USA > Illinois > LaSalle County > Biographical and genealogical record of La Salle County, Illinois, Volume II > Part 4
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In 1829 Mr. Clark married Miss Matilda Vickery, daughter of Abra- ham and Rachel (McLinch) Vickery, of New Hampshire, and she bore him two children, named Chastina E. and Matilda L. Chastina E. Clark married Ivory Chick, a native of Maine. They had a son, named Ivory S. Chick. Ivory Chick died while on a visit to Maine in 1854. Matilda L. Clark married Nicholas Johnston and is now living, a widow, at Boulder, Colorado. She has six children, named Charles, Frank, Mary, Lizzie, George and Roy.
In 1852 Mr. Clark, his wife and their daughter Matilda came west to LaSalle, Illinois, where Ivory Chick, husband of his daughter Chastina, had a contract for construction work on the Illinois Central Railroad, and had preceded them with his family. Mr. Clark was employed at railroad
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building for some time on a salary, and later did contract work on the Bureau Valley Railroad, toward Peoria. Returning to LaSalle he removed to Mendota in the fall of 1854, built a residence and remained there nine years. He then purchased a twenty-acre farm at Troy Grove and later added other land to it and farmed there successfully thirty years and then retired from active life and located at Mendota. Mrs. Clark died August 15, 1892, aged eighty-one years and ten days. Mrs. Chick, his widowed daughter, had been a member of his family for many years and she then took the position which she has since held as the head of his household. Mr. and Mrs. Clark were reared under religious influences, and though they never joined any denomination, were always in sympathy with the church. Since the death of his wife, however, Mr. Clark and also Mrs. Chick have united with the Baptist church, to which his younger daughter also belongs.
Mr. Clark has always been a leader of many of the men with whom he has been associated. In New Hampshire he was captain of a militia com- pany four years. He was constable and deputy sheriff in LaSalle county before he moved to Troy Grove. Until 1896 he was a Democrat who never failed to vote for the nominees of his party; but at that time, influ- enced by his view of the financial question, then paramount, he cast his vote for "Mckinley and sound money." An earnest, kind-hearted old gentleman, modest in his manners and social intercourse, he takes an interest in current events and converses well on all the important topics of the day. His nobility of character is always evident and he is in every way worthy of the affectionate regard in which he is held by numerous friends, some of them of many years' standing. He preserves in a wonder- ful degree the robust health and physical strength which characterized him in the prime of his manhood, and in good weather took especial delight, until a recent date, in daily walks down town.
JOHN J. LEHR.
The subject of this sketch is a well known stock farmer of Farm Ridge township, LaSalle county, Illinois. He deals in fine stock, making a specialty of Jersey cattle, Poland-China hogs, and Oxford Down sheep, and takes a pride in the fact that his stock in point of quality is not excelled in the county. In 1893 he started his herd of Jerseys by buying the very best stock he could get, purchasing from the herds of Isaac Hodgson and Eli Bradford, prominent stockmen, and he now has twenty head of as fine Jersey cattle as can be found in LaSalle county. His farm, com-
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prising one hundred and sixty acres. is located three miles west of Grand Ridge, and is one of the most desirable in the neighborhood, well improved with good buildings, fences, etc., and conveniently arranged for success- fully carrying on both the stock business and general farming.
Mr. Lehr is a native of Illinois and was born forty-five years ago. He is of German parentage, both his father and mother having been born in Germany. His father, Valentine Lehr, came to this country in early life. first locating at Ottawa, Illinois. He worked for some time on the old Illinois canal. By trade he was a carpenter, a first-class workman, and built many of the best houses in Farm Ridge, South Ottawa and Deer Park. He was married in Ottawa, and to him and his wife were born eight children, five of whom are living, namely: Matilda Hagie, of Grand Rapids township, LaSalle county, Illinois; John J., the subject of this sketch; William, who lives in Saunders county, Nebraska; Mary Hawk, of Ottawa, Illinois; and Minnie Freeze, also of Ottawa. Godfrey died at the age of thirty-eight years, leaving a widow and five children. The mother of this family died at the age of thirty-six years, and the father lived to be sixty-eight. Both were members of the Lutheran church, and in politics the father was a Republican.
John J. Lehr was reared on a farm and received a common-school education. At the age of twenty-six years he was united in marriage to Elizabeth Berge, of Allen township, LaSalle county, daughter of George and Christena Berge. Mr. and Mrs. Lehr have had four children,-Christena and Louis J., aged respectively eighteen and thirteen years; and two who are deceased.
Politically, like his father before him, Mr. Lehr is a Republican. He has served officially as township assessor, as commissioner for six years. and as a member of the school board, in the latter capacity eleven years, always performing his duty with promptness and fidelity. His life, in both public and private capacities has been such that he has gained the con- fidence and esteem of all with whom he has in any way been associated.
CHARLES JACOB MITCHELL.
The subject of this sketch is a member of the firm of Mitchell Brothers, large farmers of the township of Dimmick, LaSalle county, Illinois, and is a son of the late William Mitchell, for a number of years one of the promi- nent farmers of this state.
William Mitchell was a native of Scotland, born in the year 1814, and when small came to America and took up his abode in Illinois, being among the pioneers of Dimmick township, LaSalle county. His early life was spent
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as a shepherd boy, his simple earnings supplying him with the necessaries of life. Finally by careful economy he acquired a tract of land, which he improved and which in time became a valuable farm. William Mitchell married Mary Wenner, daughter of Jacob Wenner, a German who settled in Dimmick township at an early day. Mrs. Mitchell is still living, at the age of sixty-nine years,-the age at which Mr. Mitchell died in 1883. The members composing their family are as follows: Elizabeth, wife of William Reed, of LaSalle, Illinois: William, a resident of Lawrence county, South Dakota, married Miss Edith Miner: Kate; James, a resident of Utica, Illinois, married Miss Bertha Bill; Minnie, wife of George A. Harts- horn, a prominent farmer of Waltham township. LaSalle county; Lena B., wife of the Hon. John Wylie, of Waltham; Charles J., whose name intro- duces this article: Henry J., engaged in the creamery business at Utica, Illinois; Walter B., of Utica, Illinois, and a member of the firm referred to in the first paragraph; and Frank R., also a member of that firm.
The Mitchells have political records as Republicans. Their father was the incumbent of many of the township offices, and his sons, like him, are public-spirited and enterprising men, who stand high in the estimation of the people of their respective localities.
Charles J. Mitchell was born on his father's farm above referred to, October 18, 1868, and here he has always lived. He was educated in the academy at LaSalle and the Normal School at Valparaiso, Indiana, com- pleting his studies in the last named institution at the age of twenty-two. He then entered the employ of The Home Produce Meat Market in LaSalle, with which he was identified for a time, and since then he has been en- gaged in farming. In 1898 he and two of his brothers entered into a partnership under the firm name of Mitchell Brothers, for the operation of the Mitchell farm, one of the largest in the township and which is being successfully run as a stock farm, slaughtering and shipping being important features.
Charles J. Mitchell is a Knight of Pythias and a member of the Mystic Workers. His lodge of Knights is "Old 53" of LaSalle, one of the im- portant lodges of the state and which has furnished some of the best Pythians in Illinois.
JOHN A. KINGS.
Few citizens of LaSalle are better known or more generally esteemed than John A. Kings, who has made his home here for nearly three decades and has served in official positions for a number of years, acquitting himself with ability and distinction.
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He is a native of Richmond county, Staten Island, New York, his birth having occurred March 3, 1849. His parents, Garrett J. and Johanna (Schoemaker) Kings, were natives of Holland and came to the United States late in the '40s. They were married in this country, and in 1850 removed from Staten Island to Passaic, New Jersey, and later came to Illinois, settling in Belvidere, Boone county, upon a farm. There the father died in 1870, at the age of seventy-one years. The wife and mother is still living, and though now in her eighty-fourth year is remarkably strong and well preserved. Their children were: John A .; Garrett H., of Sanborn, Iowa; Andrew J., of Mitchell, Dakota; and Theodore F., of Phoenix, Ari- zona.
In his youth John A. Kings received a good public-school education. He continued to live on the old homestead and to assist his father until he was fifteen years of age. He then entered upon the business of rail- roading, and was thus employed until 1881. For several years after he came to LaSalle he was employed as section foreman, car inspector and yard-master for the Illinois Central Railroad Company. In 1881 he ac- cepted a position as carpenter with the Matthiessen & Hegeler Zinc Com- pany, with which concern he remained until 1888. In May of that year he became a member of the LaSalle police force, and is still one of the guardians of the city's peace. He bears an excellent record, is faithful, prompt and efficient, and merits the good will which the citizens feel toward him. From 1884 to 1886 he was a member of the city council, and in 1889 was elected to the office of justice of the peace. In 1893, and again in 1897, he was re-elected, and is still serving in this important position.
In 1874 Mr. Kings married Miss Mary D. Flynn, a native of Canada and of Irish lineage. Two sons and two daughters have blessed the union of this estimable couple, namely: Mary J .. Ellen Agnes, Francis J. and John. The family are Roman Catholic in their religious faith. They have a pleasant home and are highly esteemed by all who know them.
FRANK M. CRANE.
The Crane family, of which the subject of this sketch is a representa- tive, traces its origin to New England. There Albert Crane, the grand- father of Frank M .. was born and thence he went to the Catskill regions of New York, where he followed the trade of blacksmith. Albert Crane, his son and the father of Frank M., came from New York state to Illinois in 1851 and settled on section 14. Dimmick township, LaSalle county, where he became a prosperous farmer and where he spent the rest of his life and died, his death occurring in 1894. His wife. Mary Aiken, whom he
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married in his native state, died in 1876. Their children were the following named: Miss Sarah Crane; Robert Crane, of Burlington, Kansas; Albert. Jr., who died in 1886; James Crane; Mary E., deceased wife of Thomas Gardiner; and Frank M., the subject of this sketch.
Frank M. Crane was born on his father's farm, March 4, 1853, and was here reared and received his education in the common schools. At the age of twenty he engaged in farming on his own account. Stock-raising became one of the chief features of his business, and it is still a source of no small revenue to him. He owns a farm of five hundred acres, desirably located and substantially improved.
Mr. Crane was married December 15, 1886, to Miss Margaret J. Jack- son, daughter of John Jackson, of Troy Grove, Illinois; and the children in their family are Charles H., Howard A., Nelson J., Edith M., Elsie and Aletha.
The Crane family for the most part have been identified with the Democratic party and active in its support. In 1896, however. Frank M. supported the McKinley ticket in the belief that sure relief from long finan- cial depression lay in the triumph of the head of that ticket, and two years of its administration of public affairs have not served to convince him that he was mistaken in his judgment. For the last two years Mr. Crane has been a school director.
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NICHOLAS CHARLES CUMMINGS.
The well known gentleman whose name forms the heading of this sketch has been a resident of Mendota. Illinois, for a period of thirty-six years, and for more than twenty years was in business here as a dealer in groceries and boots and shoes.
Nicholas Charles Cummings was born in Rensselaer county, New York. August 10, 1851, a son of John and Almira (Craver) Cummings, natives of the same state. He is the younger of two children: his brother Eli died in Mendota in 1898. Their father was a farmer, who came to Illinois with his family in 1852 and located in Lee county ten miles north- east of Mendota, where he bought land and for eleven years carried on agricultural pursuits. In 1863 he came to Mendota, where he lived, retired, till his death, in 1899. His wife died in 1886.
The paternal grandfather of our subject. Eli Cummings, was of English and Irish descent, was a farmer and lived and died in New York state, at the age of eighty years. In his family were eight sons and two daughters. Mr. Cummings' maternal grandfather. Nicholas Craver, was a native of
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Pennsylvania and by trade a blacksmith. In the early '5os he came out to Illinois and bought a farm adjoining the one owned by the father of our subject, and lived there until about 1872, when he moved to Mendota; and here he died, at the age of eighty-five years.
Nicholas C. Cummings was an infant when brought to Iilinois by his parents, and the first twelve years of his life were spent on his father's farm, since then living in Mendota. He was educated in the public schools and the college at Mendota, and when he started out to make his own way in the world it was as a clerk in a grocery. In 1878 he engaged in the grocery business for himself, in Mendota, and later added also a stock of boots and shoes in connection with his groceries, doing a prosperous busi- ness in both lines until August 19, 1899, when he closed out the business.
Mr. Cummings owns and occupies a pleasant home on the corner of Fourth avenue and Eighth street, which he built a number of years ago. He was married November 25, 1872, to Miss Mary Alice Gheer, a daughter of Levi and Nancy Gheer. Two sons were born to Mr. and Mrs. Cum- mings, namely: Arthur E. and Claude G. The former married Laura Roth, in 1895, and was superintendent for the Mendota Gas Company when he met with his death, by accident, being shot, the accident occurring as he was taking a gun from his buggy. This sad affair happened October 13, 1899. His age at the time of death was twenty-six years and a few days. Claude G., the second son, is twenty-four years of age and is an employe of the Mendota Electric Light Company.
Mr. Cummings is a Republican and has always taken a commendable interest in public affairs, especially those of a local nature. For nine years he has been a director in the city schools of Mendota. He is a member of Lodge No. 293, I. O. O. F., and Camp No. 65, Modern Woodmen of America.
BERTRAM SCHWEICKERT.
This popular young business man of Peru is one of the younger sons of our well known citizen, Vincent Schweickert, who is represented else- where in this work. Born in this town on the 22d of June, 1872, our sub- ject has always been closely identified with the place, as child, youth and man, and the deepest interest is felt by him in all local affairs touching the good of the community.
When he had arrived at a suitable age he entered the parochial schools, and acquired a liberal education. He was about sixteen years old when he obtained employment in a bakery, where he remained for about a year, but. not caring for the trade. he decided to adopt that of his father and
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elder brothers, and, to that end, commenced learning the business of laying brick and stone masonry. He has followed this calling ever since, and in 1898 went into partnership with his brothers, Henry, Jacob, Francis X., and his brother-in-law, Frank Ellerbrock. This enterprising firm, which is now commanding a large share of the local contracts for brick and stone work for buildings and bridges, is known as Schweickert Brothers & Company.
Bertram Schweickert resides in an attractive home on Ninth street, between Pike and Calhoun. The lady who presides here as wife, mother and hostess, was formerly Miss Mary Elizabeth Brinkmann, a daughter of Frank and Mary (Schumacher) Brinkmann. The ceremony which united the destinies of our subject and wife was performed in Ottawa, Putnam county, Ohio, on the 22d of April, 1896. Two sons bless their happy home, named respectively Ewald Vincent Frank and Lawrence Henry Thomas.
Mr. and Mrs. Bertram Schweickert are members of the Catholic church. He belongs to the Catholic Order of Foresters; to St. Joseph's Benevolent Society; and to the Bricklayers and Masons' International Union, No. 1I, of Illinois. In his political faith he is an uncompromising Democrat.
ANDREW B. BREESE.
Andrew Bray Breese, deceased, was one of the prominent men of Earl- ville, LaSalle county, where he had been engaged in the mercantile business for many years. He was a native of Newark. New Jersey, having been born April 29, 1824, and was a son of Bailey and Phoebe Breese, both of promi- nent New Jersey families. Mr. Breese was one of eleven children, five sons and six daughters. At the age of eighteen he came west with his par- ents, who settled in Paw Paw, this state, and about two years later moved to Grand Detour, where he entered upon his career as a dry goods merchant. Two years later he moved his store to Paw Paw, Illinois, and continued in the business there for fifteen years, when he came to Earlville and remained until his death. He was a veteran dry goods man, having been engaged in this business for forty-nine years, and his prosperity was assured from the start. He was a man of keen perception, a close observer, and displayed an acuteness in business that augured well for his success.
He was married in 1844 to Miss Mary E. Carber, a native of Brad- ford county, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Jacob and Sabrina (Sweet) Carber. Jacob Carber and wife were natives of the state of New York, the former tracing his ancestry to Germany and the latter to England. He
A. M. Brecce
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enlisted in the war of 1812 at the age of seventeen years. He was well educated and taught school in the east during his early life, coming west about 1835 and settling in Scott county, Iowa, where he engaged in farming in the Mississippi bottom. Here he died, leaving two children,-Mrs. Breese and Andrew J. Carber, a farmer of Scott county, Iowa. Mrs. Breese was a school teacher in her early life, and it was while thus engaged in the vicinity of Paw Paw that Mr. Breese made her acquaintance. Mr. Breese died December 18, 1891, after an illness of only three days' duration. His sudden death was a severe blow to the whole community, to whom the news came as a shock, and business and social circles alike felt the blow. He had a happy disposition and always looked on the bright side of life, while jovial good nature always made him a favorite in any social gathering. He was a Democrat in politics, but did not seek emoluments of office. In re- ligion he had the comforting faith of the Universalist, and went to meet his Maker with the trust of a confiding child in a loving, all-wise and merciful Father.
Mrs. Breese, his widow, resides in Earlville, and holds an interest in the business so successfully inaugurated by her husband. The firm is Breese & Mckinney, the latter having bought an interest in the store soon after the death of Mr. Breese.
The union of Mr. and Mrs. Breese was without issue, but an adopted daughter, Ruth May, now the wife of John Buchanan, of Chicago, was the recipient of their loving care and bounty, finding at their hearthstone a par- ent's care and affection.
ALEXANDER C. FINKLER.
Alexander C. Finkler, who is recognized as quite an important factor in the local politics of LaSalle county. is now serving as city clerk of LaSalle. He is one of the native sons of this place, his birth having occurred here February 16, 1869. Thus he is in the prime of early manhood and am- bition, and judging from what he has already accomplished in his brief career he has a most promising future.
Alexander Finkler, the father of the subject of this article, was born in Westphalia, Germany, and came to the United States with his parents when a young lad. His two brothers, Frank J. of Dixon, Illinois, and John A., who died at Streator, this county, and his only sister, Mary, who became the wife of Isaac Robinson, of Peru. LaSalle county, were all born in America. The parents located at Johnstown, Pennsylvania, where they continued to reside until death. When he had arrived at man's estate, Alexander Finkler, Sr., came to this county, and after living at Peru for
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some time went to St. Louis, Missouri, where he was employed in the United States arsenal. In that city he formed the acquaintance of Miss Johanna McKnight, who was a native of Ireland. They were married in LaSalle, began their domestic life here, and their happy home was blessed with eight children, namely: A. C .; Frank (who is deceased); Mary; Eliza; Margaret; Agnes; Josephine; and Emily. The father died in 1883, at the age of fifty-six years, at his home in Ottawa, where he had been living for five years previously. His widow returned to LaSalle, where the greater part of her married life had been spent and where she is still a resident.
With the exception of five years spent in Ottawa with the rest of the family, Alexander C. Finkler has always dwelt in LaSalle, and received his education in its public schools. He was a youth of fourteen when his father died, and he at once took up the more serious realities of life. His father had been for years engaged in the manufacture of soda-water, and with energy and wisdom far beyond what could be expected of such a child, young Alexander took up the reins of the business and successfully carried on the undertaking for eleven years, finally selling out in 1894. In the meantime he pursued a course of study in the Dixon (Illinois) Business College, in order more fully to equip himself for his commercial career.
For several years Mr. Finkler has been active in the Democratic party, and in 1893 he was honored by election to the office of city clerk of LaSalle. Two years later he was re-elected, and again in 1897 and 1899, now serving his fourth term in this capacity. In 1898 he was his party's candidate for the more responsible position of county clerk, and, with the rest of the nominees on that ticket, was defeated at election.
In 1895 Mr. Finkler married Miss Nellie Lehan of LaSalle, and one child blesses their happy home, namely, Alexander. In his social relations Mr. Finkler belongs to the Knights of Pythias. the Modern Woodmen of America, the Independent Order of Foresters, and the Turn Verein. Re- ligiously he and his wife are identified with the Catholic church.
WILLIAM B. CHAPMAN.
William Barber Chapman, a retired business man and one of the most substantial and respected citizens of LaSalle, Illinois, was born in Peters- burg. New York, February 25, 1828. He was one of seven children born to Moses and Lucinda (Collins) Chapman, namely: Moses, of Hutchinson, Kansas; Henry, a resident of Pasadena. California: Wealthy, the widow of Isaac De Voe, of Seattle, Washington; William B., our subject: Lucinda
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Chapman, of Forest, Illinois; Mary, widow of J. P. Knight, also of Forest; and Nettie, the wife of Henry Sloan, of Sidney, Washington. Both parents were natives of Springfield, Massachusetts, where they were married. The father learned the trade of blacksmith and carriage making, which he followed. They lived for a time in Orleans, New York, and from that state came to Illinois by horses and wagon, reaching Putnam county, this state, on November 2. 1843. He purchased a farm near Hennepin, which was cultivated by his sons, and upon which he lived until his forty-ninth year, at which time his death occurred. His wife reached the advanced age of seventy-one years. They were of the Baptist faith. He was a prominent man and held the office of justice of the peace in Orleans and was also county commissioner for many years. His father, Moses Chap- man. of English origin, was also a blacksmith and reached an extreme old age, living all his life in Massachusetts. He had a small number of chil- dren. Henry Collins, the maternal grandfather of our subject, was a mili- tary man and connected with the armory at Springfield, Massachusetts. He had a few children and died in his native state when past his ninetieth year.
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