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 91

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 91
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 91

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

He was one of a family of ten children that grew to maturity and brought up families. One of his sisters, Mrs. Susan Carver, of Plano, is now the only member of the family in the county.

Mr. and Mrs. Peleg Jones had a family of three children: Mary, who became the wife of U. G. Lincoln, is now deceased; Charlotte, mar- ried William Gifford, of Plano; W. H. was born September 18, 1835, near Stockton, Chautauqua Co., N. Y. He was quite young when he came with his parents to Illinois. He grew to manhood on his fathers's farm. In 1862 he engaged in life for himself. He opened a hardware store in Plano, in company with A. M. Beebe. Seven years after- ward he removed to Aurora, and became a sales- man in a dry goods store. When the firm with

whom he was engaged went out of business he opened an auction store, following the latter until September 12, 1887, when he became associated with M. T. Green in the grocery trade.

William H. Jones and Ellen Bradley were joined in marriage September 16, 1865. They have one child, Nora, who is a teacher in the Au- rora High School. Mr. Jones is a charter mem- ber of Sunbeam Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and also a member of the I. O. O. F.

A LONZO TOLMAN. This gentleman is the great-grandson of Dr. Nathaniel Tolman, of Needham, Mass. Capt. John Tolman, of Revolutionary fame, was a son of Doctor Tolman. He rose to the rank of captain by brave and meritorious services in the war for Independ- ence. He was a member of the "Minute Men," and was severely wounded at the battle of Lexing. ton. After his recovery and return to the ranks he received his promotion. He served through the seven years' war. He married Prudence Fisher, daughter of Jeremiah Fisher, of Needham. The children born to them were Mehitabel, Elizabeth, John and Jeremy F. Jeremy F. was the father of Alonzo Tolman, and was born in Needham, December 17, 1784. When grown he taught school for several years, was ordained a min- ister of the gospel in 1814, and assumed charge of the Baptist congregation at Dana, Mass., and for some time supplied the Templeton pulpit. In 1819 he removed to Junius, Cayuga County, then a wild and thinly settled place. He improved here a farm, and continued to preach. In 1834 he migrated west, and reached where is now Will County, Ill., in June of that year, stopping near Joliet, at a place called Yankee Settlement, for a few months, then making a permanent settlement at Long Grove, in what is now Kendall County, near Yorkville. Naturally he was a pioneer, and, by every impulse of his strong nature, a preacher. During his life he was the leading divine in this portion of Illinois. The public schools found no stronger advocate in their organization than he was, He worked hard and preached bravely, clearing with his own hands his lands for the

Celoro Talman

853

KENDALL COUNTY.

plow, and building his own house. He joined in marriage about all the first couples married in a wide range of country about him, and with great sympathy laid away the dead in their final resting places. He was also interested in the building of the early mills, bridges and churches.

October 25, 1814, he married Betsy Leland. She departed this life at Upper Alton, of cholera, April 3, 1849. She was a daughter of Eleazer and Elizabeth Leland, of Grafton, Mass. Jeremy F. Tolman died February 22, 1872, at Sandwich, Ill. His sister, Mrs. Mehitabel Graves, died at the same place, February 17, 1875, aged ninety- seven years.

To Jeremy and his wife had been born ten children, who grew to mature life, in order of birth as follows: Alonzo, Maria T., John N., Joseph L., Charles W., Martha E., Marrilla S., Julia R., Cyrus F. and Harriet C. Except Harriet C. all were born before coming to this county. Maria T. is the widow of Joseph Weeks, and resides in Sandwich; John N. became a minister of the gospel, and died in 1887; Joseph L. died at the age of seven- teen years; Charles W. located in Nebraska, where he died; Martha E. died in 1847; Marrilla S. is the wife of A. M. Bacon, of Chicago; Julia R. married John Ingersoll, and is deceased; Cyrus F. is in Chicago; Harriet C. in Nebraska.

. Alonzo Tolman was born December 2, 1815, in Dana, Worcester Co., Mass. He was nineteen years of age when he came with his parents to Illinois. He made his home with his parents until he was married, May 8, 1845, to Almyra, daughter of Henry and Margaret Hart. She was born in Oneida County, N. Y., January 17, 1824. Mr. Hart came with his family to Illinois in 1844, and located in Little Rock Township.

Mr. and Mrs. Tolman removed to their little log-cabin, located in Little Rock Township, imme- diately after marriage, on a land claim for which he had paid $300, in 1839, and here they made their permanent home. The farm includes 270 acres of splendid land. These pioneer farmers raised produce and wagoned it to Chicago with an ox team.

They have seven children, as follows: Marga- ret, Mary E., Sherman L., John H., Florence A.,

George B. and Alonzo, Jr. The eldest, Margaret, resides at Storm Lake, Iowa, and is the wife of H. E. Kingsley; Mary E. married Nason M. Tenney, whose sketch is on another page; Sherman L. is a farmer in Kendall County; John H. is a contractor and builder in Plano; Florence A. married Cyrus Tarpening, and resides in Victor, De Kalb County ; George B. is in Plano; Alonzo, Jr., married Lizzie Loughart in 1887, and is with his parents on the homestead.

Mr. Tolman has been commissioner of high- ways, and member of the board of trustees. He is now a retired farmer, surrounded with many friends and an abundance of this world's goods.

F FRANKLIN ELLSWORTH MARLEY, edi- tor and proprietor of the Kendall County News, is one of the self-made men of the county, and is deserving of much credit for the success he has attained as a newspaper man. He was born October 2, 1861, in Afton, Union Co., Iowa, son of Jacob Marley, a prosperous farmer, now of Page County, that State, a native of North Carolina, and who came to Union County, Iowa, in 1855, where he remained until coming, in 1870. to Montgomery County. From there he removed, in 1876, to Page County, where he now resides, engaged in farming and stock raising. He mar- ried Maria Louisa Gutheridge, a native of Cham- paign County, Ohio, a lady of culture and refine- ment, who died September 20, 1867, aged twenty- five years, leaving three children: Frank E., Judson M. and Minnie L. Judson M. is mail route agent on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. Minnie L. is the wife of L. A. Conway, and re- sides in Los Angeles, Cal. The father married a second time.

Frank E., at the age of ten years, left home, and soon obtained a position at Red Oak in the office of the Express, where he remained several years, working late and early, attending at the same time the graded school. He worked his way up in the office from one position to another until, at the age of sixteen. he became foreman, in which he continued until 1880, when he came to Plano with $25 in his pocket, the full amount of his cap-

854

KENDALL COUNTY.

ital left after paying his board and other bills, schooling, etc.

" The first year he was in Plano he worked on the Kendall County News, and March 1, 1881, he purchased a half interest in the Millington Enter- prise and Kendall County News, and at once im- proved it by putting in a new engine and making many other additions. Mr. Marley, in 1883, pur- chased Mr. Cook's interest, and has since con- ducted the concern alone; he has established a suc- cessful business, and is noted as one of the sub- stantial and well-to-do citizens of the place, own- ing several houses and lots, and other property.

June 7, 1883, he married Effie M. Lincoln, only daughter of R. O. Lincoln, a prominent farmer of Little Rock Township, Kendall County. Mrs. Marley assisted her husband two years in the office, until, on account of impaired health, she had to abandon the desk, and is now seeking to re- gain her health by travel. Mr. and Mrs. Marley are both members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and teachers in the Sunday-school.

M ARTIN TOBIAS GREEN is the eldest son and fifth child of John R. and Sa- brina Martin Green, all natives of Milan, Dutchess Co., N. Y. He was born Feb- ruary 5, 1818. The family were farmers, and to this occupation the son was trained, dividing his time in the duties of work and in the district schools. When old enough he sought and readily found employment as a school teacher in the neigh- borhood. In this he again divided his time, and was thus employed until 1848. In the spring of that year he migrated to the West, arriving in Big Rock Township, Kendall County, June 7, and after looking over the country he purchased land here and engaged in farming. In the winter months he again engaged in teaching school. He remained on his first purchase seven years, sold his farm in 1855, and removed to Sugar Grove Township, Kane County, where he purchased a farm on which he resided until 1868, in which year he sold and removed to Plano, his present residence. Here he engaged in hardware mer- chandising, following same the next four years,

when he sold his stock and opened a grocery store, and was thus engaged for eleven years. He then sold his store, and was somewhat retired for three years. In September, 1887, the firm of Jones & Green was formed, and their present business in Union Block was commenced. On the farm or in his different mercantile pursuits his business has been marked by an intelligent enterprise that has designated him as a prominent and leading citizen.

November 19, 1844, Mr. M. T. Green and Phœbe, daughter of Russell B. and Sarah Vail Abbey, were joined in marriage, and to them have been born Caroline M. and Alice W.

Mr. Green was the first mayor of Plano after its city incorporation, and aided in putting the new municipal machinery in motion. He has served on the board of education, and has filled other minor town and township offices. In politics he is a Democrat; is a member of Little Rock Lodge, No. 171, I. O. O. F. He is noted as one of the most genial and companionable of men, and has won a prominent place for himself and family in the society in which they reside. His enter- prising industry and general liberality toward all matters tending to the public good are well known, and are of such a kind as to make them much ap- preciated by the people at large.

APTAIN CHARLES N. LAWSON. But few men of his time of life have had a more varied experience, both by land and water. He was born in Camden, N. J., January 13, 1831, just across the river from Philadel- phia, and when he was five years old his parents moved.their household effects, and became citizens of the great Quaker City. His father, Mathias Lawson, by trade a cedar cooper, was a native of Pennsylvania, and married Harriet Cornwall, who was of English parentage. The lad, "Charley," was content, it seems, with the great Quaker City until he grew to the age of thirteen years, when he, without so much as even telling his intentions. shook the dusk of Philadelphia from his feet, and ran away. He shipped on the first vessel he came to, as a cabin boy. This chanced to be a merchant vessel, manned by honest and able seaman. For

855

KENDALL COUNTY.

the next four years he sailed the salt seas. At that time he landed at New York, and the passion to sniff the salt spray had by this time become so fixed with him, that he set about studying naviga- tion, in order to be in fact an able seaman. He then shipped before the mast, and for the next five years he was upon the ocean most of the time, and by his display of merit rose from a common sailor to be the first officer in command of the vessel. During the Mexican War he was in command of the vessel to carry troops and supplies from New Orleans to the coast points of Mexico; and in this way took part in that war. In his vessel were shipped the first live-oak timbers from St. Augus- tine, Fla., that were used in building the first four steamers then used by the "Collins" line, plying between New York and Liverpool. The nine years thus spent were accompanied with wrecks and hairbreadth escapes. But he had not severed all land connections. In some of his visits to his old home he had met Hannah Ann Masterson. He made love to her impetuously, and soon it came to express words. She would marry him, but upon one unalterable condition-that he would abandon all seafaring life. The test was a severe one, but, of course, the sensible girl had her way, and they were happily married. He then worked for his eldest brother, a business man of Phila- delphia, until his health began to fail, when they moved to Juniata County, Penn., where he pur- chased a small farm. He was induced to try this for the benefit of his health, which had become much impaired. He had withstood the temptation to join the army as long as he could, but in 1864 he volunteered in Company F, One Hundred and Fourth Pennsylvania Volunteers, in which command he served until close of the war.

In 1866 he removed to Illinois, and located on a farm in Kendall County, on which he was act- ively engaged until 1873, when he quit farming, and removed to Plano, his present place of resi- dence, engaged in the business of butchering, and is now recognized as one of the prosperous business men of the place. He has a comfortable home, and is surrounded by a happy and pleasant family. His son, W. H., is now railroad station agent at Milledgeville. The daughter, Sarah L., became

the wife of C. S. Andrews, and is now deceased. She left one child, Lillian, who is now one of the family of her grandparents.

SAAC E. BENNETT, M. D., was born in Al- legany County, N. Y., August 4, 1847, a son of Daniel Bennett. The father was of Eng- lish descent, and the mother, a Miss Hatch, was of the good old Yankee stock of Connecticut. The family were of a thrifty and respectable class of people, and gave their son good advantages both at home and in the schools, where he laid the foundations of a ripe education. The boy was bright, quick and ambitious, and his mind re- sponded fully to the opportunities he received. Before he had reached his majority he was quali- fied to teach school, and he followed this a short time, reading, in the meantime, the elementary books on medicine. In 1869 he entered the office of Dr. W. M. Smith, of Angelica, the present health officer of the port of New York. As soon as he was prepared to attend a course of medical lectures, he entered the medical college at Buffalo, N. Y., from which institution he was graduated in the class of 1872. Then for one year he engaged in practice in his native place, and in 1873 came to the West, located in Plano, in 1877, opened his office, and at once secured a good practice. His rise to the place of one of the leading men of the town has been rapid, and comes of his public and liberal spirit in behalf of the general welfare and aid in the movements promoting the public weal. Since 1884 he has been president of the board of education. He served some years as a member of the board of aldermen, and as a member of the vil - lage board of trustees, and was elected in the spring of 1887 to the office of mayor of the city.

In 1872 Dr. Bennett was united in marriage with Genevra, third child of Oliver and Sarah Gilpatrick.

In his professional walks and in his domestic life, Dr. Bennett is highly regarded by the people of the town and vicinity. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church; is an A. F. & A. M., a member of Sunbeam Lodge, No. 428; Sandwich Chapter, No. 107; and also of the A. O. U. W.,

856

KENDALL COUNTY.

Plano Lodge, No. 248. He takes a prominent part in, and is a member of, the leading medical societies and associations of this portion of the country-the State Medical, the Aurora, and the American.

D ANIEL W. WEBSTER is one of the lineal descendants of the Webster family that is made immortal by the name of the great statesman, has borne the honored name, and in his person has continued to keep it respected. He is second cousin to the statesman, and is a son of Benjamin Webster; he was born October 21, 1822, in Hanover, Grafton Co., N. H., being the youngest child of a family of three sons and five daughters. His mother was Roxana Chandler, a daughter of Silas Chandler, who was married when a young woman, to Benjamin, who was a farmer and a prominent and valued citizen in his State. He died at the age of fifty-nine years, leaving his widow, who reached the great age of ninety-one years, before she joined, in the Unknown, her departed husband. Their children, who at- tained their majority, were Mary G., William, Emily, Roxalana, Benjamin, Sarah, Susan and Daniel W.

Mary taught school many years, and then mar- ried E. P. Woodbury, of Haverill, N. H. Sarah married Rev. Thomas Savage, of Bedford, N. H., who, continuously, for forty-two years, preached to a Bedford Presbyterian congregation. To this couple were born two children, the elder being now an eminent law solicitor in Boston. Susan married a minister of the Congregational Church, Rev. C. W. Wallace, of Manchester, N. H., where he served as pastor forty years. Roxalana married Webster Favor, and with her husband came to Illinois and settled in Little Rock Township.

The youngest of the family, Daniel W., spent his boyhood in his family home. The parents were poor, and he had to aid in supporting them when very young. He learned to labor and econ- omize. He devoted his energies to the family un- til twenty-four years of age. In the meantime he had acquired a sound English education. After he was twenty-four years of age, he commenced

farming, in his native county, on his own account, where he continued until 1865, when he came to Illinois, and rented a farm in Kendall County. After being here three years, he removed to Iro- quois County, and there purchased land and en- gaged in farming; he was in that place twelve years, when he sold his farm and removed to Plano, where he now resides, and is retired with. an ample competence from the hard and severe labors, that have occupied so much of his pre- vious time. There are many of the Websterian qualities noticeable in this gentleman; his physical build and mental structure are of the solid and massive kind. In politics he has acted with the Democrats at all times. He has served as mayor and several terms as alderman of his adopted city, and has filled many other places of honor and trust of minor importance.

February 11, 1850, Daniel W. Webster and Augusta P. Robinson were joined in marriage. She was born November 2, 1821, in Epsom, the daughter of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Poor) Robin- son, both of Massachusetts. To Mr. and Mrs. Webster have been born three children: Ella A., March 30, 1857; Fredrick Daniel, September 25, 1853, engaged in cattle business in Texas (he married Mary S. Warren, of Ashland, Kas. ); Lilla, October 5, 1859. Ella A. married Amer B. Cook, of Little Rock, who is a farmer. Lilla married C. P. Barber, and lives in Benson, Vt.

Mr. Webster has filled his mission in life justly and well, and reared his family in a highly re- spectable manner. He is a Christian, but not a member of any church, and has avoided all con- nection with secret societies.

W ILLIAM TAYLOR was born February 17, 1818, in what is now the Twenty- third Ward of Philadelphia, then called Lower Dublin Township, to Malachi and Susan (Wright) Taylor, the eldest son and third child in a family of seven children, born in order following: Rachel, Esther, William, Joshua, Mary, Emmaand Ann. All lived to maturity and to rear families, except Rachel, who is a spinster, and re- sides in her native Philadelphia, and Ann, who

Daniel. M. Webster

859

KENDALL COUNTY.

died in her young womanhood. Of the others - now living are Mary, who married William Mc- Connell, of Doylestown, Penn .; Emma, who resides in Norristown, and Joshua, of Philadelphia.

William was eight years old when he lost his father, and his mother became a widow with a family of small children dependent upon her. The lad was by this circumstance thrown upon his own resources, and was "put out," as it was once called, to work on a neighbor's farm, where he re- mained the next six years. This was a species of apprenticeship not uncommon at that day, in which it was stipulated for the boy to have his board and clothes, and so much schooling, and at the end of the time a few cheap extras. He served his six years' apprenticeship on the farm, and at its conclusion he apprenticed himself to learn blacksmithing, in a shop at a suburb then called Fox Chase Village, now a part of Philadelphia. He served his allotted time, and became a black- smith, when he found employment in a machine shop. After working some time he returned to the employ of his old master, and as a journeyman worked in his shop. He made for himself a com- plete kit of blacksmith's tools and opened his own shop in a suburb then called "Bustleton," now in the Twenty-third Ward, Philadelphia. Here he was the village blacksmith the next four years, and prospered well, working hard, getting good pat- ronage, and saving his money. He longed to re- turn to the farm and farm life once more, and now he felt able to gratify that wish; he purchased a farm in Camden County, N. J., and on this he remained the next ten years. In 1854 he sold his farm, removed to Illinois, and made his settlement in Kendall County, Little Rock Township, where he purchased a fine farm, or at all events rich land, which he soon made into a fine farm. He was on this place until 1863, when he removed to Sand- wich, but remained only eighteen months, when he again changed his residence and located in Lit- tle Rock, on a farm, until 1883, and then removed to Plano, where he now is. He disposed of his farm in Kendall County, and purchased two farms, which he now owns in Champaign County. When he quit farming he retired from the heavy labors of life, which had been his unremitting experience

since he was eleven years of age. In his comfort- able and pleasant home he is surrounded by a happy family and a warm circle of friends.

His first marriage was with Catharine, daughter of Phineas Roberts, February 20, 1840. She bore him four children, Susan, Sarah J., Rebecca A. and Mary E., and died in 1864. Of the children by this marriage, Susan married James Darnell, of De Kalb County; Sarah J. resides in the same county, and is the wife of George Roland; Rebecca A. married Eldridge Skinner, of Sandwich, and liv- ing in the latter place is Mary E., who is the wife of Aaron Darnell. His second marriage was with Mrs. Hannah Culver, by whom he has one son, Edward J. Taylor, now in the employ of the Plano Manufacturing Company, of Chicago. Mr. Taylor has served his township seven years in the board of supervisors. In politics he acts with the Re- publican party.

W ILLIAM W. OWEN. The parental home life of this man terminated when he was but nine years of age. He was born in Middleburg, Orange Co., N. Y., August 6, 1857. When nine years old he lost his mother and home, and was left penniless. He sought employment upon the neighbors' farms, and for a small pittance worked faithfully. When he was seventeen, an opportunity presenting itself, he came to Illinois, and in 1869 he reached De Kalb County, where he found work on the farm. He thus labored the next four years, or until 1873. He had not, in the meantime, neglected his edu- cation, but had attended the public schools, paying his way, as he went, by his labor. In 1873, he commenced to clerk in the drug store of J. E. Ellwood & Bro., of Sycamore, where he remained the next four years. He then opened a restaurant in Sycamore, which he conducted nearly three years. Closing out this business, he again clerked in the drug and grocery store of C. Brown & Son, for one year, when he was offered the position of agent and solicitor for The Covenant Mutual Ben- efit Association, of Galesburg, a life insurance company. He was actively employed by this com- pany for two and a half years, in Eastern Wiscon-

860

KENDALL COUNTY.

sin and Chicago. The efficiency of his labor and the economy of his habits enabled him to accum- ulate a sufficient capital, and in January, 1885, he engaged in the business of furniture and uphol- stery in Plano, which has proven successful. Mr. Owen has spanned the long distance from a pen- niless orphan of nine years, to a leading, prom- inent, and substantial business man of Plano.

W. W. Owen is one of seven children of Wil- liam A. and Elizabeth (Wood) Owen, five of whom lived to mature life. Their births were in the fol- lowing order: Harrison, Benjamin J., Emma, Celestia and William W. Harrison was a soldier in Company A, Seventy-sixth New York Volun- teers, in the late war, and was killed in the battle of Gaines' Mill, where his remains lie. Benjamin was drowned at the age of thirty in the Missis- sippi River; he never married. Emma married S. B. Seaman, and Celestia married Gilbert Jame- son; both reside in Courtland County, N. Y.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 91

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