USA > Illinois > Biographical and memorial edition of the Historical encyclopedia of Illinois > Part 66
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born in Lockport, N. Y., October 7, 1831, became the wife of George R. McGregor, and died at Joliet, Ill., February 1, 1904.
Having laid the foundation of his education in Lewiston Academy, his work there being sup- plemented by instruction given him by private tutors, when he was but fifteen years old he engaged in the study of law, at Lockport. N. Y. When he was twenty, he removed to New York City and continued his preparation there, gaining admittance to the New York bar in 1841, after successfully passing the required examination. In this eastern metropolis he first commenced active practice, but the opportunities which the growing West offered to young and enter- prising men, attracted him and he transferred his office to Lockport. III., in ISIS. Will County was then passing through the earlier portion of its formative period; and, as might have been expected, because of his superior mental attain- ments and his undoubted strength of character. Mr. Parks became one of the more prominent men in public life. He received the appoint- ment of Master-in-Chancery for Will County. in 1844; but as his health began to fail he re- signed this office after a short term and joined the engineering corps of the Illinois and Mis- souri Canal, and continued until the completion of that project in the spring of 1415. The fol- lowing year Mr. Parks was elected county judge of Will County, which necessitated his removal
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to Joliet, where he later entered into partner- ship with his brother-in-law. Hon. N. D. Elwood. and resumed the practice of law. The Brm, under this partnership, was almost immediately successful, attracting the best class of patrons, and was only dissolved upon the death of Mr. Elwood, in 1861. Mr. Parks for several years acted as attorney for the Chicago & Rock Island, the Chicago & Mississippi, and the Northern Indiana Railroad companies.
Early a Democrat he later allied himself with the free soil movement, but in 1850, when the questions involved were adjusted by compra- mise, he returned his support to the Democratie party, continuing a strong and influential advo- cate of its principles until 1854, when the Mis- souri compromise was repealed, when he made a vigorous anti-Nebraska speech at Lockport, within a week after that measure had been in- produced by Judge Douglas. In 195 the Gen- eral Assembly of Illinois took up the task of electing a United States Senator. and Mr. Parks, having previously been elected a representative from the Forty-fifth District, comprising the counties of Will, Du Page, Kankakee and Iro- quois, gave his earnest support to the candidacy of Abraham Lincoln until it became certain that candidate's cause was hopeless, when he cast his influence for Lyman Trumbull, who was elected on the tenth ballot. Mr. Parks was ap pointed by Governor Matteson, in 1853, a direc- tor of the Institution for the Deaf and Blind, and he served as such for some time. Three years after his appointment to this directorship he was elected state senator from the Sixth Dis- trict, which comprised Will. Kendall, Kankakee, and Iroquois counties. In 1864 he was appointed a member of the board of visitors of the Naval Academy, then located at Newport, R. I .. and, in the same year, he received an appointment from Governor Yates as one of the commission- ers of the Joliet Penitentiary.
During the progress of the Civil war, Mr. Parks was a stanch supporter of the Union, and did much, through the exercise of his widespread influence to help maintain the adiministration at Washington. For the three succeeding years of 1863, 1864, and. 1865, he was chosen to de- liver the address, at Wilmington, commemorat- ing the birth of our great Nation, and this honor Mr. Parks appreciated most fully. In the year 1572, having affiliated with the political move- ment originated at Cincinnati, he received the nomination of the liberal Republican party for Congress; but he shared defeat with the great majority of his liberal confreres, and Mr. Cor- ' win. the regalar Republican nominee was elected. Mr. Parks never considered himself bouta by the lines of party distinction, but un- falteringly supported movements which he deemed best adapted to the weal of the common- weilth.
Mr. Parks was married to Miss Lucretia L. Story, on February 3, 1SIS, who died August 25, 1895. She was a daughter of Samuel and Cath- erine Story, of Moscow, N. Y. Mrs. Parks was born May 4, 1824, in Lester, Livingston County, N. Y. The mother of Mrs. Parks passed away on October 24, 18$1, at the advanced age of eighty-six years. One son and one daughter were born to Mr. and Mrs. Parks. The latter, Kate W., died August 25. 1871, aged nearly eighteen years. The son, Samuel S. Parks, was born at Lockport, Ill., November 14, 1848.
The death of Gavion D. A. Parks came on December 28, 1895, at his home in Joliet. Ile had lived a life which conformed always to the higher set standards of Christian manhood. The seventy-eight years of his life were surprisingly full of activity, and the worthy ends toward which he worked received the full benefit of his wise judgment, his intimate knowledge of men and things, and of the experience which his years of legal service, both public and private, had brought.
RAYMOND GILSON SYKES.
Many men attain to greatness in their career ; others lead a very quiet existence, and when they pass from this earthly sphere, they leave it but little better for their having spent a few years in it. The man who makes a record worth remembering, is not necessarily he who com- mands the plaudits of the populace, but the one above whose grave can be truthfully said. "Well done, good and faithful servant." The clearest
conception of the late Raymond Gilson Sykes is contained in the words, "He was a very worthy man." although he attained to an important position among the steel magnates of the coun- try. From childhood he seemed to be animated by the desire to do well whatever he undertook, and his efforts were amply rewarded. Although he was taken away when in all reason he had years yet stretching before him, he made his
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name stand for much in different sections, and left a precious heritage to those who come after him.
Raymond Gilson Sykes was born at Caafield. Ohio, April 29, 1549, a son of Saxton and Rachel (Gilson) Sykes, natives of Vermont and Eastern Ohio, respectively. The family was a pioneer one of Mahoning County, Ohio, and Saxton Sykes was the first county recorder. ile died in 1556, and his wife in ISSO. Prior to the birth of Raymond G. Sykes, the family took up their home at Canfield, and there the lad received a substantial educational training in Mahoning
· Academy. When fifteen years old, he was ap- prenticed to John Hollis, of the firm of Hollis Bros., where he learned the tinner's trade. Con- pleting the period of his apprenticeship, he be- gan working for himself in various cities, in- cluding St. Louis, Mo., but at the expiration of two years, located at Niles, Ohio, where he es- tablished himself in a permanent business, opee- ing a store. In 1877 he was granted a patent on iron roofing, and in order to push the manufac- ture and sale of this commodity, he sold his store, and began manufacturing this rooting at Niles. His was practically the first roofing of its kind placed on the market, and its merits were so quickly and universally recognized, that as president of the company, he, in 1800, or ganized a branch at Chicago, known as the Sykes Steel Roofing Company, of which he was also the executive head. At Niles his influence was sought, and he was made president of the First National Bank of that place, so continuing until he moved to Chicago in 1808. In August of that year, he bought the business and plant owned by the Corning Steel Company of Ham- mond, Ind., and conducted it for two years, at which time he sold to the American Sheet Steel Company. He was also one of the organizers of the Bostwick Steel Lath Company, and in every
business connection proved his worth and effi- ciency.
On May 30, 1871, Mr. Sykes married Miss Ciara Luse, of Miles, Ohio, a daughter of War- ren aud Hanneb (Bowell) Luse, natives of Greene County, Da., and Eastern Ohio, respect- ively. At one time Mr. Luse was an extensive farmer in Ohio, but died in retirement, in 1859. Mr. and Mrs. Sykes had three children: Jessie, who married O. D. Beardsley, of Ganettsville, Omo, now living in Chicago; Aubrey Luse, who married Ruth Swallow of Chicago, daughter of Thomas and Anna ( Hainslay) Swallow; and Roy Raymond, who married Mildred Bane of Chicago, a daughter of Levi and Georgianna (McGee) Bate.
Until William MeKiney, who was a native of Niles, Ohio, and a close friend of the Sykes family, was elected President of the United States, Mr. Sykes was a Democrat, but from then on was affiliated with the Republicans and during the remainder of the life of the martyred president, was his earnest admirer and supporter. Mr. Sykes belonged to the Chicago, Athletic, Colonial and South Shore Country clubs. Fra- ternally he was a -Mason, belonging to Lake Erie Consistory, at Cleveland, Ohio, Warren Commandery, No. 39, and Al Koran Shrine No. 352, at Cleveland. After a life of continuous useful activity his health failed and he'never recovered from a paralytic stroke received in 1913, passing away February 11, 1914. As is well known the manufacturing interests of any section of the country are exceedingly important, and their healthy growth an indication of pub- lie prosperity, so that one who brings about so desirable a condition may be justly ranked, as was Mr. Sykes, among those who have accom- plished much and proven their worth as men and citizens.
ANTON REICHMANN.
While some believe that better results attend those who experiment alon; diverging lines, it is generally found that those who concentrate their efforts achieve more material success. This is all the more true in cases dealing with a retail trade. The dealer becomes acquainted with the needs and tastes of his customers and during the years he is associated with them is able to serve them more intelligently and de- sirably than one who is new to the neighborhood. At any rate this has been the experience of
Anton Reichmann, one of the leading butchers of Joliet, whose market receives a fair measure of the best trade of the city. He was born June 10, 1870, a son of Joseph and Anna (Koch) Reichmann. Joseph Reichmann for some years was successfully engaged in farming in Illinois, but later established himself in a meat market business at Joliet.
Anton Reichmann was carefully educated in both the public schools and a business college and when he was fifteen years old he went into
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his father's meat market which was then located on the present site of the Woodruff building. Some years later the business was moved to a store on Jefferson street. About 1893 Joseph Reichmann turned over his busi- ness to his son, which then became the Anton Reichmann Meat Market. Anton Reichmann continued to reside at Joliet until 1900 when he was made resident manager for Morris & Co. of Chicago, and continued to hold that position until his death.
On April 30, 1895, Anton Reichmann was united in marriage with Miss Clara Weishaar. a daughter of Ignatias and Johanna (Leodeux) Weishaar, the former of whom came to the United States in 1844, settling on a farm in Cook County, Ill., where he remained until 1856; when he moved to another rural property in the vicinity of Joliet. Hle was a great lover of
music, and possessed great musical talent which he used for the pleasure of his family and friends. Mr. and Mrs. Reichmann are the par- euts of two children; George A. and Doris, In religioos faith Mr. Riechmann is a member of St. Patrick's Catholic Church. He owns two resi- dences at Joliet and is justly numbered among the leading men of that city. His has been no royal read to fortane, but he has won his pres- ent position through honest dealing and a care- tul consideration for the demands of his trade. Long before the government through its rulings compeiled observation of certain sanitary laws, the Reichmatin market was famed for its clean- liness and the excellence of its meats. Having grown up in the business. Mr. Reichmann is thor- oughly conversant with it and his customers benefit by his experience.
JAMES ALLEN MURRAY.
That deep love of Nature, as the handiwork of God, which invests the flowers, the trees and the stones in the brook with a kind of persen- ality that is companionable, is not given to every man to experience, but where this gift is be- stowed it is a blessing, softening many a hard angle and casting a shadow of romance over the pathway of life that is usually all too practical. In such an individual the world finds one in whom yet lingers the faith and gentleness of youth combined with the strength, patience and courage of maturity. During the long life of the late James Allen Murray, he passed through many of the hard experiences that seem, in some way, for all, a necessary part of develop- ment, but from childhood on, even into hoary old age, this intimate love and understanding of Nature accompanied him and no memory of him can be disassociated with it. Through col- legiate training he mastered a difficult profes- sion but it never held for him the interest as did his studies in geology or his delight in watching the ever-returning miracle of growing things through the work of his own hands.
James Allen Murray was born at Revelston, near Edinborough, Scotland, January 23, 1820, and was a son of William and Mary (Stuart) Murray, both of whom died within two weeks of each other when he was thirteen years of age. He passed his childhood and youth at Revelston and when old enough entered the Edinborough University. Ere long he borame manager of the Fstates of the Duke of Buccleuch, at Drum-
Jandrig Castle, where he remained for twelve years, leaving there in order to assume charge of a still larger estate belonging to the same noble, at Dalkeith. In 1852, on the second steamship that ever crossed the Atlantic ocean, he came to the United States. For a time he was associated with two brothers in the dry goods business but found merchandising ex- tremely distasteful and after retiring from that line resided throughout the remainder of his lite on a farm that it was his pleasure to beau- tify in every way. His estate of 100 acres was situated in Hall Township, Bureau County, Spring Valley, Ill., and there, in an ideal home that he had created he passed out of life in March, 1913.
On September 11, 1864, Mr. Murray was mar- ried at Princeton, Ill., to Miss Sara A. Alcott, a daughter of William and Sarah ( Mather) Al- cott, natives of Massachusetts. She was an only child and was orphaned in childhood. She was a cousin of Louisa M. Alcott, the well known authoress. To Mr. and Mrs. Murray the fol- lowing children were born: William Mather, November 4, 1867 ; Frances Mary Maze, October 22. 1869; Charles Stuart, March 11, 1871 : James Alcott : March 12, 1873; and Harold Earl. March 22, 1850.
Mr. Murray was a man of sincere religious convictions and a Presbyterian of the old school. Although never aggressive in public life he ever recognized the responsibilities of good citizen- ship and true manhood, never accepting any
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office, however, except membership on the Spring Valley Board of Education. In Abraham Lin- coln he found a man of congenial tastes and political views, and their personal friendship lasted until the tragic death of Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Murray was the soul of hospitality, even in
venerable years, and it was a pleasure to him to gather around him friends of earlier as well as later days. He was a loyal friend. Playful in spirit he could be, while there was always a noble dignity in his bearing. He was one of God's noblemen.
JOSEPH OSCAR CUNNINGHAM.
Joseph O. Cunningham, lawyer, author and philanthropist, of Urbana, Ill., was born at Lancaster, Erie County, N. Y., December 12, 1830, the son of Hiram Way and Eunice (Brown) Cunningham, his paternal ancestry, traced back three generations including his grandparents Layton and Phoebe (Way) Cun- ningham, and his great-grandparents, Thomas and Lucy ( Hutchinson) Cunningham. His father, Hiram Way Cunningham, who was a native of Unadilla, Otsego County, N. Y., re- moved therefrom to Erie County in 1811, and in 1833 to Clarksfield, Huron County, Ohio, where he opened up a farm in a heavily timbered region, and pursued his life occupation as a farmer. Here the son received his primary education in a log schoolhouse usually attend- ing school three months each winter and for a like period during the summer, meanwhile as- sisting in clearing, fencing and cultivating the home farm, in some cases continuing his labors during the entire winter. At sixteen years of age, having completed arithmetic in the local schools, he took up the study of algebra for six weeks, and, at nineteen, began teaching a country school in which he was engaged for three years thereafter. In the meantime, hav- ing spent three years at Oberlin College, and .at Baldwin Institute in Ohio, in June, 1853, he came to Champaign County; Ill., and immedi- ately located at Urbana, which has been his home continously ever since. When about twenty-two years of age he spent one year as teacher of a village school in the neighboring town of Eugene, in western Indiana. Within a month after his arrival at Urbana, Mr. Cun- ningham became one of the proprietors and editor of the Urbana Union, as the successor to W. N. Coler, by whom the paper had been established during the previous year. This connection continued until August, 1558, dur- ing a part of the last year Mr. Cunningham being also, in 1858, associated with Dr. J. W. Seroggs in the publication of the Central Illinois Gazette, at Champaign, then West Urbana. At first occupying an independent
position under Mr. Cunningham's management, in 1856, the Union became a zealous supporter of the policy of the newly organized Republican party and of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln- Douglas campaign of 1858.
Having meanwhile prosecuted his studies in the law, Mr. Cunningham was admitted to the bar in April, 1855, later, in 1858-9, taking a one year's course in the law school at Cleveland, Ohio. For the next forty-seven years after his admission to the bar, Judge Cunningham practiced continuously in his home city, during that period not missing a single term of court. During this time he was brought in contact with many of the most prominent jurists and mem- bers of the bar in this and adjoining States, including Judge David Davis, Abraham Lincoln, and others. As a Republican, he took part in the now celebrated Bloomington Convention, which assembled at Bloomington on May 20, 1556, and which was the first State Convention of the party in Illinois.
The official positions which he has held in- clude those of judge of the County Court of Champaign County, to which he was elected as an independent in 1861, serving a term of four years, and that of trustee of the University of Illinois, being appointed by Governor Oglesby a member of the first board in 1867, and re- appointed by Governor Palmer in 1871, serving on the Executive Committee for a period of six years. Judge Cunningham has taken an active interest in matters of general and state history and has delivered many addresses before Ma- sonic, historie and legal associations. On June 27. 1900, and on July 4, 1907, he delivered an address at Norwalk, Ohio, before the "Fire- lands Historical Society," of which he is a life member, on the occasion of its fiftieth an- nual meeting. He also read valuable historic papers in 1902 and 1905 before the Illinois State Historical Society, of which he was one of the founders and is now a member and vice-presi- dent. In collaboration with William C. Jones, he prepared, some thirty years ago, a volume on "County and Probate Court Practice," the
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first edition of which was published in 1883, and of which second and third editions were issued in 1892 and 1903, the last in revised and enlarged form. The demand for new editions of this work, and the large sales of each, show that it is accepted as an authority in the County and Probate Courts of the state. Judge Cunningham's latest literary labor has been as author and editor of the "History of Champaign County," in which he has succeeded In collect- ing. and placing in a condition for permanent preservation, a large amount of matter bearing upon the local and general history of Champaign County, of deep interest to its citizens and the people of the state generally.
On October 13, 1553, Judge Cunningham was married at Bainbridge, Ohio, to Miss Mary MeConoughey, who was born December 4, 1530. " and whose parents were early emigrants from Massachusetts to the Western Reserve, Ohio. On October 13, 1903, Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham celebrated their golden wedding at their home in Urbana, and on October 13, 1913, they like- wise celebrated their sixtieth anniversary, both events being participated in by several hundred of their earlier and later friends, who availed themselves of the occasion to tender their con- gratulations and well wishes.
In religious belief Judge Cunningham is iden- tied with the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he has been a member since 1866, and of which his wife is also a member. One of their notable acts was the donation, in 1804. to the Woman's Home Missionary Society of the Illi- mois Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of the home in which they had resided for the preceding twenty-five years, to be used aş a home for orphans and other dependent children. This building, with a tract of fifteen acres of land attached, valued at $15.000. under the name of the "Cunningham Children's Home." is now in charge of a superintendent and number of church deaconesses, who give in- struction in kindergarten and other educational work to the children under their care, or super- intend the culinary and domestie departments. During its history this institution has furnished
temporary homes to hundreds of dependent children, of whom more than fifty have found a refuge there at the same time. The noble work being accomplished by this benevolent in- stitution reflects honor not only upon its gen- erous founders, but upon the community in which it is located as well which so generously yields support.
In 1906 Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham offered to the city of Urbana the gift of fifteen acres of land, part of his farm adjoining the corporate limits of the city, to be used as a public park by its citizens and the general public. The gift was accepted and a conveyance made in fur- therance of this much needed municipal ap- partenance. The appropriateness of this pic- turesque tract for the purpose intended at once aroused interest in the enterprise in the public mind and after the formation by the voters of a park district as provided by law, and the election of a board of trustees, about forty-five acres of adjacent lands were purchased for park purposes. Since then, year by year, such improvements have been made in these lands in the way of pretty lagoons, drives and paths by this board as to give the public a very much appreciated place of resort. The result has been to give Urbana a public park which at once does its citizens honor and affords to all a pleasure ground rarely equalled.
In addition to other organizations with which Judge Cunningham is identified, he has been a member of the Masonic fraternity since 1850. for six years being Master of Urbana Lodze. and also a member of the Urbana Knight Tem- plar Commandery. Originally a Whig in poli- ties, from 1556 to 1873 he was identified with the Republican party, but since that time has occupied an independent position and been a pronounced advocate of the principles of the Prohibition party. After nearly fifty years of continuous practice he retired from the practice of his profession, but continues to take a deep interest in all questions of a moral and political character affecting the welfare of the State and Nation.
JOHN PITT MATTHEWS.
One of the distinguished men of the past who seem at once a reproach and an encouragement to those of the present, was the late Dr. John Pitt Matthews, one of the most prominent physicians of Central Illinois, who at the time
of his death was the oldest practicing phy- sician in Macoupin County. There was a spirit of self-sacrifice and devotion to duty among men of his class which is now so rare as to be almost phenomenal. He lost sight of self in
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serving others, and attained high distinction in medical circles and was known all over the state as a man of unusual ability and the high- est conception of the ideals of his profession. Dr. Matthews was born at Hampton Court, Herfordshire, England, September 2, 1835, third in a large family of children born to John and Caroline (Cooper) Matthews. The father was a bailiff on the property of Lord Ashbur- ton, was a thorough sportsman, and for many years Master of the Hounds. As his family in- creased, John Matthews began to consider the advisability of moving to another country where he could secure land sufficient to raise horses upon a large scale. Ilis wife had been city- reared, and had two brothers, over six feet two inches in height, who were soldiers in the Queen's Guards. After much discussion and advice from many sources, John Matthews and his wife decided to seek their fortunes in Amer- ica, and in 1844 left Bristol in the old-fashioned sailing vessel "Lord Ashburton." The journey was a long and wearisome one, but the novelty amused the young people, although doubtless the parents were glad to see land once more, after thirty days on the water. The Matthews family fortunately had relatives and friends in their new home, and visited among them for a time before settling on a large farm near Sharon, Pa. For the seven or eight years fol- lowing the arrival here, Dr. Matthews' boyish energies were occupied by duties pertaining to various kinds of farm labor on his father's property, and he was taught habits of thrift and industry which he retained all his life.
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