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 77
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 77
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Isaac Hatch and Adeliza Potter were married in October, 1843. She was born in Lewis County, N. Y., a daughter of Chester and Dinalı (Miller) Potter, both natives of New York. Chester Potter was a soldier in the War of 1812-15. He moved to Illinois in 1836, locating in De Kalb County as a farmer. remaining on the land he purchased until his death, in the year 1855. His family consisted of eleven children-eight boys and three girls. His widow is still living at the advanced age of ninety-
one years, and makes her home with Isaac Hatch, her son-in-law. She draws a pension as widow for service in the War of 1812; four of her sons served in the War of the Rebellion, one being killed at the battle of Vicksburg, and in addition to these a son-in-law and two grandsons were in that war. Her family present a war record that is seldom equaled. Isaac Hatch gave his attention almost exclusively to his blacksmith shop, until 1848, when he gave that up, and set about farm- ing and improving his land. In 1850 he pur- chased a stock of goods and opened a store, which he operated successfully for the following four years, and then again turned his attention solely to his farm, making a specialty of dairying. This rapidly grew in importance, and in 1874 he built a cheese factory, which he is still carrying on, having entered largely into this business.
Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Hatch have had children, as follows: James, whose biography appears else- where; Henry, who enlisted in the Fifty-seventh Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was in the battle of Fort Donelson before he was fifteen years old (he was killed in the charge at Kene- saw Mountain, his death occuring ere he was seventeen years of age); Amanda, who became the wife of Edward Hall, and resides in Scranton, Iowa; Anna, who became the wife of Warden Hatch, and died in Scranton, Iowa, April 14. 1SS0. A long residence among the people of Kane County has made the people acquainted with the modest merits of Mr. Hatch and his family. He has been noted only for a quiet industry, and a certain thrift and energy of enterprise, that have been of great value in developing the wealth of the agricultural districts in the county. He was among the first to note the importance of the milk industry to this favored part of the State, and his success in that line stimulated others to action. His life has not been an eventful one, but in its fullness it has been a successful one. In his younger days he was in politics a Democrat, but upon the formation of the Republican party he cast his political fortunes with it, and voted for Fremont in 1856, keeping his record straight with his party ever since. His prominence among his neighbors is told in the one fact that for twenty-five years he has held the
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office of supervisor of the township, and for a num- ber of years was justice of the peace. He has at various times filled nearly all the minor offices in his township. He has never become a member of any church, but attends the ministrations of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
S® ILAS W. CURTIS, one of the highly re- spected citizens of Geneva, was born in Owego, N. Y., January 23, 1816. When he was but a babe his parents, Elisha and Harriet (Whitney) Curtis, moved to Berkshire County, Mass., of which place they were natives. The family is of English extraction, and the pro- genitor of the Curtis family in America was one Henry Curtis, a native of England, born at Stiat- ford-on-Avon in 1621, who came to America in 1643, settling at Wethersfield, Conn., and died at Northampton, Mass., in 1661. Maj. Elnathan Curtis (grandfather of Silas W.) and two brothers moved from Connecticut to Massachusetts in an early day. Elnathan married Violet Brown, and was one of those who participated in the Revolu- tion, from which, no doubt, he got his title of
major. Elisha Curtis 'was a farmer in Massa- chusetts, whence he moved to Georgia, where he engaged in mercantile business and resided until his death, which occurred in August, 1840, when he was fifty-one years of age.
Silas W. Curtis received a common-school edu- cation, and when of age engaged in commercial trade in Georgia, which he followed for fifteen years; then, in 1849, he came to Illinois, and has since resided at Geneva, where he has at various times carried on mercantile business. October 1, 1836, Mr. Curtis married Emma Morgan, native of Berkshire, Mass., born May 3, 1816, daughter of George C. and Eunice (Tolman) Morgan. Her father was a native of Yarmouth, England, and his father of Wales. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Curtis now living are Charlotte W. (wife of John W. Moore, a prominent attorney, in Mis- souri; Catherine E., wife of A. L. White [see sketch ]; Elbert E., a conductor on the Chicago & North- Western Railroad, and Emma V. wife of C. E. Mann, of Geneva, Ill. Elbert E. enlisted in 1861, when seventeen years of age, in Company
D, Fifty-second Regiment, I. V. I., and served through the war, being commissioned corporal. The parents are supporters of the Unitarian Church. Mr. Curtis is a Republican in politics.
S AMUEL N. COOPER is one of the go-aliead merchants of the city of Geneva, and takes a hearty interest in its advancement. He is a native of Meadville, Penn., born Janu- ary 17, 1857, son of Jolın T. and Barbara (Moyer) Cooper, who came to Illinois in 1853, locating in McHenry County, and are now residents of Ken- dall County.
When Samuel N. had reached his sixteenth year he began learning telegraphy at Barrington, Ill. He was a faithful servant, an excellence dnly ap- preciated and rewarded by his employers, as he rose rapidly in his profession, until promoted, in 1880, to the position of one of the assistant train dispatchers on the Chicago & North-Western Rail- way; here he remained until 1885.
In July, 1880, Mr. Cooper married Harriet Patten Wilson, daughter of the Hon. Isaac G. Wilson, and born at Geneva, Ill., July 31, 1858. To Mr. and Mrs. Cooper have been born four sons: Thomas Wilson, Charles Newton, Frank Samuel and John Walton. Mrs. Cooper is a member of the Unitarian Church. Politically, Mr. Cooper is a firm supporter of the Republican party, and has served as collector. He is a member of Lodge No. 139, F. & A. M., Geneva.
G EORGE BURTON, another of the success- ful Englishmen who have ventured out to the Far West in search of fortune, is a na- tive of Manchester, born August 20, 1839, son of Joseplı Burton. Coming with the rest of the family to "Rock City," in 1852, he and his brother established a grocery store in the place in 1864, of which in 1884 George assumed exclusive control. In 1864 he enlisted in Company B, One Hundred and Forty-first Illinois Volunteer Infantry.
April 20, 1869, Mr. Burton was united in mar- riage with Ann Benson, who was born in Man- chester, England, April 20, 1847, daughter of Henry Benson, a manufacturer, who came to this
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country and State in 1854, settling in Kendall County, where he became interested in farming. Two children have blessed this union: Arthur M., born June 20, 1872, and Joseph Roy, born April 22, 1874. Mr. and Mrs. Burton are re- spected members of the New Jerusalem Church; in politics, he is a Republican.
W ILLIAM CONANT. This highly respected citizen is a native of Vermont, born at Brandon, March 13, 1819, son of Luther and Reziner (Bemis) Conant, former of whom followed farming in Vermont, where he died when the subject of this sketch was but a child. William Conant is a descendant of Roger Conant. who came from the south of England to settle in America in 1622 or 1623, and afterward founded the first settlement at Salem, Mass. Mr. Conant (our subject) received a common-school education, and remained on the old homestead until his thirty-first year; then (in 1850) he came to Illinois and settled at Geneva, where he has since resided. During his residence here he has engaged in various enterprises, and has taken an interest in the general advancement of the town. In political faith he is a Republican, and has served in various county and town offices.
September 9, 1840. Mr. Conant married Me- lissa White, who shared his joys and sorrows until March, 1873, when she passed to her last long sleep, leaving a family of three children to mourn her death. She was much given to charitable deeds, and won the respect of all who knew her. Mr. Conant's second marriage occurred November 3, 1886, with Mrs. Olivia Cleveland, widow of Thomas L. Cleveland, late of Batavia, Ill. : she is a native of, and a member of the Blanchard family of, New York State. Mr. Conant is a Chapter Mason. Prominent among the early settlers of Geneva was an uncle of our subject, Eben Co- nant, a native of Massachusetts, who came from Pittsford, Vt., and settled at Geneva in 1837. He was an energetic and prominent citizen in Vermont, and a strong Abolitionist. On coming to Illinois he took an active interest in public affairs, and was the projector and principal builder of the Unita-
rian Church, at Geneva, of which, for many years, his son, Augustus H. Conant, was pastor. The latter afterward moved to Rockford, Ill., where he occupied the pulpit of the Unitarian Church. In 1861 he enlisted as chaplain in the Nineteenth I. V. I., and died in the service from overwork and exposure contracted while caring for the sick and wounded. He was a man of sterling worth and character. Eben Conant died at Geneva, in 1870, aged ninety-three years, having won the re- spect of all who knew him.
D AVID MARTIN. This highly respected citizen of Geneva is a native of Lancaster County, Penn., born April 3. 1820. His par ents were David and Fannie (Frick) Martin, natives of that State, of German ancestry, who came to Illinois in 1847 or 1848 from New York State. where they had removed when David was nine years old. They were the founders of the town of Lancaster, in the latter State. On coming to Illi- nois they settled in Du Page County, where they remained the rest of their lives. Each lived to be over ninety years of age. David Martin was reared amidst the hardships and privations of frontier life, and had but limited opportunities to acquire an education. When of age he engaged in running a sawmill on Little Buffalo Creek, in New York State, and in 1843 he, with his young wife, made the then tedious voyage by water to Illinois, settling on a farın in Du Page County. In 1848 he removed to Geneva, Kane County, which has since been his home. On coming to Geneva he first engaged in carpentering and other industries, but shortly after began the business of undertaker, in connection with the furniture trade, which he carried on until 1SS5, in which year he retired from active business.
February 24, 1842, at Lancaster, N. Y., Mr. Martin was married to Miss Juliet Buck, a daugh- ter of Stephen and Pauline (Sherman) Buck, and who was born July 27, 1823. Her parents fol- lowed to Illinois in 185S, residing at Geneva until their death. Mr. and Mrs. Martin have had four sons, two of whom have "gone before," viz. :
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Franklin R., who died in infancy, and Daniel E., a graduate of the Chicago Law School, a young man of unusual literary ability, and connected editorially with the local press, who died July 18, 1884, aged twenty-eight years. The survivors are Henry W., a graduate of the Chicago University and Chicago Law School, and a member of the Illinois bar, now in real estate business in Chicago; and Charles D., a graduate of the University of Michigan, a mem- ber of the firm of Handy & Co., in the abstract of title business in Chicago. Mrs. Martin is a mem- ber of the Congregational Church, and Mr. Mar- tin of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he is a trustee. Politically, he was in former days a Whig, now a Republican, and for more than thirty years of his long residence in Geneva has held official positions of honor and trust. No citizen of the place is held in higher esteem than Mr. Martin.
REEMAN H. BOWRON. This is one of the representive farmers of Geneva Town- ship. He is the proprietor of a finely im- proved, rich farm of 208 acres, situated on Sections 1 and 2. He was born in Clinton County, N. Y., May 31, 1839. The family is of English extraction, and his grandparents came from Eng- land at an early day. His parents were Joseph and Jane (Ford) Bowron, and both died in 1886, the mother in May, at the age of seventy-two years, and the father in October, aged seventy- three years.
Freeman H. Bowron began life for himself at the age of seventeen years, working as a farm hand; afterward be went to work in a shingle fac- tory, and learned that trade. He was hardly a young man in age and growth when he enlisted in the service of his country, joining a New York cavalry regiment in 1862. He was commis- sioned second lieutenant in Company H, and, after three years' faithful and arduous service, he was . honorably discharged, in 1865. The war being over, and the young man and soldier being out of any regular employment, he came to Illinois to seek a permanent business and home. He found a suitable location in Aurora, and soon found work
in the employ of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, stoking on an engine. In the time he had sufficiently learned the business, and was given the position of locomotive engineer, in which capac- ity he labored for the company the nine succeed- ing years. On account of ill health he then felt compelled to resign his position on the engine, and he was made night foreman of the company's round- house at Aurora. In 1877 he removed to Geneva. and located on his farm, and has resided in the same place since. October 11, 1870, Mr. Bowron was united in marriage with Clara A. Earle, who was born in Massachusetts, in December, 1849, daughter of Charles C. and Mary (Shepherd) Earle, the former of whom is one of the leading citizens of Aurora, where he now resides. To Mr. and Mrs. Bowron was born one child, Nellie, in 1872, who gently passed away from home and earth, young in days as a dweller with her fond parents. Husband and wife attend services at tle Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Bowron is one of the directors of the Geneva Rock Spring Cream- ery Company. In the days of his railroad work he was a prominent and efficient member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. He is a Knight Templar; a Republican in politics.
ULIUS T. ALEXANDER. This well-known and representative citizen of Geneva is a native of Illinois, born in what is now St. Clair County, September 2, 1814. His par- ents, Hugh and Hannah (Tozier) Alexander, were residents of Athens, Penn., who immigrated to Illi- nois in 1811, seven years before the organization of the State. They settled St. Clair County, where the mother died when Julius T. was but six years of age. In 1836 the father removed to Cook County, Ill., and later to Kane County.
When Julius T. was nineteen years old he en- listed in Capt. William Moore's company for serv- ice in the Black Hawk War. He completed his term of enlistment, and for three years thereafter served an apprenticeship to the blacksmith's trade in St. Louis, Mo. In 1836, with a brother, he established a shop at Desplaines, near Chicago, where his father had erected a mill. In July,
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1837. he and his brother removed to Geneva, where he followed his trade for more than thirty years. He also spent some time in farming, and now owns a fine grain, stock and dairy farm, which he rents.
Mr. and Mrs. Alexander's marriage was cele- brated November 28. 1839. She is of English ex- traction, and was born in Massachusetts, Septem- ber 2. 1820. Her parents were Increase and Lucy (Wright) Sikes. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Alexander has been blessed with three sons, of whom one is deceased-Hugh W. The second son, Edward W., was born April 6, 1842, and is now superintendent of mails in the postoffice at Phila- delphia. Penn. : in 1861, on the first call of Presi- dent Lincoln for troops, he enlisted in Company F. Fourth Ohio Volunteers, in which he served his term; he is married, and has one child, namned Mabel. The third son, Hugh Byron, was born January 29, 1847, and when nineteen years of age entered the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, graduating from there in 1869 as a civil engineer; he is now in the West, married, and has two chil- dren-Ethel and Addie. Mr. and Mrs. Alexander are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he is steward and also a class-leader, and has likewise been superintendent of the Sabbath- school. He is a Republican in politics, and has held the position of assessor, trustee and member of the school board.
AMES HERRINGTON. This well-known citizen of Geneva is a son of one of the pioneers of Kane County. His parents, James and Charity (Patterson) Herrington, came from Mercer County, Penn., to Chicago in 1833, and for two years his father was engaged in the real estate business there. In August, 1833. James Herrington, Sr., entered a tract of Government land in Chicago, known as "Herring- ton's Addition," bounded by State, Twelfth and Sixteenth Streets, and fronting on the lake. In the winter of 1834 he bought the claim right on which the city of Geneva now stands, and in the following May removed to it with his family and began farming. He circulated the petition pray- ing for the organization of the county, and asking
that it be named "Kane" in honor of Elias K. Kane, one of the first senators from the State of Illinois. Both requests were granted, and in 1837 Kane County was organized, and the board of commissioners located the county seat on Mr. Herrington's farm, now Geneva. He was elected the first sheriff of the county, but refused to qualify. In 1837, after the site of the county seat was determined on, Mr. Herrington laid out and platted the town of Geneva. He died in 1839, at the early age of forty-two, and Kane County lost one of its foremost citizens, who had done more toward its formation and develop- ment than probably any other man then in it. His widow survived until 1881, having reached the age of eighty-two years.
The subject of this sketch was born in Mercer County, Penn., June 6, 1824, and is the third in order of birth in a family of ten children. His educational advantages were of a limited order. On the death of his father he became an appren- tice to the trade of a printer under "Long John Wentworth," and for the ensuing seven years was employed in the office of the Chicago Democrat, receiving there that practical education, which, aided by his strong good sense and sound judg- ment, has raised him to the position he now occupies. In 1849 Mr. Herrington returned to Geneva, and in November of that year was elected county clerk, serving in that capacity for eight years. In 1863 he removed to a farm in Blackberry Township, Kane County, on which he lived until 1SS4, since which time he has resided in Geneva. Mr. Herrington has been honored by the people of Kane County with many offices of trust. After the expiration of his term as county clerk. he was elected supervisor of Geneva Town- ship for two years, and in 1872 was elected super- visor of Blackberry Township. That same year he was elected to the General Assembly of Illinois, as representative from the Fourteenth District. and was re-elected by the same constituency six consecutive times, and in 1SS6 was elected for the seventh time. At present he is mayor of the city of Geneva.
On January 14, 1850, Mr. Herrington was married to Mary A. Blodgett, who was born in
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New York State in 1830. To their union ten children have been born, all now living with the exception of the eldest son, James, who was drowned in 1862. Mr. Herrington has wielded a wide influence in the affairs of Kane County, and always for its best good, and he deservedly stands high in the estimation of its citizens.
OEL NILES WHEELER, editor of The Patrol, an ably conducted eight-page paper, published at Geneva in the interests of Prohibition, was born June 2, 1853, at St. Charles, Ill., son of James T. and Jeruslia A. (Young) Wheeler, former of whom was a farmer and manufacturer of machinery.
The subject of this biographical memoir re- ceived his education in the schools of St. Charles and at Wheaton College. Afterward he was for some time engaged in the compilation of maps and atlases in the United States and Canada, and in 1878 became part owner of the Austin Transcript, a Republican sheet, published at Austin, Minn., which he conducted one-half year. His next journalistic connection was as editor and proprie- tor for some years of the Elgin (Ill.) Frank, which he bought, and this he sold in the spring of 1884. On September 19, 1884, he established The Patrol, a Prohibition party paper, which has now a circu- lation of 2,000. The printing office being burned out November 9, 1887, the business was re-estab- lished as a joint-stock company, and the paper was again issued on December 16, following.
R OBERT BECKWITH. This gentleman is of English birth, having been born near Carlisle, Cumberland, England, July 19, 1819, the son of George and Harriet (Bow . nam) Beckwith; the former of whom was a native of Scotland, his parents being of German descent. (Both the Bowman and Beckwith families bore old English names, and had each been at times con- spicuous in Anglo-Saxon history.) This family emigrated from their native land to Canada, and
settled near Toronto (then called York), in 1834, when Robert was fifteen years of age. The youth was reared to manhood chiefly in the New World, and received his education in the common schools of that time in the vicinity of his home. He was given a thorough training, but it was chiefly in honest toil, contributing all he could to the family maintenance. When he reached his majority he embarked in business on his own account, at Georgetown, Canada, where he was engaged until 1861, when he expatriated himself from the Queen's dominions, and removed to the United States, coming to Elgin, being chiefly attracted thither by its advantages in the water power af- forded by the Fox River. When first coming to this place lie determined to engage in milling, but eventually changed his mind, and entered the grain and wool trade. In this line he was employed the following years, and by his good judgment and foresight was entirely successful and prosperous. He had, in connection with buying and selling grain, added the dealing in stock, and he soon be- came known as an extensive trader in cattle, hogs, and, to some extent, horses, as well as a raiser of stock for the markets. In 1871, so important had this last-named branch of his business become, he closed out, almost entirely, his dealings in grain, etc., and confined his attention to raising and handling stock, in which he had found his true vo- cation, and here his success has been the most marked and rapid. Recently, he felt that his cir. cumstances were such that he could retire from the former active duties of business, and he so arranged his affairs. He is now enjoying the fruits of his long labors.
Robert Beckwith and Emma Vyse, a native of London, England, were united in marriage in Trafalgar, Halton Co., Canada, and by this union were born three sons and eight daughters, of whom one son and seven daughters are now living: Mary, who became the wife of Hiram Holmes, a stock- yards commission merchant, of Chicago; Harriet, now the widow of C. D. Dickinson, of Elgin; Ce- linda, who married John Miller, a farmer, of New York; Emma, wife of J. B. Butler, a merchant. at McMinnville, Tenn .; Elizabeth, wife of Benjamin Ferson, of Milwaukee, Wis., general salesman for
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the Stoddard Manufacturing Company, of Dayton, Ohio; Alice, wife of Charles Kerber, of Elgin; Katie; Robert T., married to Jennie Underwood, is a cattle merchant of Elgin.
Mr. Beckwith was for years a member of the Chicago Board of Trade and of the Elgin Board of Trade. . He and his wife are members of the Episcopal Church.
F RANCIS C. FEDOU. The varied experi- ences of this gentleman are interesting, and are a fine example of that ready adaptabil- ity of Americans to fit their acts to circum- stances, and defy that great whirligig which Old Time is said to be forever buzzing about our ears. To understand the particulars of his young life it is necessary to state some of the facts of his father's career after he landed in America, coming from his native country, France.
Francis Fedou, the father of Francis C., was born near Toulouse, in 180S. He had learned the tailor's trade, and in 1832 came to this country, landing in New Orleans, where he remained two years, and then he removed to Baltimore. In this place he settled down to his trade, and remained the next thirty years. In 1847 he married Ellen Corbett, and by her had three children-Francis C. being the youngest and only son. Ellen Cor- bett was the daughter of Michael Corbett, who was of a distinguished Irish family of that name, and for several years was superintendent of the United States arsenal at Pikesville, Md. Francis Fedou had become wealthy during his long residence in Baltimore, and be determined to give his only son the highest education and fit him for the ministry in the mother church.
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