Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, 8th ed., Part 48

Author: Calumet Book & Engraving Company, Chicago
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Chicago : Calumet Book and Engraving Co.
Number of Pages: 930

USA > Illinois > Cook County > Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, 8th ed. > Part 48

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Lemuel and Mary A. Bolles were the parents of one daughter and two sous. Besides Charles E., these were: Delia I., who is now the wife of Hon. Gilbert A. Davis, a leading attorney of Windsor, Vermont, and Esek C., who was born October 4, 1842, and served from May 24, 1861,

to June 18, 1864, in Company K, Thirteenth Illinois Volunteers. He was afterwards employed for a number of years as a conductor on the Chi- cago & Eastern Illinois Railroad, and was ac- cidentally killed . while in the service of that corporation, December 6, 1878.

After the death of her first husband, Mrs. Mary A. Bolles was married to George J. Atcherson, and in 1855 the family came to Illinois, locating at Turner (now West Chicago), Du Page County. Mr. Atcherson became a leading citizen of that village, where he did a general business in hides, real estate and loans. He took considerable in- terest in public affairs, and for a number of years was supervisor of the township. He died Jan- uary 26, 1884,and Mrs. Atcherson passed away in the same year. She was very prominent in the work of the Methodist Church at that place, and was held in the highest esteem by all her neighbors. Out of respect to her memory the public schools were closed on the day of her fun- eral, that being the first instance in which a resi- dent of the village was honored in this manner.

When the Civil War began Charles E. Bolles, whose name heads this article, offered to enlist in defense of the Union cause, but was rejected, ow- ing to his youth. Ou the 8th of May, 1862, he was enrolled, however, as a recruit in Company K, Thirteenth Illinois Volunteers. Starting with his comrades from Rolla, Missouri, he marched to Batesville, Arkansas, where they joined the regiment soon after the battle of Pea Ridge.

328

C. E. BOLLES.

Thence they marched to Helena, Arkansas, being cut off for three weeks from all communication with the other Union forces. This march from Rolla, Missouri, to Helena, Arkansas, covered a distance of 1218 miles, much more than the route in a direct line. As it was a dry season, there were but few sources from which supplies of fresh water could be obtained, and most of these had been poisoned by the enemy. They also suffered considerably from lack of food, but upon reaching St. Charles, Arkansas, received abun- dant supplies from. the Union gun boats, which had been making every effort to communicate with them.

The Thirteenth Regiment was afterwards made the First Regiment, First Brigade, Second Di- vision, of the Army of the Southwest, under con- mand of Gen. Eugene A. Carr. Mr. Bolles participated in a number of skirmishes, and at Chickasaw Bayou, near Vicksburg, he was shot through the right arm, and owing to this dis- ability was mustered out February 10, 1863. Upon his recovery hie re-entered the army, as quartermaster's clerk of the Fourteenth (colored) U. S. Infantry. In 1864 he received a certificate from the examining board at Nasliville, as a first lieutenant and regimental quartermaster. In tlie fall of that year he became a quartermaster's clerk, under Captain Eaton, at Dalton, Georgia, the outermost Union post, after Sherinan's evacua- tion of Atlanta. He was afterwards ordered to go by way of New York to Savannah, Georgia. Upon reaching Cincinnati he received orders to return to Chattanooga and close up Captain Eaton's accounts with the post quartermaster at that place. After resuming his journey he had reached Cincinnati, when he was seized with typhoid fever and sent home.

After the war he attended the military academy at Fulton, Illinois, and spent one term in the com- inercial department of Wheaton college. He then became a traveling representative and purchasing agent of H. C. Tillinghast & Company, of Chi- cago, with whom he continued five years. After dealing in hardware four years at Turner, he was again connected with that firm until 1880, at which date he became a member of the firm of

Bolles & Rogers, wholesale dealers in hides, pelts, and similar goods. This relation still continues, and the firm does the largest business in that line of any concern in Chicago.

Mr. Bolles has always been greatly interested in real estate at Turner and other places. He owns a large farmı adjacent to that village, and at dif- ferent times has laid out eight or nine subdi- visions. In company with J. H. Lesher, in 1893, lie organized the Turner Brick Company, and the product of this establishment has entered into the construction of many of the finest buildings of Chicago and its suburbs. In 1894 he erected upon the old homestead of Mr. Atcherson a fine opera house and business block, which is one of the most substantial and attractive structures in that suburb. He has recently been instrumental in changing the name from Turner to West Chi- cago, and spares no paius in promoting the growth and development of that thriving suburb. He has made a proposition to donate a site and erect a ten-thousand-dollar building for a public library, provided that the citizens raise a fund to stock and equip the same. This offer will no doubt be accepted at an early date.

Mr. Bolles was married to Miss Mattie Butter- field, daughter of George W. and Ann (Bennett) Butterfield, pioneer settlers of Du Page County. Mr. Butterfield was born June 29, 1820, and died May 3, 1848. Mrs. Bolles was born in Chicago, and has always lived in Cook and Du Page Coun- ties. Her only daughter, Maud E., is the wife of Abram Gale, now a resident of West Chicago. Mrs. Bolles is connected with the Congregational Church of Oak Park, which place has been the home of the family since 1878. Mr. Bolles is prominently identified with the Oak Park Club, of which he was vice-president two years. He was always an ardent admirer of James G. Blaine, whose deatlı he regards as a national calamity. He participates to some extent in the local coun- cils of the Republican party, and is chairman of the finance committee of the Oak Park Republican Club. Though often solicited to become a can- didate for public office, he uniformly declines, believing that he can best serve the interests of the community in the capacity of a private citizen.

THOMAS GARRITY.

329

THOMAS GARRITY.

HOMAS GARRITY, an early settler in1 Chicago, was born in County Mayo, Ire- land, and is a son of Patrick and Mary (Brown) Garrity, natives of that country. His grandfather, Conrad Garrity, spent his life in Ireland, and was engaged in farming. Some of his children were: Owen, Martin, Mary and Catherine. The sons of Owen - Owen, Patrick, Dominick and John-came to America. Patrick now resides in Boston, Dominick in Massachu- setts, and John in Chicago. The children of Martin Garrity-John and Owen-emigrated to America. John is deceased, and Owen resides in Maryland.

Patrick Garrity was born in Ireland, where lie was a farmer, and died in 1847, at the age of eighty-nine years. His wife died three weeks after, at the age of eighty years. They had thir- teen children. Those who lived to maturity are: George, Michael, Owen, James, Thomas, Cath- erine, Biddy and Mary. George was married in Ireland, and died there at the age of forty years; Owen was drowned in Saint Catharines, Canada; Catherine never left Ireland, and died at the age of fifty years; and Mary married Jolin Lavelle, and lived in Saint Catharines, Canada. Michael Garrity emigrated to America in1 1841, coming to Chicago, and locating at Morgan Park, where he bought about eighty acres of land, and resided until his death. James also emigrated, coming to the United States in 1849. He lived in Mor- gan Park two years, and then removed to South Chicago.

The maternal grandfather of Thomas Garrity, the subject of this sketch, married Mary Roan, and Mary Brown was their only child. The Brown family was a wealthy one, and was prom-

inent in Irish politics, furnishing three members of the British Parliament, who were brothers, and resided in Dublin.

Thomas Garrity received his education in his native country, where he remained until April, 1841. He then emigrated to America, and with his brother built a house on Stony Island, now called Calumet Heights. They occupied it three years, and then Thomas built himself a house on Ninety-fourth Street, where he resided ten years. About 1860 he moved to South Chicago Avenue, where the Calumet Theatre now stands, and erected two houses. The smaller one was after- ward made into a stable, and the other was burned in a fire which caught from a spark from a locomotive engine. Mr. Garrity made his res- idence on South Chicago Avenue until 1871, and then moved to No. 8923 Exchange Avenue, and purchased the right to a tract of land from a man who had a squatter's claim on it. He erected a temporary dwelling, and in1 1894 he built his present comfortable residence.

For the first nine years of Mr. Garrity's resi- dence in South Chicago, he was employed by Thomas Morgan in the lime kilns in Stony Island, and he also found time to cultivate his land. He then found employment on various lines of rail- road, at section work, which he continued until about ten years ago, since which time he lias en- joyed a life of ease and retirement.

January 25, 1842, Mr. Garrity was married, in Parish Kilmore, County Mayo, Ireland, to Miss Ellen McGlain. She was a daughter of Patrick and Mary (Crump) McGlain, wealthy and in- fluential citizens of Ireland. The latter was a daughter of James Crump. Mrs. Garrity was born in 1828, and passed away September 11,

330

A. B. BRINKERHOFF.

1882. She was the mother of the following children: George, who died when an infant; Stephen, who died when one week old; Patrick, who was born February 2, 1848, and is now liv- ing at No. 7318 Evans Avenue, Chicago; Mary, who died in infancy; Mary (the second), who was born August 15, 1851, and died December 2, 1882, being the widow of Laurence O'Neil, who died a year before his wife, and left two children, Jolın Joseph and James Laurence; Michael, who was born March 18, 1852, resides at Saint Paul, Minnesota, and is employed as engineer on a locomotive; Cordelia (called Bridget), who was born October 18, 1857, married Michael S. Mon- roe, and resides in Trenton, Missouri; Ellen, who

was born August 18, 1859, inarried J. T. P. Pick- ett, and lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota; James, unmarried, who was born May 10, 1861, and is employed by the Pullman Palace Car Company as an axle-maker; Thomas, who was born March 18, 1863, and lives in South Chicago, where he is engaged as an engineer in a mill; and John, who was born June 19, 1865, and died when nine months old. J. T. P. Pickett, who married Ellen Garrity, belongs to the Western Associa- tion of Baseball Players, and plays first base in the Minneapolis team. All the children of Thomas Garrity have followed the worthy exam- ple of their father, and lead honest and industri. . ous lives.

ABRAM B. BRINKERHOFF.

A BRAM BEVIER BRINKERHOFF. Among the railroad men of Chicago who have, by their long and faithful service, won a name and place in the history of the Great West and in this volume, should be mentioned the subject of this sketch. He was born June 15, 1836, in Barton, Tioga County, New York. The gen- ealogy of this family in America dates back to Joris Dircksen Brinckerhoff, who was born in Drenthe, Holland, in 1609, and came to America with his family, and settled on the banks of the beautiful Hudson River, where ten successive generations have since made their home.

There are to-day at least one thousand persons who bear the name of Brinkerhoff, and about ten thousand others who are descendants, but who bear other names, thus making this family one of the most numerous of the Knickerbockers in America. Joris Dircksen Brinkerlioff settled on Manhattan Island when New Amsterdam num- bered only about three hundred inhabitants. One

of his sons was killed by the Indians, probably in Kieft's Indian War of 1643. He held positions of trust for many. years, positions which required probity and integrity of character, thus making the family motto, "Constantes fides et integritas," most applicable to him, as it is to the subject of this sketch.

As far back as the family can be traced in direct line, the ancestry is as follows: Joris D., Hendrick, Jacobus, Joris, James I. and Abram B. Joris, grandfather of A. B. Brinkerhoff, was a captain in the Revolutionary War. He married Miss Annatie Demarest, and they had a family of seven sons and four daughters. James I. Brinkerhoff married Rachel Bevier, and their children were: Horatio, Martha, Helen, Abram B., Jacob O. and Annatie. The father was a merchant, farmer and lumberman, being a thrifty, honest man. He came West with his family in 1854, and set- tled near Elgin, Kane County, Illinois, but later removed to McHenry County, where he died at

331

HENRY BIRREN.

the age of sixty-five years, and his wife at the age of ninety-two years. Of their children only Jacob O. and Abram B. are living.

The subject of this biography was educated in the common schools of his native State, and learned the mercantile business. He worked on a farm for two years, and then secured a posi- tion as baggageman at Elgin, Illinois, at nine shillings a day, a position for which he was thankful. His mercantile career had fitted him for this position, and he gave general satisfaction. After two years' service at Elgin he was sent to Chicago, as clerk in the freight department of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, under J. D. Tyler. His skill and close attention to busi- ness soon won him the confidence and esteem of 'his superiors, and he became familiar with every detail of the service, in time filling every office in the department. For a short time he was sent to the country to fill temporary vacancies, and

then secured the position of agent at Dundee, Kane County, Illinois, where he remained eight- een years. But he was not forgotten by the managers of the road, who showed that they ap- preciated his alertness, fidelity and attention to detail by appointing him freight agent at Chi- cago, which position he has filled with great credit to himself ever since, enjoying to a marked degree the confidence of his superior officers.

Mr. Brinkerhoff was married at Dundee, Illi- nois, to Miss Ellen E., daughter of Henry E. Hunt, who was a native of New York and an early settler in Illinois. He is a Master Mason, and politically a Republican, but never a politician, belonging to that conservative class of men who consider it a sacred duty to guard the interests of the community by the ballot. He is not a men- ber of any club, but regards his home as a haven of rest, where he can recreate himself after the day's work is done.

HENRY BIRREN.

ENRY BIRREN (deceased) was one of the well-known old settlers of Chicago. He was born in Steinsel, Luxemburg, Germany, in July, 1812. In the common schools of his native land he received a good, practical educa- tion. In early life he was apprenticed to the smithing trade, at which he served his time and became a skillful workman. He followed this oc- cupation in various places, and for nine years worked at it in Paris, France. He was also a successful veterinary surgeon, having gained a knowledge of the science from private study and practical experience.

In 1845 he came to the United States, crossing the Atlantic in a sailing-vessel and being several weeks on the water. Settling in Buffalo, New

York, he remained there three years, working at his trade. He was poor in purse, but ambitious to attain success, and put away his meagre sav- ings for future investment. In 1848 he settled in Chicago, the city at that time having only fifty thousand inhabitants. Soon after his arrival he established himself in business, although for a brief time at first he worked in the machine shops of the McCormick Reaper Company, and was the first German to establish a blacksmith shop on the North Side.

This was located on Dearborn. and Chicago Avenues, where for some years he carried on a fairly successful business in smithing and gen- eral repair work, to which he added his veterinary practice. He did quite a business in treating

332

G. H. HOOS.

farmer's horses. Later, he removed to North Park Avenue and Eugenie Street, where he lo- cated a shop, and in 1859 branched out in the un- dertaking business, though in a small way at first. His business in this line grew to extensive pro- portions, and for several years he was the only undertaker on the North Side, and had three dif- ferent establishments, one each on Clark Street, North Avenue and Eugenie Street. He grew prosperous, and his surplus was invested in real estate, and he was on the highway to fortune when the Great Fire of 1871 swept away nearly all that he owned, including five buildings. This loss did not dishearten him, however. He re- covered three thousand dollars of insurance, re- built, and continued his former business, and in 1873 he had three undertaking establishments, one on Chicago Avenue and the others on North Avenue and Eugenie Street. Although he labored under disadvantages after the fire, he was yet

successful and carried on his business until age compelled its relinquishment, when he turned it over to his two eldest sons.

He was united in marriage, in the Fatherland, to Miss Katharine Faber, who bore him twelve children, two of whom died in infancy. Ten grew to maturity, namely: Nicholas, now de- ceased; Cornelius, an undertaker at No. 283 North Avenue; N. H., deceased; Margaret, Mrs. Bernard Brosterhaus; Mary, deceased; Anna; John H .; Peter A., undertaker at No. 842 Lincoln Avenue, Joseph P., an artist of Chicago; and Elizabeth, wife of Henry Zuber, of Chicago. Mr. Birren died November 10, 1880, and his devoted wife survived him, departing this life March 20, 1895. Both were communicants of St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church, and were among its most liberal supporters. Mr. Birren was a public- spirited man, and took an active interest in what- ever, in his judgment, subserved the public good.

GEORGE H. HOOS.

C EORGE HENRY HOOS was born July 2, ty, Ohio, with his parents when he was two years old. He lived on the farm left by his fa- ther until he was thirteen years old, and then went to Tiffin, Ohio. His educational advan- tages amounted to about one year's attendance at the public schools, and he obtained his educa- tion by his own efforts and by private study. When he removed to Tiffin he was employed in the Tiffin Agriculture Works, where he labored in various departments. He found employment in a grocery store as clerk, and remained three years, next engaging in business with Mr. P. J. Sconnell as a partner, dealing in books, stationery and musical instruments. After three years in this occupation his health was so poor that he decided to try some outdoor employment, and accordingly lived on a farm the next two years. He then

1859, on his father's farm in Sandusky, Coun- ty, Ohio. Heis a son of Jacob and Christina (Ream) Hoos. Jacob Hoos was born in Ger- many, was a blacksmith by trade, and came to America in 1845, locating in Tiffin, Ohio. When the Civil War broke out, he enlisted in Company F, One Hundred and Twenty-third Olio Volunteer Infantry, and died in October, 1862, of camp fever, at the age of thirty-five years. His wife was a daughter of Philip Latt- renz Ream, who was a farmer in Germany, and emigrated to America about the same time as Mr. Hoos. After the death of her husband she managed to keep the family together, though she found it no easy task.

George Henry Hoos removed to Seneca Coun-

333

P. W. GRAY.

returned to Tiffin and was engaged as a clerk in the freight office of the Baltimore & Ohio Rail- road, at which he worked until December 1, 1890, when he took a position as cashier in the freight department of the same road, and in January, 1891, he was made station agent.

In June, 1892, he became a switchman for the Baltimore & Ohio road, and he remained in that position two years. June 19, 1894, he began as switchman for the Chicago, Lake Shore & East- ern Railroad, and is at present in their employ.

Mr. Hoos was married November 16, 1881, to Miss Hattie C. Fisher, daughter of William H.

Fisher, of Tiffin, Ohio. They have three chil- dren, namely: Nina Christina, Jennie May and Della Marie. Mr. Hoos is a member of the Knights of Pythias, being connected with Pick- wick Lodge, No. 177. He was reared in the German Reformed Church. In politics he is an adherent of the Republican party. He is a self- made man, and is intelligent and well read, hav- ing been so anxious to have the greater power and ability which education alone can give, that all through his life he has been a student, learn- ing not only from books, but by careful obser- vation as well.

PRESTON W. GRAY.

RESTON WILLIAM GRAY, of Ravens- wood, is a representative of one of the early and well-known families of Cook County. He was born in Monroe Precinct, afterwards the town of Jefferson (which now forms part of the city of Chicago), September 15, 1848. His father, William Perry Gray, of Jefferson Park, is one of the pioneers of Chicago, having come to Cook County in September, 1844. Chicago had at that time about ten thousand inhabitants, and gave no promise of its present size and importance.

William Perry Gray was born in Fort Coving- ton, Franklin County, New York, May 24, 1821, and is a son of John and Rebecca (Hastings) Gray. John Gray was born near Dumbarton Castle, in Scotland, and came to America witli his parents when but two years old. The family settled in the old town of Cambridge, now Jack- SO11, Washington County, New York. There John Gray grew to manhood, and about 1808 removed to Franklin County, where he remained

until his death. This occurred June 24, 1821, when his son, William Perry Gray, was an in- fant one month old. He was about fifty years old when he died, and the wife and mother sur- vived until April, 1877. She made her home in the town of Jefferson for a number of years.

John Gray and his wife were the parents of nine children who grew to mature years. Will- iam P. was the youngest of them, and is the only one now living. Mary, Agnes, Caroline and Rebecca were the daughters, and the first born. They all lived in the State of New York all their lives, and all left children. The eldest son was John, who came to Chicago in 1836. He made his home here for many years, then located in Niles, where he kept a hotel and operated a saw- mill, then moved to a farm in Jefferson, where he lived the remainder of his life. He was at one time sheriff of Cook County. The second of the brothers, Wareham, died at the age of nineteen years. The next son, Walter B. Gray, came to

334

P. W. GRAY.

Cook County in 1854, and resided liere until his death. James Gray died at the age of twenty- two years. He came West in 1839, and his death occurred quite suddenly soon after.

William Perry Gray, as before stated, was the youngest. He lived on the homestead farm in the State of New York until he reached his nine- teenth year. The mother remained a widow un- til her death. She was a mnost remarkable wo- man, possessing great energy and force of char- acter, and kept her family together until they were successively married and settled, and until her youngest child reached manhood.

When William Perry Gray left home he went to Washington County, New York, where his fa- ther had grown from early childhood to manhood. In 1844 he came to Cook County, and in 1845 he returned to Washington County, New York, where he was married in April of that year to Miss Catherine Donahue, a native of that county, and daughter of James and Catherine (Hastings) Donahue. In May following Mr. Gray returned to his work in Cook County, and in 1846 pur- chased one hundred and sixty acres of land in the town of Jefferson, now within the limits of Chi- cago. The purchase price was six and a-quarter dollars an acre, or one thousand dollars for the whole. Later he added forty acres, and still later he divided the land equally between his two sons. The wife he brought from the East died December 31, 1881. Two sons are the only chil- dren surviving from this marriage, Preston W. and Henry A. Four others, John W., James, Caroline M. and Charles E., were born to them and are now deceased. On April 5, 1883, Mr. Gray was married to Miss Louisa Wier, who was born in the town where his first wife was born. He lias one son by this union, Herbert W. by name, and has lost two daughters, the elder being named Catherine. Mr. Gray has seen Chicago grow from a few thousand inhabitants to. the second city in America, and has seen Cook Coun- ty grow from a wilderness to its present position of importance and influence. He is widely known throughout this region and esteemed by all who know him. In early life he was a Demo-

crat, but during the Civil War and since he has voted the Republican ticket in national elections. He is not a strong partisan, being liberal in both his political and religious views.

Preston W. Gray continued to live on the home farm in the town of Jefferson until 1884. In the mean time the land had become too valuable to be used for farming purposes, and was divided into several parts for market-gardening. The two oldest brothers still own one hundred acres of the old farm. December 24, 1872, Mr. Pres- ton Gray was married to Miss Celia Jordan, of Allegany County, New York. She is the daugh- ter of Andrew and Eleanor (Stevens) Jordan, early settlers in Allegany County. In May, 1884, the family went to Allegany County, to visit the old home of Mrs. Gray. In August of the same year Mr. Gray joined his family in the State of New York. That portion of New York was producing large quantities of coal oil and the subject of this sketch decided to engage in the oil trade, which proved a successful venture. He continued in this business until 1890, when, hav- ing been severely and apparently permanently in- jured by falling from an oil tank, he decided to retire, and accordingly sold his interests. His family had returned to Chicago the previous year, and on his return he made his home in Jef- ferson Park, where he remained until 1891, when he settled in Ravenswood. He eventually recov- ered from his injury, and is now engaged in the real-estate business at No. 69 Dearborn Street, Chicago.

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Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, 8th ed., Part 48

Author: Calumet Book & Engraving Company, Chicago Publication date: 1897 Publisher: Chicago : Calumet Book and Engraving Co. Number of Pages: 930

Author: Calumet Book & Engraving Company, Chicago
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Chicago : Calumet Book and Engraving Co.
Number of Pages: 930