Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, 8th ed., Part 85

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 85

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that met the onslaught that the lancers were thrown into confusion, and the survivors turned and fled. The Americans suffered but slight loss, and this incident illustrates the superiority of courage and discipline over mere strength of num- bers, even when accompanied by the advantage of position. The impression which this brief en- counter made upon the mind of Mr. Coulter is one never to be effaced.

In 1858, Mr. Coulter moved from Pennsylvania to Monroe County, Missouri, where he was en- gaged in agriculture for some years, and during his residence there served two terms in the Missouri Legislature. His business career reflects equal credit with his military record upon the character of Mr. Conlter. In 1876 he became a resident of Chicago, where he has since been dealing in real estate.

He was married in 1856, to Miss Lydia F. Cox, of McVeytown, Pennsylvania, and four of their five children still survive. Mr. Coulter is still iden- tified with the Presbyterian Church, in the faith of which he was reared. In early life, he was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Having inherited a powerful frame and iron con- stitution from his ancestors, Mr. Coulter is still the picture of robust manhood and strength, and is evidently prepared to continue his honorable birsi- ness career and socially-useful life for many years to come.

THOMAS EDIE HILL.

HOMAS EDIE HILL was born in Sand- gate, Bennington County, Vt., February 29, 1832. He was reared on his father's farm, attending in the winter the district schools of that vicinity, and finishing his school instruction at the Cambridge Academy, at Cambridge, N. Y. Possessing natural aptitude for teaching, Mr.

Hill entered upon that work, and taught his first school at Eagleville, East Salem, N. Y., receiv- ing therefor $10 per month; following which, at the age of nineteen, he taught the winter school in Londonderry, Vt., receiving $14 per month and "boarding 'round." Fitting himself in Bos- ton for teaching penmanship, he entered upon the

585

T. E. HILL.

work of conducting evening schools, teaching penmanship and forms, and followed that profes- sion during the fifteen succeeding years, the field of his teaching being in Vermont, New York, Ohio, Wisconsin and Illinois. He left this work in 1866, and has taught none since, except a school in parliamentary practice, which (being deeply impressed with the importance of such a school) he opened at the Chicago Athenaeum in 1891, conducting the same for several months and closing with a public exhibition. This class was the first of its kind, up to the time when it was established.

Settling at Waukegan, Ill., in 1854 with his wife, formerly Miss Rebekah J. Pierce, of Lon- donderry, Vt., by whom he had one child, Flor- ence G., at present Mrs. George M. Porteous, he remained there until 1866, when he located at Aurora, Il1., and began the publication of the Aurora Herald, from which he severed his con- nection a few years afterward. He continued his residence in that city for twelve years, during which time lie founded and obtained a large cir- culation for the Herald. He also established the Suburban Chicago Purchasing Agency business, and as manager for a time of the Aurora Silver Plate factory, placed that institution upon a suc- cessful basis. While Mayor of Aurora, in 1876 and 1877, he introduced various improvements into the city, among them being the suppression of cows from running at large, the setting out of thousands of shade trees, the taking down of fences around dwellings, and the organizing of an in- provement society, which since that time has been largely instrumental in making that city the metropolis of the Fox River Valley.

Giving a liberal portion of the property whichi he had accumulated up to that time (1878) to his wife, she secured a separation from him by mutual consent, he taking up his residence in Chicago to give personal supervision to the management of "Hill's Manual of Social and Business Forms," which had been brought out by Moses Warren, a publisher of Chicago, in 1873, Mr. Hill assuming the publishing of it in 1879. Subsequently mar- rying Mrs. Ellen M. Whitcomb, at Shushan, N. Y .. he continued his residence in Chicago un-

til 1885, at which time he purchased a farm ad- joining the village of Prospect Park, DuPage County, Il1. In the succeeding year he settled thereon, returning thus to the employment with which he had been familiar in his boyhood. His return to farming was voluntary and not of neces- sity, a phrenologist on one occasion, when exam- ining his head, having told him when he began his teaching that he would succeed in anything that he undertook.

With large natural love of the ornamental in landscape and building, he became the publisher and editor, in 1884, of the Chicago National Builder, in which he gave to the world many beautiful designs of buildings and ornamental grounds. Retiring from this publication after making it the best magazine of its class, he or- ganized a land syndicate at Prospect Park, en- abled several of the old farmers of that vicinity to sell their farms so well as to retire on a competency, changed the name of the village to Glen Ellyn, and secured the making of the charm- ing little Lake Glen Ellyn, the construction of an elegant hotel upon its borders, and the develop- ment of several springs near the lake, among them being the famous Glen Ellyn Apollo, the waters of which have large sale in Chicago.

Among Mr. Hill's literary works have been several books of large circulation, of which "Hill's Manual" has had a sale of about four hundred thousand copies at this writing, at an average price of $6 per copy; "Hill's Album of Biogra- phy," having a circulation of eighty thousand copies; "Hill's Guide to Chicago;" "Ways of Cruelty," an illustrated pamphlet used in great numbers by humane societies; "Right and Wrong Contrasted;" and "Money Found," the latter a popular book on the subject of finance.

This latest work is an original publication, which fully outlines the plan by which the Gov- ernment may assume the ownership of banks, and may operate thiem at all central points, guaran- teeing depositors against loss, preventing finan- cial panics, and the consequent depressions in busi- ness. Mr. Hill is the first person to put forth to the world a practical method by which Govern- mental banking may be established. At this

586

L. C. RUTH.

writing, the book, "Money Found," is having an immensely large sale, with a fair probability of so educating the people as to cause them to de- mand Government ownership of banks in the very near future, thus revolutionizing the present in- secure system of banking, giving the profits per- taining to the handling of the people's money to the people; and at the same time securing relief from bank failures, and permanent financial pros- perity for all.

While Mr. Hill's efforts have been crowned with success for himself, his labors have been largely of a public character, and have resulted in great educational benefit to the people in all parts of the country. Though a quiet resident of Glen Ellyn, his works have had such large circu- lation as to make his name much more familiar to the inhabitants of New England, the Middle States and the Pacific Coast than it is to the peo- ple of Du Page County.

LINUS C. RUTH.

INUS C. RUTH, of Hinsdale, is a prominent member of the DuPage County Bar, and well deserves representation in this volume. He has the honor of being a native of Illinois, for he was born at Long Grove, Lake County, on the 18th of December, 1854. His parents were Irwin and Leah (Brown) Ruth, natives of Penn- sylvania. The family is of English origin, and was founded in America by George E. Ruth, the grandfather of our subject, who left England, his native land, and emigrated to America, locating in Northumberland County, Pa. The year 1836 witnessed liis arrival in Illinois. He settled near Waukegan, then called Little Fort, where he died when past the age of sixty years. He reared a family of eight children. The maternal grand- father, John Brown, was born in the Keystone State, and was for some years engaged in mer- chandising in Philadelphia. He came to the West in 1838, settling in Cedarville, Ill., where he died at the age of eighty-one years.

Mr. Ruth whose name heads this record spent his early boyhood upon the liome farin, aiding in tlie labors of the field through the summer months, while in the winter season he attended the district school and acquired the rudiments of his educa- tion. Later, he was a student in the High School,

and in the Iowa State College, of Ames, Iowa. On the completion of his literary education, he en- tered Bryant & Stratton's Business College of Chicago, from which he was graduated in 1873. His time was then devoted to business interests for several years, after which he determined to enter upon a professional career, and began the study of law in the Union College of Law in Chi- cago. Two years later he was admitted to the Bar. During several succeeding years, he was engaged in delivering lectures on commercial law and the law of real property in Bryant & Strat- ton's College, in which he had formerly been a student.

On the 18th of August, 1880, Mr. Ruth was united in marriage with Miss Ella F. Reardon. Three children have been born of their union: Irwin, Chester and Linus C. The parents are members of the Hinsdale Unity Church, and con- tribute liberally to its support. They occupy an enviable position in social circles, and have won the high regard of all who know them.

In 1881 Mr. Ruth came to Hinsdale, and has since engaged, in the practice of his profession with . excellent success. He has been honored with a number of official positions, having served as a member of the Board of Trustees and the Board of

587

C. B. SMITH.

Health, and for three years has been Village At- torney. He discharges his duties with a prompt- ness and fidelity that have won him high com- mendation, and his public and private life are alike above reproach. In politics, he is a supporter of the Republican party. He owns some good prop- erty in Hinsdale, including his pleasant residence, and was one of the organizers of the Hinsdale

Building and Loan Association, of which he has served as attorney from the start. He is ever found in the front rank of any enterprise calcu- lated to prove of public benefit, and is alive to the best interests of this community and its wel- fare. Public-spirited and progressive, he is a valued citizen and a man of sterling worth.

CHARLES BENNETT SMITH.

HARLES BENNETT SMITH, only son of William G. Smith, a pioneer of DuPage County, this State, is one of the most suc- cessful business men of Wheaton. He was born in Whitehall, N. Y., April 6, 1853, and was brought to Illinois when an infant. He attended the public schools at Warrenville and Wheaton, and was a student of Wheaton College two years. At the age of seventeen, he began learning the railroad station business at Elmhurst, and soon found employment in the station at Wheaton, be- coming a skillful telegraph operator. In the spring of 1872 he was made agent for the Chicago & Northwestern Railway and the American Ex- press Company at Westside, Crawford County, Iowa, and filled that position eight years. He then took charge of the station at Carroll, an im- portant division point on the Northwestern sys- tem, for three years. At the end of that time, at his request, he was transferred to the charge of Wheaton Station, being at the time the oldest "agent in point of service on the Northwestern line west of Boone. Mr. Smith was determined to improve his opportunities, and soon after locat- ing at Wheaton, he opened a real-estate and in- surance office, in which he transacted a large amount of business. He is one of those who are responsible for the incorporation of the city, and

for the modern improvements which make it a desirable place of residence. He served four years as City Clerk, but has never been a seekez after political preferment. He is keenly alive to business opportunities, and is quite content to let others handle the reins of government. He is a stockholder in the company which supplies the city with electric light, and during the Columbian Exposition was Vice-President of the Epworth Hotel Restaurant Company, an organization which built and operated a successful hotel near the Fair grounds.

In 1890 Mr. Smith was appointed Assistant Claim Agent of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company, a position that he has accept- ably filled since. With no influence to push him, save his own energy and ability, he has attained a responsible position with an extensive corpora- tion at an age when many are still apprentices. Mr. Smith is an active and enthusiastic Republi- can, and carries an influence in local political af- fairs. He is a member of the Methodist Church, and of several fraternal orders.

On the 30th of December, 1875, Mr. Smith was inarried to his childhood's playmate and schoolmate, Laura Elizabeth, youngest daughter of Jude P. Gary, a pioneer of DuPage County. Mrs. Smith was born in Winfield Township, and

588

J. R. WHEELER.

is a valuable member of Wheaton society. To the aged parents of Mr. Smith she is like one born to them, and in every relation of life is the worthy helpmate of a popular citizen. Mrs. Smith has been throughout her adult life one of the most faithful and efficient members of the Methodist. Episcopal Church, and has been for many years the leading soprano singer in the

clioir of the Wheaton Church. Two children have been given to Mr. and Mrs. Smith, namely, Laura Eoleen and Winifred Alice.

In 1892 Mr. Smith built the fine residence which he occupies at the southwest corner of West Street and Washington Avenue. It is the seat of quiet elegance and refined hospitality.

JOHN R. WHEELER,

OHN R. WHEELER, for many years promi- nent in the business, social and religious life of Chicago, was born in East Greene, Che- nango County, N. Y., on the 31st of Decem- ber, 1827. His grandfather, Samuel Wheeler, came with his family from England and settled in East Greene in 1792. At that time the town of East Greene had not been created. It was taken from the town of Union, Tioga (now Broome) County, in 1798, and was named for Gen. Na- thaniel Greene, of Revolutionary fame. A set- tlement of French refugees was made on the east side of the river at Greene in 1792, and a few families of these remained to form a part of the permanent settlement, though most of them moved away in a short time. Samuel Wheeler was among the settlers of the northern part of the town, where he engaged in farming. Both he and his wife died in 1808.

Capt. Samuel Wheeler, son of Samuel, was a soldier in the War of 1812. The subject of this biography was the seventh in a family of nine children born to him and his wife, Tamar Barnes. Their names in order are: William, Melissa, Har- riet, George, Sarah Ann, Charles H., John R., Mary and Margaret.

John R. Wheeler passed his minority upon his

father's farın, completing his school days at the academy in Greene. In early life he taught school at East Greene and Oxford, and for five years engaged in farming near Oxford, after which he kept a general store twelve years at Oxford, N. Y. He served several terms in Oxford as Town Supervisor and County School Commis- sioner. Having been moderately successful, the result of persistent attention to business, he re- solved to seek a new field of operations in the great West, and removed to Chicago in March, 1869. Here hie invested his capital in real estate, and with such good judgment did he handle his holdings that he was made independent. He always took an intelligent interest in questions affecting the general welfare, and was soon called upon to serve his fellows in various official capac- ities. For a time he served as Superintendent of the Western Railway Weighing Association. Be- lieving in the fundamental principles of the Re- publican party, he gave his earnest support to the cause of that organization. In 1884 he was a delegate from the Third Illinois District to the National Republican Convention, and was in- tensely devoted to Mr. Blaine. The next year he presided over the Cook County Republican Convention, and the following spring was elected

LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

DR. LEONARD PRATT

589

LEONARD PRATT

Alderman from the then Ninth Ward. He was the Republican Presidential Elector from the Third District in 1888, and was appointed a member of the State Railroad and Warehouse Commission the next year, being made Chairman of the Board. He was re-appointed in 1891, and acted until about a month before his death, which sad event occurred February 19, 1893. His demise, soon after the completion of lis sixty-fifthi year, was supposed to be the result of a severe attack of la grippe in the spring of 1892.

Mr. Wheeler was for eigliteen years a Deacon in the Second Baptist Church of Chicago. In every relation of life, he strove to do his whole duty, and entered into every undertaking with his full strength. During the Civil War lie at- tempted to give his services in defense of the Union, but was rejected on account of an injury which he sustained in earlier years. By precept and example, he sought to lead others in the way of duty and right.

In July, 1849, Mr. Wheeler took for a help- mate Miss Eliza Ann Tremaine, who was born in East Greene, and was three months and eleven

days his junior. She is the fifth of the eight chil- dren of Erastus and Lucretia Tremaine, the lat ter's maiden name having been Race. Her grand- father, Daniel Tremaine, was among the pioneers of East Greene, and was a member of the Bap- tist Church organized there in 1795. It is prob able that he was a descendant of a Huguenot refugee in America, as the name is of undoubted French origin. Daniel Tremaine served in the Revolutionary army, and was present at the sur render of Burgoyne at Saratoga in 1777. He reached the ripe old age of ninety-four years, passing his latter years with his son Erastus, the father of Mrs. Wheeler, near East Greene.

Three children were given to Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler, namely: George A., Luella and Ida. The daughters were married on the same day, in October, 1873, the elder becoming the wife of John W. Midgley, Chairman of the Western Freight Association, and the other wedding En- field D. Moore, Manager of the Chicago Car Service Association. Mrs. Midgley is the mother of four children, Stanley, Arthur, Ethel and Edith.

DR. LEONARD PRATT.

12 R. LEONARD PRATT, for many years a leading physician of Wheaton, and now a resident of San Jose, Cal., is a native of Towanda, Pa. His parents, Russell and Olive (Towner) Pratt, whose names indicate English ancestry, passed their lives in that place, where Russell Pratt carried on a cooperage business. Leonard Pratt was born December 23, 1819, and is therefore now in his seventy-fourth year, but is still vigorous in mind and body and actively en- gaged in the practice of liis profession. He re- ceived his primary education in the Pennsylvania common schools, and his medical training at

Jefferson and Hahnemann Medical Colleges in Philadelphia. For more than fifty years his time has been employed in the healing art, the first years of his practice being passed in his native town. In 1852 he removed to Carroll County, Ill., settling on a farm in Rock Creek Township, one of the finest farms in that county. He re- moved in 1865 to Wheaton, Ill., for the purpose of educating his son, a biography of whom will be found elsewhere in this volume. He built a fine brick mansion on Main Street (now occupied by Dr. E. C. Guild), where his home remained until 1889, when he removed to his present residence.

590

F. D. COSSITT, JR.

Dr. Pratt is a member of the American Insti- tute of Homeopathy and of the Illinois and Cali- fornia State Associations of that school, and is a man of fine attainments and progressive ideas. He has always given his political allegiance to the Republican party since its organization. His religious faith is represented by the New Church, commonly known as the Swedenborgian. His time has been given to the demands of a large medical practice, and he has been able to devote but little personal attention to public affairs, although lie always took a deep interest in any effort to pro- mote and secure good government. The original charter of the town of Wheaton, which has since become a city, was the work of his mind and pen.

Dr. Pratt was for seven cars a member of the faculty of Hahnemann Medical College, of Chi- cago, filling the chair of Special Pathology and Diagnosis, and was an extensive contributor to

medical literature, being the first Western physi- cian to call the attention of the profession to the clinical thermometer. At the same time he was constantly employed in attending patients in and about Wheaton and Chicago.

Dr. Pratt's wife, Betsy, is a daughter of Lemuel Belding, of Le Raysville, Bradford County, Pa., a widely known Swedenborgian clergyman and physician, who was eminently successful in both capacities. He was a calm, logical speaker, and achieved considerable reputation as an orator. The Belding family is of English lineage. Two sons and two daughters were born to Dr. and Mrs. Pratt, one son dying in infancy, and a daughter, Hattie, at the age of thirteen years, the latter being carried off by the first case of diphtheria known in Rock Creek, Carroll County, Il1. One daughter, Nettie L., is a successful teacher of music at San Jose, Cal.

FRANKLIN DWIGHT COSSITT, JR.

RANKLIN DWIGHT COSSITT, JR., only surviving son of F. D. and Martha L. (Moore) Cossitt, was born in La Grange, Tenn., December 1, 1861, and during his infancy was taken by his parents to Chicago. About a year later his mother died, and he was taken back by hier sister to Tennessee, where he continued to make his home until 1869. In his eighth year he returned to Chicago, and attended its public schools and pursued a course in one of its busi- ness colleges. At the age of eighteen he opened a general store in La Grange, which he conducted for three years. At the end of this period he sold out, and again took up study at a business college. He next became associated with his fa- ther in the real-estate business, a connection which has continued until the present time.

On the 10th of February, 1886, Mr. Cossitt married Miss Margaret A., daughter of Dr. George M. Fox, a prominent citizen of La Grange, whose

biography appears elsewhere in this work. Four children have been born to them, namely: Frank- lin D., named for his paternal grandfather; George M., named for his maternal grandfather; Jean, who bears the name of her maternal grandmother; and Margaret, her mother's namesake.

In 1889 Mr. Cossitt was elected Trustee of the village of La Grange, and has twice been re- lected, now serving his third term. In 1892 he was elected Highway Commissioner of Lyons Township, and is now Treasurer of that town- ship. In political sentiment, he is a Democrat, and is now serving his second term as a member of the County Democratic Central Committee. The prominent part which he has taken in public affairs, and especially in the upbuilding of this community, entitles him to representation among the public-spirited and progressive citizens of Cook County.

LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

JACOB HUBER

(From Photo, by W. J. ROOT)

JACOB HUBER.

591

JACOB HUBER.

ACOB HUBER, who is now living retired in his pleasant home at No. 271 Racine Avenue, has been a resident of Chicago since March, 1854. He was born in May, 1820, near Zurich, Switzerland, and is a son of Kasper and Regula (Huerlimann) Huber. He was reared on a farm, assisting his father-in its cultivation, and received but a limited education. In the seventeenth year of his age he entered the employ of a neighboring farmer, and served him two years. On the expiration of this term he returned home and worked for his father until he was nearly twenty years old. Then he went to the city of Zurich, where he found employment with a man for whom he worked ten years:

In compliance with the custom of his native country, he entered the army at the age of twenty years, and took part in the Revolutionary wars of 1844-45 and 1847. He was several times promoted, and finally attained the rank of Quartermaster. This distinction was practically a reward of merit, as it was won by him in conse- quence of his passing the annual examinations so creditably. In 1849 he was honorably discharged from the army on account of having lost the middle finger of his left hand. The same fidelity to duty that caused his promotion in the army was always observed in his business pursuits and secured his advancement in the employment spoken of above. He began as a teamster and gradually worked himself up to the second highest position in the largest soap factory in Switzerland. In 1841 Mr. Huber married Miss Mary Verena Schnabel, who was born and educated in Zurich.

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Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, 8th ed., Part 85

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