Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Kane County, Part 144

Author:
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Chicago: Munsell Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 950

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WILLIAM D. ACKEMANN, merchant, born in Winzlar, Province of Hanover, Germany, Sept. 24, 1855, was educated in the schools of Winz- lar and came to the United States in the fall of 1872. He lived one year in New York City, where he learned the grocery business, and came from there to Elgin, Ill., in 1873. Here he became connected with the dry-goods honse of Bosworth Brothers & Peck, with which he remained seven years. For two years after- ward he was in the employ of M. W. DuBois, also of Elgin. He then engaged in the dry- goods trade in this city on his own account, becoming founder of the extensive mercantile house which is now conducted by the firm of Ackemann Bros. In 1894, in company with his brothers, August W., Conrad F., Henry F. and Fred H. Ackemann, he opened the depart- ment store of Ackemann Bros., which occupied

a modern, thoroughly well equipped building erected in the heart of the business district of Elgin. This business has since grown to large proportions, and their establishment is one of the largest department stores in Northern Illinois outside of Chicago. Mr. Ackemann married, in 1882, Miss Bertha Sexauer, of Elgin. AUGUST W. ACKEMANN, brother of William D., was born in Winzlar, Germany, Oct. 22, 1859. was educated in the public and private schools of Winzlar, and came direct to Elgin from Germany in 1875. Until the winter of 1881 he clerked in Elgin dry-goods stores. In that year he went to Minnesota and was employed in Faribault until the spring of 1882, when he went to Milwaukee, Wis., where he was con- nected with the firm of Rich & Silver during the next four years. He then returned to Elgin, and, after clerking for a time for his brother, W. D. Ackemann, became a member of the firm of Ackemann Bros., in which he is still interested and in the management of which he takes an active part. He married, in 1885, Miss Minnie Buhmeyer, of Elgin. CONRAD F. ACKEMANN, merchant, a second brother, born in Winzlar, Germany, May 23, 1864, was edu- cated in the public and private schools of his native town and came to Elgin in 1880. During the first year of his residence in this city he was employed in a crockery and glassware store. He then entered the employ of W. D. Ackemann and worked seven years in the latter's dry- goods store. At the end of that time he became junior member of the furniture and undertak- ing firm of Clothier & Ackemann. Later his brother. Henry F. Ackemann, purchased the senior partner's interest in this business and the firin became Ackemann Bros. Afterward Fred H. Ackemann joined the firm, and the three brothers continued in business until they consolidated their interests with those of their brothers in the present large department store in 1894. Mr. Ackemann has since been one of the managers as well as a partner in this busi- ness. He is at the present time (1903) a member of the Elgin Board of Aldermen, He married, in 1887. Miss Millie Mutzelburg, oť Elgin. Another brother, HENRY F. ACKE MANN, merchant, was born Nov. 11, 1853, in Winzlar, Germany. His education was obtained in the public and private schools of that town. and he was trained in farming, which occupation he followed for some years before coming to the United States. He came to Elgin in 1891

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and became a member of the furniture and undertaking firm of Ackemann Bros. In 1894, in company with his brother, Fred H. Acke- mann, he erected the handsome business block since occupied by the department store of which he is part owner and one of the managers. He is also interested as a stockholder in the Elgin Gas & Oil Company, operating oil and gas wells in Ohio. He married. in 1884, Miss Minnie Schlie, of Winzlar, Germany.

FREDERICK G. ADAMSON, manufacturer. Aurora, born in Nottaway, Canada, Sept. 8, 1866, was reared and educated in Toronto. In early manhood he spent six years in the service of the Northern Railway Company, being first employed in the office of the Chief Engineer, and later as private secretary of the General Manager. Still later he was in the general offices of the Grand Trunk Railway Company at Detroit, Mich., where he was employed for about a year and a half. In 1890 he came to Chicago to take a position with the Webster Manufacturing Company. Two years later he transferred his services to the John S. Metcalf Company, engineers and grain elevator builders, becoming Secretary and Treasurer of the cor- poration, of which he was a Director and stockholder. In 1901 he retired from the com- pany to locate at Aurora, where, with Wiley W. Stephens as partner, he established and built the present Stephens-Adamson Manufac- turing Company plant for the construction of power-transmitting machinery and elevating and conveying appliances, a rapidly growing industry. Mr. Adamson is the Vice-President and Treasurer of the corporation. In 1892 he married Miss Annie B. Rose, daughter of Dun- can D. Rose, of Seaforth, Canada. He is a member of the Union League Club of Chicago.

LEOPOLD ADLER, retired merchant, Elgin. Ill., was born in Baden, Germany, Oct. 15, 1834, and educated in the schools of his native town, where he was trained to the business of cigar manufacturing. In 1856 he came to the United States, and for two years was engaged in mercantile pursuits in Chicago. In 1858 he removed to Elgin, which has since been his home, and where he was solely engaged in mercantile business until 1891, when he sold out and spent the ensuing two years in Berlin, Germany, where his younger children com- pleted their education. In January, 1894, he

icsun.ed business in Elgin in company with his son, as head of the firm of L. Adler & Son, a business which he turned over to his son three years later, since when he has been associated with Sears, Roebuck & Co., of Chicago, and the Capital City Woolen Mills, of Des Moines, Iowa. In 1859 Mr. Adler married Miss Rose Sheuer- man, also a native of Baden, Germany.

NATHAN J. ALDRICH, lawyer, Aurora, Ill .; born in Kendall County, Ill., Dec. 3, 1851; graduated from the law department of the Uni- versity of Michigan in the class of 1875, and in the same year began practicing his profes- sion in Aurora, where he has since been a leading member of the bar; has been identified with various business enterprises, and has taken an active part in politics in the councils of the Republican party; married, in 1879, Miss Mary E. Winchell, of Rantoul, Ill.

PIERRE A. ALLAIRE (deceased ), pioneer physician, Aurora, Ill .; born in New York City in 1815 and died in Aurora in 1863; educated at Columbia College, New York, graduating from the medical department of that institu- tion, and came to Illinois two years later, locating at Aurora shortly afterwards, where he practiced his profession until his death. The Doctor took much interest in the advance- ment of educational interests, and served as a member of the Aurora School Board; was also a member of the Board of City Aldermen. He was married to Mrs. Catherine ( Gates) Fuller, a native of Jefferson County, N. Y.

JOHN ALLASON ( deceased ), pioneer farmer, Carpentersville, Kane County, Ill .; born at Lake Champlain, N. Y., in 1812, where he grew to manhood; came to Illinois in early man- hood, locating at Carpentersville, but later removed to Chicago, residing there for several years, and afterwards returned to Carpenters- ville, where he owned and managed a fine farm and became closely identified with the affairs of his community. In political views he was a Republican and served as Township Collector for several years, besides holding other town offices. In religious faith he was a Baptist, being a member of the church at Dundee, Ill. His wife, Anna (Shaw) Allason, was born in Dundee, Scotland, and they were married at Dundce, Ill., and became the parents of six

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

children. The only member of this family living at Carpentersville is Mrs. Charles I. Wilber.

EDWARD R. ALLEN (deceased), merchant and banker, Aurora, Ill. born at Cortland, N. Y., Nov. 7, 1819, reared at home, and trained to be a druggist at Lockport, same State, first came west in 1839 and was in the drug business in Chicago until 1841, when he removed to Aurora, engaging here very extensively in mer- chandising. For many years he was closely associated in various important mercantile en- terprises, and with the late L. D. Brady set up what soon became the banking house of Brady, Allen & Hawkins, and later still the First Na- tional Bank of Aurora. Until his retirement Mr. Allen was a most active business character and of wide influence. Many enterprises of moment were helped by him, and he was a leading spirit in anything that sought to pro- mote the public welfare. While Aurora was still a village he was a trustee of the town, in atter years being City Alderman, Mayor and State Senator. He was personally and inti- mately acquainted with Abraham Lincoln, and by appointment of President Polk was the second Postmaster of Aurora. He died in Aurora, August 22, 1897. His first wife was Alice Carr, whose family is famous in Kane County. She died, leaving one son. His second wite, Miss Mary A. Gates, born at Stowe, Mass., during the Civil War, took high rank as a patriotic woman, and in the local Ladies' Sol- diers' Aid Society did much to help the "boys at the front." She died May 16, 1865. Mr. Allen's children living in 1903 are: Mrs. Lottie ( Allen) Mack, Aurora; Frank G., Moline, 111., and Mrs. Anna ( Allen ) Staudt, Aurora. Ed- ward C. Allen, the eldest son, born and reared in Aurora, became a noted manufacturer after being in the coal business at Aurora some years with his father, and in the United States Railway Mail Service, and was connected with the Moline Plow Company. He bought land near Huron, S. D., and when his failing health became serious he retired into seclusion. He was born Sept. 3, 1849, and died in Huron July 4, 1893. Arvilla, his wife, was a daughter of Ansel Hayward, a pioneer farmer of . Kane County. Frank G., second son of Edward R. Allen, born in Aurora Feb. 14, 1858, graduated from the University of Michigan in 1880, be- came a lawyer and was admitted to the bar.

After two years of practice he became inter- ested in the Moline Plow Company, of which he is now Vice-President and General Manager. He is also interested in other Moline enter- prises. He married Miss Minnie F. Stephens, of Moline, in 1882.

FRANK E. ALLEN, Deputy County Recorder, Elgin, Kane County, Ill., was born at Oriskany Falls, N. Y., May 6, 1856, the son of F. J. and Oriana (Henderson) Allen; obtained his edu- cation at Colgate Academy, Hamilton, N. Y., graduating from that institution in the class of 1874; came to Illinois in 1876, establishing his home in Elgin, where he was engaged in the dry-goods trade for several years afterwards as head of the firm of Allen Bros .; later became chief adjuster of fire losses for the Union Insurance Company of Philadelphia, being em- ployed in this capacity until 1897, when he resigned to accept the official position which he now holds; has served two terms as a member of the City Council of Elgin. Frater- nally Mr. Allen is a member of the Knights of Pythias and Elks. He was married in 1882 to Miss Frances V. Plant, of Elgin.

MARTIN V. ALLEN (deceased), merchant and soldier, Aurora, Ill., was born in St. Law- rence County, N. Y., Nov. 6, 1832, son of Reuben and Nancy Allen. In 1845 the family came to Illinois by way of the lakes in a sailing vessel, and located at Shabbona, DeKalb County, where Mr. Allen was reared on the farm. He enlisted, Aug. 12, 1862, in the One Hundred and Fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and Sept. 2, follow- ing, was mustered into the service as First Lieutenant of Company E of this regiment. His promotion to Captain was made March 9, 1863, and he was in command of this company until Aug. 16, 1864, when he received a gunshot wound in the shoulder at Atlanta. This wound proved so disabling that he was compelled to leave the service, being discharged Jan. 22. 1865. In the course of his military experience he participated in the battles at Resaca, Cass- ville, Dallas, New Hope Church, Price Moun- tain, Kenesaw, Marietta, Peach Tree Creek and Atlanta. As an officer and a soldier he had an enviable record, and was highly regarded by his comrades in arms. After his return from the army Captain Allen was elected Superintendent of Schools of DeKalb County, a position he filled from 1865 to 1869. In 1875 he established him-

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self in the drug business at Shabbona, where he continued until 1888, when he removed to Aurora. From this time until his death, Feb. 12, 1899, he was never entirely engaged in business. For several years he was Treasurer of the town of Shabbona, where he also held other positions. He was a Knight Templar Mason, and was a Past Master of the Lodge at Shabbona; was also first Commander of the Grand Army Post at that place. His first mar- riage was in 1856, with Miss Jane A. Hunter, of Little Rock, Ill., who died in 1864 as the result of fever contracted at Chattanooga, Tenn., while nursing her wounded husband. In 1867 Mr. Allen married Miss Lizzie Alexander, of Shabbona. The surviving members of the Allen family are Mrs. Allen and Bert A., of Aurora; Mrs. Cora A. Sanborn, of Chicago; and Mrs. Jennie M. Ellwood, of DeKalb, Ill.

GEORGE W. ALSCHULER, real-estate oper- ator, insurance and loan agent, Aurora, Ill., was born in his present home city; began life as an office boy on the "Aurora Daily News," where he was employed for some five years. In 1884 he entered into business with his father under the firm name of J. & G. W. Alschuler, dealers in real estate, insurance and loans. The two continued together until 1896, when the father died, and the son has since carried on the business alone. He was chosen Alder- man in 1895 and was re-elected until 1901, when he was elected Mayor of the city. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Elks, and the Modern Woodmen.

CHARLES D. AMES, farmer and stock- raiser, Kaneville, Ill., was born in Rutland, Vt., August 25, 1857, and in 1866 came to Kane County, Ill., in company with his parents. After he had finished his schooling he began farming, which has been his business to the present time. In 1900 he purchased a farm, which adjoined the village of Kaneville on the east. For nine years he has served as Road Commissioner. Mr. Ames was married, Feb. 11, 1883, to Miss Lucy E. Ames, by whom he has had three children-two sons and a daughter.

OPHELIA L. AMIGH, Superintendent State Training School for Girls, Geneva, Ill .; born in Dutchess County, N. Y., in 1841, daughter of Riley Shadbolt, and was educated in the schools of Poughkeepsie. In 1859 she married

and removed to Iowa. In May, 1861, she be- came a nurse in the Third lowa Volunteer Infantry, in which her husband was serving as a soldier in the ranks. Her time was divided between the field service and the hospital at St. Louis. At the close of the war she re- turned to New York, where she remained fifteen years, part of the time being in charge of a reformatory for boys. In 1882 she removed to Chicago and became connected with the man- agement of the Erring Woman's Refuge of that city. In 1894 she was appointed Superintend- ent of the State Training School for Girls, then a Chicago institution, but which in 1895 was removed to Geneva, where commodious build- ings have been erected for its accommodation. Under Mrs. Amigh's management this school has become one of the noted educational and reformatory institutions of the State. Mrs. Amigh has long been prominently identified with temperance work, having been Grand Vice- Templar of the Good Templar Order for the State of Illinois, and has held other official positions in the fraternity. She was one of the organizers of the W. C. T. U. in Pough- keepsie, N. Y.

ANDREW J. ANDERSON, retired farmer, Elgin, Ill., was born Nov. 14, 1840, in Jersey County, Ill., where he was educated. While a young man he went to Macoupin County and purchased a farm, on which he lived until 1872. During that year he removed to Christian County, where he again located on a farm, which he tilled until 1899, when he retired, and has since made his home in Elgin. In active life he took a prominent part in local affairs. In Macoupin County he was for six years School Trustee, and also served as School Director; was the County Secretary of the F. M. B. A. three years, and stood well in the com- munity. He was married, March 25, 1868, to Isabelle Davidson, who was born March 23, 1847, in Waverly, Morgan County, Ill., and to them have been born twelve children: Elmore (deceased ), lda, Walter ( deceased), Mary, Charles (died Feb. 12, 1894), Albert, William J. and Helen (twins), George, Susan (de- ceased ), John and Leslie.

DANIEL B. ANDRUS, banker, Batavia, Ill., born in Great Barrington, Berkshire County, Mass., Feb. 18, 1850, son of Daniel and Julia ( Munson) Andrus; received his early educa-

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

tion in the Massachusetts schools, and for sev- eral years after coming west in 1870, taught in Wisconsin. In 1881 he graduated from Law- rence Uuniversity at Appleton. Wis., and the same year helped organize the Shawana Coun- ty Bank, being cashier of this bank until June, 1884, when he came to Batavia to connect him- selt with the private banking house of Gammon & Newton. In 1891 when the First National Bank of Batavia was organized as successor to Gammon & Newton, Mr. Andrus became its cashier, which position he has since held con- tinuously. In 1901 this bank absorbed the banking house of Mallory, James & Co. For nineteen years he has been associated with various banking interests of Batavia, and dur- ing all this time has been in close touch with the business affairs of Batavia, as well as with the entire commercial and financial interests of the Fox River valley. He was married, first to Miss Abigail F. Grout, of Omro, Wis., who died in 1879. Mr. Andrus was again mar- ried, in 1882, to Miss Martha M. Smith of Chicago.

ROBERT F. ANGELL, merchant, St. Charles, Ill., born Sept. 20, 1864, came to St. Charles, in March, 1882, and for ten months gave atten- tion to farming, and during the next ten years was engaged in business as a painter. For a few years he was engaged in a meat market, finally becoming President and manager of the St. Charles Mercantile Company, a position which he retained until he sold out in 1899. For a short period following this he resumed his trade as a painter, and was then in the meat business until March, 1903. He was married Dec. 2, 1888,, to Miss Laverne Baker, daughter of Edward Baker, of St. Charles. He belongs to the St. Charles Lodge, Knights of Pythias, Camp of Modern Woodmen, and Unity Lodge, A. F. & A. M.

DAVID WHEELER ANNIS, born in Orange County, Vt., in 1812, and died in 1877; settled in Blackberry Township, in 1836, and became one of the most prominent and successful of the sturdy pioneers of Kane County.

CHARLES W. ANTHONY, clergyman. Au- rora, Ill., is a native of Union Springs, Ca- yuga, N. Y., where he was born May 29, 1843. In 1854 he accompanied his parents to Santa Cruz, Cal., where he grew to manhood. His

education was secured in the public schools and at the University of California, the latter at that time located at Oakland, and from which he graduated in 1870. He prepared for the min- istry in the Presbyterian Theological Seminary at San Francisco, and in 1873 was ordained and installed pastor of the Presbyterian church in Livermore, Cal., where he remained until 1880. That year he was called to Aurora, where some years prior he had married Miss Fannie H. Janes, daughter of Nelson L. Janes, an old- time resident of that city. Mr. Anthony has since held pastorates at Spring Valley church, Whiteside County, and at Kewanee. He was pastor of the Second Presbyterian church in Duluth, Minn., for about three years, and was in charge of the Presbyterian church at Frank- lin Grove, Lee County, for eleven years. In 1899 he again removed to Aurora, and has since devoted only a portion of his time to the ministry, the care of the extensive estate of his father-in-law occupying much of his time. In 1877, and again in 1890, he sat as a repre- sentative in the Presbyterian General Assembly. The only child of Mr. and Mrs. Anthony is Maud H., who graduated from Lake Forest Uni- versity in 1901, and who is now engaged in educational work at Wabash, Ind.

ALSON H. ARNOLD (deceased ), merchant, Batavia, Ill., born in Benson, Vt., April 23, 1836, son of Artemas and Clara ( Wilson) Arnold. was reared in his Vermont home, where he was educated and trained to mercantile pur- suits. In 1854 he came west and entered the employ of Moor & Buck, pioneer merchants at Batavia, Ill., and was later a traveling sales- man. In 1865 he embarked in the clothing trade. a business which he followed until his death, Jan. 26, 1898. He was Mayor of Batavia two years, served as Alderman several terms, and was long a member of the Board of Super- visors. He was a Mason of high standing, and took a leading part in the affairs of that fra- ternity in Batavia. In 1864 he married Miss Mary, daughter of Milo and Julia ( Root ) Kemp of Batavia.

JOHN B. ARNOLD, manufacturer, Aurora, Ill., born in Northampton, Mass., Jan. 27, 1835; received his education at Williston Seminary, East Hampton, and in the high school at North- ampton, and was trained as a druggist under Theodore Metcalf, of Boston, and the B. A.

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

Fahnstock Company, of Pittsburg, Pa., with which he later began the manufacture of white lead. About 1874 he became associated with Pittsburg parties in the organization of the third establishment of the kind in the United States. A few years later Mr. Arnold, in com- pany with others, organized the Aurora Smelt- ing and Refining Company, their large plant going into operation at Aurora, Jan. 1, 1883; later they bought and combined with their original plant those of the Chicago Refining and Smelting Company, located at Chicago and Leadville, Colo. The Aurora plant was oper- ated eighteen years without the loss of a day, until it was finally disposed of to the American Refining and Smelting Company. Mr. Arnold was President from its organization until its sale, and he has also been interested in kindred enterprises in Colorado and Utah. His home has been in Aurora since his removal from Pittsburg in 1882.

GEORGE F. ARVEDSON, merchant, Carpen- tersville, Kane County, was born in Algonquin, Ill .. April 26, 1855, son of the Rev. Peter Arved- son, and at fourteen years of age was employed as clerk by H. E. Hunt, a merchant at Dundee. In 1875 he became a partner in a store in Car- pentersville, but sold out his interest two years later to take a position in the Illinois Iron and Bolt Company as shipping clerk. After the death of his wife's uncle, Julius A. Carpenter, in 1880, he assumed the management of the flouring mill, and two years later he began shipping molding sand from the C. V. Car- penter farm, which had come into his wife's possession. This business he still (1904) con- tinues, though the milling business was given up in 1885 as no longer profitable. In 1893 a co-partnership was entered into with Ora H. Smith in the sand and gravel business, and three years later in the lumber, coal and feed business. Mr. Arvedson is now serving his fourth term on the Board of Education, and for many years has been a Vestryman and War- den of St. James parish, Dundee. He is also a member of the Board of Missions of the Protestant Episcopal Diocese of Chicago.

REV. PETER ARVEDSON (deceased ), Al- gonquin, born in Norkoping, Sweden, Aug. 24, 1822, and educated in the public schools of his native land, came to the United States in 1840, in company with William Estergren, who is

still (1904) living in Algonquin. After spend- ing some two years in Cincinnati and Chicago, Mr. Arvedson came to Algonquin to work on the farm of Dr. Andrew Cornish. Here it was that, coming under the influence of Mrs. Cor- nish whose granddaughter he afterward mar- ried, his religious life was quickened, and he was ordained a minister of the Episcopal Church, after several years' active work as lay- reader and member of St. John's Episcopal Church, Algonquin, of which he became deacon- in-charge. Upon his advancement to the priest- hood in 1869, he became rector, this relation continuing until his death, Nov. 22, 1880. For one summer only ( that of 1868), was he a resi- dent of Kane County; but, as being the prime mover in the organization of St. James parish, Dundee, in 1864, he was from that time actively interested in the affairs of the county. From Algonquin as a center, where a church building was completed in 1865. his missionary labors extended to many points in Northern Illinois, and at one place across the border into Wiscon- sin. As the fruits of his missionary work, be- side the church in Algonquin, an old building was bought of the Baptists in Dundee, and new churches erected at Wilmot, Wis., and Spring Grove, Ill.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Kane County, Part 144

Author: Publication date: 1904 Publisher: Chicago: Munsell Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 950

Author:
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Chicago: Munsell Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 950