USA > Illinois > Kendall County > Genealogical and biographical record of Kendall and Will Counties, Illinois : containing biographies of well known citizens of the past and present > Part 16
USA > Illinois > Will County > Genealogical and biographical record of Kendall and Will Counties, Illinois : containing biographies of well known citizens of the past and present > Part 16
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When he came with his parents to America our subject was not quite sixteen years of age. For seven years he was employed as a farm hand in the town of Kendall, and for two subsequent years in Lisbon and Fox Townships. He then catne to Millbrook and associated himself with his brother, O. B. Larson, first as an employe, but after two years he assumed the management of the grain department of the business, and this he has since conducted alone. At the same time his brother gives his attention to the store, the two lines of work being too much for one man
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alone. The business has increased steadily un- der his careful oversight, and in 1899 he shipped four hundred and seventy-six cars of grain. Since 1896 he has also handled Wisconsin lumber, in which he is building up a good trade. He also deals in coal and salt.
The political affiliations of Mr. Larson are with the Republican party. He was reared in the Lu- theran faith, and is a believer in the doctrines of this church. His marriage took place February 27, 1894, and united him with Christina S. Ring- ham, of Kendall County. They have two daugh- ters: Ruth Bertina and Esther Sophia. Mrs. Larson was born near her husband's birthplace May 12, 1868. She came to Illinois in 1889, and in 1896 her parents, Stork and Bertha Ringham, followed her, and now reside with her.
EORGE FORDHAM TREMAIN. This well-known farmer of Kendall County owns eighty acres on section II and eighty on section 3, Lisbon Township, his home being on the former tract. He was born in Warren, Her- kimer County, N. Y., April 6, 1837, a son of William A. and Harriet (Reed) Tremain, na- tives of New York. His father was born March 31, 1810, and died in Kendall Township May 17, 1852. In early life he followed the tailor's trade in the village of Little Lakes, N. Y. With team and wagon and a small stock of dry-goods he traveled west in October, 1839, accompanied by his wife and two children, Elizabeth A., now the widow of Robert Lorimer, of Yorkville; and George F., who was then two and one-half years of age. The family spent the first winter in Ken- dall Township with S. G. Minkler, who had come to Kendall County in 1831.
Possessing the conservative ideas current in the east as to the amount of land necessary for a homestead, Mr. Tremain bought only six acres. A young man offered him sixty acres in exchange for board during the winter, but he thought the six acres enough and declined the offer. Soon, however, he had reason to change his views on
the subject. In 1846 he took up forty acres, which he improved, afterward dividing his time between farming and tailoring. His first house he built on the six-acre lot, it being a small one- and-one-half-story building put up in 1840. Seven years later he built a house on his larger tract on section 34, Kendall Township, and there he remained until his death in 1852. He was a Whig and an Abolitionist, and in religion be- longed to the Methodist Episcopal Church. His four children survive him: Mrs. Lorimer; our subject; Augusta (who resides with her mother in Plattville); and Ellen J., wife of Wallace Mc- Cloud, of Plattville.
During his boyhood our subject assisted his parents in endeavoring to clear the farm and gain from it a livelihood for the family. During winter months he attended neighboring schools. The death of his father left him, a youth of fifteen, the head of the family, in whose support he aided by working for wages. At the age of eighteen years he took charge of the home place. December 28, 1864, he married Keziah Platt, daughter of Daniel and Esther (Ricketson) Platt. He and his wife remained at the homestead until 1868, when he bought eighty acres, a part of his present farm, and has since devoted himself to general farming and the raising of horses. On this place he built a comfortable residence in 1895, and here he and his wife have a pleasant home. In politics he is not bound to any party, although in early life he favored Republican principles and has since espoused the cause of Prohibition. For twelve years he has served on the school board.
The oldest son of Mr. Tremain is Burton Platt Tremain, a member of the firm of Munson & Tremain, merchants of Plattville; he married Anna, daughter of James and Margaret Wylie, and a native of this county. The second son, Fred L., who operates the farm on section 3, mar- ried Jane, daughter of George Cress, and a native of this county. The only daughter, Mabel C., is the wife of Nels C. Munson, of Plattville. Ross C., the youngest of the family, was born February 10, 1877, and died when less than two months old.
John More
GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
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JOHN MOORE, SR.
OHN MOORE, SR. In the annals of Ken- dall County the name of Moore occupies a prominent position, Horace Moore, Sr., and five of his children having been among the earl- iest settlers of Lisbon Township, and very im- portant factors in the development of the agri- cultural, manufacturing and business interests. The family is of New England origin, James and Esther Moore, grandparents of John Moore, Sr., having spent the greater part of their lives in the Connecticut town in which their nine children, Horace, Jarvis, James, Lucinda, Schuyler, Elea- zer, Esther, Martha and Warren, were born. Of these children, five followed the tide of emigra- tion westward: Horace, Jarvis, Eleazer, Martha and Warren settling in Lisbon Township, Kendall County, Ill.
Horace Moore, Sr., was born in Connecticut in 1788, and there received his early education. When a young man, accompanied by a friend, with an axe on his shoulder and a knapsack on his back, he walked from Connecticut to Oneida County, N. Y., traveling much of the way through an unbroken wilderness. There, a few years later, he married Martha, daughter of John Cody, formerly of New England. In June, 1835, he made his first trip to Illinois, and in Kendall County chose for himself a tract of land lying be- tween two rivers, staked out his claim in what is 110w Lisbon Township, taking up about eight hundred acres of land on sections 30 and 31. He then went home, and in the fall of that year returned with his family to Lisbon, where lie was subsequently engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death, in the year 1843. His good wife survived lim six years. Of his children, two, Horace, Jr., and John, the subject of this sketch,
remained with their parents until the home farm was fenced and quite well improved, when each received a quarter section of land.
John Moore, Sr., made use of the land which he laid claim to by putting in thirty acres of fall wheat, which yielded well the next year after coming here, in the meantime continuing his residence beneath the parental roof-tree until his marriage. Locating, then, about one-eighth of a mile east of Lisbon, on the north side of the road, he there failed to find water, but finding that he could have a good well on the opposite side of the road he moved the house across, liter- ally taking it to the well. After a few years lie removed to the present site of the village of Lis- bon (to the home now owned and occupied by his son, John Moore, Jr., who holds the original patent from the government), and here resided until his death, August 3, 1894, at the venerable age of eighty-three years, eleven months and six days, his birth having occurred August 27, 1810, in Vernon, Oneida County, N. Y. A man of ex- cellent judgment and superior business ability, lie was a most successful farmer, live-stock breed- er and real-estate dealer. and was also largely interested in mercantile pursuits, having in 1841, in company with his brother Horace, established the general store and erected the building which forms a part of the present establishment of his son, John Moore, Jr., the firm name being J. & H. Moore. In 1860 his brother-in-law, Albert Keith, was admitted to partnership, remaining a meniber of the firm until his removal to Paxton, Ill., from whence he still attended to a part of the business, including the operations in land and grain. In 1862 Horace Moore withdrew from the firm, but the senior partner remained in act-
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ive business until within two montlis of his death. Energetic and progressive, and honest above re- proach, he was held in high respect throughout the community, in which he exercised a benefi- cial influence. Owning land on both sides of the street in that portion of the township that became incorporated as a village, he had the privilege of laying out the town, which he suggested should be called "Lisbon," that name being short, easily spelled and pronounced, and having no duplicate in the state.
In politics he was a Republican, but was never induced to accept office but once, when he became county sheriff, a position which he soon resigned. He was an active member of the Congregational Church, and, in addition to donating the ground for the First Congregational and Baptist Churches of Lisbon, offered to give the ground for the Methodist Episcopal Church, but as the offer was refused he sold the site to the church representa- tives.
In early manhood John Moore, Sr., married Sarah Tuttle, who died two years later, leaving no issue. On September 8, 1850, in Westmore- land County, N. Y., he married for his second wife Harriet M., daughter of George C. and Rhoda (Joslyn) Cody, and of this union two children were born, namely: Elsie, who died at the age of six years, and John, Jr.
John Moore, Jr., was born March 10, 1857, in the house where he now resides, it having been entirely remodeled and modernized since that time. Commencing his studies in the district schools, he completed them by taking a course at the commercial college of Bryant & Stratton. As soon as old enough he began assisting his father in the store, and on attaining his majority was admitted to partnership with his father, who had resumed business in 1879, after an interval of sev- enteen years, he and his brother having disposed of their goods, and rented their store in 1862. Mr. Moore still conducts the business, carrying a complete line of general merchandise, keeping in stock everything but agricultural implements, which he orders as needed. In the drug depart- ment he and two other registered pharmacists are kept busily employed, their trade and their pre-
scriptions being extensive. He has also large landed interests, owning a thousand acres of land in Kendall and Grundy Counties, four hundred acres of which he operates, employing four men in the store and four on the farm. Politically he affiliates with the Republican party, but has never accepted any office excepting that of president of the village board. Fraternally he is a member of Orient Lodge No. 323, A. F. &. A. M.
January 13, 1879, Mr. Moore married Jennie, daughter of Daniel and Geraldine (Tuttle) Park, of Oneida County, N.Y. She passed to the higher life September 3, 1889. Mr. Moore was again married October 8, 1892, Emma Delight Hossack, of Ottawa, Ill., becoming his wife. Capt. Harry L. Hossack, Mrs Moore's father, is a prominent business man of Ottawa, who, as captain of a company which he raised, participated in the late Civil war, serving on the western frontier until its close. He is now engaged in mercantile trade as a dealer of agricultural implements of all kinds. To him and his wife, whose maiden name was Medora Tuttle, three children were born, name- ly: Emma Delight, now Mrs. Moore; Belle, who died in childhood; and Harry, who is in business with his father. Mr. and Mrs. Moore are both members of the Congregational Church.
EVI CASE GORTON. One of the oldest residents of Kendall County, both in age and years of residence here, is the honored citi- zen whose name appears at the head of this arti- cle. Many points of interest to the general public, as well as to his numerous friends and ad- mirers, have been gleaned and are subjoined.
The paternal ancestor of our subject, Samuel Gorton, came to America from England sixteen years after the Mayflower landed her first passen- gers on Plymouth Rock. Mr. Gorton, who was a man of advanced ideas in many respects for the times, and thus came into conflict with the Puri- tans of Massachusetts, finally received a grant of land and followed Roger Williams and other friends to Rhode Island. He was the first settler at Warwick, and some of his property is still in
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the possession of his descendants. Several of his descendants participated in the Revolution, and our subject's father, Samuel Gorton, was a sol- dier in the war of 1812, serving in the capacity of a surgeon. He was considered one of the fore- most men in his profession in western New York. He was a native of Rensselaer County, N. Y., and a son of Peleg Gorton, a wealthy farmer. Dr. Gorton was a student of astronomy, and when he died was about to publish a work relating to the influence of the moon upon tides. His serv- ices for years were in such great demand that he traveled to patients forty or fifty miles away. He died July 1, 1827, aged forty-five years, and of the five children born to himself and wife, Sophia (Case) Gorton, only one, Levi Case, survives. He is of the seventh generation from Samuel Gorton, founder of Warwick.
Levi Case Gorton was born in the vicinity of the present town of Corning, Steuben County, N. Y., October 20, 1809, and was left fatherless when he was about fourteen years old. He learned the business of a millwright, and after following that calling in New York state and in Maryland, in 1833 he decided to try his fortunes in the then new state of Illinois. Going as far as Buffalo by the canal he there embarked upon a ship bound for Detroit, Mich. He was accom- panied by two young men, and they crossed Michigan with teams and on foot. It so hap- pened that they met "Long" John Wentworth 011 the way and traveled with him for a period. The morning after their arrival in the unpromis- ing village of Chicago the young men had break- fast with Mark Beaubien, who urged them to buy lots in the future city at $200 apiece. Mr. Gorton laughed at the idea, and continued his search for a desirable location until he arrived in the neighborhood of the present town of Mont- gomery, on the Fox River. He bought a par- tially improved farm, the present site of Evans Park, and began improving the property: Forty acres of the land had been broken and a log cabin stood on the place, and a short time afterwards Mr. Gorton accepted a good price for the place and took a claim on the present site of Aurora, where he broke up ten acres. After trading this for
another claim, which he soon sold, he invested his capital in some land in Oswego. There he erected a flour-mill, the first one built between Aurora and the mouth of the river, and later aided in the construction of the first saw-mill put up in Aurora. For about three years he was act- ively engaged in the operation of his flour mill, in the meantime industriously carrying on the cultivation of his farm. He sold the mill prop- erty, and, after spending thirty years on farms near Oswego, he removed to his fine farm in Bris- tol Township, and this property he still owns. He personally attended to its cultivation from 1868 until he lost his eyesight in 1897, and two years later removed to the village of Bristol. With that exception he is hale and hearty and in the possession of all his faculties, his mind being keen and clear. His ambition has been little lessened by his extreme age, and he often feels aggrieved that his blindness prevents him from engaging in many of his former active pursuits.
Unquestionably Mr. Gorton took an important part in the upbuilding of Kendall County. Many a term he served as roadmaster, or as a member of the local school board or in other capacities, and he belonged to the first petit jury assembled in Kane County, Judge (later governor) Ford presiding. He also served as a member of the first grand jury convened in Kendall County, soon after its organization, and is the only sur- vivor of that honorable body.
As his father before him was a Democrat, Mr. Gorton was affiliated with the same party until the organization of the Republicans into a po- litical party, since which time he has loyally given it his support. Upon numerous occasions he attended county and local conventions, and always maintained deep interest in the deliber- ations of the public. In religious faith Mr. Gor- ton and his wife are Universalists.
The marriage of Mr. Gorton and Jane Town- send took place January 8, 1837. Her father, Claudius Townsend, a native of New York, was one of the first settlers in Tioga County, that state, and in 1835 came to this locality by team, settling near Oswego. IIe served as a surveyor, supervisor and in other local positions, and was
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highly esteemed. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Gorton six children were born, and three of the number are yet living, namely: Susan; Char- lotte, wife of Levi Shults, of Plano (see his sketch elsewhere in this work ); and Thomas G., who resides in Bristol.
BSALOM TOWNSEND SEELY. One of the honored citizens of Kendall County for the past forty-six years, Absalom T. Seely, of Yorkville, is well deserving of a place in the annals of this locality. During his entire matur- ity and prime he took an active and interested part in the development of this county, and in public positions he proved his devotion to the people and community in which his lot has been cast.
The grandfather of the above-named gentle- man, Jonas Seely, was a native of Orange Coun- ty, N. Y., and in the same locality his son, Peter, father of A. T. Seely, also was born. The latter was engaged in agricultural pursuits in his native county for several years, and later he was numbered among the stock commission merchants of New York City. In 1853 he came to Chicago, where he also was occupied in the same business for some years, Formerly a Whig, he later allied himself with the Republican party and performed his part in all public affairs. He sur- vived his wife six years, his death taking place in the opening year of the Civil war. She bore the maiden name of Caroline Brown, and her father, Daniel Brown, a prominent citizen of creased.
Goshen, N. Y., was of Scotch descent. Of the five children of Peter and Caroline Seely, one son, Jonas, of Joliet, Ill., is engaged in the mar- ble and stone-cutting business. Mrs. Helena Carpenter and Mrs. Tempy Ann Jessup, the daughters, are residents of Kendall County.
The birth of Absalom T. Seely took place in the town of Florida, near Goshen, N. Y., July 6, 1834, and when he was ten years old he became a resident of New York City, where he gained a practical education. He was about fifteen years old when he embarked in merchandising in the
great metropolis, and it was not until 1854 that he came to the west, and when he later came to Kendall County on a visit to some cousins he de- cided to make his permanent home here. He returned to his old home in the east in Decem- ber, 1856, and remained there until the spring of 1858, when he came back, ready to turn his at- tention to farming.
Mr. Seely had made a good start in his new venture, and had already won the high respect of his fellow-citizens here, when the Civil war broke out, and his patriotic principles led to his offering his services to the Union cause. He en- listed May 7, 1861, in Company H, Thirteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was assigned with his regiment to the Fifteenth Army Corps. He then participated in the severe campaign of the Mississippi Valley, and fought valiantly in the battle of Pea Ridge, the siege of Vicksburg, and several Arkansas engagements with the enemy. At Vicksburg he became incapacitated for service by illness, and while he was at home, in December, 1863, he was granted an honorable discharge from the army. While his health was so impaired that it took several years to restore him to anything like his usual vigor or strength, he never applied for a pension, though he was well entitled to one. In the autumn of 1866 he engaged in the drug business on the north side of Yorkville, and three years later he removed to the center of the town, where he since has con- ducted a well-equipped store. In 1876 he bought the building which he has since occupied, and year by year his patronage has steadily in-
While he is in no sense a politician, Mr. Seely is deeply interested in the success of the Repub- lican party. He was appointed postmaster of North Yorkville in 1866, and in July, 1869, was honored with the postmastership of Yorkville proper. His business affairs requiring his full attention in the Centennial year, he resigned his public office and since that time he has refused all positions. Fraternally he is a member of Yorkville Post No. 522, G. A. R. His marriage to Miss Anna Tarbox, a native of Maine, took place January 3, 1877.
Hp of Rethel
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HENRY SEYMOUR BETHEL.
ENRY SEYMOUR BETHEL. The histo- rian of Kendall County is impressed with the fact that a very large percentage of its most progressive citizens are from New York state, and undoubtedly much of the prosperity and prominence of this section is due to this ele- ment of eastern energy. The family to which Mr. Bethel belongs has been represented in America since 1630, and came from Scotland. An interesting fact in connection with Mr. Bethel's grandfather, John Bethel, is his impressment in the British navy during the war with Napoleon. After about nine months of service in that navy he obtained permission to go ashore at New York, and, having landed, deserted his late masters and did not return to the ship, thus forfeiting one hundred and fifty pounds, prize money. His brother, Thomas, was with him in the capture and the escape. Subsequently he engaged in farming and bought land near Antwerp, Jefferson County, N. Y., his deed for the property, under date of 1806, being the first paper of the kind made out in the town. Eight children were born to his union with Mary (or Polly, as she was usually called) Raven, a daughter of John Raven, an Englishman. During the Revolu- tionary war Mr. Raven was impressed into the English army and was serving under General Burgoyne at Saratoga, where he was wounded. He was cared for by an American soldier named Grooms, whose sister he afterward married. Tlie Grooms family came to America with the duke of York.
The eldest of eight children, Peter, father of Henry S. Bethel, was born in Delaware County, N. Y., in 1802. He was endowed by nature with a strong mechanical talent and for many
years, when he was in his prime, was employed chiefly as a millwright. Later he operated a farm near Philadelphia, Jefferson County, N. Y. In 1855 he came via the lakes to Chicago, and thence to LaSalle County by team. After passing two years in that locality he settled upon a farm near Morris, Il1., and during the ensuing eighteen years conducted his homestead successfully. In 1875 he removed to the property now owned by our subject. Here he purchased two hundred and forty acres, on which he resided until his death, February 19, 1881.
The wife of Peter Bethel was Sophronia Asenath, daughter of Zenas and Asenath (Phelps) Watrous. The Watrous family came from Bristol, England, in 1630. Asenath Phelps was the daughter of Sylvanus Phelps, a colonel of the min- ute-men of Connecticut, and whose ancestors came to America in the Mayflower on her last trip in 1630. Some members of the family have served in each of the wars of our country, including the Indian wars of New England and the French and Indian war. The wife of Peter Bethel died August 29, 1877. She came of a long-lived race, as her mother lived to be ninety-five, and her grandmother was one hundred and two years old at the time of her death.
Henry Seymour Betliel was born in the town of Antwerp, Jefferson County, N. Y., March I, 1834. In 1838 the family removed to Sterling- ville, in the same county, remaining there until 1855. He was educated in the common schools and learned the occupations of millwright and civil engineering. In the spring of 1855 he preceded the family to Illinois and settled in LaSalle County. January 29, 1856, he married Mary Amelia Sherick, of Potter's Mills, Center
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County, Pa., the daughter of Daniel and Harriet (Essington) Sherick. The Shericks came to Pennsylvania in an early day, with a colony of Monnese from Saxony, the Essingtons from England to New Jersey, to develop the iron in- terests for the landed proprietors.
To Mr. and Mrs. Bethel were born six chil- dren. Two died in infancy, three in early child- hood, and only one, Emerson, attained mature years. He married Jessie Bethel, of Jefferson County, N. Y., and died in February, 1887, leaving his widow and three children, Mary Jane, Charles Hugh and Esther Amelia, who now constitute our subject's family on the homestead.
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