USA > Illinois > LaSalle County > Biographical and genealogical record of La Salle County, Illinois, Volume II > Part 6
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The ancestors of Mr. Conkey, on the paternal side of the family, were natives of Ireland, but several generations of the name have lived in the United States. Silas Conkey, the grandfather of our subject, was born in Massachusetts, and died in middle life. His home was in Salem, Washing- ton county, New York. His widow, survived him, living to the extreme age of ninety-five years. They were the parents of five sons and three daughters. One of the sons, Colonel Adam Conkey, was the father of the subject of this sketch. He won his title while serving in the New York state militia, and he also was a participant in the war of 1812. His life was passed chiefly in Lewis county, New York, and his long and useful career of ninety- four years came to a close in 1884. He was a farmer by occupation and lived many years in Martinsburg, New York. His wife, Elizabeth (Lee) Conkey, had preceded him to the silent land about twenty years. She was one of several brothers and sisters who were born and reared upon a farm
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1 $ + Conkey
Elizabeth- S. Conkey.
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in the Empire state, and was of English extraction. She was a devout mem- ber of the Presbyterian church, and her noble Christian life was a power for good in the community where her lot was cast. Of her four sons and four daughters four are still living, namely: Amanda M., wife of D. D. Guiles, of Wellington, Kansas; Oscar D. F .; William F., of Iroquois, South Dakota; and Adelia M., now Mrs. Thomas Wilson, of Cleveland, Ohio. The others died in early life.
The birth of Oscar D. F. Conkey took place in Martinsburg, Lewis county, New York, December 1, 1821. He was reared in his native locality and supplemented a district-school education with a course in Lowville Academy. In 1843 he came to the west by way of Milwaukee, and spent one winter in Milwaukee and two summers and a winter in Batavia, Illinois. He then went to Massillon, Stark county, Ohio, where he operated a line of boats on the canal until the fall of 1853. At that time he returned to the west on a prospecting tour, and, being pleased with the country around and about the present town of Mendota, decided to locate here. The Burling- ton railroad was then in course of construction. He purchased land and the following summer he brought his family and became a permanent resident of the place. The Burlington railroad was built through Mendota in the winter of 1853-4, and Mr. Conkey embarked in the grain and general merchandis- ing business. For about three years after his arrival here he remained in the general merchandise business and then sold his interest therein. From 1857 until 1888 he gave his entire attention to the buying, selling and ship- ping of grain. He won success and a goodly fortune in the legitimate chan- nels of trade, and may justly be proud of his honorable record as a business man. At various times he has made judicious investments of the capital which was accumulated by his energy and zeal, and at present is interested in the coal business, which is carried on by his son, Harry, and is the treasurer of the Mendota, Troy Grove & Clarion Insurance Company.
On the 8th of February, 1851, Mr. Conkey married Miss Lucy Rex, and four children, all now dead, were born of their union. The oldest and youngest of the children, with their mother, were drowned in June, 1861, when they were attempting to cross a creek near Troy Grove. The stream was much swollen by recent heavy rains, and the little party were com- pletely at the mercy of the flood. The second marriage of Mr. Conkey was celebrated February 8, 1865, Miss Elizabeth S. Eaken, a daughter of John Eaken, being his bride. Three sons were born to them, of whom George, the eldest, died in infancy; Arthur was summoned to the better land when about sixteen years of age; and Harry D. alone remains. He is en- gaged in the insurance business and also the coal business in Mendota, as previously noted, and is an enterprising, wide-awake young man, with a
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promising future. On April 19, 1899, he married Miss Elizabeth Wilson, of Mendota, daughter of M. Wilson, the present recorder of LaSalle county.
Since 1855 Oscar D. F. Conkey has been a Master Mason, and he has many sincere friends in the fraternity. He and his estimable wife are active members of the Presbyterian church, he being a trustee and treasurer of the board of officers. For a number of years he has served as a member of the board of education, always upholding progressive methods. For years he acted as one of the city aldermen, and in his political convictions he is a stalwart Republican.
MILROY A. McKEY.
The success of such men as Milroy A. McKey, of Mendota, is the result of the influence upon the affairs of life of all those traits of character and qualities of mind which lead to honesty, thoroughness and permanence. It is not the success which comes from fortunate speculation, but that which is the reward of long years of unwearying well-doing. He has been identi- fied with many of the leading enterprises of the city and county, and belongs to that class of representative American citizens who promote the public good while enhancing their individual prosperity. The extent and volume of his business may be indicated somewhat by a statement of his connec- tions with many important concerns. He is the president of the Mendota Gas Company; ex-president and now director of the LaSalle National Bank: vice-president of the Mendota National Bank: director of the First National Bank of Mendota, of the Creston National Bank, of Creston, Iowa, and the Earlville National Bank; and is extensively interested in real estate and in other first-class investments in Illinois and adjoining states.
Mr. McKey is a native of Candor. Tioga county, New York, born May 4, 1825, and is descended from families which in different generations have furnished many prominent representatives to public life and business interests, and which in all periods of our national history have been patriotic and public-spirited to a degree that has made them leaders in the com- munities in which they have lived. His grandfather, in the paternal line, was Alexander McKey, a native of Scotland, who came to the United States before the Revolution and located at Troy, New York, where at the time of the historic Indian massacre one of his sisters was captured by the savages and was ransomed by him for a barrel of whisky. His father, mother and other brothers and sisters were killed and their house burned. He was a weaver and farmer, and some time after the Revolution removed to Chemung county, New York, where he died when past the age of
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seventy years. During the greater part of his life he was a devout member of the Presbyterian church.
James Westbrook, Mr. McKey's maternal great-grandfather, lived in Chemung county, New York, where his death occurred when past the age of eighty years. The traditions of the family have it that he was six feet, four inches tall and massive in proportion, and that he was as brave as he was strong. He was a member of General Washington's staff and fought by his side during much of the struggle for American independence. His great-grandson has a cane which once belonged to James Westbrook, who on one occasion saved his life with it by warding off a blow aimed at him by a British soldier. Mr. Westbrook followed agricultural pursuits in times of peace, and was a large land-owner and an influential citizen. His ancestors came to this country from Holland. His son, James Westbrook, the grandfather of Mr. McKey, was born and died in Chemung county, New York. He was a slave-owner, and it is said that he emancipated his negroes but could not get rid of them because they liked him and depended upon him so much for everything that they would not leave him. His family was a numerous one, and his descendants are now widely scattered over the country.
Alexander W. McKey, father of our subject, was born in Harpersfield. Delaware county, New York, became a school-teacher, and while pursuing that profession also studied medicine. After receiving his diploma he en- gaged in the practice of medicine in Candor, New York, and for forty years was the leading physician of that place. In 1864 he removed to Bureau county, Illinois, and later took up his abode in LaSalle county, his death occurring in Troy Grove, April 5, 1876. The following day would have been the seventy-eighth anniversary of his birth. His widow died March 15, 1877, in her seventy-seventh year. He served his fellow townsmen as postmaster and as supervisor, as well as in other local offices, and took a deep interest in the cause of public education, doing all in his power to promote the welfare of the schools. He kept a small stock of school- books in his house and gave them, as occasion presented, to the children of people who were too poor to buy them. His wife, Maria (Westbrook) McKey, was born in Newark, New York, and by her marriage became the mother of five children, four of whom are living: Milroy A .; Eliza Ann, wife of N. T. Moulton, of Wenona, Illinois; Laura Maria, widow of LaFayette L. Huson, of Viola, Illinois; and William J., a well known resident of Princeton, Illinois. John A. McKey, brother of Dr. McKey and uncle of Milroy A. McKey, served his country as a soldier in the war of 1812.
Mr. McKey, of this review, was reared in his native town and acquired his education in the academy at Cortland and from a private tutor.
L
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Subsequently he taught school for several terms in the vicinity of his home. In 1848, at the age of twenty-three, he came to Lamoille, Bureau county, Illinois, where he purchased two hundred and eighty acres of land. He then returned to the east, but in 1850 again came to Illinois and located at Lamoille, where he built a residence upon his land and then began the cultivation and improvement of the hitherto wild tract. In 1851 he went again to New York and this time returned with a bride to Bureau county, in the spring of 1852. There he successfully carried on farming until the fall of 1861, when he removed to Lamoille, and to Mendota in the fall of 1864. He had gradually become identified with business interests of importance in Mendota, and it was not long before he was a leader in the public affairs of the little city. He also became prominent in her city life, ably serving as mayor for four years, while for a number of years he was a member of the Bureau county board of supervisors and was one year its chairman. In politics he is an independent Democrat and wields the quiet but powerful influence of a sagacious and alert man of affairs in the ranks of his party. Socially he is a Master Mason and an Odd Fellow, and takes a helpful interest in everything pertaining to the welfare of those orders.
On the 30th of March, 1852, Mr. McKey was united in marriage to Miss Mary Frost, a daughter of Horton and Electa (Coryell) Frost. She died April 25, 1891, at the age of sixty-three years and sixteen days. She was a woman of many virtues, a devoted member of the Baptist church and an efficient assistant in many good works. On the 13th of January, 1892, Mr. McKey married Mrs. Georgietta Mckean, widow of Nathan Hubbard McKean and a daughter of Henry and Phoebe (Young) Fisher. Mrs. McKey is of Scotch and French lineage, and was born near the Bunker Hill monument, at Charlestown, Massachusetts. Her parents died in the east when she was very young, and she came west, being mar- ried in Brookfield, Missouri, to Nathan H. McKean, by whom she had two children, Georgia Adelaide and Frank Paine. Their daughter died at the age of thirteen years and eleven months. Frank P. Mckean is now a bookkeeper in the First National Bank of Mendota.
Mr. McKey is recognized as one of the most able business men of Mendota. His sagacity and foresight enabling him to make judicious investments, while his diligence, indomitable energy and undaunted perse- verance have won him a prosperity that numbers him among the most substantial citizens of the county, he has not only advanced his individual interests, but has done much toward promoting the general welfare by encouraging trade and commerce. His career, both public and private, has been marked by the strictest integrity and faithfulness to every trust
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reposed in him. The record of his life is unclouded by shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil; he is known as an honorable man and a pleasant, social companion.
ERNEST G. MASON.
Among the enterprising young farmers of Rutland township, LaSalle county, Illinois, who claim this county as their birthplace is the subject of this sketch, Ernest G. Mason, whose post-office address is Wedron.
Mr. Mason was born December 9, 1867, a son of Daniel Mason, who has for years been one of the highly respected citizens of LaSalle county and who still resides on his farm. Daniel Mason was born in Dearborn county, Indiana, July 9, 1821, a son of Daniel Mason, Sr., who was a native of Pennsylvania and a veteran of the war of 1812. The younger Daniel Mason was reared and married in Indiana, the lady of his choice being Elizabeth Towsley, daughter of F. Towsley. The fruits of their union were ten children, five of whom are living at this writing, namely: Lucy, wife of Andrew Wenmer, the custodian of the state capitol at Lincoln, Nebraska; Mary, a resident of Wedron, Illinois; Jane, deceased, who mar- ried J. E. Hill, of Fairmount, Nebraska; Ernest G., whose name forms the heading of this sketch; and Charles A., of Rutland township, LaSalle county, Illinois.
Ernest G. Mason spent his boyhood days not unlike other farmer boys, working on the farm in summer and in winter attending the public schools. December 1, 1898, he married Miss Carrie Makeever, daughter of R. M. Makeever and wife Mary, nee Showers. He has an infant daughter, born October 17, 1899, by the name of Bessie Marie Mason.
Mr. Mason is a public-spirited and wide-awake young man, interested in all that pertains to the general welfare of his locality. He has served two years on the school board. Politically he is a Democrat, and fraternally a Master Mason and a Modern Woodman, having his lodge membership at Marseilles.
FRANCIS M. PARR.
Francis Marion Parr, of Northville township, LaSalle county, Illinois, was born in this county June 10. 1845: a son of Thomas J. and Sarah Ann (Pitzer) Parr.
Thomas J. Parr was born in Licking county, Ohio, March 13, 1815, and died in Dayton township, LaSalle county, Illinois, February 19, 1898. He was a son of Thomas Parr, who came with his family to LaSalle county,
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Illinois, in 1834, and settled in Dayton township. Sarah Ann (Pitzer) Parr was born in Licking county, Ohio, March 30, 1815, and with her widowed mother and family came to LaSalle county, their arrival here dating October 16, 1831. They settled on the left bank of the Fox river, about nine miles above Ottawa, which was then a small village of only a few houses. Dayton was then a frontier fort. This was the year previous to the Black Hawk war. Here Miss Pitzer grew up and became the wife of Thomas J. Parr. She is still living, a resident of Dayton, now in her eighty- fifth year. Of their six children we record that Jesse N. married Anna Cain; Amanda E. married Noah Brunk; Joseph B. married Sarah Knicker- bocker; Francis M. is the subject of this sketch; Martha A. married Lyman Cole: and William H. married Mary Ruger.
Francis M. Parr was reared on the farm, and farming has been his life occupation. Soon after his marriage, which event occurred in 1868, he settled in Freedom township. Later he bought eighty acres of land in Serena township, to which he removed and where he lived several years. Disposing of that farm, he purchased one hundred and sixty acres in Northville township, where he has since lived.
Mr. Parr was married December 31, 1868, to Miss Julia Curyea, a native of Ohio, born July 23, 1843, and a daughter of John and Lydia (Sager) Curyea. Her parents were natives of Virginia, whence they went to Ohio in early life, and from there came in 1843 to Illinois, settling in Dayton township, LaSalle county, where Mr. Curyea owned the well known Curyea mill. Mr. and Mrs. Parr have two children, viz .: Ettie B., wife of Frank Jones, a farmer of Serena township, LaSalle county; and Jay C. Parr, who is engaged in farming with his father in Northville township. Jay C. Parr was born April 6, 1877, and in 1897 married Miss Jessie Dominy, daughter of J. Martin Dominy and Rebecca J. (Miller) Dominy, of Freedom township, LaSalle county.
FREDERICK E. HOBERG.
One of the most prominent members of the bar in LaSalle county. Illinois, is Frederick E. Hoberg, who resides in Peru, where he was born December 29, 1862. His parents were August William and Justine (Schlingmann) Hoberg, both natives of Prussia. Their marriage was solemnized in this country, the maiden having preceded her betrothed here by two years. He landed in America on the day that saw Franklin Pierce elected to the office of president. He came to Peru, where he was married, in 1853, and with the possible exception of two years has resided
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in LaSalle county ever since. Some fifteen years ago they moved to Peru, where they are spending their declining years. Five of the ten children born to them are living at this time. They have been adherents of the Lutheran faith for many years. The father has been a mechanic and is well known throughout the county. He is a Democrat and for six years has filled the office of alderman of Peru.
When Frederick E. Hoberg was a child his parents moved to Tonica, where they resided until he was fifteen, returning then, in 1878, to his native city. His education was received in the public schools, and at the age of fifteen he left school to accept a clerkship in a dry-goods store in Peru. He remained with this concern seven years, but his whole ambition was to enter the profession of law, and for this purpose he left his place as clerk to enter the law office of H. M. Gallagher, of Peru, to study under him. He was admitted to the bar in 1887 and began practicing in Peru the same year. It is said to be one of the most difficult things for a young man to enter upon any profession in his native city and make of it a success. that in order to obtain the smiles of the fickle goddess of fortune it is necessary to start where you are a comparative stranger; yet young Hoberg settled down amidst the people who had known him from childhood, and here proved the fallacy of the adage. His success was assured from the start, and for nine years he represented the city as attorney, in a manner that showed a thorough knowledge of the requirements of the office. . \ Democrat, he has been active in the work of helping that party to success, and has been called to fill a number of municipal offices in recognition of the fact that he ever holds the welfare of the community as of paramount importance. He has been town and city clerk, a supervisor, and a member of the board of education, and in discharging the duties incumbent upon him has shown that the public confidence has not been misplaced. He is : Knight Templar and also a Modern Woodman of America. In 1889 he was married to Miss Annie R. Knapp. of Peru, a most estimable lady. Five children have been born to them, one of whom is deceased.
CHARLES ROHRER.
Char'es Rohrer, who is engaged in general farming and stock-raising on section 9. Northville township. LaSalle county, has throughout his life been connected with the agricultural interests of this community. He was born on section 8 of this township, his parents being Louis and Lib (Smith) Rohrer. His father, now a resident of Sandwich, Illinois, was for many years a prominent citizen of Northville township. He was born in Alsace, Germany. January 6. 1837, and in 1845 came to America with his parents,
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Joseph and Mary Ann (Harter) Rohrer, who located on the farm now occupied by the subject of this review, Charles Rohrer. There Joseph Rohrer carried on agricultural pursuits until his death, in 1858. He was the father of six children: John B., Rosalie, Louis, Celestia, Constantine and one now deceased. On the 4th of July, 1857, Louis Rohrer was married to a daughter of Frederick and Amelia (Foster) Smith, who had seven chil- dren. . Her parents came to LaSalle county in 1834. Her father was born in Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany, August 6, 1810, and was one of the honored pioneer settlers of this county. By the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Rohrer ten children were born, namely: Annie, Charles E., William J., Clara E., Fred- erick, Matilda J., Herbert C., Elizabeth, who died at the age of fifteen years, and two who died in early childhood. Mr. Rohrer, while residing in North- ville township, held several offices, including those of highway commissioner and supervisor. He finally removed to Sandwich and is now an esteemed resident of that city.
Charles Rohrer, whose birth occurred March 3, 1861, was reared on the homestead farm and early trained to the duties of farm life, assisting in caring for the stock, in tilling the fields and harvesting the crops in the late autumn. He attended the district schools through the winter after crops were all gathered, and gained a good practical English education. After attaining his majority he began farming on his own account, and lias made it his life work. The waving fields of grain indicate his energy and diligence, and in addition to the cultivation of the various cereals adapted to this climate he raises considerable stock, and in both branches of his business is meeting with good success.
On the 3d of September, 1885, Mr. Rohrer was united in marriage to Miss Adaline Bernard, a daughter of David Bernard, and their union has been blessed with seven children, namely: Edna, Louis, Lillie, Joann, David, and Edwin F. and Emma, twins, born October 27, 1899.
In his political affiliations Mr. Rohrer is a Democrat, but has never been an office-seeker, preferring to devote his time and energies to his business interests, in which he is meeting with a well merited prosperity. His life has been a quiet and uneventful one, but one true to all manly principles, and his native county numbers him among its valued citizens.
HENRY ZOLPER.
The substantial and well known citizen whose name heads this sketch- Henry Zolper-is a contractor in brick and stone work at Mendota, where he resides in a modern residence of his own building. on Burlington street,
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between Twelfth and Thirteenth avenues. A sketch of his life is appropriate in this work, and is as follows:
Henry Zolper, as the name indicates, is of German descent. He was born in Peru, Illinois, November 15, 1855, a son of Henry and Eva (Trecker) Zolper, natives of Germany. Their family is composed of four children, two sons and two daughters, as follows: Henry; Catherine, wife of Mat Reckinger; Elizabeth, wife of Christopher Burg; and Peter J. Henry is of the third generation that has followed the trade of brick and stone mason, both his father and grandfather before him having been masons. The father of our subject on coming to this country in 1852 settled in Peru, Illinois, where he worked at his trade and did contracting until 1867, when he moved to Troy Grove, this state. There he passed the rest of his life and died in 1897, at the age of sixty-eight years. His first wife died in 1864. Some years later he married Miss Elizabeth Hernscheidt, but by her had no children.
The paternal grandfather of our subject was Peter Zolper. As above stated, he was a brick and stone mason. He lived and died in Germany. and at the time of his death was sixty-two years of age. In his family were four children.
The maternal grandfather also was named Peter. Peter Trecker was a German, a carpenter by trade, who came to America about 1852, and settled at Peru, Illinois, where he died at the age of seventy-two years. He had six children.
Henry Zolper, the immediate subject of this review, lived in Peru until he was twelve years old, attending the parochial and public schools, and from that time on his youthful days were passed on the farm, his education being continued in the common schools. His mother died when he was nine years old and for nineteen years thereafter his father remained a widower. When he was fifteen young Henry began learning the trade of brick and stone mason, which he has followed ever since. He moved to Mendota in February, 1898. Previous to this he had established a large business here and at other points in the county, doing all kinds of brick and stone work, and making a specialty of cement or manufactured stone sidewalks. His business career thus far has been a successful one and he has accumulated valuable property.
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