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 105
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 105
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The parents of Hon. Henry Sherrill were Jacob and Jerusha(Huntington) Sherrill, former of whom, a son of Jacob Sherrill, was a woolen manufact- urer. They had a family of twelve children, eight of whom grew to manhood and womanhood, as follows: Julia, wife of Chauncy S. Butler, now residing in Sauquoit, Oneida Co., N. Y .; Esther, wife of Dr. Caldwell, who died in Jacksonville, Fla., where they resided in August, 1840 (she is living on the Sherrill homestead, now eighty years of age); Laura A., wife of I. D. Caton, of the supreme court; Harriet, wife of Francis Butler, who died December 25, 1887, in the house in
which she was born, aged seventy years; Emily . S., wife of H. F. Eames, president of the Com- mercial National Bank of Chicago; Caroline, widow of William Churchill, and residing in Greenwich, Conn .; James H., youngest child, a farmer in Mitchell, Dak., now sixty-two years of age. The parents of this family died, the father at the age of seventy-six, and the mother aged fifty five.
W ILLIAM E. KINNETT, M. D. A native of Ohio, Dr. Kinnett was born in Hamil- ton County, July 3, 1849. His grand- parents were among the earliest settlers of Brown County, Ohio, having come from the East. His grandfather was killed while a sol- dier in the War of 1812. William P. Kinnett, father of our subject, was born in Brown County on August 12, 1808, and learned the trade of a tanner, at one time working in the tannery where Gen. U. S. Grant was afterward employed. Later in life he removed to Hamilton County, Ohio, where he followed farming until 1852, when he came to Morgan County, Ill., and in 1867 to Mont- gomery County, Ill., where he remained until 1876. The following four years he spent in Mor- gan County, and in 1880 retired from active life, making his home with his son in Bristol until his death, which occurred July 16, 1883. He was an honest, Christian man, and all his life a great worker in the Baptist Church, in which he filled many official positions. Several times he resigned his membership in flourishing congregations to join weak and struggling ones, giving liberally of his time and means to build them up. He was married September 22, 1831, to Ann, daugh- ter of Joshua Brown, of Hamilton County, Ohio. She was born June 27, 1810. Their union was blessed with nine children, namely: George, Mary and Smith, who all died young; Matilda, who was wife of W. T. Mullen, died in Montgomery County, Ill., in 1867; Eliza E., wife of J. N. Knock, died in same county in 1870, and John, who entered the Union army, in Company K., Twenty-Seventh Illinois Volunteers, served three years, and died in Jameson, Mo., in 1885; those of the family now living are Isaac B., a farmer in Morgan County,
MEStinnett M. D.
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Ill .; Sarah J., wife of W. A. Knock, in Montgom- ery County, Ill. ; and William E., our subject, who attended the district schools until he was eighteen. when, for three terms, he was a pupil in the Nor- mal School, in Christian County, Ill., after which he engaged in school teaching for four years. Having previously read medicine, he, in 1874, be- gan a course of study in the Eclectic Medical In- stitute, Cincinnati, graduating May 9, 1876. He began practice at Palmer, Ill., where he stayed until 1879, at that time going to Minier, Ill., remov- ing the following year to Bristol, Kendall County, where he has a large and increasing practice, and enjoys the reputation of being a skillful and suc- cessful practitioner.
Dr. Kinnett has been twice married; first, on October 14, 1875, to Mary E. Cave, who was born in Kentucky, September 5, 1856, and who died October 26, 1886, leaving two children, Ira J. and Lily D. A daughter, Stella A., died when three years old. Dr. Kinnett's present wife is Eliza- beth R., daughter of J. N. Austin, of Bristol Vil- lage. She was born April 26, 1859.
Dr. Kinnett is a member of the Illinois State Eclectic and National Eclectic Medical Societies, and at present is recording secretary of the Illinois State Eclectic Medical Society. He and his wife are members of the Baptist Church; he takes a great interest in sabbath-school work, and for four years was superintendent of the church Sunday- school, for four years president of the Bristol Township Sunday-school Association, and he is at present president of the Kendall County Sunday- school Association. He is a gentleman of unblem- ished character and reputation. Politically, he is a supporter of the Republican party.
UILFORD DUDLEY EDGERTON. One of the prosperous farmers of Big Grove Township, Kendall County, who have at- tained success by energy and industry in their chosen vocation, is the gentleman whose name heads this memoir, and who ranks among the old settlers of the county. He was born No- vember 7, 1821, near Union Square, Oswego Co., N. Y., the eldest son of Edward and Fannie (Cone)
Edgerton, former of whom was a native of Con- necticut, born in January, 1800. They had a family of four children: Guilford D., Mary Ann, Julia Ann and Martin C., all born in Oswego County. Mary Ann and Julia Ann married broth- ers, Josiah and Milton Wright, respectively, and settled in Adair County, Mo. Martin C. died sin- gle. Edward Edgerton, the father of these chil- dren, when young came to the wilds of Oswego County, N. Y., where he grew to manhood and married as above. In 1838 he came to the "Far West," to Illinois, bringing his entire family. To Buffalo, N. Y., they traveled by wagon, thence to Detroit by lake. From thence they drove by team to Joliet, and thence aimed to reach Yorkville, Ill., but struck Oswego instead. Here the family visited friends for a time, while the father suc- ceeded in purchasing a claim on Section 17, Big Grove Township, the nominal price asked being $1 per acre for the prairie land, and $10 per acre for the timber land. He secured 100 acres of the former and ten acres of the latter, giving in trade for the prairie land one of the team of horses he had brought with him. On the 100 acres, now owned by Abram Z. Brown, he built a log-cabin, the site of which was about fifty feet to the rear of where Mr. Brown's residence now stands. Here the Edgerton family first located and dwelt in the log-cabin for many years, when they vacated it, and moved into a frame structure now occupied by Oscar Brown, and which was erected east of the log-cabin site, in the same yard. Mr. Edgerton made considerable improvements on this farm, but in 1855 he removed to Freeport, where he en- gaged in the lumber business, and died in 1858. His widow then returned to Kendall County, and died at Newark, in September, 1861. They were both esteemed and respected by all who knew them as Christian people and good citizens.
Guilford D. Edgerton assisted his father on the farm, and decided to make agricultural pur- suits his work. March 11, 1846, he became united in marriage with Elizabeth Clagett, who was born May 5, 1825, in Grayson County, Ky., daughter of Charles and Rebecca (Gay) Clagett, the latter a daughter of John Gay. They had three children: Elizabeth, Mrs. D. G. Edgerton, Mary J. (wife of
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John Litsey, of Yorkville, Ill.), and John G., who remained in his native State. Elizabeth and Mary J. came together to Kendall County, from Ken- tucky, in 1843. Mr. Clagett was born in North Carolina, and when a young man removed, with his parents, to Woodford County, Ky., where he married.
After marriage Mr. Edgerton purchased eighty acres of Government land in Plattville, Lisbon Township, Kendall Co., which he commenced to improve. Here, however, he remained but three years, selling out and returning to Big Grove Township, where he bought the farm he now owns, situated south of the tract on which his father had located in 1838. Mr. Edgerton bought 110 acres at $10 per acre, of B. Van Meter, all the improvements on it being a log-cabin, and a small patch of the land broken and fenced; and here he has since made his home. To this pur- chase he afterward added, until he at present owns 320 acres; twenty being timber land, well stocked with horses and cattle. Mr. Edgerton is now practically retired.
Mr. and Mrs. Edgerton are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics, he is a Republican. He and his wife have three children: Lucretia, wife of Marvin R. Steward, of Green- field, Iowa; Charles E., a hardware merchant, in Creston, Iowa, and Earnest E., on one of his father's farms, in Big Grove Township.
H ARLOW G. WILCOX. Among the pio- neers of 1837 is numbered Harlow G. Wil- cox, who was born August 24, 1808, in Madison, N. Y. His parents, Riverus and Sally (Stacy) Wilcox, had a family of three chil- dren: H. G., E. Allen and Sophronia, all of whom came to Illinois. The father was a native of Con- necticut, a son of Aaron Wilcox, who was a soldier in the Revolution, and subsequently settled in Madison County, N. Y. Aaron's wife was Irena Barnard, and by her he had several children. His sons were Riverus, Frederick, Aaron and Philand. The maternal grandsire of our subject was Lemuel Stacy, whose wife was an Allen, a relative of Ethan Allen.
Harlow G. was reared to farming pursuits, and his father, being lame, and incapacitated for farm labor, he remained with him until he was thirty years old. He then decided to go west, and in 1837 came to this State. The year following, 1838, his father, brother and sister came and set- tled on Indian Creek, in La Salle County, where his father and sister died. His brother, E. Allen, who had located near his father, remained there a short time and then moved to Lee County, and was one of the pioneers of the city of Amboy, where he died. Harlow G., upon coming here, purchased eighty acres of land on Section 23 from the Government at $1.25 per acre; bought a cabin, which stood in Big Grove, and moved the same on his land, not far from the site of his present house. There he lived about five years, when he replaced the cabin by a frame structure, which was destroyed by fire July 4, 1866. That vear he built his present residence. He subsequently added to his original purchase until he now has 176 acres. He was first married to Mary J., daughter of Zenus and Mary Ann (Wells) McEwen. The McEwens came to this township prior to Mr. Wil- cox. Mrs. Wilcox died, leaving five children: Sarah resides in Morris, the wife of John Duck- worth; Elmina, unmarried, resides in Amboy; Mary E. (deceased) was the wife of George Steel, of Pewaukee; Albert died of disease contracted while in the army, at St. Louis, while a member of the Twentieth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and James B., who is engaged in the mercantile busi- ness in Sedalia, Mo. Mr. Wilcox married for his second wife Mrs. Jemima Lewis, who was born in Phillipstown, Putnam Co., N. Y., April 12, 1812. She was a daughter of Joshua and Rebecca Hanyon Nicholson, to whom were born three sons and seven daughters, all of whom lived to be over fifty years of age. Mrs. Wilcox came west with her first husband, William E. Lewis, in 1842, and settled near Sheridan. Mr. Lewis died in Mission Township in 1843. They had three children: Edwin N., who is now connected with a mechan- ical paper in Chicago, his family reside in Boston; Olive R., who resides in Ottawa, the wife of Carl Simon, a music dealer, and Hattie L., who resides in Sedalia, the widow of Capt. Paff, of the naval
1
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service. To Mr. Wilcox's second marriage three children have been born: Charles A., a homœ- opathic physician in Amboy; Ellen A. and Henry J., at home. Mr. Wilcox, though now in his eightieth year, is well preserved and still manages his farm. He has been a Republican since the birth of that party. He served on the first board of supervisors for several years; was chairman of the board and also served as supervisor for many years. Soon after the township was organized he was elected justice of the peace, which office he filled for many years. Since the organization of the Congregational Church, in 1837, he has been identified with that body, and has been trustee of the same. He is one of the substantial citizens of the county, and is highly respected.
丁 HOMAS R. SHORNDEN was born in the county of Kent, England, August 17, 1831, and left his native land when nineteen years old, October 23, 1850, emigrating to the United States; he located in Oneida County, N. Y., where he lived five years, working by the month or the day. In the spring of 1856 he came to Illinois and hired out by the month, but finally engaged in the hedge fence business, which he followed for several years, and put out the principal amount of hedge that is now stand- ing in the county. He married January 22, 1861, Mrs. Martha M. Naden, who was born in Oneida County, N. Y., and moved to the State of Ohio, with her parents, when she was four years of. age. Her parents, Samuel and Susan (Rogers) Barker, came here about 1835, and finally located on Section 13, in Big Grove Township. They were both natives of Vermont, the former of Windsor, and the latter of Rutland; were married in Ver- mont, removed to Oneida County, where nine of their children were born, viz. : Lonisa, Mary, Nor- man, Harriet, William, Julia, Martha, Jennette and Benjamin. Eunice E. was born after the family came west. Louisa (now deceased) married Rob- ert Wright, of Plainfield; Mary (deceased) married C. Harrington, for her last husband; Norman died young: Harriet resides in California; William (de- ceased) was located in Lisbon Township, and left
two children; Julia resides in Kane County, the wife of James Wilsey; Jennette resides in Kan- kakee County, Ill., wife of Elijah Brown; Ben- jamin died February 7, 1888, in Monona County, Iowa; Eunice E., who was born here, resides on the Barker homestead, the widow of Charles W. Far- ington. Mrs. Shornden's parents died on the homestead, her father March 9, 1872, aged eighty-one years, and her mother February 9, 1872, aged seventy-seven years. Mr. Shornden, after his marriage, purchased eighty acres on Sec- tion 13, which he owned for several years, and later located on the farm he now owns, where he has resided since 1868. He has now 418 acres of land, and has placed substantial buildings on the farm. He has four children: James M., Har- riet M., George L. and Jennie A. The elder three are teachers, and are still at home. Mr. ' Shornden has given his children good educations, and his sons are temperate in every respect, and use neither whisky nor tobacco. Mr. Shornden's father was Thomas R. Shornden, and his mother was Ann Prebble; the former died in England March 28, 1831, aged thirty-three years; the lat- ter died March 27, 1876, in Oneida County, N. Y. Mrs. Shornden had one son by her first husband, whose name is Walter E., and resides in Saratoga Township, engaged in farming.
ULIUS BUSHNELL. The first of the Bush- nell family to come to Kendall County was Rev. Calvin Bushnell, who settled here in 1836. He was the uncle of our subject; was born and educated in Connecticut and moved to Oneida County, N. Y., where he preached for sev- eral years prior to his coming west. After arriv- ing here he took up land in the southern part of Big Grove Township, which his sons improved, while in the meantime he was engaged in the min- istry of the Congregational Church. He died here honored and respected by all who knew him. ][ He raised a family of ten children, of whom none are now living in Kendall County. The next member of the family to come to the township was Stephen Bushnell, the father of Julius, who came about 1839. Stephen removed to New York when a
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KENDALL COUNTY.
young man, located in Greene County, where he married Vincie Tuttle, and settled in that county near Durham. Afterward he moved to Madison County, N. Y. Ten children were born to this union. Their names are Harlow, Nancy, Julius, Stephen, George, David, Cyrus, Lyman, Alex- ander and Washington, all of whom came west to Illinois at different periods except Nancy, who mar- ried and settled in her native State. When our subject's father came he purchased a farm in Lis- bon Township, where he located and remained un- til three years before his death, when he removed to Morris, where he died. Julius Bushnell was born February 21, 1808, in Greene County, N. Y., and when about eight years of age removed to Mad- ison County, where he grew to manhood and en- gaged in farming and lumbering. He married January 30, 1834, Sarah Lamphear, a native of Oneida County, N. Y. She was born August 7, 1812, the youngest daughter of Elisha and Sallie (Bennett) Lamphear, who were natives of Con- necticut, and removed to Oneida County, N. Y., where they reared seven children (ten being born). The parents subsequently removed to Oswego, where they died. Of the children who came west four settled in Wisconsin - Jerod, William, George and Elisha; Sabrina, now the widow of Horace Hull, resides in Ottawa, this State, aged ninety. Mr. Bushnell continued at farming and lumbering until November, 1854, when he came to this State, made his location in Lisbon Township, took a part of his father's land and engaged in farming until 1869. He then moved to his present place, where he has since resided, having eighty acres on Sec- tion 13, and forty in the town of Lisbon ad- joining. He has had three children, Newton, Ed- ward and Elmer. Newton was a soldier in the Rebellion, a member of the Fourteenth Cavalry, and served three years; was in the engagements about Knoxville, participated in the raid when Gen. Morgan was captured, and was subsequently in the quartermaster's department. After returning from the service he was married to Sylvia Carver. He was a traveling agent for M. E. Page, of Chicago, and carried on a store at Oshkosh, Wis. Subse- quently he removed to Chicago and engaged in the commission business, where he died March 30,
1875, of disease contracted while in the army; he left no issue. The third son, Elmer, married Sarah, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Broad- bent) Naden. He and his brother, Edward, carry on the farm. Mr. Bushnell is now retired from active business and is enjoying, with his worthy wife, the fruits of an honorable past in peace and quietude. He was formerly an old line Whig, but has been a member of the Republican party since its formation.
N L. SWEETLAND, M. D., practicing phy- sician and surgeon. Residence and post- office address, Newark, Ill.
M RS. LOUISA WORSLEY is the widow of George Hallum Worsley, who was born August 5, 1816, in Lancashire, England, and was brought to America when two and a half years of age. He was the youngest of seven children born in England to John Worsley, a shut- tle maker by trade, who located with his family at Pawtucket, Mass., and there put in the shuttles used in the first power looms in the United States. He married Sarah Hallum, by whom he had six sons and six daughters, all of whom lived to attain their majority, five of the number being born in . Massachusetts. The names in order of birth are John, Sarah, William, Henry, Eliza, Mary A., George H., Emma, Abbie, Napoleon, Maria and Samuel. The boys were machinists.
The family finally removed to Attleborough, from which place George H. came to Illinois in 1836, with his father, for whom he worked for several years.
June 27, 1847, he married Louisa Howes, who was born June 4, 1820, in Wyoming County, N. Y., the second daughter and third child of Thomas and Sarah (Gleason) Howes, of Massachu- setts and New York State, respectively. Mrs. Worsley's paternal grandparents were Ezekiel Howes and Rose Vincent, and, on the maternal side, Moses Gleason and Mercy Bradburry. Mrs. Worsley was of a family of thirteen children whose names are Rose A., Ezekiel, Louisa, Harriet,
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KENDALL COUNTY.
Thomas, Barsheda, Moses. Phillip, Jane, Edwin, Antoinette, Charles and Henrietta. All reared families except Charles, Rose A. and Antoinette. Phillip, Moses and Edwin served in the Civil War, during which struggle Phillip was killed at Resaca, Ga. Edwin enlisted in the first call, and served through the entire war; was taken prisoner and held for nine months and fourteen days in a rebel prison.
Mrs. Worsley came west in 1844, her parents having come the year previous, and located in this township. Her father was killed in a well about 1851. Her mother died in 1861. Mrs. Worsley has three brothers in this State; Moses, in De Kalb County; Ezekiel, in Lee County, and Edwin, in Kendall County.
After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Worsley located on the place where she now resides, which his father pre-empted, and George, her husband, en- tered from the Government. Mrs. Worsley re- mained on this farm until her husband's death, July 20. 1874. He had been a stanch Republican, and was highly esteemed in the community as an upright man and good citizen. Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Worsley (seven of whom grew up): Rollin. Maria, Otto, George, Henry, Frank, Frederick and Willie. Rollin and Otto are in Newark, in the hardware business; George and Henry are carrying on the farm; Frank is in Ne- braska, and Frederick is engaged in farming in Big Grove Township; Maria resides in Houston County, Minn., wife of Taylor Robinson.
C ORNELIUS C. VREELAND. The pro- genitors of the Vreelands came from Hol- land, and settled in New Jersey during the early history of that country. Cornelius Michael Vreeland, the father of our subject, was born in 1798, in Hudson County, N. J., and was an oyster fisherman. He married Catherine New- kirk, born May 15, 1807, a daughter of Aaron and Jane (Vreeland) Newkirk. Aaron was a son of Matthew Newkirk, a Revolutionary soldier.
Cornelius C. was born in Bergen, Hudson Co., N. J., July 4, 1834, eldest of two sons born to C. M. and Catherine Vreeland. During his
early boyhood life he assisted his father in oyster fishing, and in 1856 came with the family to Lis- bon. That year his father purchased 153 acres in Section 22, with the crop on it, for $40 per acre, and engaged in farming. He died here July 17, 1877, of throat disease, leaving a widow and eight children, viz .: Jane, residing in Lisbon. the wife of John Van Pelt: Gertrude A., residing in Big Grove Township, wife of Abram Van Riper; Caroline, residing in Adams County, Neb., wife of Mr. Stevens; Hannah, residing in the same place, wife of Richard Van Buskirk; Cornelius C. ; Garrett, residing in this township; Cornelia, residing in Lisbon, wife of Austin M. Hills; Sarah C., re- siding in Newark, wife of Henry Page.
Mrs. Vreeland, the mother of the above, is now in her eighty-first year, and resides with her daughter, in Lisbon. She has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for over sixty years.
After coming west, our subject remained with his parents and assisted them on the farm. June 3, 1867, he married Rebecca Ann Ayers, who was born January 27, 1839, in New Canaan, Conn., daughter of W. H. and Eliza (Benedict) Ayers. Mrs. Vreeland died January ,10, 1880, leaving eight children: Lillian E., Lottie L., William H., Jennie, Cornelius F., Gayes, Irving and Mary Edith. Lillian E. and Lottie L. married two Scho- field brothers, Judson and George, respectively, and reside in this township; William H. is married, and resides in La Salle County; Jennie resides in Lisbon Township, wife of Frank Ripley; Corne- lius F. is not married, and lives on a part of the farm; the others are single and at home.
October 26, 1882, Mr. Vreeland was united in marriage with Mary Skinner, who was born in Lisbon Township, September 12, 1859, the second daughter and third child of Stephen and Annie (Brody) Skinner. Mrs. Vreeland has two brothers, George and Edward, both of whom reside in this township. Her sisters are Annie, wife of Richard Phillips, of Lisbon Township; Libbie residing in Nevada, wife of Mr. Longheran, a gold miner; Nellie and Katie are single, latter being a teacher in the public schools.
Mrs. Vreeland's parents were natives of Eng-
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KENDALL COUNTY.
land and emigrated west in 1857. Her father died May 1, 1882, aged sixty-four; her mother re- sides in Lisbon.
By his last marriage Mr. Vreeland has two children: Mabel M., born February 24, 1884, and Ray C., born June 12, 1886.
Mr. Vreeland located in 1870, on the farm he now owns, which consists of 231 acres on Sec- tion 21, a part of which extends into Big Grove. Since 1874 he has been engaged in the stock busi- ness, buying for the Chicago markets, and was for thirteen years associated with W. I. Stevens, but is now doing business with Samuel Naden, under the firm name of Vreeland & Naden.
M RS. EUNICE E. FARINGTON is the widow of Charles W. Farington, who was born May 13, 1825, in Stittsville, Oneida Co., N. Y., a son of Thomas Farington, whose wife was a Brown, and who died when Charles W. was young. The latter was bound out when young, but, meeting with unkind treat- ment he left at the age of thirteen and worked out by the month. Before attaining his majority he came to Illinois and hired to some of the farm- ers in Big Grove Township, and, being a steady, industrious young man of good habits, soon made many warm friends. After a few years' residence in Big Grove Township, December 24, 1857, he wedded Miss E. E. Barker, daughter of Samuel Barker, one of the pioneers of Kendall County. Mr. Barker walked from Ohio about the year 1836 to the present site of Joliet, and, being favorably impressed with the locality, he sent for his family, whom he met in Chicago. On the way to their destination he purchased a cow and calf, and upon his arrival he had $1.50 left. The family con- sisted at that time of Mr. Barker, wife and nine children. He moved his family at first into an old log-cabin, about four miles from Joliet, but shortly after located near the present site of the city, where he boarded the engineers that laid out Joliet and the men that built the large mill also those who assisted in digging the race. There the family becoming sickly, being afflicted with ague much of the time, he, hearing a favorable ac-
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