USA > Illinois > Biographical and memorial edition of the Historical encyclopedia of Illinois > Part 29
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91
Tex., a daughter of George W. and Bertha L. Sanders, and they have one daughter, Bertha Louise: Mrs. Grace A. Hawley, who is a resi- dent of Taylorville; and Mrs. Charles H. Wil- lems, who is a resident of Paris, France. Mr. Charles II. Willems is a portrait painter who is well known both in the United States and in Europe. Mr. Anderson was a man of many charities and frequently served on benevolent boards. From youth he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and at the time of death was one of the church trustees. He was a Royal Arch Mason of many years standing.
CASPER SCHMIDT.
The man who founds and develops an im- mense business enterprise must possess quali- ties of an unusual nature. Combined with the mind to plan, must be the ability to execute. and the foresight to grasp opportunities con- ditions produce. Contemporary history gives the names of a number of men who have made their products known the country over, but per- - haps there is no more striking case of what one man accomplished during his span of years, than that afforded in the life record of the late Casper Schmidt, of Elgin. Born at Dolgesheim, Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, December 25, 1833, he came of an excellent, substantial family of that locality. his father, for whom he was hamnen, being a weaver. Unlike many, he was given an excellent education in the public schools, and was taught the trade of a cooper.
On attaining his majority, the young man left Germany for America, and easily found work at his trade, in the United States, for he was skillful and willing, but after three years spent at Buffalo, he came west to Chicago, and then proceeded to Elgin, where he laid the founda- tions of his future business, by building a cooper's shop on Division Street, near Douglas Avenne. By 1882 he found it necessary to erect a much larger plant, locating it on North State Street, and this he conducted personally until his retirement in 1892. In the meanwhile Mr. Schmidt's keen mind had probed into the future, and foreseen the time when demand for but- ter tubs would be the natural outgrowth of the butter industry, then growing so important at Elgin, so he founded the Elgin Co-Operative But- ter Tub Company, now the Elgin Butter Tub
Company, one of the soundest concerns of Elgin. After acting as the first president of this com- pany, Mr. Schmidt retired a few years prior to his death, but always maintained his interest, and was looked upon as a valued adviser.
A man of publie spirit, he gave attention to local affairs, and while a member of the county board of supervisors, was a member of the com- mittee which had charge of the erection of a new courthouse, and devised the plans by means of which the expense was defrayed without an increase in the tax levy. For three terms he was a member of the city council from the Sev- enth Ward, and it was during that period that the water works were constructed, a sewer sys- tem established and the farm bought that later was made into the Bluff City cemetery. His interest in and approval of these measures was constant and marked, and he never lost an op- portunity to advance the prosperity of his city.
In 1861. Mr. Schmidt married Elizabeth Beecher, of Lake County, Ill., and they became the parents of six sons and one daughter : Charles, George, Henry, John, Louis, Edward and Elizabeth. The sons are prominent business men of Elgin, associated with the business the father founded. These sons also own vast tracts of timberland from which their raw product is obtained, and they ship to all parts of the United States and Canada, as well as to foreign lands.
The class to which Mr. Schmidt belonged is passing. Ile came to this country, a skilled workman, but perfectly willing to economize and work hard to establish himself. Nothing was too difficult for him, no work too hard. As he earned a little money, he put it back into his
954
HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.
business. He lived to see that business grow to proportions which utterly exceeded his fondest dreams in earlier days. His death occurred
April 5, 1914, and he was buried from the fam- ily home No. 312 Lawrence Avenue, Elgin, in- terment being in Bluff City Cemetery.
JACOB STRAWN.
From the elevated plane of public service, resources of this country. At the age of seven- down through the fields of its usefulness to the community and into the privacy of his family circle, the track of the life of Jacob Strawn was characterized by a constant and consistent uprightness born of high principles. Ilis busi- -ness career was marked by continuous action, and, as a citizen, he ever publicly displayed his patriotism, never being afraid to stand by his convictions. Mr. Strawn was born in Somer- set County, Pa., near the Youghiogheny River, on May 30, 1800, a son of Isaiah and Rachael (Reed) Strawn and a grandson of Daniel Strawn. The family was founded in America by Jacob Strawn, the great-great-grandfather of the younger Jacob Strawn, who came, with William Penn, in 1682, to his possessions that were later to be a part of the great common- wealth of Pennsylvania. Isaiah Strawn mar- ried Rachael Reed of Bucks County, Pa., and he became the father of six children of whom Jacob was the youngest. In 1817, the family migrated to Ohio where they bought and im- proved a farm. They were originally Quakers, but subsequently joined the Methodist church, carrying with them the love of truth and sim- plicity which characterizes those who are mem- bers of the Society of Friends. Isaiah Strawn died in 1844, his wife having passed away April 4, 1843, he being eighty-four years of age. During the War of the Revolution, Isaiah Strawn was engaged as a teamster. A British command was sent to confiscate the teams and arms; and a small company was sent as a guard to protect the supplies, and when the Red Coats approached, firing as they drew near, Mr. Strawn, forgetting that he was a Quaker, took a musket and hurried to join the repelling force. With them he fought so well that the major in charge urged him to enlist. Thus it was that he joined the ranks of the Revolu- tionary army.
Jacob Strawn was a worthy son of his father, and while engaged in securing as good an edu- cation as his time and locality permitted, he was learning the details of farming and stock- raising, early recognizing the profit to be made from a proper development of the agricultural
teen Jacob Strawn went to Licking County, Ohio, and there he married, two years later, Matilda Green, daughter of Rtev. John Green, and they settled on some unbroken land for which Mr. Strawn paid $100 cash. In addition to developing his land, Mr. Strawn began to deal in horses, and he found it profitable. While seeking bargains in horses, he made a trip to Illinois in 1828, and instead of invest- ing as he had intended, he purchased land. One tract south of Jacksonville, Morgan Coun- ty, was secured for $10 per acre, au unprece- dented price at that time, and contained 160 acres, on which he built the house that was later the family's residence for years. How- ever, he did not locate permanently in Morgan County until May 17, 1831. This removal was a wise move, for Mr. Strawn came to a com- paratively new country at the time when land was cheap and the stock business in its in- fancy, and he had excellent opportunities of making developments along agricultural lines.
The first house, said to be the largest in Morgan County, was one of those crude log ones that were found throughout Illinois at that period. In this house, Mrs. Strawn died, December 8, 1831, having borne her husband three children, namely: Rev. William Strawn, who is of Odell, III .; James G., who is a farm- er of Orleans, Ill .; and Isaiah, who is engaged in farming near Jacksonville, Ill. The first two named are now deceased. On July S, 1832, Mr. Strawn was married (second) to Phebe Gates, a daughter of Samuel Gates of Greene County, Ill. Her mother was a relative of Ralph Wal- do Emerson, and Mrs. Strawn was noted in her youth for her beauty and intelligent graces. Born in Ohio, near Marietta, Mrs. Strawn came to Illinois with her parents and was reared in Greene County, where she attended one of the best private schools that the country afforded. Mr. and Mrs. Strawn became the parents of six children : Daniel, who was killed in a mill accident ; Julius E., who is mentioned else- where in this work; Jacob; Gates; David, and Martha Amelia.
The career of Jacob Strawn as a stock man
4. ஆங்
أمسفالطا سان
-
الماظة اهـ
955
HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.
is one that commands attention. Living before the days of stockyards and meat combines, he furnished St. Louis with a large portion of the beef that the city consumed, sending over 4,000 head of beeves to one firm during a single year. Ile bought and sold more cattle than any other man in the business, and, because his products could be implicitly relied on, his name was known from coast to coast. In addition to his heavy livestock interests, he conducted both a butchering plant and a flourmill, supplying Jacksonville with both beef and flour. Realiz- ing the future values of Illinois land, he in- vested heavily, owning at various times some 25,000 acres in Morgan and Sangamon counties. Hle never refused to sell land at a fair advance. Jacob Strawn was a man who believed in im- proving his methods. He was wisely not con- tent to let well enough alone, but was constant- ly trying out new plans with eminently satis- factory results. He had decided that stock- feeding and grazing gave comparatively the best returns, and accordingly devoted himself large- ly to this enterprise. He was the first man to introduce the system of stall-feeding cattle with shocked corn, in the State of Illinois, and his ideas in regard to this method of procedure were eagerly accepted by the other agricul- turists and are still followed. While he was essentially a farmer and a stock man, Mr. Strawn was broad minded enough to realize the value of local improvements, and in 1859 commenced the building of Strawn Hall, at Jacksonville, which still stands as a monu- ment to his munificent publie spirit. A strong Union sympathizer, he aided the cause in every way. Not only did Mr. Strawn donate $10,000 to the Christian Commission, but he sent fifty
cows to furnish milk for the injured soldiers. Successful himself, he desired to see others make the most of their opportunities, and he never failed to lend a helping hand.
Early in life he was a Whig. but all of his sympathies combined to make him an en- thusiastie supporter of the Republican party, from its organization in 1:56 until his death August 23, 1865. His remains were laid to rest in Diamond Grove Cemetery, Jacksonville, to await the last trumpet call. His widow sur- vived him until February 6, 1906, when she too passed away. Mrs. Strawn was a very char- itable lady, and left 820,000 to the Illinois College, $10,000 to the Jacksonville Female Academy, and $10,000 to the Passavant Memo- rial Hospital, in addition to several large sums previously given.
In the great conflict between the principles of good and evil which seem to be the heritage of humanity, and of which this world seems to be the battle-ground, the life of Jacob Strawn, guided by sound principles, made itself no un- certain record. His conception of business hon- or and obligations was high, and he never failed to live up to his ideals. No man could ever say that he did not receive a fair deal in any trans- action with Jacob Strawn. His success in life, which was remarkable, came not from an unfair dealing with others, but rather from his ability to handle vast undertakings and control ex- tensive interests. The life of such a man teaches distinctive lessons and proves that hon- esty, sincerity and uprightness do pay, and that an unblemished name can only be insured by right actions and proper living. He was a man far in advance of his time.
JULIUS E. STRAWN.
It is generally accepted as a truism that no man of genius or acknowledged ability can be justly judged while in the thickest of the fight for success, chiefly because time is neces- sary to ripen the estimate upon work which can only be viewed on all sides in the calm atmosphere of a more or less remote period from its completion. This is in no way inap- propriate to the life accomplishment of Julius E. Strawn, who has long occupied a conspic- Nous place in the history of Morgan County. No man in the community has had warmer friends or is more generally esteemed. He is a man of refinement and culture, greatly trav-
eled, of fine business and financial ability, and one who has achieved success in his affairs. Called from a European tour by the death of his sister, he took over the management of a large estate left to him by his father, and exhibited such ability in its conduct that he was called upon to fill positions of responsi- bility in the world of business and finance, and for a number of years has been president of the Jacksonville National Bank. His ac- quaintance is large in political, religious and social circles, and his declining to fill more positions of importance is all that has kept him from being still more fully occupied.
956
HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.
Julius E. Strawn was born December 2, 1835, at Grass Plains, five miles southwest of Jacksonville, a son of Jacob and Phebe (Gates) Strawn. When ten years of age, Julius Strawn was sent to school under Rey. William Eddy, who conducted a private school, and later was a pupil in the private school di- rected by Talmage Collins and Wylder Fair- bank, riding on horseback, ten miles a day to and from his home. He also was enrolled in the school taught by James Henderson, and recited his Latin lesson under the tutorship of Mr. Paul Selby. In the fall of 1556 he entered the preparatory school of Newton Bateman, where he spent one year, prior to entering the Illinois College, in 1857. On being graduated from that institution in 1SG1, he was engaged for several months as an agent for his father in New York City, receiving cattle shipped to that point from his father's farm. For two years he engaged in cultivating a part of bis father's land in Morgan County. Without solicitation from any one he was appointed colonel on the staff of the famous "War Governor" Yates.
Mr. Strawn went abroad in 1865 for a Euro- pean tour, mainly on account of his health, and spent three years across the water, con- sulting the leading physicians in France and Germany. At London he was the recipient of special courtesies from Charles Francis Adams, the United States' Ambassador to Great Brit- ain, and he subsequently visited Ireland, at- tending the World's Fair at Dublin. After in- cluding in his travels many points of histori- cal interest in Scotland, he returned to Lon- don, went to Paris for an extended stay, went thence to Belgium, passed through the Rhine Country and remained several weeks at Aix- la-Chapelle, later enjoying the baths at Crueznach, near Bingen-on-the-Rhine. Au ex- cursion to Russia followed, and there he was received by the United States' minister, Cassius M. Clay, who obtained for him an introduction to the Winter Palace, and the picture galleries and private apartments of the Czar, thus granting him the unusual privilege of viewing the crown jewels and other royal treasures. On his return to Germany, he visited Frankfurt and Baden and spent several weeks in Heidel- burg, then went to Munich and over the Alps by way of Brenner Pass to Verona and Genoa.
Italy. Here he joined a party of German friends on a coaching trin over the Riviera to Nice. Returning to Italy by sea, he passed several weeks in Rome and other Italian cities, and returned by way of Geneva, Switzerland. While in Switzerland, he received notice of the serious illness of his younger and only sister, Martha Amelia (Mattie) Strawn, and he imme- diately hastened to London, where he boarded a mail train for Queenstown, and there man- aged to catch the steamer which had left Liverpool the day before. Taking passage on the "City of London," commanded by Capt. Brooks, the commander of the "City of Washington" on which Strawn had arrived in Europe, he finally reached home, but too late to be at the bedside of his sister, who had passed away. At this time, Mr. Strawn as- sumed charge of his farm and other property, making bis home with his mother on the old place tutil 1882, at which time Mrs. Strawn and her family located in Jacksonville.
The cause of education has always bad a firm friend in Julius E. Strawn. In 1876, he was made trustee of the Illinois College and the Presbyterian Academy, and in 1882, upon the death of L. M. Glover, D. D., he became the president of the board of trustees of the Pres- byterian Academy. Late in 1904 he became acting president of the Illinois College for three months, serving as such until the election of his successor. In 1871 he became a stock- holder in the Jacksonville National Bank, was made a member of the directing board in 1884, and on the resignation of O. D. Fitzsimmons, was elected president of that strong financial institution, but declined to serve. In 1905 he was again chosen as its chief executive and this time accepted. He still holds that office in an advisory capacity, though debarred from active participation on account of physical dis- ability following acute disease of some years ago. Mr. Strawn is a member of State Street Presbyterian Church, whose Sunday school he attended under the superintendency of David B. Ayers, and also his son, Marshall P. Ayers. While Mr. Strawn has always been a Repub- lican in National politics, he has never hesitated in home elections to support any Democrat whom he thought better fitted for the office than his opponent.
-
957
HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.
GEORGE F. DICK.
George F. Dick was born at Tiffin, Ohio, February 22, 1829, and died at Bloomington, Ill., at the age of eighty-six years. After his re- markably brilliant record as an officer of the Twentieth and the Eighty-sixth Indiana Volun- teer regiments, in the Civil war, he became, in 1865, a resident of Bloomington. His reputa- tion had preceded him, and Bloomington and the state of Illinois, while proud of the records of their own gallant native sons, became equally proud to claim this newcomer as a welcome citizen.
General Dick's services in the Twentieth In- diana Infantry were performed in a large num- ber of the most important battles of the Army of the Potomac, in which he was promoted to be major of his regiment. On October 21, 1862, he was appointed by Governor Morton, of In- diana, lieutenant colonel of the Eighty-sixth Indiana, then engaged in the Atlanta campaign. He soon became colonel of the regiment and more than surpassed his former brilliant record
in the Army of the Potomac. He took part in quite a number of the lending battles in the campaign, and was at Chattanooga and Chicka- mauga. In the memorable assault on Missionary Ridge, the Fighty-sixth and Seventy-ninth In- diana regiments performed one of the most remarkable actions of the entire war, giving these two historie commands a military fame equal to that of Anthony Wayne's storming of Stoby Point during the Revolutionary war. In this action these two regiments climbed the steep, rocky front of the Ridge in the face of a murderous fire, during which the colors of the Eighty-sixth were struck by more than eighty bullets, and they were the means of accomplish- ing what the southern generals had always con- sidered an impossibility. At the close of the war Colonel Dick was breveted brigadier gen- erai. During his entire period of residence in Illinois he was always an admired and highly honored citizen. He served twelve years as postmaster at Bloomington.
TRUMAN ARNOLD MASON.
A long life with varied interests gave the late Truman A. Mason a wide and representative acquaintance with men and affairs. The broad- ening influence of this cosmopolitan knowledge was noticeable in his management of the large enterprises with which his name was identi- fied for many years. He was born at New Hart- ford. Oneida County, N. Y., March 14, 1840, of English ancestry and Revolutionary stock, and died at his home in Joliet, March 17th, 1910.
The founder of the Mason family in New Eng- land was Sampson Mason, who arrived from England some time in the seventeenth century, and for generations afterward the family was identified with Cheshire, Mass. From there re- moval was made by Arnold Mason, grandfather, to New York. He was a business man and also a military hero, serving as captain in the state militia and also with the same rank during the War of 1812. He subsequently became a mem- ber of the New York City contracting firm of Low, Mason & Roberts, builders of high bridges and engaged in the construction of the Erie Canal.
Daniel C. Mason, son of Arnold and father of Truman A. Mason, was born in Oneida Coun- ty, N. Y., and in young manhood was associated : with his father in the contracting business. Fol-
lowing his marriage he engaged in agricultural pursuits near Ctica, N. Y., where he remained until 1837, when he removed with his family to Will County, Ill., where he continued life as a farmer for a time and then retired. In Oneida County he married Cornelia HI. Kellogg, whose family came to New York from Connecticut.
On his father's farm near Utica, Truman A. Mason spent bis youthful days and imbibed a love for the soil that he never lost, at later periods in his life seeking in the peaceful pur- suits of agriculture the rest and refreshment demanded after years of strenuous exertion in the busy fields of commerce. His early educa- tional advantages included attendance at Whites- town Seminary, in his native state. In 1865 he visited Chicago and other points west of New York, and after returning to Oneida County rented and operated a farm for one year. The western country, however, had pleased him and he came back to Chicago and engaged in rail- roading for a time, being employed by the C. & A. Railroad as assistant pilot in charge of trains from Grove Street to Brighton Park. Subse- queutly he retarded to Utica, N. Y., where he entered the business house of Curry & Rowley, shortly afterward being taken into partnership, when the firm style became Rowley Bros. & Co.,
95S
HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.
dealers in blank books, stationery and printers' supplies. Two years later Mr. Mason sold his interest and in 1800 came to Joliet, where he embarked in the lumber business with Frank E. and Henry B. Plant, under the firm name of Mason & Plant, manufacturers of sash, doors and blinds. Mr. Mason continued to be actively concerned with the business of this firm nutil the spring of 1880, when he disposed of his firm interest and went into the lumber jobbing trade at the cut-off. Close attention to the demands of his business so impaired bis health that in the summer of ISS6 he retired to his farm, a fine property then situated just outside the cor- poration limits of Joliet. He remained ou the farm until plans were consummated for the founding of the Joliet National Bank, of which he was one of the organizers and the first presi- dent, and he was successively reelected the head of that institution from March 2, 1:91, until his demise. He was a man of acknowl- edged business sagacity and his integrity was an asset in every enterprise with which his name was associated. It threw about his actions a glow of sincerity which gave the promise or word of Mr. Mason the value of pure gold.
Although he was essentially a business man, Mr. Mason was never neglectful of his respon- sibilities as a citizen, accepting the same when he found them in the path of public duty and administering every office with a due sense of its importance. For six years he was a mem- ber of the City Board and served once as an alderman, for one year served as assistant su- pervisor and for several years was president of
the Townshin Ihigh School Board and the city school board.
On September 25, 7872, Mr. Mason was united In marriage with Hannah K. Caton, a native of Chicago, but has lived in Joliet for 47 years, a daughter of William Penn and Elizabeth ( Steele) Coton, natives respectively of New Hartford, Conn., and of Elizabethtown, on Lake Cham- plain, Vt. For a number of years prior to mov- ing to Chicago, Mr. Caton was a farmer, but after locating on Madison Street, now in the heart of the business district of the metropolis, be bad the supervision of all the canal shipping. This henith failed and then he and his brother, afterward Judge Caton, of Ottawa, Ill., went into partnership and purchased and stocked the great Caton farm. On that property Mrs. Mason passed her childhood and until her fifteenth year, at which time her father's health again required a change of environment and the family moved to Joliet, where he lived retired. For many years he was supervisor of his township. Her father was a member of the Society of Friends, com- ing of sound old Quaker stock and possessing many of the beautiful traits and substantial vir- tues for which the sect is noted. In engaging qualities Mrs. Mason is their worthy daughter.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.