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 77
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 77
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In 1857 Mr. States married Miss Jane Benedict, a native of Milan, Cayuga County, N. Y., and a daughter of Elijah and Sarah (Branch) Benedict. Her father, a native of Essex County, N. Y., born in 1799, grew to manhood in his native county and married Miss Branch, who was born in East Genoa, N. Y., in 1802. Afterward he settled in Cayuga County, where he preached in the Baptist Church until failing health obliged him to give up ministerial work. Later he was employed as a bookkeeper. In 1848 he settled in Oswego, Ill. Two years later he removed to Aurora, where he soon died. His wife passed away in 1885. She was a daughter of Samuel and Ruth Branch; the former, a soldier in the Revolutionary war, died about 1841; the latter survived him many years, living to be about ninety. By the marriage of Mr. States to Miss Benedict two children were born, but Frank, Jr., is the only one now living. Mrs. States died in 1863 and two years later our subject married her sister, Mrs. Sarah Lowe, by whom he had six children. Four are now living, John, a farmer in this county; Edwin, William and Walter, at home.
In 1859 our subject went to Kansas and settled in Marysville, Marshall County. Those were troubled days in the history of Kansas, and his object in going there was to cast his influence in with the free-state party. In 1861 he returned to Illinois and settled in this county. After a time he bought eighty acres of land in Channahon Township, where he now lives. Through his farming and stock-raising interests he has pros- pered, and he also gave considerable attention to
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work as a mason. As the years passed he ac- quired additional property and now owns three hundred and sixty-eight acres, which represents his constant labor and good management. It has been his aim to help his sons in every way pos- sible, and each of them, when fifteen or sixteen years of age, was given a tract of ground to cul- tivate and allowed to keep the profits accruing from the same.
In politics Mr. States is a Republican. He is a patriotic citizen of his adopted country and sup- ports all measures in the interest of good govern- ment. For thirty-six years he has served as a school director and for six years he held the office of school trustee. Fraternally he is con- nected with Channahon Lodge No. 262, A. F. & A. M. A man of religious convictions and a be- liever in the doctrines of Christianity, he has con- tributed both to Methodist and Presbyterian churches in his home neighborhood and has aided both in their work.
UGUST BELTZNER, superintendent of the Meeker avenue (or, as it is more commonly known, the Spring street ) mill of the Amer- ican Steel and Wire Company of Joliet, was born in Baden, Germany, August 1, 1844. His fa- ther, William, a blacksmith by trade, partici- pated in the revolution of 1848, for which reason he left Germany and came to America. He opened a shop in Mauch Chunk, Pa., and secured all of the trade of the Lehigh Navigation Com- pany, in addition to his custom work. He con- tinued there until his retirement from business. After his wife died he made his home with his son, August, in Johnstown, Pa., where he died September 9, 1893, aged sixty-seven years and three months. His body was taken to Mauch Chunk and buried by the side of his wife. When he first came to America he allied himself with the Democrats, but at the time of the Civil war and during Liucoln's candidacy for president he allied himself with the Republican party and afterward adhered to its principles. In religion he was of the Lutheran faith. By his marriage
to Elizabeth Kuntzman he had eight children, all still living; one son, Charles, carries on busi- ness at the old shop in Mauch Chunk.
At the time the family came to the United States our subject was little more than six years of age. He was reared in Mauch Chunk and learned the blacksmith's trade with his father. At the same time he learned wire drawing. When the war opened his sympathies were entirely with the Union. In 1862 he enlisted in the One Hundred and Thirty-second Pennsylva- nia Regiment, and served in that regiment for nine months. On the expiration of his time he enlisted in the One Hundred and Eighty-sixth Infantry for three years, or until the close of the war. Among his most important engagements were those at Antietam, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, in the last of which he was wounded. At the close of the rebellion he re- turned home, where he served four years at the trade of boiler-making. This occupation he after- ward followed in Mauch Chunk and at Summit Hill for the Lehigh Navigation Company, having charge of the boiler shop about two years. On his return to Mauch Chunk he worked in a wire mill for one and one-half years. For thirteen years he was with the Cambria Iron Company of Johns- town, and during the last eleven of these years he was foreman of the company's wire mill. When the great flood came he had charge of the men who were engaged in rebuilding the mill, but as the catastrophe changed the company's plans and the mill was not completed, he left the town.
Coming to Joliet in 1892, Mr. Beltzner took charge of the Ashley wire mill. He has since had charge of the mill, which is now the property of the American Steel and Wire Company. Un- der his supervision are sixty-five men, whose work he oversees, showing good judgment and great energy in the exercise of his duties. In national affairs he votes with the Republicans, but in local matters he votes for the man rather than party. For years he was active in local affairs, serving as delegate to conventions, men- ber of committees, etc. While in Johnstown he joined the Masonic order, and is also a member
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of the Knights of the Golden Eagle. Until com- ing to Illinois he was identified with the Lutheran Church, but since then he has had his member- ship in the Presbyterian Church.
At Mauch Chunk, January 9, 1868, Mr. Beltz- ner married Miss Christiana Theaubaugh, of that city. Ten children were born of their union, viz .: Elizabeth C., wife of Harry Clark, of Home- stead, Pa .; Mary W., wife of Burgoyne McDow- ell, also of Homestead; William George, deceased; Robert John, a machinist; Margaret A., wife of Frank Walker, of Joliet; Annie E., Ella N., Au- gust, Jr., Roy I. and Viola F.
HARLES HOLBERG. In the prosecution of his work as contractor and builder Mr. Holberg has proved himself to be an indus- trious, energetic and persevering man, and he has gained a high place among those of the same occupation in Joliet. When he came to this city in 1882 he secured employment in carpentering, but a year later he began contracting and build- ing, and has since given his time entirely to the business. In the city of Joliet alone he has built more than two hundred residences, besides many in the country and in adjoining cities. A num- ber of houses he has built for himself, and these he has disposed of at fair prices; but one on Henry avenue that he built he has occupied since as a residence, and he also has his shop there. He has been given the contract for a number of store buildings and public structures, including the Evangelical Association Church at Lockport, Il1.
Of Swedish birth and lineage Mr. Holberg is a son of John and Mathilda (Abrahamson) John- son. His paternal grandfather was killed in young manhood, and the maternal grandfather, Abraham Abrahamson, was a farmer, who spent his entire life in Sweden. John Johnson has been a lifelong farmer and is still living in the neighborhood familiar to him from childhood. In religion he and his wife are Lutherans. They were the parents of eiglit children, five of whom are living, two in Sweden, Charles in Joliet,
Mrs. Legren in South Dakota, and Erik in Joliet. The eldest of the family, our subject, was born in Westerbotten, Sweden, May 30, 1857, and was reared near Omio, where he attended public schools. When twelve years of age he was ap- prenticed to the cabinet-maker's trade, at which he served for five years, and later secured em- ployment in carpentering. In accordance with the government requirements, he spent two years in the Swedish army. Concluding to seek a home in the United States he crossed the ocean in 1882 and at once settled in Joliet, where he has since gained a good trade and many friends. He is a member of the Joliet Builders' Associa- tion, among whose members he is well known.
Though he is a loyal American Mr. Holberg has never forgotten the land of his birth and the home of his parents. He keeps alive his inter- est in his old country by association with those of his nationality and by membership in various organizations composed of Swedes. He is a member of the Swedish Republican Club. In the building of the Swedish Lutheran Church he took a leading part and is now serving as a mem- ber of its board of trustees. He was married in Lockport, Ill., to Miss Mary Anderson, a native of the same laen in Sweden as himself. They are the parents of three children living, Charles M., John and Hilda, and lost one daughter, Minnie, at the age of six years.
OHN O. CONNOR. The position of Braid- wood, in the center of an important coal dis- trict, has naturally attracted to it a large number of practical, skillful miners, among whom none is more worthy of mention than Mr. Conner, the present mayor of the city. Both by native gifts and by training he is fitted for the re- sponsible task of superintending valuable mines. Having had experience in every department of mining he thoroughly understands the work. He has gradually, by the exercise of energy, good judgment and perseverance, worked his way from a humble position to one of influence and impor- tance, and is now general manager and part
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owner of the Co-operative coal mine. This mine, which has a vein of two hundred and ten feet, produces an average of sixty tons per day, and its output is steadily increasing.
Mr. Connor was born in Ireland in 1854 and left that country in 1869, accompanying an uncle to the United States. He first settled at Lemont, Ill., where he attended school for a time. In 1873 he came to Braidwood and secured work as a laborer in the mines. Through his determina- tion to succeed, backed by perseverance and indus- trious habits, he soon became a practical miner, working up through the different grades of min- ing. In 1896 he went to Springfield, Ill., and took an examination before the state board of examiners for statistics of labor, from whom he received a certificate entitling him to act as mine manager. Since 1891 he has owned a half inter- est in the Co-operative mine, situated within the city limits of Braidwood. His attention is closely given to his duties as manager of this mine, and it is largely due to his efficient oversight that the mine has proved a profitable investment for its owners. He has always been very considerate of the men in his employ and has shown a thought- ful interest in their welfare. It is said that he pays the highest wages of any mine owner in the place, and certainly it is true that in every way he has endeavored to live up to the golden rule in his relations with his men.
Because Mr. Connor has been so engrossed in his work as mine manager, it must not be sup- posed that he is neglectful of the duties of citizen- ship. He has ever been loyal to his adopted country. During the many years of his residence in Braidwood he has been to the people all that is required in good citizenship and public enter- prise. As an alderman (an office that he held for four years), he worked in the interests of the peo- ple; and this same trait has been very noticeable in his administration as mayor, to which office he was elected in the spring of 1899. The town has had in him an unswerving friend, ever alert to serve its best interests, and generous in his con- tributions toward movements tending to the gen- eral advancement. For years he has been one of the leading Democrats of this part of the county.
In 1877 he married Miss Mary Horn, by whom he had seven children. He and his family oc- cupy a beautiful home in Braidwood. Frater- nally he is connected with the Home Forum and the Ancient Order of Hibernians, of which latter lodge he is president.
A. PEDERSEN came to Joliet in 1889 and has since been identified with the business
. interests of the city, first as an employe and later as an employer of others. For four years he was employed in the old Red mill and in that time gained a thorough knowledge of the business. Afterward he conducted a rented mill on Desplaines street for two and one-half years, remaining there until the property was con- demned by the drainage board, when he rented his present mill at No. 211 Collins street. This mill is operated by an engine with twenty horse- power and has a capacity of twenty tons a day, or ten tons in twelve hours. It is one of the largest feed and grist mills in the city, and the products are sold to the wholesale trade. The owner, being a man of energy and determi- nation, has won the confidence of the business element of the city and the esteem of his asso- ciates.
A son of Nels and Ella Pedersen, natives respectively of Denmark and Sweden, our sub- ject was born in Jutland, Denmark, December 19, 1864, and was one of a family of three sons and four daughters, all of whom are in America. When advanced in years the father joined his children in the United States and is now living retired in Joliet. During his boyhood our sub- ject had the advantage of travel with a gentle- man in different European countries, and mean- time he gained a good knowledge of German, French and English. In 1884 he came to this country, and, after spending six months in Chi- cago, proceeded to Will County, where he was employed on a farm in Greengarden Township. From there he came to Joliet in 1889. He began in business without any means, but his integrity and enterprise have given him a good position
.
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among the business men of his town. Politically married Miss Eleanor McDougal, who was born he is a Democrat, but does not take an active in County Derry, Ireland, a daughter of Edward and Mary (Smith) McDougal, natives of the same county. Her maternal grandfather, Jacob part in politics or local affairs. In religion he adheres to the Lutheran faith, in which he was reared. He was married in Joliet to Miss Dorris . Smith, was born near Colerain, of Scotch an- Johnson, who was born in Denmark. They have three children, William, Anne and Ellen.
.
OSEPH MCCLINTOCK. Although a quar- ter of a century has elapsed since the death of Mr. McClintock, he is still remembered by the older residents of this county. As a pioneer his name is deserving of perpetuation in local annals. Coming to America in 1849, the same year found him in Will County, which at that time contained none of the improvements which it now boasts. The land was unimproved, the towns small and unimportant, and the sur- roundings those of the frontier. During the sub- sequent years of his life he labored to place his land under cultivation and devoted himself to his chosen work with painstaking and self-sacrificing care.
While Mr. McClintock was himself an Irish- man by birth and parentage, he was of Scotch descent. His father, Robert, spent much of his life in County Antrim, but in 1850, the year after his son crossed the ocean, he followed with his family and settled in Kendall County, but in 1858 retired to Joliet, where he died. His wife, the mother of our subject, had died in Scotland. Of their marriage Joseph was the only child, al- though by his father's second marriage four children were born. When he came to America our subject spent a short time in Pennsylvania and Michigan, then went to Chicago, and from there came to Will County. At the time of his father's settlement across the Plainfield line, in Kendall County, he purchased land with him, but in 1857 sold out there and settled on the Plainfield road, in Joliet Township, where he im- proved a large farm three miles from the court house. There he engaged in agricultural pur- suits until his death, in 1875.
In Plainfield, August 26, 1853, Mr. Mcclintock
cestry. Her paternal grandfather, Joseph Mc- Dougal, a farmer of County Derry, was a son of Joseph, Sr., who removed from Scotland to Ire- land. Edward McDougal was a farmer in Ire- land in early life, but spent his last years in Joliet, where he died at eighty-four years. His wife died in New Jersey. Of their six children all but one attained mature years, but Mrs. Mc- Clintock is now the only survivor. She came to the United States in 1851 and the next year set- tled in Plainfield, where she soon became the wife of Mr. McClintock. After her husband's death she continued to manage the farm for seven years, but in 1882 rented the place and bought a resi- dence in Joliet, where she has since made her home. Possessing great energy and activity, as well as good business judgment, she has been interested in the real-estate business and has built a num- ber of residences on the west side. She is hap- piest when busy, and with her home duties and business interests finds sufficient to engross her attention, although she also gives time and thought to charitable work and to the activities of the Central Presbyterian Church, with which she is identified.
ON. JABEZ HARVEY, postmaster at Wilton Center since 1875, was born in the province of Quebec, Canada, January 20, 1831, a son of Hiram and Nancy (Fletcher) Har- vey. His father, who was born in the same prov- ince in 1807, was the youngest of twelve children, and attained a more advanced age than any of the others, being eighty-seven at the time of his death. In the fall of 1837 he came to Illinois, driving with a team of horses the entire distance of fifteen hundred miles. He spent a winter in Tazewell County, then came to Will County and settled in what is now the town of New Lenox. Three years later he came to Wilton Township and bought government land three miles northeast
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of the present site of Wilton Center. At the time he came to Wilton Township, in 1841, it had but two families. In 1844 he went to Five-Mile Grove, Manhattan Township, and ran a dairy for four years, when he returned to Wilton Town- ship, remaining here until his death, in January, 1894. In politics he was a Republican. Both of the grandfathers of our subject, Lemuel Har- vey and Isaac Fletcher, were natives of New Eng- land and soldiers in the Revolutionary war, after which both settled in Canada, accepting the offer of the British government to give land to all who would settle there.
In 1850 our subject went to California, spend- ing four months in the trip overland. He located twelve miles south of Downeyville and engaged in mining; also carried on a miners' store. In 1852 he returned via the Isthmus, his first ride on a railroad being across the Isthmus. He ar- rived home January 1, 1853, and soon bought one hundred and sixty acres of land one-half mile west of Wilton Center. In December of that year he married Miss Sarah J. Welliver, a native of Butler County, Ohio. After his marriage he settled down to farming. In 1858 he established a mercantile business in Wilton Center, which he has since conducted. In 1864 he took a second trip across the plains in quest of gold, going to the mines at Virginia City, but finding a great crowd there he sold his outfit and returned home. Indians were very troublesome, and caused a de- lay of a month at Salt Lake. The return trip of seventeen hundred miles was made by stage. On his return he resumed mercantile pursuits. For twenty two years he was justice of the peace, after which he refused to serve longer. For twenty-one years he was township treasurer, an office that his son, Judd E., now holds. In 1872 he was elected to the state legislature, in which he served two sessions. Frequently he has been a delegate to county, district or state conventions. His service as postmaster covers a longer contin- uous period than that of any other postmaster in the county. In 1892 he was elected supervisor of Wilton Township and served for a term. After an intermission of two years he was again elected and served for two terms. He is now president
of the Pioneers' Society of Will County, in which organization he has been very influential. His wife died June 18, 1897, leaving four children, Everett E., of Des Moines, Iowa; Ettie E., who is married and lives in Milford, Iowa; Judd, a partner in his father's business; and Jay C.
OHN G. WILHELMI has been engaged in contracting and building in Joliet since 1891. For a year he was a member of the firm of Wilhelmi & Wagner, but since then he has been alone. Among his most important contracts may be mentioned those for the E. Porter Brewing Company's plant, St. Patrick's school, the Ger- man society hall on North Hickory street, the high school at Lockport, the high and ward schools at Sandwich, Ill., and the building for school district No. 6, Joliet Township. Besides these he has had a large number of contracts for residences and stone buildings in Joliet and else- where. He is a member of the Joliet Builders' Association, of which, at this writing, he is the treasurer.
In Jackson Township, this county, Mr. Wil- helmi was born December 2, 1864. His father, John Adam Wilhelmi, was a native of Hamburg, Germany, and grew to manhood on a farm in his native land. In 1853 he came to America. After one ycar in Detroit he settled in Joliet, where he lived for two years. In IS56 he established his home on a farm in Jackson Township, and after a time purchased property on section 29, Joliet Township, where he carried on farm pursuits until his death, in March, 1896, at seventy-three years. He took an interest in local matters and held the offices of school director and highway commissioner. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Margaret Wirtz, was born in Coblentz, Germany, and died in Joliet in 1890. They were the parents of eight children, of whom the follow- ing survive: J. C., a contractor in Hastings, Neb .; Barbara, wife of John Korst, of Jackson Township; N. H., a machinist, in Chicago; Anna, wife of Frank Kramer, of Joliet; J. G .; and Lizzie, Mrs. William Pelkey, of Joliet.
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From three years of age our subject was reared in Joliet Township, where he attended school and grew to manhood, with a fair knowledge of farm work. His taste, however, was rather in the line of carpentering than in agriculture, and when he was eighteen he began to learn the trade with Mr. Wagner, whose partner helater became. He has continued steadily at his work and has met with unvarying success, being rightly judged to be one of the most efficient and painstaking con- tractors in the city. He owns the old family homestead of twenty-seven acres on the Elwood road, two and one-half miles from Joliet, where he has a comfortable residence. In Joliet, in 1890, he married Miss Emma Richter, who was born in Mackinaw, Ill., and grew to womanhood in Lockport. They have three sons, Richter A., Frederick C. and Clarence W. The family are connected with St. John's Roman Catholic Church, in the building of which Mr. Wilhelmi's father assisted. He is connected with the West- ern Catholic Union and is also member of the Modern Woodmen of America.
12 ANIEL PATTERSON, a farmer and stock- man of Wheatland Township, was born in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, October 13, 1829, a son of John Patterson. In 1849 he crossed the ocean on the "Hottinger," and after a stormy passage of six weeks he landed in New York. Thence he traveled by river and canal to Buffalo, and from there via the lakes to Chicago, from which point he drove to Will County. For three years he was with his brother, one mile east of his present home. Later, with another brother, James, he bought one hundred and twenty acres of partly broken land where he now lives. The improvements on this place have been made un- der his supervision. At different times land has been added, until the two brothers now own four hundred and forty acres. They gave their atten- tion principally to the raising of oats and corn, and to the breeding and feeding of Durham cattle.
By his marriage to Jane Williamson, a native
of Scotland, Mr. Patterson had ten children, eight of whom attained mature years, namely: William, a farmer of Wheatland Township; Margaret, wife of George Smith; Robert, John, Mary, Frank, Grace and Laura.
M UNGO PATTERSON, of Wheatland Town- ship, was born in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, September 22, 1814, and was the eldest of the eleven children of John and Jane (Hall) Pat- terson. In 1841 he came to America, spending six weeks in an old sailing vessel on the Atlan- tic, and finally landing in New York. After three years in that state, in 1844 he came via the lakes to Illinois and settled in Will County, where he began farming on a tract of one hun- dred and twenty acres of open prairie. He broke the land and made necessary improvements. As he prospered he bought other land until he farmed a large tract. In addition to the raising of wheat and oats, he gave considerable attention to Dur- ham cattle. About 1885 he retired from active work, to enjoy his declining years in the midst of the comforts a life of frugality made possible.
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