Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, 2nd ed., Part 23

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

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His father, George Heslington, numbercd among the honored pioneers of Cook County, was born in Maunley, ncar Northallerton, York- shire, England, on the 7th of August, 1799. He married Ann Dewes, a native of Marton Grafton, Yorkshire, born October 1, 1803, and a daughter of John Dewes, a Yorkshire farmer. They be- came the parents of the following children: Jolin, 110w deceased; Ann, wife of William Blann, who for eight years has served as night watchman in tlic great store of A. H. Revell & Co., Chicago, and during all this time has never bcen absent from duty a single night; Mrs. Isabel Langrehr; George, also deceased; Elizabeth Jane Dewes, widow of George Millen; Margaret Ella, who lives with her brother and manages the affairs of tlic household with marked ability; Thomas W .; Mrs. Sophia Amelia Jones, now deceased; and Maria Antoinette, wife of Otto Linemann, of Northfield Township. The first four were born in England, the others in Cook County, Illinois.

In the summer of 1833, the parents, accom- panicd by their children, bade adieu to their na- tive land and sailed for America. They came at once to Illinois and took up their residence in Niles Township, where the father secured a Gov- ernment claim, comprising eighty acres of timber land and eighty acres of prairie land. The voy- age across the Atlantic was a very pleasant one, and consumed thirteen weeks. The captain of the vessel became a friend of Mr. Heslington, and he inade the family his guests during the trip. Mrs. Heslington remarked, "It was the pleasant- est thirteen weeks that I ever spent." In tlie pioncer home of the family their Indian neighbors were frequently entertained, and as a return for his kindness Mr. Heslington was the recipient of many favors at the hands of the red inen. He continued an honored and highly-respected citi- zen of this community until his death, which oc- curred in Northfield Township, March 16, 1879, aged nearly eighty years. His wife passed away September 4, 1881.

Thomas W. Heslington whose name heads this record was born in Niles Township October 15, 1839, but has spent most of his life in North- field Township, which is yet his place of resi- dence, his houseliold being presided over by his amiable sister, whose work has been to assist him in making home pleasant and prosperous. By earnest labor, economy and careful manage- ment they have accumulated a respectable por- tion of this world's goods to maintain them in their declining years. Mr. Heslington cast his

213

E. J. WILBER.

first Presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln, and supported the Republican party until recently, when he cast his vote with the Prohibitionists. He has never been an office-seeker, preferring to

give his entire time and attention to his business interests. His deeds of kindness and charity are performed in a quiet, unassuming way, and his life is well spent.

EDWIN JEREMIAH WILBER.

J J. WILBER, of Chicago, who is at the head of the Wilber Mercantile Agency, which is known throughout the country, was born in Dutchess County, N. Y., on the 30th of Decem- ber, 1826, and is a son of John and Keziah C. (Dodge) Wilber. His mother was a daughter of Dr. Dodge, and was the eldest of twelve chil- dren. His father was a member of the Society of Friends, and was the eldest of a family of eight children.

The subject of this sketch was reared as a farm- er, and from an early age was familiar with the labors of the field and the other work of an agri- culturist. His early education was acquired in the district schools of the neighborhood, but dur- ing the winter season, when between the ages of eighteen and twenty years, he attended an acad- emy in Fairfield, N. Y. He entered upon his business career as a teacher, and was thus em- ployed in 1848 and 1849. In the latter year he went to California, attracted by the discovery of gold on the Pacific Slope. On reaching his des- tination he began mining, and was thus engaged for two years with good success. Later he engaged in selling supplies to the miners for a year; and spent one year in farming near Sacramento, Cal. At length he determined to return home, for he had been absent four years. In February, 1853, he took passage on a steamer at San Francisco. He sailed to San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, and thence by way of Lake Nicaragua and the San Juan River to Greytown, where he boarded a steamer bound for New York City. He arrived in the metropolis

in March, and then went to Poughkeepsie, N. Y., where the succeeding twenty years of his life were passed. During his residence in that place he was engaged for a time in the dry-goods business. Subsequently, he became connected with East- man's Business College as a teacher, and later served as its principal for six years. He then turned his attention to the fire-insurance business, and also engaged in the publication of the Daily News. Leaving the East in 1873, he removed to Michigan, where he spent two years, and in 1875 embarked in an enterprise with Hon. Mark D. Wil- ber, bringing into use a new system of collecting and reporting. This soon became known as the Wilber Mercantile Agency, and business was es- tablished in Chicago in 1876, with E. J. Wilber as Secretary and Manager. Ten years later, John D. and Marshall D. Wilber became stockholders, and soon after it was incorporated, with Mark D. Wilber as President, E. J. Wilber Secretary, Marshall D. Wilber Treasurer, and John D. Wil- ber Assistant Secretary and Manager of the re- porting department. S. D. King was made Su- perintendent of the collection department, and John C. Cummings was made Superintendent of the attorney list and was given charge of the annual and monthly revisions. Great care is taken in the preparation of these lists and revisions, and copies of the sanie are furnished to all patrons and associate attorneys. From the beginning the business of the company has con- stantly increased, until it has now assumed exten- sive proportions, and the Wilber Mercantile

214

AUGUST HEUCK.

Agency is known throughout the country. It has gained the confidence of people everywhere, and prominent business men of various places in- trust large moneyed interests to its care.

After removing to Chicago, Mr. Wilber studied law in the Union Law College and was graduated therefrom in 1882. He did this in order to better fit himself for his work. Honorable and upright in all dealings, his success has been won by a straightforward career, by enterprise, persever- ance and well-directed efforts. He is a man of

untiring energy, and carries forward to a success- ful completion whatever he undertakes. His prosperity is certainly well deserved. He is an earnest Christian gentleman and has been an of- ficer and member of the Presbyterian Church of Woodlawn since its organization in 1884. Thus have we briefly sketched the life of a self-made man, who by his own efforts has steadily worked his way upward to a position of prominence, and is now at the head of his line of business in the country.

AUGUST HEUCK.

A UGUST HEUCK, who is engaged in black- way to Albany, and thence by rail to Chicago. smithing in Oak Glen, was born in Hano- For two or three years the father rented land in Northfield Township, and then purchased an acre of ground, on which he built a dwelling and blacksmith shop. For some years he there car- ried on business in his own interest. He died January 5, 1881. vei, Germany, on the 10th of January, 1839. His father, George Heuck, was born in Kiel, Holstein, Germany, in 1811, and served as an apprentice to the blacksmith and locksmith's trades in a machine sliop. He also learned the business of manufacturing surgical instruments, August Heuck, whose name heads this record, began learning the blacksmith's trade with his father when a youth of nine summers. He also attended school during a portion of the time, and at the age of eighteen had acquired a good practi- cal education. With the family he came to America, and has since made his home in Cook County. and was in the truest sense of the term a master mechanic. The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Marguerite Oldenbuttel, and was born in Hanover, in 1814. They were married January 9, 1839, and by their union became the parents of seven children, three sons and four daughters, of whom August, the eldest, and Fred- erick, the youngest, yet survive. In 1857, George Heuck, accompanied by his family, boarded the sailing-vessel "Atalanta," bound for America. They were delayed by severe storms while pass- ing through the English Channel, and collided with a vessel. They also ran on a rock in the channel, and the captain, mate and five sailors from a wreck were picked up. After a voyage of seven weeks, the "Atalanta" dropped anchor in the harbor of New York and they landed at Castle Garden. From New York they made their

On the 25th of June, 1868, was celebrated the marriage of August Heuck and Miss Wilhelmina, daughter of Lorenzo Heick. She was born April 17, 1848, in Kiel, Holstein, Germany, and emi- grated to America in 1867. Their surviving children are: August, born March 20, 1872; Henry, September 14, 1873; and Johanna, No- vember 25, 1877.

Mr. Heuck and his family are all members of the Lutheran Church. He is a Republican in politics, and has always been a zealous and active

中学典

NOAH B. BACON

215

NOAH B. BACON.

adherent of that party since casting his first Pres- idential vote for Abraham Lincoln. He still works at his trade and is also interested in farming. He owns the acre of land which his father first pur- chased, and has by industry and energy added to this until he is now the possessor of ninety-three acres of well-improved land, and some Evanston property, besides his pleasant home in Oak Glen,

built in 1877, which is surrounded by fruit and ornamental shrubbery planted by himself.

Gerhardt Oldenbuttel, a brother of Mrs. Mar- guerite Heuck, still resides with the subject of this sketch, at the age of seventy-five years. He came to America in 1840, landing at Charleston, South Carolina, and has since traveled extens- ively in the United States.

NOAH B. BACON.

12 OAH BROCKWAY BACON, one of the few men now living, with clear memories, who were born in the eighteenth century, is an example of the benefits of temperance and right- eous living. When near the close of his ninety- fifth year, he wrote the following, at the request of the editor of this volume:

"I know very little of my ancestors. My father moved to the State of New York soon after his marriage, leaving all of his relatives in the East- ern States. He was a son of Ebeneezer Bacon, of Massachusetts. When a boy of sixteen years, he and two older brothers enlisted in the Revo- lutionary War. One brother died in the army and the other lost his right arm. My father served seven years, without a day's relief, and was honorably discharged, a sound, strong man of one hundred and fifty-five pounds' weight, and paid off in Continental money, of which it would take $5,000 to buy a pair of top boots. I have heard my father say it would take $150 to buy a dinner.

"Some four years after the war my father married Ruth Brockway, a Connecticut school teacher, and moved west to the State of New York. The result of their marriage was five sons and two daughters. The youngest son died in infancy. Their names were Olive, Elijah, Noah B., Tri- man Norton, Joseplı Franklin, Ruth Anna and

Timothy. Six lived to marry and rear families. My brothers and sisters have all passed on to the spirit life, and I am the only representative of my father's family. My health is good for one of my years.

"I was born on the 19th of December, 1799, and am this day ninety-four years, seven months and twenty-two days old, and I write this history from memory, and without spectacles, in this cloudy, dark day, August 10, 1894. My cup of life has been mixed with joy and grief. Our sorrows last for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. My history is peculiar to myself-perhaps of little interest to others. I have been told that my brother, Joseph F. Bacon, who died in Milwau- kee, Wisconsin, February 5, 1892, traced the line of our ancestors back to Lord Bacon. I never had time for such work. Lord Bacon was what he was in his time, and I am what I am in my day. Character, not genealogy, is what makes the man of to-day famous or infamous. Vice may be dandled in the lap of wealth and fame, while virtue, in obscurity, struggles with the iron hand of poverty, and unknown in the annals of the world's history. Yet virtue carries her re- ward with her, and sometimes it is an open reward. Many years of experience have taught me to re- gard everyone according to his virtue, from the king on his throne to the beggar in the street. I

216

NOAH B. BACON.

have living twenty-five grandchildren, forty-three great-grandchildren and three great-great-grand- children. Nine grandchildren have died and two great-grandchildren have died. Three of my daughters have died, and I have five sons and one daughter living."

Elijah Bacon, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in 1765 (probably at Dedliam, Massachusetts), and reached the age of ninety-six years. His wife lived to be ninety years old. They were faithful members of the Presbyterian Church, and engaged chiefly in agriculture.

Noah B. Bacon was born in Westmoreland, Ontario County, New York, and had a limited common-school education. He has been observ- ant and studious and has secured a valuable practical education. As shown in the extract preceding, he has sound, practical views of life. After spending some years in carrying mail-first on horseback, then on a stage line-through the wilds of southern New York and northern Penn- sylvania, in the employ of Stephen B. Leonard, Mr. Bacon took a sub-contract from Mr. Leonard to carry the mail (in connection with which he operated a stage line) between Bath, Steuben County, New York, and Elmira, Tioga County, in the same State, which he faithfully carried out, but without financial gain. Farming has been his main occupation in life. For about fifteen years he operated a linseed-oil mill at Bath, New York, during part of the year.

In 1843 he moved to Mukwanago (then Mil- waukee) County, Wisconsin, where he rented land four years. He then removed to La Grange, Wal- worth County, in the same State, and combined farming with the operation of a blacksmith shop, in partnership with his eldest son. Here he im- proved his financial condition and established a reputation for rectitude, to which the writer of these lines cheerfully testifies from personal knowledge. In 1856 he went to Easton, Adams County, Wisconsin, where he purchased wild land and improved it successfully. Here, in 1875, at the age of seventy-seven years, his faithful help- mate was taken away by death, and lie soon after retired from active life. On the evening of the first day of the year 1821, in Bath, Steuben

County, New York, Mr. Bacon was wedded to Miss Charlotte York. She was the daughter of Stephen and Amy (Franklin) York, and was born in Canandaigua, Ontario County, New York, being one of a family of three sons and six daugh- ters. Stephen York was of Dutch descent. Amy Franklin was a daughter of Roswell P. Franklin, a near relative of Benjamin Franklin, the Amer- ican sage. Five sons and four daughters were given to Mr. and Mrs. Bacon, named in order of birth: Mary Ann, Joseph Franklin, Ruth Amy, George Brockway, Huldah Emmarilla, Elijah Fremont, Jeremiah D., David Noah and Char- lotte Amanda. Josephı Franklin resides in Por- tage City, Wisconsin, and has four living children; George Brockway has two children and resides in Des Moines, Iowa; Elijah Fremont, also of Des Moines, has eight children; Jeremiah D. makes his home in Chicago; David N. resides in Point Bluff, Wisconsin; Mrs. Mahlon Dewing, a widow, resides in Winfred, South Dakota. Her husband served for four years in the Eleventlı Wisconsin Regiment during the War of the Rebellion. The second daughter was buried in Bath, Steuben County, New York; the third in Mukwanago, Wisconsin; and the eldest in White Creek, Wis- consin.

Mr. Bacon, though now so well advanced in years, is remarkably well preserved. His health is good, his step firm and elastic, and his eyesight and hearing are very slightly impaired. He pos- sesses considerable literary ability, and it has been his custom for several years to compose a poem on his birthday. He also corresponds regularly with several friends and writes daily in a diary. Until his retirement his life was a very busy one, and he is now spending his declining years in a well-earned rest. In pleasant weather he accom- panies his grandchildren through the busy por- tions of the city, and during 1893 he several times visited the World's Fair, which he enjoyed greatly. His excellent health is undoubtedly due in a large measure to his abstinence from intoxi- cating liquors. In religious faith he is a Univer- salist, and has acted with the Republican Party since its organization-"pledged to truth and the public good: God first and my country next."

217

JOHN M. MATHIS.

While in Chicago Mr. Bacon resides with his son, Jeremiah D., who was born March 23, 1832, in Bath, Steuben County, New York. He at- tended school at that place and completed his education in Wisconsin. At the age of eighteen he began to learn the blacksmith's trade with his brother, Joseph Franklin, with whom he worked (at La Grange, Wisconsin) four years, after which he carried on mercantile pursuits in con- nection with another brother at White Creek, Wisconsin. They built a flouring-mill and car- ried on business along that line until the spring of 1865, at which time Jeremiah Bacon went to Hannibal, Missouri, where he engaged in the grocery business for one year. He then, with others, organized an insurance company, with which he was connected for four years, when he returned to the grocery business, carrying on trade until 1876. On his removal to Chicago, in the Centennial year, he embarked in the coin- mission business on South Water Street, being

thus engaged for two years, when he entered tlie employ of Rosenbaum Bros. He severed his connection with that firm to engage in the grain business, and subsequently entered the employ of Rogers Bros., grain receivers, and his next ven- ture was in the real-estate business, which he yet carries on.

Jeremiah Bacon has been twice married. He first wedded Bianca A. Walworth, and afterward Susan E. Lanphear. His children are: Hattie B., wife of C. L. Thayer, of Chicago, by whom she has one child, Charles L .; Mary C., a teacher in the Kershaw School of Chicago; Lulu S., at home; Anna L., wife of W. C. Allen, of Chicago, by whom she has two children; and Henrietta L., wife of E. G. Colburn, a druggist of this city. In his political views Mr. Bacon is a Democrat, and is a well-informed man, who keeps abreast with the times on all questions of the day. A courteous, genial gentleman, those who know him esteem him highly for his sterling worth.

JOHN M MATHIS.

OHN MICHAEL MATHIS resides on sec- tion 31, Niles Township, Cook County. The men who start out in life without capital and work their way upward unaided, depending en- tirely on their own resources, deserve great credit for their success. Such a man is our subject. He was the eldest of five children and was born on the 19th of May, 1819. His ancestors were stalwart men, prominent in the military service of France. His father, John Michael Mathis, Sr., who lived to see his eighty-fourth year, was a sol- dier under Napoleon and witnessed the fall of the "Great Commander." His mother, who bore the maiden name of Barbara Myer, was a daughter of Casper Myer, a blacksmith. All were natives of Alsace, Germany, then a part of France.

Mr. Mathis whose name heads this record en- listed in the French army in 1840, and after six years' service was honorably discharged, on the 26th of November, 1846. While in the army he excelled in all the athletic sports that so much interest men during soldier-life, and in a contest received the prize-a gold watch-for being the "best man" in the regiment. He was thirty years of age at the time of his emigration to Amer- ica. In 1849, he crossed the briny deep and took up his residence in Lake County, Illinois, near the Cook County line. After a few years he re- moved to Arlington Heights, in this county, where he made his home for a period of twelve years. He then went to Mobile, Alabama, where he spent two years engaged in hunting and fishing.

218

J. A. BOLLMANN.

While engaged in the latter pursuit his only com- petitors were the Spanish fishermen, who were not adepts in inveigling the finny tribe. His superior ability in this line made the business quite profitable, he often catching fish to the value of about $30 in two or three hours. In the spring of 1867 he came to the village of Niles and em- . barked in the hotel and saloon business, which for seventeen years proved to be very remunerative. In 1884, having acquired a handsome compe- tency, he retired to private life, and is now living in a substantial two-story residence, in a very de- sirable part of the town, enjoying the rest which he has so truly earned and richly deserves.

I11 1856, Mr. Mathis was joined in marriage with Miss Lena Deabolt, a native of Alsace. Her

death occurred in 1884. Two of the nephews of our subject, William and Jacob, sons of his brother Jacob, of Alsace, are living with him. Jacob Mathis, Jr., married Miss Lena Laesser, and they have two children, Bertha and Lena.

Mr. Mathis is a member of the Lutheran Church, and in his political affiliation is a Demo- crat, but has never had time or inclination for public office. His first Presidential vote was cast for Abraham Lincoln. He has lived a quiet and unassuming life. Being at a very early age thrown upon his own resources, he had few ad- vantages, educational or otherwise, and his success has been achieved by earnest efforts and good management.

REV. JOSEPH A. BOLLMANN.

EV. JOSEPH A. BOLLMANN, of Sag Bridge, is a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, and was born on the 7th of December, 1854. His father, Frederick Bollmann, was a goldsmith, born near Osnaburg, Germany, and came to America in 1840. Nine years later, in 1849, he inarried Miss Lena Dahme, a native of Muenster, Germany, who emigrated to the United States in 1842. By this union were born two children, the younger of whom is our subject. His first year's education was obtained in the public schools of Springfield, Ohio, after which he attended the high school of the same city. He studied the classics in Mount St. Mary's, in Cincinnati, and after completing the prescribed course entered the school of St. Viateur at Kankakee, where he took the theological course, being graduated from that institution in 1880. He was ordained on the 17th of June of the same year by Bishop Spalding, of Peoria, Ill. During the last two years of his

course he was a teacher of Latin and Greek in the college.

Rev. Mr. Bollmann's first pastoral work was as assistant to Father Barrett, of St. Stephen's Church of Chicago, where he spent three months, and then he went to Lemont as assistant priest to Rev. J. E. Hogan, of St. Patrick's Church, thus serv- ing for two years. In 1882 he was made priest in charge of St. James' Church at Sag Bridge, being the first resident pastor at that place. There he built the parochial residence, enlarged the church edifice, and built a steeple to it. This church is of stone, beautifully situated in the midst of a natural forest, on the summit of a hill, commanding a fine view of the country around. Here Father Bollmann has passed twelve years in the midst of a community of farmers. Al- though he has been offered the pastorate of wealthy city churches in Chicago, he prefers to remain where he can live close to nature, of which

219

IVILLIAM NETTSTRAETER.

he is a great lover. His leisure time he spends in reading the classics, of which he is very fond, in fishing, hunting, and in studying the things of nature, which are always interesting to a man of his education and bent of mind. Genial and kindly by nature, with an eye single to the ad-

vancement of his parishioners in material as well as spiritual matters, Rev. Mr. Bollmann fills a place in which he finds pleasure and success and enjoys the profound respect and regard of those of his own church over whom he has charge, and those of other denominations as well.

WILLIAM NETTSTRAETER.

EV. WILLIAM NETSTRAETER, pastor of St. Joseph's Catholic Church at Wilmette, is a native of Prussia, his birth having cc- curred in that country at Meschede, on the Ist of January, 1843. His parents were Frank and Josephine Frances (Sels) Netstraeter. The former came to America in 1867 and spent his remain- ing days in this country. The mother died when her son William was a lad of only about eight summers.

The primary education of Father Netstraeter was obtained in the public schools of his native town, and subsequently at the college of Arns- berg, from which he was graduated at the age of twenty years. He then entered the University of Muenster to prepare for the work of the ministry. Here he studied for a period of two years, and then went to Paderborn to continue his studies, until the year 1867, which witnessed his emigra- tion to America, whither he had been called by the president of St. Francis' Seminary of Milwau- kee. There he completed his theological studies, and entered the ministry in September, 1867. His first appointment was at Gross Point, Illinois, where he served for a few months as assistant pastor. Shortly afterwards he was removed to Lincoln, Illinois, where he had charge of all the German Catholics in Logan and McLean Counties. He organized congregations in Lincoln, Bloom- ington, Pulaski, Atlanta and several small country places, and through his instrumentality houses of worship were erected at the first two above-named towns.

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Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, 2nd ed., Part 23

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