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 81
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 81
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87
ARLAN PAGE BARNES, president of the board of supervisors of Kendall County, has been a member of this important body for the past decade, during which time he has been a systematic, careful and progressive worker in the interests of the people and has met with gen- eral commendation. He is a true patriot, devoted to whatever he believes of permanent benefit to his fellow men, and ever seeking to perform his full share as a citizen.
The father of the above-named gentleman, Horace Barnes, was born in Warwick, Mass., and when he was a young man he removed to Chautauqua County, N. Y., where he was suc- cessfully engaged in agriculture for several years. In 1838, when Illinois was in the early days of her statehood, he came to cast in his fortune with hers and located in Bristol Township, Kendall County, where he thenceforth conducted a farm. He had married, in Winsted, Conn., Susan Cone, and six children blessed their union, of whom only Harlan P., and his sisters, Mrs. Lois
631
GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Boomer and Ella B. Raymond, are residents of this county to-day. The father's long and useful career was brought to a close in 1878, and his widow, who survived him until 1897, at the time of her death had reached the same age he had attained-eighty-one years. Both were placed to rest in the cemetery in their home township. They were members of the Congrega. tional Church.
The birth of Harlan P. Barnes took place on the parental homestead in Bristol Township, De- cember 4, 1844. After he had obtained a fair education in the common schools in was his priv- ilege to attend Wheaton College for a period, and by his later extensive travels in all parts of this country he gained a comprehensive knowledge of his day. Entering the employment of a bridge building company, he was connected with that line of enterprise for twenty years, and in the meantime traveled in nearly all of the states and territories in the Union, save a few of the extreme western states. In 1889 he located upon the old homestead in Bristol Township, and since that time has been successfully occupied in carrying on this place. He raises large crops each year and devotes a portion of his one hundred and two acres to pasture lands. He makes a specialty of dairying and keeps twenty-four Holstein cows. The milk is conveyed to the creamery at Bristol, · and from this source alone a large income is de- rived.
On Christmas day, 1873, Mr. Barnes married Fannie Bradford, a daughter of William Brad- ford, of Worcester, Mass. The only child of our subject and wife bore the name of Guy H., and died in 1894.
Politically Mr. Barnes is a stanch ally of the Republican party, as he frequently has served as a delegate to the conventions of his county and state and has taken great interest in the success of his party principles. In educational affairs he is deeply concerned, as it behooves every true citizen to be, and as a trustee of the district schools has used his influence in the promotion of better schools and teachers for the young. One of the stockholders of the Kendall County Fair Association, he lias been chosen to serve
as president of the organization, and is materi- ally aiding in making a fine success of this enter. prise.
OBERT GILBERT LEITCH, who is one of the representative citizens of Kendall Township, Kendall County, has been closely connected with its prosperity and progress for the past forty-three years. His paternal grand- father, a native of Ireland, and of Scotch descent, became a citizen of the young republic of the United States in 1784, reaching these hospitable shores after a voyage of thirteen weeks. He settled in the mountains of central Pennsylvania and there spent the rest of his life. The maternal grandparents of our subject also lived and died in the mountains of the Keystone state.
Matthew, father of R. G. Leitch, likewise was born in Pennsylvania, and in his youth mastered the trade of a carpenter, following that occupa- tion until he was about fifty years old. In 1857 he came to Illinois and bought a quarter-section of land situated in Kendall Township, Kendall County, and this place he soon reduced to a high state of cultivation. For a wife he chose Jane Hayes, and six children blessed their union. Nelson, the second, who had gallantly served for nearly four years as a member of Company E, Fourthi Illinois Cavalry, was killed in the vicin- ity of Natchez after his honorable discharge had been forwarded to him. The father departed this life October 12, 1892.
Robert G. Leitch was born in Liberty, Center County, Pa., September 10, 1842, and when he was fifteen years of age he came to the prairies of Illinois. As his father was well along in years, and as our subject was then the only son at home, he took upon his own shoulders the greater share of the responsibilities of the home- stead. He remained on the old farm until his marriage, when he removed to his present home 011 a tract of land situated just across the road from his father's residence. In former years he liauled grain to Joliet and Lockport, where he re- ceived better prices than at his nearer railroad station, Bristol, as the canal handled products at
-
632
1
GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
much lower rates than did the railroad. For several years he conducted both farms, and in 1873 purchased the place, where he had been making his place of abode. It was destitute of trees at first, but he made a business of planting maple tree seeds all around his house and prem- ises, and to-day these trees have attained fine proportions and add not a little to the beauty of the country-seat. The buildings upon the place were very poor and unsubstantial, but at the end of seven years the enterprising young man was enabled to erect a good modern house, and at other times he built. barns and made necessary improvements. He has been engaged in raising live stock to some extent, chiefly cattle and swine. The milk obtained from the twenty-odd cows which he owns is taken to the Kendall Creamery, in Na-au-say Township. His possessions in land, altogether, comprise some two hundred and forty acres. He has laid about two thousand rods of tiling and has instituted other valuable improvements.
The marriage of Mr. Leitch and Emily Karns, of Ohio, took place November 26, 1868. Their only daughter, Mary J., is the widow of Clarence Hall, whose history appears elsewhere in this work. A son, Nelson Hayes, is assisting in con- ducting the home farm for his father, relieving him of much of the more arduous duties. Ralph Karns, the younger son, was graduated in the Yorkville schools.
The family are attendants upon the services of the Presbyterian Church. Politically our subject is a Democrat, influential and active in the coun- cils of his party. For eight years lie acted in the office of justice of the peace, while for a period of four years he served as supervisor of his township.
ANIEL S. G. LILLEY. Having spent his entire life in the neighborhood of his pres- ent home, Mr. Lilley is well known through- out this section, and the fact that he is respected and honored by all his acquaintances is sufficient indication of his character. His present position among the farmers of Kendall County has been reached by industry, honesty and strict attention
to liis chosen occupation of agriculture. By his resolute force of character he lias not only pro- moted his personal success, but has given all impetus to the development of Bristol Township, and has actively forwarded various enterprises for its advancement in important directions. From boyhood he has been engaged in farm pur- suits, and he has therefore acquired a thorough knowledge of the best methods of rotating crops and fertilizing the soil, as well as gained all the necessary information in relation to the stock business. He now cultivates two hundred and forty-five acres, on which are raised the various cereals adapted to the soil. One half of this land he has reclaimed from the sod, never having had a plow put in it before. A great deal of tiling was necessary. In stock he breeds the Black Polled Aberdeen Angus, having at the head of his herd a full-blooded bull of great value. The farm bears modern improvements in the way of buildings, including a neat and commodious res- idence, which he erected in 1888. All the build- ings on the place were erected under his personal supervision, with the exception of a part of one barn, which was liere at the time lie came and to which he has since added. He has been a very large dealer in hay and his hay barn will hold eighty tons. At one time when hay was so abundant that the price was too low for profit, he baled all that he had and held it for a year, when he sold the entire two hundred tons at a good figure ($20 per ton), at the same time contracting to supply thirty tons of the next crop at the same price. It is in such ways as this, by using good judgment in the disposal of his crops, that he has greatly promoted his financial success and has won a position in the front rank of Kendall County farmers. The value of his land as a stock farm is increased by the presence of run- ning water. The improvements are first-class and prove that the owner is a man of thrift and enterprise.
The Lilley family has been represented in Illi- 110is since 1833, when John Lilley, our subject's father, and a native of Ohio, followed the star of empire westward to Illinois, settling in Kane County. He came without means and secured
633
GENEALOGICAL, AND BIOGRAPHICAL, RECORD.
employment with Daniel S. Gray, the founder of the village of Montgomery, and a well-known pioneer, who owned a grist mill, sash factory and machine shop. After working for Mr. Gray five years and meantime saving his earnings with economy, he began to farm in the same neigh- borhood, pre-empted a tract and added to it by purchase until he became the owner of two hun- dred and eighty acres, in two farms. Later he bought one hundred and sixty acres from Mr. Gray at Montgomery. At the beginning of the Civil war he sold out and moved to Oswego, afterward buying land in Bristol Township until he had about one thousand acres. In 1865 he moved to this tract, which he cultivated until 1878, when he sold a portion of the property and moved to Aurora, remaining a resident of that city until his death in 1885. He was a man of untiring energy, great determination and habits of frugality and perseverance, and, without any aid, gained a position of prominence in the local- ity to which he had come, years before, without money or friends. In his youth he was discip- lined in a hard school, for he had many hard- ships to endure and obstacles to overcome, but this taught him habits of self-reliance, which were of service to him in every subsequent step in life. By his marriage to Margaret Gray (who was a daughter of his first employer in Illinois ) he had two sons and two daughters, of whom Daniel S. Gray Lilley (his grandfather's namesake) and the older daughter, a resident of Aurora, are the survivors.
Across the line in Kane County, two miles from his present place of residence, the subject of this article was born June 20, 1848. His boy- hood was passed in the usual manner of farmers' boys, alternating work on the home farm with attendance at country schools. When he was eighteen he began to take the oversight of tlie home farm, and lias since followed agricultural pursuits, with the exception of one year when he engaged in selling farm implements. In all of his farm work he has shown excellent judgment and great industry. His attention is so closely given to his stock and farm interests that he has 110 leisure to participate in public affairs and has
never becu persuaded to accept any political of- fice, although urged by his friends to accept a nomination for sheriff. He has been a delegate to county conventions of the Republican party. For cightcen years he has served as a school di- rector in his district. Fraternally lie is connected with the blue lodge, chapter and council of the Masonic order.
The first wife of Mr. Lilley was Letitia B. Lee, who died May 11, 1881, leaving the following four children: John, a farmer in Bristol Town- ship; Margaret A. ; Daniel G., Jr., and George S., who assist their father on the home farm. His second marriage took place March 28, 1883, and united him with Miss Carrie E. Burrows, by whom he has five children, namely: Carrie E., Leroy W., Ray V., Mae E. and Samuel Allen. It is the ambition of the parents to prepare their children for useful and honorable positions in life, and they are therefore giving them the best advantages possible. The oldest son of Mr. Lilley has already started out for himself and is doing well, while the others are expected in time to take their places as lionorable, enter- prising and intelligent citizens.
SHER D. HAVENHILL was born in the county of Kendall, town of Big Grove,
- February 19, 1840. He is a member of a pioneer family of Illinois, and descends from colonial ancestry. His grandfather, George Ha- venhill, removed from the east to Kentucky in boyhood, and remained there until 1829, when he became a pioneer of Tazewell County, Ill., com - ing from there to Kendall County in 1831. After the Blackhawk war lie settled liere permanently, and liere his death occurred May 15, 1838, when he was about sixty years of age. Sarah, his wife, (lied July 2, 1872, at the age of eighty years. Their son Hiram was born near Elizabethtown, Ky., August 23, 1814, and accompanied the family to Illinois, settling in 1833 in Big Grove Township, Kendall County, and taking up a claim at the same time with his father. In the development of this land he bore a large part. Through his
634
GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
efforts it was reclaimed from the primal condition of nature. As soon as he had broken the land he sowed wheat, and this he hauled to Chicago. For some time he lived in Mission Township, just across the line in La Salle County. A man of large public spirit, he aided largely in the erec- tion of schoolhouses and churches, and for twenty- five years served as school trustee. He also held the office of justice of the peace sixteen years. In politics he was an old-line Democrat. At the time of his death he was seventy-six years of age. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Sarah Richmond, was born in Ohio and died in 1876, sixteen years before he passed from eartlı. They were the parents of ten children, all living, of whom our subject and a sister are the only ones in Kendall County.
The education of A. D. Havenhill was obtained in public schools and Fowler Institute, from which latter institution he graduated in 1861. When he was twenty-seven years old he left home and rented a farm in Big Grove Township. Eight years later he removed to his present property, consisting of two hundred and forty acres, near Fox station. The place had not been cared for properly. Not a rod of good fencing could be found on the farm, and the land itself had been allowed to run down. When he bought the land it was encumbered with two mortgages, but he began to work with a will, and by the use of energy, backed by sound judgment, cleared the debt. One of his hobbies is to have good fences, for he believes in the adage that "good fences make good neighbors." His fences are made of Elwood woven wire, twenty-six to thirty-four inches, with two or three barbed wires at the top. While he is progressive in making improvements, yet he never goes into any enterprise without thoroughly investigating it and assuring himself that everything is satisfactory. In 1893 he built his residence, a handsome and modern struct- ure, heated with hot-air furnace and provided with hot and cold water from basement to gar- ret. He manufactures on the farm all the gas needed for lighting purposes, and, besides light- ing the entire house with this illuminating agent, also uses it for cooking purposes, having one of
the modern Jewel steel ranges in his kitchen. The basement is of stone, with a cement floor, and there are also cement walks around the house and leading to the barn, yard and garden. The liouse is two stories high, with ten-foot ceilings, and contains fourteen large rooms, while porches, provided with screens, form a delightful adjunct of the residence. The barn and back yard are kept in as neat condition as the lawn in front of the house. The garden, indeed, is a model of what may be accomplished by intelligent care. Not a weed can be seen, everything showing care and cultivation. A fine young orchard adds to the value of the farm. There is also an apiary, for the owner is fond of working with bees. Eachı year he sets out one hundred sweet potato plants, and these average a crop of two barrels.
The barn is as complete in its appointments as the house. It is two hundred feet long, and is specially adapted for the care of stock, of which Mr. Havenhill makes a specialty. With the ex- ception of two years he has for a long time been constantly engaged in feeding cattle for the mar- ket. He prefers Shorthorn cattle, and also pre- fers to feed in summer rather than winter. For feed he uses ground corn and cob-meal, having automatic feeders, so that none is wasted, and this feed is entirely assimilated. The barn is supplied throughout with water-pipes to different parts, so that cattle, horses and hogs can get in at all times. In swine, he makes a specialty of the Poland-China variety, crossed with Chester white. To some extent he also engages in buy- ing and feeding sheep. He has a fine scale, pro- tected from snow and rain, and so arranged that a wagon can be driven on and its contents weighed.
In politics Mr. Havenhill is a Republican. His interest in educational matters has led him to accept« a position on the board of trustees, in which office he has continued for years, meantime giving special care to the use of the school funds. He is a stockholder in the Fair Association, and has frequently served as judge at the fair. As president of the Farmers' Institute, he has been prominent among those of the same calling as himself. He has ever been ready to give others
635
GENEALOGICAL, AND BIOGRAPHICAL, RECORD.
the benefit of his experience and successful work. Certainly his success proves that his example is worthy of emulation by young farmers. Starting with nothing, he has acquired a competence and lias also proved the practicability of his methods of agriculture. He is both a thoughtful reader and an interesting speaker, and has been asked to take up lecturing for the State Board of Agriculture. He has the ripened knowledge which travel gives. One of his most interesting trips was that made to the west via the Northern Pacific Railroad. He spent six months on the coast, going as far south as San Diego, and re- turning via the Southern Pacific Railroad.
October 11, 1867, Mr. Havenhill married Mina, daughter of William R. Crum, who came from New York state to Kendall County. Their union was blessed by two sons, L. D. and Mark. The elder was born April 5, 1870, receiving his early education in the West Aurora high school, front which he graduated; later graduated from the department of pharmacy in the Michigan State University in 1894. After graduating he was given an appointment as assistant to the Wahoo College in Honolulu, where he remained for a year. Next he was chemist in the smelting works at Aurora, and when it was closed down by the trust he accepted his present position at the head of the department of pharmacy in the University of Kansas at Lawrence.
June 8, 1897, he married Myra Buck, and they have one son, Marshall A. The younger son, Mark Havenhill, was born March 31, 1880, re- ceived his education in the East Aurora high school, from which he graduated June 22, 1899, and is now a student in Ames Agricultural Col- lege, Amnes, Iowa.
LARENCE MCCLELLAND HALL. I11 the untimely death of Clarence McClelland Hall, a prominent agriculturist of Kendall Township, Kendall County sustained a severc loss, for he had been foremost in everything re- lating to the prosperity of his community and had championed numerous measures tending
toward the betterment of mankind. He was a man of lofty principles and without exception his neighbors and acquaintances united in praise of liis noble life and exemplary conduct.
Clarence M. Hall was of the third generation whose home was in Pennsylvania. His paternal grandfather, Jesse Hall, a native of England, re- sided in that country until he reached manhood, and after his arrival in the United States he lo- cated in New Jersey, purchasing lands for which he received deeds to the former owner by King George III. Subsequently he went to Pennsyl- vania, and there he and his son Everett, father of the subject of this memoir, dwelt for many decades. One of the friends and neighbors of the latter was Robert G. Leitch, whose birth oc- curred in Center County, Pa., and who has been a resident of Kendall County since 1857.
The birth of Clarence M. Hall took place in Beech Creek, Clinton County, Pa., October 8, 1861, and when he was three years old he was brought to Kendall Township, Kendall County, by his parents. Here he grew to manhood and in his boyhood was a pupil in the local schools of his home district. He was associated in business with his father until ten years ago, and their time was fully occupied in managing the large farms, situated as they were, on sections 2, 3 and 10, Kendall Township. About 1890 the young 111an commenced carrying on his business affairs independently, and for several years successfully managed his two hundred and fifty-seven-acre homestead.
Politically Mr. Hall was actively interested in the Republican party. In literary circles and society he occupied an honored place, and was instrumental in organizing the Kendall Literary and Social Club, which for eight or nine years has been in existence. Mr. Hall was an active member of the Methodist Church of Yorkville, and for some time held the office of steward and was an influential factor in the work of the Sunday-school. He was summoned to the si- lent land February 3, 1896, and his earthly rc- mains were placed in Elmwood Cemetery at North Yorkvillc.
Among the hosts of relatives and sincere
636
GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
friends who deeply feel the loss of Mr. Hall, his widow and their children are foremost. It was 011 the Ist of October, 1891, that the marriage of Mr. Hall and Miss Mary J. Leitch was solemnized and to them were born, Robert, Elsie and Hayes. Mrs. Hall, who is the daughter of Robert G. Leitch, has returned to make her home with lier beloved parents, early and highly respected on another page. His reputation as a preacher increased. He was offered a salary of $5,000 if lie would accept a charge in Chicago, but he declined, his heart be- ing in his work in this county. All the years of his residence here he planned and labored for his people, seeking to lead them to a better life. Not only was he consulted as a pastor, but also as a physician, lawyer and judge, for he possessed a settlers of Kendall Township, further mentioned · knowledge of all of these professions. As he grew old another generation grew up around him and participated in the services of the sanc- tuary. The children at whose baptism he offi- ciated came to him afterward at the marriage altar, and over some of them he pronounced the fateful words "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust." He was the people's friend and preacher. Not only did his congregation love him, but he had the affectionate esteem of every acquaintance. His first church was organized at House's Grove. For years he strove to secure the erection of the Second Church, and finally, through a sug- gestion of his wife, a plan was projected which rendered possible the starting of the building in 1880, and the next year it was dedicated, entirely free from debt. As a speaker he was fluent, never at a loss for words, but able to express himself clearly, concisely and forcibly. It was said of him that he was the best extemporaneous speaker in the county. His death, which oc- curred May 9, 1894, deprived two churches of their pastor and his family of a loving husband and father. Over seven hundred and fifty per- sons attended the funeral services, which were conducted by Rev. A. Ethridge, assisted by Rev. Henry Allen (Presbyterian), Rev. Mr. Hitchcock (Methodist) and Dr. Warren F. Day. At the time of his demise he had served longer in one place than any other Congregational minister in Illinois. He was often called, affectionately, the bishop of Seward.
R EV. ANDREW WELLS CHAPMAN. In any community there can be no greater power for good than the life of a noble man. Such was Mr. Chapman and such his influence among his associates in Kendall County. He was born in New York state July 31, 1832, the youngest of the nine children of Worthey and Hannah (Gates) Chapman. His father, a native of Connecticut, settled in New York, but later went to Ohio. He was of English extraction. The subject of this article was educated in Kings- ville, Ohio, and in Oberlin College, from which he graduated in the spring of 1858. When only sixteen years of age he began to preach in the Congregational Church, and during the entire time of his collegiate course he preached on Sun- days. In the fall of 1858 he came to Seward Township, Kendall County, Il1. At a salary of $500 per year he was employed by the Home Missionary Society. During his first year here he preached in a schoolhouse in Seward Tow11- ship and in a church in DuPage Township, Will County, on alternate Sundays. After the first year he did not receive a stated salary, it being his preference to have the people give what they felt able. May 5, 1859, he was ordained in Sew- ard Township. In 1858 he organized the Seward First Congregational Church, and in 1891 the Second Church of the same denomination, the two buildings being about three miles apart, and he served as pastor of both. Possessing a deep spiritual nature, a clear brain and an honest heart, he drew all to him by the chords of a deep affection. He gave the best of his life to the ministry, preaching here for thirty-six years.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.