Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, Volume 1899, Part 25

Author: La Salle Book Company (Chicago, Ill.)
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : La Salle Book Co.
Number of Pages: 910

USA > Illinois > Cook County > Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, Volume 1899 > Part 25

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The subject of this biography was born in Col- chester, Delaware County, N. Y., on the 14th of January, 1799, less than a decade after the estab- lishment of the present United States Government. His father, Elisha Turner, died when he was but two years old, and his mother when he was four- teen. Her maiden name was Patience Coville, and she was of Dutch origin. The Turners are of Eng- lish lineage. Soon after his father's death, J. B. Turner was adopted by David Powers, and passed his youth on a farm and about a tanyard operated by his foster-father, in the meantime receiving such instruction as the country schools of the time af- forded. In 1819, he married Miss Martha Volun- tine, and settled down at farming .. Five years later, he sold out his interest in the farm and pur- chased a mill and store, and built a distillery at Maltaville, in Saratoga County, which he oper- ated six years. Financial reverses caused him to abandon these interests, and his attention was first turned to railroad construction in 1835, when he took a contract to build seven miles of the Ran- · som & Saratoga Railroad. After its completion, Mr. Turner was placed in charge of this road, most of whose trains were hauled by horses, of which the company owned thirty head, and he constructed barns every ten miles for the accom- modation of the motive power. It was on this line, under Mr. Turner's management, that the "Champlain," an engine of five tons' weight, was placed in commission, being the second of its kind in use.

In November, 1835, Mr. Turner, with a part- ner, broke ground on the Delaware Division of the New York & Erie Railroad, but was forced to suspend operations when the financial disasters of April, 1837, crippled the owners, and the capital

of the contractors appeared to be swallowed up. The subsequent resumption of the company re- stored to Mr. Turner the $16,000 which he re- garded as lost, and with a brother-in-law, John Vernam, he engaged in building the Genesee Val- ley Canal. The suspension of operations by the State on the canal in 1840 again caused a heavy loss to Mr. Turner, but on the resumption of con- struction this was, in part, restored to him. By the spring of 1843, he had completed a section of the Troy & Schenectady Railroad with profit, and he turned his attention toward the growing West as the most desirable field for the investment of his capital. With his wife, he made a trip as far West as the Mississippi River, and decided to lo- cate at Chicago, returning East at once for his family.

The 15th of October, 1843, found him again in Chicago, and he took up quarters at the old Tre- mont House. His active mind readily grasped the opportunities for investment, and one of his first moves was the purchase of one thousand acres of land near Blue Island, on which he placed a herd of sheep, brought from Ohio in the spring. An attempt at railroad building had been inade as early as 1837, and a few miles of strap rails had been laid, terminating on the prairie not far from the present western limits of the city of Chi- cago. In 1847, Mr. Turner and William B. Og- den, the first mayor of Chicago, organized a com- pany to construct a road westward from Chicago, and on the 5th of April in that year, Mr. Ogden was elected President, and Mr. Turner Acting Director of the Chicago & Galena Union Railroad, the objective point being Galena-a town little less than Chicago in size and importance at that time. Both the gentlemen above named were en- thusiastic in the interest of the enterprise, and by their untiring labor in soliciting subscriptions to stock and securing right of way from the people most benefited by its construction, said constric- tion was made possible. At the election of officers in December, 1850, when Mr. Turner was made President, the track was completed beyond Elgin and reached Freeport, where it connected with the Illinois Central in September, 1852.

By this time, it had been demonstrated that the

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western prairies were destined to support an im- mense population, and attention was turned to the construction of the "Dixon Air Line," from Turner Junction west to the Mississippi River. This was rapidly completed under Mr. Turner's active and able management, and a portion of the line across the State of Iowa was also completed under his presidency, before he resigned in 1858. He continued an active director of the road, and in the Chicago & Northwestern, after the consol- idation of the different lines, until his death. In 1853, he organized the Beloit & Madison Railroad Company, which became a part of the same sys- tem, being now a part of the Madison Division, and on the consolidation, in June, 1864, of these various lines, he was chairman of the committee having the arrangements in charge, and was af- terward a member of the Executive Committee of the Chicago & Northwestern. Mr. Turner was also a director of the North Side Street Railroad, incorporated in February, 1859, and continued to hold stock during his life.

In 1853, Mr. Turner was called upon to mourn the death of the wife who had shared in his early toils and successes, and in 1855 he married Miss Adeline Williams, of Columbus, Ga. Three sons and three daughters were given to himn. He was vigorous and active to the day of his death, which was the 26th of February, 1871, more than sev- enty-two years of life having been his allotted time. The end came peacefully and quietly, and on that day Chicago lost one of her most valued and upright citizens, who did what he could to benefit his fellows. On the day of his funeral, the offices of the Chicago & Northwestern Rail- way were closed out of respect for the "judicious and faithful counselor, genial companion, consider- ate friend and Christian gentleman. His devo- tion to the material interests of the country was exceeded only by the patriotism which never lost sight of the highest duties of citizenship. His great works live after him, and will keep his memory green forever."

E. F. L. GAUSS.

F. L. GAUSS is First Assistant Librarian in the Chicago Public Library, and the responsi- ' ble position which he occupies finds in him a capable incumbent. He is also a patron of literature and music, and indeed is a friend to all those arts which are calculated to elevate and benefit man- kind. He claims Germany as the land of his birth, which occurred in Stuttgart in 1842. He came of one of the old aristocratic families of that country, and was reared accordingly. The father died in 1848, and the mother was called to her final rest in 1845.

Mr. Gauss whose name heads this record at- tended school in his native land for a number of years, and in 1859, at the age of seventeen, he

crossed the Atlantic to America, settling in New York City. When the war for the Union broke out, and President Lincoln called for volunteers to aid in crushing the rebellion which threatened to destroy the nation, he at once enlisted, joining the boys in blue of Company K, First New York Infantry. After two years of valiant service he was honorably discharged, in 1863.

Mr. Gauss on leaving the army went to Mis- souri, where he studied theology in the Missouri Evangelical School, and later he pursued his studies in an Episcopal academy in Ohio. In 1871, in St. Louis, he was ordained as a minister, and was given charge of the church in Bunker Hill, Ill., where, as there were many German

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settlers in that locality, his services were con- ducted in his native tongue. In 1874 he went to Europe in order to complete his studies, and from 1875 until 1878 was a minister in the State Church of the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland. In the latter year he again crossed the Atlantic to America, and took up his residence in Galena, Ill., being called to the pastorate of the church at that place, of which he continued in charge for two years. It 1880 he came to Chicago, and en- gaged in literary work while in the employ of the Government, in which employ he continued until 1885. In 1887 he entered the Chicago Pub- lic Library. He was afterward made First As- sistant Librarian, and still fills that position. He also continues his ministerial work to a limited extent, although lie accepts no pastorates.

In 1867 Mr. Gauss was united in marriage with Miss Henrietta Stehlin, and to them has

been born a family of five children. The parents and their children are all members of the Con- gregational Church, and take a most active in- terest in church work, doing all in their power for its promotion and success.

Mr. Gauss has won a high reputation as a pub- lic speaker, and at one time delivered many ad- dresses in support of the Republican party, the principles of which he warmly advocates. He has, however, never aspired to public office. He has also won note as a metrical translater. He is a man of most liberal education, and during the famous Anarchists' trial served as official in- terpreter. Socially, he is connected with the Schiller Club, of which he is Secretary, and also belongs to the Royal Arcanum, the National Union and the German Press Club, which latter he is now serving as Treasurer. He is also Pres- ident of the Chicago Library Club.

ROBERT S. HILL.

property in Buxton, Maine, now occupied by his father. The grandfather was a resident of Bux- ton, and took part in the War of 1812, during which lie was commissioned as an officer by the Governor of the Pine Tree State. Another of the ancestors of the subject of this sketch was an offi- cer in the Revolution, and was numbered among the heroes of the battle of Bunker Hill. Another was captured by the English and taken to Can- ada, where he was forced to live among the Indi- ans for an entire winter, during which time he was subjected to great hardships and suffering. He finally escaped and returned to his home in Maine, R OBERT S. HILL, who is successfully en- Hill's great-grandfather was the owner of the gaged in the practice of law in Chicago, was born in Buxton, York County, Maine, on the 31st of August, 1851. His ancestors on his father's side came from England. Three brothers of the name of Hill crossed the Atlantic with the early English colonists and settled in Massachu- setts. One of them afterwards removed to the district of Maine, and from this branch of the Hill family the subject of this sketch is directly de- scended. The members of the family were prom- inent land-owners and business men, and often bore an important part in the events which went to make up the history of colonial days. Mr.

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much to the surprise and pleasure of his wife and family, who supposed him dead.

On his mother's side Mr. Hill traces his ances- try back to the " Mayflower, " being descended from Moses Fletcher, who crossed the Atlantic in the vessel which brought the Pilgrim Fathers to the shores of the New World. The latter was a member of the Council of Plymouth, and now lies buried at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts, where his name appears on the monument erected in memory of those old heroes.

Mr. Hill's father, now retired from business with a competency, was an active lumberman and farmer in Buxton, Maine. He has always taken a keen interest in the religious, educational and po- litical matters pertaining to his town, state and country. He was a great admirer and a warm friend of the late Hon. James G. Blaine.

The boyhood days of R. S. Hill were pleasant- ly passed in his native town, and he was given good educational advantages by his father. After leaving the common schools in Buxton, he at- tended Limington and Gorham Academies, both of Maine, and his first effort in life after leaving the latter institution was to engage in school teaching in his native state, being then twenty years of age. After a brief and successful experi- ence as a school teacher, he came to the West with his uncle, and entered Michigan State University at Ann Arbor, being graduated from the law de- partment of that institution in the Class of '74. He then returned to New England, and for one year studied law in the office of an attorney in Bos- ton. The year 1876 witnessed his return to thè West and saw him located in Chicago. He im- mediately embarked in practice, which he lias car- ried on continuously since. He makes corpor- ation law a specialty, and has been very success- ful, winning many important cases. At the pres- ent time he is employed as attorney for a number of corporations.

On the 26th of January, 1877, Mr. Hill was married in Buxton, Maine, to Miss Fannie S. Owen. Her ancestors came from England and aided the colonies in their struggle for indepen-

ence, taking a leading part in the War of the Rev- olution. One of the number was captured by the British in 1807, taken on board a man-of-war, and forced to serve as a part of the crew. After a few weeks' service, while the ship was cruising off the coast of Massachusetts, he took advantage of a favorable opportunity, jumped overboard, swam safely ashore and returned home. To Mr. and Mrs. Hill have been born five children, as fol- lows: Harry Robert, who died of diphtheria in 1882; Owen T., 11ow a student of the Fuller School, Hyde Park; Helen M. and Alice, who attend the same school; and Robert S., a little lad of three and a-half years.

Mr. Hill is a great admirer and firm supporter of the Hon. Thomas B. Reed, who is his choice for the presidency. He has known Mr. Reid all his life, and on account of a knowledge of his character, ability and political proclivities, he supports him as a presidential candidate. Mr. Hill takes a very warm interest in political affairs, and labors earnestly to promote the growth and insure the success of his party. He is recognized as a good parliamentarian and, because of his knowledge of the rules of parliamentary usage, has often been called upon to preside over politi- cal meetings where trouble and turbulence were anticipated, and as such presiding officer has been able, even in very exciting meetings, to maintain order and discipline where one less skilled would have failed.

Mr. Hill is a member of the Sons of Maine. He contributes liberally to benevolent institutions, yet makes no display of his charity. In his tastes he is domestic and enjoys the companionship of his family much more than that of general society. In his religious belief he is liberal, broad minded and charitable, believes in his children attending church and Sunday-school and having instilled into their minds the principles of Christianity. In both business and social circles he is well known as an honorable, upriglit man, and is held in the highest regard by his many acquaintances and friends.

LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

Passa Spalding

JESSE SPALDING.

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JESSE SPALDING

ESSE SPALDING is a descendant of one of the oldest American families. The environ- ment of the New England fathers was calcu- lated to bring out and develop all that was sturdy and vigorous in both mind and body, and their descendants continue to manifest the traits of character which enabled them to survive the hardships which they were compelled to endure, and which rendered prosperity possible in the face of the most forbidding conditions.

The town and family of Spalding are known to have existed in Lincolnshire, England, in the twelfth century. Between 1630 and 1633, Edward Spalding left that town and settled in Braintree, in the then infant colony of Massachusetts. From him the line of descent is traced through Joseph, Nathaniel, Joseph, Joseph and John to Jesse.

The Spalding family first settled in southern Connecticut, early in the seventeenth century. Its members shared in the work of subduing the wilderness, as well as defending their homes from the aboriginal savages. Some of them achieved distinction in the heroic defense of Fort Groton, Connecticut. Many served in "King Philip's War," and fifty-two were active in the Revolu- tion, of whom nine participated in the battle of Bunker Hill, where one fell from his dying liorse.

Joseph Spalding, grandfather of Jesse, was born in Plainfield, Connecticut. He was an of- ficer of the Revolutionary army, and removed to Pennsylvania in 1780, settling on land near Ath- ens, Bradford County, on the upper waters of the Susquehanna River. This land was claimed by both Connecticut and Pennsylvania, and Mr. Spalding was obliged to pay tribute to both com- monwealths before he could secure a clear title. This was a great hardship, but he went to work

with characteristic energy, and shortly thereafter, despite all discouragements, became a prosperous farmer and leading citizen of the community.

John, father of Jesse Spalding, was active and influential in Bradford County affairs, and at one time occupied the office of Sheriff, winning uni- versal approbation by the intrepid and vigorous manner in which he discharged his official (and often perilous) duties in a new and somewhat lawless community. His wife, Elizabeth, was a daughter of Dr. Amos Prentiss, a distinguished physician of Groton, Connecticut, and a represen- tative of a prominent Colonial family.

Jesse Spalding was born at Athens, Pennsylva- nia, April 15, 1833. While assisting his father in farm work, he found time to acquire such edu- cation as the common schools and the academy of his native town afforded. On attaining his majority he engaged in lumbering on the north branch of the Susquehanna, and became a woods- man and raftsman. At the age of twenty-three he began to deal in lumber on his own account, and was successful. His product was rafted to Middletown, Columbia and Port Deposit, and marketed in Washington, Alexandria, Norfolk and Richmond, Virginia, and other points.

Foreseeing the rapid growth of the young city of Chicago, he removed hither in 1857, and soon after bought a sawmill at Menekaunee, at the mouth of the Menominee River, in Wiscon- sin, where he commenced the manufacture of lumber. This mill was burned in 1870, rebuilt and burned in 1871, rebuilt in 1872, and is now finely equipped with gang, band and circular saws and modern machinery, being thoroughily complete in all its appointments. For a time business was conducted by the firm of Wells &

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Spalding, the firm name later becoming Spalding & Porter, and subsequently Spalding, Houghtel- ing & Johnson. In1 1871, the concern was incor- porated as the Menominee River Lumber Com- pany, and in 1892 Mr. Spalding purchased the interest of his partners, and has since been the sole owner. Shortly after he bought out the New York Lumber Company at Menekaunee, he secured a milling property at the mouth of Cedar River, about thirty iniles above the city of Me- nominee, and in 1882 he organized the Spalding Lumber Company, of which he became President, being at the same time its active manager. His purchases of timber-lands in Wisconsin and Michi- gan to supply the mills of these companies with logs have aggregated two hundred and sixty-five thousand acres. Besides its value for timber, this land has proven rich in iron ore, and three mines are now successfully operated on the property. The output of the mills at Cedar River is shipped in boats owned by the Spalding Lumber Com- pany direct to Chicago, whence it is distributed from the Chicago yards to the western and south- western markets in Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri. Lumber has also been ship- ped recently, in large quantities, direct from the mills at Menekaunee to Detroit, Buffalo, Roch- ester, Albany and Boston. The companies of which Mr. Spalding is the head are among the largest of their kind, and annually produce from sixty to seventy-five millions of feet of lumber.

Although he cannot be said to have been a pio- neer in the lumber business of Chicago, few men have been more closely identified with its growth than Mr. Spalding. In fact, his name is indissol- ubly linked with the political, social and business interests of the city and the Northwest.

Mr. Spalding is amply fitted by nature and training for the manipulation of large interests, and his success is in no small degree due to the fact that he does not despise small things. All the minutiæ of his extensive interests are famil- iar to him, and his practical experience enables him to give attention to the smallest details. His investments in banking and other financial con- cerns are made with the same judicious care, and are equally successful with his other undertak-

ings. He is a director in many large corporations of the city, and his advice is frequently sought in the conduct of many important enterprises. It is not strange that his fellow-citizens should discover in him a capable man of affairs; and when the city was destroyed by fire in 1871, he was sought out as one who would be useful in adjusting public business to existing conditions, and in raising Chicago from its ashes and reviving business ac- tivity. He was three years in the City Council, and while Chairman of the Finance Committee, he, by judicious management, aided in the resto- ration of the city's financial credit, materially furthering the establishment of good municipal government. In 1861, when the Nation was threatened with destruction, Mr. Spalding was among its most active defenders. He was re- quested by the Adjutant-General of the State of Illinois to build and equip barracks for the Gov- ernment soldiers (afterward known as "Camp Douglas"), besides which he built barracks the following year on the North Side for returning soldiers. He furnished all the material for these structures, receiving in payment the State Audi- tor's warrants, there being no funds in the Treas- ury to be applied to this purpose.

Mr. Spalding has been an active worker in the interests of the Republican party from its incep- tion, because he believed the weal of the Nation depended upon the success of the principles main- tained by that party. He was a personal friend of Grant, Arthur and Conkling, as well as other now prominent National leaders, and gave coun- sel in many grave exigencies. He presided at the unveiling of the Grant monument in Lincoln Park. In 1881 he was appointed by President Arthur Collector of the Port of Chicago, and filled that office in a manner most acceptable to the Government and the people of the city. With him a public office is a trust, to be executed with the same faithful care which one bestows on his own private affairs; and when he was appointed Director of the Union Pacific Railroad on behalf of the Government by President Harrison, he made a personal investigation of the property in his own painstaking way, submitting the report to the Secretary of the Interior. This report, which

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gave a careful review of the resources of the country traversed by the line, and its future pros- pects, was ordered printed by Congress, and com- manded careful attention from financiers and those concerned in the relations of the Pacific roads to the Government. It was also embraced in the annual report of the Board of Directors of the Union Pacific Railway Company.

Mr. Spalding was associated with William B. Ogden and others in the project for cutting a canal from Sturgeon Bay to Green Bay, by which the danger of navigating "Death's Door" (as the entrance to Green Bay is known) could be avoid- ed, as well as saving a distance of about one hun-

dred and fifty miles on each round trip between Chicago and Green Bay ports. This was com- pleted in 1882 by the Sturgeon Bay & Lake Michigan Ship Canal and Harbor Company, of which Mr. Ogden was the first President, suc- ceeded on his death by Mr. Spalding. During the first year of its operations, 745, 128 tons of freight passed through the canal, and in 1892 the business amounted to 875,533 tons. In 1891 4,500 vessels (trips) passed through, and the next year the number was 5,312. Congress hav- ing passed an act to purchase the canal and make it free to all navigators, it was turned over to the United States Government in 1893.

HON. SAMUEL P. McCONNELL.

ON. SAMUEL PARSONS MCCONNELL was born in Springfield, Illinois, July 5, 1849. His parents, John and Elizabeth (Parsons) McConnell, still reside at Springfield. James McConnell, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, came from County Down, Ireland, about 1810, and engaged in the manufacture of gunpowder in New Jersey. He afterward re- moved to Sangamon County, Illinois, where he became an extensive farmer and wool-grower. He was one of the first to cultivate the prairie soil of Illinois, demonstrating its fertility and general advantages to his neighbors. He amassed · considerable property, and died in 1867.

John McConnell was born in Madison County, New York, but went with his parents to Illinois in his youth. When the United States became involved in civil strife, he recruited a company of soldiers, and entered the military service as a Captain, rising by promotion to the rank of Gen- eral. Since the close of the war he has been en- gaged in the insurance business in Springfield. Mrs. Elizabeth McConnell was born in Connecti-

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Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois, Volume 1899, Part 25

Author: La Salle Book Company (Chicago, Ill.) Publication date: 1899 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : La Salle Book Co. Number of Pages: 910

Author: La Salle Book Company (Chicago, Ill.)
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : La Salle Book Co.
Number of Pages: 910