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 32
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 32
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1812 Benjamin Laning, a brother of Rev. Ralph Laning, was captured by the British in Canada.
After his marriage Dr. Sweetland brought his wife to Illinois, settling in the embryo village of Newark and building one of its first houses. He continued to reside there until his death, August 1, 1849. Almost fifty years later (March 2, 1899) his wife passed away. Their children, Albert M. and Huldah A., still occupy the old homestead. An older son, Nelson L., is a prac- ticing physician and also resides in Newark.
LBERT MONTGOMERY SWEETLAND. Among the young men of our country there has ever been noticeable a desire to leave the old home and seek friends and fortune in distant regions. There are few who remain during their mature years in the town where they were reared, and yet it has sometimes been found by those who leave the old homestead that they leave be- hind them all they went to seek. In the list of native-born sons of Kendall County who have been content to spend their active years amid the associations of youth, and who have attained suc- cess in so doing, the name of State's Attorney Sweetland belongs.
Mr. Sweetland was born in Newark March 17, 1846, a son of Dr. N. D. Sweetland, whose sketch precedes this. He was given good educational advantages. Upon completing the common-school studies he entered Northwestern University at Evanston, where he studied for a time. In 1870 he graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan. Returning to his home town he at once began the practice of his profes- sion, in which he has since engaged. For the past twenty-four years, with the exception of an interval of four years, he has served continuously as prosecuting attorney of Kendall County, being re-elected in 1900, which fact of itself proves the satisfactory nature of his service. A stanch Re- publican in politics, he has taken an active part in public affairs and has represented his party in various county, congressional and state conven- tions, and has served two terms as village trustee. He was a charter member of Newark Lodge, A.
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F. & A. M. (now out of existence), and is con- nected with Sandwich Chapter, R. A. M.
In the spring of 1865, when he was eighteen years of age, Mr. Sweetland enlisted in Company F, One Hundred and Forty-first Illinois Volun- teer Infantry, as fourth sergeant, under General Payne. He was ordered to Columbus, Ky., and served until the close of the war. In the fall of 1865 he was mustered out at Camp Fry, Chicago. He is now a member of Yorkville Post, G. A. R.
The only sister of Mr. Sweetland is a portrait artist of ability, possessing a skill that has brought her the commendation of connoisseurs. Slie ob- tained her education at Evanston and at Newark, being one of the graduates of Fowler Institute under the tuition of Prof. A. J. Anderson. At the age of eighteen she entered the private studio of tlie celebrated portrait artist, Mrs. S. H. St. Jolın, of Chicago, remaining under her tuition for eleven years. It had been her expectation to make art her life work, but the failing health of her mother rendered her presence at home neces- sary, and she consequently gave up her cherished hopes. Her private collection of her own work contains many of rare merit, worthy of a promi- nent place in art galleries, where they would without doubt receive merited notice and appre- ciation.
ELSON I. SWEETLAND, M. D. This well-known practicing physician of Newark was born at the old family homestead in this place May 28, 1843. His education was be- gun in local schools and further continued in Northwestern University, where he took the classical course. During his collegiate life the Civil war broke out and he determined to enlist. As soon as possible he entered the army. May 16, 1864, his name was enrolled as a member of Company F, One Hundred and Forty-first Illi- nois Volunteer Infantry, of which he was elected second lieutenant and which lie assisted materi- ally in organizing. The company was under Captain Barber and the regiment under Colonel Bronson. They engaged in guard and fort duty principally in Kentucky, and were mustered out October 10, 1864,
Upon being honorably discharged the subject of this article entered upon the study of medicine, first under private preceptorship and later in Rush Medical College, from which he graduated with the class of 1867. Returning to Newark he opened an office and began professional practice. He remained liere until 1875, when he removed to Rantoul, Ill., where he carried on a drug busi- ness for a year. On selling out the business he traveled in this state and Indiana, making a specialty of the treatment of rectal diseases. Meantime he made Rantoul his home. In 1878 he came back to Newark, where he has since con - ducted a general practice, but still giving partic- ular attention to his specialty, in which he has met with phenomenal success.
Fraternally Dr. Sweetland was a charter men- ber of Newark Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of which he was past master. He is also a charter mem- ber of Lodge No. 963, A. O. U. W. His mar- riage took place June 1, 1887, and united him with Jennie, daughter of John and Ame (Mc- Dougal) Brodie, all natives of Scotland.
APT. EDWIN BROWN, an honored vet- eran of the Civil war, now living at Mil- lington, was born in Ellery, Chautauqua County, N. Y., February 12, 1835, a son of Da- vid and Mary (Brownell) Brown. His father, who was a native of Dutchess County, N. Y., learned the trades of shoemaker, tanner and cur- rier in his boyhood, and in early manhood drove in a sleigh from Troy to Chautauqua County, accompanied by his wife and one child. There lie followed his trades and cleared and cultivated a tract of farm land. In 1844 he went via the lakes to Chicago, tlience proceeded to Kendall County. After having looked over the country in search of a suitable location he selected some land in the town of Big Grove. The following year he brought his family here, traveling all the way by wagon. The land that he selected was a claim taken up by Dr. Gilman Kendall, after whom the county was named. It consisted of one hundred and forty acres. By birthright Mr.
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Brown was a Quaker. In politics he affiliated burg. His regiment was detailed to accompany with the Whigs. Wlien only one month less than one hundred years of age, in February, 1893, his death occurred on his Kendall County homestead. The lady whom he married in Rensselaer County, N. Y., and who was the daughter of a Quaker preacher, died February 14, 1877. Their bodies lie in Newark cemetery, at Millington. Their three sons and three daugh- ters are as follows: Isaac, a resident of San José, Cal .; Simeon, who lives in Big Grove Township; Sarah, who died in the state of Washington; Mary A., the widow of William Scofield and a resident of Millington; Edwin; and Phœbe Dar- ling, a resident of Colorado.
When the family came to Kendall County the subject of this article was ten years of age. The first railroad he ever saw was at Toledo, Ohio, and he well remembers the ride on a hand-car which he was given there. After more than a month on the highway, traveling in an open lumber-wagon, the family reached their desti- nation. The house they lived in (built by Dr. Kendall) was the first frame building erected in the county, and had shingles both on the roof and the sides. The school which our subject attended was held in a log building, 30 x 40 feet on the ground, with slab seats, puncheon floor, and the other appurtenances of pioneer existence. This room served not only as a schoolhouse, but also as a church. When not in school our sub- ject aided in the cultivation of the farm. In 1860 he went east, and at Middlebush, N. J., married Miss Cathalina Vreeland. During this trip he saw the Star of the West returning from Fort Sumter. Immediately after the battle of Bull Run heenlisted in Company E, Ninety-first Illinois Infantry, and was musteredinto the army at Springfield, Ill., from which point the regiment was ordered to Kentucky to relieve Louisville and guard railroad bridges. In 1862 he was captured by tlie Confederates, who, however, being in the rear of the Federals, could not get their prisoners to Andersonville; hence took them to Shepardsville, where they were paroled. On rejoining his regiment he was sent to Vicks-
General Banks to New Orleans. From there they started up the Red River, but were ordered instead to Brazos, Santiago, Tex., where they had a four-cornered battle, participated in by French, Mexicans, Confederates and Federals. An attack of sunstroke at Morganza, which ren- dered him unfit for further service, caused him to be honorably discharged. As he came up north from New Orleans on a boat the vessel was fired upon by the Confederates, and the lives of the passengers endangered. At the beginning of his enlistment Mr. Brown was commissioned first lieutenant, and when the company left Kentucky he was made captain, after which he commanded his company, which he had always drilled as long as he remained in the service.
On his return from the army Captain Brown attempted to cultivate a farm, but his army serv- ice left him in no condition for outdoor work, and he therefore embarked in the livery business at Sandwich. Later he returned to the home farm. In 1875 he became a commission merchant in Chicago, where he remained until 1898, mean- time becoming well known among live-stock men. In 1898 he returned to the farm. On the 7th of June, 1899, while on a trip, he suffered a stroke of paralysis, which caused him the loss of the use of his left side, but fortunately his right arm was not affected. He made his headquarters in the hotel at Sandwich until August, 1899, when he came to Millington. The morning after he left the hotel it burned down.
As might be expected of so brave a soldier, Captain Brown is interested in the Grand Army work, and is a member of Darvau Post No. 329, at Morris. His first vote for president was in favor of Fremont. Since the organization of the Republican party he has been a stanch adherent of its principles. His wife died April 28, 1891, and was buried in Newark cemetery, Millington. Their four children are as follows: Eslie, who married W. R. Gay, and resides five miles south- west of Morris; George E., a business man of Morris; Mabel Annette, wife of George Whit- son, of Chicago; and Anna, who lives in Odell.
Joseph Reichmann
GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
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JOSEPH REICHMANN.
OSEPH REICHMANN, a retired business man of Joliet, was born in Donaueshingen, Baden, Germany, February 13, 1836, a son of Joseph and Mary (Gasler) Reichmann. He was one of nine children, three besides himself now living, Agatha, Mary and Xavier, all of Germany. His father, who was born and reared on a farm, engaged in agricultural pursuits throughout all his active life and became well-to- do. He died at the age of eighty-two years. His wife died when about forty years of age, in 1840. Their son, our subject, received a fair education and served an apprenticeship to the butcher's trade. When eighteen he came to America, sailing on the " Isabella " from Havre to New York, where he arrived in the spring of 1854, after a voyage of twenty-one days. The ship on which he sailed was the fastest of its day and was the first sailing vessel to cross the ocean in seventeen days.
From New York Mr. Reichmann went to Buf- falo, where he found work at his trade. Through the persuasion of friends he was induced to go to Canada, to secure railroad construction work, but after one day's work he quit. Two weeks later he went to Cleveland, Ohio. In the fall of the same year he went to Erie, Pa., where he worked for a year. In the fall of 1855 he came to Chicago, where he was at once given work at his trade. The spring of 1857 found him in Joliet, where he worked in another man's em- ploy for six months, and then embarked in busi- ness for himself, opening a shop on Jefferson street near Scott, with Henry Biedermann as partner. In 1860 he sold out to his partner and
went to Memphis, Tenn., where he worked at his trade for some months. Late in the fall of 1860 he went to Pocahontas, Ark., where he spent the winter, returning to Memphis in the spring and opening a meat market outside the city lim- its, which was customary at that time. How- ever, the outbreak of the war obliged him to discontinue business three months later. He was pressed into the Confederate home guard service, but after the taking of Memphis and the evacua- tion of the Confederate army, he secured work with a meat contractor who furnished meat to the army at Vicksburg. He followed the army as far as Grenada, Miss., from which point he was sent back to Memphis for more cattle; but not desiring to return to the field, he came north and returned to Joliet.
Meeting Jacob Adler, the latter persuaded Mr. Reichmann to go in business with him. They opened a store on Joliet street between Jefferson and Washington. In 1866, two years later, he built on the corner of Chicago and Jefferson streets, and engaged in business alone. He was successful and continued the business until 1893, when he retired from active business and leased his store. At one time he bought and sold con- siderable real estate. In 1874 he built a sub- stantial and handsome residence on South Rich- ards street, and here he and his wife have a pleasant home. He has done much for the up- building of the city and is an excellent citizen. Politically he is a Republican, and in religion a Roman Catholic. He is a member of the Joliet Sharpshooters and the Joliet Saengerbund.
In 1869 Mr. Reichmann married Miss Anna
14
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Koch, who was born in Cologne, Germany, in 1843, a daughter of Joseph and Mary (Dresler) Koch, her father being a wealthy brewer and distiller in Cologne. She came to America in 1868 with a sister, and after visiting some friends in New York City proceeded to Joliet, where she has since made her home. Her sister, Lena, became the wife of Hubert Odenthal, who is on the staff of a daily paper in Los Angeles, Cal. Five children were born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Reichmann, of whom three are living. Anthony, the oldest, is with C. F. Pinneo, in Joliet. Mollie is the wife of William Brown, also of Joliet. Albert, a student in the Chicago College of Pharmacy, has for four years been employed in the drug business with A. W. Flexer, of Joliet.
Mr. Reichmann has been a successful man in the business world of Joliet, and is recognized as an honorable, upright citizen, whose life has been an example to a younger generation.
AMES R. ASHLEY. The life of Mr. Ash- ley is inseparably associated with the history of the wire business in Joliet, and an acc11- rate history of the one could not be written with- out considerable mention of the other. He was the originator of the wire business in Joliet, a city that is now famous throughout the country for its large wire factories. Being a man of me- chanical genius, and having the ability to put in- to form the inventive ideas of his mind, he was fitted to be a leader and pioneer in the business with which he was identified, and while later workers have made many improvements, the principles which he embodied in his work are still utilized.
The Ashley family descends from three broth- ers who came from England and settled in Ver- mont about seven generations past. From one of these, Robert, descended Daniel, a soldier in the war of 1812. The latter's son, Rev. Riley B. Ashley, was converted at the age of twenty and
soon entered the ministry of the Baptist Church, preaching at various points in New York. In 1837, in company with his family, his brother Cyrus and the latter's family, and the families of Messrs. Lane and Hubbard, he traveled by team through Canada to Detroit, thence through southern Michigan, into Indiana and to Joliet, spending thirty days on the road, having left Martinsburg, N. Y., May 10, and reaching Joliet on the evening of June 9. With him he had two teams and brought bedding and cooking utensils. He spent the night in the Waving Banner hotel, which was then the leading boarding house in the town; it still stands on North Chicago street, but is now known as the Bissell house. On the Ioth of June he proceeded with his family to Plainfield and bought a place owned by the Bap- tist minister, whom he succeeded as pastor of the church. For those days he was well-to-do, as he had two teams and $1,500 in money. He bought a farm and later bought and sold other farms, but gave his time principally to religious work, being appointed home missionary in Illinois, Wisconsin, Kentucky and Tennessee, and establishing con- gregations in various localities. The first Bap- tist Church in Joliet was organized through his influence. He was a man of fine character, ge- nial, kind-hearted and generous, and made warm friends in every locality that he visited. It is said that he was one of the best judges of horses in the state, and he early taught his son to be an expert horseman. He died in Plain- field in August, 1880, when nearly eighty-one years of age.
The first marriage of Rev. Riley B. Ashley united him with Sally Searles, who was born in Lewis County, N. Y., and died when her son, James R., was two years old. The other child born of their marriage died in infancy. After- ward, Mr. Ashley married again and became the father of three children, viz .: Cyrus, and Mrs. Olive M. Smith, both deceased; and Marian E., wife of George Oliver, cashier of Sweet, Demp- ster & Co., of Chicago, wholesale dealers in hats and caps. The subject of this sketch was born in Martinsburg, Lewis County, N. Y., February 3, 1825, and was twelve years of age when he first
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saw Joliet. He attended public and private schools and Warrenville Seminary. When he was sixteen he earned $5 and board per month for his work in breaking prairie, and in this way after a time he saved $150. With this, and $150 loaned him by his father, he started a small gro- cery, and was so successful that he soon enlarged the business and took his brother, Cyrus N., into partnership, carrying on a large trade as a gener- al merchant successfully until 1870, a period of twenty years. During this time he was also in- terested in buying and selling farms.
Coming to Joliet in 1874, Mr. Ashley became connected with A. B. Sharpe & Co. In January, 1876, he sold his interest in that company, and he and his brother, Cyrus N., formed a partner- ship with H. B. Scutt and William Watkins, for the purpose of manufacturing barbed wire. The company secured a patent on what was known as Scutt wire, which they sold at sixteen cents a pound. Mr. Ashley was the manager of the company and owned almost all of the stock. The venture proved successful, and Mr. Scutt, who was $1,500 in debt at the time the company was organized, became worth $150,000. In 1876 the Joliet Wire Fence Company was organized, in which a number of the members of the Illinois Steel Company were interested and of which Mr. Ashley was general manager, having charge of the making of machinery for the manufacture of fence. The plant at Adams' dam was destroyed by fire August 2, 1876, and a suitable location could not be found elsewhere. At this time they made a contract with an official from the state penitentiary and carried on the business there for five years, until the ist of January, 1882. Pre- vious to this, through the purchase of the interest of the others by Mr. Scutt, D. Robertson and Mr. Ashley, the firm of H. B. Scutt & Co. was formed and they continued togetlier until Sep- tember, 1881, when Mr. Ashley disposed of his interest to his partners. Meantime, as early as 1876, the Washburn-Moen Company began a suit against them for infringement, and the case was fouglit for two years, when a compromise was effected, and a royalty of one and three-eighths cents per pound was paid the company.
With his brother and Messrs. Scutt and Rob- ertson, our subject bought out the Joliet Wire Fence Company and completed a reorganization, but after a time his brother retired and with Mr. Watkins formed the second Watkins & Ashley . Wire Company, which later sold out to Lambert & Bishop. H. B. Scutt & Co. continued busi- ness in the penitentiary, and in time, through the improvement of machinery, they had a surplus of men, but were obliged to pay for them even though they did not need their services; for this reason Mr. Ashley originated a plan for teaching the prisoners to draw wire, and organized a com- pany to manufacture drawn wire. There was no mill west of Cleveland, excepting a small plant in St. Louis. Organizing the Joliet Wire Company he began to manufacture drawn wire, although he was cautioned by many business men against the enterprise and told it would be a failure. In spite of such predictions he made a complete suc- cess of it. He originated the lead annealing proc- ess for galvanizing. When his five years' con- tract at the penitentiary had expired, in 1882 he bought the machinery of the Joliet Wire Company and sold it to the Ashley Wire Company. In 1882 he took a contract for one hundred and twenty-five men at the penitentiary for eight years and organized the Ashley Wire Company, with a capital of $200,000. This company man- ufactured barb wire, fence staples, wire nails and market wire. After the contract of eight years had expired, being unable to make satisfactory arrangements under the new law, he located on Railroad street, bought the old tile works and in 1890 built the Asliley mill, which he started the following year and operated until 1893. At the time of the panic of 1893 he was ill with nervous prostration, and it was necessary for him, if he wished to live, to give up all active business at least temporarily. In this crisis, the mill having no strong land at its helm, under pressure of the financial depression, went into the receiver's hands. Undoubtedly had Mr. Ashley's health been as good as in former years lie could have safely steered the business over the treacherous shoals and preserved it intact. As it was, how- ever, he was obliged to spend some time in travel
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before his health was even partially restored, and he has never since been as vigorous as when in his prime.
During his residence in Plainfield Mr. Ashley married Miss Julia F. Tyler, who was born in Bridgewater, Mass., educated in Troy, N. Y., and about 1842 came to Plainfield. Four children were born of their marriage, but only one, Ella, attained mature years. She is a talented young lady, graduated from the Joliet high school and later studied music and German at Vassar College. She became the wife of George W. Bush, a hard- ware merchant and a director in the First Na- tional Bank, whose president, George Woodruff, is his grandfather.
Always a Republican in national politics, the large business interests of Mr. Ashley never pre- vented him from keeping informed concerning public affairs. For fifteen years he was township clerk in Plainfield, and at the same time he served for eight years as justice of the peace and notary public. His store was headquarters for promi- nent men of the township, who met there for the purpose of discussing important matters, drawing up papers, etc. From 1862 to 1870 he was reve- nue inspector for the government, and had charge of collecting the duty on liquors in this district. He still holds membership in the Plainfield Bap- tist Church, with which he has been identified for many years, and in which, in former days, he served as treasurer and as chairman of the build- ing committee.
ON. DWIGHT HAVEN, an early settler of New Lenox Township, was born in Chautauqua County, N. Y., in 1821, being a son of Samuel Haven, a native of Chesterfield, N. H., born July 14, 1799. The latter, when a young man, settled in Chautauqua County, N.Y., and from there in 1834 removed to Illinois, set- tling in what is now New Lenox Township, and buying land at the first land sale in 1836. Though a tanner by trade, his life in Illinois was spent as a farmer. He was a believer in the freedom of
the slaves, and his place was a station on the underground railroad by which slaves were as- sisted in their flight to the borders. The Con- gregational Church had in him one of its most earnest members. He died March 12, 1866, aged sixty-seven years. His father, Elias Haven, was the son of a Revolutionary hero who fell in the battle of Bunker Hill. The family was founded in America by two brothers, who came from England, one going south, the other settling in New England. The mother of our subject was born May 29, 1802, and was the daughter of a Revolutionary soldier. She died in this county August 11, 1860, aged fifty-eight years. Of her eight children one son, Dwight, and two , daughters survive. One daughter, Amanda C., is the widow of James Goodspeed; the other, Helen, is the wife of W. P. Kimball, of San Francisco.
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