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 54
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 54
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).
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In 1871 Mr. Haverkampf was licensed local minister of the German Methodist Church of Dun- dee, which position he has since filled, attending to his cabinet and furniture business through the week, and preaching each alternate Sunday. He
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is a man whose influence is for good, and long will he be remembered as an upright man and a good citizen. He has always been a Republican in sen- timent, casting his first ballot for Lincoln at his first election.
J ONATHAN MILLET HOLT is a descend- ant of early settlers in America, and of Revolutionary sires, and is a native of Maine, born in Norway, Oxford County, January 13, 1827, a son of Darius and Sarah (Manson) Holt. His grandfather, Darius Holt, was a native of Massachusetts, and was a distinguished soldier in the war for Independence, having participated in the battles of Bunker Hill and Lexington, as well as in several other memorable engagements with the enemy. He was severely wounded, and for some years after the close of the war was pen- sioned by his Government. The mother, Saralı (Manson), was a native of Kittridge, Me. The son grew to manhood in the place of his nativity, and received the advantages of the local- ity in his education, where he also early acquired the habits of economy sobriety and industry-les- sons that have served him well in life, and that have brought their rewards, and the rich compensations that alone may make the afternoon of life a con- stant pleasure unmixed with pain. When old enough he engaged to learn the carpenter's and builder's trade, which he worked at faith- fully in his native town until 1850, when he left his old home, and for the next four years was at work at various places in the New England States. During this time he engaged to do work on the Boston & Maine Railway, his first experi- ence in connection with railroad building.
In 1854 Mr. Holt crossed the continent to California, where for nearly four years he was en gaged at his trade at times, and then again in mining operations. During his residence in Cal- ifornia were enacted those stirring scenes of the reign of the vigilantes, where the people rose in their miglit, took the law in their own hands, and vindicated sternly the cause of right and justice. In this movement Mr. Holt was a prominent actor, and had the gratification of seeing the complete triumph of law and order over the machinations
of the worst . class of criminals that ever en- trenched themselves in power in this country. In the latter part of 1857 he returned from the Pacific slope, coming to Aurora in 1858, and here for a time he followed his trade of carpenter and builder. The next year he accepted a position in the employ of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, in their Aurora shops. His skill and industry found ample play here, and he was soon promoted to his present position of foreman of the freight car shops, where are engaged 145 inen building freight cars; a place that he fills with all the care and ability called for by the responsible position.
Mr. Holt has been an earnest sympathizer with the aims and political purposes of the Re- publican party, to which he has given at all times his best aid and counsel. He is alderman of the Sixth Ward, and his services to the city of his adoption have here been of the best order that he could give. He is a worthy F. & A. M., and a prominent member of the I. O. O. F., having represented his lodge at the Grand Lodge of the State, at Galena, in 1863. He is a patriotic and public-spirited citizen, and as such is honored and respected by all. During the Civil War he was deeply interested in behalf of the integrity of the Union, and he gave freely of his money and time in sustaining the men in arms, who were periling their lives in freedom's cause.
Mr. and Mrs. Holt were married in Lawrence, Mass. Mrs. Elenora Holt, nee Phipps, is a daughter of John and Releif (Burnell) Phipps, natives of New Hampshire and Maine, respect- ively. The living descendants of this family are Mrs. Holt and Prof. Sireno Burnell Phipps, of Aurora. A family of five sons have come to brighten the lives of Mr. and Mrs. Holt: Eugene Oscar, clerk in the railroad shops; A. Lincoln, who graduated from the Aurora High School, is also a clerk in the railroad shops; Ansel Lewis, a skilled machinist, employed in the shops at Pull- man, having learned his trade in the Aurora shops; George Wesley, a car builder, working in his father's shop, where he learned his trade; Will- iam Francis, also a graduate of the Aurora High School, is a clerk.
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PHOTO BY D. C. PRATT.
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This household is a picture of a pleasant and happy family of good people. Surrounded with every real comfort of life, each one filling well his chosen place, and all contributing to make home the one favorite place on earth, the parents giving honor and love to their children, and the sons reflecting, by honest, industrious lives, honor upon their parents; each nniting to mitigate the little sorrows of the other, and all adding to the inestimable boon of a home where dwell only those who are more deeply loved than is life itself.
E LISHA DUNBAR WALDRON. The Waldron, Clark, Baker, Throop, Salisbury, Dunbar, Gallup, Crary, Dennison and Smith families, from which Mr. Waldron is descended, were all among the earliest immi- grants from England to New England.
GEORGE WALDRON, who appears to have been Mr. Waldron's first ancestor of the name, in America. was one of a family of eight sons and one daughter, all, or nearly all, of whom came to Boston, Mass., between 1650 and 1680. George came to Boston about 1670, and, as it is well known his brother Samuel came from Coventry, War- wickshire, England, there can be no doubt but that George came from that place also. The family has been a prominent one in Coventry over five hundred years. George Waldron settled in Boston, Mass., where he married, about 1675, Rachel Baker, daughter of Capt. Thomas Baker, by his wife, Leah, daughter of Capt. Thomas Clark, all of Boston. In 1675 he served under Capt. Isaac Johnson, in King Philip's War, was at Mount Hope, at which place he afterward owned land. He became one of the proprietors of Bris- tol, R. I., in 1681, to which place he removed that year from Boston, and where he died Decem- ber 12, 1739; his wife, Rachel, born in Boston, February 7, 1658, died in Bristol, November 25, 1705. They had a family of ten children, the ninth being:
COL. CORNELIUS WALDRON, born in Bristol, Sep- tember 4, 1697; married November 11, 1718, Anne Throop, daughter of Deacon John Throop, of Bris- tol, granddaughter of Deacon William Throop,
also of Bristol, and great-granddaughter of " good- man " William Throop, the immigrant, who came from Leyden, in 1640, and settled in Barnstable, Mass. Cornelius Waldron was an eminent man in Bristol. He was colonel of the regiment of the First Troop of Cavalry, his commission being from Gov. Jonathan Belcher, and bearing date July 14, 1741. He died September 22, 1777; his wife died August 7, 1790. They had a family of ten chil- dren; their sixth child
NATHANIEL WALDRON, born in Bristol, March 25, 1731, married October 19, 1755, Hannah Throop, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Throop; he died in Bristol, January 22, 1817; his wife died June 22, 1811, in her seventy-ninth year. They had a family of twelve children, the eldest being
NATHANIEL WALDRON, born June 10, 1756, in Bristol, married November 28, 1781, Lydia, daughter of Caleb Salisbury. He was a black- smith and farmer; he followed the sea a number of years, was taken prisoner in the Revolutionary War, and confined on board of one of the prison ships. He settled in Hartland, Windsor Co., Vt., about 1786, where he died in June, 1829; his wife died in 1812. They had seven children, the eldest:
CAPT. JONATHAN WALDRON, born in Bristol, Sep- tember 18, 1782, married in Hartland, Vt., Decem- ber 6, 1807, Eunice Dunbar, daughter of John and Eunice (Gallup) Dunbar, of Hartland, where she was born April 2, 1784; her father's mother was Temperance (Crary), and her mother's parents were Elisha and Mercy (Dennison) Gallup, of Connecti- cut. Mr. Waldron, a prominent man in his day, was a conspicuous officer in the War of 1812, in which he served as Captain of Cavalry. He re- moved, about 1817, to Middlebury, N. Y., where their fourth child was born, and died in Leon, N. Y., October 4. 1850; his widow came west with her children, and died at the residence of her daugh- ter, in Hampshire, Kane Co., Ill. To them were born four children, the third being
ANDREW JACKSON WALDRON, born in Hartland, Windsor Co., Vt., February 12, 1816, where he spent his youth and young manhood, and followed merchandising until 1845. He married in Bethany, N. Y .. October 22, 1840, Calista Smith, who was born in Middlebury, N. Y., August 21, 1821; she
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was daughter of Elijah and Lydia (Wilson) Smith. Mr. Waldron moved west from Wyoming, Catta- raugus Co., N. Y., in 1843, and located in Batavia, Kane Co., Ill., where he resided two years, and then removed to Elgin, Ill, where he died April 2, 1866. His widow married Rev. Holmes Slade, of Elgin. After Mr. Waldron quit merchandising, he turned his attention to law, becoming a practic- ing attorney in 1846, and this he followed until he lost his health, when he retired from active prac- tice, and devoted his time as office lawyer, in loan- ing money and in insurance business. He was ap- pointed notary public in 1852; was elected mayor of Elgin, and served during 1859 and 1860; was justice of the peace from 1849 to 1853; secretary of the Fox River Valley Railroad from 1852 to 1858-the last year treasurer, and was supervisor from 1852 to 1862. He was cashier of the Elgin Bank, 1856-57, and of the Home Bank, 1863-66. At the time of his decease he left a widow and three children. The children were Martha Calista, born August 11, 1841; Elisha Dunbar, born Janu- ary 27, 1848, and Bertha Jennette, born Novem- ber 28, 1860. Of these children
ELISHA DUNBAR WALDRON, born in Elgin, Janu- ary 27, 1848, attended the public schools of Elgin, entered the Elgin Academy, taking a preparatory college course, but was compelled to leave his studies on account of poor health. He recuper- ated about one year, and sufficiently recovered to engage in Lansing Morgan's lumber yard; was afterward clerk in the postoffice, fifteen months. From this he entered a book store, where he re- mained another fifteen months. He sold his book store and removed to Chicago, where he engaged in the wholesale trade, being there at the time of the great fire of 1871. His establishment was de- stroyed, but, like many others, he at once revived the business, and after a few months sold his in- terest, and returned to his native town, Elgin, where he has since made his permanent home. In 1872, he helped organize the Home National Bank, Elgin, and was given the position of bookkeeper, which position he filled until 1877, when he was elected to his present post as cashier. In 1881 he helped organize the Elgin Lumber Company, and was elected president, a position he has since con-
tinued to fill. He is director of the South Elgin Stone Company, a director and treasurer of the Elgin Packing Company, a stockholder in the Des Moines Valley National Bank, a large stockholder in Des Moines Newspaper Union-a company which has offices at St. Louis, Omaha, Kansas City, Dal- las, Denver and Detroit. He is trustee and treas- urer . of the Elgin Academy, and member of the Elgin Board of Trade. In the meantime he has had a large interest in Elgin real estate dealings, the firm of Grote & Waldron having transacted a large line of business, having made to the corpor- ate limits of the city of Elgin eleven additions.
Elisha Dunbar Waldron and Louise Town, daughter of John J. and Esther (Graves) Town, were united in marriage in Des Moines, Iowa, December 2, 1873. She was born in Rockford, Ill., January 24, 1851. Mr. Town was a banker in Elgin, at one time a partner in the business with his brother, Morris C. Town, of Elgin.
R ICHARD NICHOLS BOTSFORD was born October 28, 1830, in Newtown, Fairfield Co., Conn., son of Austin N. and Volucia (Glover) Botsford. When he was eleven years old his father died, and he was thus de- prived at an early age of his natural guide and protector. In 1845 he entered Hobart Academy, Hobart, N. Y., where he remained three years. Returning to Connecticut, he entered the State Normal School, at New Britain, to prepare himself for the profession of teacher; he passed two years in that institution, receiving a thorough training by the best faculty of the State. He came west in 1851, and located at St. Charles, Kane Co., III. He taught select schools in this town, also in Mis- souri and elsewhere, until 1856, when he began the study of law with C. C. Pope, at Black River Falls, Wis., and was admitted to the bar in 1857. He then returned to St. Charles, purchased, ed- ited and published the St. Charles Argus for about one year. He then opened a law office with D. L. Eastman as partner, and they were most success- ful; his partner dying, he associated with him S. S. Jones (now deceased) who was afterward editor and publisher of the Religio-Philosophical Journal
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of Chicago. This partnership lasted until 1865.
In 1861 R. N. Botsford was elected judge of the Kane County Court, and held the office four years, many important cases being tried before him, and his decisions being generally satisfactory. In 1867 he removed to Elgin, and formed a co- partnership with Joseph Healy. The firm has since been known as Botsford, Barry & Healy; Botsford, Barry & Lovell; Botsford, Barry & Wil- cox, and is at the present time Botsford & Wayne. The firm has been regarded as the ablest in the county, having been counsel for the Chicago, & North-Western Railroad Company, and also for the Elgin National Watch Company. Politically, he has been active in Democracy, delivering able addresses during various campaigns. Profession- ally and financially, he has been eminently prosper- ous. He is an eloquent speaker, courteous in all the relations of life, a just, honorable, scholarly and accomplished gentleman. He was married in 1860 to Ellen E. Bundy, of St. Charles, and has two children: Carl E. and C. Alosia.
C ARL E. BOTSFORD, born in Elgin, Octo- ber 2, 1861, is the son of R. N. and Ellen E. (Bundy) Botsford, natives of Connecti- cut and New Hampshire, respectively. There are two children in this family-Carl E. and C. Alosia. The son was reared in his native town, attending the public schools, and was then sent to Elgin Academy, from which institution he graduated in 1879. He then had a year's instruc- tion at Lake Forest University, thence went to Beloit College for one year, and afterward put in a three years' attendance at Yale College, from which he graduated in 1884. Returning to Elgin, he immediately entered the law office of Botsford & Wayne as a student, where he read during the next two years.
October 16, 1886, the Elgin Democrat was started by a joint stock company, and Mr. Bots- ford was, upon the organization of the company, made secretary, in which capacity, and with refer- ence to the general business of the printing office, he went to work in the new concern. In about two months he was made general editor and busi-
ness manager, the position he now holds. The paper is Democratic in politics, the only organ of that party in Kane County. It is a seven-column quarto, and in its typographical makeup is a handsome sheet. The advertising columns indicate a flattering financial success of the institution.
S YLVESTER C. JACKSON was born Jan- uary 10, 1832, in La Fayette, Onondaga Co., N. Y. His parents, Robert and Minerva (Cole) Jackson, were much respected people, natives of New York State, and were married in La Fayette, N. Y., in 1829. They had a family of ten children, of whom are now surviving Syl- vester C., Loduska A., Diadama, Helen V., Will- iam J. and Arthur C. They were natural-born pioneers, and of a strong and hardy nature, to lead the way for civilization to follow. They moved to Michigan in 1836, and became settlers in Jackson when there were but thirteen houses, or rather mud-daubed shanties in the place. Here they sojourned about eleven years, and in 1847, came to Illinois, locating in Barrington, Cook County. In 1884 the father died, and soon afterward the family removed to Elgin. They attend the Bap- tist Church.
Sylvester C. Jackson learned the carpenter's trade, and after his arrival in Elgin continued to follow it, adding thereto the business of house builder and contractor. His skill and industry have met a liberal patronage, and he is now one of the prosperous men of the place. Mr. Jackson in politics sympathises with the Prohibitionists.
OSEPH R. STRYKER. This gentleman practically commenced life on his own ac- count when, at the age of seventeen, he entered a carpenter's shop as apprentice, and from that time to the present he has relied upon himself, and has made his way to far more than average success. When a small boy he at- tended the public schools, and there obtained a limited scholastic education. He is a native of New York, born October 29, 1841, and is a son of John and Lena (Wilber) Stryker, the latter of whom was
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French by birth, and came when young to America with her parents.
Joseph R., the second born of nine children, at the age of nineteen was prepared to work as a journeyman carpenter. In 1861 he came to Illi- nois, and remained in Chicago; followed his trade there for the following five or six years, and then worked at Crystal Lake. In 1866 he removed to Cary Station, and from there to Elgin, which he fixed upon as his permanent home, and entered act- ively into the business of contractor and builder. He soon rose to be a prominent man in his trade, competent and honest, and has prospered well from his earliest location in the place.
Mr. Stryker married at Cary Station, December 22, 1865, Nettie Lindsay, who was born in New York, June 1, 1835, and they have two children: Rose, born October 10, 1867, and Frances, born July 1, 1871. Mr. Stryker has sought no public position, but has been given to a better ambition -to excel in the walk of life he had selected. He has accumulated a competence, and has reared his family to a respectable position in society. He affiliates politically with the Republican party, but in this respect is content to express his convictions by quietly depositing his vote on election day.
M ARK W. DUNHAM was born June 22, 1842, at Oaklawn, the old Dunham home- stead in the town of St. Charles, Kane Co., Ill., where he now resides; he is the youngest son of Solomon Dunham, who removed to Illinois with his family from Cattaraugus Coun- ty, N. Y., in the spring of 1835.
Solomon Dunham was born at Stillwater, Sara- toga Co., N. Y., in 1794; was the son of Elisha Dunham, born in 1751. Elisha Dunham was the son of Elisha Dunham, and was born at Mansfield, Conn., in 1718. Elisha Dunham was born at Barn- stable, Mass., in 1687, and was the son of John Dunham III, born at Plymouth in 1647, son of John Dunham II. John Dunham II was the son of Deacon John Dunham, and emigrated from Lin- colnshire with the family of his father, in 1633. Deacon John Dunham was born in Lincolnshire, England, in 1589. He was a descendant of an an-
cient family of that name, that the records show to have been residents of that locality prior to the Norman conquest. He immigrated about 1633 with his wife, Abigail, and sons, John, Benaiah, Daniel, Samuel, Thomas, and daughter, Persis, to Plymouth, Mass., and died March 2, 1669. He was first made representative in 1639, and often afterward. He was a deacon of Plymouth, and among the first purchasers of Dartmouth.
The eldest son of Deacon John Dunham, also named John, reared a family at Plymouth, Mass., consisting of John, born 1647, Jonathan, born 1650, and Samuel, 1652.
The oldest son, John, was a member of Ply- mouth Church, and settled in Barnstable, and mar- ried Mary Smith, daughter of Rev. John Smith, in 1679. She was a cousin of Gov. Thomas Hinck- ley, and was born November, 1647. In 1696 John Dunham bought a large tract of land in Windham, which afterward became known as Dunham's Pond, and is now called Mansfield Centre. His children were Thomas, born December, 25, 1680, Ebenezer, born April 17, 1684, Elisha, born September 1, 1687.
Elisha Dunham was married to Temperance Stewart, of Chatham, Mass., and two children were born to them: Ebenezer, May 31, 1717, and Elisha, August 21, 1718, the latter dying April 24, 1751.
Elisha had three sons with whom he removed to Vermont, and finally to Saratoga County, N. Y. One of his sons, Elijah, lived at Stillwater, Sara- toga County, until his death. He took an active part in the Revolutionary War, becoming famous as a frontier leader, receiving the commissions of captain and colonel. He was present at the battle of Saratoga, in which Burgoyne surrendered, part of the battle having been fought on the Dunham estate. He had three sons: Solomon, Elijah and Daniel; and three daughters: Abigail, Maria and Freelove.
Solomon, born in 1794, received such education as was obtainable at that time at his home. His father dying while he was in his teens, he deter- mined to acquire such knowledge as would fit him for engineering. Entirely dependent upon his own resources, he applied himself to the study of mathematics, obtaining the necessary means for
WWW. Onechance
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his support during that time by rafting lumber from the Upper Hudson to New York during the season. Having gained a thorough knowledge of surveying, he immigrated to Western New York -
about 1816, settling in Cattaraugus County, near Buffalo, where he married Lydia Ballard, in 1819, and where were born eight of his eleven children: Betsy, Daniel, Harriet, Jane, Delia, Julia, Frank- lin and Emily; those born in Kane County, Ill., were Helen, Emma and Mark W.
With the capture of Black Hawk, and the final adjustment of the Indian claims by the purchase of their lands, all impediments to the settlement of Northern Illinois and Wisconsin disappeared, and among the first to avail themselves of the advantages that had been so glowingly portrayed, was Solomon Dunham, who undertook the journey with his family overland, arriving at Chicago, then a mere village, in the latter part of April, 1835. Leaving his family at Fort Dearborn, he came to Fox River, and located a claim on the east border of the Little Woods, on Section 13, St. Charles Township, to which the family were immediately removed, arriving on May 8, 1835. As the Gov- ernment surveys had not been made at that date, the rights of settlers were confined to pre- emptions. Claim titles to land were then the only titles to be had in that section, and, as adventurers were continually attempting to "jump claims," and thus defraud bona-fide original claimants out of their land, the only guarantee to a title often depended on the strength and courage of the owner, a condition of things which caused much trouble among the early settlers.
Solomon Dunham possessed great firmness and strength of character, which, combined with an in- trepid spirit and good judgment, soon made him a man of mark and a leader among the pioneers. He formed organizations in their midst for the pro- tection of their just claims, and by this means pre- vented many pioneer families from being summa- rily and wrongfully ousted from their homes. He was a member of the first board of county commis- sioners, and assisted in the county's organization. As a civil engineer and surveyor his services were constantly in demand, and he became one of the party of engineers who surveyed and laid out the
first railroad built west of Chicago, known as the Chicago & Galena Railroad. In all business deal- ings he was prompt, and, in the aid of public im: provements and whatever other calls were made upon him, he was liberal to the extent of his means. Strictly honest and conscientious in all affairs, Mr. Dunham was radical in following any course of action or thought that he had become satisfied was right. He was a strong believer in and adherent of the principles represented by the Democratic party. His fealty never wavered, and he for years was a potent factor in the politics of Northern Illinois. Of very decided opinions, fearless and outspoken on all occasions, he natu- rally made some bitter opponents, whilst the same characteristics of honest fearlessness made many fast and true friends. Although never a member of any sect or denomination, he was possessed of religious convictions, and was a Universalist in be- lief. Pure in his speech and acts, he discounte: nanced and reproved both profanity and immoral- ity by theory and practice. One of the most worthy among the pioneers, he died April 2, 1865. His wife, Lydia Ballard Dunham, having died eight years previously.
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