USA > Illinois > LaSalle County > Biographical and genealogical record of La Salle County, Illinois, Volume II > Part 26
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Mr. Downs bears an enviable reputation for integrity and uprightness in all the varied relationships of life. He is a member of the Uniformed Rank of the Knights of Pythias, and has many friends in the organization. For years he has been sent as a delegate to political conventions, local and general, and has kept well posted on party tactics and plans of campaign work.
MICHAEL J. FLAHERTY.
Michael J. Flaherty, the genial and courteous postmaster and merchant of Baker, LaSalle county, is well and favorably known throughout the county as a man of energy and push whose residence in this state has been marked by an industry and energy that have brought him to the road to prosperity. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts. December 28, 1842, and is a son of Michael and Bridget (Flaherty) Flaherty. Both parents were born in Ireland and were there married, coming to the United States in 1831 and settling in Boston, where the mother died in 1852. and four years later the father and five of the children came west and located at Serena, this county. He purchased land, which was taken in charge by his son Martin and converted into valuable property. The children of Michael Flaherty were two sons and four daughters: Martin, deceased; Sarah. de- ceased; Margaret: Ellen: Kate and Michael. The father died in Serena in 1888 and his remains were taken back to the east and placed beside his wife at Bunker Hill. Martin Flaherty was a successful man of business and well liked by those who knew him. He resided at Serena and was a supervisor for fourteen years, moving to Ottawa, where he was again elected supervisor. He was a Democrat in his political affiliation and died at Ottawa in 1892, aged sixty-six years. He was unmarried.
Michael J. Flaherty remained behind to attend school in Boston, when his father and family came west. in 1856. but in the course of about two
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years he followed them to LaSalle county. He worked on the farm until 1893 and then lived in Leland five years more, when he came to Baker and opened a store of general merchandise. He was appointed the postmaster of Leland in 1893 and served four years and a half, and during that time was elected the president of the town board. He was appointed to the office of postmaster in Baker in December, 1897, and the following year was elected a justice of the peace. He is one of the workers among the Repub- lican ranks, and renders the party valuable aid in their local elections. He is a member of the Roman Catholic church and belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America, the Knights of the Globe, the Home Forum and the Foresters. In 1872 Mr. Flaherty married Kate Calvy, who died seven years later, leaving a son, Martin, who died one year afterward. He was mar- ried a second time, in 1881, to Miss Eliza A. DeBolt, a daughter of John DeBolt, one of the oldest settlers of LaSalle county, who came here as early as 1832. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Flaherty has been blessed by the birth of four children: Martin (Ist), who died in his seventh year, Haroid, Martin (2d) and Mary.
GEORGE A. CAMPBELL.
As his name indicates, George A. Campbell, of Ottawa, comes of Scotch-Irish ancestry. His father, Hugh Campbell, was born in the city of Belfast, in the northern part of Ireland, and in his early manhood he came to the United States. At first he resided in New York state, where he married Miss Nancy Polls, a native of Orange county. Later he removed with his family to Michigan, and throughout his active life he devoted his attention to farming. At the time of his death he had reached the extreme age of eighty-seven years. His widow is still living and makes her home with her youngest son. Joseph R., in Clinton county, Michigan. The three eldest sons of this worthy couple. James, Chester and Robert W., were heroes of the civil war, nobly upholding the Union in its time of peril. Chester was wounded in one of the numerous battles in which he participated, and for six months was a captive in a Confederate prison. Thomas, a railroad conductor, whose home is in Frankfort, Indiana, and three children, who have passed to the silent land. complete the family.
George A. Campbell, whose name forms the caption of this sketch, was born near Newburg, Orange county, New York. September 6, 1848, and was reared to farm life. In his boyhood he accompanied the family in its re- moval to Michigan, where he experienced the vicissitudes of pioneer life, and in order to pursue his education was often obliged to walk two miles to school. When a young man he came to Ottawa, where he remained for
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several years. In 1880 he went to Montana, where he spent about four years, but returning here at the end of that period, he located his place with the intention of remaining permanently. On the Ist of July, 1887, he was appointed to his present position as mail carrier and delivery clerk, and has made a desirable record for efficiency and faithfulness. In his political con- victions he is a Democrat, as was his father before him.
In October, 1874, occurred an important event in the life of George A. Campbell, as at that time his marriage to Miss Lizzie Cross was solemnized in Ottawa. Mrs. Campbell is a native of Wayne county, New York, and is a daughter of Jairus Cross. Louise, the only daughter of our subject and wife, is employed by J. E. Scott & Company; and Norman D., the only son, is at home, attending the local school. The pleasant home of the family is at No. 635 Chapel street, in the eastern part of the town. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell and their children are members of the Congregational church, lending their influence to the support of religion, morality, temper- ance and all that makes a community prosperous.
GEORGE E. WILLS.
George E. Wills, a prosperous and public-spirited citizen of Troy Grove township, LaSalle county, is one of the early settlers of this locality, and for forty-three years he has been engaged in agricultural pursuits in this vicinity. He has seen the development of the county almost from its wild state, and has himself broken prairie and improved tracts of land which gave little promise of the wealth that proper cultivation was to evolve from the soil.
A son of George and Mary (Watts) Wills, both natives of Somerset- shire, England, our subject was born March 22, 1836, in Michigan, and, with his little sister, Mary, was left motherless at a tender age, in the year 1838. The father, who was a carpenter and mechanic, returned to England, where his death took place in 1847. He was a son of Richard Wills, who likewise was a carpenter and who lived to a ripe age, dying in England, where he had been a life-long resident. He had but two children. The maternal grandfather of our subject also lived and died in that country.
George E. Wills was reared at a place about twenty-eight miles dis- tant from Detroit, Michigan, and resided in that city also for a short period, prior to his seventeenth year. He was early thrown upon his own resources, and may truly be termed a self-made man. About 1853 he went to New Brighton, Pennsylvania, a town some thirty miles northwest of Pittsburg, and there learned the trade of plasterer. Later he attended school at North
Craig To Mills
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Sewickley, and by earnest study qualified himself for teaching. In 1854 he went to Jackson county, Iowa, where he worked on farms during the summer and taught school in the winter season. At the end of thirteen months he came to Mendota, and here he assisted James Henderson in establishing a seminary, in which he also became a student.
It was in 1856 that Mr. Wills permanently turned his attention to agri- culture. For two years he carried on a rented farm west of the limits of Men- dota, and then leased a place south of the town and adjoining his present homestead on the south. That land was wild prairie, and for sixteen years Mr. Wills cultivated the place, which soon bore little resemblance to its original condition. In 1874 he bought the homestead which has been the scene of his endeavors for a quarter of a century. In addition to this place, which he greatly improved, building a substantial house, barns, granaries and fences, he owns another farm, of one hundred and sixty acres, situated four miles north of Mendota, in the township of the same name.
During the past two years Mr. Wills has been the president of the Mendota Union Fair Association, of which he had served as a director for a number of years previously. For twelve years he has acted in the capacity of road commissioner, and was township assessor for one term, discharging his duties to the full satisfaction of every one concerned. He is a stanch Republican, and fraternally is identified with Mendota Lodge, No. 176, A. F. & A. M .: Mendota Chapter, No. 79, R. A. M .; and Bethany Com- mandery, No. 28, K. T.
In 1862 Mr. Wills married Mary, daughter of Slocum and Matilda Bunker. Jennie M., their first-born, became the wife of the Rev. W. H. Clatworthy, a Presbyterian minister, and has been called to the better land. James S., the eldest son, is in the west for the improvement of his health. George A., who married Miss Belle Garwood, is financially interested in the Stockholm Manufacturing Company, of Chicago, in which city he makes his home. Oscar T. married Miss Carrie Bailey, and is engaged in man- aging the farm owned by our subject. Edgar B. married Margaretta Moore, and carries on the farm north of Mendota owned by his father. The mother of these children, who was a devoted member of the Presby- terian church and a most lovable lady in every respect, departed this life February 12, 1877. On the 12th of October, 1886, Mr. Wills was united in marriage with Miss Sarah, daughter of Peter and Magdalena (Leufer) Miller. They have two children. Roy M. and Jennie Mabel. Mr. and Mrs. Wills are members of the Presbyterian church. Her parents were natives of Germany, and were early settlers of Troy Grove township. Her father. who was a respected, hard-working farmer, died about 1863; and her mother, who belonged to the Evangelical church, survived her husband
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many years, dying in January, 1887, when in her sixty-fourth year. She was the mother of one son and two daughters: Magdalena, who is the wife of Thomas Bowers; Henry J., and Sarah. Mr. Wills has led an interesting career. Left an orphan in very early childhood and thrown upon his own resources very early in life, he began the battle of life under very discourag- ing conditions. Nature had endowed him with a burning ambition to succeed in life. and with a noble purpose before him he set about first to gain the best education possible for him to gain under the circumstances of his early youth. His spare hours and nights were spent in study. We soon find him in the school-room as teacher. then we find him engaged in farming. To the latter noble calling he brought his thirst for knowl- edge and progressive spirit, and with energy and pluck he has risen to a high place among the successful tillers of the soil, and gained a competency for declining years, and established a lasting friendship with his fellow- citizens.
FREDERICK T. SCHERER.
One of the most enterprising business concerns of Ottawa is that known as the Scherer Brothers' Transfer Line. To the indomitable energy and executive ability of the eldest brother in the firm, the subject of this sketch, is due the credit of having established the business on a sound, practical basis many years ago, and to his genius and keen foresight in a large meas- ure can be attributed the success of the enterprise.
Thomas Scherer. Sr., the father of our subject, is a native of Germany, born there about seventy-two years ago. In 1856 he decided to try his forttine in America and came to Ottawa, where, in 1863, he embarked in the draying business in a humble way. 'As the years rolled by he materially increased the number of his wagons and was kept very busy in meeting the demands of the town. In 1877 he admitted his son, Frederick T., to a part- nership in the business, and a few years later the father retired. having ac- quired a handsome competence for old age. To him and his wife, Cather- ine (Frontz) Scherer, six sons and two daughters were born, but two of the sons are deceased.
The birth of Frederick T. Scherer occurred in Ottawa, in 1865, and as he was the eldest son he early became his father's assistant in the business. As soon as his brothers. Louis T. and Thomas, Jr., had reached a suitable age they became associated with him, and are still enterprising members of the firm. Another brother. Hubert, was admitted to the partnership in 1890, but subsequently withdrew and established a grocery. The company not only transfers goods from one railroad to another but also delivers
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great quantities of merchandise to business and private houses. About three years ago the firm was awarded the contract for carrying the United States mail to and from the postoffice and railway stations, and provided a hand- some new wagon for the purpose. In their business about eight drays, trucks and express wagons are used and some eighteen or twenty horses are kept. The vehicles are as neat and business-like as any to be seen in the city and the horses are large, fine animals. In addition to their regular business the firm has the local agency for the Standard Oil Company, and has succeeded in building up a large and lucrative trade at this point for the great corporation. One of the more recent enterprises of the Scherer Broth- ers consists in the storage of furniture or other goods in their large stor- age building and in the handling of hard and soft coal, in wholesale and retail quantities.
At the age of twenty-two years F. T. Scherer married Miss Lucy Lilley, and six children brighten their happy home. In order of birth they are named as follows: Stella. Fred, Othelia, Hazel, Helen and Alboene.
In disposition Mr. Scherer is genial and fond of society, and he holds a membership in several local orders. He is a prominent worker in the Woodmen's lodge, is the president of the German Benevolent Society, and belongs to the Uniformed Rank of the Knights of Pythias. Recently he has been associated with the Ottawa Evening Pleasure Social Club. In the spring of 1896 Mr. Scherer was elected alderman from the Seventh ward, and after serving for two years was re-elected by a large majority. He is an ardent Democratic politician and usually attends the caucuses and con- ventions of his party. Such in brief is the life history of Frederick T. Scherer. The character of the man has been shadowed forth between the lines of this review, and in a summary of his career we note only a few of the salient points-his activity and sound judgment in business affairs and his conformity to the ethics of commercial life, his faithfulness to public office, and his genuine friendship and regard for true worth of character. These are the qualities which made Mr. Scherer a valued citizen in whatever community he has made his home.
C. W. BUTTERS.
One of the native sons of LaSalle county is C. W. Butters, an enterpris- ing young business man of Ottawa. He was born in Prairie Center town- ship, February 1, 1871, and is one of the six children of John and Maggie (Miller) Butters, the former a native of Scotland.
With his brothers and sisters young Butters passed his childhood upon
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the old homestead and received a public-school education. Lessons of in- tegrity and justice, public spirit and patriotism were instilled into his youthful mind by his wise and conscientious parents, and his whole life thus far has been actuated and controlled by the most admirable principles. He is a student and thinker, making up his mind to a course of action in no hasty manner, but when he has resolved what is the right thing to do he does not hesitate but manfully takes up the task before him.
During the long weeks of anxious suspense in the early part of 1898. prior to the declaration of war by the United States government against Spain, the oppressor of her helpless subjects, Mr. Butters decided the ques- tion for himself that he would offer his services to his country upon the first call to arms. Accordingly, when the opportunity presented itself he enlisted. April 26, 1898, as a member of the Third Regiment of Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was made a corporal, serving under Colonel Bennett. After passing through the hardships of camp life, and holding himself ready at any moment for the more serious responsibilities of military life, he was honorably discharged January 19, 1899.
Returning home, Mr. Butters resumed the ordinary vocations of busi- ness life. He is the proprietor of a neat and well equipped restaurant and cafe at No. 106 Market street, Ottawa, where an appetizing meal can be obtained at any reasonable hour of the day or night. He carries a large stock of fruit and confectionery, bread, cake and bakery goods, and ices, ice-cream and oysters in season. By uniform courtesy and a genuine desire to please, he has won a large patronage and has a promising business career before him.
WALTER C. LOVEJOY, M. D.
One of the younger members of the medical profession of LaSalle county is Dr. Walter C. Lovejoy, of Marseilles. A son of E. B. Lovejoy, now a prominent citizen of Ottawa, Illinois, he was born in the pretty village of Landaff, New Hampshire, October 3, 1869, and there his early years were happily passed.
When a mere child he accompanied his parents in their removal to Illinois, and, locating in Ottawa, he acquired his English education in the public grammar and high schools of that place. Having a fixed purpose to devote his life and talents to the healing of the sick and to alleviating the "ills to which flesh is heir," he went to Chicago after he had completed his elementary education and began the study of medicine under the instruction and guidance of Dr. C. A. Weick, a well known physician of that metropolis. In 1891 he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in the
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Chicago Homeopathic Medical College, and succeeded his preceptor, Dr. Weick, in practice. Subsequently he came to Marseilles, where he opened an office and soon was enjoying a fair share of the patronage of the people of this locality. In July, 1898, he enlisted for service in the Spanish-American war, and was given a position as assistant surgeon in a Wisconsin regiment. Ordered to the Pacific coast, he accompanied the regiment to Camp Mer- ritt, Presidio, California, and it was not until the 5th of December, 1898, that he received his honorable discharge and was permitted to return to his home and regular practice. The wide experience and broader views of life and duty which he gained in this six months' experience, however, will be of inestimable value to him in his future career; and even though he had person- ally been benefited not a whit he would not begrudge the time and service he had given to his country. He is a member of the Illinois State Medical Society and takes the leading medical journals, thus keeping posted on the latest discoveries in regard to diseases and modern methods of dealing with them.
An important event in the life of Dr. Lovejoy occurred on the 13th of June, 1895, when his marriage to Miss Ella Frances Pitts, a daughter of F. D. Pitts, an honored citizen of Marseilles, was solemnized. The Doctor and wife are members of the Congregational church of this place, and are both very popular in local society.
G. W. BROWN, JR.
Brown's Ottawa Business College, which has been running under its present management only since 1894, was founded as a commercial college in 1888. The school is centrally located in one of the best business blocks in Ottawa, a flourishing little city of perhaps fifteen thousand inhabitants. All of the methods used in the institution are modern, the equipment of the rooms substantial and attractive, and everything possible is done to advance the students in their work.
G. W. Brown, the principal of Brown's Ottawa Business College, is a teacher of wide experience and possesses a thorough and practical knowledge of the requirements of his responsible position. The range of studies which the pupil may pursue is extensive, and an able corps of teachers further his efforts to give a comprehensive commercial education. The Ottawa college is a branch of the Brown's Business Colleges so well known through- out this state. The company, which now owns and manages colleges in Jacksonville, Peoria, Decatur, Galesburg, Bloomington and Ottawa, was incorporated under the laws of Illinois in 1888. Five directors have control
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of affairs of the company and the president is G. W. Brown, Sr., who, for thirty years has been the owner and manager of the college at Jacksonville. Each college belonging to the company has at its head as principal a gen- tleman well qualified for the position by years of educational work and commercial experience. One of the chief advantages of any of Brown's business colleges to the student is that his scholarship is transferable to any other of the colleges owned by the company, without additional expense, and the interchange of practical ideas and business correspondence between the pupils of the various colleges is of great value to them.
The eldest of the nine children of Charles I. and Mary (Ogle) Brown, the subject of this sketch, was born in Fulton county, Illinois, in 1843. The parents were both natives of New York state, and their other children were named as follows: Esther, Edgar, John, Frederick. Frank, Alice, Nora and Charles I. The latter is a successful teacher, and Edgar is deceased.
Having gained a good English education in the public schools of his native county, G. W. Brown took a course of commercial training in the Jacksonville Business College. In 1894 he was placed in charge of the newly reorganized college at Ottawa, and to his enthusiastic efforts is due. in a large measure, the success which the school now enjoys. He likes to associate with young people and is very popular with them, as a class, for he enters into their plans, aiding and sympathizing with them, and withal exercising a marked influence for good over them.
The marriage of Mr. Brown and Miss Jennie Yates was celebrated in Peoria, Illinois. Mrs. Brown, who was a popular and very successful teacher, is a daughter of James Yates, and is a niece of Richard Yates, deceased. once governor of this state. Three children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Brown, namely: Louis P., James and Ada. The parents are mem- bers of the Congregational church, and are active in various kinds of Chris- tian enterprises, having for their object the amelioration of humanity.
ROBERT BIRTWELL.
Among the well-known farmers of Otter Creek township. LaSalle county, is Robert Birtwell, a veteran of the civil war and a man highly es- teemed by all who knew him. He was born in Lancashire, England. Feb- ruary II, 1839, the son of John and Mary (Taylor) Birtwell. The parents came to America when their son Robert was very small, and for some years lived at Hudson, New York. In 1849 they moved out to Illinois and set- tled on a farm in LaSalle county, where John Birtwell is still living. His wife died April 14. 1865. She was a member of the Church of England. to
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which he also belongs, and in that faith they reared their children. The five children born to them were named as follows: Ellen; Robert, the subject of this sketch; Sarah, widow of Evan Brick; James, of Allen township, LaSalle county; and Permelia, the wife of W. Porter Donnell, of Kearney, Nebraska.
Robert Birtwell was reared on his father's farm, acquired his educa- tion in the public schools, and as he was the eldest son he always found plenty of work at home to occupy his time when he was not in school. During the civil war, in August, 1862, he enlisted in Company F, One Hun- dred and Fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, under Captain J. J. McKennan, and took part in the battles of Hartville, Missionary Ridge and Arlington Heights, and at the close of the war participated in the Grand Review at Washington, D. C. At Camp Douglas he received an honorable discharge and from there returned home, and since the war has been actively engaged in the occupation in which he was reared. He owns a valuable farm of three hundred and twenty acres on section 6, Otter Creek township, which has a good residence and other buildings thereon and which is highly cul- tivated.
Mr. Birtwell was married in 1878 to Miss Mary Reddick, daughter of William Reddick, a prominent citizen of this county. Mr. Reddick was born in New Jersey, reared and educated in Washington, D. C., and has for a num- ber of years been identified with LaSalle county. Mr. and Mrs. Birtwell have an only child, Frank R., born March 19, 1880.
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