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 30
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 30
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Andrew O. Fosse was born in Lisbon Town- ship October 2, 1876, was reared on the old homestead and received a common-school educa- tion as well as practical business training as a clerk. For a year he was a partner of H. Court- right in a general store at Newark, under the title of Courtright & Fosse, after which he bought out his partner, and, after remaining in business alone a few months, formed the firm as it now exists. The stock consists of a well-selected sup- ply of dry goods, clothing, furnishing goods, etc., in fact, everything that a general store should have; which fact, added to the geniality and courtesy of the proprietors, accounts for the satisfactory growth of the business. On Chris- mas, 1899, he married Mattie A., daughter of Nels O. and Bertha (Fritz) Holte. She was born in Fox Township, where her father was a large land owner, having two hundred and forty acres of choice land. Mr. Holte is now living in Newark, his farm being rented.
Mr. Fosse is one of the officers of Newark Camp No. 963, Modern Woodmen of America. He is a member of Helmar Lutheran Church, and is a stanch Republican in political principle. Mrs. Fosse was a student of vocal and instru-
mental music at the University of Wisconsin, having previously pursued a preparatory course at Valparaiso, Ind., and is a useful member of society in Newark. She is especially active in church and Sunday-school work.
F RAHAM G. HUNT, proprietor of the Mini- ni-yan Springs at Bristol, was born in Con- necticut December 20, 1829, and was eleven years of age when the family came to Illinois. His father, Reuben Hunt, in 1839 settled about ten miles south of Ottawa, Ill., but, thinking the location too remote, he made a trip of inspection through Minooka and adjacent points. Upon coming to Bristol he bought a claim of Nathaniel Burton. About forty acres consisted of prairie land and the remainder was heavily timbered, but was gradually cleared for the sake of the timber. He did not engage actively in farming, but took up the practice of law, having grad- uated from the Litchfield Law School in Con- necticut. In 1853, when the railroad came through, he sold off much of his land in lots, for which he was paid from $600 to $800. He was active in local affairs, and served for many years as justice of the peace; also was county commis- sioner at the time that Kendall County was formed from Kane and LaSalle Counties. In politics he was first a Whig, later a Democrat of the Jeffersonian type. His death occurred in 1873, and his body was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery, north of Bristol. Before leaving Con- necticut he had married Emeline, daughter of Amos Hunt, a cousin. She died about ten years after his demise. They were the parents of eight children, of whom Graham G. is the only one now living in this township. He has two sisters in this county, Mrs. Lewis Steward and Mrs. Ellen Pepper. The oldest brother, Charles F., was running a boat between St. Louis and New Orleans at the outbreak of the Civil war and was impressed into the Confederate service, but es- caped, and later was with General Banks and had command of the transport Iberville.
The Hunt family was founded in America by
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an Englishman early in the seventeenth century. For many generations his descendants lived in Massachusetts, but four brothers, Amos, Salmon, David and Russell, moved to Salisbury, Conn., and engaged in iron manufacture there, manu- facturing iron that was specially fitted for the making of car wheels. Their product brought twice the ordinary price of iron. While con- ducting this business Salmon Hunt and his nephew, our subject's father, manufactured the first wrought iron cannon ever made. It was welded from rings and carried a six-pound shot. When Reuben Hunt came west he brought it with him.
During the Revolution and the war of 1812 the family had representatives at the front, fighting for independence, and not a few of the name have attained prominence in the army. Governor Russell, of Massachusetts, is closely related to the Hunts, his mother and our subject's father being brother and sister. The mother of General Sedgwick, who was prominent in the Civil war, was also a sister of Reuben Hunt.
After completing his education in Warrenville Academy our subject went east and learned the cabinet-maker's trade, spending three years in one of the best shops in Connecticut. He then began work for himself. His specialty was the manufacture of organs and the making of reeds. In this work he invented many valuable attach- ments and parts. He patented the idea of mak- ing more than one set of reeds for one set of keys, but afterward sold the patent to Estey. In 1857 he returned to Illinois and spent three years, go- ing back east in 1860 and entering the shop of Hotchkiss & Son in Sharon, Litchfield County, Conn. The firm engaged in the manufacture of hardware specialties until the outbreak of the war, when they turned their attention to the making of projectiles under the Hotchkiss patent for the government. At first these were faulty, but Mr. Hunt studied the matter carefully, reill- edied the defect, and afterward they worked suc- cessfully. In 1863 he took charge of the Bridge- port shops of the Hoosatonic Railroad.
I11 1865 Mr. Hunt returned to Illinois. When the Plano Manufacturing Company opened its
plant he went to Plano and became master me- chanic there, remaining until the shop was re- moved to West Pullman. Since then he has operated his place near Bristol. In 1893 he dis- covered the spring here. The land was marshy and he had spent considerable money in tiling. One day he found a spring had broken through, throwing a stream as large as a man's wrist a foot above ground. Having suffered for ten years with rheumatism he tried this water, and in about six weeks had recovered sufficiently so that he could put on his coat. From that time on he im- proved rapidly, and since then he has, by means of this water, been able to cure many people sim- ilarly afflicted. The water is used for external applications, and ten minutes after a bath suffer- ers from acute rheumatism have been relieved. It has also made some wonderful cures in cases of running sores, and is especially curative in cases of nervous troubles. Being a combination of mineral water with gas, it is very effective, as the volatile properties of the gas are mainly cur- ative.
The springs cover sixty-five acres. Mr. Hunt has put in a bottling establishment and ships the water in quantities to Aurora, Chicago, York- ville and Plano. Pop is also manufactured, which is not only pleasant, but has curative prop- erties as well. The name given the spring is Indian, meaning "Health-giving water." It is Mr. Hunt's plan to have a sanitarium here at 110 distant day, and should this idea be carried into execution he will without doubt reap financial success therefrom, at the same time be able to assist many hundreds of sufferers. All of the buildings on the place were erected under his su- pervision, excepting a part of an old structure that was built in 1844.
In addition to his ability in other directions Mr. Hunt is a thorough engineer. He was con- sulting engineer for the first water tunnel built in Chicago, and also consulting engineer for the firm that completed the Hoosac tunnel. To hiim is due the credit for the invention of the oil box now used by all railroads. He also invented a smoke consumer.
September 26, 1866, Mr. Hunt married Carrie
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
M. Botsford, of Seymour, Conn. They have three children now living, Susan Mabel, George Graham and Julia. Their first child, Reuben, is deceased. Mrs. Hunt is the youngest of. the six children of Lyman and Mary Ann (Clark) . Botsford. The father was a native of Winsted and the mother of Old Milford, Conn. Mr. Bots- ford was a machinist by trade and became a preacher of the Methodist faith in his later years. He was of English descent, a son of Charles Botsford. The eldest son of Lyman Botsford, Isaac Beach Botsford, is a stockholder in the Colt's Arms Company, of Hartford, and the other three sons are identified with the Wheeler & Wilson Sewing Machine Company.
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ILLIAM BEDFORD. The position which Mr. Bedford occupies is that of a pioneer and highly honored citizen of Kendall County, where he has made his home since 1848. He was born in Stockport, Cheshire, England, November 25, 1838, but spent his early childhood years near Manchester, where his father, Will- iam Bedford, worked in a cotton factory. In 1848 the family came to America on the sailing vessel Blanchard, which consumed six weeks and two days on the voyage, being greatly de- layed by the loss of its main mast. After landing in New York they proceeded via canal to Buffalo, and from there on the lakes to Chicago. On account of the cholera they were not per- mitted to land in Chicago, so came on direct via canal to Morris. The father took up eighty acres of wild prairie land in Seward Township, which was the last piece of government land taken up in the township. As the land was wet and marshy, people laughed at him for attempting to improve it, but time has proved the wisdom of his act, for the farm is now as good property as is to be found in the township. He continued to reside on the place until his death, in August, 1860. In politics he was a Republican. For a long time he held office -- justice of the peace. By his marriage to Sarah Wood he had eleven children, three of whom served in the Civil war.
When the family settled in Kendall County they were poor, and, as our subject was not old enough to be of much help in clearing the place, he hired out to a farmer who needed a boy. For two years he remained in Big Grove Township, after which he returned home to help his father, remaining with him until he was twenty-two. He then married and started out for himself, buy- ing forty acres, which forms a part of his present homestead. Later he added another forty, and subsequently one hundred and twenty, so that he owned altogether two hundred and forty acres. Being energetic and industrious, and with the help of a wife who was also ambitious, he succeed- ed in making his way. At first he cut his grain with a cradle and bound by hand, marketing at Joliet, to which point he hauled the grain across the intervening prairie on sleds. Corn was planted by hand, covered with earth thrown by a hoe, shelled by hand and hauled in sacks to market. Hay was cut with a scythe. Some years after he settled on the place he became in- terested in the stock business, and still continues to raise cattle and swine.
Since the Republican party was organized Mr. Bedford has voted for its principles and candi- dates. He has been a delegate to county, sena- torial and congressional conventions, and for some years has been a member of the county cen- tral committee. For two terms he served as col- lector, and for many years, at intervals, he held the position of assessor. Next he was constable four years, after which he was elected justice of the peace, an office which he still holds and in which he has served twenty-five years. Prior to 1892 he served nine years as supervisor, and in 1900 was again elected to the office. For a num- ber of years he was chairman of the board. He has also been school trustee and director. The fact that he has been elected to so many local offices testifies to his high standing among his fellow-citizens.
Fraternally Mr. Bedford is a member of Mi- nooka Lodge No. 528, A. F. & A. M., at Minooka, of which he has been master for nine years, and in that office he conferred the degree upon three of his sons. His wife, two daughters and two
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL, RECORD.
sons and one daughter-in-law were charter mem- bers of the Eastern Star chapter at Minooka, and have been very active in its work. The lady whom he married March 6, 1860, bore the maiden name of Sarah Ann Bowden, and was the daugh- ter of English parents, Thomas and Hannah (Fernley) Bowden. To their union were born seven children, viz .: William Henry, who re- sides on the eighty-acre tract taken up by his Grandfather Bedford, one-quarter mile distant from our subject's farm; George and Fred, who cultivate a part of the home place; Lizzie; Frank, who is a farmer just across the line in Grundy County; Ida; and Arthur, who works a portion of the homestead. The present value of Mr. Bedford's farm is largely due to his introduction of a system of drainage. As the land was marshy, he spent about $2,000 in tiling and thus drained the land and greatly increased its productiveness. In 1890 he erected a residence and in 1899 added to it, the whole forming a complete and comfort- able farmi dwelling. All of the other improve- ments on the farm are also the product of his energy and progressive spirit.
IMON DICKSON, a representative farmer of Bristol Township, Kendall County, is a native of Half-Morton, Dumfriesshire, Scot- land, his birth having occurred October 30, 1829. His father, Simon Dickson, Sr., sailed for Amer- ica with his family in 1852, and for six weeks they were tossed to and fro upon the ocean. Upon their arrival upon these hospitable shores they located in Canada, where they resided seven years, being upon a farm about three years. The father, who became a permanent resident of Kendall County in 1859, died at his old home in March, 1878. His wife, formerly Isabella Thompson, also was born in the land of the this- tle and heather, and their marriage was solem- nized there in the early part of this century. Of their six children only our subject is an inhabi- tant of Illinois.
For twenty two years Simon Dickson, Jr., dwelt in his native land and for a year subse-
quent to his arrival here aided his father in estab- lishing his family in Canada and in the cultiva- tion of the farm. In 1853 he came to the west, and after looking for a suitable place to locate permanently, he bought eighty acres in Kendall Township. Then, returning to his relatives, he spent the following two years in Canada. In 1858 he again came to Illinois, and after culti- vating his property two years purchased another tract of two hundred acres, this land being situ- ated in Bristol Township. He continued to op- erate this homestead until 1893, when he became the owner of his present farm of one hundred and seventy acres. In 1897 he leased his other farm to his son, and, as always, he carries on general farming and stock-raising.
In political faith Mr. Dickson is a stalwart Republican. He has taken an active interest in all public affairs, and for nine years served as a school director. Religiously he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and is a reg- ular contributor to the various departments of its work.
The marriage of Mr. Dickson and Janet V. Patterson occurred Marchi 27, 1860. Her father, Matthew Patterson, was born in Scotland, in which country he dwelt until 1835. He came direct to Illinois, where he was one of the early settlers. Here he took up under the homestead law the land where our subject and wife are now living, and this place he broke for cultivation by means of yoked oxen and a primitive plow. Neighbors at that day were few and little had been done in the way of improvement upon these vast prairies. His chief crop was wheat, and as the grain had to be laboriously hauled to Chicago with oxen, the trip taking five days, the profits realized were not large. Just before leaving Scotland he married Jane Conell; to them eiglit children were born, six of whom are yet living. The couple at first lived with a neighboring fam- ily in a log cabin, while he industriously built a house for them. The structure was especially substantial and desirable for that time and local- ity, for the timbers were liewed out in the forests near Aurora, the shingles were hauled from Chi- cago and hardwood was used almost exclusively.
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Besides reducing his land to cultivation and ren- dering his homestead a valuable and beautiful place, Mr. Patterson, with true public spirit, as- sisted in building a number of the early school- houses in his locality, and served in a number of official capacities. He was a true-blue Repub- lican, but was not a politician in the modern sense. He departed this life in April, 1890, when he was in his eightieth year, and his devoted wife, who died in 1880, was in her sixty-fourth year.
The wife of Mr. Dickson well remembers many interesting incidents of her childhood and youth in Kendall County and recalls that period when Indians were plentiful in this region and that they were quiet and peaceable. She also remem- bers the time when they were escorted to the new reservations to which they had been rele- gated. Of the five children born to Mr. and Mrs. Dickson the eldest son and daughter are deceased, namely: Isabella and William A. Ella M. is the wife of John Windett, of this town- ship; Robert S. is carrying on the old homestead belonging to his father; and George M. is at home, aiding in the management of the place.
12 AVID HALL. A noted divine once said, "Never desert your own line of talent. Be what nature intended you for, and you will succeed; be anything else and you will be ten thousand times worse than nothing." That Mr. Hall fully appreciates that thought, is shown by his career, for he has made good use of the talents with which he was endowed, and has won for himself the esteem and respect of the community in which he resides. A resident of Oswego, Kendall County for nearly half a century, he has been engaged in crying sales for more than forty years, meeting with excellent success in his chosen vocation. Probably no auctioneer in this part of the state is more favorably known than he, or has cried more sales, or disposed of more property by sale than he, and during the past year, at the age of seventy-one, he officiated at more than forty sales.
He was born in Centerville, Hunterdon County, N. J., December 21, 1829, a son of John Hall. His father, a native of Hunterdon County, fol- lowed the trade of carpenter in New Jersey until 1851, when he came to Illinois, locating at first in the village of Oswego, as one of its early set- tlers. In 1852 he bought a tract of land con- taining ninety-seven acres in Specie Grove, Oswego Township, and later increased the size of his farm, by purchase, to one hundred and sev- enty acres. Here he was prosperously engaged in mixed husbandry until four years before his death, which occurred suddenly, from heart failure, December 16, 1884, in the village of Oswego. He married Gertrude Carkhuff, who was born, reared and married in Hunterdon County, N. J., and is now living in Oswego, at the advanced age of ninety-one years, a woman of remarkable mental and physical activity. Nine children were born into their household, as follows: David, the subject of this sketch; Asher B .; John K., of Oswego; Mary J., wife of Abra- ham Emmons, of Amboy, Ill .; Harriet A., unmarried, residing in Milwaukee, Wis .; Levi, of Oswego; Elizabeth, Mrs. W. T. Putt, who died in Oswego; Lavinia, wife of George White, city marshal of Oswego; and Ella, widow of the late Dr. Perkins, of Milwaukee, Wis. Asher B. Hall enlisted, in 1861, in the Fourth Illinois Cavalry, and remained in service until the close of the war, serving as quartermaster and first lieutenant. He was mustered out at Houston, Tex., where he was immediately appointed sheriff of Harris County, and later was elected to the same office, which he filled six years. He became largely interested in the sawmill and the mercantile business, both in Texas and Louisiana; and before his death, which occurred in February, 1898, had accumulated a competency.
David Hall having received a practical, com- mon-school education remained beneath the pa- rental roof until nineteen years of age, when he entered the employ of Ripley & Co., of Newark, N. J., where for two years he operated the sta- tionary engine in their sawmill. In November, 1852, the day after casting his first presidential vote in favor of the Whig candidate, General
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Scott, he started for Illinois, traveling by rail to Dunkirk, then across the lake to Cleveland, where he took the stage to Sandusky, Olio, going from there by lake to Detroit, Mich., thence to Chicago via the Michigan Central Railway, coming from there to Oswego, where his father's family, with the exception of Asher B., had preceded him. Here he assisted his father in carrying on the farm until 1855, when he entered the employ of his brother, Asher B. Hall, who had established a grain and elevator business in Oswego. On the breaking out of the war he bought out the interest of his brother, who liad enlisted, and continued the business alone until October 9, 1862, when he closed out. Since that time he has devoted the greater part of his time to auctioneering, in which he has acquired great popularity, and has achieved success.
In September, 1861, Mr. Hall married Paulina R. Wagner, who was born in Hillsborough, Highland County, Ohio, April 18, 1839, and died, February 18, 1893, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. John A. Bell, in Seward Town- ship. Mrs. Hall's parents were among the early pioneers of Oswego Township, where both spent the later years of their lives, Mr. Wagner's death occurring December 16, 1884, the same year as that of Mr. Hall's father, John Hall. The only child born to Mr. and Mrs. Hall, Nellie Hall, was for many years a popular and successful teacher of Kendall and neighboring counties, having taught until her marriage to John A. Bell, of Seward Township, of whom a sketch may be found elsewhere in this volume.
Mr. Hall was a Whig in his earlier years, but from the formation of the Republican party until the present day has been a zealous worker in the Republican ranks, and since coming to Oswego has served continuously in some official capacity. For a long while he was constable; was assessor more than twenty years; was deputy sheriff of the county one term; commissioner of highways twelve years; an alderman of Oswego several years; has been city marshal; and, at the time the high school building was erected, was a member of the school board. He is interested to a considerable extent in Oswego property, owning
several lots and buildings. Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic order, and until the dis- solution of the Odd Fellows' lodge of Oswego, was one of its active members.
HOMAS T. FLETCHER. Few residents of Kendall County are unfamiliar with the name of Mr. Fletcher, for he is one of its largest land owners, and a leading resident of Lisbon Township. In addition to his property and stock-feeding interests, Mr. Fletcher is also a frequent contributor to and correspondent of newspapers. As a writer he is forceful and earnest, especially when the subject is one he feels to be vitally important, affecting the wel- fare of his fellow-citizens. His felicitous man- ner of expressing his thoughts through the medium of the press has often been mentioned and admired.
Mr. Fletcher was born on the homestead of his father, Thomas Fletcher, Sr., June 4, 1860. He was educated in common schools, Jennings Semi- nary of Aurora and the Morris Normal School. After leaving school he spent one year in travel and then returned liome. When twenty-three years of age he began farming for himself on the old homestead, where he continued six years, but then disposed of his interests in the place and removed to Chicago, to engage in the real- estate business. While making his home in Chi- cago he was united in marriage, June 2, 1892, with Miss Ida, daughter of Calvin and Mary (McKee) Armstrong. A son blesses their union, and he bears the name of his father and grandfa- ther, with, however, a slight variance in the middle initial, liis name being Thomas A. Mrs. Fletcher was one of four children and descends from Ohio pioneers. Her paternal grandfather, Thomas Armstrong, was an officer in the war of 1812 and afterward became a wealthy land owner in Wayne County, Olio.
One year after his marriage Mr. Fletcher re- turned to Kendall County, in order that he might personally superintend his large interests in this locality. He owns about eight hundred acres in Lisbon Township, which he leases, also three
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hundred acres in Kendall Township, and city property in Chicago. Besides the management of his landed interests he is engaged in feeding stock. In politics he is a Republican. He at- tends the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which Mrs. Fletcher is a member. A progressive and liberal man, he favors all measures for the benefit of the county and the development of its re- sources.
REDERICK JOHN BEANE. Few men who have lived in Kendall County have won the unqualified esteem and warm friend- ship of the people to so great a degree as did Mr. Beane, who for years made his home in Seward Township. Coupled with his acknowl- edged ability as a farmer were qualities of manhood that endeared him to many. He was an honorable and upright man, genial and com- panionable, and his memory will long be cher- ished among those who were his associates in former years.
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