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 56

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 56
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 56

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).

He began reading law in the office of the Hon. B. F. Thomas, in Worcester, Mass., who afterward became a judge of the Massachusetts Supreme Court, and a member of Congress. After reading as a student two years Mr. Wheaton was admitted to the har at Worcester, September 7, 1851, began practice there, and in the fall of 1854 again came to Illinois, locating at Batavia; there he followed his profession until the spring of 1859, when he moved to Aurora, where he has since practiced law. He is one of the oldest members of the Kane County bar, having practiced here thirty-one years. Mr. Wheaton is a Republican-Prohibition- ist, and has always taken an active interest in politics. He served as supervisor for Aurora from 1868 to 1872, and was once elected mayor of Aurora on a strict Prohibition ticket; but after serving one month the council passed a low liquor license ordinance over his head, which caused him to re- sign. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1870, and in the fall of 1886 the Prohibitionists ran him for Congress, he receiving 2,000 votes.

Mr. Wheaton was married in 1860 to Sarah H. Brewster, of Middleburg, Vt., and by her has five

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children: Lizzie (now the wife of Charles H. Hale, of Aurora), Clara S., Sarah B., Annie H. and Mary F.

M ILES W. WILLIS, a successful business man of Elburn, is a representative of the many sons of that great old State once called "Penn's Woods," who are now scattered over the continent, exerting everywhere a marked influence in the cause of the world's prog- ress. Mr. Willis was born in Erie County, that State, March 22, 1836. His parents were Horace and Amy (Miller) Willis, the former a native of Vermont, and the latter of New York. The family came to Illinois in 1844, purchased a farm in Blackberry Township, and upon it made their home, working industriously and carrying out the projected improvements that they had designed. The region of country about them was wild, and their new home presented many a contrast with the scenes they had left behind them. They were quiet and industrious people, and naturally fell in with the breezy and hospitable ways of the West, and soon they became known and re- spected by a wide circle of neighbors. Upon this farm the good.parents spent the remainder of their lives, the father dying in October, 1863, and the mother in May, 1879. They had in life been highly esteemed members of the Baptist Church, and their death brought sorrow to many, who had known them in their useful and earnest lives.

Miles W. Willis and Isabella Warne were mar- ried November 13, 1868. Mrs. Willis is a native of New York, born January 8, 1836, a daughter of Henry and Charity (Stires) Warne. [A sketch of the Warne family is given elsewhere in the bio- graphy of John Warne. ] Immediately after mar- riage Mr. and Mrs. Willis took up their residence in the village of Elburn. In 1859 Mr. Willis pur- chased the west half of the old homestead, and in the fall of 1860 took his half brother, J. W. Swain, into partnership, and they worked the farm to- gether; then, in the fall of 1863, commenced the stock, grain and hay-pressing business, and con- tinued in the same till the spring of 1884, in which year Mr. Willis sold his warehouse interest, and

then invested largely in western lands, in Kansas and Iowa. This investment was timely and judicious; the land is now a cattle ranch. After the death of their parents they bought out the rest of the heirs, and they hold the old homestead together.

Mr. Willis' family is not connected with any church, but is content with that broader religion, " to do good," and to aid and comfort all religious societies, assisting them in all their good works. Politically, Mr. Willis affiliates with the Repub- lican party, and has served as a member of the town board. He is extensively known for his public spirit, and liberal enterprise, and quietly moves along "with charity for all and malice toward none." He is a member of the Masonic fraternity.

TIMOTHY HAYDEN is one of the oldest set- tlers of Rutland Township. He is a native of the County Tipperary, Ireland, born in 1814, and his parents, Edmund and Mar- garet (MaLoughney) Hayden, lived and died in

Erin. When about nineteen years of age Timothy started to make his home and fortune in the New World. Landing at New York, he proceeded at once to Newark, N. J., where he labored for five years, first at canaling, and afterward attending mason. From there he removed to Pennsylvania, remained eighteen months, and then proceeded to Illinois, where for two years longer he followed canaling on the Michigan & Illinois Canal. Once more he turned his steps eastward, and spent three years in the same employment in Ohio.

But, tiring of his wandering life, he came to Kane County, Ill., in 1845, and settled on the farm which he has since owned. Before leaving his native land he was married to Susan Gorman, who came with him to America, and who departed this life at Newark, N. J., some eighteen months later. One child was born to them, which lived only one year and a half. His second marriage was with Ellen Keefe, also a native of Ireland, who immigrated to America when quite young. Together the couple came to their Illinois home and toiled to improve the nearly wild place they had purchased, and amply succeeded. She was a good wife, and in 1873 sank into the dreamless

M Ir Willis -

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sleep of death. She bore no children. Some months later Mr. Hayden married Catherine Devine, who died thirteen months later, leaving one child, a daughter, who still survives. Needing a com- panion in his advancing years, he, in 1875, took to himself as wife Ellen Haalan, daughter of John and Bridget (Dooley) Haalan, early settlers of Kane County. His present wife has borne him three children, of whom only one survives. Mr. Hayden and all his family are members of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the owner of 280 acres of choice land, and is a man widely known.

F RANK L. MATTESON, a resident of St. Charles Township, and a son William M. and Nancy (Wheeler) Matteson, was born at St. Charles, June 6, 1861. When seven- teen years of age he went to Chicago, and was in business with a wholesale house, and from there he returned to St. Charles. In November, 1881, in Iowa, he was united in marriage with Miss Kate M. Martin, who was born in Pennsylvania, a daughter of Charles H. and Catherine Martin, who removed to Iowa when she was but a child. Three children have blessed their union, two of whom are living. Lizzie Luella and Charles M.

Mr. Matteson, in political matters, supports the Republican party. He is a member of the St. Charles Lodge, No. 14, I. O. O. F. He devotes inuch of his time to the raising of a fine grade of Holstein cattle. His parents are known as early settlers of St. Charles Township, and the family are widely known and highly respected.

W ILLIAM WALLACE BROWN, the sub- ject of this notice, was born in Evans, Erie Co., N. Y., March 14, 1827, and is a son of William and Sarah Ann (Gray) Brown, who early went to Erie County from Madi- son County, N. Y. William Wallace Brown began for himself when a boy by working out by the month, generally at farming. He was painstaking, and as a good economist laid by a little every year. He had gathered by him a small stock, and in October, 1855, came west and located upon a rented

farm in Blackberry Township. In the third year of his residence there he purchased 208 acres of land, and carried on farming successfully, hand- ling during his residence there several farms, for as his accumulations increased, he bought and sold and made money from these investments. He also served as agent for the Chicago & North- Western Railroad Company at Lafox from 1865 to 1878, and was recognized in his locality as good authority in all business transactions. He served Blackberry Township twice as its supervisor, and filled many minor offices of honor and trust. In 1881 he located in Aurora, where he had purchased property, and where he has since resided. Before coming west he married Emily Ann Hurd, who was born in Sandgate, Vt., and who has proved a fitting helpmeet to him in his life's cares. She has borne him no children, but they have acted as foster parents to two daughters of a sister of Mrs. Brown, Emma and Nellie Ames, former of whom is the wife of H. H. Barker, merchant and mann- facturer, of Lafox, and the latter as yet cheers the domestic circle of her foster parents by her presence. Mr. Brown has ever been a ready sup- porter of measures tending to the advancement and development of the locality. Averse to pub- licity, he has, however, filled several official posi- tions. When the Civil War was upon us he was very active in raising means for the soldiers in the front and their families at home. He has made a worthy record as a citizen of Blackberry Township, and in his partial retirement here enjoys the respect of all who known him.

T HOMAS DWYER is a son of Richard and Ellen (Barry) Dwyer, and a twin brother of Edward Dwyer (biographies of all of whom appear elsewhere), and was born in Rutland Township, this county, in 1844. He was twenty- seven years of age when he left home to work for himself on the farm which he now owns, and from which he has never removed.

In 1871 he was united in marriage with Cath- erine Clinnin, daughter of John and Catherine (Long) Clinnin, natives of the County Cork, Ire- land, who immigrated to America in about 1846,

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and made their home in Kane County. Mr. Clin- nin died some years ago. Mrs. Thomas Dwyer has spent her entire life in Rutland Township, ex- cept two years passed in Elgin, Ill. Mr. Dwyer has always been a Democrat, and has held the office of assessor, two terms; collector, two terms; road commissioner, six years; and for a long time was school director. He is a member of the Ro- man Catholic Church; is owner of a farm of 200 acres, all the improvements on which he himself has made. He is a man of good judgment and sterling qualities, and the son of a family that has aided very materially the progress that makes Kane one of the best counties in the State.

E DWARD D. MC GUIRE. This well-known grocer of the city of Aurora was born in the parish of Lisdowney, County Kilkenny, Ireland, August 11, 1848, his parents being Patrick and Margaret (Kelley) McGuire. The father, who was a merchant tailor, conscious of the disadvantages under which he labored in his native land, and with a faith and hope for better things in this country, sought a home in the New World. Accordingly, in 1852, he set out for America, land- ing in New York City. Here he spent a short time, and then, turning his attention to the western coun- try, came to Aurora, in 1854. In 1856 he brought his wife and children to that city, to the new home he had prepared for them, where he reared and educated them well; and his five sons and one daugh- ter have become good citizens and useful members of society.

Edward D., at the age of fourteen, took up the trade of marble cutter, and after completing it worked at the business for about twenty-three years, for many years of that time as an employer. Retiring from the firm of Meagher, Bolduc & Mc- Guire, he engaged in the grocery business, which he is still carrying on. Mr. McGuire was united in marriage in Aurora with Elizabeth Corbett, and to their union have been born three sons and one daughter: Nellie May, John R., Edward J. and Richard J. The parents are members of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, in Aurora, and their mar-

riage was the first one solemnized in that church ed- ifice. Of the other members of the family of Patrick McGuire, James is a blacksmith in the shops of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, Aurora; Daniel is in railroad business in Irving, Kas. ; Bridget is the wife of Stephen Doernan, a farmer of Buck Creek, Iowa; John is in railroad employ at Portland, Ore., division superintendent of an important line there; and Patrick is a locomotive engineer with the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, and a resi- dent of Eau Claire, Wis.

Mr. E. D. McGuire is an enterprising and pro- gressive business man and citizen, and an ardent supporter of the faith of his ancestors. He has held official membership in his church. Upon the or- ganization of the A. O. H. Society in Aurora, he became a charter member, and has since been hon- ored by its members as its president. He has always given a cordial support to the Democratic party, and although often requested to accept office, has always declined, being averse to public life.

UDGE W. D. BARRY is one of the oldest, best known and most honored citizens of the city of St. Charles. He was born in Oneida County, N. Y., March 28, 1809, and is a son of John and Eunice (Sweet) Barry, natives of Connecticut and Vermont, respectively, who after their marriage moved to the State of New York. The family was of Irish extraction, one of its mem- bers being Hon. W. T. Barry, who was United States Minister to Spain during President Jackson's ad- ministration, and who died in London in 1833.

In 1828, when nineteen years old, our subject was employed as a stage driver from the then vil- lage of Utica, in his native county. Later he was employed as an attendant in the State's prison at Auburn, N. Y. Having applied himself assidu- ously to the study of medicine he was, in 1835, licensed by the New York Medical Society, and be- gan practicing. During the same year he removed to Napoleon, Henry Co., Ohio, and while there became a contractor on the Wabash & Erie Canal; but, giving that up, he began reading law with State Senator Bates, and was admitted to the

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bar, a month after which event he was elected State's attorney for Henry County.

In April, 1840, he came to St. Charles, where he commenced practicing law, and in 1852 he was elected county judge for Kane County. During the War of the Rebellion he was a member of the military board from this district; at present he is president of Kane County bar.

Mr. Barry has been twice married; his first wife was Eliza Sealbrooke, and his present wife, whom he married at St. Charles, January 18, 1845, was Isabella Thom, a native of the vicinity of Aberdeen, Scotland. Her father, John Thom, was a lieutenant in the famous Forty-second Regiment of Highlanders (" Black Watch "), and was present at the battle of Waterloo. Mr. Barry is the father of two children, Eliza D. and William T. (both deceased). Mrs. Barry is a member of the Congregational Church.

J AMES DANLY, one of the most prominent and progressive farmers of Blackberry Town- ship, owns 320 acres of fine land on Sections 27 and 28 in that township. He came to Illinois from Chautauqua County, N. Y., in 1845, and began work as a farm hand in Sugar Grove Township. In 1848 he purchased 160 acres of Government land in Grundy County, but sold it in 1875, and returned to this county, purchasing his present farm.

A RTHUR D. HAYNES was born in the city of St. Louis, Mo., July 23, 1856, son of Drewery P. and Elizabeth (Jackson) Haynes, the former of whom died when the son was eight years of age. The mother afterward mar- ried Nicholas Father, by occupation a book dealer, and with them Arthur D. lived until twenty-four years of age. He was educated in the schools of St. Louis, and there learned with T. S. Bowman, of that city, the trade of printer, at which he worked at Little Rock, Ark., and St. Louis com- bined, for a period of eight years.

August 12, 1884, Mr. Haynes bought of Charles Archer, the office and plant of the Geneva (Ill.)

Republican, a six-column quarto, and, as its name indicates, a supporter of the Republican platform, with a circulation at the present time of some 500. This neat and newsy journal is successfully and ably conducted, and reflects well-deserved credit on Mr. Haynes, who is both editor and proprietor.

SAAC MORGAN. This well-known resident of Aurora was born near Aberystwith, Cardi- ganshire, Wales, February 8, 1843, and is a son

of James and Elizabeth (Jones) Morgan, who came to America in 1849, locating at Pittsburgh, Penn., whence they removed to Chicago in 1852. Here the mother died that same year, and in the following year Mr. Morgan located in Big Rock Township, Kane County. He was a carpenter and builder by trade, but after settling in Big Rock Township he carried on farming with success for several years, retiring in his later days; he died of heart disease August 23, 1880.

The subject of this memoir spent his boyhood on a farm, and obtained a fair common-school edu- cation, which he supplemented with a two years' course of instruction at a private academy in Ottawa, Ill. He then entered the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, in a thorough classical and scientific course of study, but was compelled to abandon it before graduating. He returned home and taught school a short time, and then engaged in mercantile trade, with which he was identified for many years, retiring from it in 1884, in order to give his attention to other pursuits. He was married, in Aurora, to Lizzie, the daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Thomas) Meredith, and to their union one child has been born, Helen, a bright little girl. Since locating here Mr. Morgan has been one of the most active citizens of Aurora. He has contributed means for the support of most of its important manufacturing and banking inter- ests, and is to-day the holder of considerable amount of stock in these institutions. His counsel is con- sidered good on matters social, industrial and political, in which latter he has given a decided prestige to his party by his foresightedness; he is a strong partisan of the Republican school of politics, and, although pressure has often been put

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upon him to accept office, he has always refused. He is decidedly averse to publicity in these matters, excepting so far as it may benefit his friends. Of a generous disposition, he is popular with all.

P HILIP T. BARTHOLOMEW. This prom- inent merchant of Geneva is a native of Washington County, N. Y., born February 15, 1849, and is a son of Guy E. and Jeanette Bartholomew, who came from New York State to Illinois in 1854. They located in Du Page County, where they remained until the close of the Civil War, when they moved to Blackberry Town- ship, Kane County, and here made their home until 1874. They now reside in Geneva.

Philip T. is third in a family of five children. In 1864, when but fifteen years old, he enlisted in Company I, One Hundred and Fifty-third Illinois Volunteers. After the close of the war he worked as a farm hand in summer, attending school in winter, and afterward became a teacher. He also learned the trade of painting, which he followed for twelve years. In 1882 he settled in Geneva, where for two years he was engaged at his trade, and in 1884 he embarked in his present hardware business.

November 25, 1875, Mr. Bartholomew was married to Lois Watson, who was born in Du Page County, Ill., in 1853, and died December 31, 1886, mourned by a large circle of friends and relatives. She left two sons-Roy and Eugene Ray. Mr. Bartholomew is a Republican in politics, and has served as president of the town board.

B B. PALMER has been long recognized as one of the active and successful business men of Elgin. Energetic and enterprising he has earned well his successes in life. He is a son of Lawrence and Polly (Butler) Palmer, and was born July 24, 1831, in Branford, Conn. He grew to manhood in his native place, having received a limited education in the public schools. He engaged in the livery business for some time in that place, and in 1855 moved westward, deter-

mined to find a more suitable place for an ambi- tious young man to grow up with the new country. He selected Elgin as his permanent home, and here he recommenced the livery business, in which he has been continuously engaged to the present time, with the exception of four years spent at Clifton, Ill.

Mr. Palmer married, in New York City, Ellen Lyon, a native of Spencer, Mass., and to them have been born three sons: James L. and Charles, skilled workmen employed in the Elgin National Watch Factory, and Harry, living with his parents in their comfortable home. Mr. Palmer in politics is a Republican.

L YSANDER C. BREESE is a retired farmer of Kane County, living near the town of Montgomery. He is a native of Chemung County, N. Y., born October 29, 1824. In early childhood he was placed under the care and control of his grandfather, a farmer, who reared his charge to follow in his footsteps in his life's occu- pation.

In 1841 the grandfather's family came to Illinois, and here Lysander C. commenced to work at whatever he could find to do-at one time hoeing corn for the munificent remuneration of 25 cents per day. At the age of eighteen he went to live with his mother and stepfather (who was a farmer) on the east side of Seneca Lake, N. Y., and remained there until the spring of 1845, his stepfather's family moving to Lenawee County, Mich, In June, the same year, Mr. Breese came to Aurora, Ill., with a family, making the journey by wagons, and on his arrival he found his worldly possessions, all told, amounted to the sum of $6.25. He went then to work for his uncle on the farm he now owns, for two months, at $9 per month, taking for his pay a pair of two-year old steers. While this to the workman of to-day would be poor wages, there is not much doubt it was, in the end, good fortune to the young man, as, though his monthly wages were small, they were probably a little more than the average of that day, and the price of cattle was correspondingly low; and there it possessed this advantage: Every

L. L. Brause

PHOTO BY D. C. PRATT.

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head of kine that he earned compelled him to look to the future in providing means to best care for and make profitable his possessions. In due time he owned his little farm, and had it well stocked and improved, and the cattle and stock he had worked so patiently for were now in turn contrib- uting to his labors and to his possessions .. When he retired from his active farm life he became the possessor of a property that placed liim beyond anxious care for the future. His home farm con- tains 140 acres of as fertile land as can be easily found, in good condition. He owns some excel- lent farm land in Kendall County, twelve lots in South Englewood and half of a store in Aurora, as well as some real estate in Iowa.

Mr. Breese was married in February, 1854, to Susan H. Wormly, a native of Painted Post, Steuben Co., N. Y., born June 23, 1830, a daugh- ter of John and Deborah (Winans) Wormly, who came to Illinois in 1838, and located in Oswego, Kendall County. Of this marriage were born four children, two of whom died in infancy. Those living are Mary E., wife of M. R. Baily, and Candace E., living with her parents. The family have a pleasant home near the village of Mont- gomery, and enjoy the friendship of a large circle of neighbors.

C. WARD. This gentleman is the seventh in a family of ten children, a large family who came to Kanc County in 1835, and lo- cated in St. Charles. They were from a long line of Puritan ancestry, coming to Illinois from Massachusetts. He was born in Hampshire County, Mass., in the year 1822, his parents, Cal- vin and Nabbie (Morse) Ward, being among the very earliest settlers in this portion of the State. The father died in 1869, at the ripe age of eighty- five years, certainly full of years, and equally cer- tain had he the confidence and respect of all the early settlers of the county and their families and descendants, with many of whom he had shared in the toils and trials of pioncer life. The old gen- tleman was a pioneer in politics as well, being one of the original Abolitionists, supporting that move- ment in every possible way. He was a devout communicant of the Congregational Church,

L. C. Ward was taught the most rigid lessons of economy and industry from his early infancy. He attended the public school about the usual time, but secured the rudiments of a solid English edu- cation. From 1844 to 1881 he was engaged in mercantile business, twenty-five years of the time with wholesale houses in New York and Chicago. In 1865 he opened a store in St. Charles, and con- tinued it until 1881. In 1871 he was the prime mover in organizing a cheese and butter factory, which later, under his management, became the most extensive and successful in the whole country. In 1880 his eyes became seriously affected, the trouble afterward increasing until it resulted in his total blindness, and, as a result, he was com- pelled to retire from further active work. In his deep affliction he has the sympathetic regrets of all; not only of those who had long since known his worth in public and private life, but also of those who only knew his value as a citizen, intelligently giving aid in developing one of the recent great industries of Kane County.

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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 56

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