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 18
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 18
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Samuel Harter was married in 1852 to Mary Dauberman, who died May 4, 1859, aged thirty years, ten months, and twenty days, leaving one child, Adolphus M. (they had buried one, Laura C.) November 17, 1859, Mr. Harter formed a matrimonial alliance with Elizabeth, daughter of
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Jacob and Catharine (Shutron) Gusler, natives of York County, Penn., and by this union there is one child, Rodell S. Adolphus M. was married January 1, 1873, to Williminia Ramer, of DeKalb County, Ill .; he is in the employ of the Chicago, Burlington & Northern Railroad as fireman. Ro- dell S. was married to Madian Weston, of the town of Kaneville, February 25, 1885, he being a farmer. Mr. Harter politically is a Democrat, and takes a great interest in public affairs. He served his township twelve years as a member of the school board, and twelve years as commissioner of highways, and was re-elected in April, 1887, for the term of three years more; he has also served as administrator and executor of two large estates. Mr. Harter is a farmer, residing on his Loan Grove farm, and is a member of the Evangelical Church.
S N. WRIGHT, a prominent and represent- ative farmer and stock raiser of Kane County, inspector and examiner for the Holstein Frezian Association of America, is the owner of a fine farm of 120 acres of choice land located on Section 4, St. Charles Township. He raises thoroughbred Holstein Frezian cattle, and for the past fourteen years has devoted much of his attention to his herd, which is now one of the finest and most carefully selected in the country. He has been a resident of Kane County twenty-eight years, having come to Elgin from Baltimore in 1859. After residing in Elgin three years, he purchased his present farm, five miles southwest of Elgin, on which he has since resided. He is a native of Madison County, N. Y., born March 6, 1824. His parents, David and Elizabeth (Newitt) Wright, were both of New York, where his father was a blacksmith.
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When Mr. Wright was nineteen years of age he went to New Jersey, where he worked as a farm hand, and from there moved to Virginia, where he remained nine years engaged in a flour- ing mill and farming. In 1850, in Virginia, he married Miss Anna M. Haines, who was born in Burlington County, N. J., November 14, 1827. Her parents, George A. and Achsah (Rogers)
Haines, were both natives of New Jersey. Mr. and Mrs. Wright's children are David Emerson, George H., Abby R. (now Mrs. George E. Van- orden), Charles S., Libbie (now Mrs. Richard McKellar) and Samuel G. Mrs. Wright is a member of the Society of Friends, and is inter- ested in all charitable work. Mr. Wright is a Republican, a Master Mason in Clintonville Lodge, No. 511, in which he served as secretary for fourteen consecutive years.
H ON. ALBERT J. HOPKINS, though one of the young members of the Congress of the United States, is already recognized as one of its able leaders, and a strong and fearless champion of the people. He has won a national reputation before reaching the age of maturest manhood. He is a native of Illinois, the distinguished son of this great State, whose future successes are assured, and whose friends and ad- mirers are well grounded in the hope that they will be as brilliant as they are certain.
He was born on his father's farm near Cort- land, De Kalb Co., Ill., August 15, 1846, a son of Cyrus B. and Fannie Hopkins, who were among the earliest settlers in Northern Illinois, having made their home in the county nearly fifty years. His boyhood was spent on his father's farm, the most of the time at hard work, as soon as he was old enough to go afield and contribute his mite to that unceasing round of labor that is the prelude to the happy song of "The Harvest Home" on every pioneer farm. In the wintry storms he trudged his way to the country school, and re- ceived his first lessons in " learning, literature and eloquence," such as they were. But here the child was father to the man, and the enthusiastic boy's time was not at all wasted. His mind was a natural alembic that anywhere and everywhere distilled most useful lessons in life; from work or play, from the ancient pundits of the ferule or the boisterous playfellows, he was mastering the secrets of human nature, and laying up stores of useful knowledge to draw upon in riper years.
By the time he had extracted about all that could be hoped for from the primitive school, he
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had arrived at the age of seventeen years, and he then prevailed upon his parents to send him to the school at Sycamore, the seat of justice of De Kalb County. Such was his diligence that one year's attendance prepared him to enter the preparatory course at Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Mich. One year thereafter he entered the regular college course in that institution, where he graduated in 1870. The dream of his young boyhood had been to make of himself a lawyer, and he had long looked forward to graduating day as the point in life when he would turn his whole mind upon the fulfillment of that exalted purpose. At that time he received a most tempting offer from Maine to go there and take charge of an academy. It was such an oppor- tunity as seldom comes to young men, and it may be accounted as most fortunate that circumstances connected with the acts of the trustees of the insti- tution determined the young man in his decision of refusal to accept the offer. It was not so to be, and, instead of going to Maine, and thus possibly defeating a brilliant destiny, he came to Aurora in August, 1870, where he entered the office of C. J. Metzner (at that time a leading member of the bar in the county), as a law student. In 1871 the supreme court of the State, after one of its cri- tical examinations as to qualifications in the knowl- edge of the principles of the law, granted him license to practice in all the State courts, and dur- ing the following year he was given license to practice in the United States Courts.
The bright visions of his boyhood were now happily realized. Here was a young man of more than common natural gifts, of bright intellect and sleepless energy, suddenly clothed with the august power of appearing before the courts of his coun- try to vindicate the rights of his fellow man, and to punish evil doers before the highest tribunals in the world. This sudden realization to a young man, conscious of the fact that he has reached an epoch in his life, a turning point in the great high- way, where many hesitate and others fail, where one road leads to success and fame, and the other to failure and obscurity, had so suddenly come to him that perchance he hesitated and stood abashed, wavered, but it could only have been for a moment, when the audacity of genius asserted itself, and the
bashful schoolboy of yesterday was the real strong lawyer of to-day.
In 1872 he was elected State's attorney for Kane County, and he served his term of four years in this office with signal ability. The unfortunates whose names appeared as defendants on the crim- inal docket soon realized that there was much more than the young tyro upon their guilty tracks. During his prosecution no guilty man escaped through any fault of his. At the very outset of his term he made a name and fame as one of the most distinguished prosecutors the county ever had. During the XLIXth Congress, Hon. Reuben Ellwood, the incumbent from his district, died, and a special election was ordered to fill the vacancy thus caused. A Republican party convention was convoked, and Mr. Hopkins, after an animated session, was nominated. The nomination was con- tested for by several party leaders in the district, but, when the nominating ballot was taken, the friends of the other candidates who had failed were the first to move, and they made Mr. Hop- kins' nomination unanimous. He served the un- expired term with marked diligence and integrity . to the interests of his constituents and the country, and at an early hour became known to his fellow members as one of the most useful and industrious of their number. Upon the expiration of his term he was re-elected in 1886, and is now the honored incumbent of that high and responsible office.
Hon. A. J. Hopkins was married September 10, 1873, to Miss Emma Stolp, daughter of James B. Stolp, of Aurora, and they have four children: Fannie M., James S., Albert J., Jr., and Mark.
AMES C. RICE, one of Kane County's suc- cessful early settlers, is a native of Henniker, Merrimack Co., N. H., where he was born April 15, 1823. His father, Joseph Rice, was a native of the same place, and his mother, Sarah (Caldwell) Rice, of Ware, Merrimack Co., N. H. The father was engaged in farming in Holland, Erie Co., N. Y., in the early days, and there James C. grew to manhood, obtaining what education he could at the district school. In 1843 he left Buffalo for Illinois, arriving in
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Chicago June 27, with only six shillings, five of which he paid for his supper, lodging and breakfast at the old "Illinois Exchange." on Lake Street. Starting out the next morning afoot for Kane County, he worked on a farm for $10 a month, and thought he was getting good pay. Afterward his father came west, and together they rented a farm, which they worked for three years, and then bought the place on which James C. now resides, a fine dairy farm, on Sections 22 and 23, Campton Township. Here the father passed away in September, 1872, at the age of eighty-one years.
April 18, 1852, James C. Rice married Maria L. Bogue, a native of Ashtabula County, Ohio, a daughter of Daniel and Permelia Bogue, natives of Connecticut and New York, respectively. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Rice: Emma Augusta, Hattie E. and Llewellyn. Emma A. mar- ried Walter Swarthout, and lives in Geneva; Hattie E. married Edwin Lathrop, a farmer in Missouri; the son is at Iowa Falls, engaged in a real estate office. December 26, 1872, Mr. Rice lost his house by fire, but rebuilt, erecting on the same place the present fine structure. He has held several of the minor offices, such as road commis- sioner, collector and town constable. Mr. and Mrs. Rice both attend the Methodist Episcopal Church, but are not members. Mr. Rice's mother, a very bright and cheerful lady, now aged ninety- one years, is still living with him.
W ILLIAM MALLORY VAN NORTWICK, a son of John and Patty M. (Mallory) Van Nortwick, both natives of the State of New York, was born at Hammonds- port, N. Y., November 8, 1836, and came to Bata- via, Ill., in July, 1846. He attended for three years Rock River Seminary, at Mount Morris, Ill. September 19, 1861, he married Louise J. Towner, a native of Medina, N. Y., and to them two chil- dren have been born: M. Louise and John. Mr. Van Nortwick adopted civil engineering as a pro- fession, and in that capacity was engaged with the engineer corps who surveyed the Galena Air Line Railway (now a part of the Chicago & North- West-
ern Railroad system), also upon the Chicago, Bur- lington & Quincy Railroad for several years.
July 25, 1870, the present firm of paper manu- facturers, of which he is a member, was formed, and business was commenced the same year. The sum of $100,000 was invested in the plant, and $50,000 was put in as working capital. Additional water power, buildings and improvements, to the value of $100,000, have since been added. The product of the mills is a fine grade of news print paper, which finds a ready market in Chicago, Kansas City, Omaha, Denver, St. Louis, San Fran- cisco and elsewhere. The establishment is one of the largest paper manufactories in the Western States, with ample capital. Mr. Van Nortwick is also largely interested in other paper and pulp mills, situated in the State of Wisconsin. He is a Republican in politics, and a gentleman widely known for energetic business ability and integrity.
OHN S. VAN NORTWICK, the youngest son of John Van Nortwick, of Batavia, and a partner in the firm of Van Nortwick & Sons, in their varied and extensive manufacturing business, was born in Batavia, March 26, 1847, where he spent his young boyhood, attending the public schools of the village, and at odd times tak- ing his first lessons in such aid as a mere child can render a father who is concerned in numerous and vast enterprises. When of proper age he was sent to Jennings Seminary, Aurora, where he laid the foundations of an English education. From this institution he was transferred to Fort Edwards Institute, New York, and, after passing success- fully the curriculum of this school, attended Bryant & Stratton's Commercial College, Chicago, where he completed his school education. Returning to his Batavia home, he at once entered upon active business, first as a merchant, farmer and stock raiser. He was soon made an active partner in some of his father's business affairs, and is at present secretary and manager of the Van Nort- wick Paper Company, and a director in the West- ern Paper Bag Company, one of the most exten- sive concerns of the kind in the world. This com- pany make paper bags at the rate of 2,000, 000 a day.
1115t .
W Me Van Nortwick
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February 3, 1875, John S. Van Nortwick and Bina Totman were united in the bonds of wedlock. She was born in Fredonia, N. Y., January 25, 1852, daughter of Edsel and Mary (Allen) Totman, both natives of New York, who removed to Illinois and located in Batavia, in 1869. Of this union three children have been born as follows: William, born February 16, 1876; Patty M., born July 27, 1879, and Mary, born January 17, 1882. Mrs. Van Nortwick is a member of the Episcopal Church, and is one of the prominent and leading society ladies of Batavia. Mr. Van Nortwick, as is seen above, although a young man, is at the head and in the management of some of the most important business concerns in Kane County. He affiliates with the Republican party, and has served the village of Batavia as one of its trustees, and commissioner of highways.
C YRUS CALKINS. One of the oldest men now living in Sugar Grove Township is Mr. Cyrus Calkins. He was born in Corning, Steuben' Co., N. Y., January 14, 1815. His father, Enos Calkins, was a native of New Hampshire, but was for many years a resident of Corning, where he died April 18, 1851, aged near- ly eighty. one years. His mother, Parthenia (Per- kins) Calkins, was born in 1781, and died in Corn- ing, January 7, 1846. Their only other surviving child is a daughter, Maria, who was born June 26, 1809, and now lives with her brother, Cyrus. Another brother, named Eldad, came to Kane County in 1852, and the following year Cyrus left the place of his birth, and also moved to this county, settling near this brother, in Sugar Grove Township, and he has ever since lived upon the same place, which contains 165 acres. Since com- ing here he has been known as an upright, indus- trious and respected citizen, and has several times been called upon to fill local offices. For three years he was path-master in his district, was school director for twelve years, and, on the resignation of his brother Eldad as postmaster at Jericho, was appointed to succeed him, holding the position until May 19, 1886, at which time he resigned, the office being subsequently abolished.
In politics Mr. Calkins is a supporter of the Republican party. He has never married, but with his sister lives a peaceful and retired life at the home which he made for himself on first com- ing to the West, having given up active labor since passing the limit of the allotted threescore years and ten.
0 RLANDO DAVIDSON, superintendent of streets, Elgin, Ill., is a native of Windham, Hillsboro Co., N. H., born May 3, 1825, a son of James N. and Lucy (Lancaster) Da- vidson, both worthy people of New Hampshire, the former born July 12, 1797, in Windham, the lat- ter January 24, 1795, at Acworth, Sullivan County. They were married February 4, 1819. The father, who was by trade a packer of meats, traced his an- cestry back to one William Davidson, of Scotch descent, who came from the County Derry, Ire- land, to America in 1728, and settled at London- derry, N. H. When Orlando was ten years of age his parents came to Sandusky, Ohio, and there the father engaged in the business of provision pack- ing. He afterward, in 1851, moved to Chicago, where he was in the commission business twelve years, and later made his home with his son, in Elgin, where he died August 21, 1873. The mother died in Chicago November 20, 1855.
Orlando Davidson received a common-school education, and when nineteen years of age went to Chicago, where he secured a position as teller in the banking office of Alexander Brand & Co. Here he remained eight years, and then entered the Ma- rine Bank, serving there two years. In 1854 he came to Elgin, and for the following twenty years was connected with the banking interests of the place. He organized the Home National Bank, of which he was president for several years. In 1877 Mr. Davidson retired from banking, and since then has become interested in a foundry at South Elgin, Ill., also acting as secretary of the Elgin Packing Company. He was active in securing the location of the watch factory in Elgin, and was one of the board of directors for several years; for six years he was treasurer of the Illinois Northern Hospital for the Insane, at Elgin. He erected the Borden Block in 1860. Politically he is a Repub-
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lican, having formerly been an Abolitionist. He has served as alderman, city treasurer, supervisor, chairman of school committees, and for thirty-three years secretary of the board of trustees of Elgin academy.
May 26, 1848, Mr. Davidson married, at Graf- ton, Wis., Miss Caroline A. Gifford, born at Mill Port, Tioga Co., N. Y., May 26, 1827, daughter of James T. and Laura (Raymond) Gifford, of Chenango County, N. Y. Mr. and Mrs. Davidson have had six children (four of whom are now liv- ing): Lucy L. (deceased), Jay G. (deceased), Laura R. (married to N. C. Sears, of Chicago), May C., Jennie E. and Stella A. The parents are members of the Congregational Church, in which Mr. Davidson has been a deacon for over thirty years, and for many years a trustee of.
(OHN LATHROP WALKER, city marshal of Aurora, was born in Spalding, Lincoln- shire, England, January 24, 1842, to Will- iam and Jane Walker, who came to the United States, and settled at Oswego, N. Y., in 1854. Here the son grew to manhood. When the great Rebellion broke upon the land, and President Lincoln issued his first call for three years' volunteers, the young man was one of the first to offer his services in defense of the stars and stripes. He joined Company A, Eighty-first Reg- iment New York Infantry, and served three years. Upon the expiration of his three years' term of enlistment he veteranized, and on rejoining his company was promoted to first lieutenant, serving in that position until the end of the war. He was constantly in active service, and participated in many engagements with the enemy.
On retiring from the army Lieut. Walker pur- chased a farm in New York State, and conducted it until 1868, when he sold his property there and removed west, arriving in Aurora in October, en- gaged in farming in that vicinity for the next eleven years, and then came to Aurora, where he was oc- cupied in house building. Two years thereafter he accepted a position on the city police force, and two years subsequently his faithful and efficient serv- ices were recognized by the citizens, and he was
elected city marshal, a position to which he has been continuously re-elected to the present time. He is a member of Waubunsie lodge, I. O. O. F., and Aurora Encampment; also a member of Aurora Post No. 20, G. A. R., since 1875. He was mar- ried at Vermillion, Oswego Co., N. Y., to Miss Ellen L. Smith, a daughter of William A. Smith, of that place. They have one daughter, Luville. The family are attendants of the Baptist Church.
P ROF. M. QUACKENBUSH is a name iden- tified throughout the Union with education. This gentleman is county superintendent of the schools of Kane County. He was born in Otsego County, N. Y., November 26, 1842. His paternal ancestors came from Holland, and settled in New York before its possession by the English. His grandfather on his mother's side came from Germany. His grandparents died in their native or adopted States, and one grand- father was a soldier in the Revolution. Abram Quackenbush, the father, born April 1, 1801, was, in his early manhood, a farmer. He had very poor chances to obtain an education, and at the age of nineteen years left home to become a black- smith, which business he pursued until 1849, when he turned his steps westward, and made a home in Kane County. Here he remained until 1880, in which year he removed to Iowa, where he died in 1885. In 1826 he was married to Miss Delaney Wolfe, a native of New York, who bore him chil- dren as follows: Catherine, Edward, Maria (de- ceased), Adelia, Amelia and Marvin.
Of these children, Marvin, the youngest, is the only one residing in Kane County. When he was seven years of age he came with his parents to Illinois, and received excellent educational oppor- tunities, attending the common school and Aurora Seminary, and later taking a commercial course at Bryant & Stratton's Business College, of Chicago. He then became a teacher in Kane County, and after one term in the country, taught two terms in Clintonville. At the breaking out of the war he was anxious to serve his country, and enrolled in one of the regiments of the State, but, owing to a severely injured foot, was rejected at the examina-
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tion; not satisfied, he again, in 1865, made an effort to be of service, and for six months he acted in the quartermaster's department in Chicago, and by his own personal exertions enlisted a company of soldiers for the field. At the close of the war he took charge of the St. Charles public schools, which position he held six years.
In 1871 Mr. Quackenbush took, as his life companion, Miss Elinor Boynton, daughter of Nathan and Margaret (McClure) Boynton, and a native of Dundee Township. Her grandfather, Gen. McClure, a soldier of the War of 1812, died in Elgin, about the year 1850. His son-in-law, Capt. Jamison, was the first commander of old Fort Dearborn, and he and his wife were the first white couple married in Kane County.
Nathan Boynton died in California, where he had gone at the time of the " gold fever " to seek his fortune. His widow still resides in Dundee village. After his marriage, Prof. Quackenbush taught one year in St. Charles, and then removed to Dundee to fill a similar position. He continued in this capacity until 1886, when he was elected county superintendent, a position he is now occu- pying with credit to himself and satisfaction to all. He has one child, Edward B., aged fourteen years. Mr. Quackenbush is a respected member of the Congregational Church, as is also his es- teemed wife. He is a Knight Templar, and a mem- ber of the society of " Modern Woodmen of Amer- ica." He is too well known in the county to need praise, being a thorough business man, a gentleman and a scholar.
C HARLES L. PROBERT, a descendant of a patriotic Englishman, was born in Sher- burne, N. Y., December 1, 1825, a son of James and Asenath (Stover) Probert. The father was a native of London, England, and at the age of twenty was drafted into the British navy, and sent to Quebec to fight in the War of 1812, but from that city deserted with nine others, swam the river, made his way to the United States, and ultimately arrived in New York State, locating in the interior, where he engaged in a cotton fac- tory, and also the milling business, for some time,
having charge of the Rochester mills. In 1822 he bought a farm in Sherburne, and, while Mrs. Pro- bert looked after the farm interests, Mr. Probert engaged in milling. Of a family of nine children, Charles L. is the fourth in order of birth. The parents went west in 1856, and settled in Butler County, Iowa, where they passed the remainder of their days, the father dying in 1871, and the mother in 1872.
Charles L. Probert remained at home, obtained his education, which was limited to that of the common school, and at the age of eighteen, in 1843, came west, and settled in Elgin, where for sixteen years he was engaged in farming and buying wool all through this section of the country for various firms, and in the town of Campton since 1854. In February, 1864, he married Margaret Norton, a native of Kane County, daughter of Garrit and Mahala (Blakely) Norton. By this marriage they have one son, Samuel L., who was born March 17, 1865, and is now (1887) attending Ann Arbor Col- lege. December 17, 1876, Mr. Probert contracted a second marriage, this time with Rachel C. Whit- ney, a daughter of John and Maria (Blood) Whit- ney, and who was born in Campton Township July 3, 1841. Mr. and Mrs. Probert are not members of any church, but attend them all. He is a Re- publican. Mr. Probert has improved several farms in this section, having farmed here for thirty-three years. In 1879 he bought the Joseph Whitney homestead of 204 acres, and he has another of 120 acres, both of which he has greatly improved. On the former place, where he is now living, he has four miles of tiling laid. The farm is well stocked, and he also raises considerable quantities of grain; the cattle are Ayrshire stock, of which he has eighty-nine head.
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