USA > Illinois > LaSalle County > Biographical and genealogical record of La Salle County, Illinois, Volume II > Part 19
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AUSTIN SANDERSON.
Austin Sanderson, one of the substantial and wealthy citizens of Leland, LaSalle county, was born in Norway, August 14, 1836, and was a son of Hely and Adalaide (Knutson) Sanderson, both natives of that country. They were the parents of three sons and three daughters: Sander H., who died in 1881: Lavina, a resident of Leland; Knute, who died in 1899, aged sixty-nine years; Margaret, who died in 1897, aged sixty-one; Austin, our subject; and Ellen, of Leland. In 1843 they came to this country with their family, landing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from which place they went to Muskego, that state, and from there came to this county, to Earl town- ship, where Mrs. Sanderson had a brother residing, making the latter part of the journey on foot. The father entered forty acres of government land in Earl township, upon which a small. rude house was built and into this the family moved and made their home. He purchased an adjoining forty
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and placed it all under cultivation, living upon it at his death in 1855, at the age of sixty-one years. His widow continued to make her home on this property until 1887, when she joined her husband in the better land, after a long and useful life of eighty-four years.
Austin Sanderson was seven years of age when the family came to this country, and he was reared to farm work, attending the common school during the short winter months. He worked with his father until the death of the latter and two years later he bought the old homestead, which he still owns, and has added adjoining land until it now contains one hun- dred and ninety acres. He has been a most successful farmer and has con- tinued to add to his possessions until he now owns seven hundred and seventy acres in Earl and Freedom townships, the Munson farm being one of the pieces. He has made most of his money by agriculture and kept at that business until 1891, when he moved to Leland and engaged in the clothing business for five years, under the firm name of Sanderson & Farley. He then sold out to his partner and the following year conducted a grocery in company with Martin Olson. He disposed of this business also and since then has not been actively engaged in any business.
He is a stanch Republican and has been on the school board, using his best efforts to further the cause of education. During 1898-99 he was the president of the board of trustees. He has been a hard-working man and knows what a day's work is, never shirking the task before him, and only after years of toil did he consent to take life easier. He is a member of the Norwegian Evangelical church and a member of the building com- mittee when their beautiful house of worship was erected in Leland, and he was one of the most liberal contributors to the building fund.
RALPH E. KEMBER.
The farming industry of Serena township, LaSalle county, has in the subject of this sketch, Ralph E. Kember, an enterprising factor,-a young man upon whom early devolved the care of a farm and who has always proved himself equal to every emergency.
Mr. Kember was born June 14, 1863, in the town of Serena, Illinois, a son of the well-known and much respected pioneer, William Kember. The feeble health of the latter caused him, while yet in the prime of life and while his son Ralph was a boy in his teens, to relinquish the active duties of the farm, and they naturally fell to the son, who, upon the father's death, be- came the head of the establishment. He was then nineteen. Two years
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later his mother died. He has continued to reside upon the home place and successfully conduct its operations, and has never been absent from home for any length of time except on two occasions, once making a trip to Michigan and at another time to Canada. His efforts as a farmer have met with that reward that wisdom and industry combined always bring, and he is thus ranked as one of the thrifty and successful men of his town- ship.
Mr. Kember was married June 22, 1892, in Freedom, Illinois, to Ann E., a daughter of William Dolder and wife, nee Morsch. Mr. Dolder died some years ago, leaving the following named children: Herman; Mrs. Kember: Louise, wife of E. A. Stoetzel, of Chicago; and William Dolder, of Freedom. The widowed mother is also a resident of the village of Freedom. Mr. and Mrs. Kember have three children, namely: Delbert William, born August 31, 1893; Winnie Esther, born May 20, 1895; and Rachel Norma, born February 12, 1897.
Mr. Kember is a member of the Republican party. At present he is the incumbent of the constable's office, and sees that peace and order are maintained in Serena. Both Mr. and Mrs. Kember are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, holding their membership at Zion Hill, Serena township; and he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America.
JOHN N. LEE.
John Nathaniel Lee, the postmaster and leading merchant of the vil- lage of Triumph, LaSalle county, is a native of Detroit, Michigan, born May 24, 1843. His father, Joseph Lee, was an Englishman, born in the city of London in 1818. In 1836, at the age of eighteen, he left his native land and sought his fortune in America, stopping first in New York city. By trade he was a marble cutter. He did some fine work in New York and in the cemetery at Brooklyn. Also he worked on the capitol at Wash- ington, D. C. Finally he came west to Michigan and for a number of years made his home in Detroit. He died in Black River. New York, in 1888. His wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Amesbury, is also deceased. Their children besides John N., the subject of this sketch, were as follows: Ann. who married James Fitzgerald: Sarah, who was twice married, her first husband being Oscar Kennedy and whose present husband is Henry Weich; Joseph, deceased; George. of Triumph, Illinois; William, deceased; Frank, of Beatrice, Nebraska; Mary, wife of Joseph Graves, of Black River, New York: and Agnes, deceased.
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John N. Lee became self-supporting at an early age. When he was only seven years old he was an errand boy in a clothing establishment. At twelve years he became an apprentice to the painter's trade. Contact with the paints and oils being injurious to his health, he turned from this to the carpenter's trade, at which he served an apprenticeship of three years. He was working at the carpenter's bench when the civil war was inaugu- rated. Dropping the saw and hammer in August, 1862, he offered his ser- vices to his country, enlisting as a member of Company D, Tenth New York Volunteers, his brigade forming a part of the Army of the Potomac. He was a participant in much of the hard fighting of the war. While in the service he lost an eye and had his health shattered, the result being much physical suffering during all the years which have followed. He was honorably discharged at Washington, D. C., February 21, 1865.
At the close of the war Mr. Lee came to Illinois, and for a few years worked at his trade at Odell. He engaged then in selling goods, located one year in Streator, Illinois, and one year in Clinton, Iowa. Returning to Illinois, he settled in the village of Prairie Center, LaSalle county, where for a dozen years he conducted a successful business, dating from 1872, when he purchased the stock and good will of John Bowman. At the end of twelve years he sold out and went to Colorado for the benefit of his wife's health. She died December 20, 1886. In August, 1887, he opened a store in Triumph, and has since been the principal merchant of the village and done a successful business.
Mr. Lee was married at Odell, Illinois, in 1866, to Miss Olive Moore, a daughter of Alvin Moore and wife, nee Russell, who were natives of the state of Maine. The fruits of their union were two children, namely: Guy, who married Amanda Wallace, and is a partner in the store with his father; and Eva Grace. Both son and daughter had good educational advantages, the former being a graduate of the Ottawa high school and a business col- lege at Holton, Kansas; while the latter was educated in the Illinois State Normal School. Mr. Lee's present wife was Mrs. Frances Norwood Tharp, whom he married at Hornellsville, New York, February 21, 1889.
Politically Mr. Lee is an ardent Republican.
LEWIS T. THOMPSON.
Lewis T. Thompson, one of the most prominent and substantial busi- ness men of Leland. LaSalle county, is a native of that village, having been born there August 5. 1866. He is a son of Thomas F. Thompson, a pioneer citizen here, and was reared to manhood and received his primary educa-
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tion in the public schools. He then accepted a clerkship in the hardware store of Hovda & Johnson, where he remained five years, gaining much valuable experience, which was afterward turned to good account when he engaged in business for himself. He now felt that a commercial education was necessary for a successful business career, and went to Chicago, where he took a complete course in one of the best business colleges of that city. He then clerked for a short time for Stark Brothers, general merchants of Chicago, when he went to Pullman as head clerk in the hardware establish- · ment of L. H. Johnson. The grocery business appeared to offer induce- ments to a man who possessed push and energy to carry it on and he engaged in that for about two years, but finally sold out and secured a position with L. Franklin, of Franklin Park, with whom he remained until ·1893, when he returned to the home of his childhood and opened a general store in partnership with Andrew Hayer, under the style of Hayer & Thompson. This partnership continued until 1896, when the business was disposed of and Mr. Thompson engaged in business by himself, opening a stock of general merchandise and adding furnace and plumbing material. He has worked up a lucrative business and has contributed materially to the prosperity of Leland in pushing his own trade. It is a matter of gratifi- cation that the city possesses a man whose business propensities and enter- prising spirit have brought it into the notice of the surrounding country and called here an outside trade that has added to the general prosperity.
Mr. Thompson was married in the fall of 1889 to Miss Linda Jacobson, a daughter of Thomas Jacobson, an old settler of this vicinity, and five children have been born to them, two of whom have been taken to the better world to await the happy reunion. Mr. Thompson is a Republican and has been on the county committee of that party, giving unstinted support to their success. He has been a member of the village board of trustees and was elected supervisor of Adams township in 1896, and re-elected in 1898. He is a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, the Modern Wood- men of America and the Knights of the Globe. His prosperity has been accomplished by untiring perseverance and industry, combined with strict. honorable dealings, and has caused him to be regarded with admiration and respect by every one.
STEPHEN D. ELWELL.
Stephen Douglas Elwell. one of the enterprising citizens of the town of Serena, LaSalle county, was born in this place. November 4. 1859. The circumstances of his birth caused him to become identified with the farm
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from his infancy, and his early training was entirely rural. He spent two years in the Sugar Grove Normal School, in addition to his elementary training in the district school at home. This training furnished him with the proper equipment for meeting the affairs of life intelligently and with confidence.
October 6, 1879, he was united in marriage to Minnie, the daughter of Adolph McInturf and wife, which latter couple was an early family in the settlement of Serena and came from Ohio. Mr. Elwell began life on the old homestead and his success the past twenty years has been such as to warrant him in feeling well satisfied with his efforts. His farm of more than two hundred acres is one of the prize farms on the west branch of the "Big Indian" and he keeps it in prime condition.
To acquaint the reader with something concerning the family history of the subject at hand. it should be stated that the Elwells came to LaSalle county in 1841. The father was Samuel B. Elwell, who was born in Hard- wick, Massachusetts, July 24, 1821. His father (our subject's grandfather) was Stillman Elwell, and he moved his family to Iowa the same year that Samuel B. settled in Northville town, LaSalle county, Illinois. He died in Wright county, Iowa. In 1843 Samuel B. settled and improved the farm upon which our subject now resides and is there spending his declining years. William Elwell. of Charles City, Iowa, is a brother of Samuel B. Elwell, and Mrs. Sophia Brooks, a sister. died there. Samuel B. Elwell married, in LaSalle county, January 1. 1846, Elizabeth Dolph, whose father, Orson Dolph, came from Crawford county, Pennsylvania, to LaSalle county. Three of the five children by this union are living, viz .: Dr. Mila B., who married Dr. Preston Sharp and with her husband resides and practices medicine in Madison, Wisconsin: Evaline, deceased, who married Elza Beardsley; Dr. Adaline, the wife of Arthur Portman, of Washington. D. C .: Jessie C., deceased, who married Joe Gregg, of Freedom, Illinois, and Stephen D., our subject. Stephen D.'s children are Jed F., Fred H., Grace, Maud, Delbert. Myra and Clair.
Early in life, Mr. Elwell demonstrated a fondness for music and was so infatuated with it that he took up its study, both vocal and instrumental. The violin possessed the greatest charm for him and he made himself master of the theory of correct execution and acquired a degree of excellence as a performer seldom found in the rural districts. He organized an orchestra of stringed instruments some years ago, which attained notoriety, and was in frequent demand in all the surrounding towns.
Politically, Mr. Elwell is a Republican. His ancestors were Democrats until the civil war, but then even the patriotism of Stephen A. Douglas was no longer a panacea for the ills of Democracy. Mr. Elwell has filled
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nearly the whole list of town offices, is a frequent and regular attendant upon county conventions of his party and is regarded as one of the influential men of his town.
WILLIAM P. WARREN.
Among the representative citizens and leading farmers of Serena town- ship, LaSalle county. none perhaps is better known or more highly re- spected than the subject of this sketch, William Perry Warren.
Mr. Warren is a son of one of the early pioneers of LaSalle county, Nathan Warren. Nathan Warren was born in the state of Maine, in the year 1806, a son of Samuel Warren, also a native of that state: emigrated to New York state with his parents when a child, and in 1836, accompanied by his family, came west to Illinois, making the journey hither by wagon, spending a month en route and landing in safety at his destination, Serena township. LaSalle county, October 20. He bought land from the govern- ment. in section 8, and here improved a farm and reared his family. Con- sidering the many obstacles he had to encounter incident to life in a new locality while he improved and cultivated his farm and supplied the wants of a family, his success was remarkable. He had little or no advantages for obtaining an education in his youth, and it was not until he was the head of a family that he learned to read and write, then being taught to do so by his wife. Later in life a great reader. well informed on the topics of the day, and possessing a strong individuality, he became a potent factor in the pioneer locality. On all political matters he entertained decided views. The Morgan incident made him a radical anti-Mason man and the slavery question found him on the side of the most intense abolitionists. When the Republican party was organized he identified himself with it and became one of the leading Republicans in Serena township, which from time to time he served in various official capacities, always promoting the best interests of the public. In every sense of the word he was a Christian gentleman, and was a member of the old "close communion" Baptist church. He died in Serena, in 1886. Of his family, we record that his first wife, whose maiden name was Lydia Baxter, was the daughter of Connecticut parents. She died in 1846. Subsequently he married Maria Lester. The children of the first marriage were named William P., Fannie M. and Lucien L. The daughter is married and lives in Ottawa. Illinois, and the son Lucien is a resident of Galesburg. this state. There were four daughters by the second marriage, all now deceased, namely: Laura and Emily; Mary, the wife of Almon Bristol; and Florence, wife of Elmer Perkins.
Returning now to the immediate subject of this sketch, William P.
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Warren, we find that he was born in Madison county, New York. June 28, 1828, and was eight years old when he accompanied his parents to Illinois. In the pioneer schools of the locality in which they settled he re- ceived his early training. He relates an incident of his experience as a school-boy calculated to undeceive the modern youth as to the actual conditions under which the pioneer boys and girls of the west were edu- cated. Many of the early schools were kept in dwellings that had been abandoned or for any reason were unoccupied, and in this instance a double
log house was being used by the school. One night it rained and some roaming cattle took shelter on the porch connecting the two buildings. One of the animals found the leather latch-string and began chewing it, which caused the door to open, and in walked the cows and took posses- sion of the school-room! Books were scattered about the room and there were other evidences that cattle were not the tidiest housekeepers in the world. The puncheon floor had a passage through to the cellar and one of the cows found its way thither, where it was found by our subject the next morning when he went to school! The children of the closing days of the nineteenth century are scarcely able to imagine that very many such incidents, and even more laughable ones, actually occurred where now are to be found such modern and greatly superior accommodations and appli- ances for their instruction.
On reaching manhood Mr. Warren continued in the occupation in which he had been reared, that of farming, and settled down to it in earnest after his return from the Pacific coast, whither he went in quest of gold. It was March 20, 1850, that he started for California. This journey he made across the plains, by caravan, and after five months of weary travel he landed in "Hangtown," now Placerville, California, where he began work as a prospector. While he did not. in the language of the miner, "strike it rich," in the course of two years he got enough of the shining metal together to pay for a large piece of the land he now owns. He returned home by the way of the Nicaragua route, purchased the partial swamp that is now so well improved and so tillable, and has been a suc- cessful farmer ever since. The prairies of Illinois in their wild state were full of "rattlers" and it was a continuous battle between the snake and the settler as to supremacy. The ground was rife with them in the spring. the fields were overrun with them in summer and the meadows were guarded by them in the autumn. While stacking wheat on a chilly day one season, these pests (having secreted there for warmth) would fall out of the bundles upon Mr. Warren's head or be thrown from the load by his father to be killed by the son, and on that particular day he killed twenty! He says he never let a snake get away that he saw. heard or smelled!
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Mr. Warren has ever been a Republican in politics, interested in the success of his party and the general good of his township and county. He has filled the office of deputy county surveyor, which business he acquired while acting as assistant for Surveyor Brumback many years ago. He makes plans for bridges and other structures requiring the services of a civil engineer, and has acquired an excellent reputation for his work in this line.
During the latter part of the civil war Mr. Warren was in the Union army ten months; was stationed at Mobile, Alabama, as a member of the Forty-seventh Illinois Infantry, and saw the surrender of Fort Blakely. At the close of the war he received an honorable discharge and returned to his home.
At the age of twenty-six years Mr. Warren was united in marriage to Miss Delia A., daughter of Samuel Flint, of Ohio. She died March 7, 1893. To this union we record the birth of these children, namely: Marion A .. the eldest: Horace, who married Lyda Roe: Geneva (deceased), who was the wife of John Woolsey: Lewis E., who married Helga Holmba; and Harry and Sherman, both single and still at home. In 1894 Mr. Warren married for a second wife Mrs. Louise Granteer, nee Dann, of Pennsyl- vania birth.
JOHN GOEDTNER.
For many years a resident of Mendota. Illinois, and prominently identi- fied with the financial interests of this city, is found the subject of this sketch, John Goedtner. As the name indicates, Mr. Goedtner is of German origin. He was born in Wallroth, burgermeisterei Asbach, bezirk Coblenz, Germany, February 10, 1849, a son of John M. and Margaretha (Erlen- born) Goedtner, and one of a family of eleven children, six sons and five daughters, only three of whom are now living .- John; Heinrich, of Buch- holz, Westerwald, Germany; and Anton, of Mendota. Illinois. Both parents, farmers, lived and died in Germany .- the father in August, 1893. at the age of seventy-three years, and the mother in May, 1895, at the age of sixty-seven years. Both were Catholics. The father filled various minor offices in his town, and, as is the custom in that country, served a term in the army. During the war in Baden his command was called as a reserve, but immediately thereafter the war was declared at an end. Going back further in the history of the family, we find that the paternal grand- father of our subject was John Goedtner, also a farmer, who died in Ger-
John Fordthen
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many, at the age of seventy-one years. His family was composed of five sons and one daughter. The maternal grandfather of Mr. Goedtner was Kasper Erlenborn. He was a grocer, baker and tavern-keeper, and the government contractor to furnish bread to the starving poor during the famine of 1847 and 1849. His age also was seventy-one at the time of death, which occurred in 1871, at Mendota, Illinois, to which place he had come in 1858. In his family were eleven children.
John Goedtner came to America in November, 1866, a youth in his 'teens, equipped with a fair education and ambitious to make his way in the world. He came direct to Mendota, Illinois, and as a clerk entered the employ of his uncles, Anton, John Michael, Gottfried, Philip and Mark Erlenborn. His uncle Philip is the only one of these now living. At that time they were engaged in a grocery, crockery and saloon business, which they continued for several years, and in connection therewith they started the Germania Bank, in 1874. In the meantime, in 1873, the subject of our sketch went to Chicago, where he spent two years, the first six months as a student in Bryant and Stratton's Business College, and the second year as a bookkeeper for James S. Kirk & Company, soap manufacturers. Returning to Mendota in 1875, he was made cashier of the Germania Bank, which position he filled up to December, 1876, also during that time acting as general overseer in his uncle's store. In 1876, after his uncle Anton died, he became a partner in the bank with John M., the firm being Erlenborn & Goedtner until July 1, 1877, when it was succeeded by Madden & Goedtner, the present firm style.
Mr. Goedtner resides in a pleasant home on the corner of Washington street and Wisconsin avenue, in which block he has lived since 1879. He was married February 25, 1879. to Miss Mary L. Clinefelter, daughter of Finderan Clinefelter and wife, nee Jacobs. They have four children, Anna L., Ida M., Justin T. B. and Theresia. Both he and his wife are members of the Catholic church, and with a number of social and other organizations he is prominently identified. He is president of the Germania Society, and for a number of years from 1875 was its secretary. Also he is president of the Germania Gesang Verein. Politically, he harmonizes with the Demo- cratic party, and has served as city treasurer of Mendota, to which office he was elected for the fourth time and is at present deputy city treasurer. In 1894 he was nominated by acclamation for LaSalle county treasurer on the Democratic ticket. but was defeated for the office, his party being in the minority, but he made a creditable race, holding even more than the full strength of his party. An important enterprise of Mendota with which Mr. Goedtner is connected is the Mendota Light and Heat Com- pany. of which he is president. Much more might be said of the active,
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