Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Kane County, Part 145

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

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GUSTAVUS AUCUTT, farmer and merchant, Aurora, Ill., was born in Oneida County, N. Y., July 20, 1839, and spent the early years of his life in his native State, attending the pub- lic schools when a boy; came to Illinois when fifteen years of age, and has since lived in Kane County. In 1869 he bought a farm in Sugar Grove Township, and was engaged in farming and stock-raising there until 1883, when he sold out and purchased another farm in Aurora Township which he still owns, but in 1893 retired from active farming operations and has since resided in Aurora. In 1896 he embarked in the coal business in Aurora, and has since been head of the firm of Aucutt & Son. In 1862 he enlisted in the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry for service in the war of the rebellion, and was mustered out in 1865 after three years of active service. Mr. Aucutt was married in 1865 to Miss Josephine Dennison, daughter of Gilbert P. Dennison, of Aurora.

CHARLES H. BACKUS, banker, Hampshire, Ill .; born at Chaplin, Conn., June 9, 1856; came

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

west in March, 1879, locating first at Marengo, Ill., and removed to Hampshire, Ill., in April, 1882, and established what is known as the Kane County Bank, of which he has been the owner since 1885; also has an interest in the mercantile establishment of Backus & Sisley, and in the firm of Backus & Sholes, manu- facturers of brick and tile; elected member of the State Legislature in 1900, and again in 1902; married Jan. 1, 1884, Miss Emma L. Sisley, and they have one son, Charles S.

JAMES C. BAIRD (deceased), banker and man of affairs, St. Charles, Ill .; born in Cayuga, County, N. Y., son of William and Annie (Brown) Baird; same with his parents to St. Charles in 1836, and became the first banker in that village, as well as one of the leading men in the development of Kane County. Mr. Baird died August 21, 1884.

LEWIS A. BAKER, manufacturer, Elgin, Ill .; born at Ithaca, N. Y., Nov. 28, 1852, son of Joseph and Sarah (Nickerson) Baker; in 1857 he came west with his parents, who estab- lished their home in Michigan and lived on a farm in that State until 1866, when they re- moved to Kane County. In 1887 Lewis A. Baker removed to Elgin and established a machine shop in that city; later he purchased the Jackson Foundry and consolidated it with his former business; organized the Elgin Manu- facturing Company, of which he has since been President and general manager. He was mar- ried in 1873 to Miss Frances Saltmarsh, of Ithaca, N. Y.

JOHN M. BALDWIN, retired farmer, St. Charles, Ill., was born at St. Charles, Dec. 13. 1858, son of James C. and Harriet ( Blanchard ) Baldwin, and was reared and educated in his birth-place. He began farming in 1876 on the J. B. Blanchard farm, belonging to the estate of his grandfather, and here he remained until 1884, when after an absence of three years in 1887 he returned to the farm, which continued to be his home until 1891. The latter year he removed to St. Charles, and engaged in live stock business, but two years later again re- turned to the old farm, which he finally bought from his mother, and of which she had been the owner since 1873. This he now rents to tenants, living on the farm retired from active work. His retirement dates from 1898. Mr.

Baldwin is a Republican and has served as Highway Commissioner of St. Charles Town- ship; fraternally he belongs to the I. O. O. F. He was married Nov. 1, 1900, to Miss M. A. Hendricks, daughter of Adolph Hendricks, of Elgin.

JOHN P. BARCKLEY, , merchant, Batavia, Ill .; born in the city where he now resides, August 23, 1855; son of James and Mary (Paul) Barckley; educated in the schools of Batavia and Elgin, and later learned the machinist's trade, which he followed for twen- ty-five years; was one of the organizers of the Batavia Hardware Company in 1898, and be- came sole proprietor of the business in 1901. He was married in 1877 to Miss Minnie Bartholomew, of Batavia.

LAWRENCE P. BARKER.

LAWRENCE P. BARKER (deceased ), Bata- via, was born in DeRuyter, N. Y., July 29, 1811, and was reared and educated in his native State, until 1845 being engaged in agricultural labors. That year he moved to Illinois, settling in Batavia, where for a time he was engaged in the cooperage business. About 1852 he and J. C. Derby opened stone quarries near Batavia, the first product of their quarries being used in the construction of what was known as the

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

Great Western Railway bridge at St. Charles, Ill. Mr. Barker and Mr. Derby were associated together in extensive quarrying operations until the death of Mr. Derby in 1864, The firm of Mallory, Derby and Barker built all the stone work for the bridges on the Chicago, Burling- ton & Quincy Railway between Aurora and Chicago. Mr. Barker later became widely known as a leading railroad builder of the West. He retired from business in 1882. Meanwhile, he had become largely interested in land in Kane County, and these interests occupied a very considerable share of his atten- tion. Before the Civil War he was Sheriff of Kane County, and from time to time has filled various local offices. In 1845 he married Miss Mary Gowdy, who was born and reared in New York. She died in 1894. Mr. Barker died June 24, 1903, aged nearly ninety-two years.

JABEZ BARKER, retired farmer, Elburn, Ill .; born in Bristol County, Mass., March 27, 1818; educated in the public schools of the Bay State, and came to Kane County, 111., in 1843; afterwards spent some time in California and his native State, but located permanently in Kane County about 1850, where he was en- gaged in agricultural pursuits until 1898, when he retired .. Mr. Barker was married May 19, 1840, to Sarah White, who died Nov. 25, 1902.

WILLIAM P. BARKER, Batavia, Ill., born in the city of his residence, July 7, 1850, a son of Lawrence P. and Mary (Gowdy ) Barker, both of whom were natives of New York. He was educated in the East Batavia public school, and when sixteen years of age, began with his father in the stone quarrying and contracting business, becoming a partner in 1870. Since his father's retirement Mr. Barker has continued in business devoting his attention to the lumber and coal trade, and the care of his extensive real-estate investments and farm property, also retaining his interest in the quarrying business. He has served as a member of the Batavia Board of Aldermen and Board of Education. I. 1875 he married Miss Helen Brown, daughter of Mrs. Sarah M. Brown, of Batavia.

HARRY D. BARNES, manufacturer, Elgin, Ill., was born in Bloomingdale, DuPage County, Ill., Nov. 29, 1863, a son of George W. and Susan (Dudley ) Barnes, received his education in the home schools and in Elgin Academy,

remaining on his father's tarm until he was twenty years old. In 1881 he moved to Elgin, which has since been his home. During the summer of 1882 he worked for the Elgin Lum- ber Company, and the following year was in the employ of the grocery firm of A. M. Stew- art. In 1884 he entered the shop of the Elgin Packing Company, and here his promotion was

HARRY D. BARNES.

rapid. In May, 1890, upon the resignation of Mr. F. L. McClure, he was made Assistant Man- ager, and when Mr. E. K. W. Cornell resigned, in January, 1899, he was elected Manager. In 1902 he was elected Secretary of the corporation and is now (1904) holding both positions. The Elgin Packing Company is regarded as one of the best paying concerns in Elgin, and has about doubled its output in the last five years. Mr. Barnes owns a farm west of Elgin of 145 acres. and now has a controlling interest in the Elgin Packing Company. He was mar- ried June 28, 1898, to Miss Ida 'Merrifield, daughter of Oscar C. Merrifield, of Ottawa, Ill. He served on the Elgin School Board from 1894 to 1900.

WILLIAM B. BARNES, retired machinist, Aurora, Ill .; born in Vermont, Nov. 20, 1832; grew to manhood in his native State, and came

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

to Aurora, Ill. in 1853; employed in the shops of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad from 1864 to 1897, being foreman of the locomo- tive department most of the time. Mr. Barnes was married in 1858 to Mary E. Crance, of Aurora.

CHARLES HOPKINS BARRETT, retired farmer, La Fox, Kane County; born Oct. 16, 1849, at Lenox, Mass., son of Sylvester and Caroline ( Hicks) Barrett, and removed in infancy to Brainard, N. Y., where he began his schooling in a private school. When seven years old he was taken by his parents to Geneva, Ill., where he completed his education in the public schools, His first employment was found on a farm, and farming has been his life-work.

SYLVESTER BARRETT.

SYLVESTER BARRETT ( deceased ), La Fox, Kane County, mason and builder, was born in Lenox, Mass., in 1800, and was all his life a mason contractor and builder. Before coming west he served as Selectman in his native place. After his arrival in Kane County, he furnished the stone for the County Court House; also furnished the stone for the first school house in Geneva, and was in great de- mand both as a stone mason and a dealer in stone throughout this section. Many of the

abutments in the highway bridges were con- structed by him, and his work was pronounced of the most enduring character. He married Caroline Adelia Hicks, a native of New York, who died in January, 1898. His death occurred in April, 1896.

WILLIAM H. BARRETT. (deceased ), Aurora, born in London, England, Aug. 13, 1831, and when a year and a half old was brought by his parents to this country, was reared and edu- cated in Detroit, Mich., and became a black- smith; in 1863 came to Aurora from Detroit, and entered the employ of the Chicago, Burling- ton & Quincy Railroad Co., where with brief exceptions, he remained until near his death, Jan. 30, 1903. He spent a short time in Canada, and about a year at Atchison, Kan., in charge of the railway shops there. He was widely known as a Mason, having taken all the degrees up to and including the thirty-second. For nearly twenty-eight years he was Tyler for Lodge No. 254. His funeral services were attended by many hundreds, attesting their be- lief in his worth as a man and a Mason. In 1859 he married Mrs. Amarett Rosier, of Aurora. Mrs. Barrett was born in Erie County, Pennsylvania. by birth a Selby, and she sur- vives her husband, living in Aurora. To Mr. and Mrs. Barrett were born children named Emma W. and Sadie I., of Aurora. George A. Rosier, of Cecil, Penn., Mrs. Fannie Rees, and Mrs. Mary E. Wright, of Aurora, are Mrs. Barrett's children by her first marriage.

BISHOP BARTHOLOMEW (deceased ), pio- neer farmer, Batavia, Ill .; born at Whitehall, Washington County, N. Y., in 1817; came to Chicago in 1837; settled at Naperville, DuPage County, and there married Elmira Jones, daughter of Z. Jones, one of the first settlers of that county; purchased a farm three miles north of Naperville where he lived until 1884, when he retired and removed to Batavia. He died Oct. 15, 1901. His first wife died in 1848, and in 1850 he married Miss Asenath McFerran of Vermont.

DARIUS BARTHOLOMEW, retired farmer, Batavia, Ill., born near Naperville, 111., Feb. 14, 1844, son of Bishop and Emma (Jones) Bar- tholomew; in 1862 he enlisted in the One Hun- dred and Fifth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was assigned to the Army of the

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

Tennessee. During his service he participated in the battles of Resaca, Lookout Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, and in all the engagements of the Atlanta Campaign. After the close of the war he returned to DuPage County, where he was engaged in farming until 1895 when he removed to Batavia. He was married in 1870 to Miss Annie E. Lehman, of DuPage County.

HENRY B. BARTHOLOMEW (deceased ), merchant, Batavia, Ill .; born in Naperville, DuPage County, Ill., Dec. 6, 1852; reared in DuPage County and educated at Warrenville Academy and Northwestern College ( Naper- ville) ; began his business career at Batavia in 1880 in the lumber trade; later embarked in the coal business, but eventually combined the two and added a stock of agricultural imple- ments, carriages and wagons; served as Mayor of Batavia besides holding other local offices. He was married in 1879 to Miss Ida J. Vaughn. Mr. Bartholomew died suddenly in Batavia, Oct. 10, 1901.

LUCIUS BARTHOLOMEW, farmer, Ba- tavia, Kane County, Ill., was born at Whitehall, N. Y., Oct. 29, 1825, son of Thomas Bartholo- mew; grew to manhood in New York State, and in 1849 came to Illinois, locating near what was known as the Big Woods, in DuPage County, where he was engaged in farming until 1873, when he removed to Batavia, residing at the latter place until the time of his death, which occurred Jan. 26, 1896. Mr. Bartholomew was a deacon in the Baptist church for over forty years. He was married in 1846 to Miss Mary Graves, daughter of Phineas Graves, who settled in Will County, Ill., in 1833, re- moved to DuPage County three years later, and died in Kane County in 1887.

ABNER R. BARTLETT ( deceased ), Aurora, physician, and in his earlier life a clergyman, was born in New Hartford, N. Y., in 1812, and was reared in his native State. While a scholarly man, his education was largely self-acquired, and he brought to the study of theology a mind trained by self-culture, to close thinking and reasoning. The celebrated pulpit orator of the Universalist church, Dr. E. H. Chapin, was his classmate, and he entered the Universalist ministry under favorable auspices. Dr. Bartlett had pastorates at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., Bath, Me., and at various other points.

In 1847 he made his first visit to Illinois, and three years later removed his family to Wau- kegan, where he organized a church. In the meantime he had begun the study of medicine, and after attending lectures at the Homeo- pathic College at Cleveland, Ohio, he removed to Aurora in 1852, and began the practice of his profession. In medicine he proved very successful and continued in practice until his death, Dec. 26, 1880. As a pioneer practitioner of homeopathy in the West, he did much to establish that school of medicine in the con- fidence of the public. He was identified with medical education as Professor of Physiology in the Cleveland school, which he held for one year, and later in the chair of Physiology in the Homeopathic Medical College of Missouri, at St. Louis. His wife, born Esther Gage, was a native of Litchfield, N. Y.

DR. FREDERICK L. BARTLETT, physician, son of the preceding, was born in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., Dec. 16, 1843, and was nine years old when the family came to Aurora, where he received the greater part of his academic edu- cation. At first he read law with the famous firm of Wagner & Canfield, of Aurora, and in 1866 graduated from the Law Department of the University of Michigan, but two years later was a graduate of the Homeopathic Medi- cal College of Missouri, at St. Louis, very soon becoming a practitioner of medicine in Aurora in association with his father. Rapidly attain- ing prominence in his profession, he was speedily recognized as a leading exponent of homeopathy up to the time of his retirement from professional life in 1899. He was elected Mayor of Aurora in 1877. and for many years was a member of the Board of Education, long serving as its President. In the establishment of the Aurora Free Public Library, Dr. Bart- lett played an important part. A prominent Republican, he has taken an important part in political affairs, and has been intimately asso- ciated with many of the leading men of Northern Illinois. Dr. Bartlett was married in 1879 to Miss Arvilla A. Carter, of Aurora, and their son, Frederick A. Bartlett, physician, was born in Aurora, Ill., June 26, 1876, was edu- cated in the Aurora schools, graduating from the West Aurora high school in 1894, and three years later from the Hahnemann Medical Col- lege, Chicago. He began practice immediately with his father, and Dr. C. E. Colwell, who had

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

been associated with the latter for some years. The younger Dr. Bartlett and Dr. Colwell are still associated in the practice of their pro- fession, Dr. Frederick L. Bartlett being retired. Dr. F. A. Bartlett still retains the old office so long occupied by his father and his grand father.

JOHN E. BARTLETT (deceased), farmer, Campton Township, Kane County, was born Sept. 15, 1850, in Campton Township, and re- ceived his education from the district schools of his native town. He worked on the farm with his parents until his marriage, March 4, 1873. He bought a farm in 1875, two miles northeast of Elburn, and died Nov. 17, 1889, leaving a widow and five sons. Mrs. Bartlett's maiden name was Elsie Richmond, and her parents were Almon and Hannah (Smith) Richmond.

JOSEPH P. BARTLETT (deceased ), farmer and school teacher, was born Jan. 16, 1810, at Campton, Grafton County, N. H., and came to Illinois in 1843. For five years he made his home in Winnebago County, and then bought Government land in Kane County, where he lived until his death. He was married Dec. 31. 1843, to Miss Julia Ann, daughter of Ephraim and Mary ( Robie) Elliott. By this marriage he became the father of five children-two daughters and three sons. He died in March, 1893, his wife having passed away March 22. 1876.

L. EDWIN BARTLETT, farmer, Elburn, Kane County, born Sept. 15, 1850, on the farm where he now lives, two and a half miles north- east of Elburn, was educated in the district school, and has devoted his life to farming. He has served his neighbors two terms as School Director.

GEORGE BARTON (deceased), pioneer set- tler, born in England in 1815; came to the United States in 1834, locating first in New York State, removing to Kane County in 1836, where he purchased a tract of government land upon which he resided until his death, August 27, 1903, dying at the age of eighty-eight years; married in 1853, Miss Sarah N. Ferguson, who still survives and resides on the old farm in Big Rock Township.

JAMES W. BATTLE, prominent business man and ex-Mayor of Aurora, was born in Gill, Franklin County, Mass., Oct. 5, 1831, son of Ichabod and Miranda ( Moore) Battle, was edu- cated in his native town and variously em- ployed in Massachusetts and Vermont until 1853. The latter year he came west, and was locomotive fireman for a time in Ohio; later he returned east, but soon came to Michigan City, Ind., where he secured employment with the New Albany & Salem Railroad, soon after connecting himself with the Michigan Central Railroad. In 1859 he was with the Hannibal & St. Joe Railroad, but the following year he went back to Massachusetts, where for two years he was engaged in merchandising. Since 1862, with the exception of four years in which he was on the Northwestern as an engineer. for most of the time until 1871 he was in the employ of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad as engineer. For six years thereafter he was a grocer in Aurora, was the first super- intendent of the first street car line established in Aurora, and in 1886 was appointed Superin- tendent of the city water works. In 1878 he was elected City Alderman and served four years; in 1882 was chosen Mayor, and in 1892 again made Alderman, and in 1894 was a second time elected Mayor. Although "counted out," the Illinois Supreme Court confirmed his claim, and he served his term. In 1898, he was elected to the County Board, and served a year as Superintendent of the water works. In 1903 he was chosen on the Kane County Board of Review, a position which he still fills. He has been associated with the various manufac- turing interests of Aurora and is, a director and Vice-President of the Aurora Silver Plate Manufacturing Company. In 1854 he married Miss Cordelia Lobdell, born and bred in Ohio, but who died in 1856. Three years later Miss Isabella Gilbert, a native of Massachusetts, be- came his wife.

HENRY J. BAUMANN, druggist, Dundee, born in Dundee, Kane County, Ill., June 27, 1859, son of John Baumann, a native of Ger- many, was educated in the Dundee schools and graduated from the St. Louis College of Phar- macy in 1878. He was employed as clerk in Dr. Cleveland's store until 1880, when he bought a half-interest in the establishment, the following year purchasing the remaining inter- est and now being sole proprietor. He has

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been local manager for the Chicago Telephone Company since it established a Dundee station, and also does a general fire insurance business. For two years he served as Trustee of West Dundee, for twenty years he has been a mem- ber of the Library Board, and for four years has filled the President's chair. Dr. Baumann was married, May 5, 1881, to Miss Elizabeth Bartels, daughter of Charles Bartels, of West Point, Neb, but formerly of Dundee, Ill.

ABRAHAM BEAMISH, farmer, Burlington Township, Kane County, Ill .; born in County Cork, Ireland, in 1817; came to America in 1840, locating first in Canada; removed to Kane County, Ill., in 1843, settling in Plato Town- ship. In 1853 he purchased 180 acres of land in Burlington Township, to which he subse- quently added forty acres more, and here car- ried on dairy farming until his retirement in 1896. He was married in 1843, to Miss Sarah Mitchell, and of their children, two sons and one daughter are still living-Samuel, John and Lily Beamish. Mr. Beamish died May 29, 1901; his wife surviving him until February, 1903.

GEORGE A. BEAZIER, retired farmer, Hampshire, Ill, born in the village where he now resides, Sept. 13, 1852, and remained under the parental roof until 1875. In 1875 and '76 he traveled extensively in Europe, and in 1883 purchased a 120-acre farm in Hampshire Town- ship, which he conducted until 1902, when he removed to the village, where he has since lived retired. On January 1, 1877, he was mar- ried to Miss Mary M. Munsch, of Hampshire.

ARTHUR M. BEAUPRE. son of Mathias and Sarah J. ( Patrick) Beaupre, was born in 1853, at Oswego, Kendall County, Ill., where he spent his early boyhood. In 1865 he removed with his parents to DeKalb, Ill., and when sixteen years of age entered the office of the "Dekalb County News" in the last named city, where he learned the printer's trade thoroughly and made him- self generally useful in all departments of the office. At the age of twenty-one years he came to Aurora, where, a few months later, he was elected Clerk of the City Court, and later elected for a second term, but shortly after his re-election, was induced to accept the position of Deputy County Clerk at Geneva. In 1886

he was elected County Clerk by a large major- ity and re-elected to the same position in 1890, thus holding the office eight years, and left the position with the good will and esteem of all who had occasion to transact business in his department. In October, 1897, he was appointed by President Mckinley, Secretary of Legation and Consul General at Guatemala, Central America, where he served about three years, when he was transferred to Bogota, Colombia,

ARTHUR W. BEAUPRE.

South America. In 1903 he was appointed by President Roosevelt, Minister Plenipoten- tiary and Envoy-Extraordinary of the United States to Colombia, this being one of only two instances where a Consul of the United States has been promoted to the position of Minister. In March, 1904, he was appointed Minister to the Argentine Republic by President Roosevelt, this mission being the most important in South America. On October 20, 1880, he was married to Mary F. Marsh, daughter of Hon. C. W. Marsh, and their only child, Beatrice, was born March 26, 1884, and is now the wife of Spencer Stuart Dickson, British Vice-Consul at Bogota.

WILLIAM S. BEAUPRE, banker, Aurora, 111., born at Ottawa, La Salle County, Ill., Oct. 2, 1844, son of Mathias Beaupre, who was of

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French descent and came to Illinois trom Can- ada in 1838, locating first in Joliet and later in Kendall County, where he served as Sheriff two terms. William S. Beaupre was reared in La Salle and Kendall Counties, obtained his education in the public schools, and began his business career as clerk in a dry-goods store at Aurora. In 1869 he was appointed Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue in the Second District of Illinois, holding that position until 1883, when he resigned to become Cashier of the Aurora National Bank, organized in the year last named, and since 1895 has been Vice- President and Manager of that institution. MI. Beaupre is also President of the Kane County Title & Trust Company, which he organized in 1902 by consolidating the Kane County Ab- stract and the People's Abstract offices; is a Director of the Fox River Light, Heat & Power Company, a pioneer enterprise in the distribu- tion of gas from a central plant to surrounding towns in the Fox River Valley; is Director and Treasurer of the Home Building & Loan Association of Aurora; has been a member of the Aurora Board of Education ( East Side) for twenty-two years, and a Director of the Aurora Free Library since its organization. He is a Knight Templar in Masonry, and a member of other fraternal organizations. He married Miss Julia Brady, daughter of Lorenzo D. Brady, a pioneer merchant and banker of Aurora, a sketch of whom may be found else- where in this volume.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Kane County, Part 145

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