USA > Illinois > LaSalle County > Biographical and genealogical record of La Salle County, Illinois. Volume I > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43
Mr. Plumb continued a firm advocate of anti-slavery principles; and, being a strong advocate of the Union cause at the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion, he received the appointment of assistant quartermaster of a division, with the rank of captain. He was quartermaster on the staff of James A. Garfield, and was one of the General's closest friends and warmest admirers and served with him until the General became chief of staff for General Rosecrans. During the latter part of the great struggle he was quartermaster of Camp Dennison, and was brevetted colonel for meritorious
12
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL RECORD.
service. During his service as quartermaster he handled immense sums of money without the loss of a dollar to the government, and at the close of the war he returned to Oberlin with a most honorable record.
Since the year 1866 Colonel Plumb has been identified with the interests of Streator, and to no man does the city owe its upbuilding, improvement and progress in a greater degree. He was chosen by a large syndicate of capitalists to become their resident manager at Streator, and he purchased for them four thousand acres of coal lands. Under his supervision the development of the mines was commenced, and four hundred miles of rail- road was built in order to provide shipping facilities for the output. The marked business and executive ability of Mr. Plumb was manifest in the success which attended the new enterprise from the beginning. It yielded handsome financial returns to the members of the company and brought to Mr. Plumb a deserved prosperity. He founded and laid out what is now the city of Streator, personally giving every street its title, and naming the place in honor of Dr. Streator, who was president of the syndicate of which Colonel Plumb was manager. From the beginning our subject has been most closely identified with the progress and improvement of the place and has aided materially in its development. The leading hotel of the city bears his name, as does the opera house, and at his own expense he built one of the finest high-school buildings, furnished with all modern con- veniences for educational purposes, and presented it to the city. It was erected and equipped at a cost of more than forty thousand dollars, and is one of the finest in the state. No public enterprise of Streator has solicited his aid in vain. His co-operation with movements tending to promote the general welfare has been hearty, generous and prompt, and often he has been the leading spirit in measures that have advanced the material, social, intellectual and moral interests of the community.
In his political views Colonel Plumb has always been a stanch Repub- lican, unfaltering in support of his party, and in addition to serving in the state legislature of Ohio he was Streator's first mayor, holding the office for two terms. His administration was of great value, and he ever exercises his official prerogatives for the benefit of the city. In his elections to the mayoralty he was the unanimous choice of the citizens, having no opposition. In 1884 he was elected to represent his district in congress, was re-elected in 1886, and after four years' service retired to private life.
While prominently connected with public affairs and occupied by exten- sive business interests, Colonel Plumb is a man of domestic tastes, and his interest has ever centered in his home, his family relations being ideal in character. In 1838 he married Miss Marrilla E. Borden, one of the friends of his early youth. She resided in Hartford, Trumbull county, Ohio, a
I3
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL RECORD.
daughter of Philo Borden, who was a native of New England and was of Puritan descent. He was a farmer, a captain of the state militia, and at one time the postmaster of Hartford. Mrs. Plumb was born September 16, 1818, and by her marriage she became the mother of three daughters, who grew to years of maturity, but are now deceased. The eldest, Geraldine, passed away July 1, 1875; Harriet Eliza died January 24, 1861; and Francenia M. was called to the home beyond February 11, 1872. On the 15th of October, 1898, Mr. and Mrs. Plumb celebrated the sixtieth anniver- sary of their marriage, having throughout that long period traveled life's journey together, sharing with each other its joys and sorrows, its adversity and prosperity.
A contemporary biographer has said: "Mrs. Plumb is as popular in Streator as is her honored husband. She is a lady of beautiful character, in which the twin virtues of charity and benevolence shine with a light which has made life easier and happier for numbers of people. She is a patron of the Ladies' Library at Streator, and for eighteen years has furnished it ,a home, rent free, in the Plumb opera-house block. She was in sympathy with her husband's anti-slavery principles and has done much for the colored race, donating liberally to southern colleges, among which is the Freedmen's College and the Fisk University at Nashville, Tennessee, and various other institutions of learning. So broad is the charity of this noble woman that she seeks to help the deserving poor, even to the extent of giving pleasure as well as assistance. She and her husband have donated liberally to the college at Oberlin, Ohio, where her daughters were educated, and is a stanch supporter of the Good Will Church of Streator, as its treasury will show. She is a member of no one church, but a firm believer in all religions, regardless of creeds. She is a womanly woman and much beloved by her own sex, and has hosts of friends, among whom there are many who owe her a boundless debt of gratitude for help and sympathy, as well as financial aid given in times of trouble and distress."
Colonel Plumb has for some years practically lived a retired life, yet in a measure superintends his investments. His has been a very active career, and the rest which he is enjoying in his palatial home in Streator is well merited. He has left the deep impress of his individuality upon almost every department of the city life wherein honorable men find an interest, and the beautiful and enterprising city may be said to be a monument to the diligence and ability of the founder.
14
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL RECORD.
THOMAS DEAN CATLIN.
It has been practically within the latter part of the nineteenth century that the northern portion of Illinois has been opened to the advance of civilization, and the cities of this division are the product of the latter-day enterprise and progress. Ottawa, belonging to this class, is mentioned in the Gazetteer as "the seat of varied and useful activities;" and among the prominent men who have helped to make it such stands the gentleman whose name heads this review. He has been identified with this region for more than forty-one years, and is to-day the representative of some of its leading industries.
Thomas Dean Catlin is a native of Clinton, Oneida county, New York, born March 12, 1838. His parents were Marcus and Philena (Dean) Catlin. His father was a professor of mathematics in Hamilton College, at Clinton. He was of English descent, and his death occurred in 1849. On the maternal side Mr. Catlin descends from an old historic family of the Empire state. His mother comes of a family that founded Deansville, New York. In 1795, on the site of that town, lived the Brotherton Indians, and in that year John Dean, a Quaker, went to the place as a missionary to labor with and for the red men. For a year he lived in a log house, and then erected what is now the wing of the residence owned by Charles Hovey. There he faithfully continued his work until life's labors were ended, and he passed peacefully away in 1820, at the advanced age of eighty-eight years. He had a son, Thomas Dean, who likewise was devoted to missionary work among the Indians. He had been his father's assistant, and when the latter died he continued to labor toward civilizing the red men. He was a man of herculean proportions and of great ability and sound judgment. He was not only the Indian agent but was also a counselor, spiritual guide and general law-giver, and was largely instrumental in transferring the Brotherton Indians to a reservation at Green Bay, Wisconsin. He secured the appropriation of sixty-four thousand acres from the government, and also secured the passage of a law through the New York legislature which enabled the Indians to sell their lands at full value. From 1830 to 1840 his time was entirely taken up with locating his dusky friends in their new home and in adjusting business matters for them, and, wearied by his great toil, death came to end his arduous service. in June. 1842. when he had reached the age of sixty-three years. He was scrupulously honest, and his career, both public and private, was above reproach in every partic- ular. He had the love and reverence of the Indians, and the confidence and highest regard of all with whom he came in contact. At the time when
15
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL RECORD.
a petition was circulated for the establishment of a post-office at another place in the vicinity, he went to Washington and secured the office for Deansville instead. He became its first postmaster, and the office and the village were named in his honor. He had five children, and among this number was Mrs. Philena Catlin.
Her son, Thomas Dean Catlin, acquired his education in Hamilton College, at Clinton, New York, being graduated at that institution in the class of 1857, at the early age of nineteen years. He still belongs to the college society known as Sigma Phi. Upon the broad fields of the west, with its unlimited opportunities, he entered upon his business career. In 1858 he came to Ottawa, Illinois, to meet by appointment his uncle, A. II. Redfield, of Detroit, who was acting as an Indian agent and was stationed at the head-waters of the Missouri river. It was his intention to go to that region; but, his uncle having been detained for a time, he meanwhile sought and obtained a position in the employ of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Company, first as a freight clerk, receiving a salary of only four hundred dollars a year; but he soon afterward won promotion, and for five years served as agent, finally receiving sixty dollars a month-the highest salary he ever received from that corporation.
His connection with the establishment of telegraphic communication in the west certainly makes him worthy of a place in this history. It is said that rapid transit and rapid communication are the most important factors in civilization. Mr. Catlin is a pioneer in this enterprise. In 1863 he became the secretary of the Illinois & Mississippi Telegraph Company, which had been established in 1849, one of the first in the west. This company owned telegraph patents for several of the western states, controlling the business in this section of the country. It built various lines throughout the west, and in 1867 leased its lines to the Western Union Telegraph Com- pany, thus forming the connecting link between the Atlantic and Pacific.
Many and varied have been the business interests with which he has been connected. He is a man of broad capabilities and resources, and his keen discrimination, sound judgment and business sagacity enable him to carry forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes. He is an able financier, his ambition being tempered with a safe conservatism, and he is now at the head of one of the leading financial institutions of the state. In April, 1884, he was elected vice-president of the National City Bank, of Ottawa, and in June, 1890, after the death of E. C. Allen, its president, he was elected to the superior office, and has ever since acceptably and creditably filled that position. This bank is capitalized for one hundred thousand dollars, and it now has a surplus of one hundred and twenty-five thous- and dollars, and undivided profits of fifty thousand dollars, making
I6
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL RECORD.
a working capital of about three hundred thousand dollars. He is also president of the State Bank of Seneca, Illinois.
In 1867 Mr. Catlin organized the Ottawa Glass Company and they established one of the pioneer industries of its kind west of Pittsburg, of which he was the secretary and treasurer. Business was carried on under that name until 1880, when the company sold its plant to the United Glass Company, of New York, a corporation capitalized for one million two hun- dred and fifty thousand dollars and owning factories in various places. Of this company Mr. Catlin was the president and treasurer for six years after its organization.
In 1866 Mr. Catlin was married to Miss Helen C. Plant, a resident of Utica, New York, and a member of one of the old and honored families of the Empire state and connected with the Daughters of the Revolution. Their only child is James Plant Catlin.
Mr. Catlin is connected with many of the public interests of Ottawa which are calculated to promote the moral, educational and material welfare of the community. He is a member of the First Congregational church, and is serving as one of its deacons. He was a member of the first board of trustees of the public library at Ottawa; is the president of the board of trustees of the Ryburn Memorial Hospital, and is also a member of the board of trustees of Hamilton College, at Clinton, New York. Charitable and benevolent, he gives freely of his means to those in need of assistance, but gives always in a quiet, unostentatious way, seeking not the laudations of men. In his political views he is a stalwart supporter of the Republican party, and has served his city as alderman and a member of the board of education.
The record of Mr. Catlin is that of a man who by his own unaided efforts has worked his way upward to a position of affluence. His life has been one of industry and perseverance, and the systematic and honorable business methods which he has followed have won him the support and confidence of many. Without the aid of influence or wealth, he has risen to a position among the most prominent men of the state, and his native genius and acquired ability are the stepping-stones on which he mounted.
E. B. STILES.
E. B. Stiles, as editor and proprietor of the Ransom Review, is a worthy representative of the journalistic interests of this section of Illinois. On the 17th of March, 1899, he took charge of his paper, which was founded by a Mr. Ford and was known as the Ransom Republic. Later the name
17
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL RECORD.
of this journal was changed to the Ransom News, and it was edited for a number of years by J. H. Brown, now of Blair, Nebraska, who sold out to Mr. Stiles. When this change occurred the present name was adopted, and the Ransom Review has steadily gained favor with the public. It is a bright, newsy sheet, devoted to local interests, and to the circulation of domestic and foreign news. It is an excellent advertising medium and has a splendid patronage along that line. Its circulation list includes more than four hundred names, and the paper is now in a prosperous condition. The office is well equipped for turning out a high grade of newspaper and job work and the owner is well worthy the liberal support of the public.
Mr. Stiles has been a resident of the county since 1881. He was born in Mendon township, Monroe county, New York, in 1836, and with his parents removed to Boyd's Grove, Bureau county, Illinois, in his youth. There he was reared and educated, and after attaining to years of maturity he married Miss Sarah Wilson, of Bureau county, who was born in Peoria, Illinois. Four children grace their union : Harry C., who was formerly con- nected with the Review, but is now a resident of Chicago; Minnie, wife of G. G. Hoover, express messenger for the Santa Fe Railroad Company at Streator, Illinois; Charles L., a railroad bill clerk at Streator, Illinois; and Ray E., of Ransom, who was a soldier in the Spanish-American war, as a member of Company A, Third Illinois Infantry, under command of Colonel Bennett.
In politics Mr. Stiles is independent, supporting the measures which he believes will best advance the country's interests, and voting for the man whom he thinks will execute those measures. He is a prominent member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, with which he has been connected for more than thirty years, and for three terms has been a representative to the grand encampment of that society.
REV. HENRY A. O'KELLY.
The great work of the Catholic church appealed most strongly to the Rev. Father O'Kelly from the time that he was a young lad until he entered its service, thenceforth to devote his life solely to God and his fellow men. His labors of zeal and love have borne abundant fruits, and no more revered and honored priest is often found in a community than the pastor of the church of the Immaculate Conception, in Streator.
A brief history of the Father's life will prove of interest to his numerous friends and admirers outside the church as well as those of his flock. He is a native of the beautiful Emerald Isle, his birth having occurred in the
18
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL RECORD.
city of Galway, on the western coast, in 1852. A son of a physician of high standing, Dr. P. F. O'Kelly, he received exceptionally fine training and edu- cational advantages, and was encouraged in his desire to enter the priest- hood. The Doctor was a native of Dublin, and his wife, whose maiden name was Mary Birmingham, a daughter of Thomas Birmingham, Esq., of Ashgrove, county Galway, belonged to one of the most ancient Anglo- Norman families in Ireland.
When a young man of eighteen years the Rev. H. A. O'Kelly came to the United States, and at once entered a theological seminary in Troy, New York state. In research, study and preparation for the great work which was the goal of his ambition, he spent the subsequent eight years, being graduated and ordained a priest by Bishop Spalding, now of Peoria, Illinois. The young priest was then placed in charge of a congregation in Carthage, Hancock county, this state, and later was pastor of a church at El Paso, Illinois. In 1883 he came to Streator, where he has since officiated as the spiritual shepherd of the two hundred or more families included in the parish of the church of the Immaculate Conception. The house of worship was built by him, and in connection with this there is a flourishing school and a hospital founded by Father O'Kelly, some four hundred chil- dren being in regular attendance at the day and Sunday schools. Untiring in his zeal for the welfare of his church and people, there is little cause for wonder that Father O'Kelly is greatly loved and looked to for sympathy, help and counsel, which he never fails to give.
HENRY FETZER.
The learned professions call for individual talent and ability as no other lines of business do. An industrial or commercial enterprise already estab- lished and in successful operation may be taken up by one not hitherto connected with it, and without previous training he may carry it still further forward toward successful completion, but in the line of medicine or the law one must be specially qualified for the work, and strong mentality, com- prehensive knowledge, close application and indefatigable energy must serve as a foundation upon which to rest the superstructure of professional suc- cess. It is therefore evident when one attains prominence at the bar that he possesses ability that enables him to advance, unaided by what others may have done before him. To-day Henry Fetzer, of Streator, ranks among the leading lawyers of LaSalle county, and is enjoying a large clientage. He began practice here in 1894, previous to which time he had been identified with the business interests of the community in various ways.
19
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL RECORD.
Mr. Fetzer came to the county in 1874 from Ohio, but was a native of Virginia, his birth having occurred in the Old Dominion, near Winchester, April 11, 1854. His parents were William and Catharine (Stickley) Fetzer, and the great-great-grandparents on both sides of the family were of Ger- man birth, the families being founded in America at about the same period in the colonial history of the country, the Fetzers becoming residents of Pennsylvania, while the Stickleys located in Frederick City, Maryland. Their descendants emigrated to Woodstock, Shenandoah county, Virginia, and thus the families became united through the marriage of William Fetzer and Catharine Stickley. The paternal grandfather of our subject was Joachim Fetzer, who was born in Virginia and resided near Woodstock, in the Shenandoah valley. William Fetzer, the father, was a farmer by occu- pation, and followed that pursuit throughout his entire life. He passed away in 1887, at the ripe old age of seventy-eight years.
Henry Fetzer spent the first fifteen years of his life in Virginia, and during that time enjoyed only limited school advantages. He worked as a farm hand in the neighborhood of his home, his wages going to his father. His ambitious spirit, however, was not content with such a life, and hearing that better wages were paid in the west he asked permission to leave home, promising to give his father just what he could make in Virginia. Consent was withheld, however, and therefore he "ran" away, going to Ohio, where he readily found employment in Belmont county. There he worked on a farm for three seasons, and in the winter attended school, which was his first experience in the educational line. In order to secure this privilege he worked nights and mornings for his board; nor was he content to end his studies there. He found a true friend in James Frazier, who, noticing his willingness to work and his close application to his studies, wisely advised him to continue his education in Franklin college, meeting his tuition with the little money he had been enabled to save from his wages. Acting upon this advice Mr. Fetzer pursued his studies until his small capital was ex- hausted, when he was again forced to labor for his daily bread. The taste for study has never left him, and his wide reading and close observation have made him a well informed man.
In 1874 Mr. Fetzer arrived in LaSalle county, where he taught school for some time, and then went to Grinnell, Kansas, where he served as post- master and carried on general merchandising for a short time, but the tornado of 1879 destroyed all that he had saved, and in 1880 he again came to Illinois, where he engaged in teaching until 1883. The confinement of the school-room, however. undermined his health and he turned his attention to buying and shipping stock, which business he successfully followed until 1891. Through all these years it had been his ambition and desire to grad-
20
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL RECORD.
uate at some good educational institution, and in the fall of 1892 he entered upon a law course in the Northwestern University Law School of Chicago, being graduated with the class of 1894. It had not been his intention to engage in practice, the course having been taken up more for self-improve- ment; but, becoming deeply interested in the science of jurisprudence, he opened an office after his return from college, and has since been an esteemed member of the LaSalle county bar. He has steadily worked his way upward, and his devotion to his clients' interests, his careful preparation of cases and his thorough knowledge of the law have gained him a large practice and won him many notable successes before the court. His political support has generally been given the Republican party, but he is not strictly partisan and has no ambition for office. He is truly a self-made man, and though opposed by a seemingly adverse fate he has steadily worked his way upward until he occupies a leading position among the citizens of his adopted county.
PROFESSOR SAMUEL H. HEIDLER.
In September, 1895, the new superintendent of the public schools of Ottawa, Professor Samuel H. Heidler, entered upon his duties. He has made a most painstaking, efficient, judicious official, and has won the high- est praise from our citizens and those interested in the progress of education. His whole mature life has been devoted to study and work along the lines of education, and both by nature and training he is eminently qualified for the responsible position which he occupies. Under his wise management of our local schools great improvement is to be noticed in many directions, and advanced methods, well tried and valuable, are being introduced as rapidly as is practicable.
A young man in the prime of life, Professor Heidler was born Septem- ber 6, 1861, in the vicinity of Columbia, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, on the old homestead which has been handed down from one generation to the next, and was originally purchased by the paternal ancestor of our subject, of William Penn, the Quaker. There were five sons and five daugh- ters in the Heidler family, the parents being Levi and Martha Heidler.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.