Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume II, part 2, Part 40

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago, Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 774

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In 1870 occurred the marriage of Mr. Deicken and Elizabeth Spath, who died in 1887. Later Mr. Deicken married her sister, Julia Spath. He hecame the father of four daughters and five sons, and all survive with the exception of one daughter. Two of the daughters are married and all the sons are prominent and successful business men. One son is in the bank with his father and shows signs of he- coming as good a financler as the latter. Mr. Deicken's fraternal affiliations are with the Modern Woodmen of America, the Conrt of

Honor and the Loyal Americans. For years he has been a Democrat, but does not confine himself rigidly to party lines in local affairs.

The work of a man like Mr. Delcken cannot be too highly pralsed. Coming to this country an ignorant yonng man, with little knowledge of the language and none of the customs of his new home, he obtained immediate employment and steadlly forged ahead, always working hard and being economical in his expenditures. Not only did he save money hut he Invested It wisely, and in time found himself engaged in helping others to do the same. The principles which he employed in the handling of his own resources he still applies to the hanking insti- tution of which he is so important an official, with the result that it occupies an enviahle position among financial houses of its kind, and his advice Is asked and taken hy the most sub- stantial men of his part of the State.

DE JONG, Gerhard .- From the beginning of Hol- land as a nation, Its people have hecn noted for their thrift and industry, so that wicnever one of its sons comes to the United States, he Is welcomed, for it is known he will become a good citizen. One of the men who is representative of the hest class of his countrymen is Gerhard De Jong, born in Holland, March 15. 1845. now living on the edge of Springfield. His father, who was horn May 22, 1824, and dled in 1899, was a farmer, and the parents spent their lives in their native land, heing content with condl- tlons there. They had children as follows : Gerhard. Arnold, Peter, William, Cornelius, Patermillla, Marie, Cornella, Andrena and Jo- hanna.

After being cducated In his home schools, In 1884 Gerhard De Jong left Holland and came to the United States, locating directly In Spring- field. ffe followed printing a number of years, and later became foreman of the West End Brick Yard, but recently retired from active business, having amassed a comfortable prop- erty.

On May 23, 1886, Mr. De Jong was married in the Lutheran Church, at Altamont, Ill., to Min- nie Zilman, born there in 1867. She' passed away January 10, 1904, having been a devoted wife and mother. Her father, Lewis Zilman, was horn In Germany, in 1836. and died in 1891. His wife, Minnle, died In 1907. There were the following children in the Zilman family : Hous- ton, Annie, Minnie, Bertha and Gnsta. Mr. and Mrs. De Jong had children as follows: Henry, horn March 13, 1887; Christian, May 23, 1891 ; Arnold, July 16, 1893, and Gerhard, born Sep- tember 1, 1898, and Annie, wife of Emil Reisch, of Springfield.

Mr. De Jong is a Democrat, a Lutheran and a member of the Home Circle Society. He owns a beautiful home on one and a quarter acres of land, where he lives, as well as a house and lot at No. 1917 Lanrel Street and two lots at the foot of East Carpenter Street. His life has heen an example to others, for he has shown

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what a young man, ignorant of the language, can accomplish by steady persistence and thrifty saving.

DEMENT, Henry Dodge. (Vol. I, pp. 131-132.)

DENEEN, Charles Samuel, the first Governor of Illinols who, In thirty years, has been elected for a second term, was born in Edwardsville, this State, May 4, 1863, liis parents being Samuel H. and Mary F. (Ashley) Deneen. He rep- resents one of the oldest Illinois families. HIs great-grandfather, Risdon Moore, was a native of Delaware, and from Delaware came to St. Clair Connty, this State, in 1812. He had previ- ously served as a soldier of the Revolutionary War. On coming to Illinois he brought with him all of his slaves, but after reaching his destination at once gave them their freedom. He figured prominently in the public life of the Territory, hecame one of the political leaders and was Speaker of the Illinois Honse of Rep- resentatives in the Territorial Legislature in 1814. Following the admission of the State into the Union he served as a Member of the First General Assembly and again in the Third and Fourth Assemblies. In the Legislature of 1823 he was one of the most active in opposing the calling of a constitutional convention for the purpose of changing the constitution and mak- ing this a slave State. He was one of the two men who signed a minority report in opposition to that movement and also demanding the total abolition of slavery, this occurring forty years before Abraham Lincoln wrote the Emancipa- tion Proclamation. Because of this, on his re- turn from the Legislature, he was burned in effigy hy his opponents at Troy, Madison Conn- ty, but at the following election was again chosen as a free State Member of the Illinois House of Representatives.

The Rev. William L. Deneen, grandfather of the Governor, was born at Bedford, Pa., Octo- ber 30, 1798, came to Illinois in 1828, and was for nineteen years a Methodist minister in the southern part of the State. On account of ill- ness, in 1847 he was obliged to discontinue pub- lic speaking and took up the profession of sur- veying, serving as County Surveyor of St. Clair County from 1849 until 1855. His death oc- curred in 1879. His son, Samuel H. Deneen, father of Charies S. Deneen, was born near Belleville, St. Clair County, Ill., in 1835, but was reared in Lebanon and was graduated from McKendree College. He afterward served for thirty years as a professor in that coliege, holding the chair of Latin and ancient history. During the Civil War he served as Adjntant in the One . Hundred and Seventeenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and filled the office of United States Consul at Bellevilie, Ontario, un- der President Harrison. He wedded Mary Frances Ashley, a representative of one of the oldest families of Lebanon, Ill., where she was born December 18, 1836, her father being Hiram K. Ashiey, of that place.

Governor Deneen spent his youthful days un- der the parental roof, his early edncation being acquired in the public schools of Lebanon, and supplemented by a course in McKendree College, from which he graduated In 1882. When a boy he had to work npon his father's farm and parental authority attempted to deveiop in him habits of industry and dillgence. It is told that on one occasion he emulated the example of the renowned Tom Sawyer when his father arranged that he should ent and cord a cer- tain amount of wood for a stipulated snm. He gathered together all of his boy friends who needed money and hired them to do the work at so much per day. A few weeks later the father fonnd the work had been done, and the son was several dollars the richer because of the money he had cleared from the labors of the other boys. This ability to manage others ilas characterized his entire life. When still a young man he determined upon the practice of law as a life work and studied at nights in an interior Illinois county, providing for his own support in the meantime by school teaching, which profession he followed for three terms in the country schools near Newton, Jasper County, and for two terms near Godfrey, Madi- son County. He came to Chicago in 1885 and started to complete his law studies in the Union College of Law, now the Northwestern Law School. But ere he had mastered the fuli course his money gave ont and he attempted to ohtain a position as cierk in a law office. For days he sought employment of this character, hut no one needed hls services. Finally he was offered a position in St. Paul at a meager sal- ary and he spent a short time there, after which he returned to Chicago and became a teacher in the public night schools, while the day was devoted to the pursual of his law conrse. His first law office was a most unpre- tentious one, containing only a few much worn books, a desk and two chairs, Clients, too, were slow in coming, and to keep bnsy he haunted the county jail and defended the prisoners who were withont connsel. Months passed thus and the experiences there gained stood him in ex- cellent stead when he became State's Attorney. Slowly but surely he worked his way upward, manifesting ability that at iength won wide recognition. In the early days he would not always contend that his client was not guilty but he would at times contend that sufficient evidence had not been brought ont to prove him guilty. This iine of reasoning brought to Mr. Deneen no little success and eventually led to his retention as counsel in cases of greater Im- portance. At length his ability hronght him to the position of prosecuting attorney and this office proved the stepping-stone to the higher positions which he has since filled. When he took the oath of office it had almost become a proverb that the criminal with any influence could escape. Mr. Deneen, however, announced that he would administer the duties of his of- fice according to law and that an indicted man,

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HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY

no matter what his social position, financial standing, his rellgion, his politics or hls race, must stand trial. When his assistants were ready to present to the Grand Jury the case of George W. Spalding, President of the Giohe Savings Bank, and Treasurer of the State Uni- versity, Mr. Deneen called them into confer- ence. One said: "I think we'd hetter try to have Spalding Indicted on the one count-it's the strongest against him." Mr. Deneen asked : "How many counts are there against him " and received the answer : "Twenty-five." Came the quick reply: "Present every count to the Grand Jury." Mr. Deneen was prosecut- ing attorney when the case of Edward S. Drey- er, Treasurer of the West Chicago Park Com- missioners, came up. It was a hitter fight and the case went to four higher courts, heing twice before the Supreme Court of Illinois, and fiually was taken to the United States Supreme Court, where opinions were sustained resulting in con- viction. Equally representative of Mr. Deneen's methods was his prosecution of a candidate on the same ticket with him in 1900, thereby im- perilling in the minds of the party leaders the success of the ticket at the pools. When this was said to Mr. Deneen he replied : "It may not he expedient but it is right." And with Charles S. Deneen to helieve in the right of his position is to follow it.

In the early days when Mr. Deneen was wait- Ing for practice he hecame interested in politics. At first it was a local interest that brought him to leadership iu his ward and led to his election to the State Legislature in 1893. The position which he took concerning certain vital ques- tions has since made him a factor iu National as well as State affairs, and he is again and again called to Washington in consultation with the heads of the party concerning the situation In the Middle West. He proved himself as forceful and as resourceful as a State leader as he had in the office of Attorney for Cook County. He received his party's nomination for Governor in 1904 and during the campaign an- nounced himself as the supporter of an enact- inent of a Constitutional Amendment to enable the General Assembly to pass special laws for Chicago; the civil service law to he applied to the State penal and charltahle institutions and the rehahilltation of the State charitahle insti- tutions, together with the enactment of a com- pulsory primary law. At the close of his first term, in the face of strong factional oppo- sition, he was again nominated and re- elected and that he has stood by his campaign pledges is indicated In the fact that dur- ing his administration, which now covers six years, legislation has secured the Direct Primary Law, Municipal Courts for Chicago, a State Highway Commission to encourage good roads, a State Geological Commission for the study of State resources, forestry preserves have heen provided for. a State Dentai Board has heen created, safety appliances are required on rail- roads and inspectors provided for the placing

of children iu homes and providing for their visitation. The State has also heen divided into Insane Districts and the county insane have heen taken over hy these districts. Legislation has also led to the adoption of a Local Option Law ; employers have been required to report all accidents to employes; an act requiring the pro- tection of men employed in structural work; an act for the registration of nurses; coal mining laws were revised demanding the examination of all miners; a two-cent passenger rate law was passed; an act requiring the State Treas- urer to turn the interest on State money over to the State; a law regulating motor vehicles ; all act giving the State Food Commission the right to inspect all foods; the West Park Com- missiou authorized to issue three-million-dollar bonds; an Internal Improvement Commission created and deep-waterway legislation hegun ; Commission; an act providing for an Educa- tional Commission to revise all school laws; legislation revising and Improving insurance laws: North Park Commission authorized to is- sue one-inillion-dollar honds for smail parks ; a law authorizing the city of Chicago to fix rates and charges for gas and electricity for power, heating, lighting and other purposes; a Negotiable Instrument Act; the revision of the Practice Act; an act to suppress moh law ; an act to prevent policy playing; and thirty State buildings were either built or remodeled.

On the 10th of May, 1891, Governor Deneen was united in marriage to Miss Bina Day Ma- loney, of Mount Carroll, Carroll County, Ill. Their children are four iu number, namely : Charles Ashley, Dorothy, Frances and Bina. The wife and mother was educated at the Frances Shimmer Academy of Mount Carroll. Goveruor Deneen is the idol of his family circle and spends his happiest hours with his wife and children. Mr. and Mrs. Deneen hold mem- bership in the Methodist Church and in a quiet. unostentatious, yet effective way, he aids in church work and in various charitable inove- muents. Well poised and with imperturhahle spirit, the shafts of political enmity glance off, leaving him unharmed, and while there has heen nothing spectacular in his life history and in his administration. it is doubtful if any of lis predecessors have more genuine friends and admirers than Governor Deneen now has.

'DENNEY, James .- When a man has passed the age of four score years and ten, spent in ear- nest endeavor in business and commercial en- terprises, in patriotle service during two wars of his adopted country, and in no less patriotic peace, and has then finally settled down to a well-earned rest, he must he considered one of the foremost men of his community, a man whose example should prove of hene- fit to the youth of the generations to come. James Denney, of No. 1318 East Washington Street, Springfield, one of the oldest men in the county and a resident of Springfield since the year 1872, has such a record. Born February

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8, 1820, in County Meath, Ireland, he is the youngest and only surviving one of the family of eleven children of Michael and Bridget (Gan- non) Denney.

Michael Denney, whose occupation was that of a farmer in Ireland, served in the British army, aud was uuder General Wellington at the battle of Waterioo, where he lost his right arm and left leg. His death occurred at the old home in Ireland, in 1840, his widow surviving him until 1854, when she passed away at the same place. After the death of the father the children all came to the United States, where all except James have since died.

James Denney was but a lad when he came to this country with an uncle, Ned Deuney. and had attended school in Ireland for four years. The passage was made to New York City in the steamship "City of New York," un- der Captain Copper, and young Denney went to Brooklyn, to live with a sister, Mrs. Ellen Flana- gau. There he pursued his studies iu a night school until his uucle took him to Scranton to work in the mines, but after one and one-half years there he became a marine on the U. S. Battleship "Brooklyn," on which he continued to serve until his enlistment in the Twenty- second New York Regiment, under Colonel Bas- sett, for service during the Mexican War. The regiment had just arrived at the mouth of the Rio Grande, when news was brought of the surrender of Buena Vista, and was ordered back to New York City and mustered out of service. Soon thereafter Mr. Denney came to LaSalie County, Ill., where for a time he was employed in the United States bonded warehouses, but subsequently took up farming in Stark County, and then went to mining and sinking mines throughout this part of the country, at which he was engaged at the time of his enlistment in the Union Army for service during the Civil War. At Kewanee, Ili., he became a private in Company H, Niuth Illinois Cavalry, under Colonel Brackett, of Chicago, and served with bravery until the close of the war, receiving a bullet wound in the neck, at Tupelo, Miss.

After receiving his honorable discharge, Mr. Denney returued to Kewanee, where he had lo- cated some years before, but in 1872 came to Springfield, and that city has been his home to the present time. For many years he was en- gaged in mining and mine sinking, and in this field became one of the best known men in the State. Finally, deciding that he had earned a rest from his iabors, he retired, and is now liv- ing in his residence at No. 1318 East Wash- ington Street, which he bought in 1872, on first coming to Springfield. But few citizens attain the grand old age of ninety-two years.

Mr. Denney was married in 1849 to Bridget Quinn, also a native of County Meath, Ireland, who came to the United States when a young woman. Mr. and Mrs. Denney have had eight children, namely : Michael J., Thomas, William, John Joseph, Lawrence, Margaret, Elizabeth and

Catherine, of whom the first two are deceased and the rest residents of Springfield. The fam- ily hoid membership in the Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception. In political helief Mr. Denney has always been identified with the Democratic party.

DENTON, Preston .- Oniy the veterans them- selves know what the country owes them, for they passed through the mighty struggle, risk- ing life and limb in defense of the starry flag every American loves so dearly. They kept its silken foids free from the stain of dishouor and kept it waving, from the Great Lakes to the Guif of Mexico, from the Atiantic to the Pa- cific. While it is free from soil, the blood of thousands who did not return, dyed the battie fields a terrible crimson, and many others have gone through life maimed because of war's mighty cruelty. Saugamon Couuty is proud in- deed of her veterans, and shows her appreciation of them, especially on Decoration Day, when both the living and the dead are honored above all others. One of the most highly respected of the old soldiers of the county is Preston Deu- ton, now a retired farmer of Buffalo. He was born in Shelby County, Ill., January 2, 1845, a son of Jonas and Fannie (Nelson) Denton, he born in the North of Ireland and the mother in Tennessee. Jonas Denton came to the United States with his father, who first located in Vir- ginia, but iater moved to Iilinois, becoming one of the pioneers of Shelby County, where he en- gaged in farming. Jonas Denton aiso farmed in Shelby County, but death called him away when Preston was still a lad. The mother sur- vived until 1885, dying in Bourbon County, Kan., where she had gone to reside. There were six sons and three daughters in the family, but Preston Denton is the only survivor.

The education of Mr. Denton was obtained in the school of his district, and even in boyhood he was called upon to do a man's work on the farm owned by his mother. In 1856 he moved to Kansas, where he lived for three years, but then returned to Shelby County to resume farming there. From this place he moved to Christian County, and after farming there for four months, his labors were interrupted by the outbreak of the war, and he enlisted from there in Company C, Sixty-second Iilinois Volunteer Infantry, under command of Colonel True, serving nearly four years. He participated in several important battles, among them being Corinth, Gettysburg, Murfreesboro, Nashville, Holly Springs and Bowling Green, as well as many skirmishes, during which time he gave his country a brave and efficient service. He re- ceived his honorable discharge, in March, 1866, at Fort Smith, Ark. After this he returned to Christian County to resume farming, but after nine years there, moved to Dawson, Iil., to take up railroad work with the Wabash Railroad Company. He continued iu this for five years, then went back to farmning. He came to San- gamon County, where he operated property for

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seven years, but his health, sadly undermined by tbe privations endured while he was a sol- dler, broke down, and he was forced to retire. He came to Buffalo, which has since remained his home. He has a pleasant home and recelves a pension from a grateful Government.

The marriage of Mr. Denton took place in Christian County, September 6, 1866, when lie was united to Mary M. Coffer, born in Putnam County, Ind., May 31, 1844. Her parents moved from Indiana to Iowa, where her father died, but her mother passed away in Kansas. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Den- ton, three of whom are still living: James M. resides ou a farm near Sherman, Ill .; Armilda married Albert Statts and lives in Buffalo, and Hattle M., married Franklin Smith and lives In Buffalo. There are eleven grandchildren in the family.

The first vote Mr. Denton cast was for Abra- liam Lincoln whom he had seen many times, and for whom he entertained a lasting admir- ation. He is a member of Johu Beerbaum Post, No. 613, G. A. R., and for the past sixteen years has been its Officer of the Day. He has friends all over the county. He is a consistent member of the Christian Church, and few inen of Mechanicsburg Township stand higher in the public esteem.

DERRY, James S .- Farming is the oldest re- corded calling, and from the beginning of the world men have been profitably engaged in till- ing the soil. Many of Sangamon County's mnost prosperous men are farmers, and one of them is James S. Derry, who rents 140 acres iu Springfield Township. He was born in Ro- chester Township, Sangamon County, October 10, 1862, being a son of Frank M. and Margaret J. (Tibbs) Derry, the former born near Harp- er's Ferry, Va., September 15, 1837, and the latter in Woodside Township, Sangamon County, September 12, 1844.

Frank M. Derry resided In Virginia until he attained his majority, when he came to Illinois, locating in Rochester Township to engage in farming, although he had learned the under- taking and cabinetmaking business in Harper's Ferry. Until 1884. he continued his farming, but in that year engaged in operating a general store. This he sold in 1889 to resume farm- ing in Rochester Township. In 1894 he left the farm and located in Springfield, where for a year he conducted a feed store, but at the expiration of that time, retired. On the maternal side of the house the grandparents were from North Carolina and moved to Berry Station, Sangamon County. where they died many years ago. Frank M. Derry had two uncles who served in the War of 1812, and they were the great uncles of James S. Derry. There were four children in the family born to Frank M. Derry and wife, of whom but two survive, James S. and Willard F. Two died in infancy. While residing in Rochester Town- ship, Frank M. Derry served as School Director.

The educatlou of James S. Derry was secured in Rochester Township district schools. Dur- ing his boyhood he worked for his father, but later learned the machinist's trade, securing employment with the Sattley Manufacturing Company, with which he remained for three years, later traveling through the northwest, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Wiscousin and South Dakota for two years. In 1904, tiring of this kind of life, he begau farming in Ro- chester Township, buying a farm, which he sold and moved to his preseut one in Springfield Township, comprising 140 acres of as fine land as can be found in the county.

The marriage of Mr. Derry occurred in Ro- chester, March 30, 1886, to Mary E. Blalr, born in Clay County, Ill., April 4, 1864, being a danghter of William Blair, a native of North Carolina, who came to Clay County many years ago, dying there with his wife. Mr. and Mrs. Derry became parents of four children: Harri- son tanght school in Divernon for two years, but is uow in New Mexico; Myrtle M. married Ellis Hawthorne, connected with the Spring- field Car Company ; Addie B. lives at home ; the eldest, Jessie E., died in 1SSS.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume II, part 2, Part 40

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913 Publication date: 1912 Publisher: Chicago, Munsell Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 774

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago, Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 774