USA > Illinois > Cook County > Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, 2nd ed. > Part 48
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From 1865 to 1872 Mr. Loveless followed farm- ing near Elgin, in Kane County. In May, 1872, he went to Chicago and engaged for seven years in the grain, feed and coal trade. Since selling out this business, he has engaged in the hotel and real-estate business with marked success. In August, 1882, he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land at Turner, and five years later added forty acres to this. The entire tract was platted as an addition to the village of Turner in 1893, and is known as Montview. Many lots have already been sold, and this investment is among the best made by a man known for fore- sight and shrewdness in business. Like many other investments in the neighborhood of Chi- cago, this has proven a popular site, and is vindi- cating the sagacity of its projector.
Mr. Loveless experienced religion in January, 1860, and united with the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1883 he began to extend the revival work which he had been doing in a quiet way for many years, and became a powerful and much- sought aid in evangelistic work. Until failing strength, in 1889, compelled him to resign this work, he gave his entire attention to it and la-
bored in many Western States, chiefly in Iowa, Illinois and California. In this he was ably as- sisted by his wife, a lady of strong faith and spirit. In reviewing his work, the Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Republican said: "Though his address had no peculiar charm, and his work seemed devoid of the personal magnetism which characterizes the influence of many public speakers, his earnest- ness and sincerity carried great power." He still continues, as for many years past, to do mission work in Chicago, and is an active temperance worker, both by precept and example. In 1888 he was the Prohibition candidate for Senator from the Fourteenth Illinois District, and has been three years President of the County Committee of that party, and four years President of the Whea- ton Prohibition Club. From Lincoln to Garfield he was a Republican, and is ready to again affili- ate with the Republican party when it consents to espouse the Prohibition issue.
October 17, 1860, Mr. Loveless married Miss Mary Tweddale, a native of New York City, a daughter of Garlius and Elizabeth Tweddale, na- tives of Whithorn, an island in the south of Scot- land. Mrs. Loveless was a teacher before her marriage. She died in 1865, leaving a son, Frank Ariel, now a resident of Chicago. On the 3d of April, 1866, Mr. Loveless was again married, the bride being Miss Huldah Elizabeth Holden, who was born in Stockholm, St. Lawrence County, N. Y. Her parents, John and Mary A. (Clark) Holden, were natives, respectively, of England and Gilsum, N. H., the latter being descended from an old New England family, dating from the landing of the Pilgrims. Three children have blessed the second union of Mr. Loveless, namely: Braman H., Benjamin E. and Gertrude. The second died February 5, 1893, and the first is practicing law in Chicago and residing in Whea- · ton. Mrs. Loveless taught the first colored school in the North, at Elgin, and continued in the work three years. She is active in temperance work, and is an officer in control of several char- itable and philanthropic undertakings in Chicago, independent of her husband's work, for the suc- cess of which he gives her large credit.
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W. A. SPALDING.
WILLIAM A. SPALDING.
ILLIAM AUGUSTUS SPALDING, who for forty years lived a quiet and happy life in Chicago, deserves more than a passing notice on account of his manly, upright character and the appreciation in which he was held by those privileged to enjoy his acquaintance and friendship. He was born at Onondaga Hill, four miles from the city of Syracuse, New York, August 17, 1815, and was the eighth child in the family of Coit Spalding. The latter was born May 10, 1772, and married Rhoda Cobb on the 8th of May, 1799. Of their family of eight sons and three daughters, none are now living. The mother died December 6, 1857, and the father May 22, 1859.
The town and family of Spalding are known to have existed in the southern part of Lincolnshire, England, in the twelfth century, and about 1632 Edward Spalding left that place and settled in Braintree, in the new colony of Massachusetts. From the latter are descended nearly all bearing the name in the United States, many of whoni have been distinguished as soldiers, ecclesiastics, jurists, legislators, manufacturers and business men. They were active in subduing the wilder- ness and in establishing the church, school and factory in New England. Many served in King Philip's War, several distinguished themselves at the heroic defense of Fort Groton, Connecticut, and fifty-two participated in the Revolutionary War, nine of whom were active in the battle of Bunker Hill, where one fell from the back of his disabled horse.
During the period of Mr. Spalding's boyhood, Syracuse was not the commercial center it now is, and the community was wholly rural in its char- acter. He enjoyed the limited advantages of so- ciety and school which the time and region afforded in early boyhood, but was thrown upon his own resources while yet a mere youth. He was fond of outdoor life, and took employment as a railroad man, running west from Buffalo. At the age of twenty-five years he had become a conductor on the Michigan Central Railroad, running between Detroit and Chicago. His promptness, faithfulness and integrity are shown by the fact that he remained in that employ until his removal to Chicago, in 1852, to take charge. of the union station, operated by the Michigan Central and Illinois Central Railways. This oc- cupation further illustrated his capacity and the confidence reposed in him by the officers of the Michigan Central Railroad Company. Up to the time of his death he filled this responsible posi- tion, enjoying the respect of all who were brought in contact with him. His home on Michigan Avenue was the scene of quiet comfort, and he was always a valued member of a small circle of congenial friends. He loved to select his com- panions, was always true in all the relations of life, and was most appreciated by those who knew him best. He was loath to talk of himself, con- sequently it is now difficult to learn much of his early life. That he was somewhat adventurous in youth is indicated by his relation of his expe- riences while on a voyage to Newfoundland.
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JOSEPH KIPLEY.
during which the boat on which he was a passen- ger was violently tossed about by the waves in a storm, and he was in imminent danger of losing his life. He was very fond of horses, and one of his first purchases after he began to earn money, was a driving horse. He believed in extracting the most that was possible from life, and sought to make those around him cheerful and contented in mind, as he always was. He suffered from gradual paralysis during the last five years of liis life, without murmuring, and passed away at his home, April 16, 1892, his remains being depos- ited at Rose Hill two days later. It is said that he never had an enemy in the world. He was a member of Trinity Protestant Episcopal Church; was a high degree member of the Masonic frater- nity, a life-long Democrat in political affiliations, as was his father before him. He was named after William Augustus Ellis, who was a nephew of
his father, and also a prominent early-day Demo- crat.
April 18, 1852, Mr. Spalding married Miss Jane Ann, daughter of William Augustus Ellis and Prudence Horton, his wife. The Ellis fant- ily, like the Spaldings, was early planted in New England. The parents of William A. Ellis were Warren Ellis, born February 26, 1766, and Nancy Spalding, born February 2, 1774. They were married January 17, 1793, and had five sons and three daughters, William A. being the eldest son and second child, born January 17, 1796, and died July 27, 1832. He had two sons and a daugliter, Mrs. Spalding being the only survivor at this time. Warren Ellis died August 10, 1813. The adopted daughter of William A. and Jane A. Spalding is now the wife of Ferdinand W. Peck, of Chicago (whose biography will be found elsewhere in this work).
JOSEPH KIPLEY.
OSEPH KIPLEY is Assistant Chief of Police of Chicago. He has reached this responsible and important position through meritorious conduct, which has won for him promotion from rank to rank, until he is now almost at the head of the police department of the second city of the Union. The record of his life is as follows: He was born in Paterson, N. J., in 1848, and is a son of Charles and Catherine (Waller) Kipley. The family is of German origin. The parents of our subject were both born in Baden-Baden, Germany, and there continued to reside until 1845, when they crossed the Atlantic to America, and located in New Jersey. The father is a carpenter by trade, and has made that pursuit his life work. Both parents are still living in Chicago, at the age of seventy-seven years.
No event of special importance occurred during the boyhood and youth of Joseph Kipley, who
was reared in his parents' home, and acquired his education in the public schools of his native State. He thus obtained a good knowledge of the English branches, and has since been a close student of the topics of the time and of current events. When his school life was ended, he came westward, locating in Chicago, and entered the employ of R. B. Appleby, a picture dealer of this city, with whom he continued until he entered upon the work which led to his present position. It was on the 22d of January, 1872, that he be- came a member of the police force, serving as a patrolman. From that position he has risen suc- cessively, step by step, to a position of prominence. When he joined the force it consisted of only two hundred and fifty men, and he has made his way without any political influence.
In 1872 Mr. Kipley was united in marriage with Miss Winnefred Wheeler.
S. E. Gross
383
S. E. GROSS.
SAMUEL EBERLY GROSS.
AMUEL E. GROSS is one of Chicago's best known business men, and especially in real- estate circles has he a wide acquaintance. He has long been active in promoting the growth and advancement of the city, not merely for his own interest, but largely for the benefit of the community as well. He was born on the Old Mansion Farm in Dauphin County, Pennsylva- mia, November II, 1843. He is descended from Huguenot ancestry, and reliable information shows that the family lived in America in1 1726, at which time Joseph Gross was the owner of property in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. His grandson, who was the great-grandfather of our subject, valiantly aided the colonies in their struggle for independence and became a captain in the service, liis commission, dated November 25, 1776, being signed by John Hancock, Gov- ernor of Pennsylvania. When the war was over he went to Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, where he owned extensive farm and milling interests. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Sahler, was of Holland descent on the paternal side, and of Huguenot on the maternal, coming from the Du Bois family, which was prominent in Kings- ton, New York, as early as 1649. The mother of Mr. Gross was in her maidenhood Elizabeth Eberly. She came of a family of German origin, whose representatives have been prominent in various professional walks in life.
The American people are coming to recognize more fully every day the fact that good blood tells. The most prominent characteristics of Mr. Gross are inherited from ancestors who were active in war and in the same lines of business as hinself. His genealogy is traced as follows: Seigneur Jea11 de Gros, Master of the Chamber of the Count of Dijon, (died 1456), inarried Peronette le Roye; their eldest son, Jean, of Dijon, Secre-
tary to Duc de Bourgogne, married Philiberte de Sourlam; their son, Ferry, of Dijon, in 1521, married Phillipolte Wielandt; their son, Jean, of Dijon, (died 1548), married Catharine Laurym; their son, Jean, of Dijon, in 1599, married Jacque- line de Berneincourt; their son, Jean, of Dijon, in 1620, married Leonore de Briard; their son, Jacob, married Marie Debar, and removed from France at the time of the persecution of the Hugue- nots to the Palatinate, Germany, and later re- moved to Mannheim on the Rhine. Their son, Johann, of Mannheim, in 1665, married Miss Neihart; their son, Johann Christopher, of Mann- heim, in 1703, married Elizabeth Metger; and their son, Joseph, in 1719, accompanied the Men- nonites from the Palatinate to America, residing for some time on the banks of the Hudson, and removing afterward to Pennsylvania. He mar- ried Catherina , owned property in the neighborhood of the Trappe, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, previous to 1726, and land in Philadelphia County in 1728, and died in1 1753; their son, John, of Montgomery County, married Clara , and died in 1788; their son, John, born in 1749, was a Captain in the War of the Revolution. In 1778 he married Rachel Sah- ler, and died in 1823; their son, Christian, born in 1788, of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, mar- ried Ann Custer, of Montgomery County, and died in1 1843; their son, Jolin C., in1 1843, married Elizabeth Eberly, of Cumberland County, Pen11- sylvania; and their eldest son, Samuel E., is the subject of this biography.
Through liis great-grandmother, Rachel Sah- ler, wife of Capt. John Gross of Revolutionary fame, Samuel E. Gross is directly descended from Matthew Blanslan, Louis Dubois and Christian Deyo, Huguenots of France, who, like Jacob de Gros, at the time of the persecution, removed to
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S. E. GROSS.
the Palatinate in Germany, and thence emigrated to America in the middle of the seventeenth cen- tury. Matthew Blanshan and his family were the first of the refugees to try their fate in the New World, sailing from the Palatinate April 27, 1660. Louis Dubois and Christian Deyo soon followed, and were two of the twelve patentees who, in 1677, obtained title to all the lands in Eastern New York State lying between the Shawangunk Mountains and the Hudson River, and were in- strumental in founding New Paltz and Kingston in Ulster County.
Rachel Sahler was the daughter of Abraham Sahler and Elizabeth Dubois. Her mother, Eliza- beth Dubois, was the daughter of cousins, Isaac Dubois and Rachel Dubois. Isaac Dubois, her father, was the son of Solomon Dubois, and her mother, Rachel Dubois, was the daughter of Sol- omon Dubois' eldest brother, Abraham. The mother of Rachel Dubois was Margaret Deyo, daughter of Christian Deyo, the patentee. Abra- ham Dubois, Rachel's father, and Solomon Du- bois, her husband's father, were both sons of Louis Dubois, the patentee and founder of New Paltz, and his wife, Catherine Blanshan, daugh- ter of Matthew Blanshan, the first of these Hugue- not arrivals.
In 1846, Mr. Gross came with his parents to Illinois, and after residing for a time in Bureau County removed to Carroll County. His early ed- ucation was acquired in the district schools, and he afterwards attended Mt. Carroll Seminary. Prompted by patriotic impulses, he enlisted in his country's service on the breaking out of the late war, although only seventeen years of age. He joined the Forty-first Illinois Infantry, and took part in the Missouri campaign, but was then mus- tered out by reason of the strong objections made by his parents to his service, on account of his youth. He spent the following year as a student in Whitehall Academy, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, but in June, 1863, he again left school, for the Confederates had invaded the Key- stone State and he could no longer remain quiet- ly at his books. On the 29th of June he was made First Lieutenant of Company D, Twentieth Penn- sylvania Cavalry, being one of the youngest offi-
cers of that rank in the army. His faithful and valiant service won him promotion to the rank of Captain of Company K, February 17, 1864. He participated in many of the important battles of the eastern campaign, and when the war was over was mustered out at Cloud Mills, Virginia, July 13, 1865.
At this time Chicago was becoming a city of prominence and gave rich promise for a brilliant future. Attracted by its prospects, Mr. Gross here located in September, 1865, and entered Un- ion Law College. The following year he was ad- initted to the Bar, entering at once upon practice. In the mean time, however, he had invested a sınall capital in real estate. He built upon his lots in1 1867, and as his undertakings in this di- rection met with success, he gave more and more attention to the business. He was instrumental in the establishment of the park and boulevard system in the winter of 1869. When the great fire broke out in 1871, and Mr. Gross saw that his office would be destroyed, he hastily secured his abstracts, deeds and other valuable papers, as many as he could get, and, putting them in a row- boat, carried them to a tug. When the flames had completed their disastrous work, he returned to the old site of his office and resumed business. A financial depression from 1873 until 1879 fol- lowed the boom, and Mr. Gross gave his time to the study of politics, science, and to literary pursuits.
On the revival of trade, Mr. Gross determined to devote his entire time to real-estate interests, and to the southwest of the city founded several suburbs. In 1882, to the north, he began wliat has now become Gross Park. In 1883, he began the work which has made him a public benefac- tor, that of building homes for people of moderate means, and the selling the same to them on time. Thus many a family has secured a comfortable home, where otherwise their wages would have been expended in rent, and in the end they would have had nothing to show for it. Unimproved districts under his transforming hand became pop- ulated and flourishing neighborhoods. In 1886, Mr. Gross founded the town of Brookdale; platted Calumet Heights and Dauphin Park the following
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CALVIN DE WOLF.
year, and platted a forty-acre subdivision on Ash- land Avenue. A large district near Humboldt Park was improved by him, and some three hun- dred houses were built near Archer Avenue and Thirty-ninth Street. The beautiful town of Gross- dale has been one of his most successful ventures. He established the town one mile west of River- side, and beautiful drives, lovely homes, churches, a theatre and fine walks make this one of Chica- go's best suburbs. He has also recently founded the beautiful town of Hollywood, and during the last twelve years he has founded sixteen thriving suburban towns and cities. His fortune is esti- inated at $3,000,000, or over, and although his reputation is that of a multi-millionaire the United Workingmen's societies showed their confidence in him by nominating him to the mayoralty in 1889, an honor which from press of private busi- ness he was obliged to decline.
Constantly has the business of Mr. Gross in- creased, until his dealings have reached the mill- ions. He buys property outright, and then sells as the purchasers feel that they can pay. It is said that he has never foreclosed a mortgage, and his kindliness, forbearance and generosity have won for him the love and confidence of the poorer people and the high regard of all.
Mr. Gross was married in January, 1874, to
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Miss Emily Brown, a lady of English descent. He is a member of the Chicago Club, the Union Club, the Washington Park, the Atlıletic, Mar- quette and Iroquois Clubs. He is a patron of the Art Institute and the Humane Society, and his support is given to other benevolent organizations. He holds membership with the Chicago Union Veteran Club; U. S. Grant Post No. 28, G. A. R .; the Western Society Army of the Potomac, and the Sons of the American Revolution.
In 1886, Mr. Gross made a trip to Europe, spending four months in visiting the leading cit- ies and points of interest in that continent. He also made investigations concerning city develop- ment. In 1889, he traveled through Mexico and the cities on the Pacific Coast, and later in the year attended the Paris Exposition. In 1892, he went to Europe once more, and also visited the Orient. In manner, Mr. Gross is genial, pleas- ant and entertaining, and the kindliness of his face at once wins him friends. Although he would not be called a professing philanthropist, his life has certainly been characterized by a practical charity, which has probably proven of more bene- fit than the acknowledged philanthropic work of some others. His success in business seems mar- velous, yet it is but the result of industry, enter- prise, and careful and well-directed management.
CALVIN DE WOLF.
C ALVIN DE WOLF, now one of the foremost citizens of Chicago, is an example of the manner in which mnen rise to stations of wealth and honor through sturdy moral integrity and unceasing, ambitious toil. His story is that of a young man who came to Chicago with nothing in the days of the city's infancy, and by a sustained effort has grown with the city's growth, until lie is numbered among the representative men of the "great city by the inland sea."
Calvin De Wolf was born in Braintrim, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, on the 18th of February. 1815, and was one of the family of fifteen children of Giles M. De Wolf, a well-to-do farmer. His father and grandfather were born in Pomfret, Con- necticut, and his more remote ancestors were among the early settlers in Lyme, Connecticut, being colonists who came over from Holland, to which country they had probably been driven from France (where the family originated) by religious
386
CALVIN DE WOLF.
persecution. His mother, whose maiden name was Anna Spaulding, was born in Cavendish, Ver- mont, and was a descendant of Edward Spaulding, who settled in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, in 1633.
Soon after the birth of Calvin De Wolf, his par- ents removed to his mother's native place and re- mained there until he was five years of age, and then returned to Braintrin, Pennsylvania, from whence, four years later, they removed to the ad- joining county of Bradford, where his father pur- chased a farm in the beech woods of that county. This farm was covered with heavy timber, the clearing of which was a task of a different kind and of much greater magnitude than falls to the lot of most farmers of the present day. Putting this land into condition to be sufficiently produc- tive to support the large family of its owner fur- nished work for every hand for years.
Calvin De Wolf was the eldest of his father's sons who lived beyond the infantile period, and converting the beech forest into tillable land was a task in which he was required to practice, and which, with the tilling of the soil, required all his time except the three winter months, when he at- tended school until he was twenty-one years of age. After attaining his majority he made up his mind to obtain an education, and, under the in- struction of his father, who was a man of more than ordinary ability, had a good common-school education and was well versed in mathematics, he obtained a good knowledge of arithmetic, algebra and surveying. He was also assisted to a knowl- edge of the elements of Latin by a gentleman of liberal education who lived in the neighborhood. When he had progressed to this point in educa- tion, he left home and entered Grand River In- stitute, in Ashtabula County, Ohio, in 1836. That institution, then famous throughout eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania, was conducted some- what on the plan of agricultural colleges of the present day, in that students who desired to do so could partially support themselves by manual la- bor and pursue a course of study at the same time. For a year and a half young De Wolf maintained himself at this school and fitted himself for teach- ing; he also presided for a term or two at the peda-
gogue's desk. At all times, however, when op- portunity offered, he was intent on study and made the most of his educational opportunities.
Then, as now, the West was looked to as the land of opportunities and the goal of the ambition of every aspiring young man. Calvin De Wolf, with his industrious habits and ambitious desires, was not content to spend his days in the East, but looked westward with longing eyes, and in those days the West was not so far away as now and Chicago was included in the term. In the fall of 1837, young De Wolf arranged with a trader who was making a shipment of fruit by boat from Ash- tabula to Chicago to pay his passage between the cities by assisting to load and unload the fruit and take charge of it in transit, which agreement he faithfully carried out and, in due time, found him- self in this city, then covering a small area of ter- ritory at the mouth of the Chicago River and hav- ing but one four-story brick building-the old Lake House, then the pride of the West. The first thing the young man had to do was to look for eniployment, for he had come West with very little money. He hoped to obtain a situation as teacher in the city schools, and passed the required examination for license to teach, but his hopes were disappointed and he had to seek elsewhere, as there were others whose claims had to be first . considered. Disappointed but not cast down, he set out on foot across the prairie to seek like em- ployment in some other locality. After traveling thirty-five or forty miles, he at last arrived at Hadley, Will County, Illinois, with only a York shilling in his pocket. He was more fortunate in his quest there, and obtained the position of vil- lage schoolnaster, teaching during the winter of 1837-38, and returning the following spring to Chicago. Here he again made application for en1- ployment as teacher, and was successful. While teaching school he also engaged in various other occupations which were calculated to improve his financial condition.
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