USA > Illinois > LaSalle County > Biographical and genealogical record of La Salle County, Illinois. Volume I > Part 32
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Wilson Conard was reared and educated in his native township and remained a member of the home circle until he reached his majority. Fol- lowing in the footsteps of his father, he is devoting his energies to agricultural pursuits. The first farm he owned he bought at twenty-five dollars per acre. Subsequently selling it for sixty-five dollars an acre, he purchased his present farm of two hundred and forty acres, from his father, D. W. Conard.
Mr. Conard was married when twenty-three years of age to Miss Mary Batchelor, daughter of George and Christina (Morrison) Batchelor, natives of Scotland, where Mrs. Conard was born. They came to America when Mrs. Conard was a child, and she was reared and educated in Iroquois county, Illinois, being a student of Grand Prairie Seminary. Mr. and Mrs.
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Conard have three children: David Roy, born December 19, 1887; and Laura E. and Anna C., twins, born October 16, 1889.
The Conard family attend worship at the Methodist Episcopal church. Politically Mr. Conard is a Democrat.
JAMES CAHILL.
No more eloquent illustration can be given of the appreciation of the benison bestowed upon its people by a republic than in the respect and admiration given to its self-made men. The history of such an one is always of interest, and the life record usually contains lessons which others may profitably follow. Mr. Cahill sought not the alluring promises of the future, but strove in the present to utilize the opportunities that surrounded him, and thus he won a distinguished position in connection with the great material industries of the state. His efforts were so discerningly directed along well defined lines that he carried forward to successful completion whatever he undertook. A man of distinct and forceful individuality, of broad mentality and mature judgment, he left the impress of his individuality upon the industrial interests of LaSalle county, and while promoting his individual success also contributed materially to the general prosperity.
Mr. Cahill was a native of county Kerry, Ireland, and was one of a family of five children. His parents died on the Emerald Isle. When a young man he determined to seek a home in the New World, believing it offered superior advantages to those whose advancement in life must depend upon labor. In 1837 he arrived in Peru, Illinois, and with this city was identified throughout the remainder of his life. He entered upon his business career in the humble capacity of a wood chopper, but the work was honest and he was industrious and soon better things offered. He began buying and selling wood, and as his financial resources increased extended the field of his labors, until eventually he became quite an extensive dealer in that commodity. In 1853 he also opened a grocery and general mercantile establishment, which he conducted with marked success to the time of his death. For some time he was a director in the Peru National Bank, and gradually, as opportunity for safe investment offered, he became the owner of extensive realty holdings in LaSalle and in some of the southern counties of Illinois. In 1879 he began mining coal, owning the property known as the Cahill coal fields. It was not long before he had built up a thriving trade, and his business necessitated the employment of one hundred and twenty-five men in the mines. He shipped coal in large quantities and at the same time carried on a considerable retail business. Thus year by year
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his capital was augmented until he took rank among the wealthy men of the county, and was regarded as one of the leading factors in business circles in northern Illinois.
In his political views Mr. Cahill was a Democrat and served for several years as a member of the school board of Peru, but never sought office. His membership in the Catholic Benevolent Society of America covered a period of several years, but before joining the organization he exemplified its spirit in his life. He married Miss Johanna Lee, also a native of Ireland, as were her parents; but her father spent his last years in America. Both Mr. and Mrs. Cahill were consistent members of St. Mary's Catholic church, and were numbered among its first parishioners. By their marriage they became the parents of five children, but two of the number have passed away, those living being Catherine, Cornelius J. and John D. Death did not long separate the parents, for Mrs. Cahill died October 21, 1887, and a month later, on the 24th of November, Mr. Cahill departed this life.
Cornelius J. Cahill, the elder son, occupies a leading position in con- nection with the business interests of his native county. He was born in Peru. July 18, 1854, and for forty-five years he has resided on one street. He has long been familiar to the people of the town as one of its oldest, most enterprising and public-spirited citizens, and he has carried forth with ability the work which his father began. He was reared in his native town and acquired his education in the public schools and in the parochial school of the Christian Brothers of that town. During the months of vacation and after leaving school he acted as clerk in his father's store until 1879, when his father began his coal-mining operations, which were afterward developed so extensively. In 1881 Cornelius Cahill assumed the superintendency of the mines, and has since remained in charge, so that the success which has attended this important industrial concern is largely attributable to his management. The company now employs about two hundred men and ships coal throughout Illinois and Iowa and quite extensively in other west- ern states: also handles hard coal in large quantities. While the stockholders in the company have gained a handsome competence from the mines, the industry has also proved a very valuable one to the community, furnishing employment to so large a force of workmen.
On the 5th of November, 1884, Mr. Cahill was united in marriage to Miss Bridget Kirby, daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Berry) Kirby, and they now have three children,-Mary, James and Gertrude. The family are parishioners of St. Mary's Catholic church, of Peru, and in politics Mr. Cahill is a stanch Democrat, well informed on the issues of the day. He is not an office-seeker, however, and has persistently refused to accept several important offices to which he might have been elected without opposition,
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so great is his personal popularity. His time is devoted to his business interests, the superintendence of the mines, and the management of the estate, being one of its trustees, in connection with his brother.
The birth of John D. Cahill occurred during the great civil war, June 23, 1863. He attended the public schools of Peru, his native town, and later pursued his studies in what was then known as the Seminary of Our Lady of Angels, but now called the Niagara University, on account of its location on the bank of the Niagara river, near the suspension bridge, on the Amer- ican side. Well equipped with a good education for the duties of life, Mr. Cahill entered his father's store, where he served as a clerk until his father's death, when he took charge of the financial affairs of the estate, the other trustees being his brother Cornelius and Michael Flaherty. They continue to operate the Cahill coal mines and to carry on the various business enter- prises begun by the father, and the volume of business which they control is an indication of the splendid success which is attending their efforts.
On the IIth of October, 1887, was celebrated the marriage of John D. Cahill and Miss Margaret A. Monks, daughter of Joseph Monks. They have two children, James and Zita. The Cahill family is one of the most prominent in Peru, and in social circles its representatives occupy leading positions. Mr. and Mrs. John Cahill are members of St. Mary's Catholic church and he belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America and the Catholic Order of Foresters. His political support is unwaveringly given the Democ- racy. No name is better known in connection with the coal-mining interests of Illinois than that of Cahill, and in the development of the "black diamond" districts the owners have not only promoted their individual wealth, but have also added to the general prosperity by advancing commercial activity.
JONAH HIBBS.
The subject of this sketch is one of the representative farmers of Grand Rapids township, LaSalle county, Illinois, and has been identified with this place since 1862. A brief review of his life is herewith given:
Jonah Hibbs was born in Red Stone township, Fayette county, Penn- sylvania, February 15, 1844, and has in his veins a mixture of Scotch, Ger- man and English blood. His father, Jonah Hibbs, Sr., was of Scotch and German descent; his mother, whose maiden name was Nancy Jeffries, was of English extraction-both being natives of Fayette county, Pennsyl- vania, the latter born near Uniontown. In their family were six children, namely: Ann Eliza Walters, of Nebraska; Mary Ann Moss, of New Salem, Fayette county, Pennsylvania; Harriet Galligher, of Des Moines, Iowa;
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Clarissa, wife of M. C. Near, died near Des Moines, Iowa; Jacob, who died when young; Lacey, a resident of Grand Ridge, Illinois; and Jonah. The father died in his native county, at the age of sixty-one years; the mother at the time of death was eighty-two. Both were members of the Presby- terian church.
Jonah Hibbs is the youngest of his father's family. His father being a farmer, he was reared to farm life, his youthful days being passed like those of other boys in the neighborhood, working in the field in summer and at- tending the district school in winter. In 1862, at the age of eighteen, he came to Illinois and engaged in farming with his brother Lacey, in LaSalle county, and was associated with him for a period of ten years. His present farm of one hundred and sixty acres, on section 16, Grand Rapids town- ship, he purchased in 1883. This is one of the desirable farms of the town- ship, is well improved with good buildings, fences, etc., and is under a high state of cultivation, devoted to general farming and stock raising.
Mr. Hibbs was married January 24, 1884, to Miss Elsie Wakey, who was born and reared in LaSalle county. Mrs. Hibbs' father, William Wakey, who was a native of Germany, came to this country when a young man and located first in Connecticut, coming later to Illinois and settling in LaSalle county, near Ottawa. He was married in this county, Decem- ber 14, 1844, to Miss Elizabeth Hopple, a native of Perry county, Pennsyl- vania, whose parents, Solomon and Sarah (Cramer) Hopple, came to Illi- nois with their family in 1842 and located on Covel creek, in Grand Rapids township, LaSalle county. William Wakey died in 1886. His wife is still living, a resident of Grand Rapids township. She is a Methodist, as also was her husband. For years he was prominent and active in church work, being a class leader and leader of the choir. In the Wakey family were ten children. Mr. and Mrs. Hibbs have one child, a son, William I., born August 22, 1887. Politically Mr. Hibbs gives his support to the Demo- cratic party, and religiously he and his wife are Presbyterians.
SAMUEL R. LEWIS.
The career of the Hon. Samuel R. Lewis, of Fall River township, is well worthy of emulation. Faithful and devoted to what he has believed to be right and best, he has thereby won and continues to enjoy the friend- ship and genuine regard of every one, as the direct outcome of his noble life. Now, in the eveningtide of his days, he may look back with few re- grets, for he has ever striven to do his whole duty.
The Lewis family originated in Wales, and in 1682 was founded in the
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United States by one Henry Lewis, who lived in a small town in Pembroke- shire. After reaching America he lived in Chester county, Pennsylvania, on the west bank of the Delaware river, and was a personal friend of William Penn, who had emigrated to this country in 1681. The family of Henry Lewis, at the time that he came to America, comprised his wife Margaret, two sons and a daughter, and his aged father, Evan Lewis. The grand- father of Mr. Lewis wedded a Miss Hogue, a member of the Society of Friends.
The parents of S. R. Lewis were Jehu and Rachel (Mills) Lewis, the former born in 1781, in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and the latter, likewise a native of the Keystone state, was the daughter of Henry Mills, a Quaker. For many years after their marriage Jehu Lewis and his wife re- sided in Washington county, Pennsylvania, but in 1833 they removed with their family to Putnam county, Illinois. They settled on what was then called Clear creek, and in 1855 the father was summoned to the silent land. The wife and mother survived many years, dying in April, 1874, when she was laid to rest beside her husband in the Quaker cemetery at Clear Creek, Putnam county.
Samuel R. Lewis was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, Jan- uary 12, 1818, and there spent his early years. A very important step in his life was taken, January 1, 1842, when he married Miss Ann Eliza Har- ley, born June 13, 1820, in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Rudolph Harley. About a year after his marriage Mr. Lewis removed to the homestead on section 21, Fall River township, which has since been his place of abode. His first purchase was a quarter section of canal land, and, as it was wild prairie. it had to be broken with the plow. In due time industry and persevering toil brought their reward, and Mr. Lewis long ago was considered one of the rich and influential citizens of his town- ship. He invested in more land, from time to time, until he owned six hundred and forty acres. His homestead is finely equipped with substan- tial buildings and all modern conveniences for farming, and on the north side of the road which divides his land there is a splendid growth of timber, and a spring of pure water, which flows freely at all seasons, unaffected by the most severe droughts.
By the union of Samuel R. Lewis and his wife four sons were born,- sons of whom they have just reason to be proud. William R., the eldest, married Miss Ellen Eichelburger, and is a successful farmer and the present supervisor of Grand Rapids township, LaSalle county; Edward C., the sec- ond son, is an attorney at law of Chicago. He was born in LaSalle county, October 5, 1845, and acquired his literary education at Lake Forest, Chi- cago University and Wheaton College. Determining to enter the legal pro-
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fession, he was graduated in 1865 in the Cincinnati Law School. For five years he practiced law, and for twenty years he was engaged in stock raising and breeding thoroughbred cattle and horses. For twelve years he served as a member of the board of supervisors of LaSalle county, and during one- half of that period was chairman of the board. From 1882 until 1890 he was a member of the state board of agriculture of Illinois, and for about three years, from 1882 until 1885, was railway and warehouse commissioner of this state. In 1869 he married Miss Nellie A. Armstrong, daughter of Joel W. Armstrong, of Deer Park township, LaSalle county, and they now have three children: Mrs. Mabel Lewis Kitchen, of Kansas City, Missouri; Samuel R., also of Kansas City; and Julia Isabel, who is still with her parents. Mr. Lewis is now associated with John H. Kitchen in a busi- ness conducted under the name of the American Warming & Ventilating Company, which deals in modern heating apparatus, having a large factory and office in Chicago and a branch office in Kansas City, Missouri. Charles Lewis, the third son of the family, is a graduate of Oberlin College, at Ober- lin, Ohio. He studied law in the office of the firm of Cook, Lawrence & Campbell, of Chicago, and after being admitted to the bar removed to Fergus Falls, Minnesota, where he practiced law for several years, and also served for one term as county attorney. Removing to Duluth, Minnesota, he was elected circuit judge of that district, and has recently been elected to the supreme court of Minnesota. The duties of the office he will assume on the Ist of January, 1900. Samuel Morris Lewis, the youngest of the fam- ily, now has the management of the home farm. He wedded Miss Mary Thomas, daughter of Colonel John Thomas, of Belleville, Illinois, and they have two children: John M. and Sherman, who are students in the Ottawa high school.
The public services of S. R. Lewis have been marked, redounding great- ly to his credit. In 1857 he was elected to the important position of treas- urer of LaSalle county, in which capacity he served for four years, discharg- ing his duties to the entire satisfaction of all concerned. In 1878 he was elected to represent his county in the state senate, and served through two regular and one extra session. During that time he was a member of several important committees and was chairman of the committee on rail- roads and canals. At various times he has acted as supervisor of his town- ship and occupied the important position of chairman of the county board for four years. To the principles of the Republican party he has been loyal ever since its organization. His first presidential vote was cast in 1840 for James G. Birney, the Abolition candidate. He was a delegate to the convention which organized the Republican party in Illinois, in 1854, and has since taken a deep interest and active part in political affairs, but has
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not stooped to the political chicanery which is, alas! too common at the present day; on the contrary, he has not sought office, and made no slight sacrifice of his personal wishes and inclinations when he assumed the duties to which he was called by his friends and neighbors. Honorable in busi- ness, reliable in positions of public trust, loyal in citizenship, faithful in friendship, over the record of his life falls no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil.
FRANCIS M. FISHBURN.
Francis M. Fishburn, one of the respected citizens of LaSalle county, Illinois, for nearly half a century, was born April 9, 1836, the son of Jacob Fishburn and grandson of Deterich Fishburn, the latter a soldier in the war of 1812. Jacob Fishburn was a native of Middletown, Pennsylvania. He married Miss Catherine Murray, daughter of Francis Murray, who was of Scotch descent, and in 1840 Mr. and Mrs. Fishburn came west, making the journey, as was the custom in those days, by team. In 1840 Mr. Fish- burn settled in LaSalle county, and here passed the rest of his life and died, his age at death being seventy years. By trade he was a cooper. His good wife lived to the ripe age of seventy-five years. Both were members of the Lutheran church. Of their seven children we record that four are now living, namely: Francis M., whose name forms the heading of this sketch; America, wife of G. W. Klive; Margaret, wife of James Smith; and Benjamin, a resident of South Ottawa. Of those deceased one died in in- fancy, and the other two, James and William, died at the ages of four and two years, respectively.
Francis M. Fishburn, the direct subject of this review, was a child of four years when brought west by his parents from Pennsylvania. His youth- ful days were passed in assisting his father on the farm and in attending during the winter months the public school. On reaching manhood he engaged in farming on his own account and has devoted his energies to agricultural pursuits ever since. He has a fine farm of two hundred and forty acres, well stocked and improved with first-class buildings, the resi- dence surrounded with shade trees. Everything about the premises, build- ings, fences, etc., and well-cultivated fields, all go to stamp the owner as a man of thrift and enterprise, up-to-date in his farming ideas.
Mr. Fishburn was married in 1861 to Miss Caroline Hogaboom, daugli- ter of John and Abigail Hogaboom, early settlers of this country. She died in 1873, leaving four children, namely: George H., a resident of Prairie Center township, LaSalle county; Catherine, wife of P. Woods, of Prairie Center township; Francis M., and Harry S., both of Prairie Center town-
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ship. By this marriage there were two other children, deceased: James B. and William, who died at the ages of thirteen and eight years respect- ively. In 1882 Mr. Fishburn married for his second wife Miss Sarah E. Kain, daughter of William and Catherine (Snyder) Kain. Mr. and Mrs. Kain were natives of Pennsylvania. Mr. Kain died in Pulaski county, Illinois, at the age of seventy-two years, and Mrs. Kain is still living, her home being in Ottawa, Illinois, and her age, at this writing, eighty-eight years. In the Kain family were twelve children, six sons and six daughters, nine of whom are now living, viz .: George, of this county; Jacob, who was a soldier in the civil war, a member of the Twenty-sixth Illinois Infantry Volunteers; Catherine, wife of Wallace Herdon, of Ottawa; Sarah, wife of F. M. Fishburn; America, wife of J. A. Townsend, of Ottawa; Joseph, a veteran of the civil war, and now a resident of Jefferson, Arkansas; Simon, a resident of Ottawa; Florence, wife of George Lewis, of Ottawa; and Mar- tin, also of Ottawa. The deceased members were Mary, wife of Andrew Bach, of Ottawa; Eliza, wife of Frank Frost; and William, a soldier in the One Hundred and Fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry in the civil war, who was killed in the battle of Missionary Ridge.
Mr. Fishburn is politically a Democrat, and fraternally a Mason. A genial, cordial man, he has many friends throughout the county.
GEORGE D. LADD.
George Dana Ladd, one of Peru's most honored and distinguished citi- zens, and for more than two score years connected with numerous local industries and enterprises of this place, came from fine old Puritan stock, and was the embodiment of many of the best traits of that hardy, brave, God-fearing race who nobly withstood the hardships, dangers and privations of bleak New England.
On the 24th of March, 1633, as the old records show, one Daniel Ladd sailed for America from England; and in the archives of Ipswich may be seen a deed executed to this worthy man entitling him to six acres of ground. Later he was one of the founders of Salisbury and Haverhill, Massachusetts, his death occurring in the town last mentioned. July 27, 1693. He had eight children, of whom the sixth, Nathaniel. had seven children. The eldest was Nathaniel, and his third son, Edward, married Catherine Thing. That worthy couple had a son, Edward, and a son who received his mother's maiden name. Thing. Thing Ladd was the father of fourteen children, of whom Edward, the ninth, married Sophia Gookin.
George Dana Ladd, the fourth child of Edward and Sophia Ladd, was born in Peacham, Caledonia county, Vermont. June 15. 1833. His father
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was a thrifty farmer, influential and highly respected in his community; and the mother, whose educational advantages had been better than her hus- band's, was a woman of exceptional ability. She died February 26, 1849, and soon after that sad event our subject left home. Joining his brother Leonard, in Cincinnati, Ohio, they both clerked in a book-store, but within a month after he landed in that city George D. Ladd found that his services as a nurse' were in requisition, as his brother was stricken with the cholera. Though the young man survived, they concluded to return to the old Ver- mont homestead, that his health might be fully restored.
Agriculture was not well suited to the rather delicate constitution of our subject in his early manhood; indeed, it was commonly believed that he would die with consumption sooner or later. Always a great student, he learned many of his lessons while guiding the plow, and after leaving the district schools he attended the academy, during the winter seasons, at Danville Green, and was successfully engaged in teaching for several terms. He then took up the study of law, was admitted to the bar in 1855, and at once started west to found a home and embark upon his career. For a brief time he resided in Racine, Wisconsin, and there formed the acquaintance of Judge Blanchard, now of Ottawa, whose advice had great weight in induc- ing him to locate in Peru. Coming here in 1856, he established an office and soon had won favorable notice as a lawyer. Naturally he was not fond of legal wars and litigation, and as the years passed his friends were not sur- prised that he gradually dropped out of practice and more and more turned his attention to his various financial investments and outside interests. He was one of the prime movers in the incorporation of the Illinois Valley & Northern Railroad, now a part of the Burlington system, and in its subse- quent construction. His invaluable services in this matter have resulted to the lasting benefit of Peru, and had he accomplished nothing else for the welfare of this locality his name would deserve to live in the annals of the county.
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