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 2
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 2
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Aside from his contracting business Mr. Bissell had other interests. At one time he owned a store at Niles, Mich., which was managed by Giles Heatlı with flattering success. His prop-
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
erty interests were valuable, and included a farm near Chicago, another near Cassopolis, Mich., and many tracts of land in Illinois and Iowa, be- sides a large amount of real estate in and near Joliet. He and his wife were childless, and on the death of the latter, which occurred December 30, 1889, their valuable estate was inherited by relatives and by the church to whose doctrines they had long adhered. He was a man of original ideas, very outspoken in the expression of his opinion, and possessing the courage of his convictions. At a time when the principle of abolition was very unpopular he was known as a "black Abolitionist," which in the minds of many was next to being a "black man." He did not flinch in the face of much opposition. He stood beside Frederick Douglass in Young's (now Werner's) hall in Joliet and introduced him to the audience in the spirit of one who believes all men to be brothers. Though skeptical in busi- ness matters, requiring every proposition to be submitted to the severest test, in religion he pre- sented a phase of character directly opposite, and accepted, fully and completely, the transcendental teachings of the New Church, in which faith he lived and died.
M ISS FRANCES M. WEED. The family of which Miss Weed is a member was founded in America by three brothers from England, who settled in Stamford, Conn. One of these was her grandfather, Jonas, who served as a member of Washington's body-guard during the Revolutionary war, and was afterward acci- dentally killed in Connecticut. His son, Mun, son, a native of Stamford, was bound to a trade in youth, but being of an adventurous disposition the confinement of his work was irksome to him, and he ran away to sea, shipping on a whaler engaged in the whaling business on the Atlantic. Later he was in the trans- Atlantic and West India trade. After eleven years as a sailor he returned to his home. Later he settled in Danby, near Ithaca, N. Y., where he engaged in farming and
died in 1867. In religion he was a Baptist. He was a cousin of Thurlow Weed, whose father, Hezekiah, came from England with Jonas Weed. The mother of Munson Weed attained a great age, lacking only a few days of one hundred years at the time of her death. She was related to the Wisners, of Orange County, N. Y., one of whom served as a commissioned officer in the Revolutionary war and was killed in the battle of Minisink. Her brother, Usal Knapp, was the last survivor of the famous Washington life guards. When he was sixteen years of age he entered the service as water boy for General Washington, and blacked his boots, cared for his horses, etc. He served for seven years in the Revolutionary war. For forty years he was a member of the Presbyterian church, and attended services regularly, even when he had rounded a century of life. He was a man of hospitable na- ture, and those who stayed beneath his roof never forgot his large-hearted hospitality; his guests always found their boots blacked in the morning, and in many other ways he showed a thoughtful courtesy and kindness toward every visitor. He died at Little Britain, Orange County, when one hundred and four years of age. His was the largest funeral ever known in the county. He was buried with military hon- ors, seven military companies being present, and thirteen cannon were fired over his grave. His body was interred at Washington's headquarters, and his resting place is marked by a monument, erected by the state, and bearing the inscription, " The last of the bodyguard."
The marriage of Munson Weed united him with Miss Polly Bissell, who was born in Rut- land, Vt., September 25, 1796, and settled at Danby in 1818. She was a daughter of Aaron and Mary Bissell, and a sister of Martin C. Bis- sell, whose sketch appears in this volume. Sur- viving her husband for many years, she passed away April 6, 1891, at the age of ninety-four years, six months and eleven days. She lived under the administration of every president of the United States up to her death. She distinctly remembered having heard the guns at the battle of Lake Champlain. Her memory remained un-
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
impaired until death. Of her ten children six are living, namely: William, of West Danby, N. Y .; Harriet, Mrs. H. N. Bement, of Pennsyl- vania; Almira, who married Alfred Vose, of Spencer, N. Y .; Mary E., who married D. T. Fish, late of Newfield, N. Y .; Edwin, a contrac- tor in Ithaca, N. Y .; and Frances M. Not a lit- tle of the success which the children have at- tained is due to the influence of their mother, who was a woman of remarkably strong charac- ter and intelligence.
In the public schools of Danby, N. Y., and the college at Naperville, Ill., Miss Weed received an excellent education, and after leaving college "she was engaged in educational work in this county for a number of years. Of a benevolent disposition, she is identified with the Dorcas So- ciety and devotes much of her time to relieving the wants of the worthy poor. In the Ladies Order of Maccabees she holds office as keeper of records. She is a believer in the teachings of the Swedenborgian Church, of which her uncle, M. C. Bissell, was one of the leading members, and to which he contributed much of his fortune. She maintains an intelligent interest in public affairs and upholds Republican principles. The management of her property interests requires much of her time and thought, and in it she has displayed business ability and good judgment. She is the owner of four acres comprising her homestead at No. 1502 Cass street, and also owns two hundred and twenty acres near Chicago, on the Wabash Railroad, and within a few rods of the feeder for the canal.
ON. FREDERICK WILKE, chairman of the board of supervisors, is one of Will County's best known citizens. He has been one of the property owners of this county since 1857, when he visited Illinois and purchased slightly improved laud lying on section 17, Washington Township. Three years later he returned to the county and established his home
on the tract, building a frame house on the eight-acre piece, and making other improvements that added to its value. As he prospered he added to his farm until he owned three hundred and thirty-five acres on sections 17 and 18. Of this he afterward gave his son a quarter section, and the two now own, together, two hundred and seventy acres (fifteen being in Indiana just across the state line). They have brought the land un- der first-class improvement, and have drained it by means of one hundred thousand tile. He was a pioneer in introducing tiling, and paid as much as $38 for four-inch tiles that now sell for $12. The idea of tiling at first seemed ludicrous to his acquaintances, but after a time they saw the utility of it and became interested themselves. While he engaged in general farming, for some years his specialty was the dairy business, and he had on his place a number of full blooded and high-grade Holsteins. In 1889 he left his place in charge of his son and moved to Beecher, ,where he carried on a grain business for a short time, and where he has since made his home.
Of a family of eight, five of whom grew to mature years, Mr. Wilke was third in order of birth, and is the sole survivor. Four of the fam- ily came to America, of whom one daughter died in Indiana, another in Iroquois County, Ill., and Christ, who came to America in 1850, died at the home of his brother Fred. The father, Herman Wilke, a native of Westphalia, Ger- many, was pressed into the Napoleonic army at the time of the march to Moscow, and was one of the few who returned from that ill-fated expe- dition. From that time he engaged in farming until he died, at fifty-nine years. He married Katherine Waltman, who was born in West- phalia and died there when thirty-nine years old.
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In Westphalia, where he was born March 17, 1829, our subject grew to manhood on his fath- er's large farm, and received his education in German schools and under private tutorship. The death of his father put an end to his classi- cal studies and forced him into the world of commercial activity. After working for an uncle for a time, in 1850 he entered the Fifteenth Reg-
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iment Infantry, where he served for two years and became a non-commissioned officer. In 1854 he left Bremen on a sailing vessel that reached New York City after a voyage of six weeks, and from there he proceeded to Cincin- nati, Ohio, joining his brother Christ. From that time until 1860 he was employed on an omni- bus line in that city. He then came to Illinois, and has since been identified with the history of Will County, as farmer, business man and offi- cial.
The first marriage of Mr. Wilke united him with Miss Mary Nuenker, whom he had known in childhood. She died at twenty-four years of age. Two children were born of that union, both now deceased, Henry having died in child- hood in Cincinnati, while Lizzie, Mrs. Scheiwe, died in 1890, leaving three children, two of whom survive. The second wife of Mr. Wilke was Christina Brutlag, who was born in West- phalia. The only child of this union, Herman F., is a member of the firm of Bidefeldt & Wilke, at Beecher, owners of a large lumber and coal business, and an agricultural implement store, and with their warehouses on the Chicago & Eastern Illinois road. Twice married, by his first wife he had a son, Frederick. His second wife was Sophie Meier, by whom he has eight children.
From 1862 to 1864 Mr. Wilke was assessor of Washington Township. Later he was collector. In 1870 he was elected supervisor without oppo- sition and continued until 1884, when he re- signed, but after a year and four months he was again elected without solicitation on his part.
From that time to the present he has continued in the office, which he has held for a longer pe- riod than any other supervisor in the entire state; and it may be added that, in all the time since 1870, he has had opposition only two times. He has been a member of various committees, and has worked in the interest of all public build- ings that have been erected, being a member of the committees that built the court house, im- proved the poor farm, put up the residence on that farm, and remodeled the sheriff's residence and jail. In 1899 he was elected chairman of the board of supervisors, without opposition, and by virtue of this office he is also chairman of the board of review, the first board in the county un- der the new law. In 1888, on the Republican ticket, he was elected to the legislature, leading the ticket by three hundred majority. He was re-elected in 1890, and again in 1892 he received a large majority. In the various bills that were brought up before the legislature he took an ac- tive interest, favoring movements in the interests of his constituents and the public at large. As a committee member, his record was unexcelled for faithfulness and intelligence. After three terms of service he retired, refusing further nomination for the office. Since 1890 he has been school treasurer of Washington Township, and he handles and is responsible for the township's school fund of $11,500. Religiously he is a Lutheran. He took an active part in the build- ing of the Eagle Lake Church, being chairman of the building committee, and he still holds his membership with this congregation, of which for years he was the treasurer.
Ges St. Woodruff
GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
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GEORGE H. WOODRUFF.
EORGE H. WOODRUFF. In the annals of Will County no name is entitled to more lasting remembrance than that of Mr. Wood- ruff, who was one of its pioneers and is well known as its historian. A fluent writer, he put in permanent form, for the benefit of future gen- erations, many incidents connected with the early history of the county and its brave pioneers. Among his works are "History of the Black Hawk War;" "Patriotism of Will County," a record of the men from here who took part in the war with the south; "Will County on the Pacific Slopes," which gave sketches of the men who went to California during the gold excitement of 1849-51; and "Woodruff's History of Will County."
The first home of the Woodruff family in Amer- ica was in Connecticut, and later generations lived in New York. In the latter state Theor Woodruff was born and spent much of his life, engaging in business as a manufacturer of scythes and edged tools, but at an advanced age he came to this county, joining his son in Joliet, and re- maining here until his death. His son, the sub- ject of this sketch, was born in Clinton, N. Y., August 16, 1814, and was one of three children, of whom the other son died in boyhood, and the daughter, Adele, wife of M. H. Demmond, died in New York. George H. was educated in Ham- ilton College, at Clinton, from which he gradu- ated at eighteen years. In the summer of 1834 he came to Joliet with his brother-in-law, Mr. Demmond, for whom he clerked in the general mercantile business. Prior to 1840 he established the Pioneer drug store on Bluff, between Ex- change street and Western avenue, and afterward
for many years had his place of business at the corner of Bluff and Exchange, continuing there until his death. He was the first circuit clerk and recorder of the county, and also held the office of county judge at one time. He assisted in the organization of the First Presbyterian Church and long held office as its treasurer. A stanch believer in Republican principles, he voted with that party after its organization. After having been in poor health for three years he died November 1, 1890, fifty-six years after his arrival in the then frontier town of Joliet.
The first wife of Mr. Woodruff, Hannah (Lucas) Woodruff, was born in New York and died in Joliet, leaving a son, Henry Theor Wood- ruff, and two daughters, Annie Mary, a teacher in Marion, Ala., and Julia H., a teacher in the Joliet high school. The son graduated in medi- cine in Chicago and is now practicing his profes- sion in Harvard, Ill. During the Civil war he was surgeon of the One Hundredth Illinois In- fantry and remained at the front until the close of the war, with the exception of the time when he was imprisoned in Libby. Mr. Woodruff's last marriage united him, in Joliet, in 1857, with Mrs. Achsah (Wheeler) Perkins, who was born in Berkshire, Mass., and died in Joliet. Her father, Harry Wheeler, a native of Massachu- setts, served in the war of 1812. Late in life he moved west to Illinois and established a lumber and nursery business in Aurora, from which city he came to Joliet, and died here at the age of ninety-two. His father, Benjamin Wheeler, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war and a member of the Massachusetts legislature; the latter's wife bore the maiden name of Achsah Johnson. The
2
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
mother of Mrs. Woodruff was Clarissa, daughter of Elisha and Alice (Freeman) Harman, the former of whom was a native of Berkshire Coun- ty, Mass., and a lifelong resident there. Mrs. Woodruff was one of three children, having two brothers: Henry, who died in Aurora; and Mark H., who served in a Connecticut regiment during the Civil war until he was killed in the storming of Port Hudson. When a girl Mrs. Woodruff was a student at Mount Holyoke Seminary, grad- uating in 1848. Soon afterward she became the wife of Dr. John P. Perkins, a graduate of the Albany Medical College. They came to Joliet in 1856, and the doctor died in this city while still a young man. Afterward Mrs. Perkins was married to Mr. Woodruff, by whom she had two sons, namely: George F., who is a chemist in Chicago and makes his home in West Grossdale; and Harry Wheeler, whose sketch follows this.
We cannot more appropriately close this mem- oir than with the presentation of "Israel's Pray- er," by Mr. Woodruff, as it appears in "Bitter Sweet:"
Our father's God! To Thee we come once more, With united voice and heart, to offer
Thanks and prayer. Thanks for the past, whether Of good, or seeming ill. Thanks that we meet Once more beneath the old roof ! Our Father! Forgive our sin, for sin is ours, we dare Not lay it at Thy door! Our Father, give Us humility! May we not presume To comprehend Thee or Thy way so full Of mystery! We only ask light enough To guide us to Thee! We ask strength that May overcome our weakness and resist Temptation, and strong grow in virtue. Give us faith! Faith in Thyself and in Thy Wisdom, power and love and holiness, And in Thy purposes of good to man. Father, in Thy Son, and in His sacrifice; Father in heaven and in joy eternal In store for all who Thy dear Son accept. Give us love! Love supreme and reverent To Thyself !- to each other tender and Patient, and to the world, outside Thy fold, Pitiful and helpful.
And now once more
We lie down to sleep, safe under Thy wing. May we wake rested and with thankful heart! And when we take our last deep sleep may we wake In heaven! We ask all in Christ's dear name. Amen!
ARRY W. WOODRUFF, M. D. There is no branch of the medical science requiring greater skill or more thorough knowledge of its intricacies than that which relates to dis- eases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. In an intimate knowledge of these specialties Dr. Wood- ruff has few equals among physicians of his own age and few superiors even among those of greater experience than his own. He has confined his practice exclusively to the treatment of these dis- eases, believing that in the present development of therapeutics he is most successful who devotes himself exclusively to one of its departments. Since 1893 he has engaged in practice in Joliet, where he has his office in the Auditorium. Dur- ing all of this time he has also acted as surgeon to the Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary in Chicago. In 1897 he was appointed a professor in the Chi- cago Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat College, and has since filled one of the important chairs in that institution, for this purpose making bi-weekly trips to Chicago.
In Joliet, where he was born February 18, 1868, Dr. Woodruff grew to manhood, attending the public schools and graduating from the high school in 1886. His home was one of culture, and from his earliest recollections he had the advantage of refined surroundings, his father, George H. Woodruff, being a man of literary tastes, while his mother was also well educated and cultured. At an early age he began to assist his father in the drug business and in this way first became interested in the medical profession. Desiring to gain a complete knowledge both of pharmacy and medicine, he studied both under competent instructors, graduating from the Chi- cago College of Pharmacy in 1889, with the de- gree of Ph. G., and from the Chicago College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1892, with the degree of M. D. In a competitive examination he was appointed resident surgeon to the Illinois Char- itable Eye and Ear Infirmary, where he remained for one year, but has continued to be connected with the institution as a surgeon up to the pres- ent time. Every matter of vital interest to his profession receives his consideration. He has been a contributor to medical journals, his arti-
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cles usually bearing upon some theme that is connected with his specialties. He is a member of the Chicago Ophthalmological Association, and is also connected with the American, Illinois State and Will County Medical Societies, the last-named of which has honored him by election to its pres- idency.
The marriage of Dr. Woodruff, in Deerfield, N. Y., united him with Miss Jennie Coventry, who was born in La Salle County, Ill., and re- ceived her education in Utica, N. Y., and the Houghton Seminary at Clinton, N. Y. The two sons born of their marriage are George H. and Robert C., who are namesakes of their grand- fathers. The family attend the First Presbyte- rian Church, with which the doctor has been identified from boyhood.
- OYAL E. BARBER, a resident of this coun- ty since 1832, represents the seventh gener- ation of his branch of the Barber family in America, the first of his ancestors in this country being Matthew, who in 1634 came from England to Connecticut. From Connecticut Daniel. Bar- ber, with others, removed to Benson, Rutland County, Vt., about 1780, and there followed farm pursuits. His son, John, father of Royal E., was born in Benson in 1796, and during the war of 1812 was one of the volunteers who marched to Plattsburg to defend that city against the Brit- ish; however, his company did not reach the place until after the battle liad been fought. Later he served as captain of the military com- pany in his native town. He married Emma Perry, who was born of English descent in Or- well, Rutland County, Vt., and was a cousin of Commodore Oliver H. Perry. They became the parents of six children who attained maturity, three of whom are now living.
In 1831 a party of men from Rutland County came west and the reports they sent back were so encouraging that Jolin Barber decided to seek a home in Illinois. In the fall of 1832, accom- panied by his family and others, he started on the
long journey, traveling by packet from Whitehall to Buffalo, which took a week. From there the steamer "Henry Clay" took them in two days to Detroit, where they boarded the schooner "Aus- terlitz" for Chicago, arriving a week later. The schooner anchored three miles from land, owing to a sand bar that rendered further progress im- possible. Passengers and freight were taken ashore in boats, which, being small, stuck to the sand bars, but were pushed out by the sailors. The passengers landed in the Chicago River, at the foot of Wabash avenue. At that time Fort Dearborn was enclosed by a few stockades. Tlie only frame building in the place had been built by J. H. Kinzie, of lumber which he hauled from Walker's Grove (now Plainfield, this county). Mr. Barber was offered by a real-estate agent a lot on Lake street, 85x200, for $50, but ridiculed the idea of "sinking $50 in a mud hole." Get- ting a team, which forded the South branch of the river a little south of the junction of the branches, he proceeded to Naperville, where some acquaintances had settled. He selected farm land at what was later known as Barber's Corners, this county, and in February, 1833, moved his family into a log house. The sur- roundings were primitive. For many years oxen were used in ploughing. At that time the whole country was an open stretch of prairie, with the exception of a grove here and there and generally skirting a water stream. The only building in Joliet was a log house below what is now the corner of Exchange and Bluff streets. Through exposure in the cold winter, when engaged in getting out rails for liis fences, Mr. Barber con- tracted rheumatism, from which he suffered al- most constantly during his later years. His wife died May 1, 1874, and three years later lie passed. away.
Much of the work of developing and improving this part of Illinois had been witnessed by Mr. Barber. About three years after he came here the canal was first begun by the state. It was operated under contract for two years, when, the funds being exhausted, the work stopped. I11 1845 the state succeeded in making a loan of a large sum in England and thereupon resumed
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work, with some changes from the original plans. When the canal authorities were arrang- ing the route of the canal they asked the proprie- tor of West Joliet to give them a certain block of land for their headquarters, and promised in re- turn to give their influence to aid the then new town, but the proprietor refused. Upon that, they laid out what is now Lockport, which at first was a rival to Joliet, the authorities doing all in their power to foster their own town, which indeed for a time seemed to have the advantage; but when in 1852 the Rock Island Railroad en- tered Joliet, the town took on new life and in two years had left Lockport far in the rear. The ca- nal was completed and opened in 1847.
Born in Benson, Vt., August 3, 1822, the sub- ject of this sketch was ten years of age when he accompanied his parents on the toilsome journey to the west. In those days schools were few and consequently his advantages were meager. In the spring of 1833 he began to break prairie land, using five yoke of oxen. From the time he was sixteen he taught school in the winters and farmed in the summer months. However, he found farm work (which was then all done by hand) too hard upon him, and the recurrence of chills and fever at each harvest season led him to determine to seek another occupation. When he came to Joliet in 1845 he was the owner of an eighty-acre farm which his energy and industry had secured for him. For several years he was employed as deputy in the offices of the circuit and county clerk, then known as the county com- inissioner's court. Meantime he studied law and in 1847 he was admitted to the bar and be- gan to practice in this circuit, which included all the territory from Iroquois to Winnebago Coun- ties inclusive. Judge Henderson at that time presided over the circuit court, and was one of probably six or seven circuit judges in Illinois. Later, with the increase of population, the size of the circuits was lessened. He has continued in practice from that time to this and is now the old- est attorney of Joliet.
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