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 79
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 79
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At fourteen years of age our subject left the private school he had previously attended and en- tered the University of Christiana, where he studied for four years, graduating in 1888, when nineteen years of age. It had been his expecta- tion to enter the ministry, but, his mind having more of a commercial than a professional bent, he turned his attention to mercantile pursuits. For four years he was interested with an uncle in the fish and oil business. In 1893 he came to Amer- ica for the purpose of visiting the World's Fair. He was so pleased with the country that he de- cided to remain. His first position was in Chi- cago, with a cousin of his father, who was a member of the contracting firm of J. G. Giaver & Co., and during the three years he was there he had charge of the office work. Next he was with the Calumet Furnace Company in South
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Chicago. In 1896 he came to Joliet and accepted a position with the firm in whose interests he has since worked. When the name of the firm was changed to the American Tin Plate Company his ability was recognized by his promotion, in Au- gust, 1897, to the position of chief clerk, and this responsible office he has since filled with great efficiency. Though not active in politics he is a stanch Republican. He was reared in the Lutheran faith and is a believer in the doctrines of that church. Fraternally he is connected with Iron Link Lodge No. 751, I. O. O. F., of Iron- dale.
GBERT PHELPS, who came to Joliet in 1870, was born in Middlebury, Vt., Decem1- ber 8, 1835, a son of Samuel S. and Electa (Satterlee) Phelps, natives respectively of Litch- ficld, Conn., and Vermont. His father, who was in the war of 1812, and served as paymaster in the army, settled in Middlebury, Vt., where he engaged in the practice of law. While serving as judge of the supreme court of Vermont hc was elected to the United States Senate in 1839, and served his country in that capacity until 1851. His oldest son, Edward J., an attorney in Burlington, Vt., was minister to England under the first administration of Grover Cleveland.
The subject of this sketch was a classmate of Admiral Dewcy in the Norwich military school. In 1856 he graduated from Union College at Schenectady, N. Y., after which he had charge of a private school in Louisiana and also studicd law, returning to Middlebury in 1859. The next year he went to Burlington, Iowa, where he studied law in his brother's office, and was ad- mitted to the bar early in 1861. When the war began he was commissioned May 14, 1861, first lieutenant in the Nineteenth United States Infall- try, in which he served with valor. He was dc- tached at first as recruiting officer, and then was engaged in mustering duty at Columbus, Ohio. March 16, 1864, he was commissioned captain. During the last year of the war he took part in the Atlanta campaign. Hc had the command of the regiment on the march through Georgia.
After the war Mr. Phelps engaged in the claim business at Columbus, Ohio, for a year, then ran a flouring mill at Maumee City, that state, for two years. In 1870 he came to Joliet, where he formed a law partnership with W. C. Goodhue, later was with Judge Benjamin Olin, but is now alone in the practice of law. For some years he was president of the school board. It was due to his efforts that the public library was estab- lished in Joliet. He was president of the old Joliet Historical Library Association, which pre- sented to the city a library that has since been enlarged to thirteen thousand volumes. Since 1890 he has been president of the Library Asso- ciation, which is now formulating plans for a new public library building that will be a credit to the city and a source of pride to every citizen.
In Logansport, Ind., Mr. Phelps married Miss Belle Jerolaman, whose father, Dr. George M. Jerolaman, was appointed by President Jackson as physician to the Indians, and was placed in charge of their removal to the more remote west. Mr. and Mrs. Phelps have two daughters and one son.
EORGE S. HOUSE, one of Joliet's leading attorneys and progressive citizens, is a men- ber of a pioneer family of Illinois. His paternal grandfather, Chester House, came west from the vicinity of Rome, Oneida County, N. Y., in 1831, and located three-quarters of a section of land on the Ausable River, twelve miles west of Joliet. On his land was the old Fox Indian trail between the Mississippi and the lakes. The farm continued to be his home until his death, and is now occupied by his sole surviving son; since the deed made was made transferring the property from the government to Mr. House, the only papers drawn np were the original own- cr's will and the later deed of our subject's father, transferring his interest in the homestead to the present owner. Chester House was a pioneer in every sense of the word. When he came west he walked from Chicago to his claim. Joliet was .not then in existence. The country was in its primitive wildness. He built the first hewn-log
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house in all the region and it became the land- mark for travelers. When Hon. Joel Matteson came to this county, Mr. House went to Chicago with his team and brought the Matteson family and their household goods back with him. The goods were packed in straw in Jefferson County, N. Y., and were unpacked on the House home- stead, the place being clearly marked by a growth of Canada thistles, which sprang up from among the straw.
Rodney, son of Chester House, was born in Oneida County, N. Y., and learned the wagon- maker's trade there. In 1833 he came west and settled on the north edge of what is now Grundy County (then Cook), when he entered a claim. In the winter of 1835-36 he built a dwelling on Chicago street in Joliet. In the spring of 1836, his wife joined him here. He opened a wagon shop on Chicago street. In 1858 he erected a new house on Scott street, where he made his home until his death, at ninety years. During his early life he was an old line Whig, and upon the organization of the Republican party became identified with it. He was one of the organizers of the Congregational Church in Joliet, and after- ward served as a deacon as long as he lived. He continued at his trade until he was seventy- five, when he retired. His life was prolonged far beyond the usual duration of man's existence, but he was fortunate in retaining, to a large ex- tent, his faculties of mind and body. On the ninetieth anniversary of his birth his remains were interred in a cemetery near his home. No pioneer of the town was more respected than he, and, although he did not accumulate property or gain wealth, he gained that which is more to be desired-the esteem of his associates and the love of his friends. Before leaving New York he married Miss Julia Stillman, by whom he had two sons, George S. and Rodney (both of Joliet), and a daughter that died in infancy.
When our subject was nine years of age his mother took him to Rome, N. Y., and he pre- pared for college in the academy there. At the age of sixteen he entered Hamilton College at Clinton, N. Y., where he took the regular' course of study, graduating in 1856. He then
matriculated in what is now Columbia law school, and three years later graduated with a high standing. Although he had no intention of practicing law in New York state, he took the examination, with the others of his class, before the board of examiners for admission to the bar of that state; and had the satisfaction of receiv- ing the highest grades of any candidate. His examiners were men of national fame-Roscoe Conkling, Judge Allen, of the eastern district of New York, and Judge Denio, who was afterward judge of the court of appeals of New York.
Returning to Joliet, Mr. House entered the law office of McRoberts & Goodspeed, with whom he remained for a short time. His license to practice in New York secured him admission to the courts of Illinois, without further examina- tion. After a short time in the office of Uriah Osgood, he formed a partnership with bim, and the two remained together until 1863, when Mr. House went south, and was engaged as auditor and cashier in the office of the general disbursing quartermaster at Nashville, Tenn., under Gen- eral Donaldson. In 1867 he came back to Joliet, since which time he has been engaged in pro- fessional work. His career has been remarkably successful. It is said by those qualified to know, that there has not been an important case in Joliet during the last twenty-five years in which he was not interested. For many years he has been attorney for the Chicago & Wilmington Coal Company, the largest coal company in the state. For twenty-five years he has held the position of attorney for the Chicago & Alton Rail- road. While his is a general practice, yet he has been particularly interested in corporation law, and his largest success has been achieved in that department of the profession. In the ses- sion of 1890, when the labor element was so strong that five bills were passed in its interests, namely: the truck store bill, weekly pay bill, gross weight bill, check-weighman's bill and screen bill-the passage of these bills put all business at the mercy of operatives and employes. Mr. House was retained to fight the measures. He carried all of them to the supreme court of the state, where they were declared unconstitutional.
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These same bills were passed and declared con- stitutional in West Virginia. He was then asked to go to West Virginia and argue for a rehear- ing. This he did, the result beiog that the de- cision was finally reversed. While he is a be- liever in Republican principles, yet he lias never been active in politics, preferring to give his at- tention wholly to his professional activities.
The marriage of Mr. House took place June 27, 1860, and united him with Miss Virginia A. Osgood, whose father, Hon. Uriel Osgood, was one of the most prominent attorneys and bankers of his day. Mr. and Mrs. House are the parents of six children, viz .: George C., who is an en- gineer on the Chicago & Alton Railroad, and re- sides in Bloomington, Ill. ; Harry O., who is with the Illinois 'Steel Company in Joliet; Caroline V., wife of Frank E. Chamberlin, of Joliet; Gould, a dentist in Joliet; I. Robert, who is in his father's office; and Hazel.
APT. JOSEPH V. DUSSEAU, whose home has been Joliet since childhood, is better known as Josepli Duso, the latter style of spelling having been adopted by his older brother, Narcisse, at the time that their father went to California; and since then, as everyone has per- sisted in writing the name by its abbreviated form, the latter has been used instead of the original and correct spelling. His father, Au- gustus, a son of Victor Dusscau, was born in Canada, a descendant of early French settlers of that country. In the fall of 1846 he brought the family via the lakes to Chicago, tlience by teams to Aurora, Ill., and in the spring of 1847 began farming ncar that town. In 1854 he traveled across the plains to California, where lic remained for four and one-half years, and on his return engaged in farming in Minnesota, later settling in St. Anthony, that state. In 1863 he came to Joliet, where lie died three years later. Hc mar- ried Olive Lanou, daughter of a farmer and de- scendant of an old French-Canadian family. She was born in Canada and died there, while on a visit to relatives, in 1890. Of her seven chil-
dren all but two are still living. The oldest son, Narcisse, who was a soldier in a Missouri regi- ment during the Civil war, died in Colorado. Two sons and a daughter live in Joliet, one daughter in Canada and another in Minnesota.
The next to the eldest of the family, Joseph V., was born at St. Jolin's, Canada, July 8, 1844. In the fall of 1851 he came with his mother and father to Joliet. He was only ten years of age when he began to earn his livelihood by working as a driver on the canal between LaSalle and Chicago. After some seven years as driver le began steering. In 1869 he became master of the "E. Burnliam," and, after two years, master of another boat, whichi he bought in 1873 and operated until 1882, when he sold it. Later he had charge of a stone boat for seven years and then ran another stone boat for four and one-half years, after which he ran steamboats. The ex- posure in all kinds of weather, which his busi- ness had rendered necessary, brought on rheu- matism, and for two years he was unable to en- gage in any work. In August, 1897, he resumed work on a steamboat, and this he has since oper- ated, engaged in transporting flour and wheat to and from Chicago for Norton & Co. He lias been on the canal since 1854 and is probably the oldest canal man in Joliet.
In Chicago, December 27, 1874, Captain Dus- seau married Miss Louise Civalier, who was born in Montreal and came to Joliet at fourteen years of age. Eight children were born of their mar- riage, namely: Josephi and Olive, who died at the ages of fourteen and ten months respectively; Florence; Louise; Estella; William, who was only one month old at death; George; and Edna, who died in 1897, at six years of age. Joseph Civalier, father of Mrs. Dusscau, was born in Canada, son of Laurent Civalier and member of a French-Canadian family. He became a horse dealer and veterinary surgcon. In 1863 he re- moved to the Lake Superior region, but the next year came to Joliet, and in 1868 settled in Chi- cago, where he now resides, at seventy-five ycars. He married Lucy Malboeuf, who was born in Montreal and dicd in Chicago; she was a daughter of Lucien Malboeuf, a Canadian and by
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trade a tanner. In religion Captain Dusseau and his wife are members of St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church. Politically he has always been a stanch Republican and may be counted upon to cast his vote in support of party principles.
ALTER L. ERIKSEN, a successful san- itary engineer, has made Joliet his home since 1886. A member of an old Danish family, he was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, February 17, 1869, a son of Hans P. and Maria (Nilsen) Eriksen, and a grandson of Erik Erik- sen, a cabinet-maker and furniture dealer now residing in Greenville, Montcalm County, Mich. His father, who was also a cabinet-maker, brought the family to America in the fall of 1870 and settled in Sheffield, Ill , where he en- gaged in contracting and building for a time. Later he built a carriage shop and turned his at- tention to the manufacture of carriages and wagons, continuing in that business until he died in 1879. His wife, who still lives at Sheffield, is a lineal descendant, on her mother's side, of French ancestry, her grandfather, Francis Fran- cie, a member of a wealthy family, having mi- grated from France to Denmark.
The older of two sons, of whom the younger, Alexander, died in 1879 at eight years of age, W. L. Eriksen was reared in Sheffield, where he studied in the public school. Since fourteen years of age he has been self-supporting. He served an apprenticeship to the tinner's trade in his home town, remaining under an employer in Sheffield for three years. In 1886 he came to Joliet, where at first he worked at the tinner's trade for Strong, Bush & Handwerk. In 1888 he was made foreman in charge of the depart- ment of plumbing, gas-fitting and heating. His work was satisfactory, and he proved himself an efficient and reliable man. While filling the po- sition of foreman he entered upon the study of sanitary engineering in the International Corre- spondence School of Scranton, Pa., from which, after four years, he received the degree of S. E. in 1898. Meantime he had resigned his position
in order to start in business for himself. He has since taken a partner, enlarged the business, and is now located at No. 800 Jefferson street, where he has built up an excellent trade in his chosen line of sanitary engineer.
Fraternally Mr. Eriksen is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America, in politics votes with the Republican party, and in religion holds membership with the Richards Street Methodist Episcopal Church. He was married, in Joliet, to Miss Emma McDade, who was born and reared in this city, her father, Chauncey McDade, hav- ing been an early settler here. She is of Scotch descent on the paternal side, while through her mother she traces her lineage to France.
XEL H. CHRISTENSEN, M. D., a prac- ticing physician of Joliet, was born in Höve, Sjalland, Denmark, June 13, 1867, a son of Jens and Susanna Maria (Brammar) Christensen. On his mother's side he descends from an old and noble family of Denmark. His maternal grandfather, who was a prominent apothecary of Christianhaven, was a brother of Bishop Brammar, Bishop of Jutland, and the last of those that had power. Jens Christensen, who was the son of a large landed proprietor of Jut- land, was professor of schools for years, retiring when seventy years of age, and dying ten years later. In religion he was a Lutheran. He was a man of honorable character and upright life. His wife was sixty-five at the time of her death. Of their nineteen children eleven attained years of maturity. Most of the sons became soldiers in the army, but one was an architect and an- other a professor. A sister married Zacharias Niedson, the most prominent Danish poet of to-day.
Dr. Christensen, who was one of the youngest of the children, represents the thirteenth genera- tion in descent from Hans Tausen, archbishop to King Frederick II. He graduated from the high school of his native town in 1883, after which he attended Sorö Academy until his graduation in I888. Meantime he had begun the study of
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medicine under private preceptorship, and after- ward attended lectures in Copenhagen. In 1892 he came to America and spent some time in Kenosha, Wis., where he attended the high school and also studied medicine. Later he took the course of lectures in Hahnemann Medical College, Chicago, from which he graduated in March, 1897, with the degree of M. D. During the same time he completed the course in the Northern Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso.
In 1897, through his appointment as interne at Silver Cross Hospital, Dr. Christensen came to Joliet. After one year in the hospital he began to practice medicine and surgery and has since built up a valuable patronage among the people of the city. He has his office in the Cutting building. He is a member of the Desplaines Medical Society .. Everything pertaining to his profession receives his warm interest. He keeps abreast with all the developments in therapeutics, and is justly recognized as a skillful physician, whose position in his profession has been secured by intense application and constant study.
J. HULTGREN is one of the leading Swedish-American builders in Joliet, and has been quite successful in his work in this city. Among his most important contracts have been those for the Eastern Avenue Baptist Church, the addition to the Eastern Avenue school, Lull's block on Cass street, St. Joseph Hospital annex, the Swedish Mission, and many residences, including his own home on the corner of Stirling and Stevens avenues. In partnership with Alfred Wenberg, in 1898 he built an oat- meal mill, an addition to the E. Porter brewery, a brick store on the corner of Oneida and Center streets, and another on Jackson street.
In Jönköping, Smaland, Sweden, Mr. Hult- gren was born February 9, 1851, a son of Johen- nes and Anna (Isaacson) Hultgren. His mother, who was born in Sweden in 1821, and is still liv- ing in that country, is a daughter of Isaac Isaac- son, a farmer. Our subject's father, who was born in Smaland in 1819, was reared on the home farm, and engaged in the milling business, own-
ing two mills. His last years were devoted to farm pursuits, and he died on a farm at the age seventy-five years, in 1896. Of his six children, three daughters and one son are now living, the daughters all remaining in Sweden. The son, our subject, carly learned the miller's trade and remained with his father until he was twenty- one, after which he was foreman on the Eastern Trunk Line Railroad in Sweden. For seven years he engaged in railroading and putting up telegraph lincs, after which he began stone mason work on the railroad. He also built a few base- ment foundations on contracts.
Coming to America in the spring of 1882, Mr. Hultgren spent three months in Arlington as a railroad employe. In August he came to Joliet, and for two summers he worked in a stone quarry. He soon became interested in a quarry with Wenberg Bros., with whom he worked as a mason. He accompanied them to Englewood, Ill., remaining with them as a workman for two years. Afterward, for six years, he was their foreman in Joliet, putting up many buildings for them. While out hunting, March 3, 1891, through an accident his right limb was shot below the knee, and he was so seriously injured that for seven months he was unable to leave his room. When finally he began work again, in the fall of of 1892, he became a partner of Louis Wenberg, but after two years the partnership was dissolved, and he has since been alone, with the exception of 1898, when he put up some buildings in con- nection with Alfred Wenberg.
In Sweden, 1874, Mr. Hultgren married Miss Anna K. Magnuson, who was born in the same place as himself. Her father, Magnus, was a son of John Vermo, who was a soldier in the Swedish army. Magnus continued to cultivate a farm until his death. He married Inga Elisa, daugh- ter of Johannes Elisa, a farmer in Sweden. They became the parents of two children, Mrs. Hult- gren and a daughter still living in Sweden. By the marriage of our subject and his wife nine chil- dren were born, namely: Carl A .; Mrs. Thilda C. Davis, who lives in Joliet; Alma S .; Lydia, de- ceased; Minnie; Emma E .; David, Enoch and Isaac.
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Mr. Hultgren is a member of the Joliet Build- ers' Association and the Swedish Republican Club, and is an active worker in the Republican party. In the Swedish Mission, of which he is a member, he has for some time held the office of deacon and is also interested in Sunday-school work.
AMUEL PORTER AVERY is one of the leading attorneys of Joliet. During the eighteen years he has made his home in this city he has become thoroughly acquainted with its resources and conditions, and is a stanchi friend to improvement and progress here, along all lines. As an attorney he possesses un- usual ability and knowledge, and to each and every case placed in his hands he gives earnest attention and care, neglecting no point that may be turned in favor of his client. In his profession he commands the respect and high regard of all who know him, his record being that of an up- right, just man, who under no circumstances will stoop to deceit or chicanery.
The Avery family was established in America in a very early day. Christopher Avery landed at Salem, Mass., June 12, 1630, coming from Wiltshire, England, on the transport "Arbella" with Gov. John Winthrop. He settled in Glouces- ter, where he was selectman from 1646 to 1654; he moved to Boston in 1658 and to New London, Conn., August 8, 1665; was made freeman of the colony in 1669 and died at New London March 12, 1679. His only son, James, was born in Eng- land about 1620, and married Joanna Greenslade, of Boston, November 16, 1643; removed to New London in 1650; was chosen townsman in 1660, holding the office twenty years; was ensign lieu- tenant and captain of the only training band of the town; saw active service in King Phillip's war; was twelve times elected to the general court from 1650 to 1680; commissioner of the peace and assistant judge of the county court. In 1665 he moved to Poquonoc Plains (now the town of Groton), where he built "The Hise of the Avery's," recently destroyed by fire; he died in 1694. His sixth child was John; John's fourth child was Elisha; and Elisha's son, Elisha, was born in 1718, and married Elizabeth Brown Minor, of Stonington, Conn. Their son, Rev.
Joseph Avery, born April 13, 1743, married Deborah, daughter of Hezekiah and Rebecca (Mead) King, of Marshfield, Conn., in 1772, and died March 3, 1814. During the latter part of his life he was a missionary of the Congregational Church in western New York, a sparsely settled region. His son, Samuel, was born at Sag Har- bor, L. I., March 30, 1773; married, February II, 1796, Rebecca, daughter of Noah and Re- becca (Porter) Langdon, of Tyringham, Mass. Noah Langdon was captain of the Eighth Tyring- ham Company of the First Berkshire Regiment during the war of the Revolution, and was at Bennington and Saratoga. Samuel Avery re- moved to and became a farmer in Oneida Coun- ty, N. Y., where his eight children were born. Of these Samuel K., born in 1810, became a farmer in Oneida County, and there married Asenath, daughter of Abel and Asenath (Smith) Wilder. Abel Wilder was a descendant of Na- thaniel Wilder, who settled in Lancaster, Mass., in 1630, and was a prominent farmer of Oneida County, where his daughter was born and edu- cated. The marriage of Samuel K. Avery and Asenath Wilder was solemnized in 1836 and resulted in the birth of seven children. In 1847 the family came to Illinois, settling in Kendall County, where two sons, Samuel P. and John F., were born. The parents owned a large farm (one-half section ) near Lisbon, Kendall County, and there remained until death; the paternal grandparents also died there.
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