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 69
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 69
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he has a large stock comprising the latest and finest patterns, and his business is the largest of its kind in the city, a result that is to be at- tributed entirely to his energy, thorough knowl- edge of the business, and courteous treatment of customers.
Mr. Davison was one of the first to build on Buell avenue, which has since become one of the finest drives in the city. He was married in this city, in January, 1889, to Mrs. Carrie (Wallace) Sonntag. Her father, George Wallace, a native of Stroudsburg, Pa., was a nephew of the late Firman Mack, who was one of the pioneers and prominent business men of Joliet. Mr. Wallace was reared in his native place. For some years he clerked in a boot and slioe store in Phila- delphia. In 1849 he came to Joliet, where he was employed by his uncle, Mr. Mack, until 1855. He then opened a retail shoe store on Jef- ferson street, continuing business there until his retirement. He died October 6, 1881, at the age of fifty-two years. He had married, October 22, 1857, Elizabeth P. Moore, who was born at Clarkson, Monroe County, N. Y., a daughter of Rev. James H. and Jane (Parkinson) Moore. Her father, who was born near New York City, was for years a minister in the Methodist Epis- copal Church. During the '4os he came to Illi- nois and settled in Kendall County, where he was a pioneer preacher. At the time of the discovery of gold in California in 1849, he and his son, Parkinson, crossed the plains to California, where they engaged in mining for some years. From there he returned to Illinois. Soon afterward, however, he again went west, this time settling in Kansas in order to cast in his lot with the free-state adherents. He took part in the border warfare of those days and helped to vote in Kan- sas as a free state. As a minister and farmer he was well known in Kansas, where he remained until his death. Mrs. Wallace resides on North Hickory street, Joliet. She had but two chil- dren, both daughters, Mrs. Davison, and Laura- bel, wife of C. W. Brown, of Joliet. Mr. and Mrs. Davison are the parents of three daughters, Kittiebel, Jessie Henrietta and Clara Elizabeth. The oldest daughter graduated from the Joliet
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high school in 1899 and is now studying in the training school in this city. The family are con- nected with the Ottawa Street Methodist Epis- copal Church.
BNER C. GILLETT, proprietor of the Hickory Creek dairy farmn in New Lenox Township, was born in Wayne County, N. Y., in 1842. His father, Isaac M. Gillett, a native of Otsego County, N. Y., born November 28, 1814, settled in Seneca County, but about 1842 moved to Wayne County, and from there came to Illinois in 1855. The spring of that year found him in Dupage County, but in the fall he settled in Homer Township, Will County, where he bought a farm of one hundred and thirty acres. By subsequent purchase he increased his holdings to five hundred acres. While hold- ing the office of road commissioner he assisted in laying out the roads in the town of Homer. Politically he was a Republican. He died on his homestead February 25, 1898, when eighty-four years of age. His father, Abner C. Gillett, was a lifelong resident and farmer of New York and was identified with the early history of Seneca County. A man of deep religious convictions, he assisted in the work of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, to which he belonged. He died in spring of 1861, at seventy-six years of age.
The mother of our subject was a daughter of Adam Carman, member of a Quaker family of New York. In her family were four children, namely: Abner C .; Egbert A .; D. A., who oc- cupies the homestead in Homer Township; and Isaac M., of Spencer. The mother is still living on the old home farm and is now eighty-five years of age. When the family settled in this county our subject was fourteen years of age. In the fall of 1861 he enlisted in Company G, Thirty-ninth Illinois Infantry, under Gen. T. O. Osburn, and served for three years, mostly in the army of the James River, although he spent eighteen months with Gilmore in South Carolina. He witnessed the bombardment of Fort Sumter
April 7, 1863. After being mustered out he re- turned to his liome. In the spring of 1865 he married Mary E. Gorham, who was born in New York. After his marriage he lived on the old homestead for three years. In 1868 he moved to Miami County, Kans., where he bought a small farm of forty acres and remained some years. Returning to Will County in 1873 he spent five years on his father's farm.
In the spring of 1878 Mr. Gillett bought the old Smith Reynolds farm. He now owns two hundred and seventy acres, on which he engages in dairy farming, keeping about one hundred milch cows and shipping twenty cans of milk to Chicago every day. Fraternally he is identified with Mount Joliet Lodge No. 42, A. F. & A. M., in which he is past master; and also belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic. He and his wife have one daughter, Jennie, who is the wife of Harry W. Storm.
RS. MARY E. GOTTS. One of the well- known business concerns of Joliet is the American Ice Company, of which Mrs. Gotts is the proprietor, and which carries on a large trade in ice, coal and wood. The office and yards of the company are at Chicago and Col- umbia streets, and the ice houses, which have a large capacity, are also at the same location. Three wagons are used constantly in the delivery of orders. The business is under the personal superintendence of Mrs. Gotts and its success is due almost wholly to her executive ability and perseverance, although she has had an able as- sistant in her brother, Edward F. Reiter, who is manager of the ice business. In addition to the oversight of this work, she is also proprietor of a large dressmaking establishment that furnishes employment to eight seamstresses and turns out tailor made garments of the finest and latest styles.
Mrs. Gotts was born in Homer Township, this county, and was third among the eleven children of Peter and Helen (Biever) Reiter, who settled on a farm at Peck's Corner, Homer Township,
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about 1863. When a mere child she became in- terested in dressmaking, for which she seems to have inherited a natural talent, her ancestors on both sides of the house having been tailors and dressmakers. In 1888 she came to Joliet in order to engage more extensively in the dressmaking business, and she has since continued this work successfully, in addition to personally superin- tending the ice business. She and her son, Alva, reside at No. 403 Collins street.
ORNELIUS C. VAN HORNE, one of the first settlers of this county, descended from a family of Hollanders who settled in the Mohawk Valley in 1635 and from there scattered throughout the country. He was born in White- house, N. J., a son of Abraham Van Horne. It was the hope of his parents to fit him for the ministry. One of his ancestors, it is said, was the first pastor of Trinity Church in New York and was buried in the cemetery there. However, his talents did not seem to lie in the line of the ministry and he studied for the bar, to which he was admitted in New Jersey. In 1832 he came west to what is now New Lenox Township, this county. Two years later he moved to Frankfort Township, where he was a pioneer farmer and lawyer. He was the first postmaster ever ap- pointed in Will County, serving as such both at New Lenox and Frankfort, and he also served as justice of the peace. In February, 1852, he es- tablished his law office in Joliet. A year later, on the incorporation of the city, he was elected the first mayor, and was serving in that office at the time of his death, July 7, 1854. Had not his career been so suddenly terminated, he would undoubtedly have attained great success at the bar of Joliet and in the political life of the city and state, for he was a man of fine talents and broad knowledge. The Democratic party received his support and its candidates his vote. In religious faith he was a Universalist.
Mr. Van Horne was twice married. His first
wife, whom he married in Indiana, was born in Ohio and died in Montreal, Canada. Of the chil- dren of his first marriage, five were sons and one a daughter. One of the sons, Simon, yet lives in California, and another, Abram, in Nebraska. Five children were born of his second marriage, namely: William; Augustus C .; Mrs. Elizabeth Leffler, of Missouri; Theodore, a telegraph opera- tor for the Chicago & Alton Railroad at Bloom- ington, Ill .; and Mary, who lives in Montreal. The most distinguished member of the family is the oldest son, Sir William Van Horne, of Mon- treal. When a boy he learned telegraphy in Joliet, and afterward worked his way up in the railroad business. For many years he was with the Chicago & Alton Railroad and later with other roads. As general manager he took the contract for the building of the western end of the Canadian Pacific road from Winnipeg to the coast, which work, had it not been for his efforts, would not have been completed for many years, or perhaps never. On the completion of the road he was elected to succeed Sir John Stephen- son as president of the Canadian Pacific Railroad Company, of which he is still the head. He was afterward knighted by Queen Victoria in London, England, for services rendered in the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railroad, and the development and opening up to civilization of British Columbia.
UGUSTUS C. VAN HORNE was born in Frankfort Township, this county, Septem- ber 22, 1844. He was a boy of ten years when his father, Cornelius C., died very sud- denly of cholera. At seventeen years of age he began to make his own way in the world, his first work being as carpenter with a bridge-build- ing gang. A year later he was made a fireman .on the Michigan Central Railroad, and in 1864 he accepted similar work on the Chicago & Alton Railroad. He continued in that capacity until 1871, when he was promoted to be engineer on a freight train. From 1873 to 1875 he was on the old Missouri road, but with that exception lie
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continued steadily with the Chicago & Alton for some years. Later he was with the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad as engineer out from Portage, but after two years returned to the Chicago & Alton, on which he has since been en- gineer. Meantime he was for eleven years en- gine honse foreman in Joliet, for eighteen months in Bloomington and for six months in Chicago. His run is now between Joliet and Brighton. He is a reliable, trustworthy engineer, and has never met with a serious accident during all of his long connection with the road.
The home of Mr. Van Horne is at No. 201 Union street, Joliet. In New Lenox, this coun- ty, he was married to Emma A., daugliter of George Nelson Marvin, who came from Syracuse, N. Y., to this county in 1854 and settled in Plainfield Township upon a farm. For some years he has been retired and now makes his home with Mr. Van Horne. Both our subject and his wife are identified with the Richards Street Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he holds office as president of the board of trustees. Politically he is independent. At one time he was connected with the Knights of Pythias and at this writing he belongs to the Modern Wood- men of America. He is a member of Matteson Lodge No. 175, A. F. & A. M .; Joliet Chapter No. 27, R. A. M., and Joliet Commandery No. 4, K. T. With his wife he is connected with Chapter No. 187 of the Eastern Star, of which Mrs. Van Horne was the first matron and in which she has since filled many offices with tact and ability.
ON. THOMAS H. RILEY. To many of the people of this county Mr. Riley is best known through his efforts in behalf of drainage and deep-water interests and through liis incumbency of various important offices. Al- ways a Democrat, he has never wavered in his allegiance to this party. In 1877 he was elected alderman from the first ward, two years later was elected from the second ward, which he after-
ward represented in the council for five terms, making seven terms altogether. His object in accepting the office was in order that he might use his influence to secure the adoption of separate systems of sewage and drainage, and upon accomplishing that he refused to serve further in the council.
In 1886 Mr. Riley was elected to the state legis- lature, serving in the thirty-fifth assembly. He offered the joint resolution in the house of repre- sentatives creating a commission to solve the drainage problem of Chicago. He was made a member of the same, with instructions to report to the thirty-sixth assembly a practicable metliod of disposing of the sewage of Chicago. The other members of the committee were Jolin A. Roche (then mayor of Chicago), T. C. McMillan and Barney Eckhart, botlı of Chicago, and A. J. Bell, of Peoria. Accompanying their report was what is now known as the drainage law, of which Mr. Riley had charge in the house and L. E. Cooley in the senate, and which they were in- strumental in passing. Later they secured what was known as the passage of the "Little Water- way bill" to connect, by the fourteen-foot chan- nel, the present drainage channel in Lockport and the Mississippi River. After a hard fight this bill became a law by vote of the legislature in 1894, but was vetoed by Governor Altgeld, and, as a result of the veto, the people are now holding deep-water conventions to secure the ac- complishment of the same results. In the thirty- fifth assembly Mr. Riley was a member of the revenue, canals and drainage and warehouse committees.
A resident of Joliet since 1872, Mr. Riley was born in Syracuse, N. Y., February 20, 1848, a descendant of a Danish family by whom the name was spelled Reilley, but this was shortened to its present form by our subject for convenience. He was second of seven children, all but one of whom attained maturity, and five sons are now living, three being in this county. One son, James, now of Little Falls, N. Y., was a soldier in Scott's Nine Hundred from New York during the Civil war. The father, Edward Reilley, was born in County Leitrim, Ireland, in 1803, and
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came to the United States in 1826, and in early manhood settled in St. Lawrence County, N. Y., later removing to a farm now within the city limits of Syracuse, N. Y. He became interested in the manufacture of salt, which he continued for years. In 1881 he came to Joliet, and died here three years later, at eighty-two years of age. He married Julia Black, who was born in Coun- ty Kildare, Ireland, of French descent, and died in Syracuse, N. Y.
Leaving home in 1865, our subject went to the Pennsylvania oil region, where he engaged in teaming for a year, and then had a boat of his own on the Allegheny River, later had three boats on Erie canal, making Syracuse his head- quarters. In the spring of 1872 he came to Joliet and for a few months was a steersman on the canal. Afterward he clerked in a grocery until the spring of 1875, when he started in business for himself. Later he was proprietor of the Au- burn house, and in 1883 started in the artesian well business, sinking several wells, the deepest of which was twelve hundred feet. I11 1886 he sold out and started in the undertaking business at No. 412 Van Buren street, where he had erected a building in 1882, and since then he has engaged steadily in business as an undertaker and funeral director. He built seven stores, all of two stories, fronting on Van Buren street, also a livery barn. Meantime, he has also engaged in general contracting, and had the contracts for the water works at the state penitentiary, also for two miles of dyke in the drainage ditch, the principal sewers of Joliet, and the water works and conduits taking the water to the different mills of the Illinois Steel Company. In 1890 he laid out Riley's Riverview Driving Park, in which he invested $25,000 in improvements, and which has a half-mile track that is not only the best in the state, but also one of the finest in the country. For two years he held a county fair, but the second year lost $5,000, só abandoned the enterprise. He probably did what no other man in the United States ever attempted, namely, he himself organized the Will County Mechanical and Agricultural Association, putting up the best buildings for that purpose in the state, and
equipping the same. Coming as it did right after the World's Fair it was not appreciated by the people and the large deficit was due to that.
In Joliet Mr. Riley married Miss Bridget Barry, whose father, Edmund Barry, was an early settler of this city and an employe on the Chicago & Alton Railroad. During the exist- ence of the Illinois Valley Circuit Mr. Riley represented the whole of the Joliet interest and therefore was one of its prominent members. Fra- ternally he is connected with the Modern Wood- men of America and the Court of Honor. The noble impulses of Mr. Riley's public-spirited measures are beginning to be understood and ap- preciated by the wise and broad minded citizens of Joliet, where he has been a conspicious figure for many years and where he is justly held in high esteem as an honored man and a repre- sentative citizen. He has not sought his own aggrandizement, but has planned for the best in- terest of the city that claims him and that is justly proud of him as one of its best citizens. His fight in the thirty-fifth assembly against the Hurd bill and his hard work in favor of the drainage law under which the now famous drainage chan- nel was constructed are a matter of history from which future generations will learn useful lessons of unselfish devotion to progress and higher civilization.
HILIP JACOB KIEP, a pioneer of Joliet, was born in Prussia, Germany, and was orphaned when quite young, his mother dying when he was two years of age and his father six years later. In youth he learned the shoe- maker's trade, which he followed in his native land and also for a time after coming to America. When he was twenty-four years of age, in 1854, he crossed the ocean to the United States, pro- ceeding direct to Joliet, where he was engaged in the shoe business for some time. During the early days of his residence in this city he was a volunteer member of the fire department. For a time he carried on a liquor business and later conducted a boarding house at No. 308 South
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Chicago street, where he bought a substantial two-story building. He was a member of the Sharpshooters' Association and St. John's So- ciety, and he and his wife were among the first members of St. John's Catholic Church. Politi- cally, after becoming a naturalized citizen, he al- 'ways voted with the Democratic party. He bought residence property at No. 407 North Hickory street and built the house in which his widow now resides. Here his death occurred June 15, 1894.
The marriage of Mr. Kiep took place in Joliet on the last day of 1857 and united him with Miss Helena St. Julian, who was born in Alsace, a daughter of Anton and Elizabeth (Graff) St. Julian, natives of the same province. Her fa- ther, who was a descendant of an old French fam- ily, brought the family to America in 1847 and died in Joliet seven years later. His wife died in this city in 1872. They were the parents of five daughters and one son, the latter now de- ceased. Mrs. Kiep is the only member of the family living in Joliet, and has made this city her home since 1847, when thirteen years of age. Since her husband's death she has lived quietly at the homestead, caring for the interests of her family and overseeing the affairs of the home. Of her children, the three oldest, John, Joseph and Frank, are proprietors of a meat market in Joliet; Robert is engaged in the jewelry business on Chicago street; Philip is with his brothers in the meat business; Josephine, Mary and Theresa reside with their mother.
ERNARD BAILEY, superintendent of the Phoenix Horse Shoe Company of Joliet, was born in Rosendale, Ulster County, N. Y., October 19, 1854, a son of Francis Henry and Grace (Straub) Bailey. In 1848 his father started to cross the ocean on an old sailing vessel that was wrecked off the coast of Ireland, after which the passengers were transferred to an- other ship, and finally reached the new world.
He settled in Ulster County and embarked in the hotel business, continuing to carry on a hotel until his death in 1885. As a Republican he was active in local politics. During the time of the Civil war he served as collector of taxes. He was a man of influence and prominence in his community, and was a potent factor in the up- building of the German Catholic Church. After coming to this country he married Miss Grace Straub, by whom he had four sons and four daughters, six now living. All remain in the east excepting Bernard, the eldest. He was edu- cated in the Ulster County schools. He served an apprenticeship as machinist with McEntee & Dillon at Rondout, N. Y., at the expiration of which he was employed in a shop in New York City, where he remained for three years. Re- turning to Rondout he was employed by the West Shore Railroad Company as a machinist for three and one-half years. His next position was in the employ of the Union Cement Com- pany, of East Kingston, N. Y.
In October, 1889, Mr. Bailey made an engage- ment with the Phoenix Horse Shoe Company at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., as a machinist. By this company in 1893 he was sent to Joliet as foreman of the machine department, which position he held for two years, and was then promoted to be superintendent of the roller mills. These are the only mills of the kind in Illinois and are the largest west of the Alleghenies, having a capacity of one hundred tons. The number of employes varies with the amount of work on hand, but usually reaches about three hundred. There is such a good demand for the products of the mills that at this writing they are running overtime.
Fraternally Mr. Bailey is a member of the lodge, chapter and council of the Masonic Order, Court No. 177, Order of Foresters, in Joliet; Stevenson Camp No. 2892, Modern Woodmen; and Adler Lodge No. 388, I. O. O. F., at Poughkeepsie, N. Y. He has been fairly active in politics and has served as a delegate to Re- publican conventions and in other ways aided his party in its work. At the time of President McKinley's visit to Joliet in 1899, Mr. Bailey was a member of the reception committee that
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went to Morris to meet the president. President McKinley inquired of Mr. Bailey if he carried a "good luck" shoe with him. He replied that, while he did not, he would have one made for the president. Later he made a fine shoe, which was nickel-plated, engraved and forwarded to Mr. Mckinley.
December 23, 1879, Mr. Bailey married Char- lotte Schriver, of New York City. They are the parents of nine children: Bernard J., who is in the works at Joliet; Frederick Raymond, who is with the Bates Machine Company; George, Hor- tense, Grace, Samuel, Lincoln, William and Elisha H.
1
LMON N. HILTON. The record of the subject of this sketch entitles him to con spicuous mention in the present work, for his life is an example of the power of resolute working and steadfast integrity, and illustrates in no uncertain manner what it is possible to ac- complish when perseverance and determination form the keynote of a man's life. He is now in the prime of life, and the position he has already attained, though worthy of commendation, is without doubt but an index to future years of prosperity. His keen business acumen and pro- gressive ideas have not only placed him in the front rank of the citizens of Symerton, but have also made him prominent among the grain dealers_ in the county.
Mr. Hilton was born in North Anson, Somer- set County, Me., August 6, 1857, a son of Joshua N. and Nancy H. (Knolton) Hilton. He was one of a family of six children, four of whom are living. His sisters are: Laura, wife of J. J. Newell, of Waterville, Me .; H. May, wife of Eugene Lawrence, of Madison, Me .; and Win- nifred, who resides with her father. The Hilton ancestry is traced back to William Hilton, a man of influence and a Revolutionary soldier. Dur- ing that war two of his brothers were killed by Indians. After peace had been declared he moved up the Kennebec River and settled on a
tract of land in Somerset County. On this place he built a log cabin and later a frame house. It was in this home that his son, Joshua, grew to manhood, surrounded by all the environments of the frontier. The only advantages which he had were those physical benefits derived from an outdoor life; there were no public schools, and even subscription schools were few in number, so he was forced to depend upon his unaided exer- tions in obtaining a knowledge of the three R's. After his marriage to Sarah Heald he removed to another part of Somerset County, and there his subsequent years were uneventfully passed.
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