. Westgate. 
 
 The postorfice was established here in the winter 
 of 1856-7. W. F. Shedd was the first postmaster. 
 He was succeeded by Mr. Wicks, ar.d he, in turn, by 
 Henry Madden, Alfred Ball, F. H. Brundage, and A. 
 S. Kinsloe, the incumbent. A money order depart- 
 ment was connected with the office in July, 1872. 
 David Campbell drew the first order, in favor of 

 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 
 Chase, Hanford & Co., of Chicago, for the sum of $5. 
 The average amount drawn per year has been about 
 $10,000. 
 
 In 1857 a school-house was erected in the village. 
 It jwas a frame structure, about 24 x 40, and was 
 used until 1873, when the present two-story frame 
 building was erected , at a cost of $6,000. This build- 
 ing has four rooms, and four teachers are regularly 
 employed. In the spring of 1885 the corps of teachers 
 was as follows : D. G. Hays, principal ; Bertha Bei- 
 tel, Edna Mettlar, Josie Morse. 
 
 The religious well being of the people is cared for 
 by the Baptists, Congregationalists and Methodist 
 Episcopals, each of which have church edifices. 
 
 The secret and benevolent societies in 1885 were 
 the Masons, Odd-Fellows and G. A. R. 
 
 Malta Lodge, No. 320, A. F. & A. M., was organ- 
 ized in 1859. A dispensation was granted June 9, 
 under which the lodge acted until October 5, when 
 the charter was granted by the Grand Lodge. Its 
 charter members were T. C. Wetmore, John E. At- 
 wood, Jacob M. Moon, John B. Orput, Edmund 
 Badger, T. H. Hecox, J. H. Clark, J. A. Patterson. 
 Its first officers were Titus C. Wetmore, W. M.; John 
 E. Atwood, S. W.; J. M. Moon, J. W.; J. R. Evans, 
 S. D.; T. H. Hecox, J. D.; C. B. Safford, Secretary ; 
 A. Wetmore, Treasurer ; J. A. Patterson, Tyler. The 
 officers were installed by S. O. Vaughan, of DeKalb. 
 The present membership, in January, 1885, is 19, 
 with the following named officers : Caleb Peters, W. 
 M.; R. M. Hevenor, S. W.; George Spickerman, J. 
 W.; David Claxton, Treasurer ; J. C. Pierce, Secre- 
 tary ; Horace Claxton, S. D.; C. W. Haish, J. D.; J. 
 P. Newhall, C. F. Meyers, Stewards ; James Homan, 
 Tyler. The P. M. W.'s are T. C. Wetmore, J. R. 
 Evans, J. M. Moon, S. C. Hapgood, John Sargent, 
 R. M. Hevenor and S. S. Coe. 
 
 Malta Lodge, No. 606, I. O. O. F., was instituted 
 February 18, 1876, with the following named charter 
 members : J. V. Willett, D. S. Holderness, J. V. Cor- 
 nish, P. Barnes, R. Pendergrass, J. Conlin. The 
 lodge has been quite successful, and numbers 38 
 members, with a well-furnished lodge room. It has 
 lost by death four of its members during the nine 
 years of its existence J. Lamb, A. McCrea, I. H. 
 Claxton and John Fanson. Its present officers are 
 M. Quincer, N. G.; I. P. Hoyt, V. G.; R. Pender- 
 grass, Sec.; J. V. Willett, Treas. The P. N. G.'s are 
 
 %&& ^^ ^ 
 
 J. V. Willett, R. Pendergrass, A. McCrea, J. V. Cor- 
 nish, Henry Shaver, William H. Haish, P. Barnes, R. 
 Fox, A. S. Kinsloe, William M. Kempson, F. Rist, 
 M. L. Dedrick and William Spickerman. 
 
 Edward Bridge Post, No. 124,6. A. R.,was organ- 
 ized March 16, 1882. Its first officers and charter 
 members were J. C. Pierce, Com.; R. M. Hevenor, 
 S. V. C.; R. Fox, J. V. C.; A. S. Kinsloe, Adjt.; A. 
 Van Patten, Q. M.; T. S. Warren, O. D.; B. Cart- 
 wright, Chap.; A. A. Spickerman, Surg.; S. P. Sher- 
 wood, O. G.; S. Palquest, S.; W. H. Cheatham, D. 
 A. Smith, A. Allenburg. The Post has now a mem- 
 bership of 33, and meets the third Monday in each 
 month in Haish's Hall. Its present officers are A. 
 S. Kinsloe, Com.; A. Van Patten, S. V. C.; W. H. 
 Scofield, J. V. C.; R. M. Hevenor, Adjt.; J. C. 
 Pierce, Q. M.; B. F. Hurt, O. D.; S. Sherwood, O. 
 G.; S. Lloyd, Chap.; A. A. Spickerman, Surg.; J. 
 Tomassen, Q. S.; C. Tomassen, S. M.; S. Palquest, 
 Sent. The only P. Com. is S. C. Pierce. 
 
 One of the first industries of the place was the 
 grist-mill erected by Clement & Dodge in 1857. It 
 was a two-story frame structure, about 40 x 60 feet, 
 with two run of buhrs. The owners ran it until 
 about 1859, when they leased it to Booth & Sprague, 
 who ran it for a time, at a loss, and then sub-let it to 
 Caleb Peters. In 1861, while being run by the lat- 
 ter, it was totally destroyed by fire. Clement & 
 Dodge sued Mr. Sprague for the value of the mill, 
 and for several years the case was before the courts 
 of the State. Judgment was finally rendered against 
 Sprague in the Circuit Court; the case was appealed 
 and the verdict sustained by the Supreme Court. It 
 is said to have cost Mr. Sprague about $18,000. 
 
 In 1867 a second mill was erected by Caleb Peters, 
 assisted to some extent by the citizens of Malta. It 
 was also a two-story frame, a little smaller than the 
 first, but with two run of buhrs. It is yet running, 
 and is the property of C. W. Haish. 
 
 Malta was incorporated by special charter in 1869, 
 its first election being held April 5, resulting in the 
 election of G. W. Smiley, President of the Board of 
 Trustees; C. Anderson, J. V. Willett, James Welch, 
 S. T. Wright, Trustees ; C. W. Haish, Treasurer ; S. 
 E. Powers, Clerk; J. C. Westgate, Police Justice; 
 W. H. Scofield, Constable. The trustees and clerks 
 since that date have been as follows : 
 
 18700. W. Smiley, President; A. S. Kinsloe, J. 
 Q S^C g*!}^^
 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 
 5 
 
 M. Orput, W. D. Cook, S. T. Wright, Trustees; J. 
 W. McClure, Clerk. 
 
 18710. W. Smiley, President ; R. F. Lintleman, 
 A. S. Kinsloe, D. F. Pease, J. M. Orput, Trustees ; 
 J. W. McClure, Clerk. 
 
 18720. A. Ingersoll, President; J. C. Pierce, A. 
 McCrea, Wm. Le Brant, A. S. Kinsloe, Trustees; J. 
 W. McClure, Clerk. 
 
 18730. F. Peas, President; P. Deane, Wm. 
 Le Brant, J. S. Endstrom, Phineas Barnes, Trustees; 
 Millard Spoor, Clerk. 
 
 1874 A. McCrea, President; G. W. Smiley, S. T. 
 Wright, A. Ball, R. Pendergrass, Trustees ; John 
 Murphy, Clerk. 
 
 1875 A. McCrea, President; G. A. Ingersoll, R. 
 Pendergrass, S. T. Wright, A. Ball, Trustees; W. H. 
 Cory, Clerk. 
 
 1876 A. Ball, President; E. A. Watkins, S T. 
 Wright, R. F. Lintleman, J. C. Pierce, Trustees; A. 
 S. Kinsloe, Clerk. 
 
 1877 A. Ball, President; J. C. Pierce, R. F. Lin- 
 tleman, H. Claxlon, S. T. Wright, Trustees ; A. S. 
 Kinsloe, Clerk. 
 
 1878 A. Ball, President; C. F. Pease, C. A. Tin- 
 dall, R. M. Hevenor, Caleb Peters, Trustees; M. 
 Fitzgerald, Clejk. 
 
 1879 J. V. Willett, President; J. C. Pierce, W. 
 F. Phelps, P. Barnes, H. Claxton, Trustees ; J. M. 
 Smith, Clerk. 
 
 1880 C. W. Haish, President ; J. C. Pierce, W. 
 F. Phelps, S. T. Wright, R. F. Lintleman, Trustees; 
 M. J. Cunningham, Clerk. 
 
 1881 J. C. Pierce, President; R. F. Lintleman, 
 W. F. Phelps, B. B. Smiley, J. M. Orput, Trustees ; 
 M. Fitzgerald, Clerk. 
 
 1882 J. C. Pierce, President; J. V. Willett, S. T. 
 Wright, W. F. Phelps, J. M. Orput, Trustees ; B. B. 
 Smiley, Clerk. 
 
 18830 W. Haish, President; A. S. Kinsloe, A. 
 F. Engstrom, A. Van Patten, Caleb Peters, Trustees ; 
 M. Fitzgerald, Clerk. 
 
 18840. W. Smiley, President; A. S. Kinsloe, A. 
 Van Patten, David Claxton, J. V. Willett, Trustees; 
 M. Fitzgerald, Clerk. 
 
 On the I7th of March, 1884, the question was sub- 
 mitted to a vote as to whether the town should in- 
 corporate as a village under the general act. There 
 were 31 votes cast for incorporation, and 53 against. 
 
 &&& *&* % 
 
 The issue in all charter elections has usually been 
 that of license or no license. About one year in five 
 the anti-license people have a majority. 
 
 SUPERVISORS. 
 
 geW. Smiley. 
 
 i-' 1 ^":::: 
 
 v) 
 
 1871 
 
 MAYFIELD TOWNSHIP. 
 
 AYFIELD Township was one of the 
 first settled in the county. The valuable 
 timber lands that lie along the Kish- 
 waukee River, which courses through the 
 eastern part, attracted the attention of the pio- 
 neers of De Kalb County, and it was but a short 
 time before every rod was claimed. Mayfield is 
 bounded/on the east by Sycamore Township, on the 
 north by Kingston, on the south by De Kalb and on 
 the west by South Grove. As stated, along the Kish- 
 waukee River are valuable timber lands, but west of 
 this is a beautiful prairie, which is now dotted over 
 with fine farm houses, and which has been placed 
 under an excellent state of cultivation. 
 
 In the early day deer, wolves and game of all kinds 
 abounded. Prairie chickens were in great numbers. 
 Mrs. E. D. Walrod states that she has slipped up and 
 caught them unawares, they being quite tame. 
 
 Who has the honor to be the first to locate in the 
 township is unknown, but it is supposed that John 
 Tower preceded all others. Among those who came 
 in during the first two or three years from 1835 to 
 1838 were John Thorn, Morris and Erasmus D. 
 Walrod, James and Samuel Gilbert, Ira Douglas, 
 John Nichols, Lyman Judd, John Tifft, Robert Gra- 
 ham, James McCollum and Henry Madden. The 
 latter was the first Representative in the Legislature, 
 being elected while the county was part of La Salle, 
 even before Kane was organized. Dr. Madden, as 
 he was always called, was a well known man in the 
 early history of the county, and is deserving of more 
 than a passing notice. He was a man of more than 
 ordinary ability, and was held in high esteem by the 
 pioneers. In the county-seat contests he favored 
 Brush Point, near where he was located, and in secur- 
 ing the appointment of commissioners to locate the 
 

 
 
 . 
 
 county seat, he selected, it is said, those whom he 
 thought he could influence favorable to Brush Point. 
 Dr. Madden died at Malta, in this county. 
 
 Morris Walrod was Sheriff of the county several 
 terms. He is now dead. 
 
 Erasmus D. Walrod is an old and highly respected 
 citizen of Sycamore, at present owning a farm ad- 
 joining the city on the west. He served as Deputy 
 Sheriff for eight years. 
 
 John Tifft was a native of New Hampshire. He 
 located on section i, where he remained many years. 
 He is now a resident of Sycamore. 
 
 James McCollum was an eastern man, but came 
 here fromAidiana in 1835, locating on section 15. 
 About 1843^16 sold out and removed to Round Prai- 
 rie, Boone County, where he has since died. 
 
 Robert Graham was a native of Kentucky. He 
 made claim to a tract of land in the northeast part 
 of the township and died there about 1850. A son 
 yet resides on the old homestead. 
 
 Lyman Judd settled on section i. He was a na- 
 tive of York State, but came from Indiana in June, 
 1835. About 1858 he moved to Minnesota and set- 
 tled in Rice County, where he has since died. 
 
 Ira Douglas was also a native of New York. He 
 came to the county in 1835 and stopped about one 
 year at Paw Paw Grove, and then came to Mayfield 
 where he now lives. 
 
 Much trouble was had with claim jumpers by the 
 early settlers, and it was some years after the land 
 came into market before all claims were settled. 
 
 The first religious services in the township were 
 conducted by the Methodists, and for some time ser- 
 vices were held at the house of Ira Douglas. Being 
 convenient to Sycamore and De Kalb, the citizens of 
 the township generally worship in those places. 
 
 The first school is said by some to have been held 
 in 1839, the teacher being Fanny Clark. Others 
 claim Lucy Stewart was the first teacher, the school 
 being held in a log cabin belonging to David Hodge 
 on section n. This was also in 1839. 
 
 The County Superintendent of Public Schools in 
 his report for the year ending June 30, 1884, gives 
 the following items in relation to educational matters 
 in the township : Number of persons under 21 years 
 of age, 365 ; number of school age, 270; enrollment, 
 >38. There were nine districts, each having a 
 frame school-house. 
 
 Mayfield sent 103 men to the front during the 
 ^JMI^ ^ * 
 
 rebellion, of whom the following named gave their 
 lives to the country : Marvin Smith died at Smith- 
 land, Mo., Dec. 31, 1861; W. H. Decker, at Farm- 
 ington, May 16, 1862; G. G. Farwell, at Shiloh, 
 April 6, 1862: Turner Wing, at Mayfield, May, 
 1862; Joseph Piper, at Quincy, 111., April 23, 1862! 
 Elias Goble, at Gallatin, Tenn., Dec. 21, 1862; 
 William Kerr, on steamer City of Memphis, Jan. 5, 
 t863; J. Patterson, at Camp Sherman, Miss., Aug. 
 25, 1863; Samuel Piper, at Young's Point, La., 
 April i, 1863; J. P. Young, at Camp Nelson, March' 
 5,1864; Alonzo Houghton, in rebel prison, Cahaba 
 Ala., September, 1864; William Stevenson, at Kene- 
 saw Mountain, Ga., June 27,1864; Edward iiowe, 
 at Chattanooga, Tenn., Aug. 15, 1864. 
 
 Mayfield Township, in 1884, had of improved 
 land 22,270 acres, valued by the local assessor at 
 $316,570. The personal property listed the same 
 year amounted to $89,094 ; a total of $405,664. This 
 was reduced by the State Board of Equalization to 
 $361,319, on which the assessment was made. The 
 personal property included at that time the following 
 items: Horses, 781; cattle, 2,348; mules and asses, 
 4; sheep, 152; hogs, 2,049; steam engines, 2; safes, 
 i ; carriages and wagons, 274; watches and clocks, 
 189; sewing and knitting machines, 115 ; pianos, 6 ; 
 organs and melodeons, 35 . 
 
 SUPERVISORS. 
 
 W. A. Nil 
 A. B.Cri 
 Fames Sh 
 
 T. Wynkoop 1861-64 
 
 Curtis Smith ,865^2 
 
 Edward 1'. Safford 1873-76 
 
 Edward ~P W Safford '. '.'.'.'. '. '. IssT' 9 
 
 Ni-lson Sivwrinht 1881 
 
 Edward P. Safford 1882 
 
 Henry O. Whiuemore ...1883-84 
 
 MILAN TOWNSHIP. 
 
 , ^.r^t &- 
 
 *^s or 
 
 ILAN is an exclusively prairie township, 
 there being no natural grove within its 
 borders. It is bounded on the south by 
 Shabbona Township, on the east by Afton, 
 on the north by Malta, and on the west by Lee 
 County. The township was organized in 1857, 
 and was taken off of Malta and Shabbona. It being 
 so far from timber, the land was not taken up until 
 quite late. The township comprises township 39 
 north, range 3 east, and was organized in 1857,
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 829 
 
 ! 
 
 s 
 
 previous to which time the southern half had been 
 attached toShabbona and the northern half to Malta. 
 
 Lewis McEwen, now of the city of De Kalb, was 
 the first white man to locate in the township. In 
 1852 he made claim to a tract of land, built a cabin 
 and was for a ti;ne, like Robinson Crusoe, " monarch 
 of all he surveyed." Benjamin Banfield and Reuben 
 Dodd soon after moved into the township and Mr. 
 McEwen then had company. In 1852, when he 
 located here, not an acre of the land had been 
 entered from the Government, but much of it was 
 taken up the following year. Gurdon Hewitt en- 
 tered nine sections in one day, with land warrants, 
 worth eighty' cents per acre. 
 
 In the winter of 1853-4 more than 100 deer were 
 seen from McEwen's cabin door, and wolves were 
 extremely troublesome. The deer disappeared with 
 the advent of the locomotive. 
 
 After the first settlement was made it was but a 
 few years before every acre of land was taken up or 
 purchased from speculators by actual settlers, and to- 
 day the township of Milan is one of the most pros- 
 perous in the county. In the southern portion of 
 the township a large colony from Norway located. 
 
 In the summer of 1868 a large two-story building 
 was erected in the center of the township for school 
 and town purposes. The lower part was used for 
 school purposes, while the upper served as a tower 
 hall and place of public worship. 
 
 In 1860 the population of Milan was but 262, yet 
 it furnished 38 men for the suppression of the 
 rebellion. 
 
 The school section was sold in 1865 and produced 
 a township school fund of over $8,000. The first 
 school-house was built in the center of the township 
 in 1855. 
 
 From the report of the County Superintendent for 
 the year ending June 30, 1884, the following items 
 are gleaned as to the schools of this township : 
 Number of persons under 21 years of age, 450; num- 
 ber between the ages of 6 and 21,330; number en- 
 rolled, 263 ; number of districts, 9. In each district 
 was a frame school-house, the total value being esti- 
 mated at $6,000. There was a tax levied of $1,944 
 for school purposes. During the year 18 teachers 
 were employed, receiving an average salary of $31.46, 
 the highest being $42.50, and the lowest $25. 
 
 Milan Township has 22,295 acres of improved 
 
 \fSf^j& ^fcJML^ 
 
 ivCv(S" ^Sixir 
 
 land, according to the-assessment of 1 884. This was 
 valued by the local assessor at $309,410. Of per- 
 sonal property there was assessed $52,715. Total, 
 $362,125! This was reduced by the State Board of 
 equalization to $3 1 5, 36 1. Among the items of per- 
 sonal property assessed there were the following: 
 Horses, 670; cattle 1,880; mules and asses, 4; 
 sheep, 131 ; hogs, 2,208 ; melodeons and organs, 35 ; 
 carriages and wagons, 203; watches and clocks, 123; 
 sewing and knitting machines, 86. 
 
 The following have served the township as mem- 
 bers of the Board o'f Supervisors : Lewis McEwen, 
 1857-60; John Banfield, 1861 ; Lewis McEwen, 
 1862-8; A. L. Wells, 1869-72; Edwin R. Colby, 
 1873-84. 
 
 PAW PAW TOWNSHIP. 
 
 jf AW PAW Township lies in the southwest 
 corner of the county. It is bounded on the 
 east by Victor Township, on the north by 
 
 Shabbona Township, on the west by Lee 
 
 County and on the south by La Salle County. 
 
 It comprises 36 sections of land known as 
 Congressional township 37 north, range 3 east of the 
 third principal meridian. 
 
 Paw Paw Township is a fine body of land, princi- 
 pally rolling prairie. There are within its borders 
 three groves, Paw Paw, Ross and Coon Grove, 
 the first named extending into Lee County. The 
 township is well watered by the Big Indian Creek 
 and its numerous tributaries. 
 
 The natural advantages of timber and water at- 
 tracted settlers here at an early day. David A. 
 Towne was 'doubtless the first, locating here in the 
 spring of 1835, and erecting his log cabin on the 
 southwest quarter of section 19, on what is now 
 known as the Pierpont Edwards place. Mr. Towne 
 broke a few acres and made his home here till the 
 following year, when he transferred his claim to his 
 brother, Russell Towne, and removed to the adjoining 
 township on the west, now Wyoming, Lee County, 
 where he resided the remainder of his life. 
 
 The next to locate here was the Harris and But- 
 terfield party, who came from Cayuga Co., N. Y., in 
 July, 1835. The party was composed of Rev. Benoni 
 
 f^*f@. 
 

 
 DE KALB COUNTY 
 
 Harris, a Methodist Episcopal -minister, and family; 
 Benjamin Harris, son of Benoni, and family ; Ed- 
 ward Butterfield and family ; John Plass and family ; 
 and L. D. McDowell and Joseph Harris, two single 
 men. 
 
 Benoni and Benjamin Harris, with their families, 
 settled on the northwest quarter of section 14. Rev. 
 Benoni Harris was the pioneer preacher of this re- 
 gion, and labored faithfully in his holy calling, both 
 as a mission and circuit preacher. His wife, Thank- 
 ful Harris, was the first to die in the new settlement. 
 Her death occurred in the spring of 1836. She was 
 buried in the grove on the west side of the road on 
 section 19. The venerable pastor died in 1845 and 
 was buried beside her. Benjamin Harris moved to 
 Iowa in 1854, entered the army in the late war, and 
 died some years later. 
 
 Edward Butterfield made his first claim on the 
 west side of the county line, but the following year 
 he moved into Paw Paw Township, making his claim 
 on the west side of section 19. He continued to re- 
 side in Paw Paw until 1852, when he removed to 
 Iowa. He returned in 1864 and died two years 
 later. Solomon V. Butterfield, his son, is the only 
 representative of the first colony now residing in the 
 township, and from whom the historian obtained 
 much valuable information. 
 
 Joseph Harris moved to Kansas in an early day. 
 
 John Plass remained in the township only one 
 year, and removed to Wyoming Township, Lee 
 County. 
 
 S. 1). McDowell, who came here a single man, 
 married Delilah Harris, July 4, 1836. Miss Harris 
 was the youngest daughter of Rev. Benoni Harris. 
 This was the first marriage in the township. Their 
 daughter, Mary E., born in the summer of 1837, is 
 believed to have been the first white child born in 
 the township. The honor is also claimed for Caro- 
 line Towne, daughter of David A. Towne, who is 
 said to have been born in the spring of that year. 
 Mr. McDowell and family continued residents of the 
 township for several years, and then moved West. 
 
 William Rogers, Asahel Baldwin, Joseph Ross, 
 Russell Towne, J. Alcott, Job Morgan and Mr. Ban- 
 nigan are numbered among the pioneers of 1836. 
 
 Asahel Baldwin kept the stage house and was the 
 first Postmaster at Paw Paw Grove. He remained 
 but a few years and then removed towards the set- 
 ting sun. 
 
 William Rogers located at what is now East Paw 
 Paw, where he kept a tavern until 1842, when he 
 sold to Jacob Wirick. He built the first house on 
 the site of the village. Of this man, Boies thus 
 speaks: 
 
 " Bill Rogers was a marked character. He was 
 bold as a lion, tall and straight as an Indian. He 
 sometimes acted as detective of criminals, and some- 
 times, it is said, in the character of principal. An 
 exciting story is told of his arrest of a huge, power- 
 ful negro, who had hitherto defied all efforts to cap- 
 ture him. Rogers met him on the prairie when both 
 were unarmed, and, after a fight lasting over an hour, 
 succeeded in pinioning his arms, handing him over 
 to the officers, and securing the large reward offered 
 for his capture. Rogers was the contractor to remove 
 the Indians from this country to their new homes 
 west of the Mississippi. Five or six years ago [Boies 
 wrote in 1868] an early citizen of this county, cross- 
 ing the plains to California, was astonished to meet 
 him far beyond civilization, dressed in Indian cos- 
 tume, and mounted on a wild mustang, with long 
 hair and beard as white as snow, still hale and hearty, 
 and^lill a pioneer." 
 
 Joseph Ross was from the South. He located at 
 the grove which bears his name Ross' Grove. 
 
 Russell Towne settled on section 19, and spent the 
 remainder of his life in this township. 
 
 Mr. Bannigan was an Irishman, and located in a 
 grove to which he gave his name, but has long been 
 known as Coon's grove. 
 
 But few settlements were made in the township 
 until 1841, when settlers began to come in quite rap- 
 idly. Among those who came between 1841 and 
 1846 were Matthew Nisbitt, Jacob Wirick, Moses, 
 Marcus A. and Eli Bartlett, Alonzo M. La Port, Den- 
 nis Connell, Thomas, William, James and Robert 
 Harper, James McFarland, Vincent Breese, Robert 
 Hampton and A. W. Lake. 
 
 Some of the earliest settlers at Paw Paw were no 
 credit to the community, and from suspicious circum- 
 stances surrounding them were supposed to be mem- 
 bers of the horse-thieving and counterfeiting frater- 
 nity. But they were not allowed to remain long, the 
 better elements buying and forcing them out. 
 
 Rev. Benoni Harris was, without doubt, the first 
 to preach the gospel of Christ in this region of coun- 
 try. He was an old man when he came to the 
 county, but lived some years to do good as he had 
 
 
 -^-~-
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 opportunity. He died at the grove, at the age of 84. 
 Meetings were held at private houses until the erec- 
 tion of school-houses, wheu services were held therein. 
 Services were held at the house of Marcus Bartlett 
 in the summer of 1845, Rev. Win. Atkinson, a young 
 Congregational minister, officiating. He traveled a 
 circuit of forty miles on foot for several months. 
 
 A society of United Presbyterians was organized 
 at Ross' Grove in 1854, Rev. Mr. Freetly, Pastor. 
 The first church in the township was built by this 
 society, assisted by the Presbytery, and by liberal do- 
 nations from New York State and from neighboring 
 people. The idea of building a church at that time 
 is said to have originated with Daniel McFarland, a 
 visitor from the East. He proposed the building, 
 and offered to give $100 toward it, which he subse- 
 quently did. Among those who took an active part 
 in building were the Harper Brothers, Matthew Nis- 
 bitt, Moses Bartlett James McFarland, Alexander 
 Lyons. John Dennis and O. D. Miller. The church, 
 a large wooden structure, was erected in 1861, and 
 dedicated in the spring of 1862, Rev. Samuel F. 
 Thompson officiating. The membership numbered 
 about 45. The church is located on section 1 1, and 
 has for some years not been used. 
 
 A union church was built in 1867 at East Paw 
 Paw, and dedicated in February, 1868. It is still in 
 use. 
 
 A church was built by the Congregationalists on 
 section 22, and is still in use. 
 
 The first school in the township was held at the 
 house of Benjamin Harris in the summer of 1836, 
 Rev. Benoni Harris being the teacher. It was a pri- 
 vate school. The first school-house was erected in 
 the north end of Ross' Grove in 1846, and the first 
 .term of school bjgan December i, Thomas Burns be- 
 ing the teacher. The house was of logs, split and 
 set upon end, chinked and plastered with mud. The 
 first frame school-house was built on the present site 
 of the house in District No. 2, and erected in 1850. 
 
 A joint stock-company was organized at East Paw 
 Paw for the purpose of building and conducting a 
 seminary at that point. The building was completed 
 and opened in 1855, with Elder Jessup as principal. 
 The venture did not prove a success, and the build- 
 ing was sold to the school district for a public school, 
 
 th the understanding that the higher branches 
 should be taught. This not proving satisfactory 
 
 either to the district or people, a company was 
 formed, another building erected, and the East Paw 
 Paw Classical Seminary began operations, with D. D. 
 McGibbony as principal. The building burning down 
 December, 1870, the district turned over to the com- 
 pany the building first erected. Mr. Frazer suc- 
 ceeded Mr. McGibbony, and in turn was succeeded 
 by J. H. Beitel, the principal now in charge. The 
 school has always maintained a high reputation, but, 
 owing to many villages springing up within a radius 
 of a few miles, it has not met with the financial suc- 
 cess it deserves. The present Trustees are Robert 
 Hampton, C. H. Card, Henry Dickinson, Henry 
 Boardman, O. D. Edwards. William Patrick, J. B. 
 Hyde, Robert Boston and William Weddell. The 
 institution is now known as the Teachers' Institute 
 and Classical Seminary. 
 
 George I. Talbot, County Superintendent, in his 
 annual report for the year ending June 30, 1884, 
 gives the following interesting facts in relation to the 
 public schools: There were ten school districts, 
 three of which had school less than no days during 
 the year. In each of the districts was a frame school- 
 house, the total value of all being $4,800. There 
 were 340 persons under 21 years of age, of whom 231 
 were between the ages of 6 and 21. Of this number 
 182 were enrolled in the schools. Twenty-two teach- 
 ers had been employed, receiving a salary on an 
 average of $29.30 per month, the highest being $40 
 and the lowest $20. The tax levy was $2,220. 
 
 A postoffice was established at Ross Grove at an 
 early day. In 1849 Wheeler Hedges was Postmas- 
 ter. His receipts for the year were $1.09. It is not 
 probable the office was established before 1848. Ac- 
 cording to John Wentworth, Moses Bartlett was Post- 
 master in 1851, George V. Miner in 1853, Charles 
 Davis in 1855. Daring that year H. H. Clark was 
 appointed and removed to its present site at the cross 
 roads. Matthew Nisbit succeeded Clark, and the 
 office was then successively held by J. L. Holmes, 
 John Freetly and Charles Davis. Others held it for 
 short intervals until 18^7, when the incumbent, Asa 
 Demming, was appointed. 
 
 A postoffice was established under the name of 
 Paw Paw Grove in 1837, with Asahel Baldwin as 
 Postmaster. Mr. Baldwin was succeeded the fol- 
 lowing year by William Rogers, who held it until 
 1840, when he was succeeded by Charles Morgan 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 In 1842 Hiram Wood was appointed and held it for 
 several years, being succeeded by A. B. Breese. Suc- 
 ceeding him, in turn, the office was held by Walter 
 Hyde, George Brownlow, H. A. Van Riper and 
 Benjamin Lobdell, the latter being appointed in 1884. 
 The receipts of the office in 1837 were $2.87. 
 
 The village of East Paw Paw is situated on the 
 west line of the county on section 7, on the old Chi- 
 cago and Galena stage road. The village lies partly 
 in De Kalb and partly in Lee County, and contains 
 one general store and postoffice, conducted by Ben- 
 jamin Lobdell, a wagon and carriage shop by H. S. 
 Dickinson, and a hotel and blacksmith-shop. It 
 boasts of the educational establishment already men- 
 tioned the Teachers' Institute and Classical Sem- 
 inary. It also has two churches, a union and 
 Methodist Episcopal. 
 
 The first house was built at this point by William 
 Rogers, in 1837, and used as a public house. He 
 sold out to Mr. Jacob Wirick in 1842. The latter 
 enlarged the building and named it the Paw Paw 
 House. He conducted it successfully as a public 
 house for many years. 
 
 The first merchants here were the Howard Broth- 
 ers. J. L. Adams, a Mr. Warren, and the sons of 
 Jacob Wirick were among the early traders. 
 
 Before the building of the railroad south of the 
 grove, East Paw Paw became quite a flourishing vil- 
 lage, and was considered one of the best trading 
 points for miles around. At one time there were two 
 general merchandise stores, a drug store, and other 
 places of business here. 
 
 The " Chicago road " (sj called) which crosses the 
 township from east to west, entering on the east near 
 the northeast corner of section 12, takes a general 
 westerly course, and leaves the township near the 
 southwest corner of section 7. 
 
 This road is historic for the reason that it was the 
 great thoroughfare in early days for travel and freight- 
 ing between Chicago and Galena and the country 
 west to the Mississippi. Over this road in the pion- 
 eer days rolled the heavy leather-spring Concord 
 coaches, loaded inside and out with eager land-seek- 
 ers and speculators, while the heavy freight wagons 
 plodded their slow way, following each other in quick 
 succession. Over this road, the farmers of those 
 days, whose homes lay westward of this township, 
 hauled their surplus produce to Chicago. 
 
 DE KALE COUNTY. 
 
 The Paw Paw Mutual Fire Insurance Co. was or- 
 ganized Sept. 6, and began business Sept. g, 1881. 
 The first officers were: .Simeon E. Hyde, Pres.; 
 Spencer Griffeth, Secy; R. F. Hampton, Treas. The 
 company has written about $100,000 worth of busi- 
 ness. The business is limited to Paw Paw Town- 
 ship. Losses are paid within 60 days by assess- 
 ments on the members. 
 
 The assessed valuation of lands and personal 
 property in this township for 1884, is as follows: 
 Lands, $337,707 ; personal property, $101,533. 
 Total, $439,240. The State Board of Equalization, 
 that it might conform to the low assessments made 
 in other counties, reduced the total to $391, 975. 
 Among the articles assessed were horses, 1,015 '> 
 neat cattle, 3,268; mules and asses, 28; sheep, 
 965, hogs, 3,865 ; melodeons and organs, 45 ; pianos, 
 4 ; carriages and wagons, 334 ; watches and clocks, 
 226. The total number of acres of improved land 
 is 24,032, the largest number of any township in the 
 county. 
 
 
 SUPERVISORS 
 
 
 ,,.,,, | 
 lliain S 
 
 Kol,,-n ll.iinpti.n . 
 A . Dole 
 
 K.>lK:n Hampton. 
 N. H. Powers 
 
 <obert Hampton 
 
 (,,r,,,-lius\V.O,,i|hot.....8 7 i 
 Henry M. Board,, 
 
 PIERCE TOWNSHIP. 
 
 CONGRESSIONAL township 39 north, 
 range 5 east, is known as the civil town V 
 
 ship of Pierce, so named in honor ot 
 Franklin Pierce, who at the time of its 
 organization was just inaugurated as Presi- 
 dent of the United States. It is bound on 
 the east by Kane County, on the north by Cortland 
 Township, on the south by Squaw Grove, and on 
 the west by Afton. The headwaters of the Big 
 Rock Creek are in this township. It is a prairie f 
 country, the northern half being undulating, while 
 the southern half is rather flat. It has been an 
 excellent wheat country in the past, and in 1870 % 
 it produced more of that cereal than any other [ 
 township in the county. 
 
 Elder Nathan Wilcox has the honor of being the 
 first to locate in what is now the township of Pierce.
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 
 
 
 He located in the north part of the township in 1 847. 
 During that year John Lasher, a native of Pennsyl- 
 vania, and Jacob F. Plapp, a native of Germany, 
 came and selected their future homes. Lasher 
 selected the southeast quarter of section 24. He 
 built a substantial frame house, lived there until 
 1853, when he sold out and removed to Iowa. He 
 now lives in Dubuque. Plapp selected the north- 
 east quarter of section 24, but did not permanently 
 settle until about two years later. He died on the 
 homestead in January, 1885. 
 
 In 1848 Michael Welsh, a native of Ireland, came 
 and entered land on section n, improved a farm 
 and there lived and died. 
 
 Jacob Lintner came from Lake Co.,111., and located 
 on section 25. He was born in Dauphin Co., Penn. f 
 in 1799. His wife was Frances SharTher, also of 
 the same county and State. In 1828 they settled 
 in Richland Co., Ohio, where they remained until 
 1844, when they settled in Lake Co., 111. Mr. Lint- 
 ner died on the homestead in 18150. His widow 
 successfully managed the farm until her death, 
 March 23, 1883. They had eight children, only 
 one of whom is now a resident of the township Mrs. 
 Frederick Hoffman. 
 
 There were a number of arrivals in 1849, among 
 whom were Henry Ramer, Christian Meyer, George 
 Eberly, David Gerlach, Bernard Milnamow, Thomas 
 Gormley, Malachi Henaughan, John Allen and 
 Josiah Jacob. Ramer was from Pennsylvania. He 
 settled on section 27, and there died. Meyer also 
 settled on section 27. He now resides in Sandwich. 
 Eberly was also from Pennsylvania. He located on 
 section 26. He died here. His son, George, lives 
 on the same section. Gerlach chose for his home a 
 portion of section 24. He is now dead, but has two 
 sons living in the township, Samuel on the home- 
 stead and Anderson on section 14. Henaughan 
 located on section 19. He is now dead. Two sons 
 survive him, who yet reside in the township. Milna- 
 mow, Allen and Gormley all yet reside in the town- 
 ship. All arc Irishmen. 
 
 Among other pioneers of the township were Levi 
 and Moses Hill, Thomas Halloran, P. Home, P. 
 Dunn, L. Hennegan, John Ferrick, the Butlers and 
 Dillons. 
 
 Pierce Township was first included in Somonauk 
 precinct, subsequently in Orange precinct, then in 
 
 ^^ < 
 
 Richland. Until 1853 the north half was attached 
 
 to Squaw Grove, and the south half to Cortland 
 
 Township. In that year it was organized as a civil 
 township. 
 
 H. S. Cham 
 C.M. Hum! 
 
 SUPERVISORS. 
 
 P. W. Galls 
 
 T. Gormley 1862 
 
 X. C. Cottrell 1864 
 
 G. W. Slater 1865 
 
 C. M. Humiston 1867 
 
 The first school in the township was taught by 
 William J. Bates, in 1850, on section 8. The school- 
 house was made of split poles. Mr. Bates taught 
 21 terms in that district. In relation to the present 
 status of the public schools of the township, the fol- 
 lowing items are gleaned from the report of the 
 County Suprintendent of Public Schools for the year 
 ending June 30, 1884 : There were 416 persons in 
 the township under 21 years of age, of whom 296 
 were over six. Of this number 272 were enrolled in 
 the public schools. There were eight districts, each 
 having a frame school-house, the total value of 
 which was estimated at $6,250. Each district had 
 school over no days during the year, in which 24 
 teachers were employed, receiving an average 
 monthly salary of $34.43, the highest being $45 and 
 the lowest $25. The tax levy was $2,220. 
 
 Elder Wilcox was probably the first to preach 
 Christ and Him crucified in the township. There 
 are in 1885 two Church organizations the Evangeli- 
 cal Association and the Lutherans. 
 
 The first meetings of those holding the views of 
 the Evangelical Association were held at the house 
 of John Lasher about 1849, near the county line. 
 The people of Kane and De Kalb Counties met to- 
 gether to worship in private houses on both sides of 
 the line for some years. Revs. Hall, Rockuts and 
 Weldy were the first preachers. John Shoop was the 
 first class-leader and Jacob Lintner exhorter. Among 
 the first members were David Gerlach and wife ; 
 Benjamin Moss and wife; John Shoop and wife; 
 George Eberly and wife ; Jacob Lintner and wife ; 
 John Kuter and wife ; J. F. Plapp and wife ; John 
 Bartmeis and wife ; John Schwitzer and wife ; Val- 
 entine Hummel and wife ; Christopher Hummel and 
 wife; John Lesher and Peter Hummel. About 1850 
 a church building was erected on the southwest quar- 
 ter of section 24. It is a frame structure, and still 
 
 
 

 
 
 in use. It was dedicated by Bishop Esher, of Chi- 
 cago. The society owns a parsonage conveniently 
 located near the church. There are now 150 mem- 
 bers connected with the society. Peter Hummel, 
 Jacob Kunes and Oscar Ramer are the class-leaders; 
 Andrew Gerlach, Thomas Shoop, Fred. Lentz and 
 George Schule, stewards ; Peter Hummel, Fred. 
 Lentz, George Ramer, George Schule and J. Kuter, 
 trustees. Rev. Jacob K. Schultz is the present pas- 
 tor. Services are held in German and English. A 
 Sabbath-school is connected with the Church, with 
 Jacob Weber superintendent. 
 
 The first meetings of the Lutheran Church were 
 held at the school-house in District No. 2, in 1870, 
 and were conducted by Rev. John Andreas, from 
 Somonauk. An organization was effected embracing 
 the families of Henry Rath, Peter Conse, Charles 
 Dellenbach, Joseph Dellenbach, Demst, George Motz, 
 Frank Redeleperger, August Conse, Henry Schmidt, 
 Henry Anspach, Hartman Schule and William 
 Nehring. The society met for worship in the school- 
 house until 1872, when a neat frame church build- 
 5 ing was erected on the northeast quarter of section 
 C 33. which, together with the furniture, cost $2,400. 
 j There are now 20 families belonging to the society. 
 
 Pierceville postoffice was established in 1854, with 
 Moses Hill as postmaster. His commission was 
 dated February 21, 1854. The office was at his 
 house, which was on the route from Sycamore to 
 Cortland. Mail was received from each direction 
 twice a week. In 1857 Mr. Hill resigned, after 
 which time, until 1879, various persons held the office, 
 until 1879, when Mr. Hill was reappointed. He 
 served until 1883, when George Schule was appointed, 
 and is the incumbent. Mail is received three times 
 each week from Hinckley. 
 
 The first birth in the township was that of a child 
 of John Lesher, in .1849. The second birth was that 
 of Mary Jane Meyer, daughter of Christian Meyer, 
 born October 6, 1850. She is now the wife of Val- 
 entine Hummel. 
 
 The first death was that of Jacob Lintner. He 
 was first buried on his farm, but his remains were 
 subsequently removed and interred in the cemetery 
 of the Evangelical Association. 
 
 One hundred men were furnished by the township 
 tc aid in the War of the Rebellion. 
 
 Piti e Tciwiifit Ip a 188} had 22,351 acres of im- 
 
 proved land, valued at $291,915, as reported by the 
 local assessor. The personal property, according 
 to the same authority, was valued at $56,756. This 
 total of $348,67 i was reduced by the State Board of 
 Equalization to $315,293. Among the items of per- 
 sonal property assessed this year were the following; 
 Horses, 624 ; cattle, 2,35 1 ; mules and asses, 24 : 
 sheep, 53; hogs, 2,092 ; carriages and wagons, 160; 
 watches and clocks, 125; sewing and knitting ma- 
 chines, 102; pianos, 6 ; melodeons and organs, 26. 
 
 SHABBONA TOWNSHIP. 
 
 HABBONA township is named in honor o 
 the celebrated Indian chief, Shabbona. who 
 long made his home at the beautiful grove 
 which also bears his name. It is a fine body 
 of land, comprising township 38, range 3 east. 
 Big Indian Creek enters the township on sec- 
 tion 31, runs in a northeasterly direction through sec- 
 tions 32, 29, 28, 22, 21, then taking a southeasterly 
 direction, passes through sections 23, 26 and 36, into 
 Paw Paw Township. The Kishwaukee River heads 
 in the northern part of the township. 
 
 The Chicago & Iowa Railroad runs through the 
 central and northwestern part of the township. 
 
 The first settlers were Edmond Towne and David 
 Smith, who arrived here in December, 1835.* The 
 former was a man of family, while the latter was a 
 youth of 14, and a step-son of Mr. Towne. They 
 raised a log house on the southwest quarter of sec- 
 tion 25, on the first day of January, 1836. The next 
 settler was Ira Parks, who located at the west end of 
 the grove. He was from Ohio, and resided here till 
 1875, when he removed to Earlville, where he still 
 resides. Next came Nathan Olmstead, followed a 
 little later by his brothers William and Lewis. They 
 were from Chemung Co., N. Y., and made their set- 
 tlement on sections 25 and 36. The two latter are 
 still residents of the township. Columan Olmsted 
 and family came along about a year later and lo- 
 
 &&& 
 
 of 1835. The date claimed by M 
 knowledged fact in relation to
 
 
 DE KALE COUNTY. 
 
 cated on section 25. He subsequently removed to 
 Missouri, but returned to De Kalb County and died 
 at the residence of his son, D. D. Olmsted, in Clin- 
 ton Township a few years ago. Among other early 
 settlers were William, Lyman and Jeff. Sturtevant 
 and Darius Horton. 
 
 During the next few years quite a number of set- 
 tlers came in and a village was started on the south 
 side of the grove on section 26, known as Shabbona 
 Grove. John Olmstead opened the first store and 
 Mr. Adams the second. The latter soon after sold 
 out to Warren & Marks S. B. Warren and Wm. 
 Marks. A postofrke was established here about 1848, 
 Mr. Marks being the first postmaster. Mr Marks, 
 is said to have been one of the twelve apostles of 
 Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet. The office is 
 still continued. 
 
 Mr. Curtis opened the first drug store at the 
 Grove, and was also for a time postmaster. He was 
 convicted of robbing the mail and sent to the Stale 
 prison, where he died. 
 
 The first white child born in the township was 
 Charles C. Johnson, son of C. P. Johnson, Sept. 1 1, 
 1838. 
 
 David Smith, although but a boy, made a claim on 
 section 24 the year he came to the township. 
 
 The first farm house was built by Wm. Olmstead 
 in 1842. 
 
 The first religious services were held at the house 
 of Nathan Olmstead in 1848 [1838] by Rev. Burton 
 Carpenter, a Baptist minister. The first Methodist 
 services were at the house of Coleman Olmsted in 
 the fall of 1841. Meetings were held in the house 
 in the winter, and in the barn in summer, of that 
 year, Rev. Mr. Morris officiating. The Methodists 
 erected the first house of worship in 1864 ; the first 
 services held therein were the funeral services of Mr. 
 M. V. Allen, Sept. 21, 1864. A union church was 
 built about the same time, but the Methodist Episco- 
 pal church was the first dedicated. Both churches 
 were in the village of Shabbona Grove. 
 
 The first Congregational Church of Shabbona (the 
 old town) was organized Sept. 10, 1854. Among 
 those in the organization were Wm. J. Noble and 
 wife, John Campbell and Thomas Battes. Meetings 
 were held in Center School house, District No. 3. 
 Rev. Stephen Batten was the first pastor. The or- 
 ganization continued about ten years. 
 
 SNg^ 9-A 
 
 The first school in the township was in the winter 
 of 1842-3, at the house of Mr. Wm. C. Olmstead. 
 Wm. Curtis was the teacher. He received $12.50 
 per month and boarded himself. The school was on 
 the subscription plan, and the Olmstead families fur- 
 nished the greater number of scholars. The first 
 school-house was built on the west side of Indian 
 Creek, on the north side of the road. It was used for 
 religious purposes as well until the church buildings 
 were erected. The house was of logs and erected in 
 the fall of 1843. Eliza Horton was the first teacher 
 in this house. A new school-house was built on the 
 west side of the creek in 1846. It was a frame build- 
 ing, situated a quarter of a mile west of where the 
 M. E. church was subsequently built. There are 
 now in this township 664 persons under 21 years of 
 age, of whom 452 are between the ages of 6 and 21. 
 There are ten school districts, with one graded and 
 nine ungraded schools. During the year ending 
 June 30, 1884, there were 393 pupils enrolled in the 
 schools. There were 22 teachers employed. The 
 highest monthly wages paid any teacher was $65, 
 and the lowest $20. The estimated value of school 
 property is $9,000. The tax levy for the support of 
 schools was $1,25 ). There are ten frame school- 
 houses in the township. 
 
 The first cemetery was opened near the center of 
 section 25. Mrs. Lyman was the first interred. She 
 died in 1840 or 1841. A dozen bodies were proba- 
 bly buried here. The ground was soon abandoned. 
 
 The first regular cemetery was established on the 
 farm of David Smith on section 27. 
 
 The first decoration of soldiers' graves was con- 
 ducted by Rev. Fletcher Pomeroy, in June, 1877. 
 
 In its best days Shabbona Grove contained three 
 general stores, a tin shop, a boot and shoe shop, two 
 wagon and blacksmith shops, a tailor shop, two ho- 
 tels and two churches A large business was trans- 
 acted. 
 
 The last Indian payment in De Kalb County, and 
 doubtless in the State, was made in 1835, on sec 
 tion 35. 
 
 The early settlers of Shabbona, like the pioneers 
 of olher sections, believed whisky to be indispensable 
 in house or barn raisings. When Edinond Towne's 
 house was raised, a flask of whisky was found secreted 
 near by, supposed to have been the property of the 
 Indians. It was confiscated and added zest to the 

 
 **- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 occasion. For the next few years it was the custom 
 to furnish a good supply at such gatherings. This 
 practice was continued until the raising of Coleman 
 Olmstead's barn (the first frame barn in the town- 
 ship), in the spring of 1842. Mr. Olmstead refused 
 to furnish whisky, at which innovation there was a 
 bitter protest. He substituted a warm supper, with 
 good coffee, which was voted satisfactory. From 
 that time a warm meal, with coffee, took the place of 
 whisky at such gatherings. 
 
 In the winter of 1847-8, Shabbona, the Indian 
 chief, in company with Wyman Gates, went to Wash- 
 ington and there sold to the latter all of his reserva- 
 tion except 60 acres, which he reserved for a home. 
 He received about $3,000 for the same, but lost it all 
 on his return. In the spring of 1848 he went to 
 Kansas and spent some time there and in Arkansas, 
 but not being satisfied he returned to his old home 
 at the grove, in 185 i, only to find it in the possession 
 of N. I. Kettle, who purchased the same of Gates, 
 who in some way had a claim on it. Shabbona 
 camped with his family on one of Vanderventer's 
 lots, but was soon driven away. He went to Kan- 
 kakee, but subsequently located on a tract of 20 
 acres near Morris, Grundy County, which was pur- 
 chased for him with money raised for the purpose at 
 Ottawa. See biography of Shabbona on page 534. 
 
 The so-called English settlement, in the western 
 part of Shabbona Township, was begun in the fall of 
 1851. Five young Englishmen Thomas Wrigtit, 
 Septimus Storey, William Cults, George GIossup and 
 Joseph Bidam came together and were the pio- 
 neers of the settlement, taking this land from the 
 Government. The first house was built by Mr. 
 GIossup, on the southeast quarter of section 18. 
 Here the whole party kept " bachelor's hall " and 
 the place was headquarters for numerous English im- 
 migrants till they could construct homes for them- 
 selves. Among the early members of the settlement 
 were Robert Mullins, Reuben Challand, Thomas 
 Dalton and James Hutton. Many of these early 
 settlers and their descendants are still residents of 
 the township. These people built a Methodist Epis- 
 copal church, in 1869, on the southeast quarter of 
 section 18. A school-house was built in 1857 in 
 what is now District No. 6, in which Mrs. Wither- 
 spoon taught the first school. The first religious 
 meetings in the settlement were in the school-house 
 
 in 1860, Rev. Mr. Ambrose officiating. Rev. Mr. 
 Stoddard was subsequently the local pastor. A 
 cemetery was established at an early day, on section 
 18, one acre in extent. The ground, excepting lots 
 sold, is the property of Mr. Storey. 
 
 Shabbona Township reports 22,157 acres of im- 
 proved lands, the assessed value of which is given 
 at $318,629. The assessed value of town lots was 
 $45,842; of personal property, $124,721. Total, 
 $488,192. The State Board of Equalization reduced 
 the total to $435,392. Among the items of personal \ 
 property assessed were, horses, 634; cattle, 2,783; 
 mules and asses, 22 ; sheep, 635 ; hogs, 2,800; me- ^ 
 lodeons and organs, 44 ; goods and merchandise, * 
 $13,765; pianos, 8 ; carriages and wagons, 237; 
 watches and clocks, 90; credits, $38,503. 
 
 The first town meeting was held at the house of 
 William Marks, April 2, 1850, at which meeting Mr. 
 Marks was Chairman, and Richard Holmes, Clerk. 
 There were 36 votes cast at the election which fol- 
 lowed. The following named were elected : Rich- 
 ard Holmes, Supervisor; Z. W. Lam|x>rt, Clerk; 
 Ira Park, Assessor; Harvey E. Allen, Collector; 
 William White, Overseer of the Poor; William Marks, 
 Justice of the Peace; H. E. Allen and Isaac F. 
 Morse, Constables. !Q 
 
 SUPERVISORS. 
 
 D. Stevens ,872 
 
 William Marks.. 
 Isaac J. Comsto 
 
 H . E ma Allen . .' n . S 
 
 I: 
 
 , S. Win,, 
 
 i M . Alexander 
 
 John H . Woodbu 
 Peter V. Quilhot. 
 Septimus Storey. 
 
 Village of Shabbona. 
 
 O prettier village of its size can be found in 
 this region of country than that of Shab- 
 bona. It was surveyed and platted in 
 872, on land belonging to Francis E. Hinck- 
 ley, John Palen, Catherine Palen, John Ray, 
 Elizabeth Ray, Charles Stevens and Cynthia T. 
 Stevens. It is located on section 15, township of 
 Shabbona. 
 
 A village had been platted at the junction of the 
 C. & I. and C. B. & Q. Railroads, about one-half 
 mile west, to which was given the name of Cornton. 
 A temporary depot had been constructed, John Ray 
 

 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 
 and William Husk had begun the sale of merchan- 
 dise and other lines of business had either been 
 started or were in contemplation. The site was 
 favorable, and only one thing was required to make 
 it the regular station of the railroad a donation of 
 some of the land to interested railroad men. This 
 some of the proprietors refused to do ; therefore a 
 removal was determined upon and Cornton was 
 doomed. 
 
 The first building erected in the village of Shab- 
 bona was by W. H. Ray, the present editor of the 
 Express, in the fall of 1872. Previous to this, how- 
 ever, a building had been moved in from the country, 
 by James Nutall, the one used by Mr. Alexander 
 as a store building. William Husk then moved his 
 store building from Cornton and opened the first 
 mercantile establishment in the new village. He is 
 still in business. Mr. Husk's family was the first to 
 make this their home, moving in before Mr. Ray had 
 completed his building. 
 
 J. M. Bean & Co. began business shortly .after 
 Mr. Husk and were the second to represent the mer- 
 cantile interests of the place. A few months later 
 A. S. Jackson moved in from Shabbona Grove and 
 commenced business here. 
 
 In the spring of 1873, S. M. French opened an 
 exclusive grocery store and was the first representa- 
 tive of that class. 
 
 In the fall of the same year M. V. Allen com- 
 menced his drug business which he still continues. 
 He was the pioneer in that line of trade. 
 
 Frederick Stein removed to the village from Corn- 
 ton late in the fall of 1872 and was the first shoe- 
 maker. He now resides at Lee. Aaron Vanness 
 opened a second shop the following spring. 
 
 Isaac Ackerblade was the pioneer blacksmith, 
 erecting and operating a shop shortly after the vil- 
 lage was located. Dan Branscomb, a wagon-maker, in 
 the spring of 1873, commenced business in his line, 
 running in connection a blacksmith shop, with C. H. 
 Carroll employed to work in that department. 
 Stephen Branscomb was next in order. 
 
 W. F. Heeg, in the winter of 1872-3, opened a 
 stock of furniture. He is yet in the trade. 
 
 The first exclusive hardware store was started in 
 1873 by Crapser, Coleman & Co. J. M. Bean & 
 Co. had carried a good line of such goods. 
 
 Dean & Spears started the first meat-market in 
 the winter of 1872-3. 
 
 >5^@fl ^frr- n 
 
 >;yyvx;v^ TxT 
 
 S. G. Gilbert was the pioneer in the restaurant 
 business, commencing Jan. i, 1876. 
 
 The first grain-buyers were Smith & Pollack, who 
 commenced business in Cornton and who removed 
 here in the spring of 1873 and erected an eleva- 
 tor. Samuel Bouslough came about the same time. 
 He had also been in business in Cornton. 
 
 Smith & Pollack were the first stock-buyers, be- 
 ginning business as soon after the location of the 
 village as arrangements could be made for handling 
 stock. 
 
 John Ray sold the first lumber iri Cornton, but 
 gave way to Smith & Pollack, who had the first yard 
 in Shabbona. 
 
 Other branches of business followed from time to 
 time, the village increased in number of inhabitants 
 and in wealth until it presents its present neat and 
 attractive appearance. 
 
 Malma postoffice was established about 1855. 
 The first postmaster is said to have been Ira Fisher, 
 the office being at Mr. Fisher's house, situated near 
 the geographical center of the township. Mr. Mar- 
 yott succeeded. Mr. Fisher after several years. Will- 
 iam Husk succeeded Mr. Fisher after several years. 
 William Husk succeeded Maryott in 1871 and the 
 office was removed to Cornton. The name was 
 changed to Shabbona, but subsequently changed 
 back to Cornton and then again changed to Shab- 
 bona. William Husk is still postmaster. 
 
 The educational interests of the village are well 
 attended to. In 1876 the present school building 
 was erected and occupied Nov. 6, with S. B. Hallock, 
 principal, and Miss Viola Thomas, assistant. For 
 the school year of 1877-8, F. L. Ruggles was em- 
 ployed as principal, with Miss Thomas, assistant. 
 In 1878-9, Mr. Ruggles was continued as principal, 
 with Miss Loraney Smith, assistant. In 1879-80, 
 E. M. Whitney was principal and Jessie C. Morse, 
 assistant. In 1880-1, George I. Talbot, the present 
 County Superintendent of Schools, was principal, with 
 Miss Morse, assistant. The two were continued the 
 following year. The school-house becoming too 
 small to accommodate the increased number of 
 pupils in the district, an addition was built. For 
 the year 1882-3, Mr. Talbot was again chosen as 
 principal, with Miss Morse teacher in the inter- 
 mediate and Miss Mary Streeter in the primary de- 
 partment. In January, 1883, Mr. Talbot resigned, 
 having been elected County Superintendent. G. N. 
 

 
 
 .. 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Maxwell was elected to fill the vacancy and served 
 out the year. In 1883-4, Mr. Maxwell was con- 
 tinued as principal, with Miss Ella Quinn in the 
 intermediate and Miss Emma Challand in the 
 primary department. On the 22d of February, 1884, 
 Miss Quinn resigned and Miss Morse was engaged 
 to fill out the unexpired term. In 1884-5, Mr. 
 Maxwell was again principal, with Miss Challand 
 in the intermediate and Miss Mary Andrews in the 
 primary department. In January, 1885, there were 
 121 pupils enrolled. 
 
 The cemetry near the village, known as Ray's 
 Cemetery, was platted by John Ray in 1874. It is 
 near the northwest corner of section 15. All unsold 
 lots are yet the private property of Mr. Ray. There 
 are about five acres included in the plat. 
 RELIGIOUS. 
 
 The Baptist Church of Shabbona was organized 
 July 26, 1874. The constituent members were Rev. 
 William F. Stable, Barbara Stable, John Ray, Eliza- 
 beth Ray, Frederick Stein, Catherine Stein, Conrad 
 Heeg, Henrietta Heeg, Carl Burger, Emily Burger, 
 Emma Burger, Christian Heeg, Elizabeth Buck. The 
 first trustees were John Ray, J. W. Stevens, Isaac 
 Davis, Charles Stevens and William Husk. These 
 trustees were made a building committee. Steps 
 were taken at once for the erection of a house of 
 worship, which was completed and dedicated Nov. 
 28, 1874, Rev. John Young preaching the sermon on 
 the occasion. The Church was recognized on this 
 occasion. The cost of the building was $4,500. Its 
 seating capacity is 250. Revs. D. B. Gunn and L. 
 H. Holt were the first ministers employed by the 
 Church. The first regular pastor was Rev. E. L. 
 Clouse, who was installed March 7, 1875. He served 
 until Dec. i, 1878, and was succeeded by Rev. D. 
 W. Hicks, who served over four years. The church 
 was then supplied by students from Morgan Park 
 Theological Seminary, until Nov. i, 1884, when Rev. 
 A. M. Hunt assumed the pastorate. The present 
 membership of the Church is 45. Its officers are 
 John Ray, W. Dunham, Deacons ; Cyrenius Bailey, 
 Clerk; John Ray, Treasurer; John Ray, Cyrenius 
 Bailey, Christian Heeg, William H. Ray, C. H. Hub- 
 bell, Trustees. 
 
 A meeting for the purpose of considering the pro- 
 priety of organizing a Congregational or Presbyterian 
 Church in Shabbona, was held March 26, 1876. It 
 
 j)Xga&- ^^ a 
 
 was then determined to organize a Congregational 
 Church. Rev. J. E. Roy, of Chicago, was invited to 
 attend a meeting for that purpose. Accordingly, on 
 the 3d of April, 1876, he came and preached, morn- 
 ing and evening, in the Baptist Church. The fol- 
 lowing named then agreed to become members of the 
 organization: Mrs. J. L. Greenfield, Marietta Alex- 
 ander, Lillian Greenfield^ Charles Stevens and wife 
 Thomas Padgett and wife, Robert Langford and 
 wife, Isaac Davis and wife, William Deacon and wife, 
 Samuel Bouslough and wife, Gertrude G. Bous- 
 lough, Mary C. Bouslough, James Shanks, Hattie 
 Stevens, Cora Stevens, Alexander McKinnie and 
 wife. A council was held for perfecting the organ- 
 ization and reorganizing it as a Congregational body 
 April 6, 1876. Rev. J. E. Roy acted as Moderator, and 
 Rev. N. A. Prentiss delivered a discourse. The fol- 
 lowing officers were elected : Charles Ste.vens, Isaac 
 Davi?, Deacons ; William Deacon, Treasurer; Rob- 
 ert Langford, James Shanks, J. L. Greenfield, Trus- 
 tees. The society in 1879 erected a neat church 
 edifice which was dedicated Nov. 6, 1879. 
 
 Shabbona Lodge, No. 374, A. F. & A. M., was 
 chartered by the Grand Lodge Oct. 21,1862. The 
 first meeting was held under dispensation May 13, 
 1862, with M. V; Allen, W. M.; G. M. Alexander, S. 
 W.; Fred Ball, J. W.; William Marks, jr., Treas.; 
 Thomas S. Terry, Sec.; A. S. Jackson, S. D.; L. 
 Marks, J. D.; I. F. Morse, Tyler; H. E. Allen, I. J. 
 Parks, Stewards. Three petitioners were received 
 Julius Horton, Nelson Hotchkiss, T. C. Forbes. The 
 first meeting under the charter was held Oct. 2r, 
 1862. The old officers were continued by order of 
 the Grand Lodge until the annual election for offi- 
 cers. M. V. Allen, W. M., having entered the army, 
 G. M. Alexander was called to the chair and served 
 out the unexpired term. The first annual election 
 was held Dec. 16, r862, and the following named 
 officers were installed Dec. 30, 1862: G. M. Alex- 
 ander, W. M.; Fred Ball, S. W.'; H. E. Allen, J. W.; 
 R. J. Park, Treas ; William Marks, Sec.; J. Horton, 
 S. D.; H. Clapsaddle, J. D.; T. W. Forbes, Tyler; 
 Nelson Hotchkiss, I. F. Morse, Stewards. The char- 
 ter members were Martin V. Allen, Giles M. Alex- 
 ander, Fred Ball, William Marks, jr., Thomas S. 
 Terry, Aaron S. Jackson, Llewellyn Marks, jr.; Harvey 
 E. Allen, Rodney J. Park, Isaac F. Morse and some 
 
 G ?*& *
 
 others. The charter located the lodge at Shabbona 
 Grove. A dispensation for its removal to Shabbona 
 Station was granted November 3, 1874, and its 
 removal was accomplished soon after. A hall for 
 lodge purposes had been erected by the lodge and 
 individual members. This was burned March 23, 
 1877. There was no insurance. Another building 
 was at once erected. The lodge room is large, well- 
 furnished and with suitable ante-rooms. The first 
 meeting in the new hall was held Aug. 7, 1877. The 
 present officers are M. V. Allen, W. M.; William 
 Husk, S. W.; F. A. Frost, J. W.; P. V. Quilhot, 
 Treas.; J.-W. Middleton, Sec.; J. M. Baird, S. D.; 
 Charles Hutchins, J. D.; T. W. Stimpson, Tyler. 
 
 T. S. Terry Post, No. 463, G. A. R., was organ- 
 ized June 14, 1884. The following named were the 
 first officers : A. L. Wells, C.; M. V. Allen, S. V. C.; 
 Robert Boston, J. V. C.; William Deacon, Adj.; John 
 McCormick, Q. M.; D. W. Wesson, Surg.; Albion 
 Patta, Chap.; T. B. Lucas, O. D.; Sidney Norton, 
 O. G.; I. Hardy, Serg. Maj.; F. A. Frost, Q. M. S. 
 The present officers are the same, with the excep- 
 tion of that of F. M. Hinds, J. V. C., and F. O. 
 Stevens, O. G. The post has a membership of 33 
 and meets on the first and third Saturday evening of 
 each month. 
 
 In 1866 a lodge of I. O. O. F. was organized at 
 Shabbona Grove, under the name of Fertile Lodge. 
 It gained a membership of 30 in four years, but, on 
 account of a want of harmony among its members, 
 surrendered its charter. John Belden was the first 
 N. G. and I. F. Morse the last. 
 
 Village of Lee. 
 
 EE, a pleasant little village, lies upon the 
 line between the counties of Lee and 
 De Kalb. It lies mostly in Lee County, 
 a portion equal to about 30 acres being in 
 Shabbona Township, De Kalb County. It was 
 commenced in 1871, Christopher Jorgens open- 
 ing the first business house. C. Christopher and Ole 
 J. Jorgens, proprietors of the grain elevator, were 
 grain, coal and lumber dealers. Their office was 
 situated just west of the railroad track, a little north 
 
 of where the depot now stands, in Shabbona Town- 
 ship. They opened the first general store at the same 
 time. This was before there was any plat of the 
 village. A Mr. White started the second store on 
 the Lee side of the county line. Hugh Boyle owned 
 the plat on the east and John Kennedy on the west. 
 
 K. O. Ostewig, Jans Johnson, Lars L. Reisetter 
 followed in the mercantile trade ; the first two 
 erected their buildings in Lee County. 
 
 Ed. Bacon opened the first hotel, on the De Kalb 
 County side. During the years 1872 and 1873 the 
 village built up rapidly. At the present time it has 
 a population of 500, does a large business and com- 
 pares favorably with any station on the line north of 
 Aurora. There are two churches Catholic and 
 Methodist Episcopal. There are also two elevators, 
 one a horse-power, the other steam, both in Shab- 
 bona Township. The steam elevator is owned and 
 operated by Christopher & Jorgens, and has a capac- 
 ity of 18,000' bushels. The other elevator has a 
 capacity of 8,000 bushels. A lumber and coal yard 
 completes the business on the DeKalb side of the 
 line. 
 
 SOUTH GROVE TOWNSHIP. 
 
 OUTH GROVE has the well deserved 
 reputation of being one of the finest town- 
 ships in the county. It comprises town- 
 ship 41, range 3, and is bounded on the north 
 by Franklin, on the east by Mayfield, on the 
 south by Malta, and on the west by Ogle 
 County. It is watered by Owen's Creek, and has 
 about 400 acres of natural timber, a portion of which 
 has long since been known as South Grove. The 
 other and smaller portion is known as Orput's Grove. 
 With the exception of this timber, the township is 
 exclusively prairie, the land being highly productive. 
 It is said that the highest point of land between 
 Chicago and the Mississippi River is in the southern 
 portion of this township. 
 
 The first settler here was William Driscoll, who, 
 with his family, located on the east side of the grove, 
 in 1838. He was followed by his father and 
 brothers. The grove for a time was known as 
 Driscoll's Grove. 
 
 
 
 -r '--
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Solomon Wells was the next to locate here. He 
 purchased of Driscoll the south end of the grove. 
 
 In 1840 came the Orput family, which settled 
 near the smaller grove, to which was given his 
 name. The Beeman and Hatch families arrived 
 during the same year. 
 
 In 1841 James Byers, Benjamin Worden and Mr. 
 Tindall came in. 
 
 Jonathan Adee and Matthew Thompson came in 
 1843. They were from New York, as were also 
 Byers and Worden. 
 
 In 1844 John S. Brown purchased the Beeman 
 place on the northwest side of the grove. 
 
 Among the others who came in soon after were 
 Henry Saflford, W. H. Stebbins, Mr. Deyo, the 
 Rickards, Beckers, Masons and Curriers. Many of 
 the families of the early settlers yet remain in the 
 township. 
 
 Solomon Wells was from Ohio. He was regarded 
 as a good fellow, but with little enterprise. In 1843 
 he removed to Wisconsin. 
 
 Dexter Beeman was also from Ohio. For some 
 years he ran a tavern at the grove, but finally sold 
 out, moved, to Oregon, Ogle Co., where he was liv- 
 ing at last accounts. 
 
 The Hatches were from Ohio, and moved to 
 Wisconsin about the same time with Solomon Wells. 
 
 Jesse Tindall was a native of New Jersey, but 
 came to the county from Michigan in January, 1842. 
 He became a prosperous farmer, served as a mem- 
 ber of the Board of Supervisors, and had many 
 friends. He removed to Sycamore, where he died. 
 
 William P. Deyo came from Michigan, though not 
 a native of that State. After some years, in which 
 he had his ups and downs, he returned to Michigan. 
 
 James Byers was from New York, though of Scot- 
 tish birth, coming to America from his native land 
 in 1818. He was universally esteemed by all who 
 knew him. His wife died on the old homestead, but 
 he died at Polo. 
 
 John Orput was from Ohio. After remaining 
 here for some years, he sold out and moved to Rock- 
 ford, where he has since died. 
 
 Benjamin Worden was from New York. Few 
 men in the north part of the county were better 
 known. He was a jolly, free-hearted man, a man 
 everybody liked. In the summer of 1884 he died, 
 on the old homestead. 
 
 *&r a 
 
 Jonathan Adee was also from New York. He 
 died on the old homestead. 
 
 In 1840 or 1841, George Crull and Lucy Wells 
 were united in marriage doubtless the first in South 
 Grove. 
 
 The first religious services that were continued 
 from time to time were held by Rev. Isaac Norton, a 
 Free-Will Baptist. For the sum of $35 Mr. Norton 
 agreed to hold services twice a month for one year, 
 commencing in the fall of 1842. It must not be 
 considered by those favorable to high-priced minis- 
 try, that because the pay was poor the preach- 
 ing must be of the same quality, for Mr. Norton had 
 the reputation of being a very fair preacher. He 
 subsequently organized a congregation which con- 
 tinued in existence some years, but finally disbanded, 
 many of its members moving to other parts. 
 
 Levi Lee, a local preacher, was the first of the 
 Methodist Episcopal faith to preach in South Grove. 
 Rev. M. Sherman was of like faith and was i. um- 
 bered among the early preachers. A class was 
 organized at an early day, which still meets at the 
 school-house in the grove. 
 
 The Adventists also organized a church and 
 Sabbath-school in 1867, meeting for worship in the 
 school-house in district No. 2. 
 
 A great camp-meeting was held at the grove in 
 1860, at which leading ministers from abroad ad- 
 dressed vast audiences, ,and much interest was 
 awakened. 
 
 The first religious revival was held by Rev. Mr. 
 Norton, the outgrowth of which was the organization 
 of the Free-Will Baptist Church. 
 
 A local writer thus speaks of educational matters : 
 " The first school in South Grove was taught by 
 James Byers, Sr., who furnished a school-house for 
 his t \venty -five pupils the second room in his double 
 log cabin and boarded himself, for $10 per month. 
 The young men and women about the grove will 
 never forget that school how the kind, genial voice 
 of the teacher, softening down its rugged Scotch, 
 cheered them over the frightful Alps of ' a, b, ab, and 
 ' two times one are two ' how the eyes were always 
 blind to any fun, and the laugh was ever as long and 
 loud as that of the merriest urchin. No wonder 
 those boys and girls a portion of them ' played the 
 mischief ' with some of the teachers who succeeded 
 this model one. The first school-house was erected 
 
 
 
 I 

 
 * 
 
 . 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 841 
 
 in the grove. It was of logs, but nicely built, and 
 considered quite a capacious one, though it was, after 
 a time, pretty well filled with its sixty scholars. It 
 was 20 x 22 feet, and well lighted, having a window 
 five or six panes in width and two in height at each 
 end of the building. H. C. Beard and T. K. Waite 
 were among the successful teachers in the log school- 
 house. The second school-house was built on a fine 
 site donated to the district by James Byers, Sr., in 
 1854, and in 1868 another a very pleasant and 
 commodious one the former having been destroyed 
 by fire was erected in the same place." 
 
 In relation to the present status of the public 
 schools in South Grove, the following items are 
 gleaned from the report of the County Superintendent 
 of Schools for the year ending June 30, 1884 : There 
 were in the township six districts, each having a 
 frame school-house, the total value being estimated 
 at $4,900. School was held in each district more 
 than no days during the year. There were 326 
 persons under 21 years of age, of whom 258 were 
 over six years. Of this number 205 were enrolled 
 in the public schools. Twelve teachers had been 
 employed, the highest wages paid any being $50 per 
 month, while the lowest was $30, an average of $34.05 . 
 The tax levy was $2,639. 
 
 Before the construction of railroads, when all travel 
 was by team, thetavern or wayside inn was numbered 
 among the institutions of the day. South Grove was 
 on the Oregon and St. Charles State Road, and here 
 at an early day Mr. Beeman and Mr. Adee each ran 
 a tavern for some years. A York shilling twelve- 
 and-a-half cents was the customary price for a 
 meal or a night's lodging. 
 
 In 1885 there were three postoffices in the town- 
 ship South Grove, Deerfield Prairie and Dustin. 
 
 South Grove postoffice was established in 1841, 
 with Timothy Wells as postmaster. He was suc- 
 ceeded, in turn, by James Byers, Henry Saffbrd, E. 
 Currier, Jonathan Adee and Mrs. E. A. Palmer, the 
 latter being the incumbent. 
 
 Deerfield Prairie postoffice was established in 
 1858, P. Waterman being the first postmaster. He 
 was succeeded by Mr. Wiltse. James Richards is 
 the present postmaster. 
 
 Dustin postoffice, named in honor of Gen. Dustin, 
 was established in 1868, with Henry Cristman as 
 postmaster. 
 
 South Grove reported to the assessor in 1884, of 
 
 
 
 improved land, 21,853 acres, on which the assessor 
 placed a total valuation of $317,480. Of personal 
 property was reported $76,709; a total of $394,189. 
 This was reduced by the State Board of Equalization 
 to $349,743. Among the items assessed as personal 
 property were the following: Horses, 798; cattle, 
 2,897; mules and asses, 15; sheep, 1,572; hogs, 
 3,220; carriages and wagons, 238; watches and 
 clocks, 141; sewing and knitting machines, 81 ; 
 pianos, 6; melodeons and organs, 31. 
 
 The township has been served by the following 
 named as members of the Board of Supervisors : 
 
 A.Gillis 1864-65 
 
 ;mes S Byers7j; 
 
 .-857-58 
 
 ::t.6, 
 .1862-63 
 
 SQUAW GROVE TOWNSHIP. 
 
 QUAW GROVE Township comprises Con- 
 gressional township 38 N., range 5 E., and 
 is bounded on the east by Kane County, 
 on the north by the township of Pierce, on 
 the south by Somonauk, and on the west by 
 Clinton. Little Rock Creek enters the town- 
 ship on section 6, and, running in a southeasterly di- 
 rection, passes out from section 36. Squaw Grove in 
 the central, and another 'grove in the southwestern 
 part, furnish the timber. 
 
 Tradition has it that in the summer of 1834 a party 
 passed through the grove. Here they found a large 
 number of squaws with their pappooses, but no 
 braves. The grove not being known by any name, 
 one of the .party asked the question, " What shall 
 we call it?" "We will call it Squaw Grove; what 
 could be more appropriate ? They have entire pos- 
 session." " So be it," laughingly responded the other; 
 " but what shall we call that little grove just east of 
 it ? " " Oh, we will call that Pappoose Grove." 
 
 One of this party is said to have been a Mr. Hol- 
 lenbeck, who made .claim to a portion of the grove 
 on the north, afterwards known as the Tanner farm. 
 Returning to La Salle County, from which he came, 
 Mr. Hollenbeck gave such a glowing description of 
 the country that William Sebree, an old Virginian, 
 with a large family, concluded to at once locate 
 ^%(& 

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 \ 
 
 
 
 
 there. He is said to have arrived in September, 
 1834, and was probably the first white man to per- 
 manently locate in De Kalb County. On his arrival 
 he built a temporary shelter of poles, which he cov- 
 ered with bark taken from the forsaken wigwams of 
 the Indians, and there his family abode until he 
 could erect a small log house. The winter following 
 was quite severe, and the old gentleman had his ears 
 and nose frozen while cutting prairie hay. 
 
 A man named Robson lived this fall in a log cabin 
 at the crossing of Somonauk Creek, a few miles south, 
 but abandoned the place at the approach of winter, 
 leaving Sebree and his family the only white inhabi- 
 tants in this section of country. 
 
 During the year 1835 several families located in 
 the township, among whom were those of William 
 Leggett, M. P. Cleveland, Watson Y. Pomeroy, John 
 Eastabrooks, Samuel Miller, John Boardman and 
 Jacob Lee. 
 
 William Leggett made claim to a tract of land on 
 the south side of the grove. He was from Indiana. 
 Mr. Leggett sold to Mr. Ward and returned to In- 
 diana. 
 
 M. P. Cleveland located at Pappoose Grove. He 
 was from New York. After remaining here a few 
 years, he sold out, moved West and has since died. 
 
 Watson Y. Pomeroy was a brother-in-law of Cleve- 
 land, and was also from New York. 
 
 John Eastabrooks was a native of Pennsylvania. 
 He located on the north side of Squaw Grove, where 
 he remained till his death in 1850. He was accom- 
 panied here by his son Decatur and his daughter 
 Mary. His wife and the remainder of his family 
 came the following year. Decatur Eastabrooks 
 moved to Carroll County many years ago, where he 
 yet resides. When Mr. Eastabrooks came to the 
 county he brought with him two large, powerful dogs. 
 When the men were away from the house, the dogs 
 would allow no one, especially an Indian, to come 
 near, unless called off by Miss Eastabrooks. 
 
 Samuel Miller was from Floyd Co., Ind. t He re- 
 mained here till his death. 
 
 In 1836 several others came into the township, 
 among whom were Timothy L. Pomeroy and W. A. 
 Fay. Mr. Pomeroy located at Pappoose Grove. He 
 subsequently became a Methodist preacher and yet 
 preaches the gospel somewhere in the State. Mr. 
 Fay located on section 29, in the Somonauk timber, 
 -^.gxn.^ /-> A. 
 
 But few of the settlers of 1835 are now living. 
 Among the number are Mrs. Rachel Lee, George \V. 
 Lee, Mrs. Sarah J. Sebree, W. M. Sebree, C. B. Lee, 
 Mrs. Mary E. Millard and Decatur Eastabrooks. Of 
 the number Mrs. Lee, George W. and C. B. Lee, 
 Mrs. Sebree and W. M. Sebree yet reside in the town- 
 ship. There may be others, but these are the only 
 ones remembered by George W. Lee. 
 
 E. W. Willard and Mary E. Eastabrooks were 
 united in marriage in November, 1836. This was 
 the first in the township. Esquire Root performed 
 the ceremony. 
 
 The first birth was that of Martha Jane, daughter 
 of William Sebree. She was born Oct. 14, 1835. 
 She grew to womanhood in Squaw Grove and sub- 
 sequently married Amos Jackson. She now lives at 
 Janesville, Minn. John Miller has been thought to 
 be the first, but it appears his birth did not occur for 
 some months afterwards. 
 
 The first death in the township is claimed by 
 George W. Lee to be that of a Mr. Boardman, from 
 whom Jacob Lee obtained his claim. The date must 
 have been in the summer or fall of 1835. The first 
 death of which the early settlers yet living have any 
 distinct recollection was the death of Julia, daughter 
 of E. W and Mary E. Willard. Her death occurred 
 in 1841. Mrs. Robert Sebree was the next to die in 
 this township. 
 
 The first physician to permanently locate in the 
 township was Dr. Winslow, who located about two 
 miles from the present village of Hinckley. 
 
 The first school has been a matter of dispute. It 
 is asserted by some that Jane Sanford taught a term 
 of school in the summer of 1840, and that M. P. 
 Cleveland succeeded her in the winter following. 
 Both terms were held in the house of Jacob Lee. 
 Others say Mr. Cleveland taught the first, and was 
 succeeded by Miss Sanford. All agree that the first 
 was in 1840, and was taught by one or the other. A 
 log school-house was shortly afterwards built at the 
 grove, Mr. Albee, now living at Hinckley, making the 
 window frames for the same. Among the early teach- 
 ers in the township were John Clark, Henry Clark, 
 Mr. Church and James Furman. The first school 
 money was drawn by Mr. Cleveland. At present 
 the township has eight school districts, each being 
 supplied with a frame school-house, the total value 
 of which is placed at $5,300. From the County Su 

 
 
 
 !; 
 
 -' 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 843 
 
 
 
 perintendent's report for the year ending June 30, 
 1884, it is learned that there were 548 persons under 
 21 years of age, of whom 375 were bet ween 6 and 21, 
 with an enrollment in the public schools of 326. 
 There were 5 males and 16 female teachers em- 
 ployed, the highest monthly wages received by any 
 being $60 and the lowest $25. 
 
 Squaw Grove Township, in 1884, had 22,245 acres 
 of improved land, valued at $324,350 The town 
 lots amounted to $50,680; personal property, $98,- 
 629. A total of $473,659. The State Board of 
 Equalization reduced this amount to $418,115. 
 Among the items of personal property were the fol- 
 lowing : Horses, 641 ; cattle, 1,776; mules and asses, 
 19; sheep, 672; hogs, 2,440; steam engines, 4; 
 safes, 5 ; billiard tables, i ; carriages and wagons, 
 223 ; sewing and knitting machines, 158 ; pianos, 8; 
 melodeons and organs, 59. 
 
 SUPERVISORS. 
 
 1'hilo Sill 
 W. C.T;l 
 I'liilnSI., 
 
 1865-8 
 
 2SSK: 
 
 Hinckley. 
 
 JNCKLEY is finely located on section 15, 
 Squaw Grove Township. It was surveyed 
 and platted by Francis E. Hinckley, from 
 whom it derives its name. While having but 
 about 400 inhabitants, it is one of the neatest 
 towns of its size in the State. The dwelling- 
 houses of those residing here are generally large 
 two-story buildings, the yards well kept and all pre- 
 senting an attractive appearance. As a business 
 point it is good, having a fine farming country around, 
 which is tributary to it. 
 
 When it was determined by Mr. Hinckley to lo- 
 cate the railroad station here, Merrill & Wagner, who 
 were in business at the grove, at once began their 
 preparations for removal. They commenced early 
 in the spring of 1872 the erection of the large, fine, 
 two-story building now occupied by Mr. Merrill, and 
 on its completion removed here their stock of goods, 
 and thus became the first merchants in the village. 
 The partnership was some years afterward dissolved, 
 
 Mr. Merrill becoming sole proprietor. He carries a 
 stock of general merchandise second to none in the 
 county, and enjoys an immense trade. 
 
 While the store building was being erected, Mr. 
 Merrill was also engaged in putting up the dwelling- 
 house in which he yet resides, and iifio which he 
 moved in the spring of 1872. This was the first 
 dwelling-house built upon the village plat, though 
 two others have been there since an early day. 
 
 Schilling & Evans and Case & Vawter can also be 
 numbered among the pioneer merchants of the vil- 
 lage. 
 
 The first druggist was L. H. Wikoff. 
 
 J.- D. Curry was the first grain-buyer. He built 
 an elevator and commenced buying in the spring of 
 1873. He was succeeded by H. M. Maltby & Co., 
 who continued until the fall of 1883, when S. H. Sid- 
 well, who owned a half interest in the elevator, be- 
 came the sole dealer. 
 
 G. W. Severance and Theodore Klein were the 
 first stock-buyers. They are yet in the business. 
 
 Samuel Miller was the first liveryman in the vil- 
 lage. He began business in 1875. 
 
 The first hotel was opened by C. S. Palmer in 
 1873, in a building opposite Merrill & VVagner's 
 store. The business was continued here for about 
 seven years. The second house was that now known 
 as the Adams House, built by Hayden Spencer, in 
 1875. It has been known as the Pennsylvania and 
 the Hinckley House. B. H. Adams became the pro- 
 prietor in April, 1883. He changed its name to the 
 Adams House. It is a two-story frame building, 
 with 12 sleeping rooms, with parlor, office, dining- 
 room and kitchen. 
 
 The first 'meat-market was opened by C. W. West, 
 in 1873. 
 
 The first exclusive hardware store was kept by 
 Evans & Evans. 
 
 The first harness-shop was owned by A. G. Wal- 
 lace. 
 
 The first shoe-shop was opened by C. H. Beecher, 
 in 1872. 
 
 The village of Hinckley comprises a part of Dis- 
 trict No. i. The school-house was erected here in 
 1873. There were then two rooms, two departments 
 being represented. In 1883 an addition was made 
 to the school building and the school divided int 
 three departments primary, intermediate and higher, 
 The teachers for the year 1884-5 were Fred A. Lat- 
 
 a^ **$& "t*t^(
 
 DE KALB COUNTY 
 
 
 tin, Principal ; Miss Carrie C. Potter and Miss 
 Emma Jones. There were in January, 1885, an en- 
 rollment of 136 pupils. The school property is 
 valued at $2,800. 
 
 The postoffice was located here in 1872. This 
 office was originally located at the grove and was 
 known as the Squaw Grove postoffice. William C. 
 Tappan was the first Postmaster, the office being es- 
 tablished in 1852. His first year's receipts were* 
 $2.55. In 1855 his receipts had increased to $23.52. 
 The mail route was from Ottawa to Belvidere. Mr. 
 Tappan was succeeded by Henry Putnam, who in 
 turn was succeeded by Mr. Johnson, E. Spencer and 
 Frank E. Merrill. The latter was appointed in 1867 
 and held the office for 17 years, resigning in April, 
 1884, when C. S. Palmer was appointed. A money- 
 order department was created for the office in 1878, 
 the first order being secured by A. F. Prince, in favor 
 of George J. Prince, for $10.75, July 7, 1878. 
 
 The village of Hinckley was surveyed and platted 
 in March, 1873. It was incorporated under the 
 general act in 1877. The first trustees were John 
 A. Coster, A. E. Sweet, A. G. White, N. Naldenhouse, 
 Peter Coster. Clerk, F. L. Winslow. Since that 
 date the following named have served : 
 
 1878 J. J. Davis, C. S. Palmer, N. Naldenhouse, 
 J. H. Bauder, A. E. Sweet, Ira Hamlin, trustees ; F. 
 L. Winslow, clerk. 
 
 1879 T. E. Merrill, C. A. Reed, P. S. Winslow, 
 Ira Hamlin, A. G. White, C. S. Palmer, trustees; F. 
 L. Winslow, clerk. 
 
 1880 M. N. Tomblin, S. Miller, F. Young, J. A. 
 Le Brant, W. H. Mead, A. Cheney, trustees; Lee 
 E. Tomblin, clerk. 
 
 1881 W. H. Mead, M. N. Tomblin, H. M. 
 Maltbie, C. S. Palmer, Philo Slater, trustees; H. W. 
 Fay, clerk. 
 
 1882 Philo Slater, H. M. Maltbie, C. S. Palmer, 
 August West, Cyrus Slater, F. L. Winslow, trustees ; 
 H. W. Fay, clerk. 
 
 1883 W. M. Sebree, O. T. P. Steinmetz, J. A. 
 Le Brant, A. J. Miller, F. L. Winslow, C. T. Slater, 
 trustees ; H. W. Fay, clerk. 
 
 1884 Philo Slater, Charles S. Palmer, Wells A. 
 Fay, J. A. Le Brant, O. T. P. Steinmetz, W. M. 
 Sebree, trustees , H. W. Fay, clerk. 
 
 The religious well-being of the village is repre- 
 
 >>*i*l* ^^ Q/ ~ 
 
 sented by organizations of Baptists and Methodist 
 Episcopals. 
 
 The benevolent societies are represented by lodges 
 of Masons and Odd Fellows. 
 
 Ingersoll Lodge, No. 301, A. F. & A. M. was 
 chartered by the Grand Lodge Oct. 5, 1859, its 
 meetings being held in the village of Cortland. Its 
 charter members were Charles S. Ingersoll, W. M., 
 in whose honor the lodge was named ; John B. 
 Fletcher, S. W ; Nathan A. Cottrell, J. W. ; L. F. 
 Dow, Jonathan Mattison, Richard A. Smith, Richard 
 J. Webb, Onesimus Hitchcock. The name of the 
 lodge was subsequently changed to Cortland Lodge. 
 In 1875 it was voted to remove to Hinckley, the 
 majority of its membership living in or near that vil- 
 lage. On its removal its name was changed to 
 Hinckley Lodge, No. 301, A. F. & A. M. At this 
 place it has flourished, its membership embracing 
 some of the best men in the village. Its present 
 membership is 26. Since its removal the following 
 named have filled the chair as presiding officers of 
 the lodge : Archibald Cone, C. H. Hitchcock, F. E. 
 Merrill, George E. Hobbs, J. W. Le Brant, the latter 
 being elected January, 1885. In addition to J. W. 
 Le Brant, W. M., the following named constitute the 
 officers for 1885 : A. Grass, S. W. ; C. E. Long, J. 
 W. ; David A. Hobbs, Treas. ; A. F. French, Sec. ; 
 J. A. Le Brant, S. D. ; H. C. Baie, J. D. 
 
 Beacon Hill Lodge, No. 680, I. O. O. F., was or- 
 ganized July 2T, 1880, with George E. Hobbs, N. G.; 
 J. A. Le Brant, V. G. ; A. W. Le Brant, Sec.; A. 
 Grass, Treas. ; J. T. Kerr, Warden ; William Richard- 
 son and Christian Keamerle. The following named 
 have served as N. G. : J. A. Le Brant, A. Grass, 
 John T. Kerr, William Frazier, William Lockwood 
 and B. C. Allbee. The following named were in 
 office January, 1885 : B. C. Allbee, N. G. ; H. H. 
 Hopkins, V. G. ; P. F. Albee, Sec. ; J. W. Le Brant, 
 Treas.; John Clark, Warden. The lodge has a 
 membership of 28, and financially and otherwise is a 
 strong body. 
 
 The following named firms were doing business 
 here in the spring of 1885 : 
 
 General merchants F. E. Merrill, Bauder & 
 Coster, O. T. P. Steinmetz. 
 
 Furniture Simon Kuter. 
 
 Hardware W. H. Menk. 
 
 Drugs T. R. Davis & Co. 
 
 -
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 845 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 Groceries and restaurant -L. E. Ziegler. 
 
 Jewelry E. C. Long. 
 
 Butcher shops G. Snyder and Fred Jurries. 
 
 Agricultural implements P. S. Winslow, C. H. 
 Taylor. 
 
 Millinery Mrs. R. B. Curry. 
 
 Dressmaking Van Nostrand & James, Mrs. A. F. 
 Prince, Rose Bloodgood and Em. Holdenhous. 
 
 Barber Dan Green. 
 
 Shoe-shop Adam Grass, Chas. Becker. 
 
 Coal dealers J. K. Kuter. 
 
 Oil Blacking Manufactory Grass & Smith, pro- 
 prietors. 
 
 Lumber M. J. Pogue & Sons. 
 
 Grain G. H. Sidwell, Chicago, proprietor; H. M. 
 Maltbie, buyer. 
 
 Harness-shop J. H. Le Brant. 
 
 Bankers H. D. Wagner & Co. 
 
 Livery William Misner. 
 
 Tobacco, cigars and candy A. Elsaman. 
 
 Blacksmiths Jno. Metz, William Wilkening, A. 
 Cash. 
 
 Road cart factory J. B. Allbee, proprietor. 
 
 Wagon shop Sam. Wheeler. 
 
 Cooper shop T. W. Eddy. 
 
 Silver Spring Creamery Curler Bros. & Co., 
 proprietors ; H. H. Hopkins, resident manager. 
 
 Hay Press E. S. Ashley. 
 
 Carpenters Frank Loveland, R. B. Curry, William 
 Garrett, Holley Goodell, Jesse Flanders, John Powers, 
 Jake Biehl. 
 
 Masons Henry Binder, Leopold Bender. 
 
 Dray Sam. Flanders, Chas. Hinamire. 
 
 Physicians C. H. Hitchcock, Merritt F. Potter. 
 
 Lawyer Jno. Hopkins. 
 
 Bakery Jos. Eagle. 
 
 Hotel Adam House, B. H. Adams, proprietor. 
 
 Skating rink P. S. Winslow, proprietor. 
 
 Photographer Edwin Luce. 
 
 Painters Ernest Schramm, Chas. Adam. 
 
 Auctioneer W. H. Rickert. 
 
 Milk wagons J. B. Myers, J. M. Curry. 
 
 Stock shippers Theo. Klein, Christ. Bale. 
 
 Tile factories P. H. Nichols, Jno. Kerr. 
 
 Justices of the Peace J. M. Curry, D. L. Sackett, 
 Adam Grass. 
 
 Newspaper and printing office The Revieiv; H. 
 W. Fay, editor and proprietor. 
 
 %&& ^g3^ & 
 
 SOMONAUK TOWNSHIP. 
 
 HIS township lies in"the southeast corner 
 of the county, with Kendall County on the 
 east, La Salle on the south, Squaw Grove 
 Township on the north, and Victor on the 
 west. It has a good supply of timber along 
 the banks of Somanauk Creek, with which it is 
 well watered. The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 
 Railroad passes through the southern portion of the 
 township, through the city of Sandwich and village 
 of Somonauk. 
 
 The first permanent settler of the township was 
 Reuben Root, who first located on section 35, the 
 place now owned by David V. Kinney. He sold this 
 claim to Mr. Davis in the summer of 1835, and 
 moved a little farther north, occupying a house 
 which some years after became the property of Mr. 
 Beveridge, and which it is said was erected some 
 time in 1834, and occupied in the winter of 1834-5, 
 by a Mr. Robinson. The exact date of Mr. Root's 
 settlement is not known, but supposed to be in 
 February, 1835. He was living on the Davis place 
 when William Poplin arrived in March, 1835. 
 Reuben Root was a native of New York. For some 
 years he kept a tavern and was the first postmaster 
 of Somonauk. Selling his claim here, he moved 
 west and has since died. 
 
 Willliam Poplin was doubtless the second to locate 
 on Somonauk Creek, in this township. He arrived 
 here, as stated, in March, 1835, made a claim, erect- 
 ed his cabin, and made other improvements the 
 same year. His selection was a wise one, and with 
 his " good wife " he yet resides upon the old home- 
 stead, where they have spent a full 50 years. 
 
 Among others who made settlements along the 
 creek in 1835, were William and Joseph Sly, Simon 
 Price, Amos Hannon, William Davis, Simon Price, 
 Thomas and William Brook. 
 
 The 'Sly brothers were natives of Ireland. Joseph 
 remained in the township during the remainder of 
 his life and was a well respected citizen. His house 
 for some years was used for religious purposes, by 
 representatives of any denomination who were will- 
 ing to preach the gospel to the few then living here. 
 William Sly moved into La Salle, where he died. 
 
 Simon Price was from Pennsylvania, but, it is said, 
 lived so near the Virginia line that he imbibed strong 
 
 
 

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 
 ' 
 
 pro-slavery sentiments. He moved to Iowa, where 
 he has since died. 
 
 Thomas and William Brook were likewise from 
 Pennsylvania. Thomas died here. William Brook 
 is yet living in Sandwich. 
 
 The first marriage in the township was that of 
 Isaac Potter and Elizabeth Brook, in the fall of 1836. 
 The ceremony was performed by Elder B. Mack. 
 
 The first birth was that of Harriet Poplin, daugh- 
 ter of William Poplin, born Jan. 25, 1836. She is 
 now the wife of Herbert C. Cotton. The second 
 birth was that of Mary A. Davis, born June 2. 1836. 
 George W. Davis and a son of Burrage Hough were 
 probably the two first males born in the township. 
 
 The first death was that of Fannie Hannon, who 
 died Sept. n, 1836., 
 
 The first ground broke was by Amos Hannon in 
 the spring of 1835. All the settlers of 1835 broke 
 ground that year, but Simon Price and William and 
 Joseph Sly are the only ones remembered that at- 
 tempted to raise a crop. 
 
 The first religious services were probably at the 
 house of Simon Price, in the winter of 1835-6, by 
 Rev. William Royal, a Methodist Episcopal divine. 
 Mrs. Joseph Sly disputed this fact, claiming that a 
 Congregational minister, whose name was forgotten, 
 preceded Mr. Royal a short time. None of the early 
 settlers now living remember the man or the occasion 
 of his preaching. Mrs. Royal early in 1836 organ- 
 ized a class, with the following named among the 
 number : Mrs. William Davis, Mrs. Thomas Brook, 
 Mrs. Simon Price, Mrs. Joseph Sly, and Miss Lorena 
 Dennis, now Mrs. Jacob M. Hall. The first quarterly 
 meeting was held soon after, Elder B. Mack officiat- 
 ing. This meeting was held at the house of Thomas 
 Brook. 
 
 In the winter of 1836-7, at the house of Thomas 
 Brook, the first school was taught by Lucius Frisbee. 
 He had about one dozen scholars. The first school- 
 house was of logs and was erected in 1837 on section 
 22. Charles Eastabrooks taught the first school in 
 this house the following winter. The educational 
 interests of the township have kept pace with the 
 increase in population and wealth. 
 
 There are eight school districts in the township, 
 with twelve school-houses, the total value of which 
 s estimated at $^7,250. From the County Stiperin- 
 
 ndent's report for the year ending June 30, 1884, 
 
 the following facts have been gleaned : There were 
 1,649 persons under 21 years of age, of whom 
 were above the age of six years. There were five 
 graded and seven ungraded schools, employing six 
 male and 18 female teachers. The highest salary 
 paid any teacher per month was $m.ii, and the 
 lowest $20. The tax levy was $9,155. 
 
 Until Somonauk postoffice was established, the 
 settlers along Somonauk Creek obtained their mail at 
 Holderman's Grove, about 12 miles southeast. A 
 number of families clubbed together and arranged to 
 take turns in going once each week for the mail. In 
 order to make each realize the necessity of going to 
 the office when his turn came, it was agreed that 
 should one fail to go, that his mail would net be 
 brought by any of the others until his turn should 
 again come around and he attended to the matter. 
 
 A postoffice under the name of Somonauk was es- 
 tablished near what is now known as Freeland 
 Corners, in 1837, with Reuben Root as postmaster. 
 Mr. Root served one or two years and was succeeded 
 by John Eastabrooks. The receipts of the office in 
 1837 were $15. 34. In 1839, when Mr. Eastabrooks 
 was postmaster, the receipts had increased to $22.52. 
 David Merritt succeeded Mr. Eastabrooks and was 
 in turn succeeded by Alex. R. Patten, Lyman Bacon, 
 Charles Bradbury, Joseph Hamlin. and William 
 Robertson, the incumbent. In 1854 a postoffice was 
 established at the village of Somonauk, called Somo- 
 nauk Station. Mail designed for Somonauk would 
 go to the station, and that for the station would fre- 
 quently be sent to Somonauk postoffice; so a request 
 was made to the postoffice department to change the 
 name of the latter office. The name of Freeland 
 was suggested and adopted, the name by which the 
 office is now known. It is supposed that the name 
 was suggested from the fact that the neighborhood 
 was composed of liberty-loving people, those who 
 strongly believed in a free land. 
 
 William H. Beavers started a store at the "cor- 
 ners," now known as Freeland Corners, about 1848. 
 He was succeeded by David Merritt, who subse- 
 quently sold to Patten & Beveridge. The latter sold 
 out to the former, who, in 1854, removed the store to 
 Sandwich. 
 
 Mr. Hamlin was the first blacksmith at the cor- 
 ners. 
 
 John Lane and Peter F. Hummel kept tav
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 I 
 
 '' 
 
 x 
 
 here as early as 1841. Reuben Root was engaged in 
 the same business at a still earlier date. 
 
 The Beveridge neighborhood, in this township, 
 was composed almost exclusively of anti-slavery 
 people. The house of George Beveridge was sup- 
 posed to be a depot of the Underground Railroad, 
 and the charge was never denied by any of the 
 family. A local writer, in speaking of this fact, said: 
 " In 1852, a gentlemanly stranger begged shelter for 
 the night at this house (George Beveridge's). Some- 
 thing led the family to suspect that he was a detect- 
 ive, searching for evidence of their connection with 
 the crime of aiding slaves to their freedom. Finally, 
 seeking an opportunity of privacy, he asked directly 
 of the venerable mother if she had not at times 
 secreted fugitive negroes. ' Yes,' said she, ' and in 
 spite of your oppressive laws, I will do it again 
 whenever I have an opportunity.' Instead of im- 
 mediately arresting her, as she had expected, the 
 stranger laughed. He was an eminent physician of 
 Quincy, engaged in establishing stations on the Un- 
 derground Railroad, and during many subsequent 
 years there was a frequent stoppage of trains at this 
 station, and much lime and money was spent in for- 
 warding the flying negroes on to the stewards at 
 Piano, and to other places of refuge." 
 
 The United Presbyterians began holding meetings 
 in the vicinity of the "corners" as early as 1841, 
 but an organization was not effected until March 
 18, 1846. It is now one of the strongest country 
 Churches in the State, with a house of worship that 
 cost $c2,ooo. No more devoted Christians than 
 those worshiping here can anywhere be found. 
 
 Somonauk Township, in 1884, had 19,642 acres 
 of improved land, a less number than any other in 
 the county, but at a higher valuation, amounting to 
 $[6.15 an acre, or a total of $317,255. The town 
 lots were assessed at $290,225 ; personal property, 
 $245,495. A total of $866,665. This was reduced 
 by the State Board of Equalization to $762,292. 
 Among the items of personal property reported were 
 the following : Horses, 875; cattle, 2,27 i ; mules 
 and asses, 52; sheep, 247; hogs, 3/126; steam 
 engines, 3 ; safes, 23 ; billiard tables, 5 ; carriages 
 and wagons, 462; watches and clocks, 375; sew- 
 ing and knitting machines, 390 ; pianos, 66 ; melo- 
 deons and organs, 88. With the exception of Syca- 
 more, Somonauk has more pianos than any township 
 in the county. 
 
 .@St" **^ ^^ 
 
 SUPERVISORS. 
 
 The members of the Board of Supervisors from 
 this township have been as follows : 
 
 I. H. Furman.. 
 William Patten.. 
 
 H. Latham 
 
 William Patten.. 
 C. Winne . . 
 J. H. Furman.. 
 E. W. Lewis.... 
 
 Andrew licveridge 1873 
 
 W. W.S,.,|...wi,:k' ,874 
 
 w&7i? b '^ l) -lr*" s 
 
 w! \v!'W;i"u'iVi:'.. '.'.'!. '.'.'1876-7 
 
 Mm Clark <a--'t> 1876 
 
 Charles M erwin (ass't. ... 1877-8 
 
 Washington L. Simmons. 1878-82 
 Charles S. .Lewis (ass't .. .1879-80 
 Carter E. Wright (ass't). . 1881-2 
 John N. Culver.... ......1883-4 
 
 Peter C. McClcllan(ass't).. 883-4 
 
 
 Village of Somonauk. 
 
 EFORE the completion of the railroad to 
 this point, the railroad company deter- 
 mined to locate here a station, believing it 
 would be acceptable to the people in the 
 neighborhood and an accommodation to the 
 farmers living near. The road was com- 
 pleted in the fall of 1853, but for some cause the 
 village was not platted till in June, 1855, though 
 many lots had previously been sold and quite a 
 thriving village had sprung up. The original plat 
 was upon sections 32 and 33, township 37 north, 
 range 5 east, and embraced property belonging to 
 Alverus Gage, Lyman Bacon, Franklin Dale, 
 Thomas Brown and James H. Beveridge, Mr. Gage 
 owning the greater portion of it. Several additions 
 have since been made. 
 
 In the fall of 1853, before the railroad had been 
 completed here, and while the employees engaged in 
 its construction were yet in the vicinity of the old 
 red school-house, on the site of the present city of 
 Sandwich, Franklin Dale went to Mr. Gage and 
 proposed purchasing some ground of him on which to 
 erect a store building. Desiring the land in the 
 vicinity of the depot, Mr. Gage prevailed on the 
 engineer engaged in the survey to come down and 
 designate where the depot building should be erected. 
 Mr. Dale then made his selection and at once 
 commenced the erection of his building. Gustave 
 Hess commenced to erect a building for a store and 
 dwelling about the same time, but Mr. Dale had his 
 completed first; and, occupying it with a stock of gen- 
 eral merchandise, became the pioneer merchant of the 
 
 -$*& 

 
 
 
 
 place. Mr. Hess was not far behind him in open- 
 ing out his goods. 
 
 Mr. Tolman came soon after and started the first 
 lumber yard in the place. 
 
 While these business enterprises were being set on 
 foot the railroad company was engaged in the erec- 
 tion of the depot buildings, completing them in the 
 winter of 1853-4. 
 
 Lyman Bacon about the same time purchased 10 
 acres of land from Mr. Gage with a view of building 
 a hotel. For some cause he failed in his purpose, 
 but erected a building which he used as a dwelling 
 and as a shoe shop, being the pioneer shoemaker of 
 the village. 
 
 In the fall of 1853 David Hunt laid the found- 
 ation for the present hotel building, and in the spring 
 completed and occupied it as a hotel, being the first 
 in the place. 
 
 The first blacksmith was Noah Kelley, in 1855. 
 During the same year, Mr. Guyer started the first 
 harness-shop. 
 
 Somonauk Bank was established in February, 
 1880. It is a private institution, with John Clark as 
 president and H. Wright, cashier. T. J. Wright and 
 
 C. V. Stevens are also associated in its management 
 and business. A satisfactory business has been 
 done by the bank since its organization. 
 
 Some months after the railroad was completed, 
 Buck Branch postoffice, located about one mile north, 
 was removed here and its name changed to Somo- 
 nauk Station, the latter word being added from the 
 fact that there was a postoffice called Somonauk in 
 the township. Confusion arising in forwarding and 
 receiving mail, Somonauk postoffice was subsequently 
 changed to Freeland, and in due time the word 
 " Station " was dropped from this office. Lyman 
 Bacon was the first postmaster and served until 1861, 
 when Henry Curtis was appointed, and for 24 years 
 has handled the mail at this place. 
 
 The village of Somonauk was organized Jan. 4, 
 1859, by incorporating it under the " Town Corpora- 
 tion Act." At the election to vote on such incor- 
 poration, 49 votes were cast for and 10 against the 
 same. The first trustees elected were Lyman Bacon, 
 E. W. Lewis, E. Hoxey, William Heun and D. F. 
 Andrus. Lyman Bacon was chosen President and 
 
 D. F. Andrus, Clerk. 
 
 By special act of the Legislature, approved Feb. 
 
 1 6, 1865, said corporation was changed from a vil- 
 lage to a town, and incorporated as " The Town of 
 Somonauk. 
 
 On the 1 8th day of July, 1872, the question of or- 
 ganizing as a village under the general law of the 
 State was submitted to a vote of its citizens and 
 adopted. The first board of trustees under the new 
 organization was constituted as follows : J. Poor, 
 President ; H. Potter, T. B. Blanchard, F. Schort, J. 
 B. Brigham, W. W. Hathorn, Clerk. 
 
 The following named have served the village as 
 members of the Board of Supervisors: John M. 
 Goodell, 1867; William Heun, 1868; Edward W. 
 Lewis, 1869; N. L. Watson, 1870-1 ; Jeremiah Poor, 
 1872; John Clark, 1873. 
 
 The first school in the village was in the winter of 
 1855-6, and held over the hardware store, by D. F. 
 Andrus. The present school-house was erected in 
 1856 and occupied in the winter of 1856-7. Addi- 
 tions have since been made to the building to meet 
 the wants of increasing population. No thorough 
 grading of the schools was made until 1880, when P. 
 K. Cross was elected principal. Two classes have 
 since been graduated, diplomas being given to the 
 graduates. Mr. Cross Continued as principal until 
 1884, when Miss Leah Delagneau was appointed. 
 Four rooms are occupied, Miss Delagneau having 
 charge of one, with Miss Lizzie Benedict, Anna R. 
 Hunt and Ella Howe, respectively, in each of the 
 others. The graduates are as follows : 
 
 In June, 1883 Emma M. Ames, Julia B. O'Brien, 
 Simon D. Hess, S. May Thomas, Anna R. Hunt, 
 Anna M. Hoffman, Maggie McNamara, Otis D. Wood- 
 ward. 
 
 In June, 1884 Jennie M. Dubrock, Franklin 
 Hess, William J. Dubrock, Clara M. Lovvman, Jen- 
 nie J. Hathorn, Lillian M. Rose, Clara E. Wright. 
 
 RELIGIOUS. 
 
 The religious welfare of the people is attended to 
 by the following denominations, each having houses 
 of worship Protestant Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, 
 Presbyterian, Catholic and Methodist Episcopal. 
 
 The Baptist Church was organized May 19, 1857, 
 a preliminary meeting being held Jan. 10, 1857. The 
 constituent members of the Church were William 
 Patten, Perry G. Jones, Frances A. Jones, John 
 Shailer, Elizabeth Shailer, Ashbel Stockham, 
 linda Stockham, Enoch Stockham, J. N. Braddock, 
 U3 S^ -ftegtf.
 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 849 
 
 
 
 William Bond, Frances Bond, Elder B. Hicks, Mrs. 
 
 B. Brayton, Belinda B. Farley, Mary P. Bucking- 
 ham, Martha S. Russell. A house of worship was 
 erected in 1858, at a cost of $3,000, with a seating 
 capacity of 300. The following named have served 
 the Church as pastors : Revs. D. Shailer, D. N. Kin- 
 nie, L. L. Gage, Thomas Reese, J. L. Benedict, G. 
 
 C. Vanasdel, William Wilkins, W. H. Cord, John 
 Shepherd, J. C. Johnston. The Church has about 
 75 members. 
 
 The Catholic Congregation was organized in the 
 year 1865. Previous to that time the number of 
 Catholic families was comparatively small and their 
 spiritual wants were supplied at certain times during 
 the year -by the resident priests of Naperville, Men- 
 dota and Ottawa, who held religious services either 
 in a private house or in the hotel of the village, where 
 the Catholics would assemble to comply with their 
 duty and have their children baptized and the other 
 sacraments of the Church administered. 
 
 In the year 1863 a hall was purchased for their 
 house of worship, but as the number of Catholics 
 began to increase rapidly, it was soon found to be 
 incompetent to meet their requirements, and the 
 building of a new frame structure for a church was 
 commenced in 1866. This church was 40 x 80 feet 
 in dimensions, with a steeple 100 feet high, contain- 
 ing a bell, weighing 800 pounds. This church cost 
 about $4,000. From this time religious services 
 were held every two weeks, the church being in 
 charge of Rev. D. Nieder Korn, S. J. Still the 
 Catholic people were not permitted to enjoy the 
 comfort of their new church very long, the building 
 being totally destroyed by fire in May, 1868. It was 
 on a Sunday. A funeral service had just been held, 
 and when the people returned from the cemetery 
 they saw at a distance how dense clouds of smoke 
 were issuing from the roof, and in less than 15 
 minutes from the time that smoke was seen the 
 whole building was enveloped in flames and totally 
 destroyed. How the fire originated is a mystery, 
 even to this day. 
 
 After this Rev. J. Dale, a Belgian by birth, visited 
 the Catholics of Somonauk and held services for 
 them. He resided at Leland and remained nine 
 months. The congregation lost no time to replace 
 the old building by even a finer and costlier edifice, 
 built of brick, 40 x 80 feet in dimensions. 
 
 Just at the time when the walls and roof of the 
 
 new church were finished, the Rt. Rev. J. Duggan, 
 Bishop of Chicago, gave the congregation a new 
 pastor of its own, in the very young priest, Rev. C. 
 J. Huth, who had just been ordained two weeks 
 previous. He was the first residentjpriestof Somon- 
 auk. He took charge Feb. 14, 1869. 
 
 He succeeded in completing a very fine church 
 and purchasing a parochial residence. The congrega- 
 tion grew larger from year to year under his admin- 
 istration and numbers now 1,000 souls. Father 
 Huth attended, besides Somonauk, the churches of 
 Leland and Bristol, and visited occasionally the 
 Catholics of Shabbona Grove. 
 
 He purchased for the church three beautiful altars 
 with statues, one grand pulpit, costing $325 ; one 
 beautiful and large pipe organ, costing $i, too ; a 
 bell and tower, costing $850. 
 
 Father Huth was pastor of Somonauk 15 years 
 and three months, and left the place May i, 1884, 
 having built up one of the finest parishes in this 
 part of the country. He joined in marriage 200 
 couples, baptized about 800 infants, and buried 200 
 dead. 
 
 Father Huth's successor, the present incumbent, 
 Rev. L. A. R. Erhard, is a gentleman of recognized 
 ability, filled with zeal for the Church. He has im- 
 proved the church property and succeeded in win- 
 ning the good will of his people and of the public. 
 
 SOCIETIES. 
 
 South Somonauk Lodge, No. 181, I. O. O. F., was 
 organized July 25, 1855, with T. R. Mack, W. B. 
 Hough, Isaac Hatch, Edward Thomas and John M. 
 Goodell as charter members. The early records 
 and charter of this lodge were destroyed. In 1875 it 
 began working as a German lodge, continuing as such 
 till the present time. It has a membership of 20. 
 The officers in the spring of 1885 were Jacob Spach, 
 N. G. ; Ernest Steuping, V. G. ; A. Rumple, Sec. ; A. 
 Meyers, Treas. ; John Betz, Deputy and Representa- 
 tive to Grand Lodge. 
 
 Somonauk Encampment, No. 62, I. O. O. F., was 
 chartered Oct. 9, 1866, with George Shafman, 
 Robert Fish, Moses West, Fred. Schwanz, S. J. 
 Girodat, A. J. Wright and Geo. W. Wolverton as 
 charter members. The Encampment is in a pros- 
 perous condition, with a membership of 44. Its 
 present officers are E. Suppes, C. P. ; E. Graf, H. P. 
 J. F. Poplin, S. W. ; S. 'E. Beelman, J. W. ; G. W. 
 
 >^g^ Hl^*f( 
 
 
 5
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 T 
 
 t 
 
 Beelman, G. ; Henry Banzet, S. ; G. W. Beelman, 
 Deputy and Representative to Grand Encampment. 
 Rising Sun Lodge, No. 634, I. O. O. F., was 
 organized Oct. 10, 1877, with the following officers : 
 S. E. Beelman, N. G. ; J. J. Murphy, V. G. ; A. E. 
 Ames, Sec. ; C. Rohrer, Treas. There has been an 
 enrollment of 55, with the present membership of 
 
 48. The present officers are J. F. Poplin, N. G. ; A. 
 Wingart, V. G. ; G. W. Beelman, Sec. ; John Law- 
 man, P. S. ; C. Suppes, Treas. 
 
 Home Lodge, No. 134, Rebekah Degree, I. O. O. 
 F., was iastituted March 27, 1884, by G. W. Beel- 
 man, with 27 charter members. 
 
 The sisters in the Order have taken hold with a 
 will, and Home Lodge has been prosperous from the 
 start. It now has a membership of 41, with the fol- 
 lowing named officers: G. W. Beelman, N. G.; Miss 
 Amelia Suppes, V. G.; Miss Carrie M. Beelman, Sec.; 
 John Lawman, P. S.; Mrs. Bertha Faltz, Treas. 
 
 Somonauk Lodge, No. 646, A. F. & A. M., was 
 chartered by the Grand Lodge in October, 1870. 
 Previous to receiving the charter the lodge worked 
 under dispensation from March, 1870. Death has 
 taken two members R. H. Thomas, N. Mollier. 
 The lodge has had a prosperous existence, having 
 enrolled 82 members, with a present membership of 
 
 49. The P. M.'s of the lodge are Wm. M. Potter, 
 Geo. S. Robbins, J. S. Poplin, H. W. Burchim. The 
 present officers are P. H. Evans, W. M.; S. Town- 
 send, S. W.; H. F. Hess, J. W.; C. Banzet Sec.; 
 D. E. Wright, Treas. 
 
 Somonauk Lodge, No. 33, A. O. U. W., was organ- 
 ized December 14, 1876. Its first officers and mem- 
 bers were Mr. Griffith, P. M. W.; F. J. Girodat, M. 
 W.; I. Mooring, Foreman: T. Boos, Recorder; T. G. 
 Hanson, Fin.; P. H. Thomas, Receiver. The lodge 
 has a present membership of 32. It has lost one by 
 death P. H. Thomas. Its present officers are James 
 Connelly, M. W.; G. W. Newton, Foreman; Joe. 
 Holl week, Overseer; S. Townsend, Recorder; F. J. 
 Girodat, Financier and Receiver ; S. Townsend, Rep- 
 resentative to Grand Lodge. 
 
 The Illinois Catholic Order of Foresters, a benevo- 
 lent society, has also been inaugurated May 26th, 
 The court was organized by the High Chief 
 Ranger as St. John the Baptist Court, No. 17. 
 
 <<&*. *^ 9-' 
 
 SYCAMORE TOWNSHIP. 
 
 HIS is an excellent township, being well 
 supplied with timber 'and prairie, and 
 watered by the Kishwaukee River. The 
 Sycamore Branch of the Chicago & Northwest- 
 ern is the only railroad within its borders. The 
 country is quite flat even along the river banks 
 there are no steep bluffs. The soil is a rich black 
 loam, and highly productive. Lands here are valued 
 from $50 to $75 per acre, according to improvement. 
 
 Lysander Darling, and Dr. Norbo, a Norwegian, 
 for whom Norwegian Grove is named, were doubtless 
 the first settlers here, although Mr. Chartres, a 
 Frenchman, came about the same time. This was 
 in the spring or summer of 1835. Peter Lamois also 
 settled here the same year, and it is claimed for him 
 that he broke the first ground and raised the first 
 crop. These pioneers were followed by Elihu Wright, 
 J. C. Kellogg, E. F. White and Zachariah Wood, 
 who came in 1836. 
 
 During this year the New York Company, com- 
 posed of Christian Sharer, Evans Wharry, Clark 
 Wright and Mark Daniels, under the firm name of 
 C. Sharer & Co., located a large tract of land with 
 the intention of locating a town. They laid out a vil- 
 lage plat north of the creek, dammed the Kishwaukee 
 River, built a mill and made other preparations for 
 effecting a large settlement. Eli G. Jewell opened a 
 small store, and George Wilson began to do a little 
 blacksmith work. Mr. Crawford, some time in 1837, 
 opened a cabinet shop a little north of Jewell's store, 
 and for a time engaged in the manufacture of tables 
 and chairs, supplying the greater number of the early 
 settlers with these useful articles. 
 
 When the New York Company began operations 
 times were flush, and everybody had money, such as 
 it was. But the hard times of 1837 set in, so well 
 remembered by old settlers, and, notwithstanding 
 they had expended a large sum of money, the com- 
 pany abandoned its claim, and one more embryo vil- 
 lage was numbered with the past. 
 
 The first settlers of the township were from the 
 East, mostly from the Green Mountain State, and ; 
 like all New Englanders, the first thing to bethought 
 of, after becoming settled, was to look after the edu- 
 cational interests of the coming generation. There- 
 fore, early in 1837, the few neighbors then here met 
 .A /->
 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 
 together and erected a log school-house about four 
 miles north of the present city of Sycamore, and in 
 the summer of that year Mary Wood taught a term 
 of school. She was followed by J. C. Kellogg, who 
 taught the winter term. To Miss Wood belongs the 
 honor of being the first teacher in the township of 
 Sycamore. 
 
 The County Superintendent, in his report for the 
 year ending June 30, 1884, gives the following in- 
 formation in relation to the schools of the township: 
 There were ten school districts, three graded and 
 nine ungraded schools. The school property was 
 valued at $29,384. In the ten districts were five 
 brick and seven frame school houses. Of persons 
 under 21 years of age there were 1,843, f whom 
 i ,2 1 3 were of school age, 971 being enrolled. The 
 average wages paid teachers was $37.37 per month, 
 the highest being $140, and the lowest $25. The tax 
 levy was $11,275. 
 
 It has been said that the first thing thought of by 
 pioneers from the East was the educational interests 
 of their children. This should be amended by say- 
 ing, after the moral welfare of the community had 
 been attended to. After becoming settled Mr. White 
 and Mr. Daniels at once began to look for some one 
 to hold religious services. Levi Lee, a minister of 
 the Methodist Episcopal Church, was induced to 
 make an appointment, and in May, 1836, preached 
 the first sermon in the township. A class was soon 
 afterwards organized. 
 
 Caroline, daughter of Edward F. and Mary White, 
 was born Aug. i, r836. She is said to have been the 
 first white birth in the township, though some assert 
 a child was born to Mr. and Mrs. Elihu Wright, prior 
 to this time. The child was born in a wagon. An- 
 other early birth was that of Emily Jane Kellogg, 
 who was born Jan. 28, 1837. 
 
 The first male child born was James W., son of 
 Mr. and Mrs. L. D. Walrod, in 1838. 
 
 The first marriage now remembered was that of 
 Daniel W. Lamb and Julia Maxfield, March 16, 1838. 
 Eli G. Jewell, J. P., performed the ceremony. 
 
 The second marriage was that of Erastus Barnes 
 and Elizabeth Barnes, Sept. 30, 1838, by Eli G. 
 Jewell, J. P. 
 
 The third was Decatur Eastabrooks and Mary 
 Wood, Jan. 3, 1839. 
 
 The first 4th-of-July celebration in the county, as 
 **@PZ 
 
 well as the township, was at the house of Ephraim 
 Hall, in 1837. Jesse C. Kellogg read the Declara- 
 tion of Independence and Levi Lee delivered the 
 oration. 
 
 Death came among the little band of pioneers, and 
 on the 29th of May, 1837, Lorinda (Wood) French 
 breathed her last. She was buried near the family 
 residence, but her body has since been removed to 
 the Sycamore Cemetery. 
 
 The pioneers of this township experienced much 
 difficulty in having their grain ground. The first mill- 
 ing remembered by Thomas H. Wood was in the 
 fall of 1837. His father, Zachariah Wood, and a few 
 others, clubbed together and hired a man named 
 Graves to take some wheat to Joliet to be ground. 
 After performing his duty, Mr. Graves provided him- 
 self with a liquid stronger than water and relumed 
 to the settlement without wagon or flour, but glori- 
 ously drunk. Several men started to Joliet to see 
 what had become of the team. It was found some 
 miles away in a slough, where it had been left by the 
 " inebriated " man. 
 
 From the abstract of assessments in the office of 
 the County Clerk, the following facts are gleaned : 
 In 1884 there were in this township 21,130 acres of 
 improved land, valued at $338,595, an average of 
 $16.02 an acre. With the exception of Somonauk, 
 the average value was above that of any other town- 
 ship. The town lots were valued at $366,861 ; per- 
 sonal property, $347,109. A total amount of $1,052,- 
 565, which was reduced by the State Board of Equal- 
 ization to $919,285. Among the items of personal 
 property assessed that year were the following: 
 Horses, 1,037: cattle, 2,702; mules and asses, 2; 
 sheep, 969; hogs, 2,028; steam engines, 12; safes, 
 30; billiard tables, 10; carriages and wagons, 616; 
 watches and clocks, 822, sewing and knitting ma- 
 chines, 478 ; pianos, 86; melodeons and organs, 127. 
 De Kalb Township alone exceeded Sycamore in the 
 number of horses. In carriages and wagons, watches 
 and clocks, sewing and knitting machines, and in 
 pianos, Sycamore leads every other township in the 
 county. 
 
 On the organization of the township James Har- 
 rington was elected to serve as a member of the 
 Board of Supervisors. He was succeeded in 1856 
 by E. L. Mayo, who served one year, when D. B. 
 James was elected. He was succeeded by James 
 
 -ft@S*@> 
 
 

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY 
 
 
 Harrington in 1859, who served three years. Ros- 
 well Dow was first elected in 1862, and was twice 
 re-elected. Samuel Alden was his successor in 1865. 
 He served two years, when Henry Wood was elected, 
 and served one year. N. L. Cottrell was the mem- 
 ber for 1868, Henry Wood in 1869, and John G. 
 Smith in 1870-1; E. B. Shurtleff, 1872-3; Na- 
 than Lattin, 1874-7; Marshall Stark, 1878-80; 
 William W. Marsh, assistant, 1881 : Henry C. Whit- 
 temore, 1882-4; Byron F. Wyman, assistant, 1883-4. 
 
 VICTOR TOWNSHIP. 
 
 HIS township lies upon the south line of the 
 county, being bounded on the south by La 
 Salle County, on the east by Somonauk 
 Township, on the north by Clinton, and on the 
 west by Paw Paw. The land is exclusively 
 prairie, rich and productive. 
 Among the first settlers were Jeremiah Mulford, 
 W. H. Keene, Aruna Beckwith, James Green, New- 
 ton Stearns, Peleg Sweet, Jerome Baxter, George N. 
 Stratton, Simon Suydam, H. C. Beard and W. R. 
 Prescott. In 1847 and 1848 some of the land of this 
 township was taken up, and during the next five 
 years all was entered. In 1851, on the completion 
 of the C. B. & Q. R. R. south of the township, a 
 large number of people came in, and soon all of the 
 rich prairie was filled with a thrifty and industrious 
 people. Many Germans and Irish were among the 
 number, and also quite a colony of Norwegians. 
 
 Victor is exclusively an agricultural township, 
 having no village within its borders. Its people trade 
 in the village of Leland, upon the south, and Somo- 
 nauk, upon the southeast. Van Buren and Victor 
 Center postoffices were established in an early day. 
 The first school-house is said to have been built 
 
 in 1850, by Newton Stearns, on section 8. In 1855 
 the school section was sold. From the report of the 
 County Superintendent of Schools for the year end- 
 ing June 30, 1884, are gleaned the following interest- 
 ing facts : There were 380 persons under 2 1 years of 
 age, of whom 275 were over six years of age. Each 
 of the districts had a frame school-house, the total 
 value of which was $3,750. School had been held 
 in each district, with a total enrollment of 240. 
 Seven male and eight female teachers had been em- 
 ployed, the highest monthly wages paid any being 
 $50, and the lowest $23. The tax levy was $2,055. 
 
 Boies says: "This township gave 103 soldiers to 
 the War of the Rebellion, and taxed itself $10,858 
 for war purposes. Those who lost their lives in the 
 service were Ferdinand Vanderveer, who died at 
 Louisville, Ky., March 30, 1865; E. T. Pierce, at 
 Alexandria, Ya.. April 23, 1861; C. T; Bond, at 
 Pittsburg, Pa., March 17, 1865; C. R. Suydam, at 
 Alexandria, Va., Jan. 26, 1862." 
 
 Victor township was organized in 1853. Previously 
 it had been, with Clinton and part of Afton, in one 
 civil township. 
 
 In 1884 the assessor reported 20,913 acres of im- 
 proved land, valued at $295,594; personal property, 
 $55,128; total, $35 0,7 22. The State Board of Equal- 
 ization reduced the total amount to $309,319. Among 
 the items of personal property listed were the follow- 
 ing: Horses, 678 ; cattle, 2,151; mules and asses, 
 21 ; sheep, 186; hogs, 2,864; carriages and wagons, 
 158; watches and clocks, 119; sewing and knitting 
 machines, 40; melodeons and organs, 28. 
 SUPERVISORS. 
 
 The following named have served the township as 
 members of the Board of Supervisors : 
 
 Benjamin Darland ,854 William B. Prescott ,867-69 
 
 iamuel Lord ,855-57 Job n^C.^Beyeridge 1870 
 
 Lon 
 
 : N.: 
 
 Beard . 
 
 .ar 
 
 "^wSn""
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 
 : 
 
 , 
 
 
 HIS is one of the. most attractive cities in 
 Northern Illinois. With its wide streets, 
 handsome residences and churches, the 
 architectural beauty of which is indeed com- 
 mendable, it makes a place in which one might 
 well desire to live and enjoy the comforts of a 
 home. Surrounded by an excellent agricultural 
 country, within a short distance of the great metrop- 
 olis of the West, and having a thrifty and enterpris- 
 ing population, what more could there be desired ? 
 
 Almost a half century has passed away since Cap- 
 tain Eli Barnes erected the first house upon the site 
 of the present city. The historian cannot describe 
 this building as of the usual pattern " an unpreten- 
 tious log-cabin " for it was not, but a large two- 
 story frame building, still in a good state of preserva- 
 tion, and which has been used from the beginning to 
 the present time for hotel purposes. It stands upon 
 the southeast corner of the Court-House square, and 
 is truly an old landmark, worthy of veneration. It 
 was thought by the people then living in the county 
 a great waste of money for the Captain to erect such 
 a large building ; but it was well for the future of 
 Sycamore that it was done, for it doubtless was the 
 means of obtaining and retaining the county seat. 
 
 Previous to the erection of this building by Capt. 
 Barnes, an attempt had been made by a company 
 from New York to locate a village north of the pres- 
 ent site. This was in 1836, when wild-cat money 
 was in abundance and when towns were springing 
 up like mushrooms all over the West. When the 
 bubble burst, when it was found that it required a 
 pocket full of such money as was then in existence 
 :o buy a meal of victuals, the New York company not- 
 withstanding it had expended a large sum of money 
 
 ^^ 9- 
 
 in improvements, abandoned its claim, and old Syca- 
 more was no more. 
 
 Although Capt. Barnes erected the first house on 
 the present site of the city, there was yet another 
 here at the time of its erection. A small frame house 
 had been moved from the Hamlin farm and was oc- 
 cupied by Dr. Basset^ the first physician in the 
 place. This house stood until 1855 where D. B. 
 James subsequently built a handsome residence, and 
 was then burned down, on suspicion that it had been 
 used for the sale of liquors. 
 
 The village slowly improved for some years. " In 
 1840," says Boies, in his History of De Kalb County, 
 " the dreary little village consisted of a dozen houses, 
 scattered over considerable land, but without fences, 
 and with but one well." 
 
 As times became better; and the county-seat con- 
 tests were in a measure settled in favor of Sycamore, 
 the growth of the village was more marked. In 
 1848 the population was 262; in 1849 it was 320; 
 in 1850 it had further increased to 390; and in 1851 
 it had 435. In 1855 there were in the place six dry- 
 goods stores, two hardware stores, two cabinet-ware 
 rooms, one drug store, four grocery and provision 
 stores, two saloons, three taverns, one banking and 
 exchange office, two wagon shops, one livery stable, 
 two harness shops, two tin shops, one jewelry store, 
 three shoe shops, four blacksmith shops, one shingle 
 manufactory, one tailor shop, one meat market, one 
 cooper shop, seven lawyers, four physicians, ten car- 
 penters, four painters, three circulating libraries, three 
 churches, and one steam saw-mill. 
 
 From 1855 to the present time, the growth of 
 Sycamore has been a steady one. There is nothing 

 
 
 KALB COUNTY. 
 
 
 of the mushroom about the place. In population and 
 in wealth its growth has been slow but sure. 
 
 The original plat of Sycamore comprised 24 whole 
 and six half blocks. The village was surveyed and 
 platted by Capt. Eli Barnes, County Surveyor, in 
 May, 1839, and immediately placed upon record. 
 To the original plat many additions have since been 
 made, the village of Sycamore assuming city propor- 
 tions. There is one thing the present generation 
 have cause to be thankful for, and to which just 
 
 j praise should be awarded the projectors of the town, 
 and that is, the wide streets. Few cities can boast of 
 such wide and beautiful streets, now adorned with 
 
 ' beautiful shade trees, which add a charm to this 
 lovely place. 
 
 INCORPORATION. 
 
 In 1858, Sycamore was incorporated under the 
 general act as a village. In 1859 a special charter 
 was secured from the Legislature, the act being ap- 
 proved Feb. 2r, 1859. The provisions of the special 
 /3s charter was thought to be more acceptable than 
 = those of the general act, and better adapted to the 
 
 welfare and growth of the village. 
 The first election held under the special charter 
 f\- was held March 14, 1859, and all other elections 
 were ordered held on the second Monday in March 
 of each year. At the first election the following 
 named were elected members of the Board of Trus- 
 tees : Edward L. Mayo, H. F. Page, George 
 Weeden, W. H. Stebbins, C. B. Beckwith. Tyler K. 
 Waite was elected Justice of the Peace ; Daniel 
 Pierce, Assessor; H. A. Joslyn, Constable. 
 
 The first meeting' of the Board was held March 
 19. E. L. Mayo was elected President of the Board 
 and David Farnsworth, Clerk pro tem. This was all 
 the business transacted. On the 4th of April Mr. 
 Farnsworth was elected Clerk for the year. 
 
 For ten years the village government, under its 
 special charter, existed, when it was thought advis- 
 able, by the people, to organize under a civil govern- 
 ment. A special charter was secured, approved by 
 the Governor March 4, 1869. The city was divided 
 in four wards, and under the charter its first election 
 was held March 15, 1869, at which time the follow- 
 ing officers were elected : Reuben Ellwood, Mayor; 
 Tyler K. Waite, Justice of the Peace; Aldermen 
 ist Ward, C. T. Stuart, C. O. Boynton; zd Ward, R. 
 L. Divine, J. W. Hunter; 3 d Ward, Charles Brown, 
 
 J. H. Rogers; 4th Ward, Alonzo Ellwood, G. S. 
 Robinson. These were all representative men in the 
 fullest sense. 
 
 The first meeting of the Council was held the 
 evening of election. W. R. Thomas was elected 
 Clerk; G. S. Robinson, City Attorney; 'Samuel B. 
 Middleton, Marshal. At its second meeting, after 
 the appointment of committees, R. J. Holcomb was 
 appointed Constable and Collector ; S. B. Middleton, 
 Fire Warden, R. L. Divine, Treasurer. This com- 
 pleted the organization of the new city government. 
 At the first election there were 385 votes cast. 
 
 The affairs of the city have generally been man- 
 aged in a satisfactory way, and few cities, for the 
 money expended, can exhibit a better record. 
 
 The following is a complete list of city officers from 
 its organization : 
 
 MAYORS. 
 
 Elc 
 Reuben Ellwood 
 
 Moses Dean 
 
 Richard A. Smitl 
 Richard A. Smith 
 John B. Hark 
 
 Elected 
 
 :.::::".:::::SS 
 
 TohnB 
 Richan 
 
 E&S::::. 
 
 Elected 
 '873 
 
 l87S 
 
 h.. '.....'.'. 
 
 .1871 
 
 Nathan 
 
 Lattin 
 
 1877 
 
 i 
 
 
 Nathan 
 Charles 
 
 L?ttin 
 1 . Stuart 
 
 ::::& 
 
 Vacancy. 
 
 .1872 
 
 
 y Ellwood 
 
 ....,88 3 
 
 W. R. Thomas 
 
 W. R. Thomas 
 
 Cassius M. Conrad, 
 
 elected to fill vaca 
 JohnS. Harroun 
 
 Edward Cr1!t r0 . Un i 
 
 Richard L. Divii 
 John L. Piatt... 
 A. C. Colton.... 
 A. C. Colton.... 
 A. C. Colton.... 
 A.C. Colton 
 
 George S. Robinsoi 
 George S. Robinso. 
 
 JohnL. Pratt 
 
 Oliv.-r |. Bailey... 
 
 A. S. Babcock 
 
 JohnL. Pratt 
 
 CITY CLERKS. 
 
 ....,?6 9 
 
 ::: 
 :::$ 
 
 Cornelius 1875 
 
 Hix, to fill vacancy. .1875 
 K.Jones y ..,8 7 6 
 
 CITY TREASURERS. 
 
 George B. Morr 
 Charles E. Hyd< 
 Warren F. Peter- 
 
 . , i . i 
 .1870 
 
 Charles Kellum 
 
 Charles Ki'llmn 
 
 wS C A 'Kenum:: 
 
 POLICE MAGISTRATES. 
 
 1870 I Frank W. Smith.. 
 
 1874 Aaron C. Allen... 
 
 1878 | William Tasker.. 
 
 ALDERMEN FIRST WARD. 
 
 Charles T. Stuart... 
 Charles U. Boynton. 
 
 X.S. Dorwin 
 
 Oliver I. Bailey 
 
 A.C. Colton.. .... 
 
 Fr.uik Smith 
 
 Uonw Kllwood 
 
 woo 
 E. Knight 
 
 llwm,,!. 
 
 Charles E. Kn 
 A. J. Driver.. 
 Alonzo F.llwoi 
 A. J. Driver.
 
 ALDERMEN SECOND WARD. 
 
 Elected 
 
 Ki. h.n-,1 I,. Divine. 
 
 J. W. Hunter 
 
 Norm;.,, C. Warr.-n 
 
 Jesse Alden 
 
 "H.,r;,ti.. II. Ma-on. 
 
 Ie>si- Alden 
 
 Geor S e W. Neshitt. 
 
 W.fc.:::- 
 
 JolmSyme 
 
 ALDERMEN THIRD WARD. 
 
 J. H. Rogers 
 
 Charles Brown 
 
 Georae P. Wild 
 
 Natham I.attin 
 
 w'^v'SaTh 1 ''"? "' 
 
 &'&.'::: 
 
 Alonzo Ellwood 
 
 Alon'/o Eilwood.... '..'.'.'. 
 
 John B.Harkness 
 
 Frank W. Smith 
 
 William Graham 
 
 A. E. Hix 
 
 ; 
 
 , 
 
 *> 
 
 George K. Hibbard 1879 
 
 John B Whalen ,880 
 
 George Knipp 1881 
 
 [ohn B. Whalen j88z 
 
 William M. Byers 1883 
 
 Mini 1 .. Whalen i88j 
 
 Paine... 
 
 Stark.... 
 Burke... 
 
 ALDERMEN FOURTH WARD. 
 
 Willliam Graham 
 Chris. Ohlmacher 
 William Graham. 
 
 A. Strober 
 SUPERVISORS. 
 
 The following named have served the village and 
 city as members of the Board of Supervisors: 
 
 L. Lowell 1866 
 
 C. O. Boynton ,867-68 
 
 Reuben Ellwood 1869 
 
 E. L. Mayo 
 C. M. Brow 
 A. Ellwood 
 C. O. Boynt 
 A. Ellwood 
 C. Kellum. 
 
 Richard A. Smith.... 
 
 The city marshal in 1884 was N. R. Harrington. 
 Saloon licenses were fixed in that year at $600, and 
 druggists' permits at $25 per year. 
 
 COMMERCIAL INTERESTS. 
 
 The first merchants in Sycamore were John C. and 
 Charles Waterman, who commenced business in 
 1839. Their stock- was small, but suitable to the 
 wants of the infant settlement. As the county in- 
 creased in population and in wealth, other merchants 
 began business, the Watermans increased their 
 stock, and in due time almost every class of trade 
 was represented. 
 
 POSTOFFICE. 
 
 This office was established in 1837, with Mark 
 Daniels as postmaster. For that year the income of 
 the office was $16.88. Mr. Daniels was succeeded by 
 John R. Hamlin in 1841. The receipts of the office 
 now amounted to $59. Jesse C. Kellogg, well-known 
 to all the old settlers, came next. He served four 
 years and was succeeded by Z. B. Mayo, the laywer. 
 
 J. C. Waterman was next in order. Then came 
 William P. Dutton, who gave way to Mr. Moore. 
 Chauncey Ellwood, J. W. Burst, D. B. James and H. 
 L. Boies, each had it one term. In 1878 C. F. Mar- 
 tin was appointed, and was re-appointed in 1882. He 
 makes a very popular and efficient postmaster. His 
 assistant, Mr. Joslyn, is also quite popular. The 
 duties of the office could not be better attended to 
 than by Mr. Martin and Mr. Joslyn. A money order 
 department was established in July, 1865. 
 HOTELS. 
 
 The first house erected in Sycamore, as stated, 
 was for hotel purposes, and yet stands on the south- 
 east corner of the public square, and is yet in a good 
 state of preservation, and still used as a hotel. That 
 house has sheltered some of the greatest men of the 
 State, among whom may be mentioned Gov. Ford, T. 
 Lyle Dickey, Judge Caton, as well as a host of others. 
 If the scenes that have transpired therein, and the 
 stories that have been told, could be written up, 
 what a volume it would make! 
 
 The Ward House is now the most pretentious 
 house in the place. It is a large, three-story brick, 
 with accommodations for 75 guests. H. A. Ward is 
 the present proprietor. 
 
 EDUCATIONAL. 
 
 The first school of which there is any record was 
 taught in the old court-house, in 1840, by Dr. Bell. 
 In the winter of 1841-2, also in the winter of 1842-3, 
 Edward L. Mayo, Esq., taught the school in the 
 court-house. Mr. Mayo was afterwards a promi- 
 nent lawyer at the De Kalb County Bar, also County 
 Judge. In the winter of 1 843-4, Sheldon Crossett 
 taught in the court-house, and also in the summer of 
 1844. In the winter of 1844-5, William J. Hunt 
 taught the school in the court-house. In the 
 mer of 1845, Miss Charlotte Gates taught a school 
 in a building which stood near the present residence 
 of Col. A. W. Lloyd, on Main Street. 
 
 In the winter of 1845-6, a Miss Reed taught 
 school in the court-house. In the following summer 
 Miss Elizabeth Richards, (now Mrs. Henry Wood) 
 taught school in a little house on the north road, 
 about a mile from the court-house, near the resi- 
 dence of John Carnes. 
 
 In the winter of 1846-7, Charles Robinson taught 
 the school in Deacon Harry Martin's house on the 
 south side of West State Street. In the summer of 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 

 
 8 5 6 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 
 
 
 1847, there was probably no school. In the winter 
 of 1847-8, Mr. Roswell Dow taught the school in 
 Deacon Martin's house. Joseph Sixbury and Spar- 
 rock Wellington were two of the directors; the name 
 of the third does not now appear. Mr. Dow asked 
 $15 per month to teach the school. The directors, 
 thinking this too much, offered him $12, assuring 
 him that he would not have over 30 pupils. Mr. 
 Dow agreed to teach the school for $12 per month, 
 provided, that he should have pay in proportion for 
 all over 30. School opened. The number of scholars 
 steadily increased until the roll showed 64 names. 
 
 It is not known whether or not there was any 
 school in the summer of 1848. 
 
 In the winter of 1848-9 there was no public 
 school, but Roswell Dow had a select school in the 
 court-house, and in the summer of 1849, Miss Eliza- 
 beth Richards had a school there, whether public or 
 private is a matter of uncertainty. 
 
 In the fall of 1849 and winter of 1849 and 1850, 
 Mr. Dow taught a select school in a building known 
 as the Sons of Temperance Hall, which stood where 
 the jail now stands. 
 
 In the summer of 1850, Miss Theresa E. Richards 
 (now Mrs. R. Dow) taught the school in the Uni- 
 versalist church, where Arthur Stark's residence 
 now is. In the winter of 1850-1, J. A. Simmons 
 taught the school in a house standing on the north- 
 east corner of Main and Ottawa streets. In the 
 summer of 1851 there was no public school as far as 
 is now known. Mr. Dow's school continued. 
 
 In the winter of 1881-2, Ezra W. Robinson taught 
 the school in the south end of Simon Snyder's black- 
 smith shop, situated where Wilkins' Block now 
 stands. 
 
 In March, 1853, William S. Harrington taught 
 the public school in an old drug store which had 
 been occupied by the firm of Halsey & Ambrose. 
 The building may have been the old court-house. 
 After a few weeks the school became so large that it 
 was removed to " Dow's Academy." In May follow- 
 ing the directors hired Miss Amelia Hudson, sister 
 of Rev. C. F. Hudson, to assist Mr. Harrington. A 
 recitation-room was fitted up in the basement of the 
 Academy. Thus, the graded school of Sycamore 
 took another step forward. The school closed Oct. 
 14, 1853- 
 
 In the winter of 1853-4, also in the summer of 
 
 1854, Miss Hannah Dean taught the school in the 
 building now occupied by Ruel Davis as a dwelling- 
 house. It is also quite probable that there was 
 another district school in the village. 
 
 In 1853 steps were laken for the erection of a 
 school-house the first in the village. A lot was 
 purchased on the northeast corner of California and 
 Exchange Streets, and in 1854 a house was com- 
 pleted. Miss Hannah Dean was the first principal 
 in the new house. 
 
 The population of the village increasing, it was 
 found necessary in 1859 to erect another building, 
 which was accordingly done, at a cost of $6,000. 
 This building was of brick and consisted of four 
 rooms. 
 
 In the early part of January, 1863, the school- 
 house was burned. The directors at once rented 
 George's Block for school purposes, and after an in- 
 terruption of a few days, the schools opened and 
 continued through the school year. 
 
 The building was erected during the following 
 summer and fall, at a cost of $15,500. It was con- 
 structed of wood. It has eight large school-rooms, 
 the requisite cloak-rooms, recitation-rooms, ap- 
 paratus-room, Superintendent's office used also by 
 the School Board for holding meetings a large 
 assembly hall, and is a handsome edifice. The 
 schools were opened late in the fall of 1863. The 
 number of pupils steadily increased from year to 
 year. In 1876 the Board rented the basement of the 
 Methodist church, and used it as a primary school- 
 room. In 1877, a two-room, wooden building in the 
 west part of the city was erected, at a cost of about 
 $2,000, Messrs. Dunning & Cougle, contractors. The 
 building and lot cost $2,500; it stands on the west 
 side of Cross Street, and is known as the " West 
 School." 
 
 In the summer of 1880 the Board of Education 
 purchased a lot on the south side of East Elm street, 
 and proceeded to erect thereon a two-room school- 
 house. It was completed at a cost of $4,500, Wil- 
 lard & McAlpine, contractors. This school is known 
 as the " East School." 
 
 During the past three years, the old furniture, 
 which was put in when the main building was fur- 
 nished in 1863, has been removed, and replaced by 
 that which is new and elegant; so that at the present 
 time the furniture in all the school buildings is 
 substantially new and in excellent condition. 
 
 '- 
 
 v 
 
 
 '
 
 In accordance with an act of the Legislature ap- 
 proved April i, 1872, the control of the schools 
 was taken from the board of directors and lodged 
 in a board of education, consisting of six members, 
 (j who hold office for three years each. 
 
 The following named were the first elected : P. M. 
 Alden, George K. Hebbard, R. L. Divine, Calvin 
 Shurtleff, Charles Brown and Henry R. Jones. 
 
 The schools of Sycamore have been thoroughly 
 graded, and since 1875 classes have been graduated 
 each year. Since that time graduates have been sent 
 out from the high school, many of whom are now 
 occupying prominent positions before the public. 
 Since August, 1877, Prof. A. J. Blanchard has 
 occupied the office of Superintendent of Schools of 
 the city, and to him much of the credit is due for 
 their efficiency. The following named comprise the 
 list of teachers for 1884-5 : Superintendent, Prof. 
 A. J. Blanchard; high school, Agnes I. Love; 8th 
 grade, Claire L. Lattin ; 7th grade, Mary H. Alden ; 
 6th grade, Mary A. Shurtleff; 5th grade, Mary F. 
 Gilson; 4th grade, Lizzie A. Langhorn; 3d grade, 
 Jennie B. Anderson; ad grade, Amy H. Luther; ist 
 and 2d grade, Estella L. Tifft. In the East Ward 
 School are, 3d grade, Ida L. Bannister; ist and ad 
 grades, Florence Harkness. West Ward School, 3d 
 grade, Elizabeth J. Walker; ist and 2d grades, 
 ) Anna Maxfield. 
 
 The Sycamore Select School was first opened by 
 Roswell Dow, in September, 1848, in the old court- 
 house. The following year it was held in Temper- 
 ance Hall. In 1850 Mr. Dow erected a brick 
 building for his school, the first school building 
 erected in Sycamore. It was on the corner of Main 
 and Ottawa Streets. Roswell Dow was principal of 
 the school, with Rev. C. C. Hudson, Pastor of the 
 Congregational Church, and Miss Theresa E. Rich- 
 ards, who afterward became the wife of the principal. 
 This school, while called by Mr. Dow a ? select 
 school," was usually called " Dow's Academy." 
 Philosophy, algebra, geometry, chemistry, astronomy, 
 Latin and Greek were taught in this school. The 
 school was discontinued in 1853, partly on account 
 of the ill health of the principal and on account, of 
 the establishment of the public-school system. 
 RELIGIOUS. 
 
 There is no city of its size in the State of Illinois 
 that can boast of more and better church edifices 
 
 than Sycamore. This may be regarded as an 
 evidence that the moral and religious welfare of the 
 people are well attended to. The Ix>rd's house 
 should at least equal that of His people. 
 
 The Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 
 June, 1836, by Revs. Mr. Royal and Samuel Pills- 
 bury. The first services, however, were held in May, 
 1836, at the house of Mark Daniels, by Levi Lee. 
 These were the first religious services in the town- 
 ship. The class organized was also the first in all 
 this region of country. The following named com- 
 posed the class : Edward F. White, leader ; Mary 
 White, Mark Daniels, Mrs. Daniels, Peter Walrod 
 and Mary Walrod. In September, 1836, the first 
 quarterly meeting was held, Rev. S. R. Beggs sup- 
 plying the place of the presiding elder. At the an- 
 nual conference held in the fall of 1836, Sycamore 
 was made to form a part of the St. Charles Circuit, 
 which embraced all the country between the Fox 
 and Rock Rivers from Somonauk to Rockford. Rev. 
 Wm. Gaddis was assigned to this circuit. The class 
 in Sycamore, increasing in numbers and strength, 
 determined to erect a house of worship ; accordingly 
 a plain frame edifice was buit in 1874 and dedicated 
 to the service of Almighty God. It was 37 x 45 feet. 
 Becoming too small, in 1865 a larger and better 
 building was erected at a cost of $13,000, which is 
 an honor to the Church and to the city. Rev. R. M. 
 Hatfield preached the dedicatory sermon. Rev. W. 
 D. Atchison is the pastor. The Church is in a flour- 
 ising condition, with a membership of 200. In 1874 
 a parsonage was built, at a cost of $3,100. Dr. Nit- 
 terauer is Superintendent of the Sunday-school. 
 
 The First Congregational Church. On the i ith of 
 April, 1840, this Church was organized in the old 
 court-house. The council called to assist in the or- 
 ganization consisted of Rev. James Mackie, Rev. 
 Ebenezer Brown and Rev. N. Clark, with one dele- 
 gate from the Church at Byron. Twelve persons en- 
 tered into the organization. The congregation met 
 for worship in the old court-house and in the private 
 dwellings of some of its members until the erection 
 of its first church edifice. Rev. William Mackie 
 preached occasionally during 1840. In July, 1841, 
 a Presbyterian minister from New York, Rev. David 
 I. Perry, began labor here and continued with the 
 Church until August, 1843. There were sixteen ad- 
 ded to the Church during his ministry. In the fall of 

 
 1843 Rev. E. E. Wells took the care of the Church, 
 remaining three years. During his ministry 45 were 
 added to the Church. In the spring of 1846 the first 
 move was made towards the erection of a house of 
 worship. Captain Eli Barnes donated the site on the 
 east side of the square. On account of prevailing 
 sickness in the community, but little was done till 
 the following year, when the contract was let to frame 
 and enclose the building. Rev. Oliver W. Norton 
 was now pastor of the Church. He remained one 
 year, but on account of sickness of the mechanics 
 and a lack of funds he did not see the house finished. 
 In September, 1848, Rev. C. F. Hudson became pas- 
 tor, and nine were added to the Church, during his 
 ministry of five years. Rev. D. Gore followed him 
 in 1853 and served until 1860. The additions in 
 this time were 112. Rev. E. J. Allen then served 
 three years, and 19 were added. Rev. J. T. Cook 
 served two years with 37 additions. Rev. William 
 Windsor served six years, with 44 additions. Rev. 
 O. W. Fay served three years, with 83 additions. 
 Rev. William Gallagher followed for one year, and 
 was succeeded by Rev. T. G. Grassie, and he by 
 Dr. Burton. Rev. F. J. Brobst is the present pastor. 
 Early in 1884 the erection of a new and handsome 
 church edifice was commenced on Somonauk Street, 
 which when completed will cost about $20,000. The 
 officers of theChurch in January, 1885, were: Rev. 
 Flavius J. Brobst, pastor; Harry Martin, J. H. 
 Rogers, Samuel Alden, deacons; Daniel Dustin, 
 clerk and treasurer; David A. Syme, superintend- 
 ent of Sabbath-school ; Elthom Rogers, assistant 
 superintendent. The present membership is 178. 
 Universalist Church. Services were held as early 
 as 1845, by those holding views of the Universalist 
 Church, in the old court-house. The first to preach 
 that faith here was probably Rev. Roundsville. The 
 first who engaged his services for any stated time was 
 Rev. Van Olstine. He was engaged for one-fourth 
 his time for one year. Rev. J. M. Day was also one 
 of the first to preach this faith. In 1853 Rev. D. 
 J. Carney located here and organized the society. 
 Among those composing the organization, were the 
 following named, with their families : Phineas Joslyn, 
 John Waterman, George Weeden, Curtis Smith, 
 Hosea Willard, H. A. Joslyn, H. H. Gandy, L. F. 
 Dow, Kimball Dow and George G. Spring. The 
 society soon undertook the erection of a church build- 
 ig, which was completed in 1854, at a cost of 
 
 $r,6oo. At the time of building the following named 
 were the trustees : Curtis Smith, George G. Spring, 
 George Weeden, N. H. Peck and Sylvanus Holcomb. 
 In 1856 a Church' organization was formed. The 
 church building not being such as was demanded by 
 the age, it was disposed of for a dwelling, and in 1875 
 a handsome brick structure was erected, on State 
 Street, at a cost of $13,500. TheChurch and society 
 is now in a flourishing condition, being out of debt 
 and with a surplus in the treasury. Among those 
 who have labored for the society have been Revs. D. 
 J. Carney, R. S. Sanborn, A. J. Fishback, B. N. 
 Wiles, S. F. Gibbs, N. S. Sage, H. V. Chase and W. 
 S. Ralph. There are about 100 members of the 
 Church and society. 
 
 Episcopal Church. In the summer of 1855 Rev. 
 Julius Waterbury visited Sycamore and held a week- 
 day service in the Congregational Church. The 
 prospect for an organization seemed good and, Rt. 
 Rev. Henry J. Whitehouse, being notified, he resolved 
 on a visit to the place. In August of the .same year, 
 he came and also held service in the Congregational 
 church. In September Rev. Julius Waterbury was 
 sent to effect an organization, which was accom- 
 plished, and Isaac Johnson, of Cortland, waselected 
 senior warden and Mr. Glass, of Genoa, junior war- 
 den. The vestrymen elected were Dr. Page, J. R. 
 Hamlin, Ben Page, Joseph Morse, J. C. Waterman 
 and J. S. Waterman. Steps were at once taken to 
 raise funds for building a church, and nearly $1,000 
 was raised in a few hours. J. S. Waterman donated 
 a lot on which to build. The ladies of the parish 
 organized a social for active work. In August, 1856, 
 the corner-stone of the building was laid, and in 
 1857 the building was completed, and July i con- 
 secrated to the service of Almighty God, by Bishop 
 Whitehouse, of Illinois. Its cost was something over 
 $2,000. Rev. Julius Waterbury was called to the 
 rectorship in September, 1857, and served until Jan- 
 uary, 1858, when he resigned. In March, 1858, 
 Rev. Warren Roberts was chosen rector. During 
 this year the parish became self-sustaining. The 
 congregations had increased in number, a flourishing 
 Sunday-school was in existence and a Bible class 
 was formed and taught by the rector. In 1859 the 
 communicants had increased from 7 to 30. In Feb- 
 ruary, 1863, Mr. Roberts resigned, and during the 
 summer following Rev. Mr. Cooper, of Chicago, oc- 
 casionally officiated. Early in the fall of 1864, Rev. 
 
 .r ';^
 
 
 * 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 859 
 
 : 
 
 S 
 
 
 Mr. Foster was called to the rectorship. On account 
 of ill health, he resigned Easter, 1865. In June, of 
 this year, the Bishop sent Rev. Mr. Hendley to min- 
 ister to the parish. In August following, he was 
 called to the rectorship, but only served until March, 
 1866, when he resigned. Rev. D. Cushman was at 
 once called to fill the vacancy, accepted, and en- 
 tered upon his dusties as rector the first Sunday 
 in May. During this year the church building was 
 improved and enlarged and a new pipe organ pur- 
 chased. On Easter Monday, in 1869, Dr. Cushman 
 resigned, and only occasional services were held un- 
 til October, when Rev. Mr. Hume accepted a call. 
 He served but six months. In April, 1871, Rev. M. 
 F. Sounson visited the parish, and in June became 
 rector. Some funds were raised for building a rec- 
 tory and J. S. Waterman donated a lot for the pur- 
 pose. When built it was pronounced by the Bishop 
 the most finished in his diocese. In 1872 the rector 
 lost his wife and four children by death. In 1873 
 Mr. Sounson resigned, and June 7, 1874, Rev. W. 
 E. Toll entered upon his duties as rector, having 
 been called to the parish. He served for seven years, 
 during which time the present church edifice was 
 erected, at a cost of $17,000, and consecrated by 
 Bishop W. E. McLaun in 1879. During the rector- 
 ship 5 2 persons were confirmed and 133 baptized. 
 In October, 1881, Rev. William Elmer was called to 
 the rectorship, since which time many improvements 
 have been made in the interior of the church. On the 
 death of J. S. Waterman it was found that sufficient 
 property had been left by him on the death of his wife 
 to partially endow the parish forever. The Church 
 is in a most prosperous condition, with a membership 
 of 70 communicants and an organization of 250. 
 
 Baptist Church. A Baptist Church was organized 
 in the township of Franklin in 1852, with the fol- 
 lowing named constituent members : A. L. Warner, 
 Deacon ; Andrew Chapman, Clerk ; Adam Miller, 
 Jane Miller, Martin Barringer, Mary A. Barringer, 
 Caroline Mason, A. L. Warner, Andrew Chapman' 
 John Bean, Jane Bean, Susan Reddell, Hiram Hud- 
 son. Rev. Adam Miller was ordained pastor. In 1856 
 the Church was transferred to Sycamore. Rev. A. C. 
 Kingsley was the first pastor. Until the completion 
 of their house of worship in 1858-9, services were 
 held in the school and court-house. Among those 
 who have served the Church as regular pastor or sup- 
 
 ply were, Revs. J. Moxom, W. W. Webb, G. D. 
 Summers, John Young, M. E. Arkills, L. L. Gage, 
 Alvah Sabin, S. Cornelius, R. A. Shattuck, G. H. 
 Brown, A. C. Keene, F. M. Williams. There are 
 now 105 enrolled in list of members. 
 
 The Evangelical Lutheran Salem Church, of Syca- 
 more, was organized in 1870 and a house of worship 
 erected in 1872, on Charles Street. In 1873 a par- 
 sonage was erected on Somonauk Street. The pas- 
 tors have been Rev. A. Halt, who was instrumental in 
 the organization of the Church, Revs. N. Nordgren 
 and S. G. Larson, the latter the present pastor. There 
 are now 323 communicants. 
 
 SECRET AND BENEVOLENT ORGANIZATIONS. 
 
 Masons. The first lodge of Free and Accepted 
 Masons in Sycamore was Blue Lodge No. 134, 
 which received its charter Oct. 4, 1853. Its first 
 officers were, Robert Dott, W. M. ; H. H. Rowe, S. 
 W.; D. B. James, J. W. This lodge now has 112 
 members. Its present officers are, W. B. Spain, W. 
 M.; J. E. Parker, S. W. ; H. T. Lawrence, J. W. 
 The Masonic Order here is divided into three bodies : 
 First, Blue Lodge, three degrees ; second, the Chap- 
 ter, four degrees ; third, the Commandery, two orders. 
 In the order of St. John is Knights Templars. 
 
 The Commandery was chartered Oct. 24, 1865, 
 and its present membership is 123. Its officers are : 
 A. W. Sawyer, Em. Com. ; E. C. Lott, Gen. ; G. B. 
 Wiseman, Cap. Gen.; Daniel Dustin, Prelate; M. S. 
 Timmerman, S. W. ; W. B. Spain, J. W. ; Charles T. 
 Stuart, Treas. ; George B. Morris, Rec. Past Com- 
 manders : A. W. Sawyer, Dan'l Dustin, Frank Smith, 
 S. O. Vaughn, G. B. Wiseman. 
 
 Odd Fellows The Lodge of I. O. O. F. was first 
 organized in 1852. In 1861 so many of its members 
 enlisted and entered the army it was obliged to sur- 
 render its charter. It was re-organized in 1872 and 
 now has 150 members. Since 1852 it has initiated 
 307 into its Lodge. The Sycamore Lodge has furn- 
 ished one Grand Master of the State, in the person 
 of Mr. Alonzo Ellwood, who has also been Grand 
 Representative all but two years when the Lodge 
 has been running. The present officers are, A. C. 
 Sivwright, N. G. ; Philip Webber, V. G. ; A. J. 
 Thompson, R. S. ; E. M. Phelps, P. S.; John Tucker, 
 Treasurer. Its regular meetings are on Tuesday 
 nights. 
 
 Ellwood Encampment has 52 members, and meets 
 

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 on the first and third Wednesdays of each month. 
 
 The Circle, an order distinct from the I. O. O. F., 
 yet composed of its members, has a membership of 
 44 and meets on the second and fourth Fridays of 
 the month. 
 
 Potter Post, No. 12, G. A. R., was chartered July 
 14, 1874, and the Post mustered Aug. 4, of the same 
 year. The following named comprised the first offi- 
 cers : J. W. Burst, Com. ; H. W. Atwood, S. V. C. ; 
 G. M. Bell, J. V. C.; Jefferson Stark, O. D. The 
 Post was mustered and officers installed by Gen. H. 
 <^j> Milliard, Department Commander. The Post, in the 
 i r years of its existence, has had its seasons of pros- 
 perity and adversity. When organized, it was re- 
 garded as a semi-political organization, and many 
 old soldiers therefore held aloof. For some years it 
 hovered between life and death, but through the un- 
 tiring zeal of Capt. J. W. Burst, it was kept alive, and 
 to-day it is one of the strongest posts in the State, 
 with an active membership of 86. During its ex- 
 istence it has mustered 152 persons. In 1881 one 
 of its members, Capt. Burst, was elected Department 
 Commander of the State, and in 1882 he was In- 
 spector General of the United States. The present 
 officers are, A. J. Blanchard, Com. ; R. C. Brown, S. 
 V. C.; W. F. Peters, J. V. C. ; Daniel Dustin, Adj.; 
 W. U. E. Sivwright, Q. ; Dr. O. M. Bryan, Surg. 
 The past commanders are J. W. Burst, R. A. Smith, 
 W. H. Allen, William Graham, A. J. Driver and A. 
 J. Blanchard. The Post was named in honor of Dr. 
 Horace S. Potter, surgeon of the icsth regiment, 
 killed near New Hope Church, Ga. 
 
 Insurance Lodge, No. 43, I. O. M. A., was organ- 
 _ ized May 26, 1879, with 27 charter members. The 
 KR present membership of the Lodge is 24. The follow- 
 ing are the present officers : C. H. Hoyt, Pres. ; J. 
 N. Brunson, V. P. ; Walter Waterman, Treas. ; H. 
 T. Lawrence, Sec. Those who have held the posi- 
 tion of President are, G. B. Wise, F. W. Lott, H. T. 
 Lawrence, L. M. Currier, A. L. Draper and C. H. 
 Hoyt. 
 
 Sycamore Camp, No. 47, Modern Woodmen of 
 America, was organized Aug. 6, 1884, with 25 char- 
 ter members. The present officers of the Camp are, 
 Charles C. Brown, Consul; S. H. Townsend, Ad- 
 viser; C. G. Meeker, Banker; Charles C. Pond, 
 Clerk. The Camp meets the second and fourth 
 Monday evenings each month, in G. A. R. Hall. 
 The present membership is 28. 
 
 
 , 
 
 FIRE DEPARTMENT. 
 
 It was not until 1876 that Sycamore had a regu- 
 larly organized fire department. The City Council, 
 February 17, 1876, passed an ordinance providing 
 for the organization of the department, which was to 
 consist of one superintendent, one fire marshal, and 
 two volunteer companies, each to be composed of 
 twenty-two " able-bodied and respectable residents " 
 of the city. Bonds to the amount of $12,400 were 
 at once issued, the proceeds of which were applied 
 to aid the department. Ground was procured, a well 
 sunk, mains were laid, and other necessary arrange- 
 ments were made. A. W. Sawyer was the first fire 
 marshal. 
 
 The City Council has always been liberal in its ap- 
 propriations in aid of the department, and the depart- 
 ment has sought to be worthy of the confidence placed 
 in it. The fire companies have always been com- 
 posed of good men, many of them in active business. 
 At the present time there are three companies, with 
 the following named captains: No. i, John Schnit ; 
 No. 2, Theodore Weitzel : No. 3, Charles Anderson. 
 N. R. Harrington is superintendent and P. K. Jones 
 marshal. There is now three-fourths of a mile of 
 main, with ten hydrants, and the department has 
 three hose carriages, 1,500 feet of hose, and all other 
 necessary appliances for extinguishing fires. 
 
 Since its organization in 1876 there have been sev- 
 eral fires, and a number of alarms responded to by 
 the department. Among the fires have been the fol- 
 lowing: Levi Hodges' dwelling, partly destroyed; 
 Freidman's clothing store, inside and rear end of 
 building and stock totally destroyed ; S. P. Partridge's 
 dwelling, with loss of $3,000 ; Spain's tailor-shop, 
 partly destroyed, with loss of stock; Hansgrohn's 
 dwelling, with small loss ; Shrader's planing-mill, 
 total loss; Ellwood's warehouse, with loss on building 
 of $4,000 and grain $5,000. Had it not been for the 
 efficiency of the department many of these fires would 
 have extended, with large loss to the property owners. 
 
 BANKING. 
 
 The first banking business was inaugurated by 
 James S. Waterman in 1852. For some years he 
 ran the business in connection with his mercantile 
 trade, but in 1857 he turned his attention exclusively 
 to banking, continuing the same until 1864. About 
 this time steps were taken to open a national bank, 
 but were soon abandoned. 
 
 I 
 
 ^ 

 
 >E KALB COUNTY. 
 
 j 
 
 
 
 Edwin T. Hunt and John R. Hamlin commenced 
 the banking business about 1860 under the firm 
 name of Hunt & Hamlin. Early in 1861 Mr. Ham- 
 lin retired and James H. Beveridge became a part- 
 ner, and the business was continued under the firm 
 name of E. T. Hunt & Co. After operating about 
 two years the firm organized under the general bank- 
 ing law as a bank of issue. James H. Beveridge was 
 President ; Wm. J. Hunt, Vice-President ; Edwin T. 
 Hunt, Cashier. The bank suspended business in 
 1866. 
 
 Early in 1867 Daniel Pierce, Moses Dean and R. 
 L. Divine formed a company under the firm name of 
 Pierce, Dean & Co., bought the building aud fixtures 
 used by the Bank of Sycamore, and commenced the 
 banking business, with Emmett Clements as cashier. 
 At the expiration of four years Mr. Divine withdrew, 
 and the business was continued by Pierce & Dean 
 until March, 1883, when Mr. Dean withdrew, the 
 business being transferred to Daniel Pierce & Co. 
 The bank has always been regarded as a substantial 
 one, each of the partners being wealthy, and person- 
 ally responsible for all of the liabilities of the con- 
 cern. 
 
 On withdrawing from the firm of Pierce, Dean & 
 Co., R. L. Divine immediately formed a partnership 
 with C. O. Boynton, and under the firm name of 
 Divine & Boynton opened another banking house, 
 erecting the building now used by the Sycamore 
 National Bank for that purpose. Mr. Boynton some 
 time afterwards withdrawing, the business was con- 
 tinued by R. L. Divine & Co. till his death in 1883. 
 
 The Sycamore National Bank was organized in 
 1871, its charter bearing date November n of that 
 year. The capital stock was $50,000. J. S. Water- 
 man was elected President, H. H. Mason Vice-Pres- 
 ident and P. M. Alden Cashier. The first Directors 
 were J. S. Waterman, H. H. Mason, C. W. Marsh, 
 C. H. Cowper and P. M. Alden. Mr. Waterman con- 
 tinued to act as President until his death in July, 
 1883, when E. F. Dutton was elected, and continues 
 to serve as such. Mr. Alden has been the only 
 cashier. Its present directors are E. F. Dutton, P. 
 M. Alden, I. N. Perry, J. P. Van Voorhis and Albert 
 Sawyer. The business was conducted in the Water- 
 man Block until January i, 1884, when the bank was 
 removed to its present location, the building formerly 
 used by R. L. Divine & Co. The bank has had a 
 
 /^yVpr-TN/a >mj5BgX.^' /-\ 
 
 . V x v ' . " 
 
 very successful career, and, in addition to being a 
 safe depository, has been profitable to its stock- 
 holders. At present there is $33,000 surplus and 
 undivided profits. 
 
 MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 
 
 Marsh Binder Manufacturing Company. Syca- 
 more has long been noted for its manufactories, and 
 among those none have a wider reputation than that 
 of the Marsh Binder Manufacturing Company, 
 originally the, Marsh Harvester Manufacturing Com- 
 pany. Aug. 17, 1858, while residing as farmers in 
 Shabbona Township, C. W. and W. W. Marsh ob- 
 tained a patent for an entirely new method of har- 
 vesting by machinery. Their first machine was 
 substantially the same as all harvesters made to this 
 day. From the time the Marsh Brothers built their 
 first machine in 1858 to 1871, no other harvester was 
 put upon the market, but thousands of their ma- 
 chines were manufactured and sold by them and 
 their associates, beginning in a small way in a little 
 shop on their farm, then founding the Piano shops 
 and thereafter the extensive shops in Sycamore, 
 which latter were established in 1869. It can be 
 said without fear of contradiction that C. W. and W. 
 W. Marsh were the inventors of harvesters. After 
 the success of the harvesters had been secured, in- 
 ventors began to turn their attention to the manu- 
 facture of self-binders. 
 
 In the year 1870 Charles Whitney and his brother, 
 John H., built two original and complete machines 
 for cutting and automatically binding grain with wire 
 at the Sycamore Marsh Harvester Company's works. 
 These worked very well and were being perfected 
 from year to year, but the lingering sickness and 
 death finally of John H. Whitney interrupted and 
 for a time put a stop to further progress in this 
 direction. Meanwhile Charles Whitney had con- 
 ceived a plan for a very simple platform binder, and 
 in February, 1878, he made arrangements with C. 
 W. and W. W. Marsh for building and perfecting the 
 same. Their first machine was used in the harvest 
 following. In 1879 considerable further advance 
 had been made and several machines were put out 
 with general satisfaction. In 1880 about 40 of them 
 were introduced, but all these were wire binders, and 
 meantime it had been demonstrated that twine was 
 better material and cheaper than wire for the pur- 
 pose ; hence it became necessary to throw aside the 
 
 

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 
 
 & 
 
 
 
 wire-binding machines which had taken several years 
 of hard study and work, besides a large outlay of 
 money to develop and perfect. The new circum- 
 stances were met promptly and vigorously and oper- 
 ations upon a new twine binder were immediately 
 begun. It was completed and tested, and from it 
 10 more made in time for the harvest of 1881. From 
 the first acre cut, the success of the machine was 
 assured. It gave such extraordinary promise that 
 when its proprietors proposed to organize a company 
 for its manufacture, $300,000 of capital stock was 
 subscribed in a few days. The new company, en- 
 titled the Marsh Binder Manufacturing Company, 
 bought the works of the Sycamore Marsh Harvester 
 Manufacturing Company, and immediately began to 
 manufacture the new binder in quantity for the gen- 
 eral trade. 
 
 The R. Ellwood Manufacturing Company was or- 
 ganized in 1876, with the Hon. Reuben Ellwood at 
 its head and general manager. The capital stock of 
 the company was $25,000, and the business of that 
 year was confined to the manufacture of the Ellwood 
 Riding Cultivator, of which 600 were made. At the 
 close of the year i88r, owing to the rapidly increas- 
 ing demand for the goods made by this company, the 
 capital stock was again increased to $i n,ooo. 
 
 The buildings are large and handsomely arranged 
 to expedite the work, erected with the recent addi- 
 tions, at an expense of $40,000, and with facilities of 
 turning out 50 complete cultivators every day, in 
 addition to the other goods. 
 
 The sales of the riding cultivators, sulky plows, 
 harrows and dumping rakes have largely increased, 
 and these, together with the line of hardware goods, 
 such as barn-door hinges, track stay rollers, barrel 
 cases, churns, horse-powers, etc., etc., have estab- 
 lished a reputation for the firm that is a sufficient 
 guarantee of the quality of their goods. 
 
 The Sycamore Preserve Works is one of the benef- 
 icent industrial establishments of the city, giving em- 
 ployment during the active season of work to a large 
 force of men, women and children. It has been in 
 active operation since 1881, and the results have 
 been gratifying to those financially interested and to 
 the people of the place generally. The number of 
 cases of goods put up in 1884 were as follows: 10,- 
 ooo of corn, 7,000 of tomatoes, 1,500 of pumpkins, 
 800 of squash, i ,000 of peas, 1,000 of beans, and 300 
 of apples; making in all something over 500,000 
 
 
 cans. The establishment is under the active 
 agement of A. F. Mason, a man of large experience 
 and thoroughly competent in every respect. The 
 original stockholders were R. Ellwood, J. H. Rogers, 
 D. A. Syme and William Byers. Mr. Mason has 
 now an interest in the works, also George and Will- 
 iam Rogers. The company is a strong one financially. 
 
 The Sycamore Soap Factory is also one of the lead- 
 ing industries of the place. The present proprietor 
 is E. B. Shurtleff. A superior quality of laundry soap 
 is manufactured. 
 
 The Helmet Paint Manufactory is doing an excel- 
 lent business. It has been in operation some years. 
 
 The Tuerk Hydraulic Power C0. commenced busi- 
 ness in this city in 1883, removing here from Chi- 
 cago. A joint-stock company was formed, with a cap- 
 ital stock of $60,000. The company manufacture 
 the Tuerk Water Motor, one of the most useful in- 
 ventions of the day. W. W. Marsh is superintend- 
 ent of the works. 
 
 Flax Mills Loomis & Luther are proprietors of 
 the flax mills. But little flax now being raised in 
 this vicinity, the mill is not run on full time. Reuben 
 Ellwood was the pioneer in this branch of business. 
 Dr. Bryan and Chauncey Ellwood were also inter- 
 ested in the work for a time after the close of the 
 war. 
 
 The Sycamore Roller Flour Mills do a fine busi- 
 ness. The mill was erected in 1854, by A. S. Cox 
 and Mr. Powers, and known as the Citizens' Mill. 
 It contained two run of buhrs. In the spring of 1859 
 Powers sold his interest to Cox, who subsequently 
 sold to John Black and Charles T. Pierce a one-third 
 interest each. In 1863 Ralph Wyman bought out 
 the interest of Mr. Pierce, and in the same year Wil- 
 liam C. Black bought out Cox. The mill, in the 
 meantime, had been improved and one run of buhrs 
 added. John C. S. and William C. Black were each 
 interested in the mill during the succeeding 20 years. 
 In 1882 John Black bought the interest of William 
 C. Black and also that of the Wyman heirs, and is 
 now the sole proprietor of the mill. In 1883 he com- 
 menced its improvement, enlarging it to a dimension 
 of 48x52 feet, with engine-room attached. The 
 mill now has four run of buhrs, nine sets of rollers, 
 and all modern machinery for making first-class flour. 
 The capacity is 100 barrels per day. Mr. Black has 
 also a roller for making buckwheat flour equal to the 
 New York make. 
 
 C 
 
 
 I
 
 
 
 . 
 
 HE enterprising city of De Kalb furnishes 
 an excellent field for the pen of the histo- 
 rian. From a mere hamlet early in the 
 " fifties," it has grown to a bustling, thriving 
 city of about 3,000 inhabitants, and is known 
 far and wide as the " Barb City," a name given 
 it from the fact that it is the great depot for the man- 
 ufacture of barb wire, which is the leading industry 
 of the place. 
 
 In 1836, Russell Huntley made claim to a large 
 tract of land in this vicinity, including a part of the 
 site of the city. The selection was made with a view 
 of locating here a town, which he had ardent hopes 
 would occupy a leading position among the many 
 which were springing up in the West. He erected 
 upon his claim a large log house, which was used for 
 many years and was known as Huntley 's tavern. 
 Here the weary traveler found rest and Huntley 
 dreamed of the future that was in store for him. 
 
 The tavern was all alone in its glory for many 
 years. It was not until 1849 that any further steps 
 were taken to locate here a village. At that time 
 John M. Goodell and Dr. Ruby started a small store 
 on the north side of what is now Main Street, near 
 First Street. Their stock was of a miscellaneous 
 character, including " wet groceries," for which there 
 seemed to be a demand, as a preventive to chills and 
 snake bites. In 1850 Ruby sold his interest to his 
 partner, and having erected a house upon the oppo- 
 site side of the street he opened another store for the 
 
 sale of groceries and drugs. In 1853 he purchased 
 the stock of Mr. Goodell and ran both stores. 
 
 The next addition to the prospective village was 
 the erection of a shop and its occupation by P. W. 
 T. Vaughan, the '' village blacksmith." This was 
 in 1850, and the shop was located on the site of the 
 Glidden House, northeast corner of Main and Sec- 
 ond Streets. 
 
 In 1852 Cartwriglit & Hayden opened a stock of 
 general merchandise ; and, now having three stores, 
 a tavern and a blacksmith shop, the village of Buena 
 Vista, as it was then called, began to put on airs. A 
 village was platted about this time, but never put 
 upon record. When the survey was made by the 
 railroad company in 1851, Dr. Ruby took the census 
 of the village and found 29 persons, old and young. 
 
 Before the location here of any mercantile inter- 
 ests, a postoffice had been established, with Russell 
 Huntley as Postmaster. The office was supposed to 
 be at his tavern, but the old settlers say it was kept 
 either in his hat or pocket handkerchief, and was 
 what might be termed a traveling office, which was 
 very convenient to those receiving mail at Buena 
 Vista. Russell Huntley continued to act as post- 
 master for some years, when Jackson Hiland received 
 the appointment and the office was removed to Ruby 
 &' Hiland's store, where it remained some years. Mr. 
 Hiland having disposed of his interest in the store, 
 retired from business, leaving the office in charge of 
 Dr. Ruby, whom he had made deputy. The doctor 

 
 
 
 
 being a strong Free-soil man, it was displeasing to 
 the Democrats who were then in power ; therefore 
 Mr. Hiland was removed and the commission given 
 to J. W. Small. This was about 1858. On the ad- 
 vent of the Republican party, Hiram Ellwood was 
 appointed, and held the office some years. His suc- 
 cessor was Matilda Sickles, the widow of a soldier in 
 the War of the Rebellion. Mrs. Sickles served un- 
 til 1873, when Lucien H. Post was appointed. Mr. 
 Post served until 1883, when he resigned and A. S. 
 Jackson was appointed. 
 
 In 1850 a small house was erected on what is now 
 block 4, of the city in which Jonathan Stone taught 
 a term of school in the winter of 1850-1, at a salary 
 of$i6 per month, teaching alternately five and six 
 days per week. This was the beginning of the 
 educational history of De Kalb. The salary of the 
 teacher was raised by subscription. 
 
 When the village of De Kalb was platted steps 
 were at once taken for the erection of a better school 
 building. A small tax was levied and the house now 
 used by the Congregationalists as a church edifice 
 was erected. There was not money enough raised to 
 complete the building, so a couple of dances were 
 held in the house to secure the remainder of the 
 sum required. Thus it was dedicated to the cause 
 of education. Timothy J. Lyon was the first teacher 
 in this house. The village increasing largely in 
 numbers, this building soon became too small to ac- 
 commodate the attendance; so in 1856 it was sold to 
 George Wood and others for the use of the Con- 
 gregational society, and a third school building was 
 erected near the present Catholic church. It was a 
 two-story frame structure, 24x42 feet in size. By 
 the end of four years this also became too small to 
 accommodate the number desiring admission into the 
 school, and it was therefore sold, T. C. Needham 
 becoming the owner and using it as a dwelling-house. 
 
 In 1860 the present fine brick school building was 
 erected on the corner of Third and Prospect Streets. 
 In the fall of that year it was occupied, the schools 
 then being under the supervision of Prof. Crandall. 
 For a quarter of a century this building has been 
 used for educational purposes, and many of the most 
 intelligent young men and women in De Kalb re- 
 ceived therein their first lessons of instruction and 
 graduated thereat. Not alone are they confined 
 to De Kalb, but in a number of the Western States 
 
 and Territories have there gone forth from De Kalb 
 public schools those exerting wonderful influence in 
 society. 
 
 In r884 another building was erected on the north 
 side of the railroad on Fifth Street. It is a frame 
 structure and used by the primary and intermedi- 
 ate departments. 
 
 The following named have been principal of the 
 public schools from 1862 to the present time: M. 
 Andrews, 1862; J. S. Mabie, 1863; E. L. Wells, 
 1864; T. W. Dodge, Arthur Wells, 1865; C. H. 
 Crandall, 1866-9; Ella S. Dunbar, 1870-4; S. G. 
 Haley, 1875; T. S. Demson, 1876-7; S. L. 
 Graham, 1878-80; J. L. Curts, 1881 to the present 
 time. 
 
 PLATTING THE VILLAGE. 
 
 In November, 1853, Daniel W. Lamb, County Sur- 
 veyor, at the instance of John M. and Caroline F. 
 Goodell, Russell, Lewis and Diantha Huntley, plat- 
 ted a portion of sections 22 and 23 of the town- 
 ship of De Kalb for a village, to Which was given the 
 name of De Kalb. Since that date various additions 
 have been made. 
 
 To secure the location of the railroad, Mr. Huntley 
 donated the right of way to the company and also 
 land for the depot. He also assigned an interest in 
 the town site, to Robinson, Van Nortwick and Hol- 
 land, who were largely interested in the railroad. 
 
 On the completion of the railroad, the village 
 rapidly increased in population, and continued to 
 increase until the hard times of 1857-8, which put 
 a stop to the improvement of so many towns 
 throughout the land. The war following also re- 
 traded its growth. 
 
 INCORPOR A TION. 
 
 Ill 1856 the village was incorporated under the 
 general act, and in 1861 by a special charter, which 
 made the President of the Board of Trustees a 
 member of the Board of Supervisors. This position 
 was filled by W. H. Allen, in 1861-2; Silas Tappan, 
 in 1863; Leonard Morse, in 1864; S. O. Vaughan, 
 in 1865; E. B. Gilbert, in 1866; W. H. Allen, in 
 1867-8; William H. Miller, in 1869; L. M. Mc- 
 Ewen, in 1870; W. H. Record, in 1871 ; J. S. Rus- 
 sell, in 1872; Horace Hunt, in 1873; L. M. Mc- 
 Ewen, in 1874-5-6. 
 
 On the 2oth day of February, 1877, an election 
 
 : 
 
 -"
 
 ** 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 was held to ascertain the wishes of the legal voters 
 in reference to incorporation as a city. A majority 
 of the votes being in favor of such organization the 
 first election for city officers was held on the third 
 Tuesday in April. All officers are elected for a term 
 of two years, except the Police Magistrate, who is 
 elected for four years. In the list of officers ap- 
 pended, one-half the Aldermen were elected for one 
 year in order that an equal number should be 
 elected annually thereafter. The following comprises 
 the list : 
 
 1877 Harvey E.Allen, Mayor; Benjamin Muzzy, 
 Police Magistrate ; S. O. Vaughan, City Clerk ; H. 
 W. Whittemore, City Attorney; J. D. Lott, City 
 Treasurer; Aldermen ist ward, Hiram Eddy, David 
 Barr ; 2d ward, P. G. Young, C. Carter ; 3 d ward, J. 
 A. White, J. B. Aumer. 
 
 1878 Aldermen: ist ward, E. B. Hulett; 2d 
 ward, Levi Wheeler ; 3 d ward, Martin Dodge. 
 
 1879 A. S. Jackson, Mayor; T. A. Luney, 
 Treasurer; L. M. McEwen, Attorney; S. O. Vaughan, 
 Clerk. Aldermen ist ward, E. L. Mayo; 2d ward, 
 
 C. Carter ; 3 d ward, J. M. Jenkins. 
 
 1880 Aldermen : ist ward, S. A. Tyler; 2d ward, 
 
 D. D. Brown; 3 d ward, M. Dodge. 
 
 1 88 1 J. F. Glidden, Mayor; L. M. McEwen, 
 Attorney; J. D. Lott, Treasurer; S. O. Vaughan, 
 Clerk; N. W. Thompson, Police Magistrate. Alder- 
 men ist ward, E. B. Baldwin ; 2d ward, C. Carter; 
 3d ward, J. Cheasebro. 
 
 1882 Aldermen, ist ward, S. P. Bradshaw ; 2d 
 ward. D. D. Brown; 3d ward, George Wood. 
 
 18830. D. Brown, Mayor; L. M. McEwen, 
 Attorney; T. A. Luney, Treasurer; S. O. Vaughan, 
 Clerk. Aldermen ist ward, E. B. Baldwin; zd 
 ward, C. Carter; 3d ward, S. M. Stevens. 
 
 1884 Aldermen ist ward, E. L. Mosher; 2d 
 ward, C. A. Read ; 3d ward, Horace Hunt. 
 
 The affairs of the city have generally been pru- 
 dently and economically managed, comparatively 
 little complaint being made. The average appropria- 
 tion for the expenses of the city is between $11,000 
 and $12,000 annually. For 1884-5 it was $[1,060. 
 
 FIRST AND PRESENT THINGS. 
 
 The first hotel, as already stated, was the one run 
 for so many years by Russell Huntley and which 
 formed the nucleus of the present village. It was on 
 the State roads which ran from St. Charles to Dixon, 
 
 east and west, and from Ottawa to Belvidere, north 
 and south. There was considerable travel and 
 Huntley's tavern became well-known. The house 
 was built of logs, covered with shakes, and was an 
 unpretentious structure. A part of the old Huntley 
 tavern now forms a part of the Eagle Hotel on the 
 corner of Second and Main Streets. The Eagle has 
 continued uninterruptedly for a third of a century, 
 and is now run by Hiram Jones. 
 
 The Central House, now Barb City House, on the 
 corner of Main and Fourth Streets, was the second 
 hotel in the village. It is now run by Mr. Rector. 
 When first erected it was a small building, and was 
 subsequently enlarged to its present size. 
 
 In addition to the Eagle and Central, the city has 
 now one other hotel, the Glidden House. 
 
 The Glidden is the most pretentious house in the 
 city, and is an ebject of pride among its citizens. It 
 was erected in 1876 by J. F. Glidden. 
 
 Peter Johnson, a tinner, commenced business here 
 in 1852. He was the pioneer in this line of trade. 
 The business is now represented by J. M. Rodman 
 & Bro., John Dunn, William Clifford, Eber Lake. 
 
 John Smith and Peter Wagner commenced the fur- 
 niture business in 1855. They were both workmen 
 at the cabinet trade. Mr. Wagner still continues the 
 business and is the only representative in that line. 
 
 Dr. Ruby started the first grocery store in 1853. 
 Many changes have since been made, the trade early 
 in 1881; being represented by Olson & Wilder, Horan 
 & Henaughan, Calvin Shurtleff, Reed & De Long, 
 Roberts & Tyler, John H. Lewis, John Cheasebro, 
 Frank Flusch. 
 
 In 1858 John R. Hamlin and E. T. Hunt com- 
 menced the banking business in this place, being the 
 pioneers in this line of business. Some time after- 
 ward Mr. Hamlin disposed of his interest to Dr. 
 Rufus Hopkins, the firm assuming the name of Hop- 
 kins, Hunt & Co. By a subsequent change E. P. 
 Young became a partner, Mr. Hunt retiring. The 
 firm name was R. Hopkins & Co. This partnership 
 continued until the death of Dr. Hopkins, in 1874. 
 Lott & Baird then commenced a general banking 
 business and continued the same until January, 1881, 
 when Mr. Baird retired. Mr. Luney then became 
 partner and the firm name of J. D. Lott & Co. was 
 adopted. The partnership continued until May, 

 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 i882, when it was dissolved and the De Kalb Na- 
 tional Bank was founded with a paid up capital of 
 $50,000. H. P. Taylor was chosen president ; T. A. 
 Luney, cashier. The firm of Lott & Baird erected 
 the present bank building in 1876. The De Kalb 
 National Bank is ranked among the sound institu- 
 tions of the county. The officers for 1885 are J. D. 
 Lott, Pres.; T. A. Luney, cashier. The directors 
 were J. D. Lott, P. G. Young, Jacob Haish, Martin 
 Dodge and J. F. Glidden. 
 
 WATER WORKS. 
 
 In 1874 the city commenced the erection of water 
 works, expending in the beginning about $20,000. 
 Additions were made from time to time, new wells 
 sunk, and other improvements entered into, until the 
 expenditure has reached the sum of $45,000. Three 
 wells have been sunk, to the depth of 2,400, 1,000 
 and 827 feet respectively. The two latter only are 
 now used. A 4o-horse power steam engine is used 
 for pumping the water. The city has now three 
 /"S miles of main, extending through all the busi- 
 3 ness portions of the city and reaching many private 
 xx residences. There are 18 double hydrants. About 
 i 100 subscribers are now served with water, private 
 ? families paying an annual tax of $6, while livery 
 stables are required to pay $30. The Glidden House 
 pays $50 per year. 
 
 FIRE DEPARTMENT. 
 
 The first steps taken toward the organization of a 
 fire department was in 1870, when a hook and lad- 
 der company was organized. In 1874 a hose com- 
 pany was organized, and in 1884 the second com- 
 pany was formed. The department has now two 
 hose carts, with 1,000 feet of hose, and is well sup- 
 plied with appliances for the extinguishment of fire. 
 W. H. Miller is the present fire marshal; James 
 Hulser, captain of the hook and ladder company: J. 
 R. Waldron, captain of the hose company. 
 RELIGIOUS. 
 
 The first religious services within the present lim- 
 its of the city of De Kalb were probably held at the 
 house of Dr. Ruby, in 1850. On the completion of 
 the school-house soon afterward, services were held 
 therein, and a Sabbath-school was established, con- 
 ducted by J. Willard Glidden and Dr. Ruby, with 
 Miss Earl as one of the teachers. There are now 
 eight Church organizations in the city. 
 
 Methodist Episcopal Church. The first meetings 
 of those holding the views of the Methodist Episco- 
 pal Church were held in the house of Dr. Basil Ruby 
 in the year 1850. The preacher was from Sycamore 
 and came here on the invitation of Dr. Ruby. About 
 1852 a class was organized in the log house of Rev. 
 Brown. Dr. Basil Ruby and wife and George Har- 
 rison and wife were among the number. The min- 
 ister led the class. Meetings were held once in two 
 weeks for a time. In 1855 a small frame building 
 was erected, but the class increased in numbers and 
 in 1856 that church was sold to the Adventists and 
 a larger house was built, which was in use until 1879, 
 when the present house was built. It is a fine brick 
 structure, costing $10,000. There is now a member- 
 ship of 230. The trustees are : Andrew Bradt, Ab- 
 ner Wood, Morris Willey, Daniel B. Lattin, Calvin 
 Shurtleff, William Barr, C. H. Salisbury, E. O. Wood, 
 Thomas Dodge. Stewards C. Shurtleff, S. W. Pat- 
 ten, C. H. Salisbury, M. D. Shipman, J. O. Olsen, J. 
 
 E. Atwood, M. Hoyt. Class-leaders J. L. Curts, 
 C. Shurtleff, Thomas Piper. 
 
 The Congregational Church was organized Dec. 2, 
 1854, by Rev. H. N. Norton, with Michael Flynn, 
 Hannah Flynn, Joseph Hiland, Hannah Hiland, 
 Sarah Hopkins, Almira Simonds, George Flynn and 
 Olivia Flynn comprising its original membership. 
 The first officers were, Lucius .Wood, Deacon and 
 Clerk; Sidney H. Wright, Deacon. The present 
 church edifice was purchased from the school dis- 
 trict in 1856. Among those who have served the 
 Church either as pastor or supply have been 
 Revs. R. C. Bristol, F. L. Fuller, J. D. Parker, 
 S. P. Putnam, Mr. Buss, L. P. Atwood, John 
 Bennett, John Bradshaw, A. P. Peake, S. I. McKee, 
 
 F. D. Rood and J. P. Hutchinson. The latter be- 
 gan his pastorate Oct. 19, 1884. The Clvirch has 
 now a membership of 72, and is looking forward to 
 the time when it shall occupy a new house of wor- 
 ship, better adapted to their wants and to the 
 flourishing city in which it is located. 
 
 The Baptist Church was probably organized in 1854. 
 Unfortunately, the early records are lost, and the first 
 members have either died or removed from the place; 
 therefore it is difficult to ohtain facts. Elders King, 
 Estey and Moxom were among the earliest to minis- 
 ter to the spiritual welfare of the Church, though the 
 first named never served as a regular pastor. In 
 
 v 
 
 : 
 
 :
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 j 
 
 r864 Rev. B. S. Williams was with the Church. He 
 was succeeded by Revs. John Couch, Mr. Freeman, 
 Mr. Fish, James M. Berry, L. H. Holt, F. W. Foster 
 and H. A. Delano. A house of worship was erected 
 by the Church within four or five years after the 
 platting of the village, which continued to be used 
 till the fall of 1884. As this work goes to press a 
 new and handsomer church edifice is being erected. 
 Present membership, 78. 
 
 The Adventist Church was organized in 1857 at 
 the Methodist Church building, by Rev. McCulloch. 
 The membership at first was small. Among the 
 first members were George Houghton and wife and 
 John Bennett. In 1861 they erected the present 
 church building. 
 
 The Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church was 
 organized in 1859. The first meetings were held in 
 the old school-house in 1858. Rev. E. Carlson was 
 the first preacher and organized the Church. The 
 congregation met for worship in the old school-nouse 
 and elsewhere until 1861, when a frame church was 
 built, at a cost of $1,600. Some years later, a par- 
 sonage was built on the lot adjoining the church. 
 There are now about 340 communicants. The 
 deacons are F. C. Colson, E. Anderson, Peter Lind- 
 berg, J. A. Backstrom, A. Anderson and F. Berg- 
 quist. The present pastor is Rev. C. J. Malmberg. 
 
 The Episcopal Church was organized in 1875. 
 Meetings of this denomination were held at intervals 
 from an early day, but no organization was effected 
 until the date mentioned, when Rev. W. E. Toll, of 
 Sycamore, organized a mission society. Among the 
 members joining at that time were Mr. and Mrs. T. 
 N. Conant, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Johnson, Dr. P. I. 
 Cromwell, Mrs. J. E. Atwood. Mrs. Helen Winship, 
 Mrs. M. A. Davy and Mrs. Rufus Chandler. This 
 society was organized and met for worship for a time 
 in the Congregational chapel; then erected their 
 present church building on Second Street. The 
 society is small but flourishing and out of debt. Rev. 
 J. H. Edwards is the present pastor ; Alfred John- 
 son, warden ; Dr. P. I. Cromwell, secretary and 
 treasurer. 
 
 7 he Swedish Evangelical Mission Chtirch was or- 
 ganized in 1883, and a frame building was erected 
 the same year as a house of worship. Rev. Christ- 
 enson was the first preacher. Rev. Gustavson is 
 the present pastor. Charles Aspengren is the oniy 
 deacon. 
 
 SOCIETIES. 
 
 DeKalb Lodge, -No. 144, A. F. & A. M., was or- 
 ganized under dispensation July 13, 1854, with T. C. 
 Wetmore, W. M.; E. B. Gilbert, S. W.; J. H. Burg- 
 hardt, J. W. A charter was granted October 3, 
 1854. The officers under dispensation were con- 
 tinued under charter. T. C. Wetmore was the first 
 Master, and W. F. Pierce fills that position at pres- 
 ent. The lodge is in a flourishing condition, with a 
 membership of 86, meeting the first and third Mon- 
 day of each month. J. Dunn is the present Secre- 
 tary. 
 
 A dispensation was granted for the organization of 
 a Chapter of R. A. M. October 24, 1858, with S. O. 
 Vaughan, H. P.; F. J. Helmer, King; J. R. Hamlin, 
 Scribe. A charter was granted by the G. R. A. 
 Chapter Octobers, 1859. The Chapter has flourished 
 from the beginning, and now has a membership of 
 79. It was honored by the selection of one of its 
 members S. O. Vaughan in 1880 for the position 
 of Grand High Priest of the Grand R. A. C. of Illi- 
 nois. E. C. Lott is the present High Priest. The 
 regular meetings are on the first and third Fridays of 
 each month. J. Dunn is the present Secretary. 
 
 DeKalb Lodge, No. 155, I. O. O. F., was organized 
 in 1853. Among the charter members were Clark 
 L. Barber, Smith Baldwin, Rufus Hopkins, Gideon 
 Wolcot. The present officers are Peter Larson, N. 
 G.; Alonzo Cheney, V. G.; Eugene Knappenberger, 
 Sec.; N. Goodsell, Treas. There are 54 members 
 in good standing. The lodge meets every Monday 
 evening in their lodge-room in Haish's block. 
 
 Merritt Simonds Post, G. A. R., was organized in 
 1883 with 22 charter members. There are now 31 
 members, with G. H. Curler, Com.; D. W. Tyrrell 
 S. V. C.; M. V. Wilder, J. V. C.; B. Snow, Adj. The 
 Post meets once in two weeks. 
 
 CEMETERIES. 
 
 The " city of the dead," where the loved ones are 
 laid away to rest, has always been a place of interest 
 to the fair sex. Women were first at the tomb of the 
 crucified Savior, and her tears have hallowed the 
 ground wherever mankind have been interred. Death 
 comes to all, and provisions should be made for the 
 disposal of the remains of those whose spirits have 
 been called away to other worlds. The ladies of De 
 Kalb realized this fact, and on the 9th day of Sep- 
 tember, 1854, met 'and organized the De Kalb Cen- 
 

 
 )Vg@A 
 
 ^x 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 ^ ter Sewing Society, having for its object the procur- 
 $ ing of means for the purchase and care of grounds 
 * for burial purposes. At their first meeting they 
 elected Mrs. S. G. Nichols, President ; Mrs. Susan 
 ^f Flynn, Secretary; Mrs. O. C. Flynn, Treasurer ; Mrs. 
 Cynthia Hiatt and Miss Harriet Earl, Directors. 
 About four and a half acres of ground were purchased 
 in the southeast part of the city, and provisions made 
 for its care. The first interment therein were the re- 
 mains of Mrs. Norris Sweet. After the lapse of ten 
 years it became evident that more ground must be 
 ^Vp secured, and being unable to obtain any land ad- 
 joining, another location was determined on. In 
 i865,"'having accumulated money enough for the 
 purpose, five acres of land were purchased north of 
 the city and platted for a second cemetery. With 
 the exception 'of a. short period of time, but long 
 enough to run the society into debt, the ladies have 
 had entire charge of the two cemeteries. Their 
 f management has been excellent, having, in January, 
 $5, as accumulations from the sale of lots and from 
 * mites contributed from time to time, a surplus of 
 *i over $600, which has been loaned on interest. In 
 i 1 88 1 the society organized, under the State laws, as 
 the De Kalb Cemetery Association. Its present offi- 
 , cers are Mrs. Charles G. Bodman, President; Mrs. 
 , Burt, Vice-President ; Mrs. R. H. Roberts, Secretary ; 
 Mrs. H. H. Wagner, Treasurer ; Mrs. J. F. Glidden, 
 Mrs. D. D. Brown, Mrs. M. A. Randall, Directors. 
 For some years after the organization of the society 
 it met once in two weeks, engaged in sewing and 
 preparing articles for sale, and held, now and then, 
 , a fair for their disposal. Of late they meet for a so- 
 , ciable, having a picnic dinner, each member paying a 
 ' fee of ten cents. Like the one who wept at the feet 
 ' of Jesus, and anointed him with costly ointment, it 
 will be written of these ladies of De Kalb : " They 
 have done what they could." 
 
 MANUFACTORIES. 
 
 7. L. Ellwood & Co. The citizens of De Kalb 
 i have a just pride in their manufactories, the largest 
 of which is that of I. L. Ellwood & Co., for the manu- 
 facture of the Glidden Barb Wire. At the present 
 everything seems perfect about the works, but in the 
 beginning the process of manufacture was crude in 
 the extreme. The barbs were cut by hand, and first 
 a pair of flyers, and afterwards the parts of an old 
 DfTee mill were extemporized as a machine for coil- 
 j 
 
 ing them about the wire. When a piece 20 or 30 
 feet long had been barbed, a smooth wire was placed 
 beside it and one pair of ends fastened to a tree, and 
 the others attached to the axle of a grindstone, 
 which by turning with a crank gave it the twist. 
 About this time, Mr. I. L. Ellwood became associated 
 with Mr. Glidden and began the manufacture and 
 introduction of the fence. The " factory " was moved 
 from the farm over to the village, and here the im- 
 provement was made of using horse-power for doing 
 the twisting, the barbs being slipped OB to one end 
 of the wire and then placed the proper distance apart 
 by hand. By this method 100 pounds per day was 
 a good average to the workman. 
 
 The first year the sales of barb wire were meager 
 and confined to the vicinity of De Kalb, where the 
 proprietors would go out themselves and put up 
 fence, guaranteeing satisfaction or no pay. 
 
 In 1875 the company built the first part of the old 
 brick shop, put in a small steam engine, which was 
 made to do the twisting, and Mr. Glidden and P. W. 
 C. Vaughan obtained a patent for some devices for 
 barbing and spooling, that were used for some time 
 and proved an efficient aid to the workmen. 
 
 In 1876 the Washburn & Moen Manufacturing 
 Company, of Worcester, Mass., noticing an increas- 
 ing demand for a size of wire not heretofore called for 
 to any great extent, began to investigate the cause of 
 it, and subsequently purchased Mr. Glidden's half 
 interest in the patents and business, and formed the 
 present co-partnership with Mr. Ellwood. The busi- 
 ness rapidly increased and soon the old shop became 
 too small, so in 1881 new buildings were erected. 
 The main building is now 600 feet long by 60 feet in 
 width, and two stories high. This building is occu- 
 pied by 202 automatic machines for making their 
 " Glidden " barb wire. These machines manufacture 
 finished fencing at the rate of a car-load an hour, 
 which is at the rate of a mile a minute of complete 
 fencing. This would aggregate in one year 3,130 
 cars of 20,000 pounds each, or 62,600,000 pounds of 
 fencing, which would extend in a straight line 187,- 
 800 miles, o'r enough to encircle the earth seven and 
 one half times. The number of men employed by 
 this firm varies from 200 to 400, according to their 
 necessities and the season. 
 
 Jacob Haish. The celebrated " S " barb 
 manufactured by Jacob Haish, the inventor and 
 
 & *^
 
 
 > 
 
 
 , 
 
 ' 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 patentee. Early in 1874 Mr. Haish began the 
 manufacture in a small way, and has increased his 
 works from time to time until he has one of the larg- 
 est manufactories in the country, with a capacity of 
 50 tons or more per day. In 1881 a building 300 
 feet in length and too feet in width was erected, to 
 which additions have since been made. One hun- 
 dred men are now employed. There are 75 machines 
 in the building. 
 
 The Superior Barbed- Wire Company was organ- 
 ized in 1880. President, Reuben Ellwood; Directors, 
 Reuben Ellwood, J. B. Lott, I. L. Ellwood, J. F. 
 Glidden, and Hiram Ellwood. The latter was 
 elected secretary and general manager. The com- 
 pany purchased of I. L. Ellwood the building they 
 now occupy. It is a brick building 48 x 144 feet, two 
 stories in height, with 35 machines, having a capacity 
 of 20 tons of wire per day. Eighty men are employed. 
 
 Cigars. There are three cigar manufactories 
 those of P. S. Trumbauer, Frederick Bohe and J. 
 Crawford. 
 
 Gloves. John Davy and I. Robinson are manu- 
 facturers of gloves. 
 
 Bradt & Shipman are wholesale dealers in gloves. 
 The business was established by Mr. Bradt in 1857. 
 
 The Samson Novelty Works, owned by Bradt & 
 Shipman is located in the east part of the city. Here 
 is manufactured the Samson barn-door hanger and 
 the Samson wire-stretcher. They also do a general 
 repairing business. Their foundry and machine shop 
 
 is supplied with the latest improved machinery, and 
 they employ none but skilled mechanics. They em- 
 ploy about 15 hands. 
 
 The De Kalb Creamery was established in 1882 
 by Gurler Brothers Henry B. and George H. Gurler. 
 They erected a frame building 32 x7o, two stories in 
 height, with boiler room 16 x 24 and an ice-house 20 
 x 40. The building was furnished with all the ma- 
 chinery in use at that time. This building was 
 burned Sept. 25, 1884. The present building was 
 erected and ready for work the 26th of October fol- 
 lowing. The main building is the same size as the 
 one burned, while the ice-room and boiler-house are 
 larger. In 1883 they sent out teams to gather cream, 
 and the products of the factory for that year were 
 $52,422. In 1884 the cream gathered was taken to 
 their other creameries, and thus the total receipts 
 were not so great, but amounted to $49,358. They 
 have all machinery, including five centrifugal cream 
 separators. The Gurler Brothers rented the South 
 Grove Creamery in 1884; the products there amounted 
 to $7,178. In 1884 they bought the Malta Creamery. 
 The products there, in 1884, amounted to $13,367. 
 
 SUPERVISORS. 
 
 The following named have served the village and 
 city as members of the Board of Supervisors : 
 
 W. H. Allen 186! 
 
 K. (). Vaughan. . 
 
 K. I!. Gilbert 
 
 William C. Tappan. 
 
 
 '
 
 
 N October, 1853, the Chicago, Burlington & 
 Quincy Railroad Company completed its 
 road through this place. At that time 
 Almon Gage, Jacob M. Hall, Joseph Weeks, 
 Wm. Davis, Harvey Joles and the Grover 
 estate were the owners of all the land upon 
 which the city is now located. The railroad com- 
 pany did not design to locate a station at this point, 
 having decided upon one at what is now the vil- 
 lage of Somonauk and another at what is now the 
 village of Piano. The citizens of Newark, a village 
 lying a few miles south, were interested in having one 
 here, and, together with the citizens living in this 
 vicinity, appealed to the railroad company to estab- 
 lish it. After a few months' delay the company 
 consented to establish a flag station, stopping the 
 trains only when signaled. The business here in- 
 creasing rapidly, it yielded to the inevitable, and in 
 the fall of 1854 erected the necessary buildings for 
 the transactions of its business, and the future of 
 the village which was rapidly springing up was se- 
 cured. 
 
 The original survey of the village was made in the 
 winter of 1853-4, but for some cause, doubtless for 
 the reason the railroad company had not consented 
 to establish a regular station, it was not acknowl- 
 edged until Dec. 5, 1854, and filed Jan. i, 1855. 
 Almon Gage was the owner of the original plat, other 
 portions being additions. 
 
 When the survey was made, with the design of 
 platting, a name had not been decided upon for the 
 prospective village. It was proposed by some to 
 call it Almon, in honor of Almon Gage, but that 
 gentleman would not consent. The deed given by 
 Jacob M. Hall to the trustees of the Baptist Church 
 described the lots as being in block 3 of the village 
 
 of Almon, and was so entered upon record. A post- 
 office having been established here under the name 
 of Sandwich, it was finally determined to give that 
 name to the village, and Sandwich it was called. 
 The railroad company, however, was probably not 
 consulted with reference to the name and called the 
 station Newark Station, the village of Newark, as 
 already stated, being instrumental in securing its lo- 
 cation. By this name was it known until 1856, when 
 the railroad company again yielded to the wishes of 
 the people and adopted the name of Sandwich. 
 
 During the years from 1854 to 1857 there was a 
 regular and constant increase in the number of in- 
 habitants and in the business of the village. In the 
 second issue of the People 's Press, under date of 
 Sept. 17, 1857, a correspondent thus speaks of the 
 place as it then existed : 
 
 " Sandwich is a stirring business village. Its set- 
 tlement and growth were greatly retarded at first by 
 designing men, who slandered and misrepresented it 
 to the railroad company, so that the cars did not 
 stop here for several months after they began to run 
 on the track. Nor was it without much delay and 
 great difficulty that the company was prevailed 
 upon to construct a switch and erect buildings, al- 
 though they obtained land for such purpose at the 
 time of surveying the road. The cars began to run 
 by Sandwich about the last of October, 1853, but 
 did not stop here till the spring of 1854, and then 
 the number of cars that could be obtained for 
 freight was quite too small, the stopping irregular, 
 and the hindrances and annoyances so very great 
 and prolonged as to throw back the settlement and 
 improvements of the village at least one year. 
 
 " Besides the railroad buildings, Sandwich 
 three churches Baptist, Methodist and Congrega-
 
 tional. The Presbyterians worship in a large 
 school-room, but are preparing to build a church. 
 Each of these denominations have a Sunday-school. 
 The German Baptists have one service in the Bap- 
 tist house every alternate Sabbath. The Seceders 
 occupy the Methodist church the same proportion 
 of lime. 
 
 "A large and commodious two-story building 
 erected for an academy, and occupied as such for 
 two years, is now used for a district school, and dur- 
 ing a term of 17 weeks, just ended, 153 scholars at- 
 tended, under two teachers; besides which there is a 
 small private school. 
 
 ' The people of Sandwich and vicinity must be a 
 reading people, if we judge of them by the amount 
 of reading matter received at the postoffice. The 
 following facts were taken by the writer of this 
 article from the official documents of the office for 
 the quarter ending June 30, 1857. More than 
 4,500 newspapers, 195 pamphlets and other period- 
 icals were received. The postage on letters re- 
 ceived amounted to $i 10.67 '. postage on letters sent, 
 $130. The deputy postmaster assured the writer 
 it was not quite an average quarter. . . 
 
 "The following items will give some idea of the 
 business done in the village, and of the progress 
 made in improving it. There is one steam grist and 
 flouring mill, one iron foundry, machine shop and 
 planing mill, two lumber yards, one of which re- 
 ceived from April i, to September 3, 1857, the fol- 
 lowing: 570,000 feet of lumber, 100,000 shingles, 
 112,000 lath, 1,600 posts. The other yard received 
 about 300,000 of all kinds, from July 10 to Sept. 3, 
 1857. There are n stores, all doing a good and 
 some a heavy business, two blacksmith shops, two 
 wagon shops, one livery stable, one bakery, one hotel, 
 one jeweler, two cabinet and furniture shops, two 
 shoe shops, two merchant tailors, 20 or 30 carpen- 
 ters and joiners, most of whom have convenient 
 work shops, 16 or more masons, and four painters. 
 There are several buildings for storage, one of which 
 is large, and provided with apparatus propelled by 
 steam for elevating grain, and about 20 others in 
 course of erection." 
 
 The village continued to increase in a substantial 
 
 ray. In the year 1857, and for the three following 
 years, a census was taken. 
 
 In 1857 there were 1*07 families, with 165 males 
 -, ^.ffxTL^' /> xy: 
 
 and 126 females over 21^ and 124 males and 137 fe- 
 males under 21, a total of 552. 
 
 In 1858 there were 145 families, with 213 males 
 and 159 females over 21, and 182 males and 178 
 females under 21, a total of 732. 
 
 In 1859 there were 179 families, with 262 males 
 and 193 females over 21, and 237 males and 205 
 females under 21, a total of 897. 
 
 In 1860 there were 203 families, with 282 males 
 and 265 females over 21, and 226 males and 242 fe- 
 males under 21, a total of 1,015. 
 
 POSTOFFICE. 
 
 Some years prior to the advent of the railroad steps 
 were taken to secure the location here of a postoffice. 
 A petition was circulated, largely signed, and for- 
 warded to Hon. John Wentworth to present to the 
 Postoffice Department. In order to secure the active 
 co-operation of Mr. Wentworth, it was proposed to 
 give the office the name of Sandwich, in honor of his 
 native town in New Hampshire. The Department 
 acceded to the request, and established the office, 
 with Dr. Merriam as postmaster. While he remained 
 in the country he managed the office. Dr. Renton, 
 his successor in medical practice, was the next post- 
 master. He remained here but a short time. When 
 he left the Department ordered C. B. Rhodes, of 
 Buck Branch postoffice, to take charge of the prop- 
 erty of the office. When the railroad was completed, 
 and the Carrs had begun business here, Dr. Griswold 
 was appointed postmaster. The office was kept for 
 a time in the store of J. H. & L. H. Carr. Dr. Gris- 
 wold did not long retain the office, and was succeeded 
 by Robert Patten. The office was removed to Pat- 
 ten & Culver's store, where it remained for some 
 years. George Hollenbach was Mr. Patten's suc- 
 cessor, and was, in turn, succeeded by F. W. Part- 
 ridge. On the first call for 300,000 men to aid in 
 suppressing the Rebellion, Mr. Partridge sent in his 
 resignation, and raised a company, of which he was 
 made captain, and which became a part of the i3th 
 Infantry. Jonathan Able was his successor, and 
 served until Grant's first term, when Frank A. Munson 
 received the appointment, and served twelve years. 
 He was succeeded by G. H. Robertson, the present 
 postmaster. The office is of the third class, the 
 postmaster receiving a salary of $1,700 per year. 
 The receipts of the office amount to $450 per month 
 
 & =*^ "W 
 

 
 
 
 INCORPORATION. 
 
 On the 1 8th of February, 1860, an election was 
 held for the purpose of voting on the question of in- 
 corporation. There were cast at that election for in- 
 corporation 83 votes; against incorporation, 63 votes. 
 A majority being in favor of incorporation, an election 
 was held March 5 for town officers. The following 
 were elected: Augustus Adams, Almaron Gage, 
 George W. Culver, W. Walker, Wm. G. Morris, Trus- 
 tees ; S. B. Stinson, Clerk, W. W. Sedgwick, J. P.; 
 H. F. Winchester, Assessor; James B. Burt, Police 
 Constable. 
 
 The Board met and elected Augustus Adams Pres- 
 ident. From that time until its incorporation as a 
 city, annual elections were held. The following 
 named comprise a complete list of trustees : 
 
 1861 W. G. Morris, J. H. Carr, Almaron Gage, 
 James Woodward, G. W. Culver. 
 
 1862 G. W. Culver, W. G. Morris, Almaron 
 Gage, Washington Walker, H. A. Adams. 
 
 1873 W. L. Simmons, P. Stone, J. H. Culver, O. 
 O. Wormwood, H. L. Winchester. 
 
 1864 A. Adams, W. L. Simmons, O. S. Hendee, 
 Almaron Gage, P. Stone.* 
 
 1865 J. H. Carr, W. L. Simmons, H. A. Adams, 
 James Woodward, E. A. Kennedy. 
 
 1866 G. W. Culver, Amos Shepard, J. P. Adams, 
 M. Carpenter, R. B. Jackson. 
 
 1867 Henry F. Winchester, Valentine Vermilye, 
 James Lewis, L. S. Humiston, J. H. Culver. 
 
 1868 M. W. Sedgwick, Elijah Banta, Gus Brecher, 
 J. H. Culver, F. S. Mosher. 
 
 1869 W. W. Sedgwick, George Kleinsmid, J. H. 
 Culver, F. S. Mosher, H. A. Adams. 
 
 1870 L. R. Hills, Augustus Hammond, John 
 Woodward, Francis M. Fox, S. P. Bushnell. 
 
 1871 J. P. Adams, W. G. Morris, George Klein- 
 smid, John Woodward, A. A. Marcy. 
 
 1872 J. P. Adams, W. G. Morris, A. A. Marcy, 
 Geo. Kleinsmid, G. R. Wallace. 
 
 A petition was presented to the Board of Trustees 
 on the 7th day of October, 1872, praying the Board 
 to submit to a vote of the people whether the town 
 should be incorporated as a city under the general 
 act of the Legislature. Acting upon the petition, 
 the Board submitted the question to a vote on Tues- 
 day, November 19,1872; they also submitted to a 
 
 *Rcsi E ned, and G. I). Cochran cl.-ctud to fill vacancy. 
 
 
 vote the question of minority representation in the 
 Council. At the election there were 287 votes cast 
 on incorporation, of which 177 were for and no 
 against. For minority representation, i ; against, 
 285. 
 
 The first election for city officers was held in De- 
 cember, 1872, and the first meeting of the council 
 was held Jan. 2, 1873. The first officers were as fol- 
 lows : W. W. Sedgwick, Mayor; H. A. Adams, A. A. 
 Marcy, Henry C. and M. R. Jones, John Woodward, 
 O. S. Hendee. 
 
 The Mayors and Aldermen are each elected to 
 serve two years. The following is the list: 
 
 1873 Mayor, W. W. Sedgwick; Aldermen ist 
 ward, H. C. Jones, A. A. Marcy ; 2d ward, J. C. 
 Taylor, O. S. Hendee; 3d ward, M. R. Jones, R. M. 
 Brigham. 
 
 1874 Aldermen ist ward, H. C. Jones; 2d ward, 
 J. C. Taylor; 3 d ward, Paul W. Wallace. 
 
 1875 Mayor, R. M. Brigham; Aldermen ist 
 ward, Enos Doan; 2d ward, H. Packer; 3d ward, M. 
 V. Eames, George Kleinsmid. 
 
 1876 Aldermen ist ward, James H. Culver; 2d 
 ward, John Woodward ; 3 d ward, H. F. Winchester, 
 John Armstrong, to fill vacancy. 
 
 1877 Mayor, J. M. Hummel; Aldermen ist 
 ward, E. Doan ; 2d ward, R. D. Crofoot ; 3d ward, 
 F. A. Howe. 
 
 1878 Aldermen ist ward, Thomas Wright; 2d 
 ward, Samuel Mitten ; 3d ward, A. B. Palmer. 
 
 1879 Mayor, J. M. Humtnel; Aldermen ist 
 ward, D. K. Crofoot; 2d ward, M. V. Eames; 3d 
 ward, J. Ives. 
 
 1880 -Aldermen ist ward, Thomas Wright; 2d 
 ward, H. A. Adams ; 3 d ward, P. W. Wallace. 
 
 1881 Mayor, F. S. Mosher; Aldermen ist ward, 
 E. I. Barker ; 2d ward, Amos Shepard ; 3d ward, F. 
 Timberlake. 
 
 1882 Aldermen ist ward, Thomas Wright; 2d 
 ward, rl. A. Adams; 3d ward, A. B. Palmer; L. D. 
 Woodruff, to fill vacancy. 
 
 1883 Mayor, W. I,. Simmons; Aldermen ist 
 ward, A. L. Gilchrist; ad ward, J. Ledoyt; 3d ward, 
 L. D. Woodruff. 
 
 1884 The following is a list of all the officers 
 Mayor W. L.Simmons; Aldermen ist ward, A. L. 
 Gilchrist, H. N. Woodward; 2d ward, J. Ledoyt, 
 AO :3J5_ *Sig>J 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 '"
 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 
 . 
 
 George Kleinsmid ; ad ward, L. D. Woodruff. C. A. 
 Reed resigned and M. Dickinson elected to fill va- 
 cancy; City Clerk, S. P. Sedgwick; City Att'y, W. W. 
 Sedgwick; City Treas., W. C. Phelps; City Marshal, 
 J. N. Shatter; City Supt. of Streets, W. Leacock ; 
 Police Magistrate, W. R. Low; Board of Health, N. 
 E. Ballou, Theron Potter, Jacob Burkhart, Jr. 
 
 The issue presented to the voters has usually been 
 that of licensing saloons for the sale of alcoholic 
 Jiquors. The license party has generally been suc- 
 cessful, and there have usually been from two to four 
 licensed saloons in the place. For a number of years 
 the license fee has been $500 per year. 
 
 In 1878 the city 'erected a fine building on Rail- 
 road Street, to be used for city offices and as an 
 opera house. On the evening of Jan. 2, 1879, the 
 hall was duly dedicated. 
 
 BUSINESS INTERESTS. 
 
 The pioneer merchants of Sandwich are J. H. & 
 L. H. Carr, who commenced business here in the fall 
 of 1853, purchasing from A. Gage an old building 
 used by him as a granary and fitting it up for the 
 purpose. As stated, the railroad company refused to 
 locate a station here, so the Carrs were compelled to 
 haul their first stock from Somonauk. The stock 
 was of a miscellaneous kind, suitable to the wants of 
 a farming community. 
 
 In the summer of 1854 A. R. Patten commenced 
 the erection of a store building, in which Patten & 
 Culver opened a stock of general merchandise. 
 
 James Clark, on the completion of his building, 
 opened a stock of general merchandise. 
 
 Other dealers came in from time to time, and vari- 
 ous changes were made. In the spring of 1885 there 
 were six firms engaged in the trade of general mer- 
 chandise C. Corlinskey, Goodman & Weir, Pratt 
 Bros., Crofoot & Manchester, J. N. Culver, E. I. 
 Barker. 
 
 The first grocery store was established in the win- 
 ter of 1853-4 by James Kennard. His stock con- 
 sisted of "eatables and drinkables," the latter, it is 
 said, being the greater part of the stock. Perley 
 Stone came soon after. In connection with Benjamin 
 Latham he continued in the business for some time. 
 Burt & Treat commenced in the spring of 1857. 
 There are now six firms engaged in this line of trade 
 S. Abbey, Van Fleet & Smith, E. Thompson, N. 
 Maginnis, E. F. West, R. G. Kirtland. 
 
 George W. Culver and Robert Patten were the first 
 lumber dealers. They commenced business in the 
 summer of 1854. Within the next three years H. 
 F. Winchester, White & Potter, and M. B. Castle en- 
 gaged in the same line, though not all at one time. 
 In the spring of 1057 Alexander White sold out to 
 Hoagland & Shepard. The present dealers are E. 
 Doan, Castle & Mosher. 
 
 The pioneer tailor was George P. Hay. He came 
 from Bristol in the fall of 1854. In the summer of 
 1855 he erected a building and opened a regular 
 clothing store. Frederick Tummell was the next 
 tailor and dealer in ready-made clothing. He 
 opened his shop in 1856. D. B. Stewart com- 
 menced in the summer, and John W. Dobbin in the 
 fall, of 1857. In the spring of 1885 the following 
 named firms were in the business : M. Nathan, H. 
 Fox & Co., James Warner, C. Blomquist, M. Dick- 
 inson. 
 
 S. J. Smith, in the summer of 1 855, erected a build- 
 ing, and in November following opened the first drug 
 and bookstore. J. H. Miller & Co., A. H. Ramey, 
 T. Potter monopolized the trade in the spring of 1885. 
 Mr. Ramey was also a news dealer. E. Ledoyt was 
 also in the latter business. 
 
 Alanson Fairbanks, in the fall of 1854, sold his 
 farm in Little Rock and established the first livery 
 stable in Sandwich. I. M. Arnold, Ed. Bark, S. 
 Dickson were in the business in the spring of 1885. 
 
 David Nixon opened the first furniture store in the 
 spring of 1856. He soon after received into partner- 
 ship Jacob Burkhart, and the firm continued until 
 the fall of 1856, when they sold to John W. Dobbin, 
 who, in the spring of 1857, sold to Burkhart & Col- 
 lett. The former, in connection with his son, yet en- 
 gages in the trade. In the spring of 1857 Winans & 
 Stratton commenced in the same line of trade. In 
 the spring of 1885, in addition to Burkhart & Son, 
 the trade was represented by C. F. Walters. 
 
 E. S. Johnson was the first jeweler, beginning busi- 
 ness here in the spring of 1857. In 1885 there were 
 in the trade, in addition to Mr. Johnson, B. Wilsey, 
 Charles Tiede. 
 
 In the fall of 1855 Henry Roberts opened the first 
 permanent meat-market. There are three shops at 
 present P. W. Wallace, Stockholm & Jones, Aug. 
 West. 
 
 Buob & Streich, in the spring of 1857, opened the 
 &vs^ i
 
 - 
 
 first bakery. D. Hughes and Ed. Young are now en- 
 gaged in the business. 
 
 In the spring of 1856 Richard Bassett established 
 the first tinshop. G. L. Ismon & Co. next opened a 
 shop in connection with their hardware store, with 
 J. M. Sanders as foreman. R. S. Laird was the third 
 tinsmith. 
 
 G. L. Ismon & Co. opened the first store for the 
 exclusive sale of hardware in the spring of 1856. 
 George Kleinsmid and Winchell & Abbott are the 
 only dealers at present. 
 
 The first permanent daguerrean artist in Sand- 
 wich was M. F. Howard, in 1856. Miss A. B. Bas- 
 sett was the second, in 1857. The daguerrean 
 picture is now a thing of the past. C. E. Orr and 
 A. Satterlee are photographers, doing business here 
 at present. 
 
 J. H. & L. H. Carr bought and shipped the first 
 grain from this station in the fall of 1853. Robert 
 Patten and George W. Culver were also engaged for 
 a time in the business. In the spring of 1855 S. 
 Fuller located here and engaged in the same line. 
 Follansbee & Wormwood were next, and in the fall 
 of 1855 commenced the erection of a warehouse and 
 elevator, which they completed in the spring of 1856. 
 M. F. Howard commenced in the winter of 1856-7, 
 and W. L. Simmons in the summer of 1857. The 
 latter is still in the trade, and is the sole representa- 
 tive. 
 
 Shortly after J. H. & L. H. Carr started in busi- 
 ness, James Clark commenced the erection of a low, 
 rambling building, one part of which he used for a 
 store and the other for hotel purposes, it being the 
 first hotel in the place. He ran it for a time and was 
 succeeded by Mr. Van Olinda. It usually went by 
 the name of the Donegana House, after the latter 
 became the proprietor, and very soon ceased to exist. 
 
 In the fall of 1855 William H. Eddy erected the 
 Sandwich House, and on New Year's eve of that 
 year it was formally opened by Moses Cook, lessee. 
 Mr. Cook continued to run the house until October, 
 1857, when Jonathan Able took charge of it. Vari- 
 ous changes have been made, but in 1866 Joseph 
 Dyas purchased the house, and has since continued 
 its management. The house has a good reputation, 
 well deserved. 
 
 The Park House, by F. M. Bell, and the City Ho- 
 tel, by Mrs. Josephine Wilsey, also afford entertain- 
 ment to many guests. 
 
 Early in 1856 a company was organized for the 
 erection of a steam grist-mill. Almaron Gage do- 
 nated the ground and work was soon commenced. 
 In the fall of the year the mill was complete, and 
 set in motion by Mr. Bennett, who secured the posi- 
 tion of miller, receiving a share of the proceeds for 
 his labor. It was furnished with three run of buhrs. 
 Mackie & Bell are the present proprietors. The mill 
 is a ?tone structure, four-stories in height and has a 
 capacity of 100 barrels of flour per day. Patent 
 rollers have been introduced within the past two 
 years, and the mill is now said to be one of the best 
 in the State. 
 
 Myrlin Carpenter is the pioneer blacksmith, com- 
 mencing in the spring of 1854. He soon associated 
 with himself, Chester Wilcox, the firm of Carpenter 
 & Wilcox continuing in existence some years. The 
 representatives of this trade are now John White and 
 Erwin Bros. The wagon and carriage manufacturers 
 also do general blacksmithing. 
 
 Lansing & Williams were the first wagon-makers 
 to locate here permanently. They were here within 
 two years after the village was laid ont. G. Walter 
 and Kehl Bros, are now engaged in the trade, the 
 former doing quite an extensive business, employing 
 in busy seasons about 30 hands. The latter does a 
 good business also. 
 
 Jacob Hoffwas the first to engage in the trade of 
 shoemaking, commencing business in January, 1856. 
 Mr. Hainas came next in the spring of 1856, and in 
 the spring of 1857 G. Brecher opened a shop. The 
 present representatives of this trade are Haupt Bros, 
 and Mr. Olsen. 
 
 Thomas & Emmons established the first coal yard 
 in January, 1856. In the spring following H. F. 
 Winchester commenced the business. Cole & Treat 
 opened a yard soon after. Geo. Whitcomb, Castle 
 & Mosher, Thos. Hickey and E. Doan are the 
 present dealers. 
 
 Daniel Bishop was the first drayman. He com- 
 menced in the spring of 1856. 
 
 Among the first carpenters were A. L. Ismon, 
 John Boyd, James Byers, John W. Dobbin, John 
 Bentz, Robert Dixon, Thomas Orr, James Orr, 
 Samuel Orr, Andrew Cole, Joseph Cole, Henry 
 Stone, John H. Jones, S. L. Allen, Henry W. Amer- 
 man, Riley Handy, Jerome Handy, Benjamin Mills, 
 Frederick Carr, Charles Welch, Jacob Blitz. The
 
 
 - .. - 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 carpenters who are likewise contractors at present 
 are E, Doan, William Beattys, F. E. Griffith. 
 
 The pioneer masons were John R. Brown, Al- 
 pheus Rood, Stephen Westover, Marcus Doolittle, 
 Charles Tracy, Elijah Lester, Lorin Tracy, James 
 Gifford, Geo. Mitten, Cornelius Scouton, A. Munson. 
 F. Webber is the only contractor at present. 
 
 Hiram Severy, Walter Scott, Chas. Kinney, John 
 Sibley, Daniel Boyd and William S. Platt were among 
 the first painters. Vermilye & Clark, Mr. Champlin, 
 Norman Butterfield, John Hough, Frank Finch now 
 represent the trade. 
 
 Mrs. Jacob Hoff opened the first millinery shop in 
 the spring of 1856. Shortly after, Miss Jane Hicks 
 opened a shop. Mrs. Gillett, Mrs. J. F. Douglas, 
 Mrs. Atkins, Mrs. Butterfield, Mrs. Fonda, each 
 have shops in the spring of 1885. 
 
 The first representative of the legal profession was 
 S, B. Stinson, who opened 'an office in the summer of 
 1856. Mr. Stinson continues to reside here and is 
 in active practice. W. W. Sedgwick, J. I. Montgom- 
 ery and C. G. Faxon are also attorneys in active 
 practice. 
 
 The first representative of the medical profession 
 here was Dr. Griswold, who was here in 1854. Dr. 
 S. C. Gillett came soon after, and continued until 
 the spring of 1857, when he removed to Aurora. In 
 the summer of 1855 Dr. Charles Winslow was 
 associated with Dr. Gillett, and continued with him 
 until the spring of 1856, when he removed to Sugar 
 Grove. Dr. E. H. Lowe was next in the fall of 1855 
 In the spring of 1856, Dr. N. E. Ballou commenced 
 practicing here. In the summer following, Dr. A. 
 L. Merriam, who previously had practiced in the 
 neighborhood, returned and opened an office in the 
 village. Dr. John Lowe came in the fall of 1857. 
 V. Vermilye, N. E. Ballou, C. S. Dickson, J. C. 
 David, F. P. Stiles, Thos. Armstrong, C. L. Misick, 
 are the physicians here at present. 
 
 The dental profession is well represented by Dr. 
 V. R. David and Dr. Pomeroy. Dr. A. Hale was 
 the first dentist. He is now in Minnessota. 
 
 As the town increased in population, other 
 branches of business were opened, and in addition to 
 what has already been given as being in business 
 here in the spring of 1885, there were the following 
 lines represented by those named in connection : 
 W. G. Adams, elevator and warehouse supplies, 
 
 doing a very extensive business, many articles in 
 his line being the product of the Sandwich Man- 
 ufacturing Co. 
 
 Hall & Gilchrist, marble works. A very large 
 business is done by this firm. 
 
 J. M. Hummel, and Henning & Ross, agricultural 
 implements. 
 
 A. W. Orr, Pearl Street Green-house. 
 
 M. M. Jones, representative of the Board of Trade, 
 Chicago. 
 
 E.- Latham, boots and shoes. 
 
 William Hueske and Thos. A. Dean, harness- 
 makers. 
 
 C. Munch, tobacco store. 
 
 E. B. Marrs, restaurant. 
 
 H. C. Graves & Sons, nursery stock. 
 
 Frank Robinson, Will Dean, Ball & Co., barbers. 
 
 H. A. Prentice, billiard hall. 
 
 Sedgwick, Wallace & Dean, skating rink. 
 
 G. H. Robertson, M. B. Castle & Son, Barnes & 
 Douglas, printers. 
 
 BANKS. 
 
 M. B. Castle commenced the first banking business 
 in Sandwich in 1856. His exchange business that 
 year was small indeed. About 1859 Amos Shepard 
 was admitted to a partnership in the business, and 
 under the firm name of Castle & Shepard the busi- 
 ness was conducted for three years. Mr. Castle then 
 continued the business alone until 1866, when he 
 formed a partnership with Capt. F. S. Mosher. The 
 bank has always been known as the Sandwich Bank, 
 having its president and cashier. In 1863 J. B. 
 Castle was assistant cashier. At present M. B. 
 Castle is President and F. S. Mosher, Cashier. In 
 the 29 years in which the Sandwich Bank has been 
 in existence it can boast that its doors have never 
 been closed and the check of a depositor never 
 refused. It must be remembered that the bank has 
 passed through the hard times of '57, the war period 
 and the hard times of 1873, and therefore its record 
 is one of which any man might be proud. Mr. 
 Castle is now one of the oldest bankers of the State 
 in point of continuous service. 
 
 Culver Bros, have also been engaged in the bank- 
 ing business some years. 
 
 EDUCATIONAL. 
 
 The old red school-house is well remembered by 
 the older citizens of Sandwich. It stood upon North
 
 Main Street, between the present stores of Van Fleet 
 & Smith and J. M. Hummel. It was erected before 
 the village was surveyed or even contemplated, and 
 used until 1856, when it was sold at auction and 
 bought by Mr. Saunders. 
 
 In the winter of 1854-5 a company was organized 
 for the purpose of erecting a building and maintain- 
 ing a high school to be known as the Sandwich 
 Academy. 
 
 The school was opened in the spring of 1855 by 
 Prof. J. L. Hendrick, who continued it as a high 
 school until the spring of 1856, when the directors of 
 the public schools of this district purchased the 
 building of the share-holders and continued Prof. 
 Hendrick as teacher until the spring of 1857. In 
 the fall of 1857 the- directors graded them and 
 placed Prof. H. F. Needham in charge as principal, 
 with Miss H. D. Beardsley and Miss P. Morey as 
 assistants. During that fall Prof. Hendrick and Miss 
 A. M. Carpenter each taught a select school. 
 
 The present system of grading, which consists of 
 eight grades below the high school, was adopted in 
 1877. The schools are now in fine condition, under 
 the superintendency of Prof. C. I. Gruey, assisted by 
 James P. Houston, Fannie Schuebly, Ethel Gregory, 
 Annie Cox, Mary McKindley, Anna Brown, Anna 
 Paine, Dottie Winnie, Frances J. Stinson and Loe 
 Hall. The school property is valued at $10,000. 
 The principals since 1857 have been as follows: J. 
 L. Hendrick, H. F. Needham, Delos Williams, Mr. 
 Johnson, L. V. Wilmot, A. J. Sawyer, Harry Moore, 
 A. E. Bourne, C. I. Gruey. 
 
 RELIGIOUS. 
 
 There are now nine religious denominations repre- 
 sented in Sandwich the Baptists, Methodist Epis- 
 copals, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, German 
 Baptists, Lutheran Reformed, Lalter-Day Saints and 
 Catholics. 
 
 Methodist Episcopal. As already stated, in 1836, 
 Rev. William Royal organized a Methodist Episco- 
 pal class at the house of Simon Price, composed of 
 some half dozen sisters. This class met in private 
 houses until the winter of 1837-8, when it assembled 
 in the log school-house on section 22. At this house 
 and at the Eddy school-house a little further north, 
 it continued to meet until 1846, when the old red 
 school-house, in the present limits of Sandwich, was 
 erected. On meeting at this house the class was re- 
 
 
 inforced by a number living in the neighborhood. 
 J. M. Hall was class-leader at this time. When the 
 future of Sandwich was secured, steps were taken to 
 build a church edifice. Almon Gage donated a lot 
 for the purpose, and a neat frame church was erected, 
 and some time in 1856 duly set apart to the service 
 of Almighty God. J. M. Hall donated a lot for the 
 parsonage, which was erected the year previous. 
 The Church has had a prosperous career, though at 
 times dark clouds hovered over it and the faith of 
 some weakened. To-day it has a membership of 
 200, with about 50 probationers, the result of a re- 
 vival in the winter of 1884-5. 
 
 Baptist Church. On the 26th day of November, 
 1842, a few members of the Baptist Church con- 
 vened at the house of George Shannon, on the Som- 
 onauk, to take into consideration the organization of 
 a Church. The following named covenanted to- 
 gether for the maintenance of the worship and ordi- 
 nances of the gospel, with a view of being recognized 
 as a regular Baptist Church : Almus Pratt, George 
 Shannon, Alonzo Tolman, Joseph Oakley and Mary 
 Buckingham, the two last relating their experience 
 and receiving baptism. The next meeting was held 
 Dec. 17, when David and Betsey Matlock united. 
 On the 2ist of May, 1843, it was voted to call a 
 council to fellowship them as a Baptist Church. On 
 the 3d of June the council was held and the Church 
 was recognized as the Upper Somonauk Baptist 
 Church. In December following the name was 
 changed to Somonauk and Little Rock Baptist 
 Church. Elder Norman Warriner was called to 
 minister to the Church in June, 1843, and served it 
 till 1846, when he was succeeded by Rev. Stephen 
 G. Hunt, who remained four years. In 1851 a pro- 
 tracted meeting was held by Rev. John Higby, and 
 1 8 were baptized. This was the first protracted 
 meeting held by the Church. Mr. Higby remained 
 with the Church about one year, when Rev. John 
 Young was called. He was followed by Rev. Bela 
 Hicks, Rev. Higby again and Rev. Nelson Alvord, 
 all short pastorates. 
 
 In 1852 it was decided to build a house of worship, 
 if sufficient encouragement was given, and to locate 
 near Deacon Pratt's. But little was done until the 
 railroad was built and a station had been determined 
 on at what is now Sandwich. Two lots were obtained 
 from Jacob M. Hall, the original deed of which 
 
 
 
 : 
 
 '
 
 
 specifies lots i and 2, in block 3, of the village of 
 Almon, the name Sandwich not having been adopted 
 at the time, March i, 18:54. A neat frame edifice 
 was completed in December of the same year, at a 
 cost of $2,100, and on the 23d day of January, 1855, 
 it was dedicated, Rev. William Haigh preaching the 
 sermon. An addition was made to this house in 
 1874 at a cost of $600. With other improvements, 
 the property is now worth $3,500. 
 
 In 1857, the Pastor, Rev. William M. Bassett, was 
 assisted by Rev. C. E. Tinker, of Annawan, in a most 
 extensive revival. Fifty were baptized and became 
 members of the Baptist Church. In 1859, Rev. 
 Robert A. Clapp became pastor. He was followed 
 after two years by Rev. E. L. Hunt, who served three 
 years. Part of the time he was Chaplain in the army, 
 and the pulpit was supplied by Rev. George A. 
 Bishop The Church grew steadily, 27 being added 
 by baptism in one year, under Rev. Hunt. After a 
 short pastorate by Rev. C. E. Bailey, Rev. D. B. 
 Gunn became Pastor, in 1865, and the following year 
 30 were baptized. He was succeeded by Rev. War- 
 ren Mason, who remained two years, and was fol- 
 lowed, in 1870, by Rev. W. H. Card. During his 
 second year 32 were baptized. He remained four 
 years. The succeeding pastors have been Rev. A. 
 L. Farr, six years; Rev. W. A. Branson, one year; 
 Rev. N. A. Reed, two years. The present pastor, 
 Rev. E. W. Hicks, was called in April, 1883, and 
 began April 15. 
 
 The Church has had 18 pastors. The following 
 have been licensed to preach by the Church: Cyrus 
 F. Tolman, Gilbert E. Pratt, Henry R. Hicks, Ed- 
 ward Sedgwick. Also Rev. W. H. Eddy, ordained. 
 There have been, altogether, about 625 additions to 
 the Church ; 286 by baptism. The present member- 
 ship is 176. The officers of the Church in the spring 
 of 1885 were Rev. E. W. Hicks, Pastor; Julius Ives 
 and R. B. Jackson, Deacons ; Luther Kent, Frank 
 Kent, O. S. Hendee, Seneca Culver, Dr. C. L. Misick, 
 Trustees; R. B. Jackson, Clerk. 
 
 The First Presbyterian Church of Sandwich was 
 organized at the house of Charles Merritt, at Free- 
 land Corners, Dec. 15, 1851, with eight members. 
 Milo Tuttle was the first elder. In December, 1853, 
 the eldership was composed of Milo Tuttle, William 
 T. Morey, Henry S. Langdon. H. T. Merritt was 
 clerk of the sessions. The first regular minister was 
 
 Rev. A. Johnson, who began his labors in the fall of 
 1854, and occasionally preached until June, 1856. 
 On the 26th day of May, 1856, a meeting of the 
 Church was held at Freeland's Corners and a vote 
 was taken on removal to Sandwich. Eleven voted 
 to remove and two against. It was also voted that 
 the Church be known as the First Presbyterian 
 Church of Somonauk, which name was subsequently 
 changed to First Presbyterian Church of Sandwich. 
 At one of its first meetings in Sandwich, a com- 
 mittee was appointed to confer with a like committee 
 from the Church of South Somonauk, to secure the 
 services of a regular pastor. Rev. L. P. Crawford 
 was called and began his labors July i, 1856. On 
 the breaking out of the war, he enlisted and served 
 for a time, but subsequently returned and served 
 until the spring of 1865. In April of that year Rev. 
 G. H. Robertson began his labors for the Church, 
 continuing until the spring of 1867, when he resigned 
 to accept the pastorate of the Second Presbyterian 
 Church of Springfield. Rev. I. D. Henning was the 
 next pastor. He served but about six months, when 
 Rev. R. M. Overstreet accepted a call in the spring 
 of 1868, serving one year. In the fall of 1869, Rev. 
 E. L. Hurd came and served three years. In Jan- 
 uary, 1873, Rev. G. W. Crofts entered upon his 
 labors for the Church. He was succeeded Feb. i, 
 1875, by Rev. G. B. Black. In the fall of 1878, Rev. 
 D. W. Fahs began his labors as supply, and in June, 
 1880, was called to the pastorate. He still remains 
 with the Church. 
 
 On its removal to this place services were held in 
 the old Academy. In the summer of 1857, steps 
 were taken to erect a house of worship, and in the 
 spring of 1858 a church edifice was completed and 
 occupied. In 1866 an addition was built, and sub- 
 sequently a fine organ costing $r,3oo was put in. 
 There has been a total membership of 297, with a 
 present membership of 125. 
 
 The Congregational Church. The Congregational 
 Church of Sandwich was originally organized at Little 
 Rock, Kendall County, April 17,1853. In addition 
 to the articles of covenant usually adopted by such 
 bodies, the Church adopted resolutions by which they 
 refused to fellowship individuals or Churches that 
 were guilty of holding their fellow men in bondage; 
 and also one requiring total abstinence from intoxi- 
 cating liquors as a beverage as a means of admission 
 into the Church. 
 
 ^
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Soon after its organization the Church engaged the 
 services of Rev. H. G. Warner, who preached for it 
 one year. Eighteen persons were added under his 
 ministration. From July, 1854, till the spring of 
 1855, Rev. I. Mattison supplied the Church. For 
 the next year no religious services were held. The 
 village of Sandwich having come into existence, and 
 several of its members having moved thereto, at a 
 meeting May 10, 1856, it was unanimously re- 
 solved that the " location of the Church be removed 
 to Sandwich, De KalbCo., and the name changed to 
 the Congregational Church of Sandwich." Two 
 weeks later the first meeting was held in Sandwich at 
 the residence of Deacon Hubbard. Subsequently 
 and until the i4th of June, 1857, services were held 
 in the Methodist Episcopal church. On the day 
 mentioned, a small chapel having been completed 
 the first services were held therein. 
 
 In July, 1857, Rev. James Kilbourn commenced 
 his labors with the Church. He served six years, 
 during which time 84 persons were received into the 
 Church. In August, 1863, Rev. C. A. Harvey entered 
 upon his duties as supply, and on the 4th of Janu- 
 ary, 1865, was called to the pastorate. Until now 
 the Church had worshiped in the chapel, which had 
 become too small for the congregations. It was then 
 sold to the Lutherans, and the present neat and 
 qommodious building (exclusive of the lecture-room 
 and transepts) was erected. It was dedicated Jan- 
 uary 26, 1865. During Mr. Harvey's pastorate, 
 which terminated April i, 1866, there were 39 addi- 
 tions. Soon after the Church invited Rev. John W. 
 Cass to labor with them. The invitation being ac- 
 cepted, Mr. Cass began his ministry September r, 
 1866, the pulpit being supplied in the meantime by 
 Rev. N. C. Clark. During that and the following 
 year a parsonage was built, costing, with lots, $2,000. 
 Mr. Cass served two and a half years, receiving into 
 the Church 121 persons. On account of failing 
 health he resigned, and June i, 1869, Rev. C. A. 
 Towle became the pastor, continuing as such until 
 July i, 1873. In that time 73 were added to the 
 Church. In November, 1873, Rev. John L. Granger 
 became acting pastor, and remained three years, 
 with 43 additions. On the resignation of Mr. 
 Granger Rev. G. W. Crofts was called to the pastor- 
 ate. He served until March i, 1885, during which 
 time there were 114 added to the Church. The 
 present membership is 208. 
 
 German Baptist Church, composed of citizens 
 speaking the German language, was organized Aug. 
 16, 1855. 
 
 SOCIETIES. 
 
 Sandwich is well represented by secret and benev- 
 olent societies. 
 
 Meteor Lodge, No. 283, A. F. & A. M., held its 
 first meeting May 14, 1858. The petitioners for dis- 
 pensation were N. E. Ballou, A. C. Frick, James 
 Clark, Thos. R. Trsat, John H. Lowe, Silas H. Town- 
 send and A. J. Thomas. The lodge has had an un- 
 usually successful career, with a membership in 
 1885 of 94, with the following named officers : L. D. 
 Woodruff, W. M.; C. H. Pratt, S. W.fT. R. Polglase, 
 J. W.; M. Carpenter, Treas.; Fred. S. Douglas, Sec. 
 
 Sandwich Chapter, No. 107, R. A. M., was granted 
 dispensation December 21, 1866. A charter was 
 granted October 4, 1867. Its first officers were Geo. 
 W. Culver, H. P.; Jos. H. Furman, K.; B. C. Whit- 
 comb, S. Its present officers are Ed. S. Johnson, H. 
 P.; Van R. David, K.; Gustave Walters, S.; George 
 H. Whitcomb, See.; M. Carpenter, Treas. Present 
 membership, 137. 
 
 Excelsior Lodge, No. 67, A. O. U. W., was organ- 
 ized March 23, 1877. Its first officers were C. D. 
 Reed, P. M. W.; F. E. Griffith, M. W.; Jacob Burk- 
 hart, jr., Foreman ; John A. Armstrog, Recorder. 
 Few lodges in the State have had a more prosperous 
 existence. It now numbers 80 members, and has 
 lost by death five Henry M. Rogers, December 7 , 
 1 88 1 ; H. F. Bloodgood, April 4, 1882 ; A. H. Hills, 
 July i, 1883; L. M. Shrewsbury, December 6, 1883; 
 A. Brandenburger, December 28, 1883. The officers 
 in March, 1885, were F. A. Howe, M. W.; R. F. 
 White, F.; E. L. Ingersoll, Recorder. Those who 
 have represented this lodge in the Grand Lodge are 
 F. E. Griffith, T. W. Orr, Geo. Kleinsmid and M. 
 Dickinson. 
 
 Sandwich Legion, No. 40, Select Knights, A. O. U. 
 IV., was organized August 13, 1884, by Alex. Mc- 
 Lean, Grand Commander of the State of Illinois. 
 The Legion meets on the second and fourth Tuesday 
 evenings in each month. The present membership 
 is 32. M. Dickinson is the representative to the 
 Grand Legion. The officers in the spring of 1885 
 were as follows : W. J. M. Fish, S. C.; Geo. Green- 
 field, V. C.; Thos. McNeice, L. C.; Robert White, 
 Rec. 
 
 Sandwich Lodge, No. jo, I. O. M. A., was organ- 
 
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 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 ized April 16, 1879, by M. L. Ross, D. G. P. of the 
 State of Illinois. The first officers were Thos. 
 Wright, W. P. P.; A. P. Crapser.W. P.; J. M. Steele, 
 W. V. P.; F. IX Bailey, R. S.; P. M. Wallace, Treas.; 
 J. W. Allison, F. S. 
 
 The lodge has been unusually successful, having 
 enrolled 8r members, and having a present member- 
 ship of 60. The present officers are W. J. M. Fish 
 W. P.; E. A. Beardsley, W. V. P.; W. H. Van 
 Fleet, R. S. ; J. M. Gates, F. S. ; G. J. Fish, Treas. 
 
 Grand Prairie Encampment, No. 138, I. O. O. F., 
 was instituted at Onarga, IroquoisCo., Ill, June 28, 
 1872, and by order of the Most Worthy Grand 
 Patriarch, Amos Kemp, was removed to Sandwich, 
 111., March 7, 1885, and has now a membership of 
 40. The charter members numbered about 30. The 
 order is progressing rapidly. Its officers in the 
 spring of 1885 were E. E. Stebbins, C. P. ; Chas. H. 
 Pratt, H. P. ; J. A. Durbin, 3. W. 
 
 MANUFACTORIES. 
 
 Sandwich Manufacturing Co. Sandwich is noted 
 for its manufactories. The Sandwich Manufacturing 
 Co. is the oldest as well as the most extensive. In 
 1856 Augustus Adams, then living at Elgin, started 
 a branch of his manufactory at this place. It was 
 but a small affair, but like the acorn it has developed 
 quite extensively. In 1857 his advertisement read 
 that A. Adams, & Co. had a foundry and machine 
 shop in which they were prepared lo do casting of 
 every 'description. But little was said about the 
 manufactures that have given the firm its wide 
 reputation. Still the idea was kept in view to de- 
 velop a practical, portable corn-sheller. The first 
 engine blew up and was replaced by a larger and 
 better one. In 1857 Mr. Adams moved his family 
 here, and urged the work as fast as his means would 
 admit. By 1861 the reputation of the Sandwich 
 Adams Corn-Sheller had so extended that calls for it 
 came from all over the Northwest, and to supply the 
 demand, gave employment to about 100 men. It 
 might be well to say that in that year a company for 
 the loth Regiment 111. Vol. I rift, was raised here 
 and about 70 of the company went from these shops. 
 Just at the opening of the trade, in the face of 
 a greatly increased demand, the shops were burned 
 down, but with the characteristic energy of the pro- 
 prietors, then A. Adams & Sons, they were rebuilt, 
 larger and better than before, and by working extra 
 
 men and time the trade was supplied. By this time 
 it had been demonstrated that the Sandwich corn- f 
 sheller was a necessity and a staple, and in 1867, ' 
 capital at home was readily found to combine with 
 the firm of A. Adams & Sons to increase the manu- Vj 
 facture, and the Sandwich Manufacturing Co. was 
 organized. 
 
 They soon found that there must be more shop 
 room, men and machinery to supply the growing de- 
 mand, and so they commenced to build, and from this 
 commencement has grown the spacious and complete ^ 
 set of shops. These buildings, with the necessary 
 yards adjoining, now cover about two blocks of ; 
 ground, with railroad tracks running to every point, 
 so that all material is unloaded from the cars just 
 where it is needed, and all shipments are made 
 direct from the store-rooms. The shops are fur- 
 nished throughout with the latest improved machin- 
 ery, much of which was designed and made at home ( 
 for the specialties of their manufacture. The paid 
 up capital of the company is $250,000. 
 
 The Sandwich Enterprise Co. is the outgrowth of 
 a business established by Kennedy Bros., and was ' 
 incorporated under the general laws of the State, ; 
 Nov. 5, 1868. The following named were the in- v 
 corporators : W. W. Sedgwick, M. B. Castle, Wm. 
 
 Davis, O. S. Hendee, B. F. Latham, E. A. Kennedy, 
 R. E. Howe. The capital stock was originally $50,- 
 
 000, but was subsequently increased to $100,000. 
 The buildings and grounds of the company cover 
 more than two blocks and a half of ground, having 
 a frontage on Main Street of 200 feet and on Eddy 
 of 140 feet, with a large warehouse. The manu- 
 factures of the company are windmills, force pumps, 
 cultivators and feed-grinders. The following named 
 are the officers and directors in the spring of 1885 : 
 
 1. L. Rogers, President ; J. H. Culver, Vice-Presi- 
 dent; Wm. Radley, Secretary and Treasurer; T. R. 
 Pblglase, Superintendent ; I. L. Rogers, J. H. Cul- 
 ver, O. C. Ainsworth, E. Doan, Wm. Davis, G. R. 
 Wallace, H. Latham, directors. In ordinarily good 
 
 times about 140 hands are employed. 
 
 The Tile Works of Dieterich & Ebinger is one of 
 the institutions of Sandwich, though situated about '; 
 one mile west of the city. L. Dieterich had been man- 
 facturing brick some 12 years or more, and in com- 
 pany with Mr. Ebinger commenced in 1882 the 
 manufacture of tiling. The main building of the 
 
 

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 
 i 
 
 factory is 36 x 93 feet, three stories hioh, with two 
 wings, one 36 feet square and the other 24 x 69 feet. 
 A large and increasing business is being done. 
 
 Among the other manufactories in Sandwich are 
 the wagon and carriage shops of G. Walter and Kehl 
 Bros., the pump factory of D. J. Cook, and the cigar 
 manufactory of Thos. Emerson. 
 
 WATER WORKS. 
 
 On the 28th day of July, 1883, it was voted to ap- 
 propriate $13,000 for a system of water works. The 
 contracts were let and work commenced September 
 28, and on the I2th of January, 1884, everything was 
 complete, a satisfactory test made, and the job ac- 
 cepted by the city. The stand-pipe rests upon a sub- 
 stantial foundation, in the construction of which 42 
 cords of stone were used, and laid with great care, 
 Milwaukee cement being used. The base of the wall 
 is 25^ feet in diameter, and the top 15 feet. The 
 stand-pipe is 12 feet :n diameter and roo feet high, 
 made of the best shell iron, with a tensile strength 
 of 45,000. The pump is situated in the basement 
 of the engine-house, and draws the water from the 
 well and forces it into the stand-pipe, or through the 
 water mains direct, at the will of the engineer. It 
 has a steam cylinder 18}^ inches in diameter, and 
 the water plungers are 9^ inches in diameter. The 
 length of the stroke is 10 inches, and it makes from 
 roo to 150 strokes per minute without the least jar 
 or noise. Its pumping capacity is 850 gallons a min- 
 ute, but it has made 1,000 a minute. The engine- 
 house is a substantial building of stone and brick, 
 14 x 28 feet, with a basement 9 feet deep, and 14 x 14 
 feet. The well is 29^ feet deep, 14 feet in diameter. 
 Its tested inflow is 300 gallons per minute. 1 here 
 are now three miles of main, with 32 hydrants. 
 
 FIRE COMPANY. 
 
 Sandwich Fire Co., No. i, was organized Jan. 22, 
 1884. Samuel Mitten was appointed fire marshal 
 by the City Council. William Hickok was elected 
 first, and W. A. Williams second, assistant to the fire 
 marshal. John Eberly was made foreman, witli Jo- 
 seph Franc's first, and John Van Winkle second, as- 
 sistant. At that time there were two hose carts, 
 with 900 feet of hose, and one hook and ladder truck, 
 with the necessary apparatus. New officers were 
 elected in the spring of 1885. Samuel Mitten was 
 re-appointed chief, with William Hickok first and 
 John Eberly second assistant. W. A. Williams was 
 
 made foreman, with Joseph Francis first, and John 
 Van Winkle second, assistant. Charles Johnson is 
 secretary and Frank Moore treasurer. New hose 
 carts have been provided and 500 feet of hose added. 
 Ths company is composed of 30 men, having five 
 officers, 17 men on hose and 8 on hook and laddtr 
 truck. 
 
 Hose Co. No. 2 is composed of youths of 18 and 
 under. While not subject to the city, yet in case of 
 fires it acts under direction of the fire marshal. It 
 was organized Sept. 2, 1884, with Norman Mattison, 
 foreman, A. Shepard, Jr., first assistant and Daniel 
 Dickinson, second assistant. The company was or- 
 ganized at the request of the fire marshal. It has a 
 hose cart, with 350 feet of hose. The company is 
 composed of 17 men. 
 
 IN THE WAR. 
 
 The war record of Sandwich, and in fact the town- 
 ship of Somonauk, is one in which the citizens take 
 a just pride. On the i4th day of April, 1861, Fort 
 Sumter fell, and on the 151!! the President issued his 
 proclamation for 75,000 men. On Thursday eve- 
 ing following, a meeting was held for the purpose of 
 giving expression to the views of the people upon the 
 troubles. While the meeting was in progress, L. H. 
 Carr, who had been a soldier in the Mexican War, 
 walked in with a paper in his hand, which proved to 
 be an agreement by which those who signed offered 
 tt eir services to the Government. Mr. Carr had 
 placed his nam 1 .' at the head of the list. He was 
 quickly followed by others, and before Saturday night 
 a company of 112 men was raised and accepted by 
 the Governor. On Sunday, the ladies of the village 
 met for the purpose of preparing uniforms for the 
 company. On Monday the company was on its way 
 to Cairo. Thus within one week the little village of 
 Sandwich raised, uniformed and sent en its way to 
 the front one of the first companies raised in the 
 State. All honor to the brave men who, at their 
 country's call, offered their lives for its sake. All 
 honor, too, to the noble women, who, without a mur- 
 mur, though doubtless with breaking hearts, bid the 
 loved ones go, and with willing hands prepared them 
 for the field. This company was assigned to the 
 loth Reg. 111. Vol. Infantry, and did valiant service 
 during the war. Mr. Carr was chosen Captain, and 
 at Island No. 10 met his death from the bullet of a 
 rebel sharp-shooter. 
 
 
 
 I
 
 
 DE KALE COUNTY. 
 
 F. W. Partridge soon after raised another company 
 and was chosen Captain. This company was made 
 a part of the 131!) Infantry. Captain Partridge was 
 twice wounded, rose to the command of the regi- 
 ment, and was brevelted Brigadier-General. William 
 Patten also raised a company which became a part 
 of the I56th Infantry. But these were not all. In 
 other regiments were to be found the men of Sand- 
 wich and Somonauk Townships, who were numbered 
 among the bravest of the brave. From the township 
 
 3ii men went to the war. To meet necessary war 
 expenses the township voted $27,843. 
 
 SUPERVISORS. 
 
 The following named have served the village and 
 city as members of the Board of Supervisors: W. 
 Walker, 1860; George Culver, 1861; W. Walker, 
 1862: Perley Stone, 1863: W. L. Siu.mons, .86^; J. 
 H. Carr, 1865; George W. Culver, :866; James H. 
 Culver, 1867; W. VV. Sedgwick, 1868-70; J. P. 
 Adams, 1871-2. 
 
 / 
 
 * 
 
 Railroads 
 
 HE County of De Kalb is well supplied 
 with railroads, but unfortunately has none 
 running from north to south, though at 
 present writing, in the spring of 1885, one is 
 being surveyed which strikes the county on the 
 southwest corner, and leaves it in the north- 
 east, passing through the cities of De Kalb and Syc 
 amore. The new road, while ostensibly being built 
 by the Illinois Coal Company, is supposed to be 
 backed by the Northwes'ern Railroad Company. 
 
 The citizens of De Kalb County were much "inter- 
 ested in railroad building even at an early day, and 
 realized the necessity of using them for the develop- 
 ment of the county. The Chicago & Galena Union 
 Railroad Company was chartered in 1836 and au- 
 thorized to build a railroad from Galena to Chicago. 
 In 1838 a small amount of grading had been done on 
 the prairie west of Chicago, and active operations 
 were suspended. In the latter part of 1845 the sub- 
 ject was again agitated in regard to the road, and a 
 ew company organized which purchased the charter 
 
 with the design of completing the work. A meeting 
 was called at Rockford Jan. 7, 1846, to be composed 
 of delegates from each of the counties along the line 
 of the proposed road. De Kalb was represented in 
 the convention by James S. Waterman. The road 
 was subsequently built, but north of this county. 
 
 In 1852 the Chicago, St. Charles & Mississippi Air 
 Line Railroad was projected, to run through St. 
 Charles, Sycamore, South Grove and Oregon to the 
 Mississippi River at Savannah. James S. Waterman 
 and Mr. Fordham, of Sycamore, first proposed the 
 matter, and began correspondence with E. S. Litch- 
 field, of the Michigan Southern Railroad, in relation 
 to the matter. The latter favored the project, and a 
 meeting was held at Sycamore in which $20,000 was 
 subscribed in the stock of the new company. The 
 proposal to build this road alarmed the managers of 
 the Chicago & Galena Union road, and they were 
 anxious to prevent its construction. They procured 
 a charter authorizing the construction of the "Dixon 
 Air Line " road, commencing at a point about six 
 miles east of St. Charles and running direct west to 
 Dixon, through the county of De Kalb. This was to 
 

 
 be a branch of the Chicago & Galena Union Rail- 
 road. The village of Sycamore was to have been 
 made a point on the proposed line, but for some 
 cause the survey of a line four miles south was 
 adopted. The road was built and in successful oper- 
 ation through the entire county in 1853. Entering 
 the county on the east on section 25, township 40 
 north, range 5 east, it passes through the townships of 
 Cortland, De Kalb and Malta. Three large towns 
 have sprung up along its line in this county, each 
 bearing the name of its respective township in which 
 it is located Cortland, De Kalb and Malta. Some 
 years after the road was completed it passed 
 into the hands of the Chicago & Northwestern 
 Railroad Company, by whom it is now operated, and 
 is known as the Council Bluffs & Omaha Line of 
 the Northwestern Railroad. 
 
 The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Com- 
 pany also completed its line through Somonauk 
 Township, in this county, in 1853. On this line 
 sprang up the towns of Sandwich and Somonauk. 
 
 The building of the Dixon Air Line, now the Chi- 
 cago & Northwestern Railroad, some four miles south 
 of Sycamore, the county seat, left that town "out 
 in the cold." Its enterprising citizens, however, 
 were determined not to be without railroad facilities, 
 so a company was organized to construct a road 
 from Sycamore to Cortland, there to connect with the 
 Dixon Air .Line. The Sycamore & Cortland Rail- 
 road was built and began operations in 1859. Among 
 the active promoters of this enterprise were James 
 S. Waterman, Chauncey Ellwood and Charles Kel- 
 lum. The road was operated by the home company 
 until 1883, when it was sold to the Northwestern. 
 The township of Sycamore appropriatedjfi 0,000 to 
 aid in its construction. 
 
 The Chicago & Iowa Railroad was the next one 
 constructed in and through the county. The com- 
 pany was incorporated in 1869, and work almost im- 
 mediately began. Francis E. Hinckley was elected 
 President. The road was completed through the 
 county in 1871. It enters the county on section 15, 
 township 39 north, range 5 east, and runs through 
 the townships of Squaw Grove, Clinton and Shabbona. 
 The villages of Hinckley, Waterman and Shabbona 
 are upon this line. 
 
 All sections of the county were now represented 
 with railroads, save the extreme northern. The 
 
 *^P* <^ 
 
 old village of Genoa, which, in early days, had been 
 very prosperous, had almost ceased to exist, its trade 
 being virtually ruined. A rarlroad was a necessity, 
 and this it secured in 1875, when the Chicago & Mil- 
 waukee Railroad Company constructed a branch of 
 its road which crosses the Mississippi at Savannah, 
 and runs west through Iowa to Omaha. This line 
 passes through the townships of Genoa, Kingston and 
 Franklin. The village of Genoa secured in its con- 
 struction a new lease of life while the villages of 
 Kingston, Kirkland and Fielding have sprung into 
 being. 
 
 Educational. 
 
 .E KALB County is at present divided into 
 165 districts, in which are 170 school- 
 houses, and employs 2t5 teachers, 62 of 
 whom teach in the 12 graded schools. The 
 old log school-houses of the earlier days have 
 all given place to frame and brick buildings. 
 Many of the buildings are new, well finished and 
 comfortable, some are really elegant. During the 
 past year teachers and pupils have done a great 
 deal toward making their rooms attractive by decor- 
 ating the walls with pictures, mottoes and wreaths of 
 autumn leaves. Many dictionaries, wall-maps and 
 some reference books have been purchased by di- 
 rectors, and there is, in many locations, a growing 
 interest manifested in school matters. 
 
 Directors are more careful in the selection of 
 teachers and more liberal in payment of salary when 
 the teacher is found qualified. By means of the an- 
 nual institute and a system of teachers' meetings, 
 together with a general dissemination of professional 
 books and periodicals, the qualifications of the teacher 
 have been raised to a much higher degree. 
 
 During the past much time has been squandered 
 in irregular, aimless work. To obviate this, a plan 
 of work was arranged by the County Superintendent, 
 printed in " The School-Room Guide," and distrib- 
 uted to every district in the county, during the sum- 
 mer of 1884. The result has exceeded the most san- 
 guine expectations. Fully 80 per cent of the schools 
 followed the plan laid out during the past winter, 
 and 90 per cent, took the first " general examination." 
 Among the results attained are the following: In- 
 
 -
 
 . 
 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 883 
 
 f creased regularity of attendance ; increased interest 
 
 men I was personally 
 
 acquainted and at most of 
 
 ij in the work by both parents and pupils; following 
 
 their houses I have visited. Probably 
 
 not a half 
 
 ^ the suggestions of the " School-Room Guide," num- 
 
 dozen of them are now 
 
 living : 
 
 1 bers and language are taught to the children from 
 
 
 ' . their entrance to school, and writing is taught in all 
 
 
 i37- 
 
 
 grades. The plan of work provides for the -examina- 
 tion of one grade in each school, each year, by the 
 
 Sycamore 
 Somonauk 
 Paw Paw Grove 
 
 Mark Daniels 
 Reuben Root 
 Asahel Baldwin 
 
 $16 88 
 tS 34 
 2 87 
 
 Superintendent in person. This part of the work 
 
 
 ,8?Q 
 
 
 will be taken up next year. 
 Among the obstacles to the school work are, irreg- 
 
 Coltonville 
 Genoa 
 
 lojy. 
 
 Rufus Colton 
 H. N. Perkins 
 
 $32 84 
 23 84 
 
 y ularity of attendance, frequent change of teachers, 
 
 Paw Paw Grove 
 
 Wm. Rogers 
 
 13 84 
 
 -\j lack of proper books, and inefficient supervision. 
 
 Somonauk 
 
 John Eastabrooks 
 
 22 S 2 
 
 C This latter is a serious drawback. The county em- 
 
 
 1841. 
 
 
 ^ ploys, a Superintendent the majority of his time ; but, 
 
 Genoa 
 
 H. N. Perkins 
 
 $17 46 
 
 after examining 300 to 400 candidates for teachers' 
 
 Hicks' Mill 
 
 Henry Hicks 
 
 7 7 2 
 
 certificates, examining the books and accounts of 18 
 
 Kingston 
 
 Levi Lee 
 
 4 3 1 
 
 township treasurers, making the necessary reports to 
 
 Ohio Grove 
 
 Samuel Spring 
 
 2 22 
 
 the State Superintendent and other officers, arranging 
 for and holding the annual institute and numerous 
 
 Somonauk 
 Sycamore 
 
 David Merritt 
 John R. Hamlin 
 
 28 93 
 59 oo 
 
 teachers' meetings, apportioning and distributing the 
 
 
 1843. 
 
 
 ^ public money, keeping the records of the office and 
 i. answering the hundreds of letters received from 
 = teachers and school officers, but little time is left for 
 
 Genoa 
 Hicks' Mill 
 Somonauk 
 South Grove 
 
 H. N. Perkins 
 D. M. Gil christ 
 David Merritt 
 James Byers 
 
 39 9i 
 9 93 
 61 09 
 
 2 64 
 
 *V the not less important work of visiting the 215 
 
 Sycamore 
 
 Jesse C. Kellogg 
 
 43 oi 
 
 !-x school-rooms in the county. A number of counties 
 
 
 1845. 
 
 
 ^ have met this requirement by allowing the Superin- 
 s tendent an assistant in his office. De Kalb County 
 
 Coltonville 
 Genoa 
 
 Calvin S. Colton 
 H. N. Perkins 
 
 $8 47 
 27 61 
 
 ) will- probably not be long behind in this matter. 
 
 Hicks' Mill 
 
 M. M. Mack 
 
 No returns 
 
 Altogether the outlook for the future is bright. 
 
 Kingston 
 
 Jonas Haight 
 
 4 53 
 
 The spirit of the " New Education " is abroad in the 
 
 Shabbona Grove 
 
 Wm. A. Langer 
 
 '3 65 
 
 land, and its effects are beginning to be seen in 
 
 Sycamore 
 
 Jesse C. Kellogg 
 
 9' 45 
 
 beautiful school-rooms, good books and rational meth- 
 
 
 1847- 
 
 
 ods in instruction and government. 
 
 Genoa 
 
 H. N. Perkins 
 
 $34 1 6 
 
 j 
 
 Hicks' Mill 
 
 Martin M. Mack 
 
 19 48 
 
 
 Kingston 
 
 Jonas Haight 
 
 14 56 
 
 ~~t- ^^z8^8_4 ; -:~~ 
 
 New Lebanon 
 
 Peter S. Pratt 
 
 7 n 
 
 \ 
 
 Ohio Grove 
 
 Homer Roberts 
 
 9 19 
 
 Early Postofflces. 
 
 South Grove 
 
 James Byers 
 
 7 16 
 
 
 Sycamore 
 
 Zelotes B. Mayo 
 
 92 46 
 
 ,ljjfS|"N the fall of 1884, Hon. John Wentworth 
 
 
 1849. 
 
 
 J!l : lLSi| was invited to deliver an address at the 
 
 Blood's Point 
 
 S. V. W. Scott 
 
 $10 31 
 
 |fe?T Farmers' Picnic at Sycamore. He could 
 
 Coltonville 
 
 Calvin P. Colton 
 
 7 28 
 
 *^ ?Ir not atten d- The following letter he wrote to 
 
 De Kalb Center 
 
 Russell Huntley 
 
 i 18 
 
 A Mr. Hix, editor of the City Weekly : 
 
 Genoa 
 Hicks' Mill 
 
 R. W. Waterman 
 Morgan Losee 
 
 21 03 
 : 4 35 
 
 :, \ I was prevented by unforeseen circumstances 
 
 Kingston 
 
 George H. Hill 
 
 8 58 
 
 j) from attending the Farmers' Picnic in your county. 
 
 Lacey 
 
 R. B. Thomas 
 
 i 24 
 
 ^ As a sort of text to speak from and to converse upon 
 
 Line 
 
 Joseph Shaw 
 
 7 48 
 
 X in private conversation, I collected the following list 
 
 New Lebanon 
 
 John A. Oakley 
 
 12 9 I 
 
 y of the early postmasters in De Kalb County, with 
 
 Ohio Grove 
 
 Homer Roberts 
 
 '4 59 
 
 **. their compensation. With every one of these gentle- 
 
 Ross Grove 
 
 Wheeler Hedges 
 
 i 09 
 
 ^M>i (^\c*-~>jt. > *y53ir' r^ ^(f iHH^niT^Ao > *iti 
 
 EBjr'- - - rr 
 
 ' ^/' ' J
 
 / Shabbona Grove 
 
 Wm. Marks 
 
 
 i Somonauk 
 
 David Merritt 
 
 yu y 5 n.mg3l.uil vjcu.gc LL. LULL ly * * p 
 
 . % South Grove 
 
 James Byers 
 
 8 63 Lacey James Rowin 25 47 jf 
 
 f Sycamore 
 
 Z. B. Mayo 
 
 '95 S 2 
 
 LaClare Timothy Goble 33 35 i 
 
 jt 
 
 
 
 
 New Lebanon Allen Bigelow 26 73 J 
 
 Qf 
 
 5 
 
 
 Ney L. P. Kellogg 13 76 ^ 
 
 Blood's Point 
 
 S. V. W. Scott 
 
 $r 7 85 
 
 North Kingston Chas! W. Branch 14 14 
 
 Buck's Branch 
 De Kalb Center 
 Dorset 
 Genoa 
 
 C. B. Rhodes 
 Russell Huntley 
 Wm. Robinson 
 Norman Durham 
 
 12 33 
 27 81 
 ii 64 
 115 29 
 
 North Pierce, discontinued Jan. 3, 1855 66 
 Ohio Grove Homer Roberts 15 38 
 Plerceville Moses Hill 10 64 
 Ross Grove Charles Davis 2 1 67 
 
 Hicks' Mills 
 
 S. P. Harrington 
 
 34 7 
 
 " H. H. Clark 7 90 
 
 ^ Kingston 
 ** * La Clare 
 V;5 Line 
 
 Geo. H. Hill 
 Dan'l Robinson 
 Joseph Shaw 
 
 19 06 
 8 69 
 
 Sandwich Robert Patton 104 06 ^ 
 Shabbona Grove Geo. W. Kittell 45 7 1 6 
 " Wm. Marsh, jr. 42 51 * 
 
 ( Lost Grove 
 
 Chauncey Luce 
 
 20 I 7 
 
 
 New Lebanon 
 Ney 
 Ohio Grove 
 Ross Grove 
 Shabbona 
 Somonauk 
 , i Sycamore 
 
 Allen Bigelow 
 C. Goddsill 
 Homer Roberts 
 Moses Bartlett 
 Win. Marks 
 David Merritt 
 J. C. Waterman 
 
 17 61 
 No returns 
 17 09 
 25 09 
 61 71 
 81 45 
 250 61 
 
 Somonauk Depot Alex. R. Patton 69" 25 
 South Grove Henry Safford 23 40 
 Squaw Grove Wm. C. Tappan 23 52 
 Sycamore W. P. Dutton 391 14 
 Van Buren Jeremiah Mulford 17 84 
 Williamsburg John F. Snow 4 27 
 
 Williamsburg 
 
 John F. Snow 
 
 3 57 
 
 To the foregoing the editor of the City Weekly ap- ( 
 
 ' 
 
 1853. 
 
 
 pended the following : S 
 
 VK 
 
 = Blood's Point 
 Busk's Branch 
 
 R. W. Humphrey 
 C. B. Rhodes 
 
 J'i 56 
 
 21 07 
 
 " It will be observed that in giving the list of early 
 postmasters in this county with whom he was ac- \ 
 
 I* De Kalb Center 
 
 Russell Huntley 
 
 25 10 
 
 quainted. he expresses the thought that probably not $^ 
 
 i Dorset 
 
 Wm. Robinson 
 
 '8 63 
 
 half a dozen of them are now living. Well, we have ^ 
 
 ^> Genoa 
 x. Hicks' Mills 
 Kingston 
 Line 
 
 John H. Ball 
 S. P. Harrington 
 Geo. H. Hill 
 S. Baker 
 
 48 27 
 18 62 
 13 01 
 
 8 59 
 
 taken some pains to inquire, and are able to say that 
 from fifteen to twenty still survive. We personally 4 
 know that the following are alive : H. N. Perkins, r 
 
 Lost Grove 
 
 Chauncey Luce 
 
 1 5 53 
 
 Peter S. Pratt, Geo. H. Hill, S. P. Harrington, Rich- 
 
 New Lebanon 
 
 Allen Bigelow 
 
 15 '5 
 
 ard W. Humphrey, Leander P. Kellogg, W. P. Dut- 
 
 Ney 
 North Kingston 
 Ohio Grove 
 
 L P. Kellogg 
 Chas. W. Branch 
 Homer Roberts 
 
 3 9 
 6 84 
 9 99 
 
 ton, Moses Hill, John Lee, Wm. A. Allen, James 
 Rowen and Henry Safford. We will add one more 
 
 Ross Grove 
 
 Geo. V. Miner 
 
 19 90 
 
 name to Mr. Wentworth's list, which he doubtless 
 
 ( Shabbona Grove 
 
 Samuel Curtis 
 
 59 r 3 
 
 overlooked that of Dr. 1. W. Garvin, of this city, v 
 
 5 Somonauk 
 ' South Grove 
 ^ Squaw Grove 
 Sycamore 
 Van Buren 
 
 Alex. Patten 
 James Byers 
 Wm. C. Tappan 
 Wm. P. Dutton 
 Jeremiah Mulford 
 
 57 74 
 12 64 
 2 55 
 174 3i 
 
 '4 55 
 
 who at quite an early day was postmaster at New <j 
 Lebanon. Those whom we do not know among the ' 
 survivors, but are informed that they still live, are 
 Geo. W. Kittell, Moses Bartlett, N. Durham and Rus- 
 
 Williamsburg 
 
 John F. Snow 
 
 4 34 
 
 sell Huntley. Still others of them may be alive, and, 
 
 
 1855. 
 
 
 presumably, are, but they are very few. The names 
 
 Blood's Point 
 
 John Lee 
 
 $'5 20 
 
 and location of the list of offices are familiar, with 
 
 S Brush Point* 
 
 Harrison Mackey 
 
 6 99 
 
 the exception of Line and Williamsburg. 
 
 Cortland Station 
 
 Chauncey Luce 
 
 37 16 
 
 "A reference to the compensation received by the '- 
 
 De Kalb Center 
 
 Smith D. Baldwin 
 
 32 12 
 
 several postmasters named would indicate that some * 
 
 . Dorset 
 
 Elijah Gifford 
 Wm. Robertson 
 Alex. McNish 
 
 104 23 
 5 68 
 5 63 
 
 of them served out of a pure love of country, the ^ 
 same as the soldier who fought to save the ty 
 
 * East Paw Paw 
 
 A. B. Breese 
 
 59 62 
 
 Union. There was James Byers, of South Grove, ^\ 
 
 Genoa 
 
 Wm. A. Allen 
 
 73 04 
 
 who, owning more land than he could look over from 1 
 
 ^_ "Changed July i, 1854, 
 
 o Somonauk Depot. 
 
 
 -A^A
 
 
 > 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 magnificent sum of $2.64, to perform the duties of 
 postmaster for the year 1843. Peter Pratt, who lives 
 on the interest of his money, was willing to be post- 
 master for $7. 1 1 in the year 1847. We suppose the 
 reason that the North Pierce postoffice was discon- 
 tinued in 1855 was that the postmaster wrote to 
 Washington saying that if he couldn't get more than 
 a 66-cent salary he would be obliged to resign ; and 
 did resign. At the same time, when you get over at 
 Ney and down to ; Hicks' Mills, you are confronted 
 with the startling announcement that there were ab- 
 solutely no returns ; but in the face of this, poor Mr. 
 Goddsill and poor Mr. Mack worked right along, 
 fortified, doubtless, with the hope of reward in the 
 hereafter, if not here. They must have been good 
 men. We suppose they all voted for ' Long John ' 
 for Congress, and that if they had not he would have 
 removed every last one of them, even those who 
 looked and hoped and prayed for a salary which, 
 alas, never came." 
 
 Census Reports. 
 
 The following statement shows the 
 the county, according to the United 
 Reports, from 1840 to 1880, inclusive 
 
 population of 
 States Census 
 
 1840 1,697 
 
 850 7,540 
 
 1 860 1 9,086 
 
 187 23,265 
 
 1880 26,774 
 
 The following is the report by townships for the 
 J year 1880: 
 
 South Grove 774 
 
 Sycamore, exclusive of city 1,081 
 
 Sycamore city 3,030 
 
 Malta 1,227 
 
 Milan 895 
 
 Shabbona 1,385 
 
 Paw Paw 906 
 
 Franklin 1,283 
 
 Kingston 1,156 
 
 Mayfield 870 
 
 De Kalb, exclusive of city 854 
 
 De Kalb city * I ,59 2 
 
 Afton 850 
 
 Clinton 1,167 
 
 2,780 in the city. 
 
 ichool . 
 
 Victor 
 Genoa 
 Cortland 
 Pierce 
 
 Squaw Grove 
 Somonauk, excl 
 Sandwich . . . 
 
 Matrimonial. 
 
 ANY years ago it was written that " it is 
 not good for ir.an to be alone. The truth 
 of the proverb is acknowledged, and men 
 have from time immemorial been seeking 
 mates. Previous to the organization of the 
 county licenses had to be obtained from the 
 County Clerk of Kane"County. The first license 
 granted in this county was in October, 1837. Dur- 
 ing that and the following year there were made one 
 fifteen couples, as follows . 
 
 Henry B. Barber and Rachel Spring, October 5, 
 
 1837, by RufusColton, J. P. 
 
 Zalmon Young and Sarah Brown, Oct. 5, 1837, by 
 Geo. H. Hill, J. P. 
 
 John Luckett and Nancy Riddle, Dec. 27, 1837, 
 by Geo. H. Hill, J. P. 
 
 William C. Parsons and Rachel Brown, Jan. 14, 
 
 1838, by Geo. H. Hill, J. P. 
 
 Daniel W. Lamb and Julia Maxfield, March 16, 
 1838, by Eli G.njewell, J. P. 
 
 John K. Root and Sarah M. Bryan, June 6, 1838, 
 by Rev. John Beaver. 
 
 William Dresser and Sarah Jenks, July 27, 1838, 
 by Rev. S. S. Walker. 
 
 Watson Y. Pomeroy and Ann Eliza Kellogg, Aug. 
 i, 1838, by Levi Lee, J. P. 
 
 Jeremiah Burley and Emily Thompson, Aug. 3, 
 1838, by Rufus Colton, J. P. 
 
 Lyman Barber and Cornelia Spring. Sept. 2, 1838, 
 by Eli G. Jewell, J. P. 
 
 Timothy L. Pomeroy and Alzina Hough, Sept. i 2 
 1838, , by Rev. Burton Carpenter. 
 
 Erastus H. Barnes and Elizabeth Barnes, Sept. 30, 
 1838, by Rufus Colton, J. P. 
 
 Russell Huntley and Selina A. Goodell, Sept. 25, 
 1838, by Rufus Colton, J. P. 
 
 John Brody and Elizabeth Brody, Oct. n, 1838, 
 by George H. Hill, J. P. 
 
 .
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Lemuel Lester and Betsey Townsend, Nov. 6, 
 1838, by Rev. Elihu Springer. 
 
 From October, 1837, to January, 1885, there have 
 been issued 4,910 marriage licenses from the office 
 of the County Clerk. From the records it is learned 
 that hard times and the war have had a depressing 
 effect upon the matrimonial market. "When Johnny 
 came marching home " there was a perceptible in- 
 crease in the number of licenses issued as compared 
 with the previous four years. 
 
 Statistical. 
 
 .ROM the books in the office of the County 
 Clerk the following interesting items are 
 obtained: In 1884 there were in the 
 county 396,787 acres of improved land, valued 
 by the local assessors in the various townships 
 it $5,828,4*6. The County Bo?rd of Equal- 
 ization reduced the amount less than $2,000, but the 
 State Board reduced it to $5,010,744. The local as- 
 sessors rated the town lots at $1,280,753. This was 
 not changed by the County Board, but the State 
 
 Board reduced it to $1,024,580. The personal prop- 
 erty was listed at $2,131,886 by the local assessors. 
 The County Board reduced the amount to $2,119,- 
 386, which amount was not changed by the State 
 Board. The total assessed value by the local asses- 
 sors, exclusive of railroad property, -was $9,240,237. 
 The State Board reduced the amount to $8,154,710, 
 to which they added railroad property amounting to 
 $471,376, giving a total valuation of $8,626,086. 
 Among the items of personal property assessed were 
 the following: Horses, 14,315 ; cattle, 45,324; mules 
 and asses, 307; sheep, 7,473; hogs, 45,797; steam 
 engines, 53; fire and burglar-proof safes, 105; bill- 
 iard tables, 35 ; carriages and wagons, 5,424; watches 
 and clocks, 4,325 ; sewing and knitting machines, 
 2,890; pianos, 291 ; melodeons and organs, 92 r. The 
 value of goods and merchandise was estimated at 
 $210,963; materials and manufactured articles on 
 hand, $31,486; manufacturers' tools,$35,5 16; agricul- 
 tural implements, $54, 695. There were estimated this 
 year 843 acres of wheat; 11-2,546 of corn ; 61,976 of 
 oats; 80,051 of meadow; 5,606 other field products; 
 119,116 enclosed pasture; 4,503 of orchard; 13,131 
 of woodland. 
 
 V 
 
 
 f 
 
 Reminiscences of J. C. Kellogg. 
 
 ! 
 
 1 HE following reminiscences are from the pen 
 of Hon. J. C. Kellogg, and were published 
 in the Republican-Sentinels the spring of 
 1855: The territory now embraced in this 
 county prior to the spring of 1835 was in pos- 
 session of the Pottawatomie tribe of Indians. 
 In all probability few, if any, white men had ever 
 looked upon the unsurpassing beauty of its island 
 groves and fertile prairies, until about the time of the 
 defeat of Gen. Stillman's army by the Indians, on 
 
 ^g))c;^> ^^f ^ 
 
 the Kishwaukee, near the northwest corner of this 
 county, in 1832. Volunteers from the central and 
 southern portions of this State, and others engaged 
 in the Black Hawk War, were the first, no doubt, to 
 portray in glowing colors "the right smart chance for 
 making claims" in this charming region. But the 
 "fullness of times "had not as yet arrived. True, some 
 adventurous interloping borderer, "with desire may 
 have desired " to extend " the area of civilization " over 
 some of the big trees and rich acres " there lying and 
 being" on the banks of the " roaring Kishwaukee ;" 
 but then he knew that he was sure to be driven off
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 \ 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 by the ever watchful Indian agent, Thomas J. V. 
 Owen, backed by two companies of United States 
 troops from Fort Dearborn. 
 
 There were several Indian villages, under subor- 
 dinate chiefs, within the limits of this county. One 
 was near the residence of Hon. George H. Hill, in 
 Kingston ; one near John Waterman's, in Pampas 
 [Cortland] ; one near Calvin S. Colton's, in De Kalb ; 
 one near the old farm of John Eastabrooks, in Squaw 
 Grove; and near the Grove in the township of Shab- 
 bona was the village of Shabbona, one of the head 
 chiefs of the Pottawatomie nation. From this place, 
 after the surrender of Gen. Hull and Fort Mackinaw, 
 and the Chicago massacre, Shabbona and his braves, 
 accompanied by Wabansia and his warriors, sallied 
 forth to join the forces of Tecumseh and the Prophet, 
 in aid of the British in the War of 1812. 
 
 Poor Shabbona, warned by the prophets of the 
 Great Spirit of the encroachments of " Young 
 America," no wonder that he should have sought to 
 avert the calamity and crush the young giant before his 
 sacrilegious march should triumph over his venerated 
 dead, or before, over-awed by superior power and over- 
 come by " fire-water," in a moment of weakness, he 
 should give the homes and hunting grounds of his 
 fathers to satisfy the all-grasping avarice of Che- 
 mo-ko-wan. 
 
 It having been noised about in the spring of 1835 
 that the Indians had agreed to remove west of the 
 Mississippi the ensuing autumn, farther restraint was 
 entirely out of the question. Although the monot- 
 onous song of the surveyor, "stake, stuck and tally," 
 had not yet broken the solitude of nature in these 
 regions, nevertheless the impetuous "sons of Ja 
 pheth," like hounds " straining in the slips," were all a 
 tip-toe to "dwell in the tents of Shem." Having 
 learned that " delays are dangerous in claim-making 
 and pre-emption fixins," in making their first debut 
 in Chicago, where it is said they were severally 
 charged one shilling for the privilege of leaning up 
 against a sign- post over night, and two shillings for 
 the "soft side of a white-oak puncheon," down came 
 the settlers upon the newly acquired purchase " like 
 a thousand of bricks," each carving out and appro- 
 priating to his own special use and benefit a most 
 bountiful slice of very fat prairie with an abundance 
 of good timber with which to cook it. 
 
 Soon after the Indians had done up their sugar- 
 
 
 
 making, when the groves began to grow leafy and the 
 prairies grassy, as the sun sank low in the west, and 
 the prairie wolves began to howl, and the sandhill 
 cranes to scream and " poke, poke " along the ponds 
 and sloughs for their evening meal of crawfish, a 
 close observer might have espied afar off on an In- 
 dian trail, suspicious looking canvass, supposed to 
 be the " sail " of a settler's wagon, evidently nearing 
 some grove, and in a strait to get " somewhar " before 
 nightfall. Presently, emerging from the dusky 
 prairie, the settler's wagon, propelled by some four or 
 five yoke of oxen, canopied by sundry bolts of sheet- 
 ing; within, containing the family bedding, clothing 
 and provisions; without, implements of cooking and 
 husbandry, chickens in coops and pigs in pens, 
 backed by a drove of cows, calves, colts and other 
 young stock on foot, would loom up plainly to view, 
 "fetching in " near some point, bay or plum thicket. 
 
 It was no uncommon thing in those days for the 
 careful mistress of the wagon to " pail the keows " in 
 the morning and place the milk where, by the inces- 
 sant motion of the wagon, it would "churn itself." 
 In this way the family were provided with a constant 
 supply 'of good fresh butter ; and old chanticleer 
 and his dames in the coop behind, never caught 
 napping when hens should be awake, would keep up 
 the laying process ; so that with other supplies from 
 the wagon, a settler's wife could usually "scare up" 
 a pretty good meal on short notice. In this hitherto 
 neglected spot, where " firll many a flower was born 
 to blush unseen, and waste its sweetness on the 
 desert air," the weary, yet blithe and happy groups, 
 might have been seen to alight, strike a fire, prepare, 
 and, after craving God's blessing, eat their frugal 
 meal; when, guarded by a watchful dog, and a still 
 more watchful Providence, all would retire for need- 
 ful repose into the inmost recesses of the wagon 
 home. And, at early peep of dawn, one might have 
 seen the anxious settler reconnoitering, with hurried 
 steps, grove and prairie, when, after being "'detached 
 here " " countermanded there " bothered almost to 
 death for fear that among so many good chances he 
 should fail to secure the best at last he would bring 
 himself to the " sticking point," seize the ax and 
 " blaze the line in the timber," and, anon, hitch the 
 team to the prairie plow and " mark out the fur- 
 row on the prairie." 
 
 " In those days, there being no king in Israel, every 
 
 \ ^ y > lCy "f*i5*(<
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 I 
 
 
 man did that which seemed right in his own eyes." 
 The size of claims therefore varied from two 
 "eighties" of prairie and one of timber, to a half 
 section of timber and a tract of prairie two miles 
 square. Some assumed the right to make and hold 
 claims by proxy, being thereunto authorized by some 
 brother, sister, uncle, aunt, cousin or friend. Mean- 
 while new settlers poured in apace, astonished and 
 perplexed to find the choice timber and prairie blazed 
 and furrowed into claims, whose ample acres the 
 claimant, with all his children, uncles, aunts and 
 cousins, " to the third and fourth generations " would 
 never be able to till or occupy. The new settlers, 
 perplexed, baffled, and becoming more and more 
 desperate on finding "God's green earth" thus 
 monopolized, would approach his more fortunate 
 neighbor, with the spirit of Abraham to Lot : " Now, 
 I have come a great way to get some of this timber 
 and prairie, 'and one thing is certain ; I am going to 
 have some. There is enough for you and me, and 
 our boys. Now don't let us quarrel ; you turn to the 
 right and I will turn to the left, or vice versa." Some- 
 times this good Scripture and consequently good 
 common sense logic would win; but in other cases 
 the grasping spirit of the borderer would stave off all 
 kinds of division or compromise ; and, laying his hand 
 >upon his rifle, he would bluster and threaten in " great 
 swelling words." and drive away the " stranger from 
 his right." 
 
 Hereupon arose innumerable disputes and wrang- 
 lings concerning the size, tenure and boundaries of 
 claims. The more reflecting among the settlers saw 
 a dark cloud, big with the elements of strife and 
 social disorder, gathering in the not very distant 
 horizon, whose tornado blasts threatened soon to lay 
 waste all that was of value in the rising community. 
 There was no municipal law reaching these cases, 
 and if there had been the settlers probably would 
 have been none the better for it, for it is believed that 
 at this time there was neither a justice nor a statute 
 book north of the Illinois River and west of Fort 
 Dearborn, unless we except Ottawa and Chicago.* 
 Wrongs and outrages for which there was no known 
 legal redress were being multiplied. Blackened eyes, 
 bloody noses and chewed ears were living realities, 
 while the dirk, pistol, rifle, with something like cold 
 lead were significantly talked of as likely to bring 
 
 about some " realities " which might not be " living." 
 What could be done to insure domestic tranquillity, 
 promote the general welfare and secure to each 
 settler his rights? Evidently but one thing. Happily, 
 some had seen something in the New Testament 
 about those who are " without law, being a law unto 
 themselves," and settlers found themselves in this fix 
 exactly. It was therefore apparent both from Scripture 
 and reason that the settlers must become a law unto 
 themselves, and, " where there was a will there was 
 a way." A " settlers' meeting," at a given time and 
 place, therefore, came to be a watchword from shanty 
 to wagon, until all were alarmed. Pursuant to this 
 proclamation a "heap" of law and order loving 
 citizens convened on the 5th of September, 1835, at 
 the shanty of Harmon Miller, then standing on the 
 the east bank of the Kishwaukee River, in the town 
 of Kingston. 
 
 Happily, the best possible spirit prevailed. The 
 Hoosier from the Wabash, the Buckeye from Ohio, 
 the hunter from Kentucky, the calculating Yankee, 
 Brother Jonathan's " first born " and the " beginnings 
 of his strength," impelled by a sense of mutual 
 danger, here sat down in grave council to dictate 
 laws to Kishwaukee and " the region lying round 
 about throughout the coasts thereof." Hon. Levi 
 Lee was chosen to preside over this august assem- 
 blage, where the three great departments of free 
 government the executive, the legislative and the 
 judicial were most happily united, and Capt. Eli 
 Barnes was appointed secretary. Gently glided the 
 sometimes turbid waters of that ancient river, the 
 sonorous Kishwaukee, as speech after speech setting 
 forth the wants and the woes of the settlers, the kind 
 of legislation demanded by the crisis, went the 
 rounds. Even those who were not used to " talkin" 
 much 'fore folks " evinced their cordial approbation 
 and readiness to co-operate by doing up an amount 
 of cheering, which no doubt really did " astonish the 
 natives." At last, ripe for immediate action, a com- 
 mittee was selected to draft and present to the meet- 
 ing a constitution and by-laws by which the "settlers 
 upon the public lands " should be governed. After 
 some little deliberation back of the shanty, around 
 the stump of a big white oak, which served as a 
 writing desk, said committee reported a preamble, 
 constitution and by-laws, which for simplicity, 
 brevity and adaptation to necessity, it would be hard 
 for any modern legislation to beat. The self-evident 
 &, ?*$$ |fcgj@ 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 . 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 ! 
 
 \ 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 ( 
 
 truths " proclaimed by Jefferson in the immortal 
 Declaration," it is believed were, for the first time, 
 reiterated on the banks of the Kishwaukee ; and had 
 there been a little more time for reflection and prep- 
 aration, the top of some settler's wagon would have 
 been converted into a star-spangled banner and 
 thrown to the breezes of heaven from the tallest tree 
 top in the grove. The common sense, law and logic, 
 as well as patriotism, contained in thie constitution 
 and by-laws, were instantaneously recognized to be the 
 very things demanded by the crisis, and were adopted 
 with unparalleled enthusiasm, each subscribing 
 his name thereto with his own hand, thereby pledg- 
 ing his " life, fortune and sacred honor " to carry out 
 the provisions of the code. As nearly as can be re- 
 collected, its provisions were somewhat as follows : A 
 prudential committee was to be then and there 
 chosen whose duty it should be " to examine into, 
 hear and finally determine all disputes and differ- 
 ences then existing, or which thereafter might arise 
 between settlers in relation to their claims," and whose 
 decisions, with certain salutary checks, were to be 
 binding upon all parties, and to be carried out at all 
 hazards by the three departments of government 
 consolidated in aid of the executive, in what jurists 
 sometimes denominate the "posse comitatus." Each 
 settler was solemnly pledged to protect every other 
 settler in the association in the peaceable enjoyment 
 of " his or her reasonable claim as aforesaid ; " and 
 further, whoever, throughout all Kishwaukee, or the 
 coasts thereof, should refuse to recognize the author- 
 ity of the aforesaid association and render due 
 obedience unto the laws enacted by the same from 
 time to time, should be deemed a heathen, a publican, 
 and an outlaw with whom they were pledged to have 
 no communion or fellowship. Thus was a wall 
 affording protection to honest settlers built in 
 troublous times. Hon. Levi Lee, Hon. George H. 
 Hill, Captain Eli Barnes, James Green and Jesse C. 
 Kellogg were chosen to be the settlers' committee, 
 and who, as may well be supposed, had business on 
 hand for some time in order to restore and " insure 
 domestic tranquillity " and " promote the general 
 welfare." The thing worked like a charm, and the 
 value of these associations in Northern Illinois, to the 
 infant settlements, has never been over-estimated. 
 Similar associations were formed and maintained in 
 Somonauk and other portions cf the county until the 
 land came into market in 1843, when all De Kalb 
 
 County, except the north tier of townships, was sold 
 to the highest bidder, that is, so far as terra firma 
 w concerned. The moral as well as the physical 
 power of settlers' associations was so great that if a 
 speculator presumed to bid on a settler's claim he 
 was certain to find himself " knocked down and 
 dragged out;" and had the land officers showed the 
 least sympathy or favor to the rascal, there can be no 
 doubt but that an indignant and outraged yeomanry 
 would have literally torn the land office to fragments 
 in almost " less than no time." 
 
 After a period of unexampled peace and prosperity, 
 it was found that this living in a " state of nature " 
 was liable to evils for which the late session of the 
 legislature at Miller's shanty had provided no ade- 
 quate remedy. The case was this: A had a 
 promissory note against B and wanted his pay. 
 B was not exactly prepared to " fork over," and 
 being nettled that he should be dunned, had the 
 audacity to intimate to A that " it might trouble him 
 to get it anyhow." Kishwaukee was then, as well 
 as other portions of the county, attached to La Salle 
 for civil purposes. This was a real poser. Claim 
 jumping had been provided for, but this appeared to 
 be a novel case. Finally the settlers concluded if 
 they had come to share the inheritance with the 
 " Suckers " they must do as the Suckers did, and have 
 some one who knew something about the Justinian 
 code, the commentaries of Blackstone and the 
 statutes of Illinois. So, in the summer of 1835 (1836), 
 the exigency of the case having been duly made 
 known, the County Commissioners of La Salle laid 
 off by proper metes and bounds Kishwaukee precinct, 
 wherein Joseph Collier and Stephen Morey were 
 duly elected justices of the peace, who, in due time, 
 were inducted into office before Joseph Cloud, Clerk 
 of the County Commissioners' Court in Ottawa. 
 Whether these worthy " squares " ever " got to see " a 
 copy of the Illinois Statutes is much to be doubted; 
 it may be supposed, however, with more certainty, 
 that they were "clever men," and withal "right 
 smart, and calculated to do 'bout what's right." The 
 best of all is that Mr. B. on hearing the " squares " 
 had got back from Ottawa, put over to Mr. A's in a 
 "giffin," laid down the "spelter" and took up his 
 note to save cost. 
 
 The Indians were still lingering among the settlers, 
 rather loth to leave anyhow, and some, taking ad- 
 
 

 
 
 vantage of their " spiritual infirmities," were mean 
 enough to filch away his pony, rifle and even the 
 last blanket in exchange for whisky, or "good-^ie- 
 tosh." As Nebuchadnezzar, after being turned out 
 to grass awhile, "came to himself again," so a poor 
 Indian, after a drunken debauch, will sometimes 
 come to himself again and recoil upon those who let 
 the snake out to bite him. In many things shrewd 
 and discriminating, they know when, where and how 
 to render " tit for tat." One instance, in illustration, 
 where they came it over " che-mo-ko-man," will be 
 given: A half Yankeefied Frenchman, who will be 
 called Peter [Lamois], had made a claim upon the 
 east side of the Kishwaukee, and had engaged a 
 half civilized Indian boy, called Shaw-na-neese, to 
 drive his breaking team. Now, as ill luck would 
 have it, or " somehownother, " it came in their heads 
 that for just about one barrel of good-ne-tosh, each, 
 on his return to Walker's Grove, in Will County, 
 might astonish the settlers with a nice Indian pony. 
 The temptation lo play upon the Anglo-Saxon was 
 too strong. Shaw-na-neese, who had a mother and 
 sister living in the Big -Woods, near where Aurora 
 now stands, was supposed to be well acquainted 
 with the Indians, and could talk either Indian or 
 English. So, off goes Peter for the whisky, never 
 .once "linking "of the foolish settler, who, for fun, 
 set a fire on the prairie that burnt up his own stacks. 
 In due time the barrel of good-ne-tosh was regularly 
 set up in the cabin of the settler, and "where the 
 carcass is there will the eagles be gathered to- 
 gether." Shaw-na-neese talk Indians talk ponies 
 plenty good-ne-tosh plenty so much pony, so much 
 good-ne-tosh. Yes, humph ! the " doping " begins ; 
 the che-mo-ko-man adding Kishwaukee at the bung 
 by night to supply the deficit made at the faucet by- 
 day, until there was a moral certainty of perfecting 
 the contract as to measurement. After the barrel 
 was pretty much delivered of its contents and the 
 sharpsters began to hint that it was time for them to 
 " walk up," that is, if they could to the captain's 
 office and settle, the Indians being really drunk or 
 appearing to be, began to grumble about Peter 
 cheating them, selling no good good-ne-tosh. Ex- 
 planation was attempted, but the thing could not be 
 explained ; expostulation was used, but in vain ; 
 "you 'cheat poor Indian," and they grew madder 
 and madder. Peter and his comrade began to have 
 
 fears for their personal safety. There was no white 
 man near, and if there had been they could not have 
 expected that they would be sustained in 
 such an enterprise. All on a sudden the terrific war- 
 whoop burst from the whole group, and, drawing 
 their long knives, they rushed upon the liquor deal- 
 ers like so many fiends from the pit. Just at this 
 moment another Indian snatched Shaw-na-neese on 
 to a pony behind himself and galloped off at the top 
 of his speed, for what has since been called Chartres' 
 Grove. But, alas, and well-a-day, for unfortunate 
 Peter, when he cried " there was none to de- 
 liver!" He had a good pair of legs, and "it came 
 into his heart 1 ' that "jess now," if ever, was the 
 time to use them ; and bounding somewhere about a 
 rod at a jump, he " cut for the bush," and the In- 
 dians after him, pell-mell. As good luck would 
 have it, however, he managed to conceal himself in 
 the thick brush and elude their grasp, until at last, 
 giving up their chase, they returned to Peter's shanty. 
 Here they soon made a finish of the remainder of 
 the poor whisky, and, appropriating for their own 
 " special use and benefit " Peter's bag of flour, fry- 
 pan and new broadcloth coat, they vamoosed, cut- 
 ting up those dreadful antics which savages thirst- 
 ing for blood alone know how to perform. Peter's 
 predicament was by no means enviable. He knew 
 that he was in the wrong. He had time to think 
 and he did " link.' He had time for thought and he 
 "tought " if he ever lived to get out of the scrape he 
 was " sure to quit te tarn liquor business anyhow." 
 Afar off, from the bosom of the thicket, he had be- 
 held the plunder of his shanty, and the subsequent 
 withdrawal of his enemies. He had no doubt but 
 what they had gone for reinforcements and would 
 soon return and murder him. Perhaps they were 
 still lying in ambush " to let the life out of him." 
 Still thinking discretion the better part of valor, he 
 kept still till it began to grow dark, when what 
 should he hear but the friendly voice of his old com- 
 rade, Shaw-na-neese, cautiously calling lo him from 
 the plundered shanty, and saying to him that he had 
 just got away from the Indians, who were intending 
 to come and kill him as soon as it was dark, and he 
 was advised further by the red-skin not to make his 
 whereabouts very public was assured that he would 
 get up the oxen, " gather up the fragments that re- 
 mained," hitch on to the " truckle trackles," and 
 H ,-s >iiJ?kjnr' SLi^vXsi/' 
 
 
 : 
 
 : 
 
 t
 
 - .. - 
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 
 ' 
 
 K 
 
 join him with all possible dispatch in the grove. 
 Peter and his comrade were at last under cover of 
 the night, plodding their way over old logs, sloughs 
 and brush, to the west side of the grove, from whence, 
 in a cold rain-storm, and Peter in his shirt sleeves, 
 they made good their retreat towards Walker's 
 Grove, which they had the good fortune to reach the 
 next day, drenched with mud and water; and where 
 Peter, starved, cold and hungry, was prepared to do 
 up any quantity of muttering and swearing about the 
 "tarn Injins." Here, among the simple children of 
 nature, behold the faint dawnings of a more perfect 
 day ! We are not only indebted to them for the 
 knowledge of succotash and hominy, but for what 
 they have taught us in "getting shut " of the liquor 
 dealer. 
 
 [After referring to the attempt to build a town by 
 the New York Company, the desire of the people to 
 form a county organization, and the call for an elec- 
 tion for county officers, Mr. Kellogg continues :] 
 
 The day of election for county officers at last ar- 
 rived. The settlers, " by the grace of God free and 
 independent," from " Norcutt's to Driscoll's" and 
 from Somonauk to the farthest verge of Franklin, 
 were seen flocking to the house of Frederick Love, 
 and certain big trees thereunto belonging for it 
 soon became apparent that all could not begin to get 
 in at once. Let it not be understood, however, that 
 there is any design to speak disparagingly of the old 
 cabin of Judge Love, for it was a very respectable- 
 looking shanty for those days, and within and with- 
 out betokened more than usual thrift, means and 
 hospitality. There were some alas! the truth may 
 as well be told too many for the security of well 
 disposed and honest settlers, who affected utter con- 
 tempt for all claim associations, calling them " land 
 monopolies," declaring that one settler had just as 
 good right to cut down Uncle Sam's timber and fence 
 up his prairie as another. This might have been true 
 in the abstract, and yet the first claimant and occu- 
 pant was entitled to the preference, to just so much 
 as was needful to him and no more. All pre-emption 
 laws are based on this principle, " first come, first 
 served." It was clearly seen by the more reflecting 
 that if the contrary doctrine should prevail, all 
 security to property in claims would be at an end; 
 " domestic tranquillity could not be ensured," nor 
 could the " general welfare be promoted." Claim 
 
 associations must therefore be maintained and their 
 authority respected, or society would be resolved into 
 original chaos, each defending himself and his by 
 his own right arm that is, if he was able. In what 
 way can the reasonable claim of the settler be best 
 secured until the lands shall be surveyed and 
 brought into market, was then the all absorbing ques- 
 tion. Compared with this, the question whether the 
 " hero of Tippecanoe," or the " foxy Dutchman of 
 Kinderhoof " should come to the Presidential chair 
 was of no consequence. As a "tariff for revenue," 
 or a "tariff for protection," the settlers were in for 
 one that should insure both. In a word, they found 
 themselves divided into two parties, denominated 
 " Claim Jumpers " and " Anti-Claim Jumpers." 
 
 After the whittling, log-rolling, caucusing and 
 liquoring had been done up, the respective parties 
 rally their hosts at the polls and quietly await the 
 issue. On counting the votes, it was found that the 
 Anti-Claim Jumpers' ticket was elected by a very 
 handsome majority. Levi Lee, Rufus Colton and 
 Robert Sterrett were elected County Commissioners ; 
 Joseph C. Lander, Sheriff; Jesse C. Kellogg, Re- 
 corder. The County Commissioners elect at once 
 repaired to the house of Rufus Colton, where " each 
 administered the oath to the other," as authorized by 
 the act to create the county of De Kalb. The Com- 
 missioners appointed Jesse C. Kellogg Clerk of the 
 County Commissioners' Court ; Eli Barnes, County 
 Surveyor; and Lysander Darling, County Treasurer; 
 ordered a special term to be held in a few days at 
 the same place to lay off the county into justices' 
 districts and election precincts, and before the "guns 
 of the glorious Fourth came booming over ' the land 
 of the free and the home of the brave,'" De Kalb 
 was a "sis" in the sisterhood of counties in the 
 Prairie State. Of the County Commissioners, Hon. 
 Levi Lee, now a citizen of Wai worth Co , Wis., a 
 member of t'he Legislature, alone survives. [Lee 
 has since died.] That kind-hearted, worthy old set- 
 tler, Lysander Darling, County Treasurer, and, it is 
 believed, Joseph C. Lander, the first Sheriff, have 
 gone down to the grave. Rufus Colton, the County 
 Commissioner in the central portion of the county, 
 was a native of New England, and a son of a Con- 
 gregational minister. Much of his early life was 
 spent in a printing office, where he acquired that 
 business tact and readiness of the pen for which he 
 
 i 
 
 
 -
 
 was so justly celebrated. For several years he con- 
 ducted a weekly journal, called the Woodstock Ob- 
 server, in Windsor Co., Vt. ; was the first Probate 
 Justice, the first Clerk of the Circuit Court of De 
 Kalb County ; a warm-hearted friend, and, if from lo- 
 cal cause, over an enemy, still a generous one. During 
 the last years of his life -a member of the Congrega- 
 tional Church at Sycamore, and sympathizing deeply 
 in the down-trodden and oppressed, he has gone 
 down to the grave, and his remains repose in hope 
 
 / in the Methodist burial ground in Sycamore. Robert 
 Sterrett, the County Commissioner from Somonauk, 
 
 i was by birth a Pennsylvania!!, a man of uncomprom- 
 ising integrity, and one always knew where to find 
 him. He was shrewd and discriminating ; in politics 
 a Democrat; in religion, a Calvinistic Baptist; in 
 claim matters, as true a man as ever " broke bread." 
 He lived respected and died lamented. His re- 
 mains sleep quietly in his own loved Somonauk. Of 
 the first County Clerk and County Surveyor, nothing 
 need be said, as they are still " living characters, 
 known and read by all men." [Both have since 
 passed away.] 
 
 The day for the special term of the County Com- 
 missioners' Court having at length fully come, self- 
 made and constituted attorneys, men having business 
 at Court, boys and lawyers, curious to " see the ele- 
 phant," and " how the thing worked," were seen 
 pouring into the village of Coltonville from all direc- 
 tions. This village was a common center between 
 Levi Lee and Robert Sterrett, really in advance of 
 most of the prospective paper towns of those days, 
 the powerful competitor of Centerville, Brush Point 
 and Sycamore, or Orange, as Sycamore was then 
 called ; for the " county seat " then consisted of a 
 neat hewed-log cabin with ample " linters " and fix- 
 tures, standing on the bluff southeast of the present 
 residence of C. S. Colton [in 1881; the residence of 
 
 ], overlooking the " rapids " on the west fork of 
 
 the south branch of the Kishwaukee, on or near the 
 site of the old Indian town, and containing under 
 one roof a dwelling-house for a large family, a store, 
 a postoffice, a tavern, a justice, a physician and an 
 attorney's office. In addition to the ordinary busi- 
 ness, it so happened that on this memorable day, 
 some two or three sharply contested lawsuits were 
 pending before Justice Colton, and attorneys, parties, 
 constables, jurors, witnesses, men wanting " license 
 
 to keep a quiet and orderly house," where they could 
 get their neighbors druiik " in pursuance of la\v," 
 were soon seen in patient " waiting upon court," 
 anxious to have their business done up. The County 
 Commissioners from the north and from the south 
 country had arrived. The County Commissioner 
 from the interior, as may well be supposed, had an 
 unusual press of business. The Clerk, having the 
 records of the former court in the top of his hat, 
 half a quire of foolscap, sundry articles of stationery, 
 and some of " Rogers' best cutlery " in his pockets, 
 was already seen standing at the door there being 
 no room for him in the inn, when the whole multitude 
 within and without, 
 
 " Began to feel, as well they might, 
 The keen demands of appetite." 
 
 It was readily perceived that if the good landlady 
 was to get dinner for 75 or 100 " hands," that she 
 would need what little elbow-room could well be 
 spared in the kitchen, and how she did it must ever be 
 to some an incomprehensible mystery, and yet she 
 did, and " behold, it was very good." One thing is 
 quite certain : in those palmy days the prairie grass 
 did not grow under the feet of that landlady. Busi- 
 ness being urgent, however, it was thought best to 
 locate a spare table in the shade on the i.orth end of 
 the house, and open court out of doors. Sheriff Lan- 
 der, with the assistance of the by-standers, having 
 set the table and given it a business-like aspect, and 
 Hon. Levi Lee having produced and laid thereon a 
 " bound book," a cast of merchant's ledger with the 
 accounts torn out, the best that could be produced, 
 it was proclaimed in stentorian tones, at last, that 
 "the County Commissioners' Court of De Kalb county 
 was in session and ready for business." The Court 
 having taken a recess for dinner and again resumed 
 business, applications for merchants' and tavern 
 licenses were presented and granted, of course on 
 condition that the applicant file a bond, pay a cer- 
 tain sum into the treasury, together with the sum of 
 one dollar for the use of the clerk, agreeable to the 
 statute in such cases made and provided. [In divid- 
 ing the county into election precincts] one would 
 think the line here and another there ; but it was 
 I universally conceded that the east line of the county 
 began "somewhar" near the big slough bridge east of 
 Winslow Norcutt's, or where Homer Roberts now 
 lives; consequently, quite a portion of Kane County, 
 
 ^^^CXjr ' ' ^^""" il- ^v^> 
 
 V 
 
 :
 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 t 
 
 . 
 
 sometimes called "Upper Canada," and sometimes 
 " Arab Settlement," were " bone of our bone and 
 flesh of our flesh." 
 
 In relation to the names of the groves, Somonauk 
 takes its name from the creek bearing the same 
 name, and in old times could be safely spelt any way 
 that first came to hand. Squaw Grove has its name 
 thus because it was much frequented by the squaws 
 when the men were gone on their hunting excursions, 
 and Pappoose Grove, because pappoose may be a 
 little squaw. Ross Grove from Joseph Ross, the first 
 settler. Johnson's, from Johnson, the first settler. 
 Paw Paw, from -Paw Paw in Michigan, or some other 
 place. Lost Grove, because it seemed to have strayed 
 away from all the rest of the groves, and to have got 
 lost, and there stopped. The chain of groves south- 
 west of Sycamore, united by isthmuses, and perhaps 
 by a common sympathy, of course would be called 
 Union Grove. Most of the early settlers in the grove 
 southeast of Sycamore, having come from Ohio, what 
 more natural than it should receive the name of Ohio 
 Grove ? The beautiful little grove, a little northeast 
 from Sycamore, was so named because a Norwegian 
 doctor by the name of Norbo first settled there. 
 The grove further northeast, Chartres', because a 
 Frenchman by that name was its first settler; and the 
 grove northwest of Sycamore Big Grove, because, 
 when compared with other groves, it was big. Hick- 
 ory Grove, north of Genoa, is so called because hick- 
 ory was so abundant there. Last of all, Driscoll's 
 Grove took its name from the far-famed Driscolls,one 
 of whom had settled here, from whence he was kid- 
 napped and taken to a little grove in Ogle County by 
 a band of lynchers, where he, with his father, after 
 undergoing the mock forms of a trial and conviction, 
 were shot down like dogs, and tumbled into a com- 
 mon grave. Humanity shudders at the thought of 
 this bloody transaction. In truth it might be said, 
 however, that the horse-stealing, robberies and mur- 
 ders of the " banditti of the prairies " had become, as 
 : t was thought, intolerable. Yet it cannot be safely 
 argued that the end justified the means. None of 
 the old neighbors of the Driscolls who resided at this 
 grove, believe him to have been connected with any 
 of these enormities, though his father and relations 
 might have been. The old Scripture principle that 
 " the son should not bear the iniquity of the father," 
 it seemed, was of no avail to him. After the mas- 
 
 sacre of the Driscolls, this grove took the name of V 
 South Grove, because it lies south of the main body of tf 
 
 timber on the Kishwaukee. 
 
 Major Evans Wharry's Reminiscence. 
 
 HE following reminiscence was given by 
 Major Evans Wharry to V. Hix, in March, 
 1879, and by the latter prepared for the 
 City Weekly. Leaving out the introductory 
 clause, we copy as follows : The Major and 
 a Mr. Sharer, both members of the New York 
 Land Company, came here in 1836, with the view of 
 taking up a large tract of land in the interest of the 
 company. They landed in Chicago in May, 1836, 
 and after remaining in that city for a couple of 
 weeks started for Galena, by way of Rockford. 
 Reaching this locality, they met with Dr. Madden, 
 formerly a resident of Brush Point, Mayfield, and at 
 that time a member of the Illinois General Assembly. 
 The project of the formation of De Kalb County, 
 then a part of Kane County, was being talked up, 
 and the Doctor, being favorably impressed with the 
 Major and the mission upon which he was bent, pre- 
 vailed upon him to stop here and assist him in a 
 scheme which he had in view, which was no less 
 than to locate a shire town for the new county. The 
 Major, thinking favorably of the project, consented, 
 but did not think the selection of a site for the new 
 county seat which the Doctor made, a good one. 
 The site in question was what is now the Thomas 
 Wood farm, half a mile north of the river bridge, and 
 formerly well known as the Clark Wright place. The 
 land there is comparatively low and level, and as 
 the Major's eyes took in the elevated situation south 
 of the river, and upon which the city of Sycamore 
 now stands, he was at once of the opinion that it 
 should have been selected. But the Doctor was al- 
 lowed to have his own way, and the Major at once 
 commenced improvements on the quarter section 
 chosen, a portion of which the Doctor was to have 
 for his influence in the legislation needed to locate 
 the capital town of the county. In fact, the Doctor 
 and Major were mutually interested, and both hoped 
 to realize handsomely outof their venture inapecun- 
 iary way. The Doctor, by agreement between the 
 
 

 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 
 i 
 
 two, was to have 50 of the 160 acres. He returned 
 to Springfield to see to the appointment of a Board 
 of Commissioners to locate the county seat, and the 
 Major went to work in the interests of the new town, 
 and had the same platted and placed on record at 
 Geneva. He purchased Norwegian Grove, lying a 
 little to the east, paying for the same the sum of 
 $400, and removed Dr. Norbo, a Norwegian, who 
 gave the name to the grove, to Geneva ; purchased 
 two or three teams of oxen, erected a store on the 
 premises now owned by Roswell Dow. He also 
 bridged the river, constructed a dam, cut a mile race 
 from a point near the southwest corner of Nor- 
 wegian Grove, through the lowlands just north of the 
 river bridge, traces of which remain to this day, and 
 erected a saw-mill, and sought to make the place a 
 prominent one for those days. At that time the old 
 State road, running west from Geneva to the Missis- 
 sippi, ran along the north side of Norwegian Grove, 
 and this fact may have had something to do with the 
 selection of Dr. Madden as a member of the 
 Legislature. 
 
 While the Doctor was busy in the Legislature the 
 Major was busy at home. Commissioners favorable 
 had been selected by Madden and things promised a 
 happy termination. The Doctor, however, had a 
 deeper purpose in view than the Major had at first 
 suspected, but which soon showed itself. Madden 
 came back in advance of the Commissioners and in- 
 sisted that he must have more than the 50 acres at 
 first agreed upon. At this the Major was taken 
 somewhat aback, but finally consented to increase 
 the number of acres to 75, the amount of land the 
 Dod or thought he ought to have. This would have 
 been willingly acquiesced in by the Major; but just 
 upon the eve of the selection of a site by the Com- 
 missioners the Doctor became still more greedy and 
 demanded 100 acres. Then the Major's ire was 
 thoroughly aroused, and in the height of his indig- 
 nation he vehemently told the Doctor to go to 
 gehenna; that he would never give him that amount 
 of land. The two were now at sword's points, and 
 the Doctor at once set about to secure the location 
 of the county seat at Brush Point. Apprised of his 
 purpose, the Major quietly but actively began to be- 
 stir himself to defeat the Doctor, and at once hired 
 riders to traverse the county to enlist the citizens in 
 his behalf. The Commissioners came, two of them, 
 
 
 and 150 men from all parts of the county met them 
 upon their arrival. The place of meeting was at the 
 Major's store. The day was spent in consultation. 
 There were several parties in this part of the county 
 who had a location for the county seat in view, 
 among them Captain Eli Barnes, who then owned 
 what is now the John Burke farm, on the De Kalb 
 road. There was where the Captain wanted it lo- 
 cated. Then there was Mr. Calvin Colton, of Col- 
 tonville, who desired its location at his place. And 
 it was wanted by a party from Genoa. 
 
 On the next day, the interest increasing, there 
 were 200 men assembled at the Major's headquar- 
 ters. The party was mounted on horses, and finally, 
 in company with the Commissioners, they all started 
 out to inspect the different competing localities for 
 the county seat. They crossed the river and halted 
 first upon the site the Major had all the time fav- 
 ored and which, after his quarrel with Madden, he 
 determined to secure, if possible, and that was where 
 the city now stands. Here the Major pointed out in 
 eloquent teims the natural advantages of the place, 
 after which the party took up the line of march. It 
 was a jolly crowd and a jolly occasion. There was 
 running of horses, whooping and all manner of fun 
 afloat. Reaching the Captain Barnes place they lis- 
 tened to a stump speech from that redoubtable indi- 
 vidual and then struck for Coltonville. This locality 
 was soon inspected and away they broke for Brush 
 Point. After reaching there the Major invited the 
 party to ride to the west for a distance of about 60 
 rods, which was done, and they found themselves in 
 the middle of a large flat covered with water. This, 
 the Major said, was the place the Doctor had selected 
 for the county seat, for the reason that it would 
 never lack a supply of water! Then a derisive shout 
 went up at the expense of the Doctor and the party 
 took up the line of march for Genoa. From Genoa 
 they finished the circuit .-by bringing up at the 
 Major's store. Here a further confab followed until 
 finally one of the Commissioners, Mr. Walker, told 
 the party to go home, but to return on the morrow, 
 when the county seat would be located. 
 
 The eventful day arrived and so did the crowd. 
 The party mounted and again visited each and every 
 place they had gone to the day previous, with the ex- 
 ception of Genoa. The Commissioners said that 
 Genoa was a nice place but too near the north line 
 
 | 
 
 *
 
 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 of the county to be available. Then Commissioner 
 Walker spoke and informed the crowd that with the 
 concurrence of the other Commissioners (one of them 
 was absent in St. Louis) he should designate the 
 place selected by Major Wharry for the capital of the 
 county. The other Commissioner, Mr. Thurston, who 
 was in close confab with Madden at the time, re- 
 fused to concur with Walker, and advised that the 
 absent Commissioner be summoned. He was asked 
 if he would be present providing the absent man 
 could be got here, and replied that he would not 
 that he would never come there again. This exas- 
 perated the Major and his friends, and they finally 
 made him say as to which of the different sites vis- 
 ited he preferred; and, being considerably frightened 
 by the demonstration made, said that if he must, he 
 would say that Wharry 's selection seemed the- most 
 favorable. The matter was ended by Walker, who 
 stuck a stake, painted red at the top, near where the 
 court-house now stands, and the crowd drove it four 
 feet into the ground. Afterwards a hickory pole 
 about roo feet high was raised on the spot by the 
 Major and his friends, where it stood with colors fly- 
 ing from the top. 
 
 Madden continued to fight against the location 
 with all his might, but the people of the county came 
 forth winners. The friends of the Major here were 
 aided by the settlers at the southern extremity of the 
 county on condition that the former should aid them 
 in their desire to be set off and become a part of the 
 county adjoining them on the south, which was 
 agreed to. The support given to the Half-Shire bill 
 some years ago by the people here is said by the 
 Major to have been in consequence of the agreement 
 spoken of, but how this may be we do not pretend 
 to know or to say. 
 
 The land tract located by Major Wharry and Mr. 
 Sharer in the interest of the Land Co., after the 
 agreement first entered into by Madden and the 
 Major, embraced two square miles of land with the 
 boundaries as follows : Commencing about one quar- 
 ter of a mile north of the Roswell Dow place, the 
 west line was run to the south two miles, thence to 
 the east, taking in a portion of Ohio Grove, and which 
 also included the old Indian village, on what is now 
 known as the Tyler farm ; thence north two miles, 
 running to the north of Norwegian Grove, and taking 
 in the same, and thence west two miles to the place 
 
 
 of beginning. It will thus be seen by those famil- 
 iar with the section of country embraced within the 
 lines, that the tract included the quarter section upon 
 which the county-seat was to be located, and which 
 is now the Thomas Wood farm. The Major tells us 
 that the tract was marked out with a plow, four yoke 
 of oxen being used and four days being consumed in 
 the undertaking. 
 
 Of course the old town north of the river was soon 
 abandoned after the site for the county seat was final- 
 ly determined upon. We have already spoken of 
 Captain Eli Barnes. The Captain is accredited with 
 building the first house in Sycamore, the same being 
 the present City Hotel, then known as the Mansion 
 House. Although the first constructed, the Barnes 
 tavern was not the first house on (he ground. A lit- 
 tle wooden building had been moved here from the 
 old Hamlin place, south of here, and was occupied 
 by a Dr. Bassett, the first physician of the place. 
 John P. and Charles Waterman were the first mer- 
 chants. This was in 18*39. This year the old court- 
 house was built, which stood nearly opposite the 
 present one, and was a very primitive affair. The 
 next year 1840 the village consisted of about a 
 dozen houses. Among others resident at the time, 
 and whose names are familiar to many of our readers, 
 were E. S. Jewell, D. Banister, Jesse C. Kellogg, 
 Carlos Lattin, L. D. Walrod, Jos. Sixbury, F. Love, 
 and Marshall Stark. The Mayos and other early 
 settlers did not come until a year or two later. 
 
 By the way, we asked the Major how he got his 
 title. We supposed he had seen actual military ser- 
 vice; participated, perhaps, in the Black Hawk or 
 some other memorable war, and were anxious to hear 
 him recount his military exploits. But in this we 
 were disappointed. He was only Major of a company 
 organized in the earliest days here for protection 
 against the raids of the banditti of the prairies, who 
 infested this portion of the West. In the same way 
 Marshall Stark got to be Colonel and Eli Barnes Cap- 
 tain. Many now living remember seeing Captain 
 Barnes at the head of Fourth-of-July processions 
 in Sycamore, dressed in uniform, with sword and pis- 
 tols, and mounted on his clumsily caparisoned steed. 
 We remember him well, and it was with a feeling of 
 awe that we gazed upon his stern features, and heard 
 the severe orders as they issued from his lips to those 
 under his command. He has long since been dead. 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ... 
 
 
 > 
 
 
 4^W 
 
 A- 
 
 MJim^SSL 
 
 "I 
 
 
 
 
 
 wVV i 
 
 BIOG1 
 
 **? 
 
 ^ 
 
 |*|34->.-'Wv~ 
 
 efJKgpLt 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Barrtnger, Edward 
 
 ,. 3 68 
 
 Byers.A. B 
 
 505 
 
 Corson, Peter N 
 
 230 
 
 
 
 Bartlett, Joseph 
 
 5'5 
 
 
 
 Coster, J oseph C 
 
 443 
 
 A 
 
 
 BartIett,M. A 
 
 ..548 
 
 
 
 Coulson, William D... 
 
 477 
 
 
 
 Bartlett, Moses 
 
 ..566 
 
 
 
 Cox, Joseph 
 
 73 
 
 
 
 Bastian, August 
 
 ..507 
 
 
 
 Coy, Charles P 
 
 433 
 
 Adams, Hon.Augusti 
 ! Adams, H. A 
 -, Adams.J. L 
 Adams, John 
 Adams, John Qumcy 
 3 Adams, J. P 
 = Adams, Thomas 
 v Adams, W. G 
 1 AdeeWm.T 
 = Alden, Jesse 
 / Alden, P. M 
 y Alexander, G. M.... 
 Allbee, B. C 
 
 s 473 
 
 555 
 23 
 39 
 39 
 
 344 
 682 
 
 667 
 498 
 
 Bauder, John H 
 Baxter, James 
 Bell,HenryG 
 Bend, Lewis 
 Betz, John 
 Beveridge, J. H 
 Beveridge, John L 
 Beveridge, Wm. G 
 Bishop, C. A 
 Bissell.Wm. H 
 Blanchard, Prof. A. J ... 
 Boardman, Hon. H. M... 
 
 ..707 
 45 2 
 -.623 
 75' 
 ..653 
 ..278 
 325 
 ..17! 
 ..328 
 495 
 -.151 
 399 
 
 Cain, John 
 Calhoun, A. H 
 Calkins, A. M 
 Cameron, James 
 
 Carnes, D. J 
 
 Carpenter, Wm 
 Carson, D. G 
 Carter, C. D., M. D.. 
 
 Carter, Orlando 
 Castle, Hon. M. B.... 
 
 546 
 
 486 
 49 
 135 
 
 357 
 74* 
 
 428 
 335 
 
 Craig, Robert 
 Crane. Frederick S.... 
 Crapser, George W.... 
 
 Crego, Lewis H 
 
 Cristman. Henry 
 Cristman, John 
 Cromwell, Philip I., M 
 Cruise, Charles 
 Cullom, Shelby M 
 Culver, John N 
 Curtis, Elijah 
 
 300 
 
 435 
 262 
 597 
 332 
 5'5 
 299 
 D....675 
 460 
 175 
 320 
 539 
 
 ) Allen, Joseph 
 Allen, M. V 
 
 732 
 639 
 
 Boies. H. L 
 Bond, Shadrach 
 
 ..216 
 
 Challand, Henry 
 Challand, Reuben 
 
 640 
 
 Curts, J.L 
 Cults, Samuel 
 
 478 
 
 Allen, Reuben 
 Ames, Ezra M 
 
 607 
 
 ^gg 
 
 Bowers, Wm 
 
 529 
 
 Chamberlain, C. H... 
 
 2I g 
 
 
 
 Archer, Samuel 
 Arkills, J.W 
 
 434 
 
 Bradt,C.E 
 
 ..748 
 
 Chapel, George 
 
 667 
 
 D 
 
 
 Arnold, Al'ford 
 
 636 
 
 Brechbiel, J 
 Broughton,C. W 
 
 ...732 
 489 
 
 Chapman, Julius 
 Christopher, C 
 
 685 
 547 
 
 Darnell, James 
 Davis, Rev. Levi H... 
 
 482 
 648 
 
 
 
 
 ...228 
 
 Clapsaddle, Andrew .. 
 
 ...566 
 
 Davis, William 
 
 272 
 
 Ashcraft, Alberl 
 5 Ashelford, Abraham 
 
 635 
 722 
 
 Brown, D. S 
 Brown. D. D 
 
 ...294 
 ...199 
 
 Clapsaddle, Geo. H ... 
 Clark, A. H 
 
 507 
 
 Dean.Erastus 
 Dean, Moses 
 
 598 
 302 
 
 ( Ashelford, George.... 
 
 672 
 
 Brown.G. W. L 
 
 ...308 
 
 Clark, Alva 
 
 337 
 
 Decker, Wm 
 
 334 
 
 Atchison, W. D 
 Atherton, B. F 
 Atherton, Charles 
 
 6 7 
 503 
 
 Brown, James P 
 Brown, J. L 
 Brown, J. W 
 Brown, Russell R 
 
 ...269 
 
 ...481 
 ..386 
 ..605 
 
 Clark, James L 
 Cleveland, S. Grover.. 
 Colby, E. R 
 
 369 
 . 103 
 449 
 
 Dedrick, Martin C.... 
 Dee, Richard 
 De Forest, Lansing... 
 
 676 
 -7'5 
 727 
 630 
 
 Ault, Matthias 
 
 2 * 
 
 Brown, Wm 
 
 53 
 
 Cole! Walter L 
 
 3i 
 
 Delavergne, Nelson .. 
 
 . ...309 
 
 A urner, Leonard 
 
 403 
 
 Brown, Wm. W 
 
 ...49 
 
 Colcman, Hector H.... 
 
 311 
 
 Dennis, Wm. A ,. 
 
 385 
 
 
 
 Bryan, O. M., M. D ... 
 Bryant, W. W., M. D.. 
 
 35 
 S 1 
 
 Coles, Edward 
 
 115 
 
 Denton, Joseph H 
 
 502 
 
 \ 
 
 B 
 
 
 Buchanan, James 
 Buckingham, J. M 
 
 75 
 
 Conde.T. J 
 Cone, William 
 
 555 
 687 
 579 
 
 Depue, F.phraim 
 Dettmer, George J 
 Dickinson, H. S 
 
 362 
 498 
 
 
 
 
 Buckardt, John 
 Burke, L. C 
 
 ...25 
 ...583 
 
 Congdon, George G ... 
 Connart, Louis 
 
 ....584 
 699 
 
 Dieterich, Lewis 
 Divine, R. L 
 
 740 
 621 
 
 ) 
 
 
 Burkhart, J 
 
 745 
 
 Conrad, Cassius M 
 
 277 
 
 Dixon, John 
 
 572 
 
 r f Bailey, Asa 
 ' Bailey, Cyrenius.... 
 N Ballou, N. B..M.D. 
 J Barber, Clark L 
 *V Barnes, W. B 
 
 5I 
 
 Ph.D.423 
 
 7J8 
 39' 
 
 Bushnell, Elmer 
 Bushnell, Wm. J 
 Butler, S. F 
 Butterfield, Edward 
 Butterfield, S. V.... 
 
 ...476 
 574 
 ...628 
 . . .69. 
 ...620 
 
 Coolidge, Porter S 
 Cooper, George C 
 Cooper, Thadcleus W... 
 Corey, Wm. H 
 
 Cnr.nn. Hcnrv 
 
 709 
 591 
 420 
 662 
 
 fin} 
 
 Dodge, Thomas 
 Dodge, Thomas W.. .. 
 Douglas, Fred. S 
 
 194 
 677 
 384 
 3*3 
 
 
 

 
 4niH 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 
 
 
 
 .' Dubrock, George W 270 
 
 Gibbons, Wm 617 
 
 Henderson, James 635 
 
 Kellum, Hon. Charles 197 ff 
 
 i Dunton, George W 259 
 
 Gilbert, Eli B 275 
 
 Hiland, Jackson 707 
 Hill, George H 351 
 
 King, William 222 /.> 
 Kinne, Rev. David N.. . 316 I. 
 
 Dyas, Joseph '518 
 
 Glidden James B 731 
 
 Hitchcock, C. H 485 
 
 Kinyon, Stacy P 378 
 
 E 
 
 Gletty, Jacob 716 
 
 Hix,Volaski 3,8 
 
 Kittelson, Charles 458 
 
 
 Graham, James R 353 
 Grant, Ulysses S 87 
 
 Holbrook, Thomas B 509 
 Holcomb, Hiram 676 
 
 Kirkpatrick, Hiram 627 
 
 K Ebinger, Valentine.... 754 
 g Eddy, Hiram 317 
 1 Edwards, Ninian 119 
 ' Eggleston, Mrs. Olive A 434 
 Eide, Tollef T 476 
 
 Greek, Joseph B 432 
 Greenfield, James L 4 86 
 Greenwood, Charles F 280 
 Griffith, Spencer 612 
 Grim, Henry 612 
 Grout, Henry P 302 
 Gurler, Benj 507 
 
 Hollembeak,AramontN. ...249 
 Holmes, George R 523 
 Hommersand, 0. A 517 
 
 Hopkins, Herbert H 448 
 
 Kleinsmid, George 295 <% 
 Klemm, Nicholas 419 f 
 Knight, Samuel 404 
 Kunes,Jacob 529 
 Kuter, John 523 
 
 Ellwood, Abram 261 
 Ellwood, Alonzo 331 
 Ellwood, Hon. Chauncey. ..241 
 
 Gurler, Henry B 721 
 Gurley, George W 377 
 
 Hopkins, Thomas M, 688 
 Hotchkiss, Nelson 433 
 Houghtby, John 568 
 
 L 
 
 ) Ellwood, Isaac L 33 
 
 H 
 
 Howison,Wm 599 
 Hoxsey, Edward 269 
 
 Lanan, Henry....! 661 ( 
 
 ' Ellwood, Hon . Reuben 89 
 *S Elton,Adolph ii 
 Erhard, Rev. L. A. R 700 
 
 i fcSr^r:'.:::* 
 
 a Evans, Lorenzo D 701 
 $ Ewing, Harry....: 221 
 r Ewing, W. L. D 127 
 
 F 
 
 Hager,C 753 
 Haile. Nathaniel A 278 
 Haish, Adam 498 
 Haish, Jacob 415 * 
 Hall, Jacob M 740 
 Hall, Sherman A 193 
 Hall, Stephen A 466 
 Hallam, Charles 541 
 Hamilton, James L 669 
 Hamilton, John M , 79 
 Hampton, Robert F 655 
 
 Hummel, Mrs. B. A 753 
 Humphrey, Robert 586 
 Hunt, Charles S.. 716 
 Hunt,D. D 630 
 Hunt, Jame= 627 
 Hurst, Lev! 592 
 Husk, Henry 565 
 
 I 
 
 Lane,DavidT 221 "\ 
 Lane, James 475 /? 
 Lang, William 6.8 j 
 Laporte, Alonzo M 554 E 
 Larson, John H 606 <^S 
 Lat.in, Carlos. 668 *1 
 
 Latham, Thomas F 743 
 
 Leifheit', Henry W 556 * 
 Leifheit, William 455 ( 
 Lewis, Edward 747 V 
 
 Farley, Lawrence 4=7 
 Favor, Benjamin K. 483 
 Fay,EdwinH 504 
 Fay, Herbert W 669 
 Fay, Wells A 469 
 Fillmore,Millard 67 
 / Firkins, Asahel 578 
 ' Ford, Thomas ,39 
 Foster, Joseph W 401 
 j Fraser,Wm 747 
 \ Freeland, Albert N 404 
 French, Augustus C 143 
 French E. C 74, 
 French, George B 738 
 Fulkerson, James C 680 
 Fulle, John B 610 
 Fuller, Harvey L 541 
 
 > 
 
 G 
 
 / Gaudy, Henry H 215 
 y Gandy, Joseph 249 
 ..) Garfield, James A 95 
 Garland, Wm. H 312 
 J" Gathercoal, Edmund 435 
 
 Harper, James 599 
 Harper, James B 524 
 Harper, Robert H 57, 
 Harper, Thomas 573 
 Harper, Thomas 568 
 Harper, William 562 
 Harrington, George 600 
 Harrington, Henry H 687 
 Harrington, James, M.D... .285 
 Harrington, Rufus 490 
 Harrington, Samuel H 370 
 Harrington, Sidney P 307 
 Harrington, Wipple A 344 
 Harris, Rev. Benoni 642 
 'Harris, Lemuel C 220 
 Harrison, William Henry.... 51 
 Hart, Patrick M 482 
 Hartman, David W 260 
 Hartman , Elias 432 
 Haskins, Horace 225 
 Hatch, John 3S7 
 Hayes, Asahel E 466 
 Hayes, Rutherford B 91 
 Heath John 201 
 Heckman, Philip 418 
 Heco*,Wm 655 
 Helmer, Peter H 323 
 Hemenway, Henry B 726 
 
 Ives, Martin L 368 
 
 J 
 
 Jackman, Charles D 731 
 Jackson, Andrew 43 
 Jackson, George 556 
 Jackson , William 449 
 Jefferson, Thomas 27 
 Johnson, Andrew.... 83 
 Johnson, Andrew H ...448 
 Johnson, Andrew J.. 647 
 
 Joiner, Cyrus S 367 
 Jones, Harvey A 3 6s 
 Tones, John D 411 
 Jordan, Moses W 711 
 Joslyn, D. W. C 261 
 Joslyn, Harry A 432 
 Joslyn, Phineas <;2 
 Joslyn, P. V 269 
 
 K 
 
 Keene.tWilliam H 646 
 Kellogg, H. A 553 
 Kellogg, Jesse C 692 
 
 Little, Abijah,Jr 517 
 Little, Erastus B 385 
 Little, Henry H.... 393 
 Lloyd, Hon. A. W 712 
 Lloyd, Eli W 646 
 Lloyd, John 343 
 Lobdell, Benj 584 V 
 Lock, James 629 A 
 London, L. D 705 <T 
 Loomis, William 691 f 
 Lord, RobertD 237 " 
 Losee, Morgan 343 
 Lott, Frank W 280 
 Loucks, Hon. Hiram 304 
 Love, Frederick 680 
 Low, Charles H 559 
 Low, Johnson 580 
 Low, William R 408 
 Lowell, Hon. Luther 410 (Q 
 Lucas, Capt. Thomas B 586 j 
 Luney, Thomas A 710 | 
 Luther, Capt. John H 679 ,/' 
 Lyons, Joseph B 6,8 * 
 
 M 
 
 
 Mackey, Harrison 34" ^ 
 
 Madison, James 31 ^ 
 
 
 :-
 
 
 
 : 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 $ 
 
 Marsh, Charles W 
 
 ..283 
 
 Oglesby, Richard J 163 
 
 Ray,John 
 
 ...603 
 
 Stafford, George E 
 
 ....227 
 
 Marsh, William W 
 
 ..288 
 
 Olmstead, Albert A 238 
 
 Ray, William H 
 
 ....6.7 
 
 Stark, Arthur M 
 
 717 
 
 Martin, Harry .' 
 Martin Henry 
 
 -3" 
 
 Olmstead, Andrew H 218 
 Olmstead, Caleb 311 
 
 Raymond, Wm 
 Read, George H 
 
 ....287 
 
 Stark, David W 
 Stark, Jefferson O 
 
 ....296 
 250 
 
 Mason, George F 
 
 ...470 
 
 Olmstead, Henry N 2.0 
 
 Reynolds, John 
 
 ... 123 
 
 Stark, Marshall 
 
 ....715 
 
 Matteson.JoelA 
 
 -.267 
 
 Olmstead, Mathew W 508 
 
 Richards, James 
 
 -373 
 
 Stephens, Samuel 
 
 ....295 
 
 Maxwell, George N 
 
 ...542 
 
 Olmsted, Daniel D 475 
 
 Roberts, Robert H 
 
 ,..252 
 
 Stevens, Franklin O.... 
 
 599 
 
 Mayo! Edward L 
 
 755 
 
 
 Robinson, Hon. GeorgeS 
 
 ...654 
 
 Stiles, Elijah 
 
 ...*oTs 
 
 McAllister, James W 
 
 -.580 
 
 P 
 
 Rogers, Elthom 
 
 ....238 
 
 Stiles, Samuel H 
 
 ... 349 
 
 McAlpine,Wm. J 
 
 ..721 
 
 
 Rompf, George 
 
 --744 
 
 Stimpson, George 
 
 ....641 
 
 McCleery, James 
 
 59" 
 
 Pabst, Martin 697 
 
 Root, Horace 
 
 ...522 
 
 Stinson, Hon. Stephen B 
 
 339 
 
 McClellan, Peter C 
 
 . 392 
 
 Paine, Harmon 678 
 
 Rose, Chauncey 
 
 ....687 
 
 Stollberg, Anton 
 
 ....653 
 
 McCormick, J. A 
 
 554 
 
 Palm, Adam 546 
 
 Rose, Edwin P 
 
 ...719 
 
 Stone, Azel P 
 
 720 
 
 McDole, James A 
 
 ..698 
 
 Palni, John 501 
 
 Rosette, C. E 
 
 ....75. 
 
 Stone, Jacob 
 
 ....476 
 
 McDonald, W. W 
 
 ..623 
 
 Palmer, Charles S 443 
 
 Rote, Amos H 
 
 ....386 
 
 Storey, Septimus 
 
 ....527 
 
 McDowell, John 
 
 ..193 
 
 Palmer. Hiram 285 
 
 Rote,Frances 
 
 ....403 
 
 Story,Amos 
 Stout, M . F 
 
 .. .702 
 
 McDowell,' Wm. B 
 
 354 
 336 
 
 Park, Ira 5,6 
 
 Rowan, Harley B 
 
 200 
 
 Suydam.S. B 
 
 ....752 
 
 McFarland, James 
 
 567 
 
 Parke, AlmonF 7,9 
 
 Rowley, Richard R 
 
 ...-584 
 
 Swift, Samuel M 
 
 ... 600 
 
 McKeague, Norton 
 
 
 Parker, Henry N 408 
 
 Rowen.Wm. H 
 
 
 Syme, David A 
 
 753 
 
 McQueen, Hugh 
 
 -353 
 
 Parks, Mathew 6.8 
 
 Ruby, Dr. Basil 
 
 722 
 
 Syme, John 
 
 -742 
 
 Merrill, Henry T 
 
 374 
 
 Parks, Richard 686 
 
 Russell, James S 
 
 ....226 
 
 
 
 Merritt,JohnH 
 
 546 
 
 Pasley, Sylvester 708 
 
 
 
 T 
 
 
 Miller, Christian 
 
 743 
 
 Patch, Charles D 643 
 
 S 
 
 
 
 
 Miller, George E 
 Miller, Henry 
 
 .296 
 384 
 
 Patterson, John 268 
 
 Sanderson. Charles 
 
 ... 456 
 
 Talbot, George 1 
 Tanner, Oscar M.. ...... 
 Taylor, Charles H 
 
 ....697 
 ....468 
 ....456 
 
 Miller] Irving W 
 Miller, Marshall 
 Miller, Peter 
 
 735 
 ..296 
 540 
 
 Peas,DanK 67. 
 Peckman, Ernest 478 
 Perkins, Horatio N 389 
 
 Sanderson, Henry A 
 
 ....492 
 ....690 
 
 ....7.7 
 
 Taylor, Zachary 
 Terry, Thomas S 
 Terwilliger, George 
 
 .... 63 
 455 
 ....686 
 
 Miner,Charles '.'. 
 Miner, Isaac N 
 
 ".! 4 304 
 
 Perry, Frank H 567 
 Phelps.Wm.C 484 
 
 Schermerhorn, H. A 
 Schmoldt, Oscar 
 
 ....5.0 
 ....400 
 
 Thomas, Henry M 
 Thomason, Thomas 
 
 ....368 
 574 
 
 Misick, Dr. Charles L.... 
 Moliter, Edward, M. D... 
 Monroe, James 
 Montgomery, J. Ivor 
 Morey, Ariel S 
 Morey, Pawling A 
 Morris, G. W 
 Morsch, Jacob 
 Morse, Isaac F 
 Mosher, Edwin L 
 Mosher, Fred S 
 Mullins, Robert 
 Mutton, John 
 
 ..318 
 ..605 
 35 
 
 ..636 
 
 253 
 630 
 457 
 ...709 
 
 ...436 
 ...640 
 
 Pierce, Daniel 504 
 Pierce, Franklin 7. 
 Pierce, Orrin 194 
 
 Plapp,' Jacob F 522 
 Polk, James K 59 
 Pond, Charles C 2.8 
 Pond,Wm.L 691 
 Pooler, Henry 233 
 Pooler, John 447 
 Posson, Martin L 6u 
 Post, A. F 562 
 Potter, George S 466 
 
 Schoonmaker, G. F 
 Schoonmaker, John M... 
 Schule, Hartman 
 Schweitzer, Rev. J.C... 
 
 Sebree.'john S . .' 
 Sebree, Wm. M 
 Sedgwick, Hon. Westel W 
 Seeley, Wm. D 
 Seibert, Jacob 
 Severy, Henry A 
 Severy, John M 
 Shabbona, Indian Chief. 
 Shackelton, M. G 
 
 ....291 
 341 
 ....600 
 ....426 
 ....209 
 ....450 
 
 =57 
 ....668 
 . ... 192 
 ...728 
 
 533 
 574 
 
 Thompson, Augustus C. 
 Thompson, Arthur J... 
 Thompson, W. R 
 Thorp, Henry M 
 Till, Henry 
 Tindall, Thomas J 
 Tomblin, Lee E 
 Tower.David 
 Towne, Edmond T. 
 Townsend, Edwin 
 Townsend, Frederick B. 
 Townsend, Wm. H 
 Treat, George S 
 
 ....749 
 
 . ..268 
 ....699 
 ....730 
 ....6.6 
 ....634 
 ....467 
 
 579 
 
 ....271 
 ....367 
 ....327 
 ...457 
 
 N 
 
 
 
 Shoop, Thomas 
 
 ....5.0 
 
 Tuttle, William C 
 
 333 
 
 Nelson, Lewis 
 
 ...562 
 
 
 Siglin, Jacob 
 
 
 Tyler, Sanford A 
 
 .... 55 
 ....719 
 
 Nesbitt, George W..M.D 
 
 ...286 
 
 Pwtt, Burton B.... "^^.'"HO 
 
 Sivwright, G. M 
 
 ""30, 
 
 Tyrrell, D. W 
 
 ....450 
 
 Newsham, Charles 
 Newsham, John F 
 
 ...665 
 ...469 
 
 Prestegard.Ole J 604 
 
 Sla.de, Joseph 
 Slater, Henry H 
 
 ....431 
 ....246 
 
 U 
 
 
 Nichols, Clark 
 Nichols,?. H 
 
 497 
 
 Preston, Norman 215 
 
 Slater.Philo 
 Smiley, George W 
 
 ....485 
 
 Uplinger.John 
 
 394 
 
 Nichols, Reuben 
 
 729 
 
 Puffer, Alanson R 428 
 
 Smith Adolphus G 
 
 ....541 
 
 V 
 
 
 Nicholson, Thomas 
 
 ...647 
 
 
 Smith, David 
 
 ....458 
 
 
 
 Nichoison, Rev. Wm 
 Nilson, Benj 
 
 . . .656 
 
 Q 
 
 Smith, Joseph 
 
 ....!& 
 
 Vandeburgh, H. G 
 
 
 Nisbet, Mathew 
 
 681 
 
 Quilhot, Peter V 585 
 
 Smith, John P 
 
 260 
 
 Van Deusen, A. V 
 
 ....492 
 
 Norton, David 
 
 444 
 
 
 Smith, Nathaniel 
 
 598 
 
 Van Dusen, James 
 
 ....688 
 
 Norton, Orrin M 
 
 .491 
 
 R 
 
 Smith, Spafford 
 
 ....52. 
 
 VanGalder, F. O 
 
 ....527 
 
 
 
 
 Solon, Timothy 
 
 ....682 
 
 Van Olinda, Mrs. E. C. 
 
 745 
 
 
 
 
 Ramer, George 504 
 Ramer, Henry 615 
 
 Spansail, Jacob 
 
 ....643 
 
 Van Voorhis,U. P 
 
 ....696 
 
 O'Brien, Michael 
 
 434 
 
 Rand, Henry 1 662 
 
 Spickerman, George 
 
 ....7.6 
 
 Vaughan, Silas O 
 
 739 
 ..478 

 
 y:^ 2^^r- 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 I 
 
 ^ 
 
 Adams, Augustus 
 
 47= 
 
 Cristman, John 
 
 =98 
 
 Haskins, Horace 
 
 M4 
 
 Polk, James K 
 
 ...58 
 
 Adams, John 
 Adams, John Quincy 
 
 38 
 
 Cromwell, Dr. P. I 
 
 74 
 
 Hatch, John 
 
 ... .356 
 
 Pooler, Henry 
 
 ...232 
 
 Allen, Capt. M. V 
 Arthur, Chester A 
 Ballou, N. E., M. D 
 
 -.638 
 .. 98 
 
 Curtis, Elijah 
 Depue, Ephraim 
 Divine, R. L 
 
 538 
 544 
 
 Heath, John 
 Hobbs, G. E 
 
 ... .290 
 
 Read, G. H.. 
 
 ...694 
 570 
 
 Bend, Lewis..'. 
 
 ..650 
 
 Duncan, George 
 
 ""!ijo 
 
 Hopkins, C. B 
 
 200 
 
 Richards, James 
 
 -372 
 
 Bend, Mrs. Jane 
 
 ..651 
 
 Dustin, Gen. Daniel... 
 
 588 
 
 Jackson, Andrew 
 
 42 
 
 Sedgwick, W. W 
 
 ...256 
 
 Bishop, C. A 
 
 494 
 
 Elliott, T. R 
 
 608 
 
 Johnson, Andrew 
 
 82 
 
 Slade.Joseph 
 
 53= 
 
 Bissell, Wm. H 
 
 ..146 
 
 Ellwood, Alonzo 
 
 33 o 
 
 Jones,H. A 
 
 
 Smith, Spafiord 
 
 . ..520 
 
 Blanchard, Prof. A.J 
 
 396 
 
 Ellwood, Chauncey 
 
 240 
 
 Kellogg, H. A 
 
 550 
 
 Spansail, Jacob 
 
 ...644 
 
 Blanchard, Mrs. Abbie A. 
 
 397 
 
 Ellwood, Hiram 
 
 576 
 
 Kellogg, Mrs. Ida M. ... 
 
 
 Stark, Marshall 
 
 
 Bond,Shadrach 
 
 ..no 
 
 Ellwood, I. L 
 
 632 
 
 Kellum, Charles 
 
 196 
 
 Stiles, S. H 
 
 ...346 
 
 Boynton.C.O 
 
 ..462 
 
 Ellwood, J. E 
 
 414 
 
 Kirkpatrick, Hi 
 
 626 
 
 Stiles, Mrs. Charlotte 
 
 -347 
 
 Broughton, C. W 
 
 ..488 
 
 Ewing.Wm. L. D 
 
 
 Lincoln, Abraham 
 
 ?8 
 
 Storey, Septimus 
 
 338 
 ...526 
 
 Erown,J.L 
 
 ..480 
 
 Fillmore, Millard 
 
 66 
 
 Low, Charles H 
 
 558 
 
 Taylor, Zachary 
 
 ...62 
 
 Bryan, Dr. O. M 
 
 734 
 
 Ford, Thomas 
 
 ....,38 
 
 Madison James 
 
 30 
 
 Tyler, John 
 
 ... 54 
 
 Buchanan, James 
 
 74 
 
 French, Augustus C.... 
 
 I4 2 
 
 Marsh, C. W 
 
 282 
 
 VanBuren Martin 
 
 ... 46 
 
 Burke, L. C 
 
 . 582 
 
 Candy, H. H 
 
 214 
 
 Mason, H. H 
 
 264 
 
 Ward.J.W 
 
 
 Byers, A.B 
 
 ..564 
 
 Garfield, James A 
 
 94 
 
 Mason, Mrs. Eliza 
 
 265 
 
 
 
 Carlin, Thomas 
 
 -.134 
 
 Gibbs, Prof. D. M 
 
 306 
 
 Matteson.Joel A 
 
 154 
 
 Washington, George 
 
 18 
 
 Chapman, Julius 
 
 ...684 
 
 Gilbert, E. B 
 
 274 
 
 Monroe, James 
 
 
 Waterman, J.C 
 
 
 Cleveland, S. Grover 
 
 
 Glidden.J.F 
 
 =0 4 
 
 Montgomery, J. Ivor... 
 
 '.'.!! '.380 
 
 Wells, A. L 
 
 ...664 
 
 Coles, Edward 
 
 ..114 
 
 Glidden, Mrs. J. F .... 
 
 =0 S 
 
 Oglesby, Richard J 
 
 162 
 
 West, David 
 
 ...658 
 
 Corscn, Henry 
 
 .602 
 
 Grant, Ulysses S 
 
 86 
 
 Palm, John 
 
 .500 
 
 Wood, Henry 
 
 .438 
 
 Crego, L. H 
 Crego, Mrs. L. H 
 
 594 
 595 
 
 Gurler, Benj 
 Hamilton, John M 
 
 506 
 17 8 
 
 Palmer, John M 
 
 166 
 
 Wood, John 
 
 ...150 
 
 Cristman, Henry 
 Cristman , M rs. Louisa 
 
 5'3 
 
 Harrison, Wm. H 
 
 50 
 
 Pierce, Franklin 
 
 70 
 
 Zellar,E. R 
 
 .'.'.6*4 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 Von Ohlen, Henry ,742 
 
 Weddell, Charles V 580 
 
 Whittemore, Henry C... 
 
 
 Wrigh 
 
 ,JamesC 
 
 ....279 X 
 ....292 | 
 
 
 Wedlake, John 540 
 
 Wild, George P 
 
 ...276 
 
 Wrigh 
 
 , Thomas 
 
 477 
 
 W 
 
 Weeden, George W 729 
 
 Willard, Hosea W 
 
 =33 
 
 Wrigh 
 Wylde 
 
 , Thomas 
 Wm. W 
 
 ....592 
 ....300 ^t 
 
 Walrod, Erasmus D 217 
 
 West, David 659 
 
 Wiltberger, W. H 
 Wirick, Jacob 
 
 ...417 
 ...509 
 
 
 Y 
 
 
 Walter, Gustave 73, 
 
 Whalen,John B 230 
 
 Witherspoon, Rev. F... 
 
 459 
 
 Yates, 
 
 Richard 
 
 ....159 
 
 Ward.Jabez W 407 
 
 Whipple, Benj. F 237 
 
 Wood, Hon. Henry 
 
 439 
 
 Young 
 
 PhilipG 
 
 ....328 
 
 Warren, George 220 
 
 White, Edward F 701 
 
 Wood, Lester P 
 
 
 
 
 ""' V 
 
 Warren, Luke A 748 
 
 White, John 259 
 White, Ovando W 567 
 
 Woods, James H 
 Woodworth, I. J 
 
 ...361 
 
 
 Z 
 
 : 
 
 Washington, George 19 
 
 Whitmore, Enos 671 
 
 Wormley, Henry W 
 
 ...482 
 
 Zeigler 
 
 , Michael 
 
 ....604 ft 
 
 Waterbury, John 234 
 
 Whitmore, Henry O 427 
 
 Worthley, Prentiss D.... 
 
 . . .402 
 
 Zellar, 
 
 Edwin R 
 
 
 
 
 i 
 *p 
 
 c
 
 
 
 .. - 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 @J 
 
 INTRODUCTORY 761 
 
 
 
 Lee 839 
 
 Shabbona Express 
 
 798 
 
 Value of Local History 7 62 
 / How Our Fathers Lived 763 
 4 * Character of the Pioneers 7 64 
 
 Malta Mail 
 Hinckley Review 
 Argus 
 De Kalb Co. Chronicle 
 
 798 
 798 
 799 
 799 
 
 Malta 825 
 Sandwich 870 
 Postoffice 87 1 ^ 
 Incorporation 872 g 
 
 if THE INDIANS 766 
 
 De Kalb Review 
 
 800 
 
 Business Interests 873 ^ 
 
 
 Genoa Index 
 
 800 
 
 Banks 875 f 
 
 FIRST SETTLEMENT 768 
 TOPOGRAPHICAL 769 
 ORGANIZATION 770 
 
 INVENTIONS 
 TOWNSHIPS 
 
 801 
 805 
 
 Educational 875 
 Religious 876 
 Societies 878 
 Manufactories 879 
 
 Location of the Co. Seat 771 
 County-Seat Contests 771 
 
 Afton 
 Clinton 
 Cortland 
 
 805 
 806 
 810 
 
 Water Works 880 
 Fire Company 880 
 In the War 880 ( 
 
 ACTS OF THE COUNTY 
 X COMMISSIONERS 772 
 
 ^i Board of Supervisors 772 
 
 De Kalb 
 Franklin 
 Genoa 
 
 8i3 
 8i5 
 818 
 
 822 
 
 Shabbona 836 ; 
 Religious 838 / 
 Societies 838 -_V 
 
 & COUNTY BUILDINGS 774 
 Court-House 774 
 
 Malta 
 Mayfield 
 
 824 
 
 827 
 
 Somonauk 847 r= 
 Religious 848 & 
 Societies 849 *= 
 
 tt >il 775 
 Poor-House 775 
 
 Milan 
 Paw Paw 
 p- _ 
 
 828 
 829 
 
 Sycamore 853 -r 
 Incorporation 854 
 
 JUDICIAL 776 
 THE BAR 778 
 CRIMINAL RECORD 78 1 
 POLITICAL 786 
 
 r lerce 
 Shabbona 
 Somonauk 
 South Grove 
 Squaw Grove 
 Sycamore 
 
 832 
 834 
 845 
 
 % 
 
 I 5 
 
 City Officers 854 * 
 Commercial Interests 855 ( 
 Postoffice 855 
 Educational 855 
 Religious 857 
 Secret and Benevolent 
 
 County Officers 788 
 
 Victor 
 
 852 
 
 Organizations 859 
 
 , WAR FOR THE UNION 789 
 
 CITIES AND VILLAGES 
 
 
 Fire Department 860 
 Banking 860 v 
 
 n AGRICULTURE 791 
 Agricultural Societies 791 
 Union Agric'l Institute 792 
 De Kalb Co. Ag. Assoc. 793 
 
 Cortland 
 De Kalb 
 Platting the Village 
 Incorporation 
 Banks 
 
 8n 
 863 
 864 
 864 
 865 
 
 Manufacturing Inter- 
 ests 86 1 6 
 Waterman 805 f 
 Religious 809 
 Schools 809 
 
 THE PRESS 794 
 
 Water Works 
 
 866 
 
 
 Republican Sentinel 794 
 True Republican 795 
 People's Press 795 
 Prairie Home and Adver- 
 tiser 795 
 L Sandwich News 796 
 
 Fire Department 
 Religious 
 Societies 
 Cemeteries 
 Manufactories 
 Supervisors 
 
 866 
 866 
 867 
 867 
 868 
 869 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS 881 
 
 Railroads 88 1 
 Educational 882 
 Early Postoffices 883 f { 
 Census Reports 885 f 
 Matrimonial 885 1 
 
 Sandwich Gazette 796 
 
 Fielding 
 
 817 
 
 Statistical 886 ^' 
 
 De Kalb County Farmer 796 
 ^ City Weekly ' 796 
 
 Genoa 
 Hinckley 
 
 821 
 
 843 
 
 REMINISCENCES 886 ^ 
 
 Sandwich Free Press 797 
 ^_ Somonauk Reveille 798 
 
 Kingston 
 Kirkland 
 
 824 
 816 
 
 By J. C. Kellogg 886 (e? 
 By Major Evans Wharry 893 ^/