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 76

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 76
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 76

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).

A DONIRAM RIDDLE. This gentleman has been a citizen of Aurora since 1858, and has since been creditably connected with its va- ried interests, socially and financially. He was born at Grafton, N. H., February 11, 1822, to Enoch and Polly (Prescott) Riddle, whose an- cestors were pioneers in New England, and of Scotch extraction on the Riddle side. Mr. Riddle was trained to the business followed by his father, that of a farmer, and in his twentieth year was ap- prenticed to learn the machinist's trade at Worces-

ter, Mass. He subsequently was employed at his calling at Keene, N. H., and in 1846 located at Chicago, Ill., following the same occupation until 1858, when, with his family, he removed to Auro- ra. Afterward he was for some time a locomo- tive engineer, in which capacity he accompanied Gen. Sherman's army in the famous march to the sea, leaving the body of the army at Atlanta, Ga.

Since abandoning the vocation of locomotive engineer Mr. Riddle has given his attention large- ly to developing and operating extensive and valu- able stone quarries which he owns, and which are located within the corporation limits of Aurora. He was also identified with establishing the first Au- rora street railway, and is yet a member of its board of directors. He has also been interested in man- ufacturing and other enterprises, and has been an active factor in the city's material and social prog- ress during his entire residence here. He was married at Clinton, Mass., to Miss Hannah Cook, of that place. From their union they have reared two sons, who are business men and residents of Aurora. He is a F. & A. M.

G EORGE K. SLATER. One of the oldest, most successful and much respected farmers of Aurora Township is the hale and hearty gentleman whose name heads this commem- orative record, and whose highly-cultivated, model farm of beautiful acres is located on Section 36. He was born at Champlain, Clinton Co., N. Y., March 16, 1812, the fourth in a family of seven children of Jonathan and Abigail (Holmes) Slater, the former of whom, who had been a lieutenant in the War of 1812, and subse- quently a captain in the militia, died in this county in 1841; the latter departed this life in 1828. George K. was reared on the farm, and educated in the schools of the neighborhood. In 1835 he came to Kane County, where be entered a claim of 350 acres of land on Section 36, his father following him the same year. His farm covers 260 acres, and on it he at present has 500 sheep, thirty cows and ten horses.

March 21, 1846, Mr. Slater married Mrs. Maria Loomis, a native of Hebron, Washington

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Co., N. Y., born September 25, 1815, daughter of Winthrop and Melinda (Southwick) Wheaton. Mr. ' and Mrs. Slater have had two children: An infant, deceased, and Benjamin F., a resident of Aurora Township. Mr. Slater, politically, is a Republican. He attends the services of the Congregational Church, Mrs. Slater being a member of the same. When Mrs. Slater was a two-year-old infant her parents moved to Clinton County, N. Y. (where they remained about eight years), thence to Onon- daga County, where she learned the trade of tailor- ess. Here she met and married Daniel Loomis, Jan- uary 1, 1838, by whom she had three children, two yet living: Henry, in Rochelle, Ogle Co., Ill., and Mrs. Charles Hawkins, of Lake County, Ill. In 1840 the family came to Kane County, and here Mr. Loomis died, the same year.

C P. DUTTON. Although not one of the early settlers of Kane County, Mr. Dutton since coming to it has exerted a considerable influence in its public affairs, and has been honored by its citizens with responsible official position. He is a son of Ebenezer and Aseneth (Baker) Dutton, residents of Vermont, who re- moved to the western part of New York State when it was comparatively a wilderness; the city of Rochester then consisted of one hotel. They settled in what is now the town of Eagle, Wyoming County, where our subject was born December 1, 1840. In 1849, when he was nine years old, his parents removed to Wisconsin, locating where the city of Portage now is. There they remained but a short time, going thence to Ohio, where they remained one year, and from there back to the State of New York, where the father died in 1864, in the sixty-sixth year or his age, and in sight of the farm where he first settled. The mother survived until 1873, dying when nearly eighty years old. C. P. Dut- ton participated in the migrations of his parents, and had opportunity for but a common-school edu- cation, but improved the facilities within his reach. Before he was quite of age, in 1861, he enlisted in the ranks of his country's defenders, in Com- pany H, One Hundred and Thirty-sixtlı New York Volunteers, and served with honor through the

entire war. He was in many battles while in the Army of the Potomac, also in the Southwest. He was in the Reserve Corps at Fredericksburg (was "stuck in the mud " with Burnside, in his second attempt to capture Fredericksburg), on the historic field of Gettysburg, at Chancellorsville, Mission Ridge, Lookout Mountain, Resaca, at the taking of Atlanta, and in the battles of Bentonville, and Averysboro, and Sherman's march to the sea, the capture of Savannah, and on many less noted but not less dangerous fields of action. At the close of the war he was honorably discharged, and re- turned to his home in New York State; from there he went to the oil regions of Pennsylvania, but in 1867 came west and located at Aurora, Kane County, where for five years he was employed as shipping clerk with the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Rail- road Company. In 1876 Mr. Dutton was elected on the Republican ticket clerk of the circuit court, and recorder, and was re-elected in 1880, receiving over 400 votes more than the Republican ticket in Aurora. On April 7, 1884, he purchased of Pindar F. Ward, the Kane County Abstract Office, in which business he is now engaged.

He was married, January 21, 1872, to Agnes A. Titus, a native of Blackberry Township, Kane County, of which locality her parents, William M. and Lucinda (Wesson) Titus, were among the ear- liest settlers. To Mr. and Mrs. Dutton three children have been given: Willie E., born July 13, 1874; Cortes Lee, born April 28, 1876, and Roy A., born July 28, 1877. Mr. Dutton is a member of the G. A. R.

A LMER KEITH PERRY. The subject of this brief biography takes prominence in the ranks of those citizens of Aurora wlio have aided materially in the development of the business interests of the city, and who have lent a helping hand in support of its benevolent and social institutions. He was born at Lee, Oneida Co., N. Y., November 25, 1833, and is a son of Henry Lee and Charlotte (Hall) Perry. His grandfather, Robert Lee Perry, a native of Eng- land, and brought up to the business of bookbinding, emigrated to this country and located in New York

C. V. Dutton

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City, where he was known in his trade. He also carried on an extensive business as a dealer in books. Henry Lee Perry, his son, and father of Almer Keith, gave his attention to agricultural pursuits, and settled in Oneida County, N. Y. In 1852 he sought for himself and his family a home in the West, and located in Aurora, where for many years he was a reputable farmer and business man, and a progressive citizen. He was elected by the citizens of Kane County to the office of sheriff, a position he filled with honor and credit. He was also active in many other official positions, and was recognized as a man of sterling worth. His death occurred suddenly in January, 1883. He left a family of five sons and three daughters, in whom he had inculcated lessons of thrift and industry. May 13, 1887, the widow and mother passed to her last rest, and is buried beside him in Spring Lake Cemetery.

Of the family, Almer Keith, is the only one resident here. He had obtained a good education in the schools and academies of his eastern home, and upon coming here he engaged in teaching for a few years. In this calling, in which he was em- inently successful, his opportunities for develop- ment were necessarily limited, and his remunera- tion meager. So he abandoned it and turned his attention to mercantile pursuits. He accepted a' clerical position in the store of John S. Hawley, in the dry goods and carpet trade, and here he ap- plied himself closely to the study of his business, and after an apprenticeship of about six years, embarked in it in partnership with L. D. Brady. After a successful business of four years the firm was dissolved, and Mr. Perry established himself in the business alone. During his thirty-one years of mercantile life here he has been held in respect as an upright business man and citizen. He has prospered in his chosen trade, and although long the head of his business, is as affable and attentive as when a clerk. He is a man of broad Christian philanthropy, and upon the organization of the Aurora Humane Society became one of its members, and has been a master spirit in the organization since. He gave material aid in the support of the establishment of the Aurora Hospital Association, and has served as its president since; he is also

identified with the interests of the Delius Orphan- age here, and other kindred interests. Upon the organization of the Aurora Watch Company and also of the Aurora Cotton Mills he was subscriber for stock, and has given material aid to other im- portant business interests. Mr. Perry buried his first wife (nee Miss Mary E. Walker) in 1861, the same year in which they were married, and in 1864 he was united in marriage with Miss Phoebe Jones. He has always identified himself with the Repub- lican party, and has represented his ward in the councils of the city.

AMES GRAHAM RALPH. This well-known contractor and builder, of Aurora, was born in Philadelphia, Penn., August 31, 1829, and comes of a line of Scotch ancestry. His father, Andrew Ralph, was prominently identified with the manufacturing interests of that city, and later was located at Wilmington, Del., where he established and carried on the manufacture of snuff, which interest he raised to prominence. The business is to-day carried on by his son, Alexander, of Philadelphia. The father of Andrew was a native of Glasgow, Scotland. The mother of our subject was Mary A., daughter of Thomas Graham, a native of Ireland, of whom it may be said he had all the sterling worth of the hardy Highlander.

James Graham Ralph was reared and educated in lessons of thrift and industry, and at the age of seventeen began an apprenticeship in Philadelphia at carpentering and building, which he completed. In 1855 he came west and located at Mendota, Ill., where with his elder brother, Thomas, he carried on the manufacture of carriages and wagons. He subsequently engaged at contracting and building, and also farmed. When the Civil War broke out he enlisted, in 1862, in Company C, One Hundred and Fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, from Men- dota, and bore arms for two years and three months, receiving a gunshot wound in the arm before Atlanta, which incapacitated him from fur- ther duty 'in the field. He was honorably dis- charged and returned home, and on partially re- covering from his wounds came to Aurora for the

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purpose of filling a position in the building de- partment of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad shops, and has been prominently identified with the building interests of Aurora since. He was elected town collector while in the shops of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, and filled that position creditably. Since that time he has done general contracting in building here, and prominent among the many works of his handi- craft may be mentioned the Beacon office building, the German Catholic school, Frasier's stores, the residence of George Hanna, and many other hand- some private residences, the latter being more a specialty with him than any other class of buildings. He was married while in Mendota, to Mary Amanda, daughter of J. S. Beck. a native of Pennsylvania, and the result of their union is one son and three daughters. Mr. Ralph is a member of the G. A. R. Post No. 20, at Aurora.

W ILLIAM E. CARPENTER, carriage man- ufacturer, Aurora, was born in Roxston, Oxfordshire, England, December 25, 1833, a son of Esau and Mary A. (Good- win) Carpenter, who came to America, locating at Detroit, Mich., in 1837. Esau was a carriage maker by trade, but after settling in Detroit he devoted his time and attention to farming during the balance of his life. His sons, William E. and C. M., worked at carriage making at Detroit ; Zeph- eniah, the other brother, was a lime maker there.

In 1856 William E. Carpenter located at Au- rora, and here engaged in his present business, so continuing until the great Civil War, when for three years he served in the ranks of the Union army, in Company H, One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Regi- ment Illinois Infantry, known as the "Excelsior Regiment." He participated in many battles and engagements with the enemy, and on the expiration of his term of service was honorably discharged. He then returned to Aurora, and has since been permanently connected with the carriage building interests of the place. He was married at Aurora, to Miss Charlotte Keck, who died in 1874; she was a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and lies at rest in the Keck Cemetery, in Ken-

dall County. By this marriage there were the fol- lowing named children : Matilda, wife of Hiram Cos- elman, of Hay Springs, Neb. ; and Edward Wal- lace, who is associated with his father in the car- riage business. Mr. Carpenter's present wife was formerly Miss Sarah Byers. Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter are attendants of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he has been a member for thirty-five years. He is also a member of the G. A. R. Post No. 20, of Aurora.

M ATTHEW T. CHAPMAN. This gentle- man is president of the Aurora Well Works Company of Aurora. He is a native of Priddy, Somersetshire, England, born December 20, 1844, to George and Elizabeth (Hill) Chapman, of that place, who had two other sons, Mark and Luke. The father of this family died about 1854, and the widow subsequently came to the United States, being now a resident of Skaneateles, Onondaga County, N. Y. The elder Chapman was a farmer, to which life, dur- ing his youth, Matthew T. was reared. His par- ents sent him to the schools of the vicinity, from the time he was able to walk, continuously until his twelfth year, when he became employed at mining and smelting silver and lead. This occu- pation he followed until he was sixteen years of age, when he left the scenes of his childhood and set sail for America on the steamer "Kangaroo," July 23, 1861, and landed at New York City, August 9, following. From thence he proceeded to Marcellus, N. Y., where he was employed at farming, attending school that winter. In the spring he found employment at carriage black- smithing and as a machinist at Skaneateles, N. Y., for one year. He gained further experience as a machinist with John Curtis, at Auburn, for one or more years, when he secured employment as a machinist, at Nashville, Tenn., and at other points in the South, from the United States Government. He was subsequently paroled and given employ- ment in the Confederate machine shops at Atlanta, remaining there until Gen. Sherman captured the city, when Mr. Chapman returned to Auburn, N. Y., intending to form a partnership with his

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former employer, John Curtis, but failing in this, the following year he worked at his trade in Seneca Falls, N. Y., and then removed to Rochester, fol- lowing his trade. Becoming associated with Maj. Whiting while there, he moved to Aurora for the purpose of constructing the Aurora Gas Works, and here he, for several years, successfully conducted a gas-fitting, plumbing and general machinist business, which he abandoned, however, in order to proceed to Galva, Ill., being induced to do so by the earnest solicitations of a gentle- man who was interested in building up that town. The offers held out being bright and promising, Mr. Chapman involuntarily took the bait, and became a partner in what was known as the Galva Mining Company. Three years later he returned to Aurora, minus the accumulations of years, and resumed business at his old stand in Aurora, hav- ing more experience, if less money. A year or so afterward he established and incorporated the present "American Well Works Company," with a capital stock of $17,000, himself being president. The business proved a phenomenal success from its inception, the capital stock being increased in 1886 to $125,000, with an annual output of prod- ucts averaging in value over one quarter of a mil- lion dollars. Mr. Chapman and his brother, Mark (who is superintendent of the works), are the in- ventors of the best known apparatus and process for sinking deep wells. Their machines are sold and shipped to all countries in the world. The company publishes an encyclopedia of well- sinking appliances, containing over 700 pages.

Mr. Chapman was married, March 10, 1869, to Miss Mary T. Sperry, daughter of John D. Sperry. They have had two children, one of whom is living.

OHN KELLEY, sheriff of Kane County, was born in Hampshire, Ill., October 15, 1853, a son of John and Bridget (Dahoney) Kelley, natives of the County Tipperary, Ireland, who came to America in 1845, and settled in Hampshire, where the father died in 1875, and the mother still resides. Sheriff Kelley in his early days completed a good scholastic training, and at

eighteen years of age tanght school, a profession he followed for about six years, in the meantime de- voting some attention to farming. In 1877 he engaged in merchandising at Gilbert's Station. and was appointed postmaster of the place, an incumbency which he honorably held until 1885. He had always taken an active part in the political life of his locality, and for five years sat in the councils of the county as supervisor from Rutland Township. He has also served that township as its treasurer.

In 1886 he was elected to the sheriffalty of Kane County, a position he honorably fills. Sheriff Kelley was married to Joanna, daughter of James and Catherine (MacVeattie) Hogan, by whom he had two sons and five daughters: Jennie, born September 22, 1876; Kittie, born September 20, 1877; Mary, born June 2, 1879, died July 30, 1880; Emma, born December 4, 1880; Helen May, born May 1, 1883; John Cecil, born March 30, 1885; Albert James, born January 1, 1887. The parents attend worship at St. Charles Roman Catholic Church, of which both are regular com- municants.

P ETER STUDDIFORD STOUT. The sub- ject of this biographical notice belongs to that worthy class of citizens of Kane County who began in boyhood days to learn the lessons of stern experience. At the age of four- teen he became an apprenticed clerk in a general store at Lesser Cross Roads, N. J., his "bound " time being for four years, and his recompense for that time, besides board, was the sum of $100. The youth prospered well, gained a good knowl- edge of the business, and was a favorite with his employers, but his $100 earnings had vanished by the completion of his apprenticeship, and he was $30 in debt, quite a sum to a young man in his cir- cumstances. Full of life and the vigor of youth, how- ever, and with a naturally buoyant disposition, he in a short time paid his indebtedness, and rejoiced in a bank account. Upon arriving at his majority, in 1849, he embarked for himself in New Brunswick, N. J., and conducted a successful business there for several years. In 1856 he accepted an oppor- tunity to trade liis mercantile stock for lands near

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Oswego, Ill. (having visited the place the previous year), and came west the same year. He at first embarked in mercantile pursuits in Oswego, but he soon sought with his own hands to improve his land, and so abandoned the vocation in which he had received practical lessons, and applied himself to agriculture, in which he has been eminently successful.

In 1861. in Oswego, Mr. Stout was united in marriage with Miss Mary Frances, only daughter of Benjamin F. and Eleanor (Van Fleet) Phillips, the former of whom, now deceased, was a worthy pioneer of Aurora, and the fourth white inan to locate there. Mrs: Stout was born in Aurora in 1841, and has proved herself a helpmeet to her husband in his labors. They have two daughters: Carrie May, the elder, besides having acquired an excellent literary education, is a good stenogra pher, and is employed in the extensive wholesale establishment of Burley & Tyrrel, on Lake Street, Chicago. Minnie Ella, the younger, is prosecut- ing a thorough literary course of studies in Aurora High School. Mr. and Mrs. Stout can reflect with pride upon a life usefully employed, and are to- day reaping the harvest of their industrious toil. They retired recently from the farm, and removed to their handsome residence in Aurora, on Lincoln Avenue. Mr. Stout's ancestry dates back to the early settlement of his progenitors in the States of New Jersey and New York. His birth took place at North Branch Hunterdon Co., N. J., October 26, 1828. His parents were Abram P. and Mar- garet (Hudnut) Stout.

SAAC HATCH. This is an old New England name, and is traced back to the landing of the Pilgrims on Plymouth Rock.

Isaac Hatch is a native of Saratoga Coun- ty, N. Y., born October 12, 1815, the son of Hor- ace and Rhoda (Bixby) Hatch, Horace being the son of Jonathan and Mary (Benton) Hatch, and Jonathan the son of Joseph Hatch, who was one of the Pilgrim Fathers. The date of Jonathan's birth is 1740 or 1741. His first marriage was with Bethsheba West, by whom four children were born, all of whom passed away; one of them being

lost at sea when on a voyage to the West Indies. His second marriage was with Mary Benton, and was celebrated April 28, 1777. She was a daugh- ter of David Benton, a native of Connecticut. By this union were born the following named children : Jerusha, Rosamond, Asenath, Jane, Horace, Grace, Elisha and Isaac, all now deceased. Jon_ athan Hatch was a farmer. £ He removed from Connecticut to Saratoga County, N. Y., and con- tinued farming the remainder of his life. He died in 1820, and his widow survived him two years. His son, Horace, born November 5, 1786, grew to young manhood upon his father's farm, and re- ceived the common English education of a farmer's son of that time. He married Rhoda Bixby, a native of Connecticut, and a daughter of Anderson and Priscilla (Cleveland) Bixby, also natives of Connecticut. Horace was a farmer, and followed that occupation in his native State (New York) until his death, which occurred in 1827. His widow afterward removed with her family to Os wego County, N. Y. The children born to Hor- ace Hatch by this marriage were nine in number, five of whom are still living, as follows: Isaac, the gentleman whose name is at the head of this notice, and who is now a prominent and much re- spected citizen of Big Rock Township; Joel, a res ident of Genesee County, N. Y .; Jane, widow of Mr. Dick; Sears, of Oswego County, N. Y.', and Smith, a resident of Michigan.

Isaac Hatch was reared on a farm, and when sixteen years of age went with his step-father's family to Oswego, N. Y., and the next two years lived with him. When eighteen years of age he was given his time, and then hired out with the farmers in the vicinity, and as a farm hand worked for four years. When he reached the age of twenty-two years his attention was attracted to the new West as a good place for young men, and he migrated to what was then called "the new Illinois country," and after a long and tedious journey landed in Chicago, penniless. He was one of the hundreds of young men who had come west with no other fortune than hope and a strong will to do and to dare where all was gain, and where failure could only come of despair. He took a brief survey of the muddy and unkempt town of

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Isaac Hatch

Adelina Hatch

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KANE COUNTY.

Chicago, and, afoot, started again on his western journey. In time he reached a farmer's house, and asked for lodgings and work. After a night's refreshment his case was talked over, and, to his joy, he secured a job at cutting and putting up prairie hay. He received for this $1 a day, and was happy and content. In a few days this work ended, and the young man, refreshed and renewed in pocket, continued his journey west- ward. He next found employment in a mill, and his wages were the unimportant sum of $20 per month. Continuing his course westward, he finally reached Kane County, and after a time hunting work, secured a job at making rails, at the price of $1 a hundred; then found work threshing wheat and oats. This was accom- plished by a slow and tedious process, as he had to carry the sheaves into the barn, quite a distance, and had bargained, the best he could do, to take his pay in a portion of the grain, one bushel in ten. The young man had one promi- nent idea in view, the securing of some of the rich lands in Illinois. At that time, 1837, as there was no Government land in the market, he pur- chased a claim of 160 acres, and on this identical ground he now resides. He took possession of his claim, and did some work upon it, but, await- ing the opening of the land market, he went to Sterling and assisted in putting up a mill, in June, 1838. He returned to his claim in Kane County, and, making that his home, opened a blacksmith shop on the place, which he successfully operated the next ten years. When the land came into the market he purchased of the Government his claim, in 1843. Here he made his permanent home, and has now one of the finest improved farms in 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 76

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