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 24
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 24
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March 30, 1875, Mr. Murphy married Miss E. C. Wilson, by whom he has two children, Mary A. and William A. Mrs. Murphy is a daughter of Capt. Andrew Wilson, of Sparta, who was with A. D. Straight in the escape by tunnel from Libby prison during the Civil war, but was subsequently recaptured.
fortune in the new world, but his parents strongly opposed him in his wish. However, he deter- mined to cross the ocean in spite of their protests, and so he told his father to give his share in the family estate to an invalid sister. From that day he never asked his father for any aid, but was able to make his way in the world for himself. With a good letter of recommendation from the firm he liad been with several years and with just enough money to pay his way to America, he set sail from Liverpool August 12, 1856. After a voyage of six weeks and two days he landed in New York September 24 and debarked from the four-masted sailing vessel "City of Mobile," in which he had made the voyage. From New York he went to Dunkirk, in the same statc, and there was ill for several weeks. As soon as he was able to travel he started for the west. No- vember 7, of the same year, he landed in Lock- port, with only three cents in his pockets. He accepted the first work he could get, for which he was paid $10 a month. In the spring he secured employment which paid him $200 a year, without board. His next work was the building of six hundred rods of fence, and he also engaged in haying during the season. Later he went into the woods and cut cord wood, for which he was paid fifty cents a cord. Going from Will to Grundy County, he worked for $14 a month, continuing there for two years. From 1861 to 1862 he was foreman of a farm of twelve hun- dred acres. He then bought a team and rented a farm in Dupage Township, Will County. After a year he removed to another farm, which he rented for three years, later buying it for $40 an acre. The place comprised eighty-five acres and was fairly well improved. After six years he rented the land and moved to Lockport, in order that his children might attend the school there. Meantinic, for three years he ran an engine in the Romeo warehouse. On selling his farm he has since owned and cultivated, and which is said to be one of the best farms in Lockport Township.
OHN KIRKHAM, the owner of a good farm in Lockport Township, was born in Notting- hamshire, England, August 12, 1832, a member of an old and honored family of that shire. When he was twelve years of age he went to a hotel as first turn boy. He attended night school, but is practically a self-educated man. He was fond of music, and, under the guidance of a competent instructor, he soon acquired a thorough knowledge of the violin, which he still . bought one hundred and twenty acres, which he plays and enjoys. At fifteen years of age he be- gan to learn engine-building and was apprenticed for six years to Clayton & Shuttleworth, of Lin- Before leaving England Mr. Kirkham was married, in May, 1856, to Miss Mary Naylor, an estimable lady and a consistent member of the coln, under whom he gained familiarity with the business. It was his desire to seek a home and
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Methodist Episcopal Church. She died April 3, 1898, leaving two children, namely: William Henry, a farmer in this county; and Allie Louisa, wife of Edson E. Harder, who rents his father-in-law's farm.
In political views Mr. Kirkham is liberal and independent, voting for the man rather than the party. Interested in good roads and in good schools, he has done excellent service for the dis- trict while filling the offices of pathmaster and school director. A believer in Christianity and in sympathy with Christian work, he has assisted religious enterprises as he has been able. Al- though he started in this county wholly without means, he has worked his way to a position of independence which will permit him to spend his declining years in retirement from active cares, enjoying the rest he has so truly earned and richly deserved.
LEXANDER GROSS, who resides in the suburbs of Joliet, is engaged in business as a contractor of stone sidewalks and curbing. He was born in Kadelburg, Baden, Germany, January 26, 1834, and was the son of Casper and Anna (Zuber) Gross, natives of the same place. His father carried on a small farm and at the same time operated a stone quarry, continuing the two occupations until his death, at sixty-four years. His wife, who was a daughter of Jacob Zuber, a farmer, died when sixty-seven years old. They were the parents of eight children, four of whom survive, viz .: Alexander; Mrs. Mary Overman, of Chicago; John, a stone-cutter in Joliet; and Caroline, who lives in Pike County, Il1.
In common with the German custom, our sub- ject left school when fourteen years of age and began to learn a trade. Having become inter- ested in the stone business he decided to learn the trade of a stone-cutter. This he learned. thoroughly and followed in his native land until he came to America in 1854. He sailed from Havre on the sailing vessel "Mammoth," which anchored in New York after a voyage of fifty-four days. From there he traveled to Chicago, where
he secured employment at his trade. In Septem- ber, 1857, he came from Chicago to Joliet, and worked at his trade in the building of the state penitentiary, being one of the first stone-cutters employed in that work. He was appointed fore- man of the stone department in the prison in the summer of 1858, a responsible position which he held for twenty-three years. From the time the first convicts were brought to the peni- tentiary he taught them the trade, and he had many interesting experiences in attempting to transform lawyers, doctors, tailors, etc., into stone-cutters; but with few exceptions they were able to succeed at the trade. He found that as a class the sailors made the best workmen.
Resigning the charge of the department in 1881, Mr. Gross started a quarry of his own with James Bruce & Co., and continued in that until 1887, when he sold out. The next year he bought an interest with M. Krakar in the Krakar Stone Company, of which he was secretary and treasurer, at the same time acting as superin- tendent of the company's quarries on North Broadway and East Maple street. He was a partner in the firm for six years, after which the business was sold to the Joliet Limestone Com- pany, and he continued with them for two years as foreman. Since then he has contracted for stone sidewalks and curbing, a business for which his long experience in the stone trade admirably qualifies him. He owns a neat residence on North Broadway, surrounded by seventeen acres of grounds, well laid out and rendered attractive by the presence of shade trees. He is a member of the Saengerbund, the Joliet Sharpshooters' Association, the Turner Society and Mount Joliet Lodge No. 42, A. F. & A. M. In politics he favors Republican principles.
The marriage of Mr. Gross took place in Joliet and united him with Miss Margaret Uebel, who was born in Prussia. They have four children living, namely: Laura, who is the wife of John Servis, of Joliet; Rosetta; Albertina, who is a graduate of the Illinois State University at Cham- paign; and Theodore, a graduate of the Joliet high school, and now foreman for Bruce Bros., of this city.
Juo Dixhian
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COL. JOHN BARNARD FITHIAN.
OL. JOHN BARNARD FITHIAN. The position which Colonel Fithian has held in public and professional affairs since he came to Joliet in 1873 entitles him to rank among the leading men of the city. He was born in Liv- ingston County, N. Y., October 26, 1849, and was third in a family of five, his brothers and sisters being: W. W., who served in the Sixteenth Kansas Cavalry during the Civil war, but is now a resident of Joliet; Edward C., of Minnesota; Frances C., who resides in California; and Mrs. Lillian C. Lewis, of New York City. His father, Rev. William Fithian, a native of New Jersey, entered the ministry of the Presbyterian Church, remaining in the east until 1857, when he settled in northwestern Iowa. In the fall of 1860 he accepted a pastorate in Quincy, Ill. During the Civil war he entered the Union army and was as- signed to the charge of the sanitary department, afterward making his headquarters in St. Louis. In later years he gave his time mostly to lectur- ing, which work took him to the principal cities of the United States. He died of cholera in 1874. His wife, who was a daughter of Dr. Clark, of Dansville, N. Y., died in 1858.
The schooling of Colonel Fithian was limited to a few years, as since he was twelve he lias been dependent upon his own efforts for the acquire- ment of knowledge. In 1869 he secured em- ployment in newspaper work in Carlinville, later was reporter on the Jacksonville Journal staff, next went to Belleville and from there to Litch - field. In February, 1873, he came to Joliet, where he was employed in connection with the penitentiary, and at the same time studied law.
In 1875 he assisted in organizing the militia, in which he was successively promoted from lower to higher offices, and at the time of his resigna- tion in 1883 held the office of colonel of the Fourth Illinois Regiment. September 15, 1876, he was admitted to the bar, at which time he discon- tinued his other work and turned his attention to the building up of a general practice. In this he was successful, becoming known as a safe coun- sclor and able attorney. He has since devoted himself to the law, from the practice of which he has acquired a neat income as well as an excellent reputation.
Politics engages Colonel Fithian's attention to the extent that it deserves of every public- spirited citizen. He is a stanch Republican, a believer in all of the party principles, but not an active politician. At this writing he is super- visor of the sixth district of Illinois for the census of 1900, his district comprising the coun- ties of Will, Kankakee, Iroquois and Vermilion. In January, 1878, he married Edna C., daughter of Captain Whitaker, of Carlinville, Ill .; they have one child now living, Lillian Clare.
The connection of Colonel Fithian with the Masonic order dates from 1875, when hic was initiated into the blue lodge and took the first dc- gree of Masonry. He has since been an inter- ested worker in the fraternity. On the organiza- tion of the council at Joliet he was one of its charter members. He has officiated as master for six ycars. In October, 1893, he was ap- pointed district deputy grand master, to which position he has since been reappointed each year. For three years he was commander of the Com-
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mandery and at this writing is the principal con- ductor of the work of the Grand Council, R. & S. M., of Illinois. He is connected with the Masonic Veterans' Association of Illinois.
A LBERT J. BATES. Not only in Joliet, but throughout this and other states, Mr. Bates is known through the medium of his inven- tions. There are few who possess greater inven- tive ability than he. This talent was shown even in his early boyhood. When twelve years of age, although he had never seen a scroll saw, he constructed one which was operated by foot power; the steel of a hoop skirt was used for the saw blades by filing teeth in it, and the machine operated successfully. Three years later, long before the days of bicycles in southwestern Mis- souri, he made of wood a two-wheeled machine with a front wheel of forty-four inches, which did him service for some years; he had never seen a wheel of any kind and was guided in his work solely by the pictures in catalogues. The greater number of the machines manufactured by the Bates Machine Company, of which he is a stockholder and director, were made and per- fected by him, and, of varying uses and qualities, illustrate the versatility of his inventive faculties.
The ancestry of the Bates family appears in the sketch of William O. Bates, presented on another page. The subject of this sketch was born, of Canadian parentage, in Washington, Iowa, in 1863. When five years of age he accompanied his parents to Carthage, Mo., where he attended school. Naturally gifted in mechanics, his ac- tivities were early turned in that direction. For a year he worked in a machine shop at Carthage and for eight months in a shop at Springfield, Mo. He then went to St. Louis, where he held a position as scroll sawyer for three months and later was an employe in a steam pump factory. In 1882 he went to Chicago, where he was em- ployed for two years in machine shops. While there he built machines for making check wire
for a Joliet firm, by whom he was offered a po- sition as foreman of their machine department. Coming to Joliet, in a few months he was also made superintendent of their barb wire depart- ment. Meantime he made several machines for special uses. However, the remuneration not being in proportion to his work, he resigned as foreman, and engaged in designing and building on contract machines for manufacturing wire.
With his brother organizing the firm of Bates Brothers, Mr. Bates started a machine shop in the fall of 1885. The firm engaged in the manu- facture of wire mill machinery and also carried on general machine work. The plant burned down and was rebuilt on a different site. In 1888 the Bates Machine Company, which has since developed into one of the most important industries of Joliet, was incorporated. Of this Mr. Bates was secretary and treasurer from the time of the incorporation until September, 1895, but his outside business gradually took an in- creasing amount of his time and thought, and obliged him to resign as an officer of the com- pany, although he still continues to hold stock and is a member of the directorate. The com- pany pays high wages and employs only skilled labor. The plant runs during the entire year and the products comprise all kinds of wire mill machinery, including engines of two thousand horse-power, some of which are shipped to the gold mines of South Africa. There is scarcely any part of the world to which the engines have not gone, and in every place their value is ini- mediately recognized by those most competent to judge.
As mechanical engineer and a large stock- holder, Mr. Bates is now identified with the American Steel and Wire Company. He is pres- ident and the principal owner of the Joliet Pure Ice Company, which carries on a large wholesale and retail business, and owns a plant having a daily capacity of forty tons; the most of the ma- chinery used in connection with the plant was manufactured by Mr. Bates. He holds stock in the American Tin Plate Company, is extensively interested in lead and zinc mines at Galena, Kans., and is president and the principal owner
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of the Bates-Cotter Company. His attention is principally given to the designing of machinery for wire mills. He is the inventor of the Bates woven wire fence machine, which manufactures two designs of fence, and which was the first ever used in the mills of the American Steel and Wire Company. Through his efforts the machinery was simplified so that the manufacture can be carried on at about one-tenth the cost of any other machine. Over ninety per cent. of all the barb wire made in the world is manufactured on his machines, and his designs for the manufacture of woven wire are the latest and best developed.
So deeply has Mr. Bates been engrossed in the designing and manufacture of his various in- ventions that he has had no leisure for public af- fairs and politics, in which, aside from voting the Republican ticket, he takes no part whatever. He is a member of the Union Club of Joliet. His beau- tiful home, at No.600 Western avenue, is presided over by his accomplished wife, formerly Ellen Amos, a native of England, and in girlhood a resident of Colorado. She is identified with the Presbyterian Church and holds a prominent place in the most select social circles of Joliet. Mr. and Mrs. Bates have four children: Pearl, Walter, Richard and Albert J., Jr.
ILLIAM O. BATES, treasurer and general manager of the Bates Machine Company, was actively connected with the organiza- tion and incorporation of this concern in 1888, and, as superintendent, had charge of the build- ing of the foundry and shop. The gradual in- crease of the business to the present large aggre- gate of products is due, in no small extent, to his ability and judicious oversight, in conjunction with the work of the other officers of the com- pany. Employment is given to two hundred skilled laborers, who are engaged in the manu- facture of the company's patents. The output has increased from $35,000 to $250,000 at the present writing, and the products are shipped
to every part of the globe. The works are located in the east part of Joliet and cover six acres, con- nected with the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, and through it with the Santa Fe, Michigan Central, Alton, and Elgin, Joliet & Eastern roads, by means of which facilities for shipping are furnished that are unequaled in the entire west.
Born in Hamilton, Canada, July 15, 1860, the subject of this article is a son of Joshua and Mary (Oswald) Bates, natives respectively of Hamilton .and Brantford, Canada. His grandfather Bates was of English descent, while the other grand- father, James Oswald, a farmer in Canada, traced his ancestry to Scotland. For some years Joshua Bates was employed at pattern-making and rail- road-building in Canada. In 1863. he removed to Washington, Iowa, where he engaged in con- tracting and building. Four years later he settled in Carthage, Mo., where he became well known as a contractor. In 1886 he joined his sons in Joliet and assisted them in their factory as a pattern-maker. He died in this city February 10, 1899, when sixty-nine years of age. His wife died in Carthage, Mo. They were the parents of two daughters (both now in Los Angeles, Cal.), and four sons, of whom three are living, all in Joliet.
At the time the family settled in Iowa W. O. Bates was three years of age, and four years later he accompanied his parents to Carthage, Mo., where he studied in the public and high schools. In 1875 he was apprenticed to the machinist's trade in Carthage. For three years he continued as an apprentice, after which he was made fore- man in the same shop. Resigning in 1882, he sought a larger field for work, and for three years he was connected with various large. shops in Chicago. In 1885 he came to Joliet and assisted in forming the firm of Bates Brothers, which equipped a shop near the center of town and be- gan to manufacture wire-working machinery. On the dissolution of the partnership he became superintendent of the Bates Machine Company, of which, since 1895, he has been treasurer and general manager. His time has been so closely given to business matters that he has never
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mingled with others in the conduct of political affairs, although he is well informed concerning politics and adheres to Republican principles. Socially he is connected with the Union Club. While in Chicago he married Miss Mary Clarey, who was born in Brantford, Canada, and by whom he has three sons, Harry J., Elbert J. and W. Oswald.
One of the most widely known products of the Bates Machine Company's works is the Bates- Corliss engine, which embraces in its construction all that is superior in the original Corliss type, together with many new and important features, which give increased efficiency with a lesser de- gree of complication. From the foundry to the erecting room the best skill is used in its manu- facture, so that the finished product is unexcelled for accuracy of construction and perfect work- manship. Its main attributes are strength, utility, form and durability, all of which are pro- moted by the original style of valve trips used. In 1895 the Franklin Institute recommended the award of the John Scott legacy medal and premium to Albert J. Bates for his invention of these valve trips. Awards were also received from the judges of engines in the World's Columbian Exposition. The engines are used in every part of the world and have given universal satisfaction wherever introduced. A number of vertical condensing engines have been purchased by the Pullman Palace Car Company and other well-known con- cerns in Chicago. While the bulk of the engines remain in the United States, some have been shipped to other countries. Three steam jacketed cylinder pumping engines were built for the New
Heidelberg Roodeport Gold Mining Company at Johannesburg, S. A. R .; two cross compound condensing and one steam jacketed cylinder for the Vesta Gold Mining Company, in the same place, and one engine for the New Rand mines there, while other companies in the same town have purchased engines of various kinds. Ship- ments have been made to Japan, Mexico and other countries.
In the field of wire machinery the Bates Machine Company are pioneers. It is due in no small measure to their efforts that, during the past fifteen years, from an output of five hundred pounds of 8d nails per ten hours the production has increased to three thousand pounds of 8d nails in the same time. The Bates wire nail machine is designed in such a manner as to make it serviceable in the highest degree, and is con- structed so as to make either one or two nails at each revolution. The wire nail barbing machine will barb all sizes of nail wire from No. 16 to No. 2 rod, and is equipped with steel shaftings, cut gears and bearings bushed with bronze. Among other machines manufactured are the wire nail rumbler for tumbling and cleaning wire nails and screws, a combination two and four point barbing machine, a plain wire twisting machine, wire staple machine, wire drawing frame and blocks, power wire and hand wire pointing machines, die plate hammering machines, wire baker, wire muffle, wire mill buggy, wire annealing furnace and steam crane, and galvanizing reel and wiper; also the Cookson Improved feed water heater, purifier, filter and oil separator, which is said to be one of the finest heaters in the world.
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HON. JACOB F. LOTZ.
ON. JACOB F. LOTZ. It is always a was accidentally killed by a tree falling upon him in a storm. His wife, who died in Blair
proof of ability and faithfulness when a man remains with the same firm for a long peri- . County, was the daughter of a Revolutionary od of years, discharging responsible duties in an soldier, a member of Washington's body guard. By her first husband, Mr. Robinson, she had two children, both now deceased. Of her second marriage six children were born, two of whom are living, John Lotz, of Huntingdon County, Pa., and our subject. intelligent and praiseworthy manner. Such is the record of the subject of this sketch, who came to Lockport July 20, 1858, as head miller for Norton & Co., and continued in that capacity and as superintendent until January, 1899, a period of more than forty years. Finally failing health rendered it advisable for him to sever his connection with the company and he retired to private life. He has been active in local matters, and was elected the first mayor of Lockport, holding the office for two terms. At another time lie served as president of the board of trus- tees of Lockport. For fifteen years he was a member of the school board and during much of that time served as its president; during his con- nection with the board the high school and other buildings were erected. In politics he has al- ways been a Democrat. Fraternally he is iden- tified with Lockport Lodge No. 538, A. F. & A. M., of which he is chaplain; and is also a member of Joliet Commandery No. 4, K. T. With his family he attends the Methodist Epis- copal Church, and at the time of the erection of the house of worship he served on the building committee.
Near Altoona, Blair County, Pa., our subject was born May 18, 1824, a son of Jacob and Catlı- erine (Troxell) Lotz, natives respectively of Ger- many and Cambria County, Pa. His father, after having learned the miller's trade and served in the German army, came to the United States and settled in what is now Huntingdon County, Pa. When his son was eighteen months old he
When Mr. Lotz was nine years of age he was orphaned by his mother's death. He was then taken into a farmer's home, with the understand- ing that he would be permitted to attend school winters, but instead, he was obliged to work both summer and winter. At eigliteen years of age, having determined to obtain an education, he made arrangements for working for his board, with the privilege of studying. This he did, and in a measure made up for his lack of earlier op- portunities. Afterward he worked in a mill at $6 per month, remaining there for several years. After his marriage, in 1848, he rented a mill, which he operated for three years. In 1854 he came west to Illinois; finding business dull in Lockport, he went to Dixon, where he worked for three years or more, but was unfortunate in losing $1,000 that he had saved. From Dixon he returned to Lockport, and has since made his home here. During the Civil war he was drafted in the army, but was rejected on a physician's examination, owing to physical disability.
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