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 94

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 94
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 94

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).

of Tunis G. Budd, five acres of timber land in Big Grove proper. It is now owned by his daughter Anna Brown. In 1862 he traded one of his origi- nal Big Grove forties for an eighty-acre lot just across the township line in Fox, paying a differ- ence of $900. The Fox eighty is now owned by his second son Andrew. Just south of the Fox eighty, and north of the Big Grove homestead and contiguous to the township line lies the eighty- acre lot once owned by Thomas Dromgoole. In 1868 Mr. Brown purchased the Dromgoole eighty for $4,000, and ten years later deeded the lot to his fifth and youngest son, Robert Michael. The third son, Alfred Lincoln, owns and occupies the home- stead eighty, consisting of two of the original forty- acre lots. The house now occupied by this third son was built in 1851, and stands about four rods northwest of the spot on which the log house stood.

During the first ten years of Michael Brown's Big Grove life he made a trip or two to Chicago with an ox team every autumn, a distance of fifty- five miles, to sell farm produce, such as dressed hogs, butter, potatoes and wheat. James used to go along to help his father, and they would sleep out at night under the wagon. At times they were greatly annoyed by prairie wolves. On one of these trips Mrs. Brown remembers sending forty pairs of socks of her own make, and they brought her $20.

The secret of Mr. Brown's success was his own industry, economy and foresight, and the enter- prise of his wife and children. He was not, himself, an idler, and he deprecated indolence in others. He adhered to no religious denomination, but had respect for the Scriptures and for genuine relig- ious principles, under whatever form exhibited. He died of general debility, July 31, 1878, and was buried in the Millington and Newark Cemetery, on a lot selected and purchased by himself, December 28, 1874. The funeral discourse was delivered by the Rev. Peter S. Lott, a Methodist minister, an old acquaintance and former neighbor.

Mrs. Nancy Brown, Michael's wife, was born near Roscrea, County Tipperary, Ireland, May 16, 1810. She was the second daughter of James Bennett and his wife Julia Poor. Her elder sister,

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Mary, was the wife of Thomas Kelly. Her younger sister, Bridget, was married to a man named Hackett. The Kellys and Hacketts are still in Ire- land. What became of Mrs. Brown's only brother, John Bennett, is not known. Her father was the only son of Thomas Bennett and his wife Nancy Fermoyle. Thomas Bennett was an Englishman, a shoemaker by trade, and a Quaker; he immigrated to Roscrea, Tipperary, where the son, James, was born about the year 1780. James Bennett was not an adhering Quaker, but retained many of the Quaker notions of his father. He had a great aver- sion to strong drink and tobacco, a trait that has reappeared in his Big Grove descendants, several of them being Prohibitionists.

Michael and Nancy Brown had ten children, all of whom are now living, except two. The entire list is as follows: (1.) Mary, born in Ireland, September, 1, 1833, an invalid for years. (2.) James, born in Canada, July 5, 1835; graduate of Rush Medical College, class of 1862; assistant surgeon in the Union army; a practicing physician at Ashton, Lee County, Ill. ; has three children, Nancy, Charles and Arthur. (3.) Ellen, born in Canada, July 30, 1837; indentured to George D. Richardson, Bristol, Ill., 1845; student at Mount Morris, Ill., 1855-58; widow of the late C. A. Wheeler of Plano; has three children, John C. Wheeler, Mrs. Katie Tomblin and Scott Wheeler. (4.) An infant daughter born in Canada in the spring of 1839; died at the age of one month. (5.) Anna, born in Canada November 1, 1841; called " the Oswego Heroine." Near Oswego, Ill., May 1, 1877, she saved the life of a boy ten years old, who was playing on the railroad bridge as a fast train was approaching; the brave woman rushed upon the bridge and snatched the boy to one side; he clung to the edge of the bridge, but she was struck by the engine and hurled into the gully twelve feet below, and sustained serious injuries; later in the same year her many friends sought for her the office of county superintendent of schools, but she was outgeneralled and beaten by the politicians. She is now teaching in Sandwich, Ill. (6.) Andrew, born in the log house, Big Grove, April 4, 1844; enlisted in April, 1861, in the Twentieth Regiment Illinois Volunteers, and

served three years and three months; was seriously wounded at Raymond, Miss., May 12, 1863, and taken prisoner; a teacher, farmer, lawyer; a man of correct scholarship and good habits; his reg- iment saw hard service; of its original 924 men, but seventy remained alive at the close of the war. (7.) Alfred Lincoln, born in the log house, Big Grove, August 14, 1846; taught school and read law, Marshall, Tex., 1873; principal of public school Sheridan, Ill., 1874; principal of public school, Lisbon, 1877; present owner of the old homestead. (8.) John, born in the log house, Big Grove, Feb- ruary 14, 1849; enlisted in the Union army at the age of thirteen years and five months, and served about three years; was a private in three different Illinois regiments at different times-the Seventy- first, Eighty-ninth and Fifty ninth; has been away most of the time since the war. (9.) Robert Mi- chael, born in the new frame house, Big Grove, June 6, 1852; married to Maggie Nettleton, of Ogle County, May 27, 1879; trampled upon by a colt in the barnyard, and died of his injuries after an illness of eleven days, July 8, 1887, leaving two little daughters, Hattie and Roberta. (10.) Lib- bie, born in the frame house, Big Grove, May 28, 1855; married Thornton B. Nettleton, Maggie's only brother, March 7, 1882; has two children, Ernest and Bessie.

The ancestress of these ten children and ten grandchildren is still living, in pretty good health, at the age of seventy-eight. She is with her third son at the old homestead. * Many of her early Big Grove neighbors, among them the Seymours, Cot- trells, Prestons, Gleasons, Howeses, Bradfields, Bristols and Motts, have long since disappeared.

In his prime Michael Brown was five feet seven inches in height, and weighed about 160 pounds. His complexion was fair, lips thin and compressed, eyes blue, face clean shaven, except- ing side-whiskers, hair dark brown, with signs of baldness at thirty. His wife, though spare in flesh, was in youth larger and stronger than the average woman. She had an uncle, Martin Poor, more than six feet in height, and giant-like in strength. Her mother died of consumption, but the daughter appears to have inherited no ten-

* April 10, 1888.

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dency to disease. In her best days Mrs. Brown's usual weight was 150 pounds; eyes hazel, complex- ion between dark and light, hair abundant and nearly black.

Thus Michael and Nancy Brown deserve to be put on record among Big Grove's successful pioneers.

ILBERT DENSLO HENNING. Since the early settlement of Kendall County, the name of the Henning family has been one most closely identified with its history. The grandfather of this gentleman, Hugh Hen- ning, was the first of this family to leave their native Scotland and emigrate to this country. The time of his arrival is fixed by the fact that the Revolutionary War was then raging, and when his ship was in the offing of New York, they found the British in possession, and were pre- vented from landing. He had come from Kirk- cudbright, his native place. His disappointment on finding that he could not land at an American port was great.

He had two brothers in the City of New York, who had preceded him, and he de- sired to reach them. The ship in which he came beat along the shore, and was only able to effect a landing at Nova Scotia. In that place he stopped . the next six years, and at the end of that time migrated to New York, and, purchasing land in Rensselaer County, became a farmer. He married Catharine Letcher, who was of Holland descent; she bore him seven sons and three daughters. One of these was Cornelius, who grew to manhood in his native State, and married Mar- bry, daughter of William and Phoebe Jones Thurber. To them were born four sons and three daughters,

in the order of their birth, as follows: William T., Hugh B., Cornelius J., Gilbert Denslo, Phœbe C., (who became Mrs. O. Lotham), Mary (who married John C. Eldridge, of Lincoln, Neb.) and Harriet (relict of Charles Eldridge, of near Emporia, Kan.). From this it will be seen that Gilbert Denslo was the fourth son of Cornelius Henning, born in Petersburg Township, Rensselear Co., N. Y., Jan- uary 28, 1828. When he was eight years of age, in 1836, his father's family came to Illinois, and pre-

empted the land on which is now the town of Plano. Of his few neighbors the nearest was Mr. Evans, who was the first settler in Little Rock Township. Mr. Henning built the first frame house in his (Plano) township. He was a thrifty farmer, industrious and enterprising, and soon came to be known as one of the solid and leading men of his community. He died in 1867. His com- panion and mother of his children had preceded him to the grave ten years previously.

Since coming to Plano, in 1836, with his par- ents, Gilbert D. Henning, has been a constant resident of the township; obtained a fair educa- tion in the winter subscription schools of that time, and engaged in business on his own account as soon as he had reached his majority-farming and stock raising. He then became a merchant and grain dealer. He built and carried on the first warehouse in the place, and dealt in grain and coal, and in time established a general banking concern. Thus his business extended continually and grew with the place. Being possessed of that keen business tact which sees the public wants, he supplied them, and prospered by it. Mr. Henning was one of the parties who took an interest in securing a postoffice for Plano, and was appointed its first postmaster; was long connected with the board of education, and has been untiring in pro- moting the welfare of the public schools. In the incorporation of the village and in its growth to a city he has been a valuable aid in many ways, and has always been deeply interested in Plano's prosperity and the growth and development of the surrounding country. He has never connected himself with any church organization, and yet has been a liberal supporter of all Christian denomina- tions. The family attend services at the Baptist Church, of which Mrs. Henning is a member. Mr. Henning's first marriage was with Nancy, daughter of David and Nancy Stewart Beebe, both of New London, Conn. Of this marriage were four chil- dren, as follows: Lillian G., wife of C. M. Bailey; Hugh D., now mail agent on the Chicago, Bur- lington & Quincy Railroad; Mary D. and Effie O. The last two are at their parents' home. The mother of these children died in April, 1873. March 30, 1874, Mr. Henning was joined in mar-

G.D. Herming

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KENDALL COUNTY.

riage with Agnes, daughter of Elias and Lydia Fennel Valentine, both of whom were representa- tives of prominent families of Washington County, N. Y., and natives of Jackson and Salem Town- ships, respectively. To this marriage came seven children, five of whom are living, as follows: E. Valentine, Marbry, Gilbert D., Jr., Warren and Belle. The deceased are as follows: Hattie V. died August 1, 1887, aged four months; Willie T. died February 16, 1881, aged seven months.

F REEMAN GIFFORD-The memory of this man is kindly entertained by old settlers, as well as those who were united closely with him in life and knew him best. He was a citizen of Kendall County in the genuine log-cabin days. He came and settled in Section 23 in Little Rock Township, in 1839, paying $100 for a land claim, and in the bargain was to make a certain number of rails. With his own hands he put up his own cabin. He was not a strong and robust man physically, yet his untiring and patient labors were, in the sum total, great. He passed away from earth, May 5, 1868, his constitution yielding to the overtasks he put upon himself. He was a native of Monmouth County, N. J., born No- vember 5, 1805, and his parental home life ended when he was but six years of age, being bound by his mother to a shoemaker in New York City. His master, as soon as he was strong enough, put him to driving teams and huckstering fish. He served his bond days, and reached his majority, when he was married to Cornelia Feilder, who bore him six children, and died February 14, 1847. After- ward Mr. Gifford married Lucy Burroughs, who was a native of Portage County, Ohio, born Octo- ber 27, 1817, a daughter of Daniel and Abigail Hine Burroughs. The latter was a daughter of Daniel Hine. Mrs. Gifford's grandfather, Daniel Burroughs. was one of the heroes in the Revolu- tionary War, and his son, Daniel Burroughs, father of Mrs. Gifford, was a soldier in the War of 1812. In 1850 Freeman Gifford traveled the overland route to California, where he remained about one year and four months, and then returned to his farm. He was a prominent citizen during

life, and a successful farmer. His venerable wid- ow resides on the old homestead where her chil- dren were born. The names of the children are as follows: L. D., Cornelia, George E., Charles E., Lillian A. and May. The eldest is in Kan- kakee County, a farmer and auctioneer; Cornelia married Walter Willis, and is in Ford County; Charles E. is in the same county; Lillian A. mar- ried George Geringer, who is a merchant in Ca- bery; May, the youngest, resides with her sister Lillian A. Mrs. Freeman Gifford came from Ohio, in 1836, with her parents, who settled in Section 36, Little Rock Township. She now makes her home with her son, George E., on the old place.

George E. was born in the house in which he now resides, April 13, 1852, and has had no other home. August 27,1876, he was married to Sarah L. Spans- wick, a native of Hampshire, England, born July 27, 1850, and, when three years old, was brought to America by her parents, Timothy and Priscilla Willis Spanswick. The father was born June 25, 1806, and is now making his home with his daugh- ter, Mrs. Gifford. Mrs. Priscilla Spanswick died January 18, 1885, aged seventy-nine years. Mr. Spanswick was by occupation a shoemaker, but after coming West gave his entire attention to his farm. George E. Gifford owns a fine farm of 227 acres. He has interested himself in the introduc- tion of improved stock, and has raised many of the finest thoroughbred Percheron horses. In his stables are the registered stallions, "Don Quixote" and "Dakota." To Mr. and Mrs. George E. Gifford were born two children: Freeman H., Sep- tember 15, 1877, and Edna M., March 15, 1883.

AMES GRISWOLD was an early settler of Kendall County, and to the time of his death was one of the active, prominent and influential men of this portion of the country. He was born in Schoharie County, N. Y., January 9, 1824, and came to Kendall County, Ill., in 1838. He preëmpted land and made his improvements on Section 32, Little Rock Town- ship, where he spent the remainder of his days. His first wife was Caroline Brown, who bore him three children: Celeste, Horace and Julia, and

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died October 23, 1853. Celeste married Charles Miller, and resides in Portsmouth, Iowa. Horace is in Cooper, Iowa, and Julia married Charles Hill, and is in Rantoul, {Ill.

November 10, 1855, James Griswold and Ann M. Sly were united in wedlock. She is the dangh- ter of William and Beulah (Guthrie) Sly, and was born November 18, 1828, in Huron County, Ohio. William Sly was born in Ireland, March 14, 1802, came to America, and located in Chenango Coun- ty, N. Y., but removed to Ohio, where he was married; remained until 1834, then came to Illi- nois, and first settled in La Salle County, at North- ville. He was a thrifty farmer. He filled the offices of town clerk and supervisor, and for some years was a justice of the peace, elected in 1842, and served until his death, September 15, 1876. Mr. and Mrs. Sly were the parents of thirteen children, and of these Mrs. James Griswold is the first born. She survives her husband, and re- sides on the old homestead. The universal testi- mony the neighbors bear to the memory of Mr. Griswold is that he was highly and universally esteemed by all; that he was an honest, conscien- tions man.

To this last marriage of James Griswold were born three children: William Jay, Eliza Ann (now Mrs C. Bradley, of Plano) and Mary J., who lives with her mother.

William Jay Griswold was born on the farm, in Little Rock Township, February 11, 1858, and here he has spent his life to the present. He received excellent school advantages, taking a course in the public schools, and then became a student at Jen- nings Seminary, Aurora.

March 13, 1882, he was married to Alice J. Bradley. She was born in Mount Carroll, Carroll Co., Ill., August 14, 1863, and is a daughter of Horace and Julia M. (Gurley) Bradley. Horace was a native of Bradford County, Penn., born March 6, 1833. Julia was born to Zenos H. and Mary (Hickey) Gurley, August 15, 1835. Mrs. Mary (Hickey) Gurley was born in Canada, Janu- ary 1, 1807, and was a daughter of John and Margaret (Casselman) Hickey. John Hickey was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and served the cause of independence faithfully and well.

Mrs. Gurley (grandmother of Mr. Griswold) migrated to Illinois in 1849. She was the mother of eleven children. The venerable lady is now a resident of Decatur County, Iowa.

Mr. and Mrs. William Jay Griswold have two children: Laura Ann, born October 5, 1883, and Elva Ray, born February 11, 1886. He is a mem- ber of the order of Modern Woodmen of America, No. 147, of Sandwich; is a prominent farmer and one of the rising young men of Kendall County. .

E LIHU GRISWOLD. The first of this well- known family to settle in Kendall County, Ill., was John J. Griswold, who was born October 28, 1798, in Amenia, Duchess Co., N. Y. He learned the trade of a shoemaker when young, and, December 10, 1822, was married to Mary Eldridge. He afterward lived in Schoharie County, N. Y., but, in 1838, with his wife and family, removed to Illinois, locating on Rob Roy Creek, in Little Rock Township, Kendall County. He remained there one year, and then purchased a claim of 140 acres of land of Eldredge and George H. Rogers, in the same township, per- fected the title afterward, and, during the balance of his days, made it his home, and followed farm- ing pursuits. His wife died in November, 1856, and he departed this life March 24, 1884. He was a worthy and greatly respected citizen, and left as a heritage to his children an honored name and a comfortable estate. He had three sons: James, Elihu and Romelius.

Elihu, the subject of this sketch, was born October 9, 1825, in Schoharie County, N. Y., and came with his father's family to Illinois in 1838, passed his youth and young manhood on the home- stead, and, November 22, 1852, was married to Lucy A. Raymo, a native of the Mohawk Valley, N. Y. In 1853 Mr. Griswold located on the farm of 160 acres where he has ever since resided. It is well improved and under a high state of cultiva- tion, and is part of what was known as the Bur- roughs claim. Mr. Griswold has been somewhat afflicted with throat trouble for some years, on which account, in hopes of improving his health, he has, in company with his wife, made several

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tours to the Pacific Coast. He is now leading a retired life, and rents his lands, consisting of 160 acres, to tenants. Mr. Griswold's first purchase of land was at $12 per acre; subsequently he bought, consecutively, at the following prices: $15, $28, $75 and $55 per acre. He is recognized as one of the most substantial citizens of his town- ship, and commands the respect of all his neigh- bors. Mr. and Mrs. Griswold have had the follow- ing named children: Ida R., born September 11, 1853, died February 11, 1854; John, born Febru- ary 18, 1855, and now a farmer of Ford County, Ill. ; Frank, born August 26, 1860, and died March 28, 1879; Mary Edna, born September 28, 1871, died January 1, 1883.

AMES S. CORNELL, the oldest settler now living of the village of Yorkville, Ken- dall Co., Ill., is the subject of this mem- oir. In the spring of 1835, on May 24, he arrived in Chicago from New York City. He was then twenty-seven years old. Stopping but a few days in Chicago, he went on to Yorkville, where a former partner, Rulief S. Duryea, had previously bought a claim. The partnership was continued, and that summer they built a store in what is now Yorkville, on the corner adjoining the present court-house. In the fall Mr. Cornell returned to New York for goods, which he shipped west, him- self staying in New York until the following spring, when he returned to Yorkville, continuing in business there for two years, when the firm was dissolved, Mr. Cornell going to a farm of 280 acres, which he had taken up in the present Bristol Township, and which property he owned until 1877, and transformed from a wild piece of prairie land to one of the best farms in the township. He and his partner owned together the land on which Yorkville is built, his log-cabin standing on the spot where are now the entrance steps to the new court-house. Mr. Cornell's birthplace was North Hempstead, Queens Co., Long Island, N. Y., and he was born September 6, 1808. His parents were Richard S. and Mary H. (Duryea) Cornell. When a lad he was apprenticed to the trade of shoemaking, at which he worked for six and a half

years. His term of apprenticeship expired when he was twenty years old, and he went to school for a term, going the following spring to New York City, where he entered the store of, Mr. Duryea, with whom he formed a partnership two years later, which continued until the latter removed to Kendall County. Their place of business was in old Coenties Slip, a locality well known to all New Yorkers. In 1842, while living on his farm, in Bristol, Mr. Cornell was elected the second sheriff of Kendall County, was re-elected in 1844, and again in 1846. During his incumbency of the office the county seat was transferred from York- ville to Oswego, and Mr. Cornell removed thither, but on the expiration of his third term he went to Yorkville, where he resided between two and three years, renting out his farm. In 1861 he removed to Aurora, Kane County, but in. 1865 went back to his farm, and lived there until he sold it.

In the time Mr. Cornell has lived in Kendall County many changes have taken place in that re- gion. He first saw it a bleak prairie, with scattering timber along the streams and a few groves, with but few pioneers' cabins in its whole extent. Now it is one of the most thickly-settled and prosperous . sections of Northern Illinois. September 13, 1838, Mr. Cornell was married to Marian P., daughter of Titus and Almira (Hicks) Howe, who were from Genesee County, N. Y., and among the earliest settlers of Kane County (1834). Titus Howe built the first house on the west side of Fox River at Batavia (1834). In 1837, he sold his property there, and removed to Yorkville, Kendall County, and built the first dam and mill at that place in 1837. He went to California during the "gold fever," but did not stay long, coming back and living for a time at Ottawa, thence returning to Yorkville, where he died in August, 1867. His wife died March 5, 1872. Mr. and Mrs. Cornell have had twelve children, of whom three died young. The others are Andrew J., a carpenter, liv- ing near Minneapolis, Minn .; Milton E., a banker in Yorkville; Mary D., wife of W. A. Puterbaugh, of Yorkville; Rollin T., a farmer in Fox Township, Kendall County; Charles R., living in Bristol Vil- lage; Willis J., farming in Dakota; Cornelius D., in Bristol Village; Eva A., living with her parents,

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and Stella B., wife of George Van Emon, a farmer of Kendall Township. Mr. Cornell, as one of the pioneers of Kendall County, endured the priva- tions incident to a pioneer's life. The only crop he had to sell for cash was wheat, and the hauling of it fifty miles to Chicago, passing the "nine- mile slough," was a hardship which he had to en- dure in common with all the early settlers of this region. He has always been a prominent and respected citizen; was one of the promoters of the Kendall County Agricultural Society, and has ever been active in support of measures that were cal- culated to benefit the community in which he makes his home or the county at large.

E ILI DARNELL. The immigrant of this fam- ily to Kendall County was John Darnell, who was born in Ashe County, N. C., March 16, 1805. He was a son of Benjamin, who came to Illinois in 1829, and made a claim in Mar- shall County, where he remained about three years. John had migrated to Indiana before his father came to Illinois, and purchased a land claim in Monroe County, in that State, and after three years' residence there, removed to Marshall County, Ill., where he remained until after the Indian War of 1832, when he came direct to Little Rock Town- ship. Kendall County, and made his claim on Sec- tion 26. In a short time he sold this claim and made another on what has since been known as the Hathaway place. The Indians troubled him, and this caused him to sell the place to Mr. Hathaway ; he then made still another claim on Section 29. This, too, he sold, and made still another on Sec- tion 8, and from this removed in time to Section 17, the place now owned by his son, John Darnell. Here he lived the remainder of his days, and died January 16, 1852. He had married Leah Jones, April 22, 1825. She also was a native of Ashe , County, N. C., born in 1805, a daughter of Daniel Jones, a native of Scotland, but an immigrant to North Carolina. She died August 3, 1887. They were the parents of ten children: Eli, John, Dan- iel J., James, Aaron, Alfred, Phoebe, Martha, Polly and Enoch. Of these Eli, John and Daniel J. reside on the old homestead. Phœbe, James and

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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 94

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