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 7
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 7
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The Witwer family originated in Germany, where they were a sturdy race, inhabiting the two provinces on the banks of the upper Rhine. On account of religious and social persecutions they left their native land and settled in Pennsylvania. Members of this family were among the first set- tlers of Earl Township, Lancaster County, Pa., whither they went as early as 1730, one year af- ter the organization of the county. Among the papers of Rev. George Witwer was found a deed from William Penn to William Sensenig, bear- ing date 1734, in which appears the name of Michael Witwer, an ancestor of our subject.
The father of our subject, Rev. George Wit- wer, was born in Earl Township, Lancaster County, August 25, 1824, a son of Isaac Witwer. During the '5os he removed to Ashland County, Ohio, where he engaged in the general mercan- tile business, served as postmaster at Ashland, and also preached in the Dunkard Church. In 1863 he settled in LaPorte County, Ind., where he carried on farm pursuits and also engaged in ministerial work. In 1867 he went to Missouri as agent for Studebaker Bros. (his brother-in- laws), and established an agricultural implement store at Hamilton, Mo. While living in that state he preached in his denomination. Return- ing to Indiana in 1881 he was connected with the Studebaker factory in South Bend, and died in that city in October, 1886, aged sixty-six years. Until one month before his death he con- tinued to preach. His wife, who was Elizabeth Studebaker, was born in Lancaster, Pa., and . makes her home in South Bend. Her father, John, a native of Pennsylvania, removed to Ash- land, Ohio, where he followed the wagon-maker's trade and would have been very successful had
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he not lost several thousand dollars by endorsing a note for a friend. His two oldest sons, Henry and Clement, started in business with a capital of $68, and now give employment to more than two thousand men, the output of their factories being between seventy-five and eighty thousand vehi- cles annually.
Accompanying his parents in their various re- movals, the subject of this sketch received com- mon school advantages in the towns where he lived in boyhood. While clerking in a store in Hamilton he also herded cattle at odd times for Dwight & Booth. When fifteen years of age he was given $500 cash by his employers and was sent twenty miles on horseback to buy cattle, which he did, weighing them and paying for them and then driving them to the nearest rail- road at Kidder, Mo. From 1879 to 1881 he was employed as assistant to Studebaker Bros., at South Bend, Ind. While there he joined the South Bend Light Guards and continued the membership at the DePauw University, where he was a student in 1881-82. On leaving the Uni- versity he became inspector and buyer in the lumber department of Studebaker Bros., also gained some experience as traveling salesman. In 1883 he went to Dallas, Tex., where he man- aged the business of his brother, J. S. Two years later he traveled for Studebaker Bros., in Indiana, continuing with the firm until he be- came interested in the Joliet Manufacturing Company. He is a member of the National Im- plement and Vehicle Manufacturers' Association. At one time he was active in the Business Men's Association and was offered its presidency, but declined. Frequently he has been selected to serve as a delegate to Republican conventions and as a member of committees; offices of trust have been offered him, among them that of mayor of Joliet, but he prefers to devote himself to his bus- iness affairs, having little taste for official life. He is connected with the Union Club of Joliet and the Hamilton Club of Chicago.
The home of Mr. Witwer is an elegant resi- dence on Cass street. He was married in Joliet, October 5, 1887, to Miss Mary E. Shreffler, daughter of Andrew Hafer Shreffler, whose large
financial interests were inherited at his death by his only surviving child. Mr. and Mrs. Witwer attend the Ottawa Street Methodist Episcopal Church, in which Mr. Witwer is a member of the board of trustees. They are liberal supporters of all church and benevolent institutions. Their home is the scene of many social functions, the pleasure of which is heightened by their courte- ous hospitality and refined surroundings. They are the parents of one son, Andrew Hafer Shref- fler Witwer, born February 21, 1894. Their daughter, Irene, was born July 17, 1890, and died September 30, 1891.
ON. EDWIN PORTER, president of the E. Porter Brewing Company and the E. Porter & Son's Stone Company, both of Joliet, and sole proprietor of the Gold King mine in Cripple Creek, Colo., was born in Granger, Medina County, Ohio, April 19, 1828. He was one of the three children forming the family of Harvey and Harriet (Culbert) Porter, natives of New York. He comes of patriotic lineage, for his father was a soldier in the war of 1812 and his grandfather Porter served through the entire seven years of the Revolutionary struggle. He was educated in common schools and Brooklyn Academy, and for a time was connected with a coal business in 1856. The year 1856 found him in Joliet, where he started in the malting and brewing business on the Desplaines River. At first his business was very small, but, being energetic and judicious, he increased it constantly though gradually, and it has now become the largest brewery in the city and one of the largest in the state. It has a capacity of one hundred and fifty barrels a day, ninety-five per cent of the ontput being beer. Mr. Porter is president of the company and has a most efficient co-laborer in Joseph Braun, Jr., secretary and treasurer, in whose judgment and experience he reposes thie utmost confidence. I11 1889 the brewery was re-
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modeled and made first-class in every respect. The plant covers two blocks and is provided with all modern improvements. Water is fur- nished from two artesian wells and is declared by chemists to be especially adapted for the brew- ing of beer, the wells being in bed rock, where no surface water can reach them. On the incor- poration of the firm in 1893, the name was made E. Porter Brewing Company, and continues as such to the present. The work of brewing is in charge of Henry Leser, who has had experience with some of the largest breweries in the country and who has held his present position since 1886.
It is not always that a man can successfully conduct two enterprises, different in nature and requiring the exercise of different talents. How- ever, Mr. Porter has not only been successful as the head of a large brewery, but he has also built up an important stone business. In 1883 he be- came interested in quarrying. Two years later E. Porter & Son's Stone Company was incor- porated, with him as its president. They have since operated quarries in the east part of the city, adjoining the limits, from which shipments are made to many points. This business is under the management of Harry E. Porter. In 1895 Mr. Porter bought the Gold King mine on Gold
Hill, in the Cripple Creek district, and has since been sole proprietor of the same, taking an active interest in its development.
In Cleveland, Ohio, Mr. Porter married Miss Almena A. Curtis, who was born in that city. They became the parents of three sons, namely: Charles and Joseph C., deceased; and Harry, who is manager of the stone business.
The Democratic party usually receives Mr. Porter's support. In 1864 he was elected mayor of Joliet and was again elected in 1865 and 1871. Under the new city charter he was twice elected to the mayor's office for two years (in 1879 and 1881) and in 1883 was elected for a term of four years, his entire service in this position covering a longer period than that of any other mayor the city has had. He is a member of the Business Men's Association. Fraternally he is connected with Matteson Lodge, A. F. & A. M., in which he is a past officer. In personal characteristics he is conservative, unassuming and reserved; deliberate in forming his judgment, but not easily changed when once a course of action is decided upon; devoted to his business and finding his keenest enjoyment in the management of large financial enterprises; yet withal, to those who know him well, a genial companion and warm friend.
ble Robinson
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
CHRISTOPHER C. ROBINSON.
HRISTOPHER C. ROBINSON, deceased, was during his active years onc of Lockport's most successful citizens. He was recognized as a man of unustral ability as a financier. Quick to see an opportunity for a' advantageous invest- ment, he was equally quick to avail himself of it. He had many and varied interests, all of which, with scarcely an exception, proved a source of profit to him. Coming to Lockport at the time when everything was booming, he furnished the contractors on the canal with beef and also dealt in stock. At different times he bought property in Chicago and Lockport, the rise in the value of which greatly enhanced his wealth. With no desire for personal display, he was economical and even frugal in his life, but free from a spirit of parsimony.
In Chelsea, Vt., where he was born March 28, 1812, Mr. Robinson passed the years of his youth, meantime learning the machinist's trade. In 1836 he came to Lockport, after which he worked very little at his trade, finding other enterprises that were more profitable. He made the first drill that was used on the Illinois and Michigan canal. In 1857, in partnership with A. S. A11- derson, he bought a farm just across the line in Dupage County, and for seven years made his home on that place, after which he returned to Lockport and continued to reside here until liis deatlı, February 22, 1872, at the age of about sixty years. While he did not care for office, lie never failed to vote the Republican ticket at elec- tions and was always interested in the success of his party. Though not identified with any de- nomination, he was a believer in the Christian religion and aided in works of a charitable and religious nature.
The marriage of Mr. Robinson, April 22, 1857, united him with Miss Lydia A. Turner, who was born in Ashtabula, Ohio, and came to Lockport in girlhood, since which time she has made her home in or near this place. No children were born of her marriage to Mr. Robinson, but they adopted a daughter, Hettie C., who married Fred A. Bartlett, and resides in a house adjoin- ing the one occupied by Mrs. Robinson in Lock- port, and whose love and affection have bright- ened the home life of Mrs. Robinson.
The home life of Mr. and Mrs. Robinson was ideal, and much of the success of his life was due to the wise counsels of his wife, who was a true helpmeet. His christianity was shown by help- ing his fellow-men, regardless of their social posi- tion or creed. The inner life is the real life of any man, and those who knew Mr. Robinson best admired and honored him most.
OHN P. PATTERSON, secretary, treasurer and manager of the Dupage Valley creamery in Wheatland Township, was born in Eng- land, Marclı 12, 1855, a son of Thomas and Ag- nes (Palmer) Patterson. His father, a native of Scotland, moved to England when thirty years of age and followed the carpenter's trade at Man- chester. In 1858 lic crossed the ocean to Amer- ica, coming direct to Will County and buying sixty acres in Wheatland Township, where his son's home now is. Here he followed farming and carpentering. He built a number of bridges, as well as several farm houses, including the large
4
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
residence of Thomas Clow. Politically he favored Republican principles. For many years he held office as a school director. He was reared in the United Presbyterian faith and always held mem- bership with that church. By prudence, econo- my and good judgment he accumulated one hull- dred and twenty acres, bearing excellent improve- ments. He died October 24, 1878, when fifty-six years of age. Of his five children two died in infancy. Those living are John P., Agnes (Mrs. McPherson) and Elizabeth.
Ever since he was three years of age our sub- ject has lived in Illinois. He was reared in this township and received his education in its schools. Under his father's supervision he gained a thorough knowledge of farm work. Unlike many young men, he had no desire to leave home and seek his fortune among strangers, but was content to remain in the place familiar to him from early childhood. On his father's death he took charge of the homestead, engaging in general farming and stock-raising. He was one of the original stockholders of the creamery and one of the commissioners who secured its charter. The company was organized in May, 1894, and the creamery was started August 15 of the same year, with a capital stock of $9,750. The enter- prise has proved a most profitable one and has paid its projectors large dividends. A large, well-equipped building is utilized for a creamery. For the year there is an average daily receipt of eighteen thousand pounds of milk. The most of the butter is sent to the Fox River Butter Com- pany at Aurora. The quality of the dairy prod- uct is exceptionally fine and has given invariable satisfaction. This gratifying result is almost wholly due to Mr. Patterson's judicious manage- ment. Upon the formation of the company he was chosen secretary and treasurer and one year later was made manager, a position that he has since filled to the satisfaction of all the stock- holders.
Politically Mr. Patterson is a Republican. He has served as a delegate to almost every county Republican convention since he was twenty-one years of age. For six years he held office as jus- tice of the peace and for a similar period served as
highway commissioner. February 20, 1886, he married Emma, daughter of Jacob Matter, and a sister of Elton E. Matter, of Wheatland Town- ship. To their marriage seven children were born, namely: Ralph; Sterling; Bernice, deceased; Rodger, deceased; Gladys; James and Homer.
ILLIAM GOUGAR, one of the old settlers of New Lenox Township, was born in Pickaway County, Ohio, a son of William and Catherine (Abel) Gougar. His paternal grandfather was born in Germany and emigrated from there to Pennsylvania, settling in Berks County, where he developed a farm and remained until his death. His two brothers came with him; one settled in Virginia and the other in Kentucky. From Berks County William Gou- gar, Sr., and his wife removed to Pickaway County, Ohio, in 1818, the year of their son's birth. They bought a farm which the father began to develop, but after four years he sold out, removing to Vermilion County, Ind. In 1831 he brought his family to Will County, Il1. (accom- panied by his father), and purchased a tract of raw prairie on Hickory Creek. At once he began the task of improving the property, and from time to time he added to his holdings until, when he .died, he was the owner of three hundred and twenty acres, where he engaged in farming and stock-raising. For years his home was in a log cabin destitute of the improvements and furnish- ings of our modern residences, but in later days he erected a more commodious house. For many years Nicholas Gougar was postmaster at the old Gougar homestead, which office has since been transferred to Joliet.
On the Democratic ticket William Gougar, Sr., was elected to various township offices, including that of commissioner, which he held for several years. He was also a member of the school board of his district. In the division of Will from Cook County he took an active part, as well as in other important movements of early days.
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
He had been reared in the faith of the German Lutheran Church, and often those of similar belief met at his home for religious worship, there being no organized church of the denomination in the vicinity. He was spared to attain eighty years of age, and passed away in 1861. His wife, who was born in Pennsylvania, died at the Will County homestead in 1854, at the age of fifty-six years. They were the parents of eleven children, seven of whom are living, namely: John, the eldest, who lives in New Lenox Township and is now almost ninety years of age; Jacob, of Kan- kakee County; Daniel, whose home is in Joliet; William; Lewis and Joseph E. (twins), the for- mer of Denver, Colo., the latter of this county; and Eliza, wife of William Wilson.
When it is remembered that the boyhood days of our subject, William Gougar, were passed in new and unsettled sections of the country, where schools had not yet been introduced, it can be readily understood that he had no advantages for obtaining an education. When he was fourteen years of age he accompanied numerous Will Con- ty men into the Black Hawk war, spending several months on the field of warfare, enduring many hardships and privations. His brothers, Daniel and Nicholas, were members of the militia in the Black Hawk war. On his return home he assisted his father on the farm. In 1850 he made a trip with four mule teams to the gold fields of Califor- nia, where he remained for three years, meeting with fair success as a miner. In 1853 he came back to Will County. The following year he purchased a farin one mile west of New Lenox and there he resided until 1891, engaging in stock-raising and general farming. In 1891 he bought a home in New Lenox and retired from active labors, having met with an accident that disabled him for hard work. Though he began with nothing he now owns five hundred and thirty acres of good land.
No citizen is more interested in the progress of the township than is Mr. Gougar. He remem- bers the days when settlers were few, and even the most sanguine never hoped for a condition of prosperity such as the present decade has wit- nessed. When Indians were numerous and hos-
tile, on one occasion they drove the family from home, and they remained in the Wabash country until the fall of 1832, when they came back to Will County. He was a charter member of the Grange and aided in its organization. In politics a Democrat, he served as supervisor for one term and as school director for several terms, and has aided in the erection of schoolhouses and other public buildings. By his marriage, in 1859, to Clarissa, daughter of Baldwin Hawkins, of Kan- kakee County, Ill., he has three children: Will- iam Joel, who has successfully engaged in farm- ing, Helen and Frank.
- OBERT MILNE, who was a pioneer of Y Lockport, was one of the first to bring thoroughbred Shorthorn cattle into this lo- cality, and was a man of great energy of charac- ter and kindness of heart. He was of Scotch birth, born February 14, 1805, and grew to man- hood in his native country, where he learned and followed the stone-mason's trade. When thirty years of age he crossed the ocean to Canada, where he remained for a few months. About 1836 he went to Chicago, where he had contracts for putting the locks on the Illinois and Michigan canal. On completing the work he returned to Canada, and formed a partnership with a con- tractor, the two opening up work on the Welland canal. Returning to Lockport he took the con- tract for putting in the locks near here, and in this way he was led to establish his home here. For several years he operated and managed a planing and saw mill, and upon selling out he purchased a farm of two hundred and forty acres, a part of which now lies in the city of Lockport.
Turning his attention to the improvement of the property, he continued in agricultural pur- suits until his death. He was a very progressive man, and was a leader in introducing Shorthorn cattle into this county, going to Scotland for the purpose of purchasing a number of thorough- breds.
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
December 31, 1846, Mr. Milne married Miss Isabel Maitland, who was born and educated in Aberdeen, Scotland. At the age of sixteen years, accompanied by her two sisters, she landed in America, proceeding at once to Chi- cago, where she made her home until the time of her marriage. To their marriage nine children were born; of these we note the fol- lowing: William, who was for twenty years a clerk and collector in the canal office, is now en- gaged in the manufacture of umbrellas and canes in New York City; Jennie is the widow of John M. Frowe, of Evanston, Ill .; Robert is extensive- ly engaged in the hay business at Baxter Springs, Kans .; Isabel is the wife of John I. Rice, of Chi- cago; Agnes M. is the wife of Henry D. Baker, of Evanston; Margaret M. married Charles A. Ewen and they reside with her mother; Georgia- na died at thirty years of age; James A. has charge of the homestead; and Frank M. is en- gaged in business in Chicago.
For many years Mr. Milne was a deacon in the Congregational Church. His family also took an interest in the work of that church, and his wife is still one of its most faithful members. For eight years he served as a commissioner on the canal. While he never attained wealth, he accumulated a competency, in spite of many ob- stacles that beset him; and at the time of his death he left an improved farm for his widow and children. He passed from earth November 2, 1892, after a useful and successful life, and was followed to his grave by the respect of the many acquaintances lie had made after coming to this county.
3 OHN D. SHREFFLER. During the more than fifty years that Mr. Shreffler has made his home in this county he has gained a wide acquaintance and a high standing among its citizens. In former years his business inter- ests required his presence in other counties and states much of the time, yet he always kept in touch with affairs in his home neighborhood, and
gave his influence in behalf of measures for the benefit of the people. Though now in the twi- light of his useful life, he is still remarkably active and retains his interest in matters relating to the welfare of the state and nation. He has witnessed with pride the gradual growth of the county, the introduction of railroads, telegraph and telephone lines, the founding of villages and the improvement of valuable farms from the broad-stretching prairie, and in all of this work of development he has borne no insignificant part. He has not sought positions of an official nature, preferring the part of a private citizen, whose duties he has at all times striven to fill; but, though not an office-seeker nor a politician, he consented, at the request of the voters of his section, to hold the office of assessor as well as a number of village offices.
The Shreffler family has been identified with American history for at least four generations, having come from Germany in an early day. Henry Slireffler, who was a native of Pennsyl- vania, served in the Revolutionary war, and as a result of the exposure and sufferings of those memorable years, lost his eyesight. Among his four sons and one daughter was a son, Daniel, who was educated in subscription schools and under his father, learned the weaver's trade, be- sides which he engaged in farming. He was a zealous worker in the Evangelical Association and often officiated as a local preacher in that denomination. Politically he was a Democrat. By his marriage to Catherine Dauberman he had six children, of whom one son and three daugh- ters are deceased, the survivors being John D. and Mrs. Rebecca Hahn, both of this county.
In Center County, Pa., John D. Shreffler was born in 1817. Reared on a farm, he early be- came familiar with that occupation. In the spring of 1846 he came to Illinois and took up his resi- dence in Will County, bringing with him his bride, who was Sarah A. Tonner, of Pennsyl- vania. After a time he became connected with C. Aultman & Co., of Akron, Ohio, as their representative in Illinois, Wisconsin and the states west, for the sale of the Buckeye reaper and the Sweepstakes thresher. He was given
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
charge of the appointing and supervision of local agents and also made all eolleetions for the firm in his district. Some years later the business was divided, and he was given charge of the reaper and mower department. He continued with the company for ten years, meantime travel- ing through every section of Illinois and also visiting other states. Through his energy and perseverance a large business was built up. Sup- plies were distributed from Chicago to the vari- ous points, as ordered. During the fall of each year he visited eounty fairs, exhibiting the in- plements for which he was agent. However, the business required him to be away from home so much of the time that he became dissatisfied and determined to retire from it. Settling up his accounts, he turned his attention to the manage- ment of his landed interests in Will County. His farm was located in the southern part of the village of Plainfield, and all but ninety-one acres of the quarter section was within the village limits; a portion of the place has since been platted in town lots and sold. Besides the buying and selling of land, he erected a number of business buildings and several residences, which he rents. He was also contractor in the building of one of the former Plainfield schoolhouses. He has in- vested largely in both improved and unimproved real estate, and has hield the most of what he has bought.
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