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 40

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 40
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 40

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).

After the battle of Corinth, October 3 and 4, 1862, Quartermaster Wells was nominated by Pres- ident Lincoln as captain and commissary of subsis- tence, confirmed by the Senate, and, with his com- mission, was ordered by the Secretary of War to im- mediately report to Maj .- Gen. U. S. Grant for duty, who assigned hiin upon the staff of Maj. - Gen. John A. Logan, commanding the Third Division, Army of the Tennessee. In the fall of 1863, after the surrender of Vicksburg, Miss., Gen. Logan was promoted to the command of the Sixteenth Army Corps, then in Tennessee, Gen. D. M. Leggett taking command of the Third Division, which sub- sequently became the Third Division of the Seven- teenth Army Corps, under the command of Maj. - Gen. McPherson.

Upon the organization of the campaign for Georgia, in the spring of 1864, under command of Gen. W. T. Sherman, the Seventeenth Army Corps accompanied it, and, after the surrender of Atlanta, Capt. Wells. in October, was relieved by the war department from service in the Third Division, Seventeenth Army Corps, and ordered back to Vicksburg to take charge of the post commissary of that department, where he con- tinued to the end of the war.

In March, 1865, Capt. Wells was promoted to rank of major in the commissary department, by President Lincoln, and confirmed by the Senate; some two weeks after President Lincoln was assassi- nated, and Maj. Wells' commission was issued by

C. K Hall,

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KANE COUNTY.

President Andrew Johnson and E. M. Stanton, Sec- . retary of War. Maj. Wells was honorably dis- charged from public service July 13, 1865, having been in the army service four years.

Soon after the close of the war Maj. Wells re- sumed his profession, opening his office in Chi- cago, and still retaining his residence at Geneva. His office, library and all his valuable papers were destroyed in the great Chicago fire of 1871, but he commenced practice again, continuing until the spring of 1876, when, from a serious attack of congestion of the brain, followed by typhus fever, he was rendered deaf, causing him to retire from public life, and he is now living at his old home- stead in Geneva, where he has resided over thirty years.

Maj. Wells, in his seventy-fifth year, is hale and hearty, and, were it not for his unfortunate deafness, looks as though he might endure another short military campaign. There are only two men now living who were in legal practice in Kane County cotemporaneously with Maj. Wells in 1840-Hon. Benjamin F. Fridley, of Aurora, and Judge William D. Barry, of St. Charles.

Maj. Wells was married in Adams, Mass., July 7, 1836, to Miss Frances M. Jencks, daughter of Capt. Henry Jencks, of that town, and to them were born four children, the only one of whom now living is Mary W., wife of Charles C. Stephens, married October 7, 1858. Mrs. Wells died July 4, 1845, and October 12, 1846, Maj. Wells married Miss Marietta Pierce, daughter of Capt. Josiah Pierce. The names of the children by this union are Francis A. Wells, born Sep- tember 4, 1848; Frederick A., born September 13, 1850; Charles B., Jr., born March 31, 1852; Henry L., born March 28, 1854; Willis J., born October 17, 1857; Hattie E., born August 14, 1860; Edgar S., born July 18, 1862; all now liv- ing except Edgar S., who died September 25, 1863. While visiting her husband, then in charge of the Post Commissary Department, at Vicksburg, Miss., Mrs. Wells was taken ill, and died, after a short sickness at that place, January 27, 1865. Maj. Wells then married, October 10, 1865, Cassindany Pierce, of Charlemont, Mass., daughter of Seth Pierce, of that town, who is now

enjoying a comfortable old age, and the satisfac- tion of looking back upon a useful and well-spent life.

M RS. CHARLOTTE H. SHEPARD, widow of Joseph Shepard, was born in the State of New York, February 13, 1824. Her parents, Henry and Jane (Crocius) Henne- berg, were also natives of that State, and were re- spectively of German and Holland-Dutch extrac- tion. Her father died May 1, 1871, at the age of eighty-nine years, and her mother May 16, 1824. Of their family of seven children Mrs. Shepard is the youngest. April 11, 1852, she married Joseph Shepard, who was born in the State of New York, February 4, 1812. His father, Benjamin Shepard, was a New York farmer, and died in May, 1813. His mother, nee Ruth Mosher, died in 1849, aged seventy-two years. Both were members of the Baptist Church.

Immediately after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Shepard moved to Illinois, settling upon the farm which he had purchased, and where she at present resides, in Blackberry Township. They had six children, viz .: Ruth M., who died in infancy, April 16, 1853; Jennie C., born August 28, 1854; Benjamin H., born May 18, 1857; Joseph W. and John W. (twins), born July 21, 1860, the latter of whom died October 29, 1863; and Edwin J., born February 24, 1863. February 11, 1886, Mr. Shepard passed away, a respected member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of Geneva in which he had served as steward, trustee and class leader. In his political views he was a Repub- lican, and also favored prohibition.

A NTON LOSER was born in Dickwilder, Canton Echternach, Luxemburg, Germany, September 21, 1821, and is the son of Christian and Mary (Mueller) Loser. He was taught the trade of stone mason, and followed it in the place of his nativity until 1852, when, with his young wife, Mary (Plieger), and family, he immigrated to America, coming soon after to Aurora, with the small capital of $10. He began

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KANE COUNTY.

life in this city by working at his trade, and laying by a little he prospered, in time surmounting the difficult situation in which he was placed; Mr. Loser mastered the language, customs and man- ners of the people in an almost incredibly short time, and became a contractor in business.

In 1857 he engaged in mercantile pursuits, which he prosecuted successfully for twenty-five years, realizing handsomely upon his investments, and rearing and educating his family. He buried his first wife in the cemetery of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church. She was a good wife and mother, and blessed him with one son and three daughters, of whom Magdaline is the wife of William Egermann, of Aurora; Christian is a rail- way conductor at Savannah, Ill .; Susanna is the wife of John Sauber, a tobacconist, of Chicago; Barbara, an infant daughter, is buried with the mother. Mr. Loser again married, his second wife being Miss Katharina New, of Niedersgegen, Canton Bittburg, Province Trier, Rhine Prussia.

Mr. and Mrs. Loser are respected members of the Roman Catholic Church, and regular com- municants of St. Nicholas congregation, of which he has been an efficient official and liberal sup- porter, both in time and means, and was origi- nally importantly prominent in the formation of the church. He is a progressive citizen, and con- tributes liberally to all measures tending to the advancement of the city's prosperity. He is a stockholder in both the Second National Bank and the Aurora National Bank. In 1884 he erected his present handsome residence on the corner of Garfield and West Avenues, and has put up other good buildings. The people of Aurora, among whom a large part of his life has been spent, look upon Mr. Loser as one of the best citizens of the place.

W W. WILSON. Among those who for many years have occupied a prominent po- sition in the social and other affairs of Su- gar Grove Township is the Wilson family, of whom the individual whose name heads this sketch is a descendant and a substantial and en- terprising representative. The genealogy of the Wilson family is traced back to one Rev. John

Wilson, a Puritan minister, who settled in Boston, Mass., in 1630, and, while we have no positive history, tradition in the family makes Joseph Wilson, born about 1700, and a resident of Lon- donderry, N. H., to be a lineal descendant of Rev. John Wilson. In Londonderry, in the year 1727, Joseph Wilson married Rebecca Kimball, and they were the parents of eight children, all of whom lived to maturity, and whose names in order of their birth are David, Rebecca, John, Phœbe, Betsey, Mary, Joseph and William, but we have no record to follow the history of any except John, the immediate ancestor of W. W.

John Wilson was born in Londonderry, N. H., July 24, 1743, married Jennie Lynn, and in 1773, with his father, Joseph, settled in the town of Acworth, N. H., being the seventh family to settle in that frontier town. Joseph Wilson died April 24, 1777. John raised a family of eight sons and one daughter, all of whom grew to maturity and reared families except David, who lived a bachelor and died in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1852. The names of the children are as follows: Joseph, Nathaniel, Jesse, David, John, William, Theophilus, Samuel and Nancy. John Wilson, the father, died April 6, 1812, aged sixty-nine, and his widow died July 16, 1816, also aged sixty-nine. Of their family, Joseph, the eldest son, lived on the Acworth farm, undertaking the maintenance of his parents dur- ing their lives. Nathaniel settled at Cabot, Vt .; Jesse at Gloucester, Mass .; David at Cincinnati, Ohio; John at Forestville, N. Y .; William at Thomastown, Me .; Theophilus at Cazenovia, N. Y .; Samuel at College Hill, Hamilton Co., Ohio; and Nancy married Edward Porter, of Michigan.

John Wilson, born February 4, 1776, married Miss Anna McPherson, at Acworth, N. H., first settling at Utica, and subsequently at Forestville, N. Y. , where he reared his family, and died April 23, 1838. His children were Nancy J., born in 1807, died young; Theophilus T., born November 27, 1808, lived on the old farm at Forestville, and died April 6, 1877; Caroline married Rev. Homer Gregg, who died in 1853, leaving two children, Homer and Helen A .; John W., father of the sub- ject of this sketch, and Licetta Grace, who died in 1853.

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KANE COUNTY.

John W. Wilson was born in the State of New York November 25, 1812. February 14, 1844, he married Eliza Lamb, a native of the same State, · born March 25, 1820. To them were born the fol- lowing named children: Theophilus, born January 7, 1846; Caroline, born October 10, 1848, died December 19, 1851; Grace Ann, born December 4, 1850; John and Jesse (twins), born January 1, 1853, the former of whom died January 19, 1861; Milton, born May 10, 1854, died May 20, 1855; William W., born March 17. 1856, and Joseph, born December 3, 1859. The father, John W. Wilson, died July 21, 1866, and is buried in Sugar Grove Cemetery; his wife, Eliza, died February 9, 1871.

W. W. Wilson, subject of this sketch, resides on Section 16, Sugar Grove Township, Kane County, where he and his brother, Joseph, own 240 acres of valuable, highly improved land, worth probably, at a fair valuation, at least $75 per acre. This farm is the old Wilson homestead, where our subject's parents lived for many years and reared their family. W. W. Wilson attained a prelimi- nary education in the schools of his vicinity, and completed his studies by attendance at the Forest- ville Academy, in New York State. He then re- turned to Sugar Grove Township, Kane Co., Ill., where he has been principally engaged in stock raising, and also in general farming. February 14, 1882, he was united in marriage with Mattie J. Smith, a native of Nemaha County, Kas., born April 25, 1860. She is a daughter of Thomas and Eliza (Benton) Smith, who were married April 7, 1857, and were the parents of four daughters: Hat- tie A., born March 9, 1858, now principal of the Marysville school, Kansas; Mattie J .; Carrie, born January 6, 1862, died July 19, 1863; and Nellie E., born April 7, 1864, married to Charles Myers, of Big Rock, Ill., in March, 1885. The mother died January 21, 1867. Thomas Smith is a son of Samuel Smith; the latter was the eldest of twelve children, seven sons and five daughters, born to Thomas (who was born in the North of Ireland in 1754, of Scotch descent) and Sarah (Harva) Smith, Scotch Protestants, who came to America in 1778, settling in Westmoreland County, Penn., whence they moved to Erie County, Penn.

Samuel Smith married, and was the father of five children, viz. : John C., Harva, James, Thomas and Joseph. One child has blessed the union of W. W. and Mattie Smith Wilson --- Glidden S., born January 11, 1884.

(ACOB N. HOYT. Many of the early settlers of New Hampshire were natives of England, and among them were the Hoyts, ancestors of the subject of this commemorative sketch. He was born December 15, 1831, at the capital city of the State, where he was educated and where he grew to young manhood; but soon after attain- ing his majority he came west. In the spring of 1853 he left the place of his nativity, and for some years resided in Cleveland, Ohio, and in Harris- town, Macon Co., Ill. In the spring of 1884 he removed to Kaneville Township, Kane County, where he at present resides.

May 20, 1862, Mr. Hoyt married, at Delaware, Ohio, Mary A. Latimer, who died December 21, 1866, leaving the following named children: William L., Robert T. and Harry M. Mr. Hoyt was again married April 7, 1869, on this occasion to Mrs. Eunice N. Thayer, she having one son by her first marriage-Charles G. Thayer. By this last mar- riage were born Edward L. and Jacob Walter; Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt have also an adopted daughter named Belle.

D E WITT CLINTON PRATT. This gen- tleman is well known throughout the city of Aurora, and this section of the country, as an artist and a photographer, having been successfully engaged in that calling or pro- fession for a longer period in this city than any other one within its limits. He was born at Homer, Cortland Co., N. Y., August 14, 1823, and is a son of David and Electa (Alexander) Pratt. The Pratts were originally of Connecticut stock, and the Alexanders were from Vermont.

DeWitt C. was reared at Homer, growing to young manhood on his father's farm. At fifteen years of age lie began an apprenticeship, and learned furniture finishing, sign and fancy painting busi-

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KANE COUNTY.

ness, with which trade he was identified until 1845, when he came to Illinois, and located at Chicago, remaining for one year. From there he went to Little Fort, now Waukegan, Ill., where he carried on the cabinet and painting business. At the lat- ter place he took his first lessons in his present profession, and learned the art of making daguerreo- types. In 1850 he removed to St. Charles, Kane Co., Ill., where he opened a gallery, and conducted a successful business until 1853, when he located in Aurora, and established himself in the same line, where he has since been popularly recognized as a skillful artist, who has kept pace with the discov-' eries constantly being made in photography. He may be said to stand at the head of his profession in Aurora and vicinity.

Mr. Pratt has reared a family of six children, all of whom were born by his first wife. Their names are as follows: Flora M., now the wife of Col. DeWitt C. Sprague, an attorney, now in tlie second auditor's office at Washington City; Evelyn, wife of Frank H. Vick, of Rochester, N. Y .; Frances, wife of Don D. Miles, of Aurora, Ill., and Ed. C., who is associated with his father in pho- tography. Kittie and Etta were buried in child- hood. Mr. Pratt found a congenial companion and fitting helpmeet in his second marriage with Mrs. Lottie Newcomb, of Homer, N. Y., a lady of most amiable attainments. They are both members and attendants of the First Congregational Church of Aurora.

OHN NEWMAN. This gentleman's name will long remain connected with the public and general city improvements that have come within the past quarter of a century to Elgin. He is of English descent, of a long line of ances- tors, and was born in Bishop-Stortford, Hertford- shire, England, March 11, 1843, the son of Will- iam and Emma (Thurgood) Newman, the father being a manufacturer in his native place. Young Newman, at the age of fourteen, was apprenticed to the trade of merchandising with William Pavitt, Stanstead, Hertfordshire, England, where he was employed some years, and gained a thorough in- sight into the business. When seventeen years of age, in company with an aunt, Mrs. Robert Pink-

erton, then of Chicago, lie sailed for America. He located in Chicago, where he obtained employment as a clerk in the store of the noted merchant and financier, Potter Palmer. Here the youth learned many lessons of value to him in after life. He worked faithfully, and saved his earnings, and was fully equipped, as far as knowledge of the ways of business are concerned, to start in independent life for himself.

In 1863 he came to Elgin with Daniel Innes, leaving the firm of Ross & Foster, dry goods mer- chants, on Lake Street, Chicago, where both were employed, and purchased the business of M. & J. McNeil. Since then he has been closely identified with the business affairs of Elgin, noted for his foresight, enterprise and liberal support of such affairs as contribute to the public weal. His en- ergy and integrity have caused his name to be wide- ly known as "Old Reliable." In the course of his active career in his adopted city he has suffered from two fires at different times, entailing upon him heavy losses. To, rebuild and to re-instate his business on these occasions called for the ex- ercise of both pluck and personal force; but here, as everywhere in his varied experiences, he was more than equal to the trying emergencies. This man commenced life, evidently, with the one heroic purpose in view,' not to be suppressed, and there- fore the small calamities of two destructive fires, with their attendant losses, were but "trifles light as air" to him. When his entire store was de- stroyed by fire, and while the building and stock was still burning, he rented a store in the Lynch block, started for Chicago, purchased his' new stock, had it shipped by passenger train, got his goods and store opened, and was doing business again all within two days. Such a display of pluck and energy induced the people (who, through the mayor, presented him with an elegant gold chain, which he now wears) to meet at his store on his open- ing again, at his old location; and that evening he opened up with a grand public collation, and a band of music, which event will long be remem- bered.

In 1878 Mr. Newman started the now noted Spring Brook Creamery, where is made butter that is accounted " gilt-edged," and is known from one

John Newman

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KANE COUNTY.

end of the land to the other, some of the best hotel proprietors in the country deeming it of sufficient importance to their patrons to put a line in their regular bills of fare, informing their guests: " This butter is from the John Newman's celebrated pre- mium Spring Brook Creamery." Such was his suc- cess with this factory that in a short time he ex- tended operations and built similar factories at Plato Centre, Udina and also at Turner Junction. These are all prosperous and successful concerns, and it has been much the efforts of this gentleman that have given Kane County the world-wide reputation for dairy products, and that have added so much wealth to this part of Illinois. He has given much valuable service on the board of education; was president of that body during the erection of the four new buildings, and was a member and presi- dent of the board six years; was president of the Elgin Choral Union; presiding officer of St. George's Benevolent Society; for a long term vice- president of the Elgin Board of Trade, of which he was one of the founders and chief supporters, and is now its treasurer. His liberality and generosity are proverbial. Liberal-minded and liberal with his purse, the poor and needy have learned to look to him when all other resources have failed them, and the deserving person does not live who can say he turned him away empty-handed.

Not to be content with what would satisfy the largest ambition in extensive business affairs, Mr. Newman has of late added to all his other cares the introducing and breeding of blooded horses, espe cially the Hambletonians, through which he hopes to benefit this part of the country, by breeding a class of horses suitable for carriage and coach, and which will find ready market in the cities. With that object in view he went to Kentucky, and pur- chased the fine trotting-bred stallion, Newmont No. 4877, sixteen hands high, weight 1,203 pounds: awarded the first prize in Standard Bred Three- year-old class, at the American Stock Show, Chi- cago, November, 1886; sired by Belmont, sire of Nutwood, 2:18 3-4; Wedgewood, 2:19. 1st Dam Lulu, by Harold, sire of Maud S., 2:083-4; Noon- tide, 2:20 1-4; 2d Dam Molly, by Alexander's Norman, sire of Lulu, 2:15; May Queen, 2:20; 3d Dam Ruby, by Imported Glencoe; 4th dam by

Medoc; 5th dam by American Eclipse; 6th dam by Sea Gull; 7th dam by Sumter. When the Elgin Driving Park Association was formed, he was one of its chief promoters and most liberal subscribers. He has served as the treasurer of the society since its formation.

Mr. Newman was united in marriage with Har- riet Virginia, daughter of John F. and Susan B. Beaty, former of whom had been secretary of the Chicago Board of Trade. Mrs. Newman was a dearly loved and faithful member of the Episco- pal Church, and none knew her but to love her, and she will long be remembered. She died April 2, 1876, which was a heavy loss to one whose whole life was in his family; she left the surviving chil- dren: Paul B., John Blackwell, Hattie B. and Will- iam. In the Episcopal Church Mr. Newman has been for years a vestryman, and a hard worker in the struggling days of this parish; and toward all churches, as well as to all other voluntary contri- butions, he is generous. He owns a handsome res- idence in the city, and a summer cottage at Lake- side Park, Lake Geneva, Wis. John Newman and Mrs. Laura J. Borden were joined in wedlock October 27, 1887. She was born in Fort Bend County, Tex., January 21, 1845, and is the daugh- ter of Ezekiel and Martha Ann Winifred George.

OHN DWYER, son of Richard and Ellen (Barry) Dwyer, was born in the State of Ohio, June 10, 1841. His father was a native of Tipperary, his mother of Cork, Ireland. Richard Dwyer came to America about fifty years ago, and first settled in Ohio, but removed to Kane County, Ill., in 1837, where he commenced improving a wild prairie farm, on which his son John now resides, in Rutland Town- ship. Their early life was full of the hardships attending pioneer days, but their prosperity well repaid them. "Westward the star of Empire takes its way." Gradually the lands around them were taken and improved, until they found them- selves possessed of as valuable a farm as the town- ship could produce. Until 1874 Richard Dwyer

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KANE COUNTY.

and his aged wife remained on the farm; but then, having become too feeble to work longer, they resolved to cease from their labors, and quietly await the summons which shall call them higher. He remained upon the old place with John, where, nearly ninety years of age and almost deaf, he still resides. Mrs. Dwyer makes her home with her daughter, Mrs. Donahue, of Elgin. They were blessed with four children, three sons and one daughter, all of whom live in Kane County, and are prominent and respected citizens.

John, the subject of this commemorative record, has remained on the home farm all his life. In 1863 he married Margaret Tobin, daughter of John and Margaret (Roach) Tobin, both natives of Tip- perary, Ireland. Mrs. Dwyer was born in Rut- land Township, Kane Co., Ill., whither her par- ents had come in 1839. Her father, now seventy- eight years old, still lives in Elgin. In 1859 her mother died, aged forty-five years. Mrs. John Dwyer lived at home until her marriage, since when she and her husband have resided on their present farm. In their family were nine children: Richard, Maggie, John, Thomas, Edward, Will- iam, Frank, all at home, and two boys deceased. Mr. Dwyer has a farm of 240 acres. The family is one of the oldest and best respected of the county, and has aided much in its upbuilding.

E DWARD DWYER, twin brother of Thomas Dwyer, and the son of Richard and Ellen (Barry) Dwyer, was born in Rutland Town- ship, Kane Co., Ill., in 1844. His early life was spent on his father's farm, where he en- joyed with his brothers the educational advantages of those early days. He left the paternal roof at twenty nine years of age to make a home for him- self, and took as a companion for life, in the year 1873, Mary Kelley, daughter of John and Bridget (Donohey) Kelley, natives of the county of Tipper- ary, Ireland, and who came to this country over forty years ago. Mrs. Dwyer had an excellent education, and for several years taught school in various parts of Kane County. She was born in 1849.

Since their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Dwyer have

resided on their present farm, which is now one of the most attractive in the township. Seven children have been born to them, and all are living: Den- nis, born July 26, 1874; James, born November 10, 1875; Nellie Frances, born September 11, 1877; Mary, born June 25, 1879; Julia, born Feb- ruary 6, 1881; Richard John, born April 18, 1883; Leo, born April 4, 1887. Mr. Dwyer has always been Democratic in sentiment, and has filled the following positions of trust: Commissioner of highways, eight years; school director, many terms; collector, one term. He and his family belong to the Roman Catholic Church.

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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 40

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