USA > Illinois > Kane County > Commemorative portrait and biographical record of Kane and Kendall Counties, Ill. : containing full page portraits and biographicalsketches of prominent and representative citizens of Kane and Kendall Counties, together with portraits and biographies of the presidents of the United States > Part 102
USA > Illinois > Kendall County > Commemorative portrait and biographical record of Kane and Kendall Counties, Ill. : containing full page portraits and biographicalsketches of prominent and representative citizens of Kane and Kendall Counties, together with portraits and biographies of the presidents of the United States > Part 102
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).
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was only defeated by 5,000 in a State that ordi- narily gives from 30,000 to 50,000 Republican majority.
Mentally and physically Mr. Steward is a fine type of the athlete, overruled by a strong and resolute will, a combative disposition when standing before wrong and hypocrisy, and an integrity of character that was never questioned by any human being who knew aught of the man. He was twice elected assessor in a township where there were politically five votes to one against him. The assessment of the county had reached a deplora- ble condition, and on election day, at noon, he was requested to be a candidate, and was elected. He was elected the third time, but refused to accept. He had assessed the township in eight days, and assisted in straightening out the assessments of the county. He was, similarly, in the face of his protests, elected a member of the board of super- visors, in which body he was the only Democrat; and was selected by the board to go to Springfield to riglit Kendall County's injustice, in the matter of its recruits for the war, a mission he performed with complete success. He was also made chair- man of the board of commissioners for removing the county seat and building the new court-house.
When he was a very young farmer he actually started the first practical commission produce busi- ness in Chicago. The old strap railroad had been built out west from the city nine miles across the swampy prairie. The farmers would haul their grain to the terminus of the road, load their sacks on flat cars, jump on and go to the city and sell. Mr. Steward was doing much of this hauling, and after making a few trips in this way, he made the acquaint- ance of a drayman, and, seeing that he was prompt and honest, he finally said to him: " Can't you do this selling for me in the future. You have done the draving until you can see how it is managed ?" The drayman said he could, and from that on he would receive Steward's consignment, dray it, sell it and collect, deduct his drayage, and send tlie balance of cash out by the train. Thus the farmers could save one entire day on each trip.
When the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Rail- road had been surveyed and located it was proposed to run it two miles south of Plano. Mr. Steward
visited the authorities, and finally induced them to survey where it now runs. He knew the country better than the engineers, and convinced them that they could build cheaper by Plano than by the con- templated route. The transit and the level con- firmed his judgment. In 1860, almost solely through his efforts, was organized and built in Plano the Marsh Harvester Factory. When it had been successfully put upon its feet he sold it to Gammon & Deering, and the machinery was taken to Chicago. Then Mr. Steward was called upon again, and he organized the present great harvester, mower and binder manufactory of Plano, to take the place of the factory moved away; and it is due to his efforts, chiefly in the panic of 1873-78, that it is to-day one of the important and wealthy industrial plants in the country. He sold his in- terest in it to E. H. Gammon in 1882, and once more, as he had done in each preceding instance, returned to his favorite pursuit of farming.
While Mr. Steward is a wealthy farmer, per- haps much the wealthiest in his county, he has never grasped for any of those phenomenal fortunes that characterize this age. Extremely social in his nature, he has preferred to enjoy his friends, and share with them his bounty. In his com- modious and comfortable home, situated immedi- ately adjoining the village limits of Plano, on the south side of a large portion of his 5,000 broad acres of finely improved land, he lives in keeping with the strong character and life of the man. The beautiful Rock Creek meanders through his past- ures, supplying his house and buildings with water, and furnishing the mill power that turns its wheel, while in iron pipes the crystal fluid is carried wherever wanted. In his barns and past- ures are 1,500 head of horses, kine and hogs, some of them noted as the best thoroughbred stock in the country. His house is always open to his friends and neighbors, and so are his pasture gates to those less well provided.
Mr. Steward has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Cornelia Gale, by whom there was one son, Lee, born April 9, 1855, and died in Vienna, February 3, 1872. He had gone to Europe to complete his education. This wife died in 1858, and November 23, 1860, Mr. Steward was united
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in marriage with Mary, daughter of Reuben and Emeline Hunt, of Canaan, Conn., the former of whom was a lawyer in early life, and then became an iron manufacturer. The family came to Illinois and settled at Bristol. Reuben Hunt died in 1872. aged eighty-four years; his widow died in 1883, aged eighty-six. Mr. and Mrs. Steward have had born to them six children; Julian R., born Febru- ary 9, 1864; H. Greely, born September 12, 1869, died March 18, 1883; W. Deering, born July 12, 1872; G. S. Bangs, born May 12, 1874; C. Marsh, born May 18, 1876, and T. Coulter, born May 12, 1879, died November 1, 1882.
A RCHIBALD SEARS, a venerable man, and a pioneer of Kendall County, still living in Little Rock Township, was born February 23, 1802. in Putnam County, N. Y., a son of James and Mehitabel (Sherwood) Sears, whose children were named as follows, in order of age: Eli, Archibald (our subject), Thomas, Isaac, Car- oline, Deborah, Melanthe and Sally.
James Sears was a son of Thomas Sears, who was a native of Massachusetts, served as an of- ficer in the patriot army during the Revolution, and was married in New York City to a Miss Bald- win. When Archibald Sears was twelve years of age his parents removed to Wayne County, N. Y., where he grew to young manhood, and aided his father in clearing up the farm; when twenty-two he began teaching school, which calling he fol- lowed for several years, during which time he thor- oughly mastered the art of surveying, a knowledge that was to be of great value to him in the future. He was married, in June, 1833, to Susan Hadden, who was born in New York, December 25, 1815. Subsequently, Mr. Sears followed merchandising in Westchester and Putnam Counties, N. Y., and, in 1836, finding himself possessed of $1,500 in money, he started, with his wife, children and household goods, for Illinois. Their mode of travel was by sloop to Albany, canal to Buffalo, lakes to Chi- cago, and thence by teams to Kendall County, where they arrived the same year. He soon pur- chased a "squatter's claim" to 550 acres, for $950 cash. (The title to this land he afterward
perfected). After paying for his claim and buy- ing a few necessaries, he found himself with " just 3 cents cash left in his pocket." He was soon employed in farming and improving his place, but when it became known that he was a relia- ble surveyor, his services were greatly in demand in establishing lines, laying out roads or survey- ing lands, throughout his immediate vicinity, and in various other parts of the county. He immediately came to the front as one of the busiest and most important men of the locality, and was subsequent- ly elected and served as county surveyor. He also served as member of the board of supervisors and as a justice of the peace. In 1865 he removed to Sandwich, where he remained until 1887, when he returned to his old home, where he now resides. By his first marriage there were seven children, two of whom survive, named James, who lives three miles north of Plano, and Mrs. Frances Beard, of Bedford, Iowa. For his second wife Mr. Sears married, August 23, 1850, Mrs. Rachel M. Smith, born October 26, 1818, in Connecticut, and a daughter of David T. and Charlotte (Tarbox) Carver. By the above marriage were born three sons and three daughters, described as follows, in order of birth: Charles M., Mary E., Albert H. and Alice M. (twins), Sherman S. and Adah A. Of those married, Mary E. is now Mrs. E. L. Hen- ning, and Alice M. is now Mrs. F. C. Mather.
Archibald Sears has now reached his eighty- sixth mile-stone on life's journey, and, serene and contented, is waiting the last call. He has filled the important duties of life honorably and well. .
A LBERT H. SEARS, a son of Archibald and Rachel Sears, is a banker and merchant in Plano, being largely identified also with other important enterprises and business industries in the place. He was born in Little Rock Township, Kendall County, May 14, 1856, and from infancy lived in the family of his uncle, J. F. Hollister, at Plano, which city has always been his home. He was married, November 12, 1879, to Ella, the eldest daughter of Lafayette Foster, of Plano. From this union there have been two children: Mamie Pearl, born August 22, 1881,
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and died of scarlet fever May 3, 1884 (she was as bright and sweet a sunbeam as ever gladdened a home); and one daughter living, born January 1, 1887.
Mr. Sears began business on his own account as a hardware merchant in 1881, and in 1883 built the brick block he now owns and occupies as a hardware store, in which he also does a general banking business. He was one of the organizers, and afterward the first general superintendent of the "Plano Manufacturing Company." He owns a controlling interest in and at present is president and treasurer of the "Plano Steel Works," incor- porated in 1885, with a capital of $70,000. The plant of this enterprise consists of a rolling mill, and their output is iron and steel specialties, man- ufacturing steel wheels and horse-shoes, and em- ploying from 75 to 100 men.
In the business circles of Plano or vicinity no man among its citizens is more favorably known for energy, enterprise and thoroughness in car- rying to a successful issue that which he under- takes than Mr. Sears, and he enjoys the estcem of his neighbors and business acquaintances.
OHN A. COY (deceased). Among the substan- tial citizens of Kendall County, who have passed away, is John A. Coy, who was born November 11, 1822, in Pitcher, Chenango Co., N. Y., a son of John and Almira (Pierce) Coy. He was reared to farming pursuits and worked for his father until he was twenty years of age, when he was given his time and he embarked for himself. Subsequently, while yet in his minor- ity, he made several trips to this State with drovers, walking all the way, and, in company with his brother, purchased a small lot of cattle, drove them here and sold them at a profit. After attaining his majority he was for several years in the employ of the Mudges Brothers, patent medicine dealers, for whom he traveled and sold medicine, his terri- tory embracing the Western and Central Southern and New England States, receiving a salary of $100 per month and expenses. Having become a valu- able man to his firm, in later years lic was placed in charge of the traveling trade to establish agen-
cies and look after the company's interests. Hav- ing accumulated some means, in 1849 he opened a general store in his native town, which he carried on successfully. July 17, 1851, he married Ada A. Halbert, a native of Courtland County, N. Y., and a daughter of Levi and Deborah (Smith) Hal- bert, the latter a daughter of Enos Smith, whose wife was a Brown. Her brother and sister were the founders of Brown University, in Providence, R. I. After some years in business in his native place, Mr. Coy's health failed, and he decided to move west. In September, 1853, he came to Kane County, Ill., where he spent the win- ter, and the following spring he came to Newark, purchased property and associated with his broth- er, Bela A., in business, a partnership which lasted about eighteen months, when, his health improving, our subject decided to conduct the business alone. Hc accordingly purchased his brother's interest and continued the business on his own account until his death; he died March 14, 1887, of cancer. In 1869 he moved to Morris with his family, where he took charge of a store he had at that place, but returned in 1875 to New- ark, where, in the latter part of his mercantile ca- reer, he carried on a banking business. There were six children born to Mr. and Mrs. Coy, five of them yet living: Marcia, the eldest, born in New York, died March 13, 1859, aged seven years; Halbert P., Hattie M. (wife of James J. Van Duzer, of this place), Libbie Lee, Mary A. and Jolın C. Mr. Coy had several hundred acres of land in Iowa and in Champaign County, Ill., and 200 acres in Big Grove Township. He was not a partisan in politics, but voted with the Repub- licans. He was not a member of any church after coming west, but when in New York was a member and supporter of the Congregational Church.
N ICHOLAS CONGDON was born at East Greenwich, R. I., in December, 1819, the house of his father being situated upon the line running between East and West Green- wich, of that State. His parents were Archibald and Sarah (Cleveland) Congdon. whose progenitors date back to the early settlement of Rhode Island.
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and whose posterity number among them many of the enterprising citizens both of the East and the West. James Congdon, his grandfather, saw hon- orable service in the war for Independence. At the age of sixteen our subject went to Chenango Coun- ty, N. Y., where he worked at farming until 1844, when he came west and located in Oswego Town- ship, where he has since been identified with farm- ing industries. December 31, 1846, he was united in marriage to Miss Mary Hopkins, of Smyrna, Chenango Co., N. Y. Her parents were Benjamin and Mary (Reynolds) Hopkins, both of Rhode Island stock. The ancestors on her mother's side served with credit in the Revolutionary War. They have one child, Mary Ella, born in June, 1850; she is now the wife of George H. Switzer, a sub- stantial farmer of Oswego Township. Mr. and Mrs. Switzer are the parents of three sons and three daughters: Allie, Arthur, Mattie, Ralph, Jennie and Pearl Frances.
Mr. and Mrs. Congdon have been members of the Methodist Church since their marriage. They are highly respected and esteemed for their many good qualities.
EORGE HOLLENBACK, an early settler of Kendall County, Ill., was born near Pickett's Fort, a small stockade in West Virginia, in what is Marion County, May 4, 1792. He was the fourth son and eighth child in a family of ten children born to George and Hannah (Barton) Hollenback. His grandfather, John Hollenback, was a German, or of German descent, and from recent investigation made by his descendants it is reasonably certain that he was born in 1719, at a town or village of the same name in the Kingdom of Wurtemberg, where, a few years since, the house still stood that was the ancestral home of the Hollenbacks. In 1740 he was known as a citizen of Jonestown, Penn., and not long afterward married Eleanor Jones, a Welsh lady, but whether a widow or a maid is uncertain, as tradition conflicts. He subsequently removed to Martinsburg, Va., where he died in 1793. Five children were born to this marriage: George John, Matthias John, John George, Mary
and Jane. It will be noticed that each of the sons, in accordance with some German usage, bore their father's Christian name, but each in leaving the parental roof dropped the middle name. All of these children grew to mature years, were married and reared families. Of this family Matthias is credited with being the ablest, men- tally, and in his prime was one of the best busi- ness men in Pennsylvania. He was a survivor of the Wyoming massacre, an event in the history of the country made immortal by the English poet Campbell in his "Gertrude." He was as- sociate judge of the courts in Luzerne County, Penn., for many years, and died in February, 1828. His descendants, to the fourth and fifth generations, now enjoy the benefits brought about through the fruition of his wonderful forecast and excellent judgment. Mary married Mr. Rich- ard Cherry, and Jane a Mr. Hunter, both citizens of Virginia. Of their descendants little is known, save that many of them are residents of Virginia, and during the Rebellion some of them were prominent Secessionists.
George, the eldest son of John, was born about the year 1744. When a youth he was ap- prenticed to a carpenter by the name of William Kline, whom he faithfully served until the age of twenty-one. In 1772 he was married, at Lower Paxton, Lebanon Co., Penn., to Hannah Barton, a daughter of Widow Elizabeth Barton, whose husband. Jacob Barton, a privateersman in the French War of 1756, was lost at sea not long after, leaving his widow with an infant family of two daughters and four sons. Mrs. Barton resided in Camden, N. J., and, being in strait- ened circumstances, soon after -her husband's death removed to what is now the interior of Pennsylvania, where her daughters married and three of her sons fell in the border Indian wars of Western Pennsylvania and Ohio. Hannah (Bar- ton) Hollenback lived to exceeding old age, dying at her son's house, in Kendall County. in 1844.
After his marriage George removed to Mar- tinsburg, Va. (at which place his father then lived), where his family remained during the Revolutionary War, in which struggle he took part as a soldier under Gen. Charles Lee, in the his-
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KENDALL COUNTY.
toric "Jersey Campaigns." Subsequent to this he became a resident of Uniontown, Penn., and in 1784, when Gen. George Washington visited Union- town, on a trip for the purpose of again viewing the scene of Braddock's defeat, he left with Mr. Hollenback and family many relics from that mem - orable battlefield, consisting of buttons, buckles, bullets, etc., which were kept and shown by the family as choice relics. George Hollenback removed with his family to near Pickett's Fort, Va., as early as 1792, and perhaps prior to that, and continued to reside there until 1807. At the latter date his family consisted of children, as fol- lows: Ellen, John, Clark, Mary, Matthias, Jane, Elizabeth, George (the subject of this sketch), Hannah and Ann; the last named were twins. All of their children, with one exception, lived to have families of their own. Mr. Hollenback, about this time, not having prospered in business matters as well as he could wish, and in hopes of bettering his condition, removed with his family, in 1807, to Muskingum County, Ohio, where he continued to reside until his death, June 28, 1824.
It will be seen from the foregoing that George Hollenback, the subject of this sketch, was born amidst the scenes of pioneer life among the hills of West Virginia, where he remained until a youth well grown; thence moved with his father's family to Ohio, when it was a wilderness, where he grew to vigorous and athletic manhood. He was of a reso- lute and fearless will, and admirably adapted by nature to cope with the vicissitudes and dangers of a pioneer life. He also excelled in all athletic feats, such as wrestling, running, jumping, and other sports of the period requiring skill, strength and endurance. Among these rude surroundings his literary training was limited to the three "R's," so well expressed in the alliteration, " Readin', 'Ritin' and 'Rithmetic." He served his country acceptably as a soldier in the War of 1812, for which, in his old age, he received war- rants for 160 acres of land. June 5, 1817, he was married to Sophia Sidle, born in New Jersey, April 18, 1799, and a daughter of John and Mary (Ried) Sidle. Mary Ried was a sister to John Ried, who was the grandfather of Gen. Q. A. Gillmore, a distinguished Union general, who con-
ducted the bombardment of Fort Sumter and the City of Charleston. After his marriage he was engaged in farming operations and also as a miller in his father-in-law's mill, with indifferent success. In the fall of 1829 he started for the "Eelinoy Country," as it was then called, with an outfit of team and wagon and two or three cows. His household goods, wife and family, four boys and one girl, were loaded into the wagon, and they commenced their long journey. Their route lay through an almost trackless country, and over much of the way the only guide to keep them in the right course was furnished by "blazes" on the trees made by previous travelers. Through rain and sleet storms, and at times with nothing to eat for themselves or their animals, this family pushed courageously forward, and after some weeks of toil and privation they arrived at a point on the Vermilion River, near Danville, Ill., where some friends had settled who had preceded them a few months. With these friends they re- mained the balance of that winter.
In the spring of 1830 the family again loaded up their ' wagon and continued their journey to a few miles southwest of Peru, Ill., on the south side of the Illinois River. They remained at that point for one year. Mr. Hollenback was not satisfied with the location, and hearing very favor- able reports of the "Fox River" country, its " fine timber, water and soil," through his broth- er, Clark Hollenback, who spent the winter of 1830-31 in Au Sable Grove, he decided to make a tour of investigation. Therefore, during the months of February and March, 1831, he started on the trip in company with two friends, William Harris and Ezra Ackley. They visited Au Sable Grove, and also pushed on to what is now the site of Oswego, and then retraced their steps. Mr. Hollenback on this trip selected land in Fox Town- ship that afterward became his home for the bal- ance of his life. On his return home, the old high box wagon (prairie schooner) was again brought out and loaded, the team hitched to it, and the night of the second day, April 18, 1831, brought them to what henceforth was to be the family seat and home for generations. This date was also thie thirty-second birthday of Mrs. Hollenback. A
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KENDALL COUNTY.
shanty was soon built, the great wagon relieved of its burden, and everything put in order in short me- ter. Before summer came a small clearing had been made and planted. The erection of a commodious log house, with ample porch, was commenced and nearly completed, when, during a terrific rain- storm, September 20, 1831, a large tree was blown down and fell upon the shanty above named, none of the family being hurt, but all receiving a severe wetting. It, however, accelerated their move- ments in getting into their new log house, in which they were domiciled the same night. Dur- ing that summer Mr. Hollenback, accompanied by
back and family were among the sufferers, and through it the labor and accumulation of an entire year was lost to him. The family at once took refuge at Fort Beggs, now Plainfield, and later at Fort Dearborn, Chicago. Subsequently, in the fall, the family returned to their old home, in Ohio, where all remained for a year, except Mr. Hollen- back, who returned the following spring and raised a crop. He went to Ohio that summer, and in the fall of 1833 again brought his family to their Illi- nois home. While in Ohio, on this occasion, they lost their fourth son, Philip, who died, aged five years. On this trip from Ohio there was no wild-
BERNHARD CO.CHI .~
LOG HOUSE BUILT IN 1831 BY GEORGE HOLLENBACK, AND FIRST OCCUPIED AS A RESIDENCE BY HIS FAMILY ON THE NIGHT OF SEPTEMBER 20, 1831.
a young daughter, went to mill, and were gone six weeks before they returned with the "grist." The time was taken up in going the journey, wait- ing for the crop to ripen, harvesting and treading out the grain on the "summer threshing floor," "winnowing it" in the wind, and then waiting for it to be ground in a mill run by horse power. De- cember 1, 1831, Mr. and Mrs. Hollenback had twin children born to them, George M. and Amelia. They were the first white children born in what is now Kendall County. The hostile Indian outbreak that occurred May 16, 1832, caused much distress and hardship to the early settlers. Mr. Hollen-
erness to pass through; roads had been constructed, and settlers were living all along the line. Only four years-yet what a vast change from the trip in 1829! Four more children were born to this family in Illinois-two girls and two boys-making twelve in all. On May 20, 1840, the eldest child passed to the Beyond, and since that time to the present (1888) there has not been a death among the brothers and sisters; and until within a few months, with one exception, all were living in Kendall County. Mr. Hollenback's selection of land for his farm was admirable, and consisted of 700 acres on Sections 14, 15, 22 and 23, in Fox
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Township, containing 125 acres of as good tim- ber as Northern Illinois could boast. The house was built on the northeast quarter of Section 22. The land was not surveyed north of the Indian boundary line until 1837. In that year B. F. Fridley, Isaac P. Hallock and Almon Ives were appointed by the Illinois Legislature as commis- sioners to locate the State road from Ottawa to Naperville. In the performance of that duty the commissioners made Mr. Hollenback's house a point on the new road, which was made a thor- oughfare, and for nearly twenty years a daily line of mail stages ran on the road, carrying passengers, until done away with by the advent of the "iron horse." While Mr. Hollenback did not " keep a hotel" according to his friend Beaubien's defini- tion, he always entertained both "man and beast," and his house was quite popular among the travel- ing men of the early times. Long before his de- cease Mr. Hollenback saw the whole of his 700 acres (except timber) under a high state of cultiva- tion. Mrs. Hollenback died February 26, 1861. She possessed in an eminent degree all those good qualities that radiate from an amiable mind and heart. As wife, mother and friend, the remembrance of her will be fondly cherished to the last survivor of those who knew her in any of those sacred and hallowed relations. Mr. Hollenback followed his loved and life-long companion to the other world November 23. 1863, having lived from May to No- vember over the allotted three-score and ten. He was a man of great firmness and force of character, and when once convinced that a certain line of duty had to be pursued there was no halting be- tween two opinions or hesitation. It was one side or the other on all matters within the scope of his understanding. He was sometimes rough and always outspoken, and neither friend nor foe could be mistaken as to his attitude in religion or on political questions. He always took an active in- terest in the politics of his country, and, until the last few years of his life, was an ardent Democrat; but during the Fremont campaign he underwent a political change, and thenceforth was a steadfast Republican. His hospitality was unbounded. His house was always at the disposal of his friends, and any destitute boy or girl could always come to him
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