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 52
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 52
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The first location of Mr. Forkel in this country was at Stamford, Conn., where he was employed as a locksmith with the Yale Lock Manufacturing Company for two years. For one year he was foreman of the scale department and machinist with the Automatic Scale Company. Upon the closing of the plant he returned to the Yale Lock Company as machinist, remaining for six months.
Next he was foreman in the pattern department of the S. C. Linde Company, at South Newark, Conn. For three years he was employed at Cress- kill, N. J., and when his employers moved to Cleveland, Ohio, he was given charge of the pat- tern department with the Perkins Lock Company. After remaining with them for some time, in 1889 he came to Lockport as superintendent of the Barrows' Manufacturing Company, which po- sition he held for two years. When the firm was changed to the Barrows' Lock Company he was made general superintendent, with the oversight of the one hundred or more hands employed in the factory. He gives his attention very closely to the details of the position, and has proved a most valued employe, having, in addition to his regular work, also constructed a number of im- provements on the locks and machines manu- factured in the factory.
The home of Mr. Forkel is situated on the corner of Hamilton and Sixth streets, Lockport. Here he resides, with his family, including his wife, Mrs. Maria (Herbeck) Forkel, and daughter, Mary Elizabeth. Fraternally he is connected with Lockport Lodge No. 538, A. F. & A. M .; Lock- port Chapter, R. A. M., the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows at Englewood, N. J. In politics he is a Re- publican. His religious views are in sympathy with the doctrines of the Lutheran Church, in which faith he was reared.
DWARD L. WILSON, secretary and gen- eral manager of the Manhattan creamery, and the owner of a valuable farmi on section 17, Manhattan Township, was born in Worth, Cook County, Ill., November 11, 1870, and is a son of Edward and Magdaline (Lendrum) Wil- son, natives of the north of Ireland. He was one of six children, all of whom are dead except himself and his brother, Robert J., of Cook County. His father emigrated from Ireland in 1853 and settled in Cook County, Ill., where he
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
has since conducted farm pursuits upon an ex- tensive scale, and is now the owner of three hun- dred acres, on which he engages principally in general farming. Since the organization of the Republican party he lias been a believer in its principles. He has served as highway commis- sioner and school director for several years, and is a man of high standing in his neighborhood. Sixty-three years of activity have not lessened his energy nor weakened his judgment, for he is still an industrious, judicious farmer.
In 1890 the subject of this sketch graduated from the commercial department of Bryant & Stratton's Business College, Chicago. He re- mained with his father on the home farm until 1895, and then moved to his present farm near Manhattan, which he had purchased in 1889 from W. D. B. Linn, and which is one of the old homesteads of the county. Here he has since conducted a general farming and dairy business. During the year of his removal to this farm he assisted in the organization of the Manhattan creamery, in which he is, with one exception, the largest stockholder. Since coming to his present farm he has made many improvements, thereby increasing the value of the place. Like his father, he gives his support to the men and measures advocated by the Republican party. In 1896 he married Lizzie M., daughter of Ed- ward P. Bishop, of Cook County. He is identi- fied with the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which his wife also belongs. Fraternally he is connected with the Knights of the Globe at Man- hattan, and for some time has served as president of the order.
IDNEY B. PEASE. Since establishing his home in Joliet in 1872 Mr. Pease has been engaged in contracting and building. For proficiency in his chosen occupation he has estab- lished an enviable reputation and has been given contracts for some of the most substantial busi- ness blocks and finest residences in the city. During the first years of his connection with
Joliet building interests he drew up almost all of the plans that he used, but of more recent years he has confined his attention to the carrying out of plans designed by others. He has built as many as twenty-six residences, besides other buildings, in one year. In addition to this busi- ness he is interested with his brother, Cyrus, in the grocery and queensware business at Hamil- ton, Mo., the firm namne being Pease Brothers. He assisted in the organization of the Joliet Na- tional Bank and has since been a member of its board of directors.
Tracing the history of the Pease family, we find that Abel Pease, a native of Vermont and a soldier of the war of 1812, removed to St. Law- rence County, N. Y., where he improved a farm and died at the age of almost eighty years. His son, Samuel, who was born in Vermont, became a farmer near Lawrenceville, N. Y., where he continued to reside until his death, at seventy- seven years. During Civil war days he was a stanch Abolitionist and a supporter of the Union. He married Irene Hamlin, who was born in Ver- mont and died in New York. She was a cousin of Hannibal Hamlin, who was vice-president with Abraham Lincoln. Her father, Stephen Hamlin, a Vermonter, belonged to an English family that early settled in Massachusetts. In the family of Samuel and Irene Pease were six sons and one daughter. Of these, the eldest, James, a soldier in the Fifty-sixth Ohio Infantry throughout the Civil war, was wounded three times at Arkansas Post and was taken prisoner, but escaped; Hiram resides in Oregon; Nelson, now in Colorado, was a soldier in the Sixtieth New York Infantry during the Civil war; Milo died in New York; and Cyrus, also a member of the Sixtieth Regiment, is now living in Hamil- ton, Mo.
The second of the sons, Sidney B., was born near Lawrenceville, St. Lawrence County, N. Y., June 9, 1839, and was reared on a farm. In 1856 he settled in Illinois, and for two years during the summers worked on a farm near Dwight, and for one winter attended Lisbon Academy. In 1859 he became interested in bridge building in various sections of the coun-
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try, mainly in the south, but the growing hos- tility between the north and the south made it unpleasant for him to remain in a pro-slavery section, so he returned to Illinois. In the fall of 1860 he cast his ballot for Lincoln and Hamlin. In April of the next year he enlisted in a com- pany, but, the quota having already been ob- tained, the company was disbanded. With two others, he went to Springfield, Ill., where he was admitted into Company B, Twelfth Illinois In- fantry, May 7, 1861. His regiment was sta- tioned for a time near St. Louis and later took part in the battle of Belmont, Ky. In September, 1861, he was mustered out, but did not leave the service, re-enlisting at once in the same company and regiment. After the battle of Fort Donelson he was promoted to be second sergeant. In that battle he was wounded in the right hip by a minie ball and returned to Dwight on a thirty days' furlough; the bullet was never removed, but has given him little trouble. After returning to his regiment he took part in the battles of Shiloh, Monterey, Iuka and Corinth. The win- ter of 1863-64 he spent in Tennessee. Just before this he had veteranized at Richland Creek, and, at an election of officers, had been chosen second lieutenant of Company B, but, the company not being filled, he was not mustered in. After a thirty days' furlough in New York he rejoined his regiment and took part in the battles of Dal- ton, Resaca and Dallas. At Resaca he was wounded in the right ear. Later he was in the engagements at Kenesaw Mountain, Micko Jack Creek and the siege of Atlanta, wliere for four months there were continual skirmishes. In front of Atlanta, July 22, he was wounded in the right foot, but promptly bandaged the foot and held his place in the ranks. Later he was in the battles of Jonesboro, Lovejoy Station, the capture of Atlanta, and the battle of Altoona Pass, where they held the fort until reinforcements arrived. Going with Sherman toward the sea, he took part in the battle of Savannah, then marched north through the Carolinas, and was in a battle near Newberne, a hotly-contested engagement at Ben- tonville and the battle of Goldsborough, after which he went on to Petersburg with the troops.
At Raleigh word was received of Lincoln's assassination. When the war ended he took part in the grand review at Washington, after which he was sent to Louisville, Ky., and received a commission as first lieutenant of his company from Governor "Dick" Oglesby. He was mus- tered out at Springfield, Ill., July 18, 1865.
After a short time in Dwight, in 1866 Mr. Pease went to Johnson County, Kans., and en- gaged in contracting. During the fall of the same year he went to New Orleans, as a contractor in the Southern car works. In the spring of 1867 he went back to his native county in New York and there married Miss Jennie Eggleston, who died in Joliet in 1892. Of their five children three are living: William, who is with the Illi- nois Steel Company; Marion and Carrie, who are graduates of the Joliet high school. From 1867 to 1872 Mr. Pease engaged in contracting in Dwight, since which time he has been a resident of Joliet. He built and occupies a comfortable residence at No. 401 Raynor avenue. He is con- nected with Bartleson Post No. 6, G. A. R., and in politics has always been a strong Republican.
OLL McNAUGHTON. The position held by Mr. McNaughton at the bar of Joliet is one of influence. Since coming to this city, in 1885, he has gained a wide acquaintance among thie people, and has, by his character as a gentleman of honor, won the confidence of his associates. In May, 1887, upon examination before the supreme court at Ottawa, he was ad- mitted to practice in Illinois. Returning to Joliet, he soon became a member of the law firm of Goodspeed & McNaughton, but after one year withdrew from the partnership in order to accept the position of deputy postinaster under the first administration of President Cleveland, and re- mained in that office until May 1, 1890. On re- signing he entered the firm of Donahue & McNaughton, and resumed the general practice of law. In 1895 and again in 1897 he was elected city attorney, retiring in the spring of
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
1899, when he refused to be a candidate for a third term. During 1897 and 1898 he was active in letting the contract for improvements to cost $500,000, and between the spring of 1896 and 1899 he drew up more ordinances than had been prepared or drawn by the six attorneys preced- ing him in the office. In 1891 he served as town- ship supervisor. He is keenly interested in poli- tics and has firm convictions regarding tariff, the currency question, trusts, and the other issues that are almost constantly before our people for solution. His belief brings him into affiliation with the Democratic party, and he is one of its leading exponents in Joliet. He gives his aid to all public measures having for the object the welfare of the people, and is public-spirited in his sup- port of worthy projects.
At South End, near Campbellton, Argyllshire, Scotland, Mr. McNaughton was born August II, 1860, a son of Donald and Margaret (Goudie) McNaughton, natives respectively of Argyllshire and Ayrshire. His grandfather, Thomas, and great-grandfather, Coll McNaughton, were na- tives of Argyllshire, as were their ancestors for several generations before them. They engaged in farming. Donald McNaughton, who resided on the "Culinlongart" estate, brought his family to America in 1878, and settled at Chatham, Ontario, Canada, where he has since engaged in farming. From his Scotch forefathers he inher- ited integrity, perseverance, a strict sense of honor and a firm Presbyterian faith. His wife, who died in 1895, was the daughter of an Ayr- shire miller. In the family there were eight chil- dren, all but one of whom are still living, our subject being fourth in order of birth and the only one in Illinois. He was reared in Scotland, and prepared for college in the Campbellton high
school. When ready to enter the University of Glasgow his father decided to come to America, and so his plans were changed. Instead, how- ever, of accompanying his parents to Canada, he went to Michigan, securing employment with his axe in the woods near St. Clair. In February, 1879, he entered Chatham Collegiate Institute, where he studied for a term. The summer of the same year he spent as a sailor on the lakes. In August, 1879, he entered the employ of the Cana- dian Pacific Railroad, and assisted in building the road along Portage and Lake of the Woods. In the fall he started to Canada, but stopped in Oswego, Ill., to visit an uncle, and two days after arriving there he passed an examination for a teacher's certificate and secured a school. He continued to teach there until the spring of 1885. Meantime he had been studying law, getting law- books from James R. Flanders, of Joliet. He has been a constant student of his profession, not ceasing his studies with his admission to the bar, but continuing a devoted student of all works bearing upon the principles of jurisprudence. Not only is he a brilliant lawyer, but one whose knowledge of the profession is deep and profound, and who is equipped for successful practice by a thorough acquaintance with all the authorities.
Fraternally Mr. McNaughton is a Council and Royal Arch Mason, a past officer in Matteson Lodge No. 175, A. F. & A. M., and at one time was junior warden of Joliet Commandery No. 4. He attends and supports the Universalist Church, and is a liberal contributor to religious enter- prises. He married Agnes, daughter of John Conlon, a native of New York and an early set- tler of Joliet, where Mrs. McNaughton was born. They are the parents of two daughters, Bessie and Jean McNaughton.
Kommerwald,
GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
437
THE McDONALD FAMILY.
HE McDONALD FAMILY. As is in- dieated by their name, the McDonald (or Macdonald) family of the oldest settlers of Will County, in Illinois, is of Scottish extraetion, but whether directly descended from one of the survivors of the massacre of Glencoe the little history or legend which remains fails to show. The pedigree is traced, however, to Miehael Me- Donald, a sea-faring man, who came from the old country through Canada and began life in Amer- iea in New England. In olden times when St. Michael was revered as a patron saint by the high- landers of Scotland, the name was more of a favorite in family nomenelature than it is at present; the descendants of Ireland are now monopolizing it.
June 20, 1766, Michael married a widow, Mrs. Elizabeth Brown, by whom he had a son, Asa, and a daughter, Betsey, the latter dying young. He moved with his family to Liverpool, near Syracuse, N. Y., and left them there to pursue his calling as a sailor, and it was rumored that he was drowned in Lake Ontario. But rumor again states that he was the head of two fam- ilies, and that he passed the balance of his days with the other branch.
Asa became the main support of the family and soon displayed an ability to perform this duty. Before he was of age he served as a drummer in a company raised to oppose the British at Niagara, in the last war with England. He became prominent in the New York militia as a captain and expert musician. Following various avocations until 1836, he then emigrated from Onondaga County, N. Y., to Will County, Ill., and settled at first in Joliet, then at Five Mile Grove, and afterwards bought a farm 011 Spring Creek, in New Lenox. He married Olive
Rudd at Syracuse and reared a family of six daughters and one son, namely: Rosanna E., Jane C., Jonathan S., Clarissa C., Harriet, Lovina and Ellen, of whom the son and Rosanna E., Jane C. and Lovina are surviving at this date. Although ostensibly a farmer, Asa employed his energies more in the cultivation and practice of musie, and was a leader in many publie and social enterprises, but did not aspire for political preferments. His fame as a violinist is well re- membered by those who attended his danees and social gatherings. . He was born May 9, 1802, and died December 4, 1857. His wife, Olive, was born September 23, 1805, and died Mareh 1, 1873.
Jonathan S. McDonald was born at Liverpool, N. Y., April 17, 1829; he was therefore seven years old when the family settled in Joliet. Being the only son, his place would naturally be on the farm, but this proved to be too tame a life for him to follow. At the age of eighteen he began teaching a distriet school in the winter and worked on the farm in summer, but when the California gold fever broke out he erossed the plains in 1849 and spent four years in the mines, returning with a moderate "pile" with whieh to start in business at home. His effort to acquire a college education at Oberlin, Ohio, lasted only two weeks. He then turned his attention to banking at Loekport, at which he was engaged until the Civil war began in 1859, when the turn of events almost despoiled him of his wealth. December 12, 1857, he married Louisa, the daughter of Col. George Snoad, who was born in England. Immediately after his failure as a banker he visited the newly discovered gold mines at California Gulel, Colo., but returned in the following spring and recruited a company
22
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
at Lockport, which became a part of the One port's excellent system of water works was built. Hundredth Illinois Infantry. He had command In 1897 he was appointed general superintendent of the Illinois & Michigan canal, which position he still holds. Since he assumed the duties of this position the canal has passed through some of the most critical experiences of its existence. The authorities of the sanitary district of Chicago avowedly sought to destroy it and acquire valu- able rights belonging to the state, held under the care and control of the canal officers. The con- test that ensued, both from an engineering and legal standpoint, was a huge one and most bit- terly fought. It resulted, however, in a victory for the canal people on every point and saved to the state property and rights worth several mil- lions of dollars. For the part he had in achiev- ing this result, Mr. McDonald earned and re- ceived a great deal of credit. of this in the battles of Perryville, Stone River, Chickamauga, and numerous skirmishes and was "promoted for meritorious conduct in the field." He was wounded at Stone River and is now quite deaf as a consequence. After the war he served as a cashier in railroad business in Chicago, then returned to Will County and engaged in politics and newspaper publications until increased deaf- ness compelled him to turn his attention to other enterprises. The Highland Scotch are noted for possessing a tendency to mysticism and "second sight," and this faculty seems to have developed in him; he is now engaged in philosophical pur_ suits, and has become noted in occult circles as the author of several books on ancient magic and esoteric philosophy.
Leon McDonald, son of J. S. McDonald, was born November 2, 1860, in the township of New Lenox, Will County, Ill. His education was ac- quired in the public school at Lockport, and at the Wisconsin State University. He learned the printing and publishing trade in his father's office, serving in all capacities from "printer's devil" to editor. In 1880 he went to work on the re- portorial staff of the Joliet News, afterward oc- cupying the chair of the city editor on the same paper. He left the News to engage with two others in the founding and publishing of the Joliet Daily Press. This venture was an ex- traordinary success while the original founders remained in possession. Mr. McDonald sold out his interest in 1884 and returned to Lockport, the home of his parents, where he assumed con- trol of the publication of the Lockport Phoenix, this paper being still owned and published by him. Since attaining his majority he has taken an active part in county and state politics. For nineteen years he has been a member of the coun- ty Republican central committee, and during nearly all of the time a member of the executive committee of that body. Locally he has a num- ber of times been called to positions of public trust and honor, among other things serving two terms as president of the village council. It was during his second term of office that Lock-
He was married September 21, 1898, to Claire Augusta Rudd, daughter of Charles H. and Esther (Leonard) Rudd. Miss Rudd was born April 26, 1875; was formerly a resident of Ober- lin, Ohio, and is a graduate of the college in that city. They have one daughter, Louise E., born July 13, 1899.
OSEPH STOOS, deceased, was at one time prominent in the public affairs of Joliet, and served as alderman from the third ward; also held the office of assistant supervisor, and for two terms was city treasurer. He was born in Oppenheim, Alsace, France, and in boyhood learned the carpenter's trade under his father, Sebastian, who was a contractor and builder of bridges and arches. When a young man he came to America with his brother, Andrew, now of Naperville, Ill., and after a short time in the lat- ter city he came to Joliet in 1854. He was an expert builder, and had no difficulty in securing work at his trade. He was superintendent and architect of the Jefferson street bridge, which has since been torn down by order of the drainage commissioners. He had charge of the building of St. Francis' convent, Porter's brewery buildings,
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
St. Joseph's hospital and St. John's Roman Catholie Church. He also ereeted the residenee that he oeeupied at No. 515 North Hiekory street. Some of the most substantial structures in the eity were erected under his supervision, and he continued actively engaged in the business until ten years before his death, when he retired. In the organization of St. John's Church he took an active part, and afterward for years was one of its trustees and a trustee of the academy. He was a member of the Sharpshooters' Association. Politieally he gave his support to the Demoeratie party and voted for its men and measures. As a eitizen he was patriotic, and, although always retaining a love for his native land, no native- born resident of the United States was more loyal to its welfare than he. His death oceurred April 16, 1890.
In Joliet, November 19, 1856, Mr. Stoos mar- ried Miss Mary Anna Hassinger, who was born in Herbstheim, Alsaee. Her grandfather, Michael Hassinger, was a stone mason and contractor in Alsaee, where lie died. Her father, Joseph, was also a contraeting mason. In the spring of 1846 he brought his family to America, making the voyage from Havre to New York on a sailing vessel, thenee going up the Hudson to Albany, from there on the Erie eanal to Buffalo, and thenee via lake to Chieago, and finally to Will County. Here he engaged in contraeting and building. He had the eontraet for all of the eul- verts on the Plainfield road. Besides this, he operated a stone quarry and superintended land that he purchased here. His death occurred when he was over sixty years of age. His wife was Mary Ann, daughter of Anton Drendel, a farmer of Alsace. She died in this eounty in 1884, when seventy-seven years of age. Her three daugliters, Mrs. Stoos, Mrs. Michael Sheidt and Mrs. Peter Gans, reside in Joliet. Mrs. Stoos was eight years old when the family eame to Joliet, where she was edueated. She is well known among the members of St. John's Church, having long been a member of this parish.
Eight children were born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Stoos. Only four are now living. The son, Alfred J., is represented elsewhere in this
volume. Theresa is the wife of Joseph Braun, Jr., whose sketeh appears on another page. Mary married Prof. Henry Rolf, of Joliet, and Josephine is the wife of Robert P. Kiep, also of this city.
OHN C. BAKER, of Manhattan Township, was born in Rensselaer County, N. Y., in 1842, a son of Clark and Lueina (Welsh) Baker. His paternal aneestors eame from Eng- land and settled in Rhode Island in an early day. His grandfather, Jiralı Baker, moved from Rhode Island to New York and eleared a farm from the wilderness, making his home on that place until he died at ninety years of age. He took an active part in polities and served as a delegate to the constitutional convention. His father, Ben- jamin Baker, served in the Revolutionary war with two of his sons, one of whom died during his term of serviee.
Clark Baker was born in Rensselaer County in 1796 and for years followed farming and survey- ing, laying out the county lines and the township lines in the town of Hoosiek. When sixteen years of age he served in the war of 1812. In 1845 he settled in Will County, purchasing a traet of timber land in what is now Manhattan Township and engaging extensively in farming and stoek-raising. He beeame the owner of about twelve hundred aeres of good land. He made a specialty of breeding Merino sheep and also raised Shorthorn eattle. For about twenty years, alto- gether, he held the office of supervisor, and dur- ing the same time he was justiee of the peaee. Politically he was a Demoerat. He died at his home in 1892, when ninety-six years of age. His wife, daughter of George Washington Welsh, was born in Albany, N. Y., and died in this eounty at eighty-five years of age. They were the parents of five eliildren, two of them survive, our subjeet and Mary E., widow of J. B. Russell.
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