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 73
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 73
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Mr. Downey was married, in Aurora, to Miss Lizzie Alice Howlett, a lady of estimable attain- ments, and they have one child, Luella Marion. Mrs. Downey's parents were Eugene Patrick and Margaret (Ward) Howlett, natives of Erin. Mrs. Downey is a regular communicant of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Chuch. Mr. Downey is a member of the Order of Railway Conductors, is a progres- sive citizen, and is held in respect as such by all who know him.
A LBERT MEEKER BROWN. Since nine- teen years of age Mr. Brown has been iden- tified with the social and business life of Aurora. He was born in the town of Vet- eran, Chemung Co., N. Y., September 22, 1837, a son of Hiram and Polly (Meeker) Brown, who were of New England ancestry. They had a fam- ily of five children, of whom Albert M. is the third child in order of age. Hiram Brown was a car- penter and builder, and also a wheelwright by trade, which callings he followed for many years.
Until fifteen years of age Albert M. remained with his father, during the latter portions of these years assisting him in his business. He then went to Trumansburg, N. Y., and there became
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an apprenticed clerk to learn the general mercantile business. In 1856 he came west, and located at Aurora, where for some time he was engaged in selling hardware as a clerk with L. Titsworth & Son, and on the breaking out of the War of Seces- sion he enlisted as a soldier under President Lin- coln's first call for troops in Company C, Seventh Regiment Illinois Infantry, for a term of three months. On the expiration of his service he re- turned to Aurora and clerked for L. Titsworth & Son until the fall of 1862, when he formed a partnership with W. H. McLallen in the grocery trade; two years later he sold out to McLallen, and again accepted a position, selling goods as a clerk, which he followed until 1874, when, in hope of benefiting his health, he devoted the following three years to farming. This object having been attained, he resnmed clerking, this time engag- ing with J. H. Thompson, boots and shoes, estab- lished in 1851, which he followed until 1879, when he bought a half interest in his present business, and in 1883 purchased his partner's interest, since which time he has conducted it alone. He has one of the finest boot and shoe stores in the city, located on South Broadway ; also one of the largest stock of goods comprising everything generally found in a first-class establishment.
Mr. Brown, although constantly employed in the details necessary to the success of a large and flourishing business, has also taken an active part in enterprises calculated to benefit his adopted city. He has served the city for two years as alderman from the Eleventh Ward. He is a mem- ber of the G. A. R. and I. O. O. F., as well as the A. O. U. W., and Independent Order of Mutual Aid, of which latter he is financial secretary; he is also a member of the American Legion of Honor, and is secretary and treasurer of the Aurora Edi- son Incandescent Electric Light Company, which he was largely instrumental in establishing in the city.
Mr. Brown was married in Aurora to Miss Fidelia N. Stanley, a native of Naperville, Ill., and a daughter of Urbin and Octavia (Crampton) Stanley, who were natives of Vermont, and early settlers in Du Page County. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have four children, as follows: Louis H., now of
Minneapolis, Minn .; Fay W., Anna and Roy at home. As one of the thorough-going business men, enterprising and public-spirited citizens of Aurora, Mr. Brown takes high rank, and in an eminent degree holds the respect and confidence of its citizens.
M ELANCTHON FERRY was born in White- hall, Washington Co., N. Y., January 18, 1819, and is a son of Sylvanus and Rhoda (Wilson) Ferry, whose progenitors be- longed to the pioneer element of the "Old Bay State." When Melancthon was fourteen years of age his parents removed from New York to Honey Creek Prairie, near Terre Haute, Ind., where the lad grew to manhood. In 1840 they came to Du Page County, Ill., near Warrenville, where the father died shortly after. Here Melancthon invest- ed in farming property, and upon the land coming into market he deeded 100 acres, which he devel- oped into a beautiful farm, adding thereto enough to make him some 365 acres. This he held as a home, and to-day is in possession of a son.
Mr. Ferry married, here, Miss Marietta Wood- man, with whom he lived for many years, and who blessed him with a family of two sons and four daughters. Those living are, as follows, De- lia, the widow of William Simpson (deceased), and the mother of two sons and one daughter; James, who occupies the old home, and is the father of four sons and two daughters; and Etta. the wife of George Simpson, a brother of William Simpson, and a farmer of Naperville Township, Du Page County. In 1862 the mother of the family died, and was buried at the Methodist Church, in Big Woods Cemetery. Beside her rest one son and two daughters. Mr. Ferry subsequently wedded Sarah, daughter of the Rev. T. Ford, of the Meth- odist Church, who died after ten years of happy married life, leaving no children, and again Mr. Ferry sought marital companionship, and led to the altar Miss Nellie, daughter of the Rev. Calvin Selden, of the Congregational Church; she is a na- tive of Barnard, Windsor Co., Vt. Mrs Ferry is an active member of the Congregational Church, and of the Woman's Christian Union, and both she and her husband are known as respected,
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worthy citizens of Aurora. By this union there were three children: Minnie, Charles, and Herbert Sandford (latter deceased in infancy).
At the age of fifty Mr. Ferry retired from prac- tical farming, and has since devoted his attention to investments in real estate, being largely inter- ested in the West, particularly in Nebraska, where he has some very fine farms. While a resident of Naperville Township, Du Page County, he was active in all measures tending to the advancement of its social and industrial interests, and was a " willing hand " in support of church work there. He served the municipality with honor and credit, and was regarded as a man of good judgment and honesty. During the Civil War Mr. Ferry joined in hearty co-operation with his neighbors and friends in raising means for the support of the fam- ilies of those who bore arms on the field.
H ON. WILLIAM MC MICKEN. The city of Aurora has constantly had its full ratio of business men, whose standing in the walks of trade and commerce has not been ex- celled in this part of Illinois. A few men of good practical sense, of unquestioned integrity, and of sound judgment are enough to give tone to the reputation and credit of a young city, to aid it materially in the race for supremacy, where the rivalry is so eager and the towns struggling for the first place are so many.
Mr. McMicken is at the head of one of the old- est business houses of Aurora. He is from the land of the hardy Scotchmen, born in Ayr, his people being numbered among the industrial class. He was reared in the place of his nativity, and im- proved the reasonable opportunities of his condition in life as to education and preparing himself for a future career. When of the proper age he was apprenticed to the trade of tailor, and when this was completed he was enabled to go out in the world and win his way. In the spring of 1842 he sailed for America, landed safely in the city of New York, and first found employment at his trade in Geneseo, N. Y.
The following year, 1843, he came west and located in Aurora, where he engaged, soon after
his arrival, in business on his own account, and, without interruption, he has continued to the pres- ent time, his trade increasing steadily with the growth of the place of his adoption. In these re- spects, as well as socially, Mr. McMicken has never lagged behind, but has displayed an industry, as well as an understanding of the future of the place, that has ever made him a strong and promi- nent figure in the enterprise and welfare of the locality, and his faith in the future of his town and county has enabled him to aid much in their de- velopment. His standing as a business man has always been of a high order. He has served as mayor of the city of Aurora, and in various minor offices. And here, as in his business affairs, he has called out more praise than criticism. Indeed, from conversations with the people among whom he has resided so long, the inference is too strong to be combated that this gentleman commands in a degree second to none the confidence and respect of the entire people. Forty-four years of resi- dence, of active business life, of helping in the larger affairs of building up a city, and in develop- ing the riches of the surrounding country, is this man's record upon which no shadow of a shade of stain has ever fallen. His sons, Thomas D. and William H., are associated with him in business.
H ENRY TWIST. This gentleman is a good representative of the class of men to whose skill, judgment and care are daily commit- ted many lives; one who has risen in his profession from the lowest rank to the higher one of engineer of a first-class passenger locomotive. He was born at Eden, Erie Co., N. Y., November 1, 1832, a son of Salem and Mary J. (Griffin) Twist, the former from Washington County, and the latter of Clinton County, N. Y.
Henry Twist was reared in Peru, Clinton Co. N. Y., and at the age of twenty-four, in 1856, came west, locating at Earl, Ill., where he entered railway life as a fireman; but not being acclimated he lost his health, and reluctantly, for a time, aban- doned his vocation. He continued his residence in the West, however, and in 1862, feeling himself able to resume railroad work, he engaged at same,
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and on September 20, 1864, was given charge of a locomotive. After running an engine four days in the yards he went on the road, and after haul- ing freight trains for eight years, the corporation, recognizing his capability and care, placed him on passenger trains.
In 1861 Mr. Twist formed a marital union with Miss Mary P. Bowron, sister of Thomas D. Bow- ron, whose biography appears elsewhere. Mr. and Mrs. Twist have one child, a daughter, named Ella May. They attend worship at the People's Universalist Church. Mr. Twist is a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, and has had the honor of representing Division 32, in the National Councils held at Buffalo, N. Y., in 1884. He is a F. & A. M., a member of the lodge, chap- ter and council, Aurora.
RANCIS H. BLACKMAN, M. D. This well-known physician, of Geneva, is a native of Du Page County, Ill., born at Naperville, August 28, 1846. His father was a native of New York State, his mother of New Jersey, and a daughter of John Warne, an early settler of Du Page County. Dr. Blackman's father came to Illinois in 1840, and his mother in 1835. They were married in 1845, settled in Du Page County, and in 1869 bought a farm in Geneva Township, Kane County, on which they lived until 1875, when they removed to West Side, Iowa.
Dr. Francis H. Blackman is the eldest in a family of eight children. Attending district school in his youth, he, at the age of fourteen, began more advanced studies at Clark's (now Jennings) Semi- mary, at Aurora. In 1865 he entered the fresh- man class in Lawrence University, Appleton, Wis., but, on account of sickness (an attack of pneumonia), was obliged to leave. In 1867 he began the study of medicine in the office of Dr. O. D. Howell, at Aurora, and in 1868 entered Chicago Medical Col- lege, from which institution he graduated with honors in 1870, being class essayist and prizeman. In 1868, while in college, he was appointed house surgeon at Mercy Hospital, and, having creditably filled that position a full term, was appointed house physician at the same institution.
After his graduation, in 1870, he began practice in Geneva, where he has since remained, and where his acknowledged skill in his profession has brought him numerous patients. Dr. Blackman has performed many difficult surgical operations, and is said to be the first surgeon to perform tracheotomy successfully in diphtheritic croup in this part of the country. He has served as presi- dent, and is now secretary, of the Fox River Valley Medical Association, and is a member of the Illi- nois State Medical Society and the American Med- ical Association. He was examining surgcon for pensions in his district until August, 1887, when he resigned. He is surgeon for the Chicago & North-Western Railway Company, at Geneva.
The Doctor married, June 1, 1871, Miss Julia A. Cole, who was born in New York State, Decem- ber 17, 1848, a daughter of Samuel R. and Lur- ancy (Green) Cole. In 1877 Mr. and Mrs. Cole re- moved to Longmont, Colo., where they now reside. Dr. and Mrs. Blackman have one child, Julia May, born May 11, 1873. In politics the Doctor is a supporter of the Republican party. He is a F. & A. M. He has been a member of the school board for seven years, during six of which he has been its president; is also alderman of his ward. Mrs. Blackman is a member of the Unitarian Church. She graduated in medicine from the Woman's Hos- pital Medical College, in Chicago, February 23, 1871, having also attended one course of Icctures at Chicago Medical College, session of 1869-70.
D AVID TWIST. A great corporation like the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad is a powerful influence in the development of a new country. In the one item of bring- ing to Aurora many of its good citizens the com- pany has contributed largely to the prosperity of the place by making this in so many respects one of its division headquarters. Of this class of rail- road men is Mr. David Twist.
He was born in Peru, Clinton Co., N. Y., Oc- tober 11, 1841, a son of Salem and Mary J. (Griffin) Twist, the former of whom was by occu- pation a carpenter and house builder. The child and lad grew to young manhood in the home of
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MBlackman M.O.
PHOTO BY D. C. PRATT.
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his parents in his and their native State. In 1867 he set his face toward the West, and came directly to Aurora, where he soon afterward found employ- ment as a fireman on the railroad. In this capac- ity he worked faithfully three years and three months. He was then placed in charge of an engine as engineer, a position he has held without interruption to the present time. He is like the most of the old employes of the road, where the permanency of the situation is governed by the quality of the worked performed.
Mr. Twist and Miss Nettie Smith were united in wedlock at Peru, N. Y. She is a daughter of John R. Smith, a well-to-do farmer of Clinton County, N. Y. No children have been born of this marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Twist worship at the People's Church. He is a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, and has acted officially in his lodge, Division No. 32. He is a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, a member of the Blue Lodge, chapter and council.
A RTHUR P. VAUGHAN, a valued employe of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Rail- road Company, holds the position of freight agent at Aurora. He is a native of the Green Mountain State, and descends from a family who were pioneers of the same. His parents were Philander and Harriet W. (Perry) Vaughan, both of whom died when our subject was a lad, and he was in a great measure left to his own resources. He had obtained a fair schooling, and his early years were spent as clerk in a general store. He subsequently learned the art of stove molding, and in 1856, when about twenty-eight years old, lie came west and embarked in merchandising in Fulton, Ill. This he abandoned in 1859, and pro- ceeded to Pike's Peak in search of gold.
After working in the mines for about a year he returned to Illinois, came to Aurora and engaged with the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company as brakeman, in which capacity he served until the breaking out of the Civil War, when he offered liis services in defense of his country, enlisting from Fulton, Ill., in October, 1861, in Company F, Fifty-second Illinois Volun-
teers, and was mustered into service November 19, 1861. He was almost immediately promoted to a sergeantcy, and just before the battle of Shiloh was made second lieutenant of his company, in which position he served with credit until Decem- ber 20, 1864, when he was mustered out, and hon- orably discharged. Returning to Aurora, he again accepted work with the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, in a clerical capacity in the freight department, in February, 1865; and the following June he was promoted to the general agency of that department of the road in Aurora. This position he creditably filled, and after a few years the company, recognizing his ability, gave the entire business, both freight and ticket agen- cies, into his charge. In December, 1883, he was retired from the agency of the ticket department in order to give his entire attention to that of the freight, which had been greatly extended, and in this capacity he has since well represented the corporation. He is a painstaking official, also a thorough business man, and has the confidence and respect of all with whom he has had occasion to come into business relation.
Mr. Vaughan is a public-spirited citizen, and contributes liberally to measures tending to the city's welfare. Upon the organization of the Aurora National Bank he became one of its stock- holders, and has held connection with it since. He also holds the same position in regard to the Aurora Watch Factory Company; and has sub- scribed to the support of other interests. He is a member as well as an official of Post No. 20, G. A. R., at Aurora.
C HRISTOPHER D. MOWRY, M. D., was born in Leyden, Franklin Co., Mass., Au- gust 27, 1848, and is a son of John and Cordelia (Dean) Mowry, both of whom were natives of Massachusetts, the ancestors on the Mowry side settling there with the early Puritans. John Mowry was a farmer, and also for many years postmaster, justice of the peace, etc., at Leyden.
When Christopher D. was but a few weeks old his mother died, and when but nine years of age
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he became self-sustaining, in the meantime secur- ing such education as he best could. He came to Illinois in June, 1865, and in the fall of 1866 be- came a student at the Illinois Normal University, near Bloomington, from which institution he was graduated June 24, 1869, receiving the highest honors of his class. He then accepted the super- intendency of the public school at Dundee, Kane County, for five months, when he was offered and accepted the position of superintendent of the pub- lic schools at Pecatonica, Ill., which was a more responsible position, as well as a more lucrative one. After three years' service as superintend- ent there he was elected general superintendent of public schools at Anamosa, Iowa, holding the posi- tion two years. During this time he had applied himself to the study of medicine, and in the fall of 1874 became a student at the Detroit Medical Col- lege, attending one session, and in the spring of 1875 he was enrolled as a student of Rush Med- ical College, in Chicago, from which institution he was graduated February 15, 1876, receiving the highest honors, being elected president of the graduating class. Having poor health during the summer of 1876, he traveled through California, making extensive tours through the Sierra Nevada Mountains, visiting all points of interest in that famous State. Returning to Iowa in the fall of 1876, he began practicing his profession at Osage City, Mitchel County, where he remained six years; then returned to Aurora, his former home, since when he has been actively engaged as a physician and surgeon. Among a large and con- stantly increasing clientage the Doctor makes a specialty of surgery, taking the lead in that branch of his profession, having by far the most lucrative surgical practice of any surgeon in that region. In August, 1887, he was appointed United States Pension Examining Surgeon, by Gen. John C. Black, Washington, D. C.
The Doctor was married January 7, 1878, to Fannie E. Alderman, daughter of Col. E. B. Alderman, of Marion, Iowa, and they have one child-Fannie A. Mowry, born October 13, 1886. The Doctor and family reside on the corner of View and Walnut Streets, West Aurora, in one of the finest residences in the city, built by himself,
in 1886, at a cost of over $8,000. From the age of nine years this prominent physician and citizen received no financial assistance or aid from any one in securing an education, either literary or pro- fessional, and therefore all that he has accomplished in life is owing to his own individual efforts. He is a Sir Knight, and a member of the I. O. O. F.
M ICHAEL OCHSENSCHLAGER. This representative and enterprising citizen of Aurora is a native of Wattenheim, in the Grand Duchy of Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, born May 18, 1835, a son of Adam and Eva Ochsenschlager. His mother died when he was but three years of age, and his father, having married again, immigrated with his family to the United States in 1847, locating, same year, in Kane County, Ill., where he engaged in farming, to which occupation Michael was reared. How- ever, in his young manhood, he (Michael), learned the cooper's trade, a business he followed successfully for a number of years.
In 1866 he established himself in the grocery business in Aurora, and has continued it with marked success to the present time. Mr. Ochsen- schlager was married in Aurora to Miss Kate Markel, of Chicago, and they have four sons and one daughter, namely: Irving, Josephine, Lloyd, Scribner and Albert.
E DWARD POLLEYS. This gentleman was born in Walpole, Norfolk Co., Mass., March 27, 1812, his parents being John and Hannah (Day) Polleys, people among whose progenitors are numbered substantial peo- ple of various industries of Massachusetts. Mr. Polleys is one of a family of two sons and two daughters, he being a twin of Edmund, now living a retired life at Walpole, Mass. The brothers took up mechanical work, Edmund blacksmithing. and Edward carriage making. The latter com- pleted a thorough apprenticeship at his trade at Norwood (formerly South Dedham), Mass., and followed it in his native State until 1838, when he removed to New York State. While here the rail-
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way car industry became a prominent branch of trade, and Mr. Polleys took such an interest in that line that he subsequently engaged at it, his first work being done in 1844 at Cambridgeport, Mass. He subsequently worked at the business in different places in the East, and in 1853 followed its westward tendency, locating at Dayton, Ohio. Later he worked at it in Sandusky, Ohio, and in 1856 came to Illinois, his first work being six years with the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, at Chicago. In 1862-63 he was foreman of the Alton & St. Louis Railroad shops, at Bloomington, Ill., and in 1864-66 was superintendent of the car department of the Jefferson & Indianapolis Rail- way, coming to Aurora in 1867 as general foreman on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Road, where he remained until 1873, in which year he retired from active labor. His connection with railway work was as a master at the business, a position in which he showed marked ability, and with a par- donable pride he shows testimonials of the appre- ciation manifested by his superior officers on the several occasions.
After retiring from railway work Mr. Polleys traveled for five years in the interests of the United States Rolling Stock Company, inspecting cars and pushing the interests of that company wherever he went, with marked success. He retired from the more onerous labors of life some years since, and has of late been in civic official work here. In 1867 he laid to rest his first wife, nee Deborah Fisher, in Spring Lake Cemetery, and subse- quently formed a marital union with Miss Sarah E. Davis. Mr. Polleys is a member of the Masonic order. He has given a cordial support to all public measures, and is a liberal contributor to church and school interests.
E BENEZER DENNY, of the firm of Denny Brothers, furniture manufacturers, of Aurora, was born at Kirby, Mooreside, Yorkshire, England, August 15, 1840, son of Josephi and Mary Denny, who came to Aurora in 1855, with their family. Joseph Denny was by trade a cabinet maker, which he followed in connection with the furniture business the
greater part of his active business life, and reared all his sons to that occupation.
Ebenezer had hardly attained his majority when the War of the Rebellion was inaugurated by the firing on Fort Sumter, and in August, 1862, he enlisted in the Union army, Company G, Seventy-second Regiment Illinois Infantry, known as the "First Board of Trade Regiment." He remained with his company as a private and non- commissioned officer until commissioned as second lieutenant of a company in the Fiftieth Regiment, United States colored troops. He was subse- quently promoted to a first lieutenancy, a position he held until the close of the war. He was a trusted and honored officer, as is evidenced by the fact that Gen. Forrest, who was then in com- mand of the Northern District of the Mississippi, turned over the entire department to Lieut. Denny for one day, during a temporary absence. Lieut. Denny was honorably discharged from the army at the close of the war, in March, 1865. He has since been a strong Republican, and active in sup- porting and perpetuating the principles of liberty, union, and good government, for which he fought.
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