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 38
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 38
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Mr. Downing is a native of Queens County, N. Y., born August 12, 1845, a son of George and Mary (Jackson) Downing, both natives of same place in New York. George Downing was a thrifty and industrious farmer, and reared his children to be tillers of the soil, educating and training them the best he knew for future success in that honorable vocation. He gave to them the rudiments of an education in the public schools, and the far better lessons on the farm as they learned to toil by his side. S. Frank Downing came to Illinois, and located in Kane County in 1868, on his arrival purchasing a small farm which now forms a portion of the Evergreen Lawn Stock and Dairy Farm. He gave his undivided attention to the work of putting his land in the highest state of cultivation, and adding from time to time such as his capital would permit.
February 8, 1877, Mr. Downing was united in wedlock with Jennie, daughter of E. W. and Adel- ia (Van Vlack) Thatcher, of Virgil Township. Mr. Thatcher has long ranked as one of the prominent and highly respected farmers of that section of the county. Mr. Downing has been a member of the F. & A. M. since he came to the State. In politics he is a Republican, and was at the last election
. I. Downing
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(1887) elected supervisor of his township; he has served his people as town clerk and justice of the peace. These facts are only given as a slight evi- dence of the high esteem in which he is regarded by his neighbors in addition to his prominence as one of the enterprising and prominent stock and dairy farmers in the county. As an item of the dairy interests under his management it may be stated that, on an average, forty graded milch cows contribute constantly from this place to the dairy products of Virgil Township. His elegant resi- dence is situated about one mile from the village of Maple Park.
OSEPH E. WHITE, a retired farmer, now residing at Elburn, is of Scotch-German ancestry, and born in Vermont, June 28, 1828, son of Amasa and Betsey (Dunton) White, who came to Illinois in 1839, and settled near Geneva, this county, where they had taken up government land, and followed farming until the father's death; which occurred December 24, 1874; the mother died November 20, 1878; both were aged seventy-eight years. Joseph E. is the third in a family of nine children, eight of whom reached maturity. He remained with his parents until their death, assuming, for a few years, the entire management of the farm, which still remains in possession of the family. One year after his father's death he retired from the farm, owing to his mother's impaired health; she afterward made her home with one of her daughters until her decease. February 22, 1882, Mr. White married Mrs. Emma Sharp, born in Warrington, England, February 22, 1847, daughter of Thomas and Rachel (Bates) Moulding, who came to America in 1852, settling in Geneva, Ill., and two years later began farming in Campton Township. Her father was born at Warrington, England, in 1805, and died while on a visit to his son, Dr. F. C. Mould- ing, of Watertown, Wis., September 2, 1SS5. Her mother died March 23, in the same year. The parents were married March 16, 1825, and lived together sixty years. They had fifteen chil- dren, forty-seven grandchildren, and three great- grandchildren. Mr. Moulding passed his boy-
hood amid severe struggle and privations, and the age of seven years found him working hard, trying to assist his widowed mother, and her fatherless children. When ten years of age he worked fourteen hours per day in an English cotton factory, and was afterward appointed superintendent of the same. Having never at- tended school, he taught himself to read at Sun- day-school. He never used liquor nor tobacco, and was strictly temperate in all things. In his death the community suffered a great loss.
Mr. and Mrs. White are the parents of two children-Jessie E., born January 22, 1884, and one that died in infancy. In politics Mr. White's sympathies are with the Democratic party, but he is bound by no party ties. He and his wife at- tend the Methodist Episcopal Church.
W ILLIAM MARME, one of the many suc- cessful manufacturers of the city of Aurora, is a native of Saarlouis, Rhenish Prussia, born June 3, 1836, and is a son of John and Kate (Stenger) Marme, who were substantial people of that place. He grew to . manhood in the town of Neuwied, where he fully learned the cigar maker's trade; subsequently traveling through various parts of his native country.
Mr. Marme was married in the city of Ham- burg, Germany, to Miss Wilhelmina Fredericka Nabert, of that city. In 1866 he, with a friend, left Hamburg to seek a fortune in America, land- ing in New York City, May 25, 1866. They immediately proceeded west, locating at Plano, Ill., but his friend, not well liking this country, returned to Hamburg, where he still resides, whilst Mr. Marme removed to Aurora, Ill., where he established himself in his present business. See- ing his way clear, he wrote for his wife to join him in this country, and she accordingly arrived in Aurora in December, 1886, where they have since lived.
To-day Mr. Marme is one of the solid and sub- stantial men of the city. The present handsome block on Broadway, in which he conducts business, was built by him in 1878. He is also the owner -
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of several properties in the city of Chicago. He is a thoroughly representative and enterprising German of the better class who have in so large a degree helped to improve the great West, mate- rially and socially. He has a brother, John, in the cigar business in Chicago; a sister, Lizzie, now Mrs. Philip Kreugel, of Kingman, Kas. The rest of the family-two married sisters-are in the Fatherland.
H ON. GEORGE MEREDITH. This popu- lar gentleman, enterprising merchant, and worthy mayor of the city of Aurora, is a native of Wales, born in Montgomeryshire, June 6, 1842, of Welsh parentage, a record of which will be found in the biographical mnemoir of the late Thomas Meredith, which appears else- where in this volume. The year after his birth George was brought by his parents to this country, and to Big Rock Township, Kane County. He attended one year, 1862-63, Ottawa (Ill.) Acad- emy, and then taught school in Big Rock during the winter of 1863-64, after which, in August, , 1865, lie entered the University of Michigan, where he passed one examination. Ill health, however, compelled Mr. Meredith to abandon study, and in 1866 he moved to Chicago, where he became engaged with a wholesale dry goods firm until August, 1867, when he came to Aurora and embarked in business in company with Isaac Morgan. Mr. Meredith withdrew from the firm in 1880 for about a year, and then united in part- nership with Messrs. Morgan and Davis, continu- ing together until 1885, when Mr. Morgan withdrew from the firm, and the business has since been known as "Meredith & Davis."
Mr. Meredith was elected alderman of the First Ward of Aurora in the spring of 1883, by the unanimous vote of the ward, and during the latter part of his term the question of building water- works was raised, the construction of which by the city he warmly advocated. He received the nomi- nation to succeed himself, and was elected a second term in the council, by a majority of two over his competitor, W. W. Bishop. When the new council was organized, he was made chairman of
the committee in charge of the water-works, and, mainly through his indefatigable exertions and active influence, Aurora has now the cheapest and best built system of water-works in Illinois. At the charter election held on the first Tuesday in March, 1887, Mr. Meredith beat his competitor, W. S. Frazier, for the mayoralty, by a majority of 475; and at the new election ordered for the third Tuesday of April following, Mr. Meredith was elected mayor over his competitor, C. C. Earl, in the most bitterly contested election ever held in Aurora, by a majority of 408. He is a Republican in politics, but no partisan when the general good of the commonwealth is at stake, and in all his engagements, public or private, Mr. Mereditlı has ever proved himself to be honest, industrious and trustworthy.
C ARL EITELGOERGE. Many of the hand- some monuments which adorn the cemetery of Aurora and the surrounding country have been designed, and some of them executed, by the hands of the subject of this memoir. He is an expert marble cutter, having an experience which enables him to successfully carry on that industry. His parents were John and Johanna Eitelgoerge of the village of Rotleben, Schwartz- burg-Rudolstadt, Thuringia, Germany, in which place Carl was born March 28, 1836. He attended school until the age of fourteen, when he was ap- prenticed to the trade of stone cutting, at which he served three years. At eighteen he concluded to try his fortune in the New World, whither a sister had come some time before. On May 19, 1854, he landed in New York City, and at once proceeded to find his sister, Augusta, now Mrs. Theodore Bussee, of Chicago. Arriving there, he found the cholera raging, so left the city and came to Aurora, Kane County, where for a time lie worked at farming. Applying himself to a study of the language, he was soon able to speak it, and at once began looking for work at his trade, with a view of eventually getting into business for him- self. This opportunity soon came to him in Au- rora, where he procured employment, and where his boyhood plans and hopes were realized, he
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having for years past carried on a business in which he has been eminently successful.
In Aurora Mr. Eitelgoerge was married to Hen- rietta Weiss, a native of Bavaria, who died in 1880, leaving four sons and one daughter. Of the sons, Charles and William are proprietors of a cigar manufactory in Aurora; Oscar is a candy maker, and Herman is at home. The daughter, Bertha, is the wife of Joseph Klamser, of Aurora. Some time after the death of his first wife Mr. Eitelgoerge married Mrs. Caroline Groch, whose maiden name was Swartzhaus, and whose son, Otto Groch, he is rearing. Mr. Eitelgoerge is a thorough-going business man, who by upright dealing has won the confidence and respect of the community. He has given to his children far better opportunities for education than he himself enjoyed, and has the gratification of seeing them occupy respectable positions in life. He is a skilled mu- sician, a member of the Leiderkranz and Turnver- ein, and leader of the band. Naturally his sons take after him, and the elder ones are good perform- ers. Socially Mr. Eitelgoerge is a genial, com- panionable gentleman.
OHN MEREDITH, a merchant of Aurora, proprietor of the tea store on Fox Street, and member of the board of education of East. Aurora, was born in Montgomeryshire, Wales, August 24, 1838, a son of Thomas and Sarah (Pugh) Meredith, who were of the better class of farmers in that county. John came with his parents to America in 1843, settling in Big Rock Township, Kane Co., Ill., where he was reared to the life of a farmer, and educated in the schools of the vicinity. He followed farming and stock raising there after his majority, until thirty- three years of age, when he removed to Aurora in 1870, and for thirteen years he was in the employ of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, as locomotive engineer, running passenger trains until disabled by the accident at Shabbona, Ill., June 8, 1885. When recovered from the severe and almost fatal injuries received at that time, he engaged in his present business. Mr. Meredith was married in Big Rock Township to Miss
Eliza Rhodes, a daughter of Joshua H. and Jane (Powell) Rhodes, who were natives, respectively, of Oldham, England, and Wales. They were pioneers of Big Rock Township. Mr. and Mrs. John Meredith have one son and two daughters, namely: May, a graduate of Jennings Seminary, having taken a scientific and literary course, and is a clever musician; Sadie attending school, and Mearle. Mr. Meredith is a Democrat, and a most pronounced temperance advocate. With his fam- ily he attends the First Methodist Church. Mrs. Meredith has been for years an active member of the W. C. T. U., as well as an earnest worker in all affairs relating to the welfare of the church, and is a member of the Chautauqua Circle, as is also her daughter, May. ·
ORYDON WHEELER CARD. The place where a man must never sleep when upon duty is that filled by Mr. Card as train- master of the Chicago & Iowa Railroad, at Aurora. He was born in Gainesville, Wyoming Co., N. Y., September 14, 1842, and is a son of Anson B. and Harriet M. (Ballou) Card, the for- mer of Scotch ancestry, who were pioneers of Ver- mont, and the latter of the French Huguenots, who sought an asylum in this country, and located in Northern New York, in early times. When young, Mr. Card received a liberal education, and became a bookkeeper and accountant. He en- listed in defense of the Union in Company D, One Hundred and Thirty-sixth New York Infantry, August 22, 1862, remaining in active service for about eighteen months, when he was discharged on account of ill health.
He then came west, and commenced work for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, in 1864, as agent at Montgomery, a position he held until April, 1867. He then labored as brakeman on a train for about two years, at the end of which time he was prevailed upon to return to New York, where he had the keeping of the books of a large flourmill in Rochester. He was employed in this capacity for two years, and then again entered rail- road work, being given charge of a train as conduct- or, and in a short time was appointed to his pres-
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ent position. Mr. Card married, in Aurora, Sarah J., daughter of William and Mary (Mason) Tebay, natives of Westmoreland County, England, who were pioneers in this western country. The father died of cholera in 1854, in Chicago, while engaged in mercantile business. The mother purchased land in Kendall County, Ill., and reared her fam- ily there. Mr. and Mrs. Card have four sons and two daughters: William A. (a graduate of Bryant & Stratton's Commercial College, Chicago, and now prosecuting the study of telegraphy), Harriet M., Eddie, Harry, Charles, Ruth. The family attend worship at the Presbyterian Church. He is a member of the order of Railroad Conductors, Di- vision No. 1, of which he has served as Chief. He is a Knight Templar in Sycamore Commandery, of Sycamore, Ill., No. 15, and has always been a man of strong temperance principles.
C HARLES FRANKLIN PAULL is one of the prominent and influential farmers of the county, highly valued as a citizen, whose reputation for integrity of character and honesty of purpose is of the solid kind that comes chiefly of that rugged stock whose members planted the stony hills of New England, and so bravely contended for the bread of life with its stubborn soil and rigid climate; whose children were bred in a school that fitted them to help found the greatest empire on earth, an empire whose every voter is a sovereign. He is a native of Granger, Medina Co., Ohio, born July 12, 1822. Among the ear- liest of his known ancestors in America was the noted Puritan, Richard Paull, a native of Eng- land, born in 1615, who came to this country in the first half of the seventeenth century (it is sup- posed about the year 1635), and first settled near where is now Taunton, Mass. He was the progen- itor of a race of noted men who figured promi- nently in the early struggles of this country, a race of liberty-loving men, who feared the Lord, but who certainly feared nothing else.
Charles Franklin Paull is the son of Richard and Clarinda (Gooding) Paull, former of whom was a lineal descendant of the Puritan Richard Paull, who settled in America early in the seven-
teenth century. Richard (father of Charles Frank- lin) was married to Clarinda Gooding March 31, 1811. She was born in the State of New York, September 12, 1794, and cheerfully and fully shared she the labor and privation of the early set- tler's life. She was the mother of seven boys and three girls, all of whom lived to the age of man- hood and womanhood, and who rise up and call her blessed. A more generous, noble and loving wife, mother and friend never lived. She died at Marion, Iowa, in her ninety-second year, and had forty-four grandchildren and fifty-six great grandchildren at the time of her death. She re- tained to the last full possession of her faculties, with the exception of her sight, of which she had been deprived several years; but she did not com- plain. When she knew her hours were numbered, she asked for paper, and wrote the following lines:
We'll pause, and drop a silent tear For one that's gone above. We trust she's looking down to cheer Us loved ones on our way : That each may win a glorious erown Not worn by mortal elay. GRANDMA'S PRAYER. Take care of my dear ones, Dear Lord, I pray, May they never, never go astray. May their lives here be long, And then, dear Saviour, Wilt Thou take them home.
Richard Paull was a native of Connecticut, by trade a carpenter and builder. He was an indus- trious, frugal and honest man, whose life was de- voted singly to his family, on whom he bestowed the earnings of his hands without stint, giving his children all the advantages in culture and education that his limited means would allow. His family, however, grew faster than did his wordly posses- sions. When his son Charles Franklin reached the age of nineteen years, he and the family bade adieu to their dear old Ohio home, and turned their faces westward, lured by the wonderful accounts given of the Prairie State. The family arrived in Kane County, Ill., in 1841, and at once secured a large tract of land in what is now known as Sugar Grove Township, which they proceeded to improve and put in cultivation. At once Charles F. Paull be- came known as a successful farmer. His industry
b. 7, Paul
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and thoughtful care were rewarded with unusual prosperity. He tilled so diligently that in time his broad acres were extended, and he became the owner of a section (640 acres) in the center of the richest tract of land in all this portion of Illinois. In the pursuits of a farmer he spent nearly forty years of his mature and active life in a quiet way, content to give his best energies and talents to his farm home, his family and the many warm friends he had drawn about him by his exemplary course and conduct in life. Always a man of warm friend- ships and earnest convictions, yet retiring of dis- position, his life has been an exemplary one; his habits of thought, and conduct toward his fellow- men, have endeared him to all. Mr. Paull was unable to take up arms when the late war broke out in all its horrors upon the country, yet when he saw the Union in danger his feelings were deeply enlisted, and during all those dark days he was strongly on the side of his country. He. retired in 1881, and fixed his home in Aurora.
Mr. Paull married Lavina, daughter of Chaun- cey Brooks, of Sugar Grove Township. Mr. Brooks was one of the pioneers in this part of Illinois, from Massachusetts. Mrs. Lavina Paull died November 29, 1856, and was buried in the family cemetery near her home, leaving two sons and three daughters, viz. : Ann, wife of P. M. Waite, a prominent farmer and stock raiser, of Sugar Grove Township [his sketch appears elsewhere]; Lewis, the eldest son, who purchased a part of his father's farm; Ella, wife of Joseph Doty, a farmer, of Malta, Ill .; Alice, married to J. F. Newcomb, a farmer, of Blue Hill, Neb .; and Charles E., a resident of Stanton, Neb. Mr. Paull afterward married Miss Jane Abbey, of his native State, his present companion in their pleasant home in Aurora. They are both greatly esteemed in the social circles, and in the society generally, of the city. Mr. Paull has given time and talents in serving his friends in some of the minor, yet im- portant, positions in his township. He has filled the positions of road commissioner and assessor, and for many years was a member of the school board; in each position attending to the cares of the office with due diligence, and conserving at all times the public welfare.
This gentleman's unostentatious yet useful life bears an important lesson to the growing generation. In life's severest struggles he has never failed nor faltered. He has reared a family, to whom he gave the best of all things to the young, a name that was never tarnished, and from child to parent he has gathered all there is in the deep aspirations of the most tender and loving par- ent that seeks the love, respect and exemplary lives in their children-that is the supreme reward in this world for the care and love of children. William H. Paull, an elder brother of Charles F., is also one of the stanch, reliable farmers of the community, whose extensive farm joins the acres of Charles F., being the only surviving brother in this community. [The biographical sketch of William H. appears elsewhere in this volume. ]
OUIS SYLVESTER, a prominent contractor and builder, of Aurora, was born at White- hall, N. Y., June 12, 1847, son of Frank and Harriet (Levoy) Sylvester, who were both natives of Canada, and descended from ances- tors whose nativity was sunny France. The elder Sylvester came to Illinois with his family, locating at Chicago in 1851, where for many years he was connected with the building business of that city.
In the schools of Aurora Louis obtained his education, and when but comparatively a boy he, in 1862, enlisted in the Union army, Company G, One Hundred and Fifth Regiment Illinois Infan- try, and served until the close of the war in 1865. During this period he engaged in many noted battles of the Rebellion, such as Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, Dalton, Marietta, etc., and also through the entire campaign with Gen. Sherman, on his famous march to the sea. He was honorably discharged from the army June 16, 1865. In 1866 he began learning the car- penter's trade, at Knoxville, Ill., with Mr. Wowi- sett, remaining two years, when he returned to Chicago, and there he remained until after the great fire, when he removed to Irving Park, and two years afterward, in the spring. of 1874, he established his present business in Aurora. Since locating in this place he has built some of the
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most prominent business blocks and other struc- tures in the city, among them the Aurora Smelting Works, Chicago Corset Factory, Somaryndyck's block, Day and Pease block, Wilcox Manufactur- ing Company factory, Fauth and Meyer block, Marx store, and many fine private residences.
Mr. Sylvester was married, at Aurora, to Celinda Moreau, a native of Plattsburg, N. Y., and they have three sons: Edmund, Archie and Frank. Mr. and Mrs. Sylvester are regular com- municants of the French Catholic Church of Aurora. He is an active member of Aurora Post, No. 20, G. A. R., and is one of the most reliable and prosperous business men of the city.
H ANNAH M. PINGREE, widow of Andrew Pingree, was born in Scituate, Plymouth County, Mass., in the year 1811. Her parents, Ammiel and Hannah (Merritt) Curtis, trace their ancestry to the Puritans of the "Mayflower." Hannah Curtis never left the place on which she was born, dying there in her forty-fifth year, in 1825. She was the mother of three children: John M. (who died in infancy). Hannah M., and M. Augusta now residing with Mrs. Pingree. Mr. Curtis, who never remarried, came in 1848 to Kane County, Ill., where he died in 1851, aged seventy-one years. His death was the result of an accident, he falling from a wagon, after which he lived only forty eight hours. He was for twenty-five years a deacon in the Unitarian Church. Some of the ancestry of the family served in the Revolution, one of them during the entire seven years.
Hannah M. was married to Andrew Pingree, and together they came to Kane County, where Mr. Pingree, Sr., owned land. Soon after their arrival they removed to St. Charles, this county, where Mr. Pingree filled the pulpit of the Univer- salist Church for some eighteen months. Upon the death of his father, Andrew Pingree returned to Rutland Township, where he afterward made his home, and in 1879 passed to his long last sleep at the age of seventy-six years. The elder Pingree was a manufacturer of boots and shoes at a town near Lynn, Mass., and removed to New Hamp.
shire, where Andrew was born and spent his early life, obtaining a thorough education. At the age of twenty-three Andrew went to Scituate, Mass., and engaged as teacher in the public schools. He taught twenty years in the publie and high schools in Massachusetts, and in Belfast and Castine, Me., and for a time Mrs. Pingree was one of his pupils.
Mr. Andrew Pingree was always Democratic in sentiment, and was an Abolitionist. He was the second supervisor of the township which posi- tion he held for eighteen years. He was an active worker for the upbuilding of his county, often sacrificing his own interests for those of others, and did as much for Rutland Township as any other man in it. For a number of years he was a notary public, and, having a knowledge of civil engineering, was appointed surveyor. His memory will long be held in reverence. His death was the result of a severe fall upon a stone pave- ment, although he survived the accident ten years, the last four of which were of severe suffering.
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