Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, 19th ed., Part 67

Author:
Publication date: 1900
Publisher: Chicago : La Salle Book Co.
Number of Pages: 908

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THE CONGRESS

TO FIRST SERGEANT HORACE CAPRON, JR., COMPANY G, EIGHTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY, FOR GALLANT CONDUCT AT CHICKAHOMINY AND ASHLAND, JUNE, 1862.

Albert B. Capron rode beside his brother in the last charge, and took command of the company at his death. One of the most thrill- ing of his army experiences was his night ride of one hundred miles through the enemy's line, bearing dispatches from General Burnside in Knoxville to General Wilcox at Cumberland Gap. It was a hazardous under- taking. Twenty brave men liad already failed in the attempt. When he returned General Burnside, overcome with emotion, said, "You have won your spurs," and presented him with a pair of his own spurs. Colonel Capron still guards them sacredly. He was also one of the cavalry brigade, led by his father, which helped to capture Gen. John Morgan and his entire com- mand, after a ride of nineteen hundred miles in thirty-one days. He participated in twenty-three general battles, beside a great many skirmishes

and sharp cavalry actions. Two horses were shot under him while in action. He and his command were under fire for one hundred days on the march to and siege of Atlanta, Georgia, at which place he was taken prisoner.

His last service of the war was under General Sheridan on the Texas frontier, where he was in expectation of proceeding to Mexico to help in relieving the people of that country of the pretended sovereignty of Maximilian. Happily, the Mexicans were able to drive out the invader, and the Monroe Doctrine continued to rule in the Americas. Colonel Capron was three times made a prisoner, and received three severe wounds in the service of his country.

He was brevetted Major at the close of the Civil War. A few years since he was appointed aide-de-camp on the staff of General Lawler, Com- mander-in-Chief of the Grand Army, with the rank of Colonel.

Before his employment as purchasing agent for the Japanese Government, he was engaged in mercantile business at Kenosha, Wisconsin. He came to Chicago in 1872, and has since resided in this city, on the North Shore. For more than twenty years he has been a member of the Board of Trade, and carries on a general grain commis- sion business. In business he pursues the same energetic and straightforward course which won him distinction in military circles, and he is held in the highest regard by his social and commercial associates.

Colonel Capron was married at Kenosha, Wis- consin, October 20, 1869, to Miss Amelia Doo- little, daughter of Alfred W. and Ann Urania (Hannahs) Doolittle, natives of Oneida County, New York.

Their union has been blessed with three chil- dren: Horace Mann, born in Kenosha, Wiscon- sin, August 27, 1872; Florence, born in Evanston, Illinois, November 18, 1873; Albert Snowden, born in Winnetka, Illinois, February 8, 1877. Their home is now in Winnetka, Illinois.

The head of the family has always been a loyal and earnest supporter of Republican prin- ciples, and he is now a member of the Illinois Commandery of the Loyal Legion.

LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLIN

Fhet

Henry Weber

HENRY WEBER.

455

HENRY WEBER.

ENRY WEBER, one of the most successful manufacturers of Chicago, a thoroughly

- self-made man, is among the large number of industrious and prosperous citizens given to Chicago by German ancestors. His birthi took place in that unfortunate disputed territory which has alternately belonged to France and Germany -being now in possession of the latter country. September 15, 1822, when Mr. Weber was born in the village of Hochweiler, Canton Soultz, Elsass, the locality was in possession of the French, and he was, therefore, by birth a French- man, though his ancestors were among the most sturdy Germans. They had long resided iu Al- sace, and several members of the family were soldiers under the first Napoleon. Michael Weber, father of Henry, was a farmer of Hochweiler, where he reached the age of seventy-eight years. His second wife, mother of the subject of this sketch, Helena Langenbrunn (Studi) Weber, died at the age of sixty-seven years. Both she and her husband had reared good-sized families by former marriages.

Henry Weber received a scanty education un- der the French system. He was made of the am- bitions stuff which peoples and develops nations, and he early resolved to join his fortunes with those of the free land across the seas, of which he had heard through a friend who had visited the United States. At the age of eighteen, he joined a party of five young men, including the one before referred to, who had been in America, and together they came to New York. They sailed from Havre, France, on an English sailing-vessel commanded by Captain Thompson, and after a voyage of thirty-three days they arrived in the harbor of New York, a very speedy voyage for

that day. On the way they maintained them- selves, and took turn about in cooking.

In New York they separated, and Mr. Weber went to Lyons, New York, where he served a three-years apprenticeship at wagon-making, be- coming a skillful workman, and able to compete with any man in his line of work. Having com- pleted his term of indenture, Mr. Weber went to Detroit, Michigan, and found employment. But he did not long remain there. He determined to locate in the growing and enterprising town of Chicago, then beginning to attract notice through its favorable location and the enterprising char- acter of its citizens. On the 26th of June, 1844, Mr. Weber arrived in Chicago, where he lias ever since made his home, and in the develop- ment of whose commercial, social and moral in- terests he has borne no unimportant part. .

Like another distinguished German citizen, who is now deceased (Andrew Ortmayer, whose biography appears in this volume), he at once found employment with the pioneer wagonmaker of Chicago, Mr. Joseph O. Humphrey. Here he continued one and one-half years, at the end of which period, being then twenty-three years of age, he engaged in business for himself, having as a partner Mr. Jacob Gauch. With a capital of $250, they built a small shop on Randolph Street, near La Salle, and began working up a business, boarding themselves in the building in the mean time. Later, they boarded at the New York Hotel, an hostelry well known to the old residents of the city. In 1849 Mr. Gauch was seized with the gold fever and went to Cali- fornia. His partner, who was satisfied with the slow but certain gains of business in Chicago, purchased Mr. Gauch's interest, and continued

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HENRY WEBER.

to manage the growing industry alone until 1883, when a company was incorporated to continue it, with his sons as partners. This is known as the Weber Wagon Company, and turns out an- nually twelve thousand wagons and four thou- sand bob sleds, and employs a large number of men. Mr. Weber was for many years a member of the old "Number Two" volunteer fire com- pany, which did good service in the early days, when steam was unknown in Chicago as a power to be used in subduing fires.

In 1852 Mr. Weber was enabled to purchase land for the location of his works. At the north- west corner of Lake and Union Streets he se- cnred ground, ninety by one hundred and forty feet in area, on which he built three frame buildings. These were all two stories in height, one being occupied as a dwelling and the others for a fac- tory. He was among the first manufacturers on West Lake Street, and was uniformly success- ful, laying the foundation for a large business, which furnished a livelihood to many families. In the spring of 1871 he erected a fine four-story brick building on this site, which escaped the fury of the great fire in the autumn of the same year, and was at once occupied by profitable tenants.

In1 1886 the factory was removed to Eighty- first and Wallace Streets, where superior railway facilities were secured, and here it is now con- ducted by Mr. Weber's sons, who have taken from his hands and mind much of the labor re- quired in its management. The founder very appropriately occupies the position of President of the company, with W. H. Weber as Secre- tary and Treasurer, and George A. Weber as Superintendent. The product is shipped to nearly every State of the Union, and enjoys a reputa- tion for reliability such as has always been at- tached to the name of its worthy maker from the beginning.

On the Ioth of August, 1887, a fire destroyed nearly all the plant except the lumber-yard, but no time was lost in repining, and, with the in- surance which careful foresight had previously provided as an assistance, its owners were en- enabled to start with an entirely new outfit of

machinery, and the business was soon a greater success than ever before. The plant is now one of the largest and most complete of its kind in the United States.

With the arrival of the year 1849, Mr. Weber felt that he was warranted in assuming the re- sponsibility of a householder, and on the 4th of November in that year he married Miss Eliza- beth Schoeneck, a German girl, who arrived in Chicago with her parents the same year as him- self. She is a daughter of Adam and Elizabeth Schoeneck, all natives of Mainz, Germany, who set- tled on a farm on the North Branch of the Chicago River, about fifteen miles from the city. Mrs. Weber was in every way fitted to be the wife of the sturdy young mechanic, and proved a worthy helpmeet to her enterprising husband. The little home on Fifth Avenue was kept scrupulously neat and tidy, and Mr. Weber's success is in part due to her good management and many good traits of character. Six children came to bless their home, namely: Elizabeth, now the wife of T. Wasserstrass; Louise, Mrs. Albert Kaempfer; William H. and George A., before mentioned; Mary M., who died at the age of twenty-nine years; and Emma, wife of Henry Rietz, all of Chicago.

The family is connected with the German Lu- theran Church, and in political action its head is thoroughly independent, affiliating with the best elements in both parties in national and local af- fairs. He is a member of the Masonic frater- nity, being one of the oldest living members of Germania Lodge No. 182, and is a charter mem- ber of Harmonia Lodge No. 221, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

Mr. Weber has richly earned his success in life, and enjoys his well-earned competence in the comforts of home life and the society of his many friends. His example may afford a good lesson to the young man of to-day, who needs to be impressed with the value in business of indus- try and unswerving integrity.

In this connection, a brief mention of the pres- ent managers of the Weber Wagon Company is appropriate and desirable. To them is due, in a great measure, the marvelous growth and pros-

457

W. W. FARWELL.

perity of the business. It requires more than ordinary talent to conduct successfully a business involving a capital of nearly half a million dollars, and yearly increasing in volume. All the de- tails are carefully watched by the superintendent in the construction department, and by the busi- ness manager in the office. The continued sub- stantial development of the concern in the face of the financial stringency of 1894 and 1895 is es- pecially worthy of note, and the year 1895 is re- corded as the most prosperous in its history.

The factory gives employment to a large number of men, many of whom have grown gray in the service of Mr. Weber and his sons, some of them having been in the con- tinnous employ of Mr. Weber more than forty years. The high esteem in which the founder and present managers are held by their employes is a strong testimonial to their executive ability and upright character, and their course is worthy the emulation of every employer of labor. A personal interest is shown in every man on the pay roll and in those dependent upon him, and no man is ever discharged except for indolence or inefficiency. Consequently a strike, with. its train of misfortune for all concerned, was never known in the establishment. The members of the com- pany do not enter into any outside speculations, but confine themselves to their legitimate field of operations, which fact is entitled to credit for much of their prosperity.

George A. Weber, the superintendent of the works of the Weber Wagon Company, was born

in Chicago, and completed his education in the West Side High School of that city. He is gifted with a taste and talent for mechanics, and at the early age of sixteen years he entered the fac- tory of his father to master its mechanical details. Here he made quite as rapid progress as he had previously shown in his studies, and he steadily rose to the position of superintendent, which he has filled since.

William Henry Weber, business manager of the Weber Wagon Company, was born April 21, 1855, in the city which now numbers him among its most substantial and respected citizens. He was educated in the Chicago West Side High School, and took a thorough course of business training in Bryant & Stratton's Business College. After one year's connection with the wholesale dry-goods firm of Stettauer & Weiman, in 1879, at the age of twenty-four years, he entered the service of his father, with whose business he has ever since been identified. With his natural apt- itude, and as a result of his careful training, he readily fitted in with the office management of the concern, and soon came to be its responsible head. He attends strictly to business, his only recreation being an occasional hunting trip of a few days' duration, and to him is due much of the credit for the high commercial standing of the house. Being of a genial nature, he comes naturally to possess the respect and cordial good- will of all with whom he comes in social or busi- ness relations.

WILLIAM W. FARWELL.

ILLIAM WASHINGTON FARWELL, who graced the Bench of Cook County for nine years, and was an honored member of the Chicago Bar forty years, was descended from good old English stock. His ancestors were among the early pioneers in the settlement and

civilization of the New World. Henry Farwell came from Somersetshire, England, and located in Connecticut with the founders of that colony, and bore his part in sweeping away the wilder- ness which then occupied all New England and in developing a Christian community. He had a

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W. W. FARWELL.

son and grandson named Isaac. Thomas, son of the last-named, was born in Mansfield, Connecti- cut, and practiced agriculture in that State. His son, John Farwell, also born in Mansfield, was the father of Judge William W. Farwell.

John Farwell was possessed of the same spirit which led the Pilgrim Fathers to seek a home under new conditions, in an untried world, and, moved by this pioneer instinct, he went to Mor- risville, New York, in his young manhood and opened up a farm in that then new region. He was a highly respected citizen, and served as Postmaster at Morrisville for many years. His wife, Elmira Williams, was, like himself, a na- tive of Mansfield, Connecticut, and was a daugh- ter of Amariah Williams, supposed to have been of English lineage. The marriage of this couple took place in their native town, and they began housekeeping at the new home of Mr. Farwell in Morrisville. Their children, five in number, were named as follows: John William, Benjamin Franklin, William Washington, Thomas Lyle and Elmira Jane.

William W. Farwell, third child of his parents, was born in Morrisville, New York, January 5, 1817. His early life did not differ much from that of other farmers' sons in that day and region. He made the most, however, of his educational opportunities, passing through the primary schools and academy of his native town, and entered Hamilton College, at Clinton, New York, in 1833. Before attaining his majority, in 1837, he was graduated from that old and solid institution of learning with credit to himself and his Alma Mater.

He at once began the study of law in the office of Hon. Otis P. Granger, of Morrisville, whose daughter he subsequently married. He finished his legal studies at Buffalo, New York, and was admitted to practice by the Superior Court at Rochester, in that State, in 1841. After practicing law with success for seven years in his native village, he felt the promptings of the an- cestral enterprise, and determined to cast in his lot with those fearless and energetic spirits who were just then developing the nucleus of the wonderful city on Lake Michigan, whose future

greatness was beyond the predictions of their wildest fancies. Arriving in Chicago in 1848, he set out the next year for California, and re- mained in that modern El Dorado one year, re- turning to the East by way of Panama and New York City.

At Morrisville, New York, on the 12th of February, 1851, Mr. Farwell led to the marriage altar Miss Mary Eliza Granger, who was born in Morrisville, November 8, 1829. Hon. Otis P. Granger, father of Mrs. Farwell, was a native of Suffield, Connecticut, his birth occur- ring February 21, 1796, and bore in his veins the blood of the early English settlers of that State. He was a graduate of Williams College, Class of 1816, and became a noted lawyer in cen- tral New York. He studied for his profession in the office of Talcott & Maynard, and later with John Bradish, of Utica, New York, and was ad- mitted to the Bar July 21, 1821. He practiced his profession in Morrisville, New York, until ·1827, when he was appointed Surrogate of Madison County, New York, and filled that position thir- teen years. He passed away at Morrisville at the venerable age of eighty-seven years. His first ancestor in this country was Launcelot Granger, who was born in the West of England and was brought to America when fourteen years old. Mr. Granger's wife, Elvira Gates, was a native of Morrisville, daughter of Abiather and Lois (Holt) Gates, who were natives of Massa- chusetts. Mrs. Gates was a descendant of Nich- olas Holt, who came from England to Connecti- cut in the early days of that colony.

Mrs. Farwell is the eldest of the four children of her parents. Only one beside herself, Mrs. Agnes Elvira Groves, is now living. She was educated at a female seminary at Utica, New York, and was fitted by birth and breeding to be the companion of her husband during his long and useful career in Chicago. She is a well-pre- served lady, of much natural refinement, and her charitable and kindly character has made her dear to all who have been privileged to come within her influence. Two sons born to Judge and Mrs. Farwell, Granger and John Williams Farwell, are well-known brokers of Chicago. The elder, born

459

C. G. AYARS.

in Chicago, May 25, 1857, married Sarah C. Goodrich, daugliter of James G. Goodrich, of Chicago, and has five children: Leslie, Ruth Goodrich, Olive, Sarah Granger and Helen. The younger son was born in Chicago, March 30, 1862, and is the stay and companion of his mother.

It was in 1854 that Mr. Farwell settled perma- nently in Chicago. He had been admitted to the Bar of Illinois in 1848, and he now devoted himself assiduously to the labors of his profes- sion, rapidly winning for himself a reputation for soundness and ability. In the spring of 1855 the firm of Goodrich, Farwell & Scovell was formed, the senior member being Grant Goodrich, who was subsequently an honored occupant of the Bench in Chicago. A year later Mr. Scovell withdrew, and Mr. Sidney Smith joined the firm, which became Goodrich, Farwell & Smith.

Mr. Farwell was elected to the Circuit Bench in 1870, and was twice re-elected, serving in a

most impartial and efficient manner nine years. Upon his retirement from the Bench, he was en- gaged, in 1880, as Lecturer in the Union College of Law, which position he continuously filled un- til failing health compelled his resignation in 1893. His practical experience, his ripe scholar- ship and sound judgment made him especially useful in preparing young men for the practice of law, and his resignation was received with regret by faculty and students. He died April 30, 1894.

Judge Farwell was a faithful member of the Congregational Church, in which he appropri- ately and consistently filled the office of Deacon for some time. In every relation of life he was true, and the history of his life stands as an in- spiration and encouragement to young men every- where. Especially are his upright life and official course commended to the emulation of all who wish to win friends and enjoy the good opinion and blessing of their fellows.

CHARLES G. AYARS.

) HARLES GERRY AYARS, a capable busi- ness man of Chicago, and at one time one of the most widely-known public officials of Cook County, was born at Newton, New Jersey, December 28, 1831. His parents were Rev. James Ayars and Harriet Amelia Reed, both na- tives of Bridgeton, New Jersey. The family is of Scotch, Welsh and German ancestry, and fur- nislied some of the Colonial emigrants to the present United States. Noah Ayars, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, attained the age of ninety-three years, dying at Bridgeton, New Jersey, about 1858.

Rev. James Ayars was educated at Bridgeton, and entered the ministry of the Methodist Epis- copal Church in 1827. He continued actively in

the work of that church for fifty years, holding pastorates . in the principal towns of New Jersey. In 1856 he became Secretary of the American Sunday-school Union. He lived at Covington, Kentucky, three years, and at Evanston, Illinois, two years. Returning to New Jersey, he re- entered the regular ministry, and died at Summit, New Jersey, in 1880, at the age of seventy-five years. He was a man of great public spirit, and did much work in the temperance cause and in the management of municipal affairs in the towns where lie was located.

Mrs. Harriet A. Ayars died at Trenton, New Jersey, in 1870, at the age of sixty-four years. She was a daughter of Dr. John Reed, who was born in New Jersey, where he practiced medi-

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C. G. AYARS.

cine most of his life. He was also engaged in the manufacture of woolen goods at Deerfield, New Jersey. His father was a native of Ireland.

Rev. and Mrs. James Ayars had five sons. Enoch Reed, the eldest, was a dentist in New Jersey, and went to California in 1849. While there, he joined Walker's expedition to Nica- ragua, was wounded at the battle of Rivos, and died in hospital. Charles G. Ayars is the second. James was for many years a prominent citizen of Cook County, and is now deceased. William Henry Ayars was a student of the North- western University of Evanston when the Civil War began, and enlisted and served eighteen months in the Union army. He became a Lieu- tenant in a colored regiment, and was killed at the battle of Petersburgh, Virginia. Howard B., the youngest, died at the age of five years.

Charles G. Ayars, whose name heads this article, gained his primary education in the pub- lic schools of various points where his father was stationed in the ministry, and finished at Rutgers College, New Brunswick, New Jersey. At the age of seventeen years he entered mercantile life, being employed as a clerk in stores at various places. He spent one year with a wholesale paper house in New York City, and in 1857 went to Covington, Kentucky, where he entered the general western agency of the Phoenix Fire Insurance Company, of Hartford, Connecticut.

In 1859 he became a resident of Cook County, and engaged in farming at Evanston. Two years later he removed to the vicinity of what is now known as Forest Hill, at the crossing of the Wa- bash and Pan Handle Railroads, where he oper- ated a large farm, producing annually large quantities of hay for the Chicago market. While residing here, he served six years as Clerk of Lake Township.

In 1867 he was appointed a Deputy Sheriff of Cook County, and removed to Chicago, where he filled this position under successive Sheriffs for eight years. His duties brought him in contact with people of all avocations, and he gained an acquaintance exceeded by few men. Probably, not a half-dozen persons know personally more people

in Cook County than were included in his list of friends. About this time there was much litiga- tion over land titles. Many squatters had to be dispossessed, and Mr. Ayars' duties as Deputy Sheriff sometimes brought him exciting experi- ences. His impartiality, coupled with firmness, and his uniform kindness to the unfortunate in- spired the public with confidence in him, and gained for him a host of true friends. In 1874 he was elected County Commissioner for the Evans- ton District, and at the expiration of his term he was re-elected, serving six years continuously, during which period the present court house was built.

In 1883 Mr. Ayars formed a connection with the Phoenix Fire Insurance Company, of Hart- ford, Connecticut, as State Agent for Illinois, having general charge of all its business outside of Chicago, which relation still continues. In this connection he travels all over the State, giv- ing careful and diligent attention to his duties, and, as a result, the volume of business trans- acted by the company in his jurisdiction has very largely increased.

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Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, 19th ed., Part 67

Author: Publication date: 1900 Publisher: Chicago : La Salle Book Co. Number of Pages: 908

Author:
Publication date: 1900
Publisher: Chicago : La Salle Book Co.
Number of Pages: 908