Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, 2nd ed., Part 17

Author:
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago : Calumet Book & Engr. Co.
Number of Pages: 808

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The subject of this biography was born in Col- chester, Delaware County, N. Y., on the 14th of January, 1799, less than a decade after the estab- lishment of the present United States Government. His father, Elisha Turner, died when he was but two years old, and his mother when he was four- teen. Her maiden name was Patience Coville, and she was of Dutch origin. The Turners are of Eng- lish lineage. Soon after his father's death, J. B. Turner was adopted by David Powers, and passed his youth on a farm and about a tanyard operated by his foster-father, in the meantime receiving such instruction as the country schools of the time af- forded. In 1819, he married Miss Martha Volun- tine, and settled down at farming. Five years later, he sold out his interest in the farm and pur- chased a mill and store, and built a distillery at Maltaville, in Saratoga County, which he oper- ated six years. Financial reverses caused him to abandon these interests, and his attention was first turned to railroad construction in 1835, when he took a contract to build seven miles of the Ran- som & Saratoga Railroad. After its completion, Mr. Turner was placed in charge of this road, most of whose trains were hauled by horses, of which the company owned thirty head, and he constructed barns every ten miles for the accom- modation of the motive power. It was on this line, under Mr. Turner's management, that the "Champlain," an engine of five tons' weight, was placed in commission, being the second of its kind in use.

In November, 1835, Mr. Turner, with a part- ner, broke ground on the Delaware Division of the New York & Erie Railroad, but was forced to suspend operations when the financial disasters of April, 1837, crippled the owners, and the capital

of the contractors appeared to be swallowed up. The subsequent resumption of the company re- stored to Mr. Turner the $16,000 which he re- garded as lost, and with a brother-in-law, John Vernam, he engaged in building the Genesee Val- ley Canal. The suspension of operations by tlie State on the canal in 1840 again caused a heavy loss to Mr. Turner, but on the resumption of con- struction this was, in part, restored to him. By the spring of 1843, he had completed a section of the Troy & Schenectady Railroad with profit, and he turned his attention toward the growing West as the most desirable field for the investment of his capital. With his wife, he made a trip as far West as the Mississippi River, and decided to lo- cate at Chicago, returning East at once for his family.

The 15th of October, 1843, found him again in Chicago, and he took up quarters at the old Tre- mont House. His active inind readily grasped the opportunities for investment, and one of his first moves was the purchase of one thousand acres of land near Blue Island, on which he placed a herd of sheep, brought from Ohio in the spring. An attempt at railroad building had been made as early as 1837, and a few miles of strap rails had been laid, terminating on the prairie not far from the present western limits of the city of Chi- cago. In 1847, Mr. Turner and William B. Og- den, the first mayor of Chicago, organized a com- pany to construct a road westward from Chicago, and on the 5th of April in that year, Mr. Ogden was elected President, and Mr. Turner Acting Director of the Chicago & Galena Union Railroad, the objective point being Galena-a town little less than Chicago in size and importance at that time. Both the gentlemen above named were en- thusiastic in the interest of the enterprise, and by their untiring labor in soliciting subscriptions to stock and securing right of way from the people most benefited by its construction, said construc- tion was made possible. At the election of officers in December, 1850, when Mr. Turner was made President, the track was completed beyond Elgin and reached Freeport, where it connected with the Illinois Central in September, 1852.

By this time, it had been demonstrated that the

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western prairies were destined to support an im- mense population, and attention was turned to the construction of the "Dixon Air Line," from Turner Junction west to the Mississippi River. This was rapidly completed under Mr. Turner's active and able management, and a portion of the line across the State of Iowa was also completed under his presidency, before he resigned in 1858. He continued an active director of the road, and in the Chicago & Northwestern, after the consol- idation of the different lines, until his death. In 1853, he organized the Beloit & Madison Railroad Company, which became a part of the same sys- tem, being now a part of the Madison Division, and on the consolidation, in June, 1864, of these various lines, he was chairman of the committee having the arrangements in charge, and was af- terward a member of the Executive Committee of the Chicago & Northwestern. Mr. Turner was also a director of the North Side Street Railroad, incorporated in February, 1859, and continued to hold stock during his life.

In 1853, Mr. Turner was called upon to mourn the death of the wife who had shared in his early toils and successes, and in 1855 he married Miss Adeline Williams, of Columbus, Ga. Three sons and three daughters were given to him. He was vigorous and active to the day of his death, which was the 26th of February, 1871, more than sev- enty-two years of life having been his allotted time. The end came peacefully and quietly, and on that day Chicago lost one of her most valued and upright citizens, who did what he could to benefit his fellows. On the day of his funeral, the offices of the Chicago & Northwestern Rail- way were closed out of respect for the "judicious and faithful counselor, genial companion, consider- ate friend and Christian gentleman. His devo- tion to the material interests of the country was exceeded only by the patriotism which never lost sight of the highest duties of citizenship. His great works live after him, and will keep his memory green forever."

E. F. L. GAUSS.

F. L. GAUSS is First Assistant Librarian in the Chicago Public Library, and the responsi- ble position which he occupies finds in him a capable incumbent. He is also a patron of literature and music, and indeed is a friend to all those arts which are calculated to elevate and benefit man- kind. He claims Germany as the land of his birth, which occurred in Stuttgart in 1842. He came of one of the old aristocratic families of that country, and was reared accordingly. The father dicd in 1848, and the mother was called to her final rest in 1845.

Mr. Gauss whose name heads this record at- tended school in his native land for a number of years, and in 1859, at the age of seventeen, he

crossed the Atlantic to America, settling in New York City. When the war for the Union broke out, and President Lincoln called for volunteers to aid in crushing the rebellion which threatened to destroy the nation, he at once enlisted, joining the boys in blue of Company K, First New York Infantry. After two years of valiant service he was honorably discharged, in 1863.

Mr. Gauss on leaving the army went to Mis- souri, where he studied theology in the Missouri Evangelical School, and later he pursued his studies in an Episcopal academy in Ohio. In 1871, in St. Louis, he was ordained as a minister, and was given charge of the church in Bunker Hill, Ill., where, as there were many German

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settlers in that locality, his services were con- ducted in his native tongue. In 1874 he went to Europe in order to complete his studies, and from 1875 until 1878 was a minister in the State Church of the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland. In the latter year he again crossed the Atlantic to America, and took up his residence in Galena, Ill., being called to the pastorate of the church at that place, of which he continued in charge for two years. In1 1880 he came to Chicago, and en- gaged in literary work while in the employ of the Government, in which employ he continued until 1885. In 1887 he entered the Chicago Pub- lic Library. He was afterward made First As- sistant Librarian, and still fills that position. He also continues his ministerial work to a limited extent, although he accepts no pastorates.

In 1867 Mr. Gauss was united in marriage with Miss Henrietta Stehlin, and to them has

been born a family of five children. The parents and their children are all members of the Con- gregational Church, and take a most active in- terest in church work, doing all in their power for its promotion and success.

Mr. Gauss has won a high reputation as a pub- lic speaker, and at one time delivered many ad- dresses in support of the Republican party, the principles of which he warmly advocates. He has, however, never aspired to public office. He has also won note as a metrical translater. He is a man of most liberal education, and during the famous Anarchists' trial served as official in- terpreter. Socially, he is connected with tlie Schiller Club, of which he is Secretary, and also belongs to the Royal Arcanum, the National Union and the German Press Club, which latter he is now serving as Treasurer. He is also Pres- ident of the Chicago Library Club.

ROBERT S. HILL.

OBERT S. HILL, who is successfully en- gaged in the practice of law in Chicago, was born in Buxton, York County, Maine, on the 31st of August, 1851. His ancestors on his father's side came from England. Three brothers of the name of Hill crossed the Atlantic with the early English colonists and settled in Massachiu- setts. One of them afterwards removed to the district of Maine, and from this branch of the Hill family the subject of this sketch is directly de- scended. The members of the family were prom- inent land-owners and business men, and often bore an important part in the events which went to make up the history of colonial days. Mr.

Hill's great-grandfather was the owner of the property in Buxton, Maine, now occupied by his fatlier. The grandfather was a resident of Bux- ton, and took part in the War of 1812, during which he was commissioned as an officer by the Governor of the Pine Tree State. Another of the ancestors of the subject of this sketch was an offi- cer in the Revolution, and was numbered among the heroes of the battle of Bunker Hill. Another was captured by the English and taken to Can- ada, where he was forced to live among the Indi- ans for an entire winter, during which time he was subjected to great hardships and suffering. He finally escaped and returned to his home in Maine,

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much to the surprise and pleasure of his wife and family, who supposed him dead.

On his mother's side Mr. Hill traces his ances- try back to the "Mayflower, " being descended from Moses Fletcher, who crossed the Atlantic in the vessel which brought the Pilgrim Fathers to the shores of the New World. The latter was a member of the Council of Plymouth, and now lies buried at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts, where his name appears on the monument erected in memory of those old heroes.

Mr. Hill's father, now retired from business with a competency, was an active luniberman and farmer in Buxton, Maine. He has always taken a keen interest in the religious, educational and po- litical matters pertaining to his town, state and country. He was a great admirer and a warm friend of the late Hon. James G. Blaine.

The boyhood days of R. S. Hill were pleasant- ly passed in his native town, and he was given good educational advantages by his father. After leaving the comnion schools in Buxton, he at- tended Limington and Gorham Academies, both of Maine, and his first effort in life after leaving the latter institution was to engage in school teaching in his native state, being then twenty years of age. After a brief and successful experi- ence as a school teacher, he came to the West with his uncle, and entered Michigan State University at Ann Arbor, being graduated from the law de- partment of that institution in the Class of '74. He then returned to New England, and for one year studied law in the office of an attorney in Bos- ton. The year 1876 witnessed his return to the West and saw him located in Chicago. He im- mediately embarked in practice, which he has car- ried on continuously since. He makes corpor- ation law a specialty, and has been very success- ful, winning many important cases. At the pres- ent time he is employed as attorney for a number of corporations.

On the 26th of January, 1877, Mr. Hill was married in Buxton, Maine, to Miss Fannie S. Owen. Her ancestors came from England and aided the colonies in their struggle for indepen-

ence, taking a leading part in the War of the Rev- olution. One of the number was captured by the British in 1807, taken on board a man-of-war, and · forced to serve as a part of the crew. After a few weeks' service, while the ship was cruising off the coast of Massachusetts, he took advantage of a favorable opportunity, jumped overboard, swam safely ashore and returned home. To Mr. and Mrs. Hill have been born five children, as fol- lows: Harry Robert, who died of diphtheria in 1882; Owen T., now a student of the Fuller School, Hyde Park; Helen M. and Alice, who attend the same school; and Robert S., a little lad of three and a-half years.

Mr. Hill is a great admirer and firm supporter of the Hon. Thomas B. Reed, who is his choice for the presidency. He has known Mr. Reid all his life, and on account of a knowledge of his character, ability and political proclivities, he supports him as a presidential candidate. Mr. Hill takes a very warm interest in political affairs, and labors earnestly to promote the growth and insure the success of his party. He is recognized as a good parliamentarian and, because of his 'knowledge of the rules of parliamentary usage, has often been called upon to preside over politi- cal meetings where trouble and turbulence were anticipated, and as such presiding officer has been able, even in very exciting meetings, to maintain order and discipline where one less skilled would have failed.

Mr. Hill is a member of the Sons of Maine. He contributes liberally to benevolent institutions, yet makes no display of his charity. In his tastes he is domestic and enjoys the companionship of his family much more than that of general society. In his religious belief he is liberal, broad minded and charitable, believes in his children attending church and Sunday-school and having instilled into their minds the principles of Christianity. In both business and social circles he is well known as an honorable, upright man, and is held in the highest regard by his many acquaintances and friends.

MRS. J. R. SHEDD

JOSHUA R. SHEDD

JOSHUA R. SHEDD.

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JOSHUA RUNDLE SHEDD.

OSHUA RUNDLE SHEDD, a pioneer ill tlie manufacturing industries of Clicago, was born at Nashua, N. H., October 1, 1813, and died in Chicago, October 7, 1854. He was a son of Joshua and Sally D. Shedd. The Shedd family is descended from one of five brothers who came from England and settled at Portsmouth, N. H., in 1640. Their descendants in the United States now number about two thousand souls, among them Rev. W. G. T. Shedd, an eminent theologian of New York City, and other promi- nent men.

The line of descent is as follows: Daniel Shed, (the name was originally written with one "d") born between 1620-25, settled in America about 1640. His eighth cliild and fourth son, Samuel, born in 1660, had eight children, of whom the youngest son was John, born in 1706, in Groton, N. H. He had three daughters, and then three sons, the eldest of whom, John Shedd, born December 20, 1740, in Pepperell, married Esther Wright, December 20, 1764. The sixtlı child of their family of eight was Joshua, born January 13, 1778. He married Sally Dickson, Feb- ruary 26, 1801, and had ten children, the seventhi of whom Joshua Rundle, born October 1, 1813, married Susan M. Darling July 28, 1845. He had four sons, the eldest of whom was Charles Banks, born June 18, 1846. He lives in Chicago, and has a family of four children. Another son, Willianı Gould Shedd, born September 18, 1848, lives in Denver, Colo., where he married Lucy Lemmon, and has three children. Edward Avery Shedd, born March 1, 1851, who lives in Chicago, married Nellie C. Wheeler, and has no children. George Whitfield Shedd, born January 7, 1853, died Oc- tober 5, 1854.

The maternal ancestors of the subject of this biography were as follows: Rev. Henry Dunster, who was first President of Harvard College, Cam- bridge, Mass., from August 27, 1640, to October 24, 1654, married June 21, 1641, Elizabeth, widow of the Rev. Joseph Glover. Jonathan Dunster, bor11 September or October 27, 1653, married December 5, 1678, Abigail Eliot. Henry Dunster, born July 17, 1680, married, February 25, 1707, Martha Russell. Martha Dunster, born February 7, 1708, married March 18, 1730-35, Edward Dixon, afterward written Edward Dick- son. Gilbert Dickson, born in 1743, married, December 3, 1772, Martha Varnum. Sally Dick- son, born February 21, 1775, married Joshua Shedd, February 26, 1801. Joshua R. Shedd, born October 1, 1813, married, July 28, 1845, Susan Darling. Charles B. Shedd, born June 18, 1846, married Margaret B. Cossitt, October II, 1888.

At the age of twelve years, Joshua R. Shedd left his boyhood home and went to Boston, where he engaged as a clerk in a dry-goods store. He continued there until 1843, when he removed to Michigan City, Ind., and began dealing in dry goods. That town was then supposed to be the coming metropolis of the West, and in common with a number of others who afterward became prominent Chicago business inen, he lent his best efforts to the development of its natural resources; but when a few years later it became evident that Chicago was the coming city, he removed hither, and in 1848 began dealing in stoves in company with Samuel D. Ward and B. W. Raymond. The firm afterward became Sherman, Shedd & Foster. They also built a large foundry and began the manufacture of stoves on an extensive scale, their

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factory at that time, being the largest one west of Troy. Their business had just become fairly es- tablished when an epidemic of cholera swept over the country and claimed Mr. Shedd for one of its victims. He was an active business man, thor- ough in every undertaking, and highly esteemed by all who knew him.

Mr. Shedd was married July 28, 1845, to Susan M. Darling, daughter of Isaac and Catherine (Banks) Darling. Mrs. Shedd was born at San- dusky, Ohio. Three of the sons of Mr. and Mrs. Shedd-Charles B., of Chicago; Willianı G., of

Denver, Colo., and Edward A., of Chicago-are prominent business men. A fourth son, George W., died in childhood. Mrs. Susan M. Shedd died at her home in Chicago, August 6, 1892, in the seventy-first year of her age. She was a lady of many rare qualities, for many years prominent in social circles, and endeared to the public by her many deeds of unostentatious chiar- ity. She and her husband were among the original founders of Plymouth Church, and not least among the legacies which they left to their posterity is the example of well-spent lives.

THOMAS FRANKLIN MCCLINTOCK.

HOMAS FRANKLIN MCCLINTOCK, of Blue Island, Ill., was born in Westfield, Chautauqua County, N. Y., on the 30th of September, 1810. His father, Thomas McClin- tock, was born in June, 1766, in Maryland, near the head of Chesapeake Bay, and was married in 1793 to Mary Smith, sister of Col. Wilson Smith. She was born in 1772, and died in 1831. In the spring of 1833, Mr. McClintock married again, his second wife being Mrs. Barton, a widow lady, In the fall of that year he disposed of his beauti- ful home on Westfield Hill, Chautauqua County, N. Y., and with his wife and his own three sons, Wilson, James Hamilton and Thomas Franklin, and also his three stepsons, Rufus, Rowland and Dexter Barton, removed to Cook County, Ill., where he bought land and established himself in Bachelor's Grove, five miles from the long stretch of bluff named by the Indiana farmers carrying their produce to Chi- cago Blue Island. In Bachelor's Grove, Sep- tember 11, 1836, Mr. McClintock died, at the age of seventy years and three months, and a stone marks liis last resting-place. He was over six feet in height, of noble presence, possessed of fine

manners and a cultivated mind. He was an ex- cellent shot, and could send two balls successively, with perfect precision, to the center of a mark, but he never killed birds or animals for sport. His boyhood was passed among dangers. His parents, leaving Havre de Grace, Md., went up the rapid Susquehanna to the Wyoming Val- ley, where they settled, and where, in 1778, their house, with their treasured books and family register, was burned, and the father and his eldest son, Hugh, aged about eighteen, engaged in bring- ing ammunition and other supplies to the fort, were killed. The mother and her daughter, Nancy, afterward Mrs. James Wilson, of Ken- tucky, escaped; but a married daughter, Mrs. Robert Durham, was carried away by the Indians. Holding her baby in her arms and riding a pony, she went with her captors until the child, by its cries, so enraged the savages that one of them dashed it to death against a tree. The poor mother, crying out at this, was tomahawked, scalped and left for dead. She, however, recovered and lived to the age of ninety-five, dying in 1854, in her old home in the Susquehanna Valley. Several columns of a paper published there were

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THOMAS F. MCCLINTOCK.

devoted to the eventful biography of this lady. At the time of the Wyoming massacre, her hus- band, Robert Durham, who was a brave soldier and shared in Arnold's terrible march of forty days in Canada, and took part in the assault on Quebec, was a prisoner of war, in Canada, and two years elapsed before he could be exchanged. He was an enterprising man, and a line of flat- boats built for traffic on the Susquehanna bore for many years the name of Durham.

Thomas McClintock, whose marriage has been mentioned, lived in Northumberland County, Pa., until about 1798, when, with his wife and three children, Nancy, Polly and Matthew, he started westward along the west branch of the Susque- lianna. Ninety miles through deep forests and they had reached its source. Still proceeding northwest, they at length settled in Erie County, Pa., where three children were born to them, John Adams, Jane and Wilson. In 1807, the family left Erie in an open boat, and soon occupied a new home in Fredonia, N. Y. One son, James Hamilton, who lived to lose two sons in the Civil War, and whose son James now lives in Hins- dale, Ill., was born in Fredonia. The next re- move was to Westfield, N. Y., and Mr. McClin- tock built the first house in that place. There three children were added to the family, Caroline, Thomas Franklin and Lucinda. About 1814, some equally nomadic neighbors followed Mr. McClintock along the lake shore westward and pitched their tents where the village of Ripley now stands. Mr. McClintock bought a tract of land and built there the first house. He was spoken of as the patroon of Ripley. There his daughter, Harriet, afterward the wife of James Lowry, State Representative of Illinois, was born, in 1818.

While at Ripley, Mr. Mcclintock pursued the study of law. He became a Magistrate, retired to a pleasant site on Westfield Hill, seven miles from Lake Erie, and resided there until 1833, when the love of change again took posses- sion of him, and, though then sixty-seven years of age, he sought a new home on the prairies of Illinois.

Alexander McClintock, the grandfather of

Thomas Franklin, was born about 1732, and spent the greater part of his life in Maryland, where all his children were born. He was married about 1757. He afterward removed to the Wyoming Valley, where, as has already been told, he niet a tragic fate. He came of a very excellent and ancient family, belonging to the landed gentry in the south of Scotland and the north of Ireland. Several branches of the family bore coat armor, and the McClintocks have their own distinctive tartan colors in Scotland. State histories relate that the representatives of the family in America rallied nobly to the help of the United States Government during the great Civil War.

Thomas Franklin McClintock received excel- lent educational training under a Mr. Spencer, and his parents were very intelligent and fond of reading. Books were costly, but his father was iberal in the purchase of them. All the family had good voices, and were familiar with many beautiful Scotch ballads. Mrs. McClintock was an accomplished reader, and hier neighbors, as well as her family, delighted to gather around the great open fire and hear hier read. This was the home life of Thomas F. McClintock during his youth. Between the settlements intervened leagues of forest, with only a cabin here and there, and the scenery along Lake Erie was very beautiful. Life was full of interest and variety to the young pioneers.

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Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, 2nd ed., Part 17

Author: Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Chicago : Calumet Book & Engr. Co. Number of Pages: 808

Author:
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago : Calumet Book & Engr. Co.
Number of Pages: 808