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 72
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 72
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The marriage of Mr. Svenson took place in Joliet December 1, 1888, and united him with Mrs. Ida Charlotte (Jacobson) Hedlund, who was born in Skaraborglaen, Westerjutland, Sweden, and was one of six children, three still living: August V., of Joliet; Ludvig, of South Center, Kans .; and Mrs. Ida Svenson. Their fatlier, Anders Jacobson, owned the farm, "Valby." During the Civil war he came to America and enlisted in a Pennsylvania regiment which saw much active service at the front. After his enlistment nothing was ever heard of liin, but without doubt he fell in one of the early battles of the war. His wife, who is now living in Joliet, was Britta Marie, daughter of Andres Anderson, a farmer who owned "Oja." In 1884 Mrs. Sven-
son came to America, settling in Joliet, where her first husband, Carl Hedlund, died, leaving two children, Aaron and Arthur Hedlund. . By her second marriage four children have been born, viz .: C. Oscar, Jr., Emily Olivia, Knut Ahlvin and Esther Victoria.
ENRY LESER, brewmaster and superinten- dent of E. Porter Brewing Co.'s Eagle brew- ery in Joliet, was born in Lahr, Baden, Ger- many, February 28, 1854, a son of Jacob L. and Charlotte (Zuker) Leser, and grandson of John Leser (a manufacturer of fire hose) and Christian Zuker (a gardener). He was one of two sons and two daughters comprising the family, his brother being Jacob Leser, a lithographer in Chi- cago. His education was received in the gym- nasium in his native town. When eighteen years of age he entered the army and served in the ar- tillery as corporal for three years. After re- ceiving an honorable discharge lie learned the brewer's trade at Offenburg, Baden, and later traveled as a journeyman in Switzerland as well as in Baden and Wurtemberg. For some years he was employed as brewmaster with a large brewing firm in Baden.
Coming to America in 1885, Mr. Leser worked at his trade in New York, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Sedalia and Kansas City, being brewmaster in Hines' brewery in the last-named city. In March, 1888, he came to Joliet as a brewmaster of the Eagle brewery, which position he has since filled with great success. At the time he accepted the position the company sold only about eiglit thousand barrels, but their sales now reach more than thirty-two thousand barrels a year, this large increase being almost wholly due to his energetic management. At the time of the iucorporation of the E. Porter Brewing Co., in 1893, he became a stockholder, and was made superintendent of the brewery, which now ranks as among the largest in the state. The products manufactured include a good quality of Winer,
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
lager, ale and porter. He is a member of the Brewmasters' Verein of the United States, also belongs to the Saengerbund and the Sharp- shooters Association of Joliet. Politically he is a Democrat.
While in St. Louis, Mo., Mr. Leser married Miss Maria Schleret, who was born in Wurtz- burg, Bavaria, Germany, and by whom he has four children, Henry, William, Lottie and Bertha.
EORGE A. BUCK. After years of industrious application to agricultural pursuits, Mr. Buck retired from his farm and established his home in Joliet, where he has resided since 1883. When he came to this county, in June, 1857, he bought a tract of unimproved land in section 17, Man- hattan Township. Building a home, he began the task of clearing and cultivating his property. He became the owner of many hundred acres, and at one time fenced and controlled more than three thousand acres, of which he personally owned over eighteen hundred acres. At first he made a specialty of wheat, but later turned his attention to corn, and often raised large crops of this product. For years he was extensively en- gaged in raising sheep and cattle, and on his place he had a number of high-grade Durhams. The improvements on his homestead were first- class, and included a splendid residence erected at a cost of $7,000, which has since been destroyed by fire. In 1880 the Wabash Railroad was built through his farm, and cut off forty acres of the same. A portion of the village of Manhattan lies on the property he once owned. He sold his farm in 1890.
Mr. Buck was born in Lanesborough, Berk- shire County, Mass., September 10, 1829, a son of Hon. Asahel and Sophia (Mason) Buck, na- tives of Cheshire, Mass. The family of which he was a member comprised four daughters and two sons, namely: Achsah G. and Sarah H., who died at the ages of sixteen and twenty two years; George A .; Mrs. Harriet Linn, of Joliet; Truman
T., of Omaha; and Laura M., Mrs. Cole, who died in Poultney, Vt., at the age of twenty-nine. The father was a son of Asahel Buck, Sr., a sol- dier in the war of 1812 and a farmer in Massa- chusetts. .. Hon. Asahel Buck was a man of local prominence and active in the Democratic party . Both in the house of representatives and the sen- ate of Massachusetts he rendered efficient service to his fellow-citizens, and he was a member of the constitutional convention . of , that state. : Inire- ligion he was a Baptist. He died in Poultney, Vt., August 19, 1880, at the age of seventy-eight years. His wife, who was a daughter of Silas Mason, a carpenter and builder in Berkshire County, died in Poultney, Vt., April 30, 1891, at the age of eighty-eight years. :
Until twenty-three years of age our subject remained in his native town, and afterward for a time clerked in Cheshire. In October, 1856, he settled in Waukegan, Ill., where he clerked a few months, coming from there to Will County the following year and buying section 17, near Man- hattan village. 'In the years that followed he.be- came recognized as one of the most /prosperous and enterprising farmers of the county. .. He -held a number of public offices, including those of township clerk, township treasurer and town- ship supervisor, holding the last-named office for six years. During almost the entire period of his residence in the township he served as school director. Politically he is a gold.Democrat. . ; ».
+. Prior to his removal from. Massachusetts Mr. Buck married Miss Helen Wolcott, who was born in Cheshire, Mass., and died in Waukegan, Ill .; , April 16, 1857. She was a daughter of. Russell B. Wolcott, member of an old family of Cheshire and by occupation a farmer. The second - mar- riage of Mr. Buck took place in Joliet March 22, 1859, and united him with Miss Sarah H. Baker, .who was born in Hoosick, Reusselaer County, N. Y., October 20, 1836. "She was one of .eiglit children, the others being Julia E., of Evanston; Norman J., who died in California; Mrs. Mary S. Barnes, of Joliet; Gibson S., who died at itwo months; Clark M., who resides in Manhattan; Mrs. Elizabeth E. Fisk, of Evanston; and Gideon, who is iu Kansas.'
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
, The father of Mrs. Buck, Jirah E. Baker, a na- tive of Hoosick, was a son of Jirah, Sr., who was born in Rhode Island and spent his last years on a farm near Hoosick. His father, Benjamin, a native of England, was a soldier in the Revolu -. tionary war and died before its close, of disease contracted in the army, With him in the service were: his two oldest sons. Jiralı E. Baker re- moved west in 1856, joining his brother, Clark, who had settled in Manhattan, Ill., in 1848. Soon afterward he removed to Arkansas and died there. The mother of Mrs. Buck bore the maiden name of Almira Gifford and was born near Hoo- sick, N. Y., her father, Gideon Gifford, having removed there from Connecticut. She died in Chicago at an advanced age.
Of the family of Mr. and Mrs Buck we note the following: Helen C. is the wife of John Cockle, of York County, Neb .; Josephine, who was born May 8, 1861, died at five years; Sophia M. was born November 28, 1862, and died in October, 1865; Laura C., Mrs. Tenny, lives in Milwaukee, Wis .; George A., Jr., was born June 22, 1867, and died June 3, 1870; Werden is engaged in the grocery business in Joliet; Jennie T. is the wife of Arthur Baldwin, of Joliet; Kate F. married Prof. O. L. Manchester, of Normal, Ill., and died April 11, 1892, when less than twenty years of age; Paul Revere was born November 12, 1875, and died March 22, 1877; Fred A. was born May 7, 1877, and died December 16, 1889; and Lucy Mason, the youngest of the family, was born Feb- ruary 19, 1882.
J C
AMES E. NEWKIRK. The genealogy of the Newkirk family is traced to a very early period in the settlement of Virginia, and its representatives were associated with many events of importance in colonial history, holding a high position among the F. F. V.'s and contributing to the prosperity which the Old Dominion long en- joyed. The great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch was Jacob Newkirk, a native of Penn- sylvania, born about the year 1758. He served
during the Revolutionary war. In an early day he moved to Kentucky, settling on a farm in Jef- ferson County. There he died, of pneumonia, February 16, 1815. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Margaret Stumpf, was born in Pennsylvania in 1760 and died in Jefferson County, Ky., in 1853.
The grandfather of our subject, Jacob New- kirk, Jr., was born in Little York, Pa., in 1787, and became a successful farmer of Jefferson County, Ky. When the second war with Eng- land was declared he received a commission as colonel in the American army and served with distinction, assisting in securing the freedom of the sea for our country. After the war he re- turned to his plantation nine miles south of Louisville, and there he continued to reside until his death, February 14, 1878. He was one of a family of eight, the others being Elias, Samuel, Elizabeth, Daniel, Annie, Margaret and Cath- erine. His marriage united him with Miss Mary W. Young, of Jefferson County.
Richard Newkirk, the father of our subject, was born on the Kentucky homestead and spent his boyhood there. Before he had attained his majority he started out for himself, going to Chi- cago in 1833 and remaining there, with the ex- ception of a short sojourn in Indianapolis, for some years. In company with Stephen Clevley he came to Lockport and located on a farm in the Yankee settlement (now Homer Township), but after a time went to M. H. Demmond's farm in Joliet Township. Next he assisted in the con- struction of the canal and later bought a farm adjoining Joliet. In 1870 he settled in Houston, Tex., and from there moved to Columbus, Col- orado County, the same state, where he carried on a meat business for seventeen years. Return- ing to Joliet, he spent a short time with his son, James E., but finally, in 1897, went back to the Kentucky homestead where he was born. There he died in March, 1899, when seventy-nine years of age.
The wife of Richard Newkirk was Charlotte Nokes, a native of Essex, England, whence she came to America with her father, Thomas Nokes, one of the early settlers of Lockport. With Mr.
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Newkirk, Mr. Nokes hauled material from Chi- cago to Morris, Ottawa, LaSalle and Marseilles before the canal was operated, using ox-teams for that purpose. In later years, while engaged in threshing, his arm was accidentally taken off and blood-poisoning set in, which proved fatal. Mrs. Newkirk died at Joliet Township in 1879. Of her ten children all but one attained mature years and seven are living. The sons and daughters were named as follows: Henry, who died in Jo- liet in 1897; Jacob, who was accidentally killed at nine years of age; Fred, who was twenty- eight at the time of his death in Joliet; Frank E., whose sketch is presented in this work; James E .; Angeline, wife of Richard Greenwood; and Mrs. Louisa Hibner, both of Joliet Township; Mrs. Estella Cole, of Storm Lake, Iowa; Mrs. Sarah A. Donaldson and Mrs. Mary Engleman, both of Joliet Township.
On the home farm in Joliet Township the birth of our subject occurred September 7, 1861. His AMES C. BEATTIE, who is a leading busi- ness man of Elwood, was born in Winfield, Ill., April 9, 1856, a son of Robert and Mar- garet (McIlrath) Beattie, natives of County An- trim, Ireland. He was one of eight children, of whom two besides himself are now living, viz .: and Robert, a carpenter in Joliet. His father, who was born in 1815, grew to manhood on the home farm and for a number of years was em- ployed as deliveryman for a bakery, in addition to his work as a farmer. About 1850 he brought his family to America and settled in Illinois, where he was a sub contractor in railroad con- struction. In 1858 he purchased a farm on the Rock Run in Troy Township, Will County, and there resided until 1880, when he retired from active labors and removed to Joliet. His death occurred in this city in 1896. In politics he was a stanch supporter of Republican principles, and in religion a Presbyterian. education was obtained in public schools. When seventeen years of age he secured work as a team- ster with the Joliet Stone Company. A year later he was made foreman, which position he held for some time, and later for nine years he was super- intendent of the Joliet & Chicago Stone Company. . Jennie, who married Z. T. Blaine, of Kansas; Meantime, in partnership with H. T. Keltie, he started the Keltie Stone Company in 1890, and in 1892, resigning his other position, he became superintendent of this company, which opened the quarries between Jackson and Cass streets, on the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railroad. In 1898 they opened a quarry on the same road at Bridge Junction, in Lockport Township. Besides the management of the quarries he has had consid- erable work as a general contractor. He owns the old homestead of ten and one-half acres, be- sides ninety-two acres adjoining Joliet. He re- sided there until 1897, when he bought property on Poplar street.
A Republican in politics, Mr. Newkirk has been an efficient worker on the county central committee. In the spring of 1893 he was elected highway commissioner of Joliet Township and served until 1899, a period of two terms. Mat- ters affecting the welfare of the people receive his
thoughtful attention, and he is classed among the public-spirited men who wish in every way pos- sible to advance the city's prosperity. Frater- nally he is connected with Mount Joliet Lodge . No. 42, A. F. & A. M .; Joliet Chapter No. 27, R. A. M .; and Joliet Commandery No. 4, K. T. He was married in Joliet, to Miss Mary Engle- mann, who was born in Switzerland and came to this county with her father, Jacob Englemann. The four children born of their union are George, Ralph, Florence and Freda. Mrs. Newkirk was reared from childhood in the Lutheran faith and is a member of that denomination, while Mr. Newkirk inclines toward the doctrines of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Besides the advantages of the public schools, our subject took the regular commercial course in the Metropolitan Business College in Chicago, from which he graduated in 1875. Afterward he became connected with Henry T. Truby in the grain business, the two erecting an elevator in
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Wilmington Township, where the canal then had a feeder. He had full charge of the business. In 1881 the elevator was built at Elwood and the business transferred to this point, where he has since resided, having full charge of the business at this place. For a number of years he has served as township central committeeman, and he has also been a member of the village board. In politics he is a Republican. Fraternally he is connected with Jackson Camp No. 3318, M. W. A., and Elwood Camp of Royal Brothers. In religion he is a Presbyterian.
September 15, 1881, Mr. Beattie married Miss Elizabeth A. Truby, a sister of Henry T. Truby, whose sketch appears on another page. They are the parents of three children, Alice Marie, Florence H. and James Truby. Mr. Beattie has been a successful business man and as súch has gained the good will of all who know him.
ILLIAM PENN CATON was for years one of Will County's most honored resi- dents. He was born in Orange County, N. Y., March 28, 1815. His father, Robert Caton, was born May 22, 1761, and was three times married, his third wife being Hannah Dean, who died April 16, 1836; his deatlı oc- curred April 6, 1815. when his son was only nine days old. When our subject was eighteen years of age he left New York state and went to Ann Arbor, Mich., where he was employed as clerk in a store. The year 1836 found him in Chicago, Ill., where he clerked. He also spent a short time in Milwaukee, Wis. Afterward he took up two thousand acres of government land in Cook County, sixteen miles northwest of the present site of Chicago. On this property lie made his home until 1848. Meantime he was married, November 28, 1844, to Miss Elizabeth Steele, whose home was on the north branch of the Chicago River in Cook County.
Returning to Chicago, Mr. Caton secured a position as inspector of canal boats, which he held until 1856. He then settled in the vicinity
of Plainfield, Will County, and engaged in farm- ing until 1871, when he retired from active labors, settling in Joliet. After coming to this city he became connected with the First Presby- terian Church, in which he was deacon for years. During the latter part of his life he suffered much from ill-health. He died March 22, 1886.
Mrs. Elizabeth (Steele) Caton, was born in Elizabethtown, Essex County, N. Y., May 30, 1819, a daughter of Jonathan and Theodosia (Nichols) Steele. Her father was born in Hart- ford, Conn., in 1777. He moved from his na- tive place to Elizabethtown, N. Y., and in 1812 had charge of the arsenal there, fitting out the troops for the campaign on Lake Champlain. His wife was born in Vermont, October 16, 1780, and died in Elizabethtown when her daughter, Elizabeth, was only three months old. Subse- quently Mr. Steele moved to New York City, and thence to Chicago in 1837, sailing from Buffalo on one of the first lake steamers that ever plied the waters of Lake Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Caton became the parents of nine children. One of the daughters is the wife of T. A. Mason, represented elsewhere in this work. The others now living are scattered through different parts of this and other states.
DAM GROTH. In no occupation has a greater advance been made during the past fifty years than in contracting and architec- tural work. The contractors of Joliet are of a class fully equal to those of any other large city, and among them Mr. Groth occupies a prominent position. In1 1895 he embarked in business as a cut-stone and general contractor at No. 1311 Cass street, where he has a fine plant operated by steam-power, and equipped with planers, saws, lathes, etc. Employment is furnished to one hundred men, and all kinds of stone are handled and shipped to every part of the country. Among the contracts which he has had are many for im- portant buildings, including the schoolhouses and other public buildings in Joliet. At this writ- ing he has under process of construction the
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
United States post-offices at Paterson, N. J., and Brockton, Mass., the asylum for incurable insane at Peoria, Ill., and Otto Young's summer resi- dence at Lake Geneva, Wis.
Mr. Groth was born in Marbourg, Germany, in 1847, the youngest of three children, of whom the oldest died in Germany, and the second, Carl, is engaged in the cut-stone business in Germany. His father, Frederick, son of a German soldier in the war of 1812-15, was born and reared in Mar- bourg, where he engaged in cut-stone contract- ing, and built many of the university buildings in that place. He survived his wife for many years, and died in his native town. When fifteen years of age our subject began to work at cutting stone in the summer, while in the winter he took a complete course in drafting and architecture. In 1866 he left Bremen on the sailing vessel "Anna," which, after a stormy voyage of fifty-three days, landed in Baltimore, Md. Three days after land- ing he began to work at his trade in the employ of Geddes Bros., with whom he continued for seven months. He was then employed by Mr. Maxwell for two years. From Baltimore he went to York, Pa., thence to Philadelphia, and finally returned to Baltimore, where he worked with , Taylor Bros. until 1871. In May of the latter year he came west to Chicago, where he worked at his trade. He witnessed the burn- ing of Chicago and assisted in building it up again. In 1872 he became foreman for W. C. Dickman, with whom he remained for three years. In those days a five-story building was consid- ered very tall. After a time stone was used in the construction, and seven- story buildings began to be built, but they were no higher until the steel construction was introduced. He was foreman in the building of the Sherman house, a seven- story building; also in the building of the county jail and court-house.
Going to Wausau, Wis., in 1876, Mr. Groth started a small stone and contracting business, and later opened a granite quarry which he dis- covered north of the town about nine miles. He quarried the first granite in that section, and shipped large quantities to Chicago to be used for paving blocks. In 1882 he returned to Chicago, where he embarked in the stone and contracting business. From there, in 1884, he settled in Joliet, where he was foreman for E. R. Brainard, the contractor for the Joliet penitentiary. He continued with the same employer until 1895, when he resigned in order to engage in business for himself. He is a man of energy, and has proved himself an efficient man of business, possessing the qualities that almost invariably bring their possessor success. In religion he is of the Lutheran faith. Fraternally he is con- nected with the Royal Arcanum; also Matteson Lodge No. 175, A. F. & A. M .; the Royal Arch Chapter Council, and Joliet Commandery No. 4. He was married in Chicago to Miss Minnie Fallscheer, daughter of John Fallscheer, an early settler and business man of that city, where she was born. Their marriage resulted in the birth of four children, namely: Lucy, who is in charge of the office; Carl, who is architect, draftsman and superintendent of construction for his father; Emma and Alma.
Formerly a Democrat, at the time of the conven- tion of that party in Chicago in 1896, and the adop- tion by it of a platform endorsing free silver, he withdrew his allegiance and joined the Republican party. In the spring of 1895 he was nominated for city treasurer on the Democratic ticket, and, being elected, took the oath of office, May 1, 1895, for a term of two years. The office he filled with credit to himself. He assisted in organizing the Germania Club, of which he served as vice-presi- dent for two terms.
b.c. hutram
GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
58
CALEB E. ANTRAM.
ALEB E. ANTRAM, attorney-at-law, with office in the Barber building, Joliet, was born near Salem, Fayette County, Pa., February 12, 1865, a son of Robert and Sarah (Woodward) Antram. His maternal grandfather, Joseph Woodward, was an influential farmer of Fayette County; and the paternal grandfather, Caleb, also spent his entire life upon a Pennsylvania farnı. Wherever found the family has been prominent and its members have held positions of trust and honor.
When . twenty-three years of age Robert An- tram began in business for himself by opening a grist and flour mill. In 1869 he settled in La- Salle County, Ill., where he bought land and em- barked in farming. During subsequent years he became a large land holder; for, having been reared on a farm, he was familiar with the occu- pation and knew how to operate the farmi suc- cessfully. He was active in the local ranks of the Democratic party, held numerous local offices, and was a leader in affairs among liis fellow- citizens. For many years lie officiated as an elder in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, of which he was a strict member from childhood and to which he still belongs. He is now prac- tically retired from active labors, but is still hale and robust, and takes a warm interest in what is going on in the world. Of liis eight children Caleb is the oldest now living and the only one in Will County. He received his primary education in the district schools of LaSalle County, where he laid the foundation of the broad information he has since acquired. His father was deeply interested in Lincoln Univer-
sity, a Cumberland Presbyterian institution at Lincoln, Ill., and so sent his son there, where he studied for some time. Later he spent one year at Valparaiso (Ind.) Normal School, and later taught school for one year. He then entered the junior class of Knox College, from which he graduated in 1889 with the degree of B. S. In the fall of the same year he matriculated in the law department of Northwestern College, from which he graduated in June, 1891, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Coming to Joliet in September, 1891, Mr. Antram opened an office for the practice of law. He was a total stranger here, but lie soon, by his ability, won the atten- tion of other attorneys. His practice is general and he has done some successful work as a criminal lawyer. The probate and real-estate departments of the law occupy most of his atten- tion, and he has been particularly successful in them. In 1896 he was commissioned by the family to go to the old country and attend to business matters in connection with the estate. While abroad lie visited various points of inter- est on the British Isles. He had with him a per- sonal letter from Secretary of State Olney to the foreign officials, which caused him to receive considerable attention in the various cities visited. In politics he is independent, with Den- ocratic proclivities, and, although not a politician in the usual acceptance of the term, he takes an active interest in public affairs. For four years he efficiently filled a position as commissioner of special assessments. Fraternally he is connected with Joliet Lodge No. 856, I. O. O. F., and is a charter member of the Knights of the White
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