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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52
LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
977.325 MAAh v. 2
ILLINOIS IHISTORICAL SURVEY
HISTORY
OF
WILL COUNTY ILLINOIS
By AUGUST MAUE
IN TWO VOLUMES ILLUSTRATED
VOLUME TWO
HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY Topeka-Indianapolis 1928
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
http://archive.org/details/historyofwillcou02maue
Muiau Alean
977.325 m+4h 2. 2
History of Will County
BIOGRAPHICAL
William Henry Clare, American real estate operator and politician, was born at Joliet, Ill., Sept. 15, 1868, and died there Dec. 14, 1923. He was a son of John Clare, who was born in 1828 and died in 1873, and of Margaret (Flannery) Clare, a daughter of Bartholomew Flannery. This branch of the Clare family was established in America by John Clare, who emigrated from County Tipperary, Ireland, in 1845, settling at Goshen, Orange County, N. Y.
William Henry Clare received his early education at the Eliza Kelly School, at Joliet, Ill., but the greater share of his education was obtained by night study. He was a newsboy at the age of ten, selling newspapers at the corner of Clinton and Chicago Streets, Joliet, and the fact that 40 years later he owned the building occupying that corner is but one of many picturesque features of a life that was brilliantly successful through sheer force of ability, appealing personality, and hard work. At 13 years of age he was engaged as a wire worker at five dollars a week, and 40 years later he occupied the important government post of collector of the port of Chicago under appointment by President Wilson. His record is filled with such spectacular contrasts, but the fact that it was a record built by perseverance and sheer pluck is evidenced by the fact that he started in a real estate office at the age of 15 years and at 21 years had saved the $2,000 with which he started in the real estate and insurance business for himself.
Mr. Clare was associated in the real estate business with his brother, George J. Clare, and together they engineered some of the most im- portant real estate transactions in Joliet, including the purchase of the
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Lincoln Theatre Building, the St. Nicholas Hotel, the property at Jeffer- son and Scott Streets, and many other valuable tracts in the loop district. He was known as a keen business man and a shrewd judge of real estate values, and he was particularly distinguished by his loyalty to and love for his native city of Joliet. It is said of him that his belief in the future of the city was so strong that he confined his operations exclusively to Will County. He conducted his real estate business from the Will County National Bank Building and in the course of the years he spent as a real estate operator built up a large clientele. He was likewise interested in the Will County National Bank and was for many years one of the directors.
However, while continuously active in the real estate field Mr. Clare's connection with local and state politics was sufficiently extensive to have occupied the full time of a less able and resourceful man. For a period of 30 years he was one of the leading Democratic politicians of this state, although he seldom sought office for himself. He was, however, city treasurer of Joliet, for one term, and he was in 1915 a candidate for mayor of that city. In that election he obtained the majority of the men's votes, who were outnumbered by the women's vote. This was the first contest under the commission form of city government, which Mr. Clare and the men voters vigorously opposed when previously sub- mitted for adoption by the city of Joliet. The mayoralty election was defeated, and which election in no way reflected upon the personal popu- larity or general fitness of Mr. Clare for the office. Not long afterwards he was appointed by President Wilson as collector of the port of Chi- cago, an office he filled for four years with characteristic ability, but of which he said he would have exchanged the entire four years for one week as mayor of Joliet.
Upon the death of Roger Sullivan, the Democratic state leader, Mr. Clare was generally regarded as his logical successor, but when ap- proached by a group of the most influential men in the party and asked to take over the control of the party organization he firmly refused. The position carried with it a degree of power and prestige that would have appealed strongly to most men, but as it entailed his leaving the city of Joliet Mr. Clare found it no temptation. He continued his work with his party in his native city, one of its most active leaders and
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wisest councillors, and one whose years of public service honestly earned the affection and respect of his fellow citizens.
Mr. Clare's devotion to his home city was said by his friends to have been bound up in his exceptionally strong family affections. Left with- out a father at an early age and forced to find work wherever he could in order to assist his mother, he and his brothers and sisters formed the closest of fraternal affections. The loss of his brother, Frank Clare, was a grief that he felt most keenly the remainder of his life. He was survived by two brothers, John Clare and George J. Clare, and two sisters, Mrs. Katherine Clare Lowery, and Margaret Clare, all of whom reside in Joliet. He had never married.
Speaking of Mr. Clare's character after his death, Rev. Father Van Pelt said: "He was an honor to the community and to the city of Joliet. He was a selfmade man, a poor boy whose ambition was to succeed in life, and he did it by an honest, upright course. He placed a goal before him and attained it honestly. He was an exponent of the highest kind of charity. Only those who knew him well knew the many, many charitable deeds he performed. He often said to me that if I knew of any needy to send them to him and he would help them, and many of the respected and prosperous men of today are those whom he helped when they were down and out."
A business associate in speaking of him said: "His heart always beat in the interest of humanity. He was unostentatious in his charities, unstinted in his purse, his chief and supreme delight being in aiding, encouraging and helping his friends."
In an informal article, designed as a character sketch rather than as the regulation obituary notice an old friend and newspaper man wrote of him: "* * * He had to fight for everything he got from his kid days up and died a winner. He rose to the top because he pos- sessed the qualities that make men rise above their fellow men in leader- ship. * I never knew a man who had more friends. He loved friends and loved to help them. Their number includes folks from every walk of life; in every strata of social and business life. I never knew him to refuse a favor * * * He was just that way-a kindly, simple soul who got his kick in life out of seeing everyone around him happy and contented while he went on through a simple, frugal routine.
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He was my idea of what I would like to see in every American -a decent, honest, God-fearing man who loves life, family, friends and his home city."
Woodruff Family .- George Woodruff came to Joliet from Water- town, N. Y., in 1836. He was then 24 years old and arrived in Chicago by boat. At that time Chicago amounted to very little and he came on to Joliet, as at that time Chicago came to Joliet for its mail. He engaged in the provision business until 1841, when he decided to operate a farm he had purchased at Plainfield. He spent two years on this farm; his son, Frederick Woodruff being born there.
Returning to Joliet, where he had retained active business interests, he again engaged in business and in 1857, in partnership with Frank L. Cagwin, S. W. Bowen and E. Harwood, started the Joliet Bank.
Seven years after the organization of the Joliet Bank, in 1864, the National Banking Act was passed and the Joliet Bank incorporated under the name of the First National Bank of Joliet. This was one of the first national banks chartered under this Act and the incorporators were George Woodruff, his son, Frederick W. Woodruff, J. E. Bush, William Tonner and J. F. Woodruff.
George Woodruff was elected president and Frederick Woodruff, then 23 years old, was elected cashier.
The old books of the First National Bank, now in its archives, show some transactions that seem peculiar today. One entry shows a charge of $3.00 against Governor Matteson for a pair of shoes.
While the Woodruff family has been interested in various lines of business, its main business has always been that of banking.
For eighteen years, from 1864 until 1892, George Woodruff was president of the First National Bank, and he was succeeded as presi- dent by his son, Frederick W. Woodruff, who held that position from 1882 until 1906, at which time he was succeeded by George Woodruff II, who had just graduated from Yale and was well fitted to carry on the work.
In 1909, Frederick Woodruff II finished his college course at the University of Pennsylvania and became assistant cashier and then vice
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president of the Citizens National Bank of Joliet. This institution was merged with the First National Bank of Joliet eighteen months later and became the largest bank in Illinois, outside of Chicago, and Fred- erick W. Woodruff was elected first vice president of that institution.
In 1922, George Woodruff II became president of the National Bank of the Republic of Chicago, and Frederick W. Woodruff II became presi- dent of the First National Bank of Joliet.
The Woodruff boys, as they were called to distinguish them from the older Woodruffs, built the Woodruff Hotel, the new First National Bank Building, the Sippell Garage, the two Woodruff Realty buildings and the Woodruff building at the corner of Jefferson and Chicago streets, and this building activity gave a great deal of impetus to the develop- ment of Joliet.
John T. Clyne, the subject of this sketch, was born at Cohoes, N. Y., Dec. 8, 1857.
A further check traces the Clyne family to some Dutch Colonists who emigrated from Holland and settled in a small village in the County of Longford, Ireland, about the middle of the Seventeenth Century.
Thomas Clyne, the grandfather, drifted into the United States, by way of Canada, and settled for a while near Utica, N. Y., where he met and married a Miss McCormick, whose family were farmers and early settlers in that section.
Mr. Clyne's father, James Clyne, was born at Whitesboro, Oneida County, New York, in 1832. As soon as he was old enough he began work at the carpenter trade and landed in Chicago in the year 1853. He returned to New York State the following year and settled at Cohoes, Albany County, N. Y. He married Catherine Quinn, the daughter of Thomas and Mary Quinn, formerly of Union Village, Washington County, State of New York, where his mother was born in the year 1836.
The first seventeen years of Mr. Clyne's life were spent in Cohoes, N. Y. He attended the public schools and worked in a woolen factory and in the Spring of 1875, came to Chicago where he worked for a while in the Palmer and Fuller Sash and Door Factory, at Twenty-second Street
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and the River. Being unable to acquire the Bohemian language he quit and started to learn the brick-laying trade. His employer failed in business and Mr. Clyne left Chicago and came to Will County in 1875. He worked on a farm in and about Plainfield for six years and attended the Valparaiso University during the winter months and mar- ried Anna L. McClosky in 1880. He taught school the first winter and the following summer engaged in handling horses and took his first lesson in politics. He drifted into commercial business and then back to politics and was postmaster of the City of Joliet for twelve years. In 1914, with E. J. Murphy, he organized the Commercial Trust & Savings Bank of Joliet.
Mr. Clyne has three sons. Meade, a physician, born April 30, 1882, and residing at Tucson. Wade, a dentist, born August 2, 1884, and liv- ing in Joliet, and James V., born June 28, 1886. The latter is cashier of the Commercial Trust & Savings Bank of Joliet.
Mr. Clyne is Republican and his lodge affiliations are Masonic.
Ervin T. Geist .- A distinguished figure in financial circles in Will County is Ervin T. Geist, who is president of the Joliet Trust & Savings Bank. He was born at Plainfield, Ill., the son of Hiram S. and Jane (Ross) Geist.
Hiram S. Geist was born in Pennsylvania and his wife was a native of Ohio. He was a farmer throughout his life and spent more than half a century on a farm which was located between Joliet and Plain- field. He died in 1905 and his wife died in 1909. Both are buried at Plainfield. Mr. and Mrs. Geist were the parents of the following chil- dren: William S., lives at Rockwell City, Iowa; Mary E., lives at Plain- field, Ill .; Henry N., lives at Adair, Iowa; Charles E., lives at Clear Lake, Iowa; Elza N., lives at Oroville, Calif .; Hattie R., lives at Plainfield, Ill .; and Ervin T., the subject of this sketch.
Ervin T. Geist was educated in the Plainfield district school and attended Joliet High School. He spent his boyhood on his father's farm in Plainfield Township and his first employment was as a reporter for the Republic and Sun newspaper. He later became advertising manager of this newspaper and was also identified with the Joliet Republican
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Printing Company. He served as cashier of the Joliet Trust & Savings Bank for ten years and in 1921 was elected president. He is also presi- dent of the Joliet Title and Guarantee Company.
On Oct. 9, 1902, Mr. Geist was married at Joliet to Miss Erma Ham- ilton of Joliet, Ill., the daughter of Thomas and Annie (Chambers) Ham- ilton, natives of New York. Mr. and Mrs. Geist have no children.
A Republican by political affiliation, Mr. Geist served as a member of the Will County Board of Supervisors from Joliet Township from 1899 to 1900; as Recorder of Deeds of Will County from 1900 to 1908; and as City Treasurer of Joliet in 1920. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, Modern Woodmen of America, Mattison Lodge A. F. and A. M. No. 175, Joliet Chapter, R. A. M., No. 27, Joliet Commandery, K. T. No. 4, Medinah Temple, Chicago Shrine, Eagles Lodge, and Elks Lodge, No. 296. He also belongs to the Joliet Country Club and Chamber of Commerce. His religious affiliation is with the Central Presbyterian Church.
Mr. Geist has given to every step of his progress from his youth to his present outstanding position the tireless endeavor and fearless atti- tude of the natural business executive, and in his success his ability is definitely demonstrated.
Hon. Ralph C. Austin, county judge of Will County, is a native of Illinois. He was born at Morrison, July 2, 1886. He was the only child born to A. E. and Gertrude V. Austin, who still reside at Morrison.
Ralph C. Austin was graduated from the Morrison High School in 1903; Lombard College in 1907; and Chicago Kent College of Law in 1912. He worked as a reporter on the Joliet News from 1907 until 1912. He has been assistant city attorney, public administrator, assist- ant States Attorney, and is now serving as judge of the county.
In 1922 Judge Austin was married to Miss Laura M. Merritt. Their home is at 118 Pine Street.
Judge Austin served in the army during the World War from Janu- ary, 1918, until January, 1919. No foreign service. He is a member of the Masonic and Elks clubs, and Will County Bar Association.
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HISTORY OF WILL COUNTY
Walter G. Krohn, county treasurer of Will County, is a native of Illinois. He was born in Joliet, March 26, 1894, a son of John William and Anna (Preuter) Krohn, natives of Mecklenburg Schwerin, Germany.
The grandfather of Walter G. Krohn came to the United States when his son, John William, was eleven years of age, and settled on a farm near Marley, Ill., where he was engaged in agriculture until his death in 1910. He is buried at Manhattan, Ill.
John William Krohn worked on his father's farm and later worked on the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railroad. He was promoted to engi- neer and held that position for 33 years. He died July 11, 1917, and is buried in Elmhurst Cemetery, Joliet. He was a Republican, a member of St. John's English Lutheran Church, and Matteson Lodge, A. F. & A. M., No. 175; Joliet Chapter, R. A. M. No. 27; Joliet Commandery, K. T. No. 4; and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.
Anna (Preuter) Krohn went to Copenhagen with her parents when very young. At the age of ten the family came to the United States and settled at Mokena, Ill. Her parents, Carl J. and Sophia Preuter, died Dec. 1, 1907, and are buried at Mokena. Mrs. Krohn resides in Joliet.
To John William and Anna (Preuter) Krohn ten children were born: Edward, Gary, Ind .; Harry, Toledo, Ohio; Frank, Joliet; Anna B., Joliet; Arthur, deceased; John, a physician and surgeon, a graduate of Hahne- mann Medical College, was a first lieutenant with the 90th Division dur- ing the World War and saw service in France; Walter G .; the subject of this sketch, and Edna Mae( deceased), were twins; and Margaret, Joliet.
Walter G. Krohn attended the public schools of Joliet and was gradu- ated at the Joliet Township High School in 1914. On leaving school he entered the employ of the Rock Island Lines as an apprentice operator, later becoming operator, where he remained until 1923. In the mean- time he had studied embalming at the Worsham College of Embalming at Chicago and was graduated in June, 1920. In 1924 he entered the employ of the government and was deputy collector of internal revenue, working out of the Chicago office. In November, 1926, he was elected county treasurer of Will County.
Mr. Krohn is a member of St. John's English Lutheran Church, and in politics is a Republican. He is a member of Matteson Lodge, A. F. and A. M., No. 175, past master 1922-23 ; Joliet Chapter R. A. M. No. 27;
WALTER G. KROHN
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Joliet Council, R. & S. M. M. No. 82, past master 1925-26; Joliet Com- mandery, K. T. No. 4; Oriental Consistory, A. S. S. R., 32nd degree, officer in the 29th degree; Medina Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., Chicago; Marguerite Chapter, No. 187, O. E. S., past patron, 1924; and vice presi- dent of County Treasurer's Association of the State of Illinois.
David R. Anderson .- Possessing a keen interest as well as a very practical experience in the various branches of his profession, Mr. Anderson has established through his own efforts an active association with the interests of the Joliet bar, and has won a well merited promi- nence in his profession. Formerly engaged in educational work in Grundy County, Illinois, he is held in high esteem for his abilities both as an educator and an attorney. He is a son of William and Mary (Hunter) Anderson, and was born in Monongahela, Washington County, Pa., Oct. 15, 1865.
The Anderson family are of Scotch descent, William Anderson be- ing born in Airdrie, and his wife in Glasgow, Scotland. He was a miner and after his marriage came to the United States about the beginning of 1860 and his family came later in that year. They first settled near Pittsburgh, Pa. At the outbreak of the Civil War, William Anderson with two relatives, Thomas and John Hunter, volunteered for service, the latter two being accepted although none of the three had taken out their citizenship. Anderson was rejected. He engaged in mining in the Pittsburgh district, after removing to Ohio. In 1866 he moved to Braceville, Grundy County, Ill., where he became a mine contractor. This was in one of the first mines opened in the Wilmington coal fields. In 1867 he removed to Braidwood, Will County, Ill., becoming mine boss of the first large mine in that county. In 1878 he purchased a mine at Streator, Ill., which he operated for many years, later becoming super- intendent of the Coal Run Coal Company at Streator. Afterward he was associated with the Chicago-Virden Coal Company as superintend- ent for a number of years until his retirement. Both Mr. and Mrs. Anderson are deceased and are buried at Streator, Ill. There were four- teen children in the Anderson family. 1. Grace, married Charles Duncan. He is deceased and she resides at Streator. 2. Margaret, de-
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ceased, buried in Scotland. 3. John, deceased, buried in Streator, died in 1922. 4. William, resides at Goose Lake Township, Grundy County, Ill. 5. Ella, married William Bain. He is deceased and she lives at Kearney, Neb. 6. Andrew H., Streator. 7. David R., the subject of this sketch. 8. Thomas H., Peoria, Ill. Mary, Robert, George and Alexander, all deceased, buried in Braidwood, Ill. 13. George W., deputy county clerk, Joliet, and 14, Mary J., married Edgar Buckles, lives at Ottawa, Ill.
David R. Anderson attended the public schools of Braidwood, Ill., and at the age of eleven years worked in the "Old G" shaft digging coal for two years. He went to Streator with his parents and worked in his father's mine. In April, 1878, while at work in the mines about five tons of coal slipped and through this accident Mr. Anderson lost his right arm and left foot. His brother John, who was also at work in the mine, had his back broken. He lived and engaged in business and at the time of his death was one of the most prominent business men of Streator, Ill.
After David R. Anderson recovered from his injuries he returned to school and was graduated from Streator High School in 1884. He taught school in Streator for one year and was made principal. He was principal of the Coal City schools for two terms. He attended the University of Michigan and was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Law. On March 17, 1890, he was admitted to the Michigan State Bar at Ann Arbor, Mich. In 1890 Mr. Anderson was elected county superintendent of Grundy County schools, and served two terms of four years each. In 1898 he began the practice of his profession at Morris, Grundy County, and continued there until May, 1905, when he removed to Joliet and began practice with offices in the Barber Building.
Mr. Anderson was married in August, 1887, to Miss Elva J. Laymon, a daughter of Thomas and Esther (Caldwell) Laymon. Mr. Laymon was a native of Indiana and his wife was a native of Illinois; both are now deceased. During the Civil War he served with a Chicago Battery.
To Mr. and Mrs. Anderson one son was born, Raymond A., born May 5, 1893. He was a graduate of the University of Chicago where he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He was a teacher of English at Iowa State College, Ames, at the beginning of the World War. He
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enlisted for service and was in training at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. He was commissioned a second lieutenant, and transferred to Camp Dodge, Iowa, where he was taken ill and discharged. He died in 1918 and is buried at Joliet. His widow, Florence Coolidge Anderson, resides at Indianapolis.
Mr. Anderson is a Republican and in 1924 was defeated for the nomination to congress from the Eleventh Illinois Congressional Dis- trict. Fraternally he is a member of Paul Revere Lodge, Knights of Pythias, being a past chancellor; Star Lodge, I. O. O. F, past grand, and delegate for ten years to the Grand Lodge. He is a member of the Joliet Chamber of Commerce, Will County Bar Association, and the Illinois State Bar Association.
Fred J. Walsh is one of the vital progressive representatives of the real estate business at Joliet where he is also President of the Chamber of Commerce. He was born at Terre Haute, Ind., July 3, 1882, a son of John and Ann (Joyce) Walsh.
John Walsh, deceased, a native of Ireland, emigrated to the United States when a young man and located at Joliet, later removing to Terre Haute, Ind. For a time he worked as a contractor for various railroads, and later engaged in the grocery business in Terre Haute, in which he was very successful. At the time of his retirement from active business he was the head of a chain of grocery stores. His wife, a native of Terre Haute, is also deceased, and they are both buried in Terre Haute. They were members of the Catholic Church, and politically Mr. Walsh was a Democrat. To Mr. and Mrs. Walsh eight children were born, the two oldest died in infancy: William, deceased; Alice, married Alfred Daudy, lives at Joliet; Mame, lives at Joliet; John, Joliet; Fred J., the subject of this sketch; and Bess, married Benjamin Bruning, lives at Joliet.
Fred J. Walsh attended the public schools of Terre Haute and gradu- ated from the Joliet Township High School in 1901, after which he attended commercial college. His first position was that of messenger and later stenographer with the First National Bank of Terre Haute, where he remained two years. He was with the Terre Haute Trust
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Company for two years as assistant secretary, and then resigned to enter the real estate field. He opened his office in Terre Haute and operated also in Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana. After a year in busi- ness in Terre Haute he removed his office to Joliet, and promoted the following sub-divisions: Sherwood Plains, Pleasant View, Inglass Park, Hyde Park, West Park, West Wood, Mount Claire, Brankin Terrace, Reeds Woods, Vernon Place, and P. R. Bannon's subdivision Shawnita, and Halderman Terrace, all of Joliet. He also maintains an office in Aurora, Ill., and there he has successfully managed and sold the fol- lowing subdivisions: Evans Lawn, West Lawn, Country Club, Ogden Gardens, and North Lake Manor. Mr. Walsh is one of the largest real estate operators in this section of the country. His office is at 415 Clinton Street, Joliet.
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