USA > Illinois > Kendall County > Genealogical and biographical record of Kendall and Will Counties, Illinois : containing biographies of well known citizens of the past and present > Part 1
USA > Illinois > Will County > Genealogical and biographical record of Kendall and Will Counties, Illinois : containing biographies of well known citizens of the past and present > Part 1
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Gc 977.301 K33g 1198648
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 00839 5839
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017
https://archive.org/details/genealogicalbiog00biog_0
1
GENEALOGICAL
AND
BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
OF
KENDALL AND WILL COUNTIES,
ILLINOIS
Containing Biographies of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present
BIOGRAPHICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY CHICAGO 1901
1198548
PREFACE.
A MONG the counties of Illinois, Kendall and Will occupy a foremost rank. From the earliest period of their settlement to the present time, their citizens have been progressive, enterprising and public spirited. They have not only developed the agricultural, commercial and manu- facturing resources of the counties, but have maintained a commendable interest in public affairs, have been liberal contributors to movements of an educational, religious and philanthropic nature, and have given to their commonwealth some of its ablest statesmen. In the lives of the citizens, indeed, is the history of the counties best narrated; and those who read the following pages will become acquainted with men and movements inseparably associated with local progress.
In the preparation for the data of this work a number of writers have been engaged for many months. They have visited leading citizens and have studied local history, using every endeavor to produce a work accurate and trustworthy in even the smallest detail. Owing to the great care taken in the compilation of the work and to the fact that every opportunity was given to those represented to insure correctness in the biographies, the publishers believe that they are giving to their readers a volume containing few errors of consequence. The biographies of some representa- tive citizens will be missed from the work; this in some instances was caused by absence from home when our writers called, and in other instances was caused by a failure on the part of the men themselves to understand the scope of the work. The publishers, however, have done everything within their power to make the volume a representative biographical work.
The value of the data herein presented will grow with the passing years. Posterity will pre- serve the work with care, from the fact that it perpetuates biographical history which would otherwise be wholly lost. In those now far-distant days will be realized, to a greater degree than at the present time, the truth of Macauley's statement that "The liistory of a country is best told in a record of the lives of its people."
BIOGRAPHICAL PUBLISHING CO. CHICAGO.
1901.
" Let the record be made of the men and things of to-day, lest they pass out of memory to-morrow and are lost. Then perpetuate them not upon wood or stone that crumble to dust, but upon paper, chronicled in picture and in words that endure forever."-KIRKLAND.
"A true delineation of the smallest man and his scene of pilgrimage through life is capable of interesting the greatest man. All men are to an unspeakable degree brothers, each man's life a strange emblem of every man's; and human portraits, faithfully drawn, are, of all pictures, the welcomest on human walls."-THOMAS CARLYLE.
INTRODUCTORY
G IOGRAPHY alone can justly represent the progress of local history and portray with accuracy the relation of men to events. It is the only means of perpetuating the lives and deeds of those men to whom the advancement of a city or county and the enlightenment of its people are due. The compilers of this work have striven to honor, not only men of present prominence, but also, as far as possible, those who in years gone by labored to promote the welfare of their com- munity. The following sketches have been prepared from the standpoint of no man's prejudice, but with an impartial aim to render justice to progressive and public-spirited citizens and to collect personal records that will be of value to generations yet to come.
To be forgotten has been the great dread of mankind from remotest ages. All will be forgotten soon enough, in spite of their best works and the most earnest efforts of their friends to preserve the memory of their lives. The means employed to prevent oblivion and to perpetuate their memory have been in proportion to the amount of intelligence they possessed. The pyramids of Egypt were built to perpetuate the names and deeds of their great rulers. The exhumations made by the archæologists of Egypt from buried Memphis indicate a desire of those people to perpetuate tlie memory of their achievements. The erection of the great obelisks was 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 also evident that the Mound-builders, in piling up their great mounds of earth, had but this idca-to leave something to show that they had lived. All these works, though many of them costly in the cxtreme, give but a faint idea of the lives and character of those whose memory they were intended to perpetuate, and scarcely anything of the masses of the people that then lived. The great pyramids and some of the obelisks remain objects only of curiosity; the mausoleums, monuments and statucs are crumbling into dust.
It was left to modern ages to establishi an intelligent, undecaying, immutable method of perpetuating a full history-immutable in that it is almost unlimited in extent and perpetual in its action; and this is through the art of printing.
To the present generation, however, we are indebted for the introduction of the admirable system of 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 agcs.
The seythe of Time cuts down all; nothing of the physical man is left. The monument which his children or friends may erect to his memory in the cemetery will erumble into dust and pass away; but his life, his achievements, the work he has accomplished, which otherwise would be forgotten, is perpetuated by a record of this kind.
To preserve the lineaments of our companions we engrave their portraits; for the same reason we collect the attainable facts of their history. Nor do we think it necessary, as we speak only truth of them, to wait until they are dead, or until those who know them are gone; to do this we are ashamed only to publish to the world the history of those whose lives are unworthy of public record.
-
.
HON. GEORGE H. MUNROE.
ON. GEORGE H. MUNROE. In a career honorable alike to himself and the city long his home, Mr. Munroe has displayed those traits of character without which success is im- possible. Few citizens have done more than he toward the development of Joliet and particularly toward the improvement of Chicago street, the building up of which is largely due to his efforts. From the time he reached his majority to the present he has been an important factor in Joliet's business enterprises, and his name is intimately associated with a number of well-known con- cerns, notable among these being the Western Stone Company, of which he is vice-president and a large stockholder; also the Joliet National Bank, of which he is a director and one of the largest stockholders. With his brother, Edwin S., he conducts a real-estate and mortgage, bank- ing and general trust company's business, and has platted numerous additions and subdivisions, probably twenty in all.
Near Watertown, N. Y., Mr. Munroe was born, September 24, 1844, being a son of George Mun- roe, whose sketch appears on another page. He was five years of age when the family settled on a farmi in this county, and his education was ob- tained mostly in the public schools of the town of Florence and in private schools in Wilmington and Joliet. From an early age he showed that he possessed great energy and determination of character, and while still a mere youth he filled the position of deputy sheriff efficiently for a period of two years. In the year 1865 he be- came connected with his father, George Munroe, in the establishment of the firm of G. Munroe & Son, of which he was a member until the death of his father in 1890 caused its dissolution. It is
said that he is the largest holder of real estate in Joliet to-day, and certainly the firm of Munroe Brothers is by far the largest real-estate firm in the city. In addition to his other interests he has had the two most important receiverships in the county. In 1868, when the state penitentiary changed from the contract system to state ac- counts, he was appointed receiver of the Illinois Manufacturing Company, which had the lease and all of the business there at the time. He settled the affairs of the company, made the sale to the state, and divided about $250,000 11et among the stockholders. He also acted as re- ceiver of the Joliet Enterprise Company, his management of which and of other large trusts added to his already high reputation as a financier.
Fraternally Mr. Munroe is connected with Matteson Lodge, A. F. & A. M. St. John's Universalist Church, of whose board of trustees he was for many years the president, has received the benefit of his practical business experience, and he was the leading spirit in the erection of the large auditorium on the corner of North Chi- cago and Clinton streets. He assisted in organ- izing the Joliet Business Men's Association and was one of its presidents. He is a member of the Union League and Marquette Clubs of Chicago and the Stone City Club of Joliet. His marriage, in this city, united him with Miss Eva Weeks, only daughter of Judge Charles H. Weeks. Mrs. Munroe was educated at Miss Skinner's private school at Naperville, Ill. She is a lady of culture and refinement and is among the leaders of society in this city, where her tact as hostess and her rare qualities of head and heart have secured her lifelong friends. The
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
home of Senator Munroe have been brightened by the presence of two children: Esther, now the wife of Jesse J. Shuman, of Cleveland, Ohio, and George Fuller Munroe.
Any review of the life of Mr. Munroe would be incomplete without considerable mention of his service in the state senate and his devotion to the interests of his fellow-citizens. He has never been an office-seeker nor a politician, in the or- dinary acceptance of that word. At the same time he is an ardent Republican, pronounced in his support of party principles. In 1894 he was elected to the state senate, succeeding a Democrat and receiving a majority of more than twenty-five hundred, the Democratic city of Joliet giving him a majority of eleven hundred. In the thirty-ninth general assembly he was chairman of the committee on waterways and drainage, and a member of the judiciary, appropriations, canals and rivers, farm drainage, mines and min- ing, fees and salaries, printing, state library, and arts and sciences committees. On the convening of the fortieth general assembly he was again made chairman of the committee on waterways and drainage, in which capacity he secured valu- able concessions and improvements for the local interests along the great waterway and through the Illinois valley. In this assembly he was the second member on the Republican steering com- mittee, and a member of the committee appointed to visit state educational institutions. He was also a member of the committees on railroads, finance, revenue, insurance, penal and reform- atory institutions, canals and rivers, agriculture and horticulture, labor and manufacture, county and township organization, state library, and arts and sciences. Among the important meas- ures which were secured through his efforts may be mentioned the following: a bill for amending rights of eminent domain, compelling corpora- tions to pay expenses in condemnation casés, where they failed to take the property; the parole law; an amendment to the general banking laws of the state, throwing greater safeguards around the bank for the benefit of its depositors; the amending of the school laws of Joliet, increasing
the number of school inspectors; the establish- ment of the Woman's Relief Corps home at Wil- mington, this county, now a fine and thriving institution; and the establishment of a female prison on separate grounds from those of the Illinois state penitentiary. When the Humphrey bills were brought before the senate he was largely instrumental in creating that strong public senti- ment against the bills which made their ultimate success impossible. It was largely due to his watchfulness that the sanitary drainage district did not secure a single change in their interest from the original bill; two tax bills only were passed permitting the trustees to tax their dis- trict for more funds and in both of these bills suitable amendments in behalf of the valley peo- ple were added, one for the necessary amount of water and the other requiring swinging bridges, thus making it a navigable channel. At the ex- piration of his term as senator he was not a candidate for re-election. There were many who desired him to become a candidate for governor, but, with characteristic unselfishness, he threw his influence toward securing another Will Coun- ty citizen, Hon. E. C. Akin, as nominee for at- torney-general.
The life of Senator Munroe furnishes an example worthy of emulation by the young men of this generation, many of whom have occasion to remember his fatherly interest in their per- sonal or business affairs. To those who study the history of Joliet in the years to come his name will always stand out pre-eminently as its most public-spirited citizen. It is to such men as he that Joliet owes its present prosperity. When the city was far smaller than now and few antici- pated its steady growth and development, he al- ways had the greatest faith in its future, and that firm faith was never shaken by times of financial depression. It has been a privilege to witness the realization of many of his hopes, although in his opinion the city has before it a future even greater than its past. To promote its progress and to advance the interests of its citizens have formed no small part of his work in life, and while he has labored quietly and unostentatiously,
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
he has labored none the less effectively in the promotion of enterprises that will conserve the permanent welfare of the city.
Few people realize the true value of a thor- oughly honest and capable public-spirited citizen of the Munroe type, of which this great republic has none too many. Though able to fill any office in the gift of the people, his modesty has been a bar to the realization of ambitious hopes. A future generation will fondly look on the por- traits of such men and study their character in the annals of local history. Then the unselfish work of Senator Munroe in the Republican party, in his state and in .Joliet, will be given greater praise; his noble effort to secure a home for the Woman's Relief Corps at Wilmington will be better understood, and his conscientious work in the affairs of the drainage canal more thoroughly appreciated, and will then be given unstinted praise.
G EORGE MUNROE. The genealogy of the Munroe family is traced back to the year 1050, when it flourished in the extreme north of Scotland. Later generations removed to Lanarkshire, near the English border. During the seventeenth century some of the name served in the army of the ill-fated Charles I. The traits of character for which the Scotch are noted were noticeable in the life of the subject of this sketch and were large factors in his business success. He was born in Lanarkshire April 4, 1821, a son of Daniel and Jane (Richmond) Munroe. His father, who was a woolen manufacturer, brought the family to America in 1827 and settled in Brownville, Jefferson County, N. Y., where he followed his chosen occupation. At an early period in the history of Joliet he came to this city and acted as manager of the woolen mill which at that time stood near the Jefferson street bridge. Later he improved a farmi in Florence Township, where he died in 1860. He had long survived his wife, who passed away in Brownville in 1829. They were the parents of three children: George, Angus and Barbara.
Having learned the moulder's trade, the sub- ject of this sketch was made foreman of a foundry in Brownville. In 1849 he settled in Florence Township, this county, where he engaged in farming. In 1862 he was elected sheriff, which office he filled for one term. In 1865 he and his son, George H., embarked in the grocery busi- ness, and they continued as partners until his deatlı. For ten years they occupied a building on the corner of Jefferson and Chicago streets, after which for six years they conducted business in the Opera House building. In 1884 they erected the first large building on Chicago street, and in it they carried on a very large and suc- cessful wholesale business; this building, since remodeled, is now the Munroe Hotel. The part- nership continued until the death of the senior member of the firm in 1890.
In the midst of his important business interests Mr. Munroe nevertheless kept in touch with local affairs and contributed his quota to the advance- ment of his city. As alderman and school trustee he was helpful in public and educational matters, and for three years he served the county as its treasurer, being first chosen to fill a vacancy in the office and subsequently elected without oppo- sition. Fraternally he was a Knight Templar Mason. He aided in religious movements and was identified with the Methodist Church, in which he served as a trustee. In his character he combined those qualities of lieart and mind that rendered him deservedly popular and secured to him the warm friendship of his associates. Beginning for himself with limited means he steadily, by perseverance and good management, won a prominent place in the business world, where his talents were recognized and appre- ciated. Methodical and exact in transactions, conservative in judgment, and careful in his decisions, he possessed the qualities which go to make success in the world of commerce. As one of the pioneers of the county, and a man whose energies were devoted to the development of its resources, his name is worthy of perpetuation 011 the pages of local history.
December 22, 1842, Sarah M. Hentze became the wife of Mr. Munroe. She was born in Brown-
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
ville, N. Y., a daughter of Henry and Charity (Gould) Hentze. Her father, who was born in Rutland, Vt., was a son of Henry Hentze, a Hessian soldier brought by England to America at the time of the Revolutionary war; who, later, being in sympathy with the struggle for freedom, deserted and joined the Americans; he was a descendant of a large landed proprietor of Ger- many. The father of Mrs. Munroe brought his family via the lakes on the steamer "Mayflower" to Chicago, where Mr. Munroe met them with teams and brought them to Wilmington. In 1852 he and his son George went overland with ox- teams to California, where he engaged in mining until his death; many years afterward his son came back to Joliet. Mrs. Munroe died in this city in 1895. Of her five children all but one are still living. The eldest, George H., is rep- resented on another page. Jennie A. is the wife of Rev. G. R. Van Horn, of Rockford, Ill., who is a prominent minister in the Rock River con- ference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mary E. is the wife of Charles B. Hayward, of Joliet; and Edwin S. is a partner of his older brother in the real-estate business.
ON. JOEL A. MATTESON, governor of 'Illinois 1853-56, was born in Jefferson County, N. Y., August 8, 1808. When a boy he was employed in Prescott, Canada. His later years were filled with varied employments, teaching school, improving a farm, working on railroads in the south, visiting the gold diggings of northern Georgia, etc. In 1833, with his wife and one child, he came to Illinois and entered a claim in what is now Kendall County. At that time there were only three or four houses between his place and Chicago. In 1835 he bought largely at the government land sales, but the following year sold his land and settled in Joliet. In 1838 he became a heavy contractor on the Illinois and
Michigan canal, which contract he completed in 1841. One of his next ventures was the estab- lishment of a woolen mill in Joliet, which, with subsequent enlargements, became an enormous factory.
His connection with public and political affairs began in 1842, when he was elected to the state senate. His service was so satisfactory that he was twice re-elected, and during the entire time held the position of chairman of the committee on finance. At the same time he superintended his woolen mill and also again became a heavy con- tractor on the canal. At the Democratic state convention, April 20, 1852, he was nominated for governor. At the election he received a good majority. During his term of office the most ex- citing occurrence was the repeal of the Missouri compromise by congress, under the leadership of Stephen A. Douglas, in 1854, when the bill was passed organizing the territory of Kansas and Nebraska. Before his term expired the Repub- licans were fully organized as a party and in 1856 put into the field a ticket, which carried the state, but not the nation. The legislature of 1855 passed two important bills, the present free- school system and the submission of the Maine liquor law to the vote of the people. The latter was defeated by a small majority of the popular vote. During his term the taxable wealth of the state was trebled; the public debt reduced; tax- ation reduced; railroads increased in mileage from less than 400 to more than 3,000; and the commerce of Chicago quadrupled. Upon his retirement from office Governor Matteson re- sumed the management of his extensive business interests in Joliet. He did much toward the up- building of this city and gave employment to many workmen. Toward those in need he was always generous, and many a poor man has reason to remember him with deepest gratitude. Toward the close of his life he relinquished, to some extent, the management of his extensive in- terests, but he continued to be, in old age, as in early life, a very active, busy man. He died in Chicago during the winter of 1872-73.
db.6 Bissell
GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
23
MARTIN C. BISSELL.
M ARTIN C. BISSELL. Through a life that was prolonged to an advanced age Mr. Bissell proved himself to be an active man of affairs and a successful financier, managing every enterprise that he undertook in such a way as to bring it to a fortunate termination. Having made his home in this city for many years and owning valuable property interests in this locality, he became well known by the people of the town, and was by them recognized as a man of unusual force of character. At his death, which occurred April 12, 1888, a portion of his estate was left to relatives and the remainder was bequeathed to the Swedenborgian Church, of whose teachings he was an ardent supporter.
Thc Bissell family came from France to New England in an early day. Noah Bissell, who was a Vermonter, possessed the quality of divina- tion to a remarkable degree and forctold the day and hour when his spirit would leave its cartlily tenement house. Aaron, a son of Noalı, served in the war of 1812 and spent his early life near Rutland, Vt. From there lic moved to the vicinity of Burlington, the same state, and after the war of 1812 settled in Oneida County, N. Y. His son, the subject of this article, was born in Huntington, Chittenden County, Vt., in June, 1802. When the family removed to New York he worked on a farm for $4 a month. At four- teen years of age he secured employment with a farmer in Pompey, Cayuga County. This man, who was a Presbyterian of the old school, became convinced that the boy was one of the elect and decided to educate him for missionary work, so sent him to a Presbyterian school at Homer. The officers of the school concluded to take the boy, but said they must have absolute control of
him, but the parents refused to give their consent to this, so Mr. Bissell's future was changed.
Learning the mason's trade at Lansing, N. Y., he afterward worked at Ithaca and on the Cham- plain canal locks, and was foreman in the con- struction of masonry at Rochester. While work- ing on the canal at Elmira, N. Y., he married Miss Eliza Wells, in 1826. Later he had a con- tract for masonry on the Allegheny canal at Cuba, Pa. On the completion of that work he moved to Cass County, Mich., and bought a farm, where he lived for three years. However, agri- cultural pursuits were not congenial, and he re- turned to contracting. He constructed a section of the Michigan Central Railroad, later had a contract on the Illinois Central, meantime mak- ing Bloomington, Ill., his home. Later he had contracts in Iowa and Missouri. The year 1854 found him a resident of Jolict, where he afterward made his headquarters, although his business in- tcrests required his almost constant presence in other places. As a railroad contractor he was successful. Possessing great energy and force of will, he was fitted for the work of superintending large contracts and overseeing a corps of mcn. During all of the years in which he engaged in railroad contracting he liad many experiences in- cident to life upon the frontier, in the midst of primeval surroundings. He never forgot his ex- periences during the cholera epidemic in 1854, and particularly one trip that he made by canal boat from Pekin to Chicago, when half of the men on the boat died of that drcad disease.
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