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 65
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 65
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term, in order to accept the principalship of the Broadway school in Joliet, and since then he has been connected with educational work in this city. In his present position he has fifteen teach- ers under him. His work is so systematized that he is able to discharge, carefully and well, every duty devolving upon him. As an instructor he is thorough. He has the happy art of being able to impart knowledge in such a manner as to in- terest and please the student, but he is not super- ficial; on the other hand, those under his imme- diate oversight are invariably well grounded in their studies. As a disciplinarian he is firm, yet kind, and many of his best friends are those who have been his pupils.
CLINTON DILLMAN. Typical of the progress of Joliet in commercial lines stands the firm of Poehner & Dillman, which was organized in 1890, and has since be- come one of the substantial companies of the city. In the Metropolitan block, Nos. 417-19 Cass street, they occupy two floors 48x130 feet, liav- ing a basement that is used for storage and also as a shop, while the stock of hardware and stoves is kept upon the first floor. The firm has the largest trade in plumbing and hot-air and steam- heating in the city, and also takes many con- tracts for gas-fitting, furnishing, in their various departments, employment to thirty-five hands. Among their most important contracts were those for the Farragut school; Metropolitan block, two residences for the Sehrings, the new Central Presbyterian Church, and the residences of Col. John Lambert and Henry Piepenbrink, in all of which the systems of heating and plumbing have been modern, thorough and entirely satis- factory.
The Dillman family descends fron German an- cestry. Michael Dillman, a native of Pennsyl- vania, removed to Stark County, Ohio, and in an early day settled in Plainfield, Ill., where for a time he carried on a foundry, but later engaged in farming. His son, Lewis E., was born in
Summit County, Ohio, March 21, 1828, and learned the trade of a tanner and currier. In 1847 he drove to Illinois by wagon with A. H. Shireffler, stopping at Plainfield and selling four Hussy reapers, the first introduced into Will County. In May, 1849, he brought. his father, Michael, and the other members of the family to Plainfield, and the firm of M. Dillman & Co. was soon afterward organized. Later he drove back to Ohio, where, April 4, 1851, he married Miss Maria E. Hunsberger, whom he brouglit back to Plainfield in his buggy. He then started a foundry and machine shop and began the manu- facture of agricultural implements, this being the start of what is now the Joliet Manufacturing Company. On selling that he engaged in gen- eral merchandising for a few years and then re- sumed manufacturing as president of a com- pany that, in the fall of 1862, moved the business to Joliet. The next year he brought his family to this city, where he was treasurer of the com- pany, being associated with A. H. Shreffler and Andrew Dillman.
After a time Mr. Dillman started a barb wire business, which he sold to the Lockstitch Fence Company, becoming its treasurer, and continu- ing in the manufacture of the wire until a stroke of paralysis terminated liis activities. He is still living in Joliet, interested in the growth and prosperity of the city, with whose history he has for so many years been identified. He has been acquainted with many of the pioneers of the county-those men to whom we are indebted for our present high standing among the counties of the state; and, indeed, his own work as a pioneer business man is of such importance as to entitle him to a high place in the gratitude of the present generation. For two terms he was alder- man from the first ward. In religion lie is con- nected with the Methodist Episcopal Church. His wife is also living, and is now (1899) sixty- seven years of age. They were the parents of three sons and one daughter who attained matur- ity, E. Corbin and A. Clinton, of Joliet; Milo Fred, who died here, and Mrs. Mabel Moore.
Born in Plainfield, this county, September 23, 1860, the subject of this sketch lias spent all but
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the first three years of his life in Joliet. He graduated from the high school, after which, at eighteen years of age, he began to learn the wire business. Three years later he became superin- · tendent of the factory of the Lockstitch Wire Fence Company, and continued with the same firm until 1888. He then went on a tour of in- spection with a view to locating, but his visit in Nebraska, Kansas and Iowa disclosed nothing desirable, and he returned home. Since 1890 he has been devoted closely to the building up of the business with which his name is identified. Though not active in public affairs he is a stanch Republican. Socially he is a member of the Union Club. He has been treasurer of the Sunday school and a member of the board of stewards in the Ottawa Street Methodist Episco- pal Church, with the work of which he is inti- mately associated. His marriage, in this city, united him with Miss Jessie Frances Stevens, who was born in Wisconsin and educated in the Iowa State University. They and their children, Milo Stevens and Frances, reside at No. 418 Eastern avenue.
ILLIAM D. B. LINN, who came to Joliet October 1, 1858, and has since been iden- tified with the interests of this city and county, is a descendant, in the third generation, from a Revolutionary soldier, and in the second generation from William Linn, a native of Con- necticut, who served as captain in the war of 1812. His father, W. D. B. Linn, Sr., was born in Berk- shire County, Mass., and engaged in the marble business for years in Pittsfield, that county, where he died. He had married Melinda Decker, who was born in Hudson, N. Y., and died in Massa- chusetts; her father, Peter Decker, was a native of New York, of Holland-Dutch ancestry.
In a family consisting of five daughters and two sons, of whoni four daughters and one son are living, the subject of this sketch was next to the oldest. He was born in Lanesboro, Berk-
shire County, Mass., March 6, 1833, and was reared in and near Pittsfield, where he attended the public school. Later he was a student in the Williamstown boarding-school, where he clerked after completing his studies. When he came to Joliet he was a total stranger to the people in this section and knew but one man in the entire county. Settling on a farm near Manhattan, he began to raise stock and general farm products. Three years later he bought a farm in Manhattan Town- ship, a portion of which is now the site of the village of Manhattan, and for some time he gave his attention to the improvement of its one hun- dred .and fifty acres. Until 1870 he dealt in various grades of stock, but turned his attention in that year exclusively to Holstein cattle, bring- ing from Massachusetts the first thoroughbred Holstein ever brought into Illinois. The animal was named" Sleswig," and was a pure Hol- stein, he and his breed being the only ones that were imported from Holstein, the others of the name having been imported from the nortli of Holland. For some years his were the only Holstein cattle in the county, and at times he had as many as thirty head.
Selling his farm in 1891, Mr. Linn removed to Joliet, where he has since made his home. In the fall of 1894 he embarked in the livery busi- ness, renting a barn 44×150 feet at Nos. 815-817 Cass street, where he has since carried on a livery and boarding stable. He has never been active in politics, but takes an interest in the same, and votes with the Democratic party. For a time he served as township clerk of Manhattan. In 1861 he was made a Mason in Matteson Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Joliet, with which he has since been connected. His marriage united him with Miss Harriet M. Buck, who was born in Berk- shire, Mass., and by whom he has a daughter, Florence. It is a fact worthy of note that he, his father and his grandfather, were each the only son in the family who attained years of maturity. He is a public-spirited citizen, and takes an in- terest in matters that will promote the welfare of his city and county.
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
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JOHN Y. BROOKS.
OHN Y. BROOKS. Those able men whose sound judgment has promoted the industrial growth of their community and whose en- ergy has brought an enlarged prosperity to every line of human activity deservedly occupy posi- tions of prominence among their fellow-men. A volume wherein reference is made to leading busi- ness men of Joliet should not omit mention of Mr. Brooks, whose indefatigable industry and keen discrimination have been factors in bringing suc- cess to every enterprise with which he has been identified. Few are more familiar with the wire business than he, and his management of the four mills of the American Steel & Wire Company (those located at Rockdale, and on Scott street, Meeker avenue and Bluff street; has been char- acterized by sound judgment and great enter- prise,
Mr. Brooks was born in Syracuse, N. Y., March 14, 1863, a son of John Haverly and Olivia Alınira (Green) Brooks, natives respect- ively of New York and Rhode Island, and de- scendants of ancestors from England, Holland and Ireland. He is a direct descendant of Peter Brooks, who was born in Albany, N. Y., March 4, 1733, and was of English parentage. Jonathan Brooks, the great-grandfather of our subject, was a farmer and married Maria Haverly, who was born in Normansville in 1774, a daughter of Johannes and Annatje (Adams) Haverly, natives of Holland. John H. Brooks, Sr., thic grand- father of John Y. Brooks, was a contractor and became interested in the mercantile business in Syracuse, continuing as proprietor of a store until his retirement from business. He married Isa-
bella Strong, daughter of William and Jane (Morrow) Strong, natives of County Antrim, Ireland. One of the sous born of this marriage, Hon. William S. Brooks, was an early settler of Joliet and became quite prominent in political circles; he represented this district in the state senate. Another son, Jolin H. Brooks, Jr., the father of our subject, spent his entire business life as a merchant in Syracuse and died while visiting in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, July 20, 1891. His wife was a daughter of Oliver and Almira (Moore) Green, the latter of whom was born April 11, 1797, and died April 25, 1893.
The subject of this sketch was sixth in order of birth among the children of John H. Brooks, Jr. He received his early education in the public and high schools of Syracuse, N. Y., and after- ward studied for four years in the Peekskill (N. Y.) Military Academy, from which he graduated in 1880 with the highest honors of his class. Immediately afterward he came to Joliet, where he entered the hardware store of his uncle, Hon. William S. Brooks. In 1883 he began to work in the shipping department of the Ashley Wire Company, and, being remarkably quick and capable, he soon rose. In 1886 he became secretary of the Joliet Enterprise Company, and continued in that capacity until the panic of 1893, when the business went into the receiver's hands, and he assisted the receiver in settling up affairs. Afterward, in 1894, he became connected with the Consolidated Steel and Wire Company as manager of their mill and continued as such until the company was consolidated with the American Steel and Wire Company, when he was placed in
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
charge of the four Joliet mills. He gives his at- for four years. He then spent one year in tention very closely to business matters, and, aside from the Union Club, is not identified with any societies or fraternal organizations. In re- ligion he is a member of the Episcopalian Church. He was married, in Joliet, to Miss Jennie Gray, daughter of John Gray, an early settler of this city. They are the parents of a daughter, born February 2, 1900.
ENRY SWIVAL, who has met with grati- fying success in his work as a farmer and cattle-feeder, is one of the well-known men of Florence Township. He was born in Switzer- land September 9, 1834, a son of Henry and Rachael (Haefner) Swival, of whose six children the daughters remained in their native land, and the sons, David, Frederick and Henry, came to America. David is now deceased, and Frederick lives in Iroquois County, Il1. Both of the pater- nal and maternal ancestors represented long- established families of Canton Glarus, where the father and mother were born and reared. The former was engaged in farming and stock-rais- ing. He died about 1847 and his wife twelve years later. Both were adherents of the Evan- gelical Church.
The common schools of Switzerland gave our subject all the educational advantages he ever re- ceived. In 1853 he left home and went to Liver- pool, where he embarked on a sailing vessel bound for New York. After a voyage for forty- two days he arrived in this country, May 2, 1853. The next day he started for Chicago. From that city he went to Gilman, Ill., where he en- gaged to work for a railroad contractor on the Illinois Central Railroad for $4 a month. Dur- ing the summer of 1854 he worked under the same employer for three months on the construc- tion of the Michigan Central Railroad at Chicago Heights. Following this he went to Greengar- den, Ill., where he was employed as a farm hand. In April, 1855, he settled in Wesley Township, Will County, where he was employed on a farm
Florence Township, after which he herded cat- tle for eight years, being in the saddle alniost constantly day and night. During the first six years of this time he had charge of the cattle owned by a large cattle company, receiving at first $50 a month, and later $75. Afterward for two years he bought and sold cattle for a gen- tleman in Kankakee, being paid $110 per month for the first five months, after which he hired to him at $850 per year and all expenses paid.
In 1865 Mr. Swival bought one hundred and ten acres of land in Florence Township, where he now lives. March 5, 1868, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary Linebarger, a native of Parke County, Ind., and a daughter of John and Nancy (Stone) Linebarger. When she was a small child her father came to Will County about 1850 and bought a large tract of land in Florence Township. In 1868 he removed from that place to Elwood and later settled in Livings- ton County, this state. His last years were passed in Bonfield, Kankakee County, where he died in 1885. He was an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, served as a trustee and class-leader for years, and was well known for his upright Christian life, his hospitality and his generous aid given to charitable movements.
After his marriage Mr. Swival settled down to farm pursuits on the place he had purchased. three years before. In his new home his knowl- edge of the stock business proved most advan- tageous to him. He began at once to raise cat- tle and hogs, and during the winter months was a large feeder of cattle for the maket. In time he became a heavy buyer of stock, particularly hogs. As the years passed by he came to be recognized as one of the prosperous men of the township. In 1878 he bought another tract of one hundred and ten acres, making his farm one of two hun- dred and twenty acres. Recently he purchased three hundred and eighty-five acres in Dickinson County, Iowa, four and one-half miles from Spirit Lake, where he plans to send a couple of his sons in the spring of 1901. He and his wife became the parents of eight children, six of whom survive, namely: John, a farmer, who married
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Etta Newton and lives in Florence Township; Nellie, wife of Clarence Randolph, of Joliet; Minnie, who married Robert Ward, a farmer of Wesley Township; Ara, William and Roy, at home; and Nettie, deceased.
In national issues Mr. Swival votes the Dem- ocratic ticket, but in local matters he is independ- ent, voting for the measures best calculated to advance his township interests and the welfare of the people. For one term he held the office of highway commissioner and for several years served as school director.
EROME P. STEVENS is a member of a family that has been well known throughout this county from a very early period of its settlement. He was born in Joliet in 1854 and has always made this city his home, being now engaged in the real-estate and loan business here. His father, Henry K. Stevens, a native of Newark, N. J., born in 1811, came west in 1829, first settling in Michigan, where he engaged in the cultivation of farin land. From that state lie moved to Indiana in 1832 and settled on the Wabaslı River. The year 1836 found him a pio- neer settler of Will County, Ill., where he spent one year on a farm. In 1837 lie came to Joliet and opened a tavern on North Chicago street, where the Bissell hotel is now standing. His inn was the leading and the largest hotel in the city and was known as the Waving Banner. While conducting it he began to purchase real estate and in time his property interests became so valuable that he abandoned the hotel business and turned his attention to the real-estate and loan business, which he continued very success- fully for years. A man of shrewd judgment, keen intuition and quick in forming decisions, lie prospered in his real-estate transactions, and bought and sold extensively. When he came to Joliet it was a small village, sparsely populated, and giving to the casual observer few indications of future prosperity; but lie discerned its advan-
tages and was at once convinced that investments made here would prove profitable. Subsequent events have proved the wisdom of his judgment. After a business life covering many years he re- tired, dividing his property among his children, and has since made his home with his son, Jerome. His wife, who died in 1887, at the age of seventy-two years, was Mary A. Bissell, a na- tive of Ohio. They became the parents of five children, namely: Eliza, wife of O. S. Chamber- lin; Albert P. and Henry T., of Joliet; Addie, who married Dr. W. O. Cheeseman, of Chicago; and Jerome P., of Joliet.
After completing his education in the schools of Joliet, Jerome P. Stevens began to deal in real estate in Joliet. In 1891 lie removed the busi- ness to Chicago, where he devoted his time to the placing of loans and the buying and selling of real estate until 1897, when he returned to Joliet. As a business man he possesses many of the traits that made his father successful, and it is safe to predict for him a busy and prosperous life, in the carrying forward of the various en- terprises he has already placed upon a sub- stantial basis. His marriage took place in Mokena, Will County, in 1891 and united him with Miss Clara Belle Jones, by whom he has two children, Mary C. and Arthur J.
ATHAN BENNETT. Through his con- nection with the business interests of Joliet and his former prominence in local labor unions, Mr. Bennett has become well known among the people of his home city. In 1891 he started a coal, coke, wood and feed business, at the site where he has since remained, and he has built up a large trade in hard and soft coal; his yards are on Washington street, near the Michigan Central tracks. Besides his fuel business he has taken contracts for the building of sewers and water mains. In local affairs he has been deeply inter- ested. After having served as assistant supervi- sor for six years, he was elected supervisor in the
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spring of 1893 on the Republican ticket, and was re-elected in 1895 and 1897, meantime taking an active part in much of the important business brought before the board. In the spring of 1899 he was again elected on the Republican ticket. For three years he was highway commissioner of Joliet Township.
The Bennetts are an old family of Shropshire, England. Samuel Bennett, who was born there, became a civil engineer, and for some time held a position as engineer of water works. He and his wife, who was Margaret Ashley, both died in Shropshire. Of their eleven children five are living, three of whom are in England and one in Chicago. The oldest of those now living, Nathan, was born in Midland, England, March 18, 1845. His home town was a centre for iron manufacturing, hence he early became familiar with this work. When eleven years old he en- tered a wire mill and afterward worked in differ- ent departments, thus gaining a thorough knowl- edge of the business. In the fall of 1868 he came to America and engaged as puddler for the Bremen works in St. Louis, where he received $7 for work that brought him only $2.25 in his old home. In the spring of 1870 he came to Joliet, being one of the first six furnace men here. When the steel mill was built he entered it and learned the business thoroughly. For many years he worked as heater in the mill, and from 1870 to 1893 he was interested in iron work. Not only was he was one of the oldest men in the business at this point, but one of the most reli- able as well, and he stood high in the opinion of those inost competent to judge his ability. His experience was long and varied. When he was a boy working for seventy-five cents a week lie was employed in the wire mill where the wire was manufactured that was used in making the first cable ever laid, and he therefore assisted in making the first cable.
The year before leaving England Mr. Bennett married Miss Mary Ann Guy, by whom he has five children now living, viz .: Sarah A., Mrs. J. James, of Joliet; Albert Edward, who assists his father in the coal yards; Edith E., who is in her father's office; Mabel H. and Marion L. Fra-
ternally Mr. Bennett is past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias, holds membership with the Knights of the Maccabees, and has passed the various chairs in the order, Sons of St. George. In 1870 he was one of the principal organizers of the Sons of Vulcan, the first labor associa- tion formed in Joliet, and the first meeting (at- tended by seven members) was held one Sunday afternoon in a barn on Cass street. This was the nucleus around which centered the now large and formidable Amalgamated Association of Joliet. For six terms he acted as president of the society. Later it was merged into the Amal- gamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers, and he continued an active worker until he re- signed his position in the mill, since which he has been an honorary member. He is in sympa- thy with the doctrines of the Methodist denomi- nation, and his wife and family are actively con- nected with the Ottawa Street Methodist Episco- pal Church.
RANCIS F. STOWE, a merchant at Lock- port, was born in Jamestown, N. Y., July II, 1834, a son of Nathaniel H. and Eliza- beth (Partridge) Stowe, and a descendant of John Stowe, who emigrated from England in 1634 and settled in Middlesex County, Mass. He was one of eight children, seven of whom are living. One of these, Mrs. Eliza S. Twitchell, of Boston, Mass., is an author of some note and was selected to speak concerning single tax at a congress held in connection with the World's Fair. Francis F. Stowe remained on the home farm until twenty-one years of age, although for some three years before he had been teaching school. On leaving home he went to Clayton County, Iowa, where he taught school and en- gaged in farming. Two years later he went to Erie County, Pa., where for ten years he was en- gaged in the lumber business, meantime also taught several terms of school. In April, 1869, he came to Lockport and opened a grocery, since which time he has continuously engaged in busi-
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ness here. For a time he was president of the Lockport State Bank, now the Exchange Bank. He is a stockholder in the American Press Asso- ciation.
Mr. Stowe married Miss Sophia F. Barnard, of Ellington, N. Y. They have three children: Frederick W., a partner with his father in the grocery business; Grace E., who married George F. Seeley, of New York City; and Wayne B., who is one of the managers and directors of the American Press Association, of New York City. Politically Mr. Stowe is a Republican. For twenty-four years he served as justice of the peace. While in Erie County, Pa., he was for three years a member of the county board of auditors. Fraternally he is connected with Lock- port Lodge No. 538, A. F. & A. M., and the In- dependent Order of Mutual Aid.
OHN WILLIAMSON, formerly vice-presi- dent of the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Tin and Steel Workers of America, was appointed, June 1, 1899, deputy internal revenue collector, under Hon. F. E. Coyne, for the thirteenth division of the first internal reve- mue district of Illinois, his territory being Kan- kakce County and all of Will, Grundy and La- Salle Counties lying south of the Illinois River. A resident of Joliet since December 27, 1881, he is a native of Glasgow, Scotland, born Septem- ber 25, 1861, a son of John and Margaret (Chal- mers) Williamson, who were born in the same city as himself. His father, who was an iron moulder by trade, died in 1869, when thirty-tlirec years of age, leaving three children: John, who was then a boy of eight years; Elizabeth, who is married and lives in Buffalo, N. Y .; and James L., a machinist in Rochester, N. Y. The mother, who was a daughter of Hugh Chalmers, a merchant tailor of Glasgow, brought her chil- dren to America in 1872 and settled in Roches- ter, N. Y., where she died at fifty-one years of age.
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