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 78

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 78
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 78

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).

Young Francis C. was prepared to enter col- lege, and then was sent to St. Mary's University, Baltimore, from which institution he graduated in 1876, in the classical course. At this juncture his father met with financial reverses that changed the whole course of the young man's life. He became professor of Greek and Latin in Fordham College, New York, but, holding this chair only one year, he resigned to accept a similar position in St. Mary's College, St. Mary's, Ky. In 1878 he re -

moved to Chicago, and during the next two years was a private tutor. In 1881 he was chosen gen- eral manager and treasurer of the Union Catholic Publishing Company, serving as such until 1885. In 1886 he came to Elgin, and opened his present line of business as agent of the celebrated Spring Valley Coal Company, having the exclusive agency of Elgin and Aurora; in connection with which he has a general coal office. Already he has secured a solid and profitable trade, and is one of Elgin's prosperous and prominent business citizens. There are not many men who can thus adapt themselves to such a varied line of occupations, ranging from the student to the most practical business life, and mark entire success upon every change.

In June, 1881, Francis C. Fedou was married to Elizabeth Eaton, in her native place, Chicago, where she was born January 11, 1855, daughter of Henry and Ann (Kennedy) Eaton, natives of Eng- land and Ireland, respectively, who were married in England and came to Chicago in 1853; he is engineer in the city water works. Mr. and Mrs. Fedou have two children: Helene, born September 1, 1882, and Robert E., born August 5, 1885., The family are members of the Catholic Church.

R OVELSTAD, ANDREW AND PEDER. These gentleman are partners in business, and brothers. They were born near Chris- tiania, Norway, and are sons of Amund and Martha (Troften) Rovelstad. The parents were well-to-do proprietary farmers, and owned large tracts of valuable timber land, which brought a large income annually. The financial circum- stances of the parents enabled them to give good education to their children. Peder came first to America, and soon after his arrival found employ- ment in the Elgin Watch Factory. He induced three of his brothers to follow him, and Andrew came in 1872.

Andrew and Peder Rovelstad, partners in the jewelry business, are prominent men in Elgin. Their trade has grown steadily, and now they do considerable wholesaling in addition to their retail sales. Andrew married Inga Korsmo, of Chris- tiania, Norway, a daughter of Amund and Martha

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Korsmo. They have three sons and one daughter: Adolf, David, Aagot and Thorstein.

Peder married Louisa, daughter of John and Anna Anderson, of Elgin, Ill. They have three sons and three daughters: Arthur, Siegfried, Antonia, Amund, Thora and Anna. The two families are members of the Norwegian Lutheran Church, and both gentlemen take a deep interest in the Y. M. C. A. Peder Rovelstad owns stock in the Elgin Loan and Homestead Association.

A LFRED SUMMERS has long been a prom- inent man, and is one of the wealthy farm ers of Big Rock Township. Although born in England, he knows no nativity ex- cept that of Kane County, Ill., and the immediate vicinity in which he resides. His ancestors, traced back through a long descent, are of English stock. He was born in Somersetshire, England, in 1832, and is the son of Joseph and Ann (Hopkins) Sum- mers, the former born May 13, 1796, and the latter on April 17, 1793. They were farmers in the places of their nativity, and followed that the occupation of their progenitors. Joseph Summers and Ann Hopkins were married February 7, 1819, and by their marriage were born seven children, six in England and one in America. In 1834 Joseph came to the United States, accompanied only by his eldest son, Richard, and sojourned in the State of New York, where he was joined the following year by his wife and remaining children. The family engaged in farming, and remained in New York State until 1836, when they came to Illinois, and here found a suitable location in Big Rock Township, Kane County. The children in this family were, as follows, Richard, the eldest, who spent most of his life in Chicago, was a noted hotel caterer, and in this line possessed at one time a more extended acquaintance than any other man in that city (he was killed in a wreck at or near Gladstone, Ill., in 1883); the next in order of their birth is Joseph, who, with his family, now resides in Mercer County, Ill .; Ann, who became the wife of Richard Dale, and resides in Big Rock; Alfred, the subject of this brief memoir, and Henry C., who moved to California twenty-seven years ago,

and has not been heard from for years; Martha Mary was born in 1838, and died in 1853-the one child born in America.

Joseph Summers, Sr., bought of the Govern- ment a large tract of land, and improved a fine farm of 500 acres. He was a prosperous and en- terprising man, and when he came to. this new country had means to make good and comfortable improvements and to purchase and pay. for all the land he could use. His wife and helpmeet and the mother of his children died January 16, 1866, and he himself survived the loss of his mate only four years, dying January 13, 1870.

From this record it will be seen that Alfred Summers came to Big Rock Township with his parents when he was in his fourth year, and here he has spent the years of his life, now beyond the half century mark. He was reared to manhood on his father's farm, and when of proper age at- tended the district schools-at first the old-fash- ioned subscription, and then the half pay, and finally the public free schools, that were for the first time in force in Illinois. He received the rudiments of a good English education. On reach- ing his majority he followed in the footsteps of his fathers, and engaged in agricultural pursuits, com- bining with same stock raising, and giving attention to improved breeds of cattle and stock for dairying purposes. He purchased land on Section 23, and from the day he commenced for himself he has prospered continuously. In his farm at this time are 291 acres of as fine land and as highly improved as any to be found in the broad acres of Kane County.

February 27, 1865, Alfred Summers and Caro- line Dale were joined in wedlock. She is the daughter of Thomas and Ann (Stoddart) Dale, who were natives of England. Caroline was born in Durham, England, and came with her father's family to this country in 1852. There were fif- teen children in this family. Mr. Dale bought land in Big Rock Township, and engaged in farming. He died on his farm in July, 1862, aged seventy- six years; his widow survived until March 20, 1876, when she, too, died aged eighty-one years and eleven montlis. Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Summers have had four children. The first born died in infancy;

Alfred Summers

PHOTO PT D. C. PRATT.

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Ellery Alfred was born October 27, 1867; Launa Leonora was born March 28, 1873; Delford Hop- kins was born in 1878, died December 21, 1881. The daughter, Launa, is an exemplary member of the Episcopal Church, which she joined, as appears by the church records of Big Rock, June 13, 1878. When his children reached the age when they required the best school advantages Mr. Summers changed his residence to Aurora, where they could have every advantage in this respect. He re- mained in that place three years, and then re- turned with his family to the old farm homestead.

Mr. Summers has had no higher aim in life than providing and caring for his family, and the good-will and friendship of his neighbors and friends. He has abstained from political or public life; has never become a member of any church, although he has generally attended and support- ed the Episcopal Church. His political sympa- thies have been with the Democratic party; yet he has seldom given emphasis to his feelings in this respect, except to quietly deposit his vote in the ballot box.

E D J. KIEST is a native of Illinois, born in East Northfield, Cook County, September 24, 1861. He is known as one of the ris- ing young business men of Elgin, having rapidly built up a good patronage in his trade as a grocery merchant. He is the son of Rev. John C. Kiest, of the Evangelical Church, and Barbara (Shockey) Kiest. As the name indicates, the fam- ily are of German descent. Rev. Kiest is a native of Chicago, born in 1837, when the signs of the Indian massacre at Fort Dearborn were still to be seen on every hand. He was the son of Henry Kiest, who came to Illinois in 1835, and settled in the topsy-turvy village of Chicago. He was a milk dealer in the town (for some time the only one there), and was able to supply the place, and some times doubtless flooded the market with the lacteal supply from a half dozen narrow-chested crumply horns. John C., when he had grown to manhood, engaged first in farming in Cook County.

Ed J. Kiest received a sound English educa- tion, and added much to his foundation knowledge

of the language by entering, when young, a print- ing office and following the trade for some time in Chicago. He traveled, too, and set type in several of the western towns; but in time abandoned office work and engaged in merchandising, opening his grocery store in Elgin in 1883, in partnership with Mr. Scheele. The last named is a native of Alten- hagen, Hanover, Germany, born August 22, 1859. He came to America in 1873, at first engaged in farming, and then was clerk in a store until he engaged in his present business. He married Martha Krueger, daughter of William Krueger, and they have one son-Harold August.

HARLES M. REIN, of the firm of Teague & Rein, proprietors of the Jennings House, Elgin, was born at Kenosha, Wis., February 1, 1861, and is a son of Hubbard and Mary (Sauber) Rein. Hubbard Rein, a miller by occupa- tion, was born in Luxemburg, Germany, in 1826. In company with his mother and three brothers, he came to America in 1853, and settled at Port Washington. Wis., purchasing land in the heavy timber region, where all was very wild and new. In this place, in 1854, he married Mary Sauber. In 1857 they removed to Racine, in that State, and opened a hotel; removed in the early part of 1859 to Kenosha, where he was employed as bridge builder for the Chicago & North- Western Railroad. He was thus engaged until 1861, when he enlisted in the Ninth Wisconsin Infantry, to aid in sup- pressing the rebellion. Having served out his long and severe military term, he returned to his em- ployment as bridge builder, and during the next eleven years was thus engaged. In 1875 he was ap- pointed foreman in the wood department of the Racine Hardware Company. Mary Sauber was born in Belgium, in 1839, one of a family of four sons and three daughters. Her family, in order that the sons might escape the military service of Germany, immigrated to America in 1847, and set- tled at Port Washington, Wis., where Hubbard and Mary met and were married. They had six children, Charles M. being the second born.

The son in early youth displayed considerable talent for mechanics, and, after the usual attend-

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ance at the public schools, became an apprenticed mechanic serving four years at his home, in Ra- cine. In 1880 he went to Rockford, Ill., and was soon after made foreman in the machine depart- ment of the Union Foundry. Afterward he became superintendent of the mill work of the Knowlton Manufacturing Company, of Rockford. In June, 1883, he came to Elgin, and formed the company of Rein & Teague (Charles M. Rein and William Teague), and they became proprietors of the Jen- nings House, Mr. Rein being the managing part- ner. This continued until February, 1887. Then William Teague retired and was succeeded by his son, George H. Teague, and the firm of Teague & Rein are the present proprietors of the hotel.

May 23, 1883, at Rockford, Ill., Charles M. Rein and Esther P. Teague were joined in mar- riage. She was born at Mt. Torrens, near Ade. laide, South Australia, December 20, 1861, daughter of William and Katherine (Penrose) Teague, natives of Cornwall, England. The par- ents were born June 27, 1826, and February 27, 1827, respectively, and were married July 6, 1850. Three years thereafter they went to Australia, where Mr. Teague followed his trade of carpenter and builder. They returned to England in 1863, and in 1866, set sail for America, settling at Min- eral Point, Wis., where he engaged at his trade. They subsequently removed to Rockford, Ill., and engaged there in the restaurant business, and here continued until they came to Elgin. Mr. and Mrs. Rein have one child, Harrold W., born April 11, 1884.

W ILLIAM CHRISTIAN HENRY HEIDE- MAN is respected as much as any citizen of Elgin for his integrity of character. He was born in Lehrte, Hanover, Ger- many, December 2, 1828, and is a son of Chris- tian and Mary (Heur) Heideman. He became an orphan at the age of thirteen, and was then apprenticed to a miller. In 1857 he immigrated to America, landing at New York June 28, and thence came directly to Illinois.

The two months following his arrival in this State he spent in Algonquin, whence he moved to

Elgin, where he has made his permanent home. He purchased an interest in a gristmill, and con- tinues in this business at present. Mr. Heideman was married, March 30, 1856, at Rehburg, to Mary Buck, of Rehburg, and by her has one son and two daughters: Henry, a miller; Mary, now the wife of Ferdinand Letewsky, of Chicago; and Alvina. The family worship at the German Evangelical Church, to the erection of which fine edifice Mr. Heideman was one of the most liberal contributors. He has been a member since the society organiza- tion and has served as a church official continu- ously. The family are highly esteemed in the social life of Elgin. Mr. Heideman was in the military service in Germany in the Third Hanover Regiment, in the War of the Revolution. He served seven years in the German regular army.

ENERAL ANDREW BARCLAY SPUR- LING is from the land " where the sailors gang to fish for cod." He was born in the Cranberry Isles, near Mount Desert, on the coast of Maine, March 20, 1833, his forefathers being a seafaring people. He is the son of Samuel and Abigail (Hadlock) Spurling, former of whom was a sea captain, who took an important part in the War of 1812. In 1823 he was presented with an elegant silver-mounted sword and pistols by the merchants of Trinidad de Cuba, for gallant services in their behalf, which prized relics are now in the possession of his son.

Andrew Barclay commenced, when fifteen, a three years' seafaring life, and on returning to land, at the age of eighteen, set off for the "Far West," to seek his fortune in the gold-fields of California. He soon lost his health in the mines, and then turned his attention to the live-stock business, for some few years being practically what they call out West a "cow-boy." In 1856 he returned to his early home, and once more found himself upon the waters, in the marine service, being placed in command of a merchant vessel. In this he remained until the breaking out of the War of the Rebellion; and he had been but two days a landsman when he enlisted in Com- pany D, First Maine Volunteer Cavalry. He was

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a fine and gallant trooper, his California horseback training having well fitted him for the work. He was soon elected lieutenant, then captain, and, after two and one-half years' service, he was trans- ferred to the Second Maine Cavalry, and promoted to major, then lieutenant-colonel, and was breveted colonel and brigadier-general, receiving the latter rank while before the defenses of Mobile. This rapid promotion, all for gallant and meritorious conduct, is as fine a record as was made by any private in the late war. He won his bars, eagles and stars upon his individual merits, and not by the influence of strong friends. When peace came to the land, he returned to his favorite service upon the sea. In 1867 his vessel was dismantled off Cape May, and for twenty-three days was at the mercy of the wind; an English vessel finally rescued them, and carried them into the Bermudas. He then settled in Hancock County, Me., where he was soon after elected sheriff. He was then appointed by the Government to a position in the Interior Department, and afterward was employed in the Department of Justice-resigning the lat- ter to accept a postoffice inspectorship tendered him, filling the latter place seven years. In the meanwhile he had invested considerably in Chicago and Elgin property. He is at this time president of the Chicago Raw Hide Manufacturing Company, of which he holds a large block of the stock. The General, certainly, bears a distinguished record.

HOMAS SALMON MARTIN, after a long, active business life, is now retired, living in quiet and ease, at the age of seventy-two (1888), surrounded with comforts and the kind ministrations of those for whom at one time he expended so freely the best energies of his strong, manful, work-a-day life. He is one of the sons of "Bonnie Scotland" who expatriated themselves from the worn and stubborn soil of their native country, and carried with them to distant lands some of the strong blood that has coursed in the veins of Scotchmen, whose history is like a romance in many respects, where comedy and tragedy have trod so closely upon the heels of their moral and intellectual advancement,

Mr. Martin was born in Stormontfield, Parish of Scone, near Perth, Scotland, April 14, 1816, son of James and Jane (Smith) Martin.

James Martin was a weaver, and followed his trade successfully during life in his native place. He was a frugal, industrious man, giving his life and labors to the care and comfort of his family, and imparting carefully to his children the pre- cepts of his fathers. He apprenticed his son, Thomas, when yet young, to the trade of brick- layer and stone mason, in Dundee, where the boy was quick to learn, and was strong and willing of hand. He served his apprenticeship, and for a while followed his trade in his native place. He had dreams of golden promises held out to young men in the distant New World, and he shaped his affairs to go to that promised land. In 1843 he had completed his arrangements, and, bidding good-bye to all that was dear on earth to him, sailed for America, filled with sadness at the de- parture, but landing on our shores full of hopes of bright promise.

Mr. Martin soon found work at his trade after his arrival, and the next year came to Elgin, where he made his permanent home, and became a contractor and house builder. Thomas S. Mar- tin and Annie Whyte, a native of Drumkelbo, Parish of Meigle, near the town of Meigle, Scot- land, were united in marriage, and to them have been born two sons and three daughters: Jane, wife of U. G. Clifford, an attorney, of Chicago; James, a skilled workman in the Elgin National Watch Factory; Euphemia, Eva and George; the latter is general purchasing agent for one of the large concerns of Elgin. Mr. Martin has long been well known as one of Elgin's liberal and public- spirited citizens, joining heartily in all movements looking to the city's and the people's welfare. During the late war he was among the foremost in sustaining the Union cause, contributing liberally thereto, in time and money, for the soldiers at the front and their families at home. His life among the friends he found in this New World has been a busy and prosperous one, and, while he has built his own fortune, he has, at the same time, promoted the public prosperity as much as any man in the community.

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He has been too busy a man to dabble much in politics. He served his adopted city some years as street superintendent, but here his services were worth far more to the public than was the com- pensation he derived from the city. He was a member of the Library Board of Elgin, and a member of the K. of L. society. Many years he presided annually over the meetings of the Burns Caledonian Society, a club whose stated meetings are rare and cherished occasions to the scattered sons of that blessed land. It is possible that in the chair of this club's meetings he feels the proudest triumphs of all his life.

C HARLES AUGUST DEDLOW, the son of a master carpenter, was born in the city of Berlin, Germany, September 8, 1841, and, losing his father when only six years old, he soon was forced to shift for his own living. Having learned the cigar-maker's trade, he com- menced to travel when not quite sixteen years of age; and, while on an extended tour through Germany, he became deeply impressed with the wrongs and oppressions of the working classes. A social democracy being at that time founded by Ferdinand La Salle, Mr. Dedlow became one of the first members, and so efficient did he prove in its organization that his craft-one of the strong- est organizations therein-elected him president, in which capacity he came so repeatedly in contact with the German Government he soon was forced to leave his native country, as very many had to do afterward.

After sojourning for a time in England, he arrived, on the 13th of September, 1870, in New York, and a year later he established a cigar factory in Morristown, N. J., in which he pros- pered until the panic, which reached its climax in the mining districts of New Jersey in 1877, so affected him he was forced to give up the busi- ness. Again he took to traveling, and after a trip through Kansas, Colorado, New and Old Mexico, he, in 1882, landed in Chicago, where he was again able to start in business, and finally he moved to Elgin. Here he carries on a cigar store and general merchandise business combined, with fair success.

Mr. Dedlow married, in Morristown, N. J., in 1872, Christine Brooks, of Thuringia, Prussia, and they have five sons: Henry, Oscar, Frank, Charles and Otto, and two daughters, Lizzie and Freda. Mr. Dedlow is a member of the I. O. O. F. and of the K. of L .- in the latter active and vigilant.

HARLES PINKNEY DEANE. Among the retired farmers of Kane County is this resi- dent of the city of Elgin. He was born in Brookfield, Mass., April 4, 1813, and is a son of Cyrus and Nancy (Howe) Deane, who were natives of the Old Bay State, and descendants of the early settlers on our shores.

Charles P. was reared in the place of his birth, working on a farm while a boy, and attending schools in the vicinity at short intervals during winters. He was engaged in various occupations in his native State, New York and Maine until 1857, when he moved with his family from Mal- den, Mass., to Kane County, Ill., and bought a farm in the township of Elgin, on which he located until 1873, when he moved to the city of Elgin, where he began investing in city property, and improving the same. He also opened a grocery store, which he managed for several years with success. In 1883 Mr. Deane retired from active business, except in looking after his real estate, located in different parts of the city.

R F. BENNETT, M. D., a representative of one of the pioneer families in this portion - of Illinois, and a successful practicing physician in the city of Elgin, is a native of New York, born in Erie County, in 1827, son of Rob- ert and Sally (Kent) Bennett, both descendants of old families in the original States-a race of pioneer people, who begot pioneers in turn; and thus from the Atlantic shores there were representatives of this family marching in the ranks of the sturdy and vent- uresome pioneers to the heart of our continent. The Bennett family migrated from their native homes to Illinois in 1838, coming from Erie County, and first locating in Will County. After remaining there four years the family removed, in 1842, to

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Lake County. Here they made their permanent home and their children were reared and educated in the common schools of the place. Here the good pioneer mother, Mrs. Sally (Kent) Bennett, passed away from earth in the eightieth year of her age (in 1881), leaving her life companion who is now in his eighty-seventh year, hale and cheery in his green old age, and in his feelings and actions much yet as the active young man he was when he came, full of hope and ambition, to the State of his adoption.

R. F. Bennett commenced the study of medicine in the office of Dr. Burbank, a practicing physician in the neighborhood where the youth had been reared. His reading and training in this office were carefully attended to, and he then attended lectures at Rush Medical College, from which in- stitution he graduated in 1853. Upon his gradu- ation he was offered and accepted a position in Mercy Hospital, and remained there nearly five years. Preferring at the end of that time to change to the active practice of medicine, he located and opened an office in Richmond, Ill., where he at once sccured a large practice, extending his visits over a large territory. He remained in this place until 1870, when he changed his residence to Elgin, his present home, opened an office, and was soon again in the active and successful prac- tice of his chosen profession. He has diversified his professional cares by giving considerable at- tention to his farming interests, where he has been very successful in stock raising, particularly the breeding of thoroughbred horses of the old Hambletonian strain.

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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 78

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