Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, 8th ed., Part 52

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 52

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Captain Meredith belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, is a companion of the military order of the Loyal Legion, a comrade of the Grand Army of the Republic, an Odd Fellow, and a member of the Veterans' Union League of Chi- cago. He also belongs to the Army and Navy Club of Washington, District of Columbia, the Sons of the American Revolution, the Press Club of Chicago, and is an honorary member of the Chicago Typographical Union.

STEWART COLLINS.

TEWART COLLINS (whose genealogy may be found in the biography of W. H. Collins, on another page of this volume) was born August 13, 1864, at Cleveland, Ohio. He is the son of William and Lavinia (Harvey) Collins. Stewart Collins began earning his own living when a very young boy, and until he was twenty years old he gave his money to his mother as he earned it. He first started to work in a blast

furnace at New Straitsville, Ohio. In 1882 his parents came to South Chicago, and upon coming liere he began work as a laborer in the steel mills. Later he was able to obtain a position at work on steel ladles, and he has been at that work ever since.

August 30, 1887, Mr. Collins married Miss Caroline Horner, a daughter of William Peter Horner. She was born in Ohio, but she liad spent

355

CAPT. STEPHEN SEAMENS.

most of her life previous to marriage in Ken- tucky. They have two children, William Peter and Clarence.

Mr. Collins is numbered among the good citi- zens of South Chicago, and is a hardworking and honest man, who tries to do his duty by his fel- lowmen. Until recently he has been a member of the Republican party, but for the last three years

he has been identified with the People's party. In 1896 he was one of the judges of election in the Fifteenth Precinct of the Thirty-third Ward. Mr. Collins and his family are members of the Second Congregational Church. He takes an interest in public affairs, and promotes any cause for the benefit of his City and State, as well as of the Na- tion.

CAPT. STEPHEN SEAMENS.

APT. STEPHEN SEAMENS, whose death occurred at Austin, Illinois, June 19, 1896, was a man of remarkable physical develop- ment and noteworthy intellectual powers, a record of whose life should not be omitted from this his- tory. He was a native of Pennsylvania, born August 25, 1823, his parents being Stephen and Angeline (Snyder) Seamens.

The father of Stephen Seamens, senior, came to this country from England, in company with a bachelor brother, and was the progenitor of all the members of that family now living in Amer- ica. Stephen Seamens, senior, was born in the State of New York in the year 1783, and was married to Miss Snyder in 1807. He was a far- mer by occupation, and lived for a time in Penn- sylvania, subsequently removing to Lake County, Ohio, where his death occurred in May, 1862. His wife, who was of German parentage, died there in July, 1852. Fourteen children were born to this couple, eleven of whom became grown men and women, and five are now living. Their names, and the present homes of the sur- vivors, are as follows: Jeremiah, Andrus, Nelson, George; Mary, widow of John McClintock, Elyria, Ohio; James; Stephen; William, Seneca, Missouri; Sabra, widow of Leonard Swetland, North Madison, Ohio; Eliza, Mrs. Bronson Robin- son, Pierpont, Ohio; and Nancy, widow of James

D. Courtright, Austin, Illinois. While a young man, Andrus Seamens left his home in Ohio and went to New York State, where he was married and had one son. Little was known of him or his family by their relatives until recently, when it was learned that he subsequently came to Illi- nois and died in this State.

Capt. Stephen Seamens, whose name heads this notice, spent most of his boyhood in Ohio. About 1842 he came to Illinois and became a sailor on the Great Lakes, a business which he followed for a number of years. He also ac- quired an interest in a packet on the Illinois & Michigan Canal. He made his home for several years about New Buffalo, Michigan, and Michi- gan City, Indiana, but about 1851 he traded his interest in the canal packet for eighty acres of land in Mazon Township, Grundy County, Illi- nois, and removed to that place, which was then a wilderness, abounding in wolves and other wild beasts. I11 1852 he went overland to California, where he spent two years in getting out mining timbers. Returning by way of the isthmus, he lived on his farm until 1861, when he removed to another near Wheeler Station, Porter County, Indiana. The next year he came to Chicago, and again became a sailor upon the lakes.

About 1863 he purchased five acres of land in the town of Cicero, now included in the village of

356

D. E. WASHBURN.

Austin, and built the third house there, before a name had been given to the place. For several years longer he continued to sail upon the lakes, and also operated a boat upon the canal, which was chiefly employed in transporting stone be- tween Chicago and Lemont. During the winter season, when navigation was closed, he was ac- customed to find employment in the packing houses in Chicago. After his removal to Austin he was employed for two or three years as fore- man in the clock factory at that place. About 1880 he retired from active business and found recreation and diversion in the care and subdivi- sion of his property, which had greatly increased in value, its original cost to him being one hun- dred dollars per acre.

Captain Seamens was married December 5, 1844, to Minerva F. Pratt. She was born at Buffalo, New York, July 23, 1823, and died at

Austin, Illinois, March 15, 1891. The only son of this couple, Morton G. Seamens, died at Aus- tin September 20, 1895, aged thirty-nine years and nine months. Captain Seamens was an exhaustive reader and profound thinker. He was well informed in historical matters and the leading questions of the day, and enjoyed nothing better than the discussion of these topics with his neighbors and acquaintances, and was always able to handle his side of the debate with skill and ability. He was an enthusiastic disciple of Thomas Paine, and in questions of national policy a stanch Democrat. He weighed over three bun- dred pounds, was six feet four inches in height, and was always noted for his great muscular powers. A feat which he occasionally practiced by way of diversion was to pick up a barrel of salt by the chines and toss it from the deck of a vessel to the dock.

DANIEL E. WASHBURN.

ANIEL ERASTUS WASHBURN was born in Adrian, Michigan, August 13, 1846, and is the son of Daniel and Vashti H. (Pratt) Washburn. His father was a native of New York, a contractor, and in a small way a specu- lator, and died in Adrian when the subject of this sketch was but six weeks old. Mrs. Vashti Wash- burn was born in Buffalo, New York, and her father, Mr. Pratt, was a boy living in Trenton, New Jersey, when Gen. George Washington passed through that place with the army at the close of the Revolution. After his death, in 1833, his family came from Buffalo to Michigan, settling at New Buffalo. They drove a team composed of one ox and one cow.

After the death of her first husband, Mrs. Wash- burn came to Chicago. Later she returned to New Buffalo, and married George R. Selkirk, a con-

tractor. They moved to Michigan City, Indiana, where Mrs. Selkirk now lives, at the age of nearly seventy-eight years. George Selkirk built the first piers and warehouse at Michigan City, and he died at that place.

Daniel E. Washburn is the only surviving son of his father. He was an infant when his mother came to Chicago, where they lived on the present site of Hooley's theatre. He afterwards lived for some time with his uncle, Capt. Stephen Sea- mens, whose history can be found on another page of this volume.

May 5, 1864, he enlisted in Company D, One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He served until September 1, of the same year, in the Army of the Cumberland, on garrison duty around Nashville and Chattanooga. In July, 1866, le re-enlisted at Indianapolis, In-

357

H. M. NORTHROP.

diana, in the regular army, and served three years years later to Chicago. He was engaged in busi- ness at Market Hall, on West Randolph Street, in Texas. During this time he was in a number of engagements with Indians and outlaws. He for some years, handling green groceries, fish and then returned to Chicago and was for some time engaged in teaming. He was employed six years in Walker Oakley's tannery, and later with A. F. Woolensack, who handled hardware specialties. For the past four years he has been on the special police force for the Town of Cicero, and has lived in Austin since 1892.

Mr. Washburn married Miss Emma E., daugh- ter of William Bunting, a native of England, who came to Rahway, New Jersey, in 1848, and four

game. Mr. Bunting was born February 21, 1825, and died in 1891. His widow, Martha Bunting, is now living in Chicago. Mr. and Mrs. Washburn have one son, Stephen A. Washburn. The family is identified with the Methodist Church. Mr. Washburn belongs to Kilpatrick Post, Grand Army of the Republic; to the An- cient Order of Foresters, and the Royal Circle. He has been a Republican in political principle all his life.

HENRY M. NORTHROP.

ENRY MARVIN NORTHROP, a highly esteemed citizen of Oak Park, was born in Kent, Litchfield County, Connecticut, Au- gust 3, 1828. He is the son of Thomas Grant and Aurelia (Curtis) Northrop, natives of Con- necticut. Thomas G. Northrop was born in New Milford, Connecticut, and was the son of Amos Northrop, a graduate of Yale College, who en- listed as first lieutenant in the Second Company, First Battalion of Connecticut, in 1776, and served under General Wooster and General Spencer. His farm in New Milford was kept in the family until a few years ago.

Amos Northrop was born in Old Milford, Con- necticut, December 9, 1742. His ancestors were of Welsh and Scotch lineage. His wife, Anne Grant, was of the same family from which General Grant descended. His daughter Sally, a maiden lady, lived in Old Milford until her death in 1877, at the age of over one hundred years, having been born June 28, 1776. A photograph of her at the age of one hundred years is in the possession of the family. Her birthday had been celebrated by the children and the New Milford citizens for

several years. Her faculties were well preserved, and she was very patriotic and well versed in his- toric lore.

A number of Amos Northrop's descendants have been students at Yale College, and several are en- gaged in educational work, including Professor Harry E. Northrop, of Brooklyn, who is a teacher of German. Thomas G. Northrop lived upon a farm at Kent until his death, which occurred when he was eighty years old, in 1850. He was a regular attendant of the Congregational Church. Mrs. Aurelia Northrop died at Kent in 1839. She was born in Huntington, Connecticut, and was a very superior woman, a devout member of the Congregational Church. She had four sons and one daughter, namely: Thomas Welles, Ann Au- relia (Mrs. Joel Pratt), Agur Curtis; Birdsey Grant, LL. D., a lecturer of Clinton, Connecti- cut, and formerly secretary of the boards of edu- cation of Massachusetts and Connecticut for a period of about thirty years, being the successor of Horace Mann; and Henry M .; the last two are the only ones living.

Henry M. Northrop attended the public school

358

HENRY SCHEURMEIER.

and afterward entered Yale College. Later he went to Harvard Medical School and there studied two years under Drs. O. W. Holmes and Eben S. Horsford. Before completing the course, he began teaching, and spent five years in the public schools of Saint Louis. Just before the war began he returned to the East. When at Alton, Illi- nois, he saw a load of arms and other war imple- ments, which had been brought from Saint Louis to prevent its confiscation by the Confederate army.

He enlisted July 6, 1864, in Company A, For- ty-second Massachusetts Infantry. He was em- ployed in garrison duty at Alexandria, Virginia, and was discharged in November, 1864. Soon after the war Mr. Northrop came to Chicago and entered the employ of the Chicago & Northwest- ern Railway Company, as a clerk in the freight department. For twelve years past he has been

in the general ticket office of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad. Since 1873 he has been a resident of Oak Park.

In 1864 Mr. Northrop married Sarah Elizabeth, daughter of Reuben and Sarah (Lamprey) Hunt- ing. Her father was a native of western Massa- chusetts, and for a period of forty years was in business in Boston. Mr. and Mrs. Northrop are connected with the First Congregational Church of Oak Park, and Mr. Northrop is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and of the Sons of the American Revolution. Mrs. Northrop is a member of George A. Clarke Chapter, Daughters of the Revolution, at Oak Park. . Her grand- father, Amos Hunting, endured the horrors of the historic winter at Valley Forge in General Wash- ington's army. He was detailed to bring back the horses driven away by General Arnold, which he successfully accomplished.

HENRY SCHEURMEIER.

ENRY SCHEURMEIER, a progressive and public-spirited citizen of South Chicago, was born April 26, 1839, in Canton Zurich, Switzerland. He is the son of John and Katrina (Keller) Scheurmeier, and the only one of his fam- ily to come to this country. He came in 1870, and located at Chicago, on the West Side. In his na- tive country he had learned the carpenter's and cabinet-maker's trades, which he followed in Chi- cago. He lived four years on the West Side, and then went to Colehour, now a part of Chicago. He bought some property on Avenue F, near One Hundred Third Street. Here he built a comfort- able home and lived there three years, working at his trade.

He returned to the West Side of the city in 1878, and lived there five years. In 1882 he returned to Colehour and remained five years. In 1887 he again made his home in South Chicago, and be-

gan working as sales agent for the Peter Schoen- hofen Brewing Company, which has ever since been his occupation. His territory includes Grand Crossing, Riverdale, Kensington, Colehour and South Chicago.

May 4, 1865, Mr. Scheurmeier married Miss Barbara Wiesendanger, a native of Switzerland. They are the parents of two daughters. Ama Matilda, the elder, married Leonard Seiler and lives at Colehour; she has four children, namely: Ella, Harry, Edward and Arthur. The second daughter is Clara Louise.

Mr. Scheurmeier is a member of Fortschritt Lodge, No. 27, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, which he joined in 1888, and is connected with Chicago Lodge No. 1, Sons of Hermann. Mr. Scheurmeier is a man of good principles and of great business ability. He is interested in public improvements and is a valuable citizen.

LIBRARY OF THE MNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

LYMAN G. HOLLEY

(From Photo by W. J. ROOT)

359

L. G. HOLLEY.

LYMAN G. HOLLEY.

YMAN GIDDINGS HOLLEY, a prominent business man of Chicago, and one of the most influential citizens of Oak Park, was born in Ellisburg, Jefferson County, New York, June 29, 1845. He is the son of Nathan Tillot- son and Martha S. (Giddings) Holley. His an- cestors are supposed to have removed from Con- necticut to Vermont during the colonial period. Nathan Holley, the grandfather of Lyman G. Holley, was born (probably in Vermont) August 6, 1750. He removed from Dorset, Vermont, to New York, settling first in Oneida County. At about the time his son, Nathan T., was born, he located at Ellisburg, becoming one of the pio- neers of that locality. He died there in 1833, having attained the ripe old age of eighty-three years. October 26, 1800, he married for his second wife, Cynthia Tillotson, who became the mother of Nathan T. Holley. She was born A11- gust 16, 1771, and died July 20, 1822.

Nathan T. Holley, who was born January 2, 1812, passed nearly three-score years in Ellis- burg. He owned several farms in that locality, and dealt in live stock to a considerable extent, amassing a comfortable fortune. In 1870 he re- moved to Oak Park, Illinois, where he made some judicious investments in real estate. Among his purchases was a tract of five acres on the north side of Lake Street, which he subdivided, and at the same time laid out the thoroughfare known as Holley Court. He died in that village at the age of seventy-eight years, February 2, 1890. He was a man of excellent judgment and stable character, a member of the Methodist Church and identified with the Masonic order in

New York. In early life he was a Whig; and later a Republican, though he never accepted any public office. Mrs. Martha S. Holley died Au- gust 9, 1845, aged twenty-six years, in Ellisburg, the place where she was born. She was the daughter of Lyman and Beulah (Emerson) Gid- dings, who removed from Dorset, Vermont, to Ellisburg, and died a few years later. She was the mother of five children, only two of whom are living, namely: Augusta (Mrs. O. D. Allen), of Oak Park, and Lyman G. N. T. Holley mar- ried for a second wife Mrs. Electa Giddings, widow of Monroe Giddings, who was a brother of the first Mrs. Holley. He was married the third time to Mrs. Sarah Angeline, widow of Rev. James Manning, who still lives at Oak Park.

Lyman Giddings Holley was educated in Union College at Schenectady, New York, and grad- uated in 1866 as a civil engineer, after which he re- moved to Chatfield, Minnesota, intending to follow his occupation of engineer, but being offered a position in a bank lie accepted and remained two years; then removed to Chicago and engaged in the grain and flour commission business, being one of the firm of Easton & Holley. In 1872 the firm name changed to N. T. & L. G. Holley, two years later to Holley, Easton & Allen, and in 1878 became Holley & Allen, which continued until 1887. Since that year he has been manager of the Pillsbury-Washburn Flour Mills Com- pany in Chicago, supplying the trade with the product of that concern, which is everywhere recognized as a staple article of merchandise. Some idea of the magnitude of the local business done may be gained from the fact that it fur-

360

C. A. SCHROYER.

nishes fully one-third of the flour sold for family consumption in Chicago.

He was married in August, 1872, to Miss Minnie Lyon, daughter of Henry Pilkington and Margaret (Miller) Lyon, of Utica, New York, at which place Mrs. Holley was born. Since their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Holley have been resi- dents of Oak Park. They move in the most select circles of society in that suburb, which is justly celebrated for the culture and intelligence

of its people. Since 1885 they have been iden- tified with the First Congregational Church, of which society Mr. Holley was treasurer fourteen years. He is secretary of the board of trustees of the Scoville Institute, and has been a member of that body from its incorporation. While tak- ing a wholesome interest in all important public movements, Mr. Holley avoids the contaminating influence of politics, but casts his ballot in sup- port of Republican principles.

CHARLES A. SCHROYER.

) HARLES A. SCHROYER, superintendent of the car shops of the Chicago & North- western Railroad in Chicago, has made a specialty of car construction for many years and acquired his present responsible position as the result of ripe experience, accompanied by supe- rior mechanical skill and executive ability. He was born at Milton, Pennsylvania, October 14, 1853, and is a son of Allen and Rebecca (Crites) Schroyer.

The grandfather of Allen Schroyer came to this country from Germany before the Revolutionary War. His son, Abraham Schroyer, the father of Allen, was a skilled artisan, and established one of the first piano factories in America at Milton, Pennsylvania. Most of the product of this estab- lishment was shipped by water to Philadelphia, where the instruments were placed on exhibition and sold. His granddaughter, now Mrs. George Evans, who was an accomplished musician, often accompanied the shipment of goods to that city, where her skill was employed in exhibiting the pianos to best advantage.

Allen Schroyer, who was a native of Berks County, Pennsylvania, continued the enterprise founded by his father for a time, and was subse- quently engaged in the manufacture of cabinet

goods at Lock Haven and Bellefonte, Pennsyl- vania. He died at the latter place in 1883, at the age of seventy-eight years. He was a man of firm convictions and was very pronounced in the expression of his views on public questions. He held to the Presbyterian faith in religious matters, and was one of the early advocates of the abolition movement. In his later years he was identified with the Republican party.

Mrs. Rebecca Schroyer died at Oak Park, Il1- inois, November 4, 1892, having attained the age of seventy-five years. She was born at Chil- lisquaque, Northumberland County, Pennsyl- vania, and was a daughter of John Adams Crites, a prominent farmer of that county, who was also a native of Germany. He was the father of thirteen children, of whom Mrs. Schroyer was the youngest and the latest survivor. She was the mother of five sons and five daughters, of whom the following is the record : Margaret is the wife of George Evans (who was previously mentioned in this article), of Lock Haven, Penn- sylvania; Minnie, Mrs. Jonathan Harper, resides at Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, which place is also the home of Maria, Mrs. Hoffman; Louisa, Mrs. Garvin, died at the same place; Lydia, Mrs. Hathorne, died at Williamsport, Pennsylvania,

361

FREDERICK MILLER.

as did her eldest brother, William; Charles A. is the next in order of birth; Benjamin is an agent of the Adams Express Company at Hollidays- burgh, Pennsylvania; Hayes is an auditor of the same corporation at Altoona, Pennsylvania; and Harry Hunter is a dealer in groceries at Belle- fonte, in the same State.

Charles A. Schroyer attended the public schools of Lock Haven and learned the trade of cabinet- inaker. He served an apprenticeship of five years in his father's shop, acquiring a thorough knowledge of that line of work, which has always been of great value to him. In 1878 he engaged in car-building in the shops of the Philadelphia & Erie Railroad at Renova, Pennsylvania. Thence he subsequently went to Jeffersonville, Indiana, where he was employed for six years as car-builder by the Ohio Falls Car Company, one of the leading establishments in the United States in the construction of railway coaches. He spent two years more in the shops of the Jeffersonville, Madison & Indianapolis Railroad, at Indian- apolis, and in February, 1886, entered upon his engagement with the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company. He has ever since been superintendent of the immense shops of this cor- poration near the western line of the city, and about one thousand six hundred men are em- ployed under his charge, including several hun- dred who are dispersed along the lines of the

system. He commands the highest respect of his subordinates and associates, both as an arti- san and as a gentleman, and under his careful and systematic management this gigantic enter- prise proceeds with the least possible friction and delay. The results accomplished during his eleven years in this connection have been highly satisfactory to the company, as is attested by his long continuance in the responsible position he occupies.

In October, 1875, Mr. Schroyer was married to Miss Amanda Galbraith, daughter of Bartram and Sarah Galbraith, of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. In 1882 the family was bereaved by the death of this lady, which occurred at the same place, when she was but twenty-nine years of age. She was a devout member of the Methodist Church at Bellefonte, in which she had worshipped from childhood. She left two daughters, Mary and Minnie, who survive to cheer their father's home. The family is at present connected with the Methodist Church at Oak Park, in which attract- ive suburb it has resided some years. Socially Mr. Schroyer is identified with the Oak Park Club, and Harlem Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. In questions involving national issues, he has always supported the men and measures of the Republican party, but finds no time for participation in the rewards of practical politics.

FREDERICK MILLER.

REDERICK MILLER, one of the landmarks of Taylor's Addition, sometimes called Cole- hour or East South Chicago, was born March 22, 1836, in Ifenack, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany. His father bore the same name as he. In Germany he learned the trade of wagon-inaker and blacksmith, but he was too ambitious to re-

main there, and wished for wider opportunities than were offered to young men in his own country.

In the spring of 1857, he came to La Porte, In- diana, and lived there until 1869, when he came to Chicago and started a shop for himself, locating at Blue Island Avenue and Henry Street. In1 March, 1880, he moved to South Chicago, and

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G. W. SHEARBURN.

bought some property on Sixth Avenue (now Av- enue J), where he started another shop. In 1883 he bought his present place of business at No. 9915 Avenue K. He however still owns the property on Avenue J.

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Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, 8th ed., Part 52

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