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 37
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 37
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Twice married, Linus B. Skeel had five chil- dren by his first wife, and two of these are living. One, Oliver, was a soldier under Sherman during the Civil war. The second wife was Flora Mor- rison, who was born in Argyleshire, Scotland, near the mouth of the Clyde, and who is now seventy-four years of age. She was a daughter of Donald Morrison, a seafaring man, who served in the British navy during the naval war between England and Russia in 1799 and lost an arm in an action; afterward he was retired on a pension. Our subject was one of the seven children born
to Linus B. and Flora Skeel, and, of these, four are now living, he being the youngest son. He was born near Hennepin, Putnam County, Ill., December 24, 1860, and was educated in Gran- ville high school and Wheaton College, graduat- ing from the latter in 1883 with the degree of A. B. Afterward he engaged in the newspaper business at Highmore, S. Dak., being editor of the Dakota Capital for one year. Later he taught in the city schools at Tama, Iowa, for one year. While there he married, in 1885, Miss Flora Birdsell, daughter of William H. Birdsell, then of South Dakota, but now of Lockport, Ill.
In 1885 Mr. Skeel returned to Granville as principal of the high school in which he had studied some years before. The next year the county board of supervisors appointed him to fill a vacancy in the office of superintendent of schools of Putnam County. After the expiration of the term he came to Joliet in 1887, where for a year he was cashier and bookkeeper for the Locey coal mines. For eighteen months he held a simi- lar position with the Barrett Hardware Company. For a year he was bookkeeper with the Illinois Steel Company, after which he was bookkeeper and cashier with Bishop & Lambert for two years, continuing with them until January, 1893. After the consolidation he was employed in the Chicago office during the World's Fair. In the fall of 1893 he went west, intending to settle in Idaho or Washington, but, after an attack of mountain fever, he decided that Illinois was preferable for a place of residence. He was still quite ill when he came back to this state. On regaining his health, in 1894 he became principal of the Broad- way school, Joliet, continuing there until he was appointed clerk of the board of school inspectors in July, 1896. In the spring of 1899 the estab- lishment of the township high school was voted almost unanimously by the people and the school board appointed him their clerk. These two positions take his entire time, and their duties he discharges in a manner satisfactory to all con- cerned. He is identified with the First Presby- terian Church, in which he is a ruling elder. He and his wife reside in a house that he built at No. 120 Dewey avenue.
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
ILLIAM MORGAN, who is one of the large farmers and stock-raisers of Jack- son Township, was born in St. Lawrence County, N. Y., June 24, 1844, a son of Moses and Eliza A. (Storrs) Morgan. He was one of five children, of whom, besides himself, two sur- vive, viz .: Sidney and Emily, wife of Cornelius McClure, of Manhattan Township, this county. His father, who was born in Vermont August 15, 1815, settled in New York state when a young man and engaged in farming in St. Lawrence County, but in 1849 he came west to Illinois, settling in Kendall County twelve miles west of Joliet. His means were small; in fact, he had but $68 at the time of his arrival in Kendall County. Not having sufficient means to buy a farm he operated rented land for four years. Next he settled in Joliet Township, this county, three and one-half miles southeast of Joliet, where he remained for a year. In March, 1855, he came to the place where his son, our subject, still resides. Here he purchased one hundred and twenty-eight acres of land and devoted his energies to stock-raising and farming. More than usual success rewarded his exertions. Con- stantly he added to his possessions, investing the products of one farm in the purchase of another. He was so successful that at the time of his death he owned thirteen farms. Personally he was a man of fine qualities, possessing the hospitality of the typical pioneer and showing in every act that his code of honor was the highest. His per- sonal friends were many, and he won the regard of every associate. Politically he was an ardent Republican, but always refused to accept nom- ination for any office. While he was not identi- ficd with any denomination he attended and sup- ported the Methodist Episcopal Church. On the homestead where he had so successfully labored for more than thirty years he died, August 20, 1878. His name well deserves perpetuation in the list of pioncers of the county; for while he was not one of the earliest settlers, there were com- paratively few here at the time of his arrival, and he experienced all the hardships of life in a new country. It is but justice to him to say that his success was not due to outside help, nor was it
the result of what we call "luck." It came to him through the exercise of determination, good judgment, perseverance and energy. He never entered the alluring field of speculation, but worked only in his chosen occupation of agricul- ture, and the result proved that he made no mis- take in his life-work. His wife, who was a daughter of William and Catherine (Thew) Storrs, was born in Clinton County, N. Y., July 13, 1817, and died in Will County, Ill., Decem- ber 5, 1885.
Since he was eleven years of age our subject has made his home in Jackson Township. Grow- ing up on a farm he acquired a thorough knowl- edge of agriculture and, as the occupation suited his tastes, he has always continued farm pursuits. He and his brother Sidney, whose farming and stock interests are in conjunction, pay taxes on fifteen hundred acres of land, and are among the most prosperous men in their section of the county. In political views he is a stanch Repub- lican but not a partisan. He is not connected with any denomination, but contributes to the support of the Methodist Church, toward the doc- trines of which he inclines. In 1877 Mr. Morgan married Maria E. Ellenwood, who was born in St. Lawrence County, N. Y. In 1870 she came to this county with her parents, Alfred and Lydia (Morgan) Ellenwood, and settled in Florence Township, where her father died eleven years afterward. Her mother now makes her home with her son George. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Morgan consists of seven children, namely: Eliza A., Oscar, Lydia, Lloyd L., Ernest A., Amber L., and infant daughter.
- Ç CKER RULAND. Homer Township is greatly indebted for its prosent wealtlı and high standing to the intelligent and capable farmers who have been instrumental in developing its agricultural resources. As a mem- ber of the farming community, who has con- tributed to its material advancement and who lias been especially active in the promotion of its
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live-stock interests, mention belongs to Mr. Ruland, who owns the family homestead of one hundred and fourteen acres. Here he was born in 1856, and here his life thus far has been spent. He is one of the largest raisers of thoroughbred sheep and cattle in the county and owns some valuable registered stock, having made several importations from England of Shropshire sheep. Besides his other interests, at this writing he holds the office of deputy sheriff. For six years he was highway commissioner of Homer Town- ship, to which office he was elected on the Repub- lican ticket. For sixteen years he served as a member of the school board of his district. He is a director of the Homer Mutual Fire Insurance Company and secretary and treasurer of the Will County Highway Commissioners' Association.
Our subject's grandfather, Acker Ruland, was born in Rhode Island, and in an early day migrated to Ohio, where he conducted a large paper mill near Cincinnati for several years. From there he moved to Tippecanoe County, Ind., and purchased six hundred acres of land, which he operated successfully. He remained there until his death, when sixty-five years of age. He had a brother, John, who served in the con- tinental army during the Revolutionary war. His ancestors were French and were early settlers of Rhode Island. He married Charlotte Bolster, a native of Rhode Island, and they had seven chil- dren, but all are dead excepting Manley. In 1848 three of their sons, Charles, Manley and Acker, came from Indiana to Will County, Ill., and took up adjoining farms in Homer Township, where they energetically began work as agricul-
turists. Soon after their arrival Charles met his death by accident. Manley continued to make his home in this locality until 1870, when he removed to Butler County, Kans., and there he has since resided. Acker, our subject's father and the third of the brothers who came together to Will County, was born near Cincinnati, Ohio. In time he became a prosperous farmer of the township. He was also a physician of the old school and had a large practice in this neighbor- hood. At the time of his death, when forty-two years of age, he was well-to-do. He married Maria, daughter of Henry Glassford, and a native of Pennsylvania, her father having come to that state from Ireland when seven years of age. By her marriage to Mr. Ruland five children were born, namely: Sarah, who is the wife of James Meek, of Chicago; Eliza, who married G. H. Page; Helen, who married G. H. Paddock; Maria, wife of Dr. S. R. Cowger; and Acker, the subject of this sketch.
Having passed his life in this township, our subject is well acquainted with the people here; and, as he is a man of the utmost integrity and the highest principles of honor, he is respected by all to whom he is known. In fraternal rela- tions he is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America. He hasa high reputation as a man of intelligence, and the township is fortunate to number among its citizens a man of his char- acter and ability. In 1878 he was united in mar- riage to Miss Susan Harris, who was born in Lockport, this county, a daughter of Benjamin Harris. They have four daughters, Mabel, Ethel and Edna (twins), and Mildred.
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
GEORGE F. GURNEY.
F EORGE F. GURNEY. It is solely through his determination and perseverance of char- acter that Mr. Gurney has become known as one of the wealthy land owners of this county. When he came here, in the spring of 1845, he was a boy of thirteen, the oldest of a family of three sons and three daughters, whose father had been defrauded of his money, and who were therefore early obliged to begin the battle of life for themselves. He found Joliet a small hamlet, whose few inhabitants eked out a precarious sub- sistence, but with the sturdy resolution char- acteristic of pioneers remained hopeful and with the far-seeing eye of faith worked for the benefit of future generations. Owing to his father's ill fortune he was early obliged to become self-sup- porting and to contribute to the maintenance of the family. During 1847 and 1848 he worked at canal construction. When the canal was com- pleted, on the 4th of July, 1848, he towed the first canal boat out of Joliet, going to Chicago for Henry Fish and returning with a load of lumber for Otis Hardy. During the summer of the same year he went to Grundy County and, with seven yoke of oxen, worked at breaking prairie soil, but in the fall returned to this county. Buying teams of his own, in the spring of the next year he began to break prairie and followed that occupa- tion for a few years, after which he herded cattle for Smith, Hatton & Rogers. Turning his at- tention to agricultural pursuits, he became the owner of one of the finest farms in the county, the value of which was due entirely to his care- ful cultivation and judicious oversight. He is still the owner of large tracts of farm land, but
since 1894 has been living retired in Joliet, where he built and occupies a residence at No. 505 Union street.
Mr. Gurney was born in Gloucestershire, Eng- land, July 2, 1832, a son of William and Ruth (Hooper) Gurney. His father, who was the son of a ship chandler and vessel owner, brought his family to the United States in 1844, and after a short sojourn in Cook County, Ill., in the spring of 1845 came to Joliet. A few years later he died in Kankakeetown, this county. His wife died in Channahon. Of their children Edward E. and Henry H. died in Wilmington; Louise is married and lives in Kankakee County; Matilda, Mrs. Hyde, is in Canon City, Colo .; and Selina, Mrs. Buss, makes her home in Florence Township. The family crossed the ocean from Bristol to New York on a sailing vessel, spending seven weeks on the voyage, and from New York proceeded up the Hudson, thence via the Erie canal to Buffalo, and from that city by the lakes to Chicago.
In 1859 the subject of this sketch bought two hundred acres in Wilton Township, thirteen miles southeast of Joliet, purchasing from the Illinois Central road. Two years later he settled on the land and began its improvement. He remained there until 1867, when he removed to a farm of four hundred and eighty-six acres, of which two hundred and twenty-six and two-thirds acres are in Manhattan Township and the remainder in Jackson Township. This continued to be his home until 1894. He gave his attention to its cultivation. Every improvement of a first-class farm was to be found on his place, and through his supervision and wise management the estate was made profit-
16
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
able. He is still the owner of nine hundred acres, enough) Norton, natives respectively of New the larger part of which is under cultivation. He York and Indiana, but for years residents of recently sold one hundred and forty-six acres, prior to which he owned ten hundred and forty- six acres, including, besides his place before named, three hundred and twenty acres on sec- tions 34 and 27, one hundred and sixty acres one-half mile west, and eighty acres adjoining the last-named place. Besides this he owns one- half section of land in Wright County, Iowa. During the years of his active farm life he made a specialty of the stock business, and bought and raised high-grade and full-blooded Durham cattle, imported Norman and also standard-bred horses, having as many as sixty head of horses on his place at one time. His son drives what is said to be the finest pair of English shire horses in Manhattan Township, and these were raised by our subject. Will County, where their daughter was born. The second son, Arno James, married Alice Voorhees, daughter of Ralph and Adeline (Young) Voorhees, natives of Ohio; they have one daughter, Maude Esther. The sixth child of our subject is Eliza M., who married Albert Lichtenwalter, a native of Will County, and a son of Henry H. and Leah (Geiss) Lichten- walter, natives respectively of Ohio and Penn- sylvania; they have two children, Gladys Eva and Clayton Gurney Lichtenwalter. The young- est daughter of our subject, Nellie Josephine, married Oscar Rhodes Myers, a native of Wheat- land, this county, and a son of Jacob and Elmira (Rhodes) Myers, natives respectively of Penn- sylvania and Cleveland, Ohio. Our subject's youngest child, Otto Henry, married Clara E. Geiss, daughter of Hiram and Malinda (Whit- son) Geiss, natives of Pennsylvania. The young- est son and his wife live on the Gurney home- stead. The family are connected with the Pres- byterian Church.
In Wilmington, this county, Mr. Gurney mar- ried Miss Eliza Brydon, who was born in Liver- pool, England, a daughter of George and Eliza (Ballentine) Brydon, all natives of Scotland. Her paternal grandfather, James Brydon, was a farmer, as was also her maternal grandfather, George Ballentine, and both lived in Roxbury- shire. Mrs. Gurney was one of two children, the other being James, who was a soldier in the Forty-second Illinois Infantry and was wounded in battle; he is now living in Chatsworth, Il1.
Concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Gur- ney we note the following: Frances Ruth, who was educated in Will County, married Franklin P. Losh, a native of Center County, Pa., and of German descent; they moved to Iowa in 1893 and settled in Wright County, where they and their children, Clarence A., Edgar J., Elsie E. and Harry G., now live. The second daughter of Mr. Gurney was Emma, now deceased. The third, Elsie Augusta, married Charles F. Pohl- man, a native of Will County, Il1., and son of William and Amelia Pohlman, natives of Ger- many and old settlers of this county ; they have had three children, Arno George (deceased), Alma Ray and Florence. The oldest son of Mr. Gur- ney is Elmer George, who married Mary F. Nor- ton, daughter of William and. Eliza (Good-
During the early years of his residence in this county Mr. Gurney was quite active in educa- tional and public affairs. Formerly a Democrat, at the time of Fremont's campaign he transferred his allegiance to the Republican party, which he assisted in organizing in his county. Frequently he was elected to serve as delegate to conventions and as member of important political committees, and in other ways, his service to his party was helpful to its interests. For six years he was a school director in Jackson Township and his in- fluence was apparent in the building up of thé schools of his township.
IMOTHY GORMAN, who is a well-known general merchant of Channahon, has made his home in this county since 1858. He was born in County Mayo, Ireland, in 1829, a son of Patrick and Margaret (Kelly) Gorman.
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
lifelong residents of County Mayo, where his fa- ther followed the occupation of a brick and stone- mason. When a boy our subject had few ad- vantages. His life was one of constant toil from an early age. At fifteen years he was bound out to the tailor's trade, the plan being for him to serve five years, but at the expiration of two and one-half years, owing to a panic in the money market and a consequent depression in business, he was released from his engagement. Having a brother who was a tailor in Birmingham, Eng- land, he went to that city, but found that there, as in Ireland, times were hard and work scarce. He spent three years in England, working at various occupations in different parts of the coun- try.
In May, 1849, Mr. Gorman took passage on the sailing vessel "James H. Shepherd" for America and landed in New York on the 12th of June, after a voyage of five weeks. In New York he finished his apprenticeship to the tailor's trade and for nine years remained in that city and in Yonkers and Williamsburg, working at the occupation. The year 1858 found him in Will County, Ill., where he worked for three years at tailoring in Joliet. Next he removed to Channahon, where for a time he worked at his trade. In 1871 lie established the mercantile business which he has since conducted. Being a man of good business ability he has met with considerable success and is one of the substantial men of the village.
The marriage of Mr. Gorman, in 1854, united him with Miss Mary Lennon, who was a native of County Armagh, Ireland, and a daughter of John and Judith (Corwin) Lennon. After the death of her father in Ireland, her mother brought the family to America. To the mar- riage of Mr. and Mrs. Gorman twelve children were born, of whom ten are living, viz .: Peter, a blacksmith in Denver, Colo., who is married and has three danghters; Martin T., of Chicago, who is married and has two children, Timothy and Mary Edna; Francis, a merchant of Wolcott, Colo., whose family consists of five children, Harry, Anna, Francis L., Marguerite C. and Helen W .; Patrick H., a steam-fitter living in
Chicago; John, also a steam-fitter in that city; Anthony, who is connected with his brother, Francis, in merchandising; Margaret, a teacher in the public schools of Will County; Timothy J., who is in Pullman, Ill .; Jeremiah, who is with his older brothers in Wolcott, Colo .; and Mathew, who is with the American Insurance Company of Newark, N. J., Rockford, Ill., being the head- quarters for the western department.
In politics Mr. Gorman is a stanch Democrat. Under the two administrations of President Cleve- land he served as postmaster of Channahon and for ten years, altogether, he filled the office of town clerk. During the existence of the Odd Fellows' Lodge at Minooka he held membership in it, but upon its disbandment did not transfer his membership to Joliet, the distance being too great for him to attend the meetings regularly. He is a well-known citizen of Channahon. As village trustee, which office he now fills, he favors plans for the benefit of the town and the promotion of its interests.
HESTER S. ALLEN. On the western bluff of the Desplaines valley, in Lockport Township, is the home of Mr. and Mrs. Allen. Their brick residence, erected by Mr. Allen in 1879, not only affords them a comfort- able dwelling place, but also gives a fine view of the valley stretching beyond. On the farm will be noticed a large number of sheep, the Oxford Downs leading numerically. There are also several full blooded English horses, among them a colt two years and five months old, weighing sixteen hundred and thirty pounds. For several years after 1870 Mr. Allen was a hcavy dealer, wholesale and retail, in ice, cutting the product from an artificial pond on his place, and continu- ing in the business until that part of the farm was condemned by the drainage board.
The father of Mr. Allen, Martin, a native and lifelong resident of Vermont, served in many local offices, and in politics was first a Whig
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
and later a Free-Soiler. His occupation was that of a farmer. He and his brother, Reuben, were the principal members of the Goshen Methodist Episcopal Church, in Addison County, and helped to build its house of worship. However, owing to his views on the slavery question, in 1846 he identified himself with the Wesleyan Methodists and built for them a church that is still standing and in constant use. His son, Wilson, aided in re-shingling the building in 1895. By his marriage to Hannah Smith he had five children, namely: Eliza, deceased; Wilson, a farmer at Ripon, Wis .; Andre M., de- ceased; Chester S .; and Luther, of Kansas. The grandfather, Noah Allen, settled in Goshen in an early day, removing there from another part of the same state.
The subject of this sketch was born in the town of Goshen, Vt., February 20, 1830. He re- mained on the home farm until he was twenty- four. For some years he was in very poor health, the result of an attack of measles when he was eighteen. As soon as he recovered suffi- ciently to start out for himself he began farm- ing, and this occupation he has followed ever since. In 1864 he came to Illinois and settled on the place he still owns. Since then he has bought and sold considerable land. In politics he was formerly a Republican, but now votes with the Prohibitionists. For the past thirty- four years he has been an officer in the Methodist Episcopal Church of Lockport, and until 1897 was also connected with the Sunday-school work.
A remarkable evidence of the over-ruling Prov- idence that saves a life when God has further need of it in the world, is shown in Mr. Allen's career. His life was preserved in a moment of greatest peril. May 11, 1882, he drove two teams to Joliet, for the purpose of securing drain tile. When he arrived there he found the tile he had previously selected was gone, so he started through the tile factory, looking at the kilns on each side. The place where the elevator worked was six or eight inches lower than the path where he was walking. This fact he did not notice, and when he stepped into it he was thrown for-
ward into the elevator pit. At that instant the elevator (weighing twelve hundred pounds) dropped with two men in it. They jumped from the elevator just before it struck. The foreman saw the falling elevator and a man under it. He gathered his men, lifted the elevator and pulled Mr. Allen out. When the latter came to his senses he saw ten or twelve men looking at him, as ifa dead man had come to life. Not a bone or a blood-vessel was broken. After a little time the men loaded up his tile for him and he returned home. He did not get out again for two weeks, and was lame and bruised for three months, but the fact that he escaped uninjured is certainly re- markable. The reason for the falling of the ele- vator was the breaking of a bolt connected with the main shaft, so that the elevator could not be controlled. Had Mr. Allen fallen a second later he would have been completely crushed.
The maiden name of our subject's wife was Prudence S. Baker. Her father, Anthony, son of Anthony, Sr., of English extraction, was born in Rhode Island, October 9, 1788. He married Prudence Gaines, who was born in Massachu- setts, August 15, 1786. Both had moved to Sud- bury, Vt., and they were married there in 1809. From that place they moved to a farm in Goshen, Addison County, Vt., where they lived for many years. He was prominent in local affairs and held numerous offices until failing eye-sight com- pelled him to withdraw from such work. He was active in the Democratic party, and later was an Abolitionist. Both heand his wife were connected with the Christian Church. Of their ten children two died in infancy. Eight attained mature years, married and had families. Their names and dates of birth are as follows: Almon G., No- vember 27, 1810; Anthony S., July 9, 1813; Polly M., April 25, 1815; Oliver H. P., Decem- ber 11, 1816; Olive S., April 23, 1818; Loren H., March 26, 1821 (a soldier in the Civil war) ; Harry H., December 3, 1826; and Prudence S., April 13, 1829. In 1850 the parents sold their farm and moved to Forestdale, Vt., where they spent their remaining years. The father died July 25, 1873, and the mother November 29, 1874. Mrs. Prudence Allen was born in the
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