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 104

Author:
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Beers, Leggett & Co.
Number of Pages: 1040

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 104
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 104

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).

age, and brought up under the guidance and influ- ence of his uncles, he naturally became, to a certain extent, inoculated with their sterling qualities, and their advice and counsel, coupled with his inher- ent energy and perseverance, were his guiding in- fluences through life.

May 1, 1851, having now reached man's estate, Mr. Brown took unto himself a wife in the person of Miss Sabrina Serrine, who was born December 25, 1830, in Dutchess County, N. Y., second daughter of Thomas Serrine, a prominent and well- known resident of Fox Township. By this union are two sons: George T., located on one of his father's farms, adjoining the home farm (he mar- ried Elizabeth, daughter of Isaac and Phebe Car- gill Vantassel), and Oscar, on the home farm (he married Hattie Ruble, a native of Big Grove Town- ship, Kendall County, daughter of John and Lydia Courtright Ruble, and they have one son, Charles). Mr. and Mrs. Brown are members and supporters of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics, he is a Republican; he has never sought public office, and has frequently declined being brought forward.

After marriage Mr. Brown located in Mission Township, La Salle Co., Ill., where he rented land two seasons, and in the fall of 1854 he bought of Edward Edgerton for the sum of $3,000 his present farm in Big Grove Township, then containing 142 acres. At that time all Mr. Brown's earthly pos- sessions consisted of $300 in cash, a willing pair of hands, abundance of grit, and a frugal, hard- working, courageous wife. Mr. Edgerton gave him four years' credit at 10 per cent interest on the unpaid balance, $2,500 (Mr. Brown paid $500 in cash, $300 he had on hand, and $200 which he borrowed), and at the expiration of the time the debt was fully canceled. His handsome residence is situated on a pleasant elevation, commanding a fine view of a large part of Big Grove Town- ship, as well as of Mission Township, in La Salle County. The farm buildings and grazing grounds are on the southern slope, and all the substantial improvements on his place were placed there under his immediate supervision. In connection with his farm industry, Mr. Brown has traded considera- bly in live stock, not only for his own account,

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but also for others. He is now in a measure re- tired from active business, his sons gradually fill- ing his place on the farm. Our subject was left alone in the world, with one sister, Mary, when they were aged respectively three and six years. She was born March 26, 1831, and married Ed- ward A. Kennedy. She died March 28, 1888. .

OHN REDMAN MARSHALL, editor and proprietor of the Kendall County Record, published at Yorkville, Ill., is a native of Maryland, born in Talbot County, January 10, 1837, and is a son of Perry and Mary S. (Rice) Marshall. He obtained a good education in the schools of Chicago, to which place he came in 184S, and in 1852 became an employe on the Chicago Journal, in which establishment he learned the printer's trade. When the great Civil War burst upon the country in 1861, and the bugle in clarion notes, and the drum with its stirring rattle, began calling volunteers to the rendezvous to defend their country's flag, Mr. Marshall was one of the first to respond, and, lay- ing down his stick and abandoning his case, he enlisted, in April, 1861, in the "Sturges Rifles," serving as a private in Gen. McClellan's army, through the campaigns of West Virginia, the Peninsula, Antietam, etc., and was honorably dis- charged and mustered out of the service at Wash- ington, D. C., in November, 1862.

On leaving the army he accepted employment in the Government Printing Office, at Washington, D. C., for about one year, and in April, 1864, came to Yorkville, Kendall County, bringing with him from Chicago material for a printing office. Here he established the Kendall County Record, a paper that under his able management has become widely and favorably known. The sheet is an eight-page six-column quarto, is Republican in politics, and has a weekly circulation of over 1,900 copies. The printing establishment is equipped with Taylor cylinder and Gordon job presses, and other modern accessories usually found in first-class printing offices, the motor force used in running the presses being a five-horse-power steam engine. From the date Mr. Marshall estab-

lished the Record to the present time he has been its editor and owner.

Mr. Marshall has served Kendall County for eight years as its superintendent of schools; four years he represented the Thirteenth Senatorial District, comprising De Kalb, Kendall and Grundy Counties, in the State Senate. He is a member of the Methodist Church, of the G. A. R. Post at Yorkville, and A. F. & A. M., Yorkville, and a mem- ber of the Aurora Commandery, Knights Templar. Mr. Marshall was married January 19, 1865, to Au- gusta Emmons, of Bristol, Kendall County, and they have three children: Mary S., Frances E. and Hugh Rice.

T HOMAS W. COURTRIGHT, a representa- tive man of Big Grove Township, was born July 22, 1834, in Wilkes Barre, Luzerne Co., Penn., the fifth of six children born to Benjamin and Clarissa (Williams) Courtright, both natives of Wyoming Valley, Penn. He was reared on a farm at his native place, and received good educational advantages. He was a member of the Wilkes Barre Guards, a State militia that tendered its services, through Gov. Curtin, to repel the rebel invasion into Pennsylvania, and received an honorable discharge. After the close of the war he came to La Salle County, Ill., purchased a farm and engaged in agricultural pursuits. After four years, becoming tired of bachelor life, he re- turned to Luzerne County, Penn., and May 26, 1868, married Lizzie Mitchell, a native of Nova Scotia, who removed when a child with her parents to Pittston, in the Wyoming Valley. Her father. John Mitchell, sunk one of the first coal shafts in that locality and afterward became a prominent coal operator, owning about 400 acres of coal land. He was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, in 1816, a son of Robert and Mary (Brown) Mitchell. At the age of thirteen he emigrated to Nova Scotia, where he remained twenty years engaged in seafaring. There he married Isabella Smith; moved to the Wyoming Valley in 1849, and engaged in mining. After be- coming an American citizen, he cast his first vote for Fremont, and later served as presidential elector. He worked first as a common miner, but

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in 1857 he began contracting to furnish coal in barges at a stipulated price, and afterward pur- chased several hundred acres, and became very wealthy. His death occurred January 5, 1883; that of his wife three years previous. Mr. Mitch- ell was a man of unflinching integrity, and was re- spected by all who knew him. He was the father of seven children, viz. : Ann, Robert, Lizzie, Mary, George, James and Isadore, all of whom are living in the Wyoming Valley except Mrs. Courtright.

After his marriage Mr. Courtright and his wife came west, to his farm in La Salle County, and six months later moved to Marion County, Mo., where he purchased a farm and resided for seven years; then returned to Illinois, purchased land in Big Grove Township, and now owns two farms. His handsome home residence is on the old Tilton farm, and he also has a handsome residence and substantial buildings on the farm adjoining the town of Newark. Mr. and Mrs. Courtright have six children: George, Florence, Mary, Lena, Nel- lie and Frank, all at home. Mr. Courtright is a member of the I. O. O, F. and is an A. F. & A. M.

W ILLIAM H. SHEPHERD was born No- vember 7, 1840, in Belmont County, Ohio, and was brought by his parents to Marshall County, Va., when he was five years old. His father, Joseph Shepherd, who was a farmer, married Eliza Linn, by whom he had seven children, viz. : Nathan, Mary M., Julia Ann, Isaac, William H., Frank and Joseph. Nathan died unmarried; the others married and reared families. Mary M. came to this State with her husband, William Caldwell, in 1859, and finally settled in Nettle Creek Township, where she died, leaving seven children. Julia A. came to this State about 1860; she married Lewis Caldwell, and re- sides in Big Grove Township, this county ; Isaac and Frank reside in Marshall County, W. Va .; Joseph resides in Washington County, Iowa. William Henry, our subject, first came west in 1857, with Ezekiel Caldwell to Peoria County, Ill., and worked one season for Joseph Reed. During the winter he came to this county on a visit, and the same sea- son returned to Virginia, where he remained until

the following October. Returning, he worked on a farm for two years for Isaac Davis, and then came to this county and hired out to Oliver Haven- hill, of Big Grove Township, for whom he worked up to August, 1862. He then enlisted in Company E, Ninety-first Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and served for three years. In the early part of his service, while guarding a railroad in Kentucky, he was captured by Gen. Morgan, and after some months was exchanged. He then went to Vicks- burg, thence south to Baton Rouge, thence to Mor- ganzie's Bend, thence to New Orleans, where he remained in camp for some time, and was then or- dered to Brownsville, Tex., where he remained fourteen months, and thence back to New Orleans. He was at the capture of Mobile, and later took part in some engagements on the Tombigbee River and at McIntosh. At the latter place his regiment re- ceived the news of the assassination of President Lincoln, and from that time forward did nothing but camp duty. He was mustered out in August, 1865.

He returned to Halderman's Grove, Big Grove Township, and remained until his marriage, Jan- uary 10, 1866, with Sarah B. Wing, who was born in the State of New York, the eldest daugh- ter of Russell Graham, formerly of Big Grove Township. After his marriage Mr. Shepherd located in the southwest quarter of Section 23, on 100 acres, which he had purchased of John Hill, at $26 per acre, but partially improved. His wife died in December, 1867, leaving one child, who died in infancy. About that time he sold his farm and purchased 105 acres in Nettle Creek Township, Grundy County, at a cost of $50 per acre. There he resided two years, when he sold his farm and located on the one he now owns, which is on the northeast quarter of Section 36. This property he has improved. It is located on a square adjoining the town of Lisbon on the south; has a public road on three sides, and is en- closed by a first-class hedge fence; the whole is highly cultivated and contains a fine young or- chard. Mr. Shepherd's second marriage occurred October 6, 1869, with Mary 1 .. Windess, born in Pennsylvania May 21, 1849, and died February 9, 1885, without issue. 1 Some years ago Mr. Shep-

William 26 Shepherd 2

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herd adopted a boy seven years old, who bears his name, William Shepherd, is now grown to man- hood and resides with him. M . Shepherd is not a member of any church ‹ ty, but is liberal Republican.

minded and progressive

A NSEL REED (deceased). The name of Ansel Reed is associated with the earliest settlers of Illinois and Chicago, he arriving at the latter place in the summer of 1827. He was born in Pittsford, Monroe Co., N. Y., September 23, 1818, son of Reuben Reed, who, about the year 1823, left with his family, which consisted of himself, wife and six children, and started for the West. Proceeding to Pennsylvania, he, near the source of the Ohio River, built a boat, into which was loaded his family and a few household goods, and in this floated down the stream. He stopped to visit a brother in Kentucky, where he remained for a while and built a cider mill for another party. After a short residence in Covington, Ky., he re- moved to Cincinnati, where his wife died, when the son Ansel was but a lad of six or seven years. The father then broke up housekeeping, and Ansel was bound out to a man by the name of Price, who afterward became insane, and was sent to the asylum. During this time his father had married a Mrs. Hannah Shaw, whose maiden name was Hibbard, and he again commenced housekeeping, this time on Mill Creek, three miles from Cincin- nati. As Mr. Price was in the asylum Ansel was taken home again, and in the summer of 1827, Reuben Reed and his wife, sons, Darius and An- sel, and daughters, Angeline and Emeline (Terzah and Almira remaining back near Mill Creek), in company with Mr. Hibbard's family, started, with an outfit of two teams and some cattle, across the prairie wilderness for Chicago, wading sloughs and swimming rivers, as they came to them. They met friendly Indians on their way, frequently, who gave them melons. After reaching Calumet River they procured a boat, into which they loaded their luggage, and proceeded on their journey to the present site of Chicago, which, on their arrival, consisted of but three families, Baptiste, Beaubien and Kinzie. Peter Specie, a bachelor, was among

the number. Mr. Reed remembers it was summer when they arrived at Chicago, as his father helped Peter Specie put up hay, and recollects a thunder- storm that came up when a stack was half built, and Peter very promptly covering it with sail- cloth, of which he seemed to have an abundance. The wind blew very hard, and Ansel assisted in holding the canvas down during the shower. He afterward ascertained the reason of the supera- bundance of sail-cloth. A schooner, "Tiger" by name, had broken from its moorings, had been wrecked on the shore, and sail-cloth was obtained without money or price. He relates that soon after their arrival one of their cattle, which had become lamed by long travel, was drowned in the Chicago River, which at this point was very deep. His father, afterward, with a long pole, endeavored to locate the body, but his pole could not reach bottom; later, however, from natural causes, the carcass came to the surface, and Indians, who were camped near by, asked for it, which request was freely granted, and, after skinning the same, they ate it with keen relish.

Here, October 1, 1827, his half brother, Levi Reed, was born, which, according to the best in- formation, was the first white child born there. During that fall his father, Reuben, and brother, Darius, set out with gun, tomahawk and knapsack, for Ottawa, to look out a location; which, being found, he sent for the family, who soon started, coming through snow-storms, and fording or swim- ming their horses through the streams where ice often had to be cut to enable them to pass. While on this trip the party got bewildered, and, requiring the assistance of a guide, stopped at James Beres- ford's, whose son volunteered to go with them, but had no overcoat; the family had the material to make one, but no needle, and Ansel (then a lad of nine) was sent several miles away to borrow a needle, which he obtained at Mr. Hawley's. The coat was made, and the guide then piloted the little procession to their destination, where Reuben and Darius, having made a claim, were patiently await- ing them.

The first claim he abandoned before complet- ing a cabin, and selected another about four miles south of Ottawa, on Covill's Creek, where he built

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a cabin, which the two families (Hibbard and Reed) occupied. The ensuing summer of 1828 Reuben Reed rented land of Mr. Pembrook, and raised his first crops of corn in Illinois. About this time Mr. Reed again broke up housekeep- ing, and our subject was once more bound out, this time to Moses Booth, who had taken a claim on Covill's Creek near the mouth of the Fox River, not far from Ottawa. In the spring of 1831 Mr. Booth made a claim near Big Grove, but at the outbreak of the Indian War Ansel Reed went with Mr. Booth and family to Ottawa, where they took refuge in the fort which Mr. Reed as- sisted in building. After the restoration of peace, he returned with Mr. Booth to Big Grove. After completing his bound service he hired out by the month, and in that way obtained means to pur- chase oxen and plows, and for several years fol- lowed the business of "breaking" prairies during summer, and in winter he chopped wood. From his earnings he bought eighty acres of Government land, on Section 10, in Lisbon Township; this was his first purchase, but he subsequently added to it, until he had 320 acres, occupying 200 acres at the time of his death, July 6, 1887. He was highly esteemed in the entire community as one of its best citizens. In early life he had very meager school advantages, but was possessed of excellent judgment. He was not a member of any church, but of exceptionally good morals, and in matters pertaining to the public weal was pro- gressive and enterprising. In politics he was at first an old line Whig, but later a Republican, and served his township in local offices, such as road commissioner, township trustee, etc.

He was married in 1849 to Eliza Wright, born in 1828, in Oneida County, N. Y., daughter of Sewall Wright. To this union five sons were born, viz .: Franklin A., Emory D., Charles, Or- ville and Archie, all of whom have removed to California, where they reside with their mother, except Emory Darius, who was born on the home- stead September 5, 1851, where he still resides. Emory D. was married to Josephine Boyer, a daughter of Daniel Boyer. She died December 28, 1882, leaving one child, Millie.

Emory's present wife was Miss Addie E. Up-

ton, born in Iowa, daughter of Rev. J. R. Upton, who was born October 4, 1819, in Wilmot, N. H., graduated at Amherst College in 1847, and at the Theological Seminary, Andover, in 1850; he is a Congregationalist, and has for many years been assigned to fields of labor in Iowa, but is now retired.

W ALTER S. FAXON, an early settler and farmer of Little Rock township, Kendall county, was born September 9, 1812, in the town of Greenwich, Washington Co., N. Y. He is a son of William S. Faxon, born April 2, 1785, in Deerfield, Mass., who was the son of Josiah A. and Lydia (Stiles) Faxon. Josiah A. was a son of Thomas Faxon, who was a son of Josiah Faxon, who was a son of Richard Faxon, who was a son of Thomas Faxon, who was born in England about the year 1601, and immi- grated to America with his wife, Joan, and three children, in 1647, settling near Braintree, Mass.

William S. Faxon, above mentioned, was mar- ried April 1, 1806, and to himself and wife were born the following named children: Joseph H., now of Washington County, N. Y .; Hester A. married Louis Kenyon, and is now deceased; Wal- ter Stiles Faxon, the subject of this sketch; Rod- ney D .; Betsey; Mary, who married William Fra- zier, now of Sandwich, Ill .; Ansel; Caroline, who married Philip B. Norcross, and is now deceased; Miranda, who married Philip B. Norcross, after her sister's death; Martha, who married R. Clark, of New York City; Henry J. resides at Hinkley, De Kalb County, Ill., and one other child that died in infancy.

Walter Stiles Faxon, whose name heads this memoir, remained with his parents until twenty- nine years of age, in the meantime learning the trade of a brick and stone mason of his father. He came to Illinois in 1843, and purchased 178 acres of Government land in the eastern part of Little Rock Township, Kendall County, which he has ever since made his home. For several years, in addition to carrying on and looking after his farm and its improvement, he worked at his trade, and evidences of his

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handiwork may still be seen on many of the brick and stone structures in that section and in other localities. He was married, April 3, 1856, to Mrs. Zelia M. Valentine, a daughter of Joseph Gilbert. To this union the following children were born: Edgar W., who resides at Fox Sta- tion, and is the present representative from this county in the State Legislature; Charles G., an attorney, of Sandwich, Ill .; Frank E., now in the Southwest; Zelia M., of Sandwich, Ill .; Hattie B., now keeping house for her father; Leroy W., who resides with an uncle in Washington County, N. Y., and George S., who now has charge of the homestead, in Little Rock Township. Mrs. Zelia M. Faxon died April 18, 1874, and Mr. Faxon was subsequently married to Marian Newell-the latter died November 21, 1882. Mr. Faxon is now living a retired life. He has been a member of the Baptist Church for fifty-six years, and in politics was formerly an Abolitionist, but for many years has been a Republican. He has always taken an active part in promoting the public weal, and has served in various local offices of public trust.

D AVID MOSHIER HAIGHT, merchant at Oswego, was born in Canaan, Columbia Co., N. Y., May 7, 1834, the son of Daniel and Ruth (Moshier) Haight, both of whom were natives of Dutchess County, N. Y., and trace their ancestry back to settlements made by members of the Society of Friends in this country in early co- lonial times. On the Moshier side they descend from Hugh Moshier, who came from England in 1620 and settled in Rhode Island. In those Eastern States they first preached the Quaker faith, and their names are connected with a thrifty class of people, whose ancestry has a time-honored memory. Daniel Haight was a woolen manu- facturer. While our subject was yet a lad, his fa- ther removed to Havana, Schuyler Co., N. Y., where the youth grew to manhood. At the age of twenty-two he went to Elmira, N. Y., and entered the mercantile business as an apprenticed clerk, in the general merchandising store of William E. Hart, Esq., where he completed a thorough knowl- edge of the business. In 1857 he came west, and

on March 3, of that year, he arrived at Naperville, where he soon after established a general merchan- dise business, continuing the same for several years, retiring to engage in business in Chicago, which, after a year, he abandoned; then located in Aurora, coming from there to Oswego in 1868, where he has since been well and favorably known. He married at Naperville, Charlotte, daughter of Bailey and Clarissa (Stuart) Hobson. They hold membership in the Congregational Church. Mr. Haight is an active worker in the Sabbath-schools of this place; is a prohibitionist, and gives a cordial support to temperance interests. Mr. Haight may be termed a self-made man; and whatever he has accomplished that is worthy of praise is due to his unaided efforts, and through a long and successful business career his record has always been an hon- orable one. He is one of the best respected cit- izens of his locality.

H ON. HENRY SHERRILL. £ Prominent among the public men of Kendall County, as one who has held the office of justice of the peace since 1851, has been a notary public for twenty years, was supervisor for eight- een years, a member of the constitutional conven- tion that framed the present constitution of the State of Illinois, and who represented his county in the State Legislature for the term 1870-71, is the gentleman whose name heads this biographical memoir.

He was born September 15, 1815, in New Hartford, Oneida Co., N. Y., where his thorough common-school training was supplemented by an academic course at the Oneida Institute, and where he attained the years of manhood. Determining to seek his fortune in the Far West, Mr. Sherrill set out in 1836 with buoyant hopes, landing in Chi- cago on his twenty-first birthday. From there he came to what is now Lisbon Township, Kendall Co., Ill .. where he entered 720 acres of land at a place then known as " Prairie Lake;" then returned to Chicago and commenced the study of law, under the preceptorship of his brother-in-law, Judge I. D. Caton, of the supreme court. On account of the miasmatic effects of the climate, however, Mr.

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Sherrill, under advice of his physician, returned the following year (1837) to his home, in the Empire State, where he commenced merchandising, at which he continued until 1847, when he exchanged his stock of goods and the land he had entered in Illinois in 1836 for a farm of 420 acres in Big Grove Township, Kendall County, then belonging to Miles Hill, and which is now in part embodied in the village of Lisbon. Here he located the same year, and has since been a resident of the place, prominently identified with the agricultural and political interests of the county. A large portion of this property Mr. Sherrill sold from time to time, and some of it he divided into town lots, leaving him now about 155 acres of land, the northern part embraced in Lisbon Village, already referred to, where his handsome stone residence is situated, and where he is now living in comparative retirement, in the enjoyment of the esteem and confidence of his many friends. He has always been a pronounced temperance advocate, and po- litically a sound Republican, formerly a Whig, having cast his first vote for Henry Clay.

September 15, 1839, Mr. Sherrill married Mary Sherrill, a distant relative, born May 17, 1816, in Sandy Hill, Washington Co., N. Y., daughter of Darius and Mary (Day) Sherrill. To this union were born two daughters, Ella (wife of D. W. Burry, for fifteen years in the grain trade in Morris, Grundy Co., Ill., and now of Chicago), and Caro- line (wife of Dr. James Burry, president of the board of United States pension examiners, and med- ical director of the Santa Fe Railroad Company, with residence in Chicago.

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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 104

Author: Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Beers, Leggett & Co. Number of Pages: 1040

Author:
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Beers, Leggett & Co.
Number of Pages: 1040