USA > Illinois > Biographical and memorial edition of the Historical encyclopedia of Illinois > Part 13
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NELSON THOMASSON.
The growth and development of any com- munity is largely dependent upon the exertions of those men who devote themselves to the ex- ploItation of real estate. Without their energy, vim and progressive ideas no locality will move out of the conventional rut; outside money will not be attracted to it, and property will be worth little more year by year. With the ad- vent of an enterprising, experienced man well versed in the realty business, comes a growth that is remarkable. Many years have passed since initial work was done in this line in the older portions of Chicago, but the needs of this great metropolis have made necessary a con- stant expansion of the outlying territory, while a maintenance of property already built is extremely important. So it is that the work of the realty dealer is counted as being among the most important factors in the life of this city. One of the men whose name is associated with the development along this line is Nelson Thomasson. Nelson Thomasson was born at Louisville, Ky., October 15, 1639, a son of Wil- liam Poindexter and Charlotte Pierce (Leonard) Thomasson, the former of whom was a member of Congress from Louisville, Ky., for several years. During that time he was the only mein- ber from the south who voted for the Wilmot
Proviso. The maternal grandfather of Nelson Thomasson was the Rev. David A. Leonard, who was also the grandfather of the late John Hay, Secretary of State.
Nelson Thomasson received bis educational training in the private schools and academy of his native city, and at the age of eighteen years left Louisville, becoming a student and clerk in the office of Morris, Thomasson & Black- burn of Chicago, and later in the office of John G. Rogers. Judge Buckner S. Morris was the second Mayor of the city of Chicago. In 1861 Nelson Thomasson enlisted in the Sturges Rifles and served in it in the Army of the Potomac; was promoted to the regular army after the campaign in western Virginia, becoming a mem- ber of Company E, Fifth United States Infan- try, and served in New Mexico in the cam- paign against the Texans under Sibley and Bailey. Later he rode for three years side by side with Kit Carson against the Navajos and. other Indian tribes of New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona. He was then engaged in the re- cruiting service at Chicago and Newport bar -. racks. Still later he was on the plains until July, 1870, when he retired from the army, and locating at Chicago, embarked in the real estate business, buying and subdividing large tracts,
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in addition to handling his own property, and representing other heavy realty owners. He was made vice-president of the Chicago Real Estate Board for 1910, which honor is one to be appreciated, as this body is the largest of Its kind in the world. Mr. Thomasson is a member of the Masonic fraternity, having attoined to the Knight Templar degree, and he also belongs to the Loyal Legion and Union League clubs. Politically he is a Republican.
On June 10, 1873, Nelson Thomasson married Miss Nina Norton of Louisville, Ky., and they became the parents of three children, namely : Leonard, who is living at Duluth, Minn .; Nel- son Thomasson, Jr., who is ex-assistant corpora- tion counsel of ( bicago; and Mrs. Elwood Of- futt, who resides at Oakland, Md. The latter is the mother of Mr. Thomasson's three grand- children.
CARL, H. ANDERSEN.
It is impossible for the conscientious physi- cian to arrive at a state of mind where he is satisfied with what he has accomplished, no matter how much it may be, for with an under- standing of what is awaiting the man of sci- ence, the many doors yet unopened which will lead to new realms in the amelioration of the ills of mankind, and the constant yearning to add to his store of knowledge, he, of necessity, keeps on striving for perfection as long as life remains. It is true that in no other profes- sion or calling is so much constantly demanded of its members as that of medicine, and those who have adopted it for their life work often find but little leisure and are frequently kept In active service both night and day. One of the men who has accomplished much out of the ordinary in the ranks of the medical profession in Chicago, is Dr. Carl H. Andersen, of No. 159 N. State street. Dr. Andersen was born at Copenhagen, Denmark, September 21, 1800. a son of Jens and Johanna (Sorensen) Ander- sen. The father was born December 6, 1831, and the mother, February 22, 1833, in Denmark, Both survive and are now living at Ringsted, Denmark, where the father is a banker and a man of established standing.
Carl H. Andersen attended the public schools of his native city, later matriculating at Soro Academy, near Copenhagen, where he continued his studies until he was fourteen years old, at which time, young as he was, he took his own future in his hands, ran away from home and sailed for America. For the first two years after his arrival in the United States, be lived at New York City, where he worked as a boot- black and newsboy. Even at that early age he displayed an ability and industry that set him apart from his associates, and one of bis cus- tomers, noticing these excellent characteristics, took the boy to his ranch in Wyoming, where
he remained for three years, when the desire to return to city life became too strong to resist and he went to Omaha, Neb., where he secured work at a news stand. Withont any encouragement whatever, during all of these changes, he had held fast to an early ambition to sometime be a physician, and now, in order to secure the necessary funds to carry him through a college course, he worked nights as well as days, and eventually reached the first milestone on his road to fortune. In 1890 he entered the John Creighton Medical College of Omaha, from which he was graduated in 1894. Recognizing the great advantages accruing from foreign medical study at that time, he went abroad and took a post-graduate course at Kiel, Germany, which continned through two years. On returning home be located at Chi- cago, where, for one year he was an interne at the Chicago Hospital, acting as assistant to Dr. Alexander Hugh Ferguson. During the Spanish-American war he served as a surgeon in Cuba, and after the close of hostilities was stationed for a time at Fortress Monroe, Va., and following this was sent to the Philip- pine Islands where he spent seventeen months. Upon his return to the United States, he located permanently at Chicago, where he has built up a large and lucrative practice, and is now recognized as one of the skilled and conscien- tious physicians and surgeons of this city. He belongs to the Chicago Medical and the Illi- nois State Medical societies and the American Medical, the Missouri Valley and the Missis- sippi Valley Medical associations, and is a Fellow of the Visiting Surgeon's Society. He is also a member of the Physicians' Club, the Surgeon's Society, and the Pathologie Society, and has a chair in the Post Graduate Woman's Hospital. Keeping in touch with all recent work of his profession, his sound judgment and
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wide experience enables him to decide upon what is valuable and that which is unessential in his practice.
.Dr. Andersen was married March 23, 1899, to Miss Polly Sickles, a daughter of C. Sickles, and a niece of General Sickles of Civil war fame. Mrs. Andersen died June 27, 1904, a lady of many beautiful traits of character. Dr. Andersen is a member of the Royal Arcanum, the University Club and the Illinois Athletic Association. He belongs to the Lutheran
church. Holding to bigh ideals in his profes- sional service, his work has always been char- acterized by a devotion to duty and with an appreciation of the responsibilities resting upon him. He is a man of broad information, and in bis profession he ranks among the leaders. He is interested in all that pertains to modern progress and improvements along material, in- tellectual and moral lines, and his charities assist many worthy enterprises.
JOHN NELSON.
Inventive genius is a divine gift, and its exer- cise, along useful and humanitarian lines, has done much to add to the comfort and happiness of the world. The great activity of mind de- manded, however, often results in a strain upon the physical well-being, and those who have done the most for humanity, in too many cases, have been called from their sphere of useful- ness before they have lived long enough to reap in fair measure the results of their work and sacrifices. The late John Nelson, of Rockford, Ill., was a man whose natural talents and prac- tical application of expert knowledge placed him way beyond ordinary characterization, and bad he been spared to round out the allotted span of life of three score years and ten, or more, would have revolutionized the mechanical world to a far greater extent than he did, in the little more than half a century given him. Mr. Nelson was born in the parish of Karrakra, Westergotland, Sweden, April 5, 1830.
Losing his father when he was but a child, John Nelson was thrown upon his own resources and had practically no educational opportuni- ties, having to earn his own living at a time when most children are being tenderly cher- ished. This he did, by working at making spin- ning wheels, and early proved bis mechanical skill. Hearing of the better industrial oppor- tunities afforded in America, he left his native land for the United States, on a sailing vessel, and landed at New York City, May 30, 1852. From the metropolis of the East he journeyed to that of the West, Chicago, and spent a few months in that city and its vicinity, finally coming to Rockford, where he found employ- ment as a turner in a furniture factory. It was not long before the inventive skill of the quiet young Swede was turned to good account, he producing a device called a dove-tail fasten- ing. Prior to this it was impossible to prop-
erly secure the corners of drawers except by band. With his invention, a thousand pieces could be prepared and put together without any change or finish. Mr. Nelson subsequently in- vented and patented a number of appliances, but his real, notable work was done in connec- tion with the knitting machines for knitting hosiery. The first of his machines which he patented, is now in use throughout the civilized world, although subsequent improvements have been made upon the original. The original knit- ting machine necessitated one operator to each machine, but, with the Nelson invention, an operator can operate thirty-five machines.
For some years MIr. Nelson was the senior member of the firm of Nelson & Burson, but later he became vice-president of the Nelson Knitting Company, to which he gave much of his time and energy, succeeding in placing it among the leading industries of the city. Mr. Burson withdrew from the firm before the ma- chine was completed, and had nothing to do with the final inventions which perfected the machine. The patent is in the name of Mr. Nelson. He was also president of the Eagle Boot and Shoe Company, and was interested in other organizations, especially among those pro- moted by his own countrymen.
The inventions of Mr. Nelson revolutionized the knitting industry throughout the world. While the returns from some of his patents were large, his expenses were very heavy, and he was constantly experimenting, for like every true genius he was never entirely satisfied with results. Then, too, he was very charitable, and no one ever applied to him for assistance who went away empty-handed. Especially was this true with those who came from Sweden, for Mr. Nelson ever cherished a warm affection for the land of his birth. When death claimed him, he was at work upon an improvement for his knit-
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ting machine, and it was thought that the se- vere strain to which he subjected himself, weak- ened his powers of resistance so that when he was attacked by typhoid pneumonia, he was not able to rally, and died after an illness of ten days, on April 15, 1853. At the time of his funeral, the Central and Union furniture fac- tories, the Knitting works, the Rockford Mitten factory and the chair factory, the Skandia P'low works and other establishments, closed their doors out of respect for him and appreciation of his genius.
In 1854 Mr. Nelson married Miss Eva Chris- tena Pearson, born May 6, 1834, at Wing, Sweden. She came to America on the same boat as Mr. Nelson, and on the long voyage the two young people became acquainted. With her were her parents, one sister and three brothers, but all have passed away except Mrs. Nelson. The Pearson family located at St. Charies. Jul., where she continued to reside until her happy marriage, after which Rockford continued to be her home. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson became the parents of seven children: Alfred, who died at the age of thirty-three years; Colonel William, who is now president of the Rockford Drilling Machine Company ; Oscar, who is vice-president of the Forest City Knitting Company ; Frithiof, who died in infancy ; Frithiof (known as Fritz), who is secretary and treasurer of the Forest City Knitting Company : John Franklin, who is an inventor of attachments on machines that make the rib tops on socks; and Anna Catherine, who married Samuel H. Reck, secretary and
treasurer of The Graves-Klusman Tool Com- pany, Cincinnati, Ohio.
During his Hetime Mr. Nelson was very much interested in the welfare of the old Swedish Lutheran Church, now known as the First Luth- eran Church of Rockford, to which Mrs. Nelson also belongs. They were the first to put their names down on the list of members of the old church. Politically Mr. Nelson was a Republi- cau, but his manifold interests and heavy busi- ness cares preventel his taking an active part in public affairs, although he was always a sup- porter of those movements which looked to- wards a betterment of humanity and a purify- ing of civic conditions. Fraternally he was a Mason, belonging to Rockford Commandery, and was also a member of Kent Lodge A. O. U. W.
Thirty years have passed since John Nelson was laid to rest, and yet the industry he founded through his inventions still goes on. In countless factories throughout the world, his machines are turning out a product that not only lessens labor, but furnishes a cheap, attractive and comfortable covering for the feet of those who work as well as those whose lives are shel- tered. Thousands owe their means of subsist- ence to the genius of this man, who, through his invention, provided the instruments for them to operate. Such a man needs no monument of marble or granite. His memory is consecrated by his accomplishments in this life, and because of his upright, conscientious, hard-working years and his absolute fidelity to what he felt was true and right.
LUMAN T. HOY.
Luman T. Hoy, who is the United States marshal for the northern district of Illinois, demonstrates in his life the truth of the saying that real merit receives proper recog- nition, and that other one, that nothing succeeds like success. Persistent, conscientious en- deavor along legitimate lines has resulted in his case in consecutive advancement and added honors, all of which he has faith- fully won, for he holds the record of never having slighted a task or neglected a duty con- nected with the several offices which he has so ably filled. It is such men as he who give dignity to the service of their country and uphold its power and make its laws something more than empty phrases of legal lore. Mr. Hoy was born in Alden, MeHenry County, III., October 28, 1850, a son of Marmaduke and
Catharine M. (Alberty) Hoy, both natives of New York State, where the father was born in February, 1821, and his wife in January of that same year. They were married in Lockport, N. Y., in 1844, and the fall of that same year they came to Illinois, settling at Alden, Mc- Henry County. They made the long trip by way of the Erie canal and the Great Lakes to Chicago, from whence they took teams and wagons to convey their household goods and themselves to Alden. In the spring of 1845, Marmaduke Hoy bought a farm in MeHenry County and began farming, thus continuing until the fall of 1865, when he was honored by election to the office of clerk of McHenry Coun- ty. In order to take charge of the office prop- erly, Mr. Hoy moved to Woodstock, the county seat, and as he was reelected to succeed himself
John . Saloon
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in 18GO, he held the office eight years. After the expiration of his second term of office, Mr. lloy formed a partnership with his son, George HI. Hoy, and the firm embarked in a dry goods and grocery business at Woodstock, later en- larging the field of their operations by becom- ing bankers as well. Two other sons were taken into the business, and when the banking inter- ests dominated the others, the firm disposed of them, and devoted themselves to their financial institution. Mr. Hoy made Woodstock his home until his death, which occurred May 15, 1912. He continued the head of the bank for a number of years, and remained in active business until within a couple of years of his death. During his earlier life he taught school in his native state for some years, and was so engaged dur- ing the winter seasons after coming to Illinois.
Marmaduke Hoy was twice married, his first wife, Miss Alberty, dying in 1862. His second wife, who bore the maiden name of Esther At- water, of Lockport, N. Y., survives him, residing at Woodstock, Ill. To his first marriage five children were born as follows: Sarah D., who is the wife of Dr. E. W. Wilbur of Mesa, Ariz. ; Luman T., whose name heads this sketch ;
George II., who is of Woodstock. Ill. ; Fremont, who is also of Woodstock; and Jennie, who died at the age of two years. The second marriage of Mr. Hoy resulted in the birth of two chil- dren : Kittie A., who died when seventeen years old ; and John M., who lives at Woodstock. MI. Hoy was highly respected by all who knew him and was one of the substantial and public- spirited citizens of his county. He was a staunch Republican in his political affiliations and always took an active interest in the suc- cess of his party. Voting for Fremont and Day- ton, the first candidates for president and vice- president on the Republican ticket after the Republican party was formed, he took a pride in continuing his support of that party after- wards. Originally, he was a Whig and so naturally turned towards the new party upon its organization.
Luman T. Hoy spent his boyhood on a farm in MeHenry County, attending the district schools, and helping with the work on the farm. When he was fifteen years old, he removed with his parents to Woodstock, the county seat, where he spent three years attending high school, tak- ing a general course. At the age of eighteen years, he embarked in a drug business in that
city in partnership with A. R. Murphy, and this association continued twelve years, when Mr. Hoy purchased big partner's interest, and has since then conduered the business alone, although since Februars, 1899, he has employed a man- ager to look after the business. In February, 1899, Mr. Toy was appointed secretary of the Illinois State Board of Pharmacy, which office be filled for five years, resigning to accept that of United States Appraiser of Imported Mer- chandise at the port of Chicago. He filled this position very acceptably until July 7, 1900, when he resigned to accept his present office, which he has filled ever since, with satisfaction to the government and distinction to himself, being re-appointed to succeed himself in August, 1911. Mr. Hoy still resides at Woodstock, but has his office in the Federal Building. Chicago. He, like his father, is a staunch Republican, and has held many offices of trust in his native county. The first one was that of treasurer of Woodstock. He then served as an alderman of the city some years, and later was elected chairman of the Republican County Central Committee, and served consecutively for eighteen years, during which period he was elected and served fourteen consecutive years as supervisor of Dorr Township, which ein- braced the City of Woodstock, in McHenry County. During this time he was also a mem- ber of the Republican State Central Commit- tee, representing the Eleventh Congressional district, and the last two years was secretary of that body.
Mr. Hoy was married at Palmyra, N. Y .. October 28, 1875, to Miss Anna A. Vanderboget, a native of New York, born in Sodus, that state, October 13, 1853, a daughter of Philip and Mary ( Miller) Vanderboget. Mr. and Mrs. Hoy be- came the parents of two sons, namely : Clinton L., who was born October 17, 1876, a practicing physician at Three Forks, Mont., and Eugene R., who was born July 7, 1STS, is an attorney at Woodstock, Ill. Mr. Hoy is a member of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to St. Mark's Lodge No. 63, A. F. & A. M. of Woodstock, Ill., Woodstock Chapter No. 36, R. A. M., and Calvary Commandery No. 25, K. T. He also belongs to the Hamilton Club of Chicago. His wife is a member of the Woodstock Chapter of the East- ern Star, and also of the Woodstock Woman's Club.
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JOHN HOWARD BURNHAM.
John Howard Burnham, of Bloomington, Ill., was born in 1834, in Essex, Mass., a little town which was taken off from Old Ipswich in 1519. His father was John Burnham, who in- herited the home of John Burnham, who emi- grated from Norwich, England, to Ipswich in 1634. His mother was Sarah (Choate) Per- kins, who was a first cousin to Reuben Choate, the great New England lawyer and orator. His paternal grandmother was a Goodhue. His ma- ternal grandmother was a Choate, and Mr. Burnham possesses genealogies of the families of Burnham, Perkins, Choate and Goodhue, carrying his history back to the old English homes.
John Howard Burnham emigrated to Bar- rington, Cook County, Ill., in 1855. In 1858 he entered the State Normal University at Bloom- ington, from which he graduated in 1861, being the first Cook County graduate at that institu- tion. The young man enlisted at Normal, August 20, 1861, for service in the Civil war, in Company A, Thirty-third Illinois Infantry. Mr. Burnham became first lieutenant of this splendid student company, and by the later elevation of its commander he was promoted to be its captain, September 5, 1862, serving until obliged from ill health to leave the sery- ice in 1863. For one year he was superintend- ent of schools in Bloomington, when he re- signed to become editor of the Bloomington Pantagraph, then in its tenth year, where he remained almost three years.
In 1867 he commenced contracting for county and township iron highway bridges and other structures, a line of business in which during over forty years he pioneered the introduction of improved bridges in one-half the counties of this state and in many of the counties of Wisconsin. He thus acquired a very extensive and intimate acquaintance with the geography of the state and with very many of its leading citizens, as well as with much of the state's local and other history.
Mr. Burnham has antiquarian and historic tastes. In the intervals between business cares
he wrote, in 1879 and 1880, a history of Bloom- ington and Normal, and thus placed on record a great amount of historical information relat- ing to these two important municipalities and concerning the early history of McLean County. In 1892 he was one of the most active citizens to organize the MeLeau County Historical So- ciety, which has long possessed a room in the McLean County fireproof courthouse, which room is now almost entirely filled with an his- torical museum of much more than local inter- est. This society has published three important volumes of its transactions, all of which have been benefited by Mr. Burnham's careful fore- sight during their publication. He has con- tinued to be chairman of its executive commit- tee during the twenty-two years of the society's existence.
In 1882 he became corresponding member of the Chicago Historical Society and in 1900 he was one of the organizers of the Illinois State Historical Society. He has been one of its most active directors during the whole fifteen years of the society's history, and through his extensive acquaintance in Illinois, during the early days of the society his assistance was of considerable importance. His recent paper on the "Destruction of Kaskaskia by the Missis- sippi River" is his most important historical contribution to the society's publications, though his enthusiastic paper at the society's first annual meeting on "Local Historical So- cieties, Their Field of Work and Their Rela- tion to the State Society," may possibly have been of more real importance to the society's welfare.
On January 23, 1866, Mr. Burnham married Miss Almira S. Ives, daughter of Mr. A. B. Ives, of Bloomington, who was one of its best known lawyers. He was a son of Almon Ives, a pioneer of Kendall County, Ill. Mrs. Burn- ham was born in the same county and came to Bloomington with her father in 1853. They have no children. She is an artist of more than local reputation.
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